Min

All the bars in Jomtien Complex charge 300B for offing a boy and 400-500B for waiting staff.

You will stay there until what day?

I already said it but I'm gonna say that again: he's lucky you've been there for him all those times. Thanks for sharing your experience. While I'm sorry that you had to suffer twice (it looks like you were infected with a different strain each time), your experience corroborates what J. told me and makes me realize what an ordeal it must have been for both of you. Agree. @jason1975, no matter how much you care for him, you should draw a clear line when it comes to funding. I have no problems with saying NO to certain requests from J., telling him they were not reasonable.

It's bad news if you never have it.

What? He's only 30. Maybe the picture adds a decade. I would say between 40 and 50

How old is he?

Most threads in this forum, more or less, center around boys and boy payments When it comes to relationship with money boys, I guess, many still have big problems with "How come you claim it's love and still pay???" If you come to the commercial scene of Thailand and expect to find love, you are more likely to be in for a great disappointment because the premise is false in the first place. You come here, you should expect to find sex, plenty of it. And when you do, you have nothing to complain about. Then, if you are lucky (or unlucky, depending on perspective), feeling, care, love and/or relationship may tag along as unexpected but oft appreciated by-products. When that happens, the boy moves from being part of your night to being part of your life. Too bad you can't claim him as a dependent on your tax return though. To be honest, I myself never saw it coming for me. No doubt, I had seen such relationships in my countless real-life encounters with boys and fellow customers (and in this forum also), but "I'm too cool to fall in love here. Thailand is just all fun for me, no strings attached." Then all of a sudden, I got smitten. I got hit big time. Of course, I've spent a lot more to "take care" of my guy, I know it, but I can afford it and more importantly I feel much more gratified than those years spending each night with a different boy. I guess you must be in it to feel it and develop empathy for "the poor folks who were hopelessly in love with those mercenary bar boys". There is something else I want to share now. A few weeks after the trip during which I first met J. (I hadn't gotten a chance to come back due to the upcoming Chinese New Year), I got a message from J., saying that he was seriously sick and running out of money, asking if I can give him some money to go home. My first thought was "Already? That soon?" Naturally, I treated such a request with caution, having heard tons of stories about how the customers still got "milked" by bar boys after they went home. No matter how much I liked J., we barely knew each other at that point. I myself always said no to those requests from other boys. Well, it's not easy for me to help anyway even if I want to. Because as a tourist, I don't have a local Thai bank account and to send money abroad from Vietnam, you need a legit reason, e.g., a medical bill, tour voucher, tuition invoice, etc., to justify the payment, not "the boy I slept with asks for more money". So I told J. I can't help right then, explaining my tourist status, so he might want to wait until I'm back. When I was finally back to Pattaya post Chinese New Year, he already went home. Talking to people in his bar, I found out he got dengue fever from mosquito bite and had to be hospitalized. I wrote to J. to see how he's doing and promised if he was unable to come back to Thailand, I would go to Laos to see him. However, in my next trip to Thailand the following month, we actually arrived in Pattaya on the same day by coincidence, and from then on, he was the only boy I offed whenever I'm in Pattaya. Several months later, when we were much closer, I asked him again about that time when he got sick. His hospital stay cost him more than 20K baht. Having no medical insurance, he used up his savings (before Pattaya, J. worked for a Korean company based in Bangkok for some time, with a monthly salary of about 8K) for treatment and had barely enough left to pay for the bus home. Since he was too weak to work post treatment and the doctor advised him to go home to recover, he couldn't wait until I come back. I asked J. if he sought help from other customers too and his answer was "No, you are the only one to whom I wrote for help." There was one poignant note in his story. "I didn't even have my birthday party because I was lying exhausted on the bus home that very day." (partly why I tried to make up for him on his birthday this year). Also, from now on, when I come home, I trust Ko, the bartender, with an emergency fund in case something similar happens again.

It all comes down to gold weight: Je.'s bracelet and K.'s necklace are both triple that price of the ring. So in the shop, you first decide how much you wanna spend (based on the weight) and they'll show you items in that range.

It's double that of the ring, also 96.5% gold.

Agree. Since Chinese New Year doesn't mean much to Laos people, I already bought (but haven't given him yet) a gold necklace for the upcoming Valentine.

Hic, I can't compete with those European folks. J.'s ring is the same as Je.'s in terms of gold weight and price (11600 Baht).

New Year is a stressful and dreadful time for those poor boyfriends slash sponsors. Too many gift-worthy occasions in such a short span of time: X-mas, New Year, Chinese New Year, and last but not least, Valentine, not to mention the classical "other-boys-get-gift-why-I-have-not". For me, I also got J.'s birthday thrown in the mix (last year, he bought me a cake and held a small party in the bar for my birthday and last December, he gave me a set of clothes as a New Year gift while I bought him nothing). There are naturally implicit competitions among the boys about who's getting better (a.k.a., more expensive) gifts. So they constantly update each other and their sponsors on who got what. There are currently two frontrunners in the race. K.'s Swiss partner took him to a jewelry shop near Tukcom and bought him a gold necklace that costs 43700 Baht. Then the rumor has it that Je.'s British boyfriend one-upped K's by buying Je. a gold bracelet AND a ring from the same store that costs more than 50K in total. It turned out the boyfriend only gave him the bracelet and Je. bought the ring with his own money. Also "I stayed with him but he seldom gave me money so he made it up by buying me gold." So in short, K.'s Swiss sponsor still won the day (40K per month and then the gold to top it off). Je. took pride in that his gold looks more solid that K.'s necklace though (they are in fact all 96.5%, see the picture attached for ideas). Gold seems to be the gift best loved by bar boys since they can easily show it off to the world and later can sell it for cash when needs arise. Je.'s ring and bracelet feature prominently in every single selfie he took post event (below is the one taken in Starbuck). And that wasn't enough. Je. decided to go home for one week, right in the middle of the peak season, probably for no compelling reasons other than to show his village how well he's doing ("face" is always big in Asian cultures). And he certainly wasn't the only one to do so, which made the bar owner and manager furious. "What are they thinking going home now? We have so many customers and not enough (cute) boys to serve them." Ki., the boy who turned down the big weekend deal in his first day at the job mentioned earlier, also decided to pay home a visit even though he only started working for a less than 2 months. The trip, originally planned for 2 weeks, was cut short to merely 1 (and that includes two whole days on the bus back and forth), I think probably because it was too boring and not much to do at home. But Ko., the bartender, seems to know better, "more like he already spent all the earned money so now had to come back to make more". As someone who's never big on gifts, I finally caved in to peer pressure and bought J. a small ring for his upcoming birthday. He put it on his ring finger, the implication of which hadn't dawn on me until boys in the bar literally line up to appreciate the gift and give J. the married woman treatment by calling him "Madam J." Some boys even jokingly complained "I don't even have silver" (pointing at his sterling neck chain) "and Madam is wearing gold."

If you are not dressed, why you still had to knock at and open the door with your hand?

and the boys will have their own QR code stamped or tattooed on their ass to motivate tipping.

Interesting gossip. I didn’t see that coming. I have several comments though The boy certainly wasn’t new in 2023. I think I saw him even before Covid, or at least right after. I have to give him credit though for giving a piece of his mind to a customer. Whether that kind of behavior could be justified, we need more data. The Chinese customer could have been way out of line or incredibly rude, we don’t know. He’s obviously of great value to the bar because he wasn’t fired after such incidents. All these make me wonder what exactly is his appeal? Why he has been so popular? I’m certainly a big fan of the twink tribe where he belongs but I don’t see it and never have the desire to call him down. Cute face, but not that cute. Nice body, but not that nice (and he’s been getting a bit chubby last year). And it doesn’t look like he goes out of his way to please customers either. He looked pretty bored sitting with them.

He, who lost the motivation... This time, I noticed something different about K., who used to be the star of the bar and who came back from Laos just before New Year. These day, he, who held the bar record of more than 20 drinks in one night, sometimes didn't get a single drink the whole night, and more weirdly, he doesn't seem to care. "He lost the motivation" Ko., the bartender, told me. So it turns out K. now had a boyfriend-cum-sponsor from Switzerland, who supports him with 40K a month even though they only meet a few times a year. Nowadays, he mostly stays home in Laos to mind his own farm and take care of his mother and only comes to Pattaya when the boyfriend visits Thailand. "This time, he will stay until 26th Feb. I will also come home at that time and will stay until at least after Songkran." "He's 75 so no sex, but he still wants me to be his boyfriend and wants me to take care of him." "Do you cook for him?" "No, but I can order food for him." The boyfriend, whom I had a chance to meet and say hi to just last night, doesn't mind if K. goes with other customers. So while he's in Thailand, he still picks up a customer once in a while (extra income never hurts), but with CONDITIONS. "I told the customer I don't kiss or samoke." (this brings to mind something very cute I noticed when I quietly observed the love birds last night - every time the old guy turned to him, K. pouted his mouth in a sultry way, inviting a kiss) "I can only chuckwow for them. If they are okay, then I go." (this attitude is very different from when I talked to him a year ago. At that time he said he mostly tops but can also bottom a bit and he would do everything or go with anyone as long as the price is right) "But you are top right? What if the customer wants you to f*ck 'em?" "I don't do that anymore." At that point, I was curious about K.'s sex life because he obviously doesn't get any from his farang boyfriend. "I don't boom boom customers, but I can boom boom boys I like." K. was blunt in his answer "He has another boyfriend, young, in Laos" Ke., another Laos boy, who freelances in the bar, chipped in. Yet, I had another bone to pick with K. "Now that what you are willing to do is even less than what some straight boys would do, there are still customers who wants to go with you? For me, even though I liked J. a lot at first sight, if he told me he wouldn't do this, he wouldn't do that in the beginning, I would not take him off." "It's different. J. was also attracted to you, that's why he was willing to do anything. If I meet someone I like, I can go for free." Said Ke, who is quite close to J.. So what we, the poor customers, can do to motivate the boys who already lost the motivation? Offer even more money or move on to the next one? hehe

My god, that's a load off my mind because if we were talking about the same guy, I don't even know what to tell you next. The Viet guy I mentioned, he's another star in the same league as the Myanmar No 7. Slim, big cock (I'm sure you would notice him in the bar's big cock show), charming, very friendly and tends to engage a lot with the audience, so no surprise he had had a lot of customers. However, at some point, when I saw that the boy, who has always been skinny, thinned to the point of emaciation, and sometimes looked out of it on stage, I checked around. Several Viet boys told me that he, and unfortunately his brother too, was addicted to heroine. So even though he made a lot of money, he wasted most of it on drug

"Honesty is the best policy", I know, but sometimes I just can't bring myself to say "Don't count on it. It's not gonna happen". I qualified my claim carefully and hope the boy could pick up on that I was actually there the night after New Year (i.e., 2nd Jan). Does your guy also have a birth brother, who works in the same bar and often does the coyote dance number as a show opener? His number, last time I checked, is 33. True. One of the long-time stars in Fresh Boys in terms of number of offs is No 7 from Myanmar (also belong to the "cute, twinky, gay, can do everything" tribe). Different boys and waiters told me the same story: he got off almost every day, sometimes three times in one single night (they have a short-time room upstairs for 400B, so the turnaround could be pretty quick) and this has been going on for a couple of years. But there were several nights I was there, he just stood there on the stage the whole time (not last time though. He already secured an off with an old Asian customer when I arrived and left soon after). I think that's very generous (I myself gives J. 100 USD per day for traveling). While I heard from at least three boys who made 10k per day as travelling companion (all short trips, a couple of days, and they didn't expect that kind of money, it was what the customer offered), I also heard from boys who made far less but were very glad they had the opportunity. @vinapu you remember the Tiny Laos, who used to work Hot Male downstairs, then moved to Fresh Boys downstairs? He once traveled with a customer on a long trip back to Laos for several weeks. He charged 2000B per day, including a long-term discount. "I'm very happy to have that job. I made more money, had an opportunity to travel and even better, to visit my family back home for free." "Nam" sounds like a Vietnamese name.

I'm just kidding. And nope, I didn't off anyone that night from any bar I visited. Can't remember when was the last time I actually offed a boy from Fresh Boys. Did sit and talk to a few of them though. That night, it was almost impossible to talk to a boy as the place was jam-packed and I was seated sandwiched between two customers, who also came alone. Customers who actually called down a boy had troubles finding space for the boy to sit so many made a quick decision and the boy was back in street clothes and off they went in a matter of few minutes while their seats were almost immediately filled by a new batch of arriving customers. The boy I last talked to in Fresh Boys about two months ago was this tall, skinny Cambodian with a boyish, attractive face. He was pretty new at the time, gay, "can do everything", and thus got a lot of attention. I was in the bar in less than 30 minutes and he was already called down by two different customers and then sent back to the rotation pretty quickly. That made me curious so I bought him another drink. Up close, he wasn't that cute (a feature shared by many photogenic folks, who would look great on TikTok) and looked older than his age of 23 (I would guess 27). Didn't exactly shine in the personality department either, not to mention unrealistic expectations (while short-time 2.5 to 3K, pretty in line with the current market price, long-time 6k to 7k and, as travelling companion, 10k per day???). He said he just returned from a trip to Malaysia with a customer (and probably got paid that kind of money?). One interesting thing about him is that he said he was kinda famous on Tiktok and FB in Cambodia so if he knows there are Cambodian customers in the house (which is rare), he would hide in a corner and not take the stage for fear of recognition The only thing that at first impressed me was his long-term career plan: he would stay in this line of work for about 5 years, save enough and then quit to start his own business. Sound like a career-minded boy. Then I saw him holding a iPhone 6 Pro Max, which he made sure everyone in the bar see he's holding and which he said cost him more than 50K. Well, he barely started out and we are back to the common issue of money (mis-)management. I'm not sure his 5 year saving plan would work out that way. Now it's my turn to send him back to the stage with the usual excuse: I already had a massage today, so I MIGHT come back tomorrow. And he told me (his English is pretty decent, no need for google translation) "That's strange because the other two customers said something same same (well, we punters should really work on our creativity when it comes to excuses) so what he's gonna do when tomorrow comes with three potential offs???" (I was nice enough not to tell him to look up the English saying "Tomorrow never comes"). Back to the present. The boy was also in the line-up that night. Still tall, skinny with a more haggard look. Obviously, no longer had that "new boy" freshness that got regular customers' attention. Although nearly half of the boys on stage got off during the night, he didn't get a single drink during the whole time I was there. I think he did recognize me and try to make eye contact several times ("You promised you come back tomorrow!" "No dear, I said I MIGHT!") but my main concern was to spot Jason's boy, No 25, both on stage and in the audience, to no avail.

Gosh. You sound just like J.

@jason1975 Just so you know, I have had a one-night stopover in Bangkok today so I decided to pay Fresh Boys a visit. The house was packed and many boys got offed. I saw number 24, 26, 27 & 28, but no 25. He probably took a day off, or better, got offed before I arrived (around 9 pm).

I'd like that idea provided we both last that long Anyway, the Dutch guy stayed in a long-term hotel. I should've taken a page from your playbook and told T. to come and cook dinner for him (if he can cook). It would be a nice bonding experience.

It's not hard to see which customer "belongs with" which boy in a particular host bar. Almost every boy in the bar has their own regular customer(s), who fall somewhere between "sponsor" and "once-off". So when a new customer walks in, he's "up for grabs" and available boys all rush out greeting. But when a regular one shows up, the boys' first reaction is looking for his "owner", unless that customer is a "butterfly", who patronizes the bar but tends to sit with a different boy each time. (I know that when J. started to get to know me, some boy in the bar had warned him "Beware, he's a butterfly". Now I'm completely converted, from butterfly to regular and eventually sponsor). So that Singaporean is O.'s customer, the British redhead always sits with Je. (who in turns can pick which friends to sit with them), the lanky Italian belongs to Te., the bartender-cum-cashier ("He's old so no sex, just likes to hug me to sleep, I like that. He supports me with 5K a month." Te. told me). That generous Japanese customer, who's based in Bangkok but frequents Pattaya, often sits with a bunch of boys, but has a special liking for K. (the "we-choose-customers-too" boy I mentioned earlier). That big white-haired guy? He would not let just anyone to take his order, only D. and Ko., ("He even glared at me when I tried to be friendly to him", a boy, who obviously not D. or Ko., told me). J. himself also has a few regulars, including someone from New Zealand and that talkative Australian who bought him flower the first time they met and then took him to M-bar. (Do I sound jealous? No, I don't. Don't say I do because I don't!). The Aussie (I still think he's a nice guy, sigh) actually has a long-time Thai boyfriend, who often accompanies him to bars and apparently doesn't mind his partner sleeping around. The other day, when I was sitting with J. by the door, we saw the Japanese guy walking by. J. alerted K., who was being "busy" with a new customer and didn't pay attention. K. immediately excused himself for a toilet break, rushed out just to give the Jap a hug. That shows you how the boys value their regular customers. They know which side of their bread is buttered on. I once sat with O., a 19 years old boy, one of the main cast in the bar's dancing team. With his boyish face, nice body and slinky dance moves, O. has no lack of customers but comparatively few offs. I think I know why after sitting with him and also observed him with other customers. Most of the time, he tended to keep a distance, being polite but aloof, with a far-away look in his eyes, like his mind always wandering somewhere else (to put it bluntly: he looks bored). But then, whenever he sits with that Singaporean regular, he looks like a different person: animated, smiling a lot, leaning toward the other, not unlike when he dances and the boy obviously love dancing. Back to T., the boy whose story started this thread. As the fate has it, the Dutch customer has become T.'s regular during his three-week stay in Pattaya, sitting with the boy for hours almost every day and taking him off once or twice per week. Sometimes, he came in early, spent time with T. for an hour, then left to have dinner, then came back to sit with him some more until very late. So I told T. to let the customer know that he doesn't have to stay inside the bar all the time. "Ask him to take you to dinner, to coffee, to cinema, or just walk to the beach, spice it up!" So T. did, and the next day, they had a long walk, hand in hand, along the beach. How romantic! When T. had to make a visa run to Cambodia, which usually costs the boy about 1000-1200B per trip, the customer gave him 3000. Upon hearing it, J. told T. "That's someone to keep. He's a good man." hehe. The customer left the day after Xmas. "He promised he will be back soon next year and also talk about sending me money every month" T. told me. "Thank you for bringing us together."

Your insightful analyses make sense to me. When I told J., instead of spending all the money he made on his family, he should save and follow his own dream first. Once he succeeds, he will be in a much better position to help those back at home. And J. said "I'm the youngest son in the family. My mother is getting on and you know that she's not very healthy. If I finally make it one day but she's no longer around, my success would be meaningless to me. So I'm trying to make her happy whenever I can." That thought actually strikes a deep chord in me. I was also from a family of humble background. Growing up in a country devastated by war and then communism, I suffered from malnutrition as a child. When my mother had some money, she took me to a food stall to have certain nutritious dishes, but she could afford only one portion. That meant she watched me eat and then finished off my leftover if there was any. Two of my life goals are to make my parents proud and to provide for them with everything they need. Unfortunately when I finally made a name for myself and earned a fortune, my folks were already too old and too weak to enjoy life and travel the world with me. @jason1975 as sponsors, who have genuine intentions to help the boys prepare better for the future, I guess we all face the same dilemma. We can comfortably give them fish, but hardly manage to provide them with the so-called "fishing rod". Part of the problem is that if these poor boys have what it takes to make it, they probably never worked as MBs in the first place.

Hic, all these, unfortunately, I could clearly observe in J.'s case, especially in his financial support for folks at home. I've been trying to change his mindset, little by little, and encourage him to save for his OWN future, but I guess it will take time.