German tourist beaten over Chiang Mai bar bill

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I'm guessing now: The crackdown lasted for about two weeks?

It was no doubt instigated by bad publicity in the press and on social media.

Two weeks ???? 24 hours.????

[Rimmer]

A troll post has been removed

[Ctkong]

5 hours ago, AloisAmrein said:

Why do you need to defend corrupt and criminal behavior of Thai bar owners? Are you in the same boat with them? Shame on you! This is very common in Thailand and has to be published not only in Germany but also worldwide. As other many crimes in Thailand against tourists and immigrants.

I see it has nothing to do with defending the seedy business of bars. All seedy side of the night life frequented by clueless tourists are rife with scams such as these. Be it cities like Tokyo, Shanghai , Hong Kong, seoul, .... why... my friend even got rip off once in Hamburg visiting a strip joint. Same same... everywhere concerning  seedy nightlife. 

[Date Masamune]

Hope he remembers next time the golden rule,  in any drinking hole in Thailand.

 

You order 1 drink for you - you pay straight on delivery. And that's it.

 

No waiting for the total bill as it does get tempting for the employees to rip you off and cheat.

Pay as you go in any drinking "hole" in Thailand is a little much. Not everyone pass the bin. I went to to one of these Changklan karaoke shops with an old farang and a buraku

and had absolutely no problems, despite the warnings.

 

 

 

[VocalNeal]

I know they do or used to mark the back of one's beer mat in a Dutch bar but not if you were a Brit! Or so my mate told me once.

 

How many bars in the west can you run a tab? Hotels with food yes but bars/pubs?

Edited March 29, 2019 by VocalNeal

[NoshowJones]

9 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Another TV poster who has never been anywhere except 'bar areas'. You will be amazed, but once you venture away from these areas, your figure is way off the mark.

I am not saying all Thais are saints, but, believe me, the majority of normal Thais would rather do you a favour than not.

Nice try at bashing though. 

I agree with your post, but 76%+ would not be far away from the figure of Thai drivers and 

motorbike riders who have scumbag mentality, the amount of road fatalities would prove that.

The average Thai person you meet in the street or markets etc, will be helpful, honest, and non confrontational, but put that same person behind a steering wheel or handlebars and it is a different story.

[Lacessit]

Karaoke bars are a ripoff. Plenty of bars around that will supply alcohol without an eye-watering bar bill. I don't know why anyone patronises them, surely they have enough advance publicity now for tourists to avoid them.

[ShortTimed]

Karaoke bars are a ripoff. Plenty of bars around that will supply alcohol without an eye-watering bar bill. I don't know why anyone patronises them, surely they have enough advance publicity now for tourists to avoid them.

Well to be fair to the German, once he had a cold beer in hand and pretty girls poking and tickling him he must’ve let his guard down.

[Sparkles]

2 hours ago, The Deerhunter said:

Easier for the tourist to point out the bar than the Tuk tuk driver.  Could you?

The German guy has already done that. The tuk tuk driver is obviously a regular "provider" of customers getting the usual commision drivers get.Shouldnt be that hard to track him down for ID

 

 

[sambum]

It's been said before, but there should be "flyers" (Pun intended!) on all "planes, trains and buses" warning of the dangers of overpriced drinks in karaoke bars.

 

It seems to be becoming a national pastime (Chiang Mai, it would seem more than most) where if you disagree with the bill, prepare yourself for a good hiding.

[sambum]

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

I know they do or used to mark the back of one's beer mat in a Dutch bar but not if you were a Brit! Or so my mate told me once.

 

How many bars in the west can you run a tab? Hotels with food yes but bars/pubs?

Correct! Running a tab is a recipe for disaster - once you've had a few it is quite an easy task for the "cashier" to add another couple of drinks on the tab, and then it's you word against the management. A mate of mine used to ask for the bottle tops!

[paddyfield7]

Big Joke needs to come here! Bad guys out (bar owners), good guys in (friendly customers)!

[dunroaming]

22 hours ago, Sparkles said:

Yes another one. should we be surprised ? If its your first time here and you hadn't done your homework,lesson learned.

 

They may well interview the bar owner who will deny anything and wouldnt it be good idea to interview the tuk tuk driver that set off the path of this ongoing scam.

 

If the authorities cant clean up the karaoke bars, they know are unlicensed, what hope is there. Yes its not hard to theorise who owns them

I have some friends who are going to Thailand for the first time this year.  I asked them what they knew about where they were going and they had got all their info from the travel agent and reading the all the promo material.  There are six of them going so of course the travel agent painted a wonderful picture of lovely polite people, beautiful safe beaches and fantastic food.  Not a word about what to avoid.  I am having dinner with them next week to give them a more balanced view.

 

I don't want to burst their bubble but youngish kids (13 to 16 years old) are involved who are desperate to try all the water sports.  It is easy to just get swept up with all the hype and people only tend to hear what they want to hear.

 

As for the German tourist, well he was just dumb and actually got off very lightly.

[nightfox]

22 hours ago, Sparkles said:

Yes another one. should we be surprised ? If its your first time here and you hadn't done your homework,lesson learned.

 

They may well interview the bar owner who will deny anything and wouldnt it be good idea to interview the tuk tuk driver that set off the path of this ongoing scam.

 

If the authorities cant clean up the karaoke bars, they know are unlicensed, what hope is there. Yes its not hard to theorise who owns them

Well they don't have to go far as many bar owners are the police themselves.

[sydneyjed]

Been a procession of 'misunderstandings' at these establishments over the last few years..including a drive by shooting of a Canadian backpacker one year if I remember correctly!Some things never change..and going to a Thai karaoke by yourself is one of them!

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, ta158 said:

<deleted>, why is everyone saying thailand was better before, crime was much much higher before than now. escpecially in pattaya. this is news from 2007 in pattaya, much worse than now.

I'm not a victim, so I don't care about crime rates.

[ta158]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

I'm not a victim, so I don't care about crime rates.

wow that logic.

[ta158]

3 hours ago, dunroaming said:

I have some friends who are going to Thailand for the first time this year.  I asked them what they knew about where they were going and they had got all their info from the travel agent and reading the all the promo material.  There are six of them going so of course the travel agent painted a wonderful picture of lovely polite people, beautiful safe beaches and fantastic food.  Not a word about what to avoid.  I am having dinner with them next week to give them a more balanced view.

 

I don't want to burst their bubble but youngish kids (13 to 16 years old) are involved who are desperate to try all the water sports.  It is easy to just get swept up with all the hype and people only tend to hear what they want to hear.

 

As for the German tourist, well he was just dumb and actually got off very lightly.

as a half thai living in sweden, i work in the construction area, ive talked to many many swedes that has been to thailand and they all think it is disney world, they all agreed on that sweden has much more crime because they see it everyday on the news, so i said but how can you assume thailand is crime free when you cant even read or write thai so ýou have almost no clue about what is going on and where. they just said thais are the best people,  they are buddhist etc

[JustAnotherHun]

Let's be fair. Beeing ripped off in dubious bars ist not typical thai, it can happen to you everywhere in the world.

Crime in Thailand? Exists as anywhere else. Personally I feel safer in a dark soi of BKK or Pattaya than in subways or some parks and other places in most german cities right now. 

[gamini]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:53 PM, NCC1701A said:

i thought Germany had to give Poland back.

But it didn't. Instead, the Russians took it.

[Andrew23]

Just look at the reviews for this place. How it is possible this place still exists and nobody is punished??? https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=yG-fXNmtEYTez7sPsY6WkAY&q=together+karaoke+chiang+mai+&btnK=%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA+%D0%B2+Google&oq=together+karaoke+chiang+mai+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30.309.309..2922...0.0..0.177.324.0j2......0....2j1..gws-wiz.....0.S9nmPu36qsc#btnK=%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%20%D0%B2%20Google&lrd=0x30da300ef8c20f37:0x16d961daf2be91c9,1,,

[Enki]

On 3/29/2019 at 7:13 AM, VocalNeal said:

I know they do or used to mark the back of one's beer mat in a Dutch bar but not if you were a Brit! Or so my mate told me once.

 

How many bars in the west can you run a tab? Hotels with food yes but bars/pubs?

I don't know what you actually mean with "tab" ... drink today and pay tomorrow? That is rare and obviously only done if the pub owner knows the customer good.

Do you mean, drink and get a bill at the end? Nearly every pub in Germany or France I ever have been runs that way. Getting drinks from the bar and paying imediatly is very uncommon.

[balo]

This place is run and protected by the police mafia. Nothing will change unil Big Joke decide to shut it down. 

Edited March 31, 2019 by balo

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts have been removed. 

[The Deerhunter]

On 3/29/2019 at 2:15 PM, Sparkles said:

The German guy has already done that. The tuk tuk driver is obviously a regular "provider" of customers getting the usual commision drivers get.Shouldnt be that hard to track him down for ID

 

 

OPTIMIST.

[roobaa01]

when a german is on the binge in hamburg 's sin mile reeperbahn he would pay not thb 10k but thb 100k sitting with girls. however the question remains how many girls sat with him and what did they drink. thereto, why didn't he asked for the price list prior to ordering ???

 

wbr

roobaa01

[AAArdvark]

By chance I happened to meet this guy last night. He has healed but with still a scar above one eye.  Here is his explanation:  

This was his very first night in LOS and he had just come from Hanoi where he had gone to a couple of Karaoke bars where he enjoyed himself and had no problems.  He then flew to CM and made the mistake of asking a Tuk Tuk driver where to go.

He went into the bar where he had a beer and a lady drink.  That came to ฿250 which he thought was fair.  He then had a couple more and the staff demanded ฿10,000 which he refused to pay.  He was then attacked by at least 4 guys.  Some one called an ambulance where he was stitched up with no hospital visit.  He told me there was no charge of the stitching.

He somehow found a police station and reported the indecent.  At first he was accused of making up the story and they would not help him.  At that point he threatened to involve the German embassy.  For a reason that I am not to sure of, they responded to this and some more senior police officials appeared and apologized for his treatment.  They contacted the owner who promptly refunded the ฿10,000.

There was no word, and probably never will be, about any further action. 

[balo]

2 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

They contacted the owner who promptly refunded the ฿10,000.

Really ? I find this hard to believe.   Do you have the name of this place? 

 

[AAArdvark]

43 minutes ago, balo said:

Really ? I find this hard to believe.   Do you have the name of this place? 

 

From the OP:  "Together Karaoke".  I have no independent knowledge of what happened.  But he did have the scars and did seem believable.  Since there seems to be no legal actions taken, I would believe that a refund is very believable.

[puukao]

7 billion people on the planet.

 

YES, we tried to warn them all.  But all 7 billion can't get to our post that says, 'NEVER do Karaoke in CM or you will get a bill 10,000 to a zillion baht and then beat down and beat down again and beat down some more"