How Much Was That Again?
Stumbling around the streets of Pattaya, it is not difficult to notice the changes occurring, and not just in the construction and reconstruction industries. Sure, the traffic problem is worsening by the minute and old timers often lament, “it is not like the good ol’ days,” but the attitude of the people, both Thais and foreigners alike, is undergoing slow evolutionary change as well. And the responsibility for this rests solely at the feet of foreigners.
Recently, I ran across a newly opened beer bar. Nothing unusual about that, but I’m always keen to try new places so I popped in for a drink to check it out. The place was nice with friendly staff and I made a note to come back again. I even mentioned the bar to a friend (word of mouth is still the cheapest form of advertising).
He paid a visit and called me afterwards to let me know what he had learned. He said he enjoyed the bar and actually liked one of the Hostesses enough to enquire about the prospect of a bar fine. She was very interested but stated the policy of the bar was that a customer was required to buy three lady drinks as well as pay the bar fine before she could leave with him. Needless to say, his enthusiasm for the lady waned dramatically.
I told him that policy was preposterous. Three lady drinks plus the 300 baht bar fine came to just less than 600 baht which equates to the bar fine for a top of the range show girl from a Go Go Bar, not one from a beer bar. I said I would go back and check. When I did, I separately asked two of the Hostesses what the bar fine was. They answered 300 baht. I then asked if I had to buy any lady drinks as well. Both replied, “Up to you.” Putting two and two together, it seemed my friend had been the victim of an attempted con. His lady must have unilaterally decided she wanted three drinks from him as well so she tried it on. The result was she missed out on all counts.
The problem is that some guys may have paid up, not knowing they were being taken for a ride. In that case the girl could easily decide since it worked once, she would try it again. Eventually others would get in on the act and before you know it, it becomes standard practice.
Over High Season, especially around Christmas and New Year, many Go Go Bars in Walking Street raise their bar fines, in some cases, to almost double those of Low Season. At first, I thought this practice was simply greed and therefore distasteful, but looking at it from a bar owner’s perspective I can see the logic behind it. Pattaya is a free market economy where the prices should be determined by supply and demand.
At the peak of High Season, demand outweighs supply and the last thing a Go Go manager wants is to have all his dancing staff bar fined before nine o’clock. If that happened, he might as well turn off the lights, close the bar and go home. By raising the bar fine, it discourages all but those silly enough to pay it from running off with his star attractions. As long as the lady receives her percentage of the higher amount and the bar fines return to normal once supply surpasses demand, I have no problem with it. Of course, the lady may have a problem if the bulk of her income is derived from going with a customer and the bar’s policy puts her out of reach of the paying public. In that case, I’m sure the bar management would come to some arrangement.
In a bar located somewhere between Soi 5 and Soi 7 one afternoon, a mate of mine asked a girl how much she wanted for a short game of Space Invaders upstairs. She replied 800 baht. Knowing this figure to be outrageous, he told her 500 baht was the going rate. Her next offer was 700 baht but again he held his ground. Next, she asked for 500 baht plus a 100 baht ‘tip’. He refused and she walked away. Two minutes later, she returned and 500 baht was agreed upon.
The point is that prices in Pattaya will continue to rise as long as someone is willing to pay them. This is in spite of what the local economy determines is fair and reasonable. In that respect, it is possible that Pattaya’s success could also be its downfall. The ‘two-week millionaires’ who flock to this city do so with the wrong attitude. They arrive to find almost everything so cheap compared with ‘back home’ that they seem willing to pay over the going rate to such an extent it almost reaches the ‘back home’ price. Who can blame the locals for putting their prices up when they see so many tourists willing to pay them.
Some ladies are demanding 2,000 to 3,000 baht for their services, in some cases simply for a one-hour romp on the mattress. That is extreme, but they do it because some customers have paid it in the past. These guys mentally convert the amount into their own currency, say 80 US dollars, and decide that is far cheaper than they would pay in the US.
What they fail to appreciate is that, let’s say the average daily wage here is 200 baht, they are giving her the equivalent of fifteen days wages for one hour’s ‘work’. What would that equate to in terms of the average daily wage in the US?
But brain-dead, bug-eyed tourists don’t have a monopoly on poor attitude. Speaking with a friend recently, he said he complained to one bar owner about his high drink prices. The owner countered by saying his prices were “still cheaper than you would pay back in the UK.” I told him the best response to that mentality is to say, “if your policy is to equate prices back to those in the UK, then obviously you pay your staff accordingly.”
That shuts them up.