Swede accuses karaoke parlour of rip-off
The Nation

CHIANG MAI: -- A Swedish businessman lodged a complaint against a Chiang Mai karaoke parlour for alleged overcharging yesterday.

He said he ordered just five small bottles of beer and sang some songs with female staff for a few hours but ended up being charged over Bt50,000.

The 49-year-old foreigner said more than 10 men surrounded him when he offered Bt3,000 to clear the bill at 5am. He was held against his will for two hours during which the staff used his credit card to withdraw cash.

"I returned to my hotel and then consulted my friends. They advised me to go to the police," the Swede said at the Muang Chiang Mai Police Station.

Police say they are investigating the case.


-- The Nation 2013-12-30

Stay completely out of those places unless you have ten big Swedish friends with you.

I'd like to see ten of those tiny shit punks try that on me in the US.

Fighting the good fight!

The guy is clearly out of his element and probably a newbie. It's really good to see him take this to the authorities. I hope the bastard wins, but he most likely won't get his money as the police probably already have a stake in the place.

ABBA songs ....very expensive !! .....

Fighting the good fight!

The guy is clearly out of his element and probably a newbie. It's really good to see him take this to the authorities. I hope the bastard wins, but he most likely won't get his money as the police probably already have a stake in the place.

That there are those karaoke bars here in BKK, I know, but did not think they have them in Chiang Mai.

The police will collect some percentage of that money, and the case resolved.

It is how it works here...

I'm sure he will be more careful the next time.

What a night he could have had for 50,000 Baht !!

ABBA songs ....very expensive !! .....

Ohh... they where there LIVE

These "clip joints" are quite common all over the world. Police are involved for sure. Even at go go bars, I pay cash for every drink. No "check bin".

If cash was taken from his credit card ... can he not contact the bank for a refund?

If money taken from an ATM .... do they not have cameras installed?

Another farang screwed in Thailand .... should be the TAT slogan

These karaoke bars are notorious, they are all owned by one mafia guy and in recent years have gotten so out of hand the managers were all called to a meeting with the police a few months ago to 'explain themselves', complaints were getting too much.

I went in awhile back to 'investigate' and saw how blatantly they 'load' you. A one-hour session of singing was 5,000 baht between 4 of us, all drinks (think: 100 baht per ice bucket x 10).

But 50,000 baht really takes the cake, that is truly absurd.

I write travel guides and warn anyone coming to Chiang Mai to stay away from them, most people know this and consequently these places usually only get one or two customers a night, when they do it's 'fleece time'.

Police say they are investigating the case.

Sgt. Somchai will speak to all the staff about the incident at the premises while he is there to pay them their wages and collect the night's takings, before 'interviewing' 2 more staff applications from Laos.

It is not fair at all, these criminals are using karaoke to steal money from tourists. It happens all the time, it happened also to my son and his friends 2 years ago, also in Chiang mai. They were kept hostage the whole night and i had to bail them out in the morning.

Sadly the Swede probably didn't realise he had to pay for the female company and their drinks too.

He sang some songs "with female staff" and then he left at 5am ... how many female staff and what did they drink? Then he consulted with his friends.....who were, doubtless, experts on Thai nightlife.

ThB 50,000 in one night ... now there's a night to remember. I wonder whether there were other customers who could verify his story......at those prices I suspect not.

Good to see that he took legal action. It probably won't get him much but at least its another warning to everyone to stay away from these ripoff joints.

Stay completely out of those places unless you have ten big Swedish friends with you.

I'd like to see ten of those tiny shit punks try that on me in the US.

Even ten big Swedes wouldn't have been enough.

He was up against the entertainment mafia in cahoots with the cops.

Push them too far and you'll end up a "suicide".

Them and clothing shops with a foreign interest.

Good to see that he took legal action. It probably won't get him much but at least its another warning to everyone to stay away from these ripoff joints.

As long as the police have the report, he can consult with a lawyer and have the bar owner taken to court. With a court case, if the police are involved in the scam it will come to light. All police are bent, but not all courts.

good God

I bet even some of the nation's best medical practitioners don’t earn that kind of money

The same thing happened to me and a mate once. They tried to overcharge many thousands and we refused to pay. We got surrounded by about 6 guys with lumps of wood. We spent about 20 minutes trying to sort it out with them but they insisted we pay. I was about to hand over the money when about 12 Aussie footballers came in the bar. I quickly had a word with them and told them what was going on. My mate and I then slipped out of the bar without paying anything. Then we ran like hell.

Good to see that he took legal action. It probably won't get him much but at least its another warning to everyone to stay away from these ripoff joints.

"warning to everyone"................................How many people visiting Thailand read Thai Visa ?

Where is this place located? What is its name?

If they put this on his credit card and now that he is a free man, can't he just notify the credit card company that this amount is in dispute and they will halt the payment until after an investigation has been carried out? He could say that he only signed for it under duress.

These "clip joints" are quite common all over the world. Police are involved for sure. Even at go go bars, I pay cash for every drink. No "check bin".

Not a bad idea. Maybe a check bin every drink so they can't just lie and say you never paid anything, that you were only "tipping" as you went.

This astronomically overcharging thing is very unusual. It has only happened to him, and me, and most of my friends, and people I've heard of. What a coincidence. Some "higher power" is involved. That's why people just pay their bin and learn their lesson.

Mamma Mia.

Just last week my self and two friends went to one of these bars just a few minutes from night bazaar,We ordered one bottle of black label and three ladies who were to pour our drinks and sing and dance,we were told we would be charged for the use of room for one hour and the three waitresses for one hour,the ladies would share the same bottle and we would be charged for some mixers and ice,to which we agreed.The bill arrived after one hour and was 29,500.So we told them this was a rip off and to call the police,about five mins later walk in two guys in a uniform and basically after an hour we walk out 10,000 baht down plus 3000 the woman snatched at the start and denied later.Was just glad to leave and did not take note of the name of this bar unfortunately.

He is lucky they just took his money, people have been killed for far less...For every good thing in this country it is counter balanced by people like that...

You cannot generate too much publicity. These karaoke people are vermin. They prey on those that are uninformed enough to step into one of those hellholes. How many stories have we heard about this? It is absolutely impossible to consider the possibility that the police are ignorant of what is going on. It is more than likely they are in on the crime. One more instance of the thai police being nothing more than a revenue collection agency. They do not have a crime fighting bone in their bodies.

would come to no surprise if the owner(s) are police

Karaoke singing is a crime in itself and should be punished in the harshest manner.

Perhaps the tourist police should be keeping an eye on these places and warning tourists of the pitfalls if you enter...... nahhhh

Maybe the tourists just need to use their 'correct' head when deciding if to go there or not

I would imagine this is a cash withdrawal on a credit card rather than a purchase. Or a number of different cash withdrawals or a number of different credit cards. I don't think these can be reversed or stopped.

The poster who said he was lucky not to have been killed missed the point here, they didn't want to kill him, they wanted to terrify him into handing over all his immediate ways to get cash, which is credit and debit cards for most but cash, traveller's cheques, gold and silver would also be ungratefully accepted.