Extortion in Pattaya

[manchester_dave]

He said he is going to the police today at 5 pm. I dont think the police are interested in inter-farang squabbles as they would see it.

 

Dave

[Neo]

Consider the boiler room bust and deportations. No thai's involved. From what I see this isn't a squabble, it appears to be a completely illegal activity.

 

[Torneyboy]

Yeah ..stand over tactics.....

[rookie]

From what has been revealed so far, it sounds like all he can do is _tell_ the police about his problem. The cops will likely view it as a 'he said - they said' situation without actual evidence and do nothing.

 

Maybe he should consider setting a meeting at his bar with the farang perpetrators to discuss possible payment (extortion) terms...and secretly video tape them and the conversation.

If the police do then respond immediately to his complaint, take the tape and have it aired by Pattaya People and Pattaya News TV as well as Pattaya Mail Newspaper. Surely the s*it will then hit the fan!

[Old Hippie]

First off, no matter what, revenge should be a fear factor here. Say he does succeed in having this gang fuck off, then what? think they will just go away and let him be? doubtful.

 

Of course his wife could complain, play it as a "farang hassling a Thai" deal and see what happens, but still, I'd say this guy may be fucked regardless. No matter what, I would not expect it to end quickly, or permanently as long as these guys and or those on their staff are around.

[buffalo_bill]

Neither do I know anything about Pattaya nor the extortion business . Thinking about what I would do I would probably first try to find colleagues with the same problem .I understand falang/Thai GF opening a bar seems to be the common system . Therefore the Thai part(s) of it jointly approaching the police might have some result. If paying royalties is part of the local culture I might simply pay in particular facing a Thai gang . If it is foreigners , probably there is some chance to stop it . Anyhow up to them , talk talk smartarse no good .

 

uBi

[CTO]

Shouldn't he ask the other bar owners around him what they do?

 

If I am going to open a business that works best in a environment of similar businesses I try and get to know the other owners.

 

Most of the successful bar owners I know in Cowboy seem to know each other, work together when they can.

[Ed Zeppelin]

Maybe your friend will have some leverage with the police as they have already got the Thai guys on bail for attacking a customer. Follow it up with a meeting with the chief cop and some nice gifts. Then take it from there.

 

Maybe the police could warn the Thai guys that if anything should happen to your friend or his property that they'll be hauled in straight away for questioning.

 

In the meantime, if he hasn't already, it might be worth installing some CCTV cameras in his bar.

 

 

[bust]

I was tooling a girl from Chonburi a couple of years back. Her father owned 3 bars in Walking Street I think it was. She said that any farang who thinks he can open a bar in Pattaya and not get shaked down is a fucking idiot.

 

If it's not these other farangs it will be thais or the police so whichever way he will pay.

[Gadfly]

I like it when Farangs open bars in Thailand because it often adds tremendous value to the nightlife here: new ideas and new concepts. Some work and others do not, but the market rather than some local boss sorts this out. It really does improve the quality of nightlife here. And I sympathize with the victim here.

 

But I cannot understand why any Farang would ever consider opening a bar or try to operate in any semi-gray (or black) area in Thailand. If you are strictly legitimate in Thailand, you are usually OK, and you can generally get the support needed to stand your ground. This can be hard because of the zany restrictive rules here and it adds tremendously to the cost of doing business in Thailand, but if you are on firm ground, you are generally safe.

 

This is why the plan to make expand tge Foreign Business Act, which did not happen, caused such a ruckus: it would have made businesses that there were legitimate and legal become illegal - and you saw how the embassies and foreign chambers of commerce reacted to that. We all knew it would expose absolutely legitimate businesses that had been operating here for decades to precisely this sort of extortion.

 

The fact that the embassies and foreign chambers of commerce were able to block this sort of retroative change to the law - "you were legal, but now you are not, so give us your business" - demonstrates that rules matter. Indeed, in a place like Thailand, they matter more than they do in the US, Europe, Australia, etc. It makes everything a bit more burdensome here, but it is a cost of doing business in Thailand.

 

Because when you cross the line, and enter the gray zone, you won't have the embassies and foriegn chambers of commerce backing you up. They can only do that when you are legitimate and in compliance with the rules. If you are clean (have a work permit, have all the necessary licenses permits, etc. - things that are probably impossible for any bar here), it really looks bad when the authorities try to shut you down.

 

Having said all of that, from my own selfish perspective, as a patron of bars who enjoys nice bars, good food, good wine, etc., and the other things that Farangs do bring to the bar scene here, I would personally like to see more Farangs buy bars here. I just won't be one of them.