Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

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Gaybutton
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Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

Post by Gaybutton »

Just as we're getting reports about Oud's bar closing in Sunee Plaza, now williewillie on the Gay Thailand board reports that the Kawaii bar has also closed.

See: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic ... -1-closes/
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Re: Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

Post by thewayhelooks »

A sign of the times I fear. I guess smart boys use smartphones and social networks to find men more effectively.
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Re: Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

Post by Gaybutton »

thewayhelooks wrote:A sign of the times I fear. I guess smart boys use smartphones and social networks to find men more effectively.
It's difficult for them to find customers in the bars when the most common complaint among the bar boys these days is "not have customer," meaning the bars are empty of customers or close to empty and they hardly ever get a tip anymore, let alone taken off.

I sometimes see complaints posted on the boards about how the boys, instead of paying attention to customers and passers-by, are staring into their phones. Take a look at what they're staring at. You'll find some playing game apps out of sheer boredom, but you'll find many others looking at the gay hook-up apps, where they're much more likely to get a customer rather than in an essentially empty bar.

Speaking only for myself, I prefer finding boys on the apps rather than in the bars. Living here, rather than being here as a holiday maker, I see no reason to go to bars that I don't enjoy, finding bar boys that are not my type in the first place, listening to excessive music volume - music I wouldn't like even if it was at a normal volume, paying 300 or 400 baht, or more, for a drink I don't even want (I'm not a drinker), paying the current high off fees (someone posted on the Gay Thailand board that a new bar in Bangkok is charging a 600 baht off fee), and then having to give the boy - whose sole interest in me is how much money he can get - a good tip.

Thank you very much, but I'll stick with finding boys I like on the apps.

I repeat - I'm speaking only for myself. Many other long term residents here still very much enjoy going to the bars.
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Re: Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

Post by aussie »

Kawaii and nearby bars have priced themselves out of the market for many who live in Thailand. 220 baht and more for drinks might be ok for those on a short holiday but i am happier to support Winner Bar with much more reasonable drink prices from 99 baht and it is often difficult to find a seat there. I do go to Nice Boys where drinks are 170 baht and up but then again the entertainment provided is worth the price.

If the Pattayaland and Boyztown bars dropped their prices instead of making them higher which seems to be the norm when they have only a few customers they might have some chance to survive. Many of the go go guys are on the apps so there is not much incentive to spend more than their basic fee unless the bars provide a better deal for those who live locally and could be regular customers.
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Re: Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

Post by Gaybutton »

aussie wrote:Kawaii and nearby bars have priced themselves out of the market for many who live in Thailand.
I agree with every word you wrote. The prices are one of the main reasons I hardly ever go to the bars anymore, not even once in a blue moon. I'm not about to pay those prices. And I don't even have to pay airfares and hotels.

Sometimes bar owners make excuses for their prices and policies. Maybe some haven't figured out that we don't go to the bars to listen to excuses or give a shit about their problems any more than they give a shit about ours. Bar owner, if I don't enjoy myself in your bar and/or feel ripped-off by your prices, is it going to take you very long to figure out that I ain't gonna go to your bar?

I also agree that raising prices to try to compensate for a lack of customers defies any semblance of logic. Why they won't take a lesson from Winner Bar, which arguably is the most popular go-go bar in town based on customer numbers, goes beyond me.

Then again, many of us have made our thoughts clear to the bars for years, but it all falls on deaf ears because most of us are not, and have never been bar owners, therefore they know much more than the rest of us, so just ignore and disregard anything the customers say. If there is a lack of customers, maybe they would be well served to ask themselves why. Instead, just like Trump, just blame it all on everyone and everything except themselves.

Maybe I've never owned a bar, but I for sure know one thing - today there are a hell of a lot fewer go-go bars in operation and boys willing to work in them than there were only a few years ago - and you can't blame it all on gay hook-up apps.
Jun

Re: Kawaii go-go bar - Boystown - closed

Post by Jun »

I offed 2 lads at Kawaii boys on my 2015 trip & 0 since then.
On the last visit, they had just one boy who was just about of interest & the rest were slightly chubby, with no chance of collecting an off fee or enticing me back to the premises. The number one requirement is to have boys that interest the potential customers.

I've seen the same thing with the new Cupidol. In 2016, they have the best selection of boys I've seen for some years. The place was packed out. At one stage, a boy even had to sit on my lap, as there was no other space (OK, so I didn't try too hard to make space... ;) )
Then in 2017, the boy selection was poor & the bar was half empty. Quite a few of their stars in 2016 seemed to be from Cambodia & I think there was some discussion implying the local police didn't like that. If so, it's a strange police policy to permit Khmers to work on building sites & in host bars, but not in gogo bars.

The end result is the same. If the gogo bars don't have the bait to lure the customers in, they will struggle. After all, we're not really paying 150 baht or more for the drink. It's to see dream boys on stage. Without the dream boys, the business model dead.

Incidentally, one of my last offs from Kawaii boys was firstly found on Hornet. I went to the bar & paid the off fee, but perhaps people who stay up later might just wait until closing time.
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