Are Bars helped by appearing here?

[buttafly]

Just curious; we see a lot of Ladyboy bars mentioned on this forum and in the Members area.  From the 131  Club to  Guess Bar to all 4 Nana bars, and even the Jenny Star bar and  Stringfellows  [when they are open!].

   So;  does being mentioned on the ATS  forums and sometimes over and over again in various threads or even in their own sub-forum........ does this help those bars at all?  Or  does it not matter, the people who travel to Thailand to meet ladyboys would just mysteriously somehow know where they are or be lead to them by some helpful Tuk Tuk driver?

[koykaeng]

The answer seemed blatantly obvious at first, however after thinking it through for a while, perhaps there is more to consider ?

With regard to new establishments like Guess Bar, Stringfellows & Club 131, I don't believe they would have survived without ladyboy forums like AsianTS.

Not sure how much influence the forums have on the LB bars in places like Nana Plaza & Patpong ?

Interesting to consider if there are any negative affects on some of these establishments from being discussed continually on these forums ?

[buttafly]

Maybe not the places themselves, but some of the girls, yes..... I still feel badly about Fern who got some bad press up here months ago, but I am told she deserved it so ??        who knows..... also for girls like my pal Chompoo it's a mixed blessing;  she gets talked about a lot but lots of it [even from the forum mod] is negative so how does that help her?

      The members area helps the  Nana bars.... if you haven't seen the Bio's, each one mentions where they work and of course a good % work in Obsessions or Cascades, et al..... surely punters from all over the globe have seen those Bio's and said to themselves "I am going to Obsessions when I get to Bangkok to meet Lyla".  Maybe without that mention in the Bio they would not have gone there?

[Looker]

It doesn't matter anyway, I think. If a place it's well managed and interesting to go and spend time, it will survive anyway.
Take places in Soi Cowboy, they are almost passing away. They have nothing interesting to show and even a massive internet campaign would not help. You go there once, you drink a beer and you run away..simple.
Take Casanova instead, been there since ages and who likes that kind of ambiance will finally find it and keep going there.
So, internet helps but the biggest help comes by their own set up.
In fact, in same cases may also be negative as people expect much more than what reality is, in fact. Pictures often are distorting reality.

[buttafly]

all good points Looker, and so was KK's about maybe being on an internet website being BAD in the sense that the bar could get negative press and keep the punters away; although I have never seen that here.

My friend Johnny from New York once told me this;  "when I first went to Thailand in 2001 I had no idea where to go to meet Ladyboys;  Ladyboy-Ladyboy had maps and everything, all detailing how to find Casanova and the other ladyboy bars; without that I would have been lost there, and that alone was worth joining that website for".

         It's 2007; some people now are like  Johnny was in 2001, first trip to Thailand and looking for how to meet ladyboys and where to go, etc..... if bars get GOOD press here and other forums  it can only be a good thing, one would like to think.

[Guest]

Any place that is in a major travel spot, like Nana, Patpong, Phuket lives because of the local traffic. I think no internet site makes or breaks them. The thrive because of location.

Only difficult to find spot like Guess or Stringfellow might benefit from any internet site.

[katoeylover]

Of course it helps their business.

Where else do they advertise, or if you were a newbie going to Bangkok for the first time, how would you find out about them. None of the girls who advertise on face-pic etc are going to tell you "by the way there is this place called nana with over 250 better looking ladyboys than me evry night!!"

In 2000 a green and naive KL first arrived in bangkok, i had no idea about nana or casanova, and it wasnt til this site and the yellow board a couple of years on that i found out the truth!!.

I think the new bars like Guess and 131 would survive but it would take a lot longer for the word to get around.

[Guest]

This site has to have helped Guess Bar a tremendous amount. I have been to that Soi Zero complex many times for beers and shooting pool with some very second rate gals fresh off the bus. Most punters run out of that complex once they see the quality there and would never make it upstairs to see the gorgeous LB's that are at Guess. I can't wait to walk right past all that shit on floor one and head up to heaven on the second floor when I get there next month.

[PigDogg]

(katoeylover @ Jun. 14 2007,14:03) Of course it helps their business.

Where else do they advertise, or if you were a newbie going to Bangkok for the first time, how would you find out about them. None of the girls who advertise on face-pic etc are going to tell you "by the way there is this place called nana with over 250 better looking ladyboys than me evry night!!"

[Looker]

(katoeylover @ Jun. 15 2007,05:03) In 2000 a green and naive KL first arrived in bangkok, i had no idea about nana or casanova, and it wasnt til this site and the yellow board a couple of years on that i found out the truth!!.

I think the new bars like Guess and 131 would survive but it would take a lot longer for the word to get around.

Well, I've been finding my own LBs and GGs in Thailand, S'pore, Indonesia, P.I. and Malaysia when computers were the size of a wardrobe!
In fact, to be honest with you, especially in the LBs sector, the LBs themselves did get much less attention than now. You could get better prices and better service.
Now, everybody knows everything and they (the LBs) are getting more and more spoiled by the day.

Guess Bar..a nice place for sure. Mardhi is a great guy and always good to talk to. Met Snick, another nice fellow, and if going there steadily will meet other nice fellows too. Jay is a great lady as well and all other girls are nice.
However, I picked up one of them last week, and I had one of the worst sex I ever had in probably 10 years. And it did cost me more than average. Result, I will not return to Guess since to me mostly represents a way where I can get a nice LB for sex.
So, experience wasn't great and that will be the only indicator to make me think about going back or not.
That's it.

[divertwo]

well I enjoy the bars like Guess and 131 for the opportunity to sit with minimal hassle from the girls and talk to some nice guys.........been to Guess maybe 4 times, went with one of the girls once and had a great time....met my expectations. But keeping with the thread, I think the internet and this forum has helped "off the beaten path" type of places........Guess, 131, XXX, and maybe even Kaos..........and for sure has boosted the stock of many of the girls

[stogie bear]

This forum has had a definate impact on The Guess Bar. Not so much bars in the Nana Plaza complex. The pay site has an impact on all the bars. 131 has been helped by this site and so have other bars in Pattaya.

To say that AsianTS and this message board has no impact would clearly be wrong. But that's not to say that the impact dictates the success of the business. They would get by just fine without us.

[thaibound]

i wouldn't say that "any press is good press", but imho, it's more true than not. if a bar is well-run and thus well-reviewed online, it'll be helped for sure. the smaller, more boutique, off-the-path establishments (guess, 131) would be helped -- or in rare cases hurt -- most of all. there is the downside of the working ladyboys becoming a bit spoiled by their success, but that's a cost miniscule in comparison to the customer convenience of having prior access to so much information -- and the recent boom in high-quality, intimate settings hosting more and more beautiful ladyboys every day (and night!) seems to attest to the fact that the market for a more boutique setting is only expanding.
the mass of drunken punters will continue to flock to nana for cheap thrills, unaided by any online mentions, but the more discerning clients - such as those reading these posts - will pony up a few extra baht for a more memorable experience.
of course that's just one wasted punter's opinion, so ymmv

[stogie bear]

but the more discerning clients - such as those reading these posts - will pony up a few extra baht for a more memorable experience...

Funny how we assume that The Guess Bar is more expensive because it hosts a more discerning clientele (and us lot!)...

It's quite a bit cheaper in every department from the bar fines to the booze to the bedrooms!

[divertwo]

(stogie bear @ Jun. 15 2007,07:32) Funny how we assume that The Guess Bar is more expensive because it hosts a more discerning clientele (and us lot!)...

It's quite a bit cheaper in every department from the bar fines to the booze to the bedrooms!

hey hey...now don't go clouding the perception with facts.....