1:20 a.m. at Nana on a Friday Night

[Bangkoktraveler]

I was quoated 5K bht for short time..."

 

When I first came to Bangkok, as I was getting out of a taxi, one woman came up and told me ST for 4000 baht. I just about shit my pants. Years later, I took her LT and it was ony 2000 baht. Figure it out.

 

When I hear these outrageous prices, I just about choke up with laughter. Don't these girls know that if they keep over charging, nobody will want them? I would rather then pay.

 

Another thing that pisses me off is 140 baht beer. That is over $4.00 (US) for a beer. And you get treated like shit. I don't think bars in Bangkok realize it but they are killing themselves. I can see Pattaya growing and Bangkok becoming a ghost town.

 

 

[ChristianTroy]

Look, it is as easy as that, who goes to BKK for the girls must have a serious brain tumor, it is really as easy as that! Pattaya offers 9 times more girls for the half of the price, why bother and argue about singlets, people who go to Los for mongering and stay in BKK are pretentious and wanna proof something, isn't it? At the end it is you and the girl in your room and no singlet fucker bothering you!

 

I still pay 50 baht for a Heinecken draft and 1500 LT and I am laughing at everyone who feels elite to be in BKK and gets quoted 5000 baht for ST! Where do you guys have your head, they are uneducated girl from Isaan after all, a girl that quotes me 5k gets my drink in her face and I make her boss fire her sorry ass!

[kojis]

CT,

 

following your logic all those who go to Pattaya and not to Cambodia suffer of brain tumour as it's so much cheaper there - 200TBH at the border for westerners, and way cheaper for locals.

 

Way cheaper in Burma also and many girls. Beer below 30TBH in several clubs also.

 

Why haven't you moved there yet?

 

BKK is nowhere near becoming a ghost town, so much variety there, although I agree that if one is confining itself to lower Suk, he's probably better off in Pattaya -and Pattaya might be picking up on that customer segment that might as well skip BKK altogether. Pattaya can't be more depressing than Lower suk, can it?

 

 

[kojis]

"Pattaya offers 9 times more girls for the half of the price,"

 

9 times more girls in Pattaya than in BKK

 

CT,

 

Do have any idea of the whole spectrum of the sex industry in BKK before coming up with such a suspicious statement ?

[Hugh_Hoy]

"Pattaya offers 9 times more girls for the half of the price,"

 

9 times more girls in Pattaya than in BKK

 

CT,

 

Do have any idea of the whole spectrum of the sex industry in BKK before coming up with such a suspicious statement ?

 

And 9 times uglier! Seriously, I only drink about 10-12 beers a night, so I can't get shit-faced enough to pull from the Pattaya beer bars...and the go-go girls seem to think they work at Rainbow 4. In the last 20+ years, I've yet to have any trouble getting what I want for the price I'm willing to pay in BKK...and nowadays, that's 1000 ST and 1500 to 2000 LT (the 2000 for a "stunner" who performs graciously, with talent, enthusiasm, and isn't camera shy). Of course, I'm jai dee, old, fat, somewhat balding...disspellng another myth that old farts can't score reasonable deals.

 

Kojis...u r absolutely right about the numbers in BKK and the relative P4P economics of the various countries. (If Cambo allowed go-go joints, it wouldn't kill off the Thailand nightlife, but it would put a dent in it until the Khmer and VN chicks started getting greedy.)

 

HH

 

 

 

[RayRay]

a girl that quotes me 5k gets my drink in her face and I make her boss fire her sorry ass!

 

Wow, I hope I can be as cool as you when I grow up.

 

[BKKanalist]

CT-

 

"....a girl that quotes me 5k gets my drink in her face and I make her boss fire her sorry ass!"

 

You actually throw the drink in her face?

[OCgringo]

lets go back a bit,

 

Old hippie said he was quoted 5K baht at Nana coffee shop at 3am,

 

Its not like everyone told him 5K , and he laughed at her about it,

 

and it could have been that the girl did not like the looks of Sir Hippie , so thats why she said 5K ,

 

or that she was from SiSeket and did not want the heartache of "knowing" Mr Hippie ,

 

Whichever way you look at it its not all of BKK asking 5K ,

 

OC

 

watching the 400th Simpsons episode

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

CT,

 

re: the friend bar owner in BKK.

 

Okay, so the problem this guy and other bar owners face are a.) early closing times, and b.) needing to keep their star dancers in the bar.

 

Think these things over now what I will suggest.

 

One question first. Doesn't the government also control bar opening times? Gogo bars and such? I thought I read that opening times were also changed/controlled (in Bangkok?)

 

That aside, let's say your bar owner partner has 8 star dancers. They come in at ten each evening. Once they are all barfined he then has no drawing power, as the best are gone LT for the night, or ST until around 12:30. (They get on stage at ten, are barfined by 10:30, some for LT some for ST). Either way his star performers and the bar draw are gone quickly, right?

 

My suggestion would be to not only have them come in earlier, but to also have staggered starting times and earlier starting times as well.

 

Dig this. You have 8 star dancers, every day they split their start times. 4 of them come in at say 8 rather than 10. The other four start at the usual time, 10. Each night the 2 groups swap start times. SO one day 'group one' starts at 8, the next night they start at 10, and the other group does the same alternately.

 

Now you have effectively spread out your star performers and they are there earlier, half of them at least.

 

Now, you impose a rule for your bar. No long times allowed until 12 midnight. Only ST allowed from opening until midnight. After midnight the stars can be BF-ed LT, but not until then.

 

Why cannot the barowners form a loose group that sets policies like this to help all the bars and owners? This would get the punters in earlier, as at least half of the star dancers are there to perform and act the draw. Effectively you now have a longer time period with your star dancers on stage. Even if the 8 o'clock gals are BF-ed say by 8:30, remember, they can only go ST before midnight, and by employee rules have to return to the bar to finish their shift until closing, or until they are BF-ed again (either LT or ST).

 

But, there are many things the bar owners, especially if they stuck together, could do to maximize their staff and profits. And keep the customers in the bar drinking, create more ST opportunites for the star dancers while getting them in earlier, and keep them around longer over a longer period of time to maximize their drawing power for the bar to attract customers.

 

Also, easy enough to lower prices of certain drinks from opening until busy hours, as a draw for the more serious drinkers who like to have a few grogs while ogling the talent. Lower the drink prices by a certain percentage where the prices are attractive to customers as an additional draw during the time period when it is less busy. Whatever that percentage can be and still maintain a small profit off the drinks. Certainly draft beer has that obvious potential to be sold cheaply and yet still bring in a decent profit. As do certain liquors, such as Mekong and Sang Som drinks, cheap tequilas, certain cheaper whiskies such as 100 Pipers, etc.

 

In addition, keep lady drinks prices low. The guys will buy more lady drinks if they 1.) are priced low and not any way near the cost of their own liquor beverage. 2.) if they know that a good percentage of said lady drinks are going to the lady they are buying them for rather than to the bar. And 3.) if the girls are trained to pay attention to the punters, do a bit of diddling to entice the punter into staying longer, and make sure that the ladies know how to keep the guys drinking in respectful ways that the customers always enjoy (shoulder massages-etc.) And by respectful ways I mean not begging for lady drinks and constantly nagging the punter for them. And by not taking the piss with the punter, ignoring him, dancing for the mirror rather than dancing for the punters... and making eye contact, small talk, bantering with the punters from the stage, flirting, and other essential physical contact (not always essentially sexual). Teach the ladies how to make light physical contact as they prowl the bar for their barfine. Many of these guys are not only horny, but lonely. Physical contact such as fleeting touch as the pretty girls walk by (doesn't need to be a grabbing of the gonads-but that also doesn't hurt)but even a hand on the shoulder, a quick peck on the cheek, a smile and a brief brush of imaginary dust off the guy's shirt, an adjustment of his shirt collar like she cares about how he looks. Basically having the girls showing the customers that they care about them goes a long way in keeping the customers happy and staying in the bar drinking more, buying more lady drinks, and bring them back to your bar due to this better treatment, which was once normal treatment in many of the bars in the LOS toward the punters, and sadly lacking now in many places. It's that 'Thai touch' once so appealing about these places. Many of the guys just like the attention from pretty young girls. It's an ego boost. They feel special. When the punters feel special and are treated well they will stay longer, and spend more while there and be more generous.

 

One of the basic problems I see now in the bars is that seeming 'lack of care and appreciation' for the paying customers. These things were once normal behaviour of the bar girls years ago in the best of the bars. It made every bargirl seem girlfriend material to a punter, or at least ST material. It is the way the women used to behave toward the customers. That high quality of customer care and appreciation is now lacking by far in the bars these days.

 

If you do one thing in your new bar it should be to take a bit of time to explain these things to the girls and 'train' them in these things that the customers appreciate (and no, not all customers-some are just there to find their fuck of the day-and that is the purpose really of your bar-but the illusion needs to be maintained at a high level to an extent). At least train your mamasan in these things, to have her show the ladies what they should be doing and what your bar employ expects them to be doing to take care of your customers. Make your bar as punter friendly as possible, and much of that boils down to the attitude of your employees and the girls working for you.

 

These are just my thoughts and what I myself would do (experimenting along the way to find the best solutions to bring in punters and keep them coming back happy punters) if I myself was owning and running a gogo bar.

 

One other thing: get a good mamasan who actually does care about her girls almost as a mother or older sister would. A smart one who knows how to treat the customers, is strict yet fair with the girls, and who will protect them and help them when they need help and who will run interference with the owner, you, when problems come up.

There are good mamasans and bad. The goods ones look out for their girls. And know what to teach them about customer care.

 

Good prices, quality staff and pretty dancers and waitstaff, customer care and appreciation will go a long way in bringing punters in and keeping them there and getting them to come again to your establishment. And a sanuk atmosphere.

 

The problem is many bar owners/managers haven't a clue, are lazy to begin with, abuse their staff and customers alike, and/or are drunks themselves who just don't get it many times.

 

One other thing, keep the barfine costs as low as you can. Also, there are many things a bar owner can do for the low season as well to bring in paying customers, especially the expats. I won't go into them here, but have ideas for that as well.

 

One other thing. The owner/manager should at least once during the early hours just after opening, ring the bell and buy a round for his customers. And introduce himself around the bar after and try to use the names of guys he can remember and chat them up a bit. Just a friendly handshake or pat on the back, a 'hello good to see you again', and to make himself available to the punters in case they have any questions or problems they might want to talk about. And steady loyal customers he should send over a drink for on occasion, and also do this with any parties of big spenders there for an evening. This good will gesture and show of thanks for patronage goes a long way in bringing these guys back, and is usually not that expensive as the owner/manager is paying these drinks at his cost.

 

Just my thoughts, ideas and opinions on this. Yours may differ.

 

Cent

[buddha]

Bibblies: 'Put a time-limit on the barfine for the time-wasters'

 

Imagine a varible rate barfine. Pay 500 baht down...have her back in under 2 hours get 200 baht back...under 3 hours 100 baht back...

 

Someone should introduce a measure like this.