Waivio

Recommended Posts

Foreigner attacks bar staff in Pattaya and I have mixed feelings about this

3 comments

jack.russelle8.4 K8 months agoPeakD3 min read

So while it isn't huge news and certainly not international news, the media does do some coverage of how recently a German man in Pattaya attacked the staff after they insisted that he pay a bill. He said he was overcharged and he refused to pay the overage, they insisted the he had to pay it and then fisticuffs ensued. Police ended up coming on the scene but there is no report about what sort of consequences the German man is going to face. The bar is calling for massive charges to be pushed on him but I'll tell you right now, that is very unlikely to happen.


https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeF5XipZWArgqx7qm1NpvxFzwAH59A89pUjJrF6HPBMHc/image.png
src

This grainy screen capture from the bar's CCTV doesn't look like much but if you are interested you can see the full video here as well

Now I am not saying that this man was in the right to attack the staff but at the same time I can sympathize with this situation because overcharging of foreigners at places like this bar is actually extremely common in Thailand. This is one unfortunate side of this country, as a foreigner you are seen by some people as a sheep in need of fleecing. Despite having lived here for many years I regularly encounter bill padding, overcharging for various things such as taxis, and even government-sponsored dual-pricing systems that are based on a person's race.

Of course in Pattaya, an area well-known for being a land where anything goes, is one of the worst places for this sort of thing to happen and most people already know to be on their guard about this sort of thing potentially happening to them. The police tend to turn a blind eye towards any serious charges in cases like this because of the fact that it is well known that almost the entire city of Pattaya is already breaking the law by prostitution being basically the main reason why anyone goes there. Prostitution is illegal in Thailand.

So this guy will likely just pay off the police to make the charges go away and this is extremely common in Thailand.

I don't think it is ok to attack anyone ever, but this bar claiming that they didn't overcharge him, acted kindly and calmly towards him during the entire exchange, and were just so saintly about how they acted throughout the incident, seems extremely unlikely to me. There should be consequences for the man's actions for sure, but spend enough time here in this country and you too will start to understand how maddening it can be to be a target for ripoffs basically anywhere that you go. Everyone has their boiling point and this guy met his at a bar called "Farang Bar" in Pattaya. "Farang" is a semi-condescending word the Thais have for "foreigner." Why anyone would go to a bar that is named that is beyond me in the first place.

Comments

Sort byBest
AI
Waivio AI Assistant
How can I help you today?