When a young American with no experience of the nightlife industry decided to open an exclusive member club in Bangkok, his friends shook their heads and advised him to do something less foolhardy – skydiving without a parachute, for example.
“Everyone said it would last three months – they thought I was crazy,” Peter recalls as he relaxes with a whisky at The Bank. “I started the business for fun, but I am a perfectionist and like to do things well. It has been very challenging, but we now have a successful, profitable business.” The Bank will celebrate its second birthday in May. It has about 700 members, of whom 500 are active. Last month it achieved its highest monthly sales of 6 million baht. Things are looking up for the only Bangkok gentlemen’s club, or g-club, run by a farang.
The Bank, located near the entrance to Sukhumvit Soi 40 and only a five-minute walk from Thonglor skytrain station, has found a niche among the capital’s g-clubs for its party vibe. Peter describes the venue as “a cross between a Thai-style lounge and a Las Vegas strip club – a true party club for the ultimate VIP bash”. A contributor to Sukhumvit Psycho’s forum says it is “probably the craziest place in Bangkok. We have huge parties there in the VIP rooms where it is common to have 14 or more girls running around in various states of undress”.
Certainly, walking round the three-storey club, one is struck by the total lack of the stuffiness that can be found in similar venues. While there are Asian businessmen in suits, there are also young, casually dressed Thais and farangs relaxing in the company of the club’s 65 hostesses. About 95 per cent of members are Asian, mostly Thai but also Japanese, Korean and Singaporean. Farangs are more than welcome and are increasingly booking its VIP rooms for parties.
The ground-floor Banker’s Pub stages live bands, coyote dancers (on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays) and erotic cabaret shows. It has an informal pub-type atmosphere, with booths at the side of the entertainment area and stools near the bar.
The Banker’s Lounge on the second level is decorated in “Shanghai chic”. Members can relax on luxurious Chesterfield sofas while listening to lounge music. They can even shoot pool or watch sport on a large plasma TV. Hostesses sit demurely at the edge of the lounge, waiting to be invited for a drink or to join a group in one of the 10 VIP rooms on the second and third levels.
The VIP rooms come in varying sizes but all are equipped with plush sofas, large plasma TVs, high-quality sound systems and computer-controlled karaoke systems featuring more than 40,000 songs in all major languages. Food can be served and the party can go on until sunrise if that is what customers want. The four largest rooms have bathrooms.
The piece de resistance is the Party Room on the top floor. This is a large room able to accommodate groups of 30 or more. It has a special shower dance stage for erotic dancers, DJ booth, laser machine, smoke machine and even a pool table. It seems like the ideal venue for a stag party to remember. Peter says many of The Bank’s girls have a “fun attitude” and acknowledges with a knowing smile that things can get very raunchy when the doors close at the VIP rooms.
Peter first came to Thailand in 1992 and, like many, fell in love with the country and its women. He had a marketing background with some major companies in the United States and worked in Hong Kong for three years, exporting gift products to the US. He moved his office from Hong Kong to Bangkok in 2002. His enthusiasm for Asian-style entertainment and karaoke persuaded him to take over the lease of Be 1st despite the misgivings of those around him.
He recalls: “When I took over the club, I thought it would take 2-3 million baht to renovate it in about one month. But the place was in a poor state and there were rats everywhere. I had to bring in a demolition team. After six months, my first contractor ran away. I had to decide whether to carry on, but I didn’t want to give up. Eventually, it took 12 million baht and 12 months to get it right, but the final product was good.
“My girlfriend Emma was a great help and still is. It is difficult dealing with so many girls, but she does it very well. You have to establish some rules without going too far.
“The club business is not as profitable as I thought it would be. You have to pay a lot of people – girls, staff, bands, etc – whether you have customers or not. There is also a lot of competition. I would say the profit margin is about 20 per cent of sales, which is a lot lower than that of a gogo bar, where the overheads are smaller and the girls pay for themselves through barfines and lady-drinks.”
The girls at The Bank are generally taller and fairer than the Isaan girls found in the farang bar areas. Some are university students supporting their studies, so they have a reasonable level of English. Member clubs represent a chance for them to earn decent money, and perhaps meet a wealthy boyfriend, without being pressured into sex in the same way as gogo dancers with quotas to meet and hardhearted mamasans to keep happy.
The club invests heavily to get the best girls, who are paid up to 1,500 baht per day, plus commission of 100 baht from each lady-drink they are bought. Lady-drinks are 270 baht for members and 350 baht for non-members. As is the norm in Thai venues, the girls are on “running time” for the time spent with a customer. Two lady-drinks cover the first 30 minutes with a lounge girl (three drinks are required for a coyote dancer), with subsequent 30-minute periods payable by one lady-drink. So a member spending two hours with a lounge girl would pay 1,350 baht, the equivalent of five lady-drinks.
A cheaper alternative is to buy a girl a 300-baht cocktail in the ground-floor pub. There is no fixed time for the girl to sit with you, but generally it is 15-30 minutes.
You won’t get the gogo “I go dance” scams in The Bank after buying a girl a drink. With many patrons being generous tippers, some girls can easily earn 3,000 baht in one night without taking their clothes off.
Hostesses work four nights a week, including the busy period of Thursday to Saturday. Although there are no barfines as such, a member has to stump up a hefty 4,050 baht (the equivalent of 15 lady-drinks) if he wants to take a girl from the premises before the 3am close from Sunday to Thursday. On busy Friday and Saturday nights, that figure rises to 5,400 baht (20 lady-drinks). But there are no restrictions about making arrangements to meet a girl after work or on her days off, which is in sharp contrast to the slave-like rules of gogo bars that demand a barfine whenever a customer meets a girl.
Member clubs are more about entertainment than sex. Even if a member pays to take a girl from a club, there is no guarantee she will sleep with him. That is a matter for debate between two adults. In many cases, a member will just take a girl for dinner or to a show. Those customers who have become the boyfriend of a g-club girl have to woo her, not point at a number.
Some of the best bands in Bangkok – Up to You Band, Maximum Band, Bangkok Delight and Beautiful Sunday – perform at The Bank from Monday to Saturday. Monthly concerts for members feature top bands such as Carabao. Sexy shows with Penthouse models are staged every Wednesday at midnight, while special shows can be arranged at any time in the Party Room. The whole club can even be rented out for parties. The Bank also stages sexy offsite parties featuring FHM, Maxim and Penthouse models.
While g-clubs are not cheap and are probably beyond the budget of most English teachers, they are not prohibitively expensive either. Basically, you can spend as much or as little as you want. If you choose not to enjoy the girls’ company, you can enjoy good entertainment in luxurious surroundings while drinking top-shelf spirits at cheaper prices than the rotgut served in most gogo bars.
A basic one-year silver package at The Bank costs 20,000 baht, for which the member receives 11 bottles of Black Label whisky (it can be converted to wine, tequila, gin, vodka or 150 bottles of Heineken or Singha), free mixers and two free visits to a VIP room. That works out at about 1,800 baht per bottle of spirits. With free mixers and ice, it is not much more expensive than one would pay at a 7-Eleven.
It is not essential to be a member. The Bank welcomes people to go and sample its entertainment as guests just by buying a bottle of beer or whisky. It is currently offering two promotions for non-members – 2,000 baht for a bottle of Black Label with free mixers for a guest’s first visit and a half-price package for 4,000 baht that includes a bottle of Gold Reserve whisky, free mixers, a VIP room and lady-drinks’ at members’ prices.
Customers can even take their wives or girlfriends to the club for a 600-baht guest charge that gives the female two cocktails.
Peter reckons that farang businessmen could improve their prospects in Thailand by following the Asian example and treating potential business partners to a night out at a member club.
“I wouldn’t say that many business deals are done at The Bank, but I am sure that many friendships are forged that lead to successful business partnerships,” he says. “That is the way things are done here. Thais love to party and sing in the company of attractive women. Any farang prepared to spend a bit of money can increase their chances of success in business in Thailand.
“Our 20,000 baht silver package is actually one of the best deals in town. We sell about 600 bottles of whisky a month, while the bigger clubs probably sell about 2,000. We don’t make a lot of money from selling whisky. We make more money on the girls’ drinks.
“There are plenty of people who can afford to come here and enjoy a more upmarket experience than they will find in a beer bar or gogo bar. For people who have spent $5,000 on a night out in Las Vegas, The Bank is very cheap.”
THE BANK Sukhumvit Soi 40 Tel: 02 712 3733 (Thai); 087 360 3666 (English) Email: info@thebankmemberclub.com
Kelly - the Bar girl who would be president
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