Patong is dead.

[TacoHell]

Bulldozer Dawn makes sense. The decrepit old man in a Chang singlet means nothing, nada. The really attractive girls have so many options, including going to a bar/nightclub where the decrepit old man in a Chang singlet can't afford.

[Sharp]

Now now children!!

[xylophone]

And FWIW, I don't really like Patong much anymore. Surely, I 'm not somebody who has been coming here for 20 years. It's not about the beach loungers. It just seems like many of the Thai people aren't very friendly. I had a girl ask for a LD 8 times last night. People can't be bothered to look up from their phones. That famous smile is gone. Get out of Patong and it is better. Get away from Phuket, and it is much better. Not asking people to worship me, just pay attention and be nice - I'm on vacation, I will happily drop some money for a good, fun experience.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

She is running a business with multiple income streams. She monitors her business via her phone. Why should she waste time on you if you do not purchase a drink. She is better off texting to her paying customers over the phone, or fishing for a new one via a dating website or social media.

Why would a prostitute be nice to you if she is not being paid?

Try sitting in a coffee shop and she how the owner treats you after she asks you if you want a coffee and on 8 occassions you say no thank you.

I have to agree with jamie obda, this as he did buy a drink for himself and one for the lady he was speaking to and there is absolutely no need for him to buy drinks for other girls if indeed he is not interacting with them, or doesn't want to.

It really pisses me off when girls that you have never spoken to or even looked at in a bar because you are either busy with your mates or talking to another girl, come over and ask for a drink, and this would be even more galling if they continued asking.

In one particular bar which is still around, whenever I bought one of the girls a drink, the mama used to add one for herself, and then even got the barman asking for a drink when he delivered the drinks to you. I asked him if he knew me or my name, and he said no, so I asked him why I should buy him a drink...........don't go there any more.

Don't sit in a prostitute bar and then complain when you are exposed to sales and marketing prompts. These girls have a business to run, and they are in partnership with the owner.

What I don't get about you blokes moaning about lady drinks is this.

If you don't want to be hassled for lady drinks, GO TO THE BAR WITH YOUR OWN GIRL. That's right, meet a nice Thai girl, who isn't a prostitute, date her, and then take her to a bar. None of the girls there will ask you for a lady drink.

But guess what, a nice Thai girl will not be seen dead in a beer bar.

So quit moaning. You guys go to beer bars for one of more of the followinging reasons:

• You like being in a bar filled with prostitutes
• You don't have the personality, appearance, or language skills to meet a nice Thai girl
• You are old
• You are fat
• You are an alcoholic
• You are a slob
• You want to have sex with a Thai girl but you don't have the time to date one because you are just here on holidays or on rotation
• You are too cheap, scared, or dysfunctional to have a real relationship with a nice Thai girl
• You don't want to get ripped off by a tuk tuk or taxi to go into Phuket Town
• You don't have you own transport
• You don't trust yourself to stay sober if you use your own transport
• You have your own transport, can stay sober, but haven't got a clue how to navigate Phuket Town

If jamie obda detests requests for lady drinks why doesn't he go to one of the rockin' bars or nightclubs in Phuket Town? They are filled with gorgeous girls who work in the banks, malls, and other businesses in town. That's right, because of one or more of the reasons I listed above.

A sad, sad rant and one with which a psychologist would have a field day, because it says more about you than you can ever possibly imagine.

[xylophone]

Bulldozer Dawn makes sense. The decrepit old man in a Chang singlet means nothing, nada. The really attractive girls have so many options, including going to a bar/nightclub where the decrepit old man in a Chang singlet can't afford.

Not really grasped this have you Taco........... so what you are implying is that really attractive girls could go to a nightclub and pick up better dressed and wealthier guys (better than a decrepit old man in the Chang singlet) and still charge for a night of fun, making them no different than the everyday bargirls in what they actually do!

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Yep. First and foremost it says I don't like whore mongers complaining when a prostitute asks for money in exchange for her attention. It also says that I detest people who think that they can dictate what value a girl may place on her affections. She is the commodity. Not you.

How dare you ask me for money to spend time with me. Don't you know who I am. Yeah...you're nobody.

Oh...I am not a whore monger he says to himself. I go to a bar filled with prostitutes to play pool, drink, or watch a game. Even if those girls were not there I would still go to that bar because of its great layout.

So tell me xylophone, why do you go to a beer bar?

You guys are the ones who need psychiatric help. How else will you get over your delusions.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Bulldozer Dawn

[Yahooka]

There are still loads of bars with hookers where they don't act like that. Loads.

And it's still fun as they value customers. These are the bars that will survive.

Bars that p1ss off customers, won't. Simple innit?

Ever heard the saying it's easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar?

Most of the smarter hookers (they are in the "service" industry) know that.

Loads ?? IMO there USED to be loads of nice bars where they didn`t push for drinks the moment you entered,but many of the most popular bars are not worth a visit anymore because of their constant drink pestering.An example is when you order a beer,after a few minutes(and sips) a bar girl usually arrives pulls the beer out of the condom and asks "One more?" followed by the question "Buy one drink for me?"

When this is repeated every 5 minutes it just get annoying and ruins what used to be a good and relaxing drinking athmosphere.I`ve been living the last 2,5 years in Pattaya and I have NEVER experienced the same there in the dozens of bars I`ve visited.

[Jai Dee]

One flame post has been removed from this thread.

[Peterocket]

There are still loads of bars with hookers where they don't act like that. Loads.

And it's still fun as they value customers. These are the bars that will survive.

Bars that p1ss off customers, won't. Simple innit?

Ever heard the saying it's easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar?

Most of the smarter hookers (they are in the "service" industry) know that.

Loads ?? IMO there USED to be loads of nice bars where they didn`t push for drinks the moment you entered,but many of the most popular bars are not worth a visit anymore because of their constant drink pestering.An example is when you order a beer,after a few minutes(and sips) a bar girl usually arrives pulls the beer out of the condom and asks "One more?" followed by the question "Buy one drink for me?"

When this is repeated every 5 minutes it just get annoying and ruins what used to be a good and relaxing drinking athmosphere.I`ve been living the last 2,5 years in Pattaya and I have NEVER experienced the same there in the dozens of bars I`ve visited.

The owners of these bars on Bangla are the reason that they don't have customers. Watered down drinks, crap music, no food and annoying girls.

As time goes by we will continue to see the rise of decent quality restaurants, bars and clubs (where it is still easy to pickup decent women if that is what you want) whilst the lady bars continue their decline.

[xylophone]

Yep. First and foremost it says I don't like whore mongers complaining when a prostitute asks for money in exchange for her attention. It also says that I detest people who think that they can dictate what value a girl may place on her affections. She is the commodity. Not you.

How dare you ask me for money to spend time with me. Don't you know who I am. Yeah...you're nobody.

Oh...I am not a whore monger he says to himself. I go to a bar filled with prostitutes to play pool, drink, or watch a game. Even if those girls were not there I would still go to that bar because of its great layout.

So tell me xylophone, why do you go to a beer bar?

You guys are the ones who need psychiatric help. How else will you get over your delusions.

Quote BD: “You guys go to beer bars for one of more of the followinging reasons:

· You like being in a bar filled with prostitutes

· You don't have the personality, appearance, or language skills to meet a nice Thai girl

· You are old

· You are fat

· You are an alcoholic

· You are a slob

· You want to have sex with a Thai girl but you don't have the time to date one because you are just here on holidays or on rotation

· You are too cheap, scared, or dysfunctional to have a real relationship with a nice Thai girl

· You don't want to get ripped off by a tuk tuk or taxi to go into Phuket Town

· You don't have you own transport

· You don't trust yourself to stay sober if you use your own transport

· You have your own transport, can stay sober, but haven't got a clue how to navigate Phuket Town

I’m afraid I don’t fit into your “classification/generalisation/assumptions” above and I don’t have any “delusions”, but I won’t ask for an apology.

[grumpyoldman]

Is it o.k. if I go to a beer bar for a beer, or do I need a psychiatrist?

[stuandjulie]

Strange, an original post about patong being dead degenerates into an arguement about bars and prostitutes.

Draw your own conclusions about Patong from that.

[schlog]

Strange, an original post about patong being dead degenerates into an arguement about bars and prostitutes.

Draw your own conclusions about Patong from that.

Why strange? Patong is not Abano Terme of SEA.

[xylophone]

Strange, an original post about patong being dead degenerates into an arguement about bars and prostitutes.

Draw your own conclusions about Patong from that.

You'd be better off drawing your own conclusions about the poster of the rant and his inane ramblings. This especially as he then goes on to insult everyone who has ever visited a bar and categorises them with a list of what type of people they are; "whore mongers......fat.......ugly.......alcoholic......slob......etc"; you can read the list for yourself.

One has to wonder about the mindset of a poster who can jump from a couple of posts about being annoyed by bargirls with whom you never speak or interact consistently asking for drinks, to posts which are full of vitriol.

Then of course he gives directions about where one can go to meet "a nice Thai girl", little realising in his naivete that some of the girls go to the "better nightclubs" to pick up guys to earn a little extra money (oops– – a little faux pas here).

In reality, Patong has always had the bars which are full of girls and nothing has really changed – – it's the same as it's always been, and in the words of a song, "the same as it ever was".

I suppose I'd better inform many of my friends and their wives who have come from overseas to visit Patong and the nightlife that they are also included in his labelling, not to mention local friends here who have met at some of the bars with their Thai girlfriends/wives for a drink (yes, a drink and only a drink) to start off the evening...........oh and I nearly forgot about the friends of the bar owners who go to catch up with them, and/or to listen to some live music, and of course have a beer (some of the resident expats I know here, for example).

And getting back on track, one of the reasons why "Patong is dead" is because in the past many of these bars were great places to visit because you could have a drink with the owner, meet friends and have some fun interacting with the girls – – a few that come to mind would be Mai Thai Bar, Euro Bar, Smiley Bar, Blue Lotus and Guitar Bar.

However an increase in "key money" and rents combined with the GFC and changing visitor demographics, has meant in many cases, that less money is coming into Patong and the bars, so some are becoming desperate in their ways to extract every baht from the visitors, and it's not very popular. However I'll still visit my regular bars because I know the bar owners and their girlfriends and wives and I can pass a few hours having a drink, a chat and listening to live music, and that hasn't changed for me.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

They better hurry up and rework the whole visa system. Just tweaking the 6 month tourist visa is not enough.

The econony is tanking big time.

Another nail in the coffin was the announcement today by Virgin that they are no longer flying to Phuket.

I often fly Phuket/Jakarta with Air Asia and yesterday I checked on ticket prices. Although it has not been announced, AA has also cut all flights to Phuket from Jakarta.

[jocko]

I know i hansum man i dont need bar girls to remind me.

Where is the bell.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Strange, an original post about patong being dead degenerates into an arguement about bars and prostitutes.

Draw your own conclusions about Patong from that.

You'd be better off drawing your own conclusions about the poster of the rant and his inane ramblings. This especially as he then goes on to insult everyone who has ever visited a bar and categorises them with a list of what type of people they are; "whore mongers......fat.......ugly.......alcoholic......slob......etc"; you can read the list for yourself.

One has to wonder about the mindset of a poster who can jump from a couple of posts about being annoyed by bargirls with whom you never speak or interact consistently asking for drinks, to posts which are full of vitriol.

Then of course he gives directions about where one can go to meet "a nice Thai girl", little realising in his naivete that some of the girls go to the "better nightclubs" to pick up guys to earn a little extra money (oops– – a little faux pas here).

In reality, Patong has always had the bars which are full of girls and nothing has really changed – – it's the same as it's always been, and in the words of a song, "the same as it ever was".

I suppose I'd better inform many of my friends and their wives who have come from overseas to visit Patong and the nightlife that they are also included in his labelling, not to mention local friends here who have met at some of the bars with their Thai girlfriends/wives for a drink (yes, a drink and only a drink) to start off the evening...........oh and I nearly forgot about the friends of the bar owners who go to catch up with them, and/or to listen to some live music, and of course have a beer (some of the resident expats I know here, for example).

And getting back on track, one of the reasons why "Patong is dead" is because in the past many of these bars were great places to visit because you could have a drink with the owner, meet friends and have some fun interacting with the girls – – a few that come to mind would be Mai Thai Bar, Euro Bar, Smiley Bar, Blue Lotus and Guitar Bar.

However an increase in "key money" and rents combined with the GFC and changing visitor demographics, has meant in many cases, that less money is coming into Patong and the bars, so some are becoming desperate in their ways to extract every baht from the visitors, and it's not very popular. However I'll still visit my regular bars because I know the bar owners and their girlfriends and wives and I can pass a few hours having a drink, a chat and listening to live music, and that hasn't changed for me.

Xylophone

I should just say here that I am not your enemy, and in fact I enjoy your posts.

However you clearly know nothing of the Thai night life scene in Phuket town. The venues that I referred to in my earlier posts are not nightclubs. And guess what, Thai freelancers don't go there to pick up Farangs, because on most nights, there are NO farangs there. Nice Thai girls go there to AVOID farangs. But to have a good time in one of those venues you have to have very good fluency in Thai. You will never have that because you like to hang out having a chat with bargirls. You will try to have a conversation with a nice girl and then you will drop in a couple of bargirl words like ting tong or pompei and the nice girl will run for her life.

I can see from your posts that you are a smart guy, my guess is you are a bit older (perhaps fat and bald) and that you visited Thailand often in the past but have, only relatively recently, arrived to live full time in Phuket. Don't despair, in six or seven years time you will re-read your posts on this thread and cringe at yourself for trying to defend your stance on ladydrinks. And let's not forget that at the very core of that stance is that you, the customer, should dictate what value a girl can place on her affections.

Oh, and by far the best live music to listen to in Phuket is in Old Town, you can have a drink while listening, but you wont be able talk with a prostitute.

Good luck.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Bulldozer Dawn

[jocko]

618 posts and Patong is still dead.

I think this topic is moribund.

[TacoHell]

The warning signs were more than a year ago, and there still remains a big pink elephant in the room.

The Thai landowners could give a toss. They can wait it out. Same with Farang who planned for this.

The small business owners (farang and Thai) with low overhead, will survive.

But imagine the ones who bought leases and need to make a 500k or more nut as an example just to survive and did not plan.

It will be a tough few years for Phuket and Patong.

[xylophone]

Quote Bulldozer Dawn: "Xylophone

I should just say here that I am not your enemy, and in fact I enjoy your posts.

However you clearly know nothing of the Thai night life scene in Phuket town. The venues that I referred to in my earlier posts are not nightclubs. And guess what, Thai freelancers don't go there to pick up Farangs, because on most nights, there are NO farangs there. Nice Thai girls go there to AVOID farangs. But to have a good time in one of those venues you have to have very good fluency in Thai. You will never have that because you like to hang out having a chat with bargirls. You will try to have a conversation with a nice girl and then you will drop in a couple of bargirl words like ting tong or pompei and the nice girl will run for her life.

I can see from your posts that you are a smart guy, my guess is you are a bit older (perhaps fat and bald) and that you visited Thailand often in the past but have, only relatively recently, arrived to live full time in Phuket. Don't despair, in six or seven years time you will re-read your posts on this thread and cringe at yourself for trying to defend your stance on ladydrinks. And let's not forget at the very core of that stance is that you, the customer, should dictate what value a girl can place on her affections.

Oh, and by far the best live music listen to in Phuket is in Old Town, you can have a drink while listening, but you wont be able talk with a prostitute.

Good luck"

Thank you for that initial compliment, however you then go on to spoil your post by posting insults and making more absurd assumptions, and get them completely wrong (again). Still, this is an improvement on one of your earlier rants, although terribly flawed all the same.

It was you in your initial post who said, "If jamie obda detests requests for lady drinks why doesn't he go to one of the rockin' bars or nightclubs in Phuket Town". So it was you who referred to them as "nightclubs" and I just repeated your words.

And quite why you would mention a town in Italy (pompei) in your post is possibly an indication that you haven't taken your meds again, or that indeed you do not know as much Thai as you think you do!!!!

And yet more insults and incorrect assumptions tumble out into the posts..............no, I'm not fat and bald (sorry to disappoint you) and I have lived here full-time for around nine years, having visited the place since 2004.

Yet another puzzle (and assumption), when you say, "Don't despair, in six or seven years time you will re-read your posts on this thread and cringe at yourself for trying to defend your stance on ladydrinks. And let's not forget at the very core of that stance is that you, the customer, should dictate what value a girl can place on her affections".

As you say, I believe I am a smart guy, yet I can't unravel the meaning in this last sentence I quoted above..........what on earth does buying a lady drink for a girl in a bar, or not as the case may be, have to do with dictating the value a girl can place on her affections??? In your words, all of the girls who work in bars are "whores" and surely the value they will place on their affections is not simply reflected in the price of a drink?

And please, please stop making assumptions ("You will never have that because you like to hang out having a chat with bargirls") because you know absolutely nothing about me and you're making yourself look an absolute prat in doing so, although of course that may well be your calling in life?

Sorry I can't repay the compliment about reading your posts because they appear to me to be almost misogynistic rants and endeavour to take a "I am holier than thou" stance.

[xylophone]

Note to Bulldozer Dawn............. let's please get back on topic about "Patong is dead" because I'm tired of pointing out the errors and flaws in your posts full of assumptions, slights and insults.

[KarenBravo]

Anyone who thinks all bar-girls are bad and "good" girls are good just shows off that they really don't have a clue about this country (or, life in general, for that matter).

BTB never really was the sharpest tool in the shed.

As NKM is to public transport, BTB was with his dislike of bar girls.

Hasn't "grown" much, has he?

Edited August 9, 2015 by KarenBravo

[xylophone]

Quote KB: "Anyone who thinks all bar-girls are bad and "good" girls are good just shows off that they really don't have a clue about this country (or, life in general, for that matter).

BTB never really was the sharpest tool in the shed".

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Xylophone. Quick quiz. Name one good venue in Phuket Old Town where you will not see another farang if you go there for the night.

Times up.

[NamKangMan]

Anyone who thinks all bar-girls are bad and "good" girls are good just shows off that they really don't have a clue about this country (or, life in general, for that matter).

BTB never really was the sharpest tool in the shed.

As NKM is to public transport, BTB was with his dislike of bar girls.

Hasn't "grown" much, has he?

Yes, it's true, I am vocal about the transport situation on Phuket.

How much human suffering, literally, has it caused, and how many tourist has it turned away from Phuket?

[NamKangMan]

The warning signs were more than a year ago, and there still remains a big pink elephant in the room.

The Thai landowners could give a toss. They can wait it out. Same with Farang who planned for this.

The small business owners (farang and Thai) with low overhead, will survive.

But imagine the ones who bought leases and need to make a 500k or more nut as an example just to survive and did not plan.

It will be a tough few years for Phuket and Patong.

"The Thai landowners could give a toss. They can wait it out." - they will not "wait out" this one. It's a game changer.

Massive change to the demographics of tourists coming here now, and these tourists do not support small businesses, in particular, small businesses in the hospitality industry.

[ColdSingha]

What truly bothers me is that xylaphone claims he has lived here for 9 years. So obviously he is fluent in spoken Thai, and yet he still likes to sit in beer bars.

Guess he really does just love the layout.

why would he be fluent in spoken thai? maybe he still has english speaking mates?

and no need to go native

[jamie obda]

I am not (too) fat I think at 6feet 185 lbs. I'm not an expat, although I have lived elsewhere as one. I had thought I'd add value to the conversation by sharing my experiences. I really only do Patong one or two nights as I don't feel the VFM is there anymore. Perhaps other tourists feel the same and this may be precipitating Patong ' decline. I was up in Takua pa and really liked it - very kind and friendly people. Even Bang na in Khao Lak is nice. Mostly I stay in Chalong where I have a nice big A/C room for 450 a night.

I have an old dear friend here who runs a Mexican restaurant. His philosophy is quality ingredients, efficient service and friendly -and he seems to be doing very, very well. We went and visited a guy who has been in Phuket over forty years. I won't name him out of respect and privacy, but anyone who has been around Chalong for awhile will know who I'm talking about. So I asked him what are the challenges going forward and what have been the causes. He said exponential growth has driven an inflationary spiral, no corresponding improvement in infrastructure, abject corruption and inconsistent (if not vacuous ) planning from TAT. I asked the same question of the GM of the Yorkshire, a very pleasant fellow who has been here over 20 years. He said pretty much the same thing adding that the demographics have changed and many long time returning guests have chosen other destinations primarily because the VFM just isn't there anymore.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[Peterocket]

Xylophone. Quick quiz. Name one good venue in Phuket Old Town where you will not see another farang if you go there for the night.

Times up.

May you help us BTB? But please don't come up with Rassada Karaoke, Pink Lady, Lighthouse,Timberhut, Green Mango...

I can't name one good venue this year.

Cue Bar

[xylophone]

I decided to get a pizza last night so set off towards the little pizza restaurant in Nanai Road, Da Moreno, which IMO makes some of the best pizzas around (in conjunction with its parent restaurant, La Capannina).

Drove past Dons BBQ and it had about 10 farangs in there along with Thai partners, so it was doing some business, though not as much as in years gone by. What did surprise me was the fact that the Green Mango was in complete darkness, with one roller blind permanently down and the space next to it having no lights on – – empty?

Also, a couple of shops down from Da Moreno, there used to be a German restaurant called "Sigis Treff" and that was now just an empty shell and I am not sure if it has closed completely, or if it has just moved elsewhere?

As if to add a sense of "gloom" to Nanai Road, there was an eerie silence about the place, with just a few scooters around, and it was seemingly devoid of any other life.

As if to add to this, on the way back home I noticed another one of the little "roller blind shops" at the bottom of Soi Nanai 6 had also closed down.

Perhaps as NKM has suggested, this downturn will be a "game changer" as although some landlords may be wealthy, others still need income because they have debts to service.

[SooKee]

Wow, this sure went down the tubes fast. Kinda funny that someone who bemoans the thread being too Bangla-centric (albeit those posts WERE actually on topic) goes on to criticise people about their, and their friends, choices of where to spend a night out, flings around a few insults, and sets about giving everyone his warped, flawed and stereotypical view of everyone that goes to a beer bar in Phuket. Bizarre.

On the subject of there being more to Patong than Bangla. Geographically, sure there is. But it sure as hell ain't the reason that anyone that visits Patong goes or stays there. Other than for restaurants, the bars in the suburbs will never be anything more than temporary attractions, dull as dishwater, devoid of customers and zero atmosphere. The bars along Nanai are mostly dead and with the closures over the years are too far apart now so when you DO go there and (inevitably) find it's crap it's time to move on to the next crap bar either by tuk-tuk or on foot. If there's one you find that has a few customers in you can even have a chat for a while, in between shielding your ears from the street-kid motorbikes ripping up the road 10 feet from your stool. Eventually they give up and head towards Bangla. Sure there's the odd bar that might get a cluster of a few guys or a couple of guys with TG's, perhaps having a quiet night out or grabbing a few 80 baht beers before heading to the pricier joints in Bangla. But as going concern that are seen an an integral part of Patong nightlife - no way. And, errr, this thread IS about Patong. Not Phuket Town or 'where do all the nice Thai girls go' or the Janet and John series 'back of a matchbox guide to the mind of a prostitute'. The reason I guess most posts will focus on Bangla is that for most people visiting Patong that's all there is. Bangla would still exist without ANY of the bars in the suburbs, would they even be able to survive without Bangla? I don't think so. And the bars that make up OTOP and the cluster (the name of which I never remember, largely because I've never had cause to) opposite Absolute at the top end of the beach road - same same. Never more than 30% full, maybe catching a few stragglers for an afternoon session but nothing to offer at night IMO unless just chilling and avoiding Bangla, but to do that I wouldn't go to a (failed) 'copy, cut, paste' version of the same thing.

As to 'nice Thai girls wouldn't be seen dead in a beer bar'. Absolute total and utter crap! Ever heard of Thai tourists? I know quite a lot of Thais from all over, several of them very hi-so indeed. They have friends in Patong who own hotels, restaurants and bars and yes, they come to Patong, visit them, and are gracious enough to go to their bars with them and socialise. Provided said tourist is not seen as a complete tool they'll even say hi, chat, smile and have a drink. Why, because they are nice people, confident, pleasant, just enjoying their night out. I'm sure they'd be devastated that they wouldn't be seen as 'nice Thai girls' simply because they don't find the narrow-minded and fundamentally flawed stereotypical profile of one twisted individual's view of the world and 'all things Thai'.

In a hopefully not doomed attempt to TRY and get this post back on topic (which entails, for me at least, adding a couple to the 'ignore' list), I did go to the opening night at Tao on Friday last week. It was open the night before but that was just for systems testing. Went with a small group and was with the owner and his girlfriend there most of the night, in between them flitting around to take care of other invited guests. Overall it was an enjoyable night and a nice venue. As has been mentioned the place is not overly big, a large bar near the entrance takes up quite some space. It's also very nicely decorated. Custom throughout the night changed, singlet clad bogans tended not to hand around long, a few groups of Indians plus a couple of tables of 1 beer per hour Chinese. There was about 30-40% Thais too, but I guess by default they mustn't have been nice Thais, they seemed OK to me though, but I did forget to hand them the 'Are you qualified as a nice Thai' questionnaire.

There was a live band from 8 until about 12. Pretty good most of the time, have to say though I get really tired of the 'old rock classics' that get peddled out by these bands in EVERY bar EVERY time they play. Some songs were even played twice!! I think the band is normally scheduled to end about 11 but maybe they were playing later because of the opening. By 12 though I'd had enough of them. Thankfully the music wasn't too loud and the base wasn't dialled up to vibrate your diaphragm. Too loud to talk much though.

After 12 it was down to the DJ(s). Quite a good range of music, again with volume, base and treble balanced quite well. Too loud to talk but not headache inducing. Once the DJ started there were a number of tastefully attired dancers on the stage, dance floor and on a raised gantry providing some eye-candy. There were also about 25 hostess / PR type girls around all night, mostly from out of town I gather. I'm not sure if that was just for the opening night or if they'll be around in the same numbers after. There was also a just about enough waitresses to keep the drinks flowing. The place does have a nice ambience to it, aided by what I would consider to be one of the best lighting set-ups in Patong. It's a bit on the pricey side though, it's different but it's not THAT different and, while I'm happy to pay it, I'm not sure everyone will think that beers like SML at 180 and Leo at 150 provides enough VFM.

I hope Tao does well, I guess time will tell, if it DOES get crazy popular it might get a bit cramped in there in high season but it's a welcome enough change for me to the rest of what has become the current state of Soi Blandla.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Pick of Penang