Patong’s Bangla nightlife area faces darkest hour

[Paiman]

1 hour ago, Oldie said:

Then Vietnam will have all the booze and sex tourists and all the problems with them and Thailand can focus on the tourists that really bring money? 

You mean the Chinese?

Edited June 13, 2020 by Paiman

[GAZZPA]

5 hours ago, tonysilly said:

Thank God the girls still have Thai Friendly, Badoo, Tinder and Tic Toc. We don't really need those bar? Do we???  I have met more hot  girls on Line these last few months then all my time in Thailand. Still having fun!!  Oh!! Don't forget the beach had been a good pick up place for all.  Free and  not Free.  Peoole will survive no matter what!! 

so, your mixing with many girls that are that are mixing with many men,,, hmmm, considering the lockdown is to stop the spread of the virus can you see what the problem might be?

 

Unless of course you are practicing social distancing with them all. ????

[GAZZPA]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

They still want their monthly kickback open or not and no doubt have barely suffered

not sure how the would collect the kickback when they are closed, unless they are visiting all the bar owners at their homes.. do you think that's happening? Honest question..

[GAZZPA]

2 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Take a leaf from Pattaya's book:-

 

Pictures of plans to completely revolutionize the area from Walking Street to the Bali Hai port in Pattaya have been unveiled by the local council.

 

Grubby has been replaced by grandiose!

I hope they do it, I really do but it takes a couple of hours to knock up a computer generated image. Getting it done is another thing. The cynic in me tells me it is just a knock up and press release is for political reasons.

[GAZZPA]

8 hours ago, Antifreeze said:

They should make a distinction between enclosed pubs and discos and open air bars. 

Very good point, but i doubt they will. it will be a nightmare to manage social distancing in open air bars once people have downed a few. 

 

It doesn't take a genius to predict what will happen.

[elliss]

9 hours ago, Henryford said:

Without the pubs/bars who is going to visit to use all the other venues?

 

    Quality tourist,  sex not important .

     Love important more , via internet .

     I meet lady , she never work bar , before in Phuket ..

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by elliss
spelling

[elliss]

2 hours ago, 4737 Carlin said:

Vietnam is most definitely not open for "adult tourism". 

 

 Yep , keep it too ourselves .

     Sex tourism , not welcome in Nam .

      Those were the days , a bar of chocolate ..

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by elliss

[matador007]

Maybe now is a good time to modernize the overhead wiring with no (foot) traffic to deal with ?

[ChaiyaTH]

I wonder if the wettest dream ever comes true, that girls want to be with you only for the housing and free food hehe.

[daveAustin]

9 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

anyways each to their own, and good luck to yah with your apps, better than having your hand on it ????

Good one. I like a good knobber like the next chap, but you can't beat the real thing, eh what what! 

[Dustdevil]

It looks like a mess. Who would want to go there?

[hotchilli]

16 hours ago, Henryford said:

Without the pubs/bars who is going to visit to use all the other venues?

The above has been closed down, but the girls can still be found... 

[Henryford]

10 hours ago, elliss said:

 

    Quality tourist,  sex not important .

     Love important more , via internet .

     I meet lady , she never work bar , before in Phuket ..

 

People in love still want to go out for a drink/dance/listen to music.

[bloodyholly]

14 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Take a leaf from Pattaya's book:-

 

Pictures of plans to completely revolutionize the area from Walking Street to the Bali Hai port in Pattaya have been unveiled by the local council.

 

Grubby has been replaced by grandiose!

I hope it works out for Pattaya. Unfortunately, looking at the impressions of the grandiose scheme I don’t see masses of overhead cables nor badly surfaced roads with poorly fitted manhole/drain covers so, sadly, this sort of modernisation would be a no starter in the 5star tropical paradise of Phuket that we know and love. ????????????????????

[elgenon]

18 hours ago, tonysilly said:

Thank God the girls still have Thai Friendly, Badoo, Tinder and Tic Toc. We don't really need those bar? Do we???  I have met more hot  girls on Line these last few months then all my time in Thailand. Still having fun!!  Oh!! Don't forget the beach had been a good pick up place for all.  Free and  not Free.  Peoole will survive no matter what!! 

I'm sorry but meeting girls online eliminates the sleaze factor. : (

[HashBrownHarry]

12 hours ago, elgenon said:

I'm sorry but meeting girls online eliminates the sleaze factor. : (

Not really, same result in the end - sack MT'd.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

 

Some posts of a derogatory or crude manner and the replies have been removed. 

 

Posts discussing the details of prostitution have been removed:

 

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[3NUMBAS]

the UK mug punters that used to chuck money around no longer have jobs for years to repeat this process chucking cash around on big price drinks

[xylophone]

On 6/13/2020 at 4:07 PM, zzzzz said:

Patongs Bangla was dying before covid hit, ONLY the bar's directly on the street were ever really busy, all the ones down the sois, an under clubs were dead

Don't expect any renters to be flocking back anytime soon

I decided to take a walk down Bangla yesterday as a few of my friends have bars there, as well as a couple of restaurants, and I was surprised...... 

 

I was surprised because people had told me that the road had been resurfaced and everything was looking good, but I saw an entirely different picture, because the surface of the road had been overlaid with about 2 inches of tarmac and poorly done in many places, and the fitting of large drains/drain covers in the road was done by someone who was cross-eyed I believe.

 

Not only that, for some reason they have left about a 6 or 8 cm gap around the edge of the drain and I can see a few twisted/broken ankles resulting, especially if punters are not paying attention to these things, or quite possibly are inebriated.....never, I hear you say!!

 

Mind you I think this is commonplace throughout Thailand, or maybe it's only Phuket, because nowhere have I seen a drain that is anywhere near a working proposition, with these in Bangla being perhaps a centimetre or two above road level, and those in the Phuket bypass by Tesco Lotus being so badly fitted that it's a wonder I haven't lost a wheel from my car through a broken stub axle.

 

Anyway I digress, because at least the road looks better than it did, but what it has done is to show up the pavement/sidewalk for what it is, and that is an absolute mess! It would have been great had they decided to fix the sidewalks as well, but no doesn't seem to be the case.

 

But more importantly from my perspective is something that this poster has said, because he is spot on with many of the smaller bars, away from the main street, suffering badly, and even those in what were once busy sois were struggling before Covid, so the whole place was suffering and struggling to turn a profit.

 

Walking down the road yesterday, was a bit like viewing the photographs on another thread here entitled something like, "Abandoned and derelict buildings" because the place really did look derelict, and what added to this was the fact that many of the barstools and similar had been left out to face the elements and were looking much worse the wear for it, with rust showing through, and the padded tops of the barstools swollen and torn, and unlikely ever to be used again in this condition.

 

The places in to which I could peek, also looked as if they had been left derelict and deserted for years, although that isn't the case, and the smell of cat urine, deposited by more than 30 cats I spied around the place will be very hard to eliminate when it does open up again.

 

On that note, the area around what was the former restaurant/bar, "The Islander" and the "building/space" next to it looked like a waste dumping ground and I doubt that this place will be sold any time soon, even though it's been on the market for a few years now.

 

I saw a few for sale/lease signs up around the place and the first ever foot massage place I visited, "First Foot Relax" was one of them, which is a shame because it had been in existence for years.

 

There were a few other "for lease/rent" places which all seem to be happening around the last week or so, with fixtures and fittings being removed as I have mentioned on another thread.

 

I can only reiterate what the above poster has said, inasmuch as, "don't expect any renters (or punters) to be flocking back any time soon".
 

[billythehat]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

Hab snip:

I can only reiterate what the above poster has said, inasmuch as, "don't expect any renters (or punters) to be flocking back any time soon".
 

Particularly the punters. The timeframe to which free movement of global travel will be a considerable concern within the travel industry and the folk wanting travel. In the short term, western tourists will not travel with all the (necessary) hoops and hurdles involved just to enter Lalaland, period.

 

Concerning Bangla, it had had its day and no papering over the cracks will not revive the beast. It had been dying a slow death over the last 10 years, delivering year on year a poor product/service and no business can survive (unless supported by the laundry) for too long before someone calling time on the circus. Now, too much empty space and too little rent/tea money coming in on such prime real estate and it’ll be economics will dictate the future of the Soi.

 

Long term, the myth of paradise will still be required to draw the tourists in but with a few essential changes to cater for future customers.

·        The bar areas, wherever relocated, will still be needed for the night owls to party.

·        A decent affordable travel network to get around the island. (Unlikely if the current tuk-tuk taxi mafia goons are still present.)

·        As the epoch of the monger fades, the provisions to be in place to make the island more attractive and safer to families who wish to visit and enjoy what’s left of the natural beauty therein. Returning visitors may seek long-term rentals so the market is still viable in this business type.

·        On a lighter note, a museum similar to the one in Bangkok (Patpong) could be sited on a redeveloped Bangla Road. This could show a small reconstruction of what a typical bar looked like in the halcyon days of Bangla nightlife. A smoke filled bar resplendent with football team flags, wax-work models of tubby bar girls and a farang bar boss, only slightly less drunk than his punters, a line-up of bloated complaining mongers in their Sunday-best wife beater tee shirts (only there to watch the football…) accompanied by a deafening sound track of techno music, the odd ringing of the bell and tortured shrieking from the staff. Actually, I fear that some visitors may suffer some sort of flash-back and not leave. This would invoke the classic 10 on 1 farang beat-down and complete the visitor experience.

·        Yes, I’m sure there are more recommendations for the future of the island so feel free to add future changes post CD19.

[ChipButty]

You could throw a bomb down them soi's and not hit anyone and that was before covid19