Friday

[Momo8]

So the bars are closed in LOS what to do? What do you normally do on Friday nights and what's on for the weeked?

I'll shoot off shortly for tapas and drinks hey yeah I'm in HK after all,we never close.

[kopite]

So the bars are closed in LOS what to do? What do you normally do on Friday nights and what's on for the weeked?

I'll shoot off shortly for tapas and drinks hey yeah I'm in HK after all,we never close.

find a nice restaurant, settle down and drink large amounts of alcohol before, during and long after dinner

[naka]

So the bars are closed in LOS what to do? What do you normally do on Friday nights and what's on for the weeked?

I'll shoot off shortly for tapas and drinks hey yeah I'm in HK after all,we never close.

All good and well ... till you get your check bin

Naka.

[Momo8]

You mean check bill? So what are you up to on a Friday then?

[Totster]

Nice gloat Momo8,

I'm sure many have got a nice stack of beer at home and will have a BBQ or something similar.. and at a fraction of the cost than if they were in HK

Totster

[Momo8]

Now now No offense and I'd love a BBQ if this blasted rain would stop.What's with this alcohol ban anyway?Very primeval methinks.Just put the price up election time.Hope you are all having a marvellous time anyways and have one for me.Cheers.

[Crossy]

5555, I have FINALLY found an advantage to being in Bangalore

The Kingfishers will be lining up in about 90 minutes :D

[Heng]

Oh, there are a few nice places open.

[pop_corn]

there are few places that will be open, like Glow in sukhumvit 23.. also some in silom area... and if all that doesn't work, drink @ home and go out for afterparty...lol!

(l will be at home anyways, exams period) ...... :(

[BigSnake]

Sound likes private party time to me, care to join the fun go for it.

[DavidS]

Drinking beer at home tonight I can handle. But missing out on the Super 14s tomorrow is a bit tough.

Anyone know a sports bar in BKK that will be open, Sukhumvit area perhaps?

[bkkmick]

Booze tonight in Molly's

[micksterbs]

Nice gloat Momo8,

I'm sure many have got a nice stack of beer at home and will have a BBQ or something similar.. and at a fraction of the cost than if they were in HK

Totster

Yep, that's how it's going! Very nice too. "Burp!"

[ignoramus]

What's this?

Are bars closed on Friday nights?

I must have missed this news.

Totally weird if true...Fridays are big, worldwide, surely, like without exception.

Oh I get it...a joke right? Business would go crazy if true.

Don't reply, I simply don't believe it.

(Plus I'm a naive kind of guy, but this time won't believe anthing you say).

[petedk]

What's this?

Are bars closed on Friday nights?

I must have missed this news.

Totally weird if true...Fridays are big, worldwide, surely, like without exception.

Oh I get it...a joke right? Business would go crazy if true.

Don't reply, I simply don't believe it.

(Plus I'm a naive kind of guy, but this time won't believe anthing you say).

Only this and next weekend.

Thong Lor is completely dead tonight as nearly all bars are closed.

I was in the supermarket at 17.45 and people were going crazy buying alcohol before the 6 pm stop.

TIT

[intumult]

??? Closed?

LOL, it is 2-30 and I have just got back after being to 3 places this evening with friends and we have been eating, drinking and smoking.

OK there were some limitations. 2 places closed at midnight but my Thai friends knew where to go after that.

So, a good night was had by all and we have arranged to meet tonight for more of the same.

and this is not Pattaya, Phuket, BKK etc.

Ahhhh, I feel soooooo sorry for you guys not being able to get out

Sarcasm intentional

[Cuban]

These "dry" days are enough to drive a man, woman, katoey to drink.

[Eric1949]

So the bars are closed in LOS what to do? What do you normally do on Friday nights and what's on for the weeked?

I'll shoot off shortly for tapas and drinks hey yeah I'm in HK after all,we never close.

Restaurants open as usual, sell booze as usual, although some put it in coffee mugs etc, but most don't care. Also the bars/karaoke joints owned by the police will be open as usual

Edited February 23, 2008 by Eric1949

[naka]

You mean check bill? So what are you up to on a Friday then?

It might be a "check bill" in HK

Naka.

[naka]

5555, I have FINALLY found an advantage to being in Bangalore

The Kingfishers will be lining up in about 90 minutes :D

Glad you found one reason Crossy ... Let us know if you find another mate

Having been there, I'd be interested. Oh, and I was there before Kingfisher so

no idea what it's like.

Naka.

Edited February 23, 2008 by naka

[kiakaha]

So the bars are closed in LOS what to do? What do you normally do on Friday nights and what's on for the weeked?

I'll shoot off shortly for tapas and drinks hey yeah I'm in HK after all,we never close.

I recommend a fridge at home.Never closed.

[Momo8]

Oh well look on the bright side,at least you're not in Malaysia during Ramadam.BESIDES it's Saturday now is your ban still on?

Edited February 23, 2008 by Momo8

[kiakaha]

I recommend a fridge at home.Never closed.

Fine for us that have to live here.

For the tourists that like to have a drink, I recommend a different country for your holidays next year.

Minibar fridge + 7 eleven

or

Hipflask for the spirits drinkers on the town

or

If you know where to go, plenty of joints serving booze illegally

I find it is more satisfying looking for solutions rather than complaining about a situation that you have absolutely zero control over anyway.

[torrenova]

I recommend a fridge at home.Never closed.

Fine for us that have to live here.

For the tourists that like to have a drink, I recommend a different country for your holidays next year.

And therein lies the truest comment in the thousands of threads on this subject going back years but particularly for this double closure before elections.

In the 12 weeks since the beginning of December, we have had at least 10 days when the bars were or will be closed. These have been for the King's birthday when HM actually asked them to stay open but Pattaya police went against his wishes, 2 days before the general election, 2 days of the election, one buddah day, 2 days this weekend prior to another 2 days next weekend.

Now in that period, the vast majority of tourists will have had their holidays disrupted, often without warning (do you see these closures on any Thai tourism site ?). Tourists are not Thai so they could not care less about election this or buddah day that. They want 24/7/365 but will live with late nights 7 days a week. Believe it or not but people actually come here to relax on holiday.

As for businesses, well it is fairly disasterous. If an absolute 100% closure on all places of work was observed then people would spend the money they saved on the remaining days, give or take a loss percentage. However, the way it is now, we lose 10 days in less than 100 and at the highest trading cycle in the year. Costs cannot be passed on yet we are not reimbursed for our fixed costs. We are also not consulted which is a total piss take.

Just look at this example. You close a week before the election so that people can vote away from their home province but you do not close 2 weeks before that when people actually have to go to the various locations to register to vote away from their home provinces ! It is a total fuc_king joke.

If they screw about much more I'll put hundreds of Thais out of work and just leave. Multiply that by others who are in the same situation and the only number going up will be the number of "working" girls. Welcome to the 4th world country of Thailand.

[Heng]

Sure you will.

[torrenova]

Sure you will.

Normally I would be joking but this time I am not. I have already divested some interests and will effectively close some service businesses and dump the bars if we don't get a fair crack of the whip. I'm sick of jumping through hoops anyway and don't have the time I once did.

I may return in a few years when things will have either imploded or settled down but you cannot reinvest at the moment as the buggers just don't have enough grey matter to formulate a business plan which is not solely based upon how many snouts can get to the trough at once and for how long.

[Heng]

My bad, didn't know you were talking about entertainment businesses. In that case frequent shutdowns would be annoying. Thought you were going to shut down some factory or something because you couldn't go out for a drink.

[torrenova]

My bad, didn't know you were talking about entertainment businesses. In that case frequent shutdowns would be annoying. Thought you were going to shut down some factory or something because you couldn't go out for a drink.

No, I don't have a factory but the principle is the same and can be worse.

Say you anticipate working the factory for 300 days a year (just using easy numbers here, not actual data). Then, you take on a big order, really profitable but with very strict penalty clauses which would wipe out your profits and put you in the red on that deal. You sign up with delivery some months ahead.

Ten days before delivery you have ramped up the workforce, you have them working overtime and some clown from the BiB comes along and says you have to close for 4 or 5 days. Don't close and we'll close your factory for 30 days or longer !

So you close and take a loss as you miss deadlines. But, your buyer gives you another chance and you gfet another deal. Lo and behold the same shit happens and not only do yo ulose money again but you lose your buyer.

You then find out that the BiB have their own factory which was not closed and now your buyer goes there.

On a salary side, the bar business is worse as part of the income the girls make is from the customers so not only do I have to pay them when we are closed but they also lose out on their direct tips.

I'm down serious 6 figures with this shit and as it "works so well" and TRT/PPP get more votes, then it is here to stay. Just why I have to close my places for 4 days so the girls can go (if they ever did or wanted to) to the City Hall and register and then vote is beyond me. They have to register and vote even before the time I open the bars anyway so my businesses cannot affect them !!!!!!!

Punters don't want to hear the story but it is a bloody tragedy and you just cannot plan ahead. Already they've closed us over 10% since the beginning of December and there will be more buddah days to come. I can speak to bar owners from years ago who said the only day they ever closed was the King's birthday. Fine, I'll live with that. I cannot live with 10-15 buddah days and the same again in bloody elections and other associated crap.

I reckon the loss in income is about 20% due to the 10% closure days as it has a knock on effect before and after. This will only get worse as people remember from one year to another.

Just tell me where can absorb a 20% loss of income? Then tell me where else has to take a hit of 20%. Bloody no-where, that's where.

[DavidS]

Just tell me where can absorb a 20% loss of income? Then tell me where else has to take a hit of 20%. Bloody no-where, that's where.

Ordinarily, I would just say it comes with the territory, but the rational part of me will not allow that. I went to 2 restaurants / bars to watch the super 14 rugby this afternoon. Both had no alcohol on sale, no matter the cup or glass.

Ordinarily, both of them would be bursting at the seams. In the first, 1 hand had too many fingers to count the customers, in the other, 2 hands would more than suffice.

All foreigners, who cannot vote anyway.

My logic? If you can allow the bars to open but ban under-age drinking in the bars, and enforce it, why not the same principle for the elections. You serve a local, we shut you down for 30 days. No excuses, ask for ID if you need to, but by all means serve the foreigners - they cannot vote anyway.

My sympathy to all the publicans who are losing out, and all their staff on the tips etc.

edit - typos

Edited February 23, 2008 by DavidS

[solent01]

You mean check bill? So what are you up to on a Friday then?

No, he means "check bin" or "gep tounge do I carb" same same, and I know it's spelt wrong, but I spell it how to say it...... easy to remember that way

Edit..

Friday for me was spent in bed with a stinking cold, tonight was good though, made some new friends in Thaton

and of course the drink has been flowing all night, as it was yesterday night, so I am told

Edited February 23, 2008 by solent01