John Galt Presents: Where Stickman is Going

StickmanBangkok.com is not real savvy with Internet technology yet. His web pages have become bloated with banner ads and other technical complexities that are making it difficult for his readers to find his new weekly columns. Some readers have even posted complaints about this problem in local forums. Here is a link to his current column so you can read it.

This new column is a re-hash of another older column that was written just under a year ago Working With The Locals, A Few Thoughts You. might find it interesting to read both pieces to if his position on working with Thais have changed. Has the Stick evolved? Is he now more/less cynical? Have things improved? Or is Stick just fresh out of new material?

Writing about Stickman is a bit like the carnival game "Whack a Mole". When Stick opens his trap and BS comes out, I take a swing at him. Most of what Stick says is pretty decent material. I have valued his writing for quite a long time and much of it I still do. What really T's me off about his work are the sly little white lies that he inserts into his columns that become clandestine sources of income. The banner ads are understood, I have no problem with them. I have no problem at all with making money with advertising. What is terribly just plain wrong are the statements that are carelessly fabricated and thrown to the public that "oh just by chance" seem to positively influence businesses and companies that pay Stick a fee (or offer him some other reward). In same cases, Stick will even post information that seemingly is intended to cause damage to others. That type of work, in my opinion is inexcusable. It's a very below a western value. We are visitors here in Thailand. In many regards we are looked at as representatives from the countries we originate from. At every turn we should conduct ourselves to standards that reflect our values (even if that value take us to the naught night life). Yes, even with the bar girls, we can reflect our good values (imagine that?). There is absolutely no down side. None. We are some of the most fortunate people on earth. We are the lucky ones with solid educational opportunities and freedom to travel. Anything less than true integrity especially for a "commentator" is a crime. As long as Stick want to bend information in a way that takes advantage of the gullible foreigner, I'll stand up against it. As long as Stickman is trying to wrongly influence a business by talking out of the side of his mouth, I'll refute his babbling. I also want to extend out my appreciation to others who send email with their own independent revelations that suggest "something is amiss with the Stick". It's very encouraging.

In brief, Stickman started out as just a column that chronicled his experiences in the Land of Smiles. Much of his earlier experiences were predominately of the naughty night life. This is quite understandable as most of us middle aged foreigners are here in one way or another because of the culture that permits us a wealth of opportunity with young lovely ladies. I, the Great Galt, will be the first to admit that a large part of my decision to be here is for the ladies.

Over time, Stickman needed to find a way to perpetuate his stay. His one opportunity became teaching English. Teaching English is one of the few jobs that are readily available here for a foreigner with little money and perhaps limited training. Stick is the expert in this area. I whole heartily believe Stick has the teaching "thing" figured out. By Stick's own admission, teaching is a poor long term opportunity. At some point Stick will leave the teaching business. Even in Stick's column this week, he paints a down picture for teaching around the teaching workplace. Sad, but it's true. Teaching English is not the long term investment vehicle. Even in the short term, in my mind, its a losing proposition for you, the foreigner.

Stick also has a business where he charges a fee for investigating bar girls. He started that a number of years back. You can have him walk up to business and find out if a bar girl is still for hire, or has gone home. I suppose this is another option for those who like this type of life but even investigation has it's limits. Only so much money can be made per man hour. Ultimately, investigation may not be a long-term money making plan and let's face it, there is not much respect working as a gum-shoe. You can't get legal in Thailand with this business.

The Stickman gets married. He disavows the "naughty night life" on his column and loses readership. He then quickly beats a hasty 180 degree turn-around and is back as the authority of NNL again but he is now a "non-player". He is still the expert but he doesn't make the rounds. Ok, fine. I'll buy this.

Stickman begins to experiment with endorsements of business on the web. He has endorsed HIV test kits, Books, Bars, Visa Services, Business Brokers, Sex Sites, Go-go Bars and probably a few others.

He was particularly broken up about the John Karr incident which really let the steam out of his "TEFL - Become an English teacher promotion". Seemed like Stick lamented that one. Since then, we see no mention of the "pay 200 dollar deposit and come for a 5 month Teaching English Vacation Offer". Good riddance to that 90% scam.

So what is a good commentator to do for retirement money? What else, commentate. Stick has only one real direction left to go..... back to the square one and this is; the Naughty Night Life industry.

Stick is going to focusing his efforts in the coming months to the naughty night life industry for new and enhanced cash revenue opportunities.

The clubs and go-go bars have large revenue streams. Stickman believes he can manipulate their incomes with his comments on the web. Can he do it? I think the Stick is full of himself. Probably the result of staring for long periods of time in front of a very small mirror.

Before I moved to Thailand five years ago , like many, through my internet research I found stickman's site.. Not knowing any better, I took what he had to say as true and relevant.... After moving here and living here I began to disagree with his take on things and honestly could not figure how our opinions could differ so much... Now, I am in the business and have been for four years, giving me first hand knowledge on what really goes on in this town from day to day... It amazes me what a fraud stick has become or perhaps he always has been a fraud... He writes about events he hasn't clue about.. He includes things that are not true and omits things that are.. Now why would he do this??? He exaggerates to the point of being factually incorrect... That is a nice way of saying he lies through his teeth... Many feel he does this to make money... That, is his only agenda and not responsible journalism... If that were the case he would not publish such bullshit each and every week... Someone is paying him pretty good, many suspect..

He does a huge disservice to his readers and those he writes about by bowing to the almighty baht at the expense of truth...

I stopped reading him more than a year ago because he is so off the mark... Now I again read him just to have a good laugh.. What a fraud.....

Oh well, Mr. Stick, you won't be getting any "scratch" from this guy anytime soon.

By the way people, I have also received other mail that I can not release to the public. These other submissions relate to information about Stick trying to extort money from business for favorable reviews. OR we may be seeing people impersonating the Stick and trying extort businesses.

ALSO, I strongly suspect that outsiders are sending email to Stick and changing the return addresses making them look like they come from clubs when in fact they do not!! Stick uses the info and publishes it. I have some indirect evidence that strongly suggests this is very likely.

Either way, it's a negative for the whole "business" of web advertising. Will Stick's road to retirement be "washed out" from under him? Only time will tell.

I have heard from enough readers to determine a trend. When Stick is asked to answer for his actions, he simply doesn't not respond to the email. So, if you ask him to defend his questionable actions and he doesn't respond to defend himself, chances are you caught him "Up to No Good". You should try this for yourself. Let me know how it works out for you.

This week in the readers' question area The Stick was answering the final question about what to pay a bar girl.

What can add to this? Stick is the expert when he wants to be. The wifey would be a little fearful if he was up on the prices (which of course he most certainly is aware of the prices).

He didn't even answer the question very well, and I'm going to answer it later here.

Stickmen published another "mud sling" again Club Boesche. If you have been following my column then you know the background on this already.

Guess what Stick? We can confirm to you exactly what happened because I asked one of the owners, duh.

Stick likes to report rumors. About 6 weeks ago the owner of Club Boesche contacted Stick and asked nicely that Stick contact him for his side of any story, especially unsubstantiated rumors. The owner said that Stick agreed to do this. Evidently Stick lied about his agreement to get a second opinion from the owner before going to print.

Boesche does far more business than Catz and X-Zone combined. That tends to draw more attention from the greedy local authorities. All that occurred was an ID check of our girls and an hour later we were operating again. This was the Banglamung District office, not the police. They are the department that does the licensing. They wanted money and this is how they get it. The corruption in this business is already well reported. There was no "piss test" and no closing except for the hour it took them to work up to asking for money. All bars in Pattaya that achieve a high level of business draw such attention. I would point out that Dollhouse got a much more intense visit from the Bangkok boys only a couple of weeks ago. Happens all the time in Pattaya. This has no effect on our business save the loss of customers for the one evening. If anyone tries to make more out of this they don't know the business in Pattaya. There are no less than fifteen different agencies that try to collect regularly from the go-go bars in Pattaya. When a bar takes off as a raving success such as Club Boesche, it draws a lot of attention for our money hungry public officials. The other two bars in town that equal our level, Happy and Peppermint, have long since gone through the same thing and established their payment levels. Even so, Happy received a similar visit not long ago.

I should have reported that Stickman did not give me the opportunity to comment before he printed. He said he would do so, but he did not in this case. I will be phoning him soon to discuss his comments. While it was based in truth, it had a negative slant that was not deserved. We have actually never been "raided" before. Our bar has never undergone piss testing like many others (Living Dolls Showcase recently). The same office hit one other bar on the same day. They do this as a means of collection. Thai owned bars tend not to see as much of this. Probably because none of them approach our level of business. That is just an assumption on my part. At any rate, this is actually the first time any of the many offices including the police have ever stopped our business for even one minute. Stickman's suggestion that this is a regular event at Boesche is totally false and negative reporting.

I just realized that Stickman contradicted himself in this statement. He printed two weeks ago that X-Zone had a similar "raid" and an underage girl was found. On that occasion they bypassed Boesche with no more than a hello for five minutes. It is true that Catz draws little attention, but it is a very small bar. Not really the sort of thing that interests the authorities. In the end, such articles only draw more attention and more customers to Boesche. If he was trying to damage us he will have to do a much better job in the future.

Arthur Paymer

Arthur, you have successfully "Whacked the Mole" today. Actually, it was 6 weeks ago that Stick did report in this article that X-Zone was "raided" and it was likely only mentioned because they found an off-duty Club Boesche girl drinking who was under the drinking age. In stick's own words they "busted her and the bar".

Club Boesche, Catz, and X-Zone are all inside the same building. Club Boesche is doing a excellent business. Catz is doing fine and X-Zone has business. None of the three are in a bad position, however, Club Boesche is doing far more business then these other two (you can see this by going to these 3 clubs just about any night of the week).

Stickman consistently heaves little dung heaps at Boesche, while applying mostly positive comments about Catz and Zone. Catz even supplies Stickman with his weekly "where's that picture" contest prize.

Stickman clearly gets insider information from either the Catz or the Zone. And Stickman is testing the waters by trying to prove that he has power over readership to influence these businesses.

It's the perfect test. If Stickman can prove that he has the power to influence those business, he can take a piece of the pie.

Talking up Catz and Zone are fine things to do. They are Stick's friends/customers. But, applying misleading negative reports about another business to accomplish your goal is a low down dirty thing to do. (however, come to think of it, it might just fit in well with the mind set of being an English teacher).

And guess what? Stick has thus far been unable to tip the scales for Catz and Zone. I guess customer service is more important than Stick's column. The guys at Boesche have a handle on their business and kick but. But, don't let that stop you from checking out the other places. It's really up to you which one you like best.

We have some major correction to do on the "Ask The. Sticks" section of their weekly column. Their answers were just so completely far off the mark that I'm going to have to jump in there and sets things straight.

Question 1: I live with my girlfriend. It is her house and of course she has family living here, her older bro, his wife and 2 sons - 7 & 13 and her own 5 year old and the 2 of us. I want to get our own place. She said early on in our relationship that she would "follow me anywhere". Now she seems very happy with the status quo (I pay all the bills) and now says she wants to stay here. Should I just move out and rent a place nearer where I want to be and see if she follows? I feel somewhat guilty at wanting to break up the family, but this is not for me. If you recommend I talk it over with her, HOW? If we can't work it out do I just pack and go?

Mrs. Stick says: She is your girlfriend. She is not your wife. If she was your wife then maybe things might be a little different, but you're not married. I know that foreigners do not usually like to live together in a situation like this but for Thai people it is normal. Even if you were married, your wife might still want to live like this. Talk with her and see exactly what she wants. If what you want is two different things, then you may have to re-consider the situation.

Mrs. Stick, bless her heart, is a true Thai and won't venture into anything controversial because like most Thais she is afraid of being wrong. Mrs Stick is also a female and has a female perception. You really can't ask Mrs. Stick about male situations in most cases. She just is not wired for that. Too bad that most questions that come in are from males....

You made a very bad mistake absolving all your pseudo in-laws of having to be responsible for a living. You need to immediately get them back on-line for paying their fair share of the bills. There is no better medicine than this. They want to keep you in the house because they either don't want to work for a living or they want to continue spending all their money for things other than basic living expenses. There is nothing wrong with you having your own place. It's done all the time in other families. Families with money spread out just fine. They shouldn't be having any hissy fits over it. If you're paying the bills then you have some say. Say it! Get yourself an older male to interpret for you, sit them down and explain what it is that you want. Don't be shy. Show some leadership. If you keep coming off like a wimp, you're going to get burned. You can be polite and respectful about the whole issue. You can easily be nearby in the same town in your own place with your girl. I strongly suggest you add in the part about them paying at least half of their own bills -- or more! I strongly believe they are leaning on your girl to "keep you in place". Girls can be in a terrible place when a benefactor is paying the way for the whole family to "ride for free". You have a responsibility to her to remove her from the middle.

My wisdom suggests that a man should never give a girl more for the family than she can make on her own. That way, she always has the freedom to leave the relationship if it's the honest thing to do (primarily this is an unmarried relationship concept). Supplying too much money will kill her spirit and make her feel like a slave and put her in a very bad mentally unhealthy position that she can not walk away from. Want to see a girl go berserk? Put her between a rock and a hard place with money (I'm being facetious here, but I think you get the point). Make the healthy choice for all parties involved. Get them responsible for their own life. You won't regret it. I promise you.

Question 2: My Thai wife and I have been married for almost 5 years and every thing seems to be OK. We have been supporting her mother and father with a small, but adequate monthly payment and built a new home (in my wife’s name) for them to live in. Recently I learned that her brother has been most uncomplimentary about me and has in fact lobbied my wife against me. I assume he is upset that more money is not being sent (what we send is more than 2 times what her father made as a tailor when he was working (he is too old to work now). Now my question is should I upbraid him by reminding him how much we have given to the family, as I would to a man here, or should I react differently?

Mrs. Stick says: This is a very difficult situation because we do not know exactly what the brother is saying, or why he is saying it. Have you done anything which might make him justified in saying what he is saying? Think carefully about that. It would not be a good idea for you to show your feelings to the brother about what he has said. Tell your wife how you feel about it and let her deal with it. She will know the best, most effective way to handle it. If you were to openly criticize the brother or express your feelings about what he has said it will make things even worse.

Again here, Mrs. Stick defers judgment and thinks the "Thai Style" of being quiet will solve the problem. Unfortunately the wife may not be able to solve the problem because in that family she may be in a junior position. Without action, things could get worse for the whole family.... Follow me now, lets this guy patched up....

I will also agree that I have no first hand knowledge about what the brother-in-law is upset about, but it doesn't take an Einstein to have a pretty good idea why. It is very likely that he is getting tied of hearing how great you are from the parents. He may have grown jealous of you over the years. OR, he is upset because he hasn't a sufficient turn to milk the cash cow. Not such a stretch for the imagination is it?

Here is what should happen. Get an older man to help translate for you. Sit down with the brother and say, "I hear you're upset with me and I want to talk to you about it, but first, we need to discuss how we are supporting parents. (make a thumbs up with your right hand and point it to your chest), Me, I have to support my own Father and Mother. I don't ask my wife to contribute because I know this is my sole responsibility. This burden does not fall on your (point to him) family. On behalf of your family, I help out my wife with her share. (Smile) I feel the responsibility of your parents should be equally shared among all the siblings and its now a good time to organize more formally about this should be handled equally. The new house is already done and it will belong to my wife when I am dead and gone, however, there is a matter about monthly bills and support. I'm very happy to include you in these essential responsibilities equally as it should be. (Big Smile) You are a valuable contributor and I wouldn't want you to feel left out in any way in this group family effort. Furthermore, since I am sending money that I earn, I want to see how the money is being spent so we can be sure the needs of your parents are being handled correctly. (then you let him think that over a minute and shift gears and ask him). Now, what is it that you are upset about?"

There you have it. No criticizing required. Don't be afraid to stand your ground. When you are paying, you have a say.

Question 3: I have noticed that many lady-bar are reluctant to talk money when they are making a sex transaction. "I go with you" is all they say, and they don't seem to bother to name a price. Even the following morning, if asked how much, they might again answer "up to you". Is it a real embarrassment or shame to talk about money for such a trade? I have yet to understand this.

Mr. Stick says: I'll answer this one as the Mrs. really doesn't have a clue about this sort of thing. Generally speaking the gogo girls will name you a price if you ask them, as will many freelancers but girls in other places, particularly Pattaya beer bars, will not name a price. It might be that it is a quiet time of year and they don't want to scare you off with a high price, or it might be that they expect that you know what the standard price range is and will pay them accordingly. Remember, the prices in Pattaya beer bars have been constant for a very long time. As a guide - and I admit I am WAY out of date on this, I believe that the rates these days are generally in the range 1,000 - 1,500 / 2,000 - 2,500 for Bangkok gogo girls, and 1,000 / 2,000 for Pattaya gogo girls, the two prices being short time and long time. Pattaya beer bar girls remain on the old 500 / 1,000 pricing structure, as far as I know. Again, let me re-iterate that these prices may be wrong. When a girl says up to you, she expects you to pay within the acceptable range. I remember many years ago a fellow I knew was told "up to you" by a girl and he ended up giving her 90 baht. Yes, you read that right, NINETY baht. What an a-hole.

The Stickman really missed an opportunity to explain the Thai mind set here. He completely ignored the most important part of your question.

Yes, it is an embarrassment. Girls who quote money often time feel like prostitutes. The Thai word they will say is "Ha-keem" which translated is "whore". So they generally don't like to quote numbers. I ask gently sometimes when I need to get their expectations understood (I do this BEFORE I take them). I ask them normally how much do they want and I ask quietly. Sometimes they give me a guideline number. Other times when they defer to my judgment, "Up to you" I move on quickly allowing her to forget as quickly as possible that I had asked the question.

I rarely give more then 2,000 for anything. Although I may pay her more if a girl has partied with several times in a 12 hours period and she stayed with me long time.

I think Stick's number of 500 is too small. I don't think anything decent should be less than 1,000 in any situation if the girl stayed and you were happy with her interaction with you. If something goes wrong, give here a 500 and send her home.

If everything goes right, 1,000 is a good minimum number. Much depends on the girl rather than where she is (Bangkok/Pattaya, etc). Sometimes it depends on where she works. If she is a go-go dancers; her expectations are higher, beer bar; her expectations lower.

Short time is typically 1,000 to 2,000 depending on the girl and her performance.

Long time is normally 1,500 to 2,000 depending on the girl and with an exceptional night and morning 2,500 is ok.

However, let me add, your appearance and age are very big factors. If you are extremely over weight and looking older beyond your middle age prime, the numbers will be higher for you.

Conversely, if the girl is beyond her prime and is in her upper 20's or early 30's the numbers will be a bit lower. Don't go below the 1,000 figure.

Also, girls who would be considered "Super-Stars" may ask for quite a bit more. It's been known that high end girls ask for 3,000 or 4,000 baht. I haven't come across any of these myself. Personally, I tend to be disinterested in these harder-core types.

By the way the part about Stick saying "I don't really have a clue about this sort of thing" is a complete lie. He goes down to Pattaya nearly every weekend and does bar girl investigations all the time. How could he not be up on his craft? Stick must be whoring around if he goes to lengths to disavow any knowledge of what the girls are charging. It's the only thing that makes sense.

No surprises this week. We are holding pretty steady. You are seeing unique visitors for each day. Some are returning readers from previous days. I'll estimate my readership at about 2,000 people per week. This is a respectable number. I can't complain. I thank you for coming to "take a read".

Well people I have really run this column long today. Sorry but we had so much to cover. I didn't even touch Stick's lame ideas on working with Thais. So, let me leave you with a few basic words on that topic before I close up this column.

I work with Thais every day. These are my Thais. I am the boss and I set the tone in the office. I crack the whip when required. I also slow down the pace when the troops need a break. I take my people to lunch once a week. I provide free coke at the office and keep the their tools up to date. I give them all they need to do a great job and guess what -- they do a great job most of the time! Thais are like anyone else in the world. Pay them a decent wage, set before them a challenge with a reward. Giving them a chance grow, keep the playing field even, and they will function very well. We have very few problems and morale is generally pretty good. The workplace is only as good as the management that drives it. But, all of this is logical isn't it? If the Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, and Vietnamese are successful, don't you think that regionally, (despite some quirks in their educational system) that Thais could be equally successful?