Check My Brain
When I read Mr. Stickman' idea to build a new trendy bar zone in Bangkok located in Soi Cowboy replacing the old gogo bars, I surely agree with that. Gogo bars look like outdated places to have fun and don’t add any value to tourism anymore. The new government wants to decree “Thainess”, a way Thai people identify themselves with Thailand. It’s like a table of values in which each individual can be identified with the values previously defined. That happened in Thailand in the 1930’s after a coupe d’état as well, but that time to regroup minorities and make them more concerned with the Thai values. Feels like revisiting an old shock treatment to gain morality and the old society values. Some will say it's like return to the past within a century distance. It’s the personification of a nationalist policy and maybe is indeed needed. The visa policy changed and no more unbridled runs allowed like in the recent past. Gogo bars, like the sex massage parlours, will not add anything to the nationalistic values.
I would not be surprised if in the near future there is a new regulation for some of the gogo bars operating in the naughty areas of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket. Now is a time of change in Thailand. Time to restore the morality lost after decades of sex labour exploitation. Who could be so naïve believing this will last forever? Some will feel nostalgia of those bygone days. What is now arising are the escort services, more discrete and clean with less hassles. They operate directly to the final customer and don’t need “barfines” to be paid. The girls will have more conditions to work (if we can call this work). Of course when a new line of business rises, new opportunities of business will be open. Who will have an eye to start making good deals with it? I don’t want to be wild with my imagination but things will start to change in this business area for sure. I myself have some good ideas that I will keep to myself.
We have those brainless wonders spending small fortunes in the bars. What they will get in return not counting with all the thrill and fun of having a new pussy every day? Bar owners raise prices every time there's a drop in their profits. That’s how those brainless wonders are rewarded for their loyalty. Why does the business have these downfalls from time to time? A) Because in neighbouring countries are more attractive prices. B) The demand for these bars gets lower year after year. C) Rents in some areas are starting to get ridiculously high and the alternative is rising booze and barfine prices. D) Girls salaries are getting high as they demanding higher salaries. E) The quality of the girls is decreasing as well because the unemployment rate in Thailand is so low.
The bar owners don’t understood they are walking hand to hand to a dead-end if they still persist in the same way of doing business. They need to diversify and look for new customers. The gogo bar formula is already exhausted and will crash. That formula worked when it started 30 – 40 years ago after the Vietnam War ended because of the specific target (war veterans) and because Thailand was a friendly country to the US. While those same guys were alive business was good and they tended to bring new customers with their mouth to mouth marketing about the bars. The bars didn’t need to worry as they were being spoken about positively and new customers wanted to see it for themselves.
After the last coupe d’état, things quickly started to change for the worse from the bars perspective. Tourism dropped around 5% last year and this year the outlook is not very encouraging because of the Russian market, the third largest group of tourists to Thailand, although Russians are not the main target. The Russian ruble has lost 50% of his value resulting in many booking cancellations. Places like Phuket and Pattaya will suffer a drop in tourism trade and in the real estate industry as well. Not dramatic, just a small drop. Maybe next year they will recover from the damage.
With tourist numbers dropping but bar prices going the opposite way due to the difficulties they face with rent renewals and low turnover, the trend is to punish the customer with price increases. Bars don’t appeal new customer segments. Bars are very dependent on old customers and seasonal movements. Their main target is males spending vacations in Thailand, what we usually call “2-week millionaires”. These “millionaires” have the power to increase prices everywhere they go. They save all year to spend in 2 weeks. They spend large sums of money in the bars. Some will keep their “teeruk” in Thailand sending them money from overseas until they find out their “teeruk” has other men. In fact they are only a sugar-daddy figure.
And then we have the white knights. These guys are really sweet and well-meaning, spreading charm everywhere and they are able to build a new home for their “teeruk”'s family live in an Isaan village. These guys are believers. They believe they are saving these poor girls from poverty and Thai men. What they really don’t know is that they are setting a dangerous precedent. These poor girls talk with each other about their experiences and teach the younger hookers how to milk the cow. Sad stories like “water buffalo”, “papa is sick in hospital”, “mama is sick in hospital”, “sin sot nonsense” and whatever are the norm when it comes to milking the farang. Because of their momentary blindness, others will be milked. Thank you so much, white knight in shining armour! Without you the world would surely be better.
What could motivate a western guy to dress the paper of a 2 week millionaire or the shining armour of a white knight? They can be easily milked in the west too. What are the differences between these 2 characters? The 2 week millionaire has the perception he is being milked while the white knight doesn’t. This site has so many stories about Thailand that some will forget this kind of things happens all the time everywhere. Hookers will do the same everywhere. Their goal: MONEY! Their way to achieve goal: MEN! Their way to get men: DECEIVING! Their way to deceive: SEX! We have the words money, men, deceiving and sex. Can we build a sentence to express this last paragraph? Yes we can! “I will deceive men with sex to obtain money”. That’s how it works, worldwide!
The 2-week millionaires are big spenders. They don’t care about feelings. They only want to have fun and bang as many hookers as they can. That’s the way it should be. And we have the white knights. They believe in love and mankind. They always think it only happens to the others. Their “teeruk” is different from the others, although they picked her up in Sukhumvit Soi 4. They are milked big time and they think is normal, his “teeruk” only need help and understanding. In fact they are bigger spenders than the 2 week millionaires…with less fun. All the emotional pain caused when things go wrong could be avoided if these guys had a disciplined mind. Love can be beautiful with the right person but when you need to buy love …
I love the “No money, no honey” T-shirt stamp we find in the Thai markets. They perfectly embody what awaits you in Thailand regarding hookers.