Your Guide To Thailand Bars

As I have lived in Thailand for the past 10 years, and probably spent 7 of those years involved in nightlife and entertainment venues, I thought I would share some nightlife bar tips.

All of you that have been to Thailand before probably know all the rules, and some are common sense, but I feel like my experiences may help the newbies out there.

So lets dive into my nightlife venue tips, and please feel free to add to your own in the comments.

I have not written these in any particular order, so take them as you please.

1. Do Not Get Into Arguments Inside Of A Thai Bar

I know this is pretty obvious, but after a few drinks it can be easy for some people to get into arguments if someone says or does something that you do not like.

Seriously, do not get into arguments with anyone that works there, Thai’s stick together and the security won’t think twice about jumping in.

Here is 2 experiences of mine with this.

Once I was in a bar in Pattaya, I will not name it as I still go there to this day, but there were 3 guys, clearly on a holiday, drunk and having a good time.

They had a group of staff around them and the drinks were flowing.

When it came time to pay, a small argument broke out about the price of the bill, which later started to get heated with a glass being thrown and 1 of the guys from one of the dancers, and some pushing and shoving, which lead to the Mamasan being pushed on the ground.

Before you knew it there were about 15 security guys that came from other bars stood around them, instead of calling the police to sort the bill, the security took the 3 guys to a back room.

In the end I think they paid the bill… and later paid their hospital bill.

A Situation I Experienced Of A Scam

Second experience happened to me personally.

I was at the same  bar and there was someone new sat with me.

We were drinking having fun and just having a typical night as you do in bars.

Anyway, we were getting close and she was interacting with me, and at 1 point I could feel her keep trying to put her hand in my pocket.

She eventually managed to take my wallet out my pocket while she was sitting very close to me.

I pushed her off and snatched the wallet out of her hand.

When I pushed her and snatched it back the Mamasan and bouncer saw it and they came straight over.

Luckily, I knew them both as I were a frequent customer.

I told the Mamasan what had happened and said I want to pay my bill and leave. The Mamasan apologised and begged me to stay, but I stated I need to go and cool down ill be back another day.

This could have turned out very ugly if I did not know the Mamasan and they saw me push someone.

A week or so later, I went back to the bar and the Mamasan told me the new girl had been fired, I even got a free drink. Result.

2. Choose Who You Want To Spend Time With Early, Before Someone Else Gets Her

So you get into a bar, you’re sat down, beer in hand and you’re looking around the venue.

It is important to choose the person you like almost instantly, because if another customer comes in and likes her, he will get her.

I learnt this when I went into a bar stone cold sober, saw a girl I liked on stage and we kept smiling at each other.

She signalled asking me if i wanted her to join me, I told her wait 30 minutes I’m just having a few beers and then I’ll get you down.

I wanted to get a bit tipsy and in a good mood before I started enjoying the night.

Anyway, about 15 minutes later a customer came in and instantly got her off the stage for the rest of the night.

They are not going to wait for when you are ready, they are going to go with whoever is ready first

So call her over as soon as you know you want to spend time with.

3. Drinks

So, you are sat with the person that you like, and it’s time to start drinking and having fun.

One of the ways that staff make most of their money is through commissions on drinks that you buy for them while they are sat with you.

drinks prices vary from place to place, and some can get very expensive.

Remember that you are in a high so bar and not a cheap expat bar.

You need to make sure you know the price of the drinks for her.

You can ask her directly but if you feel a bit too awkward to do that, you can order one and the when the bill comes you should check it and just take note of the price of her drink.

There will be prices around the room stating the price of a drink, so you should know you are not being ripped off.

Something that used to happen long ago, but I have not seen it in recent years, is that they may order something like vodka and cranberry juice.

Believe it or not, but that is actually 2 drinks in 1, and don’t think for one minute that she will be telling you that.

So it’s good idea to ask her what she is going to be drinking.

She may not even have an alcoholic drink, as remember, staff work long hours in these venues, they may want a day off from the alcohol.

I can’t count the times I have entered a bar and seen staff resting in the corner after a long night.

But that is not going to put them off getting drinks, even if it’s none alcoholic, you’ll still be paying the same price.

Another thing to note with these drinks, they can drink quite fast.

They will 100% keep up with your drinking, if not, they will drink faster.

If this happens, just make a funny gesture telling them to slow down.

Yes, you should be buying drinks, but do not let them rush you, take your time and tell them to take their time too.

4. Don’t Entertain Her Friends

Once you have someone sat with you and you are drinking with her, chances are others may try to come over using the excuse of checking she is ok.

They will also try and talk to you and ask you for a drink.

just because you are already sat with someone does not mean others are not going to try their luck.

The person you are with may use different ways, she will say things like:

“This is my friend, its her birthday today” or “This is my friend, she’s new and started this week”

None of what she says is true, she may be trying to bring more people over for drinks.

It’s up to you if you want more than one girl, there is no rule against that.

I typically just say nicely that I am only interested in the person I am with, but if I change my mind I will come to you.

9 times out of 10 they will understand and stop pestering you for drinks.

They may try again later in the night when they see you have had a bit more to drink, so just keep your wits about you and don’t buy anyone drinks just because you feel sorry for them.

5. Check Your Bin

This little scam used to happen quite often when I would be in bars or any bar for that matter.

Although it’s not as common now, make no mistake that it does happen and some staff will try their luck with you, especially if they know you are a first timer.

So how this works is, once you get a drink or a drink for them or whatever, you don’t pay for it straight away, you will get a little cup on your table with the bill inside.

Every time you get another drink, another bill will be added to the cup.

Depending on how many drinks you have, this cup can get filled up with bills.

The  or the cashiers start putting an extra bill in.
If you only have 2 or 3 drinks and pay to leave, then this scam is easy to catch and you will click on that you haven’t had that many drinks.

However, if you have been there a while, you are a bit tipsy, you have been buying drinks, then it’s a lot harder to see that you have been slipped extra bills.

This is what I do, and I think it’s the best approach, every time they come and add a new bill, pick the cup up and check it.

I do this for 2 reasons.

1. Obviously to check if they have charged me the correct price and not added more drinks on.
2. The staff and anyone you are sat with will see that you are checking the bill so they will realise you know about that trick and will think twice about trying to pull a fast one on you.

If you do find that your bill is higher and you are 100% sure, talk to the Mamasan, if she still says that you have to pay, don’t cause a scene, bite your tongue and pay the bill.

Walk out the bar and never go back to the bar again.

I know its hard to walk away when you know that you are being scammed, but trust me, its not worth the hassle, you are going to be in a lot more trouble if you cause a scene.

Even if the police are called, you may end up paying more than expected, it will cost you a lot more money than if you had just paid the bill and left.

6. Get Friendly With The Bar Mamasan

Here is a great tip that I have learnt over the years, and that is to get friendly with the security guys and the Mamasan of the bars.

If you like the bar and think that you will be going back again, it’s great to be on good terms with the Mamasan.

She will generally be an older woman that is in charge of all the girls and looks after them, she will also look after you if you play your cards right.

Start up a conversation with her, as she will most likely be the one who takes you to your seat when you walk in. Offer to buy her a drink while you get settled.

She will always remember you, they have great memories and when you come in next she will look after you, obviously she would like another drink for it.

Any problems or disputes with the girls, like the one I have mentioned earlier that I experienced, they will happily sort out as they do not want to lose you as a customer.

7. Bar Shots

A lot of the times, when you are sat with someone drinking with them, a waitress will be walking around with a tray of shots.

You are under no obligation to buy any of the shots.

Just stick to the drinks as the shots will most probably be way over priced with some cheap watered down alcohol.

I never buy shots, I just tell the person I am with “Instead of me buying shots, I will get another drink for you”

They get more commission and are happy.

8. Know The Alcohol You Are Drinking In The Bars

If it is your first time in a bar, you will realise pretty fast that the drinks are more expensive than your normal bar.

A lot of travellers on a budget will tend to avoid bars due to the prices in there.

In some of the bars you can be expected to pay up to double of what it would cost in a non go go bar, though with todays price, the non go go bars are slowly catching up.

With that being said, if you are paying a silly amount for a drink, you would expect to know it’s the real deal.

If you are ordering spirits, shots or mixers, there are very cheap alternatives in Thailand that could be served to you and you would not even know.

The best way to avoid this is to either only drink bottled beer such as Singha or chang.

Or if you are a baller and want to show off a bit, you can order a whole bottle of whatever you want to the table and pour it yourself.

9. Don’t Become An Easy Target To Thai Girls Questions

This is where a lot of newbies will mess up when entering a venue.

As soon as you enter and someone comes and sits with you, she will start asking you questions such as

“First time in Thailand?”

“How long have you been here?”

“When do you leave?”

“What do you do for work?”

Now these may sound like innocent questions but really she is sizing you up and seeing what type of visitor you are.

If you tell her that’s its your first time in Thailand, she’s going to know you are a newbie and will try every trick in the book on you.

If you tell her you have just arrived then the same is going to happen as that tells her you have no experience on how things work there.

Her asking you when you leave just tells her how long she has to try and win you over. If you tell her that you leave in like a week or something, she’s going to try get you every day before you leave.

If you give her your contact details, expect messages every day until the day you leave.

And finally, her asking you what you do for work can be translated to how much money do you have.

So be careful how you answer these questions, back in my early days I would say:

“yeah ive been here lots of times, its just my first time in this bar, not sure when Ill leave Thailand as I work remotely so ill see how I like it this time around”

This shows her I have my head screwed on without making it obvious that im lying.

10. Venue fees

Just in case any of the listeners are complete newbies, a venue fee is a fee paid to the venue if you want to spend time with someone outside.

Normally this happens when you want to leave together, but you can leave the venue together for any reason such as to go to other bars, get food, or whatever you want.

Now here is where a common venue fee problem happens.

Let’s say you go into a venue, look around and find someone you like, you tell the Mamasan to bring her over and you start having a great time together.

You buy them several drinks, things are going great and you are having the time of your life.

You then ask if you can leave together to finish the night at your place and you find out that she may not want to leave.

Now there could be a lot of legit reasons why they do not want to leave, and some not so legit reasons.

Here are a few common reasons

They may already be seeing someone that allows them to get drinks from customers but that’s as far as it goes.

Yes, believe it or not, despite what you hear, some people are faithful to their partners.

They may have an arrangement with the venue that they will work there but may not leave with anyone as it’s not their thing

Yes, these situations exist too.

The girl may just not be into you, maybe you are not her type, maybe you are too drunk and that scares her.

And the most common excuse of them all is “I am on my period”

Ask If You Can Pay The Venue Fee Early

The best way to avoid this situation is to ask early on if she is open to leaving together.

Now, you can’t ask straight away, but you can’t ask too late either.

You don’t want to ask at the start in case later on in the night you change your mind after getting to know her.

But you don’t want to ask too late once you’ve spent all your cash and she refuses.

You need to find the sweet spot to ask for a Venue Fee

I would probably ask after about 2 drinks if I liked her.

Then if she says no, you still have time and money to find a different girl, same goes for if you don’t like her after 2 drinks you can move on.

If you have been to the venue before, and know 100% the person you want, you can always ask her at the start of the night if you can pay the venue fee now and leave later.

Now you know that you defiantly have her at the end of the night.

The problem with this move is don’t get her too topped up on drinks, you don’t want her completed bladdered and legless at the end of the night

The Mamasan will not allow her to go with a customer if she is clearly way too drunk, and you shouldn’t want her in that state anyway.

If you have already paid the venue fee and she can’t come with you, there is very little chance you will get the venue fee back, unless you are in the good books with the Mamasan.

11. Leaving A Tip

When it comes time to pay the bill, if you leave a tip, that will be shared about between everyone.

However, any tip you give the people you are with, they will keep 100% of this

As I don’t want anyone getting a share of my money, I normally leave 20-50 baht tip for the drinks, then I will give the person I am with a couple hundred baht depending on how my time was with her.

I will normally give the mamasan and security 100 each if they have looked over me.

As mentioned, the staff, Mamasan and security will remember you if you look after them as well.

All that being said, tipping is not a must, you really do not need to tip, but it’s best not to look like a Cheap Charlie.

They will remember you when you tip, but they will remember you more if you do not tip, and that’s not a good thing.

12. Don’t Take Photos Inside A  Bar

Unless you have a death wish, do not take photos or videos inside of a bar, they take this rule very serious and the security will not hesitate to make you delete it, and they won’t be nice about it either.

Taking photos or videos, even if you are secretly doing it, and you get caught, you are in a whole world of trouble.

Obviously many people prefer to keep their work private from family, the last thing they want is to be plastered all over the internet.

If you get caught taking pictures, the security, Mamasan and staff will not go easy on you. Even if you show them that you have deleted it, you’re more than likely going to be slapped around a little bit.

Just don’t do it guys, its not worth it.

13. Thailand Holiday Girlfriend

I do not do this, but I have met many guys that have done this and do it regular.

A lot of guys will come to Thailand searching for a holiday girlfriend.

Basically they will spend time with someone from the venue for the rest of the time they are in Thailand and go travelling with them and do whatever. Literally being their short-term companion.

So if you are going to do the holiday girlfriend experience, here are a few things I would suggest.

Get to know the person properly first over a couple of days, there is nothing worse than making arrangements for 2 weeks only to realise 5 or 6 days into it that you are not really into her.

You think you are going to get refunded on the venue fee?

Not a chance.

If you do take a holiday girlfriend, make no mistake that’s just what it is. Do not get attached and make sure you do not catch feelings.

When you leave Thailand, leave your feelings at the airport, don’t take her contact details and just leave it.

14. Learn To Say No

During your time at the bar, if you are new, you are going to get multiple different people coming up to you, trying their luck.

At the end of the day, their role is to encourage you to spend while giving you a good time.

If someone comes and sits with you, and she’s not your type, you can politely say to her that you are just looking and not interested in any fun yet.

She will understand and will leave you alone.

Don’t feel awkward or like you have to go with the first person that sits with you.

Just don’t be rude when you tell her you’re not interested, you never know, you may want her later on in the night.

Everyone will be trying to get a drink, the staff, the Mamasan, security, cashiers, even the cleaners and the DJ.

Remember saying “No” is not rude and you should never feel like you have to buy anyone other than the girl you want a drink.

15. Do Not Get Emotionally Attached Too Quickly

This is easier said than done, and even Thailand veterans can fall for this.

Just go in and have fun, do not catch feelings.

Like ive said, A lot of guys spend extended time with people they meet there for holiday girlfriends and go travelling with them, and that’s fine if you really want to.

I always avoid doing this as the last thing I want is to catch feelings in that environment, which will probably end in tears.

As you can see with a lot of stories online and on these channels, you hear about guys going to Thailand and getting emotionally involved too quickly.

Starting a relationship with them, expecting it to be all sunshine and rainbows, only to turn out to be a nightmare.