Two Thais arrested for assaulting Australian father, son

[Thaivisa News]

Chiang Mai:- Two karaoke bar workers were arrested and fined Thursday after they and other beat up an Australian father and his teenage son Tuesday morning following dispute over a bill.

Sumon Monthong and Nithikorn Laolee, workers of the Violin (Kinnaree) karaoke bar, were arrested for jointly assaulting Jackson Peter Kusen, 18, and his father, Peter Paul Joseph Hernbaker, 60.

The father and son ran for their life and escaped into the Huafai Temple at 6 am Tuesday.

Mueang Chiang Mai police station chief Pol Col Weerayut Prasopchokechai said Sumon and Nithikorn admitted assaulting the father and son following a dispute over the Australians' bill.

Weerayut said the father and son drank 13 bottles of beer at the bar and five bar girls sat and talked to them. The shop charged the two for Bt13,000 but they refused to pay and wanted to pay only Bt1,000.

During the argument, the son came out of the shop and found the tuktuk driver who drove him and his father to the shop, Weerayut said.

He said the son grabbed the head of the tuktuk driver, Phuwanart Kulsuwan, 45, out of anger that he drove them to an expensive shop.

Other tuktuk drivers came to the rescue of Phuwanart and engaged in the fight with young Australian. At the moment, the father came out to help his son. The bar workers then came out to join in beating the father and son, prompting them to flee to the temple, the station chief said.

The two bar workers were ordered to pay a compensation of Bt9,000 for the father and son while the two Australians were fined Bt100 each for attacking the tuktuk driver.

[Squeegee]

What a mess by everyone involved.

Meanwhile, very comforting to be reminded how safe we are in the Land Of Dead Guests that Thai thugs get off with a fine after someone was stabbed.

[JOC]

Darwin vs Darwin...................

[Bung]

I bet the cops made them pay the bar tab though, they own those rip off joints, its why they stay open until 6 am.

They love a couple of drunk farangs hanging there. The bills are always in the 10's of thousand of bahts.

.

[robertthebruce]

A bit steep for just beer ???

Is that the norm ??? Thankfully I don't frequent these kind of places.....

[worgeordie]

1000 THB for a bottle of beer,surely the owners of the joint should

have been charged with something too,problem is there will be at

least another 2 tourists in there tomorrow getting ripped off.

regards worgeordie

[Tomtomtom69]

Note that the father and son team were not as innocent as it seems. The son grabbing the head of the tuk-tuk driver, who may not have known what was going to happen seems ridiculous. It would have been one thing for him to attack one of the staff like that, but the tuk-tuk driver? No wonder this whole thing escalated. If the father and son team had simply negotiated their bill, even if they had become a bit angry but as long as they didn't become aggressive, this could have been settled in much more civilized fashion.

Luckily for this father and son combo, the perpetrators were fined and they were given a slap on the wrist fine of 100 Baht.

It's always violence that somehow causes these kinds of incidents to escalate. No surprises there I guess.

[HLover]

Quite the father and son team.

[gk10002000]

The bar seems to have tried to charge for the girls "time".

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The bar seems to have tried to charge for the girls "time".

I believe, that's the norm in those kinds of places in Thailand.

You're not just paying for your own drinks, but also for any drinks for the ladies and usually some kind of charge per lady per set amount of time, and the increments for that seem to be pretty short.

Not saying the demanded charges were right or legal. Just saying, that's what you often get in those kinds of places, especially the disreputable ones, including those that don't make it clear in advance to their customers what their pricing structure is.

[NeverSure]

Where I come from the son and father would have been 100% at fault. Anyone has the right to come to the aid of someone who's being attacked. That's if I read that right and the first attack was the son on the tuk tuk driver.

[krisb]

How many times we hear fights over bar bills.

Just charge each time a drinks purchased and there's none of this.

[RIJoe]

If you ballpark the beers at 200 baht each (overpriced), then the 5 ladies were charged at 2,000 baht each. I always check my bin after each drink - if expensive, it's a a cheap(er) experience to pay up and leave then, rather than waiting until you're plastered and putting yourself in harm's way.

[NancyL]

These two offered to pay 1000 baht for 13 (!) bottles of beer -- that's 77 baht per beer! Did they think every cheap beer bar in Thai has pretty young ladies who sit and fawn over you like you're god's gift to women?

[Manbing]

What happened to all the TV detectives who claimed there was more to this story than an inflated bill?

Simple Thai bunco what was the Tuk Tuk driver doing waiting at the bar while the 2 drank 13 bottles of beer?

Why is there not attempted murder charge for the stabbing?

And yes the Aussies were charged with assault and fined 100bht, reflecting the provocation.

Why was the Tuk Tuk driver not fined for the scam?

Experience Thainess

Edited June 19, 2015 by Manbing

[jimstar1]

_{The Police sais last time they will clean them up and close the Offending Bars}

_{What a Joke the Tuk Tuk driver is as crooked as the Bar Come on Chiang mai clean your self up}

[cardinalblue]

13K to us probably not too bad (really for the women's time)....

The bill needs to be broken down and how long did the women sit with them?

My guess is it could have been negotiated down to half that or even 6,000B and should have learned their lesson....

This ain't the west!

[chrisinth]

Although in no way condoning what happened, this would change the story slightly from the original OP.

I don't think anyone here would expect a different result if indeed the son went outside and assaulted the tuk-tuk driver. (Even if he just touched him, it is still deemed as assault)

Even though the bill was obviously padded (as a minimum the price list wasn't displayed?), offering to pay 1,000 baht for:

13 bottles of beer

company of 5 girls

lady drinks?

Food? (as reported in the original report)

Plus, plus, plus.

was always bound to start a confrontation with the establishment.

[MaeJoMTB]

The bar seems to have tried to charge for the girls "time".

I believe, that's the norm in those kinds of places in Thailand.

You're not just paying for your own drinks, but also for any drinks for the ladies and usually some kind of charge per lady per set amount of time, and the increments for that seem to be pretty short.

Not saying the demanded charges were right or legal. Just saying, that's what you often get in those kinds of places, especially the disreputable ones, including those that don't make it clear in advance to their customers what their pricing structure is.

I thought that was quite cheap,

Normally they want 20,000-40,000bht.

[MaeJoMTB]

How many times we hear fights over bar bills.

Just charge each time a drinks purchased and there's none of this.

It's an extortion racket,

What would be the point in a bar missing their opportunity.

[cardinalblue]

NS,

Granted the Aussies were partially at fault for creating the escalating situation but...

Coming to the aid or separating the conflicting parties is a lot different than being attacked and stabbed...

Have you never seen a Thai fight? They fight like a swarm of aggressive locus...all emotion and no reasoning or common sense applied to their surroundings (kind of like drivers who aren't aware of surrounding conditions and circumstances)...

CB

Edited June 19, 2015 by cardinalblue

[arrowsdawdle]

Darwin vs Darwin...................

.......Or you could look at it as precedent, and open season on tuk-tuk drivers for 100 baht each. Is there any limit and where can one pay in advance?

[SOTIRIOS]

....meanwhile the bar stays open.....???

...business as usual today....???

...so.....unless you are willing to risk your life.....you just pay whatever they ask.....???

...is that how it works.....???

....a girl says hello...smiles.....sits down....so you have to pay....???

...how grotesque.....

[TheKnave]

These two offered to pay 1000 baht for 13 (!) bottles of beer -- that's 77 baht per beer! Did they think every cheap beer bar in Thai has pretty young ladies who sit and fawn over you like you're god's gift to women?

I like you, Nancy.

[Maggusoil]

A bit steep for just beer ???

Is that the norm ??? Thankfully I don't frequent these kind of places.....

If the girls drink they get paid for the drinks they drink, so the customer pays for everything.

Keep not frequenting . .. They will also make you believe you are going to have sex with them . . the girls that is . .

I am told . never been . . ridiculous places . . Dont' know why anybody goes

Perhaps its the red and blue lights

hypnotizes people . . buy one drink and leave see what it costs

[terminatorchiangmai]

Doesn't make sense if you don't know how many hour they spend in the place.

Private room 250 bath per hour ,

Pretty lady 200 bath per hour ,

Lady drinks 200 bath per drink etc etc .

I think 13.000 is not even so bad compared to 30.000 or 40.000 in some cases.

[nikster]

That entire official story is clearly a face-saving exercise.

Thai Police are master storytellers, they should get more credit for that.

Edited June 19, 2015 by nikster

[nikster]

Doesn't make sense if you don't know how many hour they spend in the place.

Private room 250 bath per hour ,

Pretty lady 200 bath per hour ,

Lady drinks 200 bath per drink etc etc .

I think 13.000 is not even so bad compared to 30.000 or 40.000 in some cases.

Lets wait for the Aussies to update on what really happened. If it was really only 13,000 then Violin is one of the cheapest rip-off Karaokes in town. Unlikely!

[snowgard]

13K to us probably not too bad (really for the women's time)....

The bill needs to be broken down and how long did the women sit with them?

My guess is it could have been negotiated down to half that or even 6,000B and should have learned their lesson....

This ain't the west!

Sorry to say, but about people like you they scam us farangs more and more!!! Stupid to pay for bar workers who sit in the bar.

They would be paid if you order ladydrink for they and nothing other. And because there are no ladydrink charged, ... I believe the aussies drink alone.

Edited June 19, 2015 by snowgard

[kovaltech]

The most reasonable explanation:

2 aussi asking a Tuk tuk driver where they can drink a beer ...

Tuk tuk driver brings them to a karaoke ( for his tip from the joint)..

Aussi's did not know and did not expected a "scam"

Price of a beer 80 bath is normal

13 beers at 80 bath is 1000 bath

aussi's don't want to be ripped off...

and the show starts...

Crocodile dundee

anything that i forgot ? would you pay off 13.000 bath if you honestly believed your bill was 1000 ???