I try to "walk the middle path" when in Thailand, so I'll do the same here--gents, I believe it'd be best if we not start a flame war, OK? I think everyone here has good points.
@ lefeu: You have a pal who's new to mongering and you took him to PATTAYA? Nice one! You're braver than I am, have some karma.
I have a basic philosophy: local culture should be respected, and local rates should prevail. When I lived in Bangkok, I had three regulars (with a cast of guest-stars) and with each, market rates were the rule. I also made sure that my fridge was stocked with snacks, and they knew they could hang out--one was allowed to stay overnight on occasion.
But there was no surcharge for her sleeping over, it was up to her...and me. If you're living there and indulging like this, you need to realize things that tourists don't have to worry about:
1) They speak Isaan dialect and so too do your building security guards. Those guys, who wear uniforms and salute you smartly, have more solidarity with your dates than they do with you, the resident.
2) The women will test you: they'll leave personal items to see how you'll react. Have a strategy for that.
But some things apply to all farang in Thailand. It's a conservative culture--yes it is, despite all the neon and naughtiness, Thailand is conservative. Because of this:
A) Dress reasonably well: long pants, shirt with a collar, actual shoes (not flip-flops). Yes it's hot/humid and you're on vacation. When mongering, dress well.
B) If you can learn a few polite Thai phrases, do so. It goes a LONG way.
C) Spending...well, bound to be some controversy here. But consider this: many Thai WGs come from villages that are far-from-wealthy. They'd come to Bangkok and see farang spending more in a night than most people they knew earned in a month. Soon they realized that some farang would put up with stuff no Thai man would tolerate. I could go on but I think many of you get the point.
Thing is: they come from backgrounds where thrift is a virtue--not "cheapness" but spending money wisely. We all have our concept of value-for-money, but it's a sliding scale, and the scale in rural Thailand is not Terminal 21-level. Yes, they will take your money, but won't respect you for spending what they consider silly amounts. Money does not "buy respect" in Thailand. Other things carry value as well. This isn't simple to explain.
It's your vacation but it's their country and their culture. Many Thai WGs aren't sophisticated, but if they've been on the game for awhile, they know their business, and their business is YOU. They tend to run in packs and compete with each other. Most of them have boyfriends or husbands, many have children AND parents to support back in the provinces. Thais are usually sensual people and enjoy sex. They also enjoy good jokes. I think of it as a "sanuk/satang" equation--yes, they wanna enjoy themselves and have you enjoy yourself, and get paid, and come back and do it again.
Payment should be appropriate. Gifts should be appropriate. You don't pay 6,000 baht to a streetwalker nor 1,000 baht to a high-end escort. Personally, I never tip on demand--I tip when it's warranted.
I have no opinion on go-gos because I've seen them morph from honeypots to money-pits. I do like to look at naked girls dancing but I'm done with the annoyance of being asked to buy drinks for women I've no interest in, who are in fact distracting me from looking at the naked girls, so it's kind of an infinite negative loop. I don't drink alcohol--if I'm sniffing around Thailand at night, I'm looking for a fuck. I used to enjoy that sort of street-hunting when I lived there, and during that time I was ordering up girls like pizza, so I guess I'm a total man-whore, and I'm fine with that.
Just some thoughts. OK gents, keep your cool is my request--this is not a one-size-fits-all question. I do what I want, which is why I almost always monger solo. I'm not hanging around some place while some wingman dithers and drones on. If a lovely fish has leapt into my creel, I'm heading to a private place and enjoying the HELL out of it now, oke-doke??
Thanks.
JtB
[ Last edited by JackTheBat at 17-1-2018 20:46 ] | |
