Bangkok trip report: 10 Days of Bliss.

[spoon]

47 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

If you want to experience karaoke in Bangkok, let me know and I will arrange for you! 🥰🥰🥰

Count me in lol in my dream

[vinapu]

48 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

If you want to experience karaoke in Bangkok, let me know and I will arrange for you! 🥰🥰🥰

In January 2027

[kram987]

If January is are all like this one, I could justify an annual trip!  

[Keithambrose]

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

As older then us you remember those days better

I was there at the premiere!

[vinapu]

22 hours ago, kram987 said:

If January is are all like this one, I could justify an annual trip!  

Weather wise, yes

[spoon]

Day 9 - TIT

Woke up a bit late and we missed the hotel breakfast. So we went to a nearby casa lapin for breakfast. After my guy left went back to hotel for my nap. Woke up and walked around to find a place for massage, as prime was fully booked. Ended making a tour around soi 6, surawong and cross towards silom and decided to have foot massage at one of the parlour near olivia, probably sabai thai. Had an early dinner meet with an ex forum member at mango tree before returning to hotel to freshen up for tonights bar visit. Dinner at mango tree was great but we ordered too much for just the two of us lol

 

Tonight, I had to scratch an itch about circus muscle guys show. Ive catch a glimpse before when i was sitting outside people watching before bar visit, but ive never really sit inside and enjoy their full offering. They have 3 shows, at 9, 10 and 11, but as with other bars, exact start time can vary depending on the crowd. I arrived around 9.30ish, and miss the first one. Managed to get one of the small round table near the center, with only one row of table in front of me. Ordered myself an ice mocha while waiting. 

I saw two muscle guys moving from table to table, trying to strike conversation, getting customer to buy them drink and as well gives them tips. One in particular was exactly my type. So I try to get his attention, but he seems to be very popular and was quite occupied. After a while, he finally notice me and come to my table. We have a small chit chat and i learned that he is vietnamese. Later on, I saw another familiar face, an ex dreamboy star, who is now also part of their muscle guy show. 

The shows features few numbers by the lady boys, and ends with 5 muscles guys dancing and after, moves from table to table to join you for drinks and chat. My eyes still fixated on the previous guy, who now pay attention to me from time to time. Obvious, he knows im infatuated with him and he definitely knows how to extract tips and drinks from customers. Towards the end, there is a short celebration of a birthday of one of the muscle guy, and he receives money garlands from perhaps his regular customer. It was unexpectedly very fun time in circus, although I doubt I can off the guys there. 

Forum member told me that they are heading to hotmale, so i told him Ill move there after show ended. When i arrived there, they said the show still hasnt started so we moved to good boy instead. Full house in good boy, but we managed to get a good seat near the stage, where usually it was filled by the boys during show. Didnt see anyone to my liking, although one guy were sitting next to me and do gave me some attention, so I did tip him before we left.

I texted my guy from jupiter and asked if he has customer tonight, and he told me he is free. So i told him ill go to jupiter to off him. My plan is to just call the mamasan and pay off fee. I arrived at jupiter 11.50ish, when my guy told me show has ended. At the door, i asked one of the guy to call mamasan. When mamasan arrived, I told mamasan I want to pay off fee for my guy. Mamasan asked if i want to go in, i said no as the show already finished and im going back to hotel. 

Guess what, mamasan suddenly told me, i need to pay 200 baht more. For basically nothing. May i remind you that they already increase their entrance fee to 600 just a few day ago. And when i ask my guy, he told me there is lack of customer in the bar. While i was willing to swallow the extra 100 baht, since i can just tip 100 baht less, im not paying 200 baht more for nothing. This time, i am standing my ground as i told mamasan im not paying more for nothing, and id rather just leave. 

My reason is i could simply text my guy to come to me after and let him pay the off fee, so why would i need to pay that 200 baht for nothing... 

Or even better, i could just wait for bar to close and dont even have to pay off fee at all...

Anyway, I told mamasan, because your boss want 200 baht, you will loss 500 baht coz im leaving and not paying the off fee.

Later I told my guy what happened while im walking towards hotel. My guy told me he wanted to go drink with his friend tonight. I said ok, as my mood is spoilt anyway. He promised to meet me tomorrow night and told me I dont have to come to the bar and he will leave right after his part of the show ended.

Plus if he leave to come to me tonight, i basically paying the off fee and im so pissed off that night, i have no intention to give money to jupiter, not that night anyway. Still couldnt understand their logic but i guess Im no longer surprised with Thai logic. And ive been to jupiter perhaps 4-5 times already this trip... Needless to say, i might limit my visit there for the foreseeable future, as I only off one guy from there, which I can get without going to the bar.

At hotel, after I cool down a bit, and talked a forum member about what just happened, I open my grindr and found someone familiar. Asked if he is available, and he quoted a price and can come to me in 40 minutes. Guy is great and apparently he used to work in malaysia, but ive never taken him before because he worked in the south. But ive seen his face in the photos shared by those centers.

He left after and i continue to sleep. Essentially my first night with a short time guy of the trip. 

 

[Olddaddy]

14 hours ago, spoon said:

...

Anyway, I told mamasan, because your boss want 200 baht, you will loss 500 baht coz im leaving and not paying the off fee.

I think you did the right thing, they lost out because of their greed.

Good on you for  not backing down  👍🏿👍🏿

[macaroni21]

17 hours ago, spoon said:

My plan is to just call the mamasan and pay off fee. I arrived at jupiter 11.50ish, when my guy told me show has ended. At the door, i asked one of the guy to call mamasan. When mamasan arrived, I told mamasan I want to pay off fee for my guy. Mamasan asked if i want to go in, i said no as the show already finished and im going back to hotel. 

Guess what, mamasan suddenly told me, i need to pay 200 baht more. For basically nothing. May i remind you that they already increase their entrance fee to 600 just a few day ago. And when i ask my guy, he told me there is lack of customer in the bar. While i was willing to swallow the extra 100 baht, since i can just tip 100 baht less, im not paying 200 baht more for nothing. This time, i am standing my ground as i told mamasan im not paying more for nothing, and id rather just leave. 

@spoon I appreciate this kind of detail in your reporting. It's useful information for many others on this board, I'm sure. And I totally agree with you: pricing is getting ridiculous and customers like us should start asking about value.

[PeterRS]

On 1/22/2026 at 9:39 AM, macaroni21 said:

I totally agree with you: pricing is getting ridiculous and customers like us should start asking about value.

Are not prices rising virtually everywhere? Not for gogo bars naturally because Thailand is almost unique in this respect. But I remember in Taipei when its finest sauna Aniki - on a par with Babylon claimed some - raised its price even pre-covid to NT$1,100 (approx. US$35 now), there were many rumblings of discontent. Most others were charging around US$11. After it closed, the new 'in' sauna opened Soi13in. No doubt due to its popularity, it has now jacked up its price to NT$1,000. Techniclally this is for everyone, but there is a major reduction to NT$300 for local Taiwanese starting around 6:30pm I believe.

In Hong Kong, Hutong sauna in Kowloon recently had an entry price of around HK$238 (app. US$30.50) but again there are discounts for locals at certain times. What was Babylon's entry fee before it closed? Less than US$10 I believe.

Even the popular 24 Sauna in Shinjuku has upped its prices, at least at the week-end. Before 9:00 pm on a Saturday, it has only increaased marginally and is now ¥3,100 (US$19.30). After 9:00 pm it is upped to ¥3,900 (US$24.50). But since the Yen has depreciated very considerably in the last three years, these prices in dollar terms are now not only extremely reasonable, they have fallen quite dramatically!

Reverting to the escalation of Bangkok bar and off prices, even though they are now getting to ridiculous levels, what can anyone do about them? Stick to the spas, saunas and apps? 

[jason1975]

On 1/21/2026 at 4:52 PM, spoon said:

I texted my guy from jupiter and asked if he has customer tonight, and he told me he is free. So i told him ill go to jupiter to off him. My plan is to just call the mamasan and pay off fee. I arrived at jupiter 11.50ish, when my guy told me show has ended. At the door, i asked one of the guy to call mamasan. When mamasan arrived, I told mamasan I want to pay off fee for my guy. Mamasan asked if i want to go in, i said no as the show already finished and im going back to hotel. 

Guess what, mamasan suddenly told me, i need to pay 200 baht more. For basically nothing. May i remind you that they already increase their entrance fee to 600 just a few day ago. And when i ask my guy, he told me there is lack of customer in the bar. While i was willing to swallow the extra 100 baht, since i can just tip 100 baht less, im not paying 200 baht more for nothing. This time, i am standing my ground as i told mamasan im not paying more for nothing, and id rather just leave. 

My reason is i could simply text my guy to come to me after and let him pay the off fee, so why would i need to pay that 200 baht for nothing... 

Or even better, i could just wait for bar to close and dont even have to pay off fee at all...

Anyway, I told mamasan, because your boss want 200 baht, you will loss 500 baht coz im leaving and not paying the off fee.

Later I told my guy what happened while im walking towards hotel. My guy told me he wanted to go drink with his friend tonight. I said ok, as my mood is spoilt anyway. He promised to meet me tomorrow night and told me I dont have to come to the bar and he will leave right after his part of the show ended.

Plus if he leave to come to me tonight, i basically paying the off fee and im so pissed off that night, i have no intention to give money to jupiter, not that night anyway. Still couldnt understand their logic but i guess Im no longer surprised with Thai logic. And ive been to jupiter perhaps 4-5 times already this trip... Needless to say, i might limit my visit there for the foreseeable future, as I only off one guy from there, which I can get without going to the bar.

 

Did mamasan say that the 200 baht is a fee charged by the bar? Or is it a tip to the mamasan?

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

 

Reverting to the escalation of Bangkok bar and off prices, even though they are now getting to ridiculous levels, what can anyone do about them? Stick to the spas, saunas and apps? 

For budget minded there's always own hand at hand I suppose. 

As for "ridiculous  levels", this is, was and always be highly subjective. Often we hear price  complains from people who somewhere else admitted to paying a western prices in  various Sydneys, New Yorks, London and so on.

When we consider price too high, best way of dealing with that is voting with our wallets while stating reason to respetive  venue instead of looking for sympathetic ear here

[jason1975]

Apps look like best way to get around price increases from the bars.

[spoon]

1 hour ago, jason1975 said:

Did mamasan say that the 200 baht is a fee charged by the bar? Or is it a tip to the mamasan?

By the boss. Mamasan was very apologetic to me knowing that ive been visiting the bars many times but since its the boss directive, he must collect that 200

[jason1975]

51 minutes ago, spoon said:

By the boss. Mamasan was very apologetic to me knowing that ive been visiting the bars many times but since its the boss directive, he must collect that 200

I would have paid the 200 and tip mamasan 100. If I need a guy for the night, a few hundred baht would not stop me.

[Olddaddy]

46 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

I would have paid the 200 and tip mamasan 100. If I need a guy for the night, a few hundred baht would not stop me.

I don't think it's the money , more the principle 

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, jason1975 said:

I would have paid the 200 and tip mamasan 100. If I need a guy for the night, a few hundred baht would not stop me.

You are right, I'm of the same religion. But all said I'd NOT tip mamasan unless translation would be necessary

[mauRICE]

6 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

I don't think it's the money , more the principle 

Yup and I'm glad spoon stood his ground. But will it alter Jupiter's mindset and make them begin to appreciate the concept of fostering and maintaining customer goodwill? No, because they know from experience that some wuss will come along and succumb to their gauging tactics. To them, no customer is indispensable - perhaps one could take a leaf from their book and learn that no bar and bar-boy is indispensable. There are plenty of fish in the sea; remember that the customer is the fisherman who throws the bait, hooks and reels them in. Not the other way around.

[jason1975]

From the point of view of Jupiter boss, he is losing 600 baht (drink price in December) every time a customer goes to bar and only pay off fee for boy. If many customers did that, he would lose money. Not entirely wrong of him to recoup 1/3 of the money.

Something similar happened at Freshboys. A popular boy who performs in the show contacted mamasan to say he had a customer off him for the night through Line. He told mamasan that he would go to bar and pay 500 baht off fee then he would meet customer. Boss said no. Boss insisted that customer come to the bar, buy a drink and off boy. The boy was furious and quit. Currently working at Dreamboys and happy there.

Subsequently, the boss of Freshboys dropped insistence on customer going to bar to buy drink before offing boys. Now boys just have to pay 500 baht to bar per night if they don't report to work. No questions asked.

[zoomomancs]

9 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

From the point of view of Jupiter boss, he is losing 600 baht (drink price in December) every time a customer goes to bar and only pay off fee for boy. If many customers did that, he would lose money. Not entirely wrong of him to recoup 1/3 of the money.

Something similar happened at Freshboys. A popular boy who performs in the show contacted mamasan to say he had a customer off him for the night through Line. He told mamasan that he would go to bar and pay 500 baht off fee then he would meet customer. Boss said no. Boss insisted that customer come to the bar, buy a drink and off boy. The boy was furious and quit. Currently working at Dreamboys and happy there.

Subsequently, the boss of Freshboys dropped insistence on customer going to bar to buy drink before offing boys. Now boys just have to pay 500 baht to bar per night if they don't report to work. No questions asked.

I have often gone to the door of Freshboys and paid 500bt off fee to take a lad out. There was a period when it was 800bt to take out a waiter. I don't know the current situation. Many times a lad I want to meet has said he isn't going to work there but to give him the 500bt off fee and he will give to the bar. Maybe the bar sometimes wants to try to be more strict about popular men in the show. I think I would resist sudden price increases. 

[jason1975]

1 minute ago, zoomomancs said:

I have often gone to the door of Freshboys and paid 500bt off fee to take a lad out. There was a period when it was 800bt to take out a waiter. I don't know the current situation. Many times a lad I want to meet has said he isn't going to work there but to give him the 500bt off fee and he will give to the bar. Maybe the bar sometimes wants to try to be more strict about popular men in the show. I think I would resist sudden price increases. 

Me too. My regular guy always meets me wherever I ask him - hotel, Foodland, Shenanigans or at pool table bar below Freshboys. I rarely enter Freshboys bar itself. When I meet him, I pass him 500 baht to pay bar.

[floridarob]

There are other bars that do this, Screwboys used to, don't know about now with new name.... The bar in Sunee nihgt boys or whatever the name is, I can't  keep track anymore, and another one not sure which, with that mindset, they are losing money.

But I've told them you're losing more, now no drink AND no off.... 1+1 doesn't equal 3.... deer in the headlights look is all I got back.

[jason1975]

12 minutes ago, zoomomancs said:

Many times a lad I want to meet has said he isn't going to work there but to give him the 500bt off fee and he will give to the bar. Maybe the bar sometimes wants to try to be more strict about popular men in the show.

In the case of the guy who quit and moved to Dreamboys, I think this was what happened. He was one of the star performers at Freshboys and really popular.

He could get 2 offs in one night at the bar as well as secure many drinks. The boss was probably unwilling to let him go for the night for just 500 baht when he could bring in easily 2k.

[Olddaddy]

2 hours ago, zoomomancs said:

. Many times a lad I want to meet has said he isn't going to work there but to give him the 500bt off fee and he will give to the bar.

Reminds me of the time I was stopped in Soi Yensabai back in 2008 riding a moped without a helmet 

"Just give me the 300 baht and I will give it to the Police department" said the kind officer 😂

"Thankyou for doing that ,I said, handing him the 300 baht💵 ,waiing him 🙏🏿🙏🏿 before driving off still with NO helmet on 😛

[Marc308]

Screw the bar mafia. Who needs middlemen? One of the founding principles of the Internet is/was "disintermediation". Why not use it? I prefer the money go to the service provider. 

[spoon]

If i have no contact of my guy, i would probably pay. But I have his contact and can wait. Just so happened my guy had other plan as well that night so it work out for me anyway. If anything, bangkok is the one place i dont really have to compromise as the choices are plenty.

It was the surprise changes, plus the fact that ive been to the bar more the most times this trip, offing multiple times, buying drinks few times and tips both mamasan and other boys few times, and they still want to ask for more when show is over, and boys can leave at 12 by paying off fee. 

Now that i know thats the case, i would not arrange before hand, i would not tell mamasan, and just let my guy know and he will, again, pay only 500 baht, to meet me. The fact that i had to pay more, because i let them know, when the previous 4-5 visits, that fee doesnt exist, is simply a scam. 

Will i go to jupiter again next trip? Maybe. Am i excited to go to jupiter and make it my first bar to visit, hell no. As much as Ive visited the bar this trip, i only off one guy, and the other guys on their offering arent really my type, or they are my type but wont go with guys or have too many restriction. And yes, plenty of other bars have guys id off, and I can vote with my foot.