A Positive Experience With The Police!

[cnxnicolas]

This week I decided to buy a friend of mine and myself a beer at the Number One bar, the self-appointed friendliest bar in Chiang Mai.

I buy a beer in this bar quite regularly, it's tastfully decorated, has friendly staff, most of the time friendly blokes around me, so it's an atmosphere I can appreciate.

While parking my car at the bar, I hit a decorating pot, filled with water and some very nice flowers, with my car. The pot, situated almost on the public road, unfortunately broke. What a shame and what bad luck that the always friendly guard/driver wasn't there that evening to park my car!

A man came to me, made a gesture of making up the bill and spoke the following words into my direction: "You pay!". The man did not introduce himself, so I asked him if he happens to be the owner of the bar. "Yes" was his answer. I was surprised by this somewhat unusual attitude because I would have expected a much more professional approach towards a customer for an owner, active in the hospitality business.

Anyway, the situation didn't really develop in a more positive direction. The next thing the man (now I know his name is Fred) said: "You live here?". Just like that. Not one more word. I got the feeling that the man (Fred) was sort of interrogating me. I told him that I was surprised by his unelegant even rude attitude which, I think, did not really help to solve the situation. I mean, normally an owner of a bar/restaurant/hotel/shop/etc. would invite you to sit down at a table, maybe even offer you some water and a problem like this is solved within 3 minutes.

But not this entrepreneur (Fred)! The man (Fred) told me that he just ordered one of his staff to call the police. While waiting for the police I called my insurance company to come over and asked myself if this very same man (Fred) had created the pay-off "the friendliest bar in Chiang Mai" himself.

After a while a police officer came in. Alone. He talked with one of the girls, obviously working in the bar, for some 20 seconds and then came in my direction, smiled and said: "You pay".

I told him that I was not going to pay anything at this moment any longer and that I had called my insurance company to come over. Now I noticed some confusion by both the girl working in the bar and the tamruat while they were discussing this perhaps surprising and unforseen next step in the situation. This time, the consultation between the girl working in the bar and the tamruat took a lot more time but at the end it seemed that the tamruat had worked out something: I had to give him my passport and follow him to the Muang Chiang Mai police station. And off we went, the tamruat on his motorbike and me in my car, leaving my friend behind and my almost full khuat jai beer Leo. I hoped the girls in the bar would keep my beer cold in a fridge until my re-entry.

At the police station the tamruad briefed his -3 starred- boss, who looked at me, smiled a bit, asked me for my carkeys and dismissed the tamruat after taking my passport from him. Moments later the same girl working in the bar, my insurance man, 3 other tamruads and a volunteer farang tamruad walked in. I asked the girl working in the bar why she was here. She answered that she is the owner of the bar.

I must say that my knowledge of Phasa Thai is poor but I could distill that the -3 starred- boss asked the girl working in the bar how much the cost of the pot was (thaorai?).

The girl working in the bar said something very softly so I could hardly hear what she said. Not sure but I think I heared in the sentense something like the words meung and pan, but again, not sure of course.

Anyway, great hilarity in the office and now things went quick!

A female tamruat asked me if I wanted some water, the volunteer farang policeman told me that he never was asked to come over for a silly case like this and another tamruad wanted to shake hands with me and told me twice that he had seen me somewhere in the city (?). My insurance man asked me to fill in a form and to come over to his office soon. I noticed that the girl working in the bar had slipped out of the door.

After the -3 starred- tamruad had given me back my passport and keys, we all left the building to my car, chatted, made wais to each other and off I went back to my friend and my beer in the Number One bar, the self-appointed friendliest bar in Chiang Mai.

I did not see the man who told me that he is the owner of the bar (Fred) as I did not see my beer, so I just ordered a new one and enjoyed my evening, despite loosing at least 2 hours .

But loosing those 2 hours will not keep me out of the Number One bar, the self-appointed friendliest bar in Chiang Mai. And I am happy to communicate this positive experience with the tamruat with you guys. It's priceless.

Edited June 4, 2011 by cnxnicolas

[slapout]

You have to enjoy the way they try you on here. You will really enjoy next years insurance bill which will reflect the claim made. Fred has probably headed down the soi to another area to look for potential payees. Either that or he is renting out a apartment when someone is on holiday.

[Semper]

Avoid the place.

[Fishenough]

You admittedly drove into someone else's property, and never paid for the damages preferring instead to register an insurance claim?

A meter wide, and high, pot cost us the tremendous amount of 350 Baht, would that have cut in to your Leo beer money?

[thaimiller]

Sorry don't believe you. Even more so as its your first post.

[mallmagician]

After the apparent owner of the bar spoke to him in that way, rather than try to resolve it in a friendly manner, then Im not surprised he called his insurance company. The police being brought in to solve it - surely means you use what you pay for in your insurance. Especially as the girl that went to the police station clearly was trying to say this pot was several thousand baht. Can't quite work out the OP's phonetics, but it could have 10,000 baht she sheepishly tried to tell the cops.

And welcome to the forum to this guy. Seems like a friendly chap, and he doesn't appear to be Trolling.

IMHO mods should remove the attacks in the posts above on the OP - what a way to welcome someone to the forum! Sheesh.

[mallmagician]

Sorry don't believe you. Even more so as its your first post.

True - Its a first post, but entirely plausible situation. Certainly not deserving of the comments above yours, calling him a T*at, and a Prat etc etc.

Seems like a very precise story to be completely made up, and a bit elaborate to be a troll.

Maybe Im too naive.

[Wallaby]

I must be missing something.

Someone named Fred said he owned the bar and wanted payment. Then a girl turns up and says that she owns the bar.

If that is correct then I too wouldn't be so keen to pay. But then again, I'm not so sure I've understood what happened correctly.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

You have to enjoy the way they try you on here. You will really enjoy next years insurance bill which will reflect the claim made.

Not really. Would work like that in the West, but for a totally minor charge (if any) there would still be the regular decrease in the annual insurance fee. Also they don't seem to mind to come all the way out for something silly like this.

What a dick you clearly are. Either that or youre taking the p...

Why on earth would you drive a car into one of the narrowest Sois in town just to visit this bar which is 50 yards off Loi Kroh?

I do it often too. Did it yesterday, actualy. Also I like them having placed some stuff near that soi because it will keep the speed of vehicles somewhat down. (visually it looks narrower, so people slow down, which is good; it's very close to the actual bar entrance and very easy to step into traffic from there.)

Someone named Fred said he owned the bar and wanted payment. Then a girl turns up and says that she owns the bar.

They're a couple. Bet she wasn't too pleased to be asked to go argue over a stupid pot at the police station.

True - Its a first post, but entirely plausible situation. Certainly not deserving of the comments above yours, calling him a T*at, and a Prat etc etc.

Seems like a very precise story to be completely made up, and a bit elaborate to be a troll. Maybe Im too naive.

Well, I believe the core facts; he hit something and something broke. But as to who got impolite first, that part got stuck in the firewall in between my ears and my brain. I don't have an opinion on that.

If I was in the same situation I would like to believe that my relationship with the bar owner lady and staff is good enough that they would trust me to replace the thing. I think those pots cost something like 400-500 baht at Khamtiang. Whatever they cost, not enough to make me lose 2 hours on a night out.

Edited June 4, 2011 by WinnieTheKhwai

[WinnieTheKhwai]

From my understanding i don't think the OP was at any time unwilling to pay for the damage to the pot, it appears he was disappointed with the attitude of the "owner" who was aggressive and unfriendly. His post comes across as completely reasonable to me.

It does, but who knows what he was like after a couple Beer Laos at night. As stated, it's pointless to discuss minor details as to who got upset or impolite first. What I'm reading is that there was a minor breakage, and there were two grown Farang men who weren't able to solve it between themselves, and instead embarked on a mission to go entertain local police and an insurance agent for two hours.

Heck, if you buy two bottles of some of their Belgian beers you will have spent more than the price of a stupid pot.

[harrry]

I clipped a pendant lamp with my wheelchair which was hanging in an electric shop doorway. THey told me they wanted 30000baht. When I got on the phone to the insurance number with which I still had travel insurance they imediately dropped their request to 500 baht which was still too much but I paid.

I quite believe the OP.

[Tywais]

I just removed several flame/troll/useless posts and responses to them. Guess no one has heard of 'benefit of the doubt'. Be civil guys, I have little patience with attacks as has shown up here and especially against new members.

//note - please use the report function when you see a rule violation.

[TheFishman1]

After reading all of the above I think from now on instead of telling people I live in Thailand I think I'll say I live in Disneyland LOL

[Contractor]

Another way to look at this story is to see the sense in leaving one's vehicle at home when going out on the beer.What might the OP hit with his car upon leaving the bar...?

Edited June 4, 2011 by Contractor

[cnxnicolas]

Another way to look at this story is to see the sense in leaving one's vehicle at home when going out on the beer.What might the OP hit with his car upon leaving the bar...?

I understand your concerns and agree with you. But I think that it is -in relation to the content of my original posting- a bit of another subject, isn't it?

[Beetlejuice]

The words meung and pan as the OP mentioned sound like; nèung pun, 1000 baht.

What I would have done in that situation is apologised and offered 500 baht as compensation for the smashed pot. Also I would not have given my name or any other details about myself.

If they whoever they were kept insisting on more money, then I would have gave them a take it or leave it ultimatum. And after that if they still persisted on more money, then I would have just got into my car and drove off.

These days I rarely venture into the Loi Kroh road area. Getting very dodgy around there.

Edited June 4, 2011 by Beetlejuice

[Tywais]

The words meung and pan as the OP mentioned sound like; nèung pun, 1000 baht.

Also could sound like meun pan - 11,000 Baht.

[bolx]

perhaps if you had'nt been drink driving you wouldnt have hit the pot! entirely your fault and you should have paid up!

[Beetlejuice]

The words meung and pan as the OP mentioned sound like; nèung pun, 1000 baht.

Also could sound like meun pan - 11,000 Baht.

6000 baht and that`s my final offer.

[Theo007]

Some of the people commenting here must really have got out of bed on the wrong side this morning or be suffering from the effects of a hang over.

[getgoin]

The Number 1 Bar is a great place and lots of the locals hang out there. I wouldn't let this minor problem bother you.

I once made a turn too sharp when I was parking and nicked the tail light of another truck. Lots of excitement and "you pay, you pay," and I said sure that tomorrow I would come around and take care of it. The next day my wife went over and the man asked for 500 baht and that was the end of it. I'm not sure about calling the police and filing a claim with the insurance company for splitting a pot. It might have been better to just pull out a 1000 Baht note.

I believe Fred is the owner.

[orang37]

The principle of Ockham's Razor suggests the phonemes 'mu' ... 'ng' purportedly heard by the OP were the Thai pejorative third person pronoun, said when the Thai actors in this psychodrama were discussing him. We leave the translation of that pronoun (a dangerous one for a farang to ever use) as an exercise for the reader (our own translation would be some melange[1] of the English words 'a*hole,' 's*head,' 'dufus,' 'poltroon,' 'd*head').

If, and the OP does not state this is the case, he heard the phonemes above in combination with some form of 'b/p ... 'n,' then another interpretation is that he was being referred to idiomatically as the "village idiot" (mun baan), which makes perfect sense in the light of the events fictionalized here.

The credibility of this story converges towards absolute zero, however, the fabricator of this story, ioho, shows creative promise worthy of possible future membership in the cult of memorialists of 'Le Craw,' the mythical paradise conjured in the heads of a certain class of farang, loosely incorporating, as 'lost Eden,' as 'Garden of Earthly Delights,' a one-hundred meter strip on a street in Chiang Mai full of whores.

We look forward to future souffles-that-do-not-quite-rise, but do amuse in their falling, by this up-and-coming (down-and-going ?) budding (rooting ?) entertainer (entertainment ?).

~o:37;

[1] we do not use the word 'melange' here in the geographic sense of "a mappable body of rock characterized by a lack of continuous bedding and the inclusion of fragments of rock of all sizes, contained in a fine-grained deformed matrix." but, yes, that would be tempting, particularly since it comes from the same French root from which the word 'melee' comes.[2]

[2] see Wikipedia entry for 'melange'

Edited June 5, 2011 by orang37

[Contractor]

The principle of Ockham's Razor suggests the phonemes 'mu' ... 'ng' purportedly heard by the OP were the Thai pejorative third person pronoun, said when the Thai actors in this psychodrama were discussing him. We leave the translation of that pronoun (a dangerous one for a farang to ever use) as an exercise for the reader (our own translation would be some melange[1] of the English words 'a*hole,' 's*head,' 'dufus,' 'poltroon,' 'd*head').

If, and the OP does not state this is the case, he heard the phonemes above in combination with some form of 'b/p ... 'n,' then another interpretation is that he was being referred to idiomatically as the "village idiot" (mun baan), which makes perfect sense in the light of the events fictionalized here.

The credibility of this story converges towards absolute zero, however, the fabricator of this story, ioho, shows creative promise worthy of possible future membership in the cult of memorialists of 'Le Craw,' the mythical paradise conjured in the heads of a certain class of farang, loosely incorporating, as 'lost Eden,' as 'Garden of Earthly Delights,' a one-hundred meter strip on a street in Chiang Mai full of whores.

We look forward to future souffles-that-do-not-quite-rise, but do amuse in their falling, by this up-and-coming (down-and-going ?) budding (rooting ?) entertainer (entertainment ?).

~o:37;

[1] we do not use the word 'melange' here in the geographic sense of "a mappable body of rock characterized by a lack of continuous bedding and the inclusion of fragments of rock of all sizes, contained in a fine-grained deformed matrix." but, yes, that would be tempting, particularly since it comes from the same French root from which the word 'melee' comes.[2]

[2] see Wikipedia entry for 'melange'

[3] see Wikipedia entries for boring and drivel.

Edited June 5, 2011 by Contractor

[pgthompson]

The principle of Ockham's Razor suggests the phonemes 'mu' ... 'ng' purportedly heard by the OP were the Thai pejorative third person pronoun, said when the Thai actors in this psychodrama were discussing him. We leave the translation of that pronoun (a dangerous one for a farang to ever use) as an exercise for the reader (our own translation would be some melange[1] of the English words 'a*hole,' 's*head,' 'dufus,' 'poltroon,' 'd*head').

If, and the OP does not state this is the case, he heard the phonemes above in combination with some form of 'b/p ... 'n,' then another interpretation is that he was being referred to idiomatically as the "village idiot" (mun baan), which makes perfect sense in the light of the events fictionalized here.

The credibility of this story converges towards absolute zero, however, the fabricator of this story, ioho, shows creative promise worthy of possible future membership in the cult of memorialists of 'Le Craw,' the mythical paradise conjured in the heads of a certain class of farang, loosely incorporating, as 'lost Eden,' as 'Garden of Earthly Delights,' a one-hundred meter strip on a street in Chiang Mai full of whores.

We look forward to future souffles-that-do-not-quite-rise, but do amuse in their falling, by this up-and-coming (down-and-going ?) budding (rooting ?) entertainer (entertainment ?).

~o:37;

[1] we do not use the word 'melange' here in the geographic sense of "a mappable body of rock characterized by a lack of continuous bedding and the inclusion of fragments of rock of all sizes, contained in a fine-grained deformed matrix." but, yes, that would be tempting, particularly since it comes from the same French root from which the word 'melee' comes.[2]

[2] see Wikipedia entry for 'melange'

[3] see Wikipedia entries for boring and drivel.

[lanna2011]

the pot calling the bar black?

[orang37]

the pot calling the bar black?

The p*sspott calling the pub collect ?

~o:37;

[harrry]

the pot calling the bar black?

The p*sspott calling the pub collect ?

~o:37;

Isw this orang37s shortest post on record? Hate to say it but his longer ones are generally more interesting.

[orang37]

Isw this orang37s shortest post on record? Hate to say it but his longer ones are generally more interesting.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Harry,

Always nice to receive one of your picture postcards from Wolkenkuckucksheim !

best, ~o:37;

[uptheos]

I wonder why a 'police' post, suddenly turned into a 'tamruat' post........equal ops?

"Right said Fred, both of us together" etc..................."we were getting nowhere and so we had a cup of tea"................ Sounds like that's what should have happened here.

[Paagai]

A year or so back a large truck from a major construction site across the way demolished a large concrete pot with palm tree outside my house. It was quite new and we still had the receipt - about 600 at Kamteing (OK - probably the Farang price....) Fortunately, we caught them in the act with his mate trying to put the pot back together.....

With lots of smiles we confronted him. He tried to deny it, even as my Thai staff are taking photos. He was about to drive off until we say we will call the dreaded (ROFL) "Tamruat" and his employer who's number is on the truck.

He immediately offered 300Bt and a sob story about being a poor truck driver. We accepted and he left with everyone waiing smiling and Kor thoting. When in Thailand....

I'd call that a result, even thought those lovely people at Kamtieng still reamed us for a new pot.

Moral: Jai Yen Yen