Learn More About Your Fellow Japanese Monger
This is my first submission and I hope to get as much feedback as I can. Please don't spare any comments whether good or bad for me.
I know there is much disgust for the spending habits of Japanese mongers but I feel I should give some perspective about why they spend so much.
1. They have more money than you. Although the recession hit the world very hard, people that had steady jobs and weren't deep in debt did fine. While the US dollar dropped significantly in value, the yen actually became about 20% stronger
against the baht. Also, the majority of western tourists come from blue collar jobs while the majority of Japanese tourists come from white collar jobs. I know this is a generalization, but how many tattooed and grossly obese mongers are professional
business people? Many westerners are 2 week millionaires and can go on vacation 2 or even 3 times a year. The average Japanese salaryman will take a 1 week vacation outside the country once a year. This is either with his family or co-workers.
The main Japanese mongers you see are on vacation with their co-workers. They have such a small amount of time and a whole year to save up for it. They are also used to higher prices so when you think they are spending a lot, comparatively they
are still getting a bargain. They don't come to Thailand to be a Cheap Charlie, they come to enjoy themselves as much as possible in a very short amount of time.
2. The Japanese sex industry is huge. Unless you can speak Japanese, you likely won't even know that Japan has a sex industry bigger and more diverse than Thailand. You think Nana Plaza or Soi Cowboy is heaven? Go to Kabukicho in Tokyo
where there are over 3,000 sex based establishments. Japanese will not put up with ugly or ill mannered staff because they can get better. A soapy massage is great, but a Soapland in Japan is more refined and they easily pay the equivalent of
more than 40,000 baht per session. Next time you're in a Japanese style massage joint in Bangkok take a look at the magazines they have. There are numerous monthly Japanese magazines that review places, girls, and have advertisements (a big
one being the Crown Group). In Japan there is delivery health, estute, image club, etc. A monger that has not experienced Japan is not a true monger.
3. They aren't looking for a wife or girlfriend. Relationships in Japan are very defined by their society. They go for a massage or bar girl for only one intention. To stay with them for a whole day would be silly. Sure, it's nice
to talk to a hostess while she takes care of your drinks but to see her outside of work just as a friend doesn't seem right. They would never introduce a Thai girl as a friend. Remember, Japanese are even more racist than Thais (I know it's
hard to imagine).
4. A lot of Yakuza visit Thailand to reward their new recruits. You probably won't even realize they are there unless you can understand how Yakuza speak. After a successful new business venture, the Oyabun will take his Kohei to have
some fun. I can assure you the amount they spend make the salarymen look like Cheap Charlies and they will often have dealings with the massage parlour owners. You will rarely see them in a gogo bar. This is a very small percentage of Japanese
mongers but they are the ones targeted for 10,000 baht and higher massage girls.
Now I would like to give you some reasons why the Japanese mongers are dumb.
1. They have no value for money. They don't know what it's like to live in a dreary place with barely any sunlight and debt for life in a house you can't afford. They waste ridiculous amounts of money on brand name clothes
and expensive restaurants. All you need is a pair of shorts, a Chang Beer shirt and some street food. They are used to a job for life and high income. They don't comprehend saving diligently and just scraping by to live a nice retirement.
The rich Japanese usually come from rich families. Asia's income disparity is huge. At least in the West everyone has a chance to try and become rich.
2. They are sexually spoilt. Their culture objectifies women to the point where they are just a commodity. Either cook and clean or become an object of desire. If everything is readily available then where's the fun? Probably why so
many of them become so perverted.
3. They don't understand long time. You can wham bam all you want but it's nice to have an actual companion. Someone who may actually have an interest in you. They like talking with hostesses but the conversations are just about
themselves. Mere ego boosting. They don't care if the girl is from Isaan and has a sick water buffalo.
4. They go to Thailand for a convention because Vegas is too far away. Don't get me wrong, I love Thailand. However, there is no quintessential male bonding as a crazy trip to Vegas (this is why Vegas was in The Hangover and Thailand
is in The Hangover 2). Both equally good, but Vegas screams party while Pattaya screams sex tourist. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but what happens in Thailand ends up on the Internet.
The next time you see a Japanese monger in Bacarra point to a bar girl and show him 2 1,000 baht notes and say Daijobou (die-joe-boo), then show him 3 1,000 baht notes and say Dame (da-may). Hopefully this one act enough times can put a stop
to Japanese caused inflation in the bar girl industry.
biginbangkok
Stickman's thoughts:
Since my single paragraph in yesterday's column about Japanese men I have received some incredible stories about Japanese guys in Bangkok and what they pay. I had no idea – and we're not talking paying 500 or 1,000 baht more than Westerners do, but many times. The best of these emails will run in the emails to Stick section of next week's column.
It's hard for me to comment on what you have written here because I know little about the spending habits of the Japanese, suffice to say that the one time I went into a Japanese bar in Thaniya it cost 4,000 baht for one hour – and that was skimping it.
Finally, it's nice to see someone actually using this section of the site as a mechanism to make a full length reply or comment to something I included in the weekly column.