Be Careful When Buying A Bar In Paradise!

[jeztennis]

bar stool gossip

apparently the aforementioned character has been found in Korat and is now in Samui police custody

[malcolminthemiddle]

Anyone remember the Brit who managed the go-go bar in Nana (lower level on the right) about eight years ago - everyone knew and liked him and he was everyone's best friend. Seems he sold shares in the joint to some eight different regulars, all on the QT and then duly skipped town and hasn't been seen since.

Was his name Rick?

Yes I believe it was, do you know him ?

If it's the same guy, I first met Rick circa 1986 when we were both working on a major construction project in the Oman, he was employed by the main contractor as a freelance design engineer working on the AC systems.

The second time was circa 1990 walking down Guildford High Street were I bumped into him purely by chance, he was still working as a design engineer at that time.

The third and last time was in the late 90s by which time I had moved to Thailand. I bumped into him by chance when he was managing the bar in Nana. Quite a surprise seeing him yet again.

I haven't seen or heard of him for many years. I had heard he had moved to Pattaya managing a bar there.

He was always very polite and mild mannered when ever I spoke to him. He never offered me any investment opportunity.

[mattias33]

Any updates on this story? Hear all kind of rumors about Paul. Anyone got some facts to share?

[H2oDunc]

I can add that the fat S%$t skipped town wth my brand new Ralph Tech expedition dry bag. I can also add that my neighbour lent him 1 million baht to buy the bar and that several other people lent him cash. The guy mentioned in the OP was a friend from the UK so why would he get a chartered surveyor etc to buy into a friends bar. Yes hes lost 10 grand but is not angry and says he has the guy to thank for introducing him to Samui. The rumours of him being in Nathon police station are wrong, I went and checked.

I would like my bag back so if hes spotted

[KohThingthong]

I hired a Private detective to Investigate the business that i was about to buy. It was quite expensive but nothing compared to the cost of the business that i was about to buy.

first after seeing his price i put the phone down. then i rang him back and asked him for a discount. he sold me the service by saying that the amount i am spending is nothing compared to what i have got to lose should i invest in a bad business.

Turned out i the business that i wanted to buy was crap and he did save me money.

Sound like a saleman. Just telling me experience

[MSingh]

<br />

any update on whats going on?

<br /><br />There is a rumour but I'm not sure I can post it here. You can PM me though.<br />

can i spread the rumour myself?

Go for it..

[SamuiRes]

Anyone remember the Brit who managed the go-go bar in Nana (lower level on the right) about eight years ago - everyone knew and liked him and he was everyone's best friend. Seems he sold shares in the joint to some eight different regulars, all on the QT and then duly skipped town and hasn't been seen since.

Was his name Rick?

Yes I believe it was, do you know him ?

I think the Brit you are talking about was in fact Anton - Rick was just the manager. Anton was renowned for double dealing. The bar was Hollywood Rock if I remember correctly and they opened a second one in Clinton Plaza when that was still there which Rick also managed. Rick moved on to Pattaya and has had several jobs there. Anton went to Phuket but the latest I heard was he has just arrived back in Bangkok on Soi 33 I think. Some years since I bumped into either of them.

[GungaDin]

Does the Kiwi still "own" The Deck in Chaweng?

[Mark Wolfe]

Not sure what 'paper' you are waiting for Mark, maybe the well reknowned bastion of truth the Samui Express, or the non-profit Community magazine (assuming it still exists)? While topics on this forum are always subject to being taken with a small amount of salt, there is also more likely to be truth in a group of local people posting in a forum than, for example, the bangkok post.

Anybody posting on here is expressing an opinion or passing on information, no point in a forum that is limited to posting articles from the Nation newspaper. And there is certainly some truth here - the bar is very definitely closed as you can see when you drive past, and the guy is certainly not answering his phone as you can tell by calling it.

I am only passing along information. Apparently it is acceptable to "allege" incidents, even if they actually happened to you, about hospital care or "scamming" by businessmen, but not if you are unsuspectingly drugged at a pub like I was. You won't find that thread since I have to wait to have the incident "verified" by having a story run in a newspaper. I'd like to inform you of my experience, but it seems that the person(s) who spiked the meal might sue the site for defamation, or so the excuse goes.

As for the current topic, perhaps there is more here than meets the eye. If I were the accused, I'd be getting my side of the story in the paper and then suing someone. Isn't that how it goes? Oh, unless the actual person in question, the one alleged to have been cheated, comes forward and gives his story to the press.

[simey]

I don't disagree Mark. Maybe what people not living on this island don't appreciate is that we have no local newspapers that can be relied on, no local news programs either, and the local grapevine is the source of most of the information. This site used to be a big part of that grapevine but due to, in my own opinion, overzealous moderation it has been less useful in that respect. Unfortunately thaivisa have to protect themselves, the same occurs in Europe, but it does leave a gap that has not been filled by any other media. It's a shame really, I used to be an active member of this forum and have lived here for 6 years, but I rarely post these days.

[mattias33]

I don't disagree Mark. Maybe what people not living on this island don't appreciate is that we have no local newspapers that can be relied on, no local news programs either, and the local grapevine is the source of most of the information. This site used to be a big part of that grapevine but due to, in my own opinion, overzealous moderation it has been less useful in that respect. Unfortunately thaivisa have to protect themselves, the same occurs in Europe, but it does leave a gap that has not been filled by any other media. It's a shame really, I used to be an active member of this forum and have lived here for 6 years, but I rarely post these days.

Spot on, well said!

So, what about the gossip on the topic, any news?

[koheesti]

I don't disagree Mark. Maybe what people not living on this island don't appreciate is that we have no local newspapers that can be relied on, no local news programs either, and the local grapevine is the source of most of the information. This site used to be a big part of that grapevine but due to, in my own opinion, overzealous moderation it has been less useful in that respect. Unfortunately thaivisa have to protect themselves, the same occurs in Europe, but it does leave a gap that has not been filled by any other media. It's a shame really, I used to be an active member of this forum and have lived here for 6 years, but I rarely post these days.

I've noticed the forum has slowed down a lot over the past few weeks. Maybe there are additional reasons. Maybe many of the normal posters can't post because they are scouring the countryside looking for the guy who took their money, cool new bag, motorcycle and - more importantly - my flash drive filled with music.

[Maestro]

I think the Brit you are talking about was in fact Anton - Rick was just the manager. Anton was renowned for double dealing. The bar was Hollywood Rock if I remember correctly and they opened a second one in Clinton Plaza when that was still there which Rick also managed. Rick moved on to Pattaya and has had several jobs there. Anton went to Phuket but the latest I heard was he has just arrived back in Bangkok on Soi 33 I think. Some years since I bumped into either of them.

Am I reading this correctly, ie the OP’s hearsay story is old history?

I heard that there was a woman named Eve who plucked an apple from a tree (rumour has it that it was from an apple tree), gave it to a man named Adam, who ate the apple, and as a result the two of them got thrown out of paradise.

--

Maestro

[simey]

Different stories Maestro, not sure what the bar in nan plaza really has to do with this which is very definitely fairly new.

Anyone else missing anything? So far a dry bag (expensive I beleive), money, a flash drive with music.......

[simey]

Actually, here is an idea. As the OP was making the point about the theory of owning a bar and the pitfalls associated with that, lets assume that this story is entirely hypothetical. So we need some players, lets say a brit called Frank Sleaze turns up in Samui with the idea of running a little bar - the usual place, beer for sale, pool table out the back, girls out the front, maybe even a small short-time room, and he calls it Sleazeys bar. Something happens to Frank, we have yet to write exactly what, but basically he decides to leave this island paradise. So what would he need to take - money, something to put the money in, maybe something to listen too on the travels. So anyone got any ideas what else Frank should take on his run, why he would hav eto leave so quickly, and if he would ever return? Purely hypothetically of course.

P.S. all characters in this story are ficticious. Any resemblance etc etc etc

Edited September 17, 2008 by simey

[koheesti]

Actually, here is an idea. As the OP was making the point about the theory of owning a bar and the pitfalls associated with that, lets assume that this story is entirely hypothetical. So we need some players, lets say a brit called Frank Sleaze turns up in Samui with the idea of running a little bar - the usual place, beer for sale, pool table out the back, girls out the front, maybe even a small short-time room, and he calls it Sleazeys bar. Something happens to Frank, we have yet to write exactly what, but basically he decides to leave this island paradise. So what would he need to take - money, something to put the money in, maybe something to listen too on the travels. So anyone got any ideas what else Frank should take on his run, why he would hav eto leave so quickly, and if he would ever return? Purely hypothetically of course.

P.S. all characters in this story are ficticious. Any resemblance etc etc etc

Hypothetically, the day before Frank skipped town he could have borrowed a Phantom motorcycle off this Irish guy who would frequent the bar and never return it. Just to make the story more colorful, let's say this Irish fellow is a great pool player even when he's pissed out of his head.

Edited September 17, 2008 by koheesti

[susquosh]

I think the Brit you are talking about was in fact Anton - Rick was just the manager. Anton was renowned for double dealing. The bar was Hollywood Rock if I remember correctly and they opened a second one in Clinton Plaza when that was still there which Rick also managed. Rick moved on to Pattaya and has had several jobs there. Anton went to Phuket but the latest I heard was he has just arrived back in Bangkok on Soi 33 I think. Some years since I bumped into either of them.

Am I reading this correctly, ie the OP's hearsay story is old history?

I heard that there was a woman named Eve who plucked an apple from a tree (rumour has it that it was from an apple tree), gave it to a man named Adam, who ate the apple, and as a result the two of them got thrown out of paradise.

--

Maestro

Where did you hear that from - Sarah Palin?

[koheesti]

I think the Brit you are talking about was in fact Anton - Rick was just the manager. Anton was renowned for double dealing. The bar was Hollywood Rock if I remember correctly and they opened a second one in Clinton Plaza when that was still there which Rick also managed. Rick moved on to Pattaya and has had several jobs there. Anton went to Phuket but the latest I heard was he has just arrived back in Bangkok on Soi 33 I think. Some years since I bumped into either of them.

Am I reading this correctly, ie the OP's hearsay story is old history?

I heard that there was a woman named Eve who plucked an apple from a tree (rumour has it that it was from an apple tree), gave it to a man named Adam, who ate the apple, and as a result the two of them got thrown out of paradise.

--

Maestro

Where did you hear that from - Sarah Palin?

Obama is just as a devout Christian as she is. Ask him.

Uh-oh. Calling The One a Christian is OK when he is thought to be a muslim but don't dare imply that he actually follows his declared beliefs. Mods, when deleting this post, please delete my last two in the pinned Samui restaurant thread as well.

Edited September 18, 2008 by koheesti

[mattias33]

I think the Brit you are talking about was in fact Anton - Rick was just the manager. Anton was renowned for double dealing. The bar was Hollywood Rock if I remember correctly and they opened a second one in Clinton Plaza when that was still there which Rick also managed. Rick moved on to Pattaya and has had several jobs there. Anton went to Phuket but the latest I heard was he has just arrived back in Bangkok on Soi 33 I think. Some years since I bumped into either of them.

Am I reading this correctly, ie the OP's hearsay story is old history?

I heard that there was a woman named Eve who plucked an apple from a tree (rumour has it that it was from an apple tree), gave it to a man named Adam, who ate the apple, and as a result the two of them got thrown out of paradise.

--

Maestro

Where did you hear that from - Sarah Palin?

She don´t know the Adam/Eve story yet. Give her a break, she just recently learned how to count to 5 without asking the old man two questions!

OOppppp! Did i go off topic? Sorry!

[BigC]

When I first visited Thailand back in 1997 the "novel" idea my friends and I had was to move to Thailand and buy a bar. We never did but nowadays it's a cliche. Well, people shouldn't let the idea of owning a bar in paradise keep them from doing due diligence. I recently learned of a retired man from England who thought he had bought the bar next to me here in Bangrak. After paying 1.2 million baht, he arrived the other day to find out that the man he bought it from has skipped town with his money and that the bar isn't his at all. This type of thing needs to be publicised no matter how ugly it is. People need to be aware that this kind of thing happens around here (please refrain from the "it happens everywhere" excuse. We know that already). The only possible good news in this specific case is that the guy who took his money has been found in Hua Hin and just might feel enough guilt & shame to return to Samui. For both their sakes I hope so.

buy a bar som nom na. anyone who thinks they can make a living out of happy punters and girls should investigate there business further . who soends 1.2 million without investigating your business first.

you pay pea nuts you get monkeys.

[Farang0tang]

Updates anybody?

[smokie36]

Ahhh s loan ee thread.....Lord Lucan....no more like Robert Maxwell......many would wish him a slow end no doubt....

Given there are posters here from all over the place he must be well hidden is all I can say....

[H2oDunc]

Its over 2 years since the fat lying Tw@t fled town with my brand new, very expensive expedition dry bag and a shed load of peoples cash. I'm lucky the guy looking after my bike was on a visa run or that would have gone as well. Various rumours abound but I just hope that the old saying " what goes around comes around " gives him some pay back.