Bar Reports

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SP55
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Re: Bar Reports

Post by SP55 »

gerefan wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 1:21 am Strange!
See the thread I started on Sawatdee in August when she told me exactly the same thing!
https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthre ... 0%99t)-ONE
Not so strange really. It takes time for a life changing decision like this. She told me she had just gotten her house in Pattaya sold, so I believe that process took some time. I was in the bar yesterday and as I understand it the bar is now closed from today. I will miss the bar and the lady boss. I have many good memories from The One bar and they've had some very nice boys there throughout the years.

Other bars in Sunee plaza struggle too. Winnerboys have difficulties to find more boys to work in the bar. Diamond bar has been closed/open on and off lately, but is open again now. Sunee plaza bar ("Green chair bar") not many customers but is open. Rainbow bar has been closed for years but made a short attempt to reopen lately but then closed again. As I understand it they plan to reopen soon again.
As Rocket wrote, Niceboys seem to be the only bar in Sunee doing fine! Lots of boys and customers.

The last weeks I have been surprised how relatively quiet Boyztown has been too.
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 6:06 amI wish I could say the same, but I can't. I see no indication that the owners are even attempting any kind of struggle whatsoever. Nothing has changed about the way they operate.
I'll attempt to explain myself. To attract more customers, these Sunee bars need to give customers some reason to go there.
Having some cute and friendly boys milling around would be one way, but that adds to their costs. Particularly for the open air bars, who are competing directly with the far more lively Jomtien scene.
If the open fronted bars pay some boys enough to show up, this is most likely to just increase their losses. When the bar is surrounded by darkness, the offer in a host bar needs to be really good to get people to Sunee rather than Jomtien. Making this work is not easy.

SP55 wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 3:41 pmOther bars in Sunee plaza struggle too. Winnerboys have difficulties to find more boys to work in the bar.
I know this is does not get a great deal of support here, but financial compensation is a major factor when people decide where they work.
A bar like Winner Boys needs to ensure the terms are attractive enough to get some new boys on the stage.
The last time I was in there, the draught beer was 89 baht. Nice Boys charged 200 baht for a drink & recent posts show it is thriving.
So Winner Boys could probably raise prices, invest in people and still undercut other gogo bars.

If they get it right, I think they stand a far better chance of survival than the nearby host bars.
For a start, there are no gogo bars in Jomtien, so a good gogo bar in Sunee would have very little competition.
Being surrounded by darkness matters less to a gogo bar, as the bar is enclosed and the stage is the centre of attention. Whereas in the open fronted bars, you're often sat facing the soi and counting cockroaches in the dark.
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Re: Bar Reports

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Jun wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 4:58 pm If they get it right
There are a lot of 'ifs'. If the bars do this. If the bars would do that. I agree with all the 'ifs'. The trouble is just as I said - the bars are doing nothing. I can't imagine what the owners think will attract customers to their bars by doing nothing. We're in the beginnings of high season now and Pattaya is getting a great many holiday makers, but you wouldn't know it by the go-go bars.

I had really hoped once the Covid restrictions were lifted the go-go bars would make a real effort to stage a comeback. But no such thing has happened, at least not yet. Maybe it is too soon, but in my opinion that is merely an excuse for making excuses.

I truly wish I had a different opinion and outlook, but unfortunately I cannot find a reason to be optimistic anymore. Maybe a few of the Pattaya go-go bars will survive, but I don't foresee Pattaya's gay scene resembling anything like the way it used to be. I can only hope the go-go bar scene is not doomed and a true recovery will eventually happen. I also hope I'll win the next Powerball . . .
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:26 pmI don't foresee Pattaya's gay scene resembling anything like the way it used to be
Neither do I.
You, I and numerous other farang have discovered that the phone apps are a perfectly good way of meeting boys. The days when gogo bars were the easiest way to find the lads are long gone.

Meanwhile, the boys have found that the phone apps allow them to earn a living, without prancing around on a stage in their underwear.

As I no longer need the gogo bar to meet boys, being in the gogo bar needs to be a pleasant experience.

The best of the gogo bars are trying to carry on as they were (e.g Winner).
The worst of them are putting more clothes on their boys & making other errors. To be fair, perhaps they are after a different customer base.

A small handful of gogo bars might just carry on for a while. There is zero chance of a full scale recovery in the sector to (say) 2010 levels, as we have found it too easy to meet lads on the phone apps.
Oddly, we still have good support for threads discussing the bars, but people are less interested in discussing the phone apps, despite using them far more than the bars.
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Re: Bar Reports

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Jun wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 8:26 pm The days when gogo bars were the easiest way to find the lads are long gone.
In my opinion the days when go-go bars were the easiest way have now evolved into being the most difficult way.

I can trek to a go-go bar, pay high prices for drinks I don't want in the first place, being forced to endure excessively loud music - music that wouldn't appeal to me even if the volume was acceptable, the headache-causing strobe lights, dealing with pushy waiters and mama-sans, high off fees, and not knowing until I get there what the boys will be wearing, whether they will be entertaining, or whether they will be amenable to what I want - assuming I at least see a boy who appeals to me, or even how many boys will be there.

Meanwhile, from the comfort of my own home without having to travel anywhere (and then trying to find a parking place anywhere near where I want to go), at any time of day or night, I'll find many more boys on the apps than the combined total I would find in the go-go bars, not having to deal with the music, the lights, the waiters and mama-sans - all with their hands out, being able to discuss with the boy just what I like and whether he likes the same, setting my own time for when I want to see him - and he comes to me, drinking a glass of water without having to pay 200 baht for it, no "drink for boy" rip-offs, no off fees, and no problems. Even being able to use translator apps if necessary when chatting with the boy.

Bar owners, that's what you're competing with. Until you figure that out and find ways to attract me to your bar - maybe not instead of, but at least along with using the apps - don't expect to see me in your bar. And I have a feeling I am not alone in that.

Back in the "golden years", bar owners, your biggest concern was paying whatever it took to convince the local constabulary to look the other way. In case you haven't noticed, those days are long, very long, gone . . .
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:17 pm Meanwhile, from the comfort of my own home without having to travel anywhere (and then trying to find a parking place anywhere near where I want to go), at any time of day or night, I'll find many more boys on the apps than the combined total I would find in the go-go bars, not having to deal with the music, the lights, the waiters and mama-sans - all with their hands out, being able to discuss with the boy just what I like and whether he likes the same, setting my own time for when I want to see him - and he comes to me, drinking a glass of water without having to pay 200 baht for it, no "drink for boy" rip-offs, no off fees, and no problems. Even being able to use translator apps if necessary when chatting with the boy.
That's roughly it. The translator app is less likely to lie than the Mamasan as well.

Also:
(i) Since paid 200~400 baht for boy drink, if a bar boy isn't giving the right answers, I need to spend another 200~400 baht to speak to the next one. So I have a tendency to overlook minor warning signs. Particularly if he's being quite cuddly in the bar.
(ii) In recent years, once I have offed a bar boy, the service is invariably more hurried than that from the average phone app boy.

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:17 pmUntil you figure that out and find ways to attract me to your bar - maybe not instead of, but at least along with using the apps - don't expect to see me in your bar. And I have a feeling I am not alone in that.
There's a long list of gay gogo bars with no chance of my custom, due to having the wrong type of boy for my tastes, plus often a few other offences.

After writing all those off, we have about 2 gogo bars in Pattaya with a reasonable chance of getting my business & perhaps one in Bangkok -Fresh Boys, if they are back down to their underwear.
Plus a handful of others I might just visit, if the selection on stage exceeds expectations. This is low probability.
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Re: Bar Reports

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Jun wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:11 pm Since paid 200~400 baht for boy drink, if a bar boy isn't giving the right answers, I need to spend another 200~400 baht to speak to the next one.
That is a very good point, which I overlooked. Going to the bars you conceivably might need to have several different boys sitting with you until you find the right one, or go to several bars until you find the right one, and deal with other annoying employees whose hands are also out. That could end up being a considerable expense, whereas chatting with boys on the apps costs you nothing.

Then there is this nonsense people post saying the average tip expectation in Bangkok is 2000 baht, even for short time. Hell will freeze over before I tip a go-go boy that much. I have no problem giving a boy a fair and reasonable tip, and extra if he gives me a great experience. But 2000 baht? Not me. That's a great way to get me to refuse to take a boy off from a Bangkok bar at all.
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 12:08 amThen there is this nonsense people post saying the average tip expectation in Bangkok is 2000 baht, even for short time. Hell will freeze over before I tip a go-go boy that much. I have no problem giving a boy a fair and reasonable tip, and extra if he gives me a great experience. But 2000 baht? Not me. That's a great way to get me to refuse to take a boy off from a Bangkok bar at all.
Well, that's what the Bangkok gogo boys have been asking for for some years and expect some haggling at the end if they are presented with anything less than 2000.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of Bangkok lads on the apps who will ask for 1500. On my last trip, one asked for just 1000, but he was so nice that I sent him away with the 1500.

Oddly enough, my best gogo off in Bangkok in the last 5 years was one I found on Grindr. We had the full conversation on Grindr. I went to his bar, offed him and he got the pre-agreed 1500 baht tip & was happy with it.

Tips are slightly more modest in Pattaya, but in certain gogo bars, the boys were pushing for higher tips for years. A problem which was easily solved by going to another bar or offing the same lad via Grindr.

Next time I'm in a Bangkok gogo, if some mamasan asks if I want to off a boy, rather than sending him away, I might try try the alternative approach of saying "No thanks, I'll get one on Grindr".
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Re: Bar Reports

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Jun wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 2:44 am that's what the Bangkok gogo boys have been asking for for some years
Ask and ye shall not receive . . .
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Re: Bar Reports

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Niceboys in Sunee plaza was very busy and had about 15 boys Friday evening and plenty of customers. Several new boys too. Just shows a bar in Sunee plaza still CAN be successful.
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