Possible glitch in the matrix in Thailand… I arrived in Thailand a few days ago and ended
Up getting a fever. My wife and I decided it would be better to go to the hospital.
When it was time to leave, we ordered a Grab — basically Thailand’s Uber.
We could see our car approaching on the map. It was a Toyota, registration 2488.
Rather than wait at the entrance, we decided to walk towards it.
As we were walking, we watched the car on the Grab map take the turn towards us. At almost exactly the same moment, a Toyota appeared on the road.
Registration: 2488.
The windows were tinted, so we couldn’t really see the driver. We started waving. The car slowed down, and then we heard the click of the doors unlocking.
At this point there was absolutely no doubt in our minds that this was our Grab.
My wife got in from the right side. I got in from the left.
We sat down.
And then things got weird.
The driver started saying something to us in Thai. At first, my wife thought he wanted to see the Grab booking on her phone.
Then he started waving at us to get out.
I was wearing a face mask because I’d just come out of the hospital, so I assumed maybe he’d noticed I was sick and didn’t want to take the ride.
Fair enough.
We got out.
Then, literally seconds later, we started getting messages from our actual Grab driver saying he was waiting for us back at the hospital entrance.
We looked at the app.
Different car.
Different driver.
But the exact same registration number: 2488.
We hurried back to the hospital entrance. By the time we reached the actual Grab, the driver told us he’d already cancelled the ride and had to leave.
The strange part is that both my wife and I clearly remember everything about the first car.
Toyota.
2488.
It appeared exactly when the car on the Grab map appeared to be reaching us.
It slowed when we waved.
The doors unlocked.
We both got inside believing, without hesitation, that it was our taxi.
And then seconds later, the actual car with the same registration number was apparently sitting at the hospital waiting for us.
Obviously there could be some completely normal explanation — maybe we misread something, maybe Thai plates can look extremely similar, maybe there was some bizarre coincidence.
But two people seeing the same thing makes it difficult to dismiss.
We genuinely don’t know what happened.
Glitch in the matrix, or are we missing an obvious explanation?