Could "face Control" Work At Bangkok's Bars & Clubs?

[HardenedSoul]

I read thislast year and, with the current bar & club renaissance underway in and around the Sukhumvit "farang ghetto", I started wondering (with my tongue firmly in my cheek) whether it could be time to start filtering out the drunken, singlet-wearing yob and the skankier working girls at the door?" Below is the first couple of paragraphs:

Bangkok’s after-hour scene is currently soul-destroying and just…unacceptable. Every one of the recovery clubs I’ve checked out seem to be completely populated by unattractive (and that is really putting it diplomatically) working girls (and their expected clientèle). I don’t have a problem with girls who ‘freelance’ or even amateurs who go to a club knowing if they pick up, they might pick up some baht. If I’m being honest, my laziness is getting to the point where I might even have leanings / preferences in that direction.

But I do have a pretty huge problem with the 99:1 ratio which is the current rule in almost every after-hour cringe factory in Bangkok. Working on the assumption that every single after-hours club is basically like the ones I’ve been to, they’re all just chock-full of horrid (even heinous), disturbingly-aggressive, outright rude and mood-ruining, bitter, seasoned ‘pros’. It’s horrible.

There's little guaranteed to obliterate your night's enjoyment of a more upmarket bar or club like a drunken peasant stumbling around like he's in the stands at a Millwall match or an aggressive hippo in stilettos hitching up her dress to gyrate an encrusted thong on your leg.

One of the things that made the London & New York club scenes so successful (and lucrative) was the much-maligned door policy where a guy or girl "chooser" enforced the owners or the promoter's criteria whether it was no drunks, smart dress or just that your face had to "fit".

Sure, the article references Bangkok's after-hours (post-3am) scene so I guess there's little in the way of demand for a more discerning clientele at that time of the morning but having seen the afore-mentioned behaviour or more and more occasions in more and more of the "upmarket" establishments during the course of 2012, does anyone think that there might be a niche in the market for a prime time small club where the focus is on quality music and clientele and less on the financial imperative of selling as much booze to as many drunks as possible?

Edited December 26, 2012 by HardenedSoul

[krisb]

I agree with the op. Responsible service of alcohol in Thailand?..hmm, cant see it happening but I would like to, it gets dangerous.

Responsible door men is a good thing, should be more around.

Starts with club/bar owners taking responsibility and having a duty of care to their patrons.

[arthurwait]

You'd be too old to get in.

[Dancealot]

What the OP is saying is he is disappointment by the quality of bars.

Believe me in farangland i feel the same. Music is different but the same crap. If i dont like one bar i go to another. But this is not my point.

Atmosphere is created by yourself and how you feel. A bar cannot create a good feeling. It can only assist in supporting this.

A priori when face control is being enforced in any bar i am reluctant to enter anyway.

[HardenedSoul]

What the OP is saying is he is disappointment by the quality of bars.

Believe me in farangland i feel the same. Music is different but the same crap. If i dont like one bar i go to another. But this is not my point.

Atmosphere is created by yourself and how you feel. A bar cannot create a good feeling. It can only assist in supporting this.

A priori when face control is being enforced in any bar i am reluctant to enter anyway.

There's truth in what you say as far as how one feels and who one is with is concerned but the point is that if the establishment routinely lets in pissed up stragglers who go on to to lower the tone with yobbish behaviour, there's little that one can do.

I'm not talking about guys who might hit on your girl or whatever - that shit is par for the course in this city and only the truly insecure would get anxious about that. If there was a bar which enforced some simple rules on the state of drunkeness potential entrants could be in, enjoyment for those who drink responsibly could be preserved.

A lot of bars and clubs in other major cities enjoy longevity and good reputations just by keeping the munters out.