The end of the tea break?

[Marsilius]

I was recently in a Pattaya gay host bar and got into conversation with the Thai manager. I was somewhat surprised to hear, over the course of it, that he is very pleased with the record of the current Thai government insofar as it affects his business.

According to what he told me, the army has now cracked down dramatically on the practice of the police collecting "tea money" from bars. He told me that he no longer has to pay it at all and suggested that that was true of other such bars as well. In fact, he reported that a policeman who was recorded on security camera video demanding money from a bar owner was subsequently prosecuted by the military as an example to others.

Has anyone heard a similar story? Is it really true? Has that age-old practice really come to an end?

[Oliver]

The junta came to power on the backs of the wealthy, royalist and conservative minority. It is there to protect the interests of the elite and its lackeys in the business community ensuring that the working classes are kept firmly in their places- both economic and political.
So I am not in the least surprised that a bar owner is content with the status quo. As long as money is being made, screw the workers and who gives a damn about political rights? A conversation with the guys who work there would reveal very different opinions.

[scottish-guy]

Oliver, have you tried having a quiet word with "the Junta" about the noise from the bars in Boyztown?

Catty could back you up and also throw in some complaints about smoking in bars.

I'm sure those who are "wealthy, royalist and conservative" likely disapprove of both activities.

Just a thought.

[fountainhall]

screw the workers and who gives a damn about political rights?
A typical Oliver response that somewhat twists the question posed. However, perhaps in his diatribes about elites and keeping workers in their place and so forth, he might answer the question I posed on another thread some days ago. He stated he is pro democracy


I'll take my chances with democracy, however flawed.
I gave more than a few examples of so-called democracy to counter some of his comment. He failed to respond. Perhaps he might like to give us a quick summary of his view on what democracy is in his eyes (and not merely each individual having voting rights, please) and especially how this reflects a possible reduction in bar payments to the BIB.

[cdnmatt]

I gave more than a few examples of so-called democracy to counter some of his comment. He failed to respond. Perhaps he might like to give us a quick summary of his view on what democracy is in his eyes (and not merely each individual having voting rights, please) and especially how this reflects a possible reduction in bar payments to the BIB.

You'd be hard pressed to convince me (or anyone) that Thailand is on the right track at the moment.

Yes, pretty near every "democratic" nation out there is full of corruption. In the US for example, instead of calling it corruption, they just legalize it and call it "lobbying". Nonetheless, the current trajectory of Thailand is a little worriesome. Not so much for us white boys, but your average Thai might be in for a rough time.

[fountainhall]

You'd be hard pressed to convince me (or anyone) that Thailand is on the right track at the moment.
I do not disagree with you! But it is with respect not the point I raised! Military leaders have a specific function and running a government is not one of them! There is a huuuge (to use a present 'in' word in the USA) thread promoting the wrongs of the present regime. But the question no-one seems able or prepared to answer is - what is the alternative? Democracy is touted. Of course representative democracy is generally regarded elsewhere as the best of most lousy forms of government. But what does that mean here in Thailand? I have said before one man one vote is not the answer - or on its own it is not the answer. Any so-called democracy that has had 18, 19, 20 or so coups in around 80 years obviously has a problem.

But simply trotting out "democracy is the answer" every single time is a total waste of time - unless those so saying clarify what they mean by that. cdnmatt, since Oliver has not clarified his, what are yours on democracy? Perhaps it's more appropriate to respond in up2u's thread "Protests Update" rather than here.

To get back to the subject to this thread, at the end of the week I'll try and ask one of the bar owners in Soi Twilight if there has been any recent changes in tea money contributions.

[christianpfc]

I thought now the army collects tea money instead of the police?

[Marsilius]

I thought now the army collects tea money instead of the police?

Not, as I wrote in my original posting, according to my source the Pattaya bar manager. He was definite that he now pays no tea money to anybody at all.

[arsenal]

Not all nations are actually suited to democracy, the aftermath of the Arab Spring demonstrated that. One of the basic rules that allows genuinely democratic countries to function is that the losing side accepts the result. This was not the case in Thailand.

[Oliver]

It is true that the conservative-royalist faction (backed by the army) has refused to accept the decision of the electorate on a number of occasions, resorting to blockades of the airport and then central Bangkok but this should not lead to that same faction taking full control of the country through a coup and then banning dissent and opposition. It leaves the majority with few options other than massive civil disobedience.....and we know what the army did to protesters of the wrong "colour" a few years ago.
Now that Burma takes its first faltering steps to some sort of democracy, however flawed, it's tragic that its neighbour should replicate its history.

[fountainhall]

INow that Burma takes its first faltering steps to some sort of democracy, however flawed, it's tragic that its neighbour should replicate its history.
Now that is one huuuuuge glaring non-sequitur!

[bkkguy]

I thought now the army collects tea money instead of the police? I was told recently that in Soi Twilight the army collects tea money from the bars run by the police while the police collect tea money from the bars run by the army and both collect from the one bar not run by either but I am sure that was just scurrilous rumour-mongering from someone in need of attitude adjustment

[christianpfc]

A friend has connections to a straight disco in Ratchada and says they pay tea money to local police (50 kTHB per month), Bangkok police (200 kTHB per month) and army (100 kTHB per month), and it was the same before the coup.

[cdnmatt]

350,000/month? On top of expenses (lease, inventory, staff, etc.) that's over 10,000/day in profit out the window. They must be doing good trade in order to stay open.

[arsenal]

7000 pounds a month. Not sure any bar could afford that amount.

[christianpfc]

These straight discos on Ratchada have capacity of 500 customers (similar for RCA Royal City Avenue). They could easily turn over 2000 customers per night. Now if that tea money is only to stay open after 2 am, let's say 3 hours longer, than I would wonder if it's worth it.

[arsenal]

It's probably all or nothing. You pay and can stay open all night but if you don't pay you can't open at all. That's how I'd do it if I was a gangster dressed up as a make believe policeman.

[fountainhall]

I remember a few years ago there was a fire above Classic Boys. There was little damage to the bar apart from the effects of water from fire hoses. it took the owner some weeks to get it in shape again. In the meantime many of the boys were farmed out to other bars. One ended up in Solid, a really nice lad with a cherubic face who was married with 2 kids and spoke remarkably good English. Later after he had returned to Classic he told me the previous owner had sold out - and the new owner was a cop. I often wondered if he had to pay tea money to his fellow cops!

[arsenal]

Fountainhall: I believe that they don't charge their own. For a good insight into how it works and a bloody good read into the process I recommend (again) the Bangkok Eight series of books by John Burdett.