Rhacsyn

As per locals and a few current tenants, it seems that's true! It will open again as a bar complex but.........with bigger bars! Three rows instead of four. Now that should work ☺️. Nevertheless, all said and done, it may smarten the inside area a bit. Will that attract more customers? Doubtfull for me but let's see.

Happy to see your continued efforts Xylophone to keep us updated and enlighten us on activities around Patong. In a previous post above, you mention the overload of bars in OTOP as well as the massage shops around Patong. I could add pharmacies and "weed" outlets to that list too. Focusing purely on Bangla, it is sad to see old bars such as Parrot bar being routinely replaced with pharmacies and "weed" outlets. At the bottom end of Bangla, as one example, there are now five fully fledged cannabis outlets in the first 50m, all of which have replaced "traditional" Bangla drinking outlets. The latest to appear is close to Kangaroo bar, and nearly the same size as the current Kangaroo bar! I am not against cannabis, especially when it comes to medical use, but to see so many, especially on Bangla road, saddens me.

Concurring with a few posts above, I like to take a walk in the shadow of the trees up and down Patong beach a few days a week and the number of visitors has most certainly diminished. If I use the walk from the centre of beach road down towards Kalim beach as a "dipstick" then a month or so ago this was hindered most of the way down by throngs of people, five or six deep. Many were snacking at the thirty or so street vendor outlets that appeared there during the encouraging, high season "surge". This all changed almost over night and now there is just a small scattering of people and only four or five vendors left. Sad for them but on a selfish note, makes my walk nicer! This is, as expected, confirmed by the remaining smaller scattering of people on the beach. At one time, just over a month ago, there were queues forming for the beach chairs, something I have never witnessed before. Oh how times have changed. The same applies to the scattering of no.1 to no.6 restaurants around, that understandably had long queues outside from early morning. The queues have gone. Lets see what happens over Songkran.....

I agree with your observations. However, closing strictly at 1am has hurt business there. Big crowds empty the bars and gather on the beach or the few places that manage to stay open at 1am. In a strange move, they even banned the street bar pole dancers for a short time, although they were finally allowed to operate again last night. This would not affect all businesses, but closing at 1am has hurt many.

The full article, if read, clearly states that the youngest girl was 15 years old

Arriving en masse they surely are. Karon, from being quite desolate is now pretty crowded at evening times, Mainly Russian from what I can tell. Back to Patong and I was also around Bangla on the evening of the Brazil v Croatia match. Ate at a beach restaurant and witnessed some well presented, polite Russians eating and drinking a plenty. I had always, in the past, generalised (wrong to generaluse I know but it is what I saw) that they could be somewhat arrogant, and "bulldog bullyish". The latest influx do seem to be of a different ilk. I sat at Blue Lotus for a while and witnessed a small group of Russians there apparently spending freely again. On checking with the staff, they had bought 48 staff drinks (!), but done in a fun way from what I saw. Good for business it seems and, of course, good for the staff. Finalky, as you state, I would also expect to see some Chinese tourists next year.

A bit late in the day for me to post but I will put my pennies worth in anyway. Yes, you are right and it is not a great option, but as an interim road at the time probably seemed a good idea. I have been over it (carefully!) and found it difficult and tricky to rejoin the original road at the junction near the elephant house where it finishes. Had I had a say, I would have suggest3ed allowing traffic (as a short term emergency option) to run the other way along this road. Coming from Patong you would turn left at the top near the elephant house and rejoin the original road near the police box in Kathu, where it starts now. Coming up the hill from Kathu I would have made it one way and have two lanes running from Kathu to Patong. Just an after thought..... Regardless, I am sure that most using this road know that it is a little slower than normal but now ok to travel the original road in both directions. It added 6 or 7 minutes to my journey from Kathu to Patong around 5pm yesterday and a damn sight quicker then either of the Karon or Kamala options. Finall, I have been aware that they are making good progress in "shoring up" and repairing the slip fall road and get to read last night that they plan to open it fully on 25th December 2022 :). https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/christmas-present-to-phuket-motorists-patong-hill-road-to-reopen

TRUE have coughed up some money so I am guessing they will show it

Thanks as always for your informative updates!!! Having ventured around after a few weeks away, 200 Baht seems to have become the "norm" for ladies drinks. As for the massage businesses, I counted 30 massage parlours in or close to Bangla, most with numerous staff idling outside. Sadly, I cannot see any future for a large number of them. In addition, quite a few tattoo parlours have appeared in place of some good old bars too as well as a couple of trinket selling shops on Bangla. Sad. Well sad for me anyway Nevertheless, I will venture there again today, following your eating and drinking route as a guide ????

Always good to hear of survival stories and can confirm P"One" bar is still operating as I write. The mother and son "owners" are good friends, and as like many have been through the trials and tribulations but have chosen to keep the business going. I hope they survive to the first true high season for a few years as again, like many, they deserve it. I know that 3 of the original staff have been re-emplyed there as I wave to them each time I pass, and occasionally stop by to give a little support. Sorry, names are beyond me as many are so similar! No disrespect meant to the staff but I will revert with a few names as requested by Steve above. What I can report though, is that thankfully it still operates as one of the hassle free, family style bars on Bangla. Decent prices and good welcome.....

A very valid post. Already used for engines in big ships. Anotherr option in LNG carrying ships is to use the natural boil off gas to run the engines. Can all be Googled. Further, there may be a possibility to run engines on "green" ammonia as per the link below: https://www.man-es.com/discover/two-stroke-ammonia-engine

Was out on Bangla last Monday night and started at Blue Beach restaurant. Pleasantly surprised to get to listen to Moody doing some fabulous acoustic versions of a number of well known old songs ranging from Louis Armstrong to Gary moore, Clapton, Animals and even Osis! This was coupled with a dash of a few newer songs and he even played a couple of Thai! He entertained for nearly 3 hours and I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it. I was mesmerised at times (having had a few beers I should add) as he put his own touch to a number of my favourite "oldies". His gentle, but throaty voice hasn't changed and, as I remember him, a great guitarist. He even did a rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" a song a popular poster on here (Xylophone) also does a great, but different version of! Moody clearly enjoys entertaining and he left at 9pm for a night session at Hippie Road bar (just down from Bangla next to the entrance to Patong Beach Resort). There he played his more traditional blues and rock with his band. On the way there, it was great to see decent numbers of folk enjoying on Bangla and I popped in to Red Hot, only to be slightly disappointed with the change of repertoire, as mentioned by a previous poster. However, Moody did not let me down at Hippie Road. For those who don't know or don't remember Moody, he was the guitarist in a band that played blues and rock many years ago in Tum's bar on soi Sea Dragon, off Bangla. He disappeared during Covid, but I am happy to have caught up with him again now that he is back on the circuit. Originally from Myanmar, plays his music with a smile on his face and a great old/new addition to the circuit in and around Patong.

Good luck to him too. Sadly Phuket governor(s) were forced to reverse the decision to go virtually mask free outdoors yesterday, after just one day. Oh dear ????

Confusion prevails for Thailand but there does seem to be a little forward momentum starting with the cancelling of the mask wearing mandate outdoors for Phuket from 1st June. Sorry if there is another thread running but i could not find one: https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/phuket-drops-outdoor-mask-mandate

I have just completed my 6th entry pass into Thailand during Covid times. Please to report that i registered my submission for Thailand pass at 09:05 and received the QR code and pass 27 minutes later. I had to upload 3 documents, albeit my Covid vaccination certificate 3 times. I guess from reading the full thread that it is not this straight forward for all, and yes, it would be great if they did away with it altogether. However, it was not so difficult for me

Last Saturday was 30th April??? The thread is about arrivals starting from 1st May. Agree that Phuket in general has been pretty quiet with the exception of the couple of areas that are residential for expats and, as expected, Patong. Bangla road, for example, is pretty full, along with the bars, most late evenings, but yes, that is only a tiny part of Phuket. Out of the 21,000 arrivals on 1st May, I can confirm that just under 4,500 arrived in Phuket, and from what I am told by my colleagues, many "tourists". Phuket had similar numbers arriving towards the end of December last year, up until they started tinkering with the Test & Go. Obviously best to do away with it completely. i don't believe the tourists are "hidden". It is just that the numbers arriving are still realatively small when compared to better days and years. Nevertheless, for me it is an improvement in arrival numbers and hopefully it will continues beyond the first few days.

May be close to the truth. Based on the gossip i hear, I do not believe it will close for the full 15 days ????????????

Just to put a few things straight in regards to the original report. Bank, the accused, is known to a lot of us who frequent Bangla. He is a street "boy" and stands with a small group every day, half way down Bangla, outside the alleyway next to the BB gun station. He does not promote restaurants (may be sells flip flops and hand bags ????) and all the "action" was caught, and witnessed by the police on CCTV cameras.

Small world. Met a fellow TVF poster at Blue Beach and it was pleasing to note that they appear to have adopted a number of suggestions posted on this thread. Signs on beach road and lit signs throughout as well as on the beach. Extensive menu and extended happy hour from 4pm to 7pm. Flyers given out in form of menu to the beach vendors etc. All posted on here and together seem to be having a positive effect. So may be an old thread but........

A small move in the right direction getting rid of day 5 PCR test and reducing insurance requirement for incoming travellers from 1st March Possibly an acceptance that many incoming people who tested negative on arrival, but positive on day 5, caught Covid in Thailand, especially with current numbers. https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/thailand-test-go-update-no-more-day-5-pre-paid-hotel-or-pcr-test

I read with interest the few cynical posts today but in reality is it not time anyway, as things stand with Omicron today, to change from reporting daily case case numbers to focusing on hospital utilisation, and serious cases? I have read this suggestion many times on this forum recently. As an example of how things have changed, Singapore reports that 99.7% of current positive cases either have no or mild symptoms. UK, Denmark, UAE amongst others have opened up. In addition, Sweden has taken the decision to stop testing and that it is time to stop wasting money and resources on testing, even on people with symptoms. Time, they suggest, to simply move on, and focus on looking after the vulnerable and sick as would have been the case for illnesses in pre covid times...........it was not possible to stop or stem the flow of the Omicron variant, but thankfully it does appear to have been a little kinder to us than some of its predecessors. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus/covid-19-sweden-ends-testing-as-pandemic-restrictions-lifted

Not wishing to cast aspersions, but here is another story, along the same lines, from the governor of Phuket (published a few days back) https://thethaiger.com/news/national/most-phuket-tourists-infected-with-covid-travelled-from-russia-and-kazakhstan

Below may explain part of it. From the Thaiger yesterday morning. It's running in another thread: https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/cv19-thailand/cv19-phuket/phuket-officials-alarmed-by-number-of-tourists-testing-positive-on-arrival

Reported in Thaiger this morning: https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/cv19-thailand/cv19-phuket/phuket-officials-alarmed-by-number-of-tourists-testing-positive-on-arrival

Agree with your comments but to be factual (I can only consider Phuket) numbers never really fell after the first Test & Go was cancelled. Majority of tourists simply opted for the Sandbox route instead and have kept coming in in similar numbers and I am guessing will continue to do so now. As big a risk as it is, the 30 or 40 I get to speak to every day state they were ok to take the risk and were simply desperate to travel, having been in virtual lockdown anyway for 18 months or so. Each to his own.....