Patong is dead.

[OMGImInPattaya]

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

Au contraire...the American dollar is the strongest against the Thai baht in a decade and unemployment is at 5% (which is full employment). The Germans are also pretty flush, as are the Brits at the moment; but the rest of Europe is a basket case...including the Nordic nations...with oil at 30 bucks a gallon Norway is skint...Nokia and the rest of the Finnish economy has gone bust (they've been in a recession for a year or so now), and Denmark ain't doing too good either but Sweden is hanging on with their more diversified economy and ABBA music royalties.

Edited January 30, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[Yahooka]

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

Au contraire...the American dollar is the strongest against the Thai baht in a decade and unemployment is at 5% (which is full employment). The Germans are also pretty flush, as are the Brits at the moment; but the rest of Europe is a basket case...including the Nordic nations...with oil at 30 bucks a gallon Norway is skint...Nokia and the rest of the Finnish economy has gone bust (they've been in a recession for a year or so now), and Denmark ain't doing too good either but Sweden is hanging on with their more diversified economy and ABBA music royalties.

Norway is not skint, but the exchange rate for the Norwegian krone against Thai baht at it lowest I can remember in my 25 years here that is also an important factor.

[eisfeld]

Europeans are diverting their holidays to southern Europe more and more. Spain, Portugal, Italy and so on see a big increase in tourists from what I heard from residents there.

Makes sense, you can have a nice, safe vacation there for not much more than you'd pay here. Especially if you include the cost for flights.

[xylophone]

Sound familiar? (quote Reuters article): “Magaluf's vision shows how Spain's tourist industry is looking beyond record visitor numbers and aiming to boost spending per head in a sector that accounts for 11 percent of Spain's economic output and employs two million people.

That means improving the quality and offering a wider range of activities than just drinking and soaking up the sun”.

A tourism model based on sun and sand and competing on the lowest price is all very well, but it's not sustainable in the long term”.

Set back from the white sand beach which first attracted tourists to Magaluf in the 1960s, a smart new development is rising - part of the Mallorcan resort's plan to transform itself from an alchohol-fueled fleshpot awash with young Britons to a high-end holiday destination for families and couples.

Old buildings are being torn down and pedestrian streets laid in one project which forms part of a 187 million euro ($204 million) turnaround campaign.

Magaluf's vision shows how Spain's tourist industry is looking beyond record visitor numbers and aiming to boost spending per head in a sector that accounts for 11 percent of Spain's economic output and employs two million people.

That means improving the quality and offering a wider range of activities than just drinking and soaking up the sun.

"A tourism model based on sun and sand and competing on the lowest price is all very well, but it's not sustainable in the long term," said Ricard Santoma, dean of Barcelona-based Sant Ignasi School of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

"The challenge is to attract tourists who want to spend a little more."

The success of the sector is vital for Spain to ensure its economy can grow again this year and further shrink a 20.9 percent unemployment rate at a time of political instability.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-tourism-idUSKCN0V70Z2

[balo]

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

well the Nordic nations won't help because they are rapidly moving towards having no cash

http://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-cashless-society-negative-interest-rates-2015-10

That's right , the unemployment rate is rocket sky high now in Norway which is very unusual. When the oil industry is down Norway are losing million of dollars daily . Also other types of industries are struggling. Only fishing are doing ok since the salmon and cod export to Japan and China has increased.

But pensioners are safe anyway , they will get their monthly pension (more than 60k) and continue to spend it in Phuket and Hua Hin.

[seedy]

off topic posts removed.

[xylophone]

I have just returned from New Zealand and was keen to see whether things have changed here in Patong since I left in early January.

At that particular time there were quite a few Chinese tourists around the place but it seemed as if the high season was just about over! However there are more Chinese here than when I left, as well as quite a few Russians, and my "benchmark place" (Big C) has become busy again and indeed the GM is quite happy with the increase in business though not with the extra work involved by all accounts.

To counter that side of things, a few more small shops have closed in Nanai Road as well as the guesthouse/small hotel "Patong Residence" which is opposite the Supercheap shop, however I do believe that place has been struggling and up for sale on and off for a while now.

The construction of what now appears to be a restaurant opposite the entrance to Soi Nanai 6 (owned by the Tiger group according to another poster) is still ongoing and the grinding, drilling and general noise still echoes around the apartments nearby making sure that the residents have endured just about a year of unremitting noise. It would seem as if they constantly change their minds as to what the place will look like, removing recently laid concrete with jackhammers and replacing it with something else, only to be doing something similar all around the place – – and for what? Another restaurant in an area which has quite a few poorly frequented and closed restaurants anyway. Go figure.

Ventured into Bangla Road on Tuesday evening and although it was fairly busy, the bar scene had changed somewhat, with the normally full Smiley bar, being only about a quarter full, whereas before it was often "heaving", and New York having quite a few patrons, but nowhere near as crowded as before and the same went for Monsoon. Unfortunately things don't seem to have changed for Tao which had a handful of customers at around 10 p.m. and no more at around 2 p.m., so as has previously been stated, this one is not going to be the jewel in the crown of the venues opened by the owner.

The bars fronting Bangla, in the first half of the road heading towards the beach anyway, were strangely devoid of customers, whereas Kangaroo bar was packed as was P.One.

Resurrected Tiger was quiet and looked somewhat eerie along with around 40% of its bars being closed and New Tiger had its fair share of closed bars and a few customers, although nowhere near like times gone by. The same applied to Soi Freedom which did become busier as the night wore on/morning approached, however I would suspect that the patronage of the bars which did have a few customers in would nowhere near cover their costs.

On the subject of profitability, a bar owner friend has said that takings are down some 50% on previous years and I can quite believe it.

I can't help but keep referring to my post # 996 because what is happening in Patong is exactly the mirror image of that which happened in Spain and nothing seems to be getting in the way of this place becoming a low-end bogans paradise.

[jamie obda]

I have just returned from New Zealand and was keen to see whether things have changed here in Patong since I left in early January.

At that particular time there were quite a few Chinese tourists around the place but it seemed as if the high season was just about over! However there are more Chinese here than when I left, as well as quite a few Russians, and my "benchmark place" (Big C) has become busy again and indeed the GM is quite happy with the increase in business though not with the extra work involved by all accounts.

To counter that side of things, a few more small shops have closed in Nanai Road as well as the guesthouse/small hotel "Patong Residence" which is opposite the Supercheap shop, however I do believe that place has been struggling and up for sale on and off for a while now.

The construction of what now appears to be a restaurant opposite the entrance to Soi Nanai 6 (owned by the Tiger group according to another poster) is still ongoing and the grinding, drilling and general noise still echoes around the apartments nearby making sure that the residents have endured just about a year of unremitting noise. It would seem as if they constantly change their minds as to what the place will look like, removing recently laid concrete with jackhammers and replacing it with something else, only to be doing something similar all around the place – – and for what? Another restaurant in an area which has quite a few poorly frequented and closed restaurants anyway. Go figure.

Ventured into Bangla Road on Tuesday evening and although it was fairly busy, the bar scene had changed somewhat, with the normally full Smiley bar, being only about a quarter full, whereas before it was often "heaving", and New York having quite a few patrons, but nowhere near as crowded as before and the same went for Monsoon. Unfortunately things don't seem to have changed for Tao which had a handful of customers at around 10 p.m. and no more at around 2 p.m., so as has previously been stated, this one is not going to be the jewel in the crown of the venues opened by the owner.

The bars fronting Bangla, in the first half of the road heading towards the beach anyway, were strangely devoid of customers, whereas Kangaroo bar was packed as was P.One.

Resurrected Tiger was quiet and looked somewhat eerie along with around 40% of its bars being closed and New Tiger had its fair share of closed bars and a few customers, although nowhere near like times gone by. The same applied to Soi Freedom which did become busier as the night wore on/morning approached, however I would suspect that the patronage of the bars which did have a few customers in would nowhere near cover their costs.

On the subject of profitability, a bar owner friend has said that takings are down some 50% on previous years and I can quite believe it.

I can't help but keep referring to my post # 996 because what is happening in Patong is exactly the mirror image of that which happened in Spain and nothing seems to be getting in the way of this place becoming a low-end bogans paradise.

With the pricing structure, would be surprised if the low end Bogans can make it work

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[xylophone]

I have just returned from New Zealand and was keen to see whether things have changed here in Patong since I left in early January.

At that particular time there were quite a few Chinese tourists around the place but it seemed as if the high season was just about over! However there are more Chinese here than when I left, as well as quite a few Russians, and my "benchmark place" (Big C) has become busy again and indeed the GM is quite happy with the increase in business though not with the extra work involved by all accounts.

To counter that side of things, a few more small shops have closed in Nanai Road as well as the guesthouse/small hotel "Patong Residence" which is opposite the Supercheap shop, however I do believe that place has been struggling and up for sale on and off for a while now.

The construction of what now appears to be a restaurant opposite the entrance to Soi Nanai 6 (owned by the Tiger group according to another poster) is still ongoing and the grinding, drilling and general noise still echoes around the apartments nearby making sure that the residents have endured just about a year of unremitting noise. It would seem as if they constantly change their minds as to what the place will look like, removing recently laid concrete with jackhammers and replacing it with something else, only to be doing something similar all around the place – – and for what? Another restaurant in an area which has quite a few poorly frequented and closed restaurants anyway. Go figure.

Ventured into Bangla Road on Tuesday evening and although it was fairly busy, the bar scene had changed somewhat, with the normally full Smiley bar, being only about a quarter full, whereas before it was often "heaving", and New York having quite a few patrons, but nowhere near as crowded as before and the same went for Monsoon. Unfortunately things don't seem to have changed for Tao which had a handful of customers at around 10 p.m. and no more at around 2 p.m., so as has previously been stated, this one is not going to be the jewel in the crown of the venues opened by the owner.

The bars fronting Bangla, in the first half of the road heading towards the beach anyway, were strangely devoid of customers, whereas Kangaroo bar was packed as was P.One.

Resurrected Tiger was quiet and looked somewhat eerie along with around 40% of its bars being closed and New Tiger had its fair share of closed bars and a few customers, although nowhere near like times gone by. The same applied to Soi Freedom which did become busier as the night wore on/morning approached, however I would suspect that the patronage of the bars which did have a few customers in would nowhere near cover their costs.

On the subject of profitability, a bar owner friend has said that takings are down some 50% on previous years and I can quite believe it.

I can't help but keep referring to my post # 996 because what is happening in Patong is exactly the mirror image of that which happened in Spain and nothing seems to be getting in the way of this place becoming a low-end bogans paradise.

With the pricing structure, would be surprised if the low end Bogans can make it work

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

You make a good point Jamie, however I have now seen bars here advertising beer at 60 baht, happy hours stretching from midday till 9 p.m. and rooms available for 800 baht a night and even cheaper (300 baht a night for a hostel bed in the Green Mango in Nanai Road), and if you wish to go out into the bars in Bangla, one can very often buy what they call a "bucket" for 100 baht, which contains five shots of some sort of "garage alcohol" and Coke/lemonade, or even red Bull!

Plenty of low-end options to attract the sort of people that will replicate the Spanish experience.

[bkktrapper]

Well done Hans Gruber 1000 post replys

[NamKangMan]

I have just returned from New Zealand and was keen to see whether things have changed here in Patong since I left in early January.

At that particular time there were quite a few Chinese tourists around the place but it seemed as if the high season was just about over! However there are more Chinese here than when I left, as well as quite a few Russians, and my "benchmark place" (Big C) has become busy again and indeed the GM is quite happy with the increase in business though not with the extra work involved by all accounts.

To counter that side of things, a few more small shops have closed in Nanai Road as well as the guesthouse/small hotel "Patong Residence" which is opposite the Supercheap shop, however I do believe that place has been struggling and up for sale on and off for a while now.

The construction of what now appears to be a restaurant opposite the entrance to Soi Nanai 6 (owned by the Tiger group according to another poster) is still ongoing and the grinding, drilling and general noise still echoes around the apartments nearby making sure that the residents have endured just about a year of unremitting noise. It would seem as if they constantly change their minds as to what the place will look like, removing recently laid concrete with jackhammers and replacing it with something else, only to be doing something similar all around the place – – and for what? Another restaurant in an area which has quite a few poorly frequented and closed restaurants anyway. Go figure.

Ventured into Bangla Road on Tuesday evening and although it was fairly busy, the bar scene had changed somewhat, with the normally full Smiley bar, being only about a quarter full, whereas before it was often "heaving", and New York having quite a few patrons, but nowhere near as crowded as before and the same went for Monsoon. Unfortunately things don't seem to have changed for Tao which had a handful of customers at around 10 p.m. and no more at around 2 p.m., so as has previously been stated, this one is not going to be the jewel in the crown of the venues opened by the owner.

The bars fronting Bangla, in the first half of the road heading towards the beach anyway, were strangely devoid of customers, whereas Kangaroo bar was packed as was P.One.

Resurrected Tiger was quiet and looked somewhat eerie along with around 40% of its bars being closed and New Tiger had its fair share of closed bars and a few customers, although nowhere near like times gone by. The same applied to Soi Freedom which did become busier as the night wore on/morning approached, however I would suspect that the patronage of the bars which did have a few customers in would nowhere near cover their costs.

On the subject of profitability, a bar owner friend has said that takings are down some 50% on previous years and I can quite believe it.

I can't help but keep referring to my post # 996 because what is happening in Patong is exactly the mirror image of that which happened in Spain and nothing seems to be getting in the way of this place becoming a low-end bogans paradise.

With the pricing structure, would be surprised if the low end Bogans can make it work

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

You make a good point Jamie, however I have now seen bars here advertising beer at 60 baht, happy hours stretching from midday till 9 p.m. and rooms available for 800 baht a night and even cheaper (300 baht a night for a hostel bed in the Green Mango in Nanai Road), and if you wish to go out into the bars in Bangla, one can very often buy what they call a "bucket" for 100 baht, which contains five shots of some sort of "garage alcohol" and Coke/lemonade, or even red Bull!

Plenty of low-end options to attract the sort of people that will replicate the Spanish experience.

"Plenty of low-end options to attract the sort of people that will replicate the Spanish experience. " - for how long can these businesses continue to offer "low end options" whilst still paying "high end" rents and other overheads?

[xylophone]

I have just returned from New Zealand and was keen to see whether things have changed here in Patong since I left in early January.

At that particular time there were quite a few Chinese tourists around the place but it seemed as if the high season was just about over! However there are more Chinese here than when I left, as well as quite a few Russians, and my "benchmark place" (Big C) has become busy again and indeed the GM is quite happy with the increase in business though not with the extra work involved by all accounts.

To counter that side of things, a few more small shops have closed in Nanai Road as well as the guesthouse/small hotel "Patong Residence" which is opposite the Supercheap shop, however I do believe that place has been struggling and up for sale on and off for a while now.

The construction of what now appears to be a restaurant opposite the entrance to Soi Nanai 6 (owned by the Tiger group according to another poster) is still ongoing and the grinding, drilling and general noise still echoes around the apartments nearby making sure that the residents have endured just about a year of unremitting noise. It would seem as if they constantly change their minds as to what the place will look like, removing recently laid concrete with jackhammers and replacing it with something else, only to be doing something similar all around the place – – and for what? Another restaurant in an area which has quite a few poorly frequented and closed restaurants anyway. Go figure.

Ventured into Bangla Road on Tuesday evening and although it was fairly busy, the bar scene had changed somewhat, with the normally full Smiley bar, being only about a quarter full, whereas before it was often "heaving", and New York having quite a few patrons, but nowhere near as crowded as before and the same went for Monsoon. Unfortunately things don't seem to have changed for Tao which had a handful of customers at around 10 p.m. and no more at around 2 p.m., so as has previously been stated, this one is not going to be the jewel in the crown of the venues opened by the owner.

The bars fronting Bangla, in the first half of the road heading towards the beach anyway, were strangely devoid of customers, whereas Kangaroo bar was packed as was P.One.

Resurrected Tiger was quiet and looked somewhat eerie along with around 40% of its bars being closed and New Tiger had its fair share of closed bars and a few customers, although nowhere near like times gone by. The same applied to Soi Freedom which did become busier as the night wore on/morning approached, however I would suspect that the patronage of the bars which did have a few customers in would nowhere near cover their costs.

On the subject of profitability, a bar owner friend has said that takings are down some 50% on previous years and I can quite believe it.

I can't help but keep referring to my post # 996 because what is happening in Patong is exactly the mirror image of that which happened in Spain and nothing seems to be getting in the way of this place becoming a low-end bogans paradise.

With the pricing structure, would be surprised if the low end Bogans can make it work

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

You make a good point Jamie, however I have now seen bars here advertising beer at 60 baht, happy hours stretching from midday till 9 p.m. and rooms available for 800 baht a night and even cheaper (300 baht a night for a hostel bed in the Green Mango in Nanai Road), and if you wish to go out into the bars in Bangla, one can very often buy what they call a "bucket" for 100 baht, which contains five shots of some sort of "garage alcohol" and Coke/lemonade, or even red Bull!

Plenty of low-end options to attract the sort of people that will replicate the Spanish experience.

"Plenty of low-end options to attract the sort of people that will replicate the Spanish experience. " - for how long can these businesses continue to offer "low end options" whilst still paying "high end" rents and other overheads?

Agree.....they can't. No hope for many of them and that's being seen already with bars closing.

Where to from here?

[NamKangMan]

@ XP

"Where to from here?" - difficult to tell.

It's hard to believe they let Phuket slip this far down the S bend. especially with the warning bells that have been ringing for the last few years.

Just how much further they will let it slide, we'll have to wait and see.

One thing is for sure, Phuket now needs REAL POSITIVE CHANGE to turn it around. No longer will a BS press announcement by an official appease the western tourist market, luring them back with a lie.

There will have to be real change on the the ground here, in order to turn Phuket around.

[ericnoodeeka]

Pag, you cycle to Khao Lak. I am truly impressed. How long does that take.

Actual riding time there and back (201 km) was 6.5 hours, at an average of 30.4 km/hour.

I know you like to cycle, but that is way way extreme. My apologies to members - going way off topic.

Makes my butt sore just thinking about it.

dude if u avaereging 30 k per hour you need to do tour the france, thats some serious going,if ur numbers are right, i take my hat off.

[SooKee]

Whether it's true or not I don't know but I heard that the municipality were going to demolish all the bars, shops, everything in Bangla from the soi that has Valero y Alex restaurant, all the way down to the beach to make way for a new Central. That'll be interesting. Good for some of the bar owners with quite a percentage of their competition out the way. Chaos for the building site, traffic etc.

[MaeJoMTB]

dude if u avaereging 30 k per hour you need to do tour the france, thats some serious going,if ur numbers are right, i take my hat off.

Off Topic,

Average speed of the riders in Tour De France is 48Km/hr.

Average speed of this years winner was 54Km/hr.

Edited February 11, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[xylophone]

Whether it's true or not I don't know but I heard that the municipality were going to demolish all the bars, shops, everything in Bangla from the soi that has Valero y Alex restaurant, all the way down to the beach to make way for a new Central. That'll be interesting. Good for some of the bar owners with quite a percentage of their competition out the way. Chaos for the building site, traffic etc.

That's a rumour that's been around for a few years now SooKee and I heard it resurface just last week when talking to a friend of mine at his bar.

About a year ago when the rumour surfaced (again) it was also stated that a couple of bar owners had walked away from their bars because of it, however I saw no sign of this at the time, so perhaps it is just one of those perpetual rumours, and anyway I could think of a lot better places to build a new Central with a lot more room to boot, as well as better access and parking.

May well go out tomorrow evening and I will cast an ear about to see if this time, the rumour has any legs, so to speak.

[Lashay]

Whether it's true or not I don't know but I heard that the municipality were going to demolish all the bars, shops, everything in Bangla from the soi that has Valero y Alex restaurant, all the way down to the beach to make way for a new Central. That'll be interesting. Good for some of the bar owners with quite a percentage of their competition out the way. Chaos for the building site, traffic etc.

Those bars are and have always been in danger as they are incorrectly zoned and permits were nontransferable (was meant to be farm land only and unable to be sold or leased but it's obviously not farmland any more and most (all?) original owners are long gone). This issue has been going on for years though multiple governments/administrations with no change.

So in theory at least it's public land now and should be leveled like beaches were (rumors is was sore business people on the beach that raised the Bangla issue again). But that is unlikely to happen as everyone knows not only is land to valuable to leave empty but it would also wipe out about half of Bangla (and nearly all the non-girl bars)

Currently it seems military and government have no clue what to do about it so everything is in limbo. Main option on table these days seems to be that government will become the landlords and re lease them, but there are questions about even them being able to do so legally (public land laws in Thailand are hellish because that type of land officially belong to the king). The central rumor is highly unlikely, not big enough land to really interest them

Edited February 11, 2016 by Lashay

[KarenBravo]

Eventually, the value of the land will make leasing bars uneconomical. One day, a hotel, a mall, or maybe something entirely different.

[DrDave]

Those bars are and have always been in danger as they are incorrectly zoned and permits were nontransferable (was meant to be farm land only and unable to be sold or leased but it's obviously not farmland any more and most (all?) original owners are long gone). This issue has been going on for years though multiple governments/administrations with no change.

So in theory at least it's public land now and should be leveled like beaches were (rumors is was sore business people on the beach that raised the Bangla issue again). But that is unlikely to happen as everyone knows not only is land to valuable to leave empty but it would also wipe out about half of Bangla (and nearly all the non-girl bars)

Currently it seems military and government have no clue what to do about it so everything is in limbo. Main option on table these days seems to be that government will become the landlords and re lease them, but there are questions about even them being able to do so legally (public land laws in Thailand are hellish because that type of land officially belong to the king). The central rumor is highly unlikely, not big enough land to really interest them

I wonder who's collecting the rent from these businesses?

[NamKangMan]

Eventually, the value of the land will make leasing bars uneconomical. One day, a hotel, a mall, or maybe something entirely different.

The land shouldn't have a value as it is public land, and therefore, not for sale, similar to a beach.

If the land was privately owned, I am sure the greedy Thai landlords here would expect tourists to eventually pay 300 a beer, with most of the money being passed onto the Thai landlord for the rent.

[KarenBravo]

I'm talking about all of Bangla.

The land you are talking about is a narrow wedge shaped piece of land that takes in the southern side of the road from the beach to before soi Patong resort.

[NamKangMan]

I'm talking about all of Bangla.

The land you are talking about is a narrow wedge shaped piece of land that takes in the southern side of the road from the beach to before soi Patong resort.

I was also talking about that "narrow wedge shaped piece of land" that you talk about. It is a decent sized piece of land that turns good rents, yet, according to Lashay, it's public land and shouldn't be profited from by anyone.

[Bassosa]

This thread coupled with my own Patong/Phuket experiences in the past have prompted me to advise my parents against a trip to Phuket. They were planning to rent a staffed villa in November, have friends over etc. They're looking elsewhere now because I advised them to avoid Phuket. My parents are old and gullible, vulnerable to scams.

The knock-on effect from having a poor reputation and 'allowing' scam artists to do their trade is more apparent and imminent then some will think.

Somehow, the people in Phuket's tourism trade need to be made aware of this, before its too late.

[Old Croc]

This thread coupled with my own Patong/Phuket experiences in the past have prompted me to advise my parents against a trip to Phuket. They were planning to rent a staffed villa in November, have friends over etc. They're looking elsewhere now because I advised them to avoid Phuket. My parents are old and gullible, vulnerable to scams.

The knock-on effect from having a poor reputation and 'allowing' scam artists to do their trade is more apparent and imminent then some will think.

Somehow, the people in Phuket's tourism trade need to be made aware of this, before its too late.

Perhaps your old and gullible parents should stay with you in Chiang Mai where you can keep an eye on them. No scams in CM!

Better there than back in Europe where they would be in great danger without you to babysit them.

Part of the reason I live in Thailand. There is no hope for Europe. A lost cause

[Bassosa]

This thread coupled with my own Patong/Phuket experiences in the past have prompted me to advise my parents against a trip to Phuket. They were planning to rent a staffed villa in November, have friends over etc. They're looking elsewhere now because I advised them to avoid Phuket. My parents are old and gullible, vulnerable to scams.

The knock-on effect from having a poor reputation and 'allowing' scam artists to do their trade is more apparent and imminent then some will think.

Somehow, the people in Phuket's tourism trade need to be made aware of this, before its too late.

Perhaps your old and gullible parents should stay with you in Chiang Mai where you can keep an eye on them. No scams in CM!

Better there than back in Europe where they would be in great danger without you to babysit them.

Part of the reason I live in Thailand. There is no hope for Europe. A lost cause

That's the plan mate.

[xylophone]

Was getting cabin fever from staying in for too long so decided to meet a friend at Wine Connection and from there head on down to Bangla.

"Restaurant alley" at the side of Jungceylon was very busy, in the main, and the Wine Connection was full with some folks waiting for tables, so they've obviously got something right........IMO, good value for money, and despite the place being full, we only had to wait about 10 min for the food to arrive.

Then on to Bangla which was very crowded and although it was only about 10 p.m. (perhaps a little early) the bars in the resurrected Tiger were very empty, with the staff outnumbering the punters about 4 to 1.

As has been the norm for sometime now both New York and Monsoon were busy with the younger set, and Smiley Bar was about three quarters full with a slightly older set of customers who were enjoying the music, mainly because it is very eclectic and the band are very energetic in encouraging people to join in, so the experience is enjoyable.

Again, as before, a few of the bars lining Bangla had a good amount of customers, whereas others probably wouldn't be satisfied with the patronage they were enjoying.

Then onto Soi Freedom, which seems to enjoy a bit of a rollercoaster as regards patronage, however what is now very apparent is that the place doesn't become that popular until sometime prior to midnight and then for perhaps an hour or two after that, still, that is somewhat better than in the past.

The Kiwi rocker managed to get up and sing a few songs with the Filipino band and all of a sudden a large group of people appeared and seemed to be very energetic with regards to the performance and a few of the songs, and they stayed around, dancing and singing for about four numbers before settling in at the bars, so the bar owners would have been very pleased indeed.

Headed home at about 2:30 a.m. and as is par for course, I looked in at Tao, and as has been the case before, it was fairly empty.

On to a related subject, I noticed that the bar previously called "Nanai Sports Bar" which was closed, is having some alterations done and the old fittings being ripped out and what looks to be a new bar being placed centrally in the place. Obviously someone thinks that the bar which hasn't been much frequented over the past three years, still has potential, although from where, god only knows...........it tempts me to refer to a line from the old Peter, Paul and Mary song, "When will they ever learn".

And finally, the restaurant/bar/whatever, owned by the Tiger Group, which is being built/renovated/changed (constantly) at the bottom of Soi Nanai 6, is still not complete and one could apply the same song line to this fiasco.

[DrDave]

<snip>

Then on to Bangla which was very crowded and although it was only about 10 p.m. (perhaps a little early) the bars in the resurrected Tiger were very empty, with the staff outnumbering the punters about 4 to 1.

As has been the norm for sometime now both New York and Monsoon were busy with the younger set, and Smiley Bar was about three quarters full with a slightly older set of customers who were enjoying the music, mainly because it is very eclectic and the band are very energetic in encouraging people to join in, so the experience is enjoyable.

Again, as before, a few of the bars lining Bangla had a good amount of customers, whereas others probably wouldn't be satisfied with the patronage they were enjoying.

Then onto Soi Freedom, which seems to enjoy a bit of a rollercoaster as regards patronage, however what is now very apparent is that the place doesn't become that popular until sometime prior to midnight and then for perhaps an hour or two after that, still, that is somewhat better than in the past.

The Kiwi rocker managed to get up and sing a few songs with the Filipino band and all of a sudden a large group of people appeared and seemed to be very energetic with regards to the performance and a few of the songs, and they stayed around, dancing and singing for about four numbers before settling in at the bars, so the bar owners would have been very pleased indeed.

Headed home at about 2:30 a.m. and as is par for course, I looked in at Tao, and as has been the case before, it was fairly empty.

<snip>

We made an appearance on Bangla Sunday night (Valentines Day), and the crowd seemed about normal for high season. Starting out at one of the smaller, older bars fronting Bangla around 10pm, what was a full bar became nearly empty after 2 beers. This seems to happen fairly often in these bars, customers come and go en mass. Kangaroo Bar, however, seemed to be doing well throughout the night.

Headed over to Soi Freedom, around midnight, and the band was in full swing (although disappointed that the Kiwi rocker didn't make an appearance ). The bars weren't full, but not empty either - maybe half-full, or half-empty depending upon your point of view. When the band finished just before 2am, we crossed the road to take a quick spin through Tai Pan just to have a look, and it was packed. Next, back to Bangla to check on Tao. As we sat down, the band was playing their last song of the night, and I was surprised to see a decent crowd (maybe half-full?). Shortly after, the front doors were closed part-way and a Thai band came on to cater to the mostly Thai after-hours crowd and was still playing to a decent sized crowd when we left around 3:30 or so.

[Lashay]

About 50 plus police hit Bangla Road tonight from about midnight .

First gogo's and clubs then bars (first two shut down as hit, then they just shut down Tiger bar complexes, then main street and remaining sois ).

From reports, checking premises licences, staff and customer ID's, patdowns and urine tests (last one think only thais).

In clubs no one allowed to leave until cops had done whatever they wanted to do. Seems mainly looking for missing permits/licences, illegal staff and drugs.

Was chaos with 4 police departments contradicting each other so bar owners did not know if to stay open or close (amusing to see 20 cops shutting down clubs while standing outside packed bars operating as normal), but seems word finally came down around 1:15, everyone started shutting down and by 1:30 most patrons had been forced out by police themselves (highly unusual, normally left for bar staff do).

Not heard any reports of arrests or fines, though did see some young drunk stupid aussies come close when they started bitching at police about closing bar they were drinking in, Could tell cops were pissed off, but for once kept their calm, ordered the bar staff to deal with before they came back and moved on.

Probably tied to the raids across the island today. Maybe someone finally decided to clean up the Island? Just hope someone gave them the memo that it's pointless costly disruption unless willing to keep doing it.

[SooKee]

Or until there's a drop in tea money / bungs. Authority clean ups seem to tackle anything except the considerable amount of stuff that's in the 'Too Hard' tray. Or to put it another way, clean up the stuff that don't make a toss of difference but inconveniences the most.

Edited February 19, 2016 by SooKee