Thaivisa HQ - A Dream Or Reality?

[Digger]

I'd suggest a secondary mall on Sukhumvit but near to BTS and subway - the obvious thought in my mind would be Times Suare Building next door to the Sheraton. You have perfect access to both BTS and subway - easy car parking - Prominant location - unoccupied premises on the shopping areas, however I am not sure if they will permit alcohol to be sold everywhere - having said that there are restaurants in there but presume it must be OK. Its probably quite cheap as well given that its pretty old now but location is excellent and very little direct competition to detract people along the way from ever getting there.

Personally I have never been in Simons beer bars or even that complex - no car parking and wrong side of the street means its too hard - easier options elsewhere - no offence meant to those bars but its the wrong area in my opinion.

[bkkmadness]

Is car parking really a necessity?

Not only does that make it very hard to find a venue, but unless we all just jumped up a league on here I would say the majority of TV members do not drive in Bangkok.

On top of that the ones that do hopefully do not drive home after a drink.

[LaoPo]

Without trying to dampen peoples enthusiasm, would Sukhumvit 1 Plaza really appeal to all members of Thaivisa.com and their families ?

Would it really be appropriate to bring your wife and family there. I just wandered by and took this photo

And well its a nice place to go for a night out with the boys...... But at the end of the day its a collection of Beer-Bars complete with all the trappings of beer bars.

I don't know the building but it has great looks (photo). If you take away all the signs, design the entrance neat you have a great spot.

Recommendation: make exterior AND interior soft-white in special colour 9010 *WITHOUT the advertising signs (outside) and it will look GREAT. Use teak-wood for decoration and you will have a 19th century 'Oriental-look' !

* I use that colour all the time in real estate; it has a very WARM look in the evening and adapts the colours from the interior/exterior in the evening.

Put 2 palmtrees in big pots on both sides of the entrance and you have a TOP building.

HUH???: WHERE DID THE PHOTO GO???

LaoPo

Edited January 11, 2006 by LaoPo

[sriracha john]

I for one know that it can be to your detrement to reveal your TV nick and I would never do it again.

Care to elaborate, TP?

NO, sleeping dogs are best left where they are. those that NEED to know -know

Fair enough...

but it fuels the concern I and others might be feeling. I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

[Head Snake]

I've been to Simon's bar, the joop joop place. Its not a bad place. i thought the ambience was nice and not a typical b/g venue except for the walkthru leading up to the place. Its basically in the back of the hall. Another time I went, the A/C in the hall was in the fritz. It was hotter inside the place than outside.

I also like the Big Mango on the second floor of Nana. It has everything you would be looking for except the location is in Nana.

What about Boubon St?

[zzdocxx]

Without trying to dampen peoples enthusiasm, would Sukhumvit 1 Plaza really appeal to all members of Thaivisa.com and their families ?

Would it really be appropriate to bring your wife and family there. I just wandered by and took this photo

And well its a nice place to go for a night out with the boys...... But at the end of the day its a collection of Beer-Bars complete with all the trappings of beer bars.

After clicking the thumbnail and viewing the enlarged pic, I notice the umbrellas out front already have "VISA" prominently printed on them. It would be easy to add "THAI" to the front of that, methinks.

What type of cooking equipment do you have? Maybe something on which to cook burgers, grilled chicken breast sandwiches, etc.? Now I am getting hungry.

[kayo]

Can we have a Klazy Krown Burger and maybe a pink cocktail for the ladies called something like erm.. maybe... erm... Chang Chompuu..

KHALLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you got my Chang Chompuu... I´ve lost him!!! Please HELP!!!!

Edited January 11, 2006 by kayo

[MyThaiLove]

Have you seen Big Johns World? I think they have just about all this stuff. I've been there once before but they were opening up a new side of the place. It's a hostel, restaraunt, internet cafe and music.

PM me for the web site

[leisurely]

Sorry, wasn't being sarcastic when I said that the man was generous. I don't know about any politics on this forum and if I did I would keep out. Least said soonest mended. As for the food, in my excitement about yorkshire puds I didn't read about the lack of cooking facilities.

Still hope it goes ahead.

[HarryHacker]

soi 7/1

...agreed, something like the Abosute Bar in Suk 7/1, clean bar, plenty of room, several floors, pool, food, no girls in your face so to speak. The owner, Patrick the Frenchman has been around decades, anyone know him well enough to discuss such?

[udon]

soi 7/1

...agreed, something like the Abosute Bar in Suk 7/1, clean bar, plenty of room, several floors, pool, food, no girls in your face so to speak. The owner, Patrick the Frenchman has been around decades, anyone know him well enough to discuss such?

Is he the guy with a long hair plait going down his back?

Used to be at Playskool (Nana) a lot?

[HarryHacker]

soi 7/1

...agreed, something like the Abosute Bar in Suk 7/1, clean bar, plenty of room, several floors, pool, food, no girls in your face so to speak. The owner, Patrick the Frenchman has been around decades, anyone know him well enough to discuss such?

Is he the guy with a long hair plait going down his back?

Used to be at Playskool (Nana) a lot?

No, very smart guy, short hair, plumpish, 50ish....he has/had more than a few decent bars in the past. His wife/partner is an African lady.

[ThaiPauly]

and maybe a pink cocktail for the ladies called something like erm.. maybe... erm... Chang Chompuu..

Cocktails , what a great idea!

We could name some after members.

Please allow me to provide the first ones

Mai Thaipauly

Ice Maiden

SteveMango

Singapore Simon

Pink BambinA

FOOD

Moogburger, grilled Huski and of course Scampi and Chips,

SNACK

Kit KAT

SOFT DRINK

Blake 7UP

Maybee other members could add more, but this is all I could come up with in 5 minutes and is just for fun

Some of you may of course this is just mindless babble, and you will probably be right

But thanks for indulging me anyway

[Cassandra]

I'd suggest a secondary mall on Sukhumvit but near to BTS and subway - the obvious thought in my mind would be Times Suare Building next door to the Sheraton. You have perfect access to both BTS and subway - easy car parking - Prominant location - unoccupied premises on the shopping areas, however I am not sure if they will permit alcohol to be sold everywhere - having said that there are restaurants in there but presume it must be OK. Its probably quite cheap as well given that its pretty old now but location is excellent and very little direct competition to detract people along the way from ever getting there.

Personally I have never been in Simons beer bars or even that complex - no car parking and wrong side of the street means its too hard - easier options elsewhere - no offence meant to those bars but its the wrong area in my opinion.

Let me first say that the concept is a good one.Secondly the suggestion of Times Square -or somewhere similar- makes a certain amount of sense for the reasons given.Not to mix words the whole area around the ex beer bar complex is fairly scummy so I suggest Simon's suggestion with all due respect be put on one side.The more difficult issue is just what brand a Thai Visa commercial exercise would be trying to convey because the signals from this forum are quite hard to read.For various reasons the membership is very disparate which actually is a good thing from many points of view, but presents some challenges when thinking though the marketing aspects of a commercial venture.The activist element seems quite downmarket (nothing wrong with that) but doubt whether this reflects the membership as whole.I think there is every prospect of Thai Visa sponsoring an expat club that would rival for example the FCC.

[bkkmadness]

The "bkkmadness" is a perfect cocktail name.

I think Big Johns is out of the question, because its running pretty sucessfully as it is with I expect its own crowd of regulars.

I think really the ideal bar is one thats not that busy at the moment and could do with an injection of trade from TV. Makes it a bit more exclusive for TV members then, as well as the owner of the bar being willing to bend their back a little to put in all the extra things we require in the bar (internet/faxes etc..)

Really, aside from the cooking facilities Simons place pretty ideal for this, plus being a longstanding TV member whos bar is certainly not his primary business gives us a bit more flexibilty to adapt it precisely as we want does it not?

[HarryHacker]

With the greatest respect to Simon, Suk 1 plaza is just not working. None of the bars are making any money and more than a few have now closed or gone to the wall including one of the bigger players. Unless something significant happens and I really don’t think TV is the ‘significant’ to stop the rot, then it would be a bad choice.

But,…..would love to be proven wrong!

[Wolfie]

There would simply have to be the infamous Wolfie Bloody Mary on the cocktail list...

Anything less and i will have to start banning people!

[simon43]

:) I make money from both my bars in Suk1 plaza.....

Morning Night 2 closed and moved out to the new airport. But I understand that was because they got a very good rental deal on a rai of land near the airport, so an opportunity not to be missed.

But regardless of what venue is chosen, we need to be realistic here. Members want a car-park and hot farang food and a farang manager etc. Just who is going to pay for all this if it's not an existing venue? Don't forget that a kitchen has to be inspected by the health authority. (The existing kitchen in Suk1Plaza had to spend a fortune on hygenic catering equipments after their inspection...).

Accounts have to be kept and taxes paid for the business. A farang manager needs a work permit plus farang salary plus plus etc.....

You cannot get something for nothing Let's try to be realistic and settle for something that is 90% acceptable, rather than hold out for 100%. And if nothing fits the bill, then can the idea.

Simon

[bkkmadness]

Members want a car-park and hot farang food and a farang manager etc. Just who is going to pay for all this if it's not an existing venue?

Rooftop with a river view would be nice too.

Seriously, as I pointed out before, car parking is hardly needed, and a farang manager not needed either.

Hot food be a plus, but a copy of the delivery magazine Foodbyphone at the bar and some plates and cutlery bar would be an idea?

Its gonna be a matter of take the best we can find in this case I think, and then make the best of that!

[Rinrada]

I'd suggest a secondary mall on Sukhumvit but near to BTS and subway - the obvious thought in my mind would be Times Suare Building next door to the Sheraton. You have perfect access to both BTS and subway - easy car parking - Prominant location - unoccupied premises on the shopping areas, however I am not sure if they will permit alcohol to be sold everywhere - having said that there are restaurants in there but presume it must be OK. Its probably quite cheap as well given that its pretty old now but location is excellent and very little direct competition to detract people along the way from ever getting there.

Personally I have never been in Simons beer bars or even that complex - no car parking and wrong side of the street means its too hard - easier options elsewhere - no offence meant to those bars but its the wrong area in my opinion.

Let me first say that the concept is a good one.Secondly the suggestion of Times Square -or somewhere similar- makes a certain amount of sense for the reasons given.Not to mix words the whole area around the ex beer bar complex is fairly scummy so I suggest Simon's suggestion with all due respect be put on one side.The more difficult issue is just what brand a Thai Visa commercial exercise would be trying to convey because the signals from this forum are quite hard to read.For various reasons the membership is very disparate which actually is a good thing from many points of view, but presents some challenges when thinking though the marketing aspects of a commercial venture.The activist element seems quite downmarket (nothing wrong with that) but doubt whether this reflects the membership as whole.I think there is every prospect of Thai Visa sponsoring an expat club that would rival for example the FCC.

I used to frequent a bar in Times square a few years ago which was really pretty "smart"good layout,live music everynight,excellent food and the owner (hip Thai guy)was hoping to go for the tourist,local expats and middle Hi-So Thai market but...went bust.

Friday night it was allways full of the type of young femail office types that everybody dreams about out for a night with their girlfriends but that was it... no other punters.

In fact to make ends meet he had to charge upwards of 100bt for "nam som" just to try and break even and that was over 5-7 years ago.

Used to meet some of his ex-staff years later working (and practicing their English) in the Bulls Head ....nice location setup.. but wrong place.

Loads of dodgy takaway brides places upstairs....

Going back a bit further to the late 80s and early 90s does anyone remember another little gin joint that used to be up the Soi next to Times Square called the "Magic Castle Bar"

At one time about the only place that you could buy imported beer but it used to cost 3-4 times (tax)more than the local stuff.Also music was heavy Rock...hence magic C.

[camerata]

There would simply have to be the infamous Wolfie Bloody Mary on the cocktail list...

Anything less and i will have to start banning people!

Er... will the mods be able to ban errant member from the TV Clubhouse?

[Wolfie]

There would simply have to be the infamous Wolfie Bloody Mary on the cocktail list...

Anything less and i will have to start banning people!

Er... will the mods be able to ban errant member from the TV Clubhouse?

Yes we will be the ones stood at the door wearing full body armour, stun batons and riot shields...

Any previously banned member trying to get in will be severly beaten and fed to the hungry crowds inside as the new plaything of the evening.

Were running a class joint here!

[Jai Dee]

Yes we will be the ones stood at the door wearing full body armour, stun batons and riot shields...

I thought tuky voted for lycra...

Hmmm... glad he got out-voted...

[bkkmadness]

Yes we will be the ones stood at the door wearing full body armour, stun batons and riot shields...

I voted for lycra...

Well that'll be a crowd puller.

[Wolfie]

Yes we will be the ones stood at the door wearing full body armour, stun batons and riot shields...

I thought tuky voted for lycra...

Hmmm... glad he got out-voted...

Spandex?

[Jai Dee]

Yes we will be the ones stood at the door wearing full body armour, stun batons and riot shields...

I voted for lycra...

Well that'll be a crowd puller.

Nice edit BKKmadness...

I swear it was tuky... serious!!!

[Rinrada]

So..................Whens the opening night?

[bkkmadness]

Hold your horses, not even found a venue yet dude.

How about we all just choose a 7/11 to sit outside?

[Totster]

Hold your horses, not even found a venue yet dude.

How about we all just choose a 7/11 to sit outside?

Sounds like my kind of venue... make sure it has a tv for the footie tho !

totster

[buadhai]

How about the Irish Pub in Korat, that seems to be a popular spot....