Report Inside the Struggle: Aid for Pattaya’s Bar Staff

[snoop1130]

 

Picture courtesy of Unsplash

 

An aid distribution event in Pattaya for entertainment workers has ignited online debate, as many question whether bar workers truly need assistance during slow seasons.

 

Critics argue that nightlife workers, especially in popular beer bars and go-go clubs, should not require financial support. Some question if these employees receive regular salaries. However, insiders highlight a more complex reality.

 

"Most bars don’t pay the girls any salary at all," noted a longtime Pattaya resident. They explained that bar girls earn from lady drinks and accompanying customers. While cashiers and mama-sans might receive fixed wages, most bar girls depend on commissions and bar fines. This arrangement works during high season but fails when tourist numbers drop.

 

While some bars in Pattaya have begun offering basic salaries, they often remain low — around 10,000 baht a month (approx. 230 GBP). In some cases, failure to sell enough lady drinks results in salary cuts. A former bar staff worker in Phuket described it as "a cruel life." Certain Chinese-owned bars reportedly employ over 200 women without base salaries, offering only commissions.

 

A recurring argument is that bar work is a choice, suggesting jobs are available. However, the financial disparity is striking. Factory jobs offer 20,000–30,000 baht a month, with hours stretching to 12-hour shifts, six days a week. In contrast, bar work can pay significantly more, but only if tourists are present. During off-peak times, earnings diminish rapidly, writes Pattaya Mail.

 

While aid for nightlife workers attracts criticism, others see it as a spotlight on flawed support systems for informal workers. Many bar girls lack contracts, social security, or protection during downturns. A longtime expat remarked that the issue is less about charity and more about awareness. "You see the workers when times are good, but ignore them when they’re struggling."

 

As Pattaya navigates its low season, with tourist numbers still unpredictable, it’s evident that the nightlife economy is more fragile than it seems. Whether it's due to a flawed business model, lack of worker protections, or basic economics, one thing is clear: while bar girls in Pattaya may not always need help, when they do, it’s often because their work environment never offered them real stability.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Pattaya Mail 2025-07-15

 

 

[hotchilli]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Critics argue that nightlife workers, especially in popular beer bars and go-go clubs, should not require financial support. Some question if these employees receive regular salaries. However, insiders highlight a more complex reality.

Salaries are peanuts and most bar workers rely on pulling a customer every night.

Notably tax free so ... best to put up & shut-up.

[Card]

If you think Thai workers are underpaid and neglected, you should learn about illegal Myanmar workers.

[Tailwagsdog]

Maybe they should read Aesop's Fable about The lazy grasshopper & the hard working Ant.

[Seagull Sam]

So where can we contribute to this worthy organisation? Women do the work through poverty in an attempt to help their families. 

For those on this board who will scoff in the words of the good book - let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. 

[ChaiyaTH]

They not even pay taxes and make plenty in good seasons however they live like a rich when those seasons take place.

 

If they saved up im sure most easily earn 20k a month average. Just one online dude sponsoring 1k baht a month is already more than government assistance would be in the first place.

 

The same people also refuse to do real jobs in tourism which now are done by exploited burmese instead.

[Paul Henry]

If bar girls work I would love that job sit around all day drink,eat, play music and sit on the telphone for hours on end.Then if your lucky make a score at night.

[VocalNeal]

34 minutes ago, Seagull Sam said:

let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. 

 

I live in a glass house😇

[frank83628]

54 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Salaries are peanuts and most bar workers rely on pulling a customer every night.

Notably tax free so ... best to put up & shut-up.

Having to shag someone to make the wages up isnt really how things should work

[DarthChuckler]

2 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

If bar girls work I would love that job sit around all day drink,eat, play music and sit on the telphone for hours on end.Then if your lucky make a score at night.

Really? Go apply.  Poverty pushes them to try. Lack of money management education. They are not employed- no health care.  Constant drinking breaks the body. They get drunk so they can tolerate fat old bellies groping them.  Did they choose the job? Yes, sort of.  Your turn, go apply.

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, DarthChuckler said:

They are not employed- no health care. 

Every Thai citizen gets free health care.

[frank83628]

2 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

If bar girls work I would love that job sit around all day drink,eat, play music and sit on the telphone for hours on end.Then if your lucky make a score at night.

Make little money so have to open you legs for a seedy old man, i wouldn't call that lucky.

[bkk6060]

7 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

wouldn't call that lucky.

Lucky for me.

[norsurin]

2 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

If bar girls work I would love that job sit around all day drink,eat, play music and sit on the telphone for hours on end.Then if your lucky make a score at night.

Just 1 customer a day can bring easy 90-120 k a month.But some foreigner don't know or understand that and sending alot of money to his "poor"girlfriend.

[Lucky Bones]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

 

I live in a glass house😇

You get stoned in a glass house? 🙃🙃

[VocalNeal]

1 minute ago, Lucky Bones said:

You get stoned in a glass house? 🙃🙃

 

I have before got drunk on Soi Cowboy in the bar with the glass ceiling. I was upstairs!

[AustinRacing]

They are lazy and don’t pay tax so no sympathy. I see hundreds of young Thai girls in our factory earning a wage living modestly. Those who choose bar life do so for greed, laziness, opportunistic and some think they’re too beautiful to work in factories and fancy themselves as desired by farangs. 

[kingstonkid]

3 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

If bar girls work I would love that job sit around all day drink,eat, play music and sit on the telphone for hours on end.Then if your lucky make a score at night.

Remember, these girls have the same bills that we do. Also, they don't make big money every night, even in high season.  Add top that they have to put up with guys ike us and especially Lewie Bob. LOL

 

Most only make 50 baht a drink 

[AAArdvark]

The only job you can just get away with saying.  ah f... em

[Lucky Bones]

34 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

I have before got drunk on Soi Cowboy in the bar with the glass ceiling. I was upstairs!

That wasn't a bar with a glass ceiling. It was one of the short-time rooms.🙃🙃

[VocalNeal]

2 minutes ago, Lucky Bones said:

That wasn't a bar with a glass ceiling. It was one of the short-time rooms.🙃🙃

 

That would have been the motel in Saddle River NJ. and would explain the look when I asked for an overnight rate.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, frank83628 said:

Having to shag someone to make the wages up isnt really how things should work

In Thailand it's absolutely how it works...

[Burma Bill]

5 hours ago, Card said:

If you think Thai workers are underpaid and neglected, you should learn about illegal Myanmar workers.

 Yes indeed - slave labour!

 

reference Google - 

 

The biggest problem is that the 3,800 baht registration fee is extremely high for Burmese migrants who typically make anywhere from 50 to 280 baht per day,¹³⁷ depending on the province and sector of work.

[Jack Hammer]

I have witnessed ladies asking 2500 ST, 700 bar fine, 600 room charge.  If you did accept the offer and with  a couple of lady drinks and a couple of beers for yourself it amounts to approximately 4400 baht.   They sit there all night and no customer. They don’t seem to comprehend that the charges are exorbitant and they would be more successful with realistic prices. When you consider a factory worker or a 7/11 shop assistant earns between 300 and 400 Baht for a 10 hour  day. I think 1200, plus the add ons for short time service is ample payment 

[Nickcage49]

Why don't people just STFU?

[jimn]

Define what is meant by a bar girl. Gogo girls get a minimum of 1000 baht a night to dance, some top ones 1500. That's just salary. They then get lady drinks  a part of a bar fine plus what they get from a customer for short or long time fun. These girls need zero help.

[Jim Blue]

23 minutes ago, jimn said:

Define what is meant by a bar girl. Gogo girls get a minimum of 1000 baht a night to dance, some top ones 1500. That's just salary. They then get lady drinks  a part of a bar fine plus what they get from a customer for short or long time fun. These girls need zero help.

Sounds like they need a good accountant and investment advisor !

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Salaries are peanuts and most bar workers rely on pulling a customer every night.

Notably tax free so ... best to put up & shut-up.

And they don't necessarily get their quoted salaries, unless quite high targets are met.

[rumeaug]

Screw them (no pun intended) , and rather  help the 99.9%  of  Thais (boys and girls) who actually try to have a real job that is paid peanuts in most cases and make a decent living the best they can   (like 711 among others?...)

[Look Chang]

As a retiree, I help bar girls financially as much as I can. Especially those who have beautiful buttocks and who ask a reasonable price to lower their panties . . .