The Bank: Nightclub Unplugged

I was shocked. Utterly shocked. Doesn’t happen often that I’m shocked. But there I was. Speechless. Must have had my mouth open all the time, struggling to keep the head straight. It actually was soon too much for me. Slightly dizzy, without a single drink, and I had to leave. A few minutes later, walking home through Soi Cowboy, the shorter and stouter versions prevailed again. Back to reality.

I’ve seen many things in Thailand and always appreciate the privilege of enjoying the kingdom’s manifold beauties. But – strictly visually speaking – nothing so far compared to the quality of the tall smooth Thai sirens dancing most nonchalantly before my sore eyes that other night. Well, I was told they do that every night somewhere in town. I must live behind moon.

It happened at Bangkok nightclub the The Bank’s first pool party at the Dream hotel. Some photos are uploaded at the Gallery. But careful, they’re not office-friendly. Not my territory really, but well, for the sake of research: Penthouse and Maxim and FHM girls were dancing around the pool losing a shirt or bikini top now and then. But this post isn’t about them. It’s an interview with The Bank’s American owner who shares some surprising insights how the biz works and how good a hefty night out can be for your business.

The Bank somehow just fell into the lap of Peter, a youngish guy from the U.S. East Coast. Before he was in Hong Kong in the import export business. 1993 for the first time in Thailand, Peter „of course fell in love with Thai girls“ and was fascinated by having business meetings in between drinking with girls and enjoying karaoke.

A year ago he opened the excluxive member nightclub The Bank at Sukhumvit Soi 40. Everyone told him he’ll fail. But Peter’s still going strong. He’s an innovater, he says. His girls, the club, the whole attitude is different. And don’t even dare to mention go-go and beer bars in the same breath with The Bank. Here is why, here we go.

You fell in love here Peter. What makes Thai girls different from other girls?

(Pauses) They’re more submissive. They treat the guys nicer. It’s a 30 to 40 years behind the U.S. And they’re sexy and soft. Everything is good about Asian woman. They’re not as aggressive. At that time I had a hot-headed American-Mexican. Then an American marketing guy brought me to Asia and I fell in love drinking cognac for lunch with Chinese guys and all that. Also the service aspect, how they take care of you. I never did any nightlife business, but I fell in love with that Thai style. I hate beer bars. Sometimes I go there to relax, but I don’t like them. Then I met a girl. She took me to these gentlemen clubs, to the since closed Blue Moon and some of the big clubs, oh my god, it’s like a VIP life Las Vegas style. All the girls are pretty, the bands are great and it’s not cheap. Then my first girlfriend in Thailand took me to karaoke. Loved it. Maybe I should have been a rockstar. I learned how to sing and enjoy and I learned how to drink whiskey. Before I only drank beer. Now only whiskey. No more beer. So basically I started this club not to make money, but to meet people. I have big shot clients.

And why should an expat or a business-minded expat entrepreneur pay attention to a club like The Bank?

Funny question! When I first came to Thailand, I was looking for a flashlight factory. After a nice lunch and tour of the factory, the big boss took me to a whiskey member club that night. It was small local place near Rama II which had a lot pretty young girls with an big open lounge on the 2nd floor with karaoke. There must have been 10 tables and 30 to 40 girls in the room. After everyone got lubed up and happy, they all wanted to hear the “American” sing Elvis. So they handed me the microphone. Oh my god … What was I going to do? I didn’t know how to sing! A salesman should never say “no.” So of course I tried. After about ten words in monotone, it was obvious that I was NOT Elvis so someone quickly took the mic to spare me the embarrassment. The  cultural gap was obvious and I never did business with the factory. That was back in 1993. Fast forward 15 years to 2008:  When I go out my Asian buddies I have no problem opening my lungs and belt it out with a pretty girl hanging on to join. Sometimes, I can even impress them with a slow Thai song from Sek Loso. They then treat me more like their “brother” which I believe can translate into more trust and closer business ties. And because I’m the owner, even the successful Thai businessmen look at me with disbelief. I’m not saying everybody should open a Thai style nightclub to get ahead in business, but if your objective is to close an important deal with a Thai company, my suggestion is to spend a percentage of your entertainment budget on lounge or karaoke clubs. If you want to take it to a new level, take the initiative to polish up on your singing skills. Join a music school. There are many in Thailand and they are cheap. Then you’re ready to spend the whole night out. Thais like to sing until the wee hours. And have plenty of credit limit available on your credit card. This is how you can show power by taking your business partners out to an exclusive club. The night will set you back 15,000 to 30,000 baht, but I guarantee you will increase your chances of surfing up the business ladder and show them you understand how Thailand works. Not to mention having a great time in luxurious environment.

You must have either the best or most stressful job in the world.

Best? I wouldn’t say so. It’s a difficult job to manage night people. Because they’re a different breed. They’re all a little bit a lot selfish. They all work for the tip and don’t think about the company. They will give the customer a break if they can give a cheaper price. They will do it to get an extra tip, but then the company loses.

At least you’re surrounded by pretties …

Well, when I started the club, everything was important, the decoration, the sound system, the girls. But now I have other people managing the girls. I distanced myself a little bit. It’s been up and down … My girlfriend helps me. She didn’t want me to make the club, to spend all the money. She has never been in the nightlife … She was in a hospital … Also me, I’m a virgin in the business. Everybody said I will fail. Most people in this business don’t make money. Because all of the money goes to the girls and shows. There is not a single other such club in Bangkok managed by a farang. It’s over a year already.

A year is a very long time in this business.

It is! I have the same type of customers such as The Piano, The Pent, but they’re more about image, or St. Moritz behind Q Bar. These are all the competitors, some of them have a big hall and big stage with coyote dancers. We’re smaller. My club is famous for karaoke. And for wild girls.

How you get them wild?

I went to cheap local karaoke places around Bangkok. I found some of the girls myself and changed their culture. And they changed the culture inside the club. They’re a little snobby. They’re pretty, but they’re snobby. Customers want to feel like heros. The cheap local karaoke outside Bangkok don’t pay the girls anything, so I brought the girls in … Well, they’re a little lower class. But they don’t have to have sex with customers. We don’t encourage anything of that. We fire them if we find out. But they’re a little hotter. Nobody has done that in Sukhumvit so far. They do that in province clubs, but my customers would never go there. Here are carpets, there just cement and it’ all very low class. And then we have very good relationships with police. My girlfriend is an expert in that. It’s not expensive, she just entertains them. We’re a Thai style club, not like some farang who just comes and thinks he can eat all of the cake. This particular club I took over, it already had a licence. I renovated everything.

Well, that other evening, at your pool party … how did the party end?

It ended with a lot of people jumping in the pool and having fun. And then the police came up and just sat there. Some big guys, but they didn’t cause any troubles. Most of my club members are high society Thais. I have such big customers they could easily kick them out. The party ended smoothly … The next party is at the beach, around Father’s Day, December 5th, because we have to close! We will take over a whole hotel. I’m thinking about more outside events … It’s worth it. Everyone goes to this party and they talk. After the pool party people are talking about The Bank now. I wanna create this positive buzz in the business. The Bank wants to be known as the place for VIP private parties. Any group or club is welcome. On our website you can download a 50% discount Invite Card.

So many clubs in Bangkok. You got enough members?

The club is open for everyone, but more expensive for non-members. The membership deal is so inexpensive. People who live in Thailand who want to entertain their friends, you get a package of whiskey bottles and discounts on ladies’ drink. Eleven bottles of Black Label for 20,000 baht. And two VIP rooms with free mixer. That’s how most of the pubs make their money. With Pepsi and Coke. 60 or 80 baht for each mixer. The whiskey is cheap. At The Piano it might be eight bottles of wine, so I give three more extra bottles.

Who are your members.

My members are mostly Asian businessmen. The majority of which are Thai, but also Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, guys that are doing business in Thailand or come here frequently. Most own businesses and factories here. We don’t have tourists. However, we are getting more tourists that want to make a stag party. We just had one from India, one from the U.K. and one from Singapore. They just came in for a few days. It’s not like the go-go bars. It’s private. The girls are a different class. But we can offer them a private party for the whole night. Of course it costs a little more, but those guys don’t care. 15 girls and a special show and ten bottles of Hennessy and some 20 food plates cost a group last week 125,000 baht.

You got female customers?

Women are allowed … we do have some lesbians, some Toms, of course they’re Thai. We can have lady guests, we just charge them a guest charge.

Why another such club in Bangkok, aren’t there already enough of?

It will never have enough. But there is a limited number of customers that go to those places. Those who have a lot of money, but probably the saturation is reached already. Probably. Because they always open new ones. I’m the first one to do this style with more of a party atmosphere in Sukhumvit.

Isn’t your trade destroying marriages?

I don’t think so. Because Asian women accept that their husbands go out and this is part of the culture. The guy still respects his wife. He may take care of his girlfriend, but he’s not gonna leave wife and kids. They don’t divorce. I don’t think it’s distusting. These guys are much more civilized. If they have a relationship with a girl, the girls become a little more tough. But you know, a lot of these guys are young handsome guys, not old fat lounge guys. They are from these high society Thai families. They may even have arranged marriages. They have two parts in their lives. The white side where everything is perfect. And the dark side. They may have a Thai girlfriend and never had sex with her. And on the other side they want to have fun. But even if the wife or girlfriend finds out, they not gonna leave them. The women have to accept. Because the guy is not going to change.

How much can the girls make?

It’s kind of incentive. We guarantee a flat amount. 400 baht per day, guaranteed, even if you don’t have a customer, plus a 100 baht per drink or 200 baht per hour. That’s about a 1,000 baht per day. The girls who are good they average between 1,500 and 2,000 baht a day, which is a lot of money for these girls. The best ones can make about 60,000 to 70,000 baht a month. But we don’t have barfines or encourage sex. That’s up to the girls after work, exchanging phone numbers. But the girls are moving around, they just go to the place that pays more. We call this modeling. Modeling is like an agent that helps the club owner to find girls. And they have their network. I don’t know how they do it. One girl has a friend who has a friend and they just try to get the best deals. They’re like performing a service for the girls and get their own money for negotiating. And a lot of the girls go to the clubs themselves. The girls working in these clubs are a mix. Some stay there, others are jumping around. The real challenge is finding pretty girls and training them. Most of the girls in my club are happy. They’re parttime, they have a job during the day. No one wants to work fulltime. Some of them still go to school. Some want to party with their friends and want some flexibility in their lives. At my club they have to work four days a week. That doesn’t pressure them too much. That’s how the big clubs control the girls. They don’t allow them to work parttime and deduct let’s say 1,500 baht if they don’t shop up for a day.

What about students working in clubs? Or that’s rather an urban myth?

A lot of times you can find actually very nice girls in these clubs that are educated. College girls who work in the night business for two weeks to get some money. Still, it’s a taboo for anyone to think that they work in the nightlife. It’s a big challenge for them. But people change. Some of the girls who first wouldn’t sit with a customer now take off their shirt in the karaoke room.

And the Penthouse girls? They’re a whole different lot?

They’re around all those clubs. They’re always somewhere doing their Penthouse shows. The Penthouse girls get about 3,000 baht per show. Which is a lot for them. After our pool party they went to Hollywood. They go to sexy shows in many places. They usually have two shows a night. A lot of them can be bought. It all depends on the money. One guy offered 10,000 baht. She said no. He offered 20,000 baht. She said yes.

And very happy endings, such as marriages between a girl and a customer?

I don’t know about marriage, but I’d say since we opened at least ten of our best girls are taken by their customers. They’re now either their girlfriend or mia noi. Or a guy buys her a condo, she has to stop working. They want them to go to school. Think of it. Some of the girls are babies, like 19, 20. And from what I have seen the girls are much less money hungry and care more for the guy than in go-go and beer bars. If they really stop, they stop. Because they’re with the guy. But in the go-go bar where tourists go in and out they can have many guys from all over. But I’d say my girls don’t do that. She’s gonna really stop.

+++ Live music, sensual “erotic” shows, business lounge with pool table, luxurious VIP rooms for the ultimate party … If anyone is interested in hosting a private party at the The Bank Club, contact Peter for a special quote: info@thebankmemberclub.com




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September 1, 2009 | Filed Under Bangkok Sirens, Being Farang, Business & Economics, Nightlife & Entertainment, The Interview, The Thai Mind 

Comments

2 Responses to “The Bank: Nightclub Unplugged”

  1. Fish Fish on September 21st, 2009 7.56 pm

    Well, well. The Bank. Trustfully and hopefully, my husband doesn’t have the hidden dark side behind his pure love for me. Otherwise, I chop his off. Peter, you are wrong. Not all independent Thai savvy women will always tolerate the role of “mia luang.” Then, sorry, please talk to our lawyers. I wonder if all those Thai men from high society or even farang just have only one underwear left in life, will you girls still adore them? What mia luang is going to do is to put on the ad “Husband on Sale,” free delivery with one complimentary cloth, a pant and a pair of socks. Will your girls offer those poor husband new shelters? Take them and we take their wealth.

  2. BangkokDan on September 21st, 2009 8.48 pm

    Hear hear, wise words my lovely wife. See? Hardly a pant left to wear the breeches. How I love the Thai power woman.

    BangkokDan

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