Banged Up in Thailand

db.8609

OK, so a little artistic license with the title.

We checked into the Merlin Patong hotel. It was a multicentre package holiday provided by TUI. The first hotel was in Khao Lak. All transfers and flights etc included.

As we arrived at the hotel, I was told by the receptionist that unless I had a credit card for the security deposit (which I didn't) we wouldn't be able to check in and should leave. I challenged her. She spoke with another lady who explained we could pay in cash instead (GBP) for our security deposit. The original receptionist referred to me a a Farang to her colleague. Some of this I managed to record with my mobile phone.

I emailed TUI and complained about their conduct.

Before I could delve any further into this, another situation arose the very same day.

We went out for a stroll and briefly parted ways to look in some shops. It had been a long day.

I was offered 2-4-1 happy hour prices and two free cocktails at a small bar. This was our first time in Patong.

I had 4 drinks at 190 TB each (but 2 for 1 remember) and was gifted 2 free shots. I did not sign for any drinks (which I think may be a requirement) but was happy to pay for the drinks I had.

Then the chap who invited me in set a strange wooden box of the table, involving rolling of dice. His English was fluent.

He explained that if I rolled certain numbers, I won a drink. No strings attached.

After happy hour finished I had one or possibly 2 more drinks (again around the 190 TB mark.

The total came to approx 760 TB. Or around £15. Not bad at all I thought.

I tipped paid around 1000TB (as tax and service is added afterwards).

i was then presented with a bill for 80000 TB. £195 approx. I have a photo of this.

I explained that these were not my drinks. He owner/manager said he will call the police and have me arrested. He put an employee of his in a taxi with me to take me to at ATM - under duress. He said if I did not pay he would bury me (which I assume means kill me).

I escaped the situation by essentially heading for an ATM and hiding. I finally went back to my hotel after taking an excessively obscure trip back on foot.

I wrote again to my TUI rep and explained what had happened. I explained that neither myself or my girlfriend felt safe here any more and we wanted to be transferred elsewhere as soon as possible and that we didn't mind paying extra to facilitate this.

She met me at 11:30 that day and said a transfer is quite expensive and takes about 3 days. I explained that neither of us felt safe here. She said to see how it went to the next few days (we only have less than 1 week left anyway).

The next day the owner of the bar saw me and forcibly grabbed me. I asked my GF to record the scene and I told him he was being recorded- he said he didnt give a !!!! and he owned the police here.

The police came and their English was not fantastic (why should it be). No translator or interpreter was provided or offered although I did ask for one several times (on record).

I was loaded into the police car and taken to the station for questioning. I did not know if I was under arrest although they didn't seem to understand what I was saying. They claimed I should pay "my" bill.

I was taken the station with no specific charges made or right read. A fictitious bill presented by a man who claimed to "own" the police was the basis of the "deal" they were trying to make.. They did seem very happy to follow his instructions. The police were armed and allowed the bar owner to grab and push me several times.

My girlfriend recorded the entire scene, and the police car reg. She also recorded the video and audio of the goings on within the police station. Corruption does not even begin to describe the scale of the situation.

The bar owner was then invited into the interrogation room and he said that HE would have me arrested. I asked him if he was a policeman and he laughed at me.

The police asked how much I can pay to make the problem go away.

I was threatened with 2-3 days in a cell and expensive court fees and a hearing that would go on for weeks so I offered to pay half of the fictitious bill. This was accepted in cash. I was given a copy of a report I had signed but this was completely in Thai. I just wanted to be let go and felt I had been made to sign a document I had no hope of understanding just so I could leave.

Apart from the obvious - I a particularly angry about the fobbing off of the TUI rep (partly via email and partly in person). Nothing has been done and no offers of potential transfers, solutions or compensation have been made.

What are TUI's duties, if any in this situation?

If anybody has any advice or would like more info, please do ask away.

Our current plan is to leave this hotel tomorrow early as we feel extremely intimidated and at risk of being unfairly "banged up abroad".

TIA.

IAmWales

db.8609 wrote: »

OK, so a little artistic license with the title.

We checked into the Merlin Patong hotel. It was a multicentre package holiday provided by TUI. The first hotel was in Khao Lak. All transfers and flights etc included.

As we arrived at the hotel, I was told by the receptionist that unless I had a credit card for the security deposit (which I didn't) we wouldn't be able to check in and should leave. I challenged her. She spoke with another lady who explained we could pay in cash instead (GBP) for our security deposit. The original receptionist referred to me a a Farang to her colleague. Some of this I managed to record with my mobile phone.

I emailed TUI and complained about their conduct.

Before I could delve any further into this, another situation arose the very same day.

We went out for a stroll and briefly parted ways to look in some shops. It had been a long day.

I was offered 2-4-1 happy hour prices and two free cocktails at a small bar. This was our first time in Patong.

I had 4 drinks at 190 TB each (but 2 for 1 remember) and was gifted 2 free shots. I did not sign for any drinks (which I think may be a requirement) but was happy to pay for the drinks I had.

Then the chap who invited me in set a strange wooden box of the table, involving rolling of dice. His English was fluent.

He explained that if I rolled certain numbers, I won a drink. No strings attached.

After happy hour finished I had one or possibly 2 more drinks (again around the 190 TB mark.

The total came to approx 760 TB. Or around £15. Not bad at all I thought.

I tipped paid around 1000TB (as tax and service is added afterwards).

i was then presented with a bill for 80000 TB. £195 approx. I have a photo of this.

I explained that these were not my drinks. He owner/manager said he will call the police and have me arrested. He put an employee of his in a taxi with me to take me to at ATM - under duress. He said if I did not pay he would bury me (which I assume means kill me).

I escaped the situation by essentially heading for an ATM and hiding. I finally went back to my hotel after taking an excessively obscure trip back on foot.

I wrote again to my TUI rep and explained what had happened. I explained that neither myself or my girlfriend felt safe here any more and we wanted to be transferred elsewhere as soon as possible and that we didn't mind paying extra to facilitate this.

She met me at 11:30 that day and said a transfer is quite expensive and takes about 3 days. I explained that neither of us felt safe here. She said to see how it went to the next few days (we only have less than 1 week left anyway).

The next day the owner of the bar saw me and forcibly grabbed me. I asked my GF to record the scene and I told him he was being recorded- he said he didnt give a !!!! and he owned the police here.

The police came and their English was not fantastic (why should it be). No translator or interpreter was provided or offered although I did ask for one several times (on record).

I was loaded into the police car and taken to the station for questioning. I did not know if I was under arrest although they didn't seem to understand what I was saying. They claimed I should pay "my" bill.

I was taken the station with no specific charges made or right read. A fictitious bill presented by a man who claimed to "own" the police was the basis of the "deal" they were trying to make.. They did seem very happy to follow his instructions. The police were armed and allowed the bar owner to grab and push me several times.

My girlfriend recorded the entire scene, and the police car reg. She also recorded the video and audio of the goings on within the police station. Corruption does not even begin to describe the scale of the situation.

The bar owner was then invited into the interrogation room and he said that HE would have me arrested. I asked him if he was a policeman and he laughed at me.

The police asked how much I can pay to make the problem go away.

I was threatened with 2-3 days in a cell and expensive court fees and a hearing that would go on for weeks so I offered to pay half of the fictitious bill. This was accepted in cash. I was given a copy of a report I had signed but this was completely in Thai. I just wanted to be let go and felt I had been made to sign a document I had no hope of understanding just so I could leave.

Apart from the obvious - I a particularly angry about the fobbing off of the TUI rep (partly via email and partly in person). Nothing has been done and no offers of potential transfers, solutions or compensation have been made.

What are TUI's duties, if any in this situation?

If anybody has any advice or would like more info, please do ask away.

Our current plan is to leave this hotel tomorrow early as we feel extremely intimidated and at risk of being unfairly "banged up abroad".

TIA.

Assuming this is not a wind up ...

TUI are responsible for providing you with transport and accommodation as per your contract. They are not responsible for sorting out your mess with the police.

If you wish to change hotel then book one and move to it.

If you get "banged up" then you should contact the consulate.

Stop filming the police. If there's one thing that will wind them up, that is it.

Try to be a bit more streetwise. The bar scenario screamed scam as soon as you mentioned it.

I have no idea why you think TUI should be paying you compensation. Your issues are nothing to do with them.

db.8609

I completely understand that this may sound like a wind up.

I do not want compensation - I am not an ambulance chasing, no-win-no-fee sort and never have been. My point, poorly made, was that NO attempt at resolution has been made. I don't want £50 or £500 or even £5000 - I just want a nice relaxing holiday with my partner. It would be most impressive if they could facilitate that,

My issue is that I expressed the fear and intimidation myself and my partner had suffered, both in writing and in person. I explained that I did not mind paying exra but wanted to be transferred elsewhere asap.

The response was a non committal - "see how it goes". Well that what we did and we were abused by a gestapo of corrupt police officers, who seemed to be under the instruction of a local businessman with no official capacity there.

We are both grown ups and will be making our own way out of here.

I simply wished to know if TUI have any legal responsibility - especially having disregarded our first request in writing for relocation (at not extra cost to TUI) due to the fear and intimidation we had suffered since arriving in Patong. We do not scare easily.

As for filming the police - once they realised that it was all being uploaded to the cloud - their attempts to confiscate our camera were fruitless. Filming them may be the only reason I am not currently "banged up".

pinkshoes

db.8609 wrote: »

I completely understand that this may sound like a wind up.

I do not want compensation - I am not an ambulance chasing, no-win-no-fee sort and never have been. My point, poorly made, was that NO attempt at resolution has been made. I don't want £50 or £500 or even £5000 - I just want a nice relaxing holiday with my partner. It would be most impressive if they could facilitate that,

My issue is that I expressed the fear and intimidation myself and my partner had suffered, both in writing and in person. I explained that I did not mind paying exra but wanted to be transferred elsewhere asap.

The response was a non committal - "see how it goes". Well that what we did and we were abused by a gestapo of corrupt police officers, who seemed to be under the instruction of a local businessman with no official capacity there.

We are both grown ups and will be making our own way out of here.

I simply wished to know if TUI have any legal responsibility - especially having disregarded our first request in writing for relocation (at not extra cost to TUI) due to the fear and intimidation we had suffered since arriving in Patong. We do not scare easily.

As for filming the police - once they realised that it was all being uploaded to the cloud - their attempts to confiscate our camera were fruitless. Filming them may be the only reason I am not currently "banged up".

TUI have no legal responsibility whatsoever for the situation that YOU got yourself into.

If you felt that unsafe, then why on earth did you leave the hotel????

You should have made your own arrangements to be transferred to another hotel at your expense or even to fly home. Surely you had a phone line or internet connection or mobile phone?

meer53

Using a credit card for a security deposit is normal, at least they agreed to allow you to pay in cash. I can't see why you would complain about this ? Why would you travel without a credit card anyway ?

As for the rest of your story, you were suckered in to a scam, you should have walked away and none of the rest would have happened, can't see why TUI would be involved in any of this. The fact that you don't feel safe was really caused by your own actions. I assume there are other people staying at the resort who aren't feeling scared and intimidated ?

stuartJo1989

Just read your post and I have some points:

- Were you drinking alone in that small bar, or was your girlfriend with you? I read it that she went off somewhere and you nipped into a small bar for a break. Now I think that's fine on the face of it, but I'm surprised that you didn't pick up on the check-in "red flag" as to how the locals might treat you.... Should have taken some precautions. Maybe stuck together with your GF? Not least because SHE could have ended up in an equally similar situation, though I reckon she may be a local?

- I don't know anything about Thai law currently, but a quick google search suggests that most forms of gambling is ILLEGAL in Thailand. This would include the one you took part in. If that's the case then you were breaking the law anyway, so it is entirely your own fault. Plus, most forms of gambling is rigged so that the house wins... Did you actually ask for the full rules?

- Why were you recording people? The Thai police wouldn't be arsed and the UK government would be less arsed than the Thais!!

- Tui have zero liability here. They provided you the services requested (hotel + flights + transfers) and they were as described. That being said, you are absolutely within your right to follow Thai law (don't ask us) and request compensation against the parties you dealt with; the bar, the police or maybe the hotel. Good luck with that, more so when you tell the Thai police that you were gambling :rofl:

IAmWales

Not only recording the police but the hotel receptionist. Why would anyone do that?

I'm counting ten drinks at the bar. A not so brief parting of ways.

What arrangements have you made for moving? Don't tell us where you're going, but given that it is nearly 5am I assume you've made plans for today.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Fool
















MONEY

steampowered

Any issues at the hotel are Tui's responsibility. You could complain about the hotel. Clearly they should not be insulting customers.

Any issues at the bar or with the police are not Tui's responsibility. You wouldn't get refunded on a UK holiday if you had an issue with a local bar or with the local police.

I'm a bit surprised you started filming the receptionists at the hotel. That sounds a bit strange to me. Handing over a credit card at check in to cover any additional expenses is normal procedure.

It sounds like the bar owner did rip you off, and is at fault. This is unfortunately a risk in countries such as Thailand. The police probably thought you were refusing to pay your bill.

I do not think Tui has any obligation to move you. Can't you just go to a different bar instead? Try checking out the reviews of local places on tripadviser.

dj1471

There's a lot to this...

Easy one first. I'm not sure why you mention being referred to as a 'farang', this is simply Thai for foreigner.

Scams are very common in the tourist areas of Thailand, the bar games in Patong are always mentioned if you read-up on common scams, you have to be clear that you won't play for money. And it has to be asked... you were alone in a bar in Patong, how many young ladies were present and how many drinks did they have at your expense?

If you wanted a "nice relaxing holiday" I'm afraid Patong was the wrong choice (It's my second least-favourite place in the world).

How much longer have you got there? I agree with others that TUI don't have any liability here. If you feel so strongly you should simply find yourself alternative accommodation in another resort. Kamala Bay is a short taxi/tuk-tuk ride away with a very nice beach and a much more relaxed atmosphere.

dacouch

Farang is not a derogatory term in Thailand, it simply means someone who is not Asian. It is in the Thai culture to automatically refer to anyone who is non Asian as a Farang.

I think you have added an extra zero to the figure as 80000 Thai Baht is closer to £1900

As DJ has mentioned Patong is a touristy area, you could have chosen anywhere else in Thailand and had the most amazing holiday.

I have never been scammed in Thailand, I often get charged "Farang" (Tourist) prices but the difference is generally so small it's not worth bothering with.

Thais do not do arguing or raising their voices, if you ever get into a problem with them, the key is to keep your voice at the normal level and discuss the matter.

Bear in mind that the Thai Police normally side with the Thais.

You could have called the tourist police who generally speak Thai.

They have a different way of doing things, but that is in their culture, it is their country and you need to adapt to their culture. It is a beautiful country