Another 9-TEEN Massage

[floridarob]

Sign just going up tonight, Soi Tarntawan on same side as new Tawan, a few door before it, coming from Surawong.

I thought it was the place where the coffee shop was , but told otherwise.

 

[ichigo]

Gosh! Is this number 4 now? Business must be booming

[jason1975]

Good location though. Near to Quarter Silom

[vinapu]

looks like they try to monopolize whole soi which soon will be called 'soi 9-teen"

[PeterRS]

5 hours ago, ichigo said:

Gosh! Is this number 4 now? Business must be booming

This surely helps to confirm the general preference of most gay Asian tourists for massage rather than attending gogo bars.

[macaroni21]

7 hours ago, ichigo said:

Gosh! Is this number 4 now? Business must be booming

Every time I visit Bangkok, I will have occasion to walk Soi 6, on which 9-teen's second and third branches are located. I often find myself walking past the first branch facing Silom Road too.

None of their branches is busy. A customer is just as likely to be walking into Maha, Climax, Relax Thai or Paradise as to any of the 9-teens.

The only shop that, whenever I walk past, I almost always see customers entering or leaving, is Prime.

There is some other reason for the proliferation of 9-teens than booming business. The question is: what is that reason?

 

[macaroni21]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

This surely helps to confirm the general preference of most gay Asian tourists for massage rather than attending gogo bars.

9-teen is not a good example (as mentioned above) but I agree with you regarding Asian tourists. The big issues are price and performance. In the Saphan Khwai  and Onnut areas, the shops take a few hundred baht and the boys expect 1000 to 1500. Performance may be uneven, but they are seldom horribly bad. 

In the Silom-Surawong areas, the shops take something in the upper hundreds and the boys expect perhaps 1500. Performance generally good too.

From the bars, expect to pay for your drink, boy's drink, off fee and mamasan tip (total already 1500 or more) before you even leave the bar. Then expect to pay 2500 - 3000 to the boy. Performance is wildly variable from fantastic to hopeless.

I am sure that's a big reason why the bars are struggling. 

And more so when the Asian market is a far bigger market than farang.

[macaroni21]

Even when the customer goes to the more upscale massage places like Jey Spa, Prince, S'sense, V-club or Glam's, the outlay is still less than the bars. Perhaps 1000-1500 to the shop and 2000-2500 to the boy.

[macaroni21]

As Soi 6/Soi Tarntawan becomes more of a massage hub, there lies a business opportunity for the reinvention of The One. 

Rename itself The Big One. Remake itself into a massage parlour - you need only about 6-8 staff to make a go of it, unlike a bar that needs 15 boys to look interesting. 

Specialise in big, muscular boys doing massage.

Once no longer a gogo bar, I presume big sums of under-the-table money need not be paid.

[spoon]

I have to agree that many young asians prefer to have fun with masseurs. Many comes to thailand, staying in hostels or with their friends to save cost of accommodation, so having fun in massage place is easier too, as they dont really have a place to host at their hotel. And it is more cost effective. 

For me, bar is still my main choice of getting my guys, simply because I have higher success in getting guy back to my hotel for a long time session. 

[jason1975]

4 hours ago, vinapu said:

looks like they try to monopolize whole soi which soon will be called 'soi 9-teen"

"Soi 9-teen" is hilarious! But definitely easy to remember 

[jason1975]

2 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

As Soi 6/Soi Tarntawan becomes more of a massage hub, there lies a business opportunity for the reinvention of The One. 

Rename itself The Big One. Remake itself into a massage parlour - you need only about 6-8 staff to make a go of it, unlike a bar that needs 15 boys to look interesting. 

Specialise in big, muscular boys doing massage.

Once no longer a gogo bar, I presume big sums of under-the-table money need not be paid.

Good idea!

[PeterRS]

I sometimes ask friends around Asia why it is that they have little interest in gogo bars, preferring instead saunas, massage spas and discos. I can't say I have any definite conclusion that has not already been discussed. @spoon makes the good point that many Asian visitors come in groups and so they get involved in their evening entertainment as a group. A couple have said they just do not like the concept of a gogo bar which, for them, can be hit or miss enjoyment-wise and as much on the wallet, especially if they are in the bar with their group. Others find them boring, having little interest in ladyboy lip-syncing and cocks on display. They can see the latter in the saunas more easily and cheaply. Trying to distill their various answers, I'd suggest that to a certain extent of the three mentioned in my first sentence, each individual patron can relatively easily make his own choice, whereas in a gogo bar the choice is dependent on the type of bar they enter and often types of guys in whom they are less interested. So bars can mean an expensive waste. Just impressions.

[TMax]

I'm one of those that are not too keen on the bars, I don't mind the beer bars for a drink or two but not the show bars and I very much prefer the massage shops for a quick spot of fun. 

[bkkmfj2648]

3 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

Rename itself The Big One.

I was hoping that you intended the renaming to:

 

The BIG One

 

as in the size of their appendages 🍆🍆

[bkkmfj2648]

23 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

Trying to distill their various answers, I'd suggest that to a certain extent of the three mentioned in my first sentence, each individual patron can relatively easily make his own choice, whereas in a gogo bar the choice is dependent on the type of bar they enter and often types of guys in whom they are less interested.

Interesting dilemma when the Asian norm is "collectivism". 

But the above statement implies that "individualism" applies when making his "own choice" in the man that is going to satisfy his (Asian) sexual desires.

It is nice to learn that "individualism" has a place in a "collectivist" society.

[PeterRS]

4 minutes ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

It is nice to learn that "individualism" has a place in a "collectivist" society.

Surely it is actually quite obvious. Individuals can equally have their own specific choices even though when as part of a group, it is group thinking that takes over. If in a group X wants to visit a gogo bar and Y and Z prefer to go to a disco, in a western mindset one would go his way and two to theirs. We sometimes seem to forget that for many Asians, especially younger Asians, travelling in a group, a group consensus is usually more important. 

In another sense, thank goodness for individualism even in a "collectivist" society. Without it, in a spa we'd all want the same masseur and in a gogo bar to off the same guy!

[ichigo]

4 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

Rename itself The Big One. Remake itself into a massage parlour - you need only about 6-8 staff to make a go of it, unlike a bar that needs 15 boys to look interesting. 

A good idea, and not so far out of their comfort zone either - after all, Tawan, when it was across the soi used to do massages. I remember randomly getting a foot massage there during the day a number of years ago.

[Raposa]

My immediate reaction was: does the area really need another 9-teen massage? The prime massage is the only one that stands out in that it is popular and have a clear concept (you go there for massage not HE). The others blend into each other as their value proposition is the same, and quite frankly you can find better offers elsewhere. 

[spoon]

There has been report that u cant really choose masseur in 9-teen massage. Is this still true? If it is, i guess thats somehow sets it apart from some other massage places in soi 6. And i believe, 9-teen massage has higher chances of getting offered HE

[Raposa]

1 minute ago, spoon said:

There has been report that u cant really choose masseur in 9-teen massage. Is this still true? If it is, i guess thats somehow sets it apart from some other massage places in soi 6. And i believe, 9-teen massage has higher chances of getting offered HE

I believe they operate on a rotational system like most of the parlours in the area, however I would like to be proven wrong here. It is possible to book a guy prior to session at Relax Thai massage on the same street. They will send you pics on Line.

[macaroni21]

3 hours ago, jason1975 said:

"Soi 9-teen" is hilarious! But definitely easy to remember 

Until some folks actually make their way to Silom Soi 19... and then wonder why there aren't massage parlours there.

( Or maybe there are, but staffed by middle aged women).

Won't be so hilarious to them.

[macaroni21]

2 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

 

Interesting dilemma when the Asian norm is "collectivism"

Is it really the norm? Or is it just a stereotype that westerners carry with them?

Having spent much of my working life running around various businesses and countries in Asia, I have seen a lot of individualism.

Also, there are huge differences between the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Thais and Indonesians - countries I am quite familiar with. I would rather not homogenise any impression of them. The japanese, Thais and Indonesians tend to be more self-effacing, the Chinese and Koreans can be blunt. The Thais and Indonesians incorporate social status considerations a lot into the way they speak. The others... not so much. 

One reason for the stereotype may arise from the language habits in many Asian cultures, where people tend to be more sensitive to others' feelings even when expressing disagreement. While fellow speakers of the language can read the subtle disagreement, I have seen my western colleagues completely deaf to the fierce argument that was going on behind the pleasant words!

[bkkmfj2648]

30 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

Is it really the norm? Or is it just a stereotype that westerners carry with them?

Interesting to hear you say this.

When I worked for a very large international organization - in our Budapest office - one of our many managers that were sent to us to manage our team - she was directly from Malaysia (Chinese Malay) and she constantly DRILLED into our heads that us Westerners needed to be sensitive to our Asian clients, as she kept saying that their culture is one of collectivism and group think and that we should not confuse it with our culture of individualism and individual thinking.

Then when I moved to Thailand - what I have observed is large groups of various Asian nationalities meandering the streets of Thailand either in large groups or in bus caravans with a tour guide.  Whereas, the Westerners that I observed were rarely in large groups or in bus caravans with a tour guide.

 

[Raposa]

hmm seems you can now book masseurs directly with the shop. 

Of the guys they have I would recommend Mr. Tan (hunky, vers but not pictured below.) He has got experience from Ssense, the Adam and Men Club in Sukhumvit.