More on the October Holidays / closures
[QUOTE=Bkkdog;2087469]Oct 13 Friday Anniversary of the Death of King Bhumibol National holiday.
Oct 23 Monday Chulalongkorn Day National holiday.
Oct 26 Thursday Cremation of King Bhumibol National holiday.
Expect closures on these days. Do not listen to the people who say things will be shut down for 10 days. It was not even that long when he passed away. When the king passed away, closures were only a few days and when the bars reopened they were asked to shut down early and to keep the noise levels down only.[/QUOTE]ENTERTAINMENT:
General translation of official statement from Thai Government News Website.
Thai government does not prohibit entertaining activities or events during The Royal cremation ceremonies in October except for the following:
The Prime Minister only mentioned that on 26th October – the day of the actual cremation that should consider the appropriateness; I. E. Live music in public area should be restrained.
During 21st – 25th October the entertainment activities should be scaled down.
Other activities / events such as weddings or alcohol serving should be managed in private venue within hotels. (more details on this later).
Pattaya experiences Part 1
Hi all,
Not my first post on ISG, but it's nice to mix things up. After a few experiences in Pattaya I thought I'd share a summary of what I have found. Seems many new people come to the forums with basic questions and they might appreciate a high level summary. Just a disclaimer, this is my experience and it is in no way exhaustive or definitive, nor do I claim it is. There is not substitute for reading more of these forums and doing your own research. I just hope it might be helpful to some.
So I was planning to write just a few notes and then the more I wrote, the more things I thought to write about. So this is part 1, about the fun activities. There is a part 2 about Pattaya logistics. A part 3 about the mentality of gogo girls and possibly a part 4 about.
Before you even come to Pattaya, you can start laying down some groundwork on the Internet. I had luck with Badoo and Tinder. With Badoo you can set your location to Pattaya for free, with Tinder you have to pay a few dollars a month to do it. Other apps and websites are mentioned in the forums. Once you start swiping you will soon have matches with FL's, many who are quite sexy. The going rate seems to be 1000 for ST and the most I was quoted was 3000 for LT. Did not try to negotiate. If the pictures are real, then there are definitely bargains on there.
Everyone in Thailand seems to be using Line to chat, so install that. Many of the girls on Badoo or Tinder will list their Line IDs in their profiles, so you can contact them directly. When you are in Pattaya, Line and WeChat have features to find nearby users. Keep in mind there are normal girls on those apps as well, so don't open with "Are you a ladyboy?" and "How much do you charge?" If you play your cards right, you might end up holidaying with a cute normal girl for free / much cheaper. The working girls will quickly make it quite clear what they are there for.
As an aside on ladyboys, "How do you recognise them?" seems to be the number one question and everyone is afraid of accidentally ending up with a ladyboy instead of a lady. Firstly, it is pretty clear for a lot of ladyboys that they are not girls, however some of them can fool anyone. On the dating apps and sites, most ladyboys will specify they are ladyboys. And in general, while there are many clues you can pick up on, like height, voice, size of hands, Adam's apple, demeanour, and so on, the annoying truth seems to be that when you see a "girl" who looks really HOT, she is most likely a ladyboy.
They are taller, slimmer, have big boobs, wear high heels, sexy dresses, and have perfect hair and make-up. Plus, the androgynous look can be appealing. The Thai girls dress more conservatively and often wear less / worse make-up. Even FL's in clubs seldom dress provocatively. You can pick up some of these differences in pictures also.
Back to real girls, the FL's you meet on the Internet most likely also frequent the clubs on Walking St, some even mention this in their profiles. So, if you are worried about the accuracy of the pictures, you could always organise to meet them out first, before inviting them back to the hotel. As to meeting FL's in clubs / discos on Walking St, just have a look around the club and you will see plenty of Thai girls either alone or in small groups. Find one who takes your fancy and offer to buy her a drink. The prices quoted tend to be more around 1500/2000 for ST in clubs.
There is a lot to be said for picking up a FL in a club. There is no bar fine, the prices are lower and more easily negotiable, and if you hit the jackpot with a girl, you can easily organise to see her again without having to worry about her work schedule. Quite a few of them are very cute and are working as FL's because they don't want the hassle of gogo contracts and rules, and / or they believe they can't dance. Rather amusing considering the standard of dance in gogos. Other reasons are visibility to family, shyness and I have also noticed a perception that to be a gogo girl you must be extra beautiful, extra slim, extra.
More FL's, in the evening primarily along Beach Rd, and then along Walking St, especially later in the evening. Don't know much about prices for those, but I imagine they are lower and negotiable. Read the forums. I have seen the odd cutie among those girls as well. A word of caution about FL's in general, if you have problems with them or they steal something from you, you will have little recourse.
Bar girls, have not spent a lot of time in beer bars or with bar girls in Pattaya. The bars can be found all over the place, several areas on Walking St, a complex on Beach Rd not far from Walking St and then many in the Sois 6, 7, 8, but also in lots of other areas. The prices you might expect and other locations are discussed in the forums, but expect a fair bit cheaper than gogos. The process is easy, have a drink at the bar, see if any of the girls catches your fancy, buy her one or more lady drinks and then negotiate with her to find out her price, pay the bar fine and away you go. On average, the bar girls are less pretty than in gogos, but cuties can be found anywhere if you look closely enough.
The advantages of bars are several, in addition to the price, they can be genuinely a lot of fun, there is a lot less pressure, they are not so busy, the girls are not running off to dance every 20 minutes, or leaving you to hustle drinks from "friends" who just walked in. You can spend time with the girls in a more natural environment, there are various games to play, just be careful you don't gamble too much on those games, you are NOT a better player than the girls. Also, often you start chatting with everyone else at the bar and really make a night of it. Finally, if you hit it off with the girl and she fulfills all your desires in bed, it is much cheaper to bar fine her several nights if you so desire.
There are ladyboy bars, which should be pretty easy to spot, but be mindful that even in regular bars some of the ladies can be ladyboys. And in particular post-op ladyboys are pretty much considered ladies. I had an interesting experience where I was pretty sure the hottest girl in the bar used to be a man and the mamasan was very reluctant to tell me because the girl was a post-op ladyboy. Caveat emptor.
The bars on Soi 6 are special because they are open earlier in the afternoon and a lot of them have rooms upstairs where you can take a girl for a quickie if it strikes your fancy. The experience is described elsewhere on the forums and on the Internet. There are also BJ bars that specialize in, well, BJs, should you desire a beer and BJ.
The famous soapies, something you must try at least once in your life, and then you might be hooked. There are several around, but three main ones are close together, Sabai Dee, Honey 2, and Sabai Room, on Second Rd, around Soi 2/3, take the baht bus. Rasputin is not far off, closer to Soi 6. The girls are sorted in categories and the price varies accordingly, something like 2000/2500/3000+ for 1. 5 hours, but that customarily includes one pop only, so you may be out of there sooner than 1. 5 hours. Some of the "model" girls are even more expensive.
Some tips here, when you go in, very "helpful" papasans will push you to pick a girl in the first 30's and try to send you off to the room. Be polite but firm in telling them you want to take your time, AND take your time. Check out the girls, get close, see if any of them is trying to get your attention. You can even get a beer while you make your choice. And if you decide you do not want any of the girls, just walk away, don't feel bad or pressured into picking someone.
Keep in mind the girls are quite far away and wearing a lot of make-up; the long hair will quickly be tied up and disappear once you are in the room, along with the generous push-up bra. A -2/3 score modifier is usually about spot on in these places. Your knockout 10 hottie may end up being only a 7 up close. That being said, if you do see a girl you like, be decisive. Chances are, by the time you check out the other soapies and come back for that girl, she will be gone with another customer. Don't be fooled by the fact the place seems empty, there is a steady stream of customers.
The papasan and the girl will probably expect tips. It depends how nice you want to be, especially to the girl if she did right by you. As I mentioned, once you pop, most girls will take that to be the end of the session, regardless of time. And at least some girls will try to make that happen as quickly as possible and bundle you out of the room. If you want a second pop then negotiate with the girl. Don't know if any soapies guarantee you will have 1.5 hours and multiple pops if you wish.
"Sex shows", the famous Thai ping-pong show. There are touts for them every 2 meters on Walking St. Their motto seems to be overpromise and underdeliver, always for outrageous prices. Avoid, unless you feel like you really must experience this. They always promise a sex show, and they will wave flyers in your face with couples engaged in crazy sex acts, but I have never seen a couple in any of these shows, or lesbians, or pretty girls, the only guaranteed act is a middle-aged woman pulling things out of her privates. Be really sceptical about the promise of no obligation, free entry; in these places a beer can be 1000/1500 baht and they WILL make you buy drinks.
The gogo bars and gogo girls, the main event for many people going to Pattaya. The primary area for gogos is Walking St with a much smaller area in LK Metro. LK Metro, is an area with a bunch of bars and gogos, it is cheaper, especially for beer at the bars. The gogos have some talent in them, but in my opinion, do not compare well with Walking St. Could check it out earlier in the night and only stay if you find something of interest. The forums have more information.
Walking St, the home of dozens upon dozens of gogos. Some of the ones I enjoyed and I suppose also some of the larger gogos on Walking St: Sensations, Baccarat, Skyfall, Sapphire, WhatsUp, Fahrenheit, Palace. Check some of these out and also anything else that takes your fancy, have a look at the forums for what others are saying. And every night spend an hour checking out one or two new places, you never know what you stumble upon. The prices at the places I listed are usually bar fine 1500 pm (before midnight), 1000 am (after midnight), and 3000ST /5000 LT for the lady. Drinks for you usually in the range 140-170, more for lady drinks. Many places will have happy hour before certain times and some will have all night specials on certain nights.
The girls dance on rotation for 15-20 minutes, usually in three groups. So, if you stay in a place for an hour, you are likely to see all the available girls dancing on stage. If you see a girl you like, buy her a drink without hesitation, otherwise someone else will. And a good number of guys will buy a girl a drink or two and then bar fine if they like her, so you may lose your opportunity if you hesitate. The girls usually have numbers, this is the easiest way to indicate which girl you want to buy a drink for, but if you cannot see her number, any of the staff will quickly help you figure it out. Just point at the girl and motion you want to buy her a drink.
In my opinion, if you are buying drinks for a girl, she should sit with you and nobody else, and not have to dance, unfortunately the rules are different across the gogos. In some places, once you buy a girl a drink, she will come off stage straight away and join you. When it is her turn to dance again, if you are still buying drinks, she will only have to dance for a few minutes and she will join you again. But in other places the girl has to dance her full rotation before she can join you and again every time it is her turn. It can be frustrating, since she will usually also want to "go to the toilet" quite often.
In terms of buying drinks, other guys can usually buy drinks for "your" girl even if she is sitting with you and / or you are waiting for her to finish dancing. It then becomes kind of a queue system. Even if you bought her a drink, she will go to have the drink with the other guy and then come back to you. If the other guy then offers more drinks she will often choose to ping pong between you and him. The tiring obsession with lady drinks. If you find yourself in this situation, either bar fine or leave, because you will somehow be buying lady drinks continually but only spending 15 minutes in every hour with the girl!
In terms of prices, I stated what is the norm in the clubs I listed. Many places will also have "models", an allegedly higher tier of girls, who usually dance topless. May seem counter-intuitive if you expect exclusivity means doing less. The models will command a higher bar fine, maybe 2000 pm /1500 am and sometimes a higher price for the girl but not always. WhatsUp prices are from another planet for models, expect 3000 bar fine and 5000ST /8000 LT. Be careful of places asking for the girl's money upfront, seen it commonly in WhatsUp and Baccarat, and attempted in a couple of other gogos. Show the girl you have the money, but do not pay upfront. More on that later.
Something VERY important to be aware of, find out if the girl you are talking to is available for bar fine as soon as possible after you start chatting. It may appear that, if she is working, she is available to come with you, but there are a million reasons this may not be so, especially if you want long time. I have been caught out a couple of times after totally hitting it off with a girl for a few hours she turns around and says she cannot go out. Some examples, she is on her period (a classic), she is too tired or too drunk, she lives with her boyfriend / family (this means no LT and ST must be early in the evening), she doesn't trust / go with men of your race / type, she is waiting for a regular customer, she has a party later on, she needs to make her drink quota (more about this later), she doesn't go for sex (usually an excuse, but sometimes true). These reasons may be real or made up, but nonetheless. Not all girls will like all guys, this is normal, and should become pretty clear before you are about to bar fine.
If you read the forums there certainly seems to be an indication some negotiation may be possible and / or in the smaller gogos prices may be cheaper. It depends on a lot of factors, including how much the girl likes you, how she is feeling that night, how popular she is, how much she needs money, and so on. I generally don't haggle too much because it sets the wrong tone. Sometimes I try to include a performance clause, e. G. , the girl asks for 3000 and I offer 2500 plus 500 tip if she really is as naughty as she says she is. .
You may wish to bar fine a girl just to go dancing in a club or to have dinner. It may feel like you are doing her a favour by giving her the opportunity to stop working and have fun with you instead. But don't be surprised if the girl still wants money and she even asks you for the full ST price (more on this later). If you don't want sex, make it very clear before the bar fine what you are willing to pay. Sometimes she may be happy to be bar fined, spend some time with you and then go sleep without expecting anything else. Definitely don't pay more than 1000 for no sex. If you want to dance, why not meet some FL's in the club instead?
One last thing about gogos, you may notice the bartenders and, in the larger clubs, the hostesses also have numbers. They, too, can be bar fined and may be flattered you chose them over a dancer. It's not too common, but sometimes you can find a super cute and / or super fun waitress; she might even have a slightly higher standard of English.
Eastern European girls. Of course, why are you looking for Europeans in Thailand? That aside, on the dating sites I mentioned above, you will find some CIS girls, but they mostly seem to be regular girls. Spoke to a couple and there was no indication they were working girls. So you could play the longer game and meet up with them, see if you hit it off, etc. In the same vein, you will run into CIS girls around Pattaya during the day, especially on the beach. If you have game or balls, you can strike up a conversation, you never know where it might lead. But do not make the mistake of thinking sex is guaranteed or that they will definitely be interested in your money.
If you are looking for something more definitive, go to the very end of Walking St and you will find Mixx disco. It will have a number of CIS girls looking for customers. Just survey the place for a little bit and you will soon spot who is there to dance and who is there for business. Don't know the prices, but expect high. The quality was never sufficient for me to start chatting to any of them, but don't be shy if one catches your eye. The other dance clubs may also have Europeans working, especially Insomnia. There is also a Russian restaurant half way down Walking St that often has girls eating / drinking there. But difficult to know if they are working or just tourists. Again, you can always say Hi and see what happens.
Finally, the Russian strip clubs. There are several, five or even six, Russian clubs on Walking St. Some / many? Years ago, there were fewer clubs, full of sexy girls, and which put on a hell of a pole dancing show. They were always expensive. Now I feel the quality has gone down and the prices have gone up. The Russian financial crisis did not help, with a drastic reduction of Russian tourists to Pattaya since 2015.
What to expect in a Russian club? Actual pole dancing and topless only stripping on stage, lap dances and full nudity in private shows. Extremely expensive drinks for you, 300/400?, and exorbitant, 500/1000?, lady drinks. Really check the menu for the prices of what you are buying and especially for the lady drinks. Make sure what you think you are ordering for the girl is what you are actually ordering. Compulsory 100 baht tips for dancers who basically come around to collect the tips after they dance on stage. A 10-min private lap dance will be 2000/3000. Bar fine 3000 AN HOUR and 15000/20000 for all night. Have not visited last time I was there, but these should be ballpark.
Be careful, it might seem 6000 for two hours with a Russian is not far off from the 4500 you might pay for ST with a gogo girl (including bar fine). But remember, 6000 is only the bar fine! Nothing extra is usually included / guaranteed. The girl will expect to go drinking, dancing, eating with you and that's about it. Normally I would say most Russian club girls don't have sex with clients full stop, but times are tough, so I will say, some will not have sex with clients. If you are after sex, then find out which girls are willing to do it and for what price. Be wary of vague promises, like "everything is possible, we'll see what happens later. ".
African girls, a few can be found on the dating apps I mentioned and they pretty much all appear to be FL's. Some say as much on their profile. I did not ask how much they charge. They can also be found on Walking St, about half way down, there is an open bar area on the left that has about 10-15 black girls hanging out. You can't miss it.
And a few more mentions for completeness.
If you want more than one girl, you can bring back more than one girl to your hotel (check that the hotel allows it and be prepared to pay a joiner fee for the second girl), however you will probably end up with two girls who will have very little sexual interest in each other, even if they are friends. You may be happy with this. But if you want a genuine threesome, where everyone is having sex with everyone, you could try talking to the mamasans in your favourite bars / gogos to see if there are any bisexual girls working there. Or check out Devil's Den for threesomes or moresomes. I mention it because they specialise in that kind of thing. And bonus, they are open during the day.
If ladyboys are your poison, they are everywhere, including dedicated ladyboy bars and areas, plus lots of them online. If you feel like experimenting with a ladyboy, they are part of Thai culture, so nobody will bat an eyelid at your hotel.
There is an area dedicated to gay bars, Boys Town, not far from Walking St, on Second Rd. And for lesbians, there are of course all the places mentioned so far, just ask the mamasan which girls are into girls. If you are looking for Toms (in the West they might be called dykes) there are quite a few tomboy bars. You can search the Internet.
And finally, tourist girls, already mentioned Russian tourist girls, but in general don't forget Pattaya is a cheap party destination, so all the beaches, bars and nightclubs will also have plenty of girls who are there on holidays with friends and sometimes even alone. Take the opportunity, start a conversation, have fun, you never know what you will find. Everyone is in Pattaya to be a little bit naughty!
Happy hunting!
