A while ago I published a report on female sex tourism in Pattaya. While doing the research for that piece I was able to talk to a few of the male sex workers in the bars that serve a mixture of male and female clientele. At his particular place of work, the women outnumbered the male customers by a ratio of about ten to one. This may surprise a lot of people. That is partly why I wrote the report.
In a single night I watched more than a dozen women pay barfines and depart with guys from one of the more popular bars. Although the bar was not much larger than some of the most popular go go bars in Pattaya, it had three times as many employees and a full house of patrons.
One of the guys working at the bar was rather forthcoming. I talked to him with the help of the same local female friend who showed me the bar in the first place. I did not tell the guy that I was doing a formal interview for a website. And that was the truth at the time. But a few people have expressed interest in hearing what the guy had to say. So I see no problem in recounting the discussion here while preserving the guy’s anonymity.
How old are you and where are you from?
I’m twenty two years old. I was born around the Cambodian border.
How long have you been working here? How did you find this place?
My friend back home told me this was an easy place to make money.
Was he right?
I don’t know. Haha. It is easier than another job. But it is not as easy as you might think.
How much money do you make?
I don’t get any salary. So if I don’t have customers I don’t earn anything.
Do you get a lot of customers?
Sometimes I get customers. Sometimes I don’t have a customer for many days. So I have to try hard. Some guys are lazy. They don’t get customers. I don’t know what they are doing.
So how do they make a living?
Haha. I want to know too! I know that one guy with white skin has someone sending him money every month. That’s why he doesn’t care. Look at him. He won’t even do a barfine.
So why is he here?
He can get tips and some money from drinks. Maybe he will find another lady to send him money too.
Do you do barfines?
Sure. I come to work to make money. I don’t want to come here if I can’t make money.
How much is the barfine? How much do you get?
The barfine is 1000 Baht ($32 USD). I don’t get anything from the barfine. I get a little from drinks.
But people pay you if you go out of the bar with them right?
Sure. Some people can pay a lot. Other people are cheap. It depends. But I want to make money.
Do you go with men and women?
I will go with men if they can pay. But I go with women too. I go with women more. Because I like women.
What do you usually do outside? How does it go?
Some people are lonely. They want to pretend I am a boyfriend. Other ones are horny. Haha!
I guess the guys are horny and the women are lonely?
Maybe not. A lot of the Asian ladies want to go to the room. They don’t want to walk around with me. Maybe someone will see. But the gay guys like romance.
Are you gay?
No. But I come here to make money. So I have to make the customers happy.
Can you get a hard on with guys?
Sex is about good feelings. I can do it.
How much do customers give you?
It depends. I can get 3000 Baht ($99 USD) from a customer. Or I can get much more. It depends what they want. And it depends on the people.
I see a lot of women in here. There are only a few men. Is this normal? What kind of people come in here?
Oh, there are all kinds of people. Chinese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, farang. Some men come in here. There are more women. If you go to another bar you won’t see so many women. Women like to come here. There are many handsome men with muscles and white skin.
What kind of people do you normally go with?
I had customers from many countries. Every day is different.
From what I see you must get some sexy ladies. That has to be fun!
Korean women are best. They smell good and give me 10,000 Baht ($328 USD). Chinese are the worst.
Why is that?
I get more of them, but they don’t smell good or give a lot of money. They are cheap and they smell bad.
What do you mean they smell bad?
They are beautiful with white skin. But they have a bad smell. They don’t clean their mouths. Their feet stink. Their pussies stink. I think they eat bad food and don’t clean their bodies.
I guess the job isn’t easy after all.
Haha. Yes, that’s what I said!
Another stellar bit of reportage, Rockit! I never knew that there was any sort of gigolo scene in the LoS, much less that visiting Korean or Chinese women actively sought out paid action.
I’ve never been shy about sharing my interest in a little other side of the pillow action, as they say. I’ve had a few male masseurs who told me they were straight, one even showed me a picture of his young wife and kid, but the lure of the baht opened their mouths to a warm stream of Jack’s Fruit.
Now, how do we convince these monied Korean MILFs to pass their gaze over to a little amateur farang action?
Thanks for the comment Jack. I have to say that I didn’t see many women I would call a “MILF” when I visited this person’s place of work. Most of the women there appeared to be in their twenties. Nearly all were attractive too. Cheers.
What is the ratio of male to female mongers in Boyz town / Pattaya? Your article gives the impression it might be 50-50. I’ve always assumed the western &/or Asian female tourists in Pattaya were married woman; pretending to be on a family friendly vacation, while their husbands disappeared for a few hours each night. lol
I’m shocked at the price range this guy can command, 3000 to 10000 baht. It’s almost three times what an average to stunner Thai girl can make.
Hi J. I haven’t done a census. But the number of males is nowhere near the number of women working in Pattaya. The prices these guys charge aren’t too far off some of the popular go go bars. There are women on Walking Street who regularly get 3000 to 10000. Especially in places like Sapphire. There are also the soapies popular with many people where prices can be from 3000 on up. Of course there are also women in Pattaya who work for 1000, 500 or even 200 Baht. I was more surprised to learn that female customers want to go straight to the room! Cheers.
Traditional market forces set the rates, I suspect. There have got to be fewer women looking for paid sx wih men, so the guys have to charge higher amounts. Sounds illogical but it’s an “elite” service, of a sort.
There’s also the traditional wage disparity between men and women doing the same jobs. At least that is what a feminist would say.
My experience with the gay massage spa scene is that they are slightly higher end joints than where I go for oilies with women: muted lighting, tasteful decor, gay magazines littering the sitting area in the room for clients to peruse as they sit, clad only in a towel, with their feet soaking in a bath waiting for the masseur to show up.
My only other comparison is the first time I had a male rubdown finish with a HJ. I was so naive about the massage with extras scene that I just assumed the guy “liked” me, and my tip was a symbolic 200 on top of the 500 house fee. That he continued to service me, including weekly oral, for the same amount led the younger (2011!) me think this was just another special feature of getting bodywork done in Bangkok.
Generally speaking it seems that many male sex workers charge more than female sex workers. This could be something to investigate. There are many possible explanations for it. Of course mainstream economic thought doesn’t always apply to this industry. For example there are sex workers in some of the world’s poorest countries who charge more than sex workers in some of the world’s richest countries. Cheers.
I’m not ready to swing back into the gay sauna scene just yet, but if I do I will do my part to increase your knowledge base. A new shop opened up near my house and they even list the guys’ endowment* as well as Top or Bottom orientation, so I’m guessing it’s not just a massage. Rates seem comparable, with mandatory tips of 1,000 to1,400 depending on the guy over and above the 800b flat rate for the rubdown.
*Im surprised at how many are listed at 7”. Might put lie to the stereotype ofAsian vs Western “package”, and May also explain why those Korean women are visiting the place you did your interview!
Some shops seem to be quite open. Then others are not. And we hear of closures all the time. It’s an eventful industry to say the least.