I also visited a 2nd floor show in Patpong and exactly the same thing happened to me! It's a truly criminal scam but I think the owners are police so they get away with it. This has never happened to me in Pattaya, Soi Cowboy or NEP.

Advice to anyone visiting Thailand, do your homework and read up about the Land of Smiles, things are allways what they seem?

I wish I read that before, I had to pay 1300b as well, it was supposed to be 200b. Never go there again

Although these scams have been a long time in operation, should it ever happen again, simply call the Tourist Police. Most times even the threat of this will change the situation quickly. Many year ago when I first arrived in Thailand I was taken into this kind of trap as well and made it clear I would be seeking the Tourist Police for assistance . The quickly allowed me to pay the right price for the drinks and got me out of the place fast.

we went to pat pong to check it out and there was lots of people showing us cards with ping pong shows and all sorts of other stuff and we were really not interested at first but curiousity got the better of us and also the fact that there were lots of man trying to lure us to check out these shows. so we followed this man to see what the fuss is all about.

these men lured us by telling us it's a free show, free entrance and all you have to do is buy a drink for 100 baht each.. there was 4 of us. 2 guys and 2 girls.

..so as we entered we were showned where to sit and the ladies showed us a drink menu (without prices) and then we ordered the drinks. when we got our drinks and we were not asked to pay it yet then a few mins later these 3 ladies came up to us to see if we would buy them drinks. we didn't really want to buy them any but we asked them how much for drinks because if it was reasonable then we would have considered buying for them and they told us it was 200 baht a drink and our alarm bells started ringing and i thought to myself this sounds & feels funny.

..anyway we told them no because it was expensive(our excuse to get them to move along). they said no it's not expensive and after a few minutes of them trying to get drinks out of us and us telling them no then they said it was ok and they walked away.

..then a few mins later these 2 butch ladies came up to us and said everyone had to pay 300 baht each and that would make it 1200 baht total and we were very shocked. we told them the men said it was free show and only 100 baht for the drinks and they said no and insisted that we had to pay.

we got really angry and actually got quite fired up and loudly told them we were not paying that because the man told us it was a free show and only 100 baht for drinks and we're going now. they would not let us go and stood in front of us and repeatedly said to us to calm down and just pay us. so the four of us said we're only paying 100 baht each. we slammed the 400 baht on the table, sculled our drinks down and left the premises giving those a-holes dirty looks.

anyway that was just a quick note on our experience in pat pong. don't be scammed by these people. better yet don't go there.

apart from that incident the rest of our trip was excellent.

I was scammed for 500 baht for just a glass of coke.Best is to avoid going there.

We got scammed too in PatPong last week where we went there for holiday and there was a guy claiming himself the manager of the bar for the ping pong show and we only need to pay 100 Baht for a drink(either coke,singha..etc) and he said it won't charge us any entertainment fees except for the drinks. He persuaded us won't be too long.. Just have a look won't take us >5 minutes... So, at the end we entered the bar and initially we found it was very disgusting as i'm a lady and went with my bf but if we think it is an experience to gone through then we forwarded ourselves and ordered 1 Heineken 1 Coke. Same tactics, 2 girls came along and asked us to treat them a drink and we rejected them and they looks angry too. They left their left-over drinks (orange) on our table. We quickly finished off our drinks and before asking for bill, there was a waitress came over and show us her fingertips (money money)..Since we are leaving too, so we pay her 100 100=200Baht. You know what!!! She asked for 1000Baht.Oh gosh..!! Our blood pressure went up and felt scammed already. Same explanation given, 400b for the show each pax and we were arguing that the previous so called manager said no charges.. Argue and argue.. finally.. we gave up as they don't seem to understand English further other than 'money' and 'pay'.... We were very angry and trying to look for that guy around.. Not more than 5 minutes, we managed to hold of him and asking him why he charged us.. then, he said, he only said free for first 5 minutes.. He twisted his words around where we have no choice as all this were planned nicely already and we were being tricked already. Speechless on 'Thais' after my first ever trip to Bangkok, Thailand. Disappointed on their moralities as they are famous with their religion 'Buddhist' and yet they could do such a things!!! Never taught in any religious before.

18 years ago on the first night of my first trip to Thailand I got caught in exactly the same go go bar bill padding scam that has been operating for decades before I got there. In my case I did not insult them or shout at them, I stayed calm and called for the tourist police but they would not let me leave and would not let me open the door to leave the bar. The little manager dude came over to me (I am a big guy) and started trying to hit me in front of many staff and customers. I was only 20 years of age and didn't know if they would pull a knife or gun on me so I backed down and paid the 2000 Baht. It was a shocking way to learn about Thai culture and in the countless dozen times since then that go go bar staff have tried to scam me I just laugh and walk out. The same thing never happened to me again.

The main rule to remember down Patpong is that any Go Go Bar that visibly displays the Kings Group logo on the outside will never scam you ever. All other Go Go Bars will try it on anybody they like any time they feel like it. Good Luck.

Don't ever listen to touts at patpong if you want an annoying-free time. My experience of red light district at patpong is filled by dishonesty, rudeness, cheating. A sinful place. A waiteress will help herself to the tips without us knowing. Giving you back the change of 800 bhat and she help herself with 100 bhat and left on the tray is 700 bhat.

When you ask where is the other 100 bhat, she smile at you and say it is tip. That is my impression.

I am taking my first trip to Thailand--hoping to visit Bangkok and Pattaya. I have been reading up on information and am concerned about getting scammed and maybe missing some of the "best stuff." A buddy of mine and I are going together--neither of us has been there before. Any advice?

Hey dude i m in Bangkok rgt nw, i don't drink. Can anyone tell me will they charge me even if i don't drink.

This has happened to me many times in the 7 years I've lived here. It's always a hassle, but when she tells you the 'new' price, I say that the guy outside told us only 100B, so that's what we're paying. She then says that he doesn't work for this bar, to which I reply "How is that my problem? And if he doesn't work here, how come he told us to come here?" The trump card is to tell them you're going to the tourist police on the corner of the soi - they really don't like people to make waves. Don't back down - the firmer you are about getting the authorities involved, the more likely they are to leave you alone.
Or you could just avoid the whole thing - seeing pot-bellied 40 year old mothers shove ping pong balls in themselves is really depressing and not at all titilating.

Why take any notice of anyone offering anything. Bound to be dodgy in any country.

it's simple guys. don't touch your drink until you get the bill and pay for it before you start to drink. 'clipping' died down for a while but is coming back due to the dwindling number of tourists. if you get given another bill later just walk away, you have paid. they will not come after you, they may puff out their chests, but at the end of the day they can not do anything or you can call the tourist police and they will have to pay large fines. these people make a lot of money by scaring people, not by beating them up.

another approach is if you find a decent tuk-tuk driver, they can help you out...for a small fee. but the fee could be as easy as paying them for the round trip (which you'd probably pay someone for that trip anyway) and then buying their drinks. the drivers are probably going to rip you off either way. but if you become "theirs", they can help you out from worse rip offs. be sure not to pay in advance tho. that way they want to keep you as their customer. of course still take precautions and be on your toes with them.

Such bars are centers of rip off, not only in Thailand, but in the whole world. In the past I wandered into such bars in London and in Munich. A Pound 100 is lost there as easily as Baht 600 in Bangkok.

What beats me is that some tourists walk into a Bangkok bar that has “Sex Shows” and actually think that they get away with paying Baht 100 for a drink. Isn’t that seriously naïve? Even, if the guy who takes them there gives them the wrong price, a bit of common sense should prevail. Maybe they should have taken a training course at their “Sex Bars” at home.

The sex shows in Silom are pathetic, and the prices, as stated, a rip off with respect to the show. However, the bars’ target is not getting money by providing good shows, but getting money through overpricing and intimidation. Since only about 2 out of 10 visitors of such bars in London, Munich, Bangkok, and elsewhere, are drunken bumpkins, and the majority tourists, a repeat visit is highly unlikely. Hence, they grab what they can while the tourists are in the establishment.

Clubs with some real sex shows in Bangkok easily cost from Baht 1,500 upwards per person, and they offer good shows.

not only are they a rip off the "sex show" girls, are all fat, ugly and old!!!!! go to nana instead, they might rip u off still, but at least the girls there are 10 times better than patpong.

Atli,
Give me one good reason why those tourists in BKK are seriously naive? And if you are scammed in London, Munich bars, you are not naive? Try to put yourself in shoes of those unsuspecting tourists, who arrived in LOS two days ago, they have no idea about beer price LOS, they are able to get decent meals for 40THB that would cost 10USD in their countries. Just by comparison 100THB sounds fair price with show. Also you are being shown a printed menu before you enter. FYI.. there are bars in Bangkok where you can get beer for around 100THB with show.

60 baht for a Singha at a go go place? Ummm ... never ever! Usually, it's from 200 baht for the first drink *including* the show ... and you are welcome to buy drinks for the girls or boys, respectively ... 500 baht per drink ... no way! Nowhere in BKK ...

I was also scammed at patpong a yr ago, it's on the 2nd level.Avoid anything 2nd level if you're to visit such places and try to go to somewhere more open and not so enclosed, such that you are able to "escape" or shout for help.

They have their own accompliances stationed everywhere in patpong.eventhough you are away from the 2nd level pub, they will have someone stationed away and bring you back to the same place. That's how i got cheated.

It's the same old scam. they told me that the drinks was 100 baht.So we ordered 2 beer and the bill came up to 1200baht, claiming that it's 600baht for 1 beer.

We refused to pay 1200baht, so we shoved them 500 baht, expecting change from them. But they continued to haggle with us and this big tall man was blocking the entrance. We forced our way out and ran down the stairs.And some man continued to shout at us.

The girls performing will ask for tips each time they performed a task. If you refuse to give them tips, they will give you an unhappy face.

My advice is to avoid visiting such places.If you do want to try going such places, try somewhere open, lots of people and less sleazy.

Adam: Should have read this. But we managed to bargain our way out of the 700 baht live show charge, since we're just student.s

Ivan: yea.

Please do not misunderstand. Thai scammers are absolutely non-religious people. True religious people will never have scamming as an occupation. In Buddhism, there are occupations considered unsuitable and actions that are considered improper. Telling lies and deceiving others is against one of the most basic Buddhist precepts, definitely a 'no-no'.

However as you might guess in occupations like tourism or sex show industry deceptions has become way of making profit, but that has nothing to do with religion. Religious people certainly don't work at strip shows or scamming shops and they don't play blackjack.

Patpong is a greasy place and if your not educated your gonna get ripped off. And its not just Patpong, many all night bars (usually run by cops/gangs) will try this with farangs. Girls in these bars are probably either one of two things - extremely poor Thai women, usually with a family to support or illegal immigrants from Laos, Cambodia, Burma etc.

Many, if not not most, of the immigrants are brought here under false pretenses and are no more than sex slaves. The poor Thai women may be ripping you off, but its not to buy gas for her hummer or to fund her European vacation - its to feed herself, her immediate and extended family.
The people running these girls and bars are generally dangerous criminals, and have close links to the police, or at least one or two officers.

Now anyone going to Patpong, isn't going for the ambiance or the nice family atmosphere, so I don't understand why we keep hearing 'curiosity got the better of me' :-) Since the U.S. went there on their leave from the Vietnam war its been a notorious red light district. Anyone going to Patpong should be aware of the problems these girls face, and they should also be aware that they are possibly contributing towards the success of the modern day sex slave trade. Also, if you think that your getting a good deal in Patpong, then use your common sense and please, don't be so naive. If you go to these places, and you get ripped off, then you have only yourself to blame. Its not a reflection of Thai culture in any way. I've had to help people in these situations (both native and foreign -relative to location) in many countries over the past 20 years and the story is always the same.

If you want to get greasy then be prepared to deal with dishonest people and stop whinging about it !

Go to The Penthouse, it is on the 2nd floor on the right hand side next to a luggage/bag shop if you are approaching the main Soi Patpong from Silom road. They will sell you coupons upfront for 2 drinks including the shows, 300 baht if I remember correctly at the 2nd floor entrance.

The shows are decent and bargirls don't hassle you for drinks. It's one of the older establishments popular with locals since they have a good reputation for not scamming clients.

Avoid the other places that have touts with pricelists outside. You are heading for trouble and more than you can handle. A friend of mine lost his teeth when he decided not to pay the inflated tab. The local police will not help you since most of these scammers pay them off monthly.

Oh my god !! These type of scams are horrible, it is much worse than the Philipines and Mexico.
Some of the stories I was reading it makes me think twice about going to Patpong.
Nanna in Bangkok wan not too bad, and Chiang mai it's OK I think except for a kareoke bar, Where at the door of place they told me that it was 500 baht just to have a private room and have the girl sing for you.
But when I got the bill they charge for plus this and plus that. At the end it was like bout 1,100 baht.
The so called maddam came in with 2 guys not bigger than myself , I stand up and ask bout the charges
I think she felt that the situation could get out of control if those guys harrased me , so she asked them to leave and have to settle for 800 bath.
I do not really know what is better? to pay before or for the said price , but they still will write another receipt for the extra charges as they please when the show it's over.

The best way is to make a friend in Thailand so they can take you around like I did. That way you can not get ripped off. I know you will have to pay for his or her food drinks etc. but for a piece of mind it's much better this way.

Good luck to all of you, that are going to Thailand for the first time, just use a lot of common sense. If the price for "Tuk Tuk" or the "Show girls", Drinks is too good to be true , your should know better that you will get scammed.

I have just returned from Patpong, and to be honest, if I was a tourist, just do not go there, it is dirty and smelly and the girls were not nice, and more than a fair share of touts. If you want to see the bar scene go to Nana or Soi Cowboy, its much better and no hassle.

suprise suprise we got done last night, same old story, ask how much a drink is...100baht, ok, go in, the shows free, then 12 girls come and sit round you, you buy them all a drink for 100 baht each..cheap enough and being polite, then a few minutes later your handed the bill of 4000 baht.... nice. Makes my blood boil, we'll be using the 'we are calling the tourist police' line from now on. And also a good thing is to never trust a tuk tuk driver, we wasted a day on one! grrrrr!

I went to BKK many times n e last trip was in last Nov with my hubby n my son who was 2 yrs old @ tat time. We past by Patong n as mentioned above, alot of guys were outside showing us menus with drink costing only 100Bahts. There were gals wearing bikinis dancing on bar-top.
We were quite interested but bcoz of our son we did not went in. The guys who show us e menu even welcome us to bring our baby in coz we r permitted to do so.
Thank God I drop e idea n pulled my hubby away as its too smoky for a 2 yrs old child. But we intend to go ourselves e next trip not bringing our son. But after I read e above comments,e more I will avoid tat place in e future.Its so horrible...
Thanks for sharing!

i stayed at at a five star hotel near patpong.Now been a seasoned traveller i went to one of the stalls on the road leading to patpong and asked a old wizened boy selling some trinkets {tourist crap].What the score was regarding what was what in the hood,and added i would buy him a fine seafood dinner if he gave me the correct lowdown on the lay of the land.Well he took me to one of the finest seafood restaurants and we had a feast for next to nothing.Then he phoned somebody and ten minutes later i had a choice of three fine pieces of arm candy.The whole evening was great.ALLWAYS SUSS OUT THE LAY OF THE LAND.DONT WALK IN BLIND.

Your the absolute best, if there was a prize for talking crap, you would win.

my bf n I had the same experience in Wild Cat too. there was this boy who led us there by telling that the show is free and we only need to pay 100Bht each for the drink. When we were up, we saw the same thing like what JAY described. One an old woman came to us and ask us to hold a balloon.. The lady on the stage then used something on her pussy to blast the balloon from the stage. When this was done, all the ladies on the stage clap. Right after that, the same old woman came to us to collect tips 400Bht each. We were very surprised as we didnt know that we have to pay this much of tips. Not too long after that, the big size lady boy ( i think is the same person as in the story of JAY) came to us with a bill of 3000Bht!!!!! 3000Bht??? We asked why is the bill cost so much? The lady boy said, that's for the beer and the show. Then we argued with them that we were only told to pay 100Bht each. The lady boy said he did not know who told us and where is the guy from. We know that all these is just a trap. They just want us to go up to the shop for them to con us. At the moment we dont really have so much of money with us, the lady boy insisted us to go to ATM to withdraw money for them. We told them we dont have ATM card that can be used here. We only have 2000Bht with us, if we gave them all we wont be able to pay the taxi to go back to our hotel. Without thinking they just took all our money away... :(
After a while they came to us giving us back 200Bht and tell us that's enough for us to go back. We were very depressed and left the shop.
All along the way where we wanted to walk out of the area, they were so many ppl approaching us telling that it is only 100Bht for drinks and shows... We got so fedup, we told the ppl who approach us on how we were forced to pay all our money. One suggested us to report to police... When we were walking to the police booth another lady approach us, we told her that we are not interested and we want to go to the police, she was shocked and asked us what happened. We told her, then she said she will get someone to settle for us... Another man came to us, n ask us to lead him to the shop we went.... When we were up there, this guy talk to the lady boy in Thai very loudly. I dont know what they talk about... And finally they told us the tips can not be refunded but for the bill that we have paid they are willing to refund us 800Bht as they have paid us 200 Bht earlier for the taxi ride. So in total we got back 1000Bht. But still 1400Bht has gone for the beers n the tips... so sad... We will nvr go back to Patpong again...

so sorry for you all i had this same thing happen to me but i only ended up paying 300 baht for me and my girlfriend. we had a bill of 3200 baht brought to us and my gf went crazy at them i was supprised usualy i like to do the talking but she was fed up with all the scams in patpong markets . expecially all the shows. we were told 100 baht a drink 2 drinks is all we needed and the show was free. when we sat down about 8 ladies came and joind out table and all brought a drink they tried to charge us each drink and tips but we didnt agree for the ladies to get drinks they still tried to charge us tho. its sad but many many people end up getting ripped off daily with these shows, just raise more awareness amoung friends and family who will be traveling there. so in the end we payed 300 baht and walked out. we said 100 baht each drink and 100 bath tip, 300 take it or leave it,.

soi cowboy and nana are better, too many cunts hassle you down patpong, although its obviously still totally possible to get burnt in the other go-go areas also. On a number of occasions when i have been out on drinking sessions with a couple of mates in BKK we have been presented with large bills though to be honest we have probably drank at lot, its still obvious the bills has been jacked up some what, most of the time were too loaded to care too much and just pay up, though the best way to avoid this is to pay for every drinks/round as they come so you can keep track of them all, however another way is to also check each drinks slip as they are popped into the little holder, a farang friend of mine who has been living it BKK for some years also takes a pen from his pocket and signs every new slip in front of the waitress as they are being palced in the holder, it alows any non-signed ones to be later disputed as not being yours, though more importantly it shows the staff that you are just aware of the potential scam and they will generally pick on a more easily dupped target!

OOOOPsss, shit ...if i had read this before, i havent have gone there in the first place, i was also duped for 2400 Baht and you know what i had was only 3 drinks.. it was at some second floor ping pong bar in bkk.

This scam has been going on in Patpong for at least the past 20 years. It was documented in many of the books about Patpong. I got taken once myself on my first visit. The answer to this is to find a tourist police (not local police), there are usually several around Patpong. Have them accompany you back to the bar, they'll get your money back, fine the bar and close the damn place down for several days.

Never go to a sex show with your wife.

DO NOT PAY! This is a common scam. Again, Thais are like dogs, they bark a lot. This happened to me the first time I went to one. I had read about it. I made it very clear I was not paying. The lady manager got in front of me and I kept walking pushing her with my chest and yelling "move". A bunch of guys came towards me and I started screaming at them. When they thought I was mad they let me go. They are cowards. The second time was a few weeks ago. A friend of mine was in town and wanted to see the show. I warned him that there could be an uncomfortable moment when we left. Same story, I ended up arguing with this lady manager who wanted us to pay 500 baht for the show. By this time I have been living here for a while and I yelled at her in Thai, while a fat girl with incredible aim kept shooting ping pall balls at my forehead with her pussy! Anyway, they saw our attitude and did not make a move when we left. In the way down we saw a group of Indian guys being touted upstairs. I told them not to go. They left too. Once in the street the tout kept yelling at me that i was a bad man. I walked to him and slowly walked on him pushing him with my chest until he fell on some chairs. I love doing this to them. Almost all the upstairs bars are the same. They are not worth going. The girls are all fat and ugly and everyone keeps begging for money.

Geez, I can't believe the amount of people that have been over charged/ripped off in Patpong, please remember, nothing is ever free. I confused as to why some of you people don't read up on this area before you go sniffing around for some action?

I visit patpong all the time, mainly because I live close. All the ground floor bars will not scam you. I have been to all. Just remember never go to an upstairs bar and never go with a tout. You are surrounded by bars so you don't need anyone to show you where to have a beer.

Right. I and my friend were scammed, too, in Patpong. In Pattaya, I was frightened by the shout of the bar girl and so ran away with my friend. On the contrary, Chiangmai bars were pleasant - except that they keep on asking for tips and complaining of their poverty and needs and wants. I give them a few bucks now and then but they keep on with their requests for tips, for this and that, maybe, dad is in hospital etc.

Is that scam still in place? Jee, they did that to me there 15 years ago! The joint I visited, was indeed on the second floor, if my memory is well, left hand side!

Can't believe they can go on like ages and nobody ever complained....

And that there were no reports of fights!

I'm curious as to know why a lot of the poor souls who have been apparantely scammed come to Bangkok in the first place, would it be to see the wonderful architecture, breath the clean air, eat at McDonalds whilst watching the smooth flowing traffic of Bangkok?

Yeah yeah same old scam.I went with my cambodian girlfriend,downstairs they assured me that a beer was 100 baht,once sitting down it became 300 baht.When the girls asked for drinks we told them to piss off.
The show as so disgusting that we stayed and watched right to the end,just to make sure that we were totally disgusted.
I didnt mind paying nearly $20 for the experience of a filthy show and being scammed in bangkok,I mean this is being the true tourist,isnt it?

All of you travellers looking for some good time with girls in Thailand, whatever you do, never trust any of the Tuk Tuk drivers that are everywhere showing you pictures of girls in massage parlors and offering you an all-too-good-to-believe price. These massage parlors are scams. The price that the Tuk Tuk driver offers you is never available. There are no girls like those in the pictures and the girls in those places tend to have a bad attitude. If you decide to go, do not give any money to the Tuk Tuk driver. Remember he is getting his commission from the club. If you want girls, they are anywhere in Sukhumvit. No need to go to a massage parlor. Those girls have no idea about giving massages anyway.

Hello, I have recently returned back home to Sydney after a 2 week holiday in South East Asia, Overall experience has been great with the exception on my last day in Bangkok, 15/08/08,The little lane between Patpong 1 and Patpong 2 (around the corner they sell bags closest to Slilom road) a tout forced me to go and see a "show" up stairs, i nicely hesitated and said "no im shopping," then he said "just to have a look for one second and you dont need to pay for anything and dont need to drink and there is an Australian comedian who is doing a show right now",found it hard to believe as there was no ads or sign but was eager to see,

Went upstairs and as soon as i reached top, someone from behind pushed me inside the go go bar, then i was sucked in to some dirty filthy disgusting sex shows with grandmothers performing, at that point i got sucked in, i wanted to leave, then the tout who sucked me in started to yell in Thai to some middle aged thai man, (the club's manager) and demanded i pay a covercharge, i asked what for? then he said you are in my club and you have to pay as the sign says (500 baht), i told him that the sign was not displayed outside, then he laughed and started to speak in Thai with the lying Tout, Manager demanded i pay 1000 since its a fine for violating the rules, i told him i didnt have that money, then he asked whats inside your bag, (i had 2 cameras digitalcam and another a hd video recorder, unlucky no power on both aftera whole day of us), I told him ok i got some money but this ismy only money, he demanded i handed it over, and he asked for more, at this point i became abit scared because the guy who pushed me in was right behind me along with the tout on the side who lead me in.

So I gave the manager 1000 baht, he then asked I also pay 1000 baht to the ticket desk which was on the left hand side of the entrance, and then i also had to pay 1000 baht to the tout and the guy behind me aswell.

Thats a total of 4000 baht, then i was escorted to a seat and was told to watch the show after the show i could leave, then a fat lady came in and ask i get a drink, i told her no because i dont drink, so she sent me a bottle water and asked that i pay 1000 baht for it, i said no. then 2 girls came from both sides and locked me in and grabbed my shopping and ask i pay them 1000 for tip each (3000), I would then get my shopping bag back, unfortunately it was the remaining money i had in my shoulder bag i was really forced to give. They threw my shopping bag back to me, right after they did , noticed the door was clear so i made a run for the exit and went to the Sky Train station for help.

Spoke to the security guard at Sala Daeng, who was limited in english and he approached a group of young people who happened to speak fluent english and kindly helped me throughout the night. Who assisted me to go the police station and became my translators to the local police officers in the station which was like 5 minutes away by motorbike in Patpong where I went to make a report. I was so shocked that I didn't want to return back to the area, Police asked me if I wanted to get my money back, i told them it didnt really matter as long as I lived and besides I still had money back in my hotel which was enough for me to get back to the airport. I did not get the name of the place but I can remember the exact location of the bar. I told police that I will point out the place but will not go inside or near it. Police told me it was fine and that I had to meet another patrol in the area so I can show them where it was and explained to them what happened briefly.

A detective then kindly took me back to little station in Patpong where i met 2 police officers who asked me to show me where the place was, and then they asked me to come with them and said there would be no problem we are police officers. I told them i will only point where it is and I will leave. I then walked down along Patpong 2 with the police officers and right in the corner i pointed out to the police officer that that was the place where the incident occured. So i left it at that and ran to nearest cab to take me back to the hotel.

Shopping at Naraya .. Patpong .. girl was shoving ping pong balls in her pussy (what were you thinking?)

Spend some time outside your "tourist beach resorts" and you will see the pain that is Thailand.

Advice to first time visitors to Thailand, do your homework and read up about " The Land of Smiles", things are NOT what they seem?

"Free enterprise" = scams are alive and well in Thailand ..... be careful

Never go to upstairs bars in Patpong.I would think the other bars would want the scam joints closed since it ruins the whole area.Haven't been to Pat Pong in years, still live here.

Sometimes the ingenuousness help
I was in Patpong and one man said to me come upstairs the show is free and you pay just a drink
Ok i was upstaids and I stay almost 1 hour, i was seen all kind of shows and drink at list 3 beers.
At the and I expect to pay only the 3 beers but one man come to me and said "you must pay 1500B for show", after 3 minutes of discussion was no way to pay only a beers and coming another man.
So i said "I will not pay for show thank you for a beers" and I run away very fast downstairs.
Seems like they do not axpect such a reaction an I was free on street immediatly I lived Patpong to Hotel
Free full show and free drink
Goodby Patpong

Will definataly avoid Patpong but are Nana and Soi cowboy ok? We were there last year but did ground floor bars at Nana and cowboy only, to be honest wanted to see a show out of curiousity but was too scared to go upstairs( read reviews befre we went). In Bangkok again this year and wouldnt mind a look, Hotel near Nana so might just go in with 500 baht and when its gone its gone? Opinions please

DONT TALK TO TOUTS. wALK PAST TOUTS. IGNORE THEM.
DONT RIDE IN TUK TUK'S. FLAG DOWN A TAXI IN MOTION.

Radio city will give you a discount if you show them any evidence you are in the tourist industry. Ive visited that place for years and have never been ripped off. The Thai 'Elvis' and 'Tom Jones' are great entertainment and put on a great show. If you get a chance to meet the owner you know you are in safe hands. The beer is reasonably priced.

Hi Ted, yes Nana and Soi cowboy are fine, I have never had any trouble there from touts. Just avaoid Patpong, and ignore touts and tuk tuk drivers.

In the legitimate bars ie in Nana plaza, Soi Cowboy etc once you order a drink you will get a slip which will be put in a plastic cup where you are sitting ,check the slip as soon as it is presented. You will not be charged extra for shows. The price of your drink is entry fee enough.

You are sure to be asked by one or more of the girls in most of the bars to buy them a drink which they get a small commision on, this shoud be around the 100 - 150 baht mark. It is up to you whether you buy a girl a drink or not.

A good rule is the if they ask rudely or persistantly they dont get one, except if you take a shine to someone in particular then 100 baht is small compensation for some nice company and if you like someone why not offer them a drink?

The girls have to make a quota of lady drinks per month, it is legitamate and it is part of the bar structure and girls job not a scam and totally above board. They solicit drinks from customers inbetween 15 minutes periods of dancing.

Patpong really isnt worth bothering about for nightlife, quite frankly the atmosphere stinks in comparison to the safer areas of Nana and Cowboy. There is great nightlife in Bangkok at Nana and Soi Cowboy, both well established and both are within easy reach of the sky train BTS system. Nana plaza is on soi 4 sukhumvit and Soi Cowboy near soi 23 sukvumvit Asok.

After the BTS finishes at midnight move away from the bar areas when you are going to your hotel and flag down a moving taxi somewhere on the Sukhumvit road as scam taxi merchants are stopped and parked up waiting to rip people off with the no meter scam.

You really dont need touts to show you anything in Bangkok, there are massage places and bars everywhere at reasonable prices. Pick up one of the city guide booklets at your hotel they are published every month, also the Bts Skytrain map has many entertainment ideas in the adverts on the back of their maps.

exactly same thing happened to us... we went in and he told us no cover charge and 100 baht beers however when we asked for the bill to leave they told us 300 baht cover charge and 200 baht beers... we just paid to avoid any kind of trouble but it is just so unjust how they can get away with it

because Chelsea they are Thai but boy have they a surprise in store for them, people are sick of Thailand and its rotten apples and credit crunch is coming their way big time lol

I was having a drink along Silom 4 the other night when I got talking to some package tourists. There were three of them, they were English, two guy and a girl in their twenties. They told me this story.

Earlier they had gone to Patpong to try to go to a Ping Pong show but each time they tried to go in had met someone on the way out, a victim of the old 2000 baht drink) rip off, who had warned them not to go in.

They had persevered and kept trying bars, but finally gave up when an incident that sent shivers down my spine occurred.

They tried the small innocuous upstairs bar in the road that joins Patpong 1 to Patpong 2, but had yet again met a ripped off punter on the way out. This was was rather a large muscular guy, they kind you wouldn't want to be on the opposite side to in a fight, they described him as. He was shaking. Apparent what had happened when he had disputed the overpriced bill, one of the staff had come up behind him with a knife and held it at his throat to allow others to remove the contents of his wallet.

It is easy for us to be a little cynical about tourists who dare to do even the slightest piece of resert before going to Patpong and fall for the upstairs show con. The upstairs shows are even semi legal as the customers have ordered drinks without asking the price when the menues showing the over inflated prices will be produced in line with Thai law if requested. So refusing to pay your bill is a rather tricly question, and one for the police. Anyone threatened by a knife at the throat has just become a victim of a major crime incident.

It's sad for Thailand's sake to hear stories of people getting ripped off in Patpong. Good advice appears to be to pay up and try getting your money back with the help of the Tourist Police. There is a Police Safety Zone (hut) at the corner of Patpong 2 and Surawong Rd (if my memory serves me - please correct me if I'm wrong).

My experience in an upstairs bar in Patpong is a little different from previous stories.

My Thai wife and I were in Bangkok the middle of 2008. Her cousin told me that he wanted to take me to Patpong to see the 'special' show. I had heard about Patpong and having never been there before was eager to go with him.

On the night, we met a friend of his at Patpong and the 3 of us made our way upstairs and into a rather ordinary looking, dimly lit bar. There was a small semi-circle stage with 5 young, slim, topless girls squirming about poles.

We sat towards the back of the bar, ordered 3 beers and directed our attention to the stage. There is apparently 2 or 3 shifts of girls who take turns to get up on the stage and pole dance. The girls not dancing replace their bikini tops and sit amongst the audience. Between each shift one of the girls strips completely and performs one the many eye-popping 'tricks'. eg: lies on her back and using her vagina, shoots ping pong balls or bananas out into the audience, . Quite a site to see.

All the girls performing in the bar were attrctive young ladies. Early in the evening one of these young ladies approached us with a 'tip box' with 100baht written on it. Apparently this is split between all the girls and helps make up their wages. I gladly donated to it and in return unexpectedly received a small lap dance. I didn't refuse her in case I offended her. She was very nice and not at all offensive.

Later another young lady sat down next to me and started chatting to me. She was very nice, very respectful and not at all pushy. After a while she asked if I would buy her a drink in which I did. Her friend also came up to us and I also bought her a drink. I think this was 150baht for the 2. My new lady-friend let me taste her drink and it was definately a spirit. Her friend told me that hers was a Tequila.

After a couple of hours watching the show and the 3 of us having 3 beers each, we stood up, said goodbye to everyone and walked out. The bill total - zero.
It happens that my wife's cousin's friend with us was a policeman.

Still, we had a great night. A good experience in my opinion even if you have to pay 1 or 2000 baht. I'm sure a similar Sydney strip show with drinks would cost about the same. The problem as I see it is the dishonesty in getting people into the bars.

It doesn't have to be a second floor bar. I was once scammed like that in Patpong on a first-floor bar almost exactly the same way.

Walking out of that first floor bar wasn't difficult for me, even though the owner and some of the girls tried to stop me. I guess they didn't want a fight, so they let me go. I gave 40B to a girl at the door and took a taxi from there back to my hotel as soon as I could.

This incident made me think that Bangkok wasn't entirely safe for people like me. So I took a bus to Pattaya the next day and stayed there for the rest of my vacation.

I've visited Thailand many times since then. But I've never stayed in Bangkok again. Pattaya was my favorite place.

Which shows that scams like this do a lot of damage to the local tourist industry in Bangkok. There are plenty of places in Thailand for tourists to go to. And if tourists have trouble in Bangkok. Then they will go elsewhere, just as I went.

I wish i had read up on the internet about these scams i got him with all of them......

4 of us went to patpong markets were lured in by Thugs to a sex show.
he said just buy one drink each 100BHT and thats all....

The ladys were old and ugly and we didnt want to be there .... we thought we would stay and watch a little bit of the show. after 2 minutes of being there about 8 girls head to our table and ask if we can buy them a drink we refuse but 1 of my friends offered one pretty looking girl a drink that was the signal. all 8 came back with drinks placed them on the table , what looked like Orange fanta. tokk 1 sip and didnt touch them agian i was thinking they were there on drinks. when we tried to leave as they were all asking for tips and other crap. we were presented for a bill 10,000 baht ...Thats 2500 baht each for the show and drinks for the girls...

we refused and made our way towards the door where we were met by a group of Thai Thugs. I explained that the guy that brought us in told us 100 bht a drink so should be 500 bht including the one girls drink my friend agreed to... they said this guy didnt work for them and we made a mistake... (funny the guy walked us upstairs and in to the place personally). after alot of arguing i relised yelling was getting us no where.... all 4 of us steped back and wispered on 3 run. we made a run for it pushing these guys out of the way we made a break for it in the markets and never returend to this area. to much scum there..we are not small guys either they had guts trying to keep us there we just didnt really want to end up in a thai prison for the night)...

basically the same scam I saw in China just a few months ago ... in Shanghai ... near People's Park ...

get talked into going to a KTV (video karaoke) room for cheap drinks ... where a girl will soon join each of you in the room ...

within 2 minutes they bring you a nice fancy plate of fruit ... after ordering one (low-cost) drink ...

they will do everything they can to leave after serving the dish all while you are complaining ("hey ... how much is that" ... "we did NOT order that ..." ... "not paying forit!" ... they will give you the impression the food is free if order ladies drinks, etc.

before you know it you are told you owe a huge bill ... thousands of yuan ... for food, ladies drinks, etc ... even if you do not touch the food! or buy the ladies drinks ... that especially pisses them off .. haha

the really irate yet beautiful leader of the gang ... a woman ... especially after her skinny male bartender and other ladies joined the room ... now clearly outnumbering my male friend and I .. threatened "we are going to put you in the hospital!" ... no joke ...

after arguing for at least a minute ... i realized that nothing was going to happen ... especially looking at their faces ... and realized standing in a room with just 4 women and 1 weak looking Chinese man ... i simply got very angry realizing it was such an obvious scam ... especially after the "leader" continued to repeat the fact that they "should put us in the hospital" ...

I told them I had no money ... pulled out and empty pocket ... and started telling them maybe I will put them in the hospital ... while walking out of the room and down the hall ... I kinda lost control (my friend had already left his room after dropping 200 yuan on table and was down the stairs and outside waitinfg for me as I made my own way out) ... and said I was coming back with my gun (and most Asians assume all Americans own guns ... haha) ... and was going to "fu** all of them up" ...

haha ... after leaving .. they were the only ones any longer afraid ...

tourists beware of Shanghai ....

The same thing happens at Karaoke in Chiang Mai exactly as you have described, mainly targetting Japanese and at typically Japanese prices ouch!

500 baht for a beer $15 US is not uncommon (small heineken) at these places and of course company often unasked for is extra, fruit is extra, ice is extra, everything extra extra plus tip.

Japanese being polite will pay the price asked but any farang who argues usually will be threatened with violence if they dont cough up.

Be careful when out on the town if you like Karaoke in Chiang Mai it could put you in a difficult situation with organised criminals waiting for you to make one wrong move.

My husband and I recently got ripped off for 3,300 bht at a 2nd floor bar, ping-pong show in Patpong. We were so frightened by them crowding round us that we just paid it and got out. That was on the 2nd night of our holiday as well and really put a damper on things. Really wish I'd know about the scam now.

Shellie,

Those scam bars are run by the Police. You can see them drinking in there free.


Now you know.

Not run by the police. But they get free drinks so they dont make trouble. Most bars give free drinks to the police. Besides usely the bars pay them regulairly. If they refuse to pay drugs will be found in the bar, or there will be complaints about noice. The police will close it at prime time, take away musicequipment CD and so on.

shellie, why would you want to see a women do this? Have you bought any the ping pong balls recently?

Why wouldnt Shellie want to see a show? it is a good modern outlook that the woman can join her partner as well, Desmond time you came up with the times, thousands of women like to accompany their men, you obviously an old man with vintage ideas! Get a grip man. Go Shellie go

Too bad more people don't think of this:

Patpong is a greasy place and if your not educated your gonna get ripped off. And its not just Patpong, many all night bars (usually run by cops/gangs) will try this with farangs. Girls in these bars are probably either one of two things - extremely poor Thai women, usually with a family to support or illegal immigrants from Laos, Cambodia, Burma etc.

Many, if not not most, of the immigrants are brought here under false pretenses and are no more than sex slaves. The poor Thai women may be ripping you off, but its not to buy gas for her hummer or to fund her European vacation - its to feed herself, her immediate and extended family.
The people running these girls and bars are generally dangerous criminals, and have close links to the police, or at least one or two officers.

Now anyone going to Patpong, isn't going for the ambiance or the nice family atmosphere, so I don't understand why we keep hearing 'curiosity got the better of me' :-) Since the U.S. went there on their leave from the Vietnam war its been a notorious red light district. Anyone going to Patpong should be aware of the problems these girls face, and they should also be aware that they are possibly contributing towards the success of the modern day sex slave trade. Also, if you think that your getting a good deal in Patpong, then use your common sense and please, don't be so naive. If you go to these places, and you get ripped off, then you have only yourself to blame. Its not a reflection of Thai culture in any way. I've had to help people in these situations (both native and foreign -relative to location) in many countries over the past 20 years and the story is always the same.

If you want to get greasy then be prepared to deal with dishonest people and stop whinging about it !

I agree with whats written above. If one wants to buy women one has to be prepared for this kind of problems. Not only in Thailand. Even this is a "know how" Of course if you want to learn it. Its not like buying,lets say, an overcoat with three days back garantee in an Australian shop

And in case you only go there for curiousity,well, curiousity killed the cat. Curiousity is one of the main reasons of tourist accidents. If you dont go there to pay for women, just stay away.

It's a tourist destination. An industry that Thailand depends on.
Ripping of tourists night after night is permitted by the Police.

The Police Chief in that district should be arrested and thrown in jail for participating in the scam.
These bars have Police support.

I personally wouldnt like to see these shows, women can be denegrated enough without wanting to pay some pimps to see these poor women.

Personally I do not think they are that bad. Find the files you are looking for at http://all-shares.com the most comprehensive source for free-to-try files downloads on the Web

Patpong in Bangkok is totally avoidable - scams are waiting to happen to people who take things at face value or believe what any of the touts are saying - almost 80% of the people who go to these places ( sex shows & bars with girls ) - get ripped off - its the same story going on for years - the best place to be is Pattaya - Truly Heaven - was there for more than a week - no hassels - you get your money's worth - whatever you want to spend it on - Truly - but Patpong is almost certain to give you a bad experience if you intend to be just a little bit adventurous

Bars run by Police are robbing tourists.
Been that way for years.
Who you going to call when you get robbed in Thailand?

Ghostbusters!?

Eddie, would you take you're wife, mother or sister to see a woman blow darts from her gash?

Bars, owned by cops have this porn, live on stage.
Then, they rob you.
Real nice tourist destination.

(Maria) I find your termanology strange to say the least,all humans are different whatever takes your fancy, yes no problem, I have no issue with live sex shows at all, as long as the women are willing and they get a decent salary. Sex in the open is better than smut under the bed

Eddie, how do you know the women taking part in these shows are willing and are receiving a fair salary for what they have to do? By the way, I don't believe you would go and watch your your mum, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend or granny starring in a live sex show?

A successful bargirl can make more than a supreme court judge.
Believe me, there is no shortage of volunteers.
Dancing, getting drunk, having sex...and getting paid to do it. A 21 year olds dream job.

Maria, this forum is about Scams please keep to the subject and stop trying to procoke childish arguements, get a life please

*provoke

My wife and myself have been coming to Bangkok for 5 years and never scamed in Patpong, until tonight.... 100Bath a drink story, payment time 4900 Bath for old ladies ?

Worst was I did not have change for the 200Bath, ended up fisically forcing our out way out of the Bar, down the stairs. Not paying for the drinks and definately not giving the 1000Bath, will never see the change.

Looks like the world economy (and lately, Thailand Politics) is really ripping into the Go-Go bar economy and tourist numbers ??

These scams will eventually cause the death or slow decline of the Patpong area, if more touring companies exclude it from there iternaries. (Ours did already). As all merchandise is available in other more decent places (MBK, etc.), and the reputation of the touring company is at risk with the Patpong area.

That's my 2cent of advice.

Eddie, you are a hypocrite and sexual deviant.

Maria, I cant see whay you are turning this forum into a slanging match, I do not see any sexual deviancy in what he has written. I think your retorts are better suited for Thai visa forum where the men would be delighted to see what your writing

Khun Issan, did you read Eddie's previous comments, this man goes to see shows where women do unusual things with their vaginas!

roger, I have taken the liberty of cutting and pasting "written by Eddie, Thu 16 Apr 2009 03:02:16 CDT
(Maria) I find your termanology strange to say the least,all humans are different whatever takes your fancy, yes no problem, I have no issue with live sex shows at all, as long as the women are willing and they get a decent salary. Sex in the open is better than smut under the bed
I see no reference with Eddie's comments as to what these women are doing, he apparently has no issuses with the women doing live shows apparently. Whilst this wouldnt be my taste to see these shows, I feel that "sex crimes" are lower in places like Holland when things are above board and freely available. What does disturb me is when the pimps are involved and the girls are not offered medical care or their freedom. Roger, this country is predominately an agricultural country and there was never a need for sex shows etc the girls made their living on the land, unfortunately tourisim has encouraged these ventures. Personally I think there are many other avenues to be concerned about i.e. peadaphilia, welfare of children, animals, scamming and lastly but not least, I think education and welfare is the way to go to encourage a healthier wiser country!.BUT, I firmly advocate that soft porn magazines, titilating shows are a necessity to keep our children and streets safer. It would be interesting to have other men's points of views, sorry if I offend!

Tourists go to Thailand and spend money.
Hotels, restaurants, transport etc.
A big chunk of the Thai economy.
Tourists don't want to go to places that have a bad reputation.
Travelers can now research the destination online and not in the guidebooks.
The truth is now out there about Thailand.
The question is... will Thailand do something to protect visitors or will they keep ignoring the problems?

USA, its all about the "have it now mentality" despite all the consequences, nothing better than to see a Thai tending her vegetables, & plants lovingly. Feeding her live stock because he/she knows this will yield some income for the future. My friend who is a tuk tuk driver would give you more than you gave, such a generous and intelligent person . The amount of farang that come repeatedly back from all over the world, he is there to meet and take care for the duration of your stay. But this man despite his 40 odd years is intelligent, genuine and hard working and it brings such shame upon him when he sees his collegues literally trying to rob farang who are crossing the border.
Mrs Pighoglet would also be ashamed of her fellow countrymen on many occasions and I would love to say that education would be an end to all problems in the LOS but corruption prevails from up to down.
We need the back packers who contribute to a certain market and we also need the working class/middleclass to keep the hotels and restaurants afloat, they all contribute to the national economy but if you cant guarantee "safety" then you will notice the downslide in visitors.

Khun Issan, what does the title of this forum say? Eddie knows exactly what these girls have to do with the following items:table tennis balls, darts, cigarettes, would you like me to continue?

Roger,the above has nothing to do with scams, what Eddie does or doesnt know isnt any concern to me!

Khun Issan, so why write two paragraphs defending the beast?

Roger, thank you for understanding what I'm saying, it looks to me like Eddie and his friend Khun Issan are missing the point?

I also would like to agree with Maria, why do people want to go and watch such shows! Would they go and watch these sorts of shows in their own countries?

Bangkok has a worldwide reputation for smut....tour busses drop off groups at these places. Pushy touts on every corner block the pathway and shove a sex brochure in your face. The BMA rents the footpaths to vendors selling child pornography.

The point is, the rip off places are run by the Police.
Thai Police would never shut down a place that makes that kind of money and they could care less about their countries reputation.

Very true Bangkok guy. The country's reputation is in tatters.

Khun Issan, are you still working in Patpong, I was wondering if you enjoyed the work and if the pay was good?

Khun Issan, I forgot to add, Eddie mentions above that you are the prolapsing Queen, what in the Hell is prolapsing?

As a doctor I've seen a few cases of prolapsing (Rectal prolapse)! But for reasons of dignity, I'll pass on the causes?

Prolapse of the... I just don't find that funny, honestly, ha, ha, ha...

Same old story with us. We (three of us) were lured to one of these bars on the second floor. As usual it was 100 bhats with a beer...when the bills came up, it was 3500 bhats for three beers...It was 1000 bhats each for the show, 300 for the drinks, and 200 for don't know wot..bargaining got us down to 3000 and realized there was nothing much we cud do....The question is if thailand is to be a tourist destination, will someone do something to protect its tourists being ripped off

seems like that Maria is one of these over weight western women that has a hang up about asian women. Sour bitter sour pussssy

@Thomas, LURED, yeah right, you wanted a to see a bit of TITILATION and you sure did have to PAY for it!

We were ripped off in Pat Pong last night. We were told that cover was free and drinks were 100 baht. I had been to a show before and we paid a nominal fee and had to tip the girls heavily. This was different. My husband and I only stayed 10 minutes. The show was boring, so we decided to leave. We had bought 3 drinks (100 each). We expected to pay 300 since we had been there such a short time. The waitress came with a bill for 3200 baht. Ridiculous. The owner physically pushed me and then my husband when we refused to pay. Then, they blockaded the door. I have never had such a horrible experience!!!!!!!!!!

@Tracy Stevens, how much?

Same same, 100B a drink promise downstairs, bill in the end included 1200B each for watching the show. We (2 females) kinda expected anything could happen as we didnt get a slip in the jug when we ordered the drinks. But since we had such a nice, scam-free experience with similar promises/drink prices at a gay soi the night before, we thought we could get by in Patpong too. Anyhow, when we were about to leave (10 min into the show) we were surrounded buy mamasan and fat bargirls, and ended up being stranded in the bar for abt 20 min. Though my friend was ready to pay the 2400B plus 200B for the drinks and get out, I definitely wasnt gonna pay more than the 200B and assumed they play to scare. I told them Im calling the tourist police, they immediately turned up the music so that I hear nothing on the phone. Then I tried to push them around but being only 45kg myself this was a rather stupid idea. Tried to run around behind the stage to get out another way but I guess since we didnt tip the girls nor bought them drinks they all pushed me back. A funny scene, in retrospect. They called up scary-looking guys they claimed were maffia. Reasoning didnt help. What did, in the end, is I texted a friend and made sure they see it, and they suddenly let us go with only paying the 200B for the drinks.

The show was a waste of money anyhow, bored to death fat girls pulling out ten meters worth of christmas lighting from down under, and shooting bananas at the audience. Still, the Patpong scene is a must see when in BKK.

why would i want to pay for christmas lighting being pulled from down under, i would have thought with imagination you coudl have seen this for free in your own bedroom silly people, anway better than gerbils being put up the rectum hahahahahahha

Degradation to women isnt me cup of tea, whatever happened to trooooooooo lurveeeeeeeeeeeeee

Should be noted that Thai Police drink free in these bars.

hey all. well same old story some female tout with decent communicable english came up to me and my 2 other friends and tried means and ways to convince us to visit her 3rd storey bar up along patpong.

we rejected her politely at first, telling her that we wish to roam around on our own. she was pretty nice but VERY persistent. kept telling us that some of the gogo bars over there had ladyboys but the one that she was bringing us to was 100% females only. we didnt follow her and headed for a gogo bar at the first level, it was king castle or something, couldnt remember the name exactly. we stayed there for 20 minutes thereabout when she suddenly appeared in the bar where we were at and asked if we were done with the bar, and if we were ready to head to her bar. we had a brief chat. i asked about her family, whether she was married ( i had no ill intentions at all she looked like a granny to me ), how many kids she had etc. convinced that she was pretty trustworthy and was trying very hard to make a living (guess these people earns some commission from bringing customers into bars) i thought we would just entertain her and check the bar out, maybe buy a drink or 2.

wrong move.

same old story they blocked the doors and didnt allow us to leave unless we cough up some ridiculous amount of money. i was with 2 other friends who were peeved by the obvious scam but were clear headed enough to advise me to pay the 'ransom' and leave safely. at one point of time i tried to walk towards to door, but was stopped physically by this bulky lady. she threatened to call her manager ( i suppose she'll call for some tough looking thugs ) if we didnt pay. during the 15 minute faceoff some other tourists walked into the bar. whenever there were customers, the DJ up the volume of the music and we were refrained from talking to the tourists. i had wanted to warn them and at the same time seek help. at the point in time i didnt know about the tourist police, neither did my friends. i fking hated the attitude and treatment i was given. i told my friends i wanted to hire thugs to try smashing their place.

bottom line is, whether you agree with me or not, thailand is an impoverished country with people caring for only money. i guess you cannot trust anyone.

oh wait. have i mentioned we almost got extorted by the police as well? therefore the statement above is all-thai-encompassing. i think you shouldnt even trust the police.

we were in a taxi when we were stopped with by a road block set up by the police. the rotten policeman spoke to the driver initially and checked his license. i was at the back of cab directly behind the driver. the cabby crushed a 100baht note and stuffed it into the hands of the policeman and he gladly accepted it without hesitation. conversing in thai, i think he asked where we were from cause i heard the cabby mentioning "singapore". after like 2 3 minutes, he turned to my friend sitting in the front without the seatbelt, he asked in his rubbish retarded spoken english where we were from. after a few more random questions, he suddenly said "you no seatbelt, pay ... 500 baht". my friend persistently refused in a polite manner and smiled throughout the ordeal. he then asked for passport but we didnt had it with us. we wouldnt have surrendered it anyway, knowing we might have to pay even more to redeem it ultimately. after preying on my friend for a good 5 minutes, he walked towards the back and started his crap on me. similarly he asked for my passport. i said i didnt have it with me he could come to the hotel with us to check our passports if he liked. he then said " your friend no seatbelt, you no passport, pay 500 baht". i was really disgusted. these people are donning uniform but they have zero pride. i looked away not wanting to carry on the elementary level of conversational english. he then asked as though to tell me 500baht is a minimal amount, "singapore no seatbelt how much?", and smirked. i smiled and ignored him. i had wanted to tell him, back in here if the passenger at the front seat was without a seatbelt while on the move, the driver gets fined for not instructing him to do so. i realised they not only are greedy, corrupt as they were but also smart-alecs. strangely enough, he walked away after trying to get some money from me for 3 minutes without giving us any trouble. we had to pay the driver the 100baht he gave to the corrupt officer, on top of what the meter reads. we're not misers and we understand that thais are generally poor people. we always dish out ~50 baht tips for good service or when the driver uses the meter.

while not suggesting the entire of their officials are corrupt, i am deeply deeply disgusted by the police. now that im home, i realised (from forums like this) that such extortions and requests for "tea money" are common.

the next time i travel around in thailand i'll bring a electric gun with me (sold in markets in thailand) to fend off any thugs trying to rip me off. for those travelling in thailand soon i hope you do not encounter any of these nonsense. good luck.(:

Now that you realized you got ripped off, think again before you cause to much of a fuss.

If you have a problem in any bar outside of your hometown local bar, it is best to cut your losses and get out.

This happen to someone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkEXfp-JTTE

Patpong is the armpit of Bangkok. Loso Thai people run the business in Patpong. There is know reason to eat, shop or drink there unless you want to see these sex shows and get ripped off.
Go to Soi cowboy or/and Soi Nana for the gogo shows (though, not likely to see a banana...). MBK or Pratunam for shopping and anywhere/everywhere for eating and drinking.

The Thai smile has many different meanings and they are not all good.

This is what i have write in to the tourist police:

Dear Sir,

I am writing in to lodge a report on how me & my friend had an unpleasant experience at Bangkok patong 1/2.

On 5th July 09, Sunday night, we were shopping at patpong night market when we were approached by a man offering us to watch thai girl show for 100baht per person, no additional charges. We refused & carry on with our shopping, this man followed us along the street & keep asking us to watch the show.

We agreed to watch the show & followed the man, he bring us up to a 2nd floor pub when we went in there was no other customers, few ladyboys & few naked ladies dancing on the stage.

They showed us a menu & asked to order drinks but the menu has no price indicated & i asked what is the price for the drink, we were told that the drink cost 100baht each so we ordered a coke & a beer.

Few of them start to crowd around us & started asking for tips & drinks, they were so aggressive, the so called thai girl show they offered were not showed only a few dirty tricks we see them doing, everyone was asking for drinks & tips.

We were fed up & asked for bill to leave, we were there for less than 5 minutes. When we went to the counter to make payment, 2 man gathered there & it seems like they will use violent if we refused to pay.

It was a shocked to us, the billed came up to 4500baht!!!! It was ridiculous, we have to pay 300baht per drink & 1000 baht each for the so called show & etc.

We mentioned about the man who told us it was 100 baht each for the show but they say NO, you have to pay 4500baht, there was a lady about age 40 who was very fierce & threaten us if we do not pay she will call the police.

I would like to know what is going on here??? It was obvious that we were conned & scammed, why is this in Thailand? Is there no laws or rules? Are people here abusing the rights to call in police? Are the police protecting them?

In the end, we paid 4000baht & leave, we were annoyed & angry, we took a tuk tuk back to our hotel, we were staying at baiyoke suite hotel, room 3801. When we were back at the hotel, we told the lobby staff on what happened & asked for help to report to the tourist police but were asked to call ourself so I used my mobile phone to call 1155 when we were back in our room. I was told by the operator that we could not report over the phone& we must make a face to face report, the operator was rude & unfriendly, she even asked me what I expect the police to do against my report. Isn't it the duty of tourist police to protect us tourist & arrest those people who con & rob tourist? Do i have to instruct the police what to do?

I was very very disappointed with the attitude given by the thai tourist police operator, it was a really unpleasant experience been scammed & cheated money here & there is no one to help!!!

I have checked online & saw a lot of similar report of how they were scammed & cheated money at patpong, why isn’t anything done to control this? Is there anyone to help us the tourist?

Please view here for your reference: http://www.bangkokscams.com/scams-in-bangkok/patpong-sex-show-scam-2.html

I sincerely plea & hope the thai government & tourist police can do something to help us the helpless tourist who got scammed & ripped by these people. Thanks.

Regards,
Joanne Ng

Patpong is just one big tourist trap. From beer prices in all the bars to the rip off 2nd floor shows. The goods market in the soi is so overpriced and yet the tourists still come! It is amazing now that with all the information on Thailand and Patpong that it still happens. The Thais dont care about ripping you off as they believe that most people that would go there are usualy first timers and dont know how to handle the situation and most probaly wont come back to Thailand anyway.

I read a few of these and was reminded that this happenned to me in 1980 (!). They locked the door behind me and started rolling me - no pretence of a show - this was a mugging. Knives were drawn and a lot of girls and thugs were screaming and manhandling me. They took all the cash I had and was thrown out the door - thankfully in one piece, and it was 25 yea½rs before I ever set foot in Patpong again. I visited the police box and told my story - it was a waste of time then as it is now.

The place has not improved much, as this forum and a recent visit reveals.

Thais who work in the industry at Patpong are by definition lying filthy criminal cheats - both male and female. I have rarely met such disgusting people anywhere in the world, and I have travelled a lot in these past 30 years. Truly disgusting people at the level of gutter rats - Patpong is in my bottom 5 places I have ever visited.

Surprisingly, NEP and Soi Cowboy are actually quite fun places to visit - different atmosphere, relaxed and in my experience more or less free of Patpongs overt criminal activity. Avoid Patpong like the plague that it is.


Strange place Thailand, and one of the most likely places in the world to be cheated of everything you own. If you enter Patpong, leave your money and valuables at home and only carry what you can afford to lose or expect to spend.

Buyer beware.


Mike

@Mike, why go there at all?

If you walk around with your eyes closed expect to bump into things.
If you are not looking for this type of entertainment you will not find it.
If you cannot say "NO" to a person then maybe you need to take your mother out with you.
I just love to read these things and see how silly people really are.

This con happened to me and my girlfriend two weeks ago, its annoying to read people on here writing comments like "if you look for trouble you will find it" type comments. Should we all just stay in our hotel rooms and never go out??? We are from england and they tried to scam us for 2200 bhat for two beers. That night there were only girls there (no thai guys working in the pat pong sex club) and i just told my girlfriend to go and we left, they tried to barricade the door but i pulled one old thai woman away from the door and pulled door open and left. One small consellation is that night there was a thai couple there who got scammed too!! That was our warning when the thai guy started shouting and swearing when he saw the bill. That acted as the distraction for us to leave. At least it shows they will even cheat eachother if they get the chance. I have been to thailand many times over the last ten years, this was the first in four years and my girlfriends first time. I used to love thailand but i can honestly say the number of people who came up to us for scams, taxi rides, tuk tuk tours was off the scale. It was happening 20 times a day. This never used to happen so much to me years ago. Its getting worse and i have read on other posts how other nationalities are not coming, i saw few japanese or americans compared to years ago, i certainly dont feel like going back. The thais in charge that allow this to continue will see the tourist numbers crash in the next ten years. The same things that went on years ago are still going on just ten times more of it. The only advice i can give people is dont carry lots of cash. Then at least if they to scam you it will only be for what you are carrying. And to those fellow tourists here who complain that if you look for trouble then you will get it are selfish, you are taking satisfaction on other peoples misfortune, no one deserves to be robbed / poisoned / drugged / threatened / etc,

Please stop seeing Thai's/Thailand as scammers, everybody is talking about one area in Pattaya or Bkk, i live over 4 years in Phuket, enjoying it as much as possibly can, and yes we have the tuktuk cowboys, the suit brakers, the bars with ping pong tralala and more(much more), beautiful girls and ......... not so beautiful......... (wo)man?!, and yes those bloody "touts" that try to lure you in, but why would you need them, the shops/bars are right there!!! I mean, cant you see them?? Just walk past them and go inside(you avoid a high billed first drink,commision for the guy), and when you go inside a go go bar, give the girls a drink, thats why they are there, its a go go bar, check your bill, drink another one and enjoy or not, and why not give the performing girl a tip? At least this is how things go in Phuket. I understand that such an experience can have a negatief effect on your holidaymood, but if you want to know what Thailand is, go go bars are not a real Thai thing, this happens everywhere, and when they rip you of, there is the (Tourist)/police, and they will help becouse, there will be a commision for them in the fee for the bar. I have been in Bkk and Pattaya, dint like Bkk for its hopeless infrastructure, it smells, its noisy, outside Bkk is great, beautiful, tempels, gardens, boudha's. Pattaya is horrible, there are more bars and hookers(cant call them girls cause its clearly all about money), than something else. People are very unfriendly, and i got tired after 2 days(planned to stay a week) to see fat, old, ugly, covered in sweat(or however you wright it) man with 2-3 underaged, skinny, sad looking girls in their arms. I never go again to Pattaya, thats not the Thailand i know.
So, to avoid those bad experiences, dont say no to Thailand (the economy here needs tourist, badly) give Phuket a chance!!
Remember Thailand is much much much more than go go bars, bar girls, Katoi's.
PS. September= Vegeterian Festival in Phuket!!!!!!!!!!

Right here in bkk, just got scammed n ripped off, cant stand their attitude n y alll these ppl can get away with it!!!!!! but i guess i can only blame ourselves for being ignorant.....at least we are safe now,
TOURISTS...PLEASE DONT EVER VISIT A 2ND FLOOR BAR..=/

I am in bangkok. I heard many silly and funny nerve cracking and rendering stories of scams and being subjected to harassment. And I am so close to patpong, but I have never ever gone through such kind of bitter experiences because I have never given chance to those "bugs" and "bulls". Thed best option is to avoid patpong and more importantly drinks. yes, like every body else, we have high motivation and tendency to commit ourselves to those easy and free access to perform ritualistic act with those pretty ladies and all, but you need to cool down if you really dont want to get away with dirts on your palms (thats money). Get in, wash clean and take back the secret moment of joy. Thailand as known for "Lland of Smiles" is a place of real heaven where find everything here. Thats the life and must drink it to the leees after all as foreigner you are soon out of the country. Its a great place with great things....superb!

Instead of gettin ripped in Patpong, go to the Spasso nightclub at Grand Hyatt Hotel.
You end up paying more than in Patpong, no shows, but a lot of beautiful girls and great music!

Pay up to 250 bath for a bear, enjoy really good company and have a great evening!

This story happened in Pattaya, a bar called Pattaya secrets, in Walking street. My friend was having a night out, he was slightly drunk, he barfined one of the ladies, on his way out he fell and landed on top of the lady, he was then arrested as the lady says she broke her arm in the fall, the lady came back from hospital, no plaster on her arm. She and the police tried to extort 500 thousand baht from him, he eventually agreed to pay 80 thousand, and the girl had such a big smile on her face. Secrets bar reported on their website that the farang tried to run out without paying a 3000 th baht bar bill. Which is a complete lie. We will never visit that bar again, and advise people to be careful when going there, another Thai scam. Thanks Secrets bar for ruining the holiday.

GOOD GRIEF !! - IS THAILAND REALLY BAD - I AM GOING NEXT AND THIS BLOG HAS SCARED THE CRAP OUTTA ME -

I was hoping to pick up some lovely ladyboys, experience stuff I have never done before and have a good time - surely not all go go bars are like this are they? -

can someone give a good report or a good experience please?

MARKO, if I where you I'd buy a blow up doll and stay at home and play!

Avoid Patpong like plague. This Patpong stuff is all true. I happened to me and my girlfriend earlier this month. We were ripped off Bh 2600. Just stick to Nana Plaza when in Bkk. We had a wonderfull time there. Pattaya is better though. More relaxed,
Remember the golden rules:
Always ask the price first
Never run a tab
Always carry small bills
Go to places which are busy and crowded
Listen to your gut feelings
This sould suffice

...
written by Brian, Sat 19 Sep 2009 12:54:10 CDT
This story happened in Pattaya, a bar called Pattaya secrets, in Walking street. My friend was having a night out, he was slightly drunk, he barfined one of the ladies, on his way out he fell and landed on top of the lady, he was then arrested as the lady says she broke her arm in the fall, the lady came back from hospital, no plaster on her arm. She and the police tried to extort 500 thousand baht from him, he eventually agreed to pay 80 thousand, and the girl had such a big smile on her face. Secrets bar reported on their website that the farang tried to run out without paying a 3000 th baht bar bill. Which is a complete lie. We will never visit that bar again, and advise people to be careful when going there, another Thai scam. Thanks Secrets bar for ruining the holiday.

Version I heard said he was doing a runner on a 3500 baht bill and knocked her over when he ran out the door. Sounds like he got off pretty lightly. And they don't want you back either.

I would like to comment on the post that Brian made and his complaints about Secrets Bar in Pattaya .

I was there that night , when he decided that he didnt have enough money to pay his bill , so decided to do a runner , and unfortunately the girl was standing behind the door he charged through .

At first I was a bit skeptical , but when the police arrived and he was made to turn out his pockets , it was obvious he didnt have any .

The girls arm was definitely broken , and she was off her work for 3 months .

There was no scam here , and I ask you to remove Brians complaint , or at least allow people who were there to witness the evnt , to comment here .

Thsnka.

These post crack me up. For one ignorant married couples going into the bars/gogo expecting what??? LOL

The comments on Secrets in Pattaya is Total BS. I know that bar personally and the owner/manager and it is probably the cleanest and most honest bar in Pattaya, even family friendly. The story you where told is 100% bs, the guy tried running out on his bill knocking a girl down on the opposite side of the door. If this had been any other bar in Pattaya they guy would probably not be alive to tell his story, FACT!!!....

That you have chosen not to print the truth about the Secrets incident , says everything I need to know about your website .

I can only assume that all stories on here are twisted to your anti-Thai way of thinking .

So, standard Police procedure in Thailand is when a bar patron doesn't pay his bill, the Police get to extort 500,000 bt.
Is that the way it works?

I guess I have to eat humble pie, and agrree with John and Chang Fai, Secrets is a good bar and well run, probably one of the best drinking dens in Pattaya, we believe that Secrets had no involvement in this, and we probably worded the letter wrong. So please remove the blog.

A comment by the Owner of the bar


When the guy was searched by police, he did not have enough to pay the bill.

Not to mention he was really rude, abusive and threatening leading up to him trying to do a runner.

He was very very lucky it happened at Secrets, as it would have been alot lot worse for him in some other bars.

The girl was banged up pretty bad and she was away from work for 3 months.

the story about the bar in pattaya is, of course, a malicious and fictional version of what was a prime example of a cheap arse trying to run out on his tab and in doing so injured a gril who had nothing to do with him. 3 months off work, fact, plaster and bandages fact, wanker, fact.

Secrets manager Larry conned me and a lot of other people out of over 1 million baht in a collection that was supposed to be for his medical bills after he was sick and he didn't have any insurance and he ended up spending most of it on his wedding and holidays to the Phillipines

the same scam happened to me an ice age ago, ok, like 1987. I never again went to a sex show in Thailand or anywhere else, though I'm not clean as the driven snow. I've resided in Thailand for 1/5th of my life, so I also look at these rip-offs from the perspective of Thai authorities, as Thailand is somewhat 'my country' now, though I'll always be an American. The 1st things that should happen is Bangkok's governor should clean up such Patpong scams. to do that, he would have to fire (not re-assign) all the top police brass in that district, from captain on up. I wish I were in a position to do so, I'd do it in a Bkk minute, with a smile on my face. Because it won't happen, it proves that Bangkok administrators cannot control its police, and effectively allows scams to continue. Not an honest cop in the city, and not one firm backbone in Bkk's administration.

My husband and I are so relieved that we are back at our hotel safely, after experiencing such scam at Patpong. We were offered the price of 800 baht (a drink plus show). We agreed and was brought to a 2nd floor pub where naked girls were performing the well-known stunts with the ping pong balls etc. We just ordered a coke and a sprite. When our drinks came, 3 girls came over and wanted to toast us, saying "Good Luck!" After that, they just left their unfinished drinks on our table. After 10 mins of staying there, we decided to go off as we felt somewhat disgusted at what we were seeing.

We went to the bar counter to make payment. The bill came up to $3,800 baht!!!!!!!

Breakdown: $600bht (drinks) $2,000bht (for look show) $1,200 (Ladies' drink?!?!)

We were so worked up that we shouted that it was totally unreasonable. The lady was very fierce. She said she is the boss and does not know the man who brought us in. He does not work for her. We should ask for the price before we sat in. My hubby was arguing at her angrily. In the end I just slammed $200 baht on the table and shouted that it was all that we will pay. After that, we threatened to call the police. A few of her staff started to surround us.....We took out our handphone and pretended to make the call (but we didn't really know the police number!!)

We looked up and saw that their attention was momentarily diverted away from somewhere else. So my hubby took this chance, grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bar. On the stairs down, a man was shoving two guy customers up to the pub. As we passed them, I shouted out to them, asking them not to go in. The man tried to shove me away. Anyway, I just shouted that they "cheat money"....

CK and JN, yu go show, what yu tink yu sea, i nevertak my wifeage to this lpace, no MAN shod take woman no symphony lady. yo lucki they nut put u on stage an do some disgustin action.

Dont talk about scams in BKK, The security staff checking passemgers robbed my blackberry too

@Ben, sorry to hear about the phone, but please could you be more specific as this would be really helpful and just might save a fellow tourist from going what you went through?

This sounds like a great physical challenge. Next time I'm half way through an A-Bomb cycle I might got up stairs for a few drinks and just see how the night turns out.

Sounds to me like you have the skills of a Shaolin monk?

Lewis, sorry, typed your name in the wrong place.

Actually scary to see how many ppl get ripped off at the patpong show, this tread has been running since 2007 already,I have been told by a few ppl to go see the patpong show (a must see in bankok) so well i tought okay lets go and see it. 3 of us decided to first check ou the different shows and not just make a sudden disicion, as some of the girls are very ugly! as we were walking down the road we were harrased by a few guys asking us to go see the patpong show! then we asked this guy about the price for the show, we were told that its 500bt for each of us, and my friend said, no how about 500bt for all 3 of us, and without hissitation the guy agreed apon 500bt for all 3 of us, but then we thought that if he is not hissitation too much, we can even get it for cheaper than that. then he took us up the 3rd place... he said "happy hour, only 100bt each wich will include a drink of your choice" we thought wow doenst sound too bad, only 100bt, lets do this! we sat down and then a missrable waiter came to assist us, we reconfirmed with her twice, same as we did with the guy that the price is only 100bt each wich includes a drink of 100bt only! then 45 min later in the show, my friend decided to go get the bill and settle it and then lets go, he came back and said "bad news" 3 watch = 3000bt, drinks for girls x 2 = 900bt, 3 drinks = 1000bt, total 4900 baht!!!!!!! Thn the lady came our way and stood right infront of us, we were telling her, how come its this price, the guy told us its only 100bt each, "who is this guy? i dont know him, im the boss here" "you will pay this bill and wont leave here untill you paid the money" and she was looking sooooo furious, sooooo much aggresion and anger in her! i told her that we dont have that much we will have to phone friends "how much money you have" she asked! she kept standing there, i told her to leave, i want to finish watching the show, but she dont want to, kept telling me, "give money now" and so i decided to actually go speak to some europeans sitting just across from us asking them how much they were charged, just as im getting up, this girl pushed me to the side and said "where do you think you going" and then this massive lady came into the picture blocking me from the other side and said "you will not leave here untill you paid the money" they are totally different than the sweet thai ppl that you see in the shopping areas, they are so rude and mean these "girls" ! then my friend desided to go inside the bathroom, hide the money and then go to the paypoint only coming up with the 300bt wich we were promised to pay! they said " you just came frm the bathroom, we not stupid - open your baggs, show me your money" they were surounding him, wanting him to open his baggs and show his money! they closed the door again and said "you will not leave here untill you paid" they are making such a big scene, all attention drawn to us, all the ppl are looking at us and you feel so imbarrased,thinking that other ppl would think that you not wanting to pay the price, they will eventually understand it all once they leave the show... then at that moment while we were fighting with them, "prospective customers" came walking in, i thought that it was a perfect gap for me to run away, i just pushed all the ppl out the way and ran away... ppl were soooo shocked, most of them turned around and walked away. well while we were sitting there we saw 3 indians guys fighting with the same girl that we were fighting with, and we were wondering what was happening there, this huge "lady" was even pushing and slapping the indian guys... they not even scared to slap 3 guys together???? i think they have bouncers behind or something... more ppl should read up about the patpong show before going there, im just warning all the ppl out there. i would say dont speak to the middle man, just go to the show yourself and speak to the actual ppl that work inside there, cos later they will deny and say that they dont knw "this annonomous guy" that brought you there! such a scam, but so lucky that i escaped there!

To the geezer above, so, what your saying is, you did a runner and no one paid?

LMAO! Best way to avoid scams in Thailand, always make sure you've a trustworthy Thai friend, because local Thais would be more careful when dealing with a foreign with a thai friend. I've been to Patpong and I never got scammed, because my Thai friend was there to protect me from con artists, though some tried me on several occassions. They didn't fail to do so, since my friend knew about their evil intentions, so he always warned me about listening to con artists. JUST HAVE THAI FRIENDS AROUND YOU AND YOU'RE GOOD TO GO. But still PATTAYA ROCKS ALL DA WAY TIL THE END OF TIMES>

@Hakim, so, you recommend tourists getting off the plane at Suwananpoo, should go and find themselves a Thai friend, who basically, is nothing more then a bodyguard masquerading as a " trustworthy Thai friend " be honest now Hakim, did your " trustworthy Thai friend " buy you dinner, a beer or two, pay for taxis, hotel accomadation perhaps, etc, etc.

" You talking to me "

@Hakim, totally agree with Tony, we have a saying in Jamaica for people who kiss up to people, " buttyman " and I is afraid that is what you's is iya. Its obvious youno nada about Thai culture and the Thai ways my friend, Pattaya rocks does it, in what way?

Seriously, what do you expect when you go to a ping pong show? I don't think 500 baht is too much to ask if you want to see old ladies put things into their vajayjay's.
If you want to pay 60 baht for a beer, grab a plastic chair, head to the nearest 7-11 and sit there. Just don't complain that you didn't get to see anything......different.

@expat, exacto mento, what the funk do people expect, only a kinky (nasty) person would want to watch a woman shoot darts from her you know what! So I say, funk you all, you get what you deserve, karma...

I was back from phuket 2 days ago. They now do show the price in the menu . However min pay for each ppl is 500 baht ( included drink ) and you have to pay when the drinks are served. If u buy drink for the girl and giving her tips she will sit beside you and you can do anything you want like stripping her top off or playing over her body. If u prefer her, you can talk to her manager with certain amount around 3000 baht for buying her out and accompany u the whole night. .

For me. i was totally think its not worthy as there is only 2-3 show for an hour. After each show that takes few minutes its quite boring to look at the girls dancing in hot bikinis. My girlfriend was getting mad as the girl dance topless next to the place we sit. We stayed for 15min with 1000 baht bill. Swt

I experienced similar treatment in an upstairs bar too.
I was going to do a pub crawl and take in as many bars as I could , I was touted up stairs and sat down to have a beer.
After 2 beers and one lady drink I was fed up with the place and decided to leave.At that point a "lady " approached me and gave me the BILL.I was stunned when I saw $4000 BHT and I objected.
Then the first bouncer appeared and before I could gather my thoughts I was pushed to the cash register .Out of the darkness some other thugs appeared and the door was locked.( I had thought of rushing out)
I had already recieved a punch to the ribs from the first bouncer on the way to the front desk.
Now I found my self sourounded by 3-5 guys and recieved a second punch.One of the guys said I was causing trouble and shouting at them, I must admit I was pretty worked up .Then I just spoke quietly and told them they were the one causing problems , not me.
I was still arguing the price and at this stage it had come down to $2000 BHT,however I had more guts than brains and still refused.
The so called Manager appeared from behind the curtain in his "office" and we negotiated the price down to $450 BHT ,Once paid the door was magically opened and i left ASAP.
I was really angry to be in that situation and wanted to warn anyother mug away from the place but after a short while I realised I wwas wasting my time and moved on.

oh as far as the joke tourist police goes, they only have a police station in the patpong area but there was not tourist police to be found. we did not go to the cops because we had 2 beers and there was beer on our breath so the bar owners could just say we were drunk and causing problems and we were lying. there were no tourist police in such a touristy area.

K,

There are Police all over that area. Most of the scam places let the Police drink free.
Many, lurk around in plain clothes and defraud our visitors.
True.

Roddy McDowell - I think you're missing the point. If you went into a shop and bought a can of coke which was labelled 50Bt and you got to the till and they asked for 1000BT you'd be a bit pissed off too. Maybe if they were upfront about the prices people could make a decision.

@Do One, fair comment, but can't you see its because the show does what it does, that they scam people.
How many people are going to go to the police and say, " I went to watch a ping poing show officer and I was charged 1000bt for a coke "

Do One, I wonder if you would be so pro Patpong, if your daughter, sister, mum, grandma or aunt were doing the ping pong routine, you animal.

went to phatpong. we were all girls including a cousin who is a resident at bangkok. we decided to look around until we decided to go directly to the 2nd floor bar named super p u s s y.. there was this fixer man who kept on tirelessly running after us and who went with us inside too. The man from downstairs confirmed to us the price. it is 100 baht per head with coke only 90 baht. Once we were inside we were forced to order. I order one coke only but they arrived in four cokes, each for everyone of us. A few minutes later and without any show of performance from those ugly mama 's who were too lazy and lousy to move, a fierce looking amazona approached us and demanded we pay for our bill which cost 1400 baht. My thai speaking cousin became frantic and had a discussion with the amazona mama san. When I realized that we were being extorted to pay soo much after only arriving for just a few minutes. I told the mama san "We will not pay! i did not open my coke and so is my cousin. My two sisters did and that is what we will pay. Which is only 300 dollars with tip. The amazona blocked my way and pushed me saying that I cannot leave without paying. She kept on saying money and pay. After I was pushed, I shoved her hard and got up. She kicked me with her heels. Good thing she was not able to hit me or otherwise I can not stop my reflexes from pulling her hair and dunking her head. So I began shouting for my two sisters who got very scared to stand up and let us leave now. While leaving I kept on shouting tourist police and file a complaint. I did not stop from there.. I stayed at the pavement just below the bar entrance on the street and kept on warning ALL the tourist and potential customers not to enter the bar because it was a scam, fooling tourist and extorting money. All the fixers in the street got very very scared and they were literally glued in their ground and could not stop me. I left after becoming satisfied that I have convinced a couple of potential customers of them. Ha! dont mess with Filipina tourist who knows the law.

@KATCHI, thanks for the story, just one thing, did you not feel uncomfortable sitting down with your sisters and cousin to watch (left before show strated) a SEX show by Thai women with shaved you know what, performing tricks?

Thank you all you people for your comment and sharing your experience. This saves a lot of trouble for people who are inexperienced in Thailand.

@Boonthavi Somchai, I found that strange too?

I love the sex shows worth smashing all off them

Always ask how much first. When the drinks come pay for it there and then, I mean don't pull your wallet out but have a few baht in your top pocket. Oh and yes when the mamasang comes over tell her what you are doing because you don't want to be ripped off

actually i wanna bring my mother in law in potpong red light district in thailand, because shes lonely of her sex life, i want her to be happy. shes just 57 year old and shes still hot.

Maybe she could get a job blowing out candles in an upstairs bar in Patpong?

I havent read all the posts in this thread, but this same thing happened to us in an upstairs bar. We were told we had to pay 2000 bht , after we'd had a couple of beers. I just refused to pay, so the women got threatening and were screaming at us, but I just paid for the drinks we'd had and walked out. We went to a few other bars after that one and they were fine. I can see how some people feel intimidated and would pay.

Prostitution is officially illegal in thailand however exists in abundance due to corrupt police and it is their "cash cow" Funny thing is how the motivation for tourist police to help a sex show ripped off tourist is to get a bribe from the bar in exchange for not making them close early or close for a few days.

Patpong is filled with the lowest levels of society as is much of the sex business everywhere. Sadly but factually the great majority of foreign men even living in thailand develop and or maintain relationships with people at this level of society as the women they meet at sex venues and their families see them as financial prey.

Is there anything interesting or exciting in watching women do tricks with their passages?????? Perhaps some vague curiosity, but that is about it.

The police own these bars.
If there is a scam in Thailand, the police want in on it.

how's cost for a thai gurl for the one night ?

zap, if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

same thing. me n my bf were lead by a thai man with tattoos. he brougth us to 1st shop it was empty only some thai lazily dance on stage n some sit at the bar. we wondered y is it empty. then he brought us to 2nd bar. when we enter there's a foreigner. we thought this is ok at least someone is there. when a fat lady came to us to order drinks. the guy who lead us still there. once we order he walker to the cashier. so he get money if he brought us there. our drinks came, about 6 ladyboys sat beside us. and they SHUT the door. means no one can come in or get out. after a show the lady on stage ask us to tips her 100bahts. n my bf straight away walk to the cashier n fat lady show us a bill cost 3200baht. we were so shock. because we seriously left 1200baht for our trip since we leaving thai the next day. we at least need 600baht for taxi to airport. very arguing they not letting us go n we ended up paying 1000baht. use the 200baht to take taxi home. the next day we tried all the atm machines in thai, not even one can be used. n small shops dont accept credit card. we were in hell. imagine we left 130baht and we still need lunch n taxi to get home. patpong is shitty. we read about grand palace n that happen to us too (there r ppl telling u grand palace is closing early so go to wat pho or something. so they get money when another temple has lot of ppl) sad case.

Lady drink scam also occurs at so called upscale Bangkok Rocks on Sukhumvit Soi 19. Patrons have been threatened with violence from staff in regard to this.

And you thought PatPong was the epicentre of scamming....

with all the easily hidden video recording items these days, too bad no one did a video report of this for youtube

mikey, thats what I wonder too, anyway I go to bangkok in december and will watch to avoid any kind of ripp off.

These places are run by police. If they catch you with video, you may have a very bad experience.

Is there any place in Bangkok that I could take my wife to see goodlooking people perform a live sex show that is safe? I don't mind paying a decent price for the show as this will be a once in a life time curiosity fullfilled.

nik, why would you put your wife's safety in jeopardy, your a fu..wit.

When I say safe I mean not scammed..as for my wife it's her idea to go....It cant be that bad as even my parents went there and had a good time at the age of 67 and 72. btw love the childish name calling....real mature...

The second floor Bars in the Patpong Area are notorious for ripping people off and standover tactics.. Best just keep implying they have made a mistake, ask them to rectify the mistake and if it comes to it mention the tourist police. They will back down very quickly and if not pay what they ask then get the tourist police. These people cannot afford the fines from the local constabulary

Nik,

Try Soi Cowboy should fit the bill. The Nana Area is a not as outrageous as it once was....

Also you could pay a couple of Bar Girls a couple of Thousand bht to perform in the privacy of your hotel..

Sorry people, but if you go to a sex show expect to pay big money! There are no bargains in BKK, you pay a market rate, and if you are stupid enough to go into an upstairs bar expect to be forced to pay money.

Best suggestion on this thread - if you need to see a pingpong show that badly negotiate with a girl on the street and have it in your hotel room. For an extra hundred you can have sex with her too.

Or stick to shopping, restaurants and temples. Cheaper, safer and less tacky....

It seems I fell for the same thing. But I only got ripped off for 600 bhat so that seems pretty good based on the stories I'm reading here. 20 bucks for less than 5 mins. Yikes. I was super pissed at the time and just stormed out of Patpong. Grabbed a beer at every 7-11 I passed and was well oiled and ended up having a nice talk with a bar girl elsewhere. Since I had no money (and told her so), I had no fear of getting ripped off.
Moral of the story, avoid the ping pong shows!

Never have been ripped off in Thailand nor in 43 other countries I like to visit. Always enjoy the atmosphere in and out of the red light districts. I have lied and told loved ones, yes I got ripped off in an effort to explain money used for friendly girls; who need it to pay their bills, in return they spend the day and night with me.

I find that the term...MIOW!!! ( MY -AHOW) Seems to detour any potential scammer. Yes, and I have a very demonic way of saying it, coupled together with direct eye contact. Cannot stand rip-offs.

It is strange but I seem to always find girls with a heart...when I expect heartlessness.

Thanks to sites like this, Patpong is dying a slow, agonizing death.

To the honest downstairs bar owners there: you have been totally MORONIC in regard to your tolerance
for your criminalistic upstairs competition. Those upstairs bastards are all crooks and canNOT live in harmony with non-crooks. Wise up! Bad news gets around a lot faster than good news and bad news has just about killed Patpong.

So be it.
This kind of upstairs, police-sanctioned STONG-ARMED ROBBERY has been going on at least from the early 1980s onwards.

POST ALL YOUR UPSTAIR BARS EXPERIENCES HERE.
THESE WILL SERVE AS THE FINAL NAILS IN THE PUTRID COFFIN OF PATPONG.

Mt GF and I were victims of this "free show" scam. when we tried to leave we were strong armed by two heavy guys to pay 4,500 yes four thousand five hundred bhat before they would let us leave. The guys were threatening my girlfriend and I decided that while it was best to make a strategic retreat rather than risk her getting hurt. This was the icing on the cake of a very shitty holliday in thailand. My advice seriously ... Thailand people are scumbag liers cheats and thieves. You would have to be stupid to go to thailand ... and we were. But we wont be again. Please please please be sensible and dont go to this thrid world shit hole, they dont respect you nor do they deserve your money. Thanks.

I didn't mind paying 1000 baht for the sex shows. The experience was great and the girls were sexy.

we went to one tonight....Just for a look and was told the usual 100 baht for 1 drink, Hubby and I had one each the lady came over asked if we would buy one drink for her and the 2 women beside her as well....so I thought 5 drinks at 100 is ok.....
2 young girls also came 5 mins later same thing happened with them BUT I could see something was wrong (I later found out they werent happy cause their drinks were open when they brought them to them) anyway so they got up and tried to leave BUT they were physically stopped and people were BLOCKING the door I said to my hubby this isnt right lets go so i got our $500.00 baht and walked up to the desk and handed her the $500.00 and she said NO NO and showed me a bill for $2,800 I refused to pay and pushed my way to the door (yes they were also blocking my way) the 2 young girls were still blocked from leaving and the thai people were yelling so I SHOVED the rest out of the way and opened the door and my husband and I walked out I then pushed a few thai women out of the way and grabbed the 2 women and yelled COME ON we all walked out.....
they were NOT happy we left,
BUT the 2 young women who I pulled out were VERY thankful and asked if I was alright.....
Im from Australia...... They wont push me around.

Same thing- we were very ignorant. We had been to phuket and Krabi first and generally found Thai people to be honest and sincere. A "friendly" tout came up to us and told us not to waste anytime with the other expspensive shows. He said we would get in forr free to his pub and that we only had to pay 100 baht for drinks. So we went with him and watched a few fat, old woman doing some tricks with their woman parts (ping pong, blowing candles, cracking an egg etc). When we wanted to leave, they presented us with a bill for 2900 baht. When i protested a scary looking woman told me that this was her bar and her rules and we would pay. We said we didnt have money and she told us to open our wallets. She then reduced the price to 1200 baht. We paid and left. Wont go to one of these again!

Well even for me reading this was a bit scary. Has it all changed so much to the bad since I was there 10 years ago? I visited almost every normal go-go and has never been ripped off. Well, that doesn't mean I'm a smartie, maybe everything has changed since then? There were touts then too, but two simple "rules of thumb" always helped.
1. (a "global" one): In Thailand you MUST ALWAYS KEEP A LEADING HAND IN EVERYTHING YOU DO! Do not go anywhere you're called to go, do not do anything you're asked to do if it's not YOUR idea, do not listen to people who come up to you.
2. (about the go-go bars): There is a great invention of the human genius: A CHECK BIN. That's a small plastic bucket on the table. In a normal go-go bar when you're served anything from a drink to an off fee for a girl/boy - a check with the price of that is brought to you IMMEDIATELY and dropped into the bin. At any moment you have (had?) the right to stand up and leave paying ONLY the checks that are in the check bin by that moment. Before entering any bar I usually asked to take a short look from the entrance - just to see if it's worth entering. And the FIRST thing I looked for were checkbins on tables. Once I went up to an upstairs bar in Patpong and took a look from the door. The dialog that followed was: - Where are checkbins? - No checkbins. - Sorry, bye-bye.
By the way, there was a great idea mentioned here - to sign the checks when they're dropped into the bin.
Can somebody confirm that these simple rules are still working?

daylight robbery

i and my wife.

or my wife and i

now im confused

Yes yes, the things also happend like this kind of scamm with my friend, so i never been at Patpong.
Even my friend pays over 3500 B and 90% of those for the girls drinks.
This is simply terrible.
This kind of place really destroy the meaning of "smile of Thailand", after get out from that place there will not smile inside yourself sure and ofcourse there's no smile at all, and you cannot bargain a lot, it will be serious problem for your life too. be careful

For all of you complaining you got ripped off a relatively small amount of money, consider the women who are trafficked as sex slaves to be raped and abused nightly and can't complain.

For anyone considering one of these shows, just remember that these woman (and young girls) are literally being forced to do it.

Clip-joint.

I just got suckered into this scam it is still going on I should have known better haha anyways me and my girlfriend were shopping in patpong and she has never seen a ping pong show I thought we may as well go see one. This guy said it would be 100 bahts a drink at the show. We showed up there had a drink watched like 3 small shows and the girls kept on asking for drinks I assumed they were 100 bahts each. After about 15 or 20 mins being there we decided to go I thought my tab would be 1000 baht it ended up being 3700 baht I tried to complain and work my way out of it no luck we ended up paying the 3700. This scam is still going on and I kinda have no one to blame but myself just thought I would share my experience.

" she has never seen a ping pong show "

Yeah right, sorry mate, dont feel sorry for either you or your CLASSY GIRLFRIEND, did your GIRLFRIEND like the show?
What did you see, let me guess, old ladies farting out darts, bursting ballons & whatever, your so CRASS!

Woah !! Seems like me and my friends got lucky. I went there back in June 2010. We (3 farangs and 1 thai) decided to go to the famous ping pong show on patpong.. Many touts came to us... some saying there is a cover charge, some saying no and we just need to pays for the beer (100baht). So we decided to go, of course, for the place with 100baht drinks and no cover charge. Once there we bought our drinks and paid rightaway (100baht each). During the show we paid a ladydrink (125baht) to the women who had put razorblades in her pussy and later we left with no problems.

(3 farangs and 1 thai) Maybe things would of been different if you went minus the Thai!

Guys you are simply not lucky ;) I just came from ping bong show. I have spent about 100 USD for 2 hours... (Pepsi drink 150 bat, beer 200 bat, they ask me for hard drinks but I said not and they never ask me again) I have played with three nice Thai girls... ideal bodies, sexy tits and etc. dude you should understand, ping bong show is striptease... have you ever send striptease for free? There are expansive and cheap striptease, that’s it. I enjoyed my visit and tomorrow I am going to the same place again... this time I will take two girls upstairs and let them do nasty things ;) btw I have been in Pattaia, so may be that’s key to success.

p.s. Good advice, never be ashamed to say no or ask price in advance. Also always ask them about any extra fees. This are Asia, you should always negotiate the price

you guys should not blame others because you dont know what to do do in another country. You go in one of this places ask FIRST how much is a beer and is there any entrance they will tell no cover charge and beer is around Baht 130,- and thats it, you just DONT pay more ! throw the money onto the table and leave, if they still make problems tell them you will go to the police now and just go. If there is anything more go to the police, there is a police box at patpong at the surawong side and another mobile at patpong at the silom side and they help you, there is nothing to worry, just be a guy and not an old whining women !

Max,
The problem is the police.
They own the scam bars and have been robbing tourists for over 20 years.
Now you know.

Max, you are an idiot, who do you think you are, Superman? You really dont know how things work in Thailand, Pam knows.

same old story if there are enough dummies around , someone will suck them in .

If the Thai Police were legitimate, this rip off show would have been stopped 20 years ago.
How many thousands of tourists have the Thai Police robbed?

If the Thai Police were legitimate, this rip off show would have been stopped 20 years ago.
How many thousands of tourists have the Thai Police robbed?

Thanks to sites like this, Patpong is dying a slow, agonizing death.

To the honest downstairs bar owners there: you have been totally MORONIC in regard to your tolerance
for your criminalistic upstairs competition. Those upstairs bastards are all crooks and canNOT live in harmony with non-crooks. Wise up! Bad news gets around a lot faster than good news and bad news has just about killed Patpong.

So be it.
This kind of upstairs, police-sanctioned STONG-ARMED ROBBERY has been going on at least from the early 1980s onwards.

POST ALL YOUR UPSTAIR BARS EXPERIENCES HERE.
THESE WILL SERVE AS THE FINAL NAILS IN THE PUTRID COFFIN OF PATPONG.

Thanks to sites like this, Patpong is dying a slow, agonizing death.

To the honest downstairs bar owners there: you have been totally MORONIC in regard to your tolerance
for your criminalistic upstairs competition. Those upstairs bastards are all crooks and canNOT live in harmony with non-crooks. Wise up! Bad news gets around a lot faster than good news and bad news has just about killed Patpong.

So be it.
This kind of upstairs, police-sanctioned STONG-ARMED ROBBERY has been going on at least from the early 1980s onwards.

POST ALL YOUR UPSTAIR BARS EXPERIENCES HERE.

Well even for me reading this was a bit scary. Has it all changed so much to the bad since I was there 10 years ago? I visited almost every normal go-go and has never been ripped off. Well, that doesn't mean I'm a smartie, maybe everything has changed since then? There were touts then too, but two simple "rules of thumb" always helped.
1. (a "global" one): In Thailand you MUST ALWAYS KEEP A LEADING HAND IN EVERYTHING YOU DO! Do not go anywhere you're called to go, do not do anything you're asked to do if it's not YOUR idea, do not listen to people who come up to you.
2. (about the go-go bars): There is a great invention of the human genius: A CHECK BIN. That's a small plastic bucket on the table. In a normal go-go bar when you're served anything from a drink to an off fee for a girl/boy - a check with the price of that is brought to you IMMEDIATELY and dropped into the bin. At any moment you have (had?) the right to stand up and leave paying ONLY the checks that are in the check bin by that moment. Before entering any bar I usually asked to take a short look from the entrance - just to see if it's worth entering. And the FIRST thing I looked for were checkbins on tables. Once I went up to an upstairs bar in Patpong and took a look from the door. The dialog that followed was: - Where are checkbins? - No checkbins. - Sorry, bye-bye.
By the way, there was a great idea mentioned here - to sign the checks when they're dropped into the bin.
Can somebody confirm that these simple rules are still working?

I exactly met the same situation. I don't understand why these bars exist for such a long time? We lost 2000 bath (the tout said that it was only 200 bath) and also be threaten by two big women and a big man look like god father (who was called the boss). Quite angry and disapointed. Never come back again

Just got back from a week in Thailand, and with the exception of a similar 2nd floor bar experience, the rest of the trip was fantastic. (I kept turning to my husband and saying, "I freaking LOVE Thailand!!") We did two nights in the Kao San Road area during Songkran (insanely fun....loved everyone there) three nights in Koh Samui (I'm convinced it's the best place on earth) and then our last night in the Silom area.

I won't bore you with the WHOLE experience (because if you're reading this board, you've read our story about 20 times already!) We had confirmed the 100B/drink price with the waitress before we sat down, so we had a decent argument when the bill came out to 2600B as our (already opened) beers were handed to us. A manager came over (large woman) and started screaming at us, an old woman started grabbing at us...we were both calm until they got physical. After that we both started screaming back at them (I got into the manager lady's face and screamed right back). They wanted 2600B, we handed the manager the 200B that we really owed per the initial agreement. She grabbed at my husband's hand and said she wanted the rest of the money, he said that he'd pay her as much as she asked for but demanded a receipt. She screamed, "WHY RECEIPT???? YOU MAFIA?????" (My husband isn't Thai, but he is of Asian descent and was confused all week by people there as being Thai.) Anyway, as soon as she asked if he was Mafia, they unblocked the door and we left having only paid the original 100B/drink. (Don't get me wrong, they weren't nice about it, but they didn't try to get any more money out of us after that.) For the rest of the night we got all of our beers from 7-11!! =)

We both had a chuckle that she'd confuse my husband as Thai Mafia (he may be of full Asian descent, but he's completely and very obviously American), but didn't think much about it beyond the "funny story" aspect of it. It wasn't until I saw this board that I learned of the Mafia and police ties to Patpong....quite scary.

I really do want to emphasize that this was truly the only bad experience we had in Thailand. I made a few friends there and would go back in a heartbeat.

To Alicia, what MAN take wife to such a place, you both low class falangs, dont ever come back my country.

Currently in Bangkok as part of my honeymoon. My wife and I were walking through Patpong night market as our hotel is quite close by. Same old usual story with the touts. After a while we entered a 2nd floor bar to check out the scene as we were told we could "look for free for 5 mins".... we stepped in and stepped out just as fast. Thankfully without being charged for anything at all. As soon as we entered the waitress was there with a drinks menu that had no prices. This was a clear alarm bell to get out of there as fast as possible...

Another scam to be aware of is with the tuk tuk drivers that scam tourists. They tell you they just need to make a quick stop on the way to your destination. Eventually you end up wasting half your day seeing this Thai exporter and that chinese exhibition and useless small businesses etc. Always ask for a direct trip and negotiate your trip price before getting into the tuk tuk / taxi... else make sure it is a metered taxi....

Good luck....

P.S. We won't be visiting bangkok anytime soon....

I've just returned from a 1-week holiday from Bangkok with a friend of mine (also a girl in her mid-20s). We went to the Patpong area and initially thought that it would be fun to check out Bangkok's infamously wild nightlife by going to the go-go bars and even had a thought of checking out the p*ssy show. My boyfriend (who wasn't in Bangkok with us) told me not to go to those sorts of places and he kept on telling me to be safe. Anyway, we started feeling unsafe after these people really hassled us into checking out the p*ssy shows. So in the end we didn't go to any of them. We ended up just browsing some souvenirs etc.

I've just returned home and after reading the comments on this site, THANK GOD we decided not to go to those bars & p*ssy shows! I can't imagine what would've happened to us if we did!

Daisy, why not create own p.... show for boyfriend and his friends, practise with your girl friend from holiday. Charge 5 dollar a person, you make money and living fantasy you miss in bangkok.

We just went to super pussy 2 nights ago (May 1 2011). They tried to scam us into paying 500 for the show. I asked "what show" and she pointed to a bunch of disgusting, completely bored naked women covering their bits .. they looked like they NEEDED the money..

we refused quite angrily. After about 10 minutes of arguing, they finally left us alone.. they even paid us our change. When we walked out of the bar I gave the shady man who invited us in a piece of my mind.. he wouldn't even make eye contact and just waved his hand looking sorrily..

in the end - DO NOT PAY THE INFLATED CHARGE. YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED!

very nice

I went to BKK few years back - first time travelling solo but had been a few far away places as a kid and thought was wise to everything. I was hvaing a beer after shopping at the patpong and talking to a nice girl who was perfectly genuine and up front - brought us botha couple of drinks at downstairs bar for about 200baht each and she then asked if id seen a ping pong show yet. I said no, so she told me her friend did one and wet off to put some more clothes on (had been in underwear dancng). We went to the bar and she told me it was a few hundred baht each to go in - I paid for us both as i thought "what the hell - im trying to soak in the place and have new experiences". We saw the show, had a beer each and another girl gave me a head massage quite randomly for a coke. Prices were reasonable and including taxi back to kao san spent only about 25 quid for the night. I wasn't scammed! it all seemed obvious to me!

are you havig a laugh wanka, did you read how much some people were charged (75 nicker for two drinks!)?

good to see

just got scammed at pussy show tonight. guy downstairs said only 100bhat for a drink, decided to check it out cos it seemed reasonable...went upstairs sat down and a couple of chicks came to sit by me started chatting and then asked to buy them drinks. eventually got irritated and decided to buy 2 of them drinks cos i thought it was 100bhat a drink and then when the lady came with the bill it was 300bhat per drink = 900bhat total. tried arguing with her but got stiff looks and decided to just pay and get the hell out of there!! dissapointing experience for an otherwise awesome country!

guys.... the same thing happened to me... I just went there out of curiosity and the tout promised the same things, no cover charge and 50 baht for beer... went there and surrounded by 4 girls... later on paid 3500 baht for 5 mins show and half beer.... no point calling police or fighting with them... its big network.... only thing is to avoid such places.... it was a good learning lesson but quite expensive though....

many bars i been in and some for many years has slole from me. australian man moonshine joint in soi cowboy. they only steel and bar girls no go with you but u still pay

I went to BKK few years back - first time travelling solo but had been a few far away places as a kid and thought was wise to everything. I was hvaing a beer after shopping at the patpong and talking to a nice girl who was perfectly genuine and up front - brought us botha couple of drinks at downstairs bar for about 200baht each and she then asked if id seen a ping pong show yet. I said no, so she told me her friend did one and wet off to put some more clothes on (had been in underwear dancng). We went to the bar and she told me it was a few hundred baht each to go in - I paid for us both as i thought "what the hell - im trying to soak in the place and have new experiences". We saw the show, had a beer each and another girl gave me a head massage quite randomly for a coke. Prices were reasonable and including taxi back to kao san spent only about 25 quid for the night. I wasn't scammed! it all seemed obvious to me!

I read these comment it's the same way happened to us and same 2nd floor story they forced us to pay 4800 baht but the tout was telling us 100 baht for the drinks only. it's like we held up hostage after we look for a police after the incident and no police around the area. My advice never talk to touts and never tempted and curious about the show! it's a hell!

These guys who run the " Holiday Club Scams in Phuket " are the ones who keep spamming this site, just look at the thousands of complaints against them!

We went to Bangkok in July for our honeymoon, same scam happened to us! We were curious to see a ping pong show.... NEVER AGAIN. One of the worst nights of my life. This guy told us that the show was free, so we followed him and once again he changed his mind where he was taking us and ended up taking us to a second floor bar, up a set of stairs that didn't appear to have a name for the bar. We were a bit apprehensive at first so the guy who took us in said, take a look and if you don’twant to stay you can leave. So we sat down and this beefy lady came over with a drinks menu with no prices on it, I asked her how much the drinks were... 100 baht she answered, ok we’ll have a beer and a fanta. Next minute two girls came up to us with drinks in their hands and did a cheers with us, they then left their drinks on our table which I being very weary promptly moved them as I didn’t want to get charged for them.

The girls on the circular stage looked very bored and disinterested to be there, the odd one did the odd trick and that was about it... not quite “the show” i was expecting. So we drank our drinks and decided to leave, we went to pay the bill, expecting to pay 200 baht when we were presented with a bill for 3500 baht which was broken down between, our drinks, the girls drinks and entry for the show (although it was free!) So we argued with the two butch Thai women who spoke perfect English. They started to get aggressive but we held our own and refused to pay, one of them turned to me and said if I didn’t want to pay I’d have to take off my clothes and get on the stage!.... Hmmm yeah right. The other woman then got out her mobile phone and called someone telling them we refused to pay. At this point I expected some heavies to turn up and got quite frightened, we agreed we’d pay them 500 baht so that we could get out of there, at this point I was shaking with fear of what would happen next knowing no one knew where we were if something happened to us. The woman grabbed the money off my husband and whilst doing so punched/hit him in the stomach which made me very angry. They then proceeded to shove us out the door as another couple were arguing over their bill, they told the other couple that we’d paid the full cost (which we hadn’t) and pushed us out the door.
We quickly returned to the sky train to get back to our hotel, carefully watching our backs as I thought someone maybe follow us to hurt us. We got back safely and decided to google Ping Pong show in Patpong to come across this site. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw so many stories of the same scam... we still can’t believe that this allowed to go on and that the authorities must turn a blind eye.

We had a lovely 10 days in Koh Samui with no trouble to end our honeymoon in Bangkok with a nightmare, I’ve warned so many people of this scam and some have been put off ever going to Bangkok in the future, this surely should be a wake up call to the Thai government to stop it as it could ruin the Tourism for the city.

Its very sad to see that this is still going on years later and I hope sites like this make people aware as I wish I had read this before going to Patpong.

PS Beware of anyone offering you to go to Government shops in a taxi on your way to somewhere as Government shops don't exist!

Still happening- I wish everyone would read this before going.
2 Beers, 15mins 3600 bhat was the bill, despite checking several times that the price was 100bht and trying to pay for drinks as we got them. When we paid 200, they asked why we didn't pay the whole Bill and we just left. Fortunately the heavy, who we just saw assault 2 indian guys, was a little smaller than either of us guys so didn't argue. Don 't even risk it, the show is pathetic anyway.

At Jemma, what do expect, you and your hubby wanted to see some accessories being shot from a womans privates, would you do this in your country? These people have no respect for you, hence your intimidating experience! Did you manage a threesome?

its not even a scam wen you think about it you go upstairs see some pussy drink and pay 1000 baht who cares thats like $30 strip clubs cost way more than that in the western world

Same thing happened tonight to me and a friend. Was told 100 baht by our 'host', we even bought him a drink. Anyhow, when we offered to settle while he was still there, he said it's okay, you pay at he end. Then he left very very shortly after. That's when we figured out that we were going to get a big bill.

Less than 2 minutes later, we saw 3 other forgeiners try to settle up and leave and saw them arguing. We figured he same would happen to us so we got up to pay. Sure enough they tried charging us over 4000 baht. We slapped down 300 baht and walked towards the door. They closed the entrance on us, but good thing my friend is a 250lb football player and he threw the door opened. No one stopped us and we walked out.

So yah, just walk out and dot take $h!t. I doubt they'd get physical on you. But then again I had 'backup'

At Mick.... no I probably wouldn’t do this in my own country but in the UK its not in your face everywhere you go like in Bangkok. Like most people on here I was curious, I don’t mind experiencing other cultures etc that is what I go on holiday for, just because we went to a sex show does not give someone else the right to intimidate people does it?

Have you actually been to Patpong and have this happen to you?

Same thing happened to us on 09/09/11 in patpong. All the usual things - followed a tout, 100bht drinks etc etc. Some 1st floor club in patpong, I don't remember the name. I knew from the outset it was going to be more expensive, i know about paying for lady drinks and there's no way you will get a free show and 100bht drinks, i'm not that naive... but anyway... so we had one drink each, the "show" itself was very poor. when i refused a second drink we were straight away ushered to the till. i was expecting maybe 500 to 1000bht, the "bill" came out at 3100bht. both myself and the wife laughed. i dont think she liked that very much. i offered 1000bht and said thats it, no more. she dropped it straight away to 2000bht, i still said no more. she then threatned to call the police, i said go on then go ahead and maybe i will call the tourist police as well. so she made a funny show of dialling a number on her mobile, and pretended to talk into her phone when she was quite obviously not talking to anybody! we stood around for a while (the show was still going on) then i got bored and offered her another 500 which she took, and that was that. in hindsight i probably should have walked out after giving her the 1000, but i guess thats a fair price to pay for a lesson in how not to be stupid in bangkok. there were no heavies around (that i could see) - we never got hassled in that way - just the big mama-san on the till.

This is amazing, it's like a deja vu, it happened to me last week. Every body has had my experience. Only I wish I was a little more brave in refusing to pay my bill for 3500bht. Easy to say now I'm home and safe but I ended up paying 2000 after an aggressive argument with an evil old Thai woman.

At Kris, how anyone can take their wife to one of these shows is mind blowing, would you do it in your own country? Ladyboy perhaps...

They will back down if you confront them. I went into a bar with a chick and we ordered 2 drinks. Before u know it we were surrounded by half the girls who all brought the drinks to the table.. I knew this was going to be a scam do I immediately got up.. Went over to the managers desk and aggressively threw down 200 baht... While cursing profusely..... A bouncer blocked my entrance initially but after gleering at him and swearing he moved aside.. I am not a big guy. ... But I am bold...

Every one acknowledges that today's life is expensive, but people need money for various stuff and not every one earns enough money. Thence to get quick loan and short term loan would be good solution.

Mick you're a tool.

I think yer all pervys and deserve to get scammed lol.

PLEASE PLEASE LISTEN TO ME. I was in Thailand 15 years ago when Thailand was not on the map. This country is just a rip off. I lived there for 4 years operating on ALL different Levels. All is a rip off. I am sure people have had a good time. BUT please do not Look at that good time because under the surface they are waiting to rip and rip. PLEASE LISTEN TO ME. I EVEN KNEW THE CHIEF OF BANGKOK POLICE WHO WAS AND STILL IS HIGHLY CORRUPT.

Just don't pay and walk away!!!!!!

or suggest to cal 1155!!! also works

i was being scam few days back when i was in patpong. me and my friend was asked to pay 3800 and being surrounded by alot of big built ppl we gave in and pay the full sum.

a lesson learn.

patpong is a **** place. will never step there again!

on 2007 I went to bangkok for business trip... in this trip we went to pattaya, when I am on road two girls are approached with me and asked for massage, they asked for 100 baths, i joined with them , they took me one private room and provoking me for sex.. i did not agree.. they took 300 baths and leave me where i joined with them... rest of journey is ok... so friends be ware of girls in pattaya

While I applaud people for pointing out potential scams and their experience, way too many victims on this thread. I guarantee you if you used even the slightest amount of instinct, you would have avoided the rip-off places. In places like thailand, playing the victim role only gets you more fleeced.

While I applaud people for pointing out potential scams and their experience, way too many victims on this thread. I guarantee you if you used even the slightest amount of instinct, you would have avoided the rip-off places. In places like thailand, playing the victim role only gets you more fleeced. I think traveling with a thai-speaking friend is a big plus.