Relax - Pay, or perform in sex show

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[top photo - SHADY STRIP CLUBS: Showgirls (above) at a Patpong street bar in Thailand. Some visitors to strip clubs in Patpong were asked to pay up to 20 times more than the initial amount quoted]

WHEN civil servant Guo Qihui, 24, and five of her friends visited a strip club in Bangkok’s Patpong district in May this year, the bill came up to almost 14,500 baht (S$600) – more than 20 times the price they had been quoted.

They had been told that they would need to pay just 600 baht in total – or 100 baht each – for the show and a drink each.

Miss Guo said: "Many showgirls came (to us) with their drinks asking for tips, and the club put the drinks that the showgirls had drunk on our tab.

"We refused to pay (the inflated bill) and threatened to call the police, but the staff turned nasty and said that they would call in the local mafia."

The hostile staff surrounded them, and shut the doors to prevent them from leaving.

The condition for leaving?

Pay the full amount – or perform in the sex show.

Half an hour of bargaining later, the group relented and was allowed to leave after paying almost 10,000 baht.

Miss Guo said: "The situation got really nasty; we were really angry yet worried at the same time. After that, we felt very cheated."

Like Miss Guo and her friends, a 21-year-old national serviceman who wanted to be known only as Daryll, was prevented from leaving a Patpong strip club in May by its staff members, including two bouncers wielding what appeared to be Taser guns.

He and four friends were also quoted a price of 100 baht each for a show, which they were told they need not pay if they did not like the show.

But they were subsequently billed 6,000 baht – 12 times more than the initial amount.

Daryll said: "We didn’t dare to leave because of the two burly bouncers with Tasers. If we had made a dash for it, they would have taken us down."

He believed that his friend's beer was spiked, as the latter got unusually tipsy after downing a single pint.

They were allowed to leave only after giving the club all the money they had on them, which amounted to about 5,000 baht.

Neither Miss Guo nor Daryll reported the incidents to the authorities as they did not want to go through the hassle of making a report.

Daryll said: "It's funny in hindsight, but we were really shaken then.

"We didn’t think (such a thing) could happen to us."

dawnt@sph.com.sg

Read also:
- S'poreans, beware Patpong trap
- Thai PM orders: Fix airport woes
- Travellers alerted to Bangkok airport scam

Were you also the victim of a scam during your holiday? Share your travel tale with us at relax@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories, click here.

Pay, or perform in sex show

By Dawn Tay, my paper | Fri, Sep 4 2009

Singaporeans intimidated into paying more in Bangkok nightclubs.

Pay, or perform in sex show

Keywords

[top photo - SHADY STRIP CLUBS: Showgirls (above) at a Patpong street bar in Thailand. Some visitors to strip clubs in Patpong were asked to pay up to 20 times more than the initial amount quoted]

WHEN civil servant Guo Qihui, 24, and five of her friends visited a strip club in Bangkok’s Patpong district in May this year, the bill came up to almost 14,500 baht (S$600) – more than 20 times the price they had been quoted.

They had been told that they would need to pay just 600 baht in total – or 100 baht each – for the show and a drink each.

Miss Guo said: "Many showgirls came (to us) with their drinks asking for tips, and the club put the drinks that the showgirls had drunk on our tab.

"We refused to pay (the inflated bill) and threatened to call the police, but the staff turned nasty and said that they would call in the local mafia."

The hostile staff surrounded them, and shut the doors to prevent them from leaving.

The condition for leaving?

Pay the full amount – or perform in the sex show.

Half an hour of bargaining later, the group relented and was allowed to leave after paying almost 10,000 baht.

Miss Guo said: "The situation got really nasty; we were really angry yet worried at the same time. After that, we felt very cheated."

Like Miss Guo and her friends, a 21-year-old national serviceman who wanted to be known only as Daryll, was prevented from leaving a Patpong strip club in May by its staff members, including two bouncers wielding what appeared to be Taser guns.

He and four friends were also quoted a price of 100 baht each for a show, which they were told they need not pay if they did not like the show.

But they were subsequently billed 6,000 baht – 12 times more than the initial amount.

Daryll said: "We didn’t dare to leave because of the two burly bouncers with Tasers. If we had made a dash for it, they would have taken us down."

He believed that his friend's beer was spiked, as the latter got unusually tipsy after downing a single pint.

They were allowed to leave only after giving the club all the money they had on them, which amounted to about 5,000 baht.

Neither Miss Guo nor Daryll reported the incidents to the authorities as they did not want to go through the hassle of making a report.

Daryll said: "It's funny in hindsight, but we were really shaken then.

"We didn’t think (such a thing) could happen to us."

dawnt@sph.com.sg

Read also:
- S'poreans, beware Patpong trap
- Thai PM orders: Fix airport woes
- Travellers alerted to Bangkok airport scam

Were you also the victim of a scam during your holiday? Share your travel tale with us at relax@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories, click here.

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Readers' Comments

Hey guys. For all the latest up to date info on Thai women and nightlife go to -
http://www.sexinthailand.org

by , posted on 04 12 2009, 04:04

Any bussiness that involves women,sex,alcohol,etc.in any country will probably be runned by "underworld" entities.To go there and wanna have fun be prepared to sacrifice some cash and have some "kickbacks" when things get out of control.
Useless to rely on your country embassy for help as the laws are "different" in those "places",only if there are any laws at all?
Patpong is not place for enjoyment,that's a shithole for tharabs,angmos,japs whom do not mind the fleecings cos they could afford it.When you flash the cash,they give the flesh.

by mollimolli, posted on 29 11 2009, 13:37

Yeah. I called the embassy in Beijing once when I was at the police station making a police report about my money being stolen from my bank account. All I asked for of the embassy was to help me follow up on the case and periodically call the police station to check on the investigation progress. But the person at the other line seems like a robot and could only say "I can help you call your next-of-kin". Even after I explained that my limps are still intacted, I am not lying on the hospital bed, and I am using my cell-phone to call the embassy, he still replied "I can help you call your next-of-kin". If I had wanted to call my mum, I would have pressed the speed-dial button on my cell to call her, why would I need the embassy to do that .....

by kumster, posted on 07 09 2009, 11:16

Forget about calling Singapore Embassy if you are not stabbed, gun shot or injured. This is a real incident that occurred in China. We have some tiff and am surrounded by crazy people and the police with us could not do much, so we call the Singapore Embassy and the questions to us is there any casualty? Only if there is casualty then they can activate something. If i am slain, injured, would I be able to call? Anyway, when in oversea, we are all on our own, unless we are injured, or killed then we can call the embassy and they will do the necessary to evacuate us:::))):D

by overlander, posted on 06 09 2009, 22:16

This also happens to cities in many places, not just Thailand. The best is to avoid all this sleezy places. Is it really worth the while to see all this sexy shows? What does one gain? Anyone and everyone knows who are the people running this kind of establishment. If every one avoids them ,then they have no chance to slice you off. as they will be out of business

by overlander, posted on 06 09 2009, 22:10

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