Weekly Allowance

[WinnieTheKhwai]

i dont know if theyre necessarily scared but there are some bars where there is just not much to attract a farang

ok ,the alcohol might be cheap but for those savings you get to have :

probably not a word of english spoken

maybe a few off duty taxi drivers /police /security guards/ factory workers drinking shots of lao khao at a private table

no company of the female variety

if you dont speak thai and nobody speaks english as low paid thai workers generally dont youre not going to have

a shitload in common sitting around a table being the only one who doesnt know whats going on gets boring soon enough

Nah, not sure which places you visit but there are plenty local hangouts that are much more up-market than most tourist bars. Definitely not places where taxi drivers and factory workers go. Also Thai language isn't an issue for me, I'm pretty fluent, but I do agree that a certain 'comfort zone' applies to tourist/expat bars. Like a local hangout, small and where you know everyone, as per the Cheers theme. Going to more Thai oriented places inevitably means a restaurant style setup with tables intended for groups, and/or it means entertaining the locals a bit, which is fun sometimes but not every time.

[rgs2001uk]

i dont know if theyre necessarily scared but there are some bars where there is just not much to attract a farang

ok ,the alcohol might be cheap but for those savings you get to have :

probably not a word of english spoken

maybe a few off duty taxi drivers /police /security guards/ factory workers drinking shots of lao khao at a private table

no company of the female variety

if you dont speak thai and nobody speaks english as low paid thai workers generally dont youre not going to have

a shitload in common

sitting around a table being the only one who doesnt know whats going on gets boring soon enough

listening to karaoke songs you cant understand being sung by drunk thais .....well !

its not a bit surprising that farangs will drift to bars where other farangs might be

also i dont think its a surprise they will pay a bit more for a beer to drink it with westerners or play pool and chat with young ladies who can speak english

Sounds to me as if you have neither heard of or visited Thong Lor.

Plenty of well eductaed English speaking Thais to be found.

"play pool and chat with young ladies who can speak english"

I know exactly the type of places you refer to, "young ladies" may be pushing it a bit, sounds more like a knocking shop.

[tombkk]

Not important, but you have made a mix- up with the quotes.

You are right, thanks for pointing it out. I was just trying to fix it, but it is too mingled so I just cut most of the quotes.

[Ijustwannateach]

I can actually remember when I could barely ask the bartender's name, and now I can just read it off the tag. It really, really does pay to invest a little time and effort in Thai language (though I have sympathy for those who have no 'musical ear' because it really is required for the language). Consider the bar a practice venue where the noise factor keeps you from exposing your limits!!

I've hung out in Thai straight bars, too. I guess I haven't dealt with the male jealousy factor 'cause I usually locate and pay attention to the gay guys pretty fast and that probably sends out signals that the Thai straight guys don't need to worry about me. The most trouble I've usually had is with women that I wasn't interested in who hadn't cottoned on to the 'gay' thing. Once an unusually tall and robust woman was practically pummelling me into dancing with her (she was very drunk- and her boyfriend apologised profusely on her behalf after he'd convinced her to go sit down and relax). On the other hand, I have had to set physical limits for people who were crowding me for no reason, and that has led to some drunken bad attitude at times- but again, usually the friends apologise later.

I guess for the most part gay men here are a bit more sensible... I've made the mistake of flirting too much with someone who was already at the club with their boyfriend (before I knew it), but as soon as it becomes clear, I stop and there are no hard feelings that I've seen.

[nocturn]

Too be honest I dont know why anyone in their right mind would frequent one of these clip joints, there is certainly none of the so called sanook factor.

At least the Thai bars know about customer service.

Indeed. The only thing that spring to mind, would be that many expats feel very insecure when they can't chat with their fellow countrymen.

I would go further than that and say many expats appear scared of entering areas where they might have to mingle with Thai men.

i usually think you are full of it, but you have a point here.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I can actually remember when I could barely ask the bartender's name, and now I can just read it off the tag.

Me too, unless I really had too much to drink and things go blurry. Number 27 yesterday really was a very nice lady.

On the topic at hand though I got another night of practice yesterday. I found that it helps if you keep playing Teeworlds until 7-8pm or so and then go out, instead of leaving the office bang at 5:30. And I upgraded from Sangsom in a Red Bull bottle to Bacardi; people also appreciate that more when you poor it in their coke. Spent under 500 baht and didn't feel like penny pinching. Even was able tip a little here and there, including 20 baht for a guitar dude playing at a place down the little soi opposite the 7-11 on Loi Kroh. (Yes, Chiang Mai, where there are still roads that have only a single 7-11 on them. )