Advice On Buying And Running A Bar In Pattaya

[sparky38]

could anyone give me any advice on first buying and then running a bar in pattaya.

Had enough of blighty and going to sell my house and have about 15-20k spare to go over to pattaya.i have had previous bar management experience as well as a sales and marketing background within the toursit industry ie uk holiday parks. tho i suspect this will be as much use as a glass hammer in pattaya.

all the same nothing ventured nothing gained an all that. i just need the lowdown on buyin a bar/ guesthouse mainly and then the problems of running one over there.

as i said any constructive advice would be welcome

cheers

Sparky

[eljeque]

This is constructive: Do not do it. Find somethig that everyone else is not doing. You are new to the scene even though you m have visited here a few times.

Do not open a bar. Instead, save your money or spend it slowly while here.

[barryofthailand]

could anyone give me any advice on first buying and then running a bar in pattaya.

Had enough of blighty and going to sell my house and have about 15-20k spare to go over to pattaya.i have had previous bar management  experience  as well as a sales and marketing background within the toursit industry ie uk holiday parks. tho i suspect this will be as much use as a glass hammer in pattaya.

all the same nothing ventured nothing gained an all that. i just need the lowdown on buyin a bar/ guesthouse mainly and then the problems of running one over there.

as i said any constructive advice would be welcome

cheers

Sparky

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[gburns57au]

could anyone give me any advice on first buying and then running a bar in pattaya.

Had enough of blighty and going to sell my house and have about 15-20k spare to go over to pattaya.i have had previous bar management  experience  as well as a sales and marketing background within the toursit industry ie uk holiday parks. tho i suspect this will be as much use as a glass hammer in pattaya.

all the same nothing ventured nothing gained an all that. i just need the lowdown on buyin a bar/ guesthouse mainly and then the problems of running one over there.

as i said any constructive advice would be welcome

cheers

Sparky

Do your homework.......over a few years at least....and dont take advice from forums.....

[barryofthailand]

Luckdon't know how long you have been coming to Thailand, but the problem with owning a bar here is that most of the year is low season, and you are lucky to break even that time of year. Only four months out of the entire year you can expect to make money. Most of the bars in Pattaya lose money. Good luck

[thaiflyer1]

Know you wont like this but..........stay where you are. The chances of you making a bar work here are slim at best.

For one thing a bar is going to cost you 6k sterling upwards for the lease on an open air bar and 15k sterling for a shop house type bar lease.

If you come here on holiday 20k sterling is going to last you 2 years tops.

Sorry to be so negative, but you will be better staying in the UK and trying to build up a bit more capital...........look on the bright side you can still come on holidays here.

[Ajarn]

Follow your heart, but cover your ass first

[Humphrey Bear]

I have done it - in Phuket - and may one day do it again. (I'm talking about running a bar!!)

You will need a Thai partner. Make sure it is someone you can control. (Don't have to trust 'em - just control 'em).

Make sure you control the money.

Make sure you have well-established friends who can introduce you to the necessary reprentatives of all the official bodies you will have to deal with.

Make sure you have a good location, preferably a well-established existing hostelry.

Make sure you have your get-away money for when things go pear-shaped. (They may not, but Thailand is no place for a broke ex-bar-owner)

Be prepared to lose a lot of money if you do not have full control. Trust no-one.

There are a hundred bars for sale at any one time. Maybe two or three of those can be made profitable. You have to have the eye for knowing which are the good value-for-money places. I was lucky, I made money. But when I left it to go to work in the Middle East, my then-girl-friend lost a bundle. And I thought she understood the business.

[terdsak_12]

Excellent advise so far. How to lose your shirt in Pattaya = Open a bar!

[lampard10]

Just one piece of advice......................DON'T BUY INTO A PARTNERSHIP.If you go,go it alone,or should I say keep it to you and your Thai wife. If you havn't got a long standing Thai girl friend/wife forget it.

[thaiflyer1]

Just one piece of advice......................DON'T BUY INTO A PARTNERSHIP.

That sounds like the voice of experience Lamp.

[lampard10]

Just one piece of advice......................DON'T BUY INTO A PARTNERSHIP.

That sounds like the voice of experience Lamp.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes..................................you probably know all about me. I bought into the Rising Sun partnership eight years ago.

I have heard that Peter the Fisherman is finally selling up. Chance for the OP there. Good position. I knew Peter when it was on 3 road.

Edited April 26, 2005 by lampard10

[Kremlin]

I would say visit the bars you intend on buying and pick the one with the most repeat local customers, and a good staff. It's also good to have pool or snooker tables to draw customers that want a beer and to play a game.

Then tell the owner that he's just the owner of another shoddy bar and offer him 3/4 the amount he wants. Probably buy the bar half way through low-season to get a good price. Then invite all your friends from backhome over for a visit.

[SEAtramp]

I have heard that Peter the Fisherman is finally selling up. Chance for the OP there. Good position. I knew Peter when it was on 3 road.

Not sure what Pete has got for sale ? He has had that bar on a monthly lease basis for over a year now. And for those that say you need a Thai partner to open a bar, i'm afraid are wrong. Pete for instance, never did.

[sparky38]

just to add more info

ideally i would like to buy a guesthouse type bar which has bout 4-7 rooms. this way i would maximise all oppertunities ie accomodation which means a steady flow of new and repeat customers and also bar take and food take . the pool table in this type is a must--pool leagues etc same as the uk.

i realise that my 15-20k might not stretch to this tho so a beer bar is an option- most beer bars apart from a few aint very proatcive and i have some definate ideas on what i want and need to make it a success.also i have a few contacts who already over there.

however i am also a realist and if i dont make a success of it i am prepared to lose my stake- at least i will have tried - better than staying at home and always wondering.

my long standing thai partner is someone i can trust and control- as awful as it sounds so hopefully no probs there, tho i am aware of the possible problems etc

if nothing else i will have about 2 years i reckon at worst and a lifetime at best.

and the backups already in place back home

just to say thanks for all who have taken the time to reply- as i said all comments are appreciated so keep them coming

sparky

[thai_norman]

hmmmm, i wonder who lampard is? i knew peter when he was on third road, i used to go there for his sandwiches, i knew kieth mainly from the rising sun, we must have bumped into each other on the odd occasion lampard

[ProfessorFart]

I guess its the old story of only do it if you can afford to lose the money if it all goes wrong. Take your time and good luck.

[Darknight]

I guess its the old story of only do it if you can afford to lose the money if it all goes wrong. Take your time and good luck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mmm Xe.com gives as exchange rate

15000 GBP = 1,128,869 Thb

That's not much to buy a bar, Live there, Get there, Eat etc...

Try to add another number 1 behind one of the others like

11,128,869 thb

now that might give you a guesthouse + some reserve

[sparky38]

the figure of 15-20k was just to buy the lease- i will have money other than that for getting there living etc

tho i do think the figure of 11mil bht is a bit excessive for a guesthouse type bar lease tho i aint an expert-thats why i am askin here as well as doing research on the net an talking to ppl actually out there doing it .

sparky

[allexx]

Do NOT do it, your chances to make a Baht or two is minimal.9 out of 10 bars in Patty are losing money. After 22+ years here in good ‘ol Pattaya I’ve seen many bars going down the drain.

[davethailand]

If you've got 11 million i'll sell you my share.

[thx1138]

Does anyone remember the Red House on Soi Chaiyaphum?, it changed hands and became the Dubliner (I remember speaking to the Irish guy who was the manger, he thought he had it nailed, paid for a promo spot on the Pattaya Mail channel(?)), now it is Jeremy's used books. This has happened over the space of what?, 2 years? Listen to what these guys are saying, you will only end up buying a bar that the last Farang failed in. Not forgetting "The Chippy" a few doors down on Buakhow. There was also a bakery, 7th Heaven, tucked away behind the Bowling club, been there for ages, but now also sadly gone (so my mate tells me, the Scouse owner was thinking of relocating to Goa?). I would'nt dare say that I know what is going on in Pattaya as I only visit but please tread carefully. Chok Dee!

[wcr]

Why is it people are only picking up on the bar thing? He actually has said on several occasions he wants a guesthouse with bar.

Bars usually loose money. There are very few money making bars, and if one comes up for sale it wouldn't be at 1.2M Baht. There are more guesthouses making money. With a guesthouse you have additional add ons. As well as the rooms producing income, you can do food, have a bar area, laundary service, a couple of pc's offering an internet service etc. Having several income streams coming into you makes more sence than just one. However, you are not going to pick up a guesthouse lease for 1.2M, its going to be more like 4 - 6M Baht.

So my advice would be, you can't get a profitable established business for 1.2M Baht in Pattaya. Either increase the amount you are prepared to invest or don't do it. Why don't you speak to business brokerages also. There is only one I would be prepared to recommend and that is Evans Marketing. The contact is Charles. The website address is www.evans-marketing.com.

Good luck

PS I bought a business in Pattaya over 2 years ago now and it has been successful for me. Its not a bar, or a guesthouse and I paid over double what you are looking to pay. Keep your mind and options open.

[lampard10]

hmmmm, i wonder who lampard is? i knew peter when he was on third road, i used to go there for his sandwiches, i knew kieth mainly from the rising sun, we must have bumped into each other on the odd occasion lampard

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Keith and I are still good friends,in fact I buy my pies from him. I go and see him when I'm in Pattaya,and when I bought my Ford Ranger from him,he drove it to Surin for me. We go back a long way. Me and Peter go back a long way as well,but in those days I was p1ssed for 28hrs a day. In fact I invented the Spitfire drink,and the Spitfire that I gave to Peter at the time still hangs in his bar.

BTW; Spitfire is Gin,Barcardi,Tequila,Vodka,Clear Schnapps & fresh orange juice.

[Storekeeper]

It's so much more fun to spend money in bars than trying make money in one

[SEAtramp]

There was also a bakery, 7th Heaven, tucked away behind the Bowling club, been there for ages, but now also sadly gone (so my mate tells me, the Scouse owner was thinking of relocating to Goa?).

He's still baking in Sihanoukville Cambodia. As are a couple of ex bar owners from Pattaya that left last year.

BTW. He has kept the same name, 7th Heaven Cafe. If you ever head that way, you will find him on Ekareach St.

Edited April 27, 2005 by SEAtramp

[monty]

On the money he has to spend he might just be able to build himself a small guesthouse.

Take out a lease on an empty shophouse, and redo the interior/rooms.

He wrote all the funds are available for investment and he has seperate funds to keep him going until there is revenue coming in.

A friend of mine did this (although on a little bigger budget) and got pretty succesful by doing things simply better then all the rest. Make the rooms nicer then average, big TV instead of those silly 14" ones, DVD player, he put a second hand PC in every room, hooked up to ADSL broadband...

Relatively inexpensive investments, but they make the rooms stand out!

He made up a nice website, did some decent promotion for it, and now (after 8 months) he receives tens of e-mails a day requesting info, out of which 20% end up in actual bookings.

He has 80% occupancy in low season now, and had to refuse one booking after the other the past high season...

It's possible, but you need even more business sense over here then you would need back in the West to be succesfull!!!

It's really dog eat dog out here

Disclaimer

Not advised to the faint of heart though You will end up with serious stomach ulcers when dealing with the landlord, construction people, staff....

[Humphrey Bear]

PS I bought a business in Pattaya over 2 years ago now and it has been successful for me. Its not a bar, or a guesthouse and I paid over double what you are looking to pay. Keep your mind and options open.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But this is now advertised for sale in 'Baht & Sold' Advert #8628

[thaiflyer1]

PS I bought a business in Pattaya over 2 years ago now and it has been successful for me. Its not a bar, or a guesthouse and I paid over double what you are looking to pay. Keep your mind and options open.

But this is now advertised for sale in 'Baht & Sold' Advert #8628

Hhmm........isnt the advert just advertising wcr's company HB?

Edited April 28, 2005 by thaiflyer1

[Jai Dee]

ideally i would like to buy a guesthouse type bar which has bout 4-7 rooms.

Sounds like he's after something like The Blind Beggar