Bangla Road

[elgenon]

15 hours ago, London Lowf said:

The majority of bars on Bangla are now fully open and selling alcohol without restrictions until 11pm - at which point a motorcade of traffic cops cruise along to make sure that sales heve stopped.

 

From what I have personally seen it is the same along Nanai and in the side sois all over Phuket.

 

Enjoy.....

Thanks for the update LL. I never know what to believe regarding what the government says.

[elgenon]

4 minutes ago, elgenon said:

Thanks for the update LL. I never know what to believe regarding what the government says.

Another poster said remodeling of bars on Bangla has stopped. is this true? Any idea why?

[London Lowf]

I was on Bangla last night and to be honest I only notice the bars that are open, which is now the majority of them, rather than any that are still closed.

 

Each time I visit it is noticeably busier and, bearing in mind that it is only mid-November, I think that anyone planning to come this high season will find a good atmosphere. The only thing missing at the moment is the girls dancing on the bars as I guess this is classed as "entertainment", and yet there are a few street entertainers - a very talented young female singer with her male partner, and a group of incredibly athletic and gymnastic break-dancers. At the moment there is enough room for them to perform on the road but if it gets much busier that may become difficult.

 

After a couple of beers I went to the food market and had some deep-fried breaded chicken and prawns - good honest tasty grub and only B100. Next visit I'll have a B80 pad Thai - also a good price, especially considering that you are in the middle of the most touristy part of the most expensive region of Thailand.

 

There was a torrential downpour at 11pm closing time and so I was sheltering, along with a few hundred others, until it eased off slightly. I did notice that, although the high-profile bars such as Sea Dragon and Bar Funk closed down completely, some of the smaller bars were allowing an extended drinking-up time. In fact, no names mentioned, but at least one bar had all of the shutters down and was sneaking customers in. All of this under the watchful eyes of the usual traffic cop patrols!

 

At midnight I invested in a raincoat from the street seller (B50, which I think is a very fair price) and got back to my bike and rode home - very slowly!

[London Lowf]

On 11/11/2021 at 1:44 PM, MarkT63 said:

Hey.

Just got to Patong today and was going to take some pics for you but it looked like most of the work had stopped and the shutters were down again.

Mu guess is they were working towards a 1 Dec opening for nightlife, but now that is looking unlikely they have pulled the plug on any more work - but that is just my guess.

I go through regularly so will keep you updated. ????

I think this is the development you were talking about - a few weeks ago they cleared the area but then nothing. However, a couple of weeks ago they were putting a fresh skim coat on the floor and they have now put down what looks like Astroturf and furnished it and voila - yet another live music bar!

 

It's amazing how quickly they can cobble together a business here, but if you see them in daylight then you can see the shortcuts. Still impressive though, and good luck to them - they were quiet last night, as you can see, but so was most of Bangla.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by London Lowf
To make it better!

[London Lowf]

Oh - I see in another thread that they are charging B130 for a small Singha - maybe that's why they are lacking in punters?

[TropicalGuy]

On 11/2/2021 at 3:41 PM, Headgame said:

No they're not.
Why would you say something so stupid.

Often there. Never seen a single bib there . They do pull over foreign bikes everywhere else and have their lucrative  late hour road blocks outside Patong and Rawai.

[London Lowf]

Bangla is now midnight closing - I haven't seen that vital news announced anywhere else so is it up to me?

 

I'd had my quota by the previous 11pm cut-off and noticed on the way home that the extended hours have not spread to Kamala - it was dead at 11:30.

 

Thailand is as crazy as Formula 1, and I love them both!

Edited December 13, 2021 by London Lowf

[London Lowf]

.... and tonight it's back to 11pm. The bars actually have no idea but keep an eye on the beach end of Bangla and when they see the flashing lights then it's panic stations.

 

I should have stayed in Kamala - my "local" now has an "arrangement with the police" and can stay open as long as he has paying customers and doesn't make any noise!

 

 

[zzzzz]

7 hours ago, London Lowf said:

.... and tonight it's back to 11pm. The bars actually have no idea but keep an eye on the beach end of Bangla and when they see the flashing lights then it's panic stations.

 

I should have stayed in Kamala - my "local" now has an "arrangement with the police" and can stay open as long as he has paying customers and doesn't make any noise!

 

 

will only last until the other establishments  see him open and complain

[London Lowf]

9 hours ago, zzzzz said:

will only last until the other establishments  see him open and complain

He and his Thai partner are very high-profile and the bar is not hidden away in some back alley. In addition, they openly provide meals (and maybe more?) to the BIB.

[London Lowf]

Peak season is officially here - one of my regular bars on Bangla (Green Crab) have increased the price of a beer from B80 to B100 overnight. It's not a "girlie bar" so there's no entertainment or eye candy, it's just a place that sells booze.

 

I won't be going there again - I always pay B100 for a beer whatever the price and the change is a tip - and I don't kid myself that I will be missed. Plenty of pasty pale mugs/farangs to replace me at the moment.

 

But give it another couple of weeks and I reckon the season will be well and truly over. Anyone who is seriously planning to visit Phuket has done it already and after NYE it will die.

[spidermike007]

The bitterness of their disappointment will only be matched by the lack of hope the average Thai is feeling at the moment. 7 years of utter devastation and malfeasance comes at a price. 

 

Tourism is not returning anytime soon. The goons have gutted the industry. The only hope these bars have is with the expats and businessmen.