Bars/HappyHours....New, New Lows......

[sanemax]

Just had a look around LK Soi 1 and  I counted 10 shops that used to be bars, (going back 4 years?) and now there is just one bar there.

   

[thaiscot]

Regarding mikes pizza it didnt close down as it didnt work , when the lease renewal came up the owner wanted double the rent , they said no way and moved out

[sirmud63]

On 1/4/2017 at 10:28 AM, sanemax said:

 

   A I agree that I do have a certain amount of contempt for some of the BGs , but its not due to ignorance , its due to real life experience . Having lived for a few years among them , seen all the lying , cheating and selfishness 

    I knew many because they lived in my condo building , I saw some of the girls in the day time , plain looking and not particularly friendly or sociable who suddenly transform to a  sexy looking lady with a bubbly personality in the evening .

    Their transformation is astonishing . 

    

and its 1 for the money and 2 for the show . 

[streetsweeper]

I've been out of the country for 6 months now.

Can anyone tell me if Tony still has his restaurant/pub across from Basic Line? He called it Lanna Rentals due to his moto rental op'n.

 

[sirmud63]

9 minutes ago, streetsweeper said:

I've been out of the country for 6 months now.

Can anyone tell me if Tony still has his restaurant/pub across from Basic Line? He called it Lanna Rentals due to his moto rental op'n.

 

i know tum is still there , not sure about tony tho .

[sanemax]

10 minutes ago, streetsweeper said:

I've been out of the country for 6 months now.

Can anyone tell me if Tony still has his restaurant/pub across from Basic Line? He called it Lanna Rentals due to his moto rental op'n.

 

  The restaurant is still there...........but he isnt .

Seems like he still own its, just away at the moment

[sirmud63]

5 minutes ago, sanemax said:

  The restaurant is still there...........but he isnt .

Seems like he still own its, just away at the moment

hes been away for quite awhile now . the bloke across the road in the thai cooking school was suing him in court ,and he may have left the country to avoid jail .or he may be in jail .  not sure either way ,nobodys saying much .

[sanemax]

[sanemax]

11 minutes ago, sirmud63 said:

hes been away for quite awhile now . the bloke across the road in the thai cooking school was suing him in court ,and he may have left the country to avoid jail .or he may be in jail .  not sure either way ,nobodys saying much .

 

    Ahh the "No bar, no noisy " guy .

I dont think the Police would have been that concerned , but with the Thai laws, he may well have taken out a private prosecution .

 

[stament]

10 hours ago, sanemax said:

 

   Off the 25 bars that I named that have closed recently, you pick the oldest one to close .

   The Wat bar closed about four years ago and all the other named bars have closed since then, most being in the last year or so .

Pure coincidence I can assure you as its the only one I knew by name and had been in that I recall from the list you mentioned.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/15/2016 at 9:29 PM, evenstevens said:

another  narrow minded  bitching thread started  on C/mai,s ,  so to be, downfalls etc etc

wished they  would shoot through to, where they belong, out in the tree.s with the other Galahs who have nuffin  more then to  bitch about, a great retirement  province,which C/mai is  when ALL factors are weighed in

get a new life , out in the tree,s ,if not happy, with the present situation, it would be a blessing for  most, normal easy going expats, and local Thais  who reside in C/MAI

a lovely afternoon to all

As one that spent a recent month in the night entertainment devoid zone that is central C M I have to agree with the OP and disagree with you.

There is no point making a list of all the bad points of C M, but suffice to say that a few overly plump bargirls chatting on their phones while occupying customer free decrepit bar beers does not make for a scintillating night out. 

IMO the expats that enjoy the insane traffic, the unattractive environment and the silly prices of restaurant food in C  M have no gene for carousing in bars, and probably think a great night out is staying in.

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, sanemax said:

  The restaurant is still there...........but he isnt .

Seems like he still own its, just away at the moment

I tried to get something to eat there, but it was either closed, or there were no staff to be seen, every time I dropped by. In the end I gave up trying.

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

Ok I'm somewhat impressed with the effort to list those places, but let me nit-pick at it. :)    

 

General point about old bars having a new name:  this means they changed owners, which also means a new license was issued.  My Teerak 2 was a gay bar before I think so it changed owners.   Carnival Garden is new, (new owner, new license) replacing a place called Shamrock.  (Had to check Google to confirm, I'm not actually this clued in to bar names. :) )  Considerable renovation work done on the building. 

 

Most of the other ones though I think is business as usual; you can have a similar list of restaurants closing, or any other business for that matter. Flight 21 is a legitimate example of a place that could not get an bar license after being taken over, located on the main LK road where licenses are no longer issued for new places.   

 

The What Bar changed owners years and years ago, I had to go back to 2011 to find historical evidence of it: 

 

 

But as we're going back that far, compared to the above you can see that The What bar merely changed owners and turned into a new bar. (M&M; The What was never that popular, with their weird music choice).   Other notable changes: A 7-Eleven actually disappeared (remarkable in itself) to make way for a much bigger Carnival Bar. Also So Nice is new: 

 

 

In the Boxing ring area I'm seeing a couple more bars than there were years ago, it goes up and down a bit there.   Players bar was the music pub that got raided for having Farangs playing there, the bar across from it (Downunder) changed owners.  A pizza bar closed.. come on. :)  If we're mentioning places like these then I might as well mention the Hard Rock Cafe opening up.  But yes, Mike's Pizza closed: 

 

 

But so did the Garden of Hope and a Dental Clinic, are we lamenting the loss or change of any place whatsoever I wonder.. Hostels and boutique hotels are way better business than Pizza, and brainwashing hilltribe kids with Jesus while putting them on display on main road for some reason:

 

 

CM Saloon area (Godawful restaurant by the way) Which bar near Saloon closed?  I'm seeing a new one:   (I don't doubt you though, places come and go all the time.)

 

 

(Wasn't there before: )

 

 

Soi 1..  5 years ago: 

 

 

There's whole new construction there on the left of course, still with a bar there.  Twogether bar moved to a much bigger space near the Night Bazar, down Charoen Prathet Soi 6.  Mai seems to be doing pretty good there. She's an interesting person actually, having run (or worked in) bars for 20 years straight but moving all over the map in that time.

 

 

End of the day though I do think we're seeing slower growth in the number of bars / bar stools, and maybe (hopefully?) the start of some consolidation in larger places that are a bit nicer.  Primary reason I think is the big influx in tourists in Chiang Mai, making hostels and boutique hotels a much better business.  I hate to say it but I was talking with a property owner about exactly this: that she'll make way more money if she kicks out a current (successful) bar that pays rent for under 10K Baht so she can turn the entire place into a hostel.  (A hostel makes that money in 2-3 days, not a whole month.)

 

Speaking more in general now, it's not always fair to blame property owners for raising rents;  some bars pay tiny tiny rents, and people wanting to open a shop or hostel/hotel will readily pay much more.  So it's not terribly unfair for property owners to tell bar owners that their rent moves from something like 6-8K to 15-20K.That's not squeezing out bar owners or being greedy, it's just money that's already on the table from people seeing a clear opportunity to run a more profitable business.   

 

While I don't think it's happening yet, I can see many of the small hole in the wall bars closing or moving. Mostly subject to tourist/expat demographics and changes in the marketplace, not so much due to government regulation.

Having spent most nights of the month I stayed in C M trying to find a bar scene even remotely similar to Pattaya's, I gave up, and watched DVDs instead. Either the bar keeps in C M have no idea as to how to run bar beers, or there are circumstances in C M that mean they have to run boring, slightly grotty establishments to which few punters find their way. Didn't help that finding an attractive bargirl that was more interested in her job than her phone seemed a step too far. 

Considering that I was there at the supposed high season, my advice to anyone wanting a decent bar scene is to go to Pattaya, as it isn't to be found in C M.

If someone wants to just play pool while drinking bar priced suds, but isn't interested in carousing, by all means go to C M. Just don't be expecting DDG  bargirls.

[LannaGuy]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

Having spent most nights of the month I stayed in C M trying to find a bar scene even remotely similar to Pattaya's, I gave up, and watched DVDs instead. Either the bar keeps in C M have no idea as to how to run bar beers, or there are circumstances in C M that mean they have to run boring, slightly grotty establishments to which few punters find their way. Didn't help that finding an attractive bargirl that was more interested in her job than her phone seemed a step too far. 

Considering that I was there at the supposed high season, my advice to anyone wanting a decent bar scene is to go to Pattaya, as it isn't to be found in C M.

If someone wants to just play pool while drinking bar priced suds, but isn't interested in carousing, by all means go to C M. Just don't be expecting DDG  bargirls.

 

Well I have a place here and a condo in Pattaya and if you were thinking there is any likely comparison you were setting yourself up for disappointment. Chiang Mai is no Pattaya, thank goodness, but I think if you lived here you would not be so harsh and I don't find the bars as bad as you are indicating.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

 

Well I have a place here and a condo in Pattaya and if you were thinking there is any likely comparison you were setting yourself up for disappointment. Chiang Mai is no Pattaya, thank goodness, but I think if you lived here you would not be so harsh and I don't find the bars as bad as you are indicating.

I understand what you are saying, but the bars aren't even as good as a not good Pattaya bar beer. It's like the enjoyment factor has been sucked out of them. Boring is not a good situation for entertainment areas. 

I agree that it doesn't have to be like Pattaya, but even so, there is a HUGE need to improve what is on offer. Doesn't help that the authorities treat tourists like little children that have to be sent home to bed before midnight by making everything close so early. Really!!!!!!

 

[yorkieb]

I've been out in LK partying for the past two nights until 4.00am. If you are sociable you can find it easily. So for all those people quoting the 12.00 shut down, it's BS.

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[LivinLOS]

31 minutes ago, yorkieb said:

I've been out in LK partying for the past two nights until 4.00am. If you are sociable you can find it easily. So for all those people quoting the 12.00 shut down, it's BS.
 

 

Its hardly BS.. After hours and lock ins are precisely a result of the BS shut downs. 

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, yorkieb said:

I've been out in LK partying for the past two nights until 4.00am. If you are sociable you can find it easily. So for all those people quoting the 12.00 shut down, it's BS.

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    I think that what you mean is the bar that you were in closed at 1 AM and you were allowed to stay inside drinking, correct me if Im wrong  , Nowhere down LK stays open beyond just past midnight.

   Lock-ins cannot be classified as being "open" , I would also classify lock ins as drinking, rather than partying 

Edited January 6, 2017 by sanemax

[yorkieb]

All boxing ring bars openly serving beer with shutters open and lights on until 1.00am. Moved to another bar that was obviously 3/4 full with shutters down at 1.00am. Knocked on the door and was let let in. Party in full swing until 4.00am. Lockin or not had fun till 4.00, made a few new friends and enjoyed myself. A long way away from the 12.00 aledged shut down some dome sayer on TV like to report. And yes I know the law is 12.00 but in practice it is clearly not happening.
To further illustrate he contradiction that is thailand I was in pai over new year. And the police came past the bar in their car wishing everybody happy new year at 1.00am. The No Cry Bar was rocking until 4.00am with full support from the major who allegedly has a stake in the venue.

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[sirmud63]

1 hour ago, LivinLOS said:

 

Its hardly BS.. After hours and lock ins are precisely a result of the BS shut downs. 

yep. just look at what happend to half moon bar 3 weeks ago . 

very succesfull bar for over 10 years ,raided by the army for after hours trading , closed permantly .

bada boom went the same way couple nights later ,but im told they are open again now .

[sanemax]

4 minutes ago, sirmud63 said:

yep. just look at what happend to half moon bar 3 weeks ago . 

very succesfull bar for over 10 years ,raided by the army for after hours trading , closed permantly .

bada boom went the same way couple nights later ,but im told they are open again now .

 

   I wondered why the Half moon closed down, that was the place to go to to watch early morning football, shame its gone . They used to close the two sets of shutters down and have CCTV outside watching for anyone coming .

   Do you know what happened to the people drinking inside the bar when it got raided ?

[sirmud63]

14 minutes ago, sanemax said:

 

   I wondered why the Half moon closed down, that was the place to go to to watch early morning football, shame its gone . They used to close the two sets of shutters down and have CCTV outside watching for anyone coming .

   Do you know what happened to the people drinking inside the bar when it got raided ?

same as what they did the first raid on my place , just kicked them out .

[mamborobert]

I thought Chiang Mai Saloon had a five year ban a while back. Certainly was closed a few days, then opened with all beer labels covered, now looks full swing again.  So maybe hope for Half Moon unless unrelated factors liike rent icreases etc make it too much hassle.

Edited January 6, 2017 by mamborobert

[WinnieTheKhwai]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Having spent most nights of the month I stayed in C M trying to find a bar scene even remotely similar to Pattaya's, I gave up, and watched DVDs instead. Either the bar keeps in C M have no idea as to how to run bar beers, or there are circumstances in C M that mean they have to run boring, slightly grotty establishments to which few punters find their way. Didn't help that finding an attractive bargirl that was more interested in her job than her phone seemed a step too far. 

 

I do like Pattaya, but 2-3 days is kind of the absolute maximum I can tolerate in reasonable health and general physical & mental well-being.  

 

After that I really start looking forward to being back in some Chiang Mai bars again, when it dawns on me once again what a wretched hive of scum and villainy the place is.

 

In Chiang Mai on the other hand, people may actually treat you as a person and a friend, not a semi-mobile ATM, or worse.

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by WinnieTheKhwai

[sanemax]

23 minutes ago, mamborobert said:

I thought Chiang Mai Saloon had a five year ban a while back. Certainly was closed a few days, then opened with all beer labels covered, now looks full swing again.  So maybe hope for Half Moon unless unrelated factors liike rent icreases etc make it too much hassle.

 

   Half moon looks well closed, all the signs outside have been removed, cannot see them making a comeback

[WinnieTheKhwai]

6 minutes ago, sanemax said:

 

   Half moon looks well closed, all the signs outside have been removed, cannot see them making a comeback

 

It was kind of dead these days anyway, and the owner more than a little jaded.   Most of the regular crowd already moved on, or passed on whichever came first.

 

Still, nobody likes to see businesses closed without due and legitimate process.   Then again, it's Thailand so you got to take the bad with the good.   

 

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by WinnieTheKhwai

[sanemax]

4 minutes ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

It was kind of dead these days anyway, and the owner more than a little jaded.   Most of the regular crowd already moved on, or passed on whichever came first.

 

Still, nobody likes to see businesses closed without due and legitimate process.   Then again, it's Thailand so you got to take the bad with the good.   

 

 

 

   She sure wasnt welcoming .

I went there one evening and simply asked whether I could watch football , she aid that there wasnt any football being shown on Television  that night , I told her that there was being shown on the Vietnamese channel and they had it because I watched the same channel in there a few weeks back , she was adamant that there was no football on TV .

   So, I went to a bar to watch it just down the road to watch it .

As I walked back past the half moon , I told her that I watched the football somewhere else ...............and she banned me from ever going into the Half moon again

[sirmud63]

54 minutes ago, sanemax said:

 

   She sure wasnt welcoming .

I went there one evening and simply asked whether I could watch football , she aid that there wasnt any football being shown on Television  that night , I told her that there was being shown on the Vietnamese channel and they had it because I watched the same channel in there a few weeks back , she was adamant that there was no football on TV .

   So, I went to a bar to watch it just down the road to watch it .

As I walked back past the half moon , I told her that I watched the football somewhere else ...............and she banned me from ever going into the Half moon again

yep , thats toy . 55555555.

Edited January 6, 2017 by sirmud63

[true blue]

16 minutes ago, sirmud63 said:

yep , thats toy . 55555555.

Is the mad dog affiliated in any way to half moon.some one told me same business don't they back on to each other??? Quite like food at mad dog.be a shame closed as well.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

 

   She sure wasnt welcoming .

I went there one evening and simply asked whether I could watch football , she aid that there wasnt any football being shown on Television  that night , I told her that there was being shown on the Vietnamese channel and they had it because I watched the same channel in there a few weeks back , she was adamant that there was no football on TV .

   So, I went to a bar to watch it just down the road to watch it .

As I walked back past the half moon , I told her that I watched the football somewhere else ...............and she banned me from ever going into the Half moon again

 

Sounds like the military did her a favor to put the place out of its misery. :)