Swedish businessman accuses Chiang Mai karaoke parlour of rip-off

[slipperylobster]

Those karaoke bars sure are putting a bad face on Chiang Mai. Seems like there are no limits on overpricing. Most of those junky looking places have ugly women, plastic kiddy stools, and bad audio. Not to mention, they are mostly cheap, sidewalk type operations.

Not even slightly alluring. Shame on you karaoke seeking Nordic types.

and yes, Abba style went out with the bell bottoms and wide collars.

[cbluck58]

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

Farangs get screwed in Thailand because they are stupid Farangs - the ones with a modicum of intelligence rarely get screwed - you should get on a plane mate...

[Costas2008]

Trentham, on 30 Dec 2013 - 10:38, said:

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.

What a nightmare!!!!!!

Bet you were badly sweating......when you woke up

[rumbo1]

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

It says cash was taken from his credit card ?

Does that mean they used an ATM to withdraw money ? If so I didn't think it was possible to withdraw 50,000

If it charged to his card with his signature under duress I think he should be able to claim it back or cancel the transaction now he has a police report.

Is it just me ? But something doesn't sound quite right ?

[Briggsy]

I carry 4 credit cards. Daily cash withdrawal limit is £300. 4 x £300 = £1200 = ฿60,000. This is how I think it proceeded.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Briggsy

[danstarr]

and yes, Abba style went out with the bell bottoms and wide collars.

What? Bell-bottoms and wide collars are out? Damn. No wonder people have been giving me funny looks.

[1ma]

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

Thainess.

[lanng khao]

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

money money money..

[salapau]

Madness - How did they even know he had a credit card and why would he sign the bill off. Ask the price of a beer, if happy order 1 and pay immediately. If not happy do the off !.

[Thaddeus]

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

money money money..

Quite a few Dancing Queens around too I expect.

[slipperylobster]

When I got that bill, I would have smiled and told them I needed one more song. Then I would have turned the mike all the way up and screamed "Fire !!!" Somebody call the fire department !!!!

[lanng khao]

Don't remember abba singing that..

[kennypowers]

The majority of bad shi* that happens to foreigners in Thailand happens in bars and red light areas. Stay away, stay safe and enjoy the real Thailand. Thais that work in and around the night industry generally aren't the type you want to make acquaintance with. If you spend a lot of time in such places expect to run into some problems now and again.

It pains me when I meet someone back home who says, "I had a mate who went to Thailand and got ripped off by some girl. He says their all hookers". Really? Where was your friend staying? "Pattaya. He met her in some bar". Go figure.

[cheeryble]

1. Kidnapping

2. Theft of credit card.

3. Some karaokes seem very reasonable (stepped in merely for investigative purposes). In the "better" ones you gotta realise you're getting the exclusive company of very pretty girls and should expect to pay for it.

4. I have a feeling some of the johns in these stories go in out of their brains and the true facts don't come back out.

This Swede for example left at 5am.....you think he could remember the facts?

5. Vigilante needed....."Superjohn".....to "spread a little light"

[LivinLOS]

All this "never go in there" and "they are all clip joints" I have been in Chiang Mai karaoke places a bunch of times and while the bills were large (15k or so once) they were what was quoted going in.. a few hundred per girl per hour, bottle prices, mixers and ice, etc etc.. Last time we had 7 girls for a whole night till closing and 3 or 4 bottles of vodka and mixers and the entire night cost the 15k mentioned.

If you come over as a weak mark, you will get taken as a weak mark.. If you ask the prices of things before you consume them, know your going to be paying for the company also (and be sure about the price and how many of them) and dont end up slobberingly drunk.. You generally get the deal as stated. If not ask clearly why not.

When I hear these continual tales of people being ripped off, it makes me wonder where they go I dont go.. And usually comes down to them.

[markie8a]

Had a discussion with manager and agreed price for room,drinks and waitress,we were more than happy to pay 5 or 6 thousand the bill should of been,29500 was about 6 times our bill.These places are the worst i have seen seen.

[NeverSure]

1. Kidnapping

2. Theft of credit card.

3. Some karaokes seem very reasonable (stepped in merely for investigative purposes). In the "better" ones you gotta realise you're getting the exclusive company of very pretty girls and should expect to pay for it.

4. I have a feeling some of the johns in these stories go in out of their brains and the true facts don't come back out.

This Swede for example left at 5am.....you think he could remember the facts?

5. Vigilante needed....."Superjohn".....to "spread a little light"

I don't know Thai law which always makes me nervous.

Where I come from, requiring you to stay or be where you don't want to be is kidnapping. That's a Federal beef that carries a 20 year prison sentence.

Robbing you at the same time makes both crimes "aggravated" meaning more serious for each. The robbery would be a Federal beef because of the aggravation combined with the kidnapping.

Those guys might get concurrent sentences, but they'd still do a minimum of 20 years in Federal prison with no chance for parole.

Also where I come from, I'd open up and get the closest two or three and the rest would run. They'd be caught and serve their time, and I'd skate free because I would have been in reasonable "fear of death or serious bodily harm." However, I've never heard of anything like that happening where I come from. I hear about such things only in Thailand. The Thais know we are easy marks.

[sustento]

He wants to think himself lucky he got some ABBA. In Marseilles you don't even get that.

[Estrada]

They tried this on myself in an upstairs bar in Patpong 30 years ago. I offered to pay for one girl's drink and specifically said I did not want to buy the other girls a drink. Shortly after I sat down I was given a bill for B3,000 (30 years ago). I asked them for a written receipt with the name of the bar on it to show to the police, they refused and the bill was settled for B200. All bars must by law have receipts with the name of their bar on them. If you are scammed in this way you can take your written receipt to the tourist police and they will go with you and recover your money. Usually, if you ask for the written receipt, and say you will report it to the police, they will back down. Although they pay the police protection money, the police nor the bar wants any adverse publicity or to waste time, when they could be looking for their next victim.

The upstairs bar in Patpong is still there ripping off tourists.

[jacko45k]

I carry 4 credit cards. Daily cash withdrawal limit is £300. 4 x £300 = £1200 = ฿60,000. This is how I think it proceeded.

When I go out I do not carry any credit cards!

Find that best.

Chiangmai eh....... no jet-ski opportunities, but it sure isn't the first time I heard of rip-off karaokie places from there.

[stockholm1995]

Swedish businessman if you are reading this.

If you paid with your credit card, you just need to call the bank. They will not pay the karaoke bar and i am pretty sure the bar will loose the right to use the card terminal.

[SVS]

In the last few months I have read several reports about Chiang Mai karaoke bars rep-offs like this one here on TV. Why is it that I never see the names and address of these dives? The thread has little preventive value without the names and addresses of the offenders. I want to see names and addresses. A little help here please.

[slipperylobster]

In the last few months I have read several reports about Chiang Mai karaoke bars rep-offs like this one here on TV. Why is it that I never see the names and address of these dives? The thread has little preventive value without the names and addresses of the offenders. I want to see names and addresses. A little help here please.

Agreed. I would be very careful in this matter. In Thailand, defamation laws can be a bit brutal. I suppose it is out of caution. Even if charges are true. It was much better when I was on Active Military duty, as we would all get the skinny on particular clubs that were "off limits" due to these sort of problems. Tourists are just not aware.

[cheeryble]

A list of the good ones would be OK wouldn't it?

:-)

[MisterTee]

A list of the good ones would be OK wouldn't it?

:-)

Yes, it would be OK to list the good places... but it would be a deadly bore to do so.

People want to hear about corruption and sleaze, the low dives and honey-traps that lure in farangs who are on the prowl at night for poon-tang and cheap-thrills.

What a frisson the members get when they read about the hapless dude being presented with an outrageous bill while surrounded by heavies - meaner than junkyard dogs - demanding payment or they'll call the cops.

That's the basic scenario of the opening gambit. How it will play out is open to infinite speculation.

Thailand is never dull.

[stockholm1995]

In the last few months I have read several reports about Chiang Mai karaoke bars rep-offs like this one here on TV. Why is it that I never see the names and address of these dives? The thread has little preventive value without the names and addresses of the offenders. I want to see names and addresses. A little help here please.

Agreed. I would be very careful in this matter. In Thailand, defamation laws can be a bit brutal. I suppose it is out of caution. Even if charges are true. It was much better when I was on Active Military duty, as we would all get the skinny on particular clubs that were "off limits" due to these sort of problems. Tourists are just not aware.

You guys are too worried for the defamation laws in Thailand. I am pretty sure a karaoke bar could do anything if somebody right about them in a internet forum.

The thai netizens do it all the time.

Exemple: I visited ...... karaoke bar and i ordered 1 bottle sangsom and 2 buckets ice and 4 bottles soda water and they charged me 50000 baht.

What could the karaoke bar owner do about it? I didn't say they ripped me off. I only said what i ordered and how much i paid.

Edited January 3, 2014 by stockholm1995

[ableguy]

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.

I think an ATM was involved

[hiso1956]

You guys would believe anything. He probably had 10 beers with 6 girls in the room for several hours buying them drinks.

[Paangjang]

They tried this on myself in an upstairs bar in Patpong 30 years ago. I offered to pay for one girl's drink and specifically said I did not want to buy the other girls a drink. Shortly after I sat down I was given a bill for B3,000 (30 years ago). I asked them for a written receipt with the name of the bar on it to show to the police, they refused and the bill was settled for B200. All bars must by law have receipts with the name of their bar on them. If you are scammed in this way you can take your written receipt to the tourist police and they will go with you and recover your money. Usually, if you ask for the written receipt, and say you will report it to the police, they will back down. Although they pay the police protection money, the police nor the bar wants any adverse publicity or to waste time, when they could be looking for their next victim.

The upstairs bar in Patpong is still there ripping off tourists.

Either that or they get some of the security to take turns at knocking you out....

"They will back down"

Not so sure about that one

[harada]

Round up the usual suspects.