Bar Owners Beware- Music "Police" Scam

[blakegeee]

Why would you play Thai music in your bar anyway (unless you cater to Thais)? I go out of my way to avoid places playing Thai music.

Not sure which post you are referring to, but we do not play Thai music or even have any on premises. Playing Thai music is a totally different story from this extorsion scam. For many years already, Thai establishments do have to buy licenses from Grammy or the other big players depending which music they want to play. If playing Thai music, there are legit people from the Thai music companies that enforce these rules. Thai places often only play music from one Thai music company so they only have to pay for that one license. Bigger places may pay for 2 or 3 licenses so they can play everything.

[goldenbow]

Lol, what a creative guys. )

[Guest siamjourney]

One more question. Does anyone know of an owner who has called the Tourist Police and had them come to assist? If so what was the result?

[blakegeee]

One more question. Does anyone know of an owner who has called the Tourist Police and had them come to assist? If so what was the result?

In my experience with Tourist Police, they are totally useless. At best, they can be used as translators between english-speakers and regular police. Since this situation would be between Thais and Thais and possibly a farang business-owner, it doesn't really involve tourists or tourist police. They would almost certainly just mind their business. The first time they came around our place, the wife kept calling our local police man who looks after our area. He eventually showed up at the station, took the wifes side for a few minutes until he was called away by a bigger police. He then came back and said that he was sorry but can do nothing more.

[thaipod]

I was recently told of another scam where police were watching bars to see if the farang owner are working without a work permit .

A guy I know was approached by so called police when he was changing a CD and opening a beer ,then asked if he had work permit to work behind the bar and proceeded to go through his illegal music collection and threaten to charge him and close his bar . His wife ended up paying a large sum of money a instant fine I think they called it ,for them to leave

[Richard4849]

I was recently told of another scam where police were watching bars to see if the farang owner are working without a work permit .

A guy I know was approached by so called police when he was changing a CD and opening a beer ,then asked if he had work permit to work behind the bar and proceeded to go through his illegal music collection and threaten to charge him and close his bar . His wife ended up paying a large sum of money a instant fine I think they called it ,for them to leave

So, yet another person opening himself up to extortion...by doing things he's not supposed to do in the first place.

Keep your nose clean and your life will be free of these kinds of thugs. If they've got nothing on you, they will look for another victim.

[fester471]

The toursit police, sorry but you must be joking, they are utterly useless have no power and are simply a PR excercise for the Royal Thai Police.

I dont think some people commenting on the thread I started get the issue this is a scam fronted by mafia working for the police no amount of complaining to the police at any level will help they are making a lot of money from this all over Thailand. The only way is to say NO and stand up to them get pictures and lay criminal charges.

Thai business owners are hit as had as farang too but until the Thai people stand up to the corruption which has gotten so much worse in recent times it will not stop and those politicians who perhaps are hoping to reduce it cant do anything unless the people fight back as well.

[Richard4849]

Agreed: just say no! No need to get involved with criminal charges, just say no. Let them try to file criminal charges. Let them try their luck in front if a judge with bogus powers of attorneys. They wouldn't dare to go forward and risk being exposed as fakes in possession of forged documents.

[whyz]

Just an FYI:

These music extorsionists are still at it in Chiang Mai. I can also confirm other reports of them driving a white Toyota Yaris (hatchback) with red mag wheels. There team also consists of a brown Toyota Hilux Tiger 2WD, chrome roll bar, 5 spoke rear mag wheels and non-matching front wheels. Number plate on this truck starts with two thai characters (no thai on keyboard) followed by 1915.

Victims refused to give any money so they held a staff member for about 24 hours then finally released them. To put pressure on, they made it sound like the staff would be in jail till bail was paid. In reality, he just hung out in the lobby for the whole time until 24 hours was up. Obviously it would get complicated legally for the police to hold someone longer based on total BS. So, pay nothing, wait it out!

Also, this incident was dealt with at the very vacant police station on Ratchadamnoen (Sunday market street). Very few police around! The main guys stay out of the station probably to avoid more photos and they hide themselves and vehicles under the tree at the end of the parking area in the dark. Take a peak if you are driving by at night for a gang hanging around the white can in the dark. Another place that was had a few weeks ago was also dealt with at the same station. These guys are now going for more than music too. If they can't nail you for music, they'll try other tactics like the paperwork of staff, work permits, etc so be careful if you have Burmese or hilltribe staff with less than full papers/ID.

All in all, make sure your staff know not to go with anybody unless police in uniform are arresting them. Also, they should sign nothing. If these guys take something, it is stealing. Don't go anywhere with the theives, just take their photos. They hate that so be prepared for them to run, hide, block photo and even loosely try to take the camera from you, although they won't actually fight you for it.

Edited August 6, 2011 by whyz

[Richard4849]

What music company are they purporting to represent again?

[whyz]

What music company are they purporting to represent again?

They won't even say. We suspect they may work for RKT but they won't provide any personal ID or show/say what company they supposedly represent. The fact that the police still back them up under these circumstances make it such blatant corruption.

[Ulysses G.]

They are now targeting other businesses besides bars and restaurants, so everyone with a business that plays music needs to be wary of them.

Edited August 6, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[whyz]

They are now targeting other businesses besides bars and restaurants, so everyone with a business that plays music needs to be wary of them.

Thats true. I also know a guesthouse that was targetted and I "heard" about a massage place too.

[whyz]

They are back in Chiang Mai again, although seems to be different individuals. 4 nights ago they came in our bar with the typical BS. We didn't cooperate by showing them anything other than our music license and they made a big scene, scared most customers away, etc. They also tried to find what was feeding the amp with music but I got in their way physically and asked them in Thai what they are doing, and if they are thieves. They didn't like that but they did back off and stopped trying to locate the music source. One of them had some id card around his neck that was apparently not "police id" but did indicate he was a cop. My wife figured that he probably used to be a cop but likely isn't anymore. Of course, we didn't allow them to confiscate anything, and we refused to go anywhere with them. After about 45 minutes of this charade, they finally pissed off empty handed. Hopefully we won't see them again for another year or so.

They were driving the same white fortuner as the last time they visited my friends bar. They also had a black Vios. We have pictures of both vehicles with number plates and all people involved. My wife had called the real cops and they conveniently arrived 5 minutes after these guys left. "They are going to look into it"...Ya right!

The important thing is to not give them permission to take anything, and to not go anywhere with them. They will tell you very firmly that you must do what they say but they won't actually take anything if you tell them not too, and they won't physically take you either.

They claimed that we had previously played music owned by "Red Beat" although they couldn't even say what the music was. Red Beat website seems to be down at the moment but the last time I looked at it, they did not own anything that I have ever heard of or have ever played. They also wore name tags from the RMS Publishing Co. Ltd which can be read almost entirely in the photos.

Edited January 1, 2012 by whyz

[roamer]

Surely sooner or later they will come up against someone who might persuade them to take up a different career path ? I can think of one individual who numbers a bar amongst his interests who would be decidedly upset were anyone attempt to extort money from him in this fashion.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Surely sooner or later they will come up against someone who might persuade them to take up a different career path ? I can think of one individual who numbers a bar amongst his interests who would be decidedly upset were anyone attempt to extort money from him in this fashion.

If they've lasted this long, they probably know who is an easy target and who to avoid.

[KimoMax]

You should post the Pictures of licenxe plate numbers and faces of these Scammers.

The Scammers were active in Chiang Rai a few months back and about 5 bars paid them,

Stupidity, the Bar owners went with these Scammers to the Police office where they were faced with either paying off the Scammers, or going thru the legal procedures. Of course, the Scammers would not have followed thru and gone to court, but these Bar owners Khao Towed to the fear and paid nearly 20,000 baht each.

Nice nites work for the Scammers.

Follow Whyz advice, Dont let them in and look around without a proper Police Search Warrant.

They are back in Chiang Mai again, although seems to be different individuals. 4 nights ago they came in our bar with the typical BS. We didn't cooperate by showing them anything other than our music license and they made a big scene, scared most customers away, etc. They also tried to find what was feeding the amp with music but I got in their way physically and asked them in Thai what they are doing, and if they are thieves. They didn't like that but they did back off and stopped trying to locate the music source. One of them had some id card around his neck that was apparently not "police id" but did indicate he was a cop. My wife figured that he probably used to be a cop but likely isn't anymore. Of course, we didn't allow them to confiscate anything, and we refused to go anywhere with them. After about 45 minutes of this charade, they finally pissed off empty handed. Hopefully we won't see them again for another year or so.

They were driving the same white fortuner as the last time they visited my friends bar. They also had a black Vios. We have pictures of both vehicles with number plates and all people involved. My wife had called the real cops and they conveniently arrived 5 minutes after these guys left. "They are going to look into it"...Ya right!

The important thing is to not give them permission to take anything, and to not go anywhere with them. They will tell you very firmly that you must do what they say but they won't actually take anything if you tell them not too, and they won't physically take you either.

They claimed that we had previously played music owned by "Red Beat" although they couldn't even say what the music was. Red Beat website seems to be down at the moment but the last time I looked at it, they did not own anything that I have ever heard of or have ever played. They also wore name tags from the RMS Publishing Co. Ltd which can be read almost entirely in the photos.

[eyecatcher]

I have just read 75 comments about the so called "music police" because last night we had a "heads up" on someone targetting massages/spas in the changklan area.

We are in the other side of the city but we dont have a music licence, so today i was in a flap, removing my cds,memory sticks and working out how to explain to customers why a spa has no music.,,whilst searching the net for a licence provider.

after reading the comments, i duly put the music back on,plugged in the cctv cameras (which i dont use) and try to relax about it.

back to the comments....no one has even suggested that there is actually a legitimate team of copyright police; or work permit police...so every comment leads me to believe that everyone is trying it on and i have nothing to fear.

so, scammers aside, do the authorities (govt orpolice or immigration) actually goout of their way to make trouble for everyone.

incidently the tip off we had was the owner was at a police station looking at 25k fine...scam or genuine???

[Swiss1960]

I just opened a thread in the Pattaya forum about this, because it seems to happening there now also...

see

[stament]

This is an old post but I wondered if the incidents described are still happening in Chiang Mai today?

[scottiejohn]

31 minutes ago, stament said:

This is an old post but I wondered if the incidents described are still happening in Chiang Mai today?

Why not ask your local CM bar owner?

[theblether]

59 minutes ago, stament said:

This is an old post but I wondered if the incidents described are still happening in Chiang Mai today?

 

These guys walked into a restaurant at Thapae Gate late 2012/early 2013. They harassed the female owner, the farang husband was on standby in case it got violent. The owners brother, your typical country boy walked in unexpected and saw his sister intimidated. He exploded, these clowns crapped it and backed off. 

 

A few days later the main man ( I forget his name ) took a heavy kicking and from  possibly flawed memory, landed in the moat. The female big mouth of the scam group ran for her life. She was notorious, evil. 

 

I knew the brother I mentioned earlier and can testify to that incident. There I no doubt the ßecond story is also true. I haven't heard anything about them since in CM. Others may know more. 

 

My "greatest" memory of the incident was the farang husband noting his all-wise and supposedly strong wife shrunk into submissive rice farmers daughter mode while her supposedly feckless brother terrified these scammers. The farang learned a lot that night. 

 

As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, one day they walked into the wrong place. 

 

What I will say is that military coip of 2014 eradicated a lot of the systematic scamming. Several notorious and high profile business were permanently closed. The coup also damaged CM nightlife and it has never recovered. CM today is a different place from when this OP was posted. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by theblether

[stament]

14 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Why not ask your local CM bar owner?

More coverage on here and I don't know any local bar owners.

[scottiejohn]

8 minutes ago, stament said:

More coverage on here and I don't know any local bar owners.

If you are not involved in the local Bar scene then what is your interest in an 11 Year Old topic?

 

[stament]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

If you are not involved in the local Bar scene then what is your interest in an 11 Year Old topic?

 

I was enquiring for a friend who is considering opening a restaurant.  Does it matter anyway?  Does everyone who posts on here need to be questioned by you as to why they are asking something?  Don't you have something better to do with your time?

Edited October 24, 2023 by stament