Success Agogo

[Asiacat]

‘Welcome. Come inside please. Draught beer only 50 baht. Sexy lady inside .Welcome.” Mem cried out for what must have been the seventieth time that night. She could count on one hand the number of customers that she had actually persuaded to enter the establishment.

She was employed as one of three board holders outside of Success agogo in Pattaya’s main entertainment district. How she hated this job. Was that all she amounted to holding a board up that announced ‘Draught beer 50 baht.”?

Life was so unfair she mused to herself. She needed the money to survive but with a limited demand for her chosen profession as a beautician this mind numbing work was all she could find. She had to stand out here in the cold and the rain all night She looked into the ago go bar enviously.

Aor had a better job. All she had to do was ask the customers what they wanted to drink after Mem had done all the hard work in attracting them in. However there were no openings for waitresses at the moment. Life was so unfair.

Aor cursed inwardly as yet another lecherous farang decided he needed to put his arms around her when he ordered his bank breaking 50 baht chang. She couldn’t push him away, one complaint to the management and her vital B7000 baht plus a share of the tips income would be in jeopardy. Off she trudged to the bar yet again to fill up another draught chang having to negotiate a maze of customers bar girls and other service staff each way whilst trying not to spill a drop. As she made her way back to the customers yet another ignorant farang grabbed her arm shouting out his order to her. Could they not see she was already serving one customer and rushed off her feet. Why couldn’t they simply wait until she had served the drink she was carrying.

She dropped off the chang and returned to the shouter only to have her arm yanked by yet another impatient customer. All he while she had to carefully watch each customer glass in the bar. As soon as it was down to a quarter full she had to approach the customer smile and ask him for another. Didn’t they realize that she only had one pair of hands. Wouldn’t it be better if she was a dancer. They don’t have such pressures. Life was so unfair.

Nui gripped the chrome pole shuffling back and forwards to yet another rendition of Robbie Williams Angels . She wearily scanned the bar. She was worried. Her B12,000 monthly salary was barely sufficient to cover her rent , motorcycle payment and the B2,000 she needed to send back to her parents each month. However that salary depended on her persuading customers to buy her 100 lady drinks per month. More than three a night. It was the 22nd to night and her monthly total only stood at 37. She could always quote how many lady drinks she had been bought in the current month. It was all she ever thought of.

Failing to reach her quota would result in a big cut in her salary. This would mean no many to wire back to her aging parents. She got maybe one out of every five drinks she asked for. Why couldn’t she simply be paid for the hours she worked like nearly every other profession. She looked enviously across the bar at P’Wan the Mamasan. She simply came in and did her job. No minimum quotas for her. Life was so unfair.

Wanwisa scanned the bar. Why didn’t she only have to look after herself. With 4 waitresses and over 20 dancers to manage she felt she needed eyes in the back of her head. She spotted yet another customer with an empty glass. Why weren’t the waitresses doing their jobs. If the customer walks because he hasn’t been offered a timely refill she knows the manager Ian would hold it against her.

Why did she have to be responsible for the actions of over two dozen others. A customer with an empty glass, a customer sitting alone without at least the offer of a scantily clad conversational partner. Customers walking in and out without buying a drink. Why was she responsible for so many things that were beyond her control? Wouldn’t it be easier if she were in the manager Ian’s shoes. Life was so unfair.

Ian wearily scanned the bar from his semi -permanent position in the bar corner. Things were getting tough. He had promised Jeff the owner that his B30,000 monthly wage would pay for itself in increased profits. He knew the cost of every over head and the value of every income. Monthly rent 50,000 baht, staff salaries B240,000, electricity B30,000 a month. Heineken B25 a bottle to buy in B95 in sales, Chang B20 a bottle to buy in B65 in sales. Coca cola 22 baht a bottle making 12 lady drinks. He thought it would be no problem to get the targeted average of 120 customers per night each spending an average of B300 per customer visit but at the moment it was hovering around 70 customers spending an average of a little over B100. Two draught changes and they were off.

At anytime of the night he could tell you exactly what each customers present had spent so far. These constant calculations were doing his head in. Wouldn’t it be easier if he was in the owner’s shoes rather than the manager’s. Life was so unfair.

Jeff sighed as he looked over the latest sales figures in his tiny office at the back of thea gogo bar. He had bought the bar for 4 million baht in the middle of the low season with around half of the profit he had made when selling his semidetached house in London following a bitter divorce. This bar was going to lose money yet again. He expected to lose a little money at first but in 9 months at the helm his bar’s best month constituted a B120,000 loss. His capital was fast being eroded and he didn’t know what to do. Selling the bar would be a loss but could Ian turn it around? How much would he get for it? He packed up his papers and decided to have an early night. “Good night Mr Jeff” Mem the welcome girl said as he was on his way out.

He returned her beaming smile and pondered how simple things must be for Mem with nothing more to worry about than holding a board steady. Life was so unfair.

[Zstarx]

Very good

[Lancelot]

Interesting read.

In general I can't say I feel much sympathy for the bar industry. In good times there are the petty scams, such as a customer paying his bill with a B1,000 not and getting change for a B500 note, not getting any change at all (most of us aren't worried about B10 change but its the customers decision to tip or not) and the girl that says hello what you country, cola for me. Five minutes later she "go dance" and never returns -and sometimes good riddance

Of course it goes the other way as well with rude, condecending customers.

The bars can be fascinating, but, it gets old quick. There are some of the bar staff that I would feel sympathetic to but over all, som nam na

[Phil Conners]

Yes, very good but ...

She had to stand out here in the cold and the rain all night

Which country was this originally written for?

[Thongkorn]

Basically don't Judge people unless you want to be judged, Every body has problems,maybe small to you but big for them.

[473geo]

Basically don't Judge people unless you want to be judged, Every body has problems,maybe small to you but big for them.

Yep......I'm loosing weight......now all my clothes look too big...... ........

[Basil B]

Just a story...

One knows bars of this sort have another income, "Bar Fines" (punters paying for the escort services of the staff), supposedly paying a fee to compensate the bar for the persons time at a greatly inflated rate compared to the persons salary, and staff who have "Bar Fine" quotas to meet.

Also, can not believe "Ian" could survive on only 30K/pm, presume he is supposedly a Farang without work permit.

Also, do not forget all the people to be paid off because not all aspects of the business are legal.

Even still many as depicted in this story just can not make a viable profit and end up loosing everything.

[kandahar]

Thanks for taking the time, Asiacat. Nice post.

[gotlost]

He was rejected by Stickman.

[basjke]

Nui gripped the chrome pole shuffling back and forwards to yet another rendition of Robbie Williams Angels . She wearily scanned the bar. She was worried. Her B12,000 monthly salary was barely sufficient to cover her rent , motorcycle payment and the B2,000 she needed to send back to her parents each month. However that salary depended on her persuading customers to buy her 100 lady drinks per month. More than three a night. It was the 22nd to night and her monthly total only stood at 37. She could always quote how many lady drinks she had been bought in the current month. It was all she ever thought of.

Failing to reach her quota would result in a big cut in her salary. This would mean no many to wire back to her aging parents. She got maybe one out of every five drinks she asked for. Why couldn’t she simply be paid for the hours she worked like nearly every other profession.

Well I assume she always could opt for that option,the boss sure wouldn't argue about.For 10 hours work a day I guess the going rate in Thailand must be around 7000 Baht a month.So how much is that for someone who works only 6 hours a day.............

[Ulysses G.]

That's what I was thinking. That is more than most teachers make.

[PhilHarries]

You all can argue over the figures but the message remains the same.

We all think we are hard done by, and everyone else's life is a bed of roses.

Well let me tell you about my hard life lying around in all these bluddy flowers........................

[William Osborne]

when i read the first line , i thought, here we go, another Pattaya buffalo tale ... so i was surprised, nice little story .

[Heng]

You left out the property owner, who gets paid no matter whose turn it is to go out of business this year.