Q Bar Raid

[haha]

I've never been inside the Q bar, but I've passed by it many times when I took a taxi. ..what is a surprise to me is that they say there were 373 people in that "little" place. how the ###### can you pack that many people in that small place? it must have been like sardine city.

....I wonder if any of the neighbors around there are influential thai people? ..maybe a big thai tycoon? someone told me once that the owner of some big time glass company lives in a house near there. have you people considered that?

...imagine this scenario.

you have 2 or 3 REALLY RICH thai folks living in houses around the Qbar. in the past, there was peace and quiet. then, the Qbar pops up. the neighborhood goes to pot because of all the tourists. so, the rich folks get pissed off. quote, "I can't walk around in my own neighborhood anymore without bumping into somebody."

..sound familiar? hehehe.

[mrchips377]

Just wanted to add a couple of things to my last comments

First, this rule that foreigners must carry their passport with them at all times is, i think, a very old one. 20 years ago, I remember at a road block on taksin road going to samutsakorn, the police asking me for my passport. My photocopy satisfied them.

@ Gohpa

I think you are out of touch mate. Nowadays, because of terrorism, it seems that the authorities are getting much more strict about id. so id checks are now the norm in night clubs. One reason is to prevent teenagers getting in, and the other is terrorism. So we must get used to carrying our passports, photocopies or other id. The whole world seems to be getting more and more security conscious.

[simon43]

All this concern about carrying your passport and losing it!! Are you lot all half-pissed all the time or what? I carry my passport and important documents whenever I go out. They are in a small secure bag that is either in my zipped pocket inside my shorts or clipped securey to my belt under my shirt.

I'm sorry but I really cannot believe that there is a major problem about carrying your passport, unless you are the type that is out of his/her tree when in the bars or clubs.

Be honest! Have you ever lost your passport? If so, what were the circumstances? And were you 'to blame' for being a prat and not looking after this document when on the town?

[sabaijai]

I've never been inside the Q bar, but I've passed by it many times when I took a taxi. ..what is a surprise to me is that they say there were 373 people in that "little" place. how the ###### can you pack that many people in that small place? it must have been like sardine city.

....I wonder if any of the neighbors around there are influential thai people? ..maybe a big thai tycoon? someone told me once that the owner of some big time glass company lives in a house near there. have you people considered that?

...imagine this scenario.

you have 2 or 3 REALLY RICH thai folks living in houses around the Qbar. in the past, there was peace and quiet. then, the Qbar pops up. the neighborhood goes to pot because of all the tourists. so, the rich folks get pissed off. quote, "I can't walk around in my own neighborhood anymore without bumping into somebody."

..sound familiar? hehehe.

Q Bar has two floors, plus a larger wraparound outdoor patio off the upper floor, plenty of room for 300+ people. The place is often so crowded you can barely move on the ground floor, I've probably seen close to that number on that floor alone on a busy night.

[DaveYo]

Yea I have lost mine under mysterious circumstances, of which to this day has not been found. One night I had it in my hands at home and put it on a bed table and 4 days later it disappeared somehow and someway.

By the way no one lives with me, and I have torn this house of mine top to bottom and still that pissin passport is no where to be found.

So figure that out. Never lost mine in 51 years until now.

No, no burglary cause I got my dog sitting on my head.

Daveyo

[simon43]

DaveYo, actually you were pissed out of your brain at the time. What you had in your hands was your dog, not your passport You put your passport out the back-door to go chase female passports in the Soi

[sriracha john]

Is there a definitive answer as to even whether or not copies of passports are acceptable?

[Elysium]

Sorry.........

[Elysium]

Is there a definitive answer as to even whether or not copies of passports are acceptable?

The answer is... 'keep on trying'!!!

At Q raid copies were accepted. They only needed to be complete, incl visa and entry stamps.

To Haha...

Ye, you are just a joke and I laugh about you!!

Never been there and making conclusions.... You are the looser here, go there and speak again!! Off you go!!

You know where rich and influential Thai people live? You should answer no, because you have no clue!! Off you go!!

[bartender100]

So how much was the fine?,anyone heard yet?

Have these people now got a criminal recored in Thailand,if it was an official fine,might it affect a visa application in the future.

[easyride]

It's pretty much only the more fussy, anal-retentive resident types who go to the trouble to make and carry photocopies, don't you think?

Oh bully for you! My anus must retain very well as I've carried a photocopy for years. From staff at the British Embassy I'm told that there is no need whatever to carry you passport around with you. You need ID which isn't the same thing. However, it does have to be 'available' which is not the same thing either.

And no, I will not reveal my source but the specific question was addressed. And you know ful well - TIT

[haha]

to elysium:

in an issue of chilis published sometime earlier this year, there was an article in it regarding the daughter of the owner of the asahi glass company. she was being interviewed by the magazine.

in the article, she mentioned that her family lives around the sukhumvit area, and that she often walks around the nana vicinity. in the article, she complained about how foreigners would look at her like she was one of the working girls.

and yes, many rich people live around the area.

I know of a rich family who lives behind NEP.

they live all over the city. where do you think they live? I also know some who live in the thonglor area, and the ekkamai area. some very prominent politicians, mind you.

did you know that at one time, this section of town was the suburbs?

has it ever occurred to you that wealthy people don't want other people knowing where they live? ..that they would prefer to use their influence to get the police to intervene for whatever reasons?

bangkok is basically a small city. and you may not believe this, but the rich, and very rich thais are walking on the same streets and shopping in the same places that you and I go to.

here are some other bits of information for you to chew on.

1) why is it that the BEST hospital in town is located in the nana vicinity?

2) why is it that some of the most expensive art galleries are located in this area too?

3) why is it that so many hostess bars opened up on sukhumvit soi 33? did you know they were built originally for the purpose of entertaining wealthy thais?

as for your insulting comments, I'm not sure where you are coming from. are you a redneck?

[Butterfly]

I've never been inside the Q bar, but I've passed by it many times when I took a taxi. ..what is a surprise to me is that they say there were 373 people in that "little" place. how the ###### can you pack that many people in that small place? it must have been like sardine city.

....I wonder if any of the neighbors around there are influential thai people? ..maybe a big thai tycoon? someone told me once that the owner of some big time glass company lives in a house near there. have you people considered that?

...imagine this scenario.

you have 2 or 3 REALLY RICH thai folks living in houses around the Qbar. in the past, there was peace and quiet. then, the Qbar pops up. the neighborhood goes to pot because of all the tourists. so, the rich folks get pissed off. quote, "I can't walk around in my own neighborhood anymore without bumping into somebody."

..sound familiar? hehehe.

very much possible. and it's probably the real reason.

[DaveYo]

Still evading the inevitable folks. What was the fine for not carrying your passport.

Can anyone answer that question without slobbering in the liquor??????

Daveyyo

[cliobkk]

This happened two weeks ago:

I was having my first drink in a new club in the BanRak district, silom and suriwong

area, i was tasting my second sip when at 00.45 the police arrived, the sweetness

of the first sip became bitter.

Realizing that it was going to be a "drug raid" i rapidly went to the checking point that was being set up. i passed by two officers, being able to understand thai quite well this is what i overheard:

Junior off. (JO): this place is crowded of farangs (true maybe 80%)

Senior Officer (SO) : ??? well get going anyway

JO :are you sure sir?

SO: hmmm let see....

JO: Maybe we should let all the farangs go and test only the Thais (!!!!)

SO: Yes you are right let them (Farangs) go and test the thais... (!!!!)

and that is what happened any foreigner looking customer was let out of the place,

the only id they had to produce was a piece of paper with thier name (no thai name on) so credit cards, hospital cards, student id, central dpt.' shopping card etc. etc. and all other sort of trivial "id" was shown and was seeen. Any piece of paper was all right if you didn't look asian.

i was and am scandalized from what happened. Racism on reverse?

Racism by thai officer on thais? racism on eastern somatic traits?

I think all would agree with me: disgusting!!

I went to Q bar yesterday and talked with some of the staffs: on that buses (two as they told me) went also some diplomatic personels, hotel GMs, other "influential " farangs... the day after the officers had to call these people

to express their regrets for the accident.

The raid was of political motivation (pracha etc. etc)

thailand or better bangkok is a mess...

who can vote should choose Chuwit at least we can party and club with some peace of mind.

my 2+2 cents

[haha]

I'm just curious if there is any review boards provided for people to voice their opinions before something is built in bangkok?

does anyone know?

in the united states, before a new business or building is constructed anywhere, people are allowed time to voice any opposition to it.

people can't read minds.

...so, when someone wants to open a new business somewhere, the city tries to find out if the new business will be bothering someone in the neighborhood.

scheduled monthly meetings at city hall are setup for local folks to voice opposition to any new businesses and/or buildings that may be planned for construction.

if enough people oppose the proposed construction, then, the new business or new building will not be constructed. easy as that.

do they have the same procedure here in thailand?

I get this feeling that people build things here without asking people in the neighborhood where they are being constructed as to whether they are welcome or not.

if you are poor, you can't do anything. if you are rich, you call in the police to harrass the business owners in the hopes of forcing them out of business.

..is this how it works here in thailand?

tell me if I'm wrong.

[xbusman]

Was told by a business owner on Soi 4 that the fine was 1000 baht at the station.

[Elysium]

to elysium:

in an issue of chilis published sometime earlier this year, there was an article in it regarding the daughter of the owner of the asahi glass company. she was being interviewed by the magazine.

in the article, she mentioned that her family lives around the sukhumvit area, and that she often walks around the nana vicinity. in the article, she complained about how foreigners would look at her like she was one of the working girls.

and yes, many rich people live around the area.

I know of a rich family who lives behind NEP.

they live all over the city. where do you think they live? I also know some who live in the thonglor area, and the ekkamai area. some very prominent politicians, mind you.

did you know that at one time, this section of town was the suburbs?

has it ever occurred to you that wealthy people don't want other people knowing where they live? ..that they would prefer to use their influence to get the police to intervene for whatever reasons?

bangkok is basically a small city. and you may not believe this, but the rich, and very rich thais are walking on the same streets and shopping in the same places that you and I go to.

here are some other bits of information for you to chew on.

1) why is it that the BEST hospital in town is located in the nana vicinity?

2) why is it that some of the most expensive art galleries are located in this area too?

3) why is it that so many hostess bars opened up on sukhumvit soi 33? did you know they were built originally for the purpose of entertaining wealthy thais?

as for your insulting comments, I'm not sure where you are coming from. are you a redneck?

To Haha (hahahaha)

Insulting comments from my side, no!

Just trying to bring the point to you that you are using secondary information to voice an opinion about a club you have never been. Why should only a redneck ask you that question.....? Everybody, including me, can ask that question.

Yes, I know this were the suburbs in earlier times. Did you know that this was actualy a rice paddy area before that? The Indian families who own big parts of Soi 3 and Soi 4 had a good idea what was going to happen in this area.

Yes, I know where a lot of wealthy people live and yes, I do know they can live anywhere.. Relevancy???

I am the lucky circumstances to be accepted by some of those mentioned rich Thai families. Eventhough I do not like to speak about that with other foreigners. But since you think that I do not know what happens in Thailand I am willing to give that piece of information.

The only point I agree with is that 'good' girls are harressed unpleasantly by some (yes, some...) farang men. My own girlfriend is continiously asked, in my opinion, undecent questions. Do not worry, she knows how to deal with them!!

Most of the really rich Thais in the area of lower Sukhumvit have moved to 'better' places. They took the money offered for their properties and ran. Many new compounds (you know, those places they like to live with the entire families...) are located outside the lower Sukhumvit area.

As for the bits of information to chew on... I think it took you longer to write it down than for me to give the answers. You are not the oracle here. (Neither am I)

Back to Q bar, that is where this threat is all about.....

Many of the previous writers on this board had a major opinion about how bad Q bar is. The worst of all are, again in my opinion, those who form opinions without even taking the effort to go there themselves. q bar is a well run operation and attract a healthy crowd on all evenings. They have my respect for running this club and maintaning integity. Any 'hotspots' in town came and went. Q bar has been able to attract many customers for many years now, and I hope for many years to come.

Q bar is also one of the only clubs in Bangkok with a worldwide following. It is often mentioned in articles about the city. By raiding this club the government is asking for a bad rep in the worlds news. This raid was for example mentioned in the New York Times. (No I am not a USC)

My guess is that this was looking for cheap publicity. That is what they got by arresting all without passport.

As a previous writer wrote. Apologies were issued to some of the local expats, why??

This raid was not to harrass the club for the benefit of their wealthy neighbours. I t was merely to show that all farang are drugs adicts and they should not be in Thailand.

Enough now.... Time for a beer before I go to Q bar. I go have fun........you go and chew on this one for a while, have a good one!!

(hahahahahahahah)

[haha]

to elysium:

when you replied to my previous posting, you said quote, "off with you". and I misunderstood the meaning. sorry about that. I asked a british friend what it meant last night. so, I know now. but to be honest with you, I thought you told me to "f##k off".

hehehe. sorry.

as for your claim that most of the wealthy thais moved out of the area, I wonder about that.

like you, I know some thai people too. the ones I know have places all over. many have purchased condos here and there where all the popular spots are. they don't just live in one place like all us lower class people do.

some I know have condos in every major district of the city, and some have houses from sanam bao all the way to thonglor. that's how rich they are.

as for the original idea that I posted suggesting that maybe some local rich thais are behind the crackdowns at the Qbar, I still think it is a serious possibility.

..why are you so sure that it is not the case? could it be, you live in the area?

[Payne]

Whoever was responsible made a MAJOR mistake when Q Bar the night was raided. This incident will have serious repercussions for the kingdom"s high end tourist industry and foreign population.

Foreign guests in a country cannot be obliged to offer a urine sample just because they happen to be eating or drinking in a certain establishment. There has to be more evidence than that to force someone to undergo this humiliating experience.

This incident is absolutely disgraceful. What has happened to Thailand's well earned reputation for hospitality? Is the place turning into a police state?

[bartender100]

So now we know,according to Stickman this week,the fine was B1000,photo copies were not allowed,and you had to have somebody bring the passport to the immigration place before you were released.

[Foggy Bottom]

Jeez - that's stiff - the fine is fair enough but 2.5 times the fine for not wearing a motorbike helmet, but photocopies not allowed, and someone must bring it???? I understand their reasonings (security / anti-terrorism / fear of fleeing the kingdom etc) but what happens if it's an expatriate investor living alone with no trusted friend to enter their apartment, knowing the combination for the safe etc etc? Or if it's in a hotel safe and the staff will only hand it over to the rightful owner? A policy like that could lead to some very long and unneccesary stays in jail.

Someone needs to apply some brain power to that policy.

Or was it only for those that tested dope-positive?

[Axel]

Precisely my worries. Should worse come to worse I might have problems to

find my staff who then would have to take the key to my office desk to retrieve the p/port.

Arrested on a Friday night could mean a long wait.

[sriracha john]

disappointing to hear NOW that passport copies were NOT acceptable (after several posts earlier that said they were).

So I guess the solution is to start carrying your passport 24/7... Just hope the embassies are braced for a large influx of replacement passport requests, either from being lost or unusuable due to wear and tear.

[marquess]

The interpretation of the rules change everyday. Do bear in mind though, that this was raid was carried out on direct orders on the interior minister. I doubt that that every policeman is going to start hassling you for the original. I for one will still carry the copy around. 1k is easier to pay than getting a replace for a lost passport.

[Axel]

Although I pass by Q-Bar every day, I have never been inside. So the following is not a commercial from my side, just a quote from letters in The NATION 23/8/04:

Disgraceful police-state methods will not stand

Re: "Hundreds fined as police swoop on Q Bar" (August 16). As an internationally respected, Thai-owned business established in 1999, Q Bar does its best to respect and fully cooperate with the authorities and enforce policy as it is given to us, including bag checks, ID checks and the recent 1am closing enforcement. Q Bar supports the crackdown on illegal nightlife activities.

However, the methods used can be confusing and disturbing. Many of our customers were upset by the way they were treated during the police raid earlier this month, and we apologise for this.

It must be pointed out that the vast majority of them were held even though they carried valid picture ID or a copy of their passport, as most embassies instruct them to do, but on this particular occasion original passports were demanded (which is not a requirement, according to local police). In addition, all operating licences were found to be in order, and not one patron was found to be on illegal drugs or under-aged, a fact we're sure the authorities applaud.

Q Bar management

BANGKOK

Here the link, 2nd letter from the bottom:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.news....19488&usrsess=1

[meadish_sweetball]

This incident is absolutely disgraceful. What has happened to Thailand's well earned reputation for hospitality? Is the place turning into a police state?

Maybe a hospitable police state.

[bartender100]

I will ask my earlier question again,does this now mean these people have a crimminal record in thailand,has it been marked on their passports?

[Axel]

No bartender, I don't think there is a criminal record. They are talking about a fine, (like a parking ticket) not a legal or court action.

[DaveYo]

Axel, I am sure you do remember some of my previous posts long ago, when I said that the Passport has to be with you darn near 24/7 when in Foreign countries. I have also mentioned and said that photocopies are indeed good if should you lose your original passport which in that case does expedite the down time of not having one, and you can bring your photocopies to your embassy of which then they will do the rest with you. Many will ask you if you want the emergency one or you can submit for another original. I would suggest to any of you, first get the emergency one which you can have inside of 24 hours, and that one is good generally one year, and once you have that then go for another original one. While that is being done you get to keep the emergency one till such time your original one arrives.

By the way do not turn in your emergency passport just yet. If you need to get a B Visa or O visa, send that in and get it done first before you trot to Immigrations. Once that is finished, then return to Immigrations and show them your emergency passport if you have any of your stamps and whatever, and then they will put it on your new passport. Immigrations want to see the real McCoy especially stamps or visas. Once that is finished, then you can turn in your emergency passport to your embassy if they request it etc., and they will void the emergency one and then activate your new original one. Basically this route you can avoid any problems since the Authorities cannot say you did not have passport etc., or what issues they might bring up. Doing it this way it is all legal.

Remember do not surrender your emergency one until you have everything done on your new passport or you will be in the creek. If you surrender your emergency, and then activate your new one, and then send it out for the Visa Stamps etc., ---> technically you are breaking Thai law, and again bingo, Immigrations will notice this when they look at the dates and so on and so forth.

I do believe Axel can verify this and vouch for such of what I have previously said long time ago.

Good luck

Daveyo