The Colonel wrote…
At great personal expense I have been conducting research into variants and embellishments for the Thai Rent Boy Index. Dream Boy has cut their fixed charge for Fri/Sat night entry from 300 baht (and free drink) to 270 baht (and free drink). It is unclear whether this is a 10% “low season” discount. However the boy I “offed” last night, while giving no 10% discount himself, was perfectly happy with 1500 baht so there’s no movement on price inflation there
There is, however, movement on the Marble House Standard Two-Hour (no sex please) Massage Index. This stood at 300 baht for many, many years but moved up 10% around about the time when the new millenium was ushered in. When i first started living in Bangkok (1988) there was Marble House and there was Bodie Care and that was about it. Now you can’t move in Soi Wall Street Inn without some pushy madam trying to tempt you inside, and the footpaths of both Silom and Suriwong abound with price lists and (somewaht desultory) touts. I expect therefore that the MHSTHMI has been somewhat limited in upwards movement by increased competition
Yesterday however I noticed a new price list at Marble House reception. 400 baht, or a smidgin over 21% - but the first rise in roughly 5 years, and only a 33% increase over the 1988 price (if my memory is correct - and it may not be). Oh, and the Index will have to be re-named. Marble House is now “Tsukuba Kenkou Center” and does seem to have more Japanese customers. (My regular masseur told me “Japanese no good” but that cannot have been a racist comment since, as we know, racism is a vice solely of white middle-aged men). And if you’re after a good massage (no sex please) #21 s my recommendation. Mr Jed. The Index is henceforth known as the TKCSTHMI - a bit of a mouthful (somewhat like last night’s boy) - but there you are
Silom Farang wrote…
Thank you for your selfless sacrifice in the interest of collecting good economic data. A mere 33% increase since 1988 is impressive. I hope there is no hidden inflation in this case, ie the quality of the product going down? This is what happens when they give you more water in the drink instead of putting up the price.
I am aware of the problems of comparing the quality of 1988 with that in 2006 since the massage boys from 18 years ago no longer work there. Or so I would hope - if they do I would consider it stealth inflation.
April 9th, 2006 at 10:49 am
The price of Rent boys tends to stick in the mind more than the price of a massage, so if someone told me that it was 250 or even 200 baht in 1988 I wouldn’t be surprised. I notice you didn’t correct my keyboard errors
April 9th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
Another good argument for saving your receipts. One day science will thank you.