Nightmarch

[PattayaPete 530]

A Walking, Talking , Living Spat: In 2004 ‘Alan Ladd’, the Australian partner in the popular Living Dolls Showcase and Living Dolls ogling dens (both on Walking Street) was arrested in Hong Kong for allegedly trying to offload a suitcase full of Indian rupees. He was detained in the territory for quite some time and while legalities were being sorted out his English partner, ‘Captain Picard’, was left to run both operations on his own.

 

According to my sources, Alan Ladd’s father came to Pattaya and struck a deal with Captain Picard whereby the latter agreed to buy out his erstwhile colleague. So far so good. After finally being released by the Hong Kong authorities Alan Ladd returned to Pattaya and has allegedly made it clear he is not happy with the deal which was struck in his absence.

 

Captain Picard, who apparently managed to make sure the extremely profitable Living Dolls Showcase (formerly the Blackout ogling den) was solely in his name, reportedly told Alan Ladd he is welcome to the original Living Dolls chrome pole palace but must also cough up one million baht.

 

I’m told Alan Ladd is currently seeking legal advice in the hope of salvaging something from the wreckage. It is also suggested there was a verbal confrontation that finished up getting rather physical one evening when the two protagonists clashed in the confines of Living Dolls Showcase.

 

Without knowing all the facts, but merely taking an outsider’s observational view, I feel Captain Picard is justified in retaining full control of Living Dolls Showcase. After all, he has had to bear the responsibility of running the entire operation on his own while his erstwhile partner was ‘helping the Chinese government with their inquiries’ in Hong Kong. The success of the venture is largely the due to the Captain and if a mutually agreeable deal had been previously agreed, then I don’t see how Alan Ladd can justify reneging. Hopefully, both parties will see it’s in their interests to resolve the matter as quickly and painlessly as possible.

 

Should be Mothballed: Hands up all of those who are interested in reading about the sexual escapades of one man and learning in fairly graphic detail how many times each and every girl he happens to bar fine satisfies him orally or on how many occasions he manages to up-end the damsel in the shower? This is pretty much the content of a new book called Butterfly by Stephen Yang. The front cover mentions the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, but about the only time the Philippines gets a guernsey is when Yang tells the reader he has a Filipino girlfriend.

 

If you are into living your life vicariously, then add it to your collection; if you have any experience of the bar scene and the ladies who work in it then don’t bother. The prose is turgid and, because of the nature of the story, repetitive beyond belief. This is the type of tome written by someone who wants to tell the world he has managed to screw more than a few bargirls. Big deal. Why do some people who’ve had had more than a few young ladies offer their sexual favours believe they can put pen to paper and come up with a book that will interest the average Thailand goer? Why a company such as Asia Books would be bothered distributing this tripe is beyond me.

 

In the last 12 months or so there has been an absolute mountain of garbage masquerading as literature hitting the bookstores. Most of it is poorly written, indifferently edited and does nothing to add to the sum total of what the majority of ex-pats and long term visitors know already.

 

Nightmarch Exclusive: As regular readers of this column would be aware, I’m not overly fond of the foreign tourist police volunteers, mainly because I distrust the real motives of a number of the personnel involved. It’s a little like the curate’s egg: good in parts. In fairness, I’m assured none of the current crop are involved in any way in raiding or shaking down premises in Fun Town. Much of the work they do behind the scenes in helping both tourists and bar owners alike goes unheralded. Equally, I would feel a lot less disquiet about them if they didn’t dress like an Obergruppenfuhrer of the Death’s Head Panzer Division. What the hell’s wrong with a simple bloody badge or identity tag?

 

A few weeks ago there was a strong suggestion that a member of the foreign volunteer tourist coppers was involved in the very late night raid on the Hot & Cold ogling den (Soi Post Office). This has been hotly denied by one prominent member of the pretend plod who said the raid was the result of a falling out between a senior tourist peeler and a member of the regular Pattaya plod. He confirmed a tourist policeman was involved but he was insistent that it was a Thai national and not a foreigner, even going so far as to name the man concerned.

 

It appears the man entered Hot & Cold prior to the raid, gathered evidence by way of a mobile phone video camera and then left. He then contacted his superiors who launched the raid.

 

Give someone a uniform and a tin whistle and it isn’t long before they want to start throwing their weight around and now I have a whisper that the regular plod are asking for 20 foreigners to join a squad to assist them in the carrying out of their duties. What is truly disturbing is the ‘team leader’ the police have appointed is one of the shadiest but most prominent businessmen in Pattaya.

 

For the purposes of this missive let’s just call him Prince Hamlet. To meet him socially for a chat is a pleasant enough experience. Like most conmen he is a good talker, a hail-fellow-well-met type who makes all the right noises and most people are left with a favourable impression. They come away thinking ‘all those nasty stories I’ve heard about that nice man must be just professional jealousy’. He has survived in Fun Town for almost two decades, carefully cultivating contacts within the Thai hierarchy. The word ‘arse-licker’ comes readily to mind.

 

From my personal experience with Prince Hamlet it was and is his treatment of his Thai staff I found most reprehensible. Verbal abuse as well as either withholding or delaying payment of wages for as long as possible is common practice. It is no surprise that whoever works for him rarely stays longer than a few months. Here is a man who published a picture of his wife in his poor-quality attempt at a newspaper informing advertisers and creditors that she was the one responsible for any debts he had incurred and it had all been done without the knowledge of his company. It was a perfect method of escaping having to pay irksome bills. They were back together inside a few weeks…that is if they ever truly were apart.

 

The same man has stitched up at least two businesses that I’m aware of when it comes to advertising contracts. Both business owners asked for a three-month contract to which Prince Hamlet verbally agreed. The business owners signed the proffered contract a couple of days later without checking the fine print (that is, they thought Prince Hamlet would honour his verbal agreement), but after the three months expired continued to receive bills. When they inquired further they were told that he only dealt in 12-month contracts.

 

Yet now, according to my source, Prince Hamlet is going to be in charge of a bunch of vigilante foreigners employed to do what for the local peelers? That’s the million baht question. Will they too be issued with uniforms? If they are going undercover, what kind of operations will they be involved in? I wouldn’t mind betting a few foreign-owned bars might find themselves being raided and, of course, large chunks of the folding stuff will wind up in brown-shirted pockets. I also wouldn’t mind betting a percentage of these ‘stings’ (for that’s all they are) will be trousered by the brave volunteers.

 

Quite frankly, whoever takes up the cudgels to work with the regular coppers will make the foreign tourist police volunteers look like altar boys. I guarantee one thing, Prince Hamlet will make sure he is at least one person removed from any direct involvement in a sting. He won’t be getting his hands sullied when there are others more gullible and pliable.

 

Of course, all of this is really none of my business and if I want to live a nice, quiet life here I should just ignore it and let them get on with it. Unfortunately, I can’t abide bullies, con-artists and extortionists, particularly if all three vices come in the one package.

[Hammer 815]

Hands up all of those who are interested in reading about the sexual escapades of one man and learning in fairly graphic detail how many times each and every girl he happens to bar fine satisfies him orally or on how many occasions he manages to up-end the damsel in the shower? This is pretty much the content of a new book called Butterfly by Stephen Yang.

 

Has somebody nicked my trip reports, and made a novel out of them.

[mastaloopz 0]

Haha, doubtful Hammer. Everyone including myself enjoys your trip reports. But maybe they jacked your name.

 

 

~Loopz

[davethailand 91]

"Captain Picard" is at the moment wondering how this information got out and why it has been put on Nightmarch.

[KC 0]

"Captain Picard" LMAO, now i know why i had a bit of bother with a girl from that bar last trip. She was a Klingon! Could'nt get rid of her she lubbed me long time. Thumbs up though for Captain Picard, once he knew i was having trouble he got it sorted.

 

KC

[hillbilly 81]

THIS UNBELIEVABLE THAT TURISTS WANT TO TOUT FOR A CORRUPT POLICE FORCE BY PLAYING WITH PEOPLES LIVLEYHOOD. WHO IN THERE RIGHT MIND WANTS TO GET HIMSELF NOTICED AND HIGHLGHTED TO THE LOCAL MAFIA, KID YOURSELF NOT THEY WILL BE TARGETED WHEN IT GOES TITS UP. I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND BELEIVE ME ITS NOT PRETTY BECAUSE SOME ONE WILL GET SHOT OR MURDERED. WHAT A BUNCH OF WANKERS, IF THEY DON,T LIKE WHAT THEY SEE IN LOS THEN GO HOME.

[davethailand 91]

THIS UNBELIEVABLE THAT TURISTS WANT TO TOUT FOR A CORRUPT POLICE FORCE BY PLAYING WITH PEOPLES LIVLEYHOOD. WHO IN THERE RIGHT MIND WANTS TO GET HIMSELF NOTICED AND HIGHLGHTED TO THE LOCAL MAFIA, KID YOURSELF NOT THEY WILL BE TARGETED WHEN IT GOES TITS UP. I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND BELEIVE ME ITS NOT PRETTY BECAUSE SOME ONE WILL GET SHOT OR MURDERED. WHAT A BUNCH OF WANKERS, IF THEY DON,T LIKE WHAT THEY SEE IN LOS THEN GO HOME.

What are you shouting for?

What local mafia?

That mafia talk in Pattaya is all crap, Sure there are "mafia" type powerful people here but they don't bother any business's.

The only mafia here is the old bill.

It was a fact from day 1 that the "spy" used was a thai and not a farang.

Too much gossip on forums i'm afraid.