Anyone's missus here have a restaurant? (non tourist area) How are things going?

[Kenny202]

Mrs finally pulled up stumps last week and selling her restaurant area. Large city North East. Things successful for 3 years or so before, then took a dive during Covid of course but because of the emergence of the delivery companies things were offset somewhat. Stayed fairly stagnant but consistent for 2 years into Covid but survivable but the last 6 months things have just gone from bad to worse. Even Grab etc deliveries have dried up to next to nothing. She was selling Western food so higher priced stuff than noodle soup. As I said before sold well and consistently and nothing has changed. About 15 other restaurants around her also, all styles of food........ some have been there for years and looks like everyone in the same boat. Even the cheap Thai food restaurants struggling. I usually ponder these things and only thing I can come up with is even better off middle income Thai's, with a decent government job are usually heavily in debt and I imagine limited disposable / living income. With the increase in cost of living across the board.... particularly fuel and electricity they just don't have the same money to spend on extras. 

 

I see generally around all areas in our city large busy soi's that used to have many restaurants and shops mostly vacant and seems to be increasing daily. I imagine the tourist areas must be doing better after Covid. Anyone else have a missus with a restaurant or shop? How are things going?

 

I get the feeling things are a lot worse than being reported.  

[nglodnig]

5 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Anyone else have a missus

Ooooh, that is SO un-PC. You should say "spouse" ???? 

[Crossy]

Not Madam, but family.

 

Any tourists who make it out here (northern outskirts of BKK) are definitely lost!

 

Some years back I was chatting with one of the (farang) traffic planners who was a keen cyclist. He told me about a "great little place by the river" they'd "found". I told him next time to mention k. <insert my name here> and maybe get a discount ???? 

 

Not back to pre-covid levels, but humming well enough Fri-Sat-Sun.

 

Important note;- Location, location, location. Place is right on the river with panoramic views of rice-barge trains, water hyacynth and kids on jet skis.

 

Here if you want to boost business 14.053996718688916, 100.55205469096379 

[norfolkandchance]

My partner ran a 'Rooms to Rent' business. Made good money before COVID. Dead over the pandemic. Never picked up after. She changed the rooms back into a family home.

Edited April 3, 2023 by norfolkandchance

[Kenny202]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Not Madam, but family.

 

Any tourists who make it out here (northern outskirts of BKK) are definitely lost!

 

Some years back I was chatting with one of the (farang) traffic planners who was a keen cyclist. He told me about a "great little place by the river" they'd "found". I told him next time to mention k. <insert my name here> and maybe get a discount ???? 

 

Not back to pre-covid levels, but humming well enough Fri-Sat-Sun.

 

Important note;- Location, location, location. Place is right on the river with panoramic views of rice-barge trains, water hyacynth and kids on jet skis.

 

Here if you want to boost business 14.053996718688916, 100.55205469096379 

One thing I have noticed if you want to take the plunge and really invest....the most successful places here seem to be the ones with great selfie opportunities, and totally serious about that. Food, price a distant 2nd, 3rd. Forever getting dragged to very ordinary and expensive restaurants with pretty flashing lights and a few selfie opportunities

 

[scubascuba3]

6 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Forever getting dragged to very ordinary and expensive restaurants with pretty flashing lights and a few selfie opportunities

That's true, the girls i cycle with love a coffee shop with photo opportunities, one's an influencer, one's sponsored and other one just likes photos

[Will B Good]

Not my missus, but live next door to a Thai 'restaurant'.....rarely see a soul in there, however, they are clueless...........cooking on wood which fills the place with smoke, if someone does come in they immediately play ridiculously loud music, the place is dark, unappealing and ramshackle.....morons.

[ubonr1971]

Location is everything. But the food has to be good to get people to return. 

[markclover]

Most of them deserve their demise.  The places looks like a rubbish dump and they are rarely open.

[Lucky Bones]

Interesting question. Outside of touristy areas, a restaurant can simply mean a house kitchen with tables and chairs outside.

My missus tried this in our central province village.

Great 3 months then the rice cutting or sowing ceased for 3+ months....very few customers.

It seems to be seasonal.

Yes, location, taste and price are givens.

It's a tuff road and bills do not wait.????????

[Sametboy2019]

poorest part of the country not having customers after a global pandemic seems normal to me.

[Sticky Rice Balls]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

That's true, the girls i cycle with love a coffee shop with photo opportunities, one's an influencer, one's sponsored and other one just likes photos

wait a minute..are these THAI girls we are talking about???(selfies)...ps i also bike daily....mai mee fan :)..im sponsored by sangsom

[scubascuba3]

i go to a thai food shack in Pattaya, always busy, lady is a modern day Soup Nazi, but the food is good so everyone returns

[Kenny202]

11 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

That's true, the girls i cycle with love a coffee shop with photo opportunities, one's an influencer, one's sponsored and other one just likes photos

Isn't that a sad reflection on the world today and particularly Thailand. One sponsored and one an "influencer", like they are legitimate professions lol. I always wince at that word sponsored. Sponsored to do what? Be an imaginary GF? Like timeshare properties. You never get the chance to use them, you never own them and you are in a queue with 10 others

[Kenny202]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

i go to a thai food shack in Pattaya, always busy, lady is a modern day Soup Nazi, but the food is good so everyone returns

Reminds me of a big grumpy lady in an extremely poor village I lived. Made great fried chicken and som tum. half the time she would tell the customers to get it themselves, she was busy doing other stuff. I caught her one afternoon giving some kids free food, apparently she did it everyday. She would always give em a gobful of lip and scold them first though lol. Underneath it all she was an absolute sweetheart. Put 3 kids through Uni selling chicken. Total respect for her. Became very good friends with her and miss her to this day 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Kenny202

[nigelforbes]

My wife operates a bakery delivery service which is now in her fourth year with turnover in excess of 2 mill. Last October through February were her best months ever with huge orders arising from Bangkok, 150 to 200 units at a time (company gifts to staff, party gifts to friends etc). It's a seasonal business with Xmas/New Year being prime time, other hols such as Chinese New Year, Valentines coming second. For us it's all about pricing, quality and customer service and I have to say Mrs Neil works very hard. People are spending, especially Bangkokians, as long as pricing and quality are right.

[Celsius]

If you are in Bangkok and order on grab you will notice that very often your favorite food place will close after 6 months. The problem these days is that even people with good paying jobs are quitting and starting a "business" due to stress at work or whatever thinking it is an easy way to make a living while not having a boss. Typical Thai mentality and my wife was going this route too until I intervened. Thinks at the moment are pretty bad. Thailand is getting cheapest of the cheap tourists and no one is spending money. 

 

I also read the news from back home. Restaurants are complaining that the situation is now worse than during covid. It is not just Thailand.

 

 

[persimmon]

Rising inflation and interest rates means many folks now have less disposable income . Eating out ( in particular the fancy , expensive end of the market ) is discretionary and easy to cut back on .

Maybe those with low overheads will still be ok , such as the food cart vendors on the pavement selling 20 bt stuff .

There`s a couple of good veg restaurants here in Udon where a good lunch can be had for around 40 bt . - they always sell out of food in the afternoon .

I`m due a brief visit to Patts soon . the only decent veg place ( not Indian ) cost me over 200 bt last time , so I think I`ll make my own food and save a small fortune .

[Kenny202]

3 hours ago, Celsius said:

If you are in Bangkok and order on grab you will notice that very often your favorite food place will close after 6 months. The problem these days is that even people with good paying jobs are quitting and starting a "business" due to stress at work or whatever thinking it is an easy way to make a living while not having a boss. Typical Thai mentality and my wife was going this route too until I intervened. Thinks at the moment are pretty bad. Thailand is getting cheapest of the cheap tourists and no one is spending money. 

 

I also read the news from back home. Restaurants are complaining that the situation is now worse than during covid. It is not just Thailand.

 

 

They don't do the math or have the capital usually. Invest everything they have and expect to make money from day one. They also don't do the accounting....look in the till at the end of the day and see only spending money, don't deduct what is required to replace stock and pay for overheads. Usually go ok for first month or so and then you can see they start to run out of stuff and usually downhill from there. When I say "they" BTW very familiar story back home too. A small soup vendor or sausage, moo ping, BBQ seller may make money straight off the bat with little investment but a lot of hard work and small return. 

 

I think peoples habits have dramatically changed since covid re going out, and delivery drivers are getting paid a lot less than they were. Many of them have probably gone back to steady jobs or off to Bangkok in a factory or something. Reliable steady work. I would estimate on the road now see very small percentage of Grab / Food Panda riders now compared to before they were like swarms of mosquitos. Fewer drivers mean longer delivery times or in a lot of cases delivery not available some areas. Another thing I see very often is people that may have some capital....government workers etc putting money into ridiculous franchises like milk tea and the like where there is already one on every corner. Spend the day at work and sit bored all night in a little hot box getting 2 or 3 customers over 8 hours. They usually last around 3 months. I always felt the best business in Thailand would be a franchise seller or someone owned a row of shops (landlord) in a good area. Lot of people going out of business every day but seem to be an endless queue of people wanting to open businesses. Then again I would hate to be trying to collect the money every month ????   

[racyrick]

17 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

One thing I have noticed if you want to take the plunge and really invest....the most successful places here seem to be the ones with great selfie opportunities, and totally serious about that. Food, price a distant 2nd, 3rd. Forever getting dragged to very ordinary and expensive restaurants with pretty flashing lights and a few selfie opportunities

 

What city are you in?

[Adumbration]

Can your missus make borscht?

[scubascuba3]

6 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Isn't that a sad reflection on the world today and particularly Thailand. One sponsored and one an "influencer", like they are legitimate professions lol. I always wince at that word sponsored. Sponsored to do what? Be an imaginary GF? Like timeshare properties. You never get the chance to use them, you never own them and you are in a queue with 10 others

She's not sponsored as you understand it, she's sponsored by a Cycle manufacturer 

[scubascuba3]

6 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Reminds me of a big grumpy lady in an extremely poor village I lived. Made great fried chicken and som tum. half the time she would tell the customers to get it themselves, she was busy doing other stuff. I caught her one afternoon giving some kids free food, apparently she did it everyday. She would always give em a gobful of lip and scold them first though lol. Underneath it all she was an absolute sweetheart. Put 3 kids through Uni selling chicken. Total respect for her. Became very good friends with her and miss her to this day 

Nice story, I'm trying to crack Soup Nazi, but she has baggage so could take sometime, and when i say crack it's not what you're thinking, just getting her to be friendly

[Kenny202]

45 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

Can your missus make borscht?

Can botch nearly anything given half a chance ???? yes I imagine borscht would go down well in Pattaya Phuket

[bkk6060]

It is survival of the fitest. 

 

Bars with lousy service, unfriendly/unattractive staff won't make it.

Restaurants that are dirty/unkempt with rude staff and lousy food won't make it.

 

Maybe some can learn from their failure.

[mstevens]

19 hours ago, Celsius said:

I also read the news from back home. Restaurants are complaining that the situation is now worse than during covid. It is not just Thailand.

 

I don't want to go off on a tangent here but let me say that here in New Zealand, all the economists say the economy is doing badly while cafes and restaurants are heaving. Many are full and you can't get a table. Friends in Australia tell me it's the same over there. It's a weird situation where the economy is supposedly in trouble but hospitality is on fire.