Pattaya Nightmare

I would like to relay a very disturbing event that happened to me over Loy Kratong 2007. I would preface this to say, I am a local Pattaya resident and drink and had been drinking at <Edited – Stick> for about
six months. I usually go for one or two between 9 – 10 PM. I knew (or thought I did) many of the women working at this bar somewhat well and even have a few phone numbers, although I had never bar fined anyone. I never had made any problems there
and got along with all the women quite well.

I fronted up to the bar at about 9:30 PM and ordered a beer. I paid for it with a 500 (normally I use small notes, but had only a few). I felt there would not be an issue and I drink there on a regular basis and I was not in the least bit drunk and was
paying straight up for one beer. I did not have chits stacked up.

The change came and it was short 120 baht. I did not touch the money on the tray and sent it back. The cashier looked at me immediately with anger and placed one hundred on the tray. I was still short 20 baht, but I am not going to make a scene over this.
She often looked up and met my glance and was clearly uncomfortable. She obviously ripped me off – we are all just stupid farang. Even if we get ripped off, we are supposed to keep our mouths shut and suck it up. This is Thailand.

After I was about half way finished with my beer, she ordered me to leave. I never said anything to her, raised my voice, abused her in any way or caused her to lose face in the bar. The woman I took for an attractive, light-skinned college student with
braces was not that at all. She is the wife of the petty Mafiosi that owns <Edited – Stick>and <Edited – Stick> on BEACH ROAD.

I was not planning on sticking around but wasn't going to get ordered out of the bar (beer half finished) for being ripped off. This was to be a big mistake.

Literally a few minutes after this her three thugs from an upstairs room descended upon me and in true Thai fashion, attacked me from my backside and punched me in the face and took me to the ground. I was able to do my best and kept them at bay as best
I could. This lasted about 3 – 4 minutes or so. I got myself to my feet and went after the last punk where I got in a few less than life threatening punches. He stuck a steel chair in my face and I got a bit cut up, but my eyes (thank the gods)
are fine as are my teeth. I may have been unharmed but with all the adrenalin, I went after him. It had nothing to do with pride. 3:1, I lose.

There was a woman that worked in the bar next to <Edited – Stick> who held one of the guys back a bit. I am told that the bar owner of <Edited – Stick> has threatened the woman and
she had to quit the bar. She is an attractive woman and said she was happy to do it – she can get work elsewhere. I was further informed that the lease on the bar next to <Edited – Stick> may not be renewed because
of the intervention. Obviously, both the owner and his wife are pure evil. To take me down, that is one thing. I am stupid farang; but these threats are only made by animals.

I am informed from women that work in the area that this happens quite often there. The bar was described to me as a "mafia bar" and I was asked why I even drank there. I had not a clue.

There have been numerous incidents when the cashier had thugs set upon people. I will not drag this out; but the most pathetic story was the cashier played an old guy for drinks and agreed to go home with him. He rang up a big tab and was a bit out of
sorts when she did not want to go. The thugs were set upon an old man.

She obviously gets pleasure from snapping her fingers and people possibly dying. She is very much as guilty as her husband and I would venture that all the girls that work in the bar are complicit. They can work anywhere; certainly do not have to work
in the cheapest beer bar in sois 7 & 8.

The old man's beating stopped only when the "key guy" (side of bar) jumped in and said that it was just not right and that he was an old man! The moto drivers across the street as everyone in the area are afraid of this mafia thug and his
wife. I was told he has many friends in the police department as well.

I picked myself up in the bar and immediately dialed the TOURIST POLICE. I had to call about 5 times and only heard the phone actually pick up twice. The TOURIST POLICE hung up the phone on me – twice. When I yelled in the phone my location and assault,
they never came. I am not surprised.

About a year back I called them over a nasty farang / songtaew incident I witnessed and they closed the phone on me then as well. I called, they closed. Neither time did they call me back to ask if whatever emergency I had was well.

Walking bloody to the police station on beach road I went in the door with a cut on my face. Not only was an eyebrow not raised, but no policeman would even look at me. They looked at the tele and they looked at the ceiling, but they would not look at
me. I should hasten to add that I was not drunk. There were two Pakistanis who had been pick pocketed and the policeman in front of the desk was giving them the same treatment. I spoke my best Thai "I had been assaulted…" EXCUSE ME I said, 5 – 6 times. No response. They never looked at me, they never spoke to me.

I spotted a PATTAYA TOURIST VOLUNTEER sitting beside the desk. A kindly looking gent perhaps 70+. I told him I would like to file a report over an assault. He looked, smiled and told me to paraphrase, I can almost quote "You can, but it won't
do any good" and that "I would have to speak with him" (the officer in the glass room), looking backward.

He then pointed to a roster of crimes perpetrated against farang for the evening reported to the station by only 10:30 PM. I asked if there was a toilet that I could wash and he pointed to the back. When I returned the officer in the glass office had
gone. He never returned during the time that I was in the station.

I asked the gent, if making a report wouldn't do a bit of good. "No offence, but why are you here?" "What purpose are you serving?"

He was a bit taken aback by the question, I did not mean it or say it in an aggressive way, I was honestly curious as this seemed like madness and an utter waste of one's life. He stated that he was trying to get out of the place. It's so violent.
Or you just become a PTV.

He went on to state that <Edited – Stick> receives the reports daily. This is quite interesting. <Edited – Stick> obviously knows precisely about the mafia in general and Pattaya's
violent crimes on a daily basis and he and his paper choose to say nothing. Ironically, the motto of the paper the good reader may know is "WE DARE WHEN OTHERS STAY SILENT". <Edited – Stick> picks and
chooses because warm and fuzzy stories he can paste on the corpse of Pattaya. A veneer of omission and deceit. In all fairness, it was the opinion of the TPV that, if he put it out there, he'd be out of the country tomorrow. Sooo, better
to lay low and just make money off the death, mayhem and destruction of the foreigner I guess.

My impression confirmed over the years is that appears to me that Pattaya Tourist Volunteers serve absolutely no function. This has been validated first hand. In fact, I would argue that they are a detriment to tourists lulling them into a false sense
of security. So there they stand, in the front of Walking Street, bored and glum. That is the extent that the Thais will allow the to be any part of Thai police enforcement. Standing on Walking Street, have a nice day.

Now, I would like to address the issue of police-mafia-bars in general and the media. It now occurs to me that I have never seen a story about a person(s) in a similar situation as mine or getting pick pocketed or whacked in the bar with a bottle, etc.
This is because the Thais pay the police in a very real sense as we all know. The police stay out of the bars and their business, period. Now that's all well and good to a point but when Thais can whack foreigners and threaten the lives of
locals over essentially nothing, that is very wrong.

You will see stories on the TV about some snatch thief, katoeys, yah-bah, shootings etc. But think for a moment, have you ever heard of a situation such as those I have described? No. The police do not involve themselves in the
bars and the bars are totally to free to act as they choose. Does anyone recall the guys getting whacked by bottles on soi 7 or 8 (?) and at the open music bar in Amazing Thailand? Actually these hospital incidents reported, but no Thais apprehended.
Shocked? PCN and PP say scant little about the what is now every day reality. This is all about mafia in Pattaya (Thailand) and understandably, no one wants to get whacked.

Going back to the bar, in later days I found that I did alright. I was told that I got a few jabs and that was a shocker because stupid farang are supposed to take it and not fight back. It was a first. You should also know that in the scuffle, I dropped
1000 baht and they stole that, insult to injury. So they are thugs and thieves. It was obviously the most expensive beer I had ever had in more ways than one.

The farang in the bar understandably did not get involved. You never know what things are about and there are many undesirable farang in Pattaya as well. In fact, this has become a town of hoodlums Farang and Thai. I have been telling myself for years
to get out. But, what disgusted me is that the entire bar should have yelled at the bar manager (cashier), paid their bills and left! They sat and drink as guilty and complicit in my beating as the bar girls.

I now have a very low opinion of 99% Thais and my opinion of foreigners is not much better.

As a side note, I have it on good authority that <Edited – Stick> also has its share of the same sorts of problems. In fact, these appear to be set-up shops the same way that the 2nd floor Patpong sex shows were
/ are. Lure in punters with cheap beer and then make trouble.

What are the lessons to be learned:

1. DO NOT PATRONIZE <Edited – Stick> and <Edited – Stick>. Call and email all your friends and share this story. It's 100% true.

2. Patronize only farang establishments (look for tell tale signs and happy farang).

* Stay out of Pattaya! I have seen a rapid progression in violent crime in recent years. The people that work here I can say as a general statement are no damn good. This is objective fact, I have lived here far too long and know it well.

* I have been logging murders reported on PCN for about six months and can report that Pattaya appears to have a murder rate 30%++ that of New York City (8 million) vs. Pattaya (100,000). Do the stats, Pattaya may be the murder capital of the world. Don't
believe me, start counting yourself. <Proof of these numbers please? – Stick>

* I have been here many, many years and have experienced a real deterioration in manners from Thai women and the population in general. The women are strident, aggressive and very in your face, especially if they think you could or should be squeezed
for more cash. The women are playing a total short game now. Fxxx and forget they say. They do not care about HIV and STIs. They are more happy with 10 men and 10 new opportunities than a decent, kind guy. I hear fighting over money in my serviced
apartment all the time now (almost nightly in high season). You stupid farang, give me.

* A friend and I were talking a few weeks back and we have seen a number of women with very yellow (hep / jaundiced) eyes. With a number of visitors from third world countries ever increasing and many malcontents off having sex in Cambodia, we are sure
HIV rates are up as well. I have sworn off sex with Thai sex workers.

* Do not bother with the police if something like this occurs to you. It is a waste of time.

As a side story, my only dear Thai friend was literally kidnapped many years ago by a Saudi man and held for days in a room tied up. She escaped and went to the police. She told the Pattaya police her story and that the guy said if she left him he would
hunt her and kill her. The police told her, what do you want me to do, you're not dead (yet)? Another more recent incident, we had two break in's at my apartment on separate occasions. The manager called the police, but they could not
be bothered to even come. It is simply amazing how these higher officers are 'promoted' to Bangkok and elsewhere after a year. How many have we had now?

There are more reasons to not come here than the aforementioned petty mafia and the corrupt police. There are also the songtaew mafia, the jet ski mafia, the moto rental mafia, the motodop thugs, the various scam agents, raw sewage in
the ocean, overflowing garbage, constant bad smells in the streets, the disease and mercenary bar girls as well as many, many bad people with only the notion of how to separate you from your money, come what may.

People will continue to be drag themselves to Pattaya for cheap beer and sex. In both ways you may end up paying with your life.

Finally, all this could have easily been avoided if the three thugs simply asked me to leave, I sure wasn't going to stick around! No readers, it was pure evil.

A farang bashing because they can and in true Thai form as those that really know Thailand can attest. I am sure the thugs are bragging about jumping me from behind and I am sure the mafia wife is drunk on the power of holding a mans life in snap of her
fingers. How cheap is life in Pattaya? Pretty cheap obviously. But the mayor is attending many opening ceremonies and the vice mayor is perpetually planning great recreational activities have you heard? Busy. Busy.

Thailand is not a civilized nation nor will it ever be, it is merely a modern nation. It will always be a thugocracy. The election will not bode well, the people are sheep. Content with alcohol, music players, sex and a new motorcycles. If you want to
know what Cambodia will look like in 20 years, it's Thailand right now.

I have spent months and years in every Buddhist nation in Asia and can tell you that despite the ritual and ceremony, Thailand is a very un-Buddhist country.

This information has been blogged and links sent to various embassies.

Stickman's thoughts:

First of all, I do not believe the story entirely as you tell it. I think you are either withholding some important information or something else happened, either a little before the attack, or at some other earlier time. It would be very unusual for Thai bar staff to attack people without reason. Most violence and problems in the bars in Thailand concern bad behaviour or reprisals for past actions or perceived past actions. Just what is it that happened to set them on you? Of course perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity and they thought you were someone else?

You claim to have been around Pattaya for a long time, yet I wonder how much you have learned. The bar scene DOES have a very dangerous underbelly, but as I say, unprovoked attacks the type of which you describe are very, very unusual.

The police volunteers might get a hard time, but claims you make against them are surprising. If true, and of course it is impossible to know, they are damning.

That you then go and rant about Pattaya and Thailand in general doesn't help your claims, unfortunately. Yes, I can imagine you now feel angry and resentful towards the Thais and Thailand, but that does not help your argument.

I wonder what version of events the bar would give.

For sure, this is all very unusual. Possible? Of course. Likely? Hard to say!