1 minute ago, champers said:

Beefeater are handily placed for passing trade from The Base. Word of mouth and postings on WeChat does the (free) marketing.

Could be the death of it. One of the plusses for Beafeater is the ambience. Who want's to sit next to a table full of Chinese, eating with their mouths open, food all over the floor and talking at the top of their voices. Also habit of bringing their own drinks from 7/11 and even their own food.

 

If they become their core clientele, they will lose me and many other farangs. Also surprised that Chinese will pay their prices.

I recently spent a week staying on Buakhow.  I know several business owners around there. Most say that while the decline in long stay Western customers has had an impact, skyrocketing rents as Buakhow transforms from a backwater area to a much more broadly based business and hotel area is the larger factor.  Several large hotels catering to mainstream tourists have opened in the neighborhood and more are planned.  Soi Buakhow will likely transform into a much more retail oriented area in the near future and rents are reflecting that. 

It's safe to say that most Western oriented restaurants in the area run on pretty thin margins with a lot of competition and a very price concious customer base.  A hefty jump in rent can easily tip the scales against them.

One thing that was really obvious:  LK Metro is outdrawing Walking St. as far as the traditional Western male clientele are concerned.  LK was packed every night I was there though more of the action seems to be at outside venues like Boomerang and Racer than inside the multitude of Go-Go's, all of which had a lot of empty seats when I checked inside.  

Not a lot of Western faces on WS, mostly Asian and Indian with the usual phalanx's of marching Chinese.  Go-Gos were inconsistent.  I had a whole side of Dollhouse to myself, Electric Blue was pretty much the same.   

Interestingly, the places that show less flesh but have noticeably more voluptuous dancers such as Sapphire and Sensations were packed...but the crowd more Middle East and Indian with few Westerners.  BTW, the old stereotype of "3 Indians- one bottle of water" seems no longer true...the ones I saw in the bars were spending and buying LD's along with everybody else. The girls seemed as attentive to them as to anybody else which wouldn't be happening if they weren't providing revenue.  

50 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Could be the death of it. One of the plusses for Beafeater is the ambience. Who want's to sit next to a table full of Chinese, eating with their mouths open, food all over the floor and talking at the top of their voices. Also habit of bringing their own drinks from 7/11 and even their own food.

 

If they become their core clientele, they will lose me and many other farangs. Also surprised that Chinese will pay their prices.

I don't think that monied Chinese; and Koreans; fit the description you give them. The ones with the poor manners and habits don't eat in pricier restaurants. I see many well behaved Chinese and Koreans in Italian restaurants and they have money and like to spend it.

57 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Could be the death of it. One of the plusses for Beafeater is the ambience. Who want's to sit next to a table full of Chinese, eating with their mouths open, food all over the floor and talking at the top of their voices. Also habit of bringing their own drinks from 7/11 and even their own food.

 

If they become their core clientele, they will lose me and many other farangs. Also surprised that Chinese will pay their prices.

Luckily they seem to have gotten the better class of Chinese. They seemed to be able to behave.

too bad. i love their huge scrambled eggs, salmon, salad and avocado breakfast. 

 

 

3 hours ago, champers said:

I don't think that monied Chinese; and Koreans; fit the description you give them. The ones with the poor manners and habits don't eat in pricier restaurants. I see many well behaved Chinese and Koreans in Italian restaurants and they have money and like to spend it.

I would agree on Koreans but not Chinese.

 

Was eating in Surf Shack in Jomtien the other day. Four Chinese guys in there. Obviously independant travellers and monied. Ate like pigs and brought their own soft drinks. Stomach churning to watch them eat, barely human. When they departed, the waitresses were visibly digusted by the mess they left behind.

 

Age group 25 - 45. You need to remember that these people have been raised under PRCs one child policy, only children who, particularly the males, have been raised as little gods. This has produced a nation of entitled morons with zero manners and zero consideration for others. Due to being a communist country, class demarcation is less defined. Same rules apply for the zero baht travellers as the independant traveller.

 

In fact, the moneyed independant travellers can be even bigger self entitled pricks than the zero baht tourists.

14 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

Beefeater is as popular as it ever was.

Really, it was empty when I passed recently and I believe they lost their chef. I will take your word for it as my passing was a one off and it had always been popular before.

51 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Really, it was empty when I passed recently and I believe they lost their chef. I will take your word for it as my passing was a one off and it had always been popular before.

As I haven't been for a couple of months or more, I'll take your word for it. Sad news.

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Really, it was empty when I passed recently and I believe they lost their chef. 

I didn't notice any change in quality last Sunday. If the chef has left the building, it's never a good sign. 

On 11/1/2019 at 11:26 AM, DannyCarlton said:

As I haven't been for a couple of months or more, I'll take your word for it. Sad news.

I also haven't eaten there for a while, but frequently go down the soi and have a look in. 

 

Nowhere near the amount of customers the place had in the past, and yes, I am allowing for low season.   

On 10/31/2019 at 9:01 PM, dddave said:

I recently spent a week staying on Buakhow.  I know several business owners around there. Most say that while the decline in long stay Western customers has had an impact, skyrocketing rents as Buakhow transforms from a backwater area to a much more broadly based business and hotel area is the larger factor.  Several large hotels catering to mainstream tourists have opened in the neighborhood and more are planned.  Soi Buakhow will likely transform into a much more retail oriented area in the near future and rents are reflecting that. 

It's safe to say that most Western oriented restaurants in the area run on pretty thin margins with a lot of competition and a very price concious customer base.  A hefty jump in rent can easily tip the scales against them.

One thing that was really obvious:  LK Metro is outdrawing Walking St. as far as the traditional Western male clientele are concerned.  LK was packed every night I was there though more of the action seems to be at outside venues like Boomerang and Racer than inside the multitude of Go-Go's, all of which had a lot of empty seats when I checked inside.  

Not a lot of Western faces on WS, mostly Asian and Indian with the usual phalanx's of marching Chinese.  Go-Gos were inconsistent.  I had a whole side of Dollhouse to myself, Electric Blue was pretty much the same.   

Interestingly, the places that show less flesh but have noticeably more voluptuous dancers such as Sapphire and Sensations were packed...but the crowd more Middle East and Indian with few Westerners.  BTW, the old stereotype of "3 Indians- one bottle of water" seems no longer true...the ones I saw in the bars were spending and buying LD's along with everybody else. The girls seemed as attentive to them as to anybody else which wouldn't be happening if they weren't providing revenue.  

How long before greedy Thai landlords raise the rents on LK Metro and Soi Buakhow to out price those businesses also, causing another move?

 

Think Soi Bongkot.