Chiang Mai bar girls and go go bars
Like every tourist place in Thailand Chiang Mai has its bar girls scene, catering to foreigners and visiting Thais. It’s a prominent attraction in the city, with some areas given over to bars full of girls for hire. Compared to Bangkok, Pattaya or Patong it’s far more casual, less raunchy or intense and generally cheaper.
Bar girls: where to find them
Most of the Chiang Mai bar scene is confined to the Western end of Loi Kroh road, There is also a small cluster of bars at rear of the Night Market in the Peak Entertainment area near the Foxy Lady Go Go. It’s small compared to other tourist centres but offers a decent choice. See Chiang Mai map.
The most obvious place to head is Loi Kroh road at the moat junction, where you’ll have trouble walking down the street without being distracted by ‘helloooo, you’re welcome’. If you cross over to the inside (Old Town) you’ll find another cluster as you walk towards Thapae Gate, these are bit more tame. One of the go go bars, Spotlight, is on the outside of the moat, near Thapae gate.
Further down Loi Kroh, walking towards the Night Market, there is a second venue - the Chiang Mai Entertainment Centre - tucked in an arcade to your left which is full of bar girls. They might not be as sexy as the others on the street but are also less in your face. Star Xix, another go go bar, is located opposite this arcade, though it has a cover charge and dull atmosphere. Look out too for some bars tucked down sois (lanes) as you wander down the street. Across from the first 7-Eleven is a short lane full of ‘special’ massage shops (hand jobs).
The other area, in the Peak Complex (Northern end of the Night Market street, left side), is a bit neglected and many are gay, but the best go go bar in town, certainly with the sexiest girls, is Foxy Lady. You can find it behind the D2 hotel or by exiting the rear of the Vieng Ping Night Bazaar arcade. It has by far the sexiest girls, and a decent atmosphere, no drinks rip offs either.
You can also try your luck with karaoke bars. This appeals mostly to Asian men who hire girls to sing with them, usually in private rooms. The girls are generally very young, very pretty, speak very little English and don’t often agree to ‘go with customers’. Some do but the bar fine (on top of the 200 baht hourly ‘singing fee’) is 500 baht or more. There are some of these on the inside of the moat near Loi Kroh, but the biggest selection is found at the bottom end of Chang Klan road (south of the Night Bazaar) and down Chiang Mai Land avenue. It’s a fun experience for the shy.
How it works
There’s nothing more satisfying to a punter than a bar full of sexy girls all vying for your attention. As long as you have a fat wallet they’ll treat you as desirable no matter who you are, and the more flush you look the harder they tend to try. From a different persective it can all seem quite sad and desperate especially if there are many more girls than tourists. Thai bar girls in Chiang Mai are experts at making you feel like a king, they’ll flirt with you, pour your drink, rub your leg, occassionally touch you in excitable places and try their best to get hired. And the bar girls in Chiang Mai aren’t too jaded, rough or rude.
When you enter a bar you can site alone until you’ve spotted a girl you like (they’ll make eye contact), and if you don’t make any moves one will come up and sit with you. There’s no pressure (like Bangkok’s Nana Plaza), the girl will ask for a drink - known as a ‘lady drink’ which is watered down and a set price (about 120 baht - some of it goes to the girls). Buy them a beer if you want to get them drunk. They’ll play pool with you, make light conversation in their limited English and wait for you to ask them to go home with them. It’s that simple.
Go go bars: are slightly different in that girls also dance on a stage in bikinis and costumes and are far more sexy. When not dancing they come and sit with you, or you can ‘order’ them from off the stage. These places are more discreet, not open to the street like most others and have a darker atmosphere. Some have private rooms upstairs. You can sit and watch, or blend into a corner.
How much
The basic cost of ‘hiring’ a girl is about 1500 baht. It can get cheaper for short time sessions or freelancing street girls but as a tourist you’ll probably not want to risk an unsatisfactory experience. Obviously you get cheap and nasty girls and you get expensive and sexy girls, and the less they are receiving the less likely they are to give you a really good time. They’re selling their souls so don’t expect to bargain hard and still get a smile on her face.
The first thing you have to take care of is the ‘bar fine’ - a common fee for all bar girls in Chiang Mai and Thailand. This is paid to the bar for taking the girls away, it’s how they earn the money to pay off officials, and it ranges from 200 to 500 depending on the place. In Chiang Mai bar girl fines are usually about 300 unless you’re in a go go bar.
Then you have to negotiate with the girls. This is done in the bar before you pay the bar fine, and usually starts with ‘you go with me?’, ‘You pay bar fine, how much you pay for me’. Girls will go back to a hotel with you for as little as a 1000 baht if its ‘slow’ (ie lots more girls than tourists in the bar), or you’re not too old and ugly. They will also offer you ‘short time’ (a few hours) or long time (all night) depending on what you’re willing to pay. The more sexy and popular the girl is the more she’ll ask for, so it’s worth trying your luck with several girls to get an idea first. Of course this involves buying quite a few ‘lady drinks’, so you might not save anything, and it depends on how new you are, as bar girls are good at sensing when you’re fresh off the plane.
Some girls who are keen for business might not even agree a fee before hand, trusting you to be decent. But you should never leave the bar without discussing this first, as they tend to inflate the price and get all sulky when it comes to payment time, leaving both of you unhappy. Girls who have really made an effort to make it an enjoyable night (rather than a boring job) deserve to be tipped. You can also negotiate a week long bar fine and rate if you decide you’d like her to be your travel companion - for bar girls like nothing more than a free trip to Phuket. Keep in mind that you might soon find her to be annoying baggage, there are plenty more bar girls elsewhere. In all, by the time you’ve finished up with drinks and fines and bar girl fees the whole experience will cost between 2000 and 3000 baht in Chiang Mai for bar girls for a night.
Choosing the right girl
This is essential since it could mean the difference between a fantastic evening or a disappointing experience. If you’re new or been starved, the chances are you’ll find all girls sexy and fun. Certainly Thai bar girls are more natural and sweet than your average prostitute, you get to take them to your hotel for the whole night and they act almost as if they’re your girlfriend. Indeed many foreigners end up with bar girlfriends here.
But if you experience several girls you’ll soon realise there are some real sweeties who don’t deserve to be working bars (some might have only been doing this a few months) and some really jaded cows who don’t enjoy a single moment with you and are only interested in getting the money.
Take it from our experience, it’s worth judging the girls character - don’t just fall for the first sexy thing you see, take the time to chat up several girls so you get an idea of what’s sweet and what’s sour. The more the girl has been working the bars (remember you could be the fifth guy she’s had in a week) the less inclined she is to be interested in you and you’ll find yourself shagging a ‘plank’. Of course if you’re ‘large’ and ‘old’ you’ll probably need to be generous to make them smile more. Remember too that Thai bar girls are small. Short time, high turnover girls are more likely to see it as a job than fun. Some girls turn out the be horny firecrackers in bed and some just lie there, you can never really tell.
And finally, have respect for the girls. They may be working the skin trade but they’re there because they have few opportunities elsewhere. Many are just simple and humble girls making a living and often dreaming that a decent farang will take them out of poverty. Thai girls on the whole are sweet and decent, and try to please, respecting and trusting their client, sometimes they get ripped off and disappointed. Even if money does the talking please try to treat the girls on equal terms.
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