“We all knew it was out there, crouching in the long grass, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself and pounce on an unsuspecting punter. I know I have felt its presence many times…the hair rising on the back of my neck every time I walked into a go-go bar, the adrenalin pumping as I stepped through the curtains. But it stayed hidden, unsure of itself, not wanting its intended victims to take flight. Until yesterday. Like a fool, I had let my guard down. Alcohol combined with the musky scent of the female had dulled my senses. I was unprepared for the unprovoked attack. I suspected nothing as I motioned to the Mama-san. “Pay bar,” I said, not knowing the gruesome fate that awaited me. Before I could turn and run, it was upon me and I was clasped in its jaws. Yes, it was a 700 baht bar fine.
I quickly twisted to my right and tried to put a table between me and the ugly beast that had been unleashed in this oasis of pleasure. “But no,” I screamed, “this cannot be. Only last Friday it was 600.” It was futile. There was sympathy in the eyes of my companion, but she was as nothing in the face of forces outside of her control. “Mai roo,” she whispered, casting her eyes at the floor and twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. She pointed to a sign above the bar, where an oversized “7″ had been pasted over the “6″ on the bar fine notice. It was then I realised - she had known all along that the beast was waiting…and waiting for me.”
Yes, it’s true. Midnite on Cowboy has upped the ante and is (to the best of my knowledge) the first establishment in the Three Nightlife Kingdoms of Bangkok to offically post a 700 baht barfine. In the wake of The Bison’s report on Baccara’s “Two Lady Dlink” policy, I’m beginnning to suspect a conspiracy on “The Small Soi of Western Persuasion”. A conspiracy to test the elasticity of the punter’s wallet (the elasticity of the bar staff has been long established).
An alternative theory is that it’s not a conspiracy, it’s simple Thaicroeconomics. For those of you not familiar with this branch of the mundane science, Thaicroeconomics is the study of supply and demand and their impact on the pricing decisions of producers and consumers. It’s a specialised branch, as the only place on Earth where its theories appear to hold true is the Kingdom of Thailand.
In Thaicroeconomic Theory, the response of a producer to falling demand is to increase prices massively to ensure total income increases. Ceteris paribus, prices are increased until there is zero demand, at which point the producer cites the “overvaluation of the baht” as the root cause of falling demand, packs up shop in the middle of the night and hoofs it faster than a bus driver from a fender-bender.
But I digress. I guess we all saw it coming. I can’t remember exactly when the BF went from 500 to 600 baht, but from dim memory it was around 2001. One could argue that with inflation in the LOS running at 5-8% per annum in the interim, the bar owners are well overdue for a 16.7% increase in the price of renting out their staff. In the entertainment industry business model, the barfines fund the girl’s monthly salaries - so have BG salaries risen 16.7% in 6 years? Probably.
In any case, I don’t care. I don’t want to pay 700 baht. If Midnite can make it stick, it will spread like wildfire throughout the Three Kingdoms. This must be stopped in its tracks. Last night, the waitress returned with the change from my drinks tab and I scooped it all up. “Tip for me?” she pleaded. “I’ll tip you when the barfine is back to 600 baht,” I said. Yes, I can hear you now. “You’re cheap and heartless…this isn’t the waitress’s fault.” No, it wasn’t her choice to raise the barfine. But as a punter, I have zero influence on Midnite’s management. They couldn’t care less if I come or go, as their broad brush assumption is that all foreigners are in the Kingdom temporarily and as long as they can suck four drinks and a barfine out of me, that’s all they need.
But the staff can influence management. If the dek serve don’t get tips and the dancers don’t get drinks, their income will fall and they will complain. Or they’ll leave and go somewhere else. Will this have any impact on the barfine in Midnite or the price of tea in China? Unlikely. But if I’m going to get mauled on the BF, I’ll economise on everything else.
P.S. Those keen on “Thaicroeconomics” may also be interested in “Markethaing”. A fine example can also to be found in Midnite. Their barfine sign says “Barfine 700 baht. Happy Hour (6:30pm to 8:30pm) 800 baht.” Thus introducing the unique concept of increasing prices during Happy Hour. “Not happy for you, happy for us!”
Basts…. I’m gonna go there and ‘not bar-fine’ someone.
View all comments by Day walker
I’m astonished you found someone in Midnite you wanted to barfine.
View all comments by Combover
Yep, first Baccara and now Midnite. Well, Midnite fell in my books a few years ago when they stopped offering their short-time rooms for free. True, the rooms weren’t nothing to shout about, but at least they were convenient and “on the house”. Walked in one night, found a bar-fineable lass and inquired if the rooms upstairs were available and I got the reply, “Yes, but now they cost 350 Baht…” or something like that. Yikes! That’s “Thaicroeconomics” in action as well.
View all comments by Bison
@Combover: I was in Midnite Bar about two weeks ago and saw several likely lasses. I thought I’d shared that reconnaisance in some comment or other recently. They look like they have a new crew in Midnite over the last couple of months. I’d say there are 4 or 5 that are quite barfinable… but the 700 baht is a disappointment. Next thing you know taxi fairs will jump to 50 baht!!
View all comments by werewolf
Same across the Arab’s bars, I’d guess. I was in Deja Vu last night and it’s up to 700 in there too - same comedy amended sign. I’d guess it’s the same at Our Place too - can anyone comment on Spanky’s at NEP?
To be fair, it’s been 700 in some Patpong bars (notably Safari) for ages. Still only 500 in Shark on Cowboy though, as far as I know…
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
I know that some guys practice bar fine avoidance/evasion. They get the phone number of the girl in the bar and arrange to meet up after work.Alternatively, they could meet girl from bars who are freelancing at discos.
I once met a girl at the hip hop upstairs disco on the same street and near to Spice on Sukh Soi 11.We agreed a short time fee of 1000 baht and she emphasized at great length that if I had met her in Napoleon bar in Soi 33 where she worked that it would have cost me 3 times as much - not to mention the bar fine on top.
A change of location of a kilometer or so and the fact that she had no customer at 5am had led to a rapid depreciation in the fees that she could command.
View all comments by Mike Phillips
I call for a boycott of Midnite.
Well actually I just want to send out a warning to avoid their upstairs ST rooms.
I went there Saturday night to pick up the one real hottie that works there (Ui - pronounced Wii), she’s one of the showgirls, not a dancer. Enjoyed her company and her shows for about a while before barfining her for a ST (still 600 on Saturday), the upstairs room seemed very convenient and good enough for 300 baht.
She wasn’t very good/active in bed but looking at that perfect little body made up for that.
Anyway here’s where things got fucked up, when I got dressed after the post-ST shower I noticed my wallet had mysteriously moved around and upon opening it I found 1000 baht missing! So I told Ui that I’d subtract the 1000 she helped herself to from the payment and she started acting like she didn’t know anything about it.
I’m pretty sure it was just the 2 of us in the room the entire time so either she took the money or someone came into the room while I was in the shower and she didn’t notice.. not very likely.
So be warned guys, the upstairs rooms are not safe and the girls rip-off artists.
View all comments by Richard
@Richard, I think it is you who needs the warning: Don’t leave your wallet so easy to get at!
View all comments by John Brown
So now 1 bf = 1 bj! One of these currencies is surely overvalued? (or dare I say it…. no).
View all comments by Shameless
Boycott Midnight? Way ahead of you. I never cease to be amazed that people are amazed that some of these shite holes can actually make themselves worse. I’m surprised the bar fine isn’t 1000 Baht and the girl only allowed out of the bar for 45 minutes. Oops… sorry… might have given management more ideas.
You know there is no need for that cutie to drag you inside by your dick, as there is always another cutie only a few feet away.
View all comments by Cabby
only ever been in midnite once before
met a real cute chang-mai girl called ‘jai’ she asked for my number and i met a few nights after
she even asked me back to her place in ratchada?!?!?!? so thought why not….. no mention of money until in the morning she gave me a sob story and waterworks about how her ferang husband used to smack her around - frankly she was boring me so i tossed her 1000baht and left
totally unrelated but thought id share
while we’re on the topic, id hope that 700baht barfine should come with vaseline to make it easier when they are pulling your pants down, i hope other bars dont follow suit
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
My favorite bar in Patong on Phuket has a 300 Baht barfine. Don’t know about the general BF average in Patong, but where I go, it’s like that.
But since I always - no matter in BKK or somewhere else - lock all my valuables in my hotel safe, no girl has ever stolen something from me. Despite the fact that I pull more freelancers than girls that must be barfined.
As I read here before, now at NEP the BF is 600 Baht before midnight and 500 Baht after midnight. Sounds like reasonable market economics to me. I think it’s still a win-win situation for the customer and the bar owner.
So how the hell do they dare to raise the BF on cowboy to 700 Baht? Strange… So many girls everywhere… no need to pay such a high BF, cos the supply of hotties is so high in BKK.
I will come back in December.. can’t wait… hehe
View all comments by Phoenix
Typical Thai business mentality.
When business is slow..raise the prices.
Stupid.
I hope the place turns into a ghost town.
For the record, I have boycotted the bars for a year.
I used to spend a ton of cash every month on drinks, barfines, short time fees.
Why should I support, bad attitudes AND higher prices?
The only nookie I take now is from the Oil Massage places.
View all comments by Khun J
Give the bar a break, all those lasers cost a lot of money…
If you want lasers, and you know you need them, don’t be cheap and pay the extra 100bht!
View all comments by Orion
ph - just fi. There is no standard barfine at NEP. Most bars are 600 baht and I don’t know of any discounting after midnite. This is not a unified move but a move by the arab to try and make more money out of his declining bars - the ones with lots of lasers.
View all comments by smitty
Smitty, thanks for the information.. then I remembered wrong. What would be the amount of drinks one would have to consume in order not having to pay a barfine in the Big Mango?
View all comments by Phoenix
ph - barfines are 600. smashed or not.
View all comments by smitty
At Rawhide on Soi Cowboy they operate a 2-tier barfine. Most ladies are 500B but the top dancers (basically the ones who do the shows) are 700B.
Of that the lady gets 100B and another 100B if she comes back to work.
Does anyone know anywhere else that has a multi-tier system?
View all comments by Arthur
Angelwitch has done this for years. Showgirls cost more than the normal but they also won’t let them be barfined early. Kind of sucks. I was in the newly remodeled, not quite finished, spice girls last night. Looks like he is building another Spannkys. Oh joy. Place was dead. I was talking to one of the stars there and she said business keeps getting worse and now that he is trying to raise the bar fines they are getting barfined even less. Lady drink was also 170 baht. Amazing. I got the girls number. No reason to go back now.
View all comments by smitty
sounds like mateyboy hasnt got a clue
do they still have 40baht for draught chang?
spice girls always was a bit of a dive but i started nailing in my eyes the only looker in there (jay/jai - awesome titties) so had to make a point of going in there for at least 1 beer
if i remember right there was a ‘happy hour’ gor barfines at 800baht?!?!?! maybe i read this wrong?
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
It would be interesting to compile a list of bars and barfines including (if possible) whether the girl gets a cut of the barfine. Other things being equal I’d favour trying a bar with a lower barfine and one that gives some of it to the girl.
Angelwithch has their “show time 10pm to 1am” so I guess they don’t want the showgirls leaving until after 1am. That;s way past my bed time. As far as I know Rawhide doesn’t have such a policy but they sometimes have to press B Team girls into service to do shows if too many of the A Team have been barfined.
View all comments by Arthur
which places in Patong are recommended for incall.
staying with family, and can’t bring em home.
just want to do the deed there.
options and prices are greatly appreciated
TIA
-ledawg
View all comments by ledawg