Bar Reports

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Gaybutton
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Re: Bar Reports

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 10:31 am The expectation has been 2000 baht tips from BKK gogo bars for several years, so that's nothing new.
It's new to me. Of course it's been years since I was last in a Bangkok go-go bar. If that's the expected minimum. then the last time I was in a Bangkok go-go bar will definitely be the last time I'll be in one. I think that is outrageous, especially if that's the minimum just for short time. I'm afraid to ask what the expected rate is for overnight.

If you gents enjoy those bars and are willing to pay those prices, have a good time. I'll be elsewhere.
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 11:06 am If you gents enjoy those bars and are willing to pay those prices, have a good time. I'll be elsewhere.
It's been over 2 years since I've been a customer at a Bangkok gogo bar. I've made is as far as the doorway of Fresh Boys and Hotmale, but I don't pay 400 baht to watch lads in hideous shorts and jeans, respectively.

I would occasionally go for the full gogo experience, but when the total bill will be over 3000, it needs to be near perfection. That means starting with skinny cute lads in small white undies, or less. Which is exactly what Fresh Boys had when I visited in Dec 2020.
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Re: Bar Reports

Post by Asia Traveler »

Is the Hot Male host bar outside the go go bar or on the ground floor? Walking back to my hotel this morning via the soi I did not see a sign on the street level.
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Asia Traveler wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 1:19 pm Is the Hot Male host bar outside the go go bar or on the ground floor? Walking back to my hotel this morning via the soi I did not see a sign on the street level.
It's down at street level, roughly between Hot Male and Fresh Boys.
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Re: Bar Reports

Post by Asia Traveler »

Hot Male beer bars Patpong 2 Alley, Surawong Rd Bangkok

There are two beer bars one upstairs outside of the go go bar and one on the street level. The bar on street level opens at 11:00 and the bar upstairs opens at 17:00 per staff. They have boys in the bars who arrive starting at 20:00.

Beer bars off fee 500 and again boy tip starring at 2,000

Drinks are 150 for whiskey and 130-150 for beer. Drinks for boys are the same price. If you want to pick a boy from go go staff you can go into go go bar without buying drink at 400 to see boys and pick one to come outside to sit with you, drink, and talk.

Also note your bill will just say customer drink and boy drink with the number of drinks and no prices. I ask how this works and they said the actual drink types and price are in the computer. I was suspicious but my bill was correct when I paid it but still very strange system at least to me.
Arrived 19:00 at the street level bar to have cigar and whisky but music was so loud I went up to the upstairs bar which was tolerable. Why so loud I never understand. Staff is shouting at you to get your order. Ugh. Chatting with a senior staff member I ask why no boys are in underwear. He said it is a matter of tea money prices. They go up if boys are in underwear. I saw Dream Boys boys on balcony wearing boxers and he said yes that is OK just not the small underwear then the tea money goes up.
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Asia Traveler wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 7:07 am Chatting with a senior staff member I ask why no boys are in underwear. He said it is a matter of tea money prices. They go up if boys are in underwear. I saw Dream Boys boys on balcony wearing boxers and he said yes that is OK just not the small underwear then the tea money goes up.
Thank you. Of all the explanations put forward, that sounds the most likely.
I guess the nearby gogo bars with ladies walking outside in skimpy underwear just pay whatever they are charged.

As long as the police price proper gogo bars out of existence, not a single baht of my money will be spent in them.

Incidentally, the music level in the downstairs beer bar was fine when I visited. If it's too loud, I don’t stop.
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Re: Bar Reports

Post by Gaybutton »

Asia Traveler wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 7:07 am Chatting with a senior staff member I ask why no boys are in underwear. He said it is a matter of tea money prices. They go up if boys are in underwear.
Assuming that really is the reason, and I'm not so sure that it is, it would seem to me it would make sense to pay the price and be able to draw in many more customers.

Back in the days when Sunee Plaza was a prime target for police raids, it had nothing to do with what the boys were wearing. The police would go after improper licensing, drug testing, and under-age boys. I don't recall any bar owners ever telling me that the tea money they paid was so that they could have their boys wearing tiny, revealing underwear.

If any of the go-go bars would pay whatever they have to pay so their boys could "dress appropriately", I think it would be worth at least trying for a while to see if that attracts substantially more customers.

The way it is now, if I want to see boys in the kind of attire I like, I would still rely on the apps. As part of the negotiation I would let the boy know what I want him to wear. If he wants my business, he'll wear it. And they all have that kind of underwear or can borrow it from a friend.
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 9:09 am Back in the days when Sunee Plaza was a prime target for police raids, it had nothing to do with what the boys were wearing. The police would go after improper licensing, drug testing, and under-age boys. I don't recall any bar owners ever telling me that the tea money they paid was so that they could have their boys wearing tiny, revealing underwear.
That was back in the day and times change.
How many times have you been in a gogo bar where the lads are in jeans and discussed it with the owner ?
Probably zero, just like me.
I can't think of an explanation better than the tea money one.

As for Sunee, another board member recently stated that the Police don't allow foreign boys in Sunee gogos. As my last foreign off from a Sunee gogo was in 2011, I can believe that.
So they are banning a lot of the cute skinny lads I like to see in gogo bars. Which means I visit far less frequently than I would if they had a wide selection of hot lads.

The hot lads are to be found in Jomtien, with clothes on and correspondingly appropriate drink prices.
The police seem to allow that.
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Re: Bar Reports

Post by BKKDreamer »

I wanted to share with all of you a very illuminating experience about what is involved financially to sustain a small bar in the Jomtien Supertown Complex.

For starters, the prospective bar owner needs to pay a one-time fee of 30.000 baht to the Jomtien Complex management office.
It is like a security deposit.
Then, for the monthly expenses they would be the following:

Salaries -
Bar manager 15.000 baht
Bar guest workers 7.000 to 10.000 baht
Other expenses -
Rent 10.000 baht
Cost of Goods Sold estimated at 50% of sales - for this example it shall be 30.000 baht
electricity 500 baht
water 200 baht
bathroom access 500 baht - as this particular bar is small it does not have its own bathroom and must pay to another for access
tea money 2,500 baht
if Thai music will be played - 6.000 baht - royalty licensing fee to protect Thai music artists

So, I helped this Thai friend to find a break even point for this bar to even exist and we decided that they will not play any Thai music to avoid this 6.000 baht fee.

He would need to have around 85.000 baht in monthly sales in order to cover the above expenses without any meaningful profit.
This would require around 2.833 baht in daily sales.

In my opinion, as the proposed bar is small and when I walk by it - I don't see many people in it - I fear that he would have a hard time to get enough customers in there to spend 2.833 every single day of the month.

What do you think ?
Jun

Re: Bar Reports

Post by Jun »

BKKDreamer wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:05 am What do you think ?
Very interesting. Almost meriting a separate thread.

I had heard reports of high rents in Jomtien, so 10,000 is lower than I thought.
Beer costs 80 to100 baht. I can buy the same in a 7-Eleven for 40, so let's assume they buy for 30, giving a gross profit of 50 to 70 baht per beer.
Excluding staff but including the manager, I make that 28700 of fixed costs, so approximately 1000 per day. They need to shift 20 drinks to break even, at the lowest Jomtien price of 80 baht per drink.
That doesn't seem unreasonable for any reasonably successful bar.
Ten customers buying 2 drinks. Or one visit by a certain board member.... ;)

I've excluded other staff, as I understood many were freelance and only getting the extra 50 baht from a drink, plus tips. Now whilst bar boys tend to plead poverty, every one I know in Jomtien claims to be freelance and they certainly can come and go whenever they like.
I would like to understand that cost better. Perhaps that's for the bartender, who needs to be there and couldn't really be freelance ?
Deleting the 6000 baht cost for playing Thai music seems like a no brainer, when over 50% of the customers are foreign.
Depreciation of fixtures and fittings has also been ignored.

The 500 baht needs to buy access to an acceptable toilet and access that cannot be withdrawn.

The other aspect is what upselling can be done ? e.g. Higher margins on premium beer. Bar snacks. Anything else WITH A LONG SHELF LIFE.

Divarium even offers a decent food menu, but I think that's higher risk and more difficult to do in a small bar. The other thing Divarium do is have the cute bar manager wander around wearing very little and greeting customers. That must help to attract customers.

Also, if he later wants to expand and move to better premises within the complex, is it another 30,000 ? Or can that be transferred ? I would want to know the answer.

I wouldn't touch such a business with my own money, but of course I suspect you are talking about someone who knows this sector.
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