Thaivisa exclusive: Liverpool man wants Pattaya bargirl jailed but doesn’t blame the resort – “7/11 claim” was just nonsense

[webfact]

Thaivisa exclusive: Liverpool man wants Pattaya bargirl jailed but doesn’t blame the resort – “7/11 claim” was just nonsense

 

Picture: Siamchon News

 

PATTAYA: -- The Liverpool man at the center of an attack at a beer bar in Pattaya has called for the woman who attacked him to be jailed.

 

But in an interview with Thaivisa to put the record straight he has said that he does not blame Pattaya and intends to spend the rest of his life in Thailand.

 

However, the attack has left Hua Hin resident David Lodge, 64, battered and bruised. He has been ridiculed in the UK press for no good reason, he said, and now his daughter’s boyfriend’s Thai mother has said he should have nothing to do with “those nasty people”.

 

David and his wife Mary, 55, had dropped into the Patsy beer bar with two relatives while waiting for some others in their party who were in a nearby go-go bar.

 

David said that it was his wife Mary who had questioned the bill but they had decided to pay the tab amounting to a little over 600 baht.

 

“But when they said we also had to pay for a beer we had not had, that was rubbing salt into the wounds,” said David speaking from Hua Hin where he has lived for the last seven years.

 

When Mary suggested they should let the tourist police sort it out the bar girl “went ballistic” said David. He said that a Thai man grabbed him from behind and she started hitting him in the face with her shoe.

 

They decided to get away but the attack continued – it was all caught on video.

 

David is a cartoonist who supplies international news media with cartoons and joked that his experience would probably figure in some of his work. He previously lived in Phuket for four years and supplied cartoons to the Phuket Gazette at one point.

 

He said: “My wife said ‘you’re robbing us’ and when the police were mentioned she went ballistic.

 

“She took her shoe off and came at me. While a Thai man grabbed me from behind she continued flailing with her shoe. She was like a bloody Rottweiler!”

 

“When my nose exploded the guy let go. We decided we needed to get the hell out of there”.

 

David said that he has lived in Thailand 11 years and there is no way he would have retaliated as he knows the score.

 

“Besides I would never hit a woman,” he said. “This has never happened to me before in Thailand and of course I am always careful to look at bills in bars aware of what can happen”.

 

He described press reports that he said he could get cheaper drinks in 7/11 as “preposterous”. “I would never say such a thing,” he said Tuesday. He also said he was “spitting feathers” when he read some totally untrue and unfair comments on him and his wife on Thaivisa forum following the story that was translated from the Thai press.

 

The comments continued even when his wife went on the forum to explain what happened, he said.

 

David said that one thing that annoys him is Thai police who are unwilling to act to help foreigners, but on this occasion the cops were “superb”.

 

“I can’t fault them,” he said. “They were great. They told me that they were taking attacks of this nature seriously as it was terrible for tourism”.

 

He said the cops referred to an attack on the elderly Owen family at Hua Hin last Songkran.

 

But the cops who said they would call back to let them know how the case was progressing had yet to get in touch. The bar girl – described as the owner of the bar in some reports – was detained by police on Friday and was due to appear in court at the weekend. David said that he believed the woman already had a record for assault.

 

David continued: “The Sun and the Mirror in the UK called me a Cheap Charlie and said I was an idiot based on the 7/11 comments that the girl made. She just made that up to try and save herself.

 

“Thank goodness the Sun is not sold in Liverpool!” he quipped referring to the newsagents’ ban on the paper in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.

 

But he said the incident has caused trouble for his 18 year old daughter who lives with the couple and goes to school in Hua Hin.

 

“Her boyfriend’s mother who lives in Bangkok read the reports and said her son should have nothing to do with us as we are “nasty people””. Fortunately the boyfriend doesn’t believe a word of it, he added.

 

But David, who said he had visited Pattaya half a dozen times over the years did not blame the resort.

 

“Of course we will come back – I have a very good mate there who we like to visit. “We never go to Walking Street. We are street wise and know all about Thailand”.

 

David paid for his own hospital treatment that came to 2,500 baht and is not seeking any damages. But he said he would like to see the bar girl “locked up in the nick for a week” to pay for what he called GBH (grievous bodily harm).

 

David’s wife Mary backed up his story saying that the argument stemmed from a discussion over the 600 plus baht bill for four drinks. She said they were charged 350 for a vodka and tonic. There was confusion over some Cokes as well and after one they didn’t have was taken off the bill they decided to pay and get out even though they felt it was too much.

 

But another 90 baht beer bill that had nothing to do with them was presented and this is when they said enough was enough, said Mary. Then when she mentioned the police the attack began.

 

David said he is now recovering. “When I woke up the next day I had an awful headache and a black eye,” he said, “But at least I am still laughing!”

 

The couple retired to Thailand eleven years ago after selling up their home and other assets in Liverpool. David has retired but still supplies cartoons to news organization in the US and other countries.

 

But he is well off and happy in Thailand and is certainly not a “Cheap Charlie idiot” as depicted in the press and ill-informed comments.

 

The Lodges thanked Thaivisa for putting the record straight.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-02-21

[champers]

No mention here of an apology from Thai Visa whose original headline on the main thread was certainly pointing towards the "cheap charlie" theory.

[alocacoc]

“The Sun and the Mirror in the UK called me a Cheap Charlie

 

This incident was reported on UK newspapers? Serious? Unbelievable.

[champers]

1 minute ago, NCC1701A said:

normally one would have to go to a bowling alley to meet people of your stature.

 

 

You will have to explain that to me, NCC1701A. 

[PT Paul]

Poor reporting orginally, quick to blame the foreigner.

 

The sad bit is that some of these places and Bar Girls and the local Somchai think they are a law unto themselves, and love to try and pad bills. When confronted they go batshit. Glad that he didn't have any worse injuries, still doubt The BIB will do anything about it though.

[Thaiwrath]

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

We are street wise and know all about Thailand”.

 

I tend to disagree with this comment of his.

[paulinbkk111]

meh, he said/ she said. Dont run a tab at a dodgy bar.

 All over a supposed overcharge. This article reads like someone trying to squirm their way out of a problem.

 

600 baht for 4 drinks is high, but not 'this bar is absolutely scamming me' high.

 

Bad as each other

[darren84310]

Nobody with an ounce of sense believed the 7-11 comment. However, that still leaves a lot of TV posters who did.

[ezzra]

So now being a cartoonist, he has materiel to last him a life time, to coincide

with his intentions to live in Pattaya for the rest of his life.....

[Destiny1990]

Gosh finaly for once these victim blamers bunch are hiding under their desks.Hilarious?

[rkidlad]

I said from the beginning that I could believe either story. In fact, it was more believable that the bill was padded. As I read more about the guy and how long he's lived here, it made more sense. Unless you've lived under a rock and this is your first rodeo in Thailand, you know that bars are more expensive than 7/11. The woman who assaulted him was never gonna say something that gave him even a fraction of questionable doubt. 

 

Sad things is some people were saying that her behaviour was justifiable when they heard the 7/11 comment. There is never an excuse for violence. Like the police said - if there's ever a problem with tourists then call them. Thailand has laws like other countries. Excusing this kind of behaviour is actually just enabling those who do it. It's also like saying that Thailand is inferior to where you come from. Like they don't know any better. 

[nakhonandy]

Yeah, all the posters that jumped on the bandwagon with this story will no doubt be quiet or finding some way to blame him anyhow.

 

The 7/11 quote was obviously BS from the start. 

[nakhonandy]

5 minutes ago, ezzra said:

So now being a cartoonist, he has materiel to last him a life time, to coincide

with his intentions to live in Pattaya for the rest of his life.....

He said stay in Thailand, not Pattaya! 

 

He just visits because of a friend and lives in Hua Hin. 

[Sooo Upto Me]

58 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

normally one would have to go to a bowling alley to meet people of your stature.

 

 

 

Errr????

[timewilltell]

The 7/11 story should not be dismissed so lightly. This is typical Thai behaviour - dream up a story to support the failure of your own actions, lie, abuse and generally denigrate when the Thai is the wrongdoer. It is the typical lack of personal responsibility and lying nature of such people who are committing a criminal activity in providing false evidence to the police. I have heard so many lies in Thai courts but the worst is there is no attempt to call for the truth or punish what is obviously a story (often dreamed up by corrupt lawyers) to dismiss criminality. Sick.

[maryell]

52 minutes ago, paulinbkk111 said:

meh, he said/ she said. Dont run a tab at a dodgy bar.

 All over a supposed overcharge. This article reads like someone trying to squirm their way out of a problem.

 

600 baht for 4 drinks is high, but not 'this bar is absolutely scamming me' high.

 

Bad as each other

So you think 350bht for a vodka and tonic is an average price for a street bar with no entertainment is okay. Also 70bht for a coke is okay as well......Let me see.

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

“Her boyfriend’s mother who lives in Bangkok read the reports and said her son should have nothing to do with us as we are “nasty people””.

At least there was a bright side to the attack.

[NCC1701A]

In the end, I am thinking this couple wished they just paid the bill.

 

This never happens to me in a bar because I don't drink, but when I was charged 60 baht for a 7 baht bottle of water in a Pattaya restaurant, I calmly started photographing the bill, the menu and the front of the restaurant while smiling at the horrible woman and saying the words "Facebook, I like."

 

[LennyW]

He's from Liverpool, should be used to getting battered by crazy women!!!

[pi2005ni]

They know everything about Thailand and are very streetwise , obviously not or they would have queried the bill from the start . When you troll round these areas you need to be aware , which they weren't. They didn't deserve to be assaulted but maybe they will be a bit more polite next time they encounter a problem with their bill . Sometimes it's just better to pay and never frequent that bar again . Saves on the hospital bills . 

[GroveHillWanderer]

2 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

In the end, I am thinking this couple wished they just paid the bill.

 

According to the interview they gave, they did pay the bill for the drinks they had consumed, even though they felt it was excessive.

[Rimmer]

A troll post and one reply have already been removed, read the first post please before you start making inflammatory statements

[Mickmouse1]

Feeding fish lands you in jail and 100K bail's money if you are a Foreigner but if you are Thai <deleted> WOMAN CAUSING GBH to a foreigner you get scot free.<deleted>!!?

[ddavidovsky]

Interesting that it was mention of the police that caused her to go ballistic. In any case, no need for him to have escalated the argument to that level over an amount that equates to what many people would leave as a tip.

[Destiny1990]

Drink pricelist clearly at the wall.mandatory video observation cams in bar area.A mandatory temporary closure of a bar in any case of violence.Hefty fines and a police that really investigate the matter.This will reduce the violence if other bars see that there are serious  repercussions.By letting it go things only gonna be worse.

[dabhand]

The OP mentions that the bill was actually 'a little over 600baht'. Whereas the original story had noted the bill as being well over 1,000 baht for the four drinks. In addition it seems that, of the 600baht bill, 350baht was for a vodka & tonic - which is definitely excessive to say the least.

 

Are the details of the 600baht bill available as, on the face of it, seems the 250baht balance for the remaining three drinks (if all four customers had separate drinks) seems a bit light for a scamming bar? Maybe one drink missed from this bill and that bill was presented later (90baht for a beer)..........?

 

Or was the 600baht, noted in the OP, a misprint?

[NextStationBangkok]

Poor gentleman.... The slapper rude Thai, nasty women should be slapped some jail sentence.

 

Very bad journalism indeed, lost in translation ?

[smedly]

as I posted on another thread and I will repeat it here

 

I don't believe this story, yes he may have made a comparison to prices in 7/11 but the interpretation is wrong.

 

The real problem is that all these bars refuse to display prices and basically make it up as they go, all bars should be forced to clearly display their price list so that ALL customers know exactly what they are going to be paying for a drink, there is a serious problem when a bar tries to hide the price of their drinks and many of them do, I always either ask before I order (which is mostly met with distain) or if I don't see a price list I might just walk away, a customer shouldn't have to ask the price of something they are about to buy, within an area of 100m prices can vary by as much as 50baht per drink, my guess is they came from a bar close by and assumed that all the bars in the vicinity would be roughly the same price range, a lot of these bars look at the customer and make up the price as they go, and I will add - anyone that thinks 350baht is ok for a Gin and Tonic needs their head looked at - and lets not forget that the police have seen the bill so they are not telling lies, add to that a couple of cokes and they were looking at 600baht + check bin.....seriously !!

 

They had every right to question the bill

 

 

[Condorman]

32 minutes ago, pi2005ni said:

They know everything about Thailand and are very streetwise , obviously not or they would have queried the bill from the start . When you troll round these areas you need to be aware , which they weren't. They didn't deserve to be assaulted but maybe they will be a bit more polite next time they encounter a problem with their bill . Sometimes it's just better to pay and never frequent that bar again . Saves on the hospital bills . 

That's for sure. There's only a hiding for nothing to get into an argument over a bill in a bar. 

[louse1953]

2 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

I tend to disagree with this comment of his.

In Pattaya you PAYD,pay as you drink.They don't like it,it's not like you have to walk far to find another beer,7/11 maybe.