Patong is dead.

[LivinLOS]

patong is dead? I m not surprised. Pattaya is dead too.

Not the impression I am getting from mates incountry for xmas binge.. Facebook updates look at least full-ish.. Maybe not glory days but not that dire also..

Of note was a mate here a couple of months for winter hols, does patts, hua hin, bangkok, etc etc.. I used to know him from his Phuket / Patong visits.. He left patts for 'a couple of weeks in Phuket'.. 3 days later was back in Patts.. Now I know many posters will do the blame the victim kind of thing.. "we dont need that sort anyway"... But it seems telling that someone whose been a regular for well over a decade, hits multiple places in his vacation etc, changes his plans after just a day or two..

This right now is peak week.. If its not maxed out now it wont be..

[SooKee]

I know a few people who no longer include Phuket on their Thai trips. For the Bangla style stuff they go to Patts and for anything else they go anywhere else.

Part of it for a couple of them for sure has to do with their favourite haunts shutting down but it's all part of the same cocktail I guess.

I've been coming to Phuket for 10 years. Living here more permanently the last few. But will be pulling the plug in January. Will still be in Thailand but Phuket has lost its appeal for me

Sent using Tapatalk

[LivinLOS]

Theres always a turnover of residents and peoples views and desires change over time... I think thats just a given and people need to remember that more personal perspective..

I just found it telling that there was someone, doing the exact same orbits, for whom Phuket was always the bulk of his time, then it shrunk to part of his visit, and this time he obviously just pulled the plug.. Bangla may have changed but it must have just got him this time..

Also Patts has grown up and offers more.. Sea still filthy, but theres lots of urban distractions there now beyond just beer and birds (tho I think you have to admit thats still its main selling point).

[Seligne2]

The Russians are broke. As are the Americans, the Brits, the Chinese, and most everyone else. (Except for the Nordic nations).

Have you looked at exchange rates lately?

To exchange money, one must have money to begin with. A telling statistic this week shows that 60% of US nationals have less than US$1K in savings. Canada and Norway are suffering from low oil prices, the UK economy is a joke, Germans are scared shitless at the refugee influx...

[Genericnic]

The Russians are broke. As are the Americans, the Brits, the Chinese, and most everyone else. (Except for the Nordic nations).

Murican and I aint broke

Agreed. With the dollar as strong as it is, I am hardly broke. Phuket just doesn't have anything to offer that would get me to go there.

David

[Genericnic]

The Russians are broke. As are the Americans, the Brits, the Chinese, and most everyone else. (Except for the Nordic nations).

Have you looked at exchange rates lately?

To exchange money, one must have money to begin with. A telling statistic this week shows that 60% of US nationals have less than US$1K in savings. Canada and Norway are suffering from low oil prices, the UK economy is a joke, Germans are scared shitless at the refugee influx...

While not having money in savings is not a good thing, it hardly means a lack of money. It means people are spending the money they have rather than saving it. For many (though not all), that spending is for things like travel. Maybe they have just found better places to visit than Phuket. I have just returned from a couple of weeks in Vietnam and it would definitely get me back before taking a trip to Phuket.

David

[NamKangMan]

I know a few people who no longer include Phuket on their Thai trips. For the Bangla style stuff they go to Patts and for anything else they go anywhere else.

Part of it for a couple of them for sure has to do with their favourite haunts shutting down but it's all part of the same cocktail I guess.

I've been coming to Phuket for 10 years. Living here more permanently the last few. But will be pulling the plug in January. Will still be in Thailand but Phuket has lost its appeal for me

Sent using Tapatalk

Where are you moving to?

[Renter]

Yep Phuket continues to lose it's appeal. I know about a dozen guys who have left in the last 3 years. Negatives :- overpricing for just about everything - not value for money, gridlock traffic,

general chaos, smiling people have almost vanished, poor air quality ( can't work out why but it is ).

I've had a few trips to go check out other options as I've been here for years so maybe it's time for a fresh start elsewhere.

100% of everybody I know who has a business here all say they are not making any money.

It looks bright & shiny with flashing coloured lights & heaps of traffic ( tuk tuk's ) & many walkers but only small spenders - except for the 7 day millionaires who they are all hoping to snare.

[SooKee]

I know a few people who no longer include Phuket on their Thai trips. For the Bangla style stuff they go to Patts and for anything else they go anywhere else.

Part of it for a couple of them for sure has to do with their favourite haunts shutting down but it's all part of the same cocktail I guess.

I've been coming to Phuket for 10 years. Living here more permanently the last few. But will be pulling the plug in January. Will still be in Thailand but Phuket has lost its appeal for me

Sent using Tapatalk

Where are you moving to?

Chiang Mai

The folks I know that no longer come to Phuket do so specifically because of changes in Phuket. A few people that I knew here and used to socialise with have gone or are in the process of going and those I know that stay because of their businesses are contemplating selling up. I'll still visit I guess but not Patong.

Sent using Tapatalk

[NamKangMan]

I know a few people who no longer include Phuket on their Thai trips. For the Bangla style stuff they go to Patts and for anything else they go anywhere else.

Part of it for a couple of them for sure has to do with their favourite haunts shutting down but it's all part of the same cocktail I guess.

I've been coming to Phuket for 10 years. Living here more permanently the last few. But will be pulling the plug in January. Will still be in Thailand but Phuket has lost its appeal for me

Sent using Tapatalk

Where are you moving to?

Chiang Mai

The folks I know that no longer come to Phuket do so specifically because of changes in Phuket. A few people that I knew here and used to socialise with have gone or are in the process of going and those I know that stay because of their businesses are contemplating selling up. I'll still visit I guess but not Patong.

Sent using Tapatalk

I've lost several Phuket friends to Pattaya, but one of them to Chiang Mai. I have no problem with Chiang Mai. It's a nice place, and very relaxing.

He books flights way in advance, so get gets them on sale, or for cheap. He still visits Phuket about every 6 to 8 weeks for his dose of sun, sea and sand.

He's happy with Chiang Mai.

[xylophone]

Out last night and it was a lot busier on Bangla than it was previously on Christmas Eve, which was a disappointment for many bars I bet, mainly because there were quite a few people around, but not too many people sitting in the bars drinking which is obviously what the bar owners want.

Last night was different inasmuch as there were quite a few bars with drinkers in, although the same thing as I've mentioned before still applied to resurrected Tiger, where half the bars have closed down. Not surprising really when the bar fine in the bar I visited with friends is 2000 baht, the minute lady drinks 220 baht, and a soda water 90 baht! And they wonder why we were the only people in their bar, but not for long I can assure you.

The usual clubs were packed with the younger set and Smiley Bar was also packed with a good cross-section of people because they have a good band in there. The disappointment was Tao with at most around 10 people in it when twice I looked, and it has not been any different for a few months, so as already stated in previous posts, it would seem to be quite apparent that the owner has got this one wrong.

Soi Freedom was buzzing a lot more than of late, and the last few days have been the best to date according to my bar owner friend, although nowhere near what the heyday of Soi Eric was like, and I don't think those days will ever return.

Had a meal at Higher restaurant and that was packed with over 100 people, and although they have produced a special menu for Christmas, which is a bit more expensive than the à la carte, the food was still excellent and the service good for the amount of people in the place. Let's hope this has a long and happy life here.

There were two disappointments for me during the evening, the first was following three burly steroid-like Aussies with shaven hair and tattoos, wearing black T-shirts with what looked like the name of a tattoo parlour on them, and watched one of them deliberately throw a half empty bottle of beer on the floor at the entrance to Soi Sea Dragon, smashing it and sending glass everywhere, much to the chagrin of the bar owner who shouted at them loudly in Thai (expletives I expect) however they marched on regardless. Ignorant pigs.

The second was a lot more disturbing as it involved a pack of animals attacking one solitary Farang. I don't know what started it, however one Farang was having an altercation with a Thai guy in the middle of Bangla and it developed into fisticuffs, but only briefly. A crowd gathered and the two were pulled apart and the police were called, and they were on the scene within a minute as they were probably nearby.

As they were standing there trying to ascertain what the row was all about a Thai fellow from the back of the crowd who had not been involved in any way, pushed through to the front and smacked the Farang in the face. The police saw this and they should have arrested him immediately, but they waved him away!!

Then the original two seemed to come to blows again, however that was extremely short lived because at that moment in time about seven Thai guys jumped into the fray and started attacking the one Farang, just like a pack of animals and he had no chance whatsoever, being cornered up against a wall and having a barrage of fists and boots put into him, leaving him quite bloodied. These guys were dressed in red T-shirts and are part of the "tout brigade" that patrol their various patches in Bangla trying to snare customers into ping-pong parlours and go-go bars.

They had absolutely no reason to jump in but the pack mentality was frightening to see, and again the police did nothing. The beating stopped because the Farang fell to the ground and was dragged out by his mate and surrounded by a couple of Farang girls. The redshirted animals simply disappeared into the crowd and again the police did nothing although they saw it all.

I'm afraid that ruined the evening completely although I'd had a good time with friends and also received some good feedback on the songs I'd sung with a couple of the bands, and it made me wonder whether this place was going downhill faster than I'd thought.............. like "Pick of Penang" has done, will give some serious thought to looking elsewhere, however it will be hard because of the friends I have made here and I enjoy catching up with my ex and her daughter on a fairly regular basis.

Sure, as other folks have said Patong is not dead, but it is dying and that becomes apparent when you visit places like Nanai Road, where another well-known bar, Nanai Sports Bar, has closed and the premises are up for rent, small shops have closed down, other bars are devoid of customers, and we all know that many of the restaurants are struggling and if you wanted to add the empty bars at the back of resurrected Tiger and the new Tiger, along with Soi Crocodile/ladyboy which is no longer, then you get a more complete picture of a party town which is being destroyed by its own greed, corruption and lack of planning and foresight.

Edited December 30, 2015 by xylophone

[LivinginKata]

Just today when I passed Simon Caberet I noticed a barracade being erected along the front of the building at the roadside.. I planned to have a better look on the way back home but I was late and did not stop.

Anyone know what is happening ??

[simon43]

... and again the police did nothing although they saw it all.

Thai police or foreign volunteers?

If the foreign volunteers, then I'm hardly surprised that they did nothing. Would you want to get a smack or boot in the face when trying to break up a fight?, when you're not being paid for that task and where no medical insurance cover is provided?

I stopped patrolling in Bangla many years ago for that very reason. I like my hansum man face and it would not be improved with a broken nose.

Anyway, back to the topic

Edited December 30, 2015 by simon43

[xylophone]

... and again the police did nothing although they saw it all.

Thai police or foreign volunteers?

If the foreign volunteers, then I'm hardly surprised that they did nothing. Would you want to get a smack or boot in the face when trying to break up a fight?, when you're not being paid for that task and where no medical insurance cover is provided?

I stopped patrolling in Bangla many years ago for that very reason. I like my hansum man face and it would not be improved with a broken nose.

Anyway, back to the topic

Thai police...........

[Yahooka]

Out last night and it was a lot busier on Bangla than it was previously on Christmas Eve, which was a disappointment for many bars I bet, mainly because there were quite a few people around, but not too many people sitting in the bars drinking which is obviously what the bar owners want.

Last night was different inasmuch as there were quite a few bars with drinkers in, although the same thing as I've mentioned before still applied to resurrected Tiger, where half the bars have closed down. Not surprising really when the bar fine in the bar I visited with friends is 2000 baht, the minute lady drinks 220 baht, and a soda water 90 baht! And they wonder why we were the only people in their bar, but not for long I can assure you.

The usual clubs were packed with the younger set and Smiley Bar was also packed with a good cross-section of people because they have a good band in there. The disappointment was Tao with at most around 10 people in it when twice I looked, and it has not been any different for a few months, so as already stated in previous posts, it would seem to be quite apparent that the owner has got this one wrong.

Soi Freedom was buzzing a lot more than of late, and the last few days have been the best to date according to my bar owner friend, although nowhere near what the heyday of Soi Eric was like, and I don't think those days will ever return.

Had a meal at Higher restaurant and that was packed with over 100 people, and although they have produced a special menu for Christmas, which is a bit more expensive than the à la carte, the food was still excellent and the service good for the amount of people in the place. Let's hope this has a long and happy life here.

There were two disappointments for me during the evening, the first was following three burly steroid-like Aussies with shaven hair and tattoos, wearing black T-shirts with what looked like the name of a tattoo parlour on them, and watched one of them deliberately throw a half empty bottle of beer on the floor at the entrance to Soi Sea Dragon, smashing it and sending glass everywhere, much to the chagrin of the bar owner who shouted at them loudly in Thai (expletives I expect) however they marched on regardless. Ignorant pigs.

The second was a lot more disturbing as it involved a pack of animals attacking one solitary Farang. I don't know what started it, however one Farang was having an altercation with a Thai guy in the middle of Bangla and it developed into fisticuffs, but only briefly. A crowd gathered and the two were pulled apart and the police were called, and they were on the scene within a minute as they were probably nearby.

As they were standing there trying to ascertain what the row was all about a Thai fellow from the back of the crowd who had not been involved in any way, pushed through to the front and smacked the Farang in the face. The police saw this and they should have arrested him immediately, but they waved him away!!

Then the original two seemed to come to blows again, however that was extremely short lived because at that moment in time about seven Thai guys jumped into the fray and started attacking the one Farang, just like a pack of animals and he had no chance whatsoever, being cornered up against a wall and having a barrage of fists and boots put into him, leaving him quite bloodied. These guys were dressed in red T-shirts and are part of the "tout brigade" that patrol their various patches in Bangla trying to snare customers into ping-pong parlours and go-go bars.

They had absolutely no reason to jump in but the pack mentality was frightening to see, and again the police did nothing. The beating stopped because the Farang fell to the ground and was dragged out by his mate and surrounded by a couple of Farang girls. The redshirted animals simply disappeared into the crowd and again the police did nothing although they saw it all.

I'm afraid that ruined the evening completely although I'd had a good time with friends and also received some good feedback on the songs I'd sung with a couple of the bands, and it made me wonder whether this place was going downhill faster than I'd thought.............. like "Pick of Penang" has done, will give some serious thought to looking elsewhere, however it will be hard because of the friends I have made here and I enjoy catching up with my ex and her daughter on a fairly regular basis.

Sure, as other folks have said Patong is not dead, but it is dying and that becomes apparent when you visit places like Nanai Road, where another well-known bar, Nanai Sports Bar, has closed and the premises are up for rent, small shops have closed down, other bars are devoid of customers, and we all know that many of the restaurants are struggling and if you wanted to add the empty bars at the back of resurrected Tiger and the new Tiger, along with Soi Crocodile/ladyboy which is no longer, then you get a more complete picture of a party town which is being destroyed by its own greed, corruption and lack of planning and foresight.

Appreciate your reports xylophone.As an frequent traveller and a former resident in Phuket it certainly confirms the sad state of the Patong nightlife industry nowadays.The good times in Bangla and sorrounding areas are unfortunately gone and it`s been replaced with unfriendliness,pushiness and price gauging.The days when you had to arrive early to get a seat in the most popular(and then great) bars will unfortunately never return.

[Renter]

I've had many a good night in Bangla Road but it's more than 2 years since I've set foot in the place and about 4 years since I've had one of those good nights.

These pack-beatings that are reported are read world-wide by thousands of people, potential tourists or residents, as are the Youtube videos of same and the jet-ski rip offs, the tuk tuk rip offs,

the airport taxi rip offs, the list goes on and on.

Once Phuket use to get the gold standard of any business --repeat customers -- not so today. The newbies keep coming, then they get burnt and bingo your repeat customer never returns.

There are many other hot and sunny beach places with alluring females that don't have all these negatives.

The supply of newbies on this planet is vast so those who could fix things see no need to act as there is another plane load of the exploitable about to land shortly but very very few will be repeat customers.

[NamKangMan]

I've had many a good night in Bangla Road but it's more than 2 years since I've set foot in the place and about 4 years since I've had one of those good nights.

These pack-beatings that are reported are read world-wide by thousands of people, potential tourists or residents, as are the Youtube videos of same and the jet-ski rip offs, the tuk tuk rip offs,

the airport taxi rip offs, the list goes on and on.

Once Phuket use to get the gold standard of any business --repeat customers -- not so today. The newbies keep coming, then they get burnt and bingo your repeat customer never returns.

There are many other hot and sunny beach places with alluring females that don't have all these negatives.

The supply of newbies on this planet is vast so those who could fix things see no need to act as there is another plane load of the exploitable about to land shortly but very very few will be repeat customers.

I agree, and disagree with your post.

I agree that "there is another plane load" of newbies "about to land shortly" but I disagree they are "exploitable."

The majoritiy of the newbies arriving now are Chinese package holiday makers. They are called "zero baht tourists" because, basically, Thailand makes "zero baht" from them.

Sure, they provide some employment for 7000 baht a month Thai's, and raise the occupancy rates of particular hotels, but they spend very little money on food and beverage whilst here.

They inject very little money into the Phuket economy.

The Chinese will certainly not be the next generation of bar, restaurant, cafe and guest house owners on Phuket, like the Koreans took over Angeles City in The Philippines.

I agree that Phuket has lost repeat customers, this is certainly true of the western market. Phuket is even losing expats to other places in Thailand.

I agree it's Phuket's man made negatives that have seen Phuket lose a huge slice of market share in relation to the lucrative western tourist market.

Just how low officials will let Phuket slide down the S bend is anyone's guess, but for sure the envelopes and tea money are drying up here rapidly.

[Seligne2]

I've had many a good night in Bangla Road but it's more than 2 years since I've set foot in the place and about 4 years since I've had one of those good nights.

These pack-beatings that are reported are read world-wide by thousands of people, potential tourists or residents, as are the Youtube videos of same and the jet-ski rip offs, the tuk tuk rip offs,

the airport taxi rip offs, the list goes on and on.

Once Phuket use to get the gold standard of any business --repeat customers -- not so today. The newbies keep coming, then they get burnt and bingo your repeat customer never returns.

There are many other hot and sunny beach places with alluring females that don't have all these negatives.

The supply of newbies on this planet is vast so those who could fix things see no need to act as there is another plane load of the exploitable about to land shortly but very very few will be repeat customers.

I agree, and disagree with your post.

I agree that "there is another plane load" of newbies "about to land shortly" but I disagree they are "exploitable."

The majoritiy of the newbies arriving now are Chinese package holiday makers. They are called "zero baht tourists" because, basically, Thailand makes "zero baht" from them.

Sure, they provide some employment for 7000 baht a month Thai's, and raise the occupancy rates of particular hotels, but they spend very little money on food and beverage whilst here.

They inject very little money into the Phuket economy.

The Chinese will certainly not be the next generation of bar, restaurant, cafe and guest house owners on Phuket, like the Koreans took over Angeles City in The Philippines.

I agree that Phuket has lost repeat customers, this is certainly true of the western market. Phuket is even losing expats to other places in Thailand.

I agree it's Phuket's man made negatives that have seen Phuket lose a huge slice of market share in relation to the lucrative western tourist market.

Just how low officials will let Phuket slide down the S bend is anyone's guess, but for sure the envelopes and tea money are drying up here rapidly.

The average Chinese tourist spends more than the average European tourist according to The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Chinese-tourists-boost-Thai-economy-but-stir-outra-30263782.html

[DrDave]

<snip>

The usual clubs were packed with the younger set and Smiley Bar was also packed with a good cross-section of people because they have a good band in there. The disappointment was Tao with at most around 10 people in it when twice I looked, and it has not been any different for a few months, so as already stated in previous posts, it would seem to be quite apparent that the owner has got this one wrong.

Soi Freedom was buzzing a lot more than of late, and the last few days have been the best to date according to my bar owner friend, although nowhere near what the heyday of Soi Eric was like, and I don't think those days will ever return.

Had a meal at Higher restaurant and that was packed with over 100 people, and although they have produced a special menu for Christmas, which is a bit more expensive than the à la carte, the food was still excellent and the service good for the amount of people in the place. Let's hope this has a long and happy life here.

<snip>

Sure, as other folks have said Patong is not dead, but it is dying and that becomes apparent when you visit places like Nanai Road, where another well-known bar, Nanai Sports Bar, has closed and the premises are up for rent, small shops have closed down, other bars are devoid of customers, and we all know that many of the restaurants are struggling and if you wanted to add the empty bars at the back of resurrected Tiger and the new Tiger, along with Soi Crocodile/ladyboy which is no longer, then you get a more complete picture of a party town which is being destroyed by its own greed, corruption and lack of planning and foresight.

We were out on Christmas evening, and had almost the same experience as you, X, minus the scuffles.

Started out with dinner at Higher, which was fairly busy even well past 9pm. As usual, the food was excellent, but I'm sorry to say that the service had slipped quite a bit. I'm hoping that this was a one-off, due to being Christmas, but we noticed that the excellent original (mostly older) service staff seems to have been replaced by younger, inexperienced staff.

Next stop was Tao. A little busier than the last time we were here. The band has undergone a couple of replacements, and to be honest, they just didn't sound good. Again, maybe just a one-off, but the previous lineup with 2 female singers was much better. I still can't figure out what has gone wrong with Tao. Red Hot, just across the street has no trouble packing them in every night, as do New York and Monsoon.

After one beer, we were out of Tao - next stop Soi Freedom, where we met up with some of MrsDave's younger friends. Smiley bar was packed - not a table to be had. Soi Freedom was fairly busy, and we ended up in the bar next to the stage, directly opposite of the Island Bar. I think this bar is under new ownership, and we had a great time, with the server keeping the nearly-free shots flowing. We will definitely be back. The band was very, very good, even though the Kiwi Rocker didn't make a guest appearance. When the band finished their final set (around 2am, I think), we moved on.

Wandering down Bangla toward the beach road, we saw that a number of bars were still open after 2am and Monsoon was still going strong, so we stopped in. Definitely a younger crowd here (as compared to Soi Freedom), but still enjoyable for an old fart like me. The crowd started to thin out sometime around 3:30 (I think), but the band was still playing when we left, which was sometime between 3:30 and 4am.

I don't bother to go into the "beer bar multiplexes" like original Tiger and new Tiger any more. Even in Patong's heyday, the bars in the middle and rear of Tiger as well as the old Soi Seadragon and Soi Lion would be struggling most nights, while the shophouse bars fronting Bangla would be full. I just don't understand why they continued to use this model with the reconstruction of original Tiger, and the development of new Tiger, knowing that the economy and tourism in the area was on a steep decline. Possibly counting on a steady stream of naive farangs to rent these bars?

[DrDave]

The average Chinese tourist spends more than the average European tourist according to The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Chinese-tourists-boost-Thai-economy-but-stir-outra-30263782.html

The key piece of information that's missing from that article is what 5,500 baht/day is being spent on, and where its going.

Here in Phuket, most of the revenue appears to be flowing into Chinese tour companies and the Chinese-owned businesses to which they're shuttled on their tour buses.

A small percentage of the total tourist-spend ends up in the pockets of local Thai businesses (zero-profit hotel rooms beaten down to 5-600 baht), trinkets and souvenirs, and maybe some McDs and KFC. Big C does a brisk trade with Chinese tourists, but that's not really a local business. I think the local businesses making the most profit from the Chinese are probably the jet ski and parasail operators. In general, the Chinese tourists don't frequent the locally-owned bars, restaurants and businesses nearly to the extent that western tourists patronize these places.

So while the daily spend might be higher, the impact to the local economy could very well be lower.

[AJBangkok]

I ventured into Patong last night for dinner with some friends. The big shock to me was the traffic jam to get into patong. It pretty much started at the bottom of the hill coming from Kamala and was a stop go snails pace all the way to patong. I took us 2 hours to get from Layan beach to patong. 20 mis to kamala and 1.4 hours from Kamala. I thought patong would be teaming with people but I was surprised after experiencing that traffic that although it was crowded it wasn't jam packed. The restaurant we went to however was full all night and had people waiting In the reception area pretty much the who,e time we were there. It was relatively pricey at just under 10,000 for four people so at least there is one business owner making some decent cash this high season. The food was good so good luck to him.

[LivinginKata]

Just today when I passed Simon Caberet I noticed a barracade being erected along the front of the building at the roadside.. I planned to have a better look on the way back home but I was late and did not stop.

Anyone know what is happening ??

I had a look this morning. All closed off -big COMING SOON banner for Simon Caberet ...

It's a strange time of the year to close for refurbishment.

[xylophone]

DrDave: "I still can't figure out what has gone wrong with Tao. Red Hot, just across the street has no trouble packing them in every night, as do New York and Monsoon".

I have a theory on that DrDave and that is, that Tao is neither one thing nor the other, in fact it doesn't know what sort of place it is! It really is too small to have a live band playing or at least playing at the level which will get the folk dancing, and on that note the dance area is minimal.

The layout is not conducive to any one thing in particular and they have already changed the position of the bar and it wasn't too difficult to see that it was in fact an obstruction. And then there's the TVs......... for what purpose in a place like that?

I popped into the place just before it was completed and chatted with the owner, whom I know, and he was explaining how much money he had spent on the decor, the sound system, the stage, the TVs, and so on and when I took a good look round I really couldn't see for the life of me what its market was. Then when it opened the beers were about 200 baht minimum, so it had priced itself in the upper tier, however in my mind, it didn't seem to fit there.

[LivinginKata]

I ventured into Patong last night for dinner with some friends. The big shock to me was the traffic jam to get into patong. It pretty much started at the bottom of the hill coming from Kamala and was a stop go snails pace all the way to patong. I took us 2 hours to get from Layan beach to patong. 20 mis to kamala and 1.4 hours from Kamala. I thought patong would be teaming with people but I was surprised after experiencing that traffic that although it was crowded it wasn't jam packed. The restaurant we went to however was full all night and had people waiting In the reception area pretty much the who,e time we were there. It was relatively pricey at just under 10,000 for four people so at least there is one business owner making some decent cash this high season. The food was good so good luck to him.

The traffic in Patong was jammed much of the day ... so much for the dead topic header ...

[xylophone]

I ventured into Patong last night for dinner with some friends. The big shock to me was the traffic jam to get into patong. It pretty much started at the bottom of the hill coming from Kamala and was a stop go snails pace all the way to patong. I took us 2 hours to get from Layan beach to patong. 20 mis to kamala and 1.4 hours from Kamala. I thought patong would be teaming with people but I was surprised after experiencing that traffic that although it was crowded it wasn't jam packed. The restaurant we went to however was full all night and had people waiting In the reception area pretty much the who,e time we were there. It was relatively pricey at just under 10,000 for four people so at least there is one business owner making some decent cash this high season. The food was good so good luck to him.

That stretch of road from Kalim to the roundabout at Patong is notorious for traffic jams at this time of the year and friends I know who live in the Kamala area and who used to come into Patong to catch up for dinner occasionally, just don't do it any more because of the traffic.

It is a bottleneck because of traffic coming from the Beach Road and wanting to go north on the road out of Patong, meeting up with the traffic from Kamala/Kalim on a road which narrows from two lanes to one, just metres from the roundabout, combined with traffic then wanting to turn right into Rat-u-Thid Road, as well as being held up at the traffic lights a little further up the road where the "new middle road" joins it..........in reality it reflects a microcosm of the traffic problems in Patong because of lack of planning, greed and stupidity, this especially with a one-way system which should have been changed some time ago.

[xylophone]

I ventured into Patong last night for dinner with some friends. The big shock to me was the traffic jam to get into patong. It pretty much started at the bottom of the hill coming from Kamala and was a stop go snails pace all the way to patong. I took us 2 hours to get from Layan beach to patong. 20 mis to kamala and 1.4 hours from Kamala. I thought patong would be teaming with people but I was surprised after experiencing that traffic that although it was crowded it wasn't jam packed. The restaurant we went to however was full all night and had people waiting In the reception area pretty much the who,e time we were there. It was relatively pricey at just under 10,000 for four people so at least there is one business owner making some decent cash this high season. The food was good so good luck to him.

The traffic in Patong was jammed much of the day ... so much for the dead topic header ...

Dead with regards to money spent, people actually staying in the place for longer than a few days and many businesses struggling, rather than being judged on poor traffic flow.........but then you already knew that and were probably being a little mischievous!!

I walked from the centre of Jungceylon up "restaurant alley" at lunchtime yesterday, as I have done many times over the past months and the Italian restaurant near to the centre was empty, the Pizza Hut restaurant had only five people in it, the next restaurant up had a couple of tables of diners, although nowhere near full and restaurants across the other side were lacking diners........even the Irish Times pub was unusually quiet and Churrasco and Bodegas restaurants were also empty.

Funnily enough the little cheap-end restaurant in the middle which serves a lot of Thai dishes was busy and that has been like that for some time so perhaps that is a reflection of the type of tourist visitors now, or perhaps the teams of Chinese shoppers in Big C were taking their packets of noodles, dried seaweed and fruit back to their apartment to eat, because surely weren't eating at any of those restaurants.

[SooKee]

I think the traffic gets jammed in and into Patong often simply because its road network is too outdated to deal with anything other than minor capacity at quiet times. A problem that get's exacerbated by traffic lights being out, tuk tuks jamming up all the street parking, random stalls setting up, tourists wandering round with brain in neutral, other vehicles double parking because of the tuk tuks taking all the street parking, cops making a pig's ear of directing traffic when working lights with a proper flow dependant sequence would be much better etc etc. There were massive tail-backs half way to Kamala on the 29th too, about 8pm. But you don't need much to cause a total blockage in Phrabaramee Road (such as an ice delivery or collecting the garbage at the busiest time of day instead of the quietest) and then it backs up fast and of course from Kamala area you will have to go through Patong to get to many places so the vehicles are not necessarily GOING TO Patong.

Bangla for me is mostly just a blur of 'clone bar' mediocrity now. Probably just bored with too much of it over the years I guess but I'd been for going many years 3-4 years ago too, it just felt less crap then. As has been pointed out these Tiger complexes were struggling a few years ago to fill the bars inside, now inside some bars are lucky to get ANY customers at all. Standards across the board just seem to have dropped so much too, behavioural topping the bill. I've commented before about the fun element that Patong has just been lost for me. Now, it's all about the money, money, money.

As to Tao, I thinks it's a real shame but you could see from day one it was going to struggle. Opening days it had plenty of eye candy and a newness that got it some custom but you can't keep that kind of expenditure up for long. Just a month or two on and it was a morgue with music. As XP has said, I think the concept is just off. 8-10 it is often empty completely. 10 - 1 you maybe get a few tables of 'drift ins' who stay for a beer then go. It has been busy in the past after 3 when the band played Thai music but the customers then were mostly Thai, many being girls coming after work with free shots and such like to tempt them, somewhere different for them to try and grab a customer at no cost to themselves but no profit to the bar. Not so many farangs in there, unless they had wandered in with a TG for a look-see. Even on a good night though it was making little, and turnover is far different to profit. The beer prices it had pitched at when opening didn't help but I don't think the beer prices would have mattered even if it'd been 100 baht a bottle from day one. Just a case of why would you go there? It's got too much competition for a live music haunt (and no atmosphere because it's dead), it's also no disco, despite having a DJ playing between the band sessions, not a sports bar and certainly not a girlie bar. So people will go for what????

Now I guess it's the Xmas peak and foot traffic will be up. Inevitable, it will be everywhere. I wonder how it will look after 4th or 5th of Jan and the run up to Songkran. Not as busy as it is now I guess.

In terms of restaurants up and around Nanai (aside from the fact that for my liking it's just too noisy up there to enjoy having a meal at all on a regular basis unless inside or at a quiet(er) time of day) I really do enjoy the occasional fill at Saxony, a small cafe style place on the right on the way to Makro if you're coming from Prabaramee Rd. Can't recall which Soi it's next too, 7 I think??? The beef goulash soup is really superb as are their pork chops. Quite partial to their homemade hamburgers with salad too. The Thai food is also OK. Very good prices too, most around 150 - 200 baht.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Pick of Penang

[SooKee]

I've lost several Phuket friends to Pattaya, but one of them to Chiang Mai. I have no problem with Chiang Mai. It's a nice place, and very relaxing.

He books flights way in advance, so get gets them on sale, or for cheap. He still visits Phuket about every 6 to 8 weeks for his dose of sun, sea and sand.

He's happy with Chiang Mai.

Yeah, that's my thinking. GF still has a condo in Phuket, albeit we might rent it out, so we'll still visit, just not so much and def NOT Patong unless it's to visit one or two restaurants we like or maybe Jungceylon. Flights seem to stick around the 2,500 (and go up closer to the time) mark with Air Asia regardless, that's direct.

As you say we find CM more relaxing, weather mostly better and without the dregs of tourism that Phuket (or at least Patong) now seems to attract. Of course we'll miss the scams and barricade lines of touts too

[AJBangkok]

From what I have seen I feel that this years Christmas/new year high season is far from a bust in terms of bodies on the ground. Whether they are spending money or not in patong is another story which I don't have the knowledge to comment In my own little neck of the woods it is the busiest I have seen it. I live in Layan and the beach in front of the resurant next to Dream Becah club ( the old nikki beach club) has been packed every day with tourists. They have about 50 beach chairs there and all are full. Maybe Dream/Nikki has had something to do with introducing tourists to the beach but it's certianly busier than I have ever seen it. The same goes for other restaurants along Layan/leypeng beach, I've visited a few this past week and they all seem busier than before they were "knocked down" by the navy . My condo complex which is nearby is full of Russian families holidaying. Normally over the Xmas break we'd see maybe 5 of the 20 odd condos inhabited and there is probably 15 or 16 this year.

[Patong2]

I ventured into Patong last night for dinner with some friends. The big shock to me was the traffic jam to get into patong. It pretty much started at the bottom of the hill coming from Kamala and was a stop go snails pace all the way to patong. I took us 2 hours to get from Layan beach to patong. 20 mis to kamala and 1.4 hours from Kamala. I thought patong would be teaming with people but I was surprised after experiencing that traffic that although it was crowded it wasn't jam packed. The restaurant we went to however was full all night and had people waiting In the reception area pretty much the who,e time we were there. It was relatively pricey at just under 10,000 for four people so at least there is one business owner making some decent cash this high season. The food was good so good luck to him.

The traffic in Patong was jammed much of the day ... so much for the dead topic header ...

The traffic in Patong was jammed yesterday and again today ( I just came home) but there are countless empty tuk tuks, empty taxis ans minibuses plus the boxing vans and water trucks. Over the last 3-4 years a lot more Thais have vehicles (and they are entitled to them) but there has been no improvement in traffic flow to allow for that.

As soon as you leave Patong and get past Kalim or Kathu the traffic eases to volumes much lower than I have ever seen in high season.

It really is the number of foreign spenders here, not the local Thais that will make the difference of a good season or bad season.

I don't see anywhere the number of obvious tourists I normally see in Patong

Edited December 31, 2015 by Patong2