SCAM in Cowboy

[2baht]

14 hours ago, 2long said:

my mates are far from bar novices, and in their 60s.

You'd think by now they would be over such sleazy establishments!!! 

[Skipalongcassidy]

14 hours ago, 2long said:

Warning for all those out there. At least a couple of bars in Cowboy are scamming punters.

I will not mention the names, due to Thailand's laws, but one is a reference to memory in French and the other is a time that 7Eleven stop selling booze.

 

Taking into account that I have been here 24 years and my mates are far from bar novices, and in their 60s. No one was drunk. This is not Patpong....

 

Order a lady drink and she brings two (a shot and a cola). In bars in Nana this is classed as one drink and costs about 200B.

More girls turn up and when you offer/say yes to a drink for the new girl, ALL the girls on the table get a shot and a cola, not just the extra lass. And the price of these lady drinks is 300B each glass, so you're looking at 600B/pop/lady.

There's a chitty/bill that the lady asks you to write your name on, but it's not like a bill in a plastic pot like normal bars. For me, it was in her bikini bottoms.

 

Then when the punters question 'what's going on here?' and it all kicks off, the management say 'you signed for it, and it's all on CCTV'

 

Two mates had one beer each and the bill was 4,300B but I negotiated down to the 3,000B that they had signed for.

Two mates and I had one beer each and the bill was 2,700B.

 

We all know that there are a few options to resolve the situation, and each has his own way. Yes it cost us a lot, and we made our feelings very clear in Thai language, and in a Thai way.

As I wrote, this is not Patpong and we have all been to many many bars before, hundreds of times and none of us were drunk. Yes, we should know better, but if we can get caught, others are likely to as well.

So... you want the company of the bar girls... but... you don't want to pay the going price... seems to me that it is your problem... not the bars... have you ever thought to just say "NO"... 55555555

[mr336]

14 hours ago, Celsius said:

I am not a punter, but if I was the last thing I would be doing in Thailand is buying lady drinks.

 

For the love of god, can someone explain it to me what is the POINT?

 

 

Foreplay

[JimTripper]

17 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Stickman, in his weekly column, has reported similar practices in recent weeks, as have his readers, with bar owners often turning a blind eye it seems.

 

Who will accept such crap? Do they care about regular customers, or have they gone native; i.e. scamming as much out of everyone while they can, not bothering whether they will ever return?

The world economy is getting much worse. Scams of all kinds will increase as people get low on money.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, nightfox said:

I always have a great time in Soi Cowboy in bars that are not owned by the "Arab" which are:

Crazy House, Baccara, Shark, Susie Wong, Dollhouse, Rainbow, Tilac and Long Gun. Never got scammed and girls are very hands on in these bars. 

Tilac has been there for a very long time, but used to be way better before it went sparkly flash. No nudity at all, quiet, very sedate dancing, the owner was always there playing some card game with his friends. My first proper "date" was from there and we went to some huge waterpark. She stayed with me for 3 days till I had to go back to Saudi. Another holiday I met my first long term ( 4 years ) GF in there too. I have fond memories of Tilac from back then. I doubt it will ever be as good again though.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, 2baht said:

You'd think by now they would be over such sleazy establishments!!! 

You sound like a real fun guy at parties. Have you even been in one to know, or get your information from The Sun?

[JimTripper]

48 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You sound like a real fun guy at parties. Have you even been in one to know, or get your information from The Sun?

I wish there were more actual spontaneous "parties" here, like in college. Where there were strangers hanging out having a good time with a keg at somebody's home you barely knew. I miss those days.

 

I don't get the same feeling from the bars and establishments here. Maybe they try to hard, they are too oriented or there is a money grabbing issue that feels uncool. It could also be that it's overkill and they are always there, overkill. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

I never feel like I'm having a good time on that level here and I'm still trying to figure out why, but it was what I always hoped Thailand would be and I think it's what it tries to be in many ways.

 

Edited January 29 by JimTripper

[worgeordie]

19 hours ago, 2long said:

There's a chitty/bill that the lady asks you to write your name on, but it's not like a bill in a plastic pot like normal bars. For me, it was in her bikini bottoms.

Always read the fine print before you sign ..

 

regards worgeordie

[StayinThailand2much]

1 hour ago, JimTripper said:

The world economy is getting much worse. Scams of all kinds will increase as people get low on money.

 

Maybe. However, running a shop/bar, whatever, that can't be a good long-term strategy, esp. in the internet age. But who knows, perhaps those bar owners want to sell off their business anyway, so they take now whatever they can get...

[JimTripper]

14 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Maybe. However, running a shop/bar, whatever, that can't be a good long-term strategy, esp. in the internet age. But who knows, perhaps those bar owners want to sell off their business anyway, so they take now whatever they can get...

Businesses here don't typically care about long term strategies. It's more about immediate gratification and grabbing what they can get here and now. Same reason most people don't save and invest for the future, but just spend to live for today.

Edited January 29 by JimTripper

[Seppius]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Tilac has been there for a very long time, but used to be way better before it went sparkly flash. No nudity at all, quiet, very sedate dancing, the owner was always there playing some card game with his friends. My first proper "date" was from there and we went to some huge waterpark. She stayed with me for 3 days till I had to go back to Saudi. Another holiday I met my first long term ( 4 years ) GF in there too. I have fond memories of Tilac from back then. I doubt it will ever be as good again though.

I remember those times well, they played dice not cards, and the music was great ,square bar in the middle, same guy still owns the bar with a Thai business partner "Andy" German guy. I was in there 4 nights ago.

[1FinickyOne]

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

the next time I went back ( 6 months later ) her price per day had doubled, so that was the last I saw of her.

doubled for you - not necessarily for others - she has her choices. 

 

if she had a good time, maybe it would have been cut in half??? 

[georgegeorgia]

55 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Businesses here don't typically care about long term strategies. It's more about immediate gratification and grabbing what they can get here and now. Same reason most people don't save and invest for the future, but just spend to live for today.

Fantastic post, 👏 all very true 

[damo1967]

21 hours ago, Celsius said:

I am not a punter, but if I was the last thing I would be doing in Thailand is buying lady drinks.

 

For the love of god, can someone explain it to me what is the POINT?

 

 

It is to boost the small ego's of dirty, lonely pathetic old men! 

[baansgr]

Didn't realise people still bought lady drinks..

[steven100]

bunch of farang buying beers and lady drinks in a go go bar in Soi Cowboy .... with bar girls joining in ...

what could possibly go wrong  !!  

 

 

 

Edited January 29 by steven100

[mikeymike100]

21 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Stickman, in his weekly column, has reported similar practices in recent weeks, as have his readers, with bar owners often turning a blind eye it seems.

 

Who will accept such crap? Do they care about regular customers, or have they gone native; i.e. scamming as much out of everyone while they can, not bothering whether they will ever return?

Maybe they are trying to make up for Covid? I am being a little sarcastic!

[buick]

10+ years ago, the 'Arab' (as noted by another poster) took over a bunch of bars.  two that are now gone were Rio and Sahara.  supposedly, the person is really persian/american dual nationality.  well known to avoid these bars since he took over, the scams have been going on since Day 1.  i know the one referenced by the OP with the french word reference, but can't decipher the one with the booze ban and 7-11 reference.

 

the bars discussed recently by stickman are owned by a different group, one is in cowboy and one is in nana.  those complaints were somewhat of a 'misunderstanding'.  bars have different rules.  in some bars, you cannot call a girl down from the dance floor 'mid dance'.  you can tell a waitress to tell the girl to come join you for a drink when she's done or do it yourself.  in other bars, you can call a girl down mid-dance. 

 

the two bars discussed by stickman have a new rule where the call down costs you a fee - the same amount as a lady drink.  so the bill comes and you have a charge for two lady drinks, even though she just got one.  if you buy a second lady drink, there would be three drink charges on the bill (two drinks plus the 'fee').  so these two bars aren't doing the 'double drink' scam.  it's just a new 'system' that can be confusing.  i don't know of another bar that uses this 'system'.

 

there are other bars that typically do the double drink thing.  after the first double drink, you can usually get a single drink after that w/o an issue.  but you gotta make it clear.

 

 

Edited January 29 by buick

[n00dle]

20 hours ago, proton said:

The whole nightlife scene sounds like a scam these days, more of a mugs game than ever.

 

The nightlife scene is fine and in any cases more vibrant than ever. Sex tourism, the P4P and gogo and beer bar scene have seen better days.

Increasingly the only custom they receive is folks like the op, 60 years old and clinging to a dream of bygone days. Count the folks sub-30 in any beer or gogo bar these days. 
  
There are very few places you can go that do lady drinks where you won't get hosed, racking up bills of thousands in the feeding frenzy buying non-alcoholic lady drinks while drinking 3 or 4 beers at a seemingly reasonable 100-150 baht a pop. 

It really is a mug's game, the whole scene was dying pre-COVID, post-COVID the bars and the women gave up all pretense   

   

[bradiston]

18 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Windmill is now 220 for lady drink, 260 cocktail lady drink, the other day i offered a girl 100 baht for something, usually accepted, she wanted 500. The old guard have gone and the girls are greedy.

 

As for LDs it's a mugs game, always has been

Yeah, last time I went there, maybe 3 or 4 years ago, a very unpleasant English manager was overseeing things. No more 100 THB tipping. Buy lady a drink or sit on my own nursing my sodaaaah. Before all that, the best bar in town. Not been back.

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, n00dle said:

 

 

It really is a mug's game, the whole scene was dying pre-COVID, post-COVID the bars and the women gave up all pretense   

   

 

 

Those of us 60+ realised that a long time ago.

 

 

Not clinging to anything, just taking advantage of market forces and the availability of product - which is probably half our ages.

 

 

When you get there you will know.

[n00dle]

14 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Those of us 60+ realised that a long time ago.

 

 

Not clinging to anything, just taking advantage of market forces and the availability of product - which is probably half our ages.

 

 

When you get there you will know.

Why assume I'm like you?

After 30 years in Thailand and a fair few more years before I hit 60, I can assure you I am not nor will I be in the market for "product" in any hurry. I had my fun under much more enjoyable circumstances and moved on, Ta. 
 

[Wrwest]

22 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

If we have to tell you, you probably will still not understand it.

Agreed. When I first came in 2009, I certainly enjoyed talking to the pretty girls and buying them a lady drink was to help compensate them for their time and attention in the bar. Some led to more, some not.

[JimTripper]

31 minutes ago, n00dle said:

Why assume I'm like you?

After 30 years in Thailand and a fair few more years before I hit 60, I can assure you I am not nor will I be in the market for "product" in any hurry. I had my fun under much more enjoyable circumstances and moved on, Ta. 

Me too. After about 53 I could be fairly happy celibate. The desire is not there, either physically or mentally. Most of the time I'd rather just be swimming.

[n00dle]

5 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Me too. After about 53 I could be fairly happy celibate. The desire is not there, either physically or mentally. Most of the time I'd rather just be swimming.

 

Celibacy is not for me, but pooching around the bar scene waving thousand baht notes for a drunken tumble with someone I consider "product" is not the way forward.

the amount of alcohol I would need to consume to make that seem like a good idea would leave me crippled for days. hardly worth it.

[n00dle]

35 minutes ago, Wrwest said:

When I first came in 2009

even as recently as 2009, the "scene" was far less mercenary than it is today. 

[Will B Good]

After covid lockdowns and minimal bounce back re: tourism I think these places are under tremendous financial pressures.

 

Talking to a guy on soi 7, his bar is about 3m x 3m and he's paying 100k a month rent.....got to go some to make a profit on that.

[Hamus Yaigh]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

My first proper "date" was from there

 

Funniest post I read on this forum in ages.... thanks, spitting coffee all over the screen in hysterics.

[StayinThailand2much]

1 hour ago, mikeymike100 said:

Maybe they are trying to make up for Covid? I am being a little sarcastic!

 

If so, will they automatically stop the scams after they've recouped their losses? LOL

[midasthailand]

I was in a bar on Soi 4 opposite Hooters to meet a lady friend and was sitting at a table facing the street, at the table next to me was a farang gentleman with several girls around him (up to five girls at times including the cleaner), he was obviously a regular and I found out later that he had just returned to Thailand after visiting his home country.

 

He left the bar with company (1 lady) after I had been there 2 hours.

 

I asked my lady friend what his bar bill was and was shocked to hear it was over 30k THB!!

 

Lady drinks at this bar are 190 THB and I was sitting with 3 ladies, my bar bill after 3 hours was 2,600.

 

Point being, lady drinks can add up quickly if you are entertaining multiple ladies!