I would say that there are a lot of "Marks" all over the places I have been in SE Asia. It is an unfortunate aspect of any expat community that I have ever been a part of, or even heard of, that there are going to be some problematic expats that would likely be in jail if they were in their home countries. Why they don't end up in jail overseas probably has a lot to do with it being more trouble than it is worth for the authorities who would have to get translators and deal with embassies and lawyers making their lives difficult. Your Mark is just lucky that various people like police don't just take his stuff and beat the crap out of him to make him learn a lesson though. That is often how these sorts of things are handled over here.