Is the closure of your favorite bar or restaurant imminent?

[Pattaya Spotter]

Lucky for me, none of the restaurants I frequent here on the Darkside have closed due to Covid. In fact,, it's hard to get a table at some during peak hours and weekends, like Ae & Ek Steakhouse at Maprachan Reservoir. However, a few on the Brightside have closed, like Loaf Bakery, and some are having a rocky time of it, like Smokin' Joe's BBQ, which has consolidated into their sister resto, Steak & Co., next door, and reduced their hours to just serving dinner, from breakfast, lunch, and dinner before.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Pattaya Spotter

[VBF]

19 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Lucky for me, none of the restaurants I frequent here on the Darkside have closed due to Covid. In fact,, it's hard to get a table at some during peak hours and weekends, like Ae & Ek Steakhouse at Maprachan Reservoir. However, a few on the Brightside have closed, like Loaf Bakery, and some are having a rocky time of it, like Smokin' Joe's BBQ, which has consolidated into their sister resto, Steak & Co., next door, and reduced their hours to just serving dinner, from breakfast, lunch, and dinner before.

I use Smokin' Joes when in Pattaya and tbh am sad but not surprised it's closed. I would suggest that 90% of the customers were people staying in the surrounding hotels which of course are also suffering from lack of customers. If SJ has consolidated,  hopefully it'll reopen when there are more patrons....

[Pattaya Spotter]

40 minutes ago, VBF said:

I use Smokin' Joes when in Pattaya and tbh am sad but not surprised it's closed. I would suggest that 90% of the customers were people staying in the surrounding hotels which of course are also suffering from lack of customers. If SJ has consolidated,  hopefully it'll reopen when there are more patrons....

Both menus are available at Steak & Co.

[VBF]

8 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Both menus are available at Steak & Co.

Good business sense there - I would love to be in a position to sample one of them!

[rott]

On Soi 8 the bar next to Sailor Bar appears to be getting demolished. Of course it could turn out to be a refurb. 

Soi 8 in general is a bit sad looking, not what it used to be. 

[TaaSaparot]

Story about the Rabbit Resort that I thought was interesting:

 

https://www.thebigchilli.com/feature-stories/hopeful-in-pattaya

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, TaaSaparot said:

Story about the Rabbit Resort that I thought was interesting:

 

https://www.thebigchilli.com/feature-stories/hopeful-in-pattaya

You'd think the businesses that own the land and property would survive as no rent, just minimise costs until covid passes

[redwood1]

11 hours ago, TaaSaparot said:

Story about the Rabbit Resort that I thought was interesting:

 

https://www.thebigchilli.com/feature-stories/hopeful-in-pattaya

The horrible Dongtan Beach road re-make stole a bunch of Rabbit Resorts magic.......I USE TO love walking down Dongtan Beach road...

[TaaSaparot]

I see the Burger Deleted on Beach Road between Soi 7 & Soi 8 has closed.

[CorpusChristie]

12 minutes ago, TaaSaparot said:

I see the Burger Deleted on Beach Road between Soi 7 & Soi 8 has closed.

 

.................Took me a while to figure it out 

[Nout]

What's sadder than closure is when a place stays open, raises the AC temp, increases the beer fridge temp, cuts down on fans keeping less lights on. To add to these economy measures the same places stop restocking,  resulting in little or no choice.

[Nout]

On 10/21/2020 at 5:40 PM, rott said:

On Soi 8 the bar next to Sailor Bar appears to be getting demolished. Of course it could turn out to be a refurb. 

Soi 8 in general is a bit sad looking, not what it used to be. 

Its been pretty awful for years 

[guzzi850m2]

On 10/21/2020 at 7:23 AM, Pattaya Spotter said:

Both menus are available at Steak & Co.

That's right; had delirious spareribs today, wife had a steak & son had Thai-food and some of my spareribs.

 

They uses the same kitchen as S.J., everything is 20% off.

 

Restaurant perhaps 25% full today, I saw 3 Japanese gentlemen there, a couple of single expats, 3 Indian looking ladies (very overweight, ha-ha).

[TaaSaparot]

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

.................Took me a while to figure it out 

 

LOL ... never knew it did that, how sad is that?

[jastheace]

9 hours ago, TaaSaparot said:

 

LOL ... never knew it did that, how sad is that?

jest of course) and the word deleted isn't bracketed, so i thought there was a place by that name.... 'The Burger Deleted'. no wonder i couldn't remember it being there...

i wonder how many new words will fall into the same trap.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Rimmer

[Pattaya Spotter]

7 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

That's right; had delirious spareribs today, wife had a steak & son had Thai-food and some of my spareribs.

 

They uses the same kitchen as S.J., everything is 20% off.

 

Restaurant perhaps 25% full today, I saw 3 Japanese gentlemen there, a couple of single expats, 3 Indian looking ladies (very overweight, ha-ha).

Hope to get over too in the next few days.

[HashBrownHarry]

8 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

That's right; had delirious spareribs today, wife had a steak & son had Thai-food and some of my spareribs.

 

They uses the same kitchen as S.J., everything is 20% off.

 

Restaurant perhaps 25% full today, I saw 3 Japanese gentlemen there, a couple of single expats, 3 Indian looking ladies (very overweight, ha-ha).

Is the 20% discount all the time on all the dishes?

 

Thx

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, Nout said:

What's sadder than closure is when a place stays open, raises the AC temp, increases the beer fridge temp, cuts down on fans keeping less lights on. To add to these economy measures the same places stop restocking,  resulting in little or no choice.

It's an early sign of closure, I remember when Heaven Above reduced the size of their draft beer, desperate measures. 

 

I noticed Shark agogo open last night, first time since lock down. Amazes me how it's survived for so many years with so few customers 

[guzzi850m2]

41 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Is the 20% discount all the time on all the dishes?

 

Thx

Yes.

 

There was a handwritten sign out front saying: from Monday 30% off!

[HashBrownHarry]

Just now, guzzi850m2 said:

Yes.

 

There was a handwritten sign out front saying: from Monday 30% off!

Even better!

 

Thx,

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 hour ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Is the 20% discount all the time on all the dishes?

 

Thx

Yes. And starting Monday, 26 Oct., entire menu is 30% off every day and no SC or VAT (per FB). This owner is really trying.

[HashBrownHarry]

2 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Yes. And starting Monday, 26 Oct., entire menu is 30% off every day and no SC or VAT (per FB). This owner is really trying.

ok, cool.

 

Good luck to him, i've always thought the steaks there were decent.

 

Will taste much better with 30% off i'm sure.

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 minute ago, HashBrownHarry said:

ok, cool.

 

Good luck to him, i've always thought the steaks there were decent.

 

Will taste much better with 30% off i'm sure.

Just remember they're now only open for dinner...I think 4:30 or 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.

[Leaver]

On 10/22/2020 at 5:19 AM, scubascuba3 said:

You'd think the businesses that own the land and property would survive as no rent, just minimise costs until covid passes

You would think after 20 years there would be no finance on the place, but maybe they borrowed to build a new wing, or for some upgrades or renovations. 

 

They may not have rent to pay, but may have loan repayments to make.    

[kinyara]

Maybe, may, may. Welcome to hypothetical negative thread bump Saturday. 

 

Another week with the absence of any notable closures by the looks of it. They soldier on. 

[Leaver]

14 minutes ago, kinyara said:

Maybe, may, may. Welcome to hypothetical negative thread bump Saturday. 

 

Another week with the absence of any notable closures by the looks of it. They soldier on. 

Are you suggesting the businesses that have survived until now will remain open for good?    

[polpott]

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

Are you suggesting the businesses that have survived until now will remain open for good?    

Ask me in January/February. If there are still no tourists at the end of the high season, most tourist centric businesses will be running on fresh air and getting deeper into debt with every passing week. Even one of the more secure, cash rich businesses, NWG, have suggested that they can't continue as they are for more than another 4 months. Personally, I can't see it being normal business for tourists in Pattaya much before Christmas 2021. There are a lot more businesses still to close.

[Leaver]

31 minutes ago, polpott said:

Ask me in January/February. If there are still no tourists at the end of the high season, most tourist centric businesses will be running on fresh air and getting deeper into debt with every passing week. Even one of the more secure, cash rich businesses, NWG, have suggested that they can't continue as they are for more than another 4 months. Personally, I can't see it being normal business for tourists in Pattaya much before Christmas 2021. There are a lot more businesses still to close.

I agree.

 

I'm also thinking Feb 21 when any possible high high season can be assessed.  

 

Many businesses are already in a position where lost trade within their current lease can not be recouped before the end of the lease.  

 

Many owners  are under the belief that as soon as Thailand opens its boarders, without $100k USD insurance and quarantine, westerners will come flooding back in.  I don't see it.  Too many other obstructions and high costs, for this to happen, from the tourists' home countries.

 

Not sure what The Nightwish Group think is going to happen in 3 or 4 months time.  Certainly not enough to sustain their 25 bars.  

[polpott]

32 minutes ago, Leaver said:

Not sure what The Nightwish Group think is going to happen in 3 or 4 months time.  Certainly not enough to sustain their 25 bars.  

They've been overly optimistic since day one. At the beginning of the shutdown, they were sending out a strong message that it would be back to normal and tourists would be back in 2 weeks, then it was 1 month and so it went on. Personally I think that was an attempt to discourage the girls from leaving Pattaya and they would be in the "herding cats" scenario. Being a cynic and knowing Bryan Flowers, it tend to think that the food handouts served the same purpose.

 

I don't think that they have 25 bars open now. I think both bars on the poon, Orange and Blue? are currently closed. Several of their bars on Soi 6 are closed and the girls distributed amongst the remaining bars. Some bars are literally heaving with girls. Crazy. I watched a very recent video of a guy doing a walk through of Soi 6 around dusk, usually a busy time for that Soi. He counted 8 customers, not in one bar, in the whole Soi. NWG must be bleeding money like a stuck pig.

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by polpott

[Leaver]

4 minutes ago, polpott said:

They've been overly optimistic since day one. At the beginning of the shutdown, they were sending out a strong message that it would be back to normal and tourists would be back in 2 weeks, then it was 1 month and so it went on. Personally I think that was an attempt to discourage the girls from leaving Pattaya and they would be in the "herding cats" scenario. Being a cynic and knowing Bryan Flowers, it tend to think that the food handouts served the same purpose.

 

I don't think that they have 25 bars open now. I think both bars on the poon, Orange and Blue? are currently closed. Several of their bars on Soi 6 are closed and the girls distributed amongst the remaining bars. Some bars are literally heaving with girls. Crazy. I watched a very recent video of a guy doing a walk through of Soi 6 around dusk, usually a busy time for that Soi. He counted 8 customers, not in one bar, in the whole Soi. NWG must be bleeding money like a stuck pig.

 

 

Yes, I know not all their bars are open, but they still have to carry them on their books, one way or another.  

 

They recently sold  few of their bars.  Interestingly, it was their cheaper bars, not their bars that had the highest expenses.  Possibly trying to raise some very quick capital.

 

Nightwish may still be here in 6 months time, but I doubt they will still have 25 bars.