Jet Lounge on Ekamai

[AloyMak]

Anyone ever been there? It's part of three bars/lounges that are right next to each other. Was just walking home after meeting some friends at a small bar called, of all things, Bangkok Bar on Ekamai Soi 2. Btw, Bangkok Bar isn't bad! They make (slowly) a great Mojito and serve very good and inexpensive thai and Europeanish food. I had a fantastic steak in red wine sauce and I sampled some great thai food as well. The decor though is retro, shabby chic and can be seen as either quaint or cheap depending on your pov. The dj's selection for dinner was happy, acoustic groove type music (think Jack Johnson).

 

So I decide to walk down Ekamai, a rare treat as I've mentioned before that I don't stray off Suk often. At first I think it odd that all the bars have named themselves after liquor - Chivas, Ballantines, Federbrau - but then my thick self gets the point that they are being subsidized. In fact these beautifully lit liqour signs are several times bigger than the namesigns for the bars... and a lot better looking too.

 

I walk up to the bar complex with Jet and two other bars and I thought it must be a girlie bar. Outside in the patio were some of the hottest thai girls except they were dressed much nicer. I'm confused but I walk in anyway. And I'm floored. There is table after table of some of the hottest looking thai girls I've seen in bangkok. Girls outnumber guys 4 to 1. I'm still confused. Is this a G-club? What's going on? I take a seat and order a drink and take in the Thai band. As I finish the drink I realize these aren't working girls. I'm just suffering from culture shock. I talk to one sitting near me and her english is excellent.

 

So my question is, how do you approach these groups of girls? They are usually sitting four deep in a circle around a table. They've already bought their own drinks for the entire night so you can't buy them a round. You can't really start dancing next to one of them without looking creepy as everyone dances around their table instead of on the dance floor. I admit I was a bit too unsure of the situation to try and break into one of these groups on a solo mission.

[Sakai]

Jet club is of course not a G club, nothing in common except maybe the hot girls and sometimes good music (for people who like either Thai bands+ hip hop or trance music for the other zone).

 

Jet club is a hiso club, this is where many young, beautiful and healthy Thais go...the outdoor zone is designed to see and be seen.

 

You are lucky you did not try to catch up with one of the girls thinking they were working girl.

 

Not my cup of tea, I liked santika but not jet club.

 

Note: If you want to see the difference between a Thai club like jet club and a G club -> go for another walk on ekamai and you go to either piano, or any other G club on ekamai (quite a few of them there)

 

 

[..]

Welcome to my world mate. Can't say anything more than what has been said (well done Sakai), other than a) solo ain't gonna cut it and if you are not with Thais, you're sunk (no matter how hansum or rich).

 

So find a group of well employed, good looking, late-20-early-30-something Thai mates to escort ya or forget about it. Or just go there and enjoy the eye-candy and hope one takes pity on ya. 55555555555

 

Just like dating in any other country really...

 

Cheers,

SD

[AloyMak]

Thanks. What about middle-class TGs? I mean not the Isaan brownies and not the stuck-up hi-so types. Which clubs do they hang out in?

 

And what is it about hi-so TGs that make them so unapproachable for farang? Elswewhere in Asia, I've met out at clubs/bars the daughters of doctors and executives who were quite open to meet a foreigner, practice some english, and get some interaction out of the ordinary?

[Sakai]

Middle class Thai go to anywhere from RCA, to places in Ratchatevi, places in Bangkapi, Thonglore pubs/clubs, Ramkhamhaeng university area and countless other places.

 

Hi-so TG are not daughters of mid level executives or doctors but the daughters of the really wealthy Thais.

IME, they usually don't give a shit about farang due to various reasons:

This is a generalization as I know two hi-so ones who don't behave at all like their siblings.

. Almost no foreigner are as wealthy as their family so the 'advantage' in earnings is on their side

. They are spoiled children, they can have whatever they want so why take interest in a foreigner

. English, they either are not interested or they speak it well enough

. They are the 'few elected ones', their families have power, wealth and they are accountable to nobody, especially Thais

 

 

A little story.

Soem years ago I was invited by the daughter of a good Thai friend to go out with them.

(let's call her Tucky)

I told Tucky that I was tempted to refuse as I felt I would be out of place and that I might spoil their night out by being a foreigner.

 

Tucky told me there were no problems as I was in the same age bracket as them.

 

I found myself being presented to a group of about 10 Thais, most of them ladies, age 22-32.

I felt very uncomfortable as the 'cheapest' car was a BMW.

 

I spent the night talking to Tucky, who enjoyed practicing the English she learned in the USA and one of her friend, said friend felt sorry for me.

 

The rest of the group was very polite to me, smiled and laughed a lot but I was merely a curiosity for them or nonexistent.

 

What is interesting is during the night Tucky and her friend helped me decipher some interactions between their group and the other 'nice' people they met.

 

All in all, I would say the hi-so 18-26 years old are without almost any exception spoiled assholes.

The older ones might remain assholes or become a bit more open-minded, of course, there are some good exceptions like Tucky, bright, polite to everyone, no flashing her wealth and power.

(still, her family would never accept she marries someone of lower status)

 

 

[buffalo_bill]

What does Doron's missus think ?

[preahko]

Thanks. What about middle-class TGs? I mean not the Isaan brownies and not the stuck-up hi-so types. Which clubs do they hang out in?

 

And what is it about hi-so TGs that make them so unapproachable for farang? Elswewhere in Asia, I've met out at clubs/bars the daughters of doctors and executives who were quite open to meet a foreigner, practice some english, and get some interaction out of the ordinary?

 

For many, they perceive a negative stigma at being seen with a foreigner (as a couple), afraid that other Thais may assume that they're a working girl.

 

Sometimes this fear is warranted, other times it's ridiculous...a Thai colleague, not hi-so at all but PhD holder and a professor at Chula, told me she feels strange being seen in public alone with a farang male for just the reason I just stated...I didn't have the heart to tell her, with her very frumpy, buck-toothed, coke-bottle glasses appearance, that she had NOTHING to worry about, haha...

 

 

[Gadfly]

This is a generalization as I know two hi-so ones who don't behave at all like their siblings.

. Almost no foreigner are as wealthy as their family so the 'advantage' in earnings is on their side

. They are spoiled children, they can have whatever they want so why take interest in a foreigner?

. English, they either are not interested or they speak it well enough

. They are the 'few elected ones', their families have power, wealth and they are accountable to nobody, especially Thais

 

I haven't been to Jet Lounge, so I cannot comment on the bar. But I have a few follow-on comments.

 

First, you need to distinguish between (a) wanna-be hi-sos and ( "real" hi-sos. Because many (I'd say, most) members of the elite have multiple mia nois, and the daughters of mia nois can descend from hi-so status to something else very quickly if a mia noi falls out of favor, this is not uncommon. Many who appear to be hi-sos are really on very shaky ground. This also provides opportunities, but not if you are just here on a visit. With these opportunities, however, sometimes come headaches - tremendous ones (I speak from experience). I have serious doubts about whether the costs and risks justifies the benefits.

 

Second, the "elected ones" - or, as I prefer to say, the "self-anointed ones" - have a tremendous sense of entitlement. On a macro-level, the dysfunctions you are seeing now in Thailand are being driven by a clash between the self anointed ones and the vast majority of Thais who are beginning to ask inconvenient questions, such as: "just who elected (anointed) you?"

 

On a micro-level - meaning, what it means to you in a one-on-one encounter - I agree with the comments above. With the true anointed ones, Farangs are generally just, at best, curiosities. At worse, they are inconveniences, to be ignored, pressed aside or (yes, this does happen) eliminated if necessary - after all, they are entitled to do whatever they want.

 

The hard part is making the distinctions. Even Thais have serious problems. Face is a big issue here, and pretending to be something you are not is permitted. It's almost developed into an art form here. In fact, pretense seems to be encouraged for a variety of reasons (ranging fromgren jai, to pride to pure greed or some combination of all three) - I think the Thais excel beyond all others in this particular 'skill'.

 

For Farangs, however, this makes matters so much more difficult and confusing. I just came back from three + weeks in the "West" (northern U.S. and parts of Europe), and there is nothing remotely in the parts of the U.S. and Europe where I spend time that even approximates what exists here - on both ends of the spectrum. Actually, I don't think you'll find any of this anywhere in the West.

 

In any event, because I am now curious, I will pay a visit. I won't be able to tell you whether they are real hi-sos or not, but I usually come away from places like this with a few thoughts and observations.

[CTO]

[Somchai888]

Gadfly, that is one of the best posts I've ever seen on Thai360. You understand things at a much deeper level than the "hisos are so stuck up and I hate them" attitude common among farangs. And you also don't fall into the trap of thinking that any Thai person who is not from Issan or who has fair skin is "hiso."

 

As for how to "pick up" in these places, you need to be in a group (Thais are, after all, herd animals) and your group needs to speak positively to your status. This is what's already been said. The first step is always someone from group A coming over to introduce themselves (and by synecdoche, the group) to someone from group B. The two groups then mingle -- or don't, depending on interest level and whatever else, just as in any social environment.

 

I would guess that if you're a farang, you're given quite a bit of leeway, and carry enough of a novelty factor, and Group B might welcome your polite introduction more than they'd welcome a Thai person's polite introduction. So go for it, although language might be a problem, if you don't speak Thai. Or even have your Thai group-mates from Group A go to Group B and tell Group B that their farang friend would like to get to know them. Again: contrary to common belief among foreigners in Thailand, you get quite a bit more leeway than Thais would.