Harbor Mall. Now that it's open...

[johng]

Dont know what happened to the post about the 3rd floor being a roller skate rink but its on their facebook page

and

 

 

[bkk6060]

Harbor Mall this afternoon.  Seriously, have never seen a mall so dead.  The first thing I saw close to a person was the manikin. She said nothing when I asked her for coffee.

Not wishing for its demise but if this place makes it down the road, I would be shocked

 

 

[balo]

I will have a look in a few days , I haven't been there since last August .  When Terminal 21 opens I'm afraid this mall will be history ,. 

 

 

 

[NanLaew]

3 minutes ago, balo said:

I will have a look in a few days , I haven't been there since last August .  When Terminal 21 opens I'm afraid this mall will be history ,. 

 

 

... like Central.

 

...and Mike's before that.

[JayBird]

I was just there the other night, around 7pmish.  It was not packed by any means but it was definitely not a ghost town.  Plenty of people in the floors and in the restaurants.  It might be one of those malls that is busy 'after working hours'.  Likewise, I saw few tourists there so it would not be packed with non-workers and non-students like Central would be.

 

There seemed to be more stores open since the opening day.  Also the Snow area now appears to be open (I approached it but did not go in, it appeared there were many kids/families playing inside and skating).  There also seems to be more restaurants (with several people each).  Lots of good choices food wise.

 

The food court was beyond dead, to the point I had to look very closely to see if it was still under construction or not.  But its open, just dead.

 

Overall a good place, and a good choice on that side of Pattaya.  Terminal 21 and Central may be competition, but for people who do not want to walk or drive that far, this has a good set of choices.

 

Btw, all signs of Fitness First are gone, so I think that wasn't / isn't going to happen.

 

 

[champers]

30 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Harbor Mall this afternoon.  Seriously, have never seen a mall so dead.  The first thing I saw close to a person was the manikin. She said nothing when I asked her for coffee.

Not wishing for its demise but if this place makes it down the road, I would be shocked

 

 

 

Ginger birds are nutters - steer clear.

[bkk6060]

Yes actually it is a good mall if you want to go to  a place not crowded.

I was going to eat there but was concerned about the freshness of the food.

It was odd there was several stores open, but no employees inside??  I could have walked in and done whatever.

Other stores with the girls head down taking a nap.

 

[bkk6060]

4 minutes ago, champers said:

Ginger birds are nutters - steer clear.

Sure ok thanks.  Think it was a wig?

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/7/2016 at 10:38 AM, OMGImInPattaya said:

I would not recommend going to any mall in Thailand on the weekend if it can be avoided. As to the new Harbor in Pattaya, I had a look-see the other morning and it seems a nice enough place. The first couple floors are your typical mix of coffee shops (Starbucks, ABP, Coffee World, etc) and restos, with a particular emphasis on Japanese places (but not the big names like Fuji, Zen, Hachiban but more second tier names that I didn't recognize).

There are a couple IT floors, with a Banana IT and Jib outlet and some kids language schools and a gymboree type place. Supposedly, there will be an ice-rink in the future as well. At ground level, there is a 24 hour supermarket. There is a good selection of products, many duplicating nearby Foodland and also some pre-cooked items. This will givd FL some competition but the selection of goods is vastly more varied at Foodland. There is also a Coffee Club on the outside ground level.

One thing I noted was the coffeeshops (SB, ABP,and Coffee Club) all opened early (7a.m. for ABP and CC) so might be a good place for early birds. Also, parking hack if your going to Coffee Club, they have dedicated parking spaces in front of their resto so one can avoid the garage pileup (and pop on over to Foodland without moving the car).

All in all, a useful addition to the Pattaya scene and I'm sure after a couple weeks, when the novelty wears off, even the traffic situation will sort itself out.

I saw the ad on the tv this morning. They were using fast food places as if they were so special it was worth going out of your way to eat in. If Thais actually believe that Maccers etc are special, it would explain why they are willing to spend 4 times as much for a very average burger and chips as they would for a decent Thai food meal.

Back in the real world, Maccers et all are just junk food for a cheap feed.

[SidJames]

33 minutes ago, champers said:

Ginger birds are nutters - steer clear.

If there's rust on the roof then there's usually damp in the basement

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Harbor Mall this afternoon.  Seriously, have never seen a mall so dead.  The first thing I saw close to a person was the manikin. She said nothing when I asked her for coffee.

Not wishing for its demise but if this place makes it down the road, I would be shocked

 

 

 

 

 

Impressive photos.

The Thais certainly have the eternal optimism thing down pat. You know, the urge to open a new shop selling exactly the same thing as the 20 other shops next door and expecting to make a profit.

I do think Terminal 21 will have an effect on Central Beach, as it's far more trendy and Central will be so yesterday's news. Plus, being closer to Sukhumvit, it will mean less time in the traffic jam, so even those going to Central will just give up and go into 21. After all, it's selling exactly the same stuff as Central is.

[bkk6060]

11 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I saw the ad on the tv this morning. They were using fast food places as if they were so special it was worth going out of your way to eat in. If Thais actually believe that Maccers etc are special, it would explain why they are willing to spend 4 times as much for a very average burger and chips as they would for a decent Thai food meal.

Back in the real world, Maccers et all are just junk food for a cheap feed.

Sure you are right 200 b or more for such a simple meal. My experience is they are actually more expensive here then back home.  But, it tastes the same so I assume import costs of the same product make it higher.  It certainly isn't the $1 and hour they pay the workers. 

 

PS:  Don't most go to McD's knowing what they want?  It can be annoying here groups of people looking at the menu, asking a bunch of questions takes forever.  If I see this, I just walk out.

I guess there are still places in the world where there are no McDonald's.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Sure you are right 200 b or more for such a simple meal. My experience is they are actually more expensive here then back home.  But, it tastes the same so I assume import costs of the same product make it higher.  It certainly isn't the $1 and hour they pay the workers. 

 

PS:  DOn't most go to McD's knowing what they want?  It can be annoying here groups of people looking at the menu, asking a bunch of questions takes forever.  If I see this, I just walk out.

I guess there are still places in the world where there are no McDonald's.

DOn't most go to McD's knowing what they want?

Actually no. Have you never been behind a group of Thais buying a cinema ticket? They never seem to know which movie they are there to see and waste ages discussing it. Same with Maccers I guess.

 

I just don't get why they want to eat in a plastic place with such high prices for junk and sugar, when the very nice Thai restaurant across the road is half the price.

I guess they are susceptible to advertising propaganda.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/3/2017 at 10:26 AM, johng said:

Dont know what happened to the post about the 3rd floor being a roller skate rink but its on their facebook page

and

 

 

 

 

 

Promenada in Chiang Mai had a roller rink, but last time I went it had been dismantled and nothing going on.

Either the builders are mistaken in their optimism, or they are banking on population growth in the long run and have deep pockets.

Unfair on the people that rent the floor space though.

[stravers]

The real estate and commercial developers such as Harbor know something regarding the future of Pattaya. Many people know what's coming down the pipe but it's not being openly discussed. There is no threat of Harbor closing. There's very good reason why Terminal 21 is on the way too. Stay tuned. 

[johng]

Casinos and foreign land ownership ?

[janclaes47]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

... like Central.

 

...and Mike's before that.

Mike and Central are in the centre of the city, so tourists can't look past it. Harbor is a completely different story, and is now without a terminal 21 already struggling.

[bkk6060]

53 minutes ago, johng said:

Casinos and foreign land ownership ?

I actually would like to see it.  To see what would happen.

If they did this in Pats, it could be the #1 spot in the world at some point.  I am serious.

I have been to all the gambling venues most recently Macao.  Unbelievable how that place has taken off.  But in reality, not the same overall attraction as Pats. This place could be better.

If they continued with WS and other in your face male entertainment venues, plus gambling, this place could be an economic beast worldwide attraction.

But, the prices would increase so much, 3 to 5  times.  But, if you owners want property appreciation and growth, pray for this.

If I were the boss of this place why not try?  Experiment, open a casino or 2 and see what happens.  But it will probably not happen ever.  My experience is Thais are not risk takers.  Too bad..

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Sure you are right 200 b or more for such a simple meal. My experience is they are actually more expensive here then back home.  But, it tastes the same so I assume import costs of the same product make it higher.  It certainly isn't the $1 and hour they pay the workers. 

 

PS:  Don't most go to McD's knowing what they want?  It can be annoying here groups of people looking at the menu, asking a bunch of questions takes forever.  If I see this, I just walk out.

I guess there are still places in the world where there are no McDonald's.

Yeah... Harbor Mall is one of them.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, janclaes47 said:

Mike and Central are in the centre of the city, so tourists can't look past it. Harbor is a completely different story, and is now without a terminal 21 already struggling.

Like Mike and Central are chock full of tourists?

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Like Mike and Central are chock full of tourists?

UH, yeah they are.  Have you been there?  The average person in those places are tourists, not full time residents I bet.

Especially Mike's, a bunch of aggressive touts.  Full timers are smart enough to avoid the place I think..   

 

[janclaes47]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Like Mike and Central are chock full of tourists?

 

You tell me, because you seem to know everything better than anyone anyway, or may be just desperate for an argument.

 

Any way, the majority of Mile's customers are buses with Chinese, so I have such a feeling that they are tourists, and yet it isn't chock full yet . Duh

[tropo]

10 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Sure you are right 200 b or more for such a simple meal. My experience is they are actually more expensive here then back home.  But, it tastes the same so I assume import costs of the same product make it higher.  It certainly isn't the $1 and hour they pay the workers. 

 

PS:  Don't most go to McD's knowing what they want?  It can be annoying here groups of people looking at the menu, asking a bunch of questions takes forever.  If I see this, I just walk out.

I guess there are still places in the world where there are no McDonald's.

Where is your "back home"? According to the Big Mac Index, Big Macs are underpriced in Thailand at USD $3.35 (January 2017)

 

http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

[tazly]

22 minutes ago, tropo said:

Where is your "back home"? According to the Big Mac Index, Big Macs are underpriced in Thailand at USD $3.35 (January 2017)

 

http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

Still awake?  It's almost time for Breakfast Happy hour at Took Lae Dee!

[tazly]

11 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Harbor Mall this afternoon.  Seriously, have never seen a mall so dead.  The first thing I saw close to a person was the manikin. She said nothing when I asked her for coffee.

Not wishing for its demise but if this place makes it down the road, I would be shocked

 

 

In the future, all sales staff will be robots, so you are getting some valuable and timely training in!

[fforest1]

Harbor Mall is only busy on Saturday and Sunday....

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Harbor Mall is only busy on Saturday and Sunday....

As reported on pages 3, 9, 15, 16, 18 and (now) 20 of this thread.

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

UH, yeah they are.  Have you been there?  The average person in those places are tourists, not full time residents I bet.

Especially Mike's, a bunch of aggressive touts.  Full timers are smart enough to avoid the place I think..   

 

"... I think."

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

...you seem to know everything better than anyone anyway, ...

No I don't. That's entirely your perception.

[i claudius]

We like shopping in the Supermarket downstairs ,always lots of bargains , (me cheap charlie) wonder how long they will stay open ,i see the one that opened in Leam Chabang has closed down already .