Credit Card Hold Confusion Causes Chaos In Holiday Inn Bangkok Lobby

A tourist’s behavior at a Bangkok hotel is making the rounds in Thailand, as flagged by View from the Wing. I have to commend the hotel staff for how calmly they handled this situation, though I’m shocked that there were seemingly no repercussions…

Meltdown in lobby of Holiday Inn Bangkok

This incident happened on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom. A roughly three minute clip posted online shows a barefoot man dressed in a “greatest dad ever” t-shirt freaking out at the front office associates at the hotel, calling them “bloody rogues, bloody thieves!”

So, what caused the frustration? According to reports, there was a miscommunication. A relative had arrived at the hotel on April 16, and asked the hotel to place an authorization on her payment card, to cover multiple rooms. Then when the man checked in on April 17, hotel staff were instructed to put the hold onto his card, totaling 14,626 THB (~438 USD).

However, the following day (on April 18) when he discovered that two cards had holds on them, he assumed that they had actually been double charged for the rooms, and he accused the hotel staff of being thieves, and demanded an immediate refund.

A relative can be heard saying “this gentleman paid for four bookings, just because we came on different days, you can’t charge again,” to which the front office associate responded “we were told to use his card when he arrived, we didn’t charge him, just held the deposit.”

Eventually police arrived, given the guy’s behavior, and they helped calm the situation. The hotel later confirmed that the hold had been canceled, and the funds were returned. As a hotel manager explained:

“The woman initially authorized us to use her card, but then told us to switch to his card when he checked in. He seemed fine at the time, but later objected. We resolved it as soon as possible.”

The hotel didn’t end up filing any formal complaint against the traveler for his behavior.

My take on this dramatic hotel situation

On the one hand, I give the hotel staff credit for maintaining their composure in this situation. On the other hand, I feel like they’re almost too passive, and should maybe lay down the law, since no one should have to witness that. Then again, I guess the guy was so enraged that I’m not sure the feedback would have been well received, and at least this avoided things getting physical.

I’m not sure if this man has been diagnosed with some sort of an anger issue. Regardless, it’s unacceptable to treat other humans this way, and it also seems like his family should’ve stepped in to stop his behavior. As you can see, one of his relatives is able to communicate with hotel staff much more calmly, and seems more equipped to handle this situation. Never mind the irony of the shirt he’s wearing, while behaving like this…

Lastly, I’ve gotta say, the concept of confusion over credit authorizations for hotel stays seems to be extremely common. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve seen guests argue rather angrily with hotel employees about this, claiming they’ve been double charged (or charged incorrectly), when really there are just holds on cards.

Admittedly this can be more of an issue if you’re paying with a debit card than credit card. While both situations take away from your spending ability, the former impacts your ability to spend actual money in your account, rather than just some credit limit.

Bottom line

A guest at the Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom became enraged when he thought he was being incorrectly double charged by the hotel. Instead, a relative had just checked in a couple of days earlier, and this just seemed to be a combination of a misunderstanding and confusion over how temporary holds on cards work.

Confusion over card holds at hotels is nothing new, though this level of anger really crosses the line…

What do you make of this unpleasant situation?