Inflation

[Moggy]

Can any one fill me in on how inflation might have affected local prices for off's and how much to tip as my last visit was early 2017.

[francois]

Prices for tips has not changed. If anything they may have gone down!

[frequent]

Prices for tips has not changed. If anything they may have gone down!Francois is correct. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, in Bangkok these days many guys have an opening asking price of 1,500 baht which means they'll take less, compared to an opening bid of 2,000 and a ready preparedness to take 1,500 only three or four months ago. I had an opening price of 1,000 from a guy only last Friday. These are all guys on the Apps. A bar guy started at 2,000 for himself plus 300 for the bar. He immediately dropped that to 1,500 including the bar's 300. The Apps lend themselves to an assertion by the customer that "other guys say 1,500" especially as the guys usually have a keen appreciate of today's market

[goji]

I would start by assuming almost no change.
Thailand has low inflation and the strong baht probably means customers have been resistant to price increases.

In Pattaya, I would pay 1000~1200 short time, 2000 long time.
Bangkok, average 1500 short time. Some of the bar boys in Bangkok seem to know there is nothing to lose by asking for more, no matter what you tip. They usually leave with a smile when you refuse to increase the tip and are immediately trying to get your attention on the next visit to the bar.

In Bangkok, a minority will immediately accept 1000 on the phone apps, but holding out for 1500 is more common.

[chip]

I would start by assuming almost no change.
Thailand has low inflation and the strong baht probably means customers have been resistant to price increases.

In Pattaya, I would pay 1000~1200 short time, 2000 long time.
Bangkok, average 1500 short time. Some of the bar boys in Bangkok seem to know there is nothing to lose by asking for more, no matter what you tip. They usually leave with a smile when you refuse to increase the tip and are immediately trying to get your attention on the next visit to the bar.

In Bangkok, a minority will immediately accept 1000 on the phone apps, but holding out for 1500 is more common.

What is considered short time?

[BOY69]

Anything less than overnight can be consider "short time" .

[Jellybean]

What is considered short time?


Anything less than overnight can be consider "short time" .

And, adding to the explanation offered by BOY69, at its most basic, short-time can be summed up by your gentleman caller as, "You come, I go". Well, so I've heard through the grapevine. :)

I'm sure I've also seen it printed on T-shirts in Thai markets, along with such slogans as, "No money, No honey."

Seriously though, generally speaking, I'd say short-time is around the one hour mark, or until your business is concluded. With some of my regulars, if they are not in a hurry to push off, we've gone for a swim and/or dinner afterwards. But that is by mutual consent and still falls within short-time, although I usually add a little bit extra cash to the pot.

If in doubt, chip, ensure that you and your visitor agree over the meaning of 'short-time' before heading back to your hotel.

[francois]

And, adding to the explanation offered by BOY69, at its most basic, short-time can be summed up by your gentleman caller as, "You come, I go". Well, so I've heard through the grapevine. :)


That is the best explanation of short time as there is! Although I might correct the spelling to "You cum, I go".

[chip]

Usually an hour is fine with me. I would not do an overnight. For me, have the sex, thank you very much, here is your money, perhaps we will meet again.
Once in a blue moon I might ask the guy if he would like to have dinner with/on me, no more money for "extra" time. Just a nice meal and then he can be on his way. Very seldom do I ever have the same guy a second time.
I do have a guy in Vancouver that I see once or twice each month, serves its purpose and it is very cheap. $40.00CAD

[BOY69]

Before I liked to take boy for long vacation staying with couple of days but decided not to do it anymore most of the boys sleep long hours and wake up late this caused many conflicts I certainly didn't come to Thailand to waste my time in sleeping , also it's not easy to stay 24/7 with the same boy so for my upcoming trips most likely will do only short time .

[frequent]

Usually an hour is fine with me. I would not do an overnight. For me, have the sex, thank you very much, here is your money, perhaps we will meet again. I don't pay them for sex, chip - no sirree. I pay them to go away afterwards

[goji]

Before I liked to take boy for long vacation staying with couple of days but decided not to do it anymore most of the boys sleep long hours and wake up late this caused many conflicts I certainly didn't come to Thailand to waste my time in sleeping , also it's not easy to stay 24/7 with the same boy so for my upcoming trips most likely will do only short time .

I used to go for mostly long time in Pattaya (ie overnight). However, fewer boys seem interested in long time these days. Then when I do go long time, about 2/3rds of them like to sleep much later than I do. They typically wake up between 10:00 and 13:00. I like to be up and out around about 9:00 am, give or take an hour.
So these days, I only do a few long time offs.

[christianpfc]

Prices in gay venues rise much faster than general cost of living.
Drink prices in Soi Twilight (now Patpong) rise on average 8% per year, detailed study here:
https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2015/05/germany-and-thailand-inflation-and.html
I vaguely remember paying 250 THB for a drink in Soi Twilight in 2011.

Entry to DJ station has doubled since I first came here in 2009.

Bus prices were stable long time (2009-2017) at 8 THB, then 9 THB, now 10 THB, a rise of 25% in two years!
----------
For me, one hour is the minimum for short time. That's for boys who are boring in bed and I have to direct all activities. Most of them I will not meet again. A good short time (up, down; in, out; right, left; front, back; everything) takes two hours. When a boy tells me he has one hour time for me, I will tell him I will meet another day, when he has more time.

[AsDaRa]

Below the prices I have found in the 1988 edition of Men of Thailand :

Off fee: 120 to 150 baht
Drinks: 60 to 80 baht
Tip for boy sitting with you in gogo bar: 20 to 50
Short time: 300 to 500

Song taew Pattaya 5 baht.

Question: Song taew in Pattaya has been on 10 baht since I first came to Thailand, 5 years ago. Did it go from 5 to 10 in one go? Or was there a time when I was 6, then 7 etc?

[gerefan2]

It was 10 baht when I first went to Pattaya in 2004

[michaelx1992]

Thai people seem to dislike incremental price changes.
The last time I went to Pattaya Water Park, they doubled the entrance fee from 100 baht to 200 baht a few days before my visit.

I suppose they'll just double the baht bus fee one day.

[francois]

Question: Song taew in Pattaya has been on 10 baht since I first came to Thailand, 5 years ago. Did it go from 5 to 10 in one go? Or was there a time when I was 6, then 7 etc?

As I recall, the price for Thais was 5 Baht and 10 Baht for farangs. That then changed to 10 Baht for anyone. For all practical purposes, for farang, the price has been 10 Baht for 20 years.

[AsDaRa]

Amazing how the prize can be stable for so long. These drivers have now less effective income. Costs of living has not stayed the same I am sure for so long. Very strange.

[arsenal]

And the fine for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike has remained at 400 baht for many years.

[frequent]

Thai people seem to dislike incremental price changes.I agree. When 10% VAT was introduced in 1992 the cheaper commodities (like the breakfast I ate, cost about 40 baht pre-VAT) simply went up by 10 baht. Percentages seemed beyond them. Few places had any form of computerisation, certainly not of the cash register style. I recall my first trip to Bangkok in the Eighties; I wanted to change my hotel reservation a couple of days before I was due to arrive. I was told what became a common catch-phrase over many succeeding years "Cannot; computer down"

[arsenal]

frequent wrote.
"I agree. When 10% VAT was introduced in 1992 the cheaper commodities (like the breakfast I ate, cost about 40 baht pre-VAT) simply went up by 10 baht. Percentages seemed beyond them."

Simple price gouging perhaps.

[AsDaRa]

I start to think the 10 baht for the song taew in Pattaya is a Pattaya City council law. Because how else to explain this can be stable for 20 years? The drivers must find it now way more difficult to afford the lifestyle they had 20 years ago. Food, rent, petrol, I am sure has not stayed the same for 20 years. Why is there no protest ? Where else in the world do prizes remain stable for 20 years ?

[frequent]

I start to think the 10 baht for the song taew in Pattaya is a Pattaya City council law. Because how else to explain this can be stable for 20 years? The drivers must find it now way more difficult to afford the lifestyle they had 20 years ago. Food, rent, petrol, I am sure has not stayed the same for 20 years. Why is there no protest ? Where else in the world do prizes remain stable for 20 years ?Perhaps it's part of Somchai Khunpluem' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somchai_Khunpluem)s legacy