What Are They Building On Kata Beach ?

[coatesy]

hello all ,

just wondering what they are building on kata beach across the road from the car park ??? ... i see alot of guys putting in some effort i hope it works well for them !

coatesy

[LivinginKata]

It's a 'wave surf' ride. Or something like that.

This will be the second one in Thailand, first one in Bangkok.

edit// it's a Flow Rider Machine

[LivinginKata]

I hope the owners have a good business plan. Buzz is that they are charging 100 baht per minute. Electric costs for the huge pumps will be enormous. i think back to the recent Stunt Show that was built at big cost, did not last one year, and was demolished a couple of months ago.

[hansgruber]

Insane.

[britpop]

i was hoping it was a multi story car park, as LIK says, a business idea waiting to fail, it'll be another white elephant, if you count up all the business idea's that have failed on Phuket, wow it's a lot of dreams lost, heartache and money, good luck to them, although on reflection the cable ski and wake board place in kathu i think does OK, so there might be a market for such a attraction near the beach, i bet the start up costs are in the millions, i've made one of my own, it's a running machine and i just use a skateboard on it and my GF throws water at me every so often.

Edited November 27, 2012 by britpop

[steelepulse]

If they want it to be feasible, they need to keep the costs in line so regular people that come for a surf,and find no waves can do a one hour session and not be out ridiculous money. IIRC, the one in Bangkok charges about 500-600 baht/hour which is in line with Kathu Wake Park ( formerly known as the cable ski).

[Mr Brown]

100 baht a minute..lol Once again in Phuket greed will ultimately lead to failure. They will never learn..lol

[stevenl]

100 baht a minute..lol Once again in Phuket greed will ultimately lead to failure. They will never learn..lol

First of all the 100 Baht per minute is a rumour. Could be true, could not be true.

But always interesting to see that somebody without having any idea about the expenses and projected income is making a judgment.

[DLock]

Bangkok Flowhouse is 550 - 650 baht per hour (shared use) which includes boards.

Phuket will definitely be more expensive, but it will not be 100baht per minute/per person....but that may be the real cost per minute to run the device.

I really hope these guys do well.

[LivinginKata]

I was surprised at the 100 baht/minute figure. I got this from the Thai construction manager at the site. Mind you Bangkok's 550 - 650 baht per hour seems rather cheap. I suppose very different markets. More volume in Bangkok, more Thais. Kata will struggle to get big numbers of customers and they will mostly be tourists. I really hope the owners have a good plan to promote this place.

[Mr Brown]

100 baht a minute..lol Once again in Phuket greed will ultimately lead to failure. They will never learn..lol

First of all the 100 Baht per minute is a rumour. Could be true, could not be true.

But always interesting to see that somebody without having any idea about the expenses and projected income is making a judgment.

Stevenl how would you know what I do or don’t know about that project or any other project as a matter of fact.

Edited November 28, 2012 by LivinginKata
flame removed

[DLock]

100 baht a minute..lol Once again in Phuket greed will ultimately lead to failure. They will never learn..lol

First of all the 100 Baht per minute is a rumour. Could be true, could not be true.

But always interesting to see that somebody without having any idea about the expenses and projected income is making a judgment.

Stevenl how would you know what I do or don’t know about that project or any other project as a matter of fact.

I admire your use of irony.

[Payboy]

For 50 Baht per minute I'll let you use the ocean across the road.

[patongphil]

For 50 Baht per minute I'll let you use the ocean across the road.

Ha Ha only if you pay me 100 baht to cross my land to get there!!

[metice]

Good to see someone is trying something original here. It's a shame that it's such a small space - they probably need to boost their income from bar and restaurant sales. Not sure if they will get that. Maybe Patong would have been a better location.

[Payboy]

For 50 Baht per minute I'll let you use the ocean across the road.

Ha Ha only if you pay me 100 baht to cross my land to get there!!

I'm sure I'll get a huge discount from the real owner. Let me talk to your wife.

[glassdude007]

Wonder where they will get all the water from for this silly project?

Free sea water from across the road?

Then dumped back into the sea?

Too bad as that location has such potential even if it is next to the 5bht toilet.

Would have been a nice place to set up a Venue with a long bar facing the sea...

With some nice Happy Hour sunset drinks with some fish and chips, bar snacks,

Kind of like the Paradise Bar in Patong years ago. Go from beach straight to the bar was fantastic.

Or could make a Kata Beer Garden similar to the one in Pattaya and Bangkok a place for the ladies to get out of the hot sun....

Ahhh the potential.....

Edited November 29, 2012 by glassdude007

[LivinginKata]

Wonder where they will get all the water from for this silly project?

Free sea water from across the road?

Then dumped back into the sea?

Too bad as that location has such potential even if it is next to the 5bht toilet.

Would have been a nice place to set up a Venue with a long bar facing the sea...

With some nice Happy Hour sunset drinks with some fish and chips, bar snacks,

Kind of like the Paradise Bar in Patong years ago. Go from beach straight to the bar was fantastic.

Or could make a Kata Beer Garden similar to the one in Pattaya and Bangkok a place for the ladies to get out of the hot sun....

Ahhh the potential.....

If you remember there was a nice bar/restaurant there for years run by a Norwegian guy. I was surprised when it closed and then knocked down. I assumed his lease had expired. But it appears that he has a long time lease and decided to go into partnership with the wave rider guy. So I guess that bar/restaurant was not a great success.

[honoluabay]

Well they have these all over the world. Max riders per hour so you get 8 to 10 rides if you are good, in your hour. Not easy I have surfed my entire life and had big trouble w/this. The Flow House in San Diego is the first. Good luck I'll stick to real waves and surf. Aloha

Sent from my A200 using Thaivisa Connect App

[honoluabay]

Wonder where they will get all the water from for this silly project?

Free sea water from across the road?

Then dumped back into the sea?

Too bad as that location has such potential even if it is next to the 5bht toilet.

Would have been a nice place to set up a Venue with a long bar facing the sea...

With some nice Happy Hour sunset drinks with some fish and chips, bar snacks,

Kind of like the Paradise Bar in Patong years ago. Go from beach straight to the bar was fantastic.

Or could make a Kata Beer Garden similar to the one in Pattaya and Bangkok a place for the ladies to get out of the hot sun....

Ahhh the potential.....

If you remember there was a nice bar/restaurant there for years run by a Norwegian guy. I was surprised when it closed and then knocked down. I assumed his lease had expired. But it appears that he has a long time lease and decided to go into partnership with the wave rider guy. So I guess that bar/restaurant was not a great success.

by the way where is the location. On beach restaurant side or lam sai rd.?

Sent from my A200 using Thaivisa Connect App

[LivinginKata]

South end of Kata beach front. Opposite the small car park.

[glassdude007]

Wonder where they will get all the water from for this silly project?

Free sea water from across the road?

Then dumped back into the sea?

Too bad as that location has such potential even if it is next to the 5bht toilet.

Would have been a nice place to set up a Venue with a long bar facing the sea...

With some nice Happy Hour sunset drinks with some fish and chips, bar snacks,

Kind of like the Paradise Bar in Patong years ago. Go from beach straight to the bar was fantastic.

Or could make a Kata Beer Garden similar to the one in Pattaya and Bangkok a place for the ladies to get out of the hot sun....

Ahhh the potential.....

If you remember there was a nice bar/restaurant there for years run by a Norwegian guy. I was surprised when it closed and then knocked down. I assumed his lease had expired. But it appears that he has a long time lease and decided to go into partnership with the wave rider guy. So I guess that bar/restaurant was not a great success.

yes tried that place a few times....

Was kinda expensive and not the type of place where you wanna hang around after a day at the beach...

more of a returaunt atmosphere i guess....

[LivinginKata]

yes tried that place a few times....

Was kinda expensive and not the type of place where you wanna hang around after a day at the beach...

more of a returaunt atmosphere i guess....

You are correct, it was more of a restaurant place. But it did have a nice open sort of look, no glass windows. Some of his specials of the day were reasonable price.

But nothing like the old Paradise Bar, one of the first places I frequented in Patong, just to see the sun go down.

[LivinginKata]

The Flowrider seems to be open on 25th December. Charging 900 baht/first hour, 650 baht additional hour, or 1,660 baht for 3 hours. So far I have not seen any water flowing ? Last week they had a big portable gen set for a day to test the pumps and the owners were riding the flow. I suspect they have not got a large enough power connection.

[britpop]

The Flowrider seems to be open on 25th December. Charging 900 baht/first hour, 650 baht additional hour, or 1,660 baht for 3 hours. So far I have not seen any water flowing ? Last week they had a big portable gen set for a day to test the pumps and the owners were riding the flow. I suspect they have not got a large enough power connection.

I think when they hook that baby into the main grid, the whole of kata's lights will dim, i had a look, quite impressive but you are right LIK the energy consumption (electric) will be pretty high, as for the pricing, it'll be interesting to see if it gets big volumes of punters, but like all new businesses "good luck": and i wish them all the best

[manly100]

if its being used by punters all day long all year long it will be fine. will that happen? did the owners think that would happen?