Thinking of opening a Gay Bar

[Guest buckbee]

I've lived in Thailand for about 12 years and am thinking of opening a gay bar in the future. I've never owned a bar before and I know that its hard to make a bar successful in Thailand. There are so many that pop up and then close within a short period of time due to many factors. So, its important that I do lots of planning and get lots of suggestions and feed back from potential customers to make sure that it has every opportunity to be popular and sucessful

 

My thinking is that it needs to cater for a niche market to get regualr customers and the niche that Im considering is "Isarn Guys" "Farm Guys" or "Street Guys" or a combintion of all 3. So the guys would be darked skinned, tight jeans, tight undies (not boxer shorts lol) and tight tank tops with big dicks. Maybe Im dreaming lol but thats my perfect Thai guy However, I thnik that there are many others out there that adore this type of Thai guy

 

It would be a bar type setting with everyday Thai guys (mainly Isarn) mingling with guests in a very relaxed environment. All the staff would have the same uniform, tight jeans, tight undies and tight tank tops with a logo. Possibly a bamboo and tropical type theme for the bar

 

It may even be a good idea to take it a step further and make it a resort type set up in a secluded area, with a bar, small restaurant and bungalows where you can take a short holiday to relax and take time to choose the right guy for you after seeing them in a natural environment

 

So what do you think? Would you be interested in a bar like this? Does it cater for your needs? What would you like to see in a gay bar? The theme, the guys, the services? Also, if it was a resort, what distance would you be prepared to travel to visit something like this? Looking forward to heaps of great feedback and suggestions

[Guest buckbee]

An example of everyday good looking Isarn Guys that would work at the bar / resort

[Guest buckbee]

More

[Guest HeyGay]

How funny I

[Guest fountainhall]

I voted 'No' but only because I prefer a bit of variety. For me it's the boys that make the bar, not the theme. But I wish you lots of luck.

[Rogie]

I've lived in Thailand for about 12 years and am thinking of opening a gay bar in the future.

 

My thinking is that it needs to cater for a niche market to get regualr customers

 

It would be a bar type setting with everyday Thai guys

 

It may even be a good idea to take it a step further and make it a resort type set up in a secluded area, with a bar, small restaurant and bungalows

 

Also, if it was a resort, what distance would you be prepared to travel to visit something like this?

Heygay has already replied with a canter through the minefield you are contemplating navigating.

 

I've copied the gist of your thinking in my quote box.

 

I have no experience at all other than as a customer, and that is largely in the past tense as I seldom venture out any more. 12 years has to be a useful starting point but unless you have a history of business experience and are familiar with dealing with people under pressure and used to problem solving, I would not encourage you to open a bar. I thought the gentleman who posted recently about his intention to start a new Message Board was taking a big gamble (not in money terms but in his future stress level!) but your idea of opening a bar has me tearing my hair out just thinking about it! But then I always have been a safety first kind of guy; you really have to like taking risks or like the idea of doing so in order to even plonk your feet down on the starting blocks.

[Guest buckbee]

Hi thanks for the great feed back so far. Its certainly not something that I will be rushing into and some thing that wouldn't happen for the next year or so, as I'm not quite ready for it at the moment but want to start to do the research now. Obviously I will need to find a Thai familiar with the gay seen to assist me with the business. As HG suggested my main concern would be the police and kick backs, so it would be set up as a legit business. I wasn't thinking of Pattaya, more likely Isarn, Udon or Khon Khaen or even an emerging market in Laos or Cambodia

[Guest buckbee]

we were talking about a sheltered retirement accommodation, for active elderly gay guys

 

Excellent idea HG, has great potential, certainly a niche that hasn't been catered for yet. Sorta a retirement village / resort for older gay foreigners

[Guest buckbee]

Interesting, I just noticed that the poll is 4/4 for and against. Im just wondering if you are not into "everyday Thai guys" then what are you into or what type of Thai guys are you looking for? lol

[Guest]

I voted no.

 

I swiftly leave any bar with the type of guy you suggest, although the slimmer ones in your photos do sometimes appeal. Market forces have probably ensured the existing bars have the type of guy the customers want,

 

Also, in Thailand, I find the gogo format works better, as the guys often do not speak English well enough to make a host bar work. Not much fun sitting next to someone who can do 3 sentences in English. Remember, you do have to make allowances for customers who do not visit Thailand enough to justify learning the language.

 

The hookers in Laos and Cambodia seem to have a much better grasp of English.

 

Good luck with this venture, anyway.

[kokopelli]

The Bible says that God created Man in His own image; it seems you wish to create your staff in your own image of what constitutes the perfect Thai guy. For me, diversity is more divine.

I don't know what the demand for any type of gay bar is in Issan?

[pong]

I don't know what the demand for any type of gay bar is in Issan?

There are so few of them in that area-notably only Udorn-due to its history, that any conclusion would fail. Probably also indicates that demand is infinitely small. There are a few more gay venues in big cities, Like KhKhaen, Ubol, Khorat, more the KaraOK/Disco or sauna. Isan people want cheap, low prices and lots of fun=cheap booze. If they have to shock up, they most likely want hi-so in their opinion, thus white skin, non-tipical Isan.

I refrain from voting, as I also hardly have been into any gay bar since 5-6 yrs. have looked plenty of times into them, notably soi Hotmail, but the boring allways thesame and shocking prices barred me. Slowly slowly all the bars are dying, the least so in Pattaya though, and get replaced by the instant-s.x providers disguised as massageshops. Nonetheless agree with all above me: the very best of success with your venture. And thanks for the nice pix. If reviews after opening are so positive, I might even change idea and pop in. Always open for new or interesting possibilities. Maybe in visit 2 I might even bring in my old dearest best friend from Sakorn Nakorn.

[KhorTose]

I too voted No. Diversity of staff will bring in more customers. The more customers you have the greater your chance of success. It sounds more like your want to build your fantasy, rather then build a business.

[Guest luvthai]

Only open a bar if you want a hobby but do not open the bar if your lookin to make money to live on. If you have a large bank roll behind you and can afford the loss then ok. At best most break even.

[Guest fountainhall]

At best most break even.

I wonder why that is? I know some reasons have been given in earlier posts - including pong's suggestion that massage shops are taking over. I can well understand that if sex is uppermost in a customer's mind. I also accept that the rise of social networking/dating sites and the annual peaks and troughs of the tourist business certainly don't help.

 

But it is obvious that there are posters/visitors/residents who do visit bars on a reasonably regular basis for more than just immediate or eventual sexual gratification. I have a regular outing with a farang friend when we are looking for a drink, the company of a nice barguy or two, and the occasional slap-and-tickle - in, I hasten to add, its older sense of playful caressing and not anything more nakedly obvious . Since 'offs' are the prime raison d'etre of the bar in question, though, we compensate by ensuring we buy several drinks for the guys and tip accordingly.

 

So what makes one bar more popular than others? The boys? Drink prices? Service? Ambience? Location?

 

In my limited view, it's a mix of drink prices and the boys themselves. If we can have a fun time for an hour or two at a reasonable price where we're not hassled, we're basically quite happy!

[Guest]

<br>So what makes one bar more popular than others? The boys? Drink prices? Service? Ambience? Location?

<br><br>For me, maybe boys & service, as long as the drink prices are not <i>too</i> bad.   There's no point  in going to a gogo bar full of hairy tatood staff, if the dancers are not attractive (to me). Much better to either select a bar with cute staff, or if drinking is your objective (why?), select a bar with cheap beer.<br> <br><br>Bars do not look like the best way to make money. Lots of staff, often few customers, random "policing" costs etc.   However, I am grateful for people who make the effort to keep some of the finest gogo & host bars in the world open.<br><br>

[Guest]

So what makes one bar more popular than others? The boys? Drink prices? Service? Ambience? Location?

 

For me, maybe boys & service, as long as the drink prices are not too bad. There's no point in going to a gogo bar full of hairy tatood staff, if the dancers are not attractive (to me). Much better to either select a bar with cute staff, or if drinking is your objective (why?), select a bar with cheap beer.

 

 

Bars do not look like the best way to make money. Lots of staff, often few customers, random "policing" costs etc. However, I am grateful for people who make the effort to keep some of the finest gogo & host bars in the world open.

[Guest thaiworthy]

I am in Bangkok at the moment, and I can honestly say that Balcony Bar and Telephone are among the most well-known venues noted for their ability to make monkey.

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

As a former hotelier who has watched many local businesses fail at Penang's beach area, I would suggest that you did some thorough research and found out exactly what percentage of the clientele in a bar of the sort you plan, comprises foreigners and locals.

 

Do remember that if you are thinking of depending on visiting foreigners, then you have to remember that they are seasonal travellers who are looking for sensation. That means even with a properly planned marketing campaign and show there will be months when your takings are going to depend on the locals and residents farang. Can you cater to their preferences well enough for them to support your business when the tourist buses slow down to a few a week?

 

What do people walking into gay bars really want? Cheap booze? Boys? Shows? Who would go for the kind of boys you plan to have? Are there enough of such customers to provide you with a reliable and viable income for at least three years running?

 

With the type of guys you plan to have, what percentage of potential customers can you hope to attract against the competition? Do you know enough about local preferences - and the preferences of potential customer segments to make your product an attractive and viable one?

 

What kind of people are coming to Pattaya - European? Asian? Australian? American? Which parts of those continents and what are their general preferences in terms of cultural and social prejudices? Don't forget sex is a highly personalised preference influenced by more than just hormones.

[pong]

further to what khun FH and now the gentleman Xian from south of the border said: I well have fond memories of various bars in BKK and ChMai -and in fact Pattaya too, first even Boyztown (maybe even before they started labelling them as such) and then Sunee, and this was due to the FUN factor. GoGo is not fun-it gets pretty boring very soon. Ditto for the shows that all bars copycat from one another. Might also explain the continuing success of telefone and across in soi 4. That you were made very welcome even if you did not take off, that jokes were made, in short: where westerners would go for a bar too as back home, without the money being all too obvious. Or: like the Lamsalee and OToKo bars here in BKK work like-but for young Thai and all that comes with that: overloud music, table dancing, these ''sets'' of nasty cheap wiskee, the obsession with beauty=-white skin.

It seems that the slowly but surely dying of gogobars and less growth of massageshops is the least so in Pattaya-and that must surely come due to its holidaying public, which cannot be categorsied very easily.

[Guest ronthai]

All tho I do not think I am in need of a resort, since I live here, note that a resort will ONLY be dependent on holiday gays, unless it is very close by to other gay scenes where us expats also go to.

 

I do know a very successfull bar (with resort options) and recommened you have a look there. I personally have only been there once with some friends, since it is a straight bar (girls), but I liked the concept and wish someone would open something simular for gays.

 

It is called Kinnery (hope I spelled it wright). Location is between SOI 4 and 5 going up the hill in Jomtien (I think Soi 5 goes to Asia Hotel) So (coming from Jomtien Beach) turn left at the traffic lights towards the hill and take Soi 4 or 5. On Soi 5 are some bars and you can ask anyone there for more directions.

 

It is open daily from early afternoon (13.00-14.00) till about 8-10 evening. Many girls are freelance also (daytime), because it gives them extra income.

[Guest ronthai]

Forgot to say, the boys are certainly my types, so I hope you will be opening something.

 

Also maybe consider a one or two hours (daily - mandatory) English class at the bar for the boys, before opening.

 

Plenty of thais out there who can teach them simple english for a few thousand baht per month.

[Guest]

Also maybe consider a one or two hours (daily - mandatory) English class at the bar for the boys, before opening.

 

I agree. They can carry on learning English after the bar opens too.

Of course expats resident in Thailand can always learn a bit of the language, but for those of us still working in other countries, if we visit several other countries a year on business etc, learning Thai isn't always the no 1 priority.

[Guest ronthai]

I agree. They can carry on learning English after the bar opens too.

Of course expats resident in Thailand can always learn a bit of the language, but for those of us still working in other countries, if we visit several other countries a year on business etc, learning Thai isn't always the no 1 priority.

I speak some Thai and even follow a 4 hours p/w ed-visa course. The problem is tho that most boys will not understand our Thai anyway and we (I) definitely do not understand them for the most part due to accents and to fast talking (and/or too much drinking).

 

Anyway it is good for the boys too to learn English and it gives us farangs also something to do in the bar with the boys by helping them. It is fun and humorous.

[ChristianPFC]

(No vote - question to long/complex.)

 

I dislike tight fitting trousers. But I like tight fitting shirts. I prefer tight fitting underwear (or rather exactly fitting, like a second skin or painted on the skin) over boxer shorts.