johnpat

11 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

 

Something unique to the beer garden are dB meters at the front and two bars in on each side. At around 90 dB you could still carry on a converstation without having to shout.

 

I've seen them gogos as well  (Lighthouse and Fahrenheit).   I'm wondering if it's a new regulation.   

28 minutes ago, Yesitisdakid said:

 

But I am curious why you think this would be any of your business being a customer

Good question.

The answer is simple.   Earlier someone marveled at the number of girls dancing at XS and wondered how they could afford to pay all those girls the huge salaries gogo girls are making at top clubs.

I knew the answer so I answered him.    That's the point of this forum -- to exchange information.

No one has contradicted me so far.   Did I do the equivalent of revealing the secret of a magic trick?   

It bothers me that bars use "sales target" not "salary" as justification for high barfines.    They say "we have to pay the dancers 2000 baht a day so you have to pay 2500 to bar fine them.'     If people knew that the bar pays the girls nothing would they be so happy to pay a 2500 baht barfine?

I guess the lesson is that sometimes it best to not look behind the curtain.    Instead lets just marvel that XS can afford to pay those hundreds of dancers we see working 2000 baht a day.   Wow!! that's incredible.  How can they do that?

Is that better?

58 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Larry has been very open in his posts about the places he's worked...

 

 I know Larry worked at Babydolls.      But we're discussing places like XS which operate differently.   I liked the old style gogos more but that doesn't matter.

31 minutes ago, thegrogmonster said:

Well said and the poster has not given the respect that this former bar manager deserves.

 

Where is his resume listed?  We're all anonymous unless we choose to provide that information.   If he knows so much why not provide actual information as I have instead of veiled insults? 

Why must this be a secret among gogo managers and owners not shared with mere customers like myself?

9 minutes ago, fforest said:

I guess John has declared himself the resident expert on GoGo girls...The rest of us must just be dreaming of our first trip to Thailand....

I challenge anyone to go into a gogo today and not rely on your memory from days gone by.    Talk to a girl.  Don't worry they won't bite but you will be shocked at the lady drink prices if you haven't been a gogo for a while.   If they are chatty and not a newbie ask about their contract.   They may tell you.   Then tell us here.

  You are looking for five numbers: 

1.  how much do they get for N days (e.g. 20,000 for 10 days)
2. how many drinks must they sell
3. how much do they get their salary cut for each missing drink
4. how many bar fines
5. how much do they get their salary cut for each barfine they didn't get.

very simple... and then use grade school math to compute how much of item 1 (the "salary") is paid by customers and how much is paid by the bar.

 ok.. who is brave enough to actually enter a gogo?

3 hours ago, Trip said:

There's at least one poster in this thread that has bought a few buffalo.

 All that's clear to me is that I know a lot more about what goes on in gogos than you.   

  Don't worry though you still have your memory of a gravel covered second road. 55555

11 minutes ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Thank you I refuse to get into a pissing contest but I will say that these girls are far smarter than what many take them to be. They're for sure smart enough to tell the Foreigner what they want them to believe 

I just gave you the facts as I've learned from a few gogo girls (one ended up living with me for seven years).

Please go out and check for yourself and report back with what you found since obviously they can't fool you.

 This reminds me of strips clubs I used to visit long ago in San Francisco.   Always full of lovely ladies.  

The club didn't pay the girls.  In fact the girls had a pay a "stage fee" every day if they wanted to work.   The club simply provided a place for girls and customer to meet and for the girl to make money.

The modern gogos are like that now.  The club (like XS and Fahrenheit) simply provides a venue for girl and customer to interact and the club makes money from selling the customer drinks.   

I liked it before when the girls were salaried and got extra money from lady drinks but were more interested in bar fines rather than selling lady drinks to get to their quota.   But clearly the girls have spoken and the hot girls prefer a place where they can make much more than a regular salary.. and the guys prefer to look at tons of pretty girls.

Let's take an example

At Fahrenheit a supermodel contract is  20,000 for 10 days, must sell 70 drinks cut 220 for each drink under quota.  Also must have two barfines.    I'm not sure what the cut is for failing to make a barfine but it's likely the same as the cost of the barfine, namely 2500 baht.

So a theoretical girl who works 10 days, 8pm to 4am (8 hours), buys her own outfits and make up, yet sells no drinks and has no barfines:

      20000 - (70 * 220) - (2 * 2500) = -400

That's right she ends up owing the bar 400.   

Of course this never happens, everyone sells some drinks and the girl I talked to didn't know the cut for no barfine since that's not happened to her yet.   I think a girl who found she couldn't sell enough drinks would quit before the end of the 10 day contract and may not even get the money for what drinks she could sell.

But the point is that the bar's cost to employ a girl is exactly zero baht.   All the money she makes is from selling drinks or barfines.   The customer is putting money in her pay envelope at the end of the contract, not the bar.

That is why XS can employ hundreds of girls on a shift.   Their salary cost for those girls is zero (except those on their first contract).

People freak out about these huge salaries that gogos are supposedly paying girls.    Those aren't salaries.   Those are sales targets for a girl who can hustle and sell drinks and her company.

12 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Always a basic wage and with that the chance to make real money with Drinks and BFs. Like said if after a short time in the bar they are not getting drinks then they are replaced.

 I'm curious which  gogos you interviewed girls from  to get this information?    

When I asked the XS girl (who I know very well) what would happen if she didn't sell any drinks and have any barfines she looked shocked at such a stupid question.   It was obvious to her that she would get no money from the bar and she would be not be allowed to get a new contract there.   She did note that on the first contract where they were just testing the girl the bar did not cut for missing drinks from her quota,  so the bar and girl get a chance to see how we'll they'll work out.

On 2/3/2024 at 5:31 PM, Trip said:

Are you new here?

Lol, yeah, right believe a GoGo girl is telling you, who she just met; the truth about anything.

Well, the sick buffalo might be a winner.

I've been here long enough to remember when the asian guys were confined to Supergirls and Superbaby .. and when Sensations started the idea of putting tons of girls on stage and paying them nearly nothing and making the sell drinks to make their money.

Do you remember that?

6 hours ago, fforest said:

Yes I think even the cheapest GoGos pay at least 1000 a day and a super star in a top GoGo might even make 2500 to 3000 a day in pay...

very simple.   Ask a girl if she works at 10 day contract and sells no drinks and get no barfines how much will the bar pay her.  That's her salary.

Every gogo is different of course but if you ask in one of those places have have just tons of girls working the the answer she'll give you is zero or close to zero.  That's what the bar pays her.

I suspect that that there are still some old-fashioned gogos where the girls are paid a decent salary and lady drinks are like icing on the cake.. but not the massive number of dancers places.

6 hours ago, fforest said:

XS is the #1 GoGo in Pattaya in my opinion.....Their payroll must be absolutely huge...But top girls attract top money..

They don't pay the girls.  All the money the girls get is from the drinks they sell and thus from customers.

According to a recent Nick Dean (NDTVi) vlog the bars are premanufactured and will be just dropped in once the foundation is ready .. so look for things to change quickly once that process starts.

 ... not to mention second road with new holes all the time... how many times can they do the same project before people notice?

12 hours ago, fforest said:

Speaking of Burger King.... When a value meal is getting not far from 400 baht its no longer a value meal....

 

 Walked by Burger King last night.   Some nice hello girls out front in  Hooters-like outfits.  

I saw lots of staff but no customers inside.

The first step up to the entrance of the shop is very high, probably twice the height of a normal step.    It will challenge your balance if you've had a few.     

As for what's happening there a while back there were plans for a massive hotel and entertainment complex on that land.  It is prime real estate.   Maybe they are going to actually do what they planned....

It was two years ago that construction of big sewer lines began on soi 15 and second road.   That reduced second road to one lane along parts of it.   Then after they finished that (after nearly two years) they began digging on the other side to bury cables.   

They knew that at 3pm on Friday second road would turn into a two way street during the Fireworks festival main time.  So the deadline inspired them to act.

Today is the first day in two years that second road is two lane construction free along the whole length.

That is something to celebrate (as long as it lasts before the next project).

I heard about them now fixing up that horrible potholed road that I was forced to use over the last few years and all I could think was "why not fix up that road BEFORE making soi 15 unusable for two years?   Are they doing construction projects in reverse now?  

The mind boggles..

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

😁😁

This is how it looked at that location for way too long so the residents are more than happy to deal with a bit of water on the road after a storm

Beach Road was recently covered in tarmac despite the concrete being in pretty good shape (better even than the much younger concrete on soi 15 which is cracking at joints already).   

 Someone remarked that the plan all along was to concrete Beach Road and after a few years cover in tarmac.   That may be the plan for soi 15 as well.

The deadline of Sept 20 really changed things.   Suddenly they showed up to work and worked through the night sometimes.

 The road surface has a lot more water on it after a rainstorm than before.   I was hoping before they put on the stripes that they would put the tarmac over it like it was before and form it so that rainwater went to the sides of the road.  No such luck.

  I wish people didn't treat the soi as a parking lot.  It makes it a one way road sometimes.   But I'm very happy that it is usable again.   No doubt they'll be digging parts of it up again for one reason or another... but for now it's pristine.

I posted this on August 30.    Clearly they will not finish today, Sept 20.   So what is the city going to do about that?