Bar Reports

[Jun]

M-Bar, Jomtien
Arriving around 9:30pm, I see over 10 boys outside, some smiling and others glued to their phones.
Two farang were in the outdoor section and this didn't really leave enough room for me to sit down. So I have to go inside. They must have about 10 boys inside, but I am the only customer in there.

The standard of boy is very good. Perhaps 80% of the boys are candidates for an off, which is as good as it gets.
I'd say about half the boys inside circulate. The ones outside tend to stay there, so any customer after one of those should probably head out and say hello.

Other customers start arriving around 9:40~9:45, for the 10:00 show. That's what drives trade to this bar. Despite probably having the best quality of boy in Pattaya, the punters come for the show.

[Jun]

BA. BAR (observations from nearby bars)
At least 15 boys, some cute. Their seating arrangement is strange. Most are sat close together on plastic chairs outside, facing The Agate. So they have their backs to the estimated 50% of customers going down the hill.
They're also so close, it would be difficult to directly approach a specific lad in the pack. At least half are on their phones and of course, they are mostly untroubled by customers.

Across the road is Your Place. Here, the boys seem to be doing it right. Mostly not on their phones and looking for customers from both directions.
I sometimes sit with one of their lads and the others hardly ever sit with a customer. So even doing the right thing doesn't always work.

Gus Bar
This is the bar with lads dancing in white shorts, formerly Club Lounge. I went in to use the WC, as they share that with Sunee Bar. Probably after 10:00pm. 3 lads dancing in white shorts. No customers, music slightly too loud, but probably not loud enough to totally kill trade. Some customers outside. I gather they had a couple of customers inside later on.

That was a Friday night. I wonder how these bars stay in business, but I'm grateful for those that do.

[Jun]

Last week an elderly farang arrives at Your Place bar and bought several of the boys drinks. There were smiles all around, including the farang. Good to see. Some of those lads seem to rarely get customers, despite mostly being attractive and doing everything right.

This week, the farang arrives. Some of the boys weren't working there and the remaining ones were busy preparing drinks, including one disgusting concoction (tea).
The manager across the road pounces and our farang is invited to sit at BA Bar, which he does. The boys there all show no interest and mostly continue on their phones, making their presence at the bar irrelevant. A cage of rats would be as effective. Maybe even with novelty value.
Before long, he's peering over them to see what's happening at Your Place.
This is almost painful to watch. I suggest my friend gives him a wave when I'm off at the hong nam.

I was told that some of the boys at Your Place have suddenly left Pattaya. Apparently my acquaintance dragged some of his mates in to make numbers up. A couple look very cute and would need ID card checks, but they're not as active in looking for customers as the previous crew.

[Gaybutton]

The boys there all show no interest and mostly continue on their phones, making their presence at the bar irrelevant.

I blame bar owners and managers for tolerating that. How do they expect to attract customers, much less expect them to be repeat customers, when the only thing they have to offer is boys staring into their phones and essentially ignoring customers?

It shouldn't take people explaining that to them or a high IQ for them to understand what the rest of us understand. I wonder how the boys themselves think customers will be interested in taking them off when that is their behavior. Does no one associated with these bars understand the boys are there to both attract customers and to work?

If I was a bar owner, I for sure would not be hiring boys to do noting but sit there playing with their phones. I wouldn't even let freelancers do that because that kind of behavior is much more likely to drive away customers rather than attract them. The reason to have those boys there in the first place is to attract customers to my bar, not watch potential customers saunter off to somebody else's bar.

What are these owners and managers thinking - or are they thinking?

[Jun]

I blame bar owners and managers for tolerating that. How do they expect to attract customers, much less expect them to be repeat customers, when the only thing they have to offer is boys staring into their phones and essentially ignoring customers?

I don't worry about that. As you can imagine, my total spend on drinks at BA Bar is zero on this trip. There are plenty of bars who do a far better job.

I'm more sympathetic to those who do everything right and still don't get many customers.

I expect the smiling farang will be hoping his boys reappear at Your Place soon.

[Dodger]

If I was running a Boy Bar the staff would not be allowed to pull a smartphone out of their pockets while on the premises...with no exceptions.

I would use this Policy to help train new recruits on the expectations of the job, focusing on delivering total customer satisfaction to each and every customer who entered the bar. I would also explain how accomplishing this would generate more money for everyone, whereas sitting there staring at a smartphone would not only hurt their chances of attracting a customer - but it would hurt everyone else's chances as well.

IMO...if a boy wants to work the dating apps - then stay home and play the dating apps. But if he came to work in my bar his phone would remain hidden. Period!

I did this when I was in business when I was holding meetings...not always popular...infuriated some...but always created a higher focus on "objectives" which is all I was concerned about.

[Gaybutton]

IMO...if a boy wants to work the dating apps - then stay home and play the dating apps. But if he came to work in my bar his phone would remain hidden. Period!

I agree for sure. There are times and places appropriate for staring into smartphones. At work is not one of those times and places.

It's sad when the smartphone is smarter than the person using it. Maybe some of these boys ought to try AI. Artificial intelligence may work a lot better than their natural intelligence . . .

[Jun]

If I was running a Boy Bar the staff would not be allowed to pull a smartphone out of their pockets while on the premises...with no exceptions.

I'm broadly in agreement with you there. However, limited use for useful purposes should be OK.

1. At least one of my friends messages me to invite me to the bar
2. Some boys need translation apps. I recall one of my Lao friends bollocking his Cambodian neighbour for not taking care of his customer. The Cambodian lad was using google translate. That's been in use with several boys I sat with this year.

However, the 30~40% of bars with a phone problem could start with a total ban.
Even M Bar has something of an issue with phones. At least half the boys sat outside are glued to their phones. The difference is some of the remaing ones are actively looking for customers. Also, the boy show sustains that bar.

Incidentally, as far as I can tell, many boys on their phones aren't using the dating apps in the bars. They're on Facebook, Tik Tok or some even more ridiculous game.

I'm with you on the matter of business meetings too.

[Gaybutton]

Some boys need translation apps.

That is a very good point. I didn't think of that. That should be the only exception. In my opinion, other than that, no phones visible at all. And I'm sure the boys staring into their phones are not staring into translation apps.

[pinoyfriends]

M-BAR
I visited M-BAR six or seven times during a recent trip. The owner (Charlie) is very pleasant and they have an enormous collection of Laos and Thai boys. It is difficult not to spend a few thousand baht each time I enter as I have previously bought drinks for many of the boys and know many by name.

Despite drinking and flirting with many boys, and having one swim with me at my condo as a friend - I off-ed only two. One was a poor experience who used various excuses to exclude himself from almost any kind of sexual activity from kissing to oral to penetration before rushing off for his sick mother. He later claimed I contributed to a contrived (and expensive) hospitalisation where his penis was injured from being tugged too hard! It was unfortunate as generally the boys are very well behaved. This boy had already made a few enemies at M-BAR with other boys who "played with his customers" so he was trying to set the rules for me to adhere to. I blocked this one afterwards as the drama was too much.

The other off happened to be a very fresh straight-ish twink just north of his 18th birthday. He was new but incredibly popular. He told me he was getting about 3 customers a day. The first time I spoke to him he got excited when a past customer walked in and immediately went over to speak to him. The massaman returned him to me and cautioned his bad behaviour - but I realised it was just that he was too inexperienced to know better. That night I told him to go with the customer he was excited by.

When I was finally able to off him we had a very nice time and he was eager to return to me. I tipped him exceptionally well realising he was in high demand. He messages me from time to time and is happy to see me again.

I also met a cute customer who I initially assumed was an older boy in the bar. Turns out he was a Thai customer. We became (somewhat) friends and he tried to set me up with his ex-boyfriend. That did not go anywhere as I was leaving Pattaya but it was nice to meet a beautiful boy who was not working in the bars.

There was another beautiful boy behind the bar. I think he had a farang American boyfriend. He was not going with customers.

I am still in touch with all these boys and many others I met.

The shows were entertaining and very lively. I found myself sitting at the bar frequently to avoid having too many boys crowd me for drinks on the couches.

I need to be careful with my mindset when I visit and be thankful these boys do this to entertain foreigners. With rare exceptions these boys are all very good people and the entertainment is a good experience.

I get enjoyment from reading the ads to recruit new boys to M-BAR. The ads are in Thai and posted to Facebook. They proclaim the benefits of an easy job that will allow you to travel, get a new phone, and look after sick parents. It can be the middle of low season with 30+ boys working and they will be recruiting for more constantly.