ichigo

He certainly keeps the forum lively, that's for sure!

Pulse is a popular sexual health clinic (there are a few branches throughout Thailand). A little pricey though, no? STI testing in Australia is covered by medicare, so it's much cheaper here.

All power to you - assuming that you are serious about this, and not just a passing thought. @BjornAgain gives some very good advice - speak to other bar owners, and also other (non-bar) farang business owners, do you research, perhaps speak with a lawyer and be very well-prepared, especially if you have not owned a business before. By all means, it is possible as there are numerous successful farang-owned businesses throughout Thailand but I'm sure there would be more red tape to cross compared to a Thai national, and it won't be a walk in the park. If it eventuates, I will happily patronise your bar.

And whilst on the topic of X-Boys (apologies for hijacking the thread), the last time I was there, I noticed on their number tags, a letter preceded the number (I think some had 'S' and others I forget now). I asked a staff member what it meant, but he said there is no meaning behind it. True?

I would also be interested to know whether/why the short time tip is paid to the bar, rather than the boy. Have never come across this before!

I think I've written about this in another post, but I would like both options - cash and cashless to be available. QR payments aren't available to foreign tourists (unless they have a Thai bank account), with the exception of some asian countries (Singapore and Malaysia I think) who have a reciprocal agreement. But if this wide widely available, I would use it to pay at restaurants, street food stalls, markets etc., but would tip boys in cash. I would say that credit card terminals are available at most bars - I paid with credit card at Dreamboys once on my final night when I was low on cash.

I'll be there from 30 Nov

Because I didn't want to deal with confrontation in that situation, I countered with 4000 which he accepted but it was still too much for what it was worth. I decided that paying this inflated price was a safe way of getting out of this situation without things escalating. Me too usually, but the mamasan just told me the tip rates of his own accord without me asking.

Exactly what the papasan told me the one time I went to Jupiter, except back in the hotel room as boy was leaving, he said his rate was 5000 when I gave him 3000. Always check with the boy!

Thanks for the replies. I'll have a think about whether or not to attend as it is a little pricey..

What generally happens at these parties? Do you need to be attractive and fit to attend? I'm literally going to be staying at that exact hotel during the time that the party is on lol

Thanks for your report, I enjoyed reading about your adventures! Looking forward to your future trip reports!

I know that Dreamboys definitely has a Mandarin speaking mamasan as they do the announcements in Thai, English and Mandarin as I found out one night whilst listening closely.

To be honest, and in my opinion, I wouldn't mind a little more cashless alternatives in Thailand. To be able to use the QR code payment system/PromptPay, one must have a Thai bank account, and there are too many hurdles to jump through to open one as a tourist in Thailand. I would like to see the QR code system modelled like China's Alipay/WeChatPay whereby you can link a foreign credit card to the app. This would save time in needing to go to ATMs or cash exchange places, or worrying about needing to change bigger bills into smaller ones. Of course, cash would still be necessary for tipping purposes, but for things like restaurants, street food stalls, check bin at a bar etc., I think a cashless payment alternative would be great. That being said, I have used a credit card in bigger department stores and I think restaurants too. Where I live, I hardly use my credit card as I can use ApplePay where I just need to hover my phone over the point of sale terminal. I don't think ApplePay is available in Thailand though.

It will involve a bit of walking though.. are you sure?