What Happened With Ministry Of Sound Nightclub In Sukhumvit?

[DJ_Illusion]

It was so Exciting for me when i found out that the ministry of sounds in UK is going to open up its first nightclub outside the UK, even more exciting that they picked thailand out while they had alot of other better choices, i dont know why thailand exactly but i would think that the ministry of sounds nightclub in UK was getting enough crouds from all over europe and the usa and thought that there is a big market in asia so they picked thailand it being in the middle of the SE asian countries thats in my opinion, anyways, when i got to thailand for the very first time, the night i deceided to go to the ministry of sounds nightclub, first it was so hard to get to it since no one seemed to know what it was to begin with. Finally after getting to it i asked around and they said its been closed since 6 months!

anybody got any clue what happened why did they close? or anybody been there when it was opened ? i really would like to know anything about them. cheers

[terdsak_12]

Probably a victim of the social order campaign.

[EVO]

It didnt attract its target audience, rather it attracted hoardes of hookers. It closed down and last i heard they were thinking of opening in Singapore instead.

[penzman]

The barman went deaf and kept serving the wrong drinks.

[Sunbelt Asia]

Number of reasons why it went south...

Franchise Royalty fee was too high. They had to pay 8% royalty

to the UK then 7% Vat to the government on every drink.

It was so high profile. 5 different Police groups wanted money every month. You get a raid and kills your trade. Not much money in having people stand around peeing in a bottle instead of drinking beer. (You are dead meat if one person is carrying drugs or is underage. Lots of stress worrying if your competitor is setting you up. 30 day closure if it happens. )

DJ's prices are a killer. They had to pay $25,000 for one night for a headliner.

Place was so big. People would compare it to the Q Bar and say the Q Bar was packed. Put the same # of people in the MOS and it was a dent. People feed off people.

The VIP lounges looking down on the dance floor didn't work well. Even “important people” want to be part of the action.

The one less hour killed them when it went from 1 a.m. from 2 a.m.. 40% of the night’s trade can be in the last hour.

www.sunbeltasia.com

[DJ_Illusion]

Number of reasons why it went south...

Franchise Royalty fee was too high. They had to pay 8% royalty

to the UK then 7% Vat to the government on every drink.

It was so high profile. 5 different Police groups wanted money every month. You get a raid and kills your trade. Not much money in having people stand around peeing in a bottle instead of drinking beer. (You are dead meat if one person is carrying drugs or is underage. Lots of stress worrying if your competitor is setting you up. 30 day closure if it happens. )

DJ's prices are a killer. They had to pay $25,000 for one night for a headliner.

Place was so big. People would compare it to the Q Bar and say the Q Bar was packed. Put the same # of people in the MOS and it was a dent. People feed off people.

The VIP lounges looking down on the dance floor didn't work well. Even “important people” want to be part of the action.

The one less hour killed them when it went from 1 a.m. from 2 a.m.. 40% of the night’s trade can be in the last hour.

www.sunbeltasia.com

Wow! Well it seems like an awful lot of reasons. Sure thing though, is that they knew about the franchise royalty fees before they even start building, or about the DJ's prices, But what i mean to say is that we are talking about the ministry of sounds here, its not any nightclub it is an internationaly recognised name and not only known for their nightclub but also have their own DJ's, Producers, Dancers etc. The way you are puting it sounds to me like a few guys that were successful in the UK so one day decided to open up a second branch somewhere in asia, they picked out thailand in a lottery and went ahead with it.

What happened with the marketing research? business plan? demographic research? or even dealing with a lawyer firm that would introduce them to the rules and regulations and how things go in that country, Like the 5 different police groups that wanted money, i really dont understand this, is it kind of a legal action? if i am doing good or if i own a successful upscale nightclub in thailand that means i have to expect police raids, pay or get my place closed or get framed, can't my lawyer protect me from such raids?

About the underage drinking or drugs being in the club, well what happened to their security team or bouncers ministry of sounds are sure known for having the best bouncers in the world unless they went cheap on that issue.

have to say though, i would'nt entirely agree about the VIP lounge or the place being so big i mean again its the ministry of sound night club we are talking about If they did a solid marketing plan they would be getting patrons from all over SE asian so it better be big or it wouldnt be even worth the big leap in the first place. Totally agree with you on the closeing time must have killed their profits badly and who saw it coming...?Cheers!

[Digger]

Also consider that it was in the middle of a residential area and an expensive one at that - instantly they became unpopular with people who live in that Soi. Its not a big soi and if you have some influencial people being disturbed at all hours of the night, they are going to be putting the knife in.

Add in the fact that they had no car parking - and hi-so's dont like walking from a shopping mall, even if it is less than a 200m walk.

It was a confused branding message IN THAILAND - they seemed to believe that there name would be enough - not talking pure volume of advertising, but who was their target market? If it was hi-so Thai's they should have put into RCA or at least in that area or done it as part of a shopping mall project where you have no neighbours to disturb. If it was high end farang and Thai, they should have put it into a Hotel and come under the hotels wing - allowing the hotel to provide steady stream of expense account customers.

Personally, I dont see how they could have suceeded where they opened. I for example never went there but have been to pretty much every other club in Bangkok at one time or another.

[Sunbelt Asia]

The way you are puting it sounds to me like a few guys that were successful in the UK so one day decided to open up a second branch somewhere in asia, they picked out thailand in a lottery and went ahead with it.

As I stated this was a franchise with MOS in the UK being the Franchisor. Not a branch office where MOS in the UK was at risk except for their reputation of the name. The group in Thailand were not newbies and had a number of successful bars/ restaurant and even are catering lunch to schools. They are still in business with several of these successful ventures with two bar/restaurant packed every night.

What happened with the marketing research? business plan? demographic research? or even dealing with a lawyer firm that would introduce them to the rules and regulations and how things go in that country, Like the 5 different police groups that wanted money, i really don't understand this, is it kind of a legal action? if i am doing good or if i own a successful upscale nightclub in Thailand that means i have to expect police raids, pay or get my place closed or get framed, can't my lawyer protect me from such raids?

A business plan is just that. A plan how you think your business will do in the future. The crystal ball had no vision of a Social Order with 1 a.m. or the different groups all wanting to provide security or hours that you should be making money or your customers will be peeing in a bottle while you have 200 staff being paid.

Their other ventures, they have no more than 2,000 Baht a month to pay for "security." MOS was high profile and with it not being in the zone, it attracted a number of hands being held to pay for security.

A lawyer can not help you if they want to stop by and check your customers for drugs.

About the underage drinking or drugs being in the club, well what happened to their security team or bouncers ministry of sounds are sure known for having the best bouncers in the world unless they went cheap on that issue.

This was not a problem. The testing and down time while they were testing, along with the stress.

i would'nt entirely agree about the VIP lounge or the place being so big i mean again its the ministry of sound night club we are talking about If they did a solid marketing plan they would be getting patrons from all over SE asian so it better be big or it wouldnt be even worth the big leap in the first place.

We have been involved with big projects like this. The key is the electricity of the people. With a big place you need lots of people to get that friction and heat. When it happens the club is alive. A club like Q Bar even when they are raided are still able to overcome it, because they are small. Some people will avoid a place when it starts to get raided, others have no problem with it. Even a 20% decline in customers will have the big places lose its magic and then its a downward spiral. Q Bar is so full, 20% means nothing except making it a tad easier to walk. Same problem happen with Mystique. Their big problem, rumors have it, it was in a residential area with a powerful neighbor who didn't want the club there.

http://www.bangkokrecorder.com/?p=redakt.a...4&ArtikelID=110

http://www.mondiale.co.uk/mondodr/mystique.html

The good news, the founder Darryl Scott will be back bigger and better than ever. They have found a new location and signed a lease recently.

www.sunbeltasia.com

[steveromagnino]

anybody got any clue what happened why did they close? or anybody been there when it was opened ? i really would like to know anything about them. cheers

I will add a little more:

- there are several extremely important people in that Soi who didn't enjoy the loud music

- the choice of music was not right; MOS is a prog house type sound mostly, and only Narcissus has been able to survive playing that; it is not popular with Thai people and Q Bar etc haven't played that style either much - Thai customers (and pretty much most people in Asia) aren't so big on the PVD/Oakenfold style sound which is only good apparently if someone is on drugs. Additionally, the many other types of music that could have filled the smaller room were mostly ignored; D&B, hip hop and so on could have been used more than they did

- the poor use of the two room concept - the lower room was too low and felt substandard; the big room was huge, but opened too often initially, and designed that it either felt full or empty and nothig in between

- the owners lacked specific experience in big room style clubs, at the opening the guy's words were 'Bangkok let's rock' - not exactly Trade or Fabric

- MOS was already on the way down anyway, as were the big room clubs

- the big covercharge mentality works in the west; it was new here, and they never really managed to figure out that Thai people (and to a lessor extent foreigners) are price conscious, and MOS was charging them around double any other place, including some clubs that were bringing in much the same DJs

- there was mis management inside, and I have it from a few reliable sources that there was skimming within the organisation

- quite quickly, the number of foreigners overran the numbers of wealthy Thais, so the wealthy Thais stopped coming and that then ended up with a CM2 westerner + prostitute/money girl type vibe; which can work for Q Bar (which still manages a coolness factor and thus can still pull in a few other people) but MOS was so big it didn't work for them; and MOS music didn't quite fit the types of people going there on the pull; they seem to prefer CM2 type music

- the doorman policy was using foreign doormen initially, who managed to offend a few high profile Thai models and the like (similar to the met Bar) and thus cut off any chance of revenue from these people thereafter; knowing who to kiss ass to is important in a socialite business like this

Overall, I'd say it wasn't laid out right, it had the wrong music, it was overpriced, it was a bad location, the brand was too mass for genuine clubbers and too niche for the mass market. It was too big and its target market was never clear.

[alexth]

So, is there any alternative to the MOS?

[cobra]

.. Franchise Royalty fee was too high...

Your right there,

I believe that's what killed Planet Hollywood,

[Sunbelt Asia]

So, is there any alternative to the MOS?

TOP FOUR CLUBS in BANGKOK to DANCE, DRINK and PULL

Astra, Slim and Flex in the RCA if you like to hang with the young people. Q Bar and Bed if you like to hang with the older mixed crowd.

http://www.bkkaccessallareas.com/read.asp?articleID=117

there are several extremely important people in that Soi who didn't enjoy the loud music

I have a house in that Soi and don't mind the loud music but then again I'm not extremely important. But I do agree, residential areas are not the place to put clubs, just too risky to have problems!

Add in the fact that they had no car parking - and hi-so's dont like walking from a shopping mall, even if it is less than a 200m walk.

They did have car parking at the house, across the street from MOS. Valets would park the cars in the " ghost tower" which is still just floors of concrete platforms next to that house. Pretty cool how this ghost tower finally made some money for the owners.

www.sunbeltasia.com

[alexth]

So, is there any alternative to the MOS?

TOP FOUR CLUBS in BANGKOK to DANCE, DRINK and PULL

Astra, Slim and Flex in the RCA if you like to hang with the young people. Q Bar and Bed if you like to hang with the older mixed crowd.

http://www.bkkaccessallareas.com/read.asp?articleID=117

Thanks a lot Sunbelt Asia, I was actually losing hope there might be clubs like this in Thailand, too bad I've missed the Dave Seaman event, next time maybe. Anyway, again, thank you so much!!!

[Thaible]

I will add a little more:

- there are several extremely important people in that Soi who didn't enjoy the loud music

- the choice of music was not right; MOS is a prog house type sound mostly, and only Narcissus has been able to survive playing that; it is not popular with Thai people and Q Bar etc haven't played that style either much - Thai customers (and pretty much most people in Asia) aren't so big on the PVD/Oakenfold style sound which is only good apparently if someone is on drugs. Additionally, the many other types of music that could have filled the smaller room were mostly ignored; D&B, hip hop and so on could have been used more than they did

- the poor use of the two room concept - the lower room was too low and felt substandard; the big room was huge, but opened too often initially, and designed that it either felt full or empty and nothig in between

- the owners lacked specific experience in big room style clubs, at the opening the guy's words were 'Bangkok let's rock' - not exactly Trade or Fabric

- MOS was already on the way down anyway, as were the big room clubs

- the big covercharge mentality works in the west; it was new here, and they never really managed to figure out that Thai people (and to a lessor extent foreigners) are price conscious, and MOS was charging them around double any other place, including some clubs that were bringing in much the same DJs

- there was mis management inside, and I have it from a few reliable sources that there was skimming within the organisation

- quite quickly, the number of foreigners overran the numbers of wealthy Thais, so the wealthy Thais stopped coming and that then ended up with a CM2 westerner + prostitute/money girl type vibe; which can work for Q Bar (which still manages a coolness factor and thus can still pull in a few other people) but MOS was so big it didn't work for them; and MOS music didn't quite fit the types of people going there on the pull; they seem to prefer CM2 type music

- the doorman policy was using foreign doormen initially, who managed to offend a few high profile Thai models and the like (similar to the met Bar) and thus cut off any chance of revenue from these people thereafter; knowing who to kiss ass to is important in a socialite business like this

Overall, I'd say it wasn't laid out right, it had the wrong music, it was overpriced, it was a bad location, the brand was too mass for genuine clubbers and too niche for the mass market. It was too big and its target market was never clear.

Funny but true. I think your post reveals more about Thai society than any academic textbook

[alexth]

I will add a little more:

- there are several extremely important people in that Soi who didn't enjoy the loud music

- the choice of music was not right; MOS is a prog house type sound mostly, and only Narcissus has been able to survive playing that; it is not popular with Thai people and Q Bar etc haven't played that style either much - Thai customers (and pretty much most people in Asia) aren't so big on the PVD/Oakenfold style sound which is only good apparently if someone is on drugs. Additionally, the many other types of music that could have filled the smaller room were mostly ignored; D&B, hip hop and so on could have been used more than they did

- the poor use of the two room concept - the lower room was too low and felt substandard; the big room was huge, but opened too often initially, and designed that it either felt full or empty and nothig in between

- the owners lacked specific experience in big room style clubs, at the opening the guy's words were 'Bangkok let's rock' - not exactly Trade or Fabric

- MOS was already on the way down anyway, as were the big room clubs

- the big covercharge mentality works in the west; it was new here, and they never really managed to figure out that Thai people (and to a lessor extent foreigners) are price conscious, and MOS was charging them around double any other place, including some clubs that were bringing in much the same DJs

- there was mis management inside, and I have it from a few reliable sources that there was skimming within the organisation

- quite quickly, the number of foreigners overran the numbers of wealthy Thais, so the wealthy Thais stopped coming and that then ended up with a CM2 westerner + prostitute/money girl type vibe; which can work for Q Bar (which still manages a coolness factor and thus can still pull in a few other people) but MOS was so big it didn't work for them; and MOS music didn't quite fit the types of people going there on the pull; they seem to prefer CM2 type music

- the doorman policy was using foreign doormen initially, who managed to offend a few high profile Thai models and the like (similar to the met Bar) and thus cut off any chance of revenue from these people thereafter; knowing who to kiss ass to is important in a socialite business like this

Overall, I'd say it wasn't laid out right, it had the wrong music, it was overpriced, it was a bad location, the brand was too mass for genuine clubbers and too niche for the mass market. It was too big and its target market was never clear.

Funny but true. I think your post reveals more about Thai society than any academic textbook

Perfectly agree, there are some things that we, foreigners, can't implemnt in the thai culture, I will only disagree on one thing though..."PVD/Oakenfold style sound which is only good apparently if someone is on drugs"...that's a little bit harsh, I am a lover of this kind of music and style and I can assure you I had never, ever, not even once been on drugs and there are millions just like me...let the legends and fairytales remain legends and fairytales...I hope one day this "PVD/Oakenfold style sound" will get to be a good business in Thailand too, it would be a shame if it wouldn't

[steveromagnino]

Perfectly agree, there are some things that we, foreigners, can't implemnt in the thai culture, I will only disagree on one thing though..."PVD/Oakenfold style sound which is only good apparently if someone is on drugs"...that's a little bit harsh, I am a lover of this kind of music and style and I can assure you I had never, ever, not even once been on drugs and there are millions just like me...let the legends and fairytales remain legends and fairytales...I hope one day this "PVD/Oakenfold style sound" will get to be a good business in Thailand too, it would be a shame if it wouldn't

Thanks Alex

Actually, I am strongly anti drug, and can mostly enjoy any decent DJ, although prog house guys like Digweed are probably the harder ones to enjoy so I am easy to please.... however I know many clubbers who genuinely feel that prog has to be enjoyed with something.

Oakenfold played a few times, and there was one performance where he actually did such a bad job that people were talking about it for quite a while; PVD is always the bomb and guys like Tiesto are still holding the torch for proggy/trancey stuff anyway; however here in Thailand most of the clubs playing that style or a cheesy version of it (Underground Room Route 66, the place in Leo Grotto, the place before club 20 in Ratchada the name of which I cannot remember) have not lasted, or don't really pack in the crowds like more upbeat styles (e.g. compare Narcisuss to Q bar).

That said, I think there is definite room for a few clubs like this (it is a niche like drum and bass) and Narcissus seems to be it at the moment for that style; with Lucifer AFAIK playing some of the harder house side of trance and prog.

Since my big thing is drum and bass, I am pretty happy at the moment, because this is probably one of the best cities outside of London/England to be a DnB fan; big names here all the time and well cheap prices. Shy FX was 600b including drinks; most of the local DJs cost that sort of amount in cover charge where I grew up.

But for sure, I never expect to be hearing that stuff in the more mainstream places, because like prog it isn't really a mainstream sound. The few big name DnB DJs at Q Bar haven't been that good, 'cause the crowd just hasn't been into it like a club like Astra is. But the big name house DJs absolultely rock at Q Bar; that is more the taste of the crowd there I think....

Edited April 10, 2006 by steveromagnino

[alexth]

I agree Steve, as for most of the clubs of this genre...sometimes, there are a lot of wannabe DJ's coming over and since trance or progressive SEEMS easier to be made and there are all kinds of wannabees involving genius as excuse for the s**t they are playing, thais really don't have a good example...

Oooooops, we're already offtopic , sorry for that

[steveromagnino]

I agree Steve, as for most of the clubs of this genre...sometimes, there are a lot of wannabe DJ's coming over and since trance or progressive SEEMS easier to be made and there are all kinds of wannabees involving genius as excuse for the s**t they are playing, thais really don't have a good example...

Oooooops, we're already offtopic , sorry for that

AlexTH

The style I really liked was live trance; I caught a live set in NZ from a group called Der Dreit Ruem (the 3rd room I think it means) in NZ once; it was pretty hard trance, but absolutely awesome.

I always thought that prog and trance would be really well suited to a live vocalist and set, but for some reason that hasn't happened.

By comparison, drum and bass has live sets now from hospital records, from the Ez Rollers (with the lady roller doing vocals) plus of course the MCs and dNb has benefited a lot as a result. Otherwise, you are just standnig around looking at a DJ; the best of whom are awesome e.g. carl cox, and yep, some are not so hot.

BTW if you check out the classifieds, I am selling a bunch of records and stuff, lots of older prog in there!

[thedude]

they've opened in singapore.

its the largest MOS in the world.

http://www.ministryofsound.com.sg/

there's a main dance floor, and a series of 4 or 5 other smaller rooms over 2 levels. pretty cool.

check out the picture gallery and the Adam Freeland broadcast video.

its hard to find that kind of vibe here these days.

Edited April 12, 2006 by thedude

[steveromagnino]

they've opened in singapore.

its the largest MOS in the world.

http://www.ministryofsound.com.sg/

there's a main dance floor, and a series of 4 or 5 other smaller rooms over 2 levels. pretty cool.

check out the picture gallery and the Adam Freeland broadcast video.

its hard to find that kind of vibe here these days.

Looks pretty nice, and in my old street from when I lived in Singapore no less..... the thing is Singapore has a huge club scene and they are happy to pay really high prices back when I was there Zouk was $25 Sing entry if I remember correctly, and was about $10-$15 sing per drink.

Any club charging half that in BKK would be empty as soon as the coolness factor ran out....

Or full of prostitutes and rich foreigners....

hmmmmmmmmmm

[DJ_Illusion]

Hey nice to see electronic dance music lovers in thailand, that acually dont use drugs hehe, that includes me ofcourse hope one day thai's would give up this hip hop thing and listen to what really gives out the message, when someone wants to have a good time.

alex, steve you guys dont mind if i add you to my list do u ?

later

[alexth]

Hey nice to see electronic dance music lovers in thailand, that acually dont use drugs hehe, that includes me ofcourse hope one day thai's would give up this hip hop thing and listen to what really gives out the message, when someone wants to have a good time.

alex, steve you guys dont mind if i add you to my list do u ?

later

Well, hip hop is ok, but it seems that the wave is heading to hip POP, i mean all that stuff that just came out... , I used to like hip hop when I had Vanilla Ice, DMX, RUN DMC, even the lately ones, PD, 50 Cents, Usher, etc...but this, holla back and all that sick stuff...isn't really aybody out there wantys to listen to music, not only electronic and house, I love all kind of music except the hard rock and heavy stuff, but this???

OK to add me DJ, I will too, maybe we can get together sometimes in BKK

[DJ_Illusion]

Hey nice to see electronic dance music lovers in thailand, that acually dont use drugs hehe, that includes me ofcourse hope one day thai's would give up this hip hop thing and listen to what really gives out the message, when someone wants to have a good time.

alex, steve you guys dont mind if i add you to my list do u ?

later

Well, hip hop is ok, but it seems that the wave is heading to hip POP, i mean all that stuff that just came out... , I used to like hip hop when I had Vanilla Ice, DMX, RUN DMC, even the lately ones, PD, 50 Cents, Usher, etc...but this, holla back and all that sick stuff...isn't really aybody out there wantys to listen to music, not only electronic and house, I love all kind of music except the hard rock and heavy stuff, but this???

OK to add me DJ, I will too, maybe we can get together sometimes in BKK

hey alex yea yea vanilla ice i still remember the words to ice ice baby haha, 50 cents got some cool tunes for sure, so does usher and pd. I guess weither its thailand or even iceland hip hop seems to be more main stream than electronic dance, i guess music with no singing in it sounds kinda boreing to most poeple if your not in a party mood, my ex used to say thats not a song to dance or listen to, thats just a sound track or background music for a movie

Well i am going to be in Bangkok this week 19th looking forward for that, though must say not looking forward to sitting in the plane for 7 hours i guess its worth it.

Laters

[alexth]

Hey nice to see electronic dance music lovers in thailand, that acually dont use drugs hehe, that includes me ofcourse hope one day thai's would give up this hip hop thing and listen to what really gives out the message, when someone wants to have a good time.

alex, steve you guys dont mind if i add you to my list do u ?

later

Well, hip hop is ok, but it seems that the wave is heading to hip POP, i mean all that stuff that just came out... , I used to like hip hop when I had Vanilla Ice, DMX, RUN DMC, even the lately ones, PD, 50 Cents, Usher, etc...but this, holla back and all that sick stuff...isn't really aybody out there wantys to listen to music, not only electronic and house, I love all kind of music except the hard rock and heavy stuff, but this???

OK to add me DJ, I will too, maybe we can get together sometimes in BKK

hey alex yea yea vanilla ice i still remember the words to ice ice baby haha, 50 cents got some cool tunes for sure, so does usher and pd. I guess weither its thailand or even iceland hip hop seems to be more main stream than electronic dance, i guess music with no singing in it sounds kinda boreing to most poeple if your not in a party mood, my ex used to say thats not a song to dance or listen to, thats just a sound track or background music for a movie

Well i am going to be in Bangkok this week 19th looking forward for that, though must say not looking forward to sitting in the plane for 7 hours i guess its worth it.

Laters

Well, I am flying home on 18th for the eastern holidays and to see my folks, I guess will be back before the end of May, I'll shoot you a PM when I'm gonna be back in LOS, I am just freaked about the 11 hours flight and the thing that I'll have to get a home in Bangkok when I'll be back, I'm done with Pattaya...nothing real is going on here