What do boys do with their money?

[12is12]

Out of curiosity and maybe compassion:

Do most of them need it for basic living?

Do they waste much of it short-sightedly?

Do they support their families?

Do they save for a rainy day and/or for personal development?

 

Standard 1500-2000 baht for a ST - what can a boy buy with it?

How much is rent, food, transportaion for them?

 

Assuming a boy is offed almost once a day,

1500 x 25 = 37,500 a month

Does that make him locally 'rich'?

[zoomy02]

One off a day would make him well off. I have known lads not having an off for 2 weeks ish. Four offs a week would be seen as very livable but hard to achieve for many. The men I know are similar to this: rent, maybe 3 men to a room at 5,600 a month total. Food, maybe 3200 a month. Taxis might be 3000 a month, as cheap rooms may be far from work. The non Thai lads need 2000 to do the visa run. Help for the family at home when they can. Police fines can be a problem eg. for overstay. Health costs for non Thai men. Smoking, tattoos and casino for some may be the 'wasteful' expenses but I can hardly talk with the money I spend on men. 

[Guest]

I think it varies.    Over a large sample of boys, I have encountered them spending on ALL of the following.

1    One or more phones.   Many buy something sensible like an Oppo.   Others splash out on the top of the range Samsung models.   The ~$1000 type with curved screens which are difficult to protect, so the screens get cracked within a few weeks (in the possession of a bar boy).

2   Drinking and clubbing

3  Clothes

4  Gambling

5  Drugs

6 Breast implants

7 Hair cuts etc

8 Tattoos

9  Supporting parents, paying off the loan on the parents car (which a lad really should not have to do)

10  Taxis (for journeys that even I manage to do on foot or by public transport)

11  A motorcycle

12  Saving it (rare)

13   Accommodation (3 to a room)

14   I've also received messages on Line using the "paid for" Emojis.    So presumably some money has been spaffed up against the wall here too.

 

A typical tip might be the equivalent of 4 days minimum wage.     

Some lads might not get offed very frequently & others get 2 or more offs in an evening at peak season.   Those who look good, keep themselves well groomed and treat the customers well enough to get repeat deserve the success.   

So despite the ones who are successful earning a multiple of the daily minimum wage, I imagine only a small percentage have significant savings by the time they finish with the profession. 

I haven't seen evidence of any of them reading books such as "Think and Grow Rich" or anything which advises on how to manage, accumulate and invest money.

 

One lad did take a genuine interest in how I managed to retire early.    I think my advice to always save a percentage of your income did not fall entirely on deaf ears.

 

 

[Boy69]

I can devide the boys working on the bar scene to  3 main groups :

1. Temporary job - the boy is doing this as a part time job has another regular job,or he's a student or between jobs till he finds proper job or finish his studies.

2. Poor background- the boy come from poor family without proper education or skills and choose to work in the sex industry hoping to make good money .

3. The lazy - The boy is very lazy can not work in regular hard working job and looking for the easy good life the option to make in a short time with a client the amount he can earn on 3 hard labour days on regular job is appealing to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vinapu]

It would be nice to know what our members do with their money assuming anything is left after whoring in Thailand.  

[kokopelli]

7 hours ago, Boy69 said:

I can devide the boys working on the bar scene to  3 main groups :

 

3. The lazy - The boy is very lazy can not work in regular hard working job and looking for the easy good life the option to make in a short time with a client the amount he can earn on 3 hard labour days on regular job is appealing to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lazy is not the best choice of words to describe the situation you present above.

Entrepreneurial, ambitious and enterprising are more apt.

[reader]

14 hours ago, z909 said:

 

I haven't seen evidence of any of them reading books such as "Think and Grow Rich" or anything which advises on how to manage, accumulate and invest money.

Don’t see many farangs reading it, either.

Like the boys, their minds may be occupied with other interests.

[DivineMadman]

Most of the guys I know send money home.  

It really doesn't require much of a mental effort to think about circumstances the guys come from.  

Young guys from Cambodia are the children (or in some cases grandchildren) of Khmer Rouge survivors.  Imagine the circumstances in Cambodia when they were born 22-25 years ago and that their families live in even now.  I know many are sending money home to build the first livable homes for their family and are sending their younger brothers and sisters to school.  

If you take some time out from the pleasure domes and get to know some of the Myanmar guys, you will find out much the same.  Many guys are from villages where even now there is no electricity.  Spend some time talking and you might find out that waiter serving you spent his time as a stateless Akha family, quite literally foraging for food in the forest.

The same is all true Laos guys and the Vietnamese guys.  I (and others here) know a Laos guy who came from a family with no land, so he actually bought a home for his family.  A lot of Laos guys will remember when their villages first got electricity.  

I think all of us who the spend the time really hanging out with these guys, in non-sexual situations even (gasp!), respect them and their commitment to family.  The idea that they're going to say "no, I'm not going to send my mom 2,000 baht this month because I'm going to invest in a mutual fund" is just nonsense.  Setting aside money as savings is a luxury these guys and their families just don't have.

Definitely they're young guys.  They want nice shiny phones and some nice freshly-torn jeans.  And there are some guys (a few) who even have motorbikes, etc.  I certainly don't begrudge them that.  I have a lot of sympathy for what they put up with, so let them have their joys.  

People who spend -- objectively speaking -- a lot of money to fly around the world to come to Thailand or Cambodia or wherever to PAY to have sex with young guys who otherwise wouldn't want to have sex with them really cannot claim some sort fiscal prudence superiority.  

Not everyone has extra cash to be generous with their money.  But there's no excuse not to have generosity of spirit.

[12is12]

Divine, I am not sure at whom you were hinting, but I posed the question precisely in order to read your discription.

I tip more when there's social justice involved. It's my way to contribute to the redistribution of wealth between the 1st and 3rd worlds.

Cavaet: not sure how to know when/if all stories are true.

[DivineMadman]

29 minutes ago, 12is12 said:

Divine, I am not sure at whom you were hinting, but I posed the question precisely in order to read your discription.

I tip more when there's social justice involved. It's my way to contribute to the redistribution of wealth between the 1st and 3rd worlds.

Cavaet: not sure how to know when/if all stories are true.

I just rant.  Certainly not aimed at you.  Feel free to ignore.

Personally, I don't think any of us needs to say that each interaction with the guys is a pity party and you or I or anyone should throw money at the guys like some grand wealth redistribution plan.  (Not that I am saying that is what you are saying you would do. )  There's dignity and respect in paying a fair price for services.  Instead, the cautionary note is none of us should think that the guys will really just waste the money anyway, so cheapness is really justified.   Sometimes I worry that some customers have almost a resentment towards the guys - maybe because they have to pay?? - and that resentment then leads to a pervasive thinking that the guys are [insert any one of a number of negative adjectives].  

As to the stories - If someone starts telling me a sob story I just tune it out.  That's why I say I think it takes time to get to know the guys and then it's just more natural to learn their stories.

[12is12]

NO chance I'll ignore the DIVINE you.

[Londoner]

I too find the convenient cynicism of a minority of punters disheartening. I learned a lot from P when we met in 2003  and from his friends, too.  Firstly, that the imperative- both religious and social- to send money to parents was overwhelming  and that some guys would prefer to go hungry than fail in this responsibility. Secondly, that the guys looked after each other and so if one was going through a bad time in terms of "offs", his friends would take care of him.

It may be that things have change on the scene now  and I suspect that some of the more popular guys in the big Bangkok bars where Chinese clients are dominant are doing very well nowadays. However, in the period when I was  a punter, the one way out of the industry and the achievement of  relative comfort was to find a falang (or falangs) who' go the extra mile in terms of support.

[Jasper]

4 hours ago, DivineMadman said:

I know many are sending money home to build the first livable homes for their family and are sending their younger brothers and sisters to school.  

Many are sending money home not only to their parents and grandparents but also to their own children.

Many gogo boys do not tell customer about their own kids as they know some find it off-putting.

It’s not unusual to have a child when he is 16-17 years old in Thailand.

I learned recently even a twink has a kid back home.

[Guest]

Just for the record, my list was a genuine attempt to remember all the things I've seen bar boys spending money on, so no attempt at filtering anything out.

Perhaps it's just the type of lad I meet, but I haven't yet met any who admitted to buying land or keeping children.

Racking my brains further:

15 Studying. There was one Khmer lad who was studying in Phnom Penh and visiting Pattaya during the holidays.    Away from Pattaya, I meet quite a few of students.

16 Saving. Many years ago, there was one who would always put the first 1000 of his long time tip in the bank, first thing after leaving my room in the morning.  

17 Hormones.

 

As for what Farang spend their money on, here is my expenditure breakdown for one month of my last trip.  This does include time in Bangkok, Cambodia and Pattaya.    The whoring costs were lower in Cambodia, due mainly to free fun at the sauna.  Also, the overall trip was several months, so that means the percentage spent on boys is lower than for a short trip.    Massage is for fees to the shop only.    Any tips are in the MB tip section.   Sauna entry fees come under "Social Life" & at $3 a time in Cambodia, don't exactly break the bank.   

The figures are for spend only & I'm certainly not spending every penny available to me.

[Guest]

delete

 

[colmx]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 4:06 PM, z909 said:

I think it varies.    Over a large sample of boys, I have encountered them spending on ALL of the following.

1    One or more phones.   Many buy something sensible like an Oppo.   Others splash out on the top of the range Samsung models.   The ~$1000 type with curved screens which are difficult to protect, so the screens get cracked within a few weeks (in the possession of a bar boy).

2   Drinking and clubbing

3  Clothes

 

From my experience these 3 are definitely in the top 5, the likes NAB and Sinlapin Issan are full most nights with Bar boys spending their hard earned cash

As others have posted money to parents probably also makes the top 5

The one thing that's missing from all posts so far is, that they spend it on other MoneyBoys or Bargirls

They get their 1500-2000 ST tip and then blow 500-1500 on a Karaoke boy or Bar girl. This after market is how so many karaoke and after hours host bars can survive

[lotus123]

One of my first regulars, who worked at Twilight 20 years ago, used to tell me proudly every time he'd saved enough to buy another water buffalo for the family farm. Purchasing farm land or paying off back taxes on land already owned by the guy or his family is another expense that I've heard about more than once. An American female friend, one of the rare farang women frequenting the bars, couldn't understand at first why her in-laws (she married a barboy who was a close friend of my ex) kept giving them plot after plot of land. Eventually she realized that by making the plots over to her husband his relations were escaping tax debt. She paid every time, of course. Nearly 20 years on, it's finally paid off. She and hubby have recently been able to sell a lot of the land at a profit. 

[Gaybutton]

On 11/6/2019 at 6:04 PM, 12is12 said:

Assuming a boy is offed almost once a day,

1500 x 25 = 37,500 a month

Does that make him locally 'rich'?

That may have been the case years ago, but it hasn't been that way for a very long time.  These days the boys are lucky to be offed at all.  It's a little difficult to get offed if the bars are virtually devoid of customers or the customers that do come no longer spend as much money as they used to due to the strong baht.  That's one of the reasons so many of them have turned to the apps in hopes of getting a few customers here and there.

Times have changed in the bars, and for the boys the changes have not been good.  Most of the boys are lucky if working in the bars brings them enough money to barely survive.

I doubt there are any boys anymore who make 1500 x 25 = 37,500 a month.  It just doesn't happen.  Even in the "golden years" of the bars, it rarely happened to other than the few most popular boys.

 

[Gaybutton]

15 hours ago, DivineMadman said:

none of us should think that the guys will really just waste the money anyway, so cheapness is really justified

Absolutely right.  What the boy does with the money is nobody's business but his own.  I can't think of any job where how much the payee should receive is based upon what the payer thinks he will do with the money. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I don't understand farang who spend a lot of money just on airfare alone going to Thailand, stay in nice hotels, enjoy good food in expensive restaurants, drink as if the world will end tomorrow, and then try to justify giving as little as they can get away with to the boys.  And meanwhile the boys are the reason these same farang go to Thailand in the first place.

If you don't want to pay these boys 1000 to 1500 baht, which is a hell of a lot less than you would pay anywhere else, for what they do for you, then stay home and masturbate to a porn site.

[reader]

Judging by what I’ve observed—and practiced—at Luckyboys and others places, the incremental red notes the guys collect in tips are becoming an ever increasing share of their overall income. 

They realize that they can easily cover their daily living expenses (food, transportation and time with friends after work) by sitting with a handful of customers and sharing small talk and some physical contact for short periods. 

It’s a win-win for all concerned. The customer gets a nice experience (and the opportunity to interview different guys), the bar gets the drink income and the boy gets tips—and a possible off on a return visit. 

No, it doesn’t provide same same financial punch that a ST offers but it does cover some costs.

Waiters long ago figured this out and acquire a more consistent income along with the possibility of the occasional off.

And for me at least it’s a lot more entertaining than scanning through the on-line offerings.

 

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

 What the boy does with the money is nobody's business but his own. 

length of this thread proves otherwise

[Jasper]

8 hours ago, reader said:

Judging by what I’ve observed—and practiced—at Luckyboys and others places, the incremental red notes the guys collect in tips are becoming an ever increasing share of their overall income. 

That’s true.

Although Luckyboys waiter’s monthly salary is only 4,000 baht, a cute twink waiter apparently earned 60,000 baht recently, his best month ever, by tips in the bar and ST offs.

 

[12is12]

Should I assume waiters are for offing?

Should I feel free to ask?

 

PS

That's the kind of exceptional 'rich' potential I was asking about, when I opened this thread.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

I doubt there are any boys anymore who make 1500 x 25 = 37,500 a month.  It just doesn't happen. 

I expect the AVERAGE lad doesn't make 37500 a month.  

However,  I am virtually certain that the best of them make more than this during high season.    I've seen some leave a bar with a client and then return to the same bar 45 minutes later, so they are ready for more business.  

To make lots of money in this game, they need to be good looking, behave well with clients and deliver enough service to get repeat offs.  They need to keep themselves in good shape & groom well.   Then go where the money is.    

One example I can think of used to work in Cupidol.    He now works in Bangkok, just on phone apps.  He has good photos, is cute, slim, free from tattoos and nicely groomed.  He provides good service, insists on at least 1500 short time and seems to be getting at least 2 clients per day during peak season.   His Gaydar seems to work & before I offed him for the first time, he had already introduced himself in the street before I even checked into the hotel.    

Having moved to Bangkok, he is somewhere where the average tip levels are that bit higher.   I suspect there are more customers in Bangkok.

 

As for whether it's any of our business to know what they spend it on,  well of course everyone has the right to privacy.   However, if people want to discuss such things, then that is also OK.

 

25 minutes ago, 12is12 said:

Should I assume waiters are for offing?

Should I feel free to ask?

You definitely should feel free to ask if waiters are available to be offed.     Certainly some of them are available. 

[spoon]

The muscular popular one did told me he can make onwards 120k baht a month on high season. This of course includes multiple long time and multiple day trips he went with customer that month. But yes this is probably top 1% of the boys there, in other word toward the end extreme. On the other hand, one very popular latin/europe rentmen told that he got 6 customer in one of his best day here, while charging usd250 an hour. So yeah, like any other work, the popular super hot ones in the prime time can definitely earn a fortune.