Minimum Tip Increases

[jimmie50]

In the posts I receive daily via LINE from the various massage shops in Bangkok, I have noticed a substantial increase at Phetboys/Boy Boy spa for minimum tips.  Some of the advertised young men are requesting as much as 2500 Baht now.  So far, I have only noticed this increase at this particular spa.  I am curious if this is something that happens normally at most spas during high season?   Or, is this perhaps from a change in management or ownership?   They seem to be having a name change (English version at least) from Phetboys to Boy Boy.  Has anyone else noticed this?  

[silverwolf76]

2 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

In the posts I receive daily via LINE from the various massage shops in Bangkok, I have noticed a substantial increase at Phetboys/Boy Boy spa for minimum tips.  Some of the advertised young men are requesting as much as 2500 Baht now.  So far, I have only noticed this increase at this particular spa.  I am curious if this is something that happens normally at most spas during high season?   Or, is this perhaps from a change in management or ownership?   They seem to be having a name change (English version at least) from Phetboys to Boy Boy.  Has anyone else noticed this?  

2500 is for outcall

if you are not sure,u can ask papasam

[zazzu]

I've seen a couple guys here or there who's tips are a bit more, like at Fafa there's a guy with an "S60" sized cock who charges THB2000 when most of the others are charging about THB1000-1200. Definitely more of an exception than the norm though from what I've been seeing lately. 

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, silverwolf76 said:

2500 is for outcall

 

indeed , that was what I was told as well by somebody in the know.

And as always , if tip stated by venue or mamasan seems too steep it's always advisable to talk quietly to the  boy in question

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

it's always advisable to talk quietly to the  boy in question

I'm called scroogy when I suggest things like this....🤷‍♂️

[silverwolf76]

8 hours ago, zazzu said:

I've seen a couple guys here or there who's tips are a bit more, like at Fafa there's a guy with an "S60" sized cock who charges THB2000 when most of the others are charging about THB1000-1200. Definitely more of an exception than the norm though from what I've been seeing lately. 

he is more experience and worked few spa places.seen his dick so thick.

[12is12]

Excuse my ignorance: what's "S60" ?

[zazzu]

20 minutes ago, 12is12 said:

Excuse my ignorance: what's "S60" ?

Cock size, specifically the circumference/thickness. S54 is pretty common from what I've seen in the ads, with several S52's and S56's.. S60 is more rare. I'll attach a pic that Fafa spa recently sent out on Line.

https://www.pulse-clinic.com/h3-how-to-measure-the-penis-to-find-the-right-condom-size

 

[vinapu]

18 hours ago, floridarob said:

I'm called scroogy when I suggest things like this....🤷‍♂️

trying to talk boy to reduce his tip from 1000 to 700 is scroogy, trying to talk him to discount from 1500 to 1200 is market research. When you try to reduce to 2000 from asked 3500 is pointing to market reality and when you try to reduce 10000 tip to 5000 is just attempt to talk sense to him ( although in any of cases above boy may know better ).

We know what we are paying but boys know what they are getting. 

[PeterRS]

While I have always regarded the amount of a tip as an individual choice, I do find the issue of tipping interesting. When I first started regularly visiting bars and offing guys way back in 1980. I was giving tips of Bt. 500,  and I believe this was what most if not all offered as 'off' tips . Certainly it was easier to give one note when the alternative would have been finding a few red Bt. 100 notes! With the US/Baht peg, that was the equivalent of US$20. With Thailand's economy only recently having started to develop in the 1970s, all the bars were staffed by Thai boys mostly from the countryside where the alternative was either working the paddy fields or in village Mom & Pop stores. Bt. 500 tips were therefore very welcome.

Thailand's official inflation rate has fluctuated quite wildly from 19.7% in 1980, dipping thereafter to an average of around 4% for the rest of the decade, increasing to around an average of 5% in the 1990s (the decade when the massive economic crisis hit*) , down to around 3% in the 2000s and almost 0% in the 2010s, with one further spike in 2024 of 6.08% in 2024. If we assume that the average annual interest rate was 4%, the value of $20 would now be approx. $96 (assuming my calculations are correct!) A tip roughly equal to the Bt. 500 of the 1980s today should therefore be around Bt. 3,100.

This does not take into account the effects of the social order campaigns of the early 2000s, the changing face of tourism, nor the surge in the country's economy offering young Thais much greater work opportunities and thereby making bar work much less attractive. In theory at least this should result in an increase in tips! Yet I still see posts in this and another chat room mentioning short time tips ranging generally from $1,500 to $2,000. There is even one poster (not on this Board) who put forward the view that with the minimum wage in Bangkok being just Bt. 400 per day, anyone being tipped Bt. 1,000 should be thrilled! That clearly takes no account of actual circumstances, even though there may be a certain logic to the argument!

Not yet in the equation is the fact that most of the boys now come from neighbouring countries which have in general less developed economies and a larger workforce still on the bottom rungs of those economies. With demand and supply in operation, assuming they are attractive to bar goers, they can make a lot more in a much shorter time than would be possible at home. So the case is legitimately made for a lower tip rate. I don't know how to factor in the cost of regular travel between their countries and Thailand nor accommodation costs. But I guess Bt. 2,000 that is often mentioned in this Board is probably about right. Just my thoughts! 

*Just for interest, with the aim of eventually purchasing a small apartment in Bangkok, in 1998 I converted a large amount of sterling into Baht with HSBC in Hong Kong and placed it on a year's deposit at 20% interest. At the start of 1999, I placed all that and the accrued interest plus some more sterling on a 4 month deposit at an annual rate of 16%. I estimated I made a total of just under 40% interest during 16 months. How the official rates within Thailand averaged only around 4% during those two years I fail to comprehend!

 

 

 

[jason1975]

1500 to 2000 baht rates for short time is available by freelancers on Grndr and other apps.

At the bars, there is a sort of minimum fixed price set by the management. This makes it easier for clarity and consistency when customers ask mamasans about the cost for short time.

A minimum fixed price protects the guys from customers who may want to pay less.

But of course, the guys are welcome to accept a lower fee when customer negotiate directly with them for services that exclude sex e.g. accompanying customer to another bar to drink.

[jason1975]

At Freshboys, the minimum fixed price for short time is 2500 baht which is mandated by management. The popular guys are welcome to quote 3000 baht if they wish.

At other bars, the price is generally 3000 baht before negotiations. I believe it is because of the quoted 2500 baht price at Freshboys that word spread around Chinese customers which is why Freshboys is popular with them.

[floridarob]

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

trying to talk boy to reduce his tip from 1000 to 700 is scroogy, trying to talk him to discount from 1500 to 1200 is market research. When you try to reduce to 2000 from asked 3500 is pointing to market reality and when you try to reduce 10000 tip to 5000 is just attempt to talk sense to him ( although in any of cases above boy may know better ).

We know what we are paying but boys know what they are getting. 

So basically I'm only scroogy at the entry-level discounts, but once I hit the premium tiers I'm suddenly a respected economist? 

Next time I'll wear a suit, carry a clipboard, and say “this isn’t haggling, sweetheart — this is fiscal responsibility.” 😝

[Enchanted_Elixir]

9 hours ago, PeterRS said:

There is even one poster (not on this Board) who put forward the view that with the minimum wage in Bangkok being just Bt. 400 per day, anyone being tipped Bt. 1,000 should be thrilled! That clearly takes no account of actual circumstances, even though there may be a certain logic to the argument!

There have been similar viewpoints such as that expressed on this forum too in ages past.

9 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Not yet in the equation is the fact that most of the boys now come from neighbouring countries which have in general less developed economies and a larger workforce still on the bottom rungs of those economies. With demand and supply in operation, assuming they are attractive to bar goers, they can make a lot more in a much shorter time than would be possible at home. So the case is legitimately made for a lower tip rate. I don't know how to factor in the cost of regular travel between their countries and Thailand nor accommodation costs. But I guess Bt. 2,000 that is often mentioned in this Board is probably about right. Just my thoughts! 

As I mentioned in another thread there are operational costs involved with the non-Thais. This might increase in the future if current visa exemption practice is upheld. 

As to the main question posed by OP and also mentioned by others on this thread: no, there is no increase in minimum tips. What you see on Phetboy AKA boyboy LINE feed are the outcall tips which has always been higher. The incall tips have remained the same.

What you do see however is a more explicit segmentation of the market especially by Fafa Spa who has a large segment of Chinese customers (who are not used to a tipping culture). There they have begun to be more explicit about the minimum tips prices between H and S service. Also some boys have significantly higher minimum tips e.g. 3000, however that is nothing new as a few boys have always had something in short supply but in high demand, and priced themselves accordingly.