Patong is dead.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Well after spending nearly 6 years living full time in Phuket, perhaps fellow members will let me weigh in on this discussion.

Earlier this year, I left Phuket for good. I lived in Samkong, Thalang, Old Town and finally, I had a penthouse in Patong. I now live in the in the jungle, on the side of a mountain, in Phang Nga province. Moving out of Phuket was the best thing I ever did.

Here are some of the reasons I left:

• In 2014 I had 3 road accidents in Phuket, two on bikes, one in my pickup truck. None were my fault and on all three occassions the Thai driver in the other vehicle fled the scene. The last accident left me with three broken bones along my spine. Most painful injury I have ever encountered. For the haters here on TV I will add that I have held a car and bike licence for over 35 years and in that time have never had, prior to 2014, a single accident, not one, and I have had many jobs where I had to drive a company vehicle on a daily basis and I have also driven throughout the world, including South America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Fiji, Papau New Guinea, America, Canada, Europe, England...blah blah blah. In my humble opinion, driving or riding on Thepkrastri Road is the most dangerous activity one can undertake in ones lifetime. The only exception is going into combat in a war zone.
• I no longer felt comfortable in Patong. I do not frequent bars, nor do I chase bargirls, I am a quiet guy who derives joy from spending as much time as possible in, on, under, or nearby, the sea. But the demographic of the people I would bump into in Patong and wider Phuket, changed rapidly. Perhaps I am racist, I have never thought myself as such, but I just grew tired of being around Morrocan muslims with a French passport, Lebanese with an Australian passport, Nigerians, Indians, Kuwaitees and Iranians. I share nothing in common with these people. I don't walk in a pack with five or six of my mates trying to pay a single barfine to get a girl to come back to a room with six guys in it. I don't like to rent a 300cc scooter with loud exhaust and then ride around wearing just my shorts and some fake rayban aviator sunglasses. I don't drink alcohol and have sex with prositutes and then go back to my home country and pray to Allah. I don't sell drugs. I don't skim atm machines.
• A month or so after the Ruble crashed there was a big spike in the amount of young Russian girls who moved into my apartment complex. I had the Penthouse on the top floor and so I had a bird's eye view of the comings and going. Skinny young things with the odd trashy tattoo, leaving their apartments each night around 10 (picked up for free by Thai motorcycle taxi guys) and taken off for the evenings work. And then clip clopping back home early morning, each time with a new drunk blah blah blahing john in tow. For the Russian prostitute sending money back home, the crash of the ruble made it 100% more profitable to work in Patong.
• I had an ongoing ear infection, that, despite treatment, would not go away. This was a direct result of swimming in the toxic sea off the west coast of Phuket. Since moving up here to the Jungle the infection has now cleared.
• I would often ride up past Layan on the coast road up to Nai Thon. It was one of the few remaining forested and traffic free areas of the Island. After witnessing the clear felling the old growth trees and desecration of the estuary behind Layan, I had just had enough. Living in Phuket was making me sad. Sad for the Environment, and sad for the future generations of Thai children who have been left with a legacy of concrete, lightbulbs, corruption and greed.

In years gone by Patong was filled with average western Joes (some divorced, some ugly, some slobs, some just plain hopeless with girls) who enjoyed a beer, and a bit of fun with the girls. Those punters were no angels, but most had a shared sense of Western fairness and morality. They have moved on, and with them, nearly all opportunity for small business. And so one is left to ponder where that leaves poor Nok, who has just arrived on a bus from a little village in Isaan, hoping to make some money to help mom and dad with their debt, because Nakon Nowhere is in the grip of a drought, and they didn't have enough water to plant out their rice. Mohamed ain't gonna pay for no sick buffalo.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Bulldozer Dawn

[DanceAllNight]

I think if you want cheap nightlife close to the beach you should try Philippines, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Indonesia, and even Vietnam.

Though Vietnam is flooded with Russians in Nha Trang and there are no go-go bars but plenty of pro girls

[SooKee]

Taking your theme of suggesting what I seem to be thinking, you seem to think it's OK to ratchet the prices right up on the basis of compensating the bar owner for bringing in top notch girls but no problem if they fail to do so. Just pay up punter. No problem with people charging high prices, but you'd better offer an experience that justifies it. Whatever the numbers are all I care about is am I having a good time and am I getting value for money.

You seem to misunderstand, yes many bar owners are paying to have pretty much any girls these days. Why? because girls don't want to work bars here anymore. Why? because they can either go clubs to work less and earn more or even better go somewhere else completely (western farangs here are now some of the cheapest customers around). Salary for the girls was only ever an incentive to get the girls to stay put in one bar. Pick up 1 or two customers a month in a club that keeps them for a few days and the girl is already ahead financially without having to sit around for 7-8 hours per night shouting "welcome" or being nice to old cheap chariles regulars.

Just as the "tourists" walking up and down the "attraction called bangla road" taking pictures and little else are killing Bangla, so are the guys who expect prices to remain same over 10 years and complain that bangla bars are over priced at 100 baht compared to their chalong expat dive at 60 baht (or now it seems 45 baht vs some on bangla at 80). Where ever i am, I don't go from my local dive bar to the main nightlife area and expect even remotely the same prices.

But also, i don't argue, bar owners need to up their game as well, but main complaint they they are told is "prices prices prices", one of the biggest things they can do little about if they want to actually stay in business

Edit: actually, let me ask you. What would make it more "fun" for you and make you inclined to go there?

I think you misunderstand me. I really don't care about the plight of the bar-owners, their problems, the justifications for price hikes or whatever. The point was made though that a couple of specific bars racked up the salaries to get the best girls in town. Others followed to attract any dancers at all. Prices up a lot, yes. Quality up a lot, no. Entertainment value up, no. Good value for money for customer - go figure.

The ONLY thing I care about is having an enjoyable night out that is good value for money. Patong cannot provide that for me so I won't go.

As to what would make it more fun for me, I've mentioned in several posts above the things for me that are a real turn off about the bar scene. So it'd be the reverse of those. Other than that, sorry I can't really be bothered to repeat it all again. Fix some of those issues and may be others would be more inclined to go there, as for me, nothing would entice me there on even a remotely regular basis. I'm not even remotely interested in the bar-girl scene in Patong save popping in from time to time (like 2-3 times a year) to say hi to some owners I know and a few of what I would consider to be higher quality dancers that I've known and who have been around some time.

To be honest I'm done micro-disecting the Patong bar scene. It's just one ingredient from a whole list that creates the dish that is rip-off Patong, all of which have been fully covered in this and many other threads. The discussion only really digressed into 'bar management' because of issues raised concerning why costs had risen so dramatically in the last 18 months or so. Right or wrong, justified or not I simply don't care and I'm afraid bar owners are about as highly placed on my sympathy list as anyone else that has been involved in ripping off tourists over the years. People are entitled to have opinions, make choices and spend their money where they think they get the best bang for the buck, the best night out and the best value for money. And no amount of pleading the plight of bar owners will change that.

Maybe the Western farangs who are the 'cheapest customers around' and the 'old cheap charlie regulars' got fed up with just that attitude and decided to go somewhere where their spending of money isn't something that's seen as something that bar-owners or their staff have a god-given right to expect only to be branded in derogatory terms for having the audacity to complain, complain about a night of entertainment that Pattaya seems to be able to offer for half or even a third of the price while facing the same economic pressures that are faced in Patong. And I'm not sure where the moans about prices at 100 baht came into it? The main concerns I think were the massive hikes in LD prices and bar fines coupled with the generally abysmal attitude and poor customer entertainment. The total lack of fun. Tourists just dishing out money hand over fist to owners and dancers almost as if it is expected regardless of the crap experience the customer was getting. Maybe the customers ARE getting the girls and the bars they deserve, but the bars are now sure as hell getting the customers they deserve. Enjoy. No sympathy from me I'm afraid, none at all.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Pick of Penang

[KarenBravo]

Drink prices have gone down in Chalong.

50 Bt Gin and tonics from midday to nine at night in one bar off the pier road. Beers 45 Bt a bottle.

That gordon's or local thai equivalent?

Assuming that's local beers (about 15b 'profit' before factoring ice/staffing/utilities/rent) , if farang beer it's pretty much wholesale price

Gilbeys, which is perfectly acceptable, though, I usually drink Gordons which is 100 Bt at the bars past the car park, on the sea front.

I don't know what you call local beers. San Mig, Tiger, Heinekin, Singha etc. All at 45 Bt.

[simon43]

[quote

San Mig, Tiger, Heinekin, Singha etc. All at 45 Bt

IMHO - a business cannot survive on such low profit margins as this.

Sell the beers at 80+ baht AND give service with a smile, AND keep smiling and chatting with the customer ==> you will have customers and the staff will have higher tips!

A true story about bar-girls and customer service:

14 Years ago, I 'owned' 2 bars on Sukhumvit Road, BKK, a few hundred metres from Nana Plaza.

When I took over the existing businesses, I encouraged the female bar-staff to look happy and smile/interact with the customers, because a happy customer is more likely to order another drink and give the serving girl a tip. (These were not gogo bars but tourist bars). My bar-staff also received a good monthly salary from me.

My bar staff would immediately smile, but drop the smile as soon as I was out of range.

One day, I had some business problems and was not in a good mood.

I walked into my bar in the evening, to be greeted by the usual glum-looking girls.

At that time, I did not speak Thai, so I instructed my Thai GF to translate word-for-word.

'Tell the girls that they have 2 choices. They can either start smiling right now AND keep smiling. Or they can all <deleted> off right now'

My GF duly translated...... the bar girls all went into a huddle to discuss the options......... and then they all f**ked off

Sums it up really...

[KarenBravo]

As the lady said to me about the prices she charges "better small money than no money".

Her bar is in a crap location and generally the customers of Rawai and Chalong are very price sensitive; most of them being retired.

From 5 in the evening to 7 she is packed. The cheap Charlies always pass by word of mouth where the cheap drinks are to be had.

She says she is making more money now than when the prices were "normal".

She is getting grief from other bars about her prices, but, she's told them that it is her business and she'll do as she pleases. Good on her, I say.

[Loptr]

As the lady said to me about the prices she charges "better small money than no money".

Her bar is in a crap location and generally the customers of Rawai and Chalong are very price sensitive; most of them being retired.

From 5 in the evening to 7 she is packed. The cheap Charlies always pass by word of mouth where the cheap drinks are to be had.

She says she is making more money now than when the prices were "normal".

She is getting grief from other bars about her prices, but, she's told them that it is her business and she'll do as she pleases. Good on her, I say.

Finally, someone gets it... They cannot keep raising prices when business is bad to maintain their income... Hopefully others will learn how to adapt and survive, if not, som nam na...

[The Big Mango]

Noticed today that one of the small round bars in OTOP is being advertised for sale , bit if a bargain aswell , only ....

2 Million Baht !! , <deleted> !

[SooKee]

In terms of variety (even a degree of quality), on the occasions that I did venture down Blandla Road I'd often kick the night off at a local beach bar called Bikini, at the back of the Patong Bay Resort Hotel. Pick a nice day and it was a great place to go at sunset. The atmosphere was great, good chill music that would increase in tempo as the night went on (but never so loud you couldn't hold a conversation, nice clientele (seems bogans don't do chill) and, for me, the best cocktails in town made by a guy who knew how to make them and used branded premium liquor at reasonable prices. It was such a refreshing break from Blandla that the balance of hours I'd spend there vs the strip shifted dramatically in favour of Bikini.

Sadly, as a result of a number of issues surrounding contractual matters, the two guys that ran it said enough and pulled out. And, in typical fashion when a bar is abandoned by people who do know what they're doing and it gets left to people who don't the inevitable happened. It's now a ghost bar. Zero atmosphere, zero customers and one less (and there are FAR too few in Patong for it to be even one less) place to go that offers a pleasant environment for a few relaxing drinks (and no, sorry, for me the 'copy / cut / paste / repeat repeat repeat' formula of the bars that make up OTOP and opposite Absolute don't fit the bill in that regard).

The change at Bikini is quite obvious between pics 1 & 2 vs 3 & 4.

Struggling, and I mean REALLY REALLY struggling to find anywhere that might be a reasonable substitute I checked out the Sky Bar (or whatever it's called) on top of The Keys Hotel, around Soi Seadragon. Not even close. No atmosphere, no music, dull looking, no customers at all and hot as hell (at least at Bikini they had an array of fans for the windless nights). The search continues.

The two guys from Bikini are taking over Tazmania Pool Lounge underneath Illuzion and plan to bring a similar recipe to that venture, minus the sea of course. I hope it works out. I used to like Tazmania before even though the beer prices were a BIT high at 150 for an upmarket pool lounge. Prices aside I still preferred the change that it offered over boom-boom (in sense of the loud) Blandla. Nice environment and even some decent music. Some cracking PR hostesses initially too which they were paying top dollar for, most of whom seem to have upped and left when it started to get busy and they had to do some actual work. But, good attempt at different nonetheless. I hope it flourishes under the new management. Patong badly needs different.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Pick of Penang

[NamKangMan]

As the lady said to me about the prices she charges "better small money than no money".

Her bar is in a crap location and generally the customers of Rawai and Chalong are very price sensitive; most of them being retired.

From 5 in the evening to 7 she is packed. The cheap Charlies always pass by word of mouth where the cheap drinks are to be had.

She says she is making more money now than when the prices were "normal".

She is getting grief from other bars about her prices, but, she's told them that it is her business and she'll do as she pleases. Good on her, I say.

How long before she conforms, or has her establishment fire bombed????

[Lashay]

Drink prices have gone down in Chalong.

50 Bt Gin and tonics from midday to nine at night in one bar off the pier road. Beers 45 Bt a bottle.

That gordon's or local thai equivalent?

Assuming that's local beers (about 15b 'profit' before factoring ice/staffing/utilities/rent) , if farang beer it's pretty much wholesale price

Gilbeys, which is perfectly acceptable, though, I usually drink Gordons which is 100 Bt at the bars past the car park, on the sea front.

I don't know what you call local beers. San Mig, Tiger, Heinekin, Singha etc. All at 45 Bt.

Foolish, pretty much 7-11 prices (who get far better discounts). Even if they sold 100 chang a day (cheapest beer-best margin) that's only 1500 "profit". And then they have to take from that rent/salary/ice/utilities/tea money/licensing and general wear and tear.

They are not running a business anymore, rather working for pretty much free providing a public service

But not all that surprising, amount of even Bangla bar owners (thai and farang) who don't really understand Gross vs Net still continues to amaze me

[KarenBravo]

Drink prices have gone down in Chalong.

50 Bt Gin and tonics from midday to nine at night in one bar off the pier road. Beers 45 Bt a bottle.

That gordon's or local thai equivalent?

Assuming that's local beers (about 15b 'profit' before factoring ice/staffing/utilities/rent) , if farang beer it's pretty much wholesale price

Gilbeys, which is perfectly acceptable, though, I usually drink Gordons which is 100 Bt at the bars past the car park, on the sea front.

I don't know what you call local beers. San Mig, Tiger, Heinekin, Singha etc. All at 45 Bt.

Foolish, pretty much 7-11 prices (who get far better discounts). Even if they sold 100 chang a day (cheapest beer-best margin) that's only 1500 "profit". And then they have to take from that rent/salary/ice/utilities/tea money/licensing and general wear and tear.

They are not running a business anymore, rather working for pretty much free providing a public service

But not all that surprising, amount of even Bangla bar owners (thai and farang) who don't really understand Gross vs Net still continues to amaze me

Maybe, but, a few of the customers grab STs.

She ain't stupid.

[robertthebruce]

Wild horses could not drag me to Patong day or night....

If I had my way, I would have a bypass around it.....

[phuketlive]

"My GF duly translated...... the bar girls all went into a huddle to discuss the options......... and then they all f**ked off

Sums it up really..."

Yes, thats how it is.

A guy i know took over a bar and got angry with staff behind the bar always on their phone.

Told them they have to work, clean, do this, do that, etc

Staff answered him, this is thailand, you can not ask people to work like this, not same your country here...

Lot of them deserve a good kick in the ass.

Another friend who runs hotels told me the same, if you ask too much, they go away and not easy to find staff...

So they accept service, cleaning, etc to be bad because of this...

[xylophone]

Well after spending nearly 6 years living full time in Phuket, perhaps fellow members will let me weigh in on this discussion.

Earlier this year, I left Phuket for good. I lived in Samkong, Thalang, Old Town and finally, I had a penthouse in Patong. I now live in the in the jungle, on the side of a mountain, in Phang Nga province. Moving out of Phuket was the best thing I ever did.

Here are some of the reasons I left:

• In 2014 I had 3 road accidents in Phuket, two on bikes, one in my pickup truck. None were my fault and on all three occassions the Thai driver in the other vehicle fled the scene. The last accident left me with three broken bones along my spine. Most painful injury I have ever encountered. For the haters here on TV I will add that I have held a car and bike licence for over 35 years and in that time have never had, prior to 2014, a single accident, not one, and I have had many jobs where I had to drive a company vehicle on a daily basis and I have also driven throughout the world, including South America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Fiji, Papau New Guinea, America, Canada, Europe, England...blah blah blah. In my humble opinion, driving or riding on Thepkrastri Road is the most dangerous activity one can undertake in ones lifetime. The only exception is going into combat in a war zone.
• I no longer felt comfortable in Patong. I do not frequent bars, nor do I chase bargirls, I am a quiet guy who derives joy from spending as much time as possible in, on, under, or nearby, the sea. But the demographic of the people I would bump into in Patong and wider Phuket, changed rapidly. Perhaps I am racist, I have never thought myself as such, but I just grew tired of being around Morrocan muslims with a French passport, Lebanese with an Australian passport, Nigerians, Indians, Kuwaitees and Iranians. I share nothing in common with these people. I don't walk in a pack with five or six of my mates trying to pay a single barfine to get a girl to come back to a room with six guys in it. I don't like to rent a 300cc scooter with loud exhaust and then ride around wearing just my shorts and some fake rayban aviator sunglasses. I don't drink alcohol and have sex with prositutes and then go back to my home country and pray to Allah. I don't sell drugs. I don't skim atm machines.
• A month or so after the Ruble crashed there was a big spike in the amount of young Russian girls who moved into my apartment complex. I had the Penthouse on the top floor and so I had a bird's eye view of the comings and going. Skinny young things with the odd trashy tattoo, leaving their apartments each night around 10 (picked up for free by Thai motorcycle taxi guys) and taken off for the evenings work. And then clip clopping back home early morning, each time with a new drunk blah blah blahing john in tow. For the Russian prostitute sending money back home, the crash of the ruble made it 100% more profitable to work in Patong.
• I had an ongoing ear infection, that, despite treatment, would not go away. This was a direct result of swimming in the toxic sea off the west coast of Phuket. Since moving up here to the Jungle the infection has now cleared.
• I would often ride up past Layan on the coast road up to Nai Thon. It was one of the few remaining forested and traffic free areas of the Island. After witnessing the clear felling the old growth trees and desecration of the estuary behind Layan, I had just had enough. Living in Phuket was making me sad. Sad for the Environment, and sad for the future generations of Thai children who have been left with a legacy of concrete, lightbulbs, corruption and greed.

In years gone by Patong was filled with average western Joes (some divorced, some ugly, some slobs, some just plain hopeless with girls) who enjoyed a beer, and a bit of fun with the girls. Those punters were no angels, but most had a shared sense of Western fairness and morality. They have moved on, and with them, nearly all opportunity for small business. And so one is left to ponder where that leaves poor Nok, who has just arrived on a bus from a little village in Isaan, hoping to make some money to help mom and dad with their debt, because Nakon Nowhere is in the grip of a drought, and they didn't have enough water to plant out their rice. Mohamed ain't gonna pay for no sick buffalo.

Saddened to hear of your accidents in Patong, Bulldozer Dawn, and I hope you are fully recovered now. Having said that, you have touched on something which I frequently think about and that is being wiped out by some idiot driver, because in my experience, we probably have the worst drivers around the place here in Patong and I really don't know why. Well possibly I do, lack of policing for a start, so you can get away with just about anything and even if you are caught, the brown envelope or connection settles everything.

Touching on a few of the other subjects in some posts............there was a time when a group of guys could sit in a bar which didn't have ultra loud music, who could converse with the mostly farang bar owner/manager and have a good laugh, and also have a good laugh with the girls, most of whom could speak some English.

Now the scene is completely different, with far fewer farang bar owners so the opportunity to chat away about everything and nothing, is lost; girls who cannot speak a word of English or understand anything you say, and whose main objective is to get a drink from you as fast as possible; screeching/loud/blaring/repetitive music which after a few minutes just drives you crazy and every bar offering the same crap. On top of that is the fact that you can often get ripped off in the bar, and I know a few of them who are absolute "past masters" at this and it sickens me, and if you think it's just the newbies who get ripped off, then think again, because of good friend of mine called in to see two girls he had known for some time and were now working in Tiger 2.

Imagine his surprise when the bill was absolutely loaded with drinks that he had never asked for or ordered, and when he complained they rapidly bought back an amended bill with a few "sorrys". He never went back and that bar has lost a good customer and all of the other customers he would have brought with him.......so shortsighted (and I will state that this has happened to me and others I know and it is really beyond comprehension, gaining 1000 baht now and sacrificing many tens/hundreds of thousands of baht in the future).

As has been stated here before, Value For Money is what I am after and I really don't mind paying 120 baht/150 baht for a beer provided I consider it to be VFM because I'm having a good time. Just to clarify that a little, I don't mind paying those prices for a beer but I will not fork out 240 baht for a lady drink which consists mainly of fruit juice or a thimble sized tequila. That is plain rude, but I will tip the girls some money if I have had a good time.

And as for the type of customer the bars are now getting, well to a great extent you can blame the advent of budget airlines, as just about any lo-so can travel to Patong and in doing so can bring their own culture and customs with them, hence five guys wanting to share a beer and also wanting to share a girl. I have nothing in common with these people and actually think that their actions are disgusting, but that's what they do back in their own country, so what do you expect?

The post by "Big Mango" regarding a bar for sale in OTOP for 2 million baht is no more than a reflection of what the place has become...........stupid money being asked for a poxy little straw bar in Bogan territory.

Still on the subject of the type of customers, I do remember just about all of the bars in a really busy Soi Eric being frequented by Brits, Scandies, Italians, Aussies etc, with very few from the Asian continents mentioned, but it was slowly changing, you could see it as plain as the nose on your face, so what else changed, nothing.

There are occasions now if I do go to Bangla, which is only once or twice a week these days, when I seek out a bar at which I can sit and enjoy background music and a chat with a mate or the farang bar owner, although I do try to visit the bar owner friends I have in and around Soi Freedom because I have known them a long time and it is good to catch up.

[SooKee]

I have to say that I enjoy reading your posts "Pick of Penang' and the same with those of "Lashay", not only because they give great accounts of what is out there, but also because they are well well structured and interesting.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks. The feeling is mutual

[DLock]

This is really interesting to get you guys perspective on Phuket nightlife and bars.

I'm really enjoying your posts.

I left Phuket for Chiang Mai 7 years ago, so it's interesting to hear what is happening. It sounds bleak.

Thanks for the insightful posts.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Does anyone know any old Bar Girls that have worked on the Bangla strip for a decade or so. I don't because I don't go to the bars and never have. I would love to get a detailed overview of how things have changed from such a gal. I would also be very interested to have her opinion of how the girls like the new Moroccan, Lebanese, Indian, Pakistani, Kuwaitee and Iranian customers. On my last visit to the strip I did hear some bar girls referring to some Indians as 'dtua men'.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Bulldozer Dawn

[phuketlive]

indians, <deleted> etc are not new here, i dont know if there are more of them now but have seen some coming for a long time, especially in low season.

tiger disco is dedicated to this population, full of them there.

Some girls go with that kind of customers, they hang out at tiger disco, lot of fat thai girl by the way, what arabs like.

Other girls go hang out at seduction or illuzion for another kind of customer.

there is a girl for every kind of customer here haha.

[NamKangMan]

"My GF duly translated...... the bar girls all went into a huddle to discuss the options......... and then they all f**ked off

Sums it up really..."

Yes, thats how it is.

A guy i know took over a bar and got angry with staff behind the bar always on their phone.

Told them they have to work, clean, do this, do that, etc

Staff answered him, this is thailand, you can not ask people to work like this, not same your country here...

Lot of them deserve a good kick in the ass.

Another friend who runs hotels told me the same, if you ask too much, they go away and not easy to find staff...

So they accept service, cleaning, etc to be bad because of this...

Yet the wealthy Thai's are able to hire cheaper and harder working Burmese, Cambodians and Vietnamese, whilst a farang boss is made to hire more expensive Thai staff, who have an inferior work ethic and are unreliable.

[huk11]

As I had been there last year, it was good place.

[gaztop08]

Patong is boring as hell apart from the beautiful available women,cheap booze, night clubs,good cheap food,cheap moto rental,fishing spots, close vacinity to islands and free wifi on every corner.

They have free wi-fi?

[DLock]

How does Taipan do these days?

I have to give Bob credit, he always trying different things to get the customers in the door earlier and keep them longer...

I assume he is still doing ok? Probably one of the longest running and most "successful" bars in Patong...

[The Big Mango]

^^ has to be the most profitable bar / club without exception on the island .

[NamKangMan]

^^ has to be the most profitable bar / club without exception on the island .

I agree.

I would say "The Aussie Bar" would be the most profitable bar, and Taipan the most profitable night club, in Patong.

Edited July 27, 2015 by NamKangMan

[xylophone]

How does Taipan do these days?

I have to give Bob credit, he always trying different things to get the customers in the door earlier and keep them longer...

I assume he is still doing ok? Probably one of the longest running and most "successful" bars in Patong...

Surely Bob's partner D...... would also be helping in that regard.

Both good operators and know what's what.

[jocko]

Well after spending nearly 6 years living full time in Phuket, perhaps fellow members will let me weigh in on this discussion.

Earlier this year, I left Phuket for good. I lived in Samkong, Thalang, Old Town and finally, I had a penthouse in Patong. I now live in the in the jungle, on the side of a mountain, in Phang Nga province. Moving out of Phuket was the best thing I ever did.

Here are some of the reasons I left:

• In 2014 I had 3 road accidents in Phuket, two on bikes, one in my pickup truck. None were my fault and on all three occassions the Thai driver in the other vehicle fled the scene. The last accident left me with three broken bones along my spine. Most painful injury I have ever encountered. For the haters here on TV I will add that I have held a car and bike licence for over 35 years and in that time have never had, prior to 2014, a single accident, not one, and I have had many jobs where I had to drive a company vehicle on a daily basis and I have also driven throughout the world, including South America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Fiji, Papau New Guinea, America, Canada, Europe, England...blah blah blah. In my humble opinion, driving or riding on Thepkrastri Road is the most dangerous activity one can undertake in ones lifetime. The only exception is going into combat in a war zone.
• I no longer felt comfortable in Patong. I do not frequent bars, nor do I chase bargirls, I am a quiet guy who derives joy from spending as much time as possible in, on, under, or nearby, the sea. But the demographic of the people I would bump into in Patong and wider Phuket, changed rapidly. Perhaps I am racist, I have never thought myself as such, but I just grew tired of being around Morrocan muslims with a French passport, Lebanese with an Australian passport, Nigerians, Indians, Kuwaitees and Iranians. I share nothing in common with these people. I don't walk in a pack with five or six of my mates trying to pay a single barfine to get a girl to come back to a room with six guys in it. I don't like to rent a 300cc scooter with loud exhaust and then ride around wearing just my shorts and some fake rayban aviator sunglasses. I don't drink alcohol and have sex with prositutes and then go back to my home country and pray to Allah. I don't sell drugs. I don't skim atm machines.
• A month or so after the Ruble crashed there was a big spike in the amount of young Russian girls who moved into my apartment complex. I had the Penthouse on the top floor and so I had a bird's eye view of the comings and going. Skinny young things with the odd trashy tattoo, leaving their apartments each night around 10 (picked up for free by Thai motorcycle taxi guys) and taken off for the evenings work. And then clip clopping back home early morning, each time with a new drunk blah blah blahing john in tow. For the Russian prostitute sending money back home, the crash of the ruble made it 100% more profitable to work in Patong.
• I had an ongoing ear infection, that, despite treatment, would not go away. This was a direct result of swimming in the toxic sea off the west coast of Phuket. Since moving up here to the Jungle the infection has now cleared.
• I would often ride up past Layan on the coast road up to Nai Thon. It was one of the few remaining forested and traffic free areas of the Island. After witnessing the clear felling the old growth trees and desecration of the estuary behind Layan, I had just had enough. Living in Phuket was making me sad. Sad for the Environment, and sad for the future generations of Thai children who have been left with a legacy of concrete, lightbulbs, corruption and greed.

In years gone by Patong was filled with average western Joes (some divorced, some ugly, some slobs, some just plain hopeless with girls) who enjoyed a beer, and a bit of fun with the girls. Those punters were no angels, but most had a shared sense of Western fairness and morality. They have moved on, and with them, nearly all opportunity for small business. And so one is left to ponder where that leaves poor Nok, who has just arrived on a bus from a little village in Isaan, hoping to make some money to help mom and dad with their debt, because Nakon Nowhere is in the grip of a drought, and they didn't have enough water to plant out their rice. Mohamed ain't gonna pay for no sick buffalo.

Saddened to hear of your accidents in Patong, Bulldozer Dawn, and I hope you are fully recovered now. Having said that, you have touched on something which I frequently think about and that is being wiped out by some idiot driver, because in my experience, we probably have the worst drivers around the place here in Patong and I really don't know why. Well possibly I do, lack of policing for a start, so you can get away with just about anything and even if you are caught, the brown envelope or connection settles everything.

Touching on a few of the other subjects in some posts............there was a time when a group of guys could sit in a bar which didn't have ultra loud music, who could converse with the mostly farang bar owner/manager and have a good laugh, and also have a good laugh with the girls, most of whom could speak some English.

Now the scene is completely different, with far fewer farang bar owners so the opportunity to chat away about everything and nothing, is lost; girls who cannot speak a word of English or understand anything you say, and whose main objective is to get a drink from you as fast as possible; screeching/loud/blaring/repetitive music which after a few minutes just drives you crazy and every bar offering the same crap. On top of that is the fact that you can often get ripped off in the bar, and I know a few of them who are absolute "past masters" at this and it sickens me, and if you think it's just the newbies who get ripped off, then think again, because of good friend of mine called in to see two girls he had known for some time and were now working in Tiger 2.

Imagine his surprise when the bill was absolutely loaded with drinks that he had never asked for or ordered, and when he complained they rapidly bought back an amended bill with a few "sorrys". He never went back and that bar has lost a good customer and all of the other customers he would have brought with him.......so shortsighted (and I will state that this has happened to me and others I know and it is really beyond comprehension, gaining 1000 baht now and sacrificing many tens/hundreds of thousands of baht in the future).

As has been stated here before, Value For Money is what I am after and I really don't mind paying 120 baht/150 baht for a beer provided I consider it to be VFM because I'm having a good time. Just to clarify that a little, I don't mind paying those prices for a beer but I will not fork out 240 baht for a lady drink which consists mainly of fruit juice or a thimble sized tequila. That is plain rude, but I will tip the girls some money if I have had a good time.

And as for the type of customer the bars are now getting, well to a great extent you can blame the advent of budget airlines, as just about any lo-so can travel to Patong and in doing so can bring their own culture and customs with them, hence five guys wanting to share a beer and also wanting to share a girl. I have nothing in common with these people and actually think that their actions are disgusting, but that's what they do back in their own country, so what do you expect?

The post by "Big Mango" regarding a bar for sale in OTOP for 2 million baht is no more than a reflection of what the place has become...........stupid money being asked for a poxy little straw bar in Bogan territory.

Still on the subject of the type of customers, I do remember just about all of the bars in a really busy Soi Eric being frequented by Brits, Scandies, Italians, Aussies etc, with very few from the Asian continents mentioned, but it was slowly changing, you could see it as plain as the nose on your face, so what else changed, nothing.

There are occasions now if I do go to Bangla, which is only once or twice a week these days, when I seek out a bar at which I can sit and enjoy background music and a chat with a mate or the farang bar owner, although I do try to visit the bar owner friends I have in and around Soi Freedom because I have known them a long time and it is good to catch up.

These posts say it all i recall from the 1st time i went to Patong in April 2000 had a great time in the crazyist place i had ever been and i had been around a fair bit by then and then become a regular between off shore jobs .You could just turn up at anytime of the year get a reasonable price hotel go to your watering hole in Bangla rd and the staff were pleased to see you and remembered what you liked to drink and you would always meet someone you knew for the usual bar room chat say a lot but talk about nothing you could recall on the next visit compared to now it was like a village life.

Sadly the place has been ruined by greed and bad decisions and no thought for the future all holiday resorts have to move on but it should be for the better as has been said if the price gets higher if you feel its value for money you accept it.

[2fishin2]

Interesting reading by some obviously long time Phuket people. I lived there for just short of two years and can agree fully with not most but everything mentioned. From the moment you cross the bridge or fly into the airport, it is nothing but one scam or another. The Thais in Phuket are not made from the same mold in the rest of Thailand. Even Thais in other parts of the country know this. From the time you walk out the door of the airport until you catch your last taxi leaving the island you encounter a scam. When it costs the same price to fly roundtrip from Phuket to BKK as it does to take a taxi to and from your Phuket hotel to the airport, you know you are being ripped off.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Interesting reading by some obviously long time Phuket people. I lived there for just short of two years and can agree fully with not most but everything mentioned. From the moment you cross the bridge or fly into the airport, it is nothing but one scam or another. The Thais in Phuket are not made from the same mold in the rest of Thailand. Even Thais in other parts of the country know this. From the time you walk out the door of the airport until you catch your last taxi leaving the island you encounter a scam. When it costs the same price to fly roundtrip from Phuket to BKK as it does to take a taxi to and from your Phuket hotel to the airport, you know you are being ripped off.

It is cheaper to fly from Phuket to Singapore or Phuket to Jakarta than what it is to travel by taxi from Phuket airport to Nai Harn.

[SooKee]

Went out again couple of nights ago, one of the girls I've known a LONG time had a bit of a celebration and insisted on having it in Bangla , understandable as lots of her chums work there.

Went to Hollywood. The 100 baht beer promo has either finished or was off for that night, back to 180 baht per bottle. We went about midnight and the place was 90% empty. By far the highest proportion of people in there were the Hollwood attired and 'sponsored' PR girls. The music was awful and the DJ really bad, merely playing random tracks with little to no mixing and highly erratic in terms of 'beats per minute' and clashes in style (pop, house, trance, Arab, electronica, pop, trance), a real musical dog's breakfast. Shisha still available at 350 baht (to be fair they actually do make a good job of it).

Around 3:30 (Bangla closure time) it picked up mostly with a few Arabs and French/Algerian types trying to be uber-cool but generally being blanked by the girls, all in cheap-charlie mode (indeed if some of the farangs are seen by bar owners as 'cheap charlies' here, don't hang your hopes on these drongos keeping your bar afloat!). The trend in the dorkish wearing of sunglasses inside a club with next to no lighting, and the VERY tired, and these days unfashionable, wearing of caps backwards hasn't subsided with this crowd. Doubtless due to the large number of girls around our table a couple tried to muscle in to bring their brand of cool to the evening, until they were told in no uncertain terms "private party and you ain't invited, now &%#$ off!!" Even after 3:30 the place was still about 80% empty. Wrapped up there about 6, waited until the death as we had a couple of bottles of liquor and got joined by a bunch of off-duty Bar Funk girls we know who came in after work. Had a good time but for me it was only because we took our own party. As an aside, the Hollywood Zero refurb is set to happen 1st October. The recent closure was just for a short time and some minor touch ups, the 100 baht beer offering merely to tempt people back once the doors opened again.

After that, we went to Tai Pan which by this time was in its death throes and had entered the Thai music shut down face. It was still pretty full through. Tai Pan still does well, pretty constant really. Was in there the last time we went out here with a few chums who finish work late. Busy enough even at 12, peaking to about 90% full around 3:30, thinning out again around 5.

The new place next to Rock Hard that has been mentioned (and that is owned by the same guy that owns Suzy Wongs Group) will be a club with a live band and DJ, it's not another gogo. I stopped by to chat to the owner and have a look at the place on the way to meet my chums the other night and it will hopefully be ready to open 1 August, they're working flat out on it at the moment, 24 hours a day I think. I'd be surprised if it can open on the 1st though. Lots to do. It will be in an oriental style, similar to Suzy Wongs, and will be called 'Tao' (as in Taoism).

One of the problems with the old Tazmania pool lounge, under Illuzion, was that the beers were a bit pricey for a pool lounge. Nice to see that under the new owners the prices will be better. 100 baht beers and cocktails around 200-260 depending on the type. They will be doing shisha too and have a nice line-up of PRs. Looking forward to seeing it when it's finished. The PRs will be out in Bangla tonight, before it wraps up at 12 for Buddha day, dishing out some tickets for the opening on the 1st.

Other parts of Bangla same same, even Aussie Bar quite quiet. Tiger 2 dead. Tiger 1 not far off. Tons of tourists mingling around, but mostly Chinese and Korean taking photos, and clogging up the walkway watching the various break-dancers and whoever else decides to turn the walkway into street theatre, fine until you want to walk and get somewhere!!

Judging by the amount of pestering "Taxi sir?, kebab/burger sir?, hello mate you need a suit?, massage?, Thai food/seafood?, ping pong show?, kebab sir?" (you know the drill) which seem to have reached record levels, times are really hard. Does get tiresome walking down Soi Sansabai having be conscious of not making eye contact with almost anyone at all for the sake of not getting pestered with the relentless stream of fast food invites. That's assuming you can actually walk down Sansabai which by 1am is barely wide enough to get one tuk-tuk down the road thanks to the now 5 deep parking of bikes.

Edited July 29, 2015 by Pick of Penang