Easiest and simplest practice

[readerc54]

There's been a lot posted about this but it all boils down to nothing more complicated than the following:

If you're even the tiniest bit undecided about a person's age, or you simply suspect that someone's ID might not be legit, it's always wise to fall back on your first hunch.

If it crossed your mind that he looks too young, disregard any and all information to the contrary and go with your instincts.

It's not a foolproof method but it's as close as you'll come. Forget the old Thais look so much younger than they really are. Although that may sometimes be the case, there's always another reason they look so young: they are.

[Geezer]

If you think an ID card may not belong to a boy in question, ask to see the card first. After you have his card and are holding it so it’s not visible to him, ask his birthday.

If it’s not his card, it’s a hoot watching him crane his neck in an effort to read the card as you turn it making that impossible.

[Gaybutton]

Nobody really needs to worry about boys taken off from bars anymore. The bars no longer have under-age boys. It doesn't happen. It can't hurt to check IDs, but you aren't going to find under-age boys.

What you do need to concern yourself about is the gay hookup sites, such as Planet Romeo, Grindr, Hornet, etc. Those are where I would concentrate my ID checking. None of those sites have any means of verifying the actual age of anyone registering. I've seen several boys advertising themselves who say they are 18 - sometimes say they are even older - but even to the experienced eye of someone living in Thailand, some of those boys look to be much younger. MUCH younger. Be very careful about hooking up with them.

I suggest simply avoiding them or arrange to meet in a neutral place, maybe a coffee shop or something, and check their ID there. Geezer's method is an excellent way of making sure the ID card is actually his own, but even that is not foolproof. If the boy is using an older brother's ID card, he might very well know the birthday.

[readerc54]

Nobody really needs to worry about boys taken off from bars anymore. The bars no longer have under-age boys. It doesn't happen. It can't hurt to check IDs, but you aren't going to find under-age boys.

Agree that the apps are where you're most likely to encounter problems and your caution is definitely warranted.

But declaring with such certainty that "it doesn't happen" in the bars any more is going out on a limb I wouldn't be eager to climb. Some underage can still slip through if for no other reason than the law of probability.

If someone gets jammed up, claiming innocence because he got the boy from a bar won't make for a great defense.

I'll stick with my instincts.

[Jun]

If you think an ID card may not belong to a boy in question, ask to see the card first. After you have his card and are holding it so it’s not visible to him, ask his birthday.
If it’s not his card, it’s a hoot watching him crane his neck in an effort to read the card as you turn it making that impossible.

This is good if your boy has already proven himself to be a fluent English speaker, but some of them might pretend not to know the numbers at that stage. Reminds me of speaking to a money boy in Tokyo a few years back. He spoke really good English, until the "where do you come from" question, which he did not understand. Filipino was my guess.
Anyway, I will try your idea next time.

I still see it as necessary to check ID cards in bars, as I can think of 2 respectable Bangkok bars who had someone a few months short.
Both within the last 3 years. It may be the exception, but checking the IDs is still a good idea.

[Dodger]

Right or wrong I have never once asked a bar boy to see his ID card.

Maybe that's because I have never once in all my years heard of an "age" problem when offing a boy from a bar. I have asked a few how old they were "khoon aa yoo thao rai" but never bothered with the card stuff. I'm admittedly not any good when it comes to guessing someone's age but don't have any problem telling the difference between a young man and a kid and that's always worked for me.

[Gaybutton]

declaring with such certainty that "it doesn't happen" in the bars any more is going out on a limb

No it isn't. I'm not out on a limb at all. None of the bars hire under-age boys anymore. Apparently Sunee Plaza still can't live down that reputation, but you're not going to find under-age boys working in any of the bars.

I'm not trying to say you shouldn't bother checking IDs. That would be absurd. If there is any question in your mind, by all means check the ID.

I know of no farang arrests, ever, when taking a boy off from a bar - even back in the days when several bars routinely did hire under-age boys. Every farang arrest I'm aware of involving under-age boys had nothing to do with the bars. It always, almost without exception, involved farang stupid enough to be diddling around with neighborhood boys or caught in the act with an under-age boy in a toilet or something. The exception was occasionally it involved a farang Interpol or some other police agency that was already going after a farang who was trying to hide out in Thailand.

If anyone can prove me wrong about that, I'll be happy to eat crow and stand corrected.

[thaiworthy]

I still see it as necessary to check ID cards in bars, as I can think of 2 respectable Bangkok bars who had someone a few months short.
Both within the last 3 years. It may be the exception, but checking the IDs is still a good idea.

From my point-of-view, it's Murphy's Law, if anything can go wrong, it will. I prefer to check and have the hotel double-check for me. Might be a little bit of paranoia to some, but it's like an insurance policy to me. I don't want to push my luck by being in the wrong place, at the wrong time with the wrong boy at the wrong age.

[Oliver]

Bars may not intentionally hire under age dancers but that doesn't mean that they can't be misled by someone using his brother's ID or a convincing forgery. I met a mature-acting guy with excellent English in a Boyztown bar a few years ago and he told me that he was using his brother's card. I believed him because he lost the promise of an off because of his admission.

Nevertheless, I agree that dating-site assignations are the ones where we need to be particularly careful and I shall continue to say no if I have any doubts.

[Dodger]

I thought I read somewhere that the minimum age to work in a gogo bar was now 20 y/o and being enforced as part of this supposed new push to stamp out prostitution. If that's the case I think half of the workers in Sunee would be underage.

I thought that bar patrons (Thai or farang) had to be 21, and in the past the bar boys had to be 18. Has this changed?

Personally, I haven't offed a bar boy in a few years now because I have a 26 y/o Thai partner who I'm perfectly content with. but I do visit the bar scene on occaision and the boys all appear to be at least 18 to me. 20 may be stretching it.