Night Out In Patong - More Tales Los (land Of Scams)

[rawaireddragon]

Took my wife out for a rare night in Patong on Saturday normally in the leafy suburbs of Rawai..

Incident One outside police box end of Bangla 8.30 ish Young falang couple walking the motorbike down road (but with engine running) caught out by evening road closure. Stopped by "friendly" BiB. Ticket for using the road after hours.

Incident two Sitting in Soi Sansibi observing. Motorbike comes back for rent - young English couple. Owner points out scratch on front fairing. Couple bring out contract where it is clearly marked. Ower reply "much bigger than when go...pay 2,000baht or I call police. Police come....couple do deal at 1,000. After couple gone see BiB pocket 500 Baht.

Incident three Absoulte Bangla Club, Soi Bangla. Large group of Irish tourists, clearly spending large..little bit boistrous but not offensive. Waitress come over with next round, puts drink down, misses table, one broken glass. Goes away comes back with bill for 400 baht for glass...(looked like a freebie from a brewery). Tourist complains. two minutes later 4 thai men...one claiming to be "owner" suround table....pay now or big problem...... Tourists cough up...leave their unfinished drinks and go. Parting comment "we spent 6,500baht with you tonight....and we were coming for our leaving party tomorow...thanks for your hospitality"

I have followed the threads for the past two or three weeks and thought an exageration. Now all of these cameos in the space of one evening don't add up to much...except around 10 bodies which will probably never come back here again. Every bad experience is reported when gone home to another 10 people..which means just in one night 100 people will have been given a negative impression. For the cumulative total of 1900 baht in extorted money. How much is the Tourist Authority of Thailand spending a week just advertisng on BBC World news..never mind the rest.

I have a number of tourist dependent business and pay taxes which are supposedly helping to promote the Cause...and it is ALL of OUR cause...business man or retired, beach bum or offshore worker.....we chose to live here and we need the bums on seats to preserve our infrastracture, our shopping malls, our hospitals, and our roads??..........

What is the answer......coz I don't have it.................

[MisterMan]

Email the Governor

http://www.phuket.go.th/www_phuketGoTh/contactus.htm

[MisterMan]

Email the Governor

http://www.phuket.go.th/www_phuketGoTh/contactus.htm

Perhaps the TAT too.

[email protected]

[losworld]

The first incident of the bike I can see the reason for the fine. If you are referring to Bangla being closed at night then it should be closed to all incoming vehicles and bikes. Walking a bike is still taking a vehicle past a boundary.

The second incident is clearly wrong and they should have stood their ground but odds are the guy had the passport. Sounds like desperation to me. The cop's actions are rather pathetic in this case. Perhaps a good argument to have a tourist police?

The third incident seems odd to me - not that I am saying it didn't occur. I wonder if the waitress is responsible for broken glasses and she claimed it was the customer. Of course it is ridiculous that any astute owner/manager would charge a customer for a glass even if they intentionally broke it if they were spending that kind of money.

Edited September 21, 2009 by losworld

[rawaireddragon]

The first incident of the bike I can see the reason for the fine. If you are referring to Bangla being closed at night then it should be closed to all incoming vehicles and bikes. Walking a bike is still taking a vehicle past a boundary.

The second incident is clearly wrong and they should have stood their ground but odds are the guy had the passport. Sounds like desperation to me. The cop's actions are rather pathetic in this case. Perhaps a good argument to have a tourist police?

The third incident seems odd to me - not that I am saying it didn't occur. I wonder if the waitress is responsible for broken glasses and she claimed it was the customer. Of course it is ridiculous that any astute owner/manager would charge a customer for a glass even if they intentionally broke it if they were spending that kind of money.

On the third...I would agree...my wife checked with the staff and they said it was bar policy for all breakages

[LivinLOS]

The first incident of the bike I can see the reason for the fine. If you are referring to Bangla being closed at night then it should be closed to all incoming vehicles and bikes. Walking a bike is still taking a vehicle past a boundary.

The road is closed to vehicles but its commonly accepted if your bike get stuck in the hotels or parking lots of sea dragon that you can push the bike out.. Thai beer sellers ride up and down the road delivering all night, the MB taxis are happily parked in the ends of the road and certainly dont push anything anywhere..

Just some more F.A.T. (farang added tax).

[Geckos]

The first incident I can see that.

The second one The first mistake they did was to rent a motor bike from the CLOWNS on the street !! Second which I'm still laughing about is they actually thought the police were going to help them they just found out that the police are the worst crooks here and the biggest ass holes.

Third Make sure you drink in bars that are frang owned or this will happen 98% of the time when some thing like that happens in a Thai bar you will pay !!! They rank just below the Jet Sky renters and two stots down from the cops !!!

[rawaireddragon]

Third Make sure you drink in bars that are frang owned or this will happen 98% of the time when some thing like that happens in a Thai bar you will pay !!! They rank just below the Jet Sky renters and two stots down from the cops !!!

I may be incorrect but the bar in question is owned by Absolute....which is joint British and Russian....although their main operation is "holiday ownership" so I doubt they are going to worry about a 400 baht scam.

[samuibeachcomber]

The first incident of the bike I can see the reason for the fine. If you are referring to Bangla being closed at night then it should be closed to all incoming vehicles and bikes. Walking a bike is still taking a vehicle past a boundary.

The second incident is clearly wrong and they should have stood their ground but odds are the guy had the passport. Sounds like desperation to me. The cop's actions are rather pathetic in this case. Perhaps a good argument to have a tourist police?

The third incident seems odd to me - not that I am saying it didn't occur. I wonder if the waitress is responsible for broken glasses and she claimed it was the customer. Of course it is ridiculous that any astute owner/manager would charge a customer for a glass even if they intentionally broke it if they were spending that kind of money.

On the third...I would agree...my wife checked with the staff and they said it was bar policy for all breakages

it maybe bar policy but its very shortsighted..............but thats thailand for you.what is wrong with the locals?

[Geckos]

I may be incorrect but the bar in question is owned by Absolute....which is joint British and Russian....although their main operation is "holiday ownership" so I doubt they are going to worry about a 400 baht scam.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owned by Farangs and managed by Thai's !!! Thats probably even worse you walk into a bar where you think its owned by a Farang so if there is a problem you could talk to some one who would understand and then find out the owners are never there and you are greeted by some one who has an I.Q below 30

Thanks for the tip I for one will make sure I never drink in that BAR !!!! and also let my friend know about that bar !!

How ever it does not sound like the owners give a shit maybe they will when more and more drinkers stop going there !! "NOT"

[geriatrickid]

Absolute........... the people that give us the farang chasers on the motorbikes?

[harleyclarkey]

Incident three Absoulte Bangla Club, Soi Bangla. Large group of Irish tourists, clearly spending large..little bit boistrous but not offensive. Waitress come over with next round, puts drink down, misses table, one broken glass. Goes away comes back with bill for 400 baht for glass...(looked like a freebie from a brewery). Tourist complains. two minutes later 4 thai men...one claiming to be "owner" suround table....pay now or big problem...... Tourists cough up...leave their unfinished drinks and go. Parting comment "we spent 6,500baht with you tonight....and we were coming for our leaving party tomorow...thanks for your hospitality"

The peanut that the owner has for a brain can't even do simple maths. This does go on and the Thais are as thick as two planks when it comes to working things out.

Really glad they left their drinks and moved on. The thing is the "owner" doesn't care.

[robertsonmartin]

It really is a crying shame that all of these small rip-offs are happening day after day. It is truely ruining tourism here slowly but surely.

You need to be so careful now when you go for a night out, and in trying to keep your wits about you it kind of spoils the whole point of it.

I used to be a 5 times a week regular down in Bangla, not the real touristy type bars but nontheless. Now when i go into Patong I normally camp out at one or two bars in otop where I can get a reasonably priced drink, relax a bit and watch the world go by. You still see the tourists get ripped off by the shop outlets but at least thats the tourists choice.

[Valentine]

This from the website we are not allowed to mention.

"At 4am this morning, one of Phuket's leading American residents and business identities was mugged by three katoeys as he sought shelter from a downpour under an awning in Patong's famous Soi Bangla walking street.

He told Phuketwan that when he went to report the crime at Patong's central Kathu Police Station this afternoon, he found himself queuing behind a British backpacker who had also been rolled by katoeys overnight."

A couple of nights later the same man was crossing Rat-U-Thit when a motorcycle taxi deliberately swerved towards him seemingly with intent to do harm & yelling out f.... you farang. After having to take evasive action to avoid being run down he raised his hand in reply to the taunt & yelled out f... you too. The motorbike taxi guy then stopped, got off his bike, ran over to the man & slapped him hard on the face. The man knew better than to fight back knowing full well that if he did he would soon be pounced upon by more cowardly thugs which is the norm in Patong if a farang thinks he is going to have a one on one. It also makes sense considering the sullied reputation of motorbike taxi drivers following the recent incident of one killing someone with a gun in a 7/11 store while out on bail for another killing.

BTW this same man has been pro active in proposing a very sensible solution for the jet ski operators. There is a positive side to the slapping incident in that some local Thais came over & apologised for the shocking behaviour.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Valentine

[losworld]

This from the website we are not allowed to mention.

"At 4am this morning, one of Phuket's leading American residents and business identities was mugged by three katoeys as he sought shelter from a downpour under an awning in Patong's famous Soi Bangla walking street.

He told Phuketwan that when he went to report the crime at Patong's central Kathu Police Station this afternoon, he found himself queuing behind a British backpacker who had also been rolled by katoeys overnight."

A couple of nights later the same man was crossing Rat-U-Thit when a motorcycle taxi deliberately swerved towards him seemingly with intent to do harm & yelling out f.... you farang. After having to take evasive action to avoid being run down he raised his hand in reply to the taunt & yelled out f... you too. The motorbike taxi guy then stopped, got off his bike, ran over to the man & slapped him hard on the face. The man knew better than to fight back knowing full well that if he did he would soon be pounced upon by more cowardly thugs which is the norm in Patong if a farang thinks he is going to have a one on one. It also makes sense considering the sullied reputation of motorbike taxi drivers following the recent incident of one killing someone with a gun in a 7/11 store while out on bail for another killing.

BTW this same man has been pro active in proposing a very sensible solution for the jet ski operators. There is a positive side to the slapping incident in that some local Thais came over & apologised for the shocking behaviour.

Unfortunate but the circumstances seem a bit ridiculous for someone who is a vet of Phuket. Taking shelter beside three ladyboys? Carrying around a coveted item at 4 a.m. in the morning on Bangla. Not too wise or perhaps alcohol induced actions.

[LivinLOS]

The peanut that the owner has for a brain can't even do simple maths. This does go on and the Thais are as thick as two planks when it comes to working things out.

Really glad they left their drinks and moved on. The thing is the "owner" doesn't care.

2 things.. It appears to me Thais are far more ruled by emotion.. So that if they say 'you must pay 400 baht' if you dont its face lost and they will not back down even if it costs them 4000 baht.. You only have to look at the amount of violent crimes of passion done to see that action without thought of consequences effects many lives. Its not the simple maths its the living for the right now thinking in my mind. That living for the right now is part of what makes Thais great fun sometimes, the sanuk factor, the mai pen rai factor, the enjoy the moment thing and dont worry about tomorrow. Often we complain about a personality trait without seeing that its the same trait we like in a different way.

Second thing, the Balga fronted bars are built on the basis of foot traffic, they dont care about the individual much, the attitude of farming the pink coconuts again.. More will grow next season, if you throw a few away this season dont matter.. ever increasing numbers will come.. This is deeply ingrained in the Patong beach mindset (and bar pricing) and to be fair since the asian currency crisis in 97 its been pretty true.. I hate to think what the local attitides will be like if that doesnt continue to be true.

[TongueThaied]

So many of the respnses here miss the OP's point. Sure, you can blame the victim for being stupid. Sure, you can justify the bar's conduct as "standard polic," even though the glass only cost the bar 5-15 baht. Thailand has a serious image problem, and the reason is all this stuff. On the earlier thread about the video of the jet ski scam in Phuket, people started arguing about whether the video was real or staged. Who cares? The scams are real. then there was the airport closure. Why do so many people defend this country. If you want it to stop, tell everybody, refuse to be a victim yourself (my answer, I scream redfaced: "Phom mai chai ngo, yit khun," and I walk away), publicize it all. When people STOP coming, it will slow down. Money talks, bullsh!t walks. As to holding the passport for extortion, I NEVER give anyone my passport. I carry a copy, if that is not good enough, I go somewhere else. I always get what I am looking for without anybody so much as touching my passport.

[simon43]

For the 1st incident (walking the motorbike), I say this is a scam. When Bangla is closed to cars and motorbikes, it is still perfectly acceptable to walk a motorbike in the street. Many Thais do it without being stopped by the Thai police or foreign police volunteers.

2nd incident = scam

3rd incident = scam (for the outrageous price of the glass) and very short-sighted bar owner, the word will get around...

Simon

[jombom]

It really is a crying shame that all of these small rip-offs are happening day after day. It is truely ruining tourism here slowly but surely.

You need to be so careful now when you go for a night out, and in trying to keep your wits about you it kind of spoils the whole point of it.

I used to be a 5 times a week regular down in Bangla, not the real touristy type bars but nontheless. Now when i go into Patong I normally camp out at one or two bars in otop where I can get a reasonably priced drink, relax a bit and watch the world go by. You still see the tourists get ripped off by the shop outlets but at least thats the tourists choice.

Yes, I agree with you. How can I relax on one level, with my guard against ripoffs operating at another higher level ---- not enjoyable at all. For this reason only stayed in Patong one night.

The following morning at checkout, hotel asked for 20 baht, for what I presumed had been the courtesy water. Rather than start the day on a bad note, I paid, but it emphasised my view that the decision to leave was correct.

[MrWiggle]

TAT should take an honest approach in its future advertising campaigns.

Honesty is the best policy and it would pay dividends and not cost much at all. The advertising out there for LOS.....just change to LandOfScams should do the trick.

[xylophone]

Absolute........... the people that give us the farang chasers on the motorbikes?

Absolutely..........and charge a fortune for their drinks. Two San Miguels and one vodks & tonic came to 460 baht (work that one out), and when queried the lady said because of tax and service charge....yeah right.

Will not go back neither will friends.

[harleyclarkey]

This from the website we are not allowed to mention.

"At 4am this morning, one of Phuket's leading American residents and business identities was mugged by three katoeys as he sought shelter from a downpour under an awning in Patong's famous Soi Bangla walking street.

He told Phuketwan that when he went to report the crime at Patong's central Kathu Police Station this afternoon, he found himself queuing behind a British backpacker who had also been rolled by katoeys overnight."

A couple of nights later the same man was crossing Rat-U-Thit when a motorcycle taxi deliberately swerved towards him seemingly with intent to do harm & yelling out f.... you farang. After having to take evasive action to avoid being run down he raised his hand in reply to the taunt & yelled out f... you too. The motorbike taxi guy then stopped, got off his bike, ran over to the man & slapped him hard on the face. The man knew better than to fight back knowing full well that if he did he would soon be pounced upon by more cowardly thugs which is the norm in Patong if a farang thinks he is going to have a one on one. It also makes sense considering the sullied reputation of motorbike taxi drivers following the recent incident of one killing someone with a gun in a 7/11 store while out on bail for another killing.

BTW this same man has been pro active in proposing a very sensible solution for the jet ski operators. There is a positive side to the slapping incident in that some local Thais came over & apologised for the shocking behaviour.

Unfortunate but the circumstances seem a bit ridiculous for someone who is a vet of Phuket. Taking shelter beside three ladyboys? Carrying around a coveted item at 4 a.m. in the morning on Bangla. Not too wise or perhaps alcohol induced actions.

SORRY DOUBLE POST>>>>BLAME TV!!!!

Edited September 22, 2009 by harleyclarkey

[harleyclarkey]

This from the website we are not allowed to mention.

"At 4am this morning, one of Phuket's leading American residents and business identities was mugged by three katoeys as he sought shelter from a downpour under an awning in Patong's famous Soi Bangla walking street.

He told Phuketwan that when he went to report the crime at Patong's central Kathu Police Station this afternoon, he found himself queuing behind a British backpacker who had also been rolled by katoeys overnight."

A couple of nights later the same man was crossing Rat-U-Thit when a motorcycle taxi deliberately swerved towards him seemingly with intent to do harm & yelling out f.... you farang. After having to take evasive action to avoid being run down he raised his hand in reply to the taunt & yelled out f... you too. The motorbike taxi guy then stopped, got off his bike, ran over to the man & slapped him hard on the face. The man knew better than to fight back knowing full well that if he did he would soon be pounced upon by more cowardly thugs which is the norm in Patong if a farang thinks he is going to have a one on one. It also makes sense considering the sullied reputation of motorbike taxi drivers following the recent incident of one killing someone with a gun in a 7/11 store while out on bail for another killing.

BTW this same man has been pro active in proposing a very sensible solution for the jet ski operators. There is a positive side to the slapping incident in that some local Thais came over & apologised for the shocking behaviour.

Unfortunate but the circumstances seem a bit ridiculous for someone who is a vet of Phuket. Taking shelter beside three ladyboys? Carrying around a coveted item at 4 a.m. in the morning on Bangla. Not too wise or perhaps alcohol induced actions.

Carrying what item?

How do you know the Katoyes were already there at the shelter?

What circumstances are ridiculous?

[Valentine]

"Carrying what item?

How do you know the Katoyes were already there at the shelter?

What circumstances are ridiculous?"

I agree with HC. It does not matter if the katoeys were in the shelter or not when he got there to get out of the rain. It does not matter if he had a few beers or not. It does not matter if he is a veteran of Bangla & should know better.The plain fact of the matter is he was attacked & robbed which should never be condoned. The analogy is like saying a well dressed, pretty girl deserves to be raped.

HC you can view more details on the website we are not allowed to mention. Sorry I thought I did not mention it in my post but now see it is there. I imagine he went downtown to pick up the item & stopped off for a few drinks with friends before going home.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Valentine

[salty]

So many of the respnses here miss the OP's point. Sure, you can blame the victim for being stupid. Sure, you can justify the bar's conduct as "standard polic," even though the glass only cost the bar 5-15 baht. Thailand has a serious image problem, and the reason is all this stuff. On the earlier thread about the video of the jet ski scam in Phuket, people started arguing about whether the video was real or staged. Who cares? The scams are real. then there was the airport closure. Why do so many people defend this country. If you want it to stop, tell everybody, refuse to be a victim yourself (my answer, I scream redfaced: "Phom mai chai ngo, yit khun," and I walk away), publicize it all. When people STOP coming, it will slow down. Money talks, bullsh!t walks. As to holding the passport for extortion, I NEVER give anyone my passport. I carry a copy, if that is not good enough, I go somewhere else. I always get what I am looking for without anybody so much as touching my passport.

I would love to know what "Phom mai chai ngo, yit khun," means.

[LivinLOS]

I agree with HC. It does not matter if the katoeys were in the shelter or not when he got there to get out of the rain. It does not matter if he had a few beers or not. It does not matter if he is a veteran of Bangla & should know better.The plain fact of the matter is he was attacked & robbed which should never be condoned. The analogy is like saying a well dressed, pretty girl deserves to be raped.

It just comes under the apologist for Thai behaviour that some go through.. All of those are just justifications, he should have expected them to be criminals, he should have had the sense to take precautions, he shouldnt have been there etc..

The fact remains.. Other people committed a crime against him.. Yet posters chose to blame the victim.

[LivinLOS]

I would love to know what "Phom mai chai ngo, yit khun," means.

Er..

I am not a rat.. You are..

[KevinBloodyWilson]

I would love to know what "Phom mai chai ngo, yit khun," means.

Er..

I am not a rat.. You are..

Actually, it means "I am not stupid, <deleted> you".

So far as I am aware.

[LivinLOS]

OK thats the problem with transliteration.. ngoo can be rat snake depending on tone didnt think it was stupid but ??

Also (in pedant mode ) yet is more fuc_k.. Yet Mare etc being an easy way to make sure things kick off.

[sportsman69]

[

The fact remains.. Other people committed a crime against him.. Yet posters chose to blame the victim.

very well put