bangkokbarry

1 - I didn’t need to ‘formally’ complain. They came to me to investigate and were perfectly happy for me to stay. If I was in the wrong they would have thrown me out. Obvious. I gave them 14-15 hours to contact me, and they did not. These days you can contact anyone immediately if you have their number. I gave mine. 2 - Everyone who has spent any time in Thailand, and especially in Pattaya, knows that the tourist police are utterly useless. It is likely that any regular police are ‘connected’ in some way with the bar, as is the norm there. I’m not saying it was the case, but they may have got rid of the mamasan quickly because some kind of ‘substance’ might have been involved and they didn’t want the ‘wrong’ kind of police arriving and questioning her. Why else get rid of her from the premises, and so quickly. 3 - Read my submission to Stickman. I am, and never was, after any compensation. I would never, ever expect a bar to admit a criminal assault by their staff. Would you? My role was only to publicise what happened to an elderly guy after I made a complaint about poor service. It was not one of my favourite bars. I'd never been there before, but had read it was a fun place. It was, until the mamasan got involved.

Two questions: Why would I make this up? Why do you think the mamasan was ejected from the bar and sent home, and I was welcomed to stay? Pretty unusual if I was the troublemaker, hum.

Gentlemen I have read your comments with great interest. I agree, as some have said, that the Windmill is a fun place. That’s why I went there in the first place, because of its reputation. And I was having a great time until something went wrong. Why the mamasan was so volatile I have no idea. As I said, the Thai I spoke to told me she was crazy, so I’d guess there may have been problems with her before. Even after the beating, I stayed on for quite some time. The mamasan was removed from the bar, not me. I was what should have been regarded by the bar as a perfect customer - spending a lot of money on lady drinks, as Dean who examined my bill would agree, and tipping the staff. As well as tipping my dancer 500 baht I also tipped two waitresses and the cashier. Instead, it was a case of spend 3000 baht and get a free black eye etc. (the black eye developed during the following day). I stand by all I wrote, which was put down as soon as I returned to my hotel and while details were still fresh in my mind. For those who have suggested that I was drunk, even though I said I was not, then can a drunk write the way I did? I believe that what I wrote was articulate, not usually found in fighting drunks. What is most interesting to me, however, is that most of you have sided with the bar. I’m not sure what that says about you, Pattaya or Thailand. It appears to me that many, at least on these forums, now accept that beating up customers is a normal part of life here and can be expected if you complain about poor service, or that many customers in the bars here are looking for trouble and deserve what they get. Perhaps some are. But I have never been in any confrontation in my entire life, and I’m 60 next birthday. I mentioned I am a respected professional as that was supposed to underline my good character, but some even took that up against me. Another aspect of the poor service by the way, which I didn’t mention as it was irrelevant to the main topic, was the waitresses habit of removing glasses before they are empty. I was ordering my dancer a drink while she still had one, and as soon as the new drink was brought they would take the old drink away. They did it twice before I finally caught on to the scam with the third drink and insisted they left it. Guess if they ‘accidentally’ took an unfinished drink again, once I’d noticed what they were doing. I very much look forward to hearing from the management, and am surprised they have not yet responded or contacted me. Perhaps that tells its own story. I don’t know. I waited for a reasonable time, some 14-15 hours, for them to do so before posting what happened. Why many of you think I have an agenda I don’t know - again, a reflection of the thought processes of people who live here. Still, I should have expected that. When I had a lesser problem with the same management I was accused of the same thing, before the management investigated and fired the manager concerned. I’m not after anything for myself, even though some have suggested I deserve compensation. I also don’t have a grudge against anyone, but when something of this nature occurs I believe it is my public duty to inform. Then people can make up their own mind. Clearly, many of you have and have condemned me. Fair enough, but I don’t think I’d like you in my circle of friends.

That kind of comment might indicate why I haven't bothered to post before. I am very active in other areas/sites. It totally fails to address an assault on a respectable customer. Try again.

My evening at the Windmill on Soi Diamond in Pattaya was ruined when I was set upon by three or four thugs, resulting in a cut lip and cut on the bridge of my nose. The situation arose after I had spent around four hours in the bar and spent thousands of baht on drinks and tips. I had been entertaining one of the dancers, but after I made a visit to the toilet I returned to find her missing from my table. Another dancer told me she had been moved to another table. I approached the mamasan to ask why and told her it was bad customer service, and she exploded and started screaming and asked why I was making trouble and began pushing me away. I defended myself by holding her wrists, and then went to my dancer’s new table. Then several thugs rushed to the table and attacked me, hitting me on the side of the head - which can be fatal - and I had to curl up and shield myself from them. Only later did I discover the injuries they had inflicted and the blood on my glasses. Dean (? - sorry for not being sure as I was a bit shaken up after being attacked), who was apparently in charge in place of the missing owner Dave, came to the table with a Thai security guard or tourist policeman (?) to investigate. He heard my side of the story, spoke with the mamasan and a customer witness who later told me he used to be a go-go bar owner, and the mamasan was sent home. The Thai man told me she was a crazy woman, so that begs the question, if that is known, why is she employed there. She lied to Dean (?) and told him she was going to ask me if my dancer could be moved, but at no time did she do so. She simply wanted to move her to a table with customers but no dancer, and didn’t give a damn about me and the money I had already spent. Dean (?) has been cleverly schooled, and at no time did he admit any wrongdoing by the bar, and although he took my phone number and e-mail address I was offered no way to contact him or Dave or anyone else. I was told by the security officer/policeman (?) I could press charges for assault, but really, what’s the point with a farang against Thais and them saying one thing and me another. Not one single member of staff, or customer, said I was in the wrong when Dean (?) went around gathering the facts. I was not drunk, and my dancer, other dancers and the ex go-go owner all told Dean (?) that I was a good customer. I am not some young tattooed trouble-maker spoiling for a fight. I am close to retiring age, and highly respected in my field of journalism where I am arguably one of the top 10 specialists in the world. There appears to be a worrying problem with Dave’s bars, and I don’t care how active he is on the forums. Last year I wrote on a forum about bad customer service and management at another of his bars, Club 69 on Soi 15, and he wrote an abusive and dismissive response. Only later did he actually bother to go there and investigate and fired the manager and sent me an apology. It might make a difference, of course, if he actually spent time at the places he is involved with and saw what goes on. Dean told me he would report to the missing Dave and ask him to call me, but in these days of instant communication I had heard nothing some 14 hours later. The appeal of the nightlife in Thailand, while sordid in other countries, has long been regarded as a fun thing here. But that has always been skin-deep and like so many things in the Land Of False Smiles an illusion, and increasing the squalid underbelly is being exposed.