Shamelessmack in Thailand and around

April 2009:

There’s a reason why K-Why Massage along Rama 4 Road adopts a pricing system different from other massage places in Bangkok: so that they can exploit the guys working there. They require customers to pay 1,500 baht upfront before the session begins, saying it’s all-inclusive.  I believe most customers will assume that of the 1,500, the shop keeps 500 and the boy gets 1,000, on par with the minimum tip in many massage places in Bangkok.

But is that indeed the split at K-Why? That question nagged me.

So, in the privacy of room, I asked the boy serving me: “Of the 1,500 baht the boss takes, how much does he pay you?”

“Sewen,” he said.

“Seven hundred baht, boss give you?” I covered the ground again to be sure.

“Sewen me, eight bott.”

“The boss take eight hundred baht?”

“Krap.”

Well, well, well. Does it look just to you? It most surely does not to me. First of all, most other places, including far better appointed ones like Senso, Hero or Albury, charge less than 800 baht for a one-hour massage. Why should a dump like K-Why – OK, it’s been refurbished lately and is now a better grade of dump - expect more than 500 baht for the house? Secondly, the bosses at other places take the trouble to indicate to the client that the expected tip is a minimum of 1,000 baht. At K-Why, the boss quietly underpays (compared to the going rate) the boys instead of helping them maximise their earnings.

No doubt, one can always top up the tip directly to the masseur at K-Why, but that means the total pay-out by the client climbs above 1,500. In any case, most people would have assumed that the shop gives 1,000 out of the 1,500 to the boys and so might not think of topping it up.

—

I don’t think I am going to give this owner any further business. It feels wrong to help him with his selfish business model. I would encourage others to give K-Why a wide berth too.

On the other hand, one might say, avoiding the business only hurts the boys working there even more. A valid point, to be sure. In the end, I guess, it’s up to each reader to decide for himself how to respond to a situation like this.

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What’s inside K-Why? Why do I say it is not worth 800 baht?

When you enter, you find yourself in a large room, maybe 8 x 6 metres, that used to be a gogo bar. It has a couple of sofas haphazardly laid out and it is where the boys line up for your selection. It’s really wasted space. Half that size would be enough for a line-up.

After you’ve made your selection, the mamasan leads you to the boss’ counter at the far end of the hall, where a fat grumpy slob in a dirty polo-shirt takes your money and makes change. With not a word of thanks.

The chosen boy then leads you up two floors.

On the second level, you notice, is more wasted space. There’s a large room with one piece of gym equipment. Further beyond there are two shower stalls, a dry sauna and three or four small massage rooms. Nobody is there on the entire floor unless they are inside one of the rooms.

On the third level is another empty hall, with three or four massage rooms leading from it. And one toilet/bathroom. Nobody is there either, save you and the masseur.

With so much space, the cost of decorating it becomes prohibitive – if at all there was ever any inspiration to do so. The result: bland, characterless rooms and hallways with second-hand furniture here and there.

Where does 800 baht out of your 1,500 baht go to? To rent. To the landlord, for all that unnecessary space. Not to the one who did the work, and to whom I think we owe a little loyalty.