Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

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PK82
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Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by PK82 »

Hi all. My name's Paul K. I'm the new manager at Coqtales bar. I was wondering, what makes a good bar ? What things would you like to see or even not see. Is it attentive boys, straight acting and looking boys, girly boys ? We keep the volume to our music minimal so people don't have to shout at each other. Is it the price of drinks ? Does 10 baht make a difference to you guys ? Say one bars beer is 90 and next door is 100 would you go to the 90 baht place ? I'm just trying to listen to customers and figure out what I can do to make the bar as successful as possible. You can come down and have a drink with me or any of our boys . We don't have many boys now but that will change now that I'm around. If there's any tips or as I said above, things you'd like to see or even not see in a bar ? Thanks for you time fellas 🙏😁
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Gaybutton
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Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by Gaybutton »

How about having the boys remove their shirts? That alone would attract many, including me.

At many bars I see the boys paying more attention to their mobile phones than anything else. That definitely is a turn off. The boys should be trying to entice customers and should be giving customers their full attention. If they want to play with their phones, they should be doing that on their own time, not while they are supposed to be working.

I've been to bars in the complex where the boys are all seated at the entrance, busy chatting with each other or playing with their phones - and paying no attention to customers sitting behind them in the bar. I couldn't even get their attention to order a drink. Not a good way to attract customers or get them to spend any time in the bar.

You might try offering promotions and putting up signs so people see what is being offered. "Today Only - Whiskey Drinks Half Price" or something like that. Maybe loyalty cards - 10th drink free. Maybe a bucket full of colored plastic chips - reach in and draw a chip. If you get a red chip, free off.

The point is to do a few different things that will entice people to go to your bar rather than another bar. Make it more fun to be in your bar than other bars.

Ok folks - for years I've been trying to convince bar owners and managers to start listening to us. Now we finally have a bar manager ready to do just that. Please - give him your ideas. What will it take to get you into Coqtales, get you to want to spend your evening there, and get you to keep coming back as a repeat customer?
windwalker

Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by windwalker »

I enjoy a glass of wine at a bar; but not a skimpy one! In Boyztown one bar offers a Happy Hour up to 8 pm at 90 Baht which is a draw for me. Perhaps a similar enticement would be helpful in the early evening.
Thanks for asking, next time I will give Coqtales a try as it is next to a favorite bar.
Jun

Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by Jun »

What gets me into Jomtien bars:
Cute smiling boys of the type I like (skinny, cute, no moustache). Although there are exceptions
Reasonable or low noise levels

What keeps me away from bars
Ladyboys screeching away on a stage
Excessive noise levels, even if from a nearby bar
Pushy staff (e.g at Zoomer)

I don't always sit with boys, but when I do, if he speaks enough English to converse for the entire drink and maybe more, I'm far more likely to return.

As for shirtless, you're well positioned to figure out if that has increased trade across the road at Double Shot. I think very small shorts and tight fitting shirts could be a good look.

Drink prices in Jomtien mostly vary between 80 and 100 for a Singha. Unless your bar is special you need to be charging 100 or less. I note that many straight bars charge about 65 baht. The Boyztown bars typically charge 130, when Boyztown is also boring in comparison to Jomtien. So no wonder Jomtien is busier than Boyztown. Any bar that decides to compete on price ought to have a sign clearly promoting the deal.

Facilities also matter. We recently sat at a bar with some nice lads just past the Venue. Their toilet was in a massage parlour across the road and was described as 0/10 by a friend. Oddly enough, we moved on before needing to use that again.
Any problems need to be fixed promptly. You don't win customers with the toilets, but you can lose them. Rudimentary is OK, but they need to be clean, dry and functioning.

Of course, this is just one view. Plenty of bars that I have no interest in survive, as not everyone has the same tastes.
gerefan
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Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by gerefan »

What about reducing the price of boy drinks?

I know one bar near you that charges 100 baht for my Singha beer and 160 for the same boy drink. That seems to be too much.

Whilst I don’t mind buying them drinks that extra 60 baht is very off putting and sometimes stops me buying any more.

Maybe an early “Happy hour” with drink prices reduced for customers AND boys.

I too agree about the so called “music”. The noise is hideous and if I’m out for a drink with boys, or friends, I far prefer a cozy atmosphere.

None of that “entertainment” thank you.
BKKDreamer
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Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by BKKDreamer »

Hi Paul,

My suggestion probably won't gain much traction - as it is usually not requested amongst this crowd nor the crowd that frequents the Jomtien Supertown Complex. But I put it forward nonetheless as you asked for suggestions.

Firstly, I would like to see weekly and/or monthly Tea Dances be organized within the Complex. Please check out the below hyperlink to understand what a Tea Dance is.

http://www.back2stonewall.com/2020/12/g ... dance.html

I like to dance and most people who know me know that I like to dance. Also, I don't like to stay up late and that puts me at odds with the very few gay dance options available in the Pattaya area - as those places are far away and start VERY late in the night.

The beauty of a Tea Dance is that they tend to start early - between 4pm to 6pm and they tend to end around 10pm to 11pm. These hours are perfect.

Also, the bar owner/manager mantra in the Complex is: "falang sit down - falang drink". That is not always ok. I find that once I sit down and start drinking that my energy levels drop significantly - I start to become lethargic, lazy, and feel geriatric. Soon after I get tired and want to go home to go to sleep. This is NOT a good bar program if the bar manager wants to get Thai bahts out of my pocket into his cash register or pants.

So Paul, any bar format that would let us stay in our feet (for a while - does not need to be the entire night) would be greatly appreciated.
I have tried to stand in many of the other Complex bars but I notice that the bar guys/waiters who work there do not like if the falang is standing. This is something after 4 months of living here I cannot understand why they care if we stand or sit. They should only care if we are spending money - right ???
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Gaybutton
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Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by Gaybutton »

gerefan wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 12:58 pm I far prefer a cozy atmosphere.
Me too. Quiet music, or as far as I'm concerned no music, in itself might be a draw. There are certainly plenty of places to go if one wants loud music. Maybe being one of the only bars, perhaps the only bar, to offer a much quieter setting would draw in customers. It would certainly be an incentive for me to go there and stay much longer. The bars with the excessively loud music does nothing but drive many of us away.

I know I'm speaking only for myself, but I don't know what these beer bar-host bars need with any music at all. For sure, among the reasons I go to one of these bars, a desire to listen to the music is not included, especially loud music.

I vote for giving it a try. If you find you are getting fewer customers and can attribute the reason being the lack of loud music, you could always turn the music back on.

Conversely, I think BKKDreamer's idea about tea dances has merit and would be worth a try. Not every day. I think once or twice a month would be plenty. If you decide to try it, you would need to be consistent about which days they will be and advertise them well in advance so people know when to expect them.

Another suggestion - teach your bartenders to be bartenders. Most of these bars offer a glass of lousy wine, whiskey-coke, gin tonic, and not much else. I would be delighted to find a bar I'm going to is offering good Martinis and Gibsons, whisky sour, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, etc. - real bar drinks. It doesn't have to be anything special - just standard farang bar drinks. And yes, I would be perfectly willing to pay a little bit more if those kinds of drinks are offered and the bartender truly knows how to make them.


"I don't get no respect at all. I told my bartender to make me a zombie. He told me God beat him to it."
- Rodney Dangerfield
Jun

Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by Jun »

You could walk up and down the soi with a clipboard and objectively count customers per bar, number of boys per bar and who is sitting with who.

I haven't done that, but my impression is that the majority of customers are farang sitting with other farang.
On average, the conversation is better and it's far less expensive. These customers certainly want the bar to be quiet enough to have the conversation.

Sometimes customers sit with boys. Some boys are better than others at this. A good smile and an ability to hold a conversation seem to be key attributes, when I compare boys who regularly draw customers with those who don't. You don't have to look far to see examples.
Of course there is the traditional market for finding boys to sleep with, but most of that seems to be online these days.

Some of us mourn the loss of the old gogo bars, like Euro Boys. Cute lads on stage in underwear/swimwear and definitely no lady boys. But it's rumoured that gogo bars are not allowed in Jomtien and in any case, the reality is those businesses have failed.
Jomtien does have several cabaret shows, but as far as I can tell from a distance, these all follow a predictable formula with too many lady boys for some tastes. It's almost like lady boys are compulsory, yet not all people who like boys want to see them dressed up as women. Why would we all like that ? Some might like it, but there is no way we all want that !

Anything that involves boys wearing less clothing would be something of a novelty. There's a certain bar in the middle of the soi where a lad wanders around in a variety of revealing outfits, which seems to go down well.
I quite like that bar, until sometimes forced to leave when the ******** at the bar next door turn the volume up to 11.
PK82
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Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by PK82 »

That's a great answer. I didn't even think of what you mentioned of having boys that can carry a conversation. Also when you mentioned the ladyboy shows, I highly agree. Not everyone is there to see boys dressed as girls and titts all over the place lol. I'm gonna work on trying to get the boys to interact more and be themselves. This whole up to you attitude is boring and customers can't figure out a boys personality if everything is up to the Farang. I'm sure customers like a bit of character and personality 🙏 thanks for your answer
Jun

Re: Bar Manager in The Complex asking questions

Post by Jun »

The English capabilities of some of these lads are quite impressive.

However, not all. I know one lad who has been in Thailand about 4 years and speaks far less English than the average money boy. I firstly met him on an app. Now he might be quite good in bed, but if I sit with him at a bar, there is not much to talk about. He doesn't even know the difference between where and when. It's hard work.

I know another lad who can discuss a wide range of topics, so he's far more fun to sit with.

Both are attractive and not shy at approaching customers with endearing smiles, so they get the first part of the process right.
However, the one who can hold a conversation is far more likely to be sat with customers.

Of course, cute lads will get me into a bar.
However, once I sit with them and buy them drinks, they need to be able to hold some kind of conversation. At least in respectable host bars, where they keep their clothes on and act as hosts.

This does not mean they have to be fluent. Average bar boy English may be enough, as long as they can handle a few topics. The bottom 10-20% who can hardly discuss anything may struggle to entertain their customers. These guys need other qualities.
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