There isn’t much argument about owing the gogo bar an off fee when you decide to take a hottie home with you. You may decide to argue about how much that fee should be, but that you owe it is a given; it is one of the ways that bars makes money, by pimping out their staff. There is a good deal of arguing, however, about whether or not you owe a bar an off fee when you hook up with a bar boy outside of the normal manner. Some of those arguments make sense. But most of those arguments are not about what is fair, but rather about some cheap bastard trying to save a few cents. It’s probably not surprising that the majority of punters who feel they don’t owe a bar their rightful cut frequent Pattaya. It seems for many of Pattaya fans it’s not about how hot the boy is, or how much fun they may end up having with him, but rather about how cheaply than can get away with an orgasm.

Some bars have tried to ban the use of cell phones in an effort to alleviate the problem of a customer getting a bar boy’s cell phone number to arrange a hook-up later, after the bar closes, and thereby avoid having to pay an off fee. Of course the cheap bastards who pull that trick whine and moan that the bar has no right to prohibit them from making friends with its staff. They are adept at coming up with justifications that will allow them to stiff the bar over the stiffy they hope to have, but despite their protestations, it’s evident that what they are really up to is despicable behavior. The same goes for those who wait for the bar to close and then hit up a bar boy on his way home. I’m surprised I’ve not yet heard someone brag about following a boy and his short-time off to snag the guy after he finishes with his customer and before he gets back to his bar. But then now that I’ve mentioned it, I’m sure some skinflint in Pattaya will be trying that one soon.

If you feel there is a question about whether or not you owe a bar its off fee, and your motivation in that scenario is to save a few hundred baht, you’re wrong. And pond scum. Motivation plays a big part in answering the question, and yours is reprehensible. Not that knowing that will stop you from trying or stop you from coming up with reasons to justify your behavior. On the other hand, there are times when it is questionable whether you should be paying money to the bar or not. The answer may or may not seem fair. But you have to be honest in making that determination. Because in many cases, it’s up to you. And the karma points you’re racking up.

Years ago on my first night in town I dropped by Tawan to check out the action. One of the guys I’d offed several times before was working that night, and not surprisingly wanted me to take him back to my hotel with me. Unusual for me, I was tired from the flight and just wanted to get a good night’s sleep. Alone. But I told him where I was staying and suggested he could stop by the next afternoon. That was cool with him. And he immediately went over to the mamasan to report the scheduled rendezvous so that the mamasan could add an off fee to my bill. Rightly so. If you meet a boy at a bar and arranged for time with him – regardless of whether or not it is during his regular working hours – you owe the off fee. Period.

Of course the cheap bastards disagree and like to use the justification that the bar does not own the boy, that he does not work for the bar 24/7. That may be true, but I can think of thousands of jobs for which continued employment depends on your behavior outside of working hours. And in none of those positions does the issue of ‘owning’ the employee come up. That’s a false argument. As good as it may sound to your wallet.

Yes, bar owners are pimps. But you can think of them the same as being an agent in Hollywood. Agents rep their talent and get a cut for doing so. If a celebrity lands a gig outside of using the agent who represents them, the agent still gets his cut. The only difference between an agent an a gogo bar owner is the type of talent they represent. Or on second thought, maybe it’s not that different after all. And if you can’t get your head around the idea of a bar owner being like an agent, you can run with the idea of him being a pimp. What do you think would happen if a working girl failed to give her pimp his cut just because she hooked a john outside of her normal working hours?

Over the years that same bar boy from Tawan and I developed a friendship. We often got together when I was in town for non-sexual activities; we enjoyed each other’s company even when sex was not involved. While being the rich farang meant that I paid for any expenses during those times together, I never tipped him. Nor did I pay an off fee to his bar. We never arranged those times at his bar and only got together during the early afternoons when he was not working. No problem. On the occasions when we did get together for sex, I did tip him. That’s how he earned his living and it was only fair of me to do so. And whether or not we arranged for those times while at his bar or not, I paid an off fee to his bar too.

Oh, calm down. That doesn’t mean under similar circumstances you have to too. It’s not an automatic must. At least not in an on-going friendship that does not take a bar boy away from his work. My decision to do so was for two reasons. First, I’m not unknown at Tawan and walking in to pay an off fee for a tryst earlier that day always resulted in a major boost to my rep. And usually a free drink as a thank you too. The bar loves me and so do the guys working there. Maybe that’s why I’ve never experienced the problems with Tawan guys that others say they have. More importantly doing so avoided any problems in case the bar owner, manager, or one of the mamasans ever happened to spot the two of us together. Doing so also did wonders for his value as an employee. And we’re only talking twelve bucks anyway.

Same same but slightly different is my relationship with Noom. He’s at a point in his career that he could easily tell his bar he’s taking a few weeks off when I hit town. That would save me a ton of cash in off fees. But it wouldn’t be very honest. Your wallet shouldn’t always take priority.

On the other hand, I hooked up with a guy off of Gay Romeo once, after messaging and emailing each other for several weeks. It wasn’t until we met in person that he mentioned he worked at one of the bars. We got together several nights during that visit. I never went to his bar. And I never paid an off fee either, even though our times together were during his normal working hours. The difference, in my estimation, was that I did not meet him through his bar and we’d set up our meeting without my knowing he worked at a bar. I’d take the same approach if I met a guy walking down the street in Bangkok. Unless I recognized him as a bar boy I’d previously seen working at one of the bars.

With more and more bar boys turning to the internet to find customers these days, the already fuzzy line between when you do and don’t owe a bar an off fee gets even further blurred. But it is more of a quandary for the boys, or maybe for bar owners. Most punters using the ‘net may be doing so to avoid paying the prices for offing a guy from a bar, but seldom is it specifically to avoid paying an off fee. And rarely is it to avoid paying an off fee that they know is rightly due. If you run across a profile that you know belongs to a bar boy, are you obligated to pay an off fee is you hook-up with him? Probably not. Unless he asks you to come to his bar to off him. As with any other type of off premise hook-up, it’s your call. Hopefully, you’ll do what is right and not just what saves you a few bucks.

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