Rawai Area A Ghost Town, How Is Kata, Karon, Patong This High Season?

[KarenBravo]

Didn't we thoroughly exhaust this subject in another thread that was started

by Mrs. "I'd-love-to-debate-you" Callen?

Edited February 1, 2011 by KarenBravo

[stevenl]

Didn't we thoroughly exhaust this subject in another thread that was started

by Mrs. "I'd-love-to-debate-you" Callen?

That was a discussion about house prices, this is about somebody forgetting what he wrote about .

But you're right, better to stop this, leading nowhere and off topic.

[snamos]

who cares?...it all falls under the same umbrella..I will try to be more accurate in future oh wise one

get back to the topic which is why its so quiet there

[barka]

Didn't we thoroughly exhaust this subject in another thread that was started

by Mrs. "I'd-love-to-debate-you" Callen?

NO...now We got another one who goes off thread all the tme..

[SiamRose]

For a small beer bar, a rent increase of just a few thousand baht extra a month would most likely see a 10 baht increase in the price of a beer, as margins a very tight. So, your bar is now selling beer at 90 baht but the bar next door is still selling beer at 80 baht. You're going to be in trouble. A lot of these bars are closing up.

A very Thai attitude to doing business. If the sales don't cover costs just increase the price. A better way would be to cut prices. A beer only costs Bt30 from the wholesaler, so if you can sell it for Bt40 you've made a Bt10 profit. Let's see; no customers at Bt60 per beer profit is still Bt0.

I see this attitude in the property market all the time. Owners refuse to rent out below what they think their unit is worth, and get nothing instead of cutting the price and getting something.

[BillR]

The bar business here in phuket has nothing to do with the price of a beer and everything to do with the number of ladies that you got working and atmosphere. No ladies+no good salary staff=no customers. If I see a sign for 40 Baht chang draught, thats a pretty good indication that there going to be no ladies and a bunch of a-holes hanging out there.

If you sell a 30 baht beer for 40 baht and think you've made a 10baht profit you obviously didn't go to the wharton school of business.

Edited February 2, 2011 by BillR

[NamKangMan]

The bar business here in phuket has nothing to do with the price of a beer and everything to do with the number of ladies that you got working and atmosphere. No ladies+no good salary staff=no customers. If I see a sign for 40 Baht chang draught, thats a pretty good indication that there going to be no ladies and a bunch of a-holes hanging out there.

If you sell a 30 baht beer for 40 baht and think you've made a 10baht profit you obviously didn't go to the wharton school of business.

If you think a greedy Thai landlord can/will have no effect on your business, maybe you should go back to Wharton School of Business.

Also, you could have the prettiest girls in your bar, but if your drinks are not reasonably priced, punters will just pay the bar fine, grab the girl and go to another bar to drink. Bar fines alone will not cover costs and allow for profits.

Edited February 2, 2011 by NamKangMan

[snamos]

make sure the beer is cold (and cheap)...nice view...and friendly staff minus nose inhalers and u got me

[BillR]

@NamkangMan you sound bitter? did you fail at a business here? Did you get a shitty lease? Did you pay far too much key money than that makes sense?

Nowhere in my post did I mention a greedy thai landlord. It is the business owners responsibility to evaluate the terms and length of a lease and whether or not it is feasible to make a profit within those terms. It is the business owners responsibility to hire on salary staff that adds value to their business and maintains a loyal clientele. Having more expensive drinks also solves a major problem for both the girls and the bar owner. It keeps the cheap asses out and you can actually pay your overhead.

Edited February 2, 2011 by BillR

[madmitch]

I just read through this last page and honestly forgot what the original post was so had to look at the heading.

So back on topic. There are not many rooms to be had in Karon right now and the local 7-Eleven is doing a roaring trade in Lays, peanuts and hot dogs, the traditional Russian dinner. An astute Thai business person has just opened a shiny looking chicken stall in the area and is selling out very quickly every day. You can guess where most of the customers are from.

[NamKangMan]

@NamkangMan you sound bitter? did you fail at a business here? Did you get a shitty lease? Did you pay far too much key money than that makes sense?

Nowhere in my post did I mention a greedy thai landlord. It is the business owners responsibility to evaluate the terms and length of a lease and whether or not it is feasible to make a profit within those terms. It is the business owners responsibility to hire on salary staff that adds value to their business and maintains a loyal clientele. Having more expensive drinks also solves a major problem for both the girls and the bar owner. It keeps the cheap asses out and you can actually pay your overhead.

No, not bitter. I have never owned a business in Thailand, or bought a house that sits on land I can't own and have never sent money to Issarn for "sick buffalo." I'm just calling a spade. a spade. A Thai landlord, whether greedy, or reasonable, will play a big part in your business, particularly in the long term. You may have a reasonably priced lease now, but when it comes time for renewal, who knows what price may be demanded, especially if you have built the business up and are getting a few punters in.

Like another poster mentioned, I to, have frequented little bars, with a good atmosphere, and befriended the owners. Their businesses are running along fine. Then, one day, they just close up. The Thai landlord increased the rent to the point the business was no longer viable. So, myself, and some other guys, lose one of our favourite little watering holes. It's happening a lot. It's the farang owner that knows what the business turns over and that an increase in rent, of a partucular figure of baht, instantly makes the business not viable.

The more you look around, the more you can see that it's the Thai landlords that are making all the money and making Phuket more and more expensive. They are the ones that, indirectly, are setting the prices of goods and services on the island. This is not indifferent to the west, but, the greed, put together with the Thai theory that farang money is unlimited, makes for some unrealistic rents being demanded for small bars and businesses on the island.

The owners, in a majority of cases, have so many overheads, they just get by. For a lot of them, the business makes just enough to allow them to remain living in Thailand, in reasonable comfort. The legitimate staff, who are on anything between 6000 baht and 9000 baht a month, barely have anything left at the end of the month.

The Thai landlords, who just keep raising the rents, which in turn, makes Phuket expensive for tourist and expats, are on their way to pricing Phuket out of the market when compared to their neighbouring competition. This is where my post directly relates to the OP - "Rawai Area A Ghost Town etc." The rents keep going up, therefore, the goods and services that bars or shops supply keep going up to the point that tourist start to go to Vietnam, Cambodia etc.

Like I said, they don't care how many businesses "fall over" because they just advertise again and sign someone up to a new lease and more key money and the cycle continues.

I know of a couple of small bars that closed up because the rent increased by just 5000 baht a month. They have sat vacant for some time now because the Thai landlords would not budge on the rent increases. We just laugh how much they are losing each month now as they sit vacant.

Edited February 2, 2011 by NamKangMan

[snamos]

Maybe time to start a new post......"are landlords greedy...and is the property market inflated in Phuket?"

[katabeachbum]

I just read through this last page and honestly forgot what the original post was so had to look at the heading.

So back on topic. There are not many rooms to be had in Karon right now and the local 7-Eleven is doing a roaring trade in Lays, peanuts and hot dogs, the traditional Russian dinner. An astute Thai business person has just opened a shiny looking chicken stall in the area and is selling out very quickly every day. You can guess where most of the customers are from.

excellent post back on topic, and describing the new tourists

may I ad beer and vodka to the 7eleven purchase list

actually they dont even buy a bottle of water at the beach, but enjoy warm water on the beach bought at 7eleven

[keestha]

Sticking to the original topic of the thread: since about 5 days Khao Lak is completely overrun with tourists, difficult to find a room in the lower price bracket category. I have to send people away constantly because my 15 room hotel doesn't have any vacancy.

One reason might be people cancelling their diving/snorkeling holiday in Egypt.

Edited February 3, 2011 by keestha

[stevenl]

Sticking to the original topic of the thread: since about 5 days Khao Lak is completely overrun with tourists, difficult to find a room in the lower price bracket category. I have to send people away constantly because my 15 room hotel doesn't have any vacancy.

One reason might be people cancelling their diving/snorkeling holiday in Egypt.

same here, very busy right now. But I don't think it has any connection with Egypt, probably simply Chinese New Year. At the end of next week this will be over again, although I did wish this was connected to Egypt, and therefor not getting quiet again at the end of next week.