Shepherding a FOB
Posted by sideshowBOB | Reader Submissions | Posted on August 28th, 2007
AK to the HK called the other day and said his buddy from NY was coming to town and needed some guidance. Who am I to turn away a FOB? We set up a meeting time and planned to make plans at the Mango. He was somewhat overwhelmed with the weather, the chaos and wondering where to go and what to do. I tried to make it easy on him by cutting out the crap and getting down to business. I am sure he is still reeling from it all. 
Before we talk about the evening that ensued I will disclose my FOB tactics. First I decide if they want to skip over the go-go/bargirl scene or do they want to see it. I can perfectly accept someone deciding to skip the bargirl scene and head straight to normal bars and clubs. I have no issues with someone being honest with me by stating they don’t want to be ruined. I can deal with that better than guys who venture into the game but badmouth or talk down to it at every turn. That bugs me a hell of a lot more. So we decided that since he only had 2 days in Bangkok and the rest of his time would be in less exciting places in SE Asia that we would jump right in. Mr. FOB – I apologize now if I have done anything to thwart your personal space time continuum but I warned u.
So we fueled up in the Mango and deciding the best course of action was to kick things off in Cowboy. Not having been to the go-gos in a while I was stoked. Side note – I must have ran into about 7 elephants last night and I have no idea what that means other than the FOB that there were more elephants in downtown Bkk than most city zoos.
Okay. First stop was Baccarat. The newly remodeled one. Not much visible difference other than it is bigger since having taken over the bar next door. They redid a lot of the back bar and it all looks nice. I wish they had taken the chance to build a better stage with better seating but that would be asking too much. Baccarat is a great place for newbies when it comes to comfort, amount of girls, decent music and a chance to play peek-a-boo with the bald taco but I always keep the newbie from pulling there. Pulling from Baccarat is for experienced professionals or people looking to ST. I was trying to hook the FOB up with a long baller. I did not go upstairs so I do not know how the remodel affected the 2nd story.
We exited the big red B to get over to the Wong – Suzie Wong’s that is. U all should know why by now since it is the home of one of the best go-go shows in Thailand. The famed lesbian show. I was a little concerned that with it being a Monday and all that they might not have the show but I was assured that although it would only be a 4 girl show, been six lately, that there would be a show. And there was. 4 girls. 2 of the regulars and 2 new ones. The new girls were not as polished with their technique but they made up for it with their enthusiasm. They kept going after the song ended and I was expecting the mamasan to throw some water on them to break their – “embrace”. That show always works. One buddy barfined one of the girls in the show and the FOB moved forward with another girl who was sitting with him during the show. That was quick!
Buddy #1 off to short time and I escorted the FOB and his girl to Long Gun. For some reason girls never mind going to Long Gun. They like the shows and the talent. Given FOB wanted to see some more action I figured LG was a safe bet. LG has changed things up a little. They still got the Patpong shows but for a FOB this was some amazing staff. So from a business perspective I get why they do it but I don’t like it. During the main show when the girls crazy dance and get naked they now have about 8 dancers and the girls spread out to dance on top of the counters in front of customers. I like it. I was thinking of covering my drink when the girl at my table danced sans underwear but when I confirmed she was freshly shaved I decided to take my chances. I was too busy looking to drink anyway. We had a good time there. I left FOB and went on my way.
I did notice a few things on Cowboy. Our place is all decked out and looks just like the other bars by the same owner but with a different sign. One would think with all the money he is spending that the owner might try for some differentiation but no – same lighting, same colors and same setup. Rather a big letdown. I did not bother going in so the lighting is not helping much.
The small Irish pub across from the Wong is closed up for remodeling. I think it will be the same deal as before but newly updated.
Then I noticed that Cowboy 1 is closed. Also Cowboy 2 looked way dead and the signage above Cowboy 1, Spice Girls and Cowboy 2 has all been removed. Maybe they are going to combine these bars together and call it Spice Cowboy but using the same lighting as Our Place. Real winner. Please. I guess the scaling up of the go-go scene had to happen given how Bkk has gotten more expensive across the board. The small bars just can’t turn a buck is my guess. I don’t mind the trend if there is some thought put into it but if the Our Place and Spanky bars are a model than I am not looking forward to it.
cya
16 Responses to “Shepherding a FOB”
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Recent Comments
Translator
NEP tour tonight then? How about the following itinerary…
Big Mango
Mandarin
Rainbow 4
Angelwitch
Rainbow 3
Mercury
Cascade
Playschool
Nana Disco
View all comments by Combover
Spice Girls owner has definitely bought Cowboy 1, and is combining them. Keeping the “Spice Girls name. Cowboy 2 is news to me, but not surprised. I heard the Irish pub was going to be turned into a ladyboy or gay bar, but find that hard to believe.
@Combover: You’ll never get Smitty into Angelwitch. Many have tried, all have failed. I’d skip Cascade and Playschool, maybe work Pretty Lady in there…
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
I know who bought the irish joint and I think the plan on keeping it a pub but I could be wrong. Will find out.
I did happen to go to AW Pattaya because – well – pmmp made me do it.
AW Bkk – never.
Culminating in Nana Disco is always a good call!
View all comments by smitty
Our Place may have terrible lighting out front, it doesn’t have as many hot girls as in other gogos in cowboy and some of the music choices are pretty poor (how do you expect a girl to do a sexy pole dance to ‘you’re beautiful’ by James Blunt??), but other than that I really like Our Place. One of the Service girls, called P’Na (you can’t miss her, she’s pretty ‘large’ compared to the other girls) is bright and bubbly and she gives me a free massage every time I see her and calls me her ‘brother’, the mamasans call me ‘son’ and let me call them ‘mae’, a lot of the dancers and service staff come to just say ‘hi, how are you?’ and hug me, I even got invited to the cashier’s birthday 2 weeks ago – my regular girl from Our Place is a cute girl from Ubon who goes off in the sack, she’s one of the only gogo girls I’ve ever found that has both looks and willingness in the bedroom. I’ve had far better experiences at Our Place than at a lot of other bars in Cowboy. I think that if the manager changed things a bit, there would be an increase in profit, leading to an increase in the amount of beautiful women they can hire to be dancers, and once they get the nudity going, Our Place could definitely rival Baccara, LG and the other top gogos
View all comments by Jase
jase – What you are describing is your personal experience factor (PEF) outweighs the general experience of the bar. Duly noted. If I took a FOB there I am sure they would want to turn around and move on. Nothing compelling really. Any bar can become a home of sorts for a regular who invests some time in a few girls and finds a LBFM that does the trick. But if a bar is not that great most people won’t get past first impressions to figure it out.
The owner has many bars – all of which would be amazing if he had lots of girls, nudity, great staff and some ambiance. So far most of his bars don’t and getting those things is not an easy task. I don’t see his bars rivaling any of the top go-gos anytime soon. My point about the lights is it seems at all of his remodels – he has invested more in lights than anything else. As u mentioned – lights do not make a bar. In a go-go typically the girls do.
View all comments by smitty
I think you have the start of another business taking FOB and newbies out and about. Charge them a flat fee, they pay for your drinks and extras. Everyone makes out! You can also seek commissions from your regular bars.
View all comments by MunchMouth
MM – nice handle. I would not want to do it but I would think for some people it might be a good option. I only do it for friends and good customers but I get the point indeed.
Amazing how a FOB can feel if taken around and shown the right stuff.
View all comments by smitty
THE FOB Escort thing happens in Europe. We went on a Stag(Bachelor) Party, a few years ago in Budapest, & were taken to all the best places. Did not get ripped off, but benefited from this very well. The escort was a girl of course!
View all comments by AUK
Point taken Smitty – I have only taken one FOB to Our Place – and that was because his first impression of LG was terrible after a girl went for the big grope and got him a little hard. Needless to say, once he was able to walk again and wasn’t holding ice to his old fella he refused to stay there. I take all other FOBs to Baccara and LG, like you did, I reckon they’re the best gogos for FOBs in Cowboy.
Interesting business idea, a tour guide for FOBs, not sure how well it would go, especially now that the Tourism Authority is trying to change the type of people that come to Thailand (they want more Double Income No Kids, and more gays and lesbians – not sure the gays would enjoy Soi Cowboy that much
)
View all comments by Jase
@BBB I’m also not a fan of Angelwitch, though I prefer it to Long Gun, and FOB’s do tend to be impressed by the shows.
View all comments by Combover
AUK – I think it can make all the difference in truly enjoying a place in a short time or not. I saw the FOB for dinner and send him to Soi 33. Sometime around 1 he called needed help with a multi barfine situation and directions to Spic. Not bad for the 2nd night out. Have not heard from him since.
Jase – agreed. So why the TAT is juggling with the people they want to come – tourism is down and the economy is swirling the toilet. Smart bunch of people. I honestly think though that attitude was decreed by crook Thaskin and I think it is going to wane over time with the economy needing a swift kick in the ass.
C – Where is AW?
View all comments by smitty
Great Site, been to Bangkok many times, have enjoyed the hospitality of the Big Mango Bar, lovely place, keep up the good work !
Will be visiting Bangkok sometime in the second week of September, will surely visit. Would love to see some new pictures on the Big Mango Bar site. (no update since 30th July 2007
)
View all comments by karma
New pics coming…will update the web after this Saturday’s 2nd Year Anniversary Party. Thanks for the kind words about the bar.
View all comments by pmmp
Ok, Ok, after last night I feel a need to rescind some of my earlier comments about Our Place. I met with the manager last night and told him my suggestions, but was told that he already had some plans in motion. It turned out to be that he decided to start putting on shows in Our Place and let me be the first to watch them. They are terrible, all i can think is that more and more people are going to turn away from Our Place – the first show is a James Bond style show that’s just plain confusing and does nothing for me, the second is a lesbian show where the girls looked like they felt like they had better places to be, the third is 3 LBs and 1 girl dancing Indian style, the last show is another lesbian show, which was ok, but when I talked to the girl who is going to be doing that show from tonight, she told me that she can’t stand the lesbian thing and that the Mamasan is forcing her to do the show, meaning she won’t put in a good effort. On a positive note though, there is now nudity because of the shows.
View all comments by Jase
jase – given it is the same owner who has a bunch of mediocre go-gos on both cowboy and nana – it makes sense that the shows and the bar will be lame. Sad really. does not give high hopes for the evolution of the go-go scene
View all comments by smitty