Breakdown of the mama-san scam in Thai go-gos
This is from Stickman's column today:
Mamasans Clipping The Ticket
https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/ ... lipping-the-ticket/
In Thailand it feels like everyone is clipping the ticket. Doing a real estate deal? Anyone providing so much as an introduction wants a cut if a deal is done. Often it seems that anyone who has anything to do with a deal being done gets a cut. And that’s how it is in the bars where mamasans quote a price for a girl’s services – and expect a commission.
It’s a scenario that is happening more often in some bars. A lady is snuggling up to a customer. The music is good, and he’s got a buzz going. She whispers in his ear that she’d like to go to his hotel room. He’s in his happy place….and then the mamasan kills the moment by barking at the customer, “Barfine lady, pay 4,000 baht now, include everything!” The mood is killed, and the illusion of something special is gone.
Some mamasans have added a laminated price-list or a calculator to their tools of the trade as they increasingly insert themselves in to deals between girl and customer. It’s nothing new, but it seems to be happening more often these days.
The practice has become prevalent at two of the most popular bars on Soi Cowboy, Crazy House and Kazy Kozy, where recent reports have it that some mamasans pitch girls to punters at the unusual rate of 3,850 baht.
Mamasan explains that the barfine is 750 baht. 3,000 baht is the short-time fee for the lady. And the remaining 100 baht? That’s a tip for mama. 100 baht as a tip? I think customers could almost live with that. But it’s not really 100 baht, is it?
What the mamasan doesn’t tell you is that the lady does not get paid 3,000 baht and the breakdown of the 3,850 baht all-in price mamasan quoted was not accurate. The component for the lady’s short-time fee is actually only 2,000 or 2,500 baht. And mamasan gets 500 baht or 1,000 baht as a commission, on top of the 100 baht “tip”. Not a bad pay day for doing almost nothing!
Any mamasan brokering a few such deals each night could do very well for herself.
Mamasans insert themselves in to the deal to line their own pockets. They quote a price that is near the top end of what a customer is willing to pay – a number over and above what the girl is willing to accept, leaving plenty of fat for mamasan to siphon off a commission.
Let’s be clear about this. The mamasan is not inserting herself in to the deal to help you. And nor is she doing it to help the lady.
Are the mamasans offering a useful service? In 99% of cases, no, they are not. A lady new to the bar scene – of which there are very few these days – may need a little help the first week or so. But is that not already part of a mamasan’s job?
For customers, no good comes from a mamasan inserting herself in to a negotiation. The mamasan will make out that they’re offering a special deal and helping you get the best price. It’s BS. All they are doing is manoeuvring in to a position where they can clip the ticket. There is no reason to deal with the mamasan and most punters know it’s best to deal with the lady directly. Keep the mamasan out of it and well away.
Most Westerners know this. Asian customers, especially those who speak little English and no Thai, may not. They will often pay whatever is asked, so long as the number quoted is in the ballpark and not totally outrageous.
Some mamasans have been around the bar biz a long time, decades even. Often they are former working girls. They know how to manipulate inexperienced girls, while the younger dancers may even see mamasans as mother-figures. In Thai culture, respect is given to those older than you. Some mamasans prey on that.
Many dancers feel like they have no choice but to pay a commission to the mamasan who claims to look after them, whether that mamasan had any part in the negotiation or not.
In some cases the mamasan will hit girls up for a commission every time she is barfined. It’s like this is a fee for the mamasan looking after her. It feels like a protection racket.
That the girl in some bars have to pay money to mamasan every time they are barfined is one reasons why girls may ask for more money these days, and why short-time fees continue to go up.
Mamasans may tell younger girls some nonsense about how they take the hassle out of negotiating a price and how they will get her the best price. Sort of like a real estate agent selling a property. Funny that, I have long struggled with real estate agents, just as I do with some mamasans.
At the same time, the mamasan makes out to the punter that the girl will be the lay from heaven…..and if there is any problem he can come straight back to the bar and talk to mamasan who will sort out any problems.
Which is rubbish. Customers who have had a problem and returned to the bar quickly find out no-one is interested. The bottom line is that many mamasans don’t care about anyone but themselves.
Thai-speaking customers and regulars don’t play the game and refuse to engage. That keeps the mamasan at bay. But that necessarily won’t stop some mamasans from brazenly interjecting, making out that she is there to help. Later she will hit the girl up for a commission.
So what should you do if a mamasan comes over while you’re enjoying the company of a lady and barks “Pay barfine now!” simply refuse to engage with her.
This crap has taken hold in quite a few bars. Worst of all, it happens in some farang-owned bars. I get it that it happens in Thai-owned bars.
A big shout out goes to the owners of Lighthouse on Soi Cowboy, one bar which has stood up against this practice. The foreign bosses put their foot down and said no to this crap!
Down in Pattaya, a farang-owned and managed bar on Soi LK Metro doesn’t allow this carry-on and the 2 mamasans know that if they try it on, it’s instant dismissal. To keep the mamasans happy, the foreign boss got creative. On top of their salary, mamasans are paid a commission of 1 baht for every lady drink and 5 baht for every barfine. Over the course of a month that adds up. Incentives work well with Thais.
Mamasans inserting themselves in to deals, inflating prices and taking an undeserved commission is a problem that needs to be stamped out. Customers shouldn’t have to deal with this crap. Bar owners should make a stand against mamasans preying on the girls and stamp this crap out once and for all. |
