hellyes2oo2

For those in Buriram, the Buriram Pie Man , has a fabulous range of English foods. Beef pies, Chicken pies, Curries , Sausages, Pork pies, Bacon, Fruit pies and crumbles, Cheese,etc.etc.

Not sure what this has to do with the FC but thanks for sharing anyways! Now I'm hungry!

I think afarang was just trying to point out that there are alternatives with regard to places to purchase "farang supplies".

ok so now here is my opinion of what is going on.Today i met with brian, and although he was in considrable pain from having a tooth extracted we managed to talk for a while.I also saw sunni, and it was for the first time, and to be honest i did not know what to make of her.Although she knew i had come to the FC to offer advice and help, and there were no other customers in the bar except my table it was almost an hour and a quarter before she came out to say hello.brian spent a lot of time listening to and generally agreeing with what i said, i really hoped that sunni would have more input.Just something i want to point out to all those doubters, brian has no ulteriour financial, romantic, or sexual agenda here, despite what others may think.So i have offered my experience to sunni, i have said that i will go and work with her for a couple of days, ( more if neccesary) All she has to do is ask.I am not a person on a mission, i know i am good at what i do, but it is up to sunni to either accept or decline my offer, it matters not a lot to me.I really think that the FC can come good again, but sunni has to be prepared to work very hard now, and put in long hours initially, to ensure that the place gets off the ground again.She has made a start by re-employing one of her former staff, people who frequent the bar will know who i mean.I know from experience that the FC can be good again, but sunni has to stop hanging on the the reputation, and memory of Martin, i don't want to sound disrespectful but he has gone, and they have to move on. the place needs to be spruced up, with a lick of paint, they now have decent staff, who with a bit of training can become really good staff, and i believe they now have three good cooks.I always make up my mind on people after i have met and spoken to them, and for me Brian seems to be a genuine person who really wants to help sunni turn things around, and i commend him for that.I understand that work has commenced on trimming down the menu from about 20 million items to probaly 30, so thats good.and there are arrangements to train the staff, so things are looking positive for the FC. So lets hope everybody gets together and makes it work, ( by the way i hear they have big plans for a relaunch party, sorry wasn't supposed to mention that ha ha.

As the starter of the original post(Farang Connection whats gone wrong) I am amazed at the responses of some people. Especially the vitriolic attack on "brimacthai" from "zzaa09" Is it inconcievable that someone may want to help a friend without there being a hidden agenda."zzaa09" has stated that no one should get involved with this man, but he has not given any reason why. If it cannot be posted here then i ask him to please feel free to pm me and let me know why.I have had contact with "brimacthai" via e-mails and he seems to me to be a genuine guy. I have offered my help, having over 20 years experience in running bars, and he has been very appreciative , and i hope to meet him in the next few days.So "brimacthai" don't drag yourself down to the level of this moron,ignore his stupid comments and do what you feel is right for you.By the way I have not seen anyone come on here to tell me what a good guy "zzaa09" is.

ok i was the op on this thread, and only wanted to state my point of view about what has gone wrong.I do not have a personal problem with the lady that owns the bar, because i have never met her.I have been there only a couple of times before, i met martin, and although he came across as a bit grumpy, he was a likeable guy.(rip martin)I was only pointing out that if you put out a menu, then please have the items available. someone said that if the trade has gone down, then maybe they could not carry all the items, thats fine, but then revise your menu to what you do carry.I then recieved some mild abuse from one of "the afternoon regulars" so i felt obliged to reply in kind,once again i don't know any of these guys, so i don't have a problem with them, so if i offended anyone then i apologise.It has also been said that if the owner is struggling to meet the needs of her farang customers ( who i think make up probably 99.9% of customers) then maybe she should get some advice from a farang who has run bars.I have run bars in the uk for almost 30 years, and i would be happy to give the lady any help and advice, i would willingly give up my time for free, because it would be sad to see what was once surin's most popular farang bar go to the ground.Once again if i offended any regulars i apologise to you all, and if anyone wants to pass my offer on to the lady owner please feel free to do so. Just a last thought in my opinion what would make the best farang bar in surin would be "norby's" that place has such potential, if it was cleaned up, get rid of all that stock and those awful plants, it could be fantastic, but last time i asked he wanted a stupid amount of money for a bar that was so quiet, just a thought.

So Mr Bronco, you think that anyone who thinks that the farang connection isn't great, has no right to voice an opinion.Well i think that you are wrong, so does that make me a moaner.Telling people that if you don't like something then go somewhere else is the usual easy option to solve the problem.When we were there on the saturday, there were about 6 other farangs sat around a table talking. So i can probably assume that you were one of these.So let me fill you in here, when we entered we ordered 2 large leo's, after about 10 minutes we asked for the menu,we spent maybe 10 minutes looking through it, before we asked for our food.As i have stated it took a few minutes before the waitress came back to tell us that the food we ordered was not available, we then spent a few more minutes before we ordered our second choice, at which point we also ordered 2 more large leo's.So 5 minutes later we were informed that our second choice wasn't available. We then took the menu again, looked through it, made a third choice, ordered 2 more leo's and waited for our food. About 5 minutes later we were informed that it wasn't available, at which point we decided to drink up, pay our bill and leave.So in the space of maybe 35-40 minutes we ordered 3 different meals none of which were available, and we drank 6 large bottles of leo.Now comes the good part, during the time we were there, the 6 farangs at the table never ordered 1 beer between them. So i figure if you guys sit there all afternoon having a nice chat and putting the world to rights, then you must drink at least a whole 12 bottles between you in 4/5 hours.So look at this from a different point of view,if the owners don't improve the service and food, they will close down, because what you lot spend won't keep them in business will it. Then when they have closed where will all you cheap charlies go for your nice chats, so maybe i should get a life, go to a bar for a long chat, then in a couple of years curl up and die, do me a favour. As long as i am paying for what i want, if i don't get it i have the right to complain. I understand that i am in a foreign country, i have been here for 8 years, living just outside of surin, but if a bar puts out a menu, with say 50 items on it, then they should make sure that they have enough stock to satisfy orders, i could forgive maybe running out of a couple of things but the farang connection is now bordering on the ridiculous.So Mr Bronco before you make stupid statements, think about what you are saying, but if that is to hard to do, then please don't say anything.

someone on here mentioned that there is a western style butchers shop in surin, could anyone please tell me where it is

I was in Surin on saturday with a friend, and at lunchtime we called into the Farang Connection to get some food. The waitress gave us the menu, and we both decided to have the roast beef dinner, so off she went, only to return a few minutes later to tell us they had no roast beef. So we went through the menu again, and to keep things simple we ordered fish, chips and mushy peas twice, off she went again,she came out of the kitchen, sat down at a table and we waited for our meal, a few minutes later she went back into the kitchen, then came to inform us that they had not got fish.So we gave it one more try, ordered the cheese and potatoe pie twice.And guess what....after a few minutes she informed us that they did not have any. So three meals ordered, nothing in stock, and when we said we would just finish our drinks and not bother eating we got a glaring look from the waitress as if to say i don't care. It is amazing how far this place has gone down, since martin passed, he must be turning in his grave.

bob owned the whole thing, and darcy was his friend and manager for many years.but at songkran this year they had a bust up, caused by bobs son.since darcy left the place has never been the same, and bob must now be sick as a parrot at his decision to let darcy go, all because of his son.i had many a good night down there and always stayed there whenever i visited pattaya, but i have not stayed there since darcy left.darcy was well liked by almost everyone, he is now working for another aussie guy, up near soi bukhaow and is doing really well.i was told a few weeks ago that they were thinking of changing the name from shagwell to the wombat hotel, but dont know if they did.one other thing as for all the customers being at lovejoys,i think not, look just how well lovejoy 2 id doing, empty rom opening to closing.Getting back to the shagwell i think bob needs to find someone with a whole lot of new ideas to get the bar back to what it was,someone with a lot of experience at running bars.

Hi Dave I appreciate what you are saying about there not being enough farangs around at the moment, but remember this was just 3 friends putting forward ideas on how he could improve his bar.The other thing is,we went in the farang connection when we were there just for a quick cuppa, and to be honest the place although clean really is lacking something, it is definately more a restaurant than a bar, and devoid of any atmosphere. We found the sportsman bar across the road a much more user friendly place, and we also noticed that they have extended into next door, so there must be some scope around there.As I am not a surin resident i can't really argue the point about how many farangs are around, but I still feel that Norbis has great potential, and as i recall the rent was not very high, so i hope he either has a go,or for his own sake before it eats up all his money he finds a buyer.

Hi guys apologies for my posting appearing twice something to do with the moderators not being sure if my message was promoting a business,anyway although my posts are worded slightly differently the message is the same

Last weekend on our usual fortnightly visit to Surin for a night out Myself and a couple of friends were looking forward to going to the "New Look" Norbi's bar.We ventured out at 7-30pm, ate good food at the Starbeam, had a drink in a couple of local thai bars, then at about 9-45-10pm we headed for Norbi's. Imagine our dissapointment when we found it closed, where was the live music he advertised on this forum.It seems obvious that Norbi is not suited to running bars( although I am told that he ran a great restaurant in Buri Ram).No disrespect to Norbi but running a bar takes an awful lot of commitment, and you have to be there as many hours as is physically possible.I have said on this forum before that his bar is in a great position, but only if he was prepared to open the same hours as all the surrounding thai bars.Later that evening my friends and myself were discussing what Norbi could do, and we came to the conclusion that he has 2 options.Firstly he can continue as he is at present, struggle on, and eventually probably close down.His second option, and the one we felt would be his best one, was to go the whole hog(shit or bust) extend his opening hours,put on a full farang menu, and really go for the entertainment option, regular live music,a good choice of music cd's when no live music, and also some nice ladies in the evening, and these ladies don't have to be your usual bar girls, just pleasant ladies to speak to the customers(obviously if the customer wants more that is up to the ladies).But most importantly he needs to employ an experienced bar manager to run the place for him.Someone who will communicate with his customers and listen to what they want then do his best to provide it.Norbi may say that he can't afford to pay a manager, but in all honesty can he afford not to.I have run bars in England for 30 years, so I think that I know what I am talking about,and as I have said I mean no disrespect to Norbi, but it takes a special breed of people to run bars, it is a job you either love or hate, there is no in between in this game.In fact it is not a job it is a way of life.Just a couple of last points, firstly get rid of all those plants outside and open up the terrace, and secondly find somewhere else to put all that stock that is cluttering up the bar and making it look very untidy, oh and get a big screen tv for sport.I would love to speak to norbi and offer him some advice, so if anyone reading this knows him, then please feel free to tell him to pm me.Once again no disrespect to norbi, because anyone who opens a service industry business deserves all the successs they get.

The ageing of meat really needs to be done before the meat is boned out.Once the animal has been slaughtered it needs to be hung on the bone for around about 21 days. Although after that amount of time when you look at the beef you may be put off because it may have turned black on the outside, and maybe even feel a little sticky, please don't worry all you need to do is bone the meat out remove a small thin first slice, and then you will have prime aged beef that will give you the utmost pleasure when you eat it, as long as it is not thai beef ha ha.

Hey Kopite, if you read my post I tell you that I have run bars for almost 30 years back in england.I did not mention in my post that "Shennanigans" in Jomtien was losing money.I have only ever been in the place twice, and what I will tell you is that on both occasions,once at peak lunchtime on a thursday, and once on a Saturday evening around 8pm, both times the place was very quiet( not even a dozen customers), and totally lacking in atmosphere of any kind, so I would have to reserve judgement on if the place is making money.But maybe you know better(maybe you are the manager, if you are please come clean and say so).I hear from friends that the General Manager of Shennanigans is from Australia, as is the Manager of the Jomtien branch, so maybe this is a case of jobs for the boys, and not the best man for the job.I will stand by my statement that the reason so many bars(and maybe other business's ) fail is because the owners come to Pattaya thinking everything is easy, don't put in the hours or the effort needed to make it work, and ultimately fail.

I think people seem to be going off topic here a little. The OP asked why are so many bars closing down.For me the answer is obvious, a lot of ex-pats come to Pattaya, see a bar and think I can do that it's easy,WRONG.They think buy a bar put in a few good looking girls and watch the cash roll in.I reckon that about 90+% of ex-pat bar owners have never run a bar in their lives before they came here.I ran bars in england for almost 30 years, and believe me it is a 24 hour a day job, in fact it is not a job it's a way of life, and you can either love it or hate it, there is no in between in this game.You have to be there as many hours as is physically possible to make sure that you have contact with your customers, and listen to what they want, and then do your best to provide it for them. And then you have to make sure your staff are well trained in what they are doing, the old saying"it's easy to lose customers, but as hard as hel_l to get them back" comes to mind.Customer service is as important as serving good food and good beer.And finally it is up to you as the boss to create the atmosphere in your bar.When you get all these things right, then you are on your way to having a successful bar, and believe me even though you may experience a dip in trade during tough times, you will have the capacity to survive, whereas the other bars where the owner doesn't want to put in the hours, or be bothered getting someone with experience to run it for them will fall by the wayside.

hi guys forgive me for sounding a bit thick here,maybe it's the time of day or the effects of last nights leo.I have my usual one year non"O" visa that i got in england, now for my 90 day extension i usually head for Chong chom, as it is the closest place for me.What i would like to know is, can i do my extension at this new office in Sisaket, or do i still have to leave the country.Again my apologies for being thick.

The Tong Tharin hotel isn't to bad not luxury, but the rooms are clean, air conditioned, and the price is 740 baht a night including a thai breakfast.Plenty of half decent places to eat, if you prefer western food try the starbeam american bar, or the farang connection (not sure how good it is since the boss passed away), and as for nightlife you could be pleasantly surprised, lots of good thai bars, and a few half and half karaoke and go go bars, and then there is the speed disco if that is what you are looking for. I go to surin every couple of weeks for a night out and always enjoy myself.

I called UBC today to ask about world cup coverage.I was told it would only be shown on 1 channel, and that would only be if you had HD. I informed UBC that I and many other thousands of people were not HD compatible.I pay over 24,000 baht per year as a platinum subscriber, but I was told if you want to see the matches you have to pay 4,000 baht for new equipment.I aked the telephone operator if UBC had any regards for their customers, he said if you don't want to pay the 4,000 baht, then no problem watch it on thai tv, but there is no english commentary.I informed him that UBC lost a lot of customers when they removed BBC Prime and replaced it with AXN Beyond, and that they will lose many more now, he replied "Not a problem, if you want to cancel please do so, not a problem for me"Well this is great customer relations strategy. Carry on UBC soon you will be out of business, and I for one will be overjoyed.

Ageism is rife here in Thailand. I have run bars for almost 30 years, but whenever I apply for a post in Thailand everything goes well until they ask me my age (i'm 56 years old).Employers here think that only young people can run bars, but hey wake up even older people can do it. I have 3 regional "Bar of the Year" awards, and I would back my marketing skills against any of todays youngsters.I have experience in dealing with people of all ages,and people of all nationalities. Why do employers think that only young people have ideas on how to run bars.And the other thing that I offer to employers is, Stability,reliability, and continuity.At my age I am not motivated by money,I do not consider what I do as work, it is for me a way of life.So if you want an experienced manager just PM me. Sorry for rambling on, but I get so upset when people think that old, is past it.

I would like some feedback from all you farangs out there.I have a friend who rears pigs here in the north east of thailand.He can sell all he produces to thais, at different stages of production. But we are wondering if we offered pork that was butchered in the traditional western style, ie, chops on the bone,boneless joints of leg and shoulder, and belly pork boned and rolled with various types of stuffing. We are also thinking that we will produce home cooked roast hams, home cured bacon, and that we can also render down the pork fat into lard so that we can produce "Melton Mobray" style pork pies, with proper lard in the pastry.And of course we want to produce many different varieties of sausages. But all this depends on if there is enough demand for these products. We realise that you can go to your local markets and buy pork that is sold by the thai people, but is a pork chop without the bone anywhere near as tasty as one that is on the bone, I don't think so.We would offer a delivery service throughout thailand, everything would be packed in ice boxes, and cooked ham and bacons would be vacuum packed. So please any thoughts on our idea would be welcomed.

Hi Mate,

Ageism isn't just restricted to teaching jobs. I have run bars in england for almost 30 years, and I would pit my wits for new promotional ideas against any of these so called whizz kids of today.I have 3 regional "Bar of the year" awards, but can I get a job in Thailand, not a hope.Employers think that only young guys can think up new promotions, and they also think that older guys have health problems. That is all BS.I am as fit and well as any younger guy.But employers don't seem to want to take a chance,well that is their loss. Another thing that they don't think about is the fact that at my age I am not motivated by enormous salaries, but what I bring to the job, is a wealth of experience, stability, and reliability, which is not a thing that a 30-35 year old guy will give them, because the minute a better money offer comes along he will be off.Anyway sorry for rambling on, and I wish you the best of luck in your search for a job.

to dave and mizzi39 thanks for your input and your pm's I managed to speak to norbi last night and i am thinking over an offer to him. As to the other posters who think i may be an old fart cos i like 60's music don't fret cos i like some of todays music too.but i have run bars for 30 years in england and guess what................ 60's music was always the most popular.But that doesn't mean the beatles and the stones, my busiest nights in my pub were when i had a group called "PIGS ON THE WING" as you can guess from their name they were a Pink Floydd tribute band, and they always played to packed audiences.But like I say I also like some of todays music.The thing about being a good landlord is that you listen to what your customers want, and then respond to their wishes. What I would like to create is a bar that people can come to, and tell me what they want and I will give it to them, every successful bar is based on giving the customers what they want.So hopefully I can do a deal and get the place up and running.My only fear is this, I go to Surin every couple of weeks for a night out, usually friday or saturday, but I don't see many farangs out and about, is this cos there is nowhere good to go, or is it because there are not many farangs in Surin, would appreciate some local knowledge on this point cheers guys.

Have tried ringing this number but call was rejected, if the price is right I would be very interested, because this is a large bar and surin now badly needs a good farang pub with the sad decline of the FC. I think putting on a couple of draught lagers as well as maybe john smiths bitter, introducing some good music ( say the 60's ) and showing a lot of sport and this could be a good place to enjoy a few beers. Will try number again soon and keep my fingers crossed.

Thaigerd it would be great to get some decent meat here in isaan.when i want something i have to travel to pattaya ( 6 hours each way).but if you are thinking of opening a shop somewhere like bkk or anywhere else closer to isaan then i would be only to willing to work for you, i have 40 years experience as a butcher so i know good meat when i see it. so please if you want a good butcher pm me. cheers.

Hi a couple of questions here, firstly are there any farang bars in sisaket. I live 30k's out of sisaket and 75k's away from surin so i'm stuck in no man's land.Every few weeks i go for a night out in surin there are a few farang bars there,and also all the thai bars are friendly plus there is a decent night club.But i am trying to find out if there are any farang bars in sisaket that would save me trekking out to surin,and for that matter if there are many farangs in and around sisaket.If there are would it be worthwhile opening a farang bar there,and lastly are there any nightclubs in sisaket and if so are they farang friendly. Thanks for any help, and sorry to ramble on.

my wife and i were in bangkok a few days ago,and seeing as we are thinking of moving back to the uk we went to regent house to see which visa she would require. She has already had the 6 month one. Upon arrival we were approached outside by a thai man aking what we were enquiring about,after we explained to him, we were taken upstairs and he went to speak to someone then he returned mumblimg about we could have a private meeting with the ( and i think he said consul, but could not understand him properly). At this point we were shown into an office and introduced to a thai lady ( she did not give her name). She told us that the best visa for us would be a settlement visa,and that she would deal with it personaly.She asked for both our passports and my wifes id card,I tried to explain that we were only making enquiries,but she was insistent that we needed to get things moving,she went on to say that from this point on we were only to deal with her and when i got back to the uk i was to mail all the paperwork directly to her and no one else, and that she would contact my wife when it was time for her to go for a x-ray to show that she was not suffering from tb.She then said that before she could give anymore information on what documents i would require that she would need my visa card so that i could pay for the visa.I asked how much it was going to cost and to my astonishment she said 137,500 baht.At this point i told her that i did not have my card with me,so she said she is going to e-mail me in a couple of days with instructions on how to contact her to pay the fee.Now a few weeks ago a friend of mine got a settlement visa and i'm sure it only cost him about 30,000 baht. has anybody else been conned in this way at regent house. And does the british embassy need to be informed about this.

I am hoping someone can give me some advice.My Thai wife and I have been married for almost 7 years. We do not have any children of our own, but we have taken care of my wife's niece's child since she was a month of age (she is now 6 years of age) because her niece did not want her ( she has 3 children 2 of whom are looked after by relatives and 1 which she sold to a childless couple in a nearby village). We have never legally adopted her because we never felt the need to. But now things have changed,I have been offered a fantastic job back in the UK on a 5 year contract with great wages, accomodation, and a company car as well as a job for my wife.But I am worried that if we adopt the baby now, the british embassy may think that we are trying to pull a scam. We do not have any solid evidence, apart from loads of photo's of us and the baby that we have been her parents for the last 6 years.I am afraid that they may refuse us a visa for the child on the grounds that we did not adopt her when she was born, we would be heartbroken if we did not get a visa for her, and we both would never leave her here, because we could not bear to be without her. Has anyone else had this problem and if so what was the outcome, any help would be gratefully accepted.