Be careful in Pattaya nowadays...

[Mr S]

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2011 ... so-guests/

A-Go-Go Staff Beat Up Hi-So Guests


The Staff of an a-go-go bar reveal themselves as a would-be mafia, with a group of 20 punching a group of customers consisting of foreign models and Thai Hi-So's.

Around mid-day on the 9th February 2011 Police General Nantawut Suwanlaorng, Police Officials Pattaya received complaints from Mr. Jestin Elekjoseph, 28, and Mr. Johnny Wittel ,28, both Canadian magazine models, along with their friends, Mr. Keri Chill 27, Ms. Tida Thannawan 45, Ms. Sopa Thanawan 43, Ms. Nuarat Samsaen 43. The 3 Thai women are known as hi-so business owners of a famous restaurant and jewellery business in Pattaya said they had been tricked and attacked by the owners, managers and staff of a go-go bar resulting in personal injury.

Ms Tida Thanawan said that at about 02.00 a.m. on the 5th February, she took her friends out for a drink at the entertainment venue “super girls a-go-go� on Walking Street Moo 10 Nongphrue Banglamung Chonbrui . Her friends comprised a group of 7 including the magazine models. At 03.15 the manager came to the group of friends to tell them that the bar was closing. However they hadn’t finished their beer and Ms Tida asked to sit a little longer, making the manager angry and led him to shout at her.



Ms Tida said that an argument evolved, as she thought it impertinent of a manager to treat a customer that way and, as she had brought her foreign friends, the manager should be making a better impression so that they would come back to Thailand as tourists. After Ms Tida made her complaints the manager said � I don’t care how big you are around here, I am the mafia. Not even the police dares to mess with me and my people. Who the hell do you think you are?�. After Ms. Tida had heard this she and her friends decided to leave the bar.

After they walked out of the entrance of the bar, about 5 girls rushed after her and pulled her to the ground and attacked her. When her friends tried to help her, other men punched them. There were about 20 people attacking her and her friends. She almost passed out on the side of the road, injured with swollen wounds and lesions. They also threatened to get their guns. When she and her friends recovered from the shock of the attack, they helped each other to Bangkok hospital, Pattaya.

Mr. Jestin and Mr. Johnny both of them magazine models, victims of the a-go-go bar attack, said they made their way here for a shooting and a show on the 16th February in Bangkok. However they got involved in the incident and received wounds before the show and shooting, which meant they were not able to do the job anymore and lost over 8500,000 Baht. Besides the injuries they said they also felt sad as this was their first time in Pattaya, and it had turned out like this.

Police General Nantawut Suwanlaorng said: at first he would let investigation officials question those involved. In this case the police will be fair to both sides and issue a summons to the parties litigant, they will however carry out further investigation in order to continue legal proceedings

After that Mr. Phrasopchodee Ansuechai, 51, residing at 6 Moo 5 Nongprueh Banglamung Chonburi , the manager of the a-go-go bar to handed himself in and confessed that he had caused the incident. He stated that the claim of 20 attackers was an exaggeration and that there only 5 were involved. They will also hand themselves in later. The reason for the beating was that they had been provoked. The police charged him with assault causing personal injury, and further legal proceedings will follow.

[Rock]

On paper, Pattaya has always seemed very dangerous. Every week, you can read about all kinds of vicious shit - go-go bar beatings, muggings along Beach Rd., violent confrontations between people of various nationalities, questionable suicides, shootings between rival motorcycle gangs which sometimes injure or kill bystanders, jet-ski mafia scams, knife attacks, and full-on murders. This particular instance had a unique twist as it involved so-called hi-so locals. I don't know how genuinely hi-so they really were though cus if they were high enough, I doubt the bar boss and staff would dare to mess with them. Did those male foreign models really get paid over 8 mn Baht (over a quarter million USD) for a photo shoot or was that some type of typo? That sounds like something that might only happen in Japan.

Its easy to lull yourself into a false sense of security in Pattaya. In place that has a high danger profile such as Rio or Joburg, the threat is more in your face so you are always on-guard. But in Pattaya, you can get lucky and not see any of this stuff go down for a long time. I have a friend who has been spending 7 months a year there for over a decade and has never had a problem. Personally, I've never had a problem there either. But its still a dangerous place - lots of foreign and Thai criminal types around. If you get a bit unlucky or argue with the wrong people, things can end-up very ugly.

I remember reading that the city has around 400-500K residents plus visitors depending on season. Of those, less than 100K are Thai.

[Repatriate]

Having money doesn't automatically mean true "hi-so" status. Real hi-so is more about who you know and how well connected you are within Thai society. These old thai ladies might have a bit of cash socked away from their gold businesses or whatever but they might have very few political or social connections. For all we know they could have alienated a lot of people within Thai society as well. There are a lot of moneyed Thais who have a ton of enemies for a variety of reasons.

However, such a flagrant display of arrogance on the part of the go go bar manager against a moneyed Thai is a little odd. Usually these things are handled above the prying eyes of the public.

Pattaya is just a freakshow though. It's literally full of mafia types, laundered drug/corruption money, and a prostitution industry that's become iconic. In a country with real laws Pattaya would have been raided a long time ago or reduced to a couple token "red light" district shops ala. Amsterdam.

Oh, and I really really doubt those male models were getting paid anywhere close to the amount stated in that article. A top flight female model (calvin klein or prada)..maybe.

[ladislav]

Be careful in Angeles City, too. One Swedish guy I knew went bar hopping with his wife and a bar owner asked him to pay a lady's drink price for his own wife. He protested and got into an argument. As he was walking out the staff jumped on him and beat him so bad it had caused brain hemmorrhage. He was hospitalized for two weeks I think. The staff all got fired and investigation was going on last time I saw it.
One American guy did not pay a street vendor and tried being an asshole- he was drunk or something. Well, a whole bunch of street vendors ganged up on him and stabbed him 9 times. He died.
Just be careful in those places.

[keius]

You know, all these stories seem to have one theme. Don't get drunk and/or be a prick and you won't get jumped
I guess some of these 'mafia' types are getting tired of being treated like low class sewage. Way overboard reactions...all i can say.

[Repatriate]

You know, all these stories seem to have one theme. Don't get drunk and/or be a prick and you won't get jumped
I guess some of these 'mafia' types are getting tired of being treated like low class sewage. Way overboard reactions...all i can say.

They are low class sewage though. A lot of them are heavily involved in extortion rackets, human trafficking, drug dealing, and outright murder. Simply put the only thing some of them understand is brute force. In a country with laws they would of have been behind bars a long time ago or dead.