Yes, I have heard about this Fifi. In China there are the "tea house scams" especially in Beijing and Shanghai where a very pretty and sexy woman approaches single men, usually tourists ( the girls are good at telling the difference between local ex-pats and tourists ) and the woman invites them to drink tea with them. Then a bill for 2000 or 3000 rmb is presented to them after having one pot of tea. It happened to me in Nanning in May 2015. I was contacted by a pretty girl on We Chat who asked me to drink tea in coffee with her. She gave me her address, I got in a taxi and went to her block of apartments. In fact I knew the address, by coincidence, an Australian friend of mine rented an apartment there. She looked just like in her pics on We Chat.

We went to a small coffee shop. I ordered a cup of fruit tea, she ordered a pot of tea. I finished, and I said I was going to leave. A bill was presented to me for 870 rmb. I refused to pay. The girl became angry, so did the owner of the tea shop ( the scammer ) I said I would only pay for the cup of tea I ordered. They said I can't leave until I pay the bill.

I told them in Chinese what they are doing is criminal activity and extortion. Then, I got my phone and sent messages to ex-military ex-pats I know. I said to them, I am leaving, I have some nasty friends who will come and beat you and destroy your shop. The seemed to be a bit worried about this. I walked out and got a taxi back home.

As for Thailand, yes there are also scams, but they are more subtle. Padding of bills does happen sometimes. When you buy a drink in Pattaya at an open beer bar the bill is put in a small wooden cup, sometimes glass.

Now some guys run up a bar tab. They may have only had three beers, but there are five beer slips in his cup. It is better to pay as you go, and keep an eye on your cup ( or "bin" as it is often called )

Sometimes this is not a scam, as some guys offered to buy "lady drinks" then they get drunk and end up with a bill larger then they expected. They forgot they were buying the bar girl drinks also.

However, if you are just buying drinks for yourself and you end up with two or three extra bills in your bin it is a scam. This is how many fights start in Pattaya. I want to say that reputable bars never do this, for example, the "Billabong Bar" in LK Metro would never do this sort of thing. The bar girls will be severely punished at some places if they do this sort of thing.

Walking Street in Pattaya has a bad reputation for bar scams. I can't stand the area and don't go there. It is also violent after 1 am. There is a 24 hour police presence there and an ambulance. LK Metro is much more quiet with older men, friendly people, although the "Showgirls" bar ( an a-go go club ) in LK has a reputation for padding customers bills. Several tourists have been badly beaten there in disputes over drinks. I'd say to people, DON'T GO THERE! It was supposed to be closed down by the police, but is still open to my knowledge. A Canadian friend of mine in Pattaya says he won't go in any club or bar where a door closes behind him.

I was slightly scammed on March 27 in Soi 7 by some older bar girls. Strangle, I have found the bar girls in Soi 6 , Pattaya's most notorious street ( Soi Sex ) to be the most honest.

I don't want to say ripping men off is common in Pattaya though, as most of the girls are great, love white guys, and will do anything for you, even for free if they really like you.

There is a guy in Thailand called "King Epic", he has a lot of videos on You Tube. His voice really annoys me and sometimes he does not respect people's privacy, but he has a lot of good advice and information about the bar and sex scene in Bangkok and Pattaya and also about various scams.