Stickman signing off?

[reader]

Stickman is telling readers in this week's column that his next will probably be his last.

 

Stick moved out of Bangkok several years ago and has been writing from his native New Zealand with occasional return visits.  He reports that readership has been holding fine. It appears, however, that the problem may be one of ad revenue. The majority owner informed him that he expected to have problems coming with future pay.

 

Stick has frequently described the underbelly of the entertainment industry, leaving some of the powers that be less than happy.  Recent columns focused on what Stick and contributors saw as  increasing disillusionment of the lady bar business in Nana, Cowboy and Patpong.

 

 

[Alexx]

I'm not convinced yet. He could have simply said his goodbyes, if that had been his intention. Hinting at the possibility that a miracle might happen sounds a lot like he's "motivating" people to make it happen. Maybe his plan is to bring in another investor and to get rid of the current majority owner. That would make a lot of sense, considering that he and that majority owner don't get along well.

[reader]

I don't disagree (that's what prompted me to put a question mark on it). And his wording left room for negotiation. He's talked in the past of wrapping it up before the current investor emerged.

 

Although he works the other side of the tracks, I almost always find something of interest in his columns.  He's introduced some interesting characters along the way and takes the reader behind the scenes.

 

Stick somewhat reluctantly covered the ladyboy bar scene (they were, after all, advertising on the site).  He seemed surprised that so many otherwise straights indulged.

[forrestreid]

It would be a pity to see Stickman go.

 

Although he refused to cover the gay scene at all (unlike, say, the Bangkok Eyes "Midnight Hour" Site) he provided probably the most reliable commentary on the straight nightlife scene in Thailand.

 

Obviously he had massive biases towards his own advertisers, it but  I often found it worth reading - especially the "news snippets" links at the bottom of his weekly postings.

 

Like above posts, I suspect it may be an elaborate ruse to maintain his current level of compensation though!

 

But it is obvious that he is increasingly unhappy with the majority shareholder on the site.

 

Two weeks ago he posted a column based on an interview with the English investigative reporter Andrew Drummond. This was later pulled at the behest of the majority shareholder. The following week, Stickamn reported it thusly:

 

"....One person was not happy about the article and used their not inconsiderable influence with the majority owner of this site to get the article removed. That column would now be last week’s news and would be all but forgotten about, but now the whole kerfuffle of removing it shines a bright spotlight on who wanted it removed and why..."

 

I remember thinking at the time that it was surprising that Stickman had no compunction about stating that it was some person "who had influence" with the majority shareholder who got it pulled, rather than saying it had been pulled due to "legal advice" or similar.

 

And then, in this weeks column,  what is the first email from a reader that Stickman features ?

 

An email (I would guess originating from maybe somewhere in New Zealand area?) which criticised the censorship, and adds "It is clear from your comments about it that you regard the person responsible as an idiot who has little understanding of how the on-line world operates".

 

Stickman clearly has little respect for the majority shareholder for whom he now works.

 

But he is fairly indispensable for the site, (I would imagine that without the weekly column, the readership of the site would fall off a cliff), it is probably rather silly of the majority shareholder to be threatening to cut his pay.

 

We shall see what happens..

[Alexx]

Like Phoenix he will rise from the ashes - would be my guess.

[ChristianPFC]

Stickman is telling readers in this week's column that his next will probably be his last.

 

The majority owner informed him that he expected to have problems coming with future pay.

 

It would be very interesting to know what sum was paid for the website, and what is now paid per month (or per column). Whoever bought the website and stickman as an author, didn't think this trough or started with a tight budget.

[Alexx]

I would love to see those numbers, too, but I think there's little chance they will ever see the light of the day. What puzzles me most is that it was a Thai who bought the majority share in Stick's website (or so he wants us to believe, I have to take his word for it). If I were a Thai, the only reason for me to buy that site would be to bury it. Unless the returns are crazily high - very unlikely!

[reader]

Although there are many unknowns at this point, it's interesting to look back on the Spring of 2015 when he was announcing the pending demise of the column. Then came the news of the investor who reportedly rescued it all.  But the details remain murky and will likely remain so as Alexx suggests.

 

I believe that this column tells us a lot about his motivations for wanting to leave the LOS.  He's certainly disillusioned with the city that once enchanted him but likewise seems a bit reluctant to disengage from the column. It's been around since 1998 so it's easy to understand the attachment.

 

https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/weekly-column/2015/05/the-last-month-explained/

[forrestreid]

One thing that struck me about the report this week was the bit about how he claims there was basically no non-compete clause on the sale deal.

 

So, after selling the site for a lump of cash, he can, any time he is unhappy wit the pay or whatever, just leave and set up his own site the very next week?

 

Seems like a bit of a poison pill for the site, as it is so bound up with his personality, if the majority owner gets in a new guy to do the "New Stickman" column on the existing website, would people read that, or desert it for a new website run by the actual Stickman?

 

I feel the new majority owner was perhaps badly advised when purchasing...

 

That is of course if you can believe any of it!

[reader]

I'm not convinced yet. He could have simply said his goodbyes, if that had been his intention. Hinting at the possibility that a miracle might happen sounds a lot like he's "motivating" people to make it happen. Maybe his plan is to bring in another investor and to get rid of the current majority owner. That would make a lot of sense, considering that he and that majority owner don't get along well.

 

Alexx gets the cigar.  His prediction proved right on the money.  From this week's Stickman column:

 

"Today’s column is not the final Stickman column.  Talks have been taking place behind the scenes….and that’s all I can say about that at this stage.  I don’t wish to be coy and the truth is I really don’t know exactly what is happening myself.  As soon as I know more and things become clear, I’ll tell you."

[forrestreid]

Quite the player, is Stickman.

 

Imagine the majority shareholder blinked fairly quickly when he thought about what result would be if Stickman decided to retire.

 

If I was the majority owner, I would be trying to move to a situation where a revolving list of people did the column each week, instead of one man. We shall see.

[reader]

Stick has learned the ins and outs of Bangkok very well over the years while making more connections than AT&T. And he also knows his audience.  Maybe he'll consider giving the other side of tracks some attention?

 

Stranger things could happen in business matters.

[reader]

NOTE -- The last few paragraphs persuade me that we may have not seen the last of Stick yet.

 

Excerpts from Stickman Aug. 20 column

 

Today marks the end of this column and with it, the end of this site as you know it.  It comes at the end of what has been a very frustrating few weeks in which a deal to save this column could not be worked out.

 

This site has been such a big part of my life that I’m not sure quite how I feel about it all coming to an end.  Mixed feelings really.  Relief that I will no longer have a Sunday deadline to meet.  Disappointment in the totally unnecessary way it has ended.  Pride in what I have achieved.

 

I had no idea that what started almost 19 years ago as a bit of fun would grow in to a popular website with a large and loyal following.  But nothing is forever and everything has its day.  The time has come to say goodbye.

 

Rewinding back to 1998, I’d been living in Bangkok for 6 months when I bit the bullet and bought a computer.  That was an admission to myself that I would be sticking around for a while.  The original plan was to stay in Bangkok for a year, two tops.  I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would stay for 17 long years.

 

Back then our lives weren’t entwined with the online world in the same way they are today so you didn’t need a computer.  At the same time, stopping by an Internet café once or twice a week to check emails and read news from home wasn’t exactly convenient.

 

I loved the Bangkok lifestyle and enjoyed writing about my new life.  Emails came in from people all around the world as I came to realise that others liked my take on life in Bangkok and encouraged me to write more.

 

It was never about the money in the early days and for years I beavered away on this site without any financial reward.  It was a hobby and I did it entirely for fun.  The reward I got was the opportunity to exchange ideas with readers, many of whom I would go on to meet, some of whom would become good friends – and a few of whom I am still in regular contact with today.

 

There was a time when owning a bar in Thailand was a licence to print money.  Thaksin was in charge and business was booming.  Companies providing services to expats were opening every month and sentiment in expat circles was extremely positive.  Visitor numbers increased every year – and much of that increase was farangs.  The dollar, the pound and the Euro were all strong, and everyone was living large.  Just as it was a good time to be a bar owner, 2004 – 2008 was a golden period for Bangkok webmasters.  There was fun to be had and money to be made, lots and lots of money.  That really was a great time to be in Thailand.  I loved my life there and I really loved running this website.

 

Each week I would write the weekly column, and proof-read & publish 20 odd readers’ stories a week.  Each month I was carrying out on average 6 or 7 investigations, all of this while working full-time as a teacher.  Looking back, I don’t know how I managed it.

 

There were frequent trips to Pattaya to gather news and hang out with friends, and I made a point of meeting at least one new Stickman reader every week, someone I had never met before.  Those were the glory days of this site…good times, good friends, and very good money.

 

2010 was the turning point.  Readers’ submissions, the number of emails I received and advertising revenue all came off their highs – but all were all coming off such lofty highs that I was not at all concerned.  The combination of the effects of the global financial crisis, a change in visitor demographics and increased competition with more Bangkok-centric websites and forums meant that turning things around would be a challenge.  The peak might have passed, but life was still pretty good.

 

I do enjoy putting the column together from New Zealand.  I signed a contract that stipulated that I would continue to write the Stickman column and I would be paid for that.  The majority owner’s responsibilities were the technical side of the site and monetising it.  He did a tremendous job with the site technically and a lousy job generating revenue.  And that is why we are where we find ourselves today.

 

When the majority owner said that was no longer able to pay me, it was a deathblow.  In retrospect, I should have written my final column when he first told me, instead of writing The End Is Near and hanging on for a deal that would never eventuate.  As much as I like writing this column and running this site – and as willing as I am to continue with it – it’s too much work to do it for nothing.

 

There was talk of a deal being done with the site being sold and me staying on as an employee but a deal has not been reached.

I left Thailand almost 2 and a half years ago and while I have made various trips back to Bangkok, I am firmly ensconced in New Zealand.  Not being paid to write the column means, sadly, that there is not sufficient reason to continue.

 

This site has a large and loyal following and when I wrote 3 weeks ago that the end was near I received a massive number of emails from readers keen to see it continue.  And let me say it again, I am willing and able to keep it going.  But without payment, it’s too much time, too much effort and as such, this is the end.

 

I am not sure what will happen next.  The site will most likely stay online but there is a serious conversation that has to be had, copyright and contract issues that need to be discussed and I just don’t know what will come of it.

 

There is no grand finale column.  Maybe I’ll save that for a book.  Or maybe this is the end of Stickman entirely and I’ll never write another word as “Stick” after today.

 

To everyone who has tuned in over the years, whether you’ve been with me since the beginning or have been but an occasional visitor, thank you for being part of the Stickman community.

 

Your Bangkok commentator for the last time,

 

Stick

[PeterRS]

NOTE -- The last few paragraphs persuade me that we may have not seen the last of Stick yet.

Funny. I read it as exactly the opposite, other than the possibility of a book eventually.