Chiang Mai to curb on 'extortive' Karaoke Bars

[SOTIRIOS]

................crime will always be curbed....in the future.......that future never comes.........

.....hit and run....vehicular homicide......statutory rape........hundreds of millions in funds of questionable origin.......ad infinitum.....

[steveb47]

don't all the bars charge double and triple the price of a beer than you could buy at say Tesco. I don't go to bars as a rule maybe 3 times per year when friends come over. Much cheaper and safer to do your drinking at home. I guess as more and more tourists come to Chiangmai to avoid places like Pattaya and Phuket then the scams and criminal element will follow them.

Nothing wrong with that; happens all over the world.

That s true because of the overheads a can of beer in Australia (Melb) will cost you around 75 baht from a bottle shop and in a hotel it costs around 110 baht. (Melbourne airport 240 baht)

How long since you been down under Chook,i can't afford to drink in Oz.Have a dry out when i go back(khao pan sar).

Good point mate - I am in Vic Park Wa at the moment 20 bucks for 2 pints is the norm. One place charges 11$ for one bottle Corona!!

Thankfully I will be back in the LOS next week

[johnnyj]

So far I've thankfully avoided scams like these,

but I avoid going into places like this unless I have a local with me, and they know the place - and not a tuk-tuk driver I met five minutes earlier either!

word of mouth is a powerful tool, so is going with a local who is friends with the workers / bosses.

[monkey4u]

don't all the bars charge double and triple the price of a beer than you could buy at say Tesco. I don't go to bars as a rule maybe 3 times per year when friends come over. Much cheaper and safer to do your drinking at home. I guess as more and more tourists come to Chiangmai to avoid places like Pattaya and Phuket then the scams and criminal element will follow them.

Charging more than I pay for alcohol is called business

You think I or any other bar owner will supply the venue, chairs, tables, glasses, entertainment and toilets for free.

Better you buy at tesco or 711 and sit on kerb

[circusman]

My 24 year old son and his friend were kept hostage at a CM karaoke bar, by a gang with a gun and several knives. Their only crime was to have stepped inside the establishment and drank two beers each. When they wanted to leave, the bill was 10000 baht. They pleaded the whole night. In the morning one of them was let out to collect the cash. I had to bail them out.

It is pure criminality I tell you guys: NEVER attempt to get into a Karaoke bar in CM (or Phuket/Pattaya for what it's worth). Once you're in you turn into prey. It's Mafia with a capital M

10,000 ? Surely that is not correct.

[Kananga]

don't all the bars charge double and triple the price of a beer than you could buy at say Tesco. I don't go to bars as a rule maybe 3 times per year when friends come over. Much cheaper and safer to do your drinking at home. I guess as more and more tourists come to Chiangmai to avoid places like Pattaya and Phuket then the scams and criminal element will follow them.

Nothing wrong with that; happens all over the world.

It may well happen all over the World but that doesn't make it right. Murders happen all over the World too.

How exactly do you equate bars charging more than supermarkets for beer with murder? Don't restaurants charge double or triple the price of food in tesco too?

[wolf5370]

don't all the bars charge double and triple the price of a beer than you could buy at say Tesco. I don't go to bars as a rule maybe 3 times per year when friends come over. Much cheaper and safer to do your drinking at home. I guess as more and more tourists come to Chiangmai to avoid places like Pattaya and Phuket then the scams and criminal element will follow them.

Nothing wrong with that; happens all over the world.

It may well happen all over the World but that doesn't make it right. Murders happen all over the World too.

Supermarkets have mass buying power - they can make a profit from 45baht a bottle beer. They also have many items that sell for different margins to cover small margins on some items and thereby make the money on volume of sales instead. Bars can do none of this - often small bars get their beer from supermarkets (Macros) instead of the brewery directly as they are too small for the brewers to bother with (or give a good price for). The bars still have to pay all the bills, staff, taxes, license, etc on top of the stock price - it must come from the customer - that's why every pub in the world is more expensive than its local supermarket. Business 101.

This is not the same as charging for unwanted or undelivered services - such as someone putting on the karaoke machine in the background - or charging for the aircon (all unlisted at point of sale- just added to the bill).

[Longtooth]

Never go to these places unless you want to spend 10000 thb for 2 small drinks. Oh sorry after alcohol tax went up 2 weeks ago it might be 15000 thb

I thought I was having a good time til I got my bill. An amount written on a scrap of paper. 23,000 baht. "I told you lady drinks were expensive!", was the answer to my shock. Who ya gonna call? Ghost Busters? Four of them escorted me to the ATM at like 3 AM. I didn't want the obvious chain of events that would follow if I protested. Lesson learned, and will not be back. Turns out it was locally infamous, I just hadn't heard. Well north of ChiangMai. (Afraid of defamation laws, sorry.)

[djlest]

6 months ago a foreigner was beaten black and blue after leaving one of the exact same karaoke estabilshments, obviously he had an issue paying 10,000 baht for a drink. Read previous Thai visa news and you can see this has been going on for a few years already. Also the police said they would look into it back then, but nothing ever happens.
Just like the Jetski mafia, i was in Pattaya last week and sat and watched scam after scam after scam, they wont do anything, they never do.
Dont waste your time even thinking the problem will go away, ill put money on it this time next year the same shit will be happening in the same bars, and the police will take their cut!

[elektrified]

My 24 year old son and his friend were kept hostage at a CM karaoke bar, by a gang with a gun and several knives. Their only crime was to have stepped inside the establishment and drank two beers each. When they wanted to leave, the bill was 10000 baht. They pleaded the whole night. In the morning one of them was let out to collect the cash. I had to bail them out.

It is pure criminality I tell you guys: NEVER attempt to get into a Karaoke bar in CM (or Phuket/Pattaya for what it's worth). Once you're in you turn into prey. It's Mafia with a capital M

10,000 ? Surely that is not correct.

They got off cheap!

[HOOD Robin]

My 24 year old son and his friend were kept hostage at a CM karaoke bar, by a gang with a gun and several knives. Their only crime was to have stepped inside the establishment and drank two beers each. When they wanted to leave, the bill was 10000 baht. They pleaded the whole night. In the morning one of them was let out to collect the cash. I had to bail them out.

It is pure criminality I tell you guys: NEVER attempt to get into a Karaoke bar in CM (or Phuket/Pattaya for what it's worth). Once you're in you turn into prey. It's Mafia with a capital M

Government should close those places, ALL of them EVERYWHERE in Thailand ! i lived for a while opposite one on a very busy road in Ptty... Every night untill morning when average Joe wakes up, those thugs are hanging around in and out the bar (they go in/out about 100 times, God knows why, nobody is spending big money there...), a LOT OF NOICE, all punk hair and very young, spending a lot of money on alcohol and smokies, very expensive motorbikes, some have cars....

Really wondering where they get the money from as these punks do NOT work (read LAZY) -- they have the most stofisticated smartphones or laptops with them and call all night, even when the music doesnt allow to understand one word (at least that is for me)...

If they are really boring they get all on their motorbike to go have a fight with another karaoke gang with guns, knifes, machetes.... (have seen it myself), or they go rob a farang who comes back from a bar visit or so...

But of course they will never close these places as then some poo yais will loose some extra income

And what about the "law" on the closing time ? Bars visited by farangs have to close at 1 or 2 am (not sure anymore with all those crackdowns) -- but these places stay open until 6-7-8am !!!!!

It's just like that other law that says "prostitution is forbidded in TH_.... give me a break

[salapau]

I like to go to some bars not only for a few beers but to meet new people. If someone is price wary, then all they need to do is ask the price before the drink is poured. If they consider it reasonable pay straight away, if not walk away and try another bar.

[Morakot]

7500 baht for an hour of Karaoke. Not as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard, but at the time I was pretty upset about it.

You can have 30 minutes of "Karaoke" singing in a box for 300 baht in any shopping mall.

[sydneyjed]

don't all the bars charge double and triple the price of a beer than you could buy at say Tesco. I don't go to bars as a rule maybe 3 times per year when friends come over. Much cheaper and safer to do your drinking at home. I guess as more and more tourists come to Chiangmai to avoid places like Pattaya and Phuket then the scams and criminal element will follow them.

Nothing wrong with that; happens all over the world.

That s true because of the overheads a can of beer in Australia (Melb) will cost you around 75 baht from a bottle shop and in a hotel it costs around 110 baht. (Melbourne airport 240 baht)

How long since you been down under Chook,i can't afford to drink in Oz.Have a dry out when i go back(khao pan sar).

An average cost of a schooner of beer in Sydney now is $5.50 and much more in the city bars after 10pm...Mind you based on some places I've drank at in Bangkok the cost of a beer has been 150-180 baht a bottle and so not that much difference in the scheme of things!

[SecretAgentMan]

My 24 year old son and his friend were kept hostage at a CM karaoke bar, by a gang with a gun and several knives. Their only crime was to have stepped inside the establishment and drank two beers each. When they wanted to leave, the bill was 10000 baht. They pleaded the whole night. In the morning one of them was let out to collect the cash. I had to bail them out.

It is pure criminality I tell you guys: NEVER attempt to get into a Karaoke bar in CM (or Phuket/Pattaya for what it's worth). Once you're in you turn into prey. It's Mafia with a capital M

I don't think they understand you. Just in case. I have a friend that was charged 30000 baht. Yes about a $1000 dollars for a few drinks. Ok? When he decided not to pay he was attacked by 5 Thai men and a couple of Thai woman. His case is in the courts. We are not talking about a few hundred BHT more here. They will hurt you if you don't pay what they want you to pay. Don't go into the karaoke bars. They will confuse you with their prices and your eyes will fall out when you see the bill. I have my own story. Not as bad as my friend's. Some are worse than others. (I guess. After my one experience that was enough for me.) Some are more dangerous. Yes..... Dangerous. Do not go in any karaoke bars. If you do... You have been warned. You have to read between the line in this article. Maybe they are trying to warn these "seven establishments" that they are getting "too greedy" and hurting too many people in that greed. Having places like that could be bad for tourism. If word gets out. The whole city can get a bad rep. I see a lot of TV people didn't know what you were talking about BDG. I am glad your clarified things.

[slipperylobster]

In my experience sexy (and sometimes not-so sexy!) girls are employed by karaoke bars to use whatever charm they may have at their disposal to extract as much money as possible from the wallets of their (almost exclusively) male clientèle. The promise of sex is the carrot that sucks the money.- and more often than not it is a promise which is destined to be broken once the overpriced girlie drinks and garlands of flowers have been paid for. The ill-gotten gains are shared between the girls and the bar owner while the punters stagger home poorer and usually not much wiser.

Extortion with a 'legal' face.

Or am I missing something?

I've been told by a reliable Thai friend that many of the girls who work in these karaoke places do not offer any sexual services. They are trained to do what this poster said, extract money from unsuspecting, gullible Japanese and Korean men tourists and in the end the men are rejected; 10K or more the poorer. Sometimes the men are told that the establishment's policy is that the girls can only offer their contact info to the men and they can be contacted after business hours to meet. But this usually ends up never happening as the telephone numbers and email addresss are of course, no good or that of the mobster owner who tries to extort more money from the men.

Sad fact, Japanese and Korean men go to similar karaoke bars in their own country, staffed by Filipina, Thai, Russian gals....and others. I seen them pay bills worth a thousand dollars u.s. or more. Sometimes these bills are paid with company credit cards for entertaining business clients. Sex is usually in the form of an afternooner, arranged outside the bar by the bar owner, so that The thuggery style here is a sad parody that might look familar to these gents...

[tomyumchai]

are we not allowed to see the names of these 7 bars? im not too worried as i cant stand karaoke and i wont go anywhere near 1 so ill probably be ok but if my lot are out on the lash in CM it would be handy to know where to drag them away from as they need shepparding after the 15th beer or so.....

my normal experience of a CM bar is this;

"welcome inside, you want some drink?"

"yes please, ill have a san miguel"

"you buy me drink too?"

"eh? i just got here, youre supposed to say, what your name, where you come from, how long your holiday in thailand? and then i decide if im buying you a drink or not!"

girl bangs san mig down on bar and storms off back out the front with all the other miserable bints to smoke another cigarette and fumble with her phone.

does anyone know any nice bars in CM?

[aTomsLife]

7500 baht for an hour of Karaoke. Not as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard, but at the time I was pretty upset about it.

You can have 30 minutes of "Karaoke" singing in a box for 300 baht in any shopping mall.

And your point?

Obviously I was there to drink, too.

It was me and three of my friends, we ordered a cheap bottle of whiskey, had bottle service with 4 girls, and an hour later got a bill for ฿7,500. The girls sang karaoke, none of us did, but we were charged anyway. At the time I was a total newb, and had no idea how expensive these places are. Lesson learned.

Still, the deal I got is better than two beers for ฿10,000.

[chiang mai]

It's a case of Chiang Mai becomming one step closer to what Pattaya is, sad but there she slides, perhaps time to look afresh, no point in trying to be King Canute.

[SecretAgentMan]

My 24 year old son and his friend were kept hostage at a CM karaoke bar, by a gang with a gun and several knives. Their only crime was to have stepped inside the establishment and drank two beers each. When they wanted to leave, the bill was 10000 baht. They pleaded the whole night. In the morning one of them was let out to collect the cash. I had to bail them out.

It is pure criminality I tell you guys: NEVER attempt to get into a Karaoke bar in CM (or Phuket/Pattaya for what it's worth). Once you're in you turn into prey. It's Mafia with a capital M

I don't think they understood you. Just in case. I have a friend that was charged 30000 baht. Yes about a $1000 dollars for a few drinks. Ok? When he decided not to pay he was attacked by 5 Thai men and a couple of Thai women. Yes the women jumped him too! His case is in the courts. We are not talking about a few hundred BHT more here. They will hurt you if you don't pay what they want you to pay. Don't go into the karaoke bars. They will confuse you with their prices and your eyes will fall out when you see the bill. I have my own story. Not as bad as my friend's. Some are worse than others. (I guess. After my one experience that was enough for me.) Some are more dangerous. Yes..... Dangerous. Do not go in any karaoke bars. If you do... You have been warned. You have to read between the lines in this article. Maybe they are trying to warn these "seven establishments" that they are getting "too greedy" and hurting too many people in that greed. Having places like that could be bad for tourism. If word gets out. The whole city can get a bad rep. I see a lot of TV people didn't know what you were talking about BDG. I am glad you clarified things.

[tennis100]

I'm confused. Why could the young man not go straight to a police station and explain the problem regarding his friend still back at the bar and that they are being charged 10,000 baht for only 4 beer? And, let the police know that the two young men will report this extortion to the local newspaper if the police won't do anything about their problem.. What am I missing?

[daoyai]

Easy, if you see white skin, curvy, sparkle dress girls outside, keep walking.

[chiang mai]

I'm confused. Why could the young man not go straight to a police station and explain the problem regarding his friend still back at the bar and that they are being charged 10,000 baht for only 4 beer? And, let the police know that the two young men will report this extortion to the local newspaper if the police won't do anything about their problem.. What am I missing?

The police would not be interested for a variety of reasons and the young man would gain no traction whatsoever, small fry, local crime, time waster, farang involved who doesn't understand, establishment is under the control of prefered associates, cough, cough..!

[hanno]

I'm confused. Why could the young man not go straight to a police station and explain the problem regarding his friend still back at the bar and that they are being charged 10,000 baht for only 4 beer? And, let the police know that the two young men will report this extortion to the local newspaper if the police won't do anything about their problem.. What am I missing?

The police would not be interested for a variety of reasons and the young man would gain no traction whatsoever, small fry, local crime, time waster, farang involved who doesn't understand, establishment is under the control of prefered associates, cough, cough..!

Not quite the same thing as it was a bar and not a KTV, but I got ripped off years ago in BKK. I was vastly outnumbered and I paid. Once out, I went to find the tourist police; they came back with me and I got my money back.

[chooka]

don't all the bars charge double and triple the price of a beer than you could buy at say Tesco. I don't go to bars as a rule maybe 3 times per year when friends come over. Much cheaper and safer to do your drinking at home. I guess as more and more tourists come to Chiangmai to avoid places like Pattaya and Phuket then the scams and criminal element will follow them.

Nothing wrong with that; happens all over the world.

That s true because of the overheads a can of beer in Australia (Melb) will cost you around 75 baht from a bottle shop and in a hotel it costs around 110 baht. (Melbourne airport 240 baht)

How long since you been down under Chook,i can't afford to drink in Oz.Have a dry out when i go back(khao pan sar).

last month at the bar at southern cross station 3.80 AUD for a beer whilst waiting for a train.

[Chalard]

are we not allowed to see the names of these 7 bars? im not too worried as i cant stand karaoke and i wont go anywhere near 1 so ill probably be ok but if my lot are out on the lash in CM it would be handy to know where to drag them away from as they need shepparding after the 15th beer or so.....

my normal experience of a CM bar is this;

"welcome inside, you want some drink?"

"yes please, ill have a san miguel"

"you buy me drink too?"

"eh? i just got here, youre supposed to say, what your name, where you come from, how long your holiday in thailand? and then i decide if im buying you a drink or not!"

girl bangs san mig down on bar and storms off back out the front with all the other miserable bints to smoke another cigarette and fumble with her phone.

does anyone know any nice bars in CM?

UN Irish Pub

[Briandajew]

Never go to these places unless you want to spend 10000 thb for 2 small drinks. Oh sorry after alcohol tax went up 2 weeks ago it might be 15000 thb

You would have to be a complete retard to pay 10K or 15K for two small drinks at any bar in Chiang Mai - it simply does not happen! Yes you can get ripped off, but only if you are too stupid to be let out on your own.

Chiang Mai is one of the easiest places for a beer, if you don't like it, pay the bill and go elsewhere, if you get stitched up here then you are pretty easy meat - you will get ripped off by the whores in Trumpton or Camberwick Green!

[mayday49]

I'm confused. Why could the young man not go straight to a police station and explain the problem regarding his friend still back at the bar and that they are being charged 10,000 baht for only 4 beer? And, let the police know that the two young men will report this extortion to the local newspaper if the police won't do anything about their problem.. What am I missing?

My Dear Friend , are you kidding Me? ...

[chiang mai]

I'm confused. Why could the young man not go straight to a police station and explain the problem regarding his friend still back at the bar and that they are being charged 10,000 baht for only 4 beer? And, let the police know that the two young men will report this extortion to the local newspaper if the police won't do anything about their problem.. What am I missing?

My Dear Friend , are you kidding Me? ...

I hit the "like" button by mistake hence I now have to explain - we each know what we know, and there's shed loads of things each of us don't know, some are simple things but many are complex, end of.

[BarnicaleBob]

I'm confused. Why could the young man not go straight to a police station and explain the problem regarding his friend still back at the bar and that they are being charged 10,000 baht for only 4 beer? And, let the police know that the two young men will report this extortion to the local newspaper if the police won't do anything about their problem.. What am I missing?

Why would the man not go to the police: I have a 66 year old friend who was a victim of this a few months ago, it was very late and night most the bars were closed but he still wanted to drink. As he was walking around looking for a place a tuk tuk driver approached him and offered to take him to a place that was still open. It turned out to be a karaoke bar on Chang Klan Rd, it was about 3:00 AM and the place was nearly empty. He ordered a bottle of wisky and the lady manager sat with him for about an hour as the drank. He then asked for his bill and was given one for 22,000 baht. He did not have that much on him so he refussed to pay. The manager locked the door so he could not get out and then he was approached by the lady and five thugs. They wanted what money he had and his watch, he asked for the police and they started to puch him. He was knocked to the ground where the punching continured along with repeated kicking. They went through his pockets and took all his money about 11,000 baht, his watch and rings. Then they took him outside where the same tuk tuk driver was waiting and started to go with him to the ATM to get more money. He managed to get away and went stright to the police to report it. He also made a report to the U.S Consulate who has been following up on the police investigation. The manager was arrested but bonded out. My friend ended up in the hospital with a black eye two broken ribs and a lot of other bursing. He glasses and his denture were also broken during the altercation. The case is still ongoing but this may be one of the reasons for the police cracking down on these seven ksraoke bars.