Bar Girls in Thailand

This short article is a primer or introduction about Thai Bar Girls, but more specifically about bar girls in Pattaya.

If you are new to Thailand and the bar scene you will want to know what they are all about, so let’s identify who bar girls are, what bars girls do, and where bar girls come from. 

What is a Bar Girl?

A typical bar girl working in Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket or any of the popular nightlife and sex tourism hot spots in Thailand can best be defined as a girl who works in a bar to attract, entertain, and ultimately have sex with a customer in exchange for money.

How Much Do Thai Bar Girls Charge?

For a breakdown of everything, including the price of lady drinks, bar fines, long time and short time, and how the process of picking up Thai bar girls works, read this post about paying for girls in Pattaya.

What Do Thai Bar Girls Offer?

I think it’s fair to say there are bar girls and bars to serve every need or purpose, from a quickie (short time sex) to the Thai girlfriend experience (GFE) and everything in between.

When you take a Thai bar girl out she will leave the bar with you, the rest is up to you. You might go for a few drinks or a meal and then take her back to your place.

It can be like going on a casual date. Other patrons are more singularly focused and after leaving the bar head straight back to their hotel room.

Where Do Bar Girls Work?

The most popular places to meet bar girls are in “beer bars”. These beer bars are simple and may consist of many small bars in one complex under a single roof.

Some popular beer bar complexes are on Pattaya Beach Road. There are many smaller beer bar complexes dotting the entire area.

You will find bars on 2nd Road, Soi Baukhao, Soi Diana, Soi 7, Soi 8, Soi 2, Pattaya Naklua Road, Beach Road, and Jomtien. Rest assured, you’re never too far from a bar or company in Pattaya.

Enclosed bars, occupying a single or double shop-house unit can be anything from relaxed drinking, eating and pick-up joint to a rather intensive “short time bar” where the emphasis is more on one-off sexual relationships.

You could also say go-go bars and gentleman’s clubs come under the umbrella of bar girl establishments, except girls working in go-go’s are referred to as “go-go girls”, and ‘hostesses’ are girls working in gentleman’s clubs. 

Some bar girls work at a bar and freelance in their off time. Some choose to move on and are very successful freelancing full time. They look for punters in Pattaya’s popular nightclubs and discos and also make themselves available for casual hookups online.

What about Finding a Girl in a Massage Parlor?

In addition to the numerous bars, go-go’s, and nightclubs in Pattaya, you can also find a working girl in one of the dozens of massage parlors. 

Some are more obvious about this than others. There are the popular body massage or soapy massage establishments like that on Soi Honey. 

There are massage shops where the staff sit out front calling to you and tempting you for an oil massage with their low cut shirts and high skirts. Maybe even pantomiming oral sex.

And then there are the normal shops which specialize in a therapeutic and relaxing foot or Thai massage, but it is not unheard of to get a handy or a blowjob for a substantial tip. It’s not promised or even implied, but for the right price, some girls are willing to have a little extra fun with you.

Where Do Bar Girls Come From?

The vast majority of bar girls who work in Pattaya originate from the North-East or Issan region of Thailand.

A minority, but not statistically insignificant number, of girls in Pattaya come from other regions of Thailand including Pattaya itself.

Why Do So Many Girls Work As Bar Girls?

The reason so many girls end up working in the bars of Thailand’s tourist destinations is for financial gain. In Issan, it is extremely difficult to find a job that pays a wage comparable to what a bar girl can potentially earn in Pattaya or Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Chang, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai or Bangkok.

Issan is a rural region that relies heavily on agriculture, mainly rice farming to support its economy. Unfortunately, agricultural work is poorly paid and seasonal, even if a family is fortunate enough to own and work their own land they can only afford to live hand to mouth.

In Thailand, it is considered the norm for children to financially support their parents. Sometimes due to peer pressure, sometimes for want of a better life than that offered by working in the rice paddies of Issan, girls head for Pattaya in search of money and maybe even a rich foreign to help support their families.

As commonplace as it may seem, it should go without saying that the majority of women in all parts of Thailand are not involved in the sex trade. 

Advantages of Becoming a Bar Girl

• No academic skills or qualifications required
• Opportunity to earn much more money than doing other unskilled work
• More spare money to send home and support the family
• An ideal environment to meet a foreign husband

Some Thai Bar Girls Are Married

You might be surprised to know that many women working in Pattaya actually have a Thai husband or boyfriend, and even children of their own. For them, being a bar girl is simply a job.

More often than not the husband or boyfriend knows his wife is sleeping with men for money and is very happy with the arrangement. It is also not unheard of for the husband to stay home and in effect be a ‘kept man’.

Not All Girls Working in a Bar are Prostitutes

Just because a girl works in a girlie bar or a short time bar does not mean that she is willing to sleep with or provide other special services to customers.

Quite often the position of cashier, cook, or mamasan will be taken by girls who would rather not go with customers.

Bar Girls & Sponsorship

Some of the more beautiful Thai bar girls will have at least one, but quite often several sponsors.

The sponsor being a customer she met previously, who now believes that they are in a steady relationship and that she has ceased working the bar or at least sleeping with customers.

Oh, the “foolish” Judeo-Christian values of the Western man where it is believed “love” means exclusivity.

When the time comes for him to go back to his own country he will send his bar girl sweetheart money every month in order that she can afford to live. 

Many girls are serious about the relationship and cease all bar work, or at least stop going with customers. On the other hand, some Thai bar girls become very efficient, even business-like when it comes to recruiting and rotating foreign sponsors.

How  Long Do Bar Girls Work as Bar Girls?

That depends on many things including how long she can keep her good looks, the time it takes to find her Mr. Right or the time it takes her to amass enough money to either retire or move onto other things such as starting her own business.

Many will end up running a bar of their own or managing a bar for someone else, some will fail at their relationship or business and return to work as a bar girl. If a bar girl keeps her good looks she could possibly have a career of 10 – 20 years.

Not All Girls Working in a Bar are Girls

To your surprise, shock, or delight, not all girls working in the bar are girls. There are a number of ladyboys, or blokes dressed and acting like women, but “act” is not the right word. These are gay or transgender individuals, both pre and post-op, who identify as a ladyboy.

A ladyboy, or in Thai “katoey” is a popular third gender. This is not an act of deceit. While sometimes it is obvious and other times impossible to tell who is a ladyboy, nearly all will answer you if you ask.

Caveat: If you ask a cheeky question, expect a cheeky answer. Interaction is all in good fun, so live and let live. Pattaya has someone for everyone.

Pattaya Trivia

• Sex tourism began in Thailand as a by-product of the Vietnam war. Many American military bases were established in Thailand, and along with them came girls to provide services and companionship during the troops’ rest and recreation periods.
• There are an estimated 300,000 women working in the sex trade in Thailand, some estimates put that number as high as 1,000,000
• Prostitution is actually illegal in Thailand

Are You Keen to Know More? 

See our Paying for Bar Girls in Pattaya guide here.