For the purpose of this board I will divide the holidays into two important categories. those that close the bars and those that do not.

Bars closed.

Magha Puja day -- full moon day in February ( Feb 23 this year). Bars not always closed, seems variable- a " minor holiday"

Vesak or Buddha's birthday -- full moon day in May (May 22 this year). The most holy day for Buddhists all bars closed.

Asalha Puja Day -- full moon day in July ( July 21 this year). All bars closed. The next day is Buddhist Lent - many bars closed as well not all.

Queen's Birthday or Mother's Day -- August 12. All bars closed.

King's Birthday or Father's Day -- December 5 All bars closed.

Other Major Holiday's -- bars open

Songkran Thai New Year April 13 -- Celebrated for 3-4 days. Expect to be soaked in BKK from April 12 thru 15. In Pattaya April 13 thru 17 or so- much looser dates in Pattaya. Avoid if possible- Many girls home on holiday, weather terribly hot, and you'll be soaked and loaded up with talc paste for days. If you go bring some old shoes and old clothes that you do not care about throwing away.


Loy Krathong Full moon day in November ( Nov 16 this year) A much more civilized holiday. Whatever floats your boat . :-) Business as usual in bars .


I think I got the big ones - especially the ones that close the bars. Things like elections close the bars as well but I do not know the schedule for those. I hate US politics not about to get into Thai politics.

Hi Khun Mor, IMO this is an excellent round-up of the main Thai holidays. These holidays are important to know because even Pattaya is affected. However, it is easy to get alcoholic drinks in establishments that have an F&B license, even if the bars are forced to close. I think it defeats the object and it's just making the bars suffer, but "This Is Thailand" TIT! Also please note on certain special holidays the barfines rise considerably, so mongers should be aware of this too. Songkran (Thai New Year) and Loy Kratong are two examples when the barfines can be as much as double. It's not to rip guys off but actually to ensure that BG's turn up for work. (The BG's are actually cut this amount from their salaries if they don't show up, same as New Years Eve). It is also to ensure that all the bars have enough BG's on deck. NB. If all the BG's go off on holiday nobody has a business and there will be very few available BG's for mongers. Thanks KM and look forward to seeing you and the guys in October.

DTR, then why don't the bars impose this policy: double the bar fine if the girl doesn't show up for work on those days, but customers still pay the regular bar fine? Since I've never encountered a bar that did that, I tend to believe the policy is in place to pad the bottom line. The same goes for the ridiculous notion of doubling the bar fine on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which are distinctly non-Thai holidays. New Year's Eve I can understand, as it's the global party night.

Hi Murasaki, the point of having the high BF is to get as many BG's into work and keep them there, in order to keep the customers. You see if the BF is regular price and you get all your best BG's bought out early, how can you keep the big crowds of guys until late? However, the BF is dropped to the normal price later on in the evening by certain bars. Perhaps you were not aware of this but if you wait you can get your BF at the regular price later on. On New Years Eve the bar next to the one I was running dropped the BF way too early and they were forced to close early. In my bar we kept going until after 6.30am on New Years Day and we made a heap of cash. Hope to finally meet you sometime Murasaki, when are you here in LOS next?

DTR - so the doubled barfine really has nothing to do with what the girls get charged if they don't show - it's to keep some eye candy in the place to keep it open (thus keeping the drink money flowing), as all the guys are in a holiday mood and are more likely to bar fine early?

Basically I'm not saying I even agree with super high BF, but I just wanted to explain to the guys why bars do this. New Years Eve is the biggest night of the year (potentially over 10 hours trading), and you're right "No Honey No Money!" Without the stage full of go-go dancers/Showgirls you have nothing. BTW the double BF does have a lot to do with the BG's, they are cut a lot for not showing up. Some bars cut the BG's 2,000 baht and over!

DTR, I know you don't set these types of TIT-policies, but I still don't see the logic of this policy outside of New Year's Eve (I can readily understand that night). For example, take a standard Thai holiday, maybe Loy Krathong. It's a meaningless event to the visiting farang in the bars, so there won't be more customers in the bars that night than any of the nights before or after it. I can see a bar doubling the BG's no show fine in order to ensure enough girls show up for work that night, but there is absolutely no rationale for doubling the fine a farang would pay, given the relative sameness in client numbers from night to night.

In other words, from a client perspective, there would be no difference between the nights before and after the holiday, when the BF was normal, and the night of the holiday itself, when the fine is doubled. This leads me to conclude that the bars do simply use it as an excuse to pad the bottom line. Maybe call it New Year's Eve syndrome; they can get away with it that night, so they extend it to more holidays, even though the same justification doesn't exist.

On the other tangent, I expect to be paying your bar a visit sometime before the end of this year and finally put the face to the name!

Hi Murasaki, well to answer your queries "Loy Kratong" is a romantic festival for lovers. It's a sort of cross between Valentines & New Year, because you float away your bad luck and wish for good luck along with your lover. So, to prevent every BG going off with their Thai or Farang boyfriends initially the BF is high, but we drop it as soon as we have our BG's on stage. Songkran (Thai New Year) is taken seriously by the Thais and many would shoot off home with their boyfriends, again both Thai and Farang. However, I have to agree with you that certain bar owners are just plain greedy.

Dave the Rave,

Will for sure be in town for Loy kratong. My business will also be set up as well. Looks like all is a go. Look forward to seeing you as new manger @ AW. Hope all is going well for you and A.

Cheers,

Jokerman

Dave_the_rave says, "Thanks KM and look forward to seeing you and the guys in October." KM, which dates will you be there? I see nothing on the calender. I'll be in LOS 10/15-10/30. Hope we can hook up!

Senator

I stopped posting my dates on the calander for various reasons. My trip overlaps yours. I'm sure we will spend major time together terrorizing Dave's employees among others. DM and WickedWilly should be around to join us. I'm sure others will turn up as well.
I lost my damn Thai SIM card in AC this last trip so I have to get a new cell #. Had over 2,000 baht load GD it !!
I'll inbox you as soon as I have a new one. I'll arrive the day before you do and leave two days after.

AWSOME! See you there!