High (?) Season update

Maybe I'm going to all the wrong places (opportunity for flaming here), but Bangkok at least doesn't seem to be experiencing a high season at all. Sphinx has been very busy all week (people were queueing for tables last night) although at least half the tables were occupied by friends and acquaintances so I know it wasn't a huge tourist trade, but as for the bars in Soi 4 - dull, dull, dull. One of the former owners at Telephone Bar has taken over The Mix in Soi Freeman and the grapevine says it will be known as @Richard. Over on Soi Prostitute, Dick's Cafe looks to be the only place that's doing a decent trade. I was in Dream Boy on Monday evening (departing just as the crowd who turn up to watch the show and leave straight afterwards arrived) and there were 4 customers at 2145 hours, only two of whom left with boy(s) in hand. One of the boys told me he and one of his friends haven't had an "off" all month. Last night in Solid there were three customers at 2230, one of whom was fondling a boy in the semi-darkness down the back, the other two fondled (at most) their drinks (thank god they're only 100 baht) and the mamasan said things are "too quiet - don't know what's wrong". A friend told me he'd been in Future Boys a couple of nights before Xmas and at 2200 there were 6 customers, 4 of whom he knew were not tourists and would not be taking a boy. Perhaps news of early closing has finally got out to the overseas gay market (just as it seems no longer to be enforced) and they're going elsewhere this year

I'm off to Vientiane for a couple of days in the New Year; I'll post a report

[piston10]

Looks like I'm needed in Bangkok! Tell 'em to hang on for another couple of weeks and all will be well! Or, at any rate, I'll do my best!

[lonelywombat]

Just got an email from a friend who is in Phuket and he mentioned he went to Tangmo last night .

He doubted if more than 4 or 5 were offed, at least 30 still left

It was the most boys left on stage at the end of a night, he has seen for 3 visits including last year just before tsumanai.

My Way and Tangmo had big crowds but they seem to be farang couples not singles looking for offs.

CU Tonight which has the same show night after night and twice a night is not getting numbers.

He mentioned there were a lot more breeders in the gay bars than he had seen before.

It is only one mans opinion but he has been coming to LOS for 15 years.

[Smiles]

. . . and looks like we're losing on the demographics.

I recently got back from Puerto Vallarta middle of this month and noticed exactly the same thing there!
Discos which have usually been wall-to-wall flesh on most nights (December being so-called high season) were pathetically empty ... even on Fri-Sun nights. The Blue & Green Chairs were quite busy, but mostly with overweight and boring gringos ( who wants to see them!? :lol: ) ... gorgeous Latinos were distinctly at a premium.
I've been to PV in November 3 or 4 times before and also March, and each of those trips the joint was chock-a-block full. This time ... a very slow hand ~ por que?

The gay baby boomer bubble is growing old & decrepit before our very eyes, and are getting sick of having fun in the sun ... or just plain fun.
Adding up mutual fund profits and naming cats is the New Gay Pastime. :shock:

Cheers ...

And I have to say, Smiles, that your heart-throb at Balcony (Khun Dew) is sorely in need of a haircut - perhaps he's not getting enough in tips

[PeterUK]

I was also in Soi Twilight on Monday evening. Dick's Cafe was busy as homintern says. I love their fruit cake. I've pleaded with the Jomtien branch to start selling it, but not feasible apparently. I visited three bars after Dick's Cafe, all with few customers. Classic Boys has a good selection of mainly gay boys, but the music is always way too loud in there and the flashing lights give me a headache. In the other two bars, Boys Bangkok and Dream Boys, I sat sipping my 220B drinks wondering if any of the bored foot-shufflers on stage were gay at all. If I lived in Bangkok I'd hardly bother with this soi. The Pattaya bars are much better value - cheaper, more gay boys, friendlier. Incidentally, homintern, it sounds as if we might both have been in Dream Boys at the same time. No wonder I soon left feeling a bit off colour. :shock:

I think customers are staying away from the bars mainly because of the increase in drink prices and off fees. Perhaps the bosses at BBB group should take note of decreasing number of customers and stop increasing their off fees and drink prices!!!

Incidentally, homintern, it sounds as if we might both have been in Dream Boys at the same time. No wonder I soon left feeling a bit off colour.

You old fools could of got together stumbling thru the soi with your walking sticks.Now Peter UK would you have bent over for Homniturd or would he have bent over forwards to help you out?Just think of the money you would have saved,not having to pay someone to dart you up the arse.


On a serious note for everyone else,it seems Bali is now the most quietest tourist place over xmas.Warnings on our news tell us of possible kidnappings and bomb threats.

[TrongpaiExpat]

We all must have been in the same place. Maybe we should wear numbers so we all can recognizes each other.

I think the big draw at Dicks is street watching. It's a safe retreat from the touts as well.

Dropped in Taiwan last night. New show, more sex less fluff. It was packed to the rafters with farangs.

Khun Dew is sorely in need of a haircut - perhaps he's not getting enough in tips

Or getting enough tips in.

Packed to the rafters with farangs! I hope the air-con was on high: Frosted Flakes.

I know that a lot of people have you on ignore mrsydney, so I won't quote you in deference to them. However, I must say that I find much of what you say rabidly homophobic and would ask you to wonder whether you really have any place here?

Incidentally, homintern, it sounds as if we might both have been in Dream Boys at the same time.
Were you the old fool over by the lavatory, all by himself?

[bkkguy]

And I have to say, Smiles, that your heart-throb at Balcony (Khun Dew) is sorely in need of a haircut - perhaps he's not getting enough in tips

ignoring punctuation your wish has been granted - you thought he needed a haircut badly, he has now has a haircut, badly.

bkkguy

Even though I was directly quoted (showing I didn't use the word badly at all) some sort of point has been scored. Yes, I looked across from Telephone earlier tonight and saw Khun Dew's latest plumage - I hope he didn't go somewhere reputable (Cutey & Beauty? :P <chortle>) else his hairdresser should be taken out and shot at dawn

[Dick]

I think customers are staying away from the bars mainly because of the increase in drink prices and off fees
I was talking recently with a Manager at one Bar in Bangkok. It's very expensive running a bar, he told me. There's the monthly gratuity given to the guy that warns you the night before a 'raid'; 100B per boy per night if they turn up by 8pm; 100/150B if they perform in a 'show'... and if you have a lot of boys and put on a number of shows throughout the evening, each evening, it all mounts up.
I found that insight into the boys' fees quite interesting... at worst that's a monthly salary of 3,000B and at best, 6000B - 7,500B as a performer assuming one show per night; plus of course a cut of any drink bought them, tips for chatting with customers, and the tip from the customer who off's them.

Let's me remember first time i was in BKK 5 years ago, a nice man take me and my friends upstairs in a bar, there was not a price list but i did pay about 500 bath for my coca ola ola, later have been told you must make a price deal for drinks before you go up ! Oi oi oi, what more fun can you gave white 500 bath. A nice cool coca ola ola, priceless :lol:

I agree with Rustee and Dick. I too have been feeling that the last 2 rounds of price increases were more an attempt to cover rising costs than a reflection of rising demand. Since early 2004, I have been getting reports that the offing rate was getting poorer and poorer. Apparently the industry's response was to try to pack the customers in for drinks at least, if the customers weren't inclined to off. To do that, the better bars which had the means to upgrade their shows, e.g. Dream Boys, did so, which in a sense was a successful tactic. For the duration of the show, business looked phenomenally good.

Against such fierce attractions, the weaker bars like Xtreme and Twilight simply faded.

But revenue and cost-wise, things were not that rosy. Show watchers seldom buy a second drink for themselves, and were even less likely to invite a boy to sit with the customer and buy the boy a drink. The headcounts looked high, but the spending per head was falling.

Furthermore, putting on more elaborate and longer shows with ever larger casts involved even higher costs - paying the boys, the costumes, the dance instructor, etc.

Unfortunately, in some cases, having shows that last over an hour, and 2 shows a night, together with 1 a.m. closing, meant that the boys were not displayed as often as before, which further reduced the offing rate. And so another round of price increases was implemented... this time made easier by the fact that the industry was consolidating into BBB and Tawan.

(By the way, this analysis does not quite apply to Tawan, I'm told... it seems to have been better at cost control producing shows, for one).

What this may indicate is that the industry may be going down a blind alley. The shows may now be overdone, and hurting the core business of "leasing"

The Pattaya business model is entirely different, certainly with much lower cost base... I'd like to know how the more established bars are doing, but I don't have any contact to tell me.

[Smiles]

And I have to say, Smiles, that your heart-throb at Balcony (Khun Dew) is sorely in need of a haircut - perhaps he's not getting enough in tips

My dear Homintern,

Khun Dew simply has a new style (and I've had this vision of you being bald or balding ~ [fat old cunt?] ~ for many years, so I'd imagine that comment above came from some dark depth, and possibly a hairy back to boot), and doncha know, it's what's the young 'uns dew, and it's what us geezers (like us) hardly ever do . . . but should.

These 2 photos are from the dear Dew's big win at the 2005 pride thing. Longish locks for sure, but they do not subtract in any way from his Quintessential Thai Smile (another big win some years ago on a contest held right here on (old) Sawatdee).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Images2/dew1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Images2/dew2.jpg


This photo is of the dear young man winning the same damn prize in 2004! :lol: (surely it's not sponsored by Balcony? Is is?). Much shorter hair back in that era ... but once again, hardly distracting.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Images2/dew3.jpg


This is a random shot captured "somewhere". Hard to tell the length of hair in the darkness, but LOVE the pursed lips!!
Khun Dew is my Thai Treasure #2, and we've never met!! :shock:
This rather unsual relationship ( I could possibly be accused of stalking in other contexts I suppose ) will certainly change this April when I shall finally introduce myself to Khun Dew.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Images2/dew4.jpg


Cheers ...

[elephantspike]

OK, I think this is the same guy, right? I see nothing wrong with this controversial new hairdo.


http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/images/bal-ny01.jpg

[Dick]

No, that isn't Khun Dew. I believe the guy you have highlighted in your picture is Khun Kai.
A different personality, but none the less charming.

[Smiles]

" ... No, that isn't Khun Dew. I believe the guy you have highlighted in your picture is Khun Kai ... "
I think Dick is correct. ( I'd like to meet Kai as well :lol: )

...................DEW............................ ...............KAI..................

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Images2/dewkai.jpg

Cheers

I was talking recently with a Manager at one Bar in Bangkok
That "one bar" sounds like Future Boys, but don't assume those practices are common across all (or even most) bars

[elephantspike]

http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/images/bal-ny02.jpg

Aha! I spotted him (with help from Bob).

Speaking of cost of running a bar, I assume "someone" still comes around asking for a substantial donation every Friday?

It isn't just the bars in Bangkok that have a hard time. Freelance business is down too. The activity in Silom Complex and on the strip from Robinson Department Store to Suriwong road is just a shadow of what it used to be.

... and no. Go online in gay.com and there are money boys a-plenty. Some are openly so, others tend to say (some time during the one-on-one chat) something along the lines "I not a money boy. But can you help me?"

I think its number 5,the guy in the pink shorts should have won it,he s third to the right of the picture,the one with pink purple stripe shorts,lovely looking ladyboy.I bet he would love me to spank him and put a dog collar on him.I know he would,i can tell by his face.Anyone know what bar he works at.

The shows may now be overdone, and hurting the core business of "leasing"

Perhaps I'm not the only one so inclined? In early days, having been stung...a few...times too many, I seldom, now, go into a Show\Go-go Bar with 'Offing' in mind...I see the show and off I go...to one of a few host bars where it's actually possible to carry on a conversation without shouting and where--perhaps the result of my reputation preceeding me--the leasers honor the agreed terms of the lease.
On the other hand; the last time I offed a go-go boy he actually delivered more than bargained for. :shock: He 'visited' three-nights-in-a-row; from which he gleaned enough for a respectable tribute to mama--And, as good men go; he went!...Back to from whence he came: the fish market. (No, not a bitch-bar; an actual damn fish market!...nothing like being slapped with a cold cat fish, I guess!) :cry:

possibly a hairy back to boot
I think you've got the wrong old cunt there, Smiles. It's me who keeps getting aggrieved e-mails from her neighbours when the back-waxer is visiting Hedda's apartment (another one just this morning)

[Smiles]

By Homintern

" ... It's me who keeps getting aggrieved e-mails from her neighbours when the back-waxer is visiting Hedda's apartment (another one just this morning) ... "
Next up? Hayjon!!! Speculating ~ yet again ~ on why this pornographic Board (and specifically certain F.old.C.'s) cannot
post a decent message without mentioning H-dd-.
I'm beginning to wonder the same thing, even though my perspective is more gleeful bratishness than support for the mentally challenged.

Cheers ...

[Boxer]

From Pattaya City News - back to topic
"We spoke with a number of Hotel owners who told us that the Christmas and New Year periods were good for business, however every hotel owner mentioned that in previous years, the тАЬNo VacancyтАЭ signs would remain in place until the start of February, however, this year, the тАЬVacancyтАЭ signs are coming out early. Is this a worrying new trend or is it good news for the low season months. We will have to wait and see!"
Is high season over already?

Sphinx was still packing them in tonight, people waiting for tables. However there were a number of breeders there :evil: plus of course the usual dickheads who turn up, no reservation, and expect a table for six will be instantly available

Yes it's very good to see all the bars in Soi 4 really busy. I was at Telephone - the place was jam packed with people and looking over the road at Balcony they were jolly busy too; not a seat available outside. You are quite right about Sphinx; tonight I saw people outside on their terrace which is a rare sight. Cafe 4 is doing very well too and so is that new one BarBar. I hear that Pool Boys (formerly Bobbys Arms) has opened but is still not quite finished; a lovely addition to the Soi's activities. As for Roxy they are still trying to sell out and the staff know it judging by their attitude.
Boxer's point on Hotel reservations doesn't appear to be mirrored in Bangkok. I tried getting a friend into Tarntawan Place but they were full; so were the Pinnacle and the Malaysia. Eventually I found a room at the Tower Inn which was quite acceptable.
It looks to me that the High Season in Bangkok is still going strong.

[Brad the Impala]

[quote="LYCguy"]You are quite right about Sphinx; tonight I saw people outside on their terrace which is a rare sight.
quote]

A little confused by that as, every time that I have been there, there are customers sitting on their terrace. In fact it seems that the tables there are often full, while there are still tables available inside. But I have probably only been there six times in the last year.