That Anodard incident in full

[slimboyfat]

After spending 3 hours on the bus from a place called Chai Pra Kan (or something like that) my family and I arrived at the Anodard hotel a little after midday. We were going to spend our last night in Chiang Mai before our flight back to Singapore the next morning.
Paid 995 baht for the room which allegedly slept 4 persons (in fact it contained 2 beds a little bigger than regular single beds.)

So then, up to the room. The bloke who brought up our bags switched on the airconditioning and went off to get us a jug of water for some reason.
I noticed that the bedroom sliding window was open by about 3 inches so I attempted to close it by sliding it shut. Big mistake.....the window wheels at the base must have been off the rollers or something.

I watched in horror as this big old window went crashing to the ground from our 3rd floor room. The fall was broken a little by the ledge that jutted out below our window, but it continued to crash downwards and landed between a pick-up truck and another vehicle.

Damn.....after being at the hotel for 10 minutes disaster had struck.

Like a fool I assumed that the hotel would take responsibility. How wrong I was.

The manager immediately asked me down to look at the damage. At this point I was thinking 'what does the damage have to do with me? - its your bloody window that fell out'




Things didnt seem to be looking too good for me, so I called FF to rack his brains on what I should do. He called the Pirates Cove and Mark the landlord and some of his staff came over from time to time after that to check how things were progressing and to assist with translation - for that many thanks guys!

Both vehicles were scratched slightly. The owner of the grey car was very nice and didnt ask for any money, just said it was nothing serious.

The pickup was a different story - it belonged to the hotel. The manager began insisting that I pay for the window and the damage to his pick-up truck. I refused and instead went across to the Pirates Cove for some lunch. By this time it must have been just before 1pm and we had had nothing to eat all day.

After ordering our lunch I noticed a policeman had arrived on his motorcycle so I left my family and went across the road back to the hotel.
The manager advised me that as I wasnt willing to pay for the damage, he had called the police as a 'third party'. The policeman smiled a lot but didnt speak any English so he called the tourist police, while we surveyed the damage below and also the scene above in the room.

It wouldnt take Columbo to realise that there was something wrong with the window that I had sent crashing below. There was another similar sliding window on the other side of the window, and it was clear I would never have been able to push that window off even if i tired - as it was securely in place.

The tourist police (2 of them - a guy and a girl) showed up and we continued the charade - this time in English. The tourist policeman seemed to understand exactly my point, but finally it came down to the same thing. I was very unlucky but would still have to pay for a replacement window (3900 baht) and for the damage to the hotel pick-up (2000 baht).



It was made clear to me a couple of times that if I didnt pay up then I would not be allowed to leave Thailand.



Finally I agreed to pay the amount as long as I got a police report and a receipt from the hotel to hopefully back up my claim under my travel insurance.

So then it was off to the ATM (I had bugger all cash left as it was our last day in Thailand) and then the police station. The hotel manager made the police report with the motorcycle cop in attendance and I paid the 5,900 baht.

By the time I got back to the Pirates Cove it was almost 4pm and my burger was 3 hours old. Ah well, never mind. It went down well with a few beers.



I have put this thread in the members section because I also want to show the receipt that the hotel gave me just as further evidence that i am not bullshitting. I wont be posting the police report as it is all in Thai and I have no idea which parts contain my passport number and other personal details etc.

Mods if you want to move this thread elsewhere then please do so but would appreciate if you delete the hotel receipt if you are moving it to a public area. Cheers.

Deleted By dirtydog


It could have been a lot worse if someone had been walking below or if it was one of my kids leaning against the window and fell out.

Anyway I will not be recommending this place to anyone, thats for sure.

[ChiangMai noon]

Anyway I will not be recommending this place to anyone, thats for sure.

Good.
It should be posted on all the thai related forums.

You are obviously a violent English hooligan with bolluck all respect for the law but that should be your right.

[daveboy]

What a shitty end to your break SBF, I feel very angry on your behalf seems you were backed right into a corner by the hotel.

[slimboyfat]

You are obviously a violent English hooligan with bolluck all respect for the law.

and you sir, are a hom

[Fabian]

That's so ridiculous. Not only did they have the audacity to make you responsible but they wanted 3,900 baht for a window which was already broken.

Good to know at what hotel not to stay.

[Butterfly]

that windows probably cost no more than 1,000 THB

I think it was broken and they left it on purpose for the next sucker to pay for it since they couldn't catch the previous guest for it.

You were setup. The good news is that half of it went probably to the Police, so the owner only got 3,000

[stroller]

Now we know what the pickup looks like, I suspect it will magically get a few more scratches over the next few weeks.

Got any pics of the nice manager?

[Frankenstein]

That hotel just made the major shit list of Frankenstein and his monster. Rest assured I will badmouth them at every opportunity.

(My breath stinks; I really am a badmouth)

...do you have the names of the police officers as well?

[slimboyfat]

no i dont have the police officers names, and the only pic i have of the hotel manager is of half his back view (he is the guy in the light blue shirt in the back of the pickup).

i have to say this was the only negative from my week in Thailand. Everyone else we met there (Thai and expat) were really nice and we had a great time. I will post some other pics and reports from the more pleasant days when I get a chance.

I would like to again mention that the owner of the grey car was really cool about it all and made it clear that he didnt want any money out of this incident.

[Spin]

Just a scam, thats all. The building would have insurance to cover this.

[dirtydog]

Everyone else we met there (Thai and expat) were really nice and we had a great time.

So you managed to avoid cmn then

[slimboyfat]

CMN is a gentleman - and he looks much less like a psycho in real life.

[slimboyfat]

Good.
It should be posted on all the thai related forums.

.

i think thaivisa delete any threads that show thailand in a less than positive light.

and certainly any that link to the Teakdoor gallery

[El Gibbon]

Hotel is owned, at least in part, by the cops....

Go figure they wouldn't let you "stiff" them.

Good idea to go on Travelocity or any other web site that takes comments
and relate the story...


E. G.

[RDN]

...I think it was broken and they left it on purpose for the next sucker to pay for it since they couldn't catch the previous guest for it...

Yeah, scheming b@stards. But this serves as a warning to all who stay in Thai establishments - don't assume anything works or can be forced open/closed/on or off. If it doesn't work, get the management to look at it - touch it at your own peril.

Having said that, when I stayed in Bangkok I used to take a shower head, hose and adjustable spanner. I'd remove the existing shower head (the one that produced a fine mist of scalding water vapour) and replace it with with one that had big holes in it. The spanner was for turning up the water volume valve - the one that they'd taken the handle off.

[ChiangMai noon]

CMN is a gentleman

A nomination for quote of the year.

[Katana]

CMN is a gentleman

A nomination for quote of the year.

nomination for joke of the year ?

Mark

[shazbut]

CMN is a genitalman - and he looks much more like a psycho in real life.

Quote of the year....

[slimboyfat]

CMN is a genitalman - and he looks much more like a psycho in real life.

Quote of the year....

oh yeah - thats what i meant to say

[Thetyim]

I used to take a shower head, hose and adjustable spanner. I'd remove the existing shower head (the one that produced a fine mist of scalding water vapour) and replace it with with one that had big holes in it. The spanner was for turning up the water volume valve - the one that they'd taken the handle off.

Shit do you really do that?
I thought I was the only one.

I also bought a radio knob to adjust the air-con because it usually has all the knobs missing to stop you adjusting it. Have you got one of them ?

[slimboyfat]

I also bought a radio knob to adjust the air-con because it usually has all the knobs missing to stop you adjusting it.

yes you will need one of those at the Anodard too should you wish to stay there and adjust the aircon.

[stroller]

CMN is a gentleman - and he looks much less like a psycho in real life.

That's what I first thought, but looks are deceptive...Anyway, you are on the right track, to flatter the madman, he's already nominating you for awards. Better slow down a bit, or he'll get overly attached to you...

[ChiangMai noon]

That's what I first thought, but looks are deceptive

Just because i got narked with your canine cuisine.

[slimboyfat]

By the way if that old Aussie guy from the Pirates Cove last night wants to put this story in his book of Thai bad experiences then you can point him in the direction of this thread - as so far he only got around to asking what floor of the hotel I was staying in.

btw i did notice the young lady he was sitting with was a candidate for the Thai girls knickers thread, but I was too polite to mention it at the time

[ChiangMai noon]

Also in future when I meet dog eating people it would help if they wrote dog eater on a badge or something.
I had never met one before and I didn't know what one looked like.