Bar For Sale. Your chance to make a small fortune?*

[Jun]

I spotted a gay bar for sale, with 10 hotel rooms in Jomtien.

The rent doesn't seem too bad at 49,000 baht per month, considering potential hotel income.

Slightly more ambitious is the cost of the business, at 4.5 million baht, which is described as "negotiable".
I presume the only tangible assets are ths used fixtures and fittings. Perhaps worth 0.45million baht?

So that's an awful lot of goodwill to put on the balance sheet, unless the purchaser negotiates a major reduction in the purchase price.

Due to limited photos, I'm not sure which business it is. It appears to be on the North Side of the complex, so perhaps somewhere near Dorothys?

Don't all rush at once.
[*Making a small fortune. Is that by starting with a large fortune?]

Incidentally, whilst looking at which bars have rooms, I noted the Agoda listing for Double Shot has about half the photos from their old Sunee Plaza site. https://www.agoda.com/en-gb/doubleshot- ... safYZIFpP0

[aussie]

Due to limited photos, I'm not sure which business it is. It appears to be on the North Side of the complex, so perhaps somewhere near Dorothys?

Dorothy's Show Bar is for sale.

Business Details:
Limited Company Included to Operate
All Required Licenses in Place
Financials:
Monthly Rent: 49,000 THB
Deposit: 2 Months
Takeover Amount: 4.5 Million THB (Negotiable with Owner)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Rdv14d ... tid=oFDknk

[Dodger]

Remove all the sparkles and glitz...dump the show stage...drag in a few tattered sofas...paint the place black...hire a few dodgy mamasans and a dozen HOT boys who know how to PLEASE...and rename it Eros, and maybe, just maybe, it has a chance of surviving.

Where's Monty when you need him.

[Jun]

Remove all the sparkles and glitz...dump the show stage...drag in a few tattered sofas...paint the place black...hire a few dodgy mamasans and a dozen HOT boys who know how to PLEASE...and rename it Eros, and maybe, just maybe, it has a chance of surviving.

Where's Monty when you need him.

You don't actually need the mamasans, but otherwise, what you describe is what we think we want. Even I like the idea of a good old fashioned Sunee style gogo.

In practice, those of us who aren't hooked up with a long term boyfriend, but are still looking for boys increasingly tend to do it on the apps. The apps are easier and we get better results in bed.
I'll invite counter arguments from anyone who has recent experience of regularly offing skinny cute lads from gogo bars. Please tell us all about that.

Whilst we talk with nostalgia about gogos, few visit.
In 2024, I've been to Winner 5 or 6 times, Toy Boys 3 times and Classic twice.
One off, from Toy Boys.

I do far more with Grindr.

As for bars painted black, with the possibility of on site play, I suppose Winner Boys is the nearest. However, he has Thai staff only.
If you want the kind of skinny cute lads that some of us associate with Eros, in 2024, it's necessary to hire a few from Laos or Cambodia.
The Sunee gogos don't do that, possibly as certain entities might ask for more tea money.

[Dodger]

It's a shame that Dorothy's didn't stick around longer.

We've all seen numerous attempts by farang bar owners to create what they envision as being successful businesses but most, at some point during the journey, fail. It's a tough environment to begin with having to navigate around the whims of the local BIB, low-season slumps, changing laws and local policies, and of course the constant challenge of giving the customers what they want. Not at all for the faint-hearted.

The bars who have the "BOYS" have a chance - and the ones who don't are doomed from the start. I've been witnessing this phenomenon for a very long time...never fails...still can't figure out why new bar owners can't figure this out. Ladyboy "M" is the only one I see around these days who knows which way is up. The other bars in the Complex are more suited for Bingo based on the preferences of the majority of clients these days, thus the reason I rarely visit. I'm bored to death.

Having a skilled mamasan managing the action is an absolute deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned. Regardless if you like the occasional high-pitched squealing or not - they are the ones who know how to recruit the types of BOYS that the customers want...train them...manage them...and know how to consistently create a fun and exciting atmosphere in the bar. The last thing a farang bar owner should do is attempt to manage any portion of the business that relates to managing the BOYS. Doing so is why most farang bars have failed IMHO.

[Jun]

Ladyboy "M" is the only one I see around these days who knows which way is up.

I presume you're referring to M Bar?

Even that can vary according to who you meet. I discovered M Bar at the end of the last trip and on a couple of visits I enjoyed the company of one Lao lad who was slim, spoke a lot of English and was good fun. I liked the bar and was a happy customer.

This time, in that bar I've met Lao lads who rely on the phone to translate. So the conversation is limited. They weren't exactly forward at non-verbal interaction either. You need at least one or the other, otherwise it's one drink and I go elsewhere. With the wallet already a few hundred baht lighter.

With their current format, all the boys are outside at the front, with barely any room for customers. The customers mostly sit inside. Customers might get the benefit of the aircon, but there's less mingling and you get to see whichever boys are bought inside for inspection.

Last year, with fewer boys and a more favourable seating layout, I just sat outside where they were and eventually invited the one I liked to sit with me. That worked for me. No need to change a good format.

One of my recent grindr lads told me he works there, but he only goes in about twice a week, as he says "it's a small bar and they have too many boys". I think he might be right.
Have the optimum number of boys for the size of premises and allow some mingling.

[Gaybutton]

they have too many boys

And that's bad?!? For me, too many boys would beat hell out of too few boys . . .

I would be happy to see more bars open and reopen, but these days getting into the bar business is a very risky proposition. If you can't afford to lose your investment, then I wouldn't recommend trying it.

However, if anyone really does open a boy bar, I will be happy for this board to support the effort as best as we can. My offer has always been any gay bar or gay venue can advertise here as much as they want, as often as they want, totally free of any charge or obligation to me. That offer still stands.

[Jun]

And that's bad?!? For me, too many boys would beat hell out of too few boys . . .

The boy said they have about 40 boys and it's a small bar occupying a single unit. If they all showed up at the same time, there wouldn't be room for the boys to sit, never mind the customers.
So I see exactly why he thinks there are too many boys. Too many boys also decreases his odds of finding a customer.

Then what would you prefer ?
A bar where boys and customers occupy the same space ? Preferably with the boys circulating?
Or one where the boys occupy all the space outside the bar and the customers sit inside?

I like the bar, but I'd like it better with some fine tuning.

I liked it better 1 year ago, when there were fewer boys as that made it easier to sit in the same part of the bar as them. Some nice boys are always good, but there needs to be space to sit among them.

However, if anyone really does open a boy bar

I have zero intention of ever owning a bar.
The fantasy scenario has a constant stream of perfect boys showing up the day they turn 18 and being desparate to prove they are suitable employees. In every respect.
The reality of employing bar staff is clearly very different, not to mention policing "costs", awkward customers and the adjacent bar playing loud music.

It's far easier to be a customer. Appreciate what the bar provides and when it's not perfect, move to another one.

[Gaybutton]

Then what would you prefer ?
A bar where boys and customers occupy the same space ? Preferably with the boys circulating?
Or one where the boys occupy all the space outside the bar and the customers sit inside?

A bar where boys and customers occupy the same space, preferably with the boys circulating.

Maybe I've been away from the bars too long, but the last time I was in the complex the bars I went to did not have enough boys and the boys they did have were far more interested in chatting with each other and staring into their smartphones than paying much, if any, attention to the customers. Boys circulating didn't happen. Has that changed?

[Jun]

Boys circulating didn't happen. Has that changed?

Not really. Circulation can happen, but it's more likely not to.

Anything is possible.

Somewhere like Home Bar has a few boys and they're serving drinks, so are circulating unless invited to sit with a customer. Not many skinny twinks.

Jewel 79 did have some nice boys and they were on the look out for customers back in January. The nice ones have now mostly left and the less desirable* selection that remains tend to sit together.

At some bars, 2-3 boys will sit out front, trying to attract customers, or playing on their phones. They don't even look at the customers already in the bar. Often, if you really fancy one boy, I think the safest way is to attract his attention on the way in.

One bar has the boys playing pool and most of the seats face away from the the pool table. I guess the approach is to select the seating position carefully, if after a boy.

Club Lounge has a gogo style format, with boys in shorts, and seating either side. This works.

B&N Bar ?? Has interesting shows on podiums, but most of the seats face away from this. The trick is to only visit when a convenient seat is available.

At M Bar, they will bring about 4 boys for you to select from.

So the format varies from bar to bar. There is some variation with time, as the turnover of boys is high.


Finally, most of the people are there to drink and socialise, now we're in an era where most of us meet lads on apps.
I'm no different, with one off from a gogo and one off from Jomtien on this trip.
I get better service from my app boys, so that's where I look.

Now the dating is online, bars that just have a couple of waiters to serve drinks are also thriving.

[*All comments on boys are measured against my preference for cute and skinny twinks with a good attitude. I understand not everyone has the same tastes.]