I Want To Open A Bar In Thailand And Move To Live Downthere!

[britmaveric]

11. i know it sounds shallow, but back to the staff, the girls who work at the bar must look good!

That is just off the top of my head!

No offense are you looking for a bar/restaurant business or a brothel?????

[JimmyCA]

i would first like to say that i am thankful for harsh comments since they represent a wake up call in the case i fall into daydreaming. so keep'em coming .

1. i agree with the assessment that loosing borrowed money is a problem. i would like to mention however that the 7 million baht will be borrowed by 4 people and not just one. so from a personal point of view i would only owe aprox. 1,8 mil baht. loosing this money would be a very unfortunate situation. i take comfort in believing that i am young and have the time to make up for my debt before i am too old to start a family.

2. the plan is vague ... so far but i am trying to correct that. as we speak i am planning how big a place we need, with what access ways, etc. and most importantly where it should be situated in order to hit a target consumer class. as for the illegal part i am sad to admit that it seems it is true. an idea to counter this would be to put all the business on my thai friend's name and keep all our names on the contract lease and act as investors. then by establishing a binding contract to agree to split the profits 4 equal ways. could this work????

COME WITH SOME FEEDBACK TO MY SUGGESTION IN NUMBER 2!!!!

thank you for your participation

i agree with the assessment that loosing borrowed money is a problem. -- I do not see any problem with this, if you can get the money then loose it it is not your problem

put all the business on my thai friend's name - this means you will split all losses and he will take all profits, surely this is the thai friends plan from day one

must be a troll, no one is this

[TheChef]

You must be one of those midlife crisis men between 40-50 who lost all his money to a thai woman because you trusted her too much!

And you are starting to sound like a kid who wants a bicycle for Christmas only to be told it's April.

I posted a few questions myself in response to you and your friends queries, courtesy would have you answer them.

Like the answers you get or not (and I dont think the TROLL comments are needed myself either), there's some people here trying to help a few young lads from making what might be a really big financial f.uck up.

It's all very well putting your fingers in your ears and not wanting to listen, but that defeats the point of coming here to do research in the first place.

Who will your group next be sending in to convince us you are right and we are wrong, the other Danish dude or the Thai?

Im not saying that we are completely correct! not at all! but what i am trying to do is to debate our thoughts. I am very grateful for your answer, and no, no one else will be coming in to convince you , But while we were there in august, and thinking that what we researching was honestly none exisctent in Pattaya, Bangkok and Patong, it brings us a bit of light in consideration to what you all say " DONT DO IT", and i accept that you are just trying to look after us, and i really really appreciate it, but we came on here to hear what some of the difficulties in opening a bar were, not to hear others say "DONT DO IT"....

[JimmyCA]

??

Edited September 12, 2007 by JimmyCA

[TheChef]

11. i know it sounds shallow, but back to the staff, the girls who work at the bar must look good!

That is just off the top of my head!

No offense are you looking for a bar/restaurant business or a brothel?????

haha, no a bar/restaurant, but put it this way, would you rather go into a bar where you had not so good looking women or a place where there was good looking women?? considering that both places had the same atmosphere

[canadiangirl]

11. i know it sounds shallow, but back to the staff, the girls who work at the bar must look good!

That is just off the top of my head!

No offense are you looking for a bar/restaurant business or a brothel?????

haha, no a bar/restaurant, but put it this way, would you rather go into a bar where you had not so good looking women or a place where there was good looking women?? considering that both places had the same atmosphere

I'd rather go into a place with good-looking men. :-P

[TheChef]

11. i know it sounds shallow, but back to the staff, the girls who work at the bar must look good!

That is just off the top of my head!

No offense are you looking for a bar/restaurant business or a brothel?????

haha, no a bar/restaurant, but put it this way, would you rather go into a bar where you had not so good looking women or a place where there was good looking women?? considering that both places had the same atmosphere

I'd rather go into a place with good-looking men. :-P

well, us 4 guys will be there!!!

[mrtoad]

Have you ever worked in a bar before Alex?

Maybe a good start for you would be to get a job managing a bar in your own country to gain some experience.

If you can be sucessful at this then try thailand

yes i have worked in a bar but not a managerial positon...enough said . one my friends with whom i plan to go into this business with is a chef and manages a whole kitchen here in denamrk in an italian restaurant. he has some experience manging an establishemnt. a bar is a very different business so i don't know how that will go. i would like to try see if i'm cut for the business here in denmark but i am affraid that the danish system is radically different then the thai one and that my experience will only serve me on a limited level. despite being only 22 i have worked constantly to keep my self in college so i have tried a bit of eveything. now i am working in my own field in parallel with my studies but before i have been through many a challenge

Hello Everybody!

Just to start off with i will start with this,

Alexxxx has been naming 4 partners in his business idea of opening a bar and i am one of the four. I have worked now in a restaurant for 3 ½ years, and started off nothing more than a dishwasher at the restaurant. I am now head chef of the restaurant and manage 7 chefs, 5 dishwashers, and have a lot of experience in keeping costs low, working to a maximum with my staff, and making my staff feel good. Im not trying to put myself in good light or someone on here trying to offer me a job as a chef in thailand, but merely trying to say i have experience of running a restaurant. I know the ups and downs in the restaurant business and i know the short cuts in managing a low budget. However my point being,

How many foreigners have tried opening up a bar, not only with a good idea (but a great idea), have the experience of running a bar/restaurant, have a trustworthy thai (who like us wants the same by opening a bar), has sufficent funding, and not only are we not jumping into this idea head first but we are working as a team of 4, building each others ideas, so that we can get the most optimal ideas possible....

I like Alexxx is young, and willing to work hard as are the other 2. I am not a 40-50 year old man in a midlife crisis wanting to get out of my marriage and get away from my 2 children because i feel regret in not doing anything in my life before now, by moving down to thailand giving all my money away to a Thai woman who one thinks will help you!

Thank you for your time

TheChef

TROLL

You must be one of those midlife crisis men between 40-50 who lost all his money to a thai woman because you trusted her too much!

Sorry Chef to disapoint you, I'm more than happy where I am (Thailand) and certainly have not lost any money to a Thai woman or am likely to and I'm still not middle aged.

Edited September 12, 2007 by mrtoad

[blizzard]

in los its the girl that attract business, and not unpleasent llooking ones.

noone suggesting he becum a teecher.............lol.better than opening a bar with borrowed money.

alex you dont really want to raise a family in los...................lol.

Edited September 12, 2007 by blizzard

[britmaveric]

Dunno I go to a bar/restaurant because I drink and the food is good. I could careless on what the staff looks like as long as the service is excellent. Patrons are what make a bar good, certainly not the help, well unless its a naughty sort of place.

[JimmyCA]

SUBJECT EXHAUSTED

OPEN THE DAM BAR ALREADY

[mrtoad]

Have a feeling that the bar will be closed soon.

[bkkmadness]

1. Looking after the staff. I have one theory is that if you make your staff feel worthy and you show a sign of trust within them (you dont neccesaryly have to but act like you do) they will respect you a bit more

- ex. them not stealing from the cash desk, not giving out any free drinks, not drinking for your bill

2. Paying the staff an extra 5-10% compared to other attractive bars (as ours will be), so they will feel as though they are getting a good working atmospehere (of course this will be researched)

The theory doesn't work, many of your staff will rip you off when they can. Many will see your generosity as a sign of weakness. If you haven't dealt with Thai staff before you are in for a shock. And that's not a racist comment, theres often a very different work ethic here to what you are used to back home.

See above.

3. The police, and bribs will be a problem

Not a major problem like many think as long as you are running a normal kind of bar which I think Alexxx said you was.

4. Trying to overcome funny laws which thais have placed on bars/restaurant businesses, however this is where our thai friend comes into place

How does your Thai friend help, does he have legal knowledge or do you mean you will hand over the control of the bar to him. You have known this guy for three years, are you really comfortable giving him so much control?

5. A main delivory company, who our negotiable with prices.

Basics.

6. Stock coming on time, our stock coming in at the prices firstly agreed with our delivores, however again this is where our thai friend comes into place

Basics.

7. Insurance on the bar, but this is where our lawyer, and possibly our thai friend comes into place

Basics.

8. Our rubbish. Where is this going to be put and how much are we going to pay for this is get taken away.

Basics.

9. Getting a good clientel. Of course this has part in the location of the bar.

Any thoughts on location yet? Taking into account some areas have high and low seasons? What group are you catering to, farangs or Thais or both?

10. Good marketing

Basics.

11. i know it sounds shallow, but back to the staff, the girls who work at the bar must look good!

Biggest problem with this is some dude comes along and offers the girl a lot more money to be his gf or whatever. The girl you have spent time training up then leaves. I have a friend who run a bar for several years on Khao San Road, everytime she got a good looking girl in they were off a month down the line.

Really all the ones I have listed as basics should not even be mentioned, for example it should be taken as a given that your supplier delivers on time at the agreed price. If you think that's a problem worth mentioning then you are underestimating your challenge. Can't really believe that 'what you will do with your rubbish' is even on the list to be honest. Good marketing, well thats part of any business no matter where it is or what it is doing.

Have you also considered the political climate in Thailand at the moment?

What if your bar gets sucessful with that one perfect idea you have. How will you stop every other bar from copying that?

If your bar becomes successful and starts taking money away from another bar down the road and things get a little heavy between you and that bar owner, do you have the connections to take care of that?

Noticed as well you haven't mentioned 'generating enough profit to keep 4 young guys in Thailand'. Would be the first concern of mine to be honest. Any ideas or how much profit a bar will generate? Do you know the living costs of this country?

And what about securing that all important 7 million, how will you get that? And how did you get the figure of 7 million in the first place?

Edited September 12, 2007 by bkkmadness

[tattoodrob]

didnt read all replies to your original post but read quite a few,i think you would be mad to try and do this,i think there is no way in hel_l you would be lent the money by any bank in any country for this venture anyway,also you say you have a new idea .... dont think so,millions of people over the years of coming here have tried to bring new ideas,im afraid there is nothing here that hasnt been tried before...sorry.i understand u want adventure but this is not the place to open a business and expect to make any profit,most business s here fail very quickly or run at a loss until all funds are gone....adventure sure...if thats the kind u want.

the only foreign people who have a small fortune in thailand are those that came with a large fortune..............so basically my advice to you would be to get a good job,save up loads of money and in the meantime come holiday in thailand as often as possible and learn more about the place.....its not a place where foreign owned small businesss are encouraged by the thai people ,there main interest is our money and how quickly they can get it from us which in your case would be very quick.come to thailand and speak to bar/ club owners of which i have been one and you will find out that a big big majority wish they never did run a bar etc. and the ones that have run sucessfully have been very lucky...odds about the same as winning the lottery.your young,save up and come and spend a year here first and see the real place as you will certainly learn more from this than a month holiday,speak to the expats and they will tell you like it is which is why we all laugh at your nieviety.hope this helps and is not too negative.

[bkkmadness]

also you say you have a new idea .... dont think so,millions of people over the years of coming here have tried to bring new ideas,im afraid there is nothing here that hasnt been tried before

Don't agree with this, there are always new ideas which will make money. Trouble is the nightlife scene is very fickle, a popular bar one month might be unfashionable when the next one comes along. Also, people just copy your ideas and run the show at a cheaper price. You not only need a unique idea but you need an idea that you can keep 'safe' for as long as possible. Very difficult to do I would think.

my advice to you would be to get a good job,save up loads of money and in the meantime come holiday in thailand as often as possible and learn more about the place

Sound advice. Or even come here and find work and put the bar idea on a back burner, until you really know what you are getting into.

Bottom line is as I said before, not nearly enough knowledge of the country, the people and the business problems you will face here. Without that knowledge you are doomed.

[teacup]

To the OP

Why would you want to open another expat themepark? With your education, I would hope they had taught you a thing or two at the uni about creativity and being different. So why don’t you & your friends put the highter education to a good use and think of something “outside the box” that will be both benefiting yourself and Thailand at the same time too.

Or just give me the money and I’m sure in a few years I still will have some left for you.

Edited September 12, 2007 by teacup

[mark100]

to whom it may concern,

my name is alex and i am 22 years old. i am a romanian national living in denmark. i am about to graduate as an Electronics and Computer Engineering Engineer and am planning to open a business in thailand together with 3 of my other friends. we are all between 21 and 27 and on of them is a thai national living in denmark (went to university together, so i know him for 3 years now) and the other 2 are danish. my friends and i want to open a bar in thailand with the opening dat in about 1 yr and ½ or 2 yrs. not a gogo bar but a proper bar with drinks and animators (dancing girls) at best. we have an unique thing to bring to the business but i do not feel comfortable sharing this with the public since i am not sure of your confidentiality.

the reason for which i am writing is to ask for information regarding the steps that need to be followed to open a bar in thailand. the 4 of us want to invest about 7 000 000 BHT. the location of the bar is yet to be discussed but we are considering 4 variants: bangkok, pattaya, phuket and koh samui.

the money we want to invest we will get through a bank loan. it is obvious that a lot of details have to be covered, everything from residence and working visas to practical things such as running the business on an every day basis.

i need advice on what to put my focus on, advice if it is a good idea to invest money in this line of business and advice if this business can provide 4 ppl with a modest living but over the average (according to thai standards) in thailand.

we have no experience with opening a business but are eager to learn and are dedicated to the cause. except my thai friend only one of us has been to thailand twice while i have been there for only one month. it seems we are a bunch of dreamers foolishly jumping head first. we try to avoid getting burned and that is why we need as much information as possible before investing any money in this business!

i thank you for your time and hope you can aid me in my quest for opening a business in thailand.

alexxx

Dont do it, l've had 2 bars in Pattaya you will drink yourself into an early grave, work very hard to just about break even, have the police harrassing you for money, staff robbing you blind and for what????

Borrow a small amount of money if you have to, but invest it in another buisness that won't damage your health. You and your friends sound educated use that to your advantage and think of something else.

Maybe somesort of export buisness ??

[blizzard]

export what?

they sound educated?

[technocracy]

Ahh thechef has added a whole new dimension to the thread of tall tales and pipe dreams!

You manage people in Denmark . . . and you think it'll be the same in Thailand . . .

:bah: :D :D

I think you really need to spend a year or so over in Thailand to get a feel on things - or just open the bar and let everybody know the name so we can all come by and buy 1 beer and sit in your bar alllllllll day mooching .. .. but of course that doesn't happen in Denmark does it . . . so it mustn't happen in Thailand ...

[britmaveric]

4 lads - might be better to split the mgt duties, say work in home country for 9 mo each then take a 3mo rotation each. Still generating farang dollars at home then have a 3mo taste. If things really get off the ground then you can pack it in.

[BlackArtemis]

8 pages of people who have lived here for much longer than you, continue to give you reason after reason to NOT do this. We all love our lives here in Thailand, but we have all gone past the 1 month "I love Thailand, it's perfect, everyone and everything is great" Live here for at least a year and then think about it. I have seen brand new bars come up here in Chiang Mai and be Empty, luckily the owners are connected, successful elsewhere and can do things like get Thai muscians to play at their places.

Also, in reality nightclub/discos are not popular here, the whole 2am shut down thing kinda ruins it. The places I see make money are small local pubs serving chang, singha, sangsom, 100, and mekong.

[OlRedEyes]

This is the funniest thread in a long time

There are better ways to live fast and die young than opening a bar in Thailand with four (4) partners.

Edited September 13, 2007 by OlRedEyes

[mikethevigoman]

to whom it may concern,

my name is alex and i am 22 years old. i am a romanian national living in denmark. i am about to graduate as an Electronics and Computer Engineering Engineer and am planning to open a business in thailand together with 3 of my other friends. we are all between 21 and 27 and on of them is a thai national living in denmark (went to university together, so i know him for 3 years now) and the other 2 are danish. my friends and i want to open a bar in thailand with the opening dat in about 1 yr and ½ or 2 yrs. not a gogo bar but a proper bar with drinks and animators (dancing girls) at best. we have an unique thing to bring to the business but i do not feel comfortable sharing this with the public since i am not sure of your confidentiality.

the reason for which i am writing is to ask for information regarding the steps that need to be followed to open a bar in thailand. the 4 of us want to invest about 7 000 000 BHT. the location of the bar is yet to be discussed but we are considering 4 variants: bangkok, pattaya, phuket and koh samui.

the money we want to invest we will get through a bank loan. it is obvious that a lot of details have to be covered, everything from residence and working visas to practical things such as running the business on an every day basis.

i need advice on what to put my focus on, advice if it is a good idea to invest money in this line of business and advice if this business can provide 4 ppl with a modest living but over the average (according to thai standards) in thailand.

we have no experience with opening a business but are eager to learn and are dedicated to the cause. except my thai friend only one of us has been to thailand twice while i have been there for only one month. it seems we are a bunch of dreamers foolishly jumping head first. we try to avoid getting burned and that is why we need as much information as possible before investing any money in this business!

i thank you for your time and hope you can aid me in my quest for opening a business in thailand.

alexxx

There is only one side of the bar to be Alex. !

[mikethevigoman]

to whom it may concern,

my name is alex and i am 22 years old. i am a romanian national living in denmark. i am about to graduate as an Electronics and Computer Engineering Engineer and am planning to open a business in thailand together with 3 of my other friends. we are all between 21 and 27 and on of them is a thai national living in denmark (went to university together, so i know him for 3 years now) and the other 2 are danish. my friends and i want to open a bar in thailand with the opening dat in about 1 yr and ½ or 2 yrs. not a gogo bar but a proper bar with drinks and animators (dancing girls) at best. we have an unique thing to bring to the business but i do not feel comfortable sharing this with the public since i am not sure of your confidentiality.

the reason for which i am writing is to ask for information regarding the steps that need to be followed to open a bar in thailand. the 4 of us want to invest about 7 000 000 BHT. the location of the bar is yet to be discussed but we are considering 4 variants: bangkok, pattaya, phuket and koh samui.

the money we want to invest we will get through a bank loan. it is obvious that a lot of details have to be covered, everything from residence and working visas to practical things such as running the business on an every day basis.

i need advice on what to put my focus on, advice if it is a good idea to invest money in this line of business and advice if this business can provide 4 ppl with a modest living but over the average (according to thai standards) in thailand.

we have no experience with opening a business but are eager to learn and are dedicated to the cause. except my thai friend only one of us has been to thailand twice while i have been there for only one month. it seems we are a bunch of dreamers foolishly jumping head first. we try to avoid getting burned and that is why we need as much information as possible before investing any money in this business!

i thank you for your time and hope you can aid me in my quest for opening a business in thailand.

alexxx

Last orders please gentlemen !

[mrtoad]

Looks like Chef and Alexxx have decided they don't like what they have been hearing.

Well, they may have something to offer, if their bar is as entertaining as their thread then it does have a chance

[alexxx]

i apologies for my absence from the forum but real life took all my time. i would like to thank all of you for your replies and for the replies given to my friend TheChef.

I think you will be glad to hear that upon closer reflection and under the influence of your advice, my so called business idea seems incredibly unreachable all of the sudden.

I have decided that in the future i shall concentrate my efforts towards building a strong carrier that will enable me more financial liberty in the future. if i were to stay true to my creed of living in thailand while in a young age, then what i would do is to attend a masters program in thailand and thus use my time constructively. i will continue to seek employment into the engineering sector with a MNC because you never know .

some of you who pointed out that i do not seem to know what i want were right. now i hope i do: i want to live in thailand but i want to do it wisely and not regret my actions. thus with time opportunities will arise and i hope to be as lucky to be able to take advantage of them at the right time. i would like to end by thanking all of you one more time for your time and contribution to setting a young man straight.

i hope that we may one day meet under the sunny sky of thailand.

Alex

[VocalNeal]

pete_r has the accounting done.

From experience if you have a kitchen, music and A/C etc. In BKK you need about 6-7000 baht a day for overheads. so if you add that to the 100,000 and it comes to about 200,000 a month. Beer wholesale and draught is about 25 baht a glass and if you sell it for 69 baht (happy hour prices) you will need to sell about 250 a day just to break even.

Refitting a nice premises from scratch will cost you minimum 2,000,000 and if you want to live on the premises maybe 4 million. A decent sound system for instance is 600,000 to 800,000. Remebering that all this money is refurbishment to someone elses premises and is essentilally gone the moment you spend it.

Crewcut has the right attitude. Maybe start with a beach bar somewhere. Be aware that any great idea you have will be copied in about 3 months by every neighboring bar, if it is a really good idea.

Have you decided who does what? They say that a successful business need a dreamer and a bastard. Which one are you and who are the other two. Also maybe you would have been better off to study Hospitality or at least one of the four.

By all means use this as an experience but accept that it will be a starter business.

BTW Ministry Of Sound spend millions of baht opening their Bangkok operation and they are a corporation wilth supposed expertise and what happened to them?

[soundman]

Have you decided who does what? They say that a successful business need a dreamer and a bastard. Which one are you and who are the other two. Also maybe you would have been better off to study Hospitality or at least one of the four.

Never heard that saying before. I like it & come to think of it, there is quite a bit of reality in that statement....

[Theyreallrubbish]

dam_n you all!!!

You've dissuaded him from doing it!

If it wasn't for a fresh crop of idiots getting off the planes every year and pouring their life savings into keeping bars open, then we wouldn't have nearly as many bars to choose from to drink in.

If any one else asks this question then its a great idea and sure to make enough money for you to live in Thailand like all the other 9 million people who come here on holiday every year and want to do the same to stay.

Let's get our story straight or we'll all end up squeezed into the same half dozen viable bars!

[jitagon]

Have you ever worked in a bar before Alex?

Maybe a good start for you would be to get a job managing a bar in your own country to gain some experience.

If you can be sucessful at this then try thailand

yes i have worked in a bar but not a managerial positon...enough said . one my friends with whom i plan to go into this business with is a chef and manages a whole kitchen here in denamrk in an italian restaurant. he has some experience manging an establishemnt. a bar is a very different business so i don't know how that will go. i would like to try see if i'm cut for the business here in denmark but i am affraid that the danish system is radically different then the thai one and that my experience will only serve me on a limited level. despite being only 22 i have worked constantly to keep my self in college so i have tried a bit of eveything. now i am working in my own field in parallel with my studies but before i have been through many a challenge

Hello Everybody!

Just to start off with i will start with this,

Alexxxx has been naming 4 partners in his business idea of opening a bar and i am one of the four. I have worked now in a restaurant for 3 ½ years, and started off nothing more than a dishwasher at the restaurant. I am now head chef of the restaurant and manage 7 chefs, 5 dishwashers, and have a lot of experience in keeping costs low, working to a maximum with my staff, and making my staff feel good. Im not trying to put myself in good light or someone on here trying to offer me a job as a chef in thailand, but merely trying to say i have experience of running a restaurant. I know the ups and downs in the restaurant business and i know the short cuts in managing a low budget. However my point being,

How many foreigners have tried opening up a bar, not only with a good idea (but a great idea), have the experience of running a bar/restaurant, have a trustworthy thai (who like us wants the same by opening a bar), has sufficent funding, and not only are we not jumping into this idea head first but we are working as a team of 4, building each others ideas, so that we can get the most optimal ideas possible....

I like Alexxx is young, and willing to work hard as are the other 2. I am not a 40-50 year old man in a midlife crisis wanting to get out of my marriage and get away from my 2 children because i feel regret in not doing anything in my life before now, by moving down to thailand giving all my money away to a Thai woman who one thinks will help you!

Thank you for your time

TheChef

Was this 'trustworthy thai' someone you met here on your ONE month holiday?

PS Stupidity not the preserve of the young, I know a retired couple who've spent all the money they were going to use to build a house on land they leased here, and are now thinking about opening a bar, just to see off the dregs of their bank account.