Soi 8 Pub

[bangkokboro]

It certainly does going there tomorrow after watching the boxing in soi 8 (hope the beer is ok)a haircut in Mr Tongs then a visit to the german embassy in soi 7 should be a good day.

[bangkokboro]

It certainly does going there tomorrow after watching the boxing in soi 8 (hope the beer is ok)a haircut in Mr Tongs then a visit to the german embassy in soi 7 should be a good day.

[honey2000]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought it was illegal to smoke in a restaurant/pub.

Not in this Soi 8 place it seems. I questioned how a guy had started to smoke at the table next to me. Was told it's the smoking area.

It was in the middle of the place.

[beekaykay]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought it was illegal to smoke in a restaurant/pub.

Not in this Soi 8 place it seems. I questioned how a guy had started to smoke at the table next to me. Was told it's the smoking area.

It was in the middle of the place.

My local in 7/1 has indoor air con and smoking is ONLY allowed outside on the porch a lot of places in bkk are paying the old bill off every month to turn a blind eye...

[jfchandler]

Those of use who live around lower Sukhumvit have the "benefit" of having several major pubs in the area that somehow all manage to flout Bangkok's law against indoor smoking in air conditioned indoor pubs...

The Soi 8 Pub is one of those, as are the Crossbar Pub near Asoke Road and the Huntsman Pub in the basement of the Landmark Hotel. In that latter example, the Huntsman is a large open basement room with a central bar area in the middle. On a recent visit, the staff explained, as you walk in, the right half of the bar is for smokers and the left half on the opposite side of the central bar is no smoking...

I suppose, that's better than nothing, in that you don't have to worry about someone sitting down next to you and lighting up while you're eating...provided you're sitting in the correct half of the bar -- and of course they don't have any signage that indicates that... because of course... legally... smoking is 100% prohibited in that kind of setting.

But still, in all of those places, if enough people are smoking, the smoke floats about the entire room and you can't avoid it..no matter where you sit... particularly in a much smaller venue like the Crossbar, which can be like eating your meal in an ashtray at times...

[mrtoad]

No surprise that the usual anti-smoking lobby have hijacked this thread.

They have probably 95% of the pubs to choose from in Bangkok, yet are still unhappy. Pretty sad really, if a bar chooses to allow it then that should be the bars choice. The customer has the choice to frequent where he wishes to go. Funny how several of the pubs that allow smoking have a very strong regular base of customers.

[Geekfreaklover]

No surprise that the usual anti-smoking lobby have hijacked this thread.

They have probably 95% of the pubs to choose from in Bangkok, yet are still unhappy. Pretty sad really, if a bar chooses to allow it then that should be the bars choice. The customer has the choice to frequent where he wishes to go. Funny how several of the pubs that allow smoking have a very strong regular base of customers.

Maybe because they are full of non-smokers looking for an excuse to vent their anger perhaps?

Some people are simply not happy if they are not complaining.

[jfchandler]

Maybe, really, it's a point of contention because allowing smoking in air conditioned indoor pubs in Bangkok is against the law...

But then...you smoking guys don't want to be bothered about that minor detail... Who cares about the law anyway...

[bkkjames]

Maybe, really, it's a point of contention because allowing smoking in air conditioned indoor pubs in Bangkok is against the law...

But then...you smoking guys don't want to be bothered about that minor detail... Who cares about the law anyway...

As I said before, if you are really concerned about it John, please go visit your local complaint department.

We get it, you dont like smoking. You dont like the 3 bars you singled out because of it. I don't believe the customers that do continue to go there or the owners of said establishments really care to be honest.

[mrtoad]

Maybe, really, it's a point of contention because allowing smoking in air conditioned indoor pubs in Bangkok is against the law...

But then...you smoking guys don't want to be bothered about that minor detail... Who cares about the law anyway...

Welcome to Thailand.

[jfchandler]

Glad to see you're doing your part in the effort, James....

[bkkjames]

Glad to see you're doing your part in the effort, James....

Funny thing is John, as you know I do visit Soi 8 from time to time but never sit inside.

[beekaykay]

If you don't want to be in a smokey atmosphere, go to a pub that doesn't allow it - it's not exactly rocket science.

lol, no I suppose cancer aint either is it m8

[Geekfreaklover]

Prostitution is ilegal in Thailand. If you don't like bars where it is openly going on then don't go in there. Likewise if you don't like cigarette smoke in a pub then go to another pub...

Seems like some people love to go into a bar with a smokey atmosphere with naked women just so they can complain about it. Get with the programme people. And if you don't like it you can always just go home!! (where have i heard that one before?)

[mrtoad]

Matbe it's time that the thread was closed if people can't talk about the actual topic, as it now seems to have gone back to the usual "smoking" debate that seems to be popular with certain people.

In the end it's a popular pub, there must be some reason.

[jfchandler]

Geek... I haven't seen too many naked women parading around in the Soi 8 Pub lately....

But frankly, you're in no position to be talking on this... The law is against you... And it's against the pubs that operate the way the Soi 8 Pub does. Thailand is hardly in the forefront of such health and environmental issues. So if Thailand of all places has taken this kind of step, then society at large is against you as well. So frankly, if you don't like the law in BKK, then YOU should go home...

If you want to sit at home and smoke yourself to death, no one's going to care. If you want to go outside somewhere and blow smoke in your wife or girlfriend or children's faces, I couldn't care two cents.

But it's when you and others go into enclosed, public places and start blowing your smoke around...and polluting the lungs of others who don't want any part of it, that I and others take offense. What makes you think you have the right to pollute the lungs of others who want no part of your nasty habit...

[Geekfreaklover]

Geek... I haven't seen too many naked women parading around in the Soi 8 Pub lately....

But frankly, you're in no position to be talking on this... The law is against you... And it's against the pubs that operate the way the Soi 8 Pub does. Thailand is hardly in the forefront of such health and environmental issues. So if Thailand of all places has taken this kind of step, then society at large is against you as well. So frankly, if you don't like the law in BKK, then YOU should go home...

If you want to sit at home and smoke yourself to death, no one's going to care. If you want to go outside somewhere and blow smoke in your wife or girlfriend or children's faces, I couldn't care two cents.

But it's when you and others go into enclosed, public places and start blowing your smoke around...and polluting the lungs of others who don't want any part of it, that I and others take offense. What makes you think you have the right to pollute the lungs of others who want no part of your nasty habit...

Chandler,

I don't smoke unless I am very drunk. So it's not my nasty habit. However I do like the smell of smoke in a pub. Reminds of the pubs I used to know back in the west. It's a nostalgia thing. Soi 8 runs the sort of pub I like to drink in. Lot's of other people like it too.

[beekaykay]

Prostitution is ilegal in Thailand. If you don't like bars where it is openly going on then don't go in there. Likewise if you don't like cigarette smoke in a pub then go to another pub...

Seems like some people love to go into a bar with a smokey atmosphere with naked women just so they can complain about it. Get with the programme people. And if you don't like it you can always just go home!! (where have i heard that one before?)

lol another no brainer

[beekaykay]

However I do like the smell of smoke in a pub. Reminds of the pubs I used to know back in the west. It's a nostalgia thing. Soi 8 runs the sort of pub I like to drink in. Lot's of other people like it too.

Well you'd better start get used to the smell of hospitals......

[jfchandler]

I take your comment at face value, but I must say, that strikes me as one of the strangest explanations about smoking I've ever heard... I don't really smoke, but I like the smell of cigarettes when I drink???

How about if I buy you a spray bottle of nicotine???

I don't smoke unless I am very drunk. So it's not my nasty habit. However I do like the smell of smoke in a pub. Reminds of the pubs I used to know back in the west. It's a nostalgia thing. Soi 8 runs the sort of pub I like to drink in. Lot's of other people like it too.

[mrtoad]

However I do like the smell of smoke in a pub. Reminds of the pubs I used to know back in the west. It's a nostalgia thing. Soi 8 runs the sort of pub I like to drink in. Lot's of other people like it too.

Well you'd better start get used to the smell of hospitals......

I'm pretty sure that the alcohol related deaths are pretty high as well, so I guess if you drink you're F#@$%D, if you smoke you are F%$#@D and if you do double - well, oh dear.

Personally, I think the whole law is a total ass - there is plenty of provision made for non-smokers with options of various places, there are very few places that actually allow smoking. I can't see why it seems to wind up the ant-smoking brigade so much that there are places where people can smoke.

If there was more thought in the way the laws were made and not tipped in the balance of only one group, we wouldn't even be having this debate. The bars that allow smoking must do it for a reason, and the people that go these bars must also go there for a reason. From what I have seen - it seems it's a pretty popular pub -maybe the busiest on Sukhumvit, can't be that many unhappy people going there. It would be interesting to see how Pubs that have enforced non-smoking have seen any cut in their profits. Speaking to a few friends back home in the UK, and they say that they have most certainly noticed a decline in numbers since the enforcement.

[Geekfreaklover]

However I do like the smell of smoke in a pub. Reminds of the pubs I used to know back in the west. It's a nostalgia thing. Soi 8 runs the sort of pub I like to drink in. Lot's of other people like it too.

Well you'd better start get used to the smell of hospitals......

Is that a threat?

[beekaykay]

However I do like the smell of smoke in a pub. Reminds of the pubs I used to know back in the west. It's a nostalgia thing. Soi 8 runs the sort of pub I like to drink in. Lot's of other people like it too.

Well you'd better start get used to the smell of hospitals......

Is that a threat?

dont even go there m8

[jfchandler]

Speaking as a "brigade" member, I have no problem with you being able to smoke anywhere -- as long as you don't impose your smoke/smoking on others who don't want it.

The whole issue of laws on this subject got started in fact because there were many studies done showing that restaurant and bar workers were suffering ill health effects because their work environment was subjecting them to many hours each day, day after day, of others' cigarette pollution. Like from YOU!!!

Maybe you don't buy into the idea, but most people would take the view that people should be able to work at a job without their work environment making them sick or damaging their health and lungs. Hence, laws against smoking in indoors public places.

No one minds if you want to kill yourself and damage your health. It's only when you start doing so at the expense of others that the "brigade" gets worked up...

I can't see why it seems to wind up the ant-smoking brigade so much that there are places where people can smoke.

[sbk]

I'd drop any personal issues you may decide to start here, as of now.

[mrtoad]

Speaking as a "brigade" member, I have no problem with you being able to smoke anywhere -- as long as you don't impose your smoke/smoking on others who don't want it.

The whole issue of laws on this subject got started in fact because there were many studies done showing that restaurant and bar workers were suffering ill health effects because their work environment was subjecting them to many hours each day, day after day, of others' cigarette pollution. Like from YOU!!!

Maybe you don't buy into the idea, but most people would take the view that people should be able to work at a job without their work environment making them sick or damaging their health and lungs. Hence, laws against smoking in indoors public places.

No one minds if you want to kill yourself and damage your health. It's only when you start doing so at the expense of others that the "brigade" gets worked up...

I can't see why it seems to wind up the ant-smoking brigade so much that there are places where people can smoke.

Just to remind you, you do have a choice to go to certain places. Freedom of choice I believe is meant to work both ways.

[jfchandler]

Just because Thailand suffers from endemic corruption doesn't legitimize the right of smokers to damage the health of non-smokers in enclosed, public places.

Plus, that's probably also why the beer tastes bad.... Someone's using the beer glasses as their personal ashtrays...

The argument that it's wrong to smoke there because it's against the law doesn't stand up either - it's the people that are in charge of enforcing the law that allow it.

[jfchandler]

Tomster, re your question, you are wrong in that it does very much concern me. I live in the neighborhood of the Soi 8 Pub... very close by... In fact, it's probably the closest pub to my home.. I'd like to go there, to go to my neighborhood pub. I'm sure it is a well-run place. It's certainly convenient to my home. And it seems a popular place for some TV members...

Unfortunately, I'm precluded from going there because I don't want to subject myself to others' cigarette smoke. And it irks me some that I'm essentially precluded from being able to frequent 3 different establishments very close to my home (Soi 8 Pub, Huntsman and Crossbar) because others feel they are entitled to smoke cigarettes indoors, and harm the health of others around them, in violation of the governing law.

I want to be able to exercise my rights of free choice, without harming the health of anyone else. Smokers, unfortunately, cannot say the same. I hope that's crystal clear, or at least, that you can see it thru the clouds of smoke.

[BIGTOE3]

Back on subject, I think the beer in Soi 8 is very good, never had a bad pint of draft yet and IF I did I am sure Dave would look into it for me so that it didn't happen again.

Its a well run pub with good attentive staff who are not pushy at all and are friendly in a nice way.

Good selection of food at a reasonable price and is a handy pub for the BTS as I live in Victory Monument area.

I will be back on 30th September and it will be my first port of call so hope to see some TV members there.

Lets not get sidetracked again by that other lot banging their drums again and again.

BT