American tourist badly beaten in Pattaya

Pattaya - An American tourist was badly beaten in this seaside town late Thursday night after he allegedly refused to pay Bt170 for a bottle of beer.

Dennis Leo Greenwood, 51, suffered swollen face and a serious wound on his head. Several of his teeth were also knocked off.

He was admitted to the Pattaya Memorial Hospital at 12:30 am Friday.

His girlfriend, Suparp Mahasen, told police that the owner of a bar on Soi 16 off the Walking Street of South Pattaya and an employee beat up Greenwood.

She said the bar owner alleged that Greenwood refused to pay for a bottle of beer worth Bt170 but the tourist argued that he was overcharged.

The Nation

pay the bill,wipe your mouth and dont go back.

Was the price that unreasonable?

Was the price that unreasonable?

Yes, he was overcharged. In case that happens, you should pay the bill and vote with your feet. I ALWAYS check the first tab that is put in my cup. I'll always pay for the first rip off but there won't be a second tab.

Was the price that unreasonable?

Yes, he was overcharged. In case that happens, you should pay the bill and vote with your feet. I ALWAYS check the first tab that is put in my cup. I'll always pay for the first rip off but there won't be a second tab.

Not too bad for a corona

Would be interested to find out what 'friendly' bar this is.

Would be interested to find out what 'friendly' bar this is.

Which bars are down Soi 16?

170 for a beer?

I once paid 500 for a bucket of ice cubes at FashionClub - It was served by some very hot coyoties so I paid with a big smile

Soi 16 is the one named "Covent Garden", Oh, they have a small cluster of

a-go-go's down there and 10-15 usually empty bars. Wow, I must say the

Thais can be very brave when it comes to beating up inebriated tourists.

Was the price that unreasonable?

Yes, he was overcharged. In case that happens, you should pay the bill and vote with your feet. I ALWAYS check the first tab that is put in my cup. I'll always pay for the first rip off but there won't be a second tab.

Not too bad for a corona

The most crap beer in the world, also sad people stick a bit of lemon in the top.

Now this will cost this tourist some baht more than just 170 ... Don't think his hospital bills will be payed for by the bar owner?!

Corona is not such a bad beer, and it's a piece of lime, not lemon.

He probably didn't tip, either.

Was the price that unreasonable?

Yes, he was overcharged. In case that happens, you should pay the bill and vote with your feet. I ALWAYS check the first tab that is put in my cup. I'll always pay for the first rip off but there won't be a second tab.

I always ask the price BEFORE I order...too pricy and I walk away.

Corona is not such a bad beer, and it's a piece of lime, not lemon.

He probably didn't tip, either.

Corona? - Is this a game of Chinese whispers.

Granted its not always best to argue, but i dont get you people that seem to lack any kind of spine and will do nothing about getting ripped off. Still at least youve your dignity..................haha.

Corona is not such a bad beer, and it's a piece of lime, not lemon.

He probably didn't tip, either.

Corona? - Is this a game of Chinese whispers.

Granted its not always best to argue, but i dont get you people that seem to lack any kind of spine and will do nothing about getting ripped off. Still at least youve your dignity..................haha.

They are probably fellow bar owners who do not realise that it is this sort of thing that has an impact on tourist numbers./

Dennis didn't lose any of his dignity, just a couple teeth, and it certainly had an impact on that tourist's

swollen and wounded head./ I wouldn't have argued, but I wouldn't have left a tip. So there.

What's Chinese whispers? Do you play with bottles of Corona?

Corona is not such a bad beer, and it's a piece of lime, not lemon.

He probably didn't tip, either.

Corona? - Is this a game of Chinese whispers.

Granted its not always best to argue, but i dont get you people that seem to lack any kind of spine and will do nothing about getting ripped off. Still at least youve your dignity..................haha.

I just love you keyboard hardmen and I love it even more when you get the spine to get out from behind your little computers and go out into the world and prove just how hard you are. We need people like you to grace the pages of the papers and the hospital ER rooms showing off the battle scars that your "spine" has got you.

I'm with Gary A on this, in a unfamiliar bar always check your first tab. Firstly it lets you know how much you are paying thus you make the choice to stay or drink up and go. Secondly it alerts the staff that you are on the ball and not rip off fodder. But if you do get ripped off, and it happens to all of us sometime, do not make an issue of it. Just point it out to the staff pay up anyway and make it clear that you will not be coming back and you will also make sure your friends know about it. It'll probably be like water off a duck's back to them but hel_l enough water, enough time and even granite wears down.

170 Baht for a beer? Expensive for a locally made bottle but for import stuff it is about right. Either way it's not enough to get beat up over.

OK in this situation its best to do as the above posts points out, ie pay up the 170bht and let them know youre not coming back.

But there are a significant majority who are so petrified of Thai males that theyre well aware of it and can take liberties accordingly.

Im no internet hardman i just dont have the ability to turn the other cheek when people rip me off or take liberties.

I have argued over prices before....being over charged via extra drinks on the tab or given change for 500 instead of a 1000.

You don't expect to get the shit kicked out of you ....but i don't lose my cool when arguing or raise my voice etc.

If you start getting aggressive or noisy then i think this is when the real problems tend to start as thais can go from mellow to dangerous in the blink of an eye

Having said that i think that there are so many of these incidents these days that the Thais don't seem to really care as they can bash a farang and never face any consequences........

Hard lesson learned for this guy. Thais will gladly take cheap shots on any farang they feel is out of line or weak. Tread carefully in LOS!

Can you imagine walking into a bar, shop, restaurant or whatever in the west, consuming/ taking goods and then refusing to pay because you thought the price that you hadn't checked was too much? Admittedly you might not (always) get a hiding but you might just as well get a night in the cells or a conviction.

Hard lesson but it'll be memories in 3 months.

(Mind you knocking someone's teeth out for the sake of a couple of hundred baht is a bit strong).

More likely he lost his teeth for being a smartass. I see folks skip out on bills from our 'overlook' room on Walking Street quite 'often' (I'd say every few days) without any incident. Not usually the *drink and dash* type, but say they want to charge you 100 and the customer will insist on leaving 80... that type of thing.

i think there is definitely more to this story than we know...................if you refuse to pay your bill and walk off and bad mouth the staff/owner then they will likely try and bring you back to pay(which seems fair) then the problem will occur as drunken farang gets loud and tells them to <deleted> off or whatever then they lose face and beat the shit out of him thaistyle. whilst this beating seems over the top and im sure some of the taxi boys helped that hang about there then what do you suggest the owner/staff do...........they know they cant detain him till police arrive if hes a nasty drunk. its also low season,so its not like there getting a lot of trade either.anyway im not being a smart arse but what would you do in there situation. i think this thing also gets handled a little better if male staff/owner not there as ladies would either follow the guy shouting at him till he pays or police pass by or hit him over the head with ashtray/bottle thus saving his teeth at least !!!

(Mind you knocking someone's teeth out for the sake of a couple of hundred baht is a bit strong).

Not through the eyes of a thai!

170Bt? Sounds like a tasty beer variety, could it be someone is finally selling some Trappists? I need the name of this bar, stat!

I ordered a San Miguel Light at a bar on Soi 8, not far from the Sailor Bar. The check bin was a long time arriving and when id did, it was B100. This was little open air bar, no aircon, nothing special so I knew I was being overcharged. I just finished my beer and walked over to the cashier and politley asked if the bin was wrong and if the correct price was 70 or 80.

In about 3 seconds I was surrounded by the staff, they were aggressive and started yelling "No expensive, farang keeneow!" I kept smiling and slowly laid a B100 note on the bar and walked away.

Never went back and the last time I looked, the place was deserted

(SM Light is B45 at Sailor bar and they always have customers:) )

Out of curiosity, I wonder what happens in these situations when its Thai on Thai. If the bar is "connected" (police owned) the aggrieved party probably says mai pen rai, pays up and walks away. If its not, he probably gets on his mobile, calls up for reinforcements and then the sh*t hits the fan, 555!

More likely he lost his teeth for being a smartass. I see folks skip out on bills from our 'overlook' room on Walking Street quite 'often' (I'd say every few days) without any incident. Not usually the *drink and dash* type, but say they want to charge you 100 and the customer will insist on leaving 80... that type of thing.

Heng,

I always knew you were a quality chap. No 8 in the Pattaya local elections?

Granted its not always best to argue, but i dont get you people that seem to lack any kind of spine and will do nothing about getting ripped off. Still at least youve your dignity..................haha.

This moron decided to argue the point of how much does a beer cost.

His hospital bill will cost over 150 baht. He has his dignity a bloody mouth & a black eye. And he got rolled up by 2 Thais.

Best advice pay up & leave & never go back.

Spiderman I want to see you in action. Taking on a baroom full of Thais.

Soi 16 is the one named "Covent Garden",

Is that because they don't know how to spell CONVENT ? lol. just kidding.

I ordered a San Miguel Light at a bar on Soi 8, not far from the Sailor Bar. The check bin was a long time arriving and when id did, it was B100. This was little open air bar, no aircon, nothing special so I knew I was being overcharged. I just finished my beer and walked over to the cashier and politley asked if the bin was wrong and if the correct price was 70 or 80.

In about 3 seconds I was surrounded by the staff, they were aggressive and started yelling "No expensive, farang keeneow!" I kept smiling and slowly laid a B100 note on the bar and walked away.

Never went back and the last time I looked, the place was deserted

(SM Light is B45 at Sailor bar and they always have customers:) )

Out of curiosity, I wonder what happens in these situations when its Thai on Thai. If the bar is "connected" (police owned) the aggrieved party probably says mai pen rai, pays up and walks away. If its not, he probably gets on his mobile, calls up for reinforcements and then the sh*t hits the fan, 555!

170 for corona is cheap, its normally 220. san mig for 100 is ok, again normally 110-120. there are to many cheapos over here. try drinking for that price at home. if you want cheap, then drink local stuff, singha, chang or whatever.