Low season/High season – can one really tell? by WFTM
Posted by WFTM | Blog, Reader Submissions | Posted on September 30th, 2010
Back to the land of smiles for a short trip but my new math is a short trip is better than no trip. I try to appease myself by saying that with the Singapore FFOW, the Jakartan hotel girls or tjoob that I don’t miss Thailand much. Well – no matter where I go or what I experience there is no denying that Thailand has the most bang for the buck. Of course if you are on a fixed income and get paid in the US peso – I feel for you. The strength of the baht against the US peso is stunning and basically means a massive income haircut over the past 5 years. I would proffer this is affecting how busy Thailand is, not, more than people let on. The currency stuff around Thailand is baffling.
I happened to be cruising Suk yesterday morning to see 2 korean dudes get shaked down by the ciggie police. Obviously they don’t read the blog. It always pains me to watch it go down and one wants to go over and intervene but probably not worth while given the situation. I remember having a long conversation with the GM at Landmark about these guys and it is well known at the PM level but it seems the BMA dude for this area paid well to get his spot and this is one of his income models. Sad but true.
Lots of changes still in the lower suk corridor but it seems everything that goes out of business turns into a tailor shop. I get the model to some extent – the Indians own the land, the building and opening a tailor shop is just a matter of picking an Italian sounding name and putting a Bangladeshi on the door. But shit – does lower Suk really need another tailor? Who goes to these places? I did once. Sorry.
Looks like the corner of suk soi 5 is going:
Appears the whole bottom corner is going or being redone with all the tenants going. There is some Mango history with this area since we had looked into a spot above foodland at one point. All looked interesting until our lawyer dug into the clauses to find that the family that owned the land had the right to essentially give all tenants a 1 year notice if there was plans to redo the whole corner. Looks like it finally happened – these are the dangers of doing deals in Thailand.
Sad part is that all the redevelopment seems to take away from Bangkok’s funky culture more than it adds since the results are usually more malls, more condos, more chain stores and less character. Such is the constant pace of development I guess.
Quick recap of the nightime outings. As usual, unless you are on holiday, bkk does not offer much in the way of daytime debauchery. Sure it can be done but it has nothing on Pattaya. I still think the best daytime activities in bkk are soapie crawls – cruise the soapies, eating and drinking along the way while staring at the girls behind the glass or in the lounge areas. Ratchada works pretty well for this – when really worked up it is legal to stop and have a shag.
Sunday night we cruised a slight bit in Nana. Everything else was too far from the Mango given the torrential downpours and flooding. Note to others – don’t offer to carry your friends when u r wearing flip flops and can’t see the road through the murky bkk water. I am sure the cut on my knew will grow something out of it or I will come down with some nasty rat borne virus.
Sunday night was quiet and it still feels to my like low season or a high season that is struggling to get out of the gate. Mandarin had the most too offer when it comes to ambience and was kicking along. Tons of eye candy and the music works. Plenty of talent that looks barfineable apart from the kiddie parade.
Spanky’s was empty – people and girls.
R1 had some people but like 10 girls. Not the usual packed line up. Most be a combo of end of month, Sunday, nearing payday and too much rain?
Erotica had a mini lineup but plenty of toplessness – still a pretty weak vibe.
R4 had a decent lineup with the mixes of toplessness and even a few totally nude. I assume hollywood upstairs is still showing the most but we did not venture up there.
The inside of the plaza is all tiled now – looks nice and would be cool if they keep all the motorbikes out but I still have not clue what the plan is for the area.
Cowboy on monday night was a ghost town with the rain probably aiding to keep people away.
Tilac was busy but not as much as always but busier than most. Shark actually still seems the best cowboy option for hotties and music but attitude of the pole huggers varies widely. Sheba was full nude but with not too many worth seeing full nude. Popped into Suzie but hung outside talking with PJ and watched the parade go by. PJ said it was a quiet september for the most part. Wouldn’t admit to it being quieter than normal but hinted at it.
No gclub runs, no soapies but pass by nataree on the way home every night seeing if there are any street trollops to sweet talk. Nothing doing yet but I figure between resort and all the soapies I will sort something out.
next time will update on my trip to the US, the county fair and the worst strip club ever…
44 Responses to “Low season/High season – can one really tell? by WFTM”
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Translator
i was at cowboy monday night but didn’t see you. the weather has been an encouragement to stay home all week. furious thunder storm on sunday with lightning strikes every few seconds. i braved the pain on monday to go to Gullivers them on to cowboy. got caught in a downpour on tuesday coming home from work and woke up pick on wednesday. still coughs and sniffles today. maybe things will pick up if it stops raining.
View all comments by Werewolf
WW..I know you are supposed to be only as old as the woman you feel, so you should be very healthy but it does not seem to be working so well for you lately. You must take more care of yourself “ole fella”. I feel great, amazing what all those 20 yr olds did for me last trip.
View all comments by whisperingoldman
the rain was nuts – soi 4 turned into a swamp in like 30 mins. for sure that was why cowboy was so dead – problem is when the rain is the bad the girls are not there either
View all comments by WFTM
On a side note, here is a qoute from the late Tony Curtis that pretty well sums it up.
“I wouldn’t be seen dead with a woman old enough to be my wife.”
View all comments by Dilligaf
I shouldn’t try to comment from my mobile phone with the T9 active when I’m in a hurry.
pain = rain
them = then
pick = sick
@WOM: The rain was falling and the street was flooded knee-deep. Normally I’d have waited it out till the rain slackened, but a colleague offered to drive me to the MRT station. I agreed.
I was shocked when she put on her turn signal about 400 meters short of the station and said that she needed to turn, but I could hop out here.
Shit! Into a driving downpour at a large intersection with no cover around. I was soaked to the bone before I got across the street,so I decided to go ahead and just walk to the MRT station. About halfway there the rain — amazingly — intensified and I arrived at the station soaked to the skin and looking like a drowned cat.
Of course I then had to sit in the refrigerated subway car all the way home, leading to hypothermia. The only surprise was that I woke up alive the next day sporting nothing worse than a head cold. By rights I should have died of pneumonia during the night.
View all comments by Werewolf
Diligaf: i was gonna tell you that Tony Curtis isn’t dead. Glad I didn’t. ;~)
View all comments by Werewolf
You know what man.
Eight years ago the baht wern’t worth nothing.
Now, the business i operate here is making so much money (due to exchange rate) that i’ve just bought a place in uk that they cant afford (over there)
its a crazy world.
View all comments by Pizzaman
“The strength of the baht against the US peso is stunning and basically means a massive income haircut over the past 5 years.”
Man, if that ain’t the fucking truth!! Hard to believe that just five years ago I was living in BKK on $1,000 US a month…not high on the hog, mind you, but doing just fine and having lots of fun.
Now that I’ve returned to live/work in the US, I have to cram all my enjoyment into the 3 or so months a year I can make it over to Thailand…on last year’s December/January trip, which lasted 6 weeks, I spent just under $10,000 US! Granted, my tastes have grown a bit more…extravagant in the interim, haha.
But I’m definitely feeling that strong baht/weak dollar, even comparing now to last year…my upcoming Dec/Jan trip has been cut to a measly 5 weeks, plus I’m planning to spend lots more time in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (since I spend a fraction in those places of what I spend in BKK)…AND I’m forcing myself to take 5 nights “off” (or at least holding back and partying like a monk for 5 nights, meaning, for me, only taking one girl–yeesh!–and going right home early) during the 21 days I will be in BKK. Sigh.
View all comments by ratchada
Note to self…. don’t let your pal offer a piggy-back when he’s wearing flip-flops, as he may drop your ass in the murky water.
View all comments by Daywalker
Ratchada- I know exactly what you mean… 10 years ago, when i was staying on lower suk I wasnt paying much antention to the exchange rate in thailand to dollar, and ignoring atm reciepts. I had lots of hook ups and things were cheap and I wasn’t so eager to take advantage of all the access on a staggering pace. Now, a 6 week “vacation” in Thailand, with still prenty of hook ups I spend about the same as you, indulging full bore…
“I wouldn’t be seen dead with a woman old enough to be my wife.” -Tony Curtis,
I dig this, thanks Dilligaf
View all comments by ROLLN
Remember now, gentlemen, ten years ago all of SE Asia was suffering the shuddering after effects of George Soros hacking the currencies off at the knees. Maybe nice for us abroad with USD (I barely enjoyed it, most of my time living abroad was spent in Europe in the mid-90s, which made today’s dollar look rich), but a fairly brutal event for the locals.
The baht, like nearly all Asian currencies that even sort of float (save the renminbi of course), tethers it’s little lifeboat to the mighty HMS The Yen and lurches around in her wake. With the yen setting fifteen year highs against the dollar and euro recently it’s not surprising funds are moving to Thailand as well.
And be nice about the US peso! Considering Dr. Bernanke’s relentless attempts to make her into the Weimar Deutschmark the old girl is holding up awfully well!
View all comments by Scampering Jack Wilshere
ww – the whole walk in the street when raining and it is warm to going to the MRT/BTS where u freeze does mess u up!
ratch – so true. I find that when always in bkk I could do it on a budget but when I come back to bkk after working and being in lame places – u tend to throw down and spend way more.
dw = flips flops, not seeing the bottom through the murky water and being drunk is not the best footing. plus you cupping my ass, ala chelsea blue, was the icing on the cake. Sorry for dumping u.
SJW – not sure it is a yen thing? it is a – wow – we have lots of rich people here and we have to protect them and oh shit – the US is fucked. DR DOOM told me so and he is wall street 2
View all comments by WFTM
I’m glad to hear Spanky’s was dead. I have boycotted the place since they seemed to go out of their way to hire the most obnoxious touts outside of Pat Pong. In fact, maybe that’s why Pat Pong is starting to get better reviews.
View all comments by hh
Ready to sample the low/high season. Is there anywhere that does a nice sunday evening pub quiz?
View all comments by AUK
@AUK: There’s a place by Asok and Petchaburi that serves special peanuts. They do a nice sunday evening quiz, trust me.
–
View all comments by pmmp
Will never trust you, after feeding me “gay” pills at DV8!
View all comments by AUK
hh – I can’t really agree that spankys has the worst touts. The ones outside the old mango corner at the top of the escalator are worse in my opinion
AUK – quiz night? I hope to jesus u r joking. tua dam?
View all comments by WFTM
I throw my vote in for the Lollipop touts. They grab you as soon as you enter the plaza, coming way up near big dog’s in some cases. They take advantage of their great location in the worse way. Imagine if they just put some hotties near the entrance of their beer bar? Oh that’s right, they have none. Anyway, I’m just glad Pharoah’s is gone. That was the worst place in the Plaza by far.
View all comments by pmmp
Gonna side with WTFM on this one. The shitheads at the top of the escalator by Mandarin and the Old Mango are massive cunts.
If lived a day with no consequences, after robbing a bank naked and spending the proceeds on a 45 girls fuckfest in Nataree, Id run at those pricks with a flamethrower, then watch and laugh at them running around screaming in Thai “Im on fire, HELP HELP”
View all comments by Young Penfold
OK. Good points on the touts. But the Mandarin/ex-Mango corner is mostly just girls working in the bars who stand outside and harass you, right? Same with the lady boys. I would have said all three are annoying, but only Spanky’s has actual Thai male touts who appear to be hired to stand downstairs and aggressively get in your face as a bizarre strategy for attracting you into the bar.
But I’ll also admit that it may be in part that I like to skulk sneakily around that first corner and ponder whether there is a route to a bar I want to go to without having to pass a slut I’ve slept with. I’m often so caught up in this routine that when they smash those plastic tubes against the board they do scare the shit out of me.
What ever happened to the bar review system at the old mango website? That seemed to work fairly well.
View all comments by hh
hh – internet freedom aint what it used to be. go figure.
not sure I have seen the male touts for spankys – must have missed that.
in general that whole tout thing sucks but I figure I can walk around them but the old mango corner is such a pain.
I think yp loves the cassanova corner cause he gets grope out of it.
View all comments by WFTM
My pretty cunning solution to a strong Baht and weak Pound is to spend 2 nights a week less in the bars. That way your budget stretches as far as the good old days when the credit bubble fooled the world into thinking the west was experiencing greater growth than it was. And on each of those more infrequent nights, you can still be a handsome rock star. And the nights off, they can be spent at the gym and eating health foods so that you really are a handsome man, Jesus, the world really is a great place.
View all comments by bassyfarang
BF – way to alter reality just to make it appear more palatable. respect.
View all comments by WFTM
For those earning U.S. “pesos”, go to the Philippines. MUCH greater bang for the buck than LOS.
View all comments by Big Hairy Pig
Going regularly there for work at times I must say that although I enjoy the ‘ppines – Thailand has it beat for all around livability but that’s me. I get tired of the food pretty quick, the mustaches and the accents.
Had a great time on some of the islands though!
View all comments by WFTM
Had a quick Nana run last night. Big Dogs, Rainbow 1, and Gspot for our sins. Rainbow had a lovely line up, with not many punters, Gspot was orrible and full of munters. Did Spankys as well. The best part of Spankys, was the girl working the door. Never seen Nana so dead. Mind you, it was Sunday and I don’t live here, so could be the norm.
View all comments by AUK
Look guys – sure, I recall 7 years ago how it was 43 Baht to the dollar, and how cheap everything seemed… but in the past 3 years I’ve also been able to nearly triple my cashflow, so yeah, I’m sure my $$$ buys less baht now, but I also have more $.
Not saying that everyone has to be as lucky as I have been, but I would think that if you are in business, that you would have managed to increase your cashflow during the past 5 years to make up for the loss in Baht value (obviously, retired and those on fixed income have more of a challenge in that regard, but can also do it).
Personally, I still find Thailand a bargain, for everything it offers *on a vacation* to a single guy, and that, after all, is what it’s all about (apologies to the unhappily married).
View all comments by RealDaffyDuck
those on fixed income can also increase cashflow
Huh?!
View all comments by Raider
auk – in bkk for how long ho?
daffy – not sure i get your drift. that’s like saying I make more money so things seem cheaper even if there real cost has gone up. Thailand is a bargain but for sure it has gotten more expensive. simple as that.
View all comments by WFTM
@WFTM – in town till Saturday night, but busy with work, so very ad hoc at the mo. Patpong stinks.
View all comments by AUK
auk – who goes to patpong. only reason is for badabing…
View all comments by WFTM
Star
of
Light
View all comments by Werewolf
Raider – on a fixed income, you can still ‘work’, and if you have a skill, sell your skill.
WFTM – agreed, I’m just getting tired of the whiners going on about how Thailand is getting too expensive, whaaaa whaaaa whaaaa…
View all comments by RealDaffyDuck
RDD: Sorry. I checked my dictionary before I wrote my previous comment but it had a definition of “fixed income” that was way off base. Thanks for exposing the inadequacy of my OED.
It really hadn’t occurred to me before now that you were suggesting that coming out of retirement was a good strategy for combating the weakness of the US dollar. My bad.
As to you “getting tired of the whiners” remark, though, I wonder if you can identify where in the original article, or where in the subsequent comments, anyone was “whining”? I looked, but all I could spot was legitimate commentary, along with some discussion of strategies for dealing with the very real issue of a dramatic change in currency exchange rates over recent months and years.
View all comments by Raider
Anyone at the Mango on Friday?
View all comments by Auk
Just a quick whine. What is with the police at the Asoke/Suk area. Got pulled over last night in the taxi. Been entertaining high profile customers at the Banyan Tree, and just going back to base on Soi 8. Pulled us over and basically searched and questioned me like I was some sort of OBL type character. C***s.
View all comments by Auk
“What is with the police at the Asoke/Suk area. Got pulled over last night in the taxi.”
- Just doing their job you dodgy looking mo’fo!
View all comments by Daywalker
The Bangkok Post today had an article on how the Police have increased their efforts to capture farang Pedophiles. Does that answer your question?
View all comments by pmmp
Typical answers from the muppets! Hope you both okay?
View all comments by Auk
I should be ok with my brace of grannies then
View all comments by doctorbond
Doc: How many grannies in a brace?
@blog admin: I’m not a fan of the change in the comments section on the front page. Fewer comments listed and not listing the particular post anymore. My vote would be to switch back. (not that my vote counts for anything…)
View all comments by Werewolf
@WW: Agreed. There was an update of the plugin and it actually wiped out the Recent Comments. The config on the admin had to be done again and it turns out it changed. Anyway, it was configured like this temporarily until a proper fix can be made, which would be this weekend most likely. Thanks for the feedback.
View all comments by pmmp
btw, experimenting with a few. Haven’t found a good one yet but by Monday it will be the one we go with.
View all comments by pmmp
On a side note, I enjoy the Mandarin touts aka dancers out front. The girls are on a schedule for what days they tout and which days they dance. I really enjoy when my favorite latches on my arm and climbs those steep stairs in her perilous stilettos.
View all comments by Elo Soode