Current Price Comparisons
[QUOTE=Goatscrot;2250952]But now you see what the locals are paying and what quality they are getting. We are really being "had" in the scene that is directed at foreigners. That is why HK and Jakarta are still ok. When you are fishing in the same pond as the locals, it is a different and better game.[/QUOTE]I was just in HK, Macau, Singapore, CGK and BKK. The Wanchai bar scene was dreadful comprised of amazingly low quality, fat, past their prime import girls (mostly Pinays) hoping for large money deposits. I found the Chinese 141 girly scene much better, although quality was far from cheap ie slightly more expensive at every price point than the BKK escort scene.
As for Jakarta: I really like Jakarta girls and its nightlife, but again quality does come at a significant price. This is NOT a Cheap Town although it was 15 to 20 years ago. I won't mention (ha ha) what a session with a Malio Club dancer goes for nowadays, but it is comparable in price to sideline La Belle girls in BKK although I do think the quality is higher in Malio. Of course Malio couch girls cost significantly less than the dancers as do the girls at the Emporium Hotel and other bordellos catering, as you point out, to mostly local customers. The price at most high level to medium level Jakarta bordellos ranges from slightly more than to slightly less than the price at oily massage parlors in BKK. Again, I think the quality is higher in Jakarta and on most nights I was the only farang in these establishments. But I do not like the cheap scene in Jakarta. Quality of service as well as girl quality is a major problem in the cheap, cheap places. You get what you pay for was never more true than in the Jakarta nightlife scene.
Lastly, and I only mention this because this scene is comprised of mostly Chinese, albeit, non local customers, Macau: where prices are the highest in Asia. Up 35% from 2016 when I was last there and yet the top saunas had no lack of price elastic customers. Kind of makes me think there is no limit to how high prices will eventually go in BKK or Jakarta not to mention Pattaya or Phnom Penh and AC.
My point to you is prices are up everywhere in major Asian metropolitan destinations and despite my strong positive feelings for Jakarta girls, I still find BKK to be overall a better place to punt long term. Feel free to disagree with me, but if I were to choose anywhere to live in metropolitan Asia, it would still be BKK. I think I would be very unhappy living full time in Jakarta unless I had a great, high paying job with an expense account. The only reason I will ever go back to HK is to catch the shortest duration flight back to east coast USA. Even Singapore is better than HK in terms of nightlife possibilities IMHO.
More on Price Comparisons
[QUOTE=Goatscrot;2251049]Travel and Classic; still a good gal for what the equivalent of less than 1 k Baht. What preserves the scene is there are very few tourists.[/QUOTE]Maybe, sometimes, once in a while. The problem I have with Travel & Classic is once you find a good looking gal you still don't know what kind of service you are going to receive in the room. It is a crap shoot therefor consistency of decent service is a real problem in these two establishments.
So rather than waste time (time is money) and valuable jism I prefer places like Emporium, a mid level bordello, where you can find attractive girls and a more consistent high level of service. Prices start at Emporium at 900,000 idr (2000 baht) for regular girls and then go up to 1,200,000 idr (2700 baht) for the VIP girls. I wish I could report differently, but on every one of my visits the cute girls were in the VIP section and I noticed that most of the Indonesian customers felt the same way. As I posted earlier 3 of my 4 VIP Emporium girls were memorable and absolutely repeat worthy. Sadly, I only repeated with one of them.
Top end Malio Club and Malioboro Lounge have couch girls too, some of whom are very attractive. Over the years I have had some great sessions with these girls and only 1 mediocre session that I can recall. That is a high level of consistency. Malio & Malioboro prices start at 900,000 idr (2000 baht), then 1,100,000 idr (2500 baht) for preferred Indonesian couch girls, then rise to 1,700,000 idr (3800 baht) for Malioboro dancers, 2,000,000 idr (4500 baht) for some Malio Dancers to 3,000,000 idr (6800 baht) for other Malio Dancers. Don't ask me what the difference in Malio dancers is. So clearly one can see the two lines of distinction: couch girls are priced similar to BKK oily massage girls and the dancers are priced similar to BKK soapy sideline girls. I have left out the Imports which are priced at 2,200,000 idr (5000 baht). While in Jakarta I took a sexy, Asiatic looking, Kazak Malioboro girl upstairs one night and had a great time with her.
My conclusion is Jakarta prices are very similar to BKK prices. One might think there is higher quality of girls and service in Jakarta. Maybe, but I think there are great girls in both cities. You just have to look around. Travel & Classic girls are priced at the low end. This does not mean there are not some attractive girls there giving good service. There are. Just as there are some attractive girls giving good service on Soi 6 in Pattaya, just not that many to suit my taste. 555. But I am glad there is a Classic Hotel and a Soi 6 even though I rarely partake. I enjoy window shopping on Soi 6 and believe me I am ready to make a move should I spot a looker. I spotted one on my last visit, but another punter got to her seconds before me. HA HA. The rest of the time I did not see any other girls in her league so I found what I was looking for on Walking Street. All's well that ends well.