40 minutes ago, madmax2 said:

Just business, own something if its a secure long term investment, Lease it if its not and keep your cash for a investment that is secure long term

I am sure any hotels owned by the hotel chains are the ones which have good long term capital gains and probably very little local competition, they can do this by buying up all the local land suitable for development and developing it themselves according to supply and demand

Laguna is a good example of this way of doing business long term

The article I posted a link to shows that the hotel business does not agree with you.

7 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

The article I posted a link to shows that the hotel business does not agree with you.

I did read it Mate, and one Quote said marriott group physically own a couple of hundred locations, check yourself 

3 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

This is informative.

 

https://www.quora.com/Do-hotel-chains-like-Hilton-Mandarin-or-Marriott-own-their-real-estates-and-buildings

 

Correct.

 

Most large hotel chains do not own the 4* and 5* hotels' real estate and/or land themselves.

They're only interested in operating hotels and they're good at that.

 

Investing and building in real estate is a totally different cookie and for the specialist in that field also.

 

Next to that, some Hotel chains change their name or sell their operation to a different chain if a particular hotel is not of interest anymore since they operate more luxury hotels in a close neighbourhood or for any other reason.

 

 

10 minutes ago, madmax2 said:

I did read it Mate, and one Quote said marriott group physically own a couple of hundred locations, check yourself 

You sure about that?

From the link....

 

"Most of the cases they will make the deal with owners of the real estate based on location and consumer needs ,provide the management from their own behalf in return they will get some sort of management fees,and implement their own culture and value".

Elsewhere in the link, Marriot "claim" they only own 10 hotels.

 

Please supply a link to the site where it says that they have over 200.

1 hour ago, KarenBravo said:

You sure about that?

From the link....

 

"Most of the cases they will make the deal with owners of the real estate based on location and consumer needs ,provide the management from their own behalf in return they will get some sort of management fees,and implement their own culture and value".

Elsewhere in the link, Marriot "claim" they only own 10 hotels.

 

Please supply a link to the site where it says that they have over 200.

Read on your own link a comment from Chris Peters, read the whole comment and you will find it

They same comment it seems, second paragraph 

4 hours ago, madmax2 said:

Read on your own link a comment from Chris Peters, read the whole comment and you will find it

They same comment it seems, second paragraph 

Don't you know how to supply a link?

No link, then I'm right and you're wrong.

Not a lot of any note since my last foray out, although as I did state earlier, the numbers of folks around the place seems to have picked up and I would say that the Russian tourists in particular, have picked up the most (albeit from a lower base).

 

As it was my 70th birthday last week I met up with a few friends in the local Italian restaurant and then ventured out into a busy Bangla road. Loads of "ping-pong show and live firking show" touts around the place and they are forever in your face, which is annoying.

 

As if it were a sign that we are entering the "high season", Soi Sea Dragon was the busiest I have seen it in some time and when you think that it is a large soi, full of go-go establishments, and a plethora of bars, then it really should be a bit of a drawcard, but it has been struggling this past low season and even at the end of the high season last year.

 

Having said that, a friend who decided to stay here overnight, managed to get a room for 600 baht and it was within walking distance of Bangla, so hardly busy/high season prices?

 

A visiting Ozzy friend wanted to go into one of the shows to see what they were like, and after half a beer and looking at some fairly average bodies and floppy hooters, not to mention being pestered for drinks, he wanted out pretty quick, so we left. Really can't see the attraction in these places.

 

Stayed out later than I normally do and got a motorbike taxi home at about 2:30 AM; nearly got wiped out by a speeding motorbike overtaking a car on the wrong side of the road, but recovered enough to turn into Soi Banzaan (and negotiate the broken concrete road which has sunk about 6 inches and is dangerous) to witness the disgusting amount of rubbish/plastic bags/bottles/food which littered this soi. Really no need for that as it could be easily cleared up when the stalls pack up to go home.

 

It will be interesting to see what the high season brings because as others have said there is some building activity going on with at least a couple of large hotels going up and I wonder what the new hotel on beach road is faring like (Beyond Patong?). As for the smaller hotels/guesthouses, well from feedback, it's going to be another difficult year for them.

 

A Thai friend has just returned from overseas to oversee remedial work on her condo, which was built about seven years ago and has some major problems with leaks, cracks and poor workmanship in general. It wasn't exactly cheap and at about 76 m² should have provided great accommodation, however the layout and planning inside it is abysmal and it has to be the first time I have ever seen a toilet door opening onto the kitchen work surface!

 

The concrete slabs opposite the back of Jungceylon have been laid and it looks like it is going to be a sort of "tent city"? Meanwhile just a little further south, work seems to have stalled on some roller blind type establishments, which doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

Ah well, life goes on here in Patong, with its ups and downs, varying between dying and being resurrected and through all of this, I don't see the quality experience improving one iota.

 

19 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Not a lot of any note since my last foray out, although as I did state earlier, the numbers of folks around the place seems to have picked up and I would say that the Russian tourists in particular, have picked up the most (albeit from a lower base).

 

As it was my 70th birthday last week I met up with a few friends in the local Italian restaurant and then ventured out into a busy Bangla road. Loads of "ping-pong show and live firking show" touts around the place and they are forever in your face, which is annoying.

 

As if it were a sign that we are entering the "high season", Soi Sea Dragon was the busiest I have seen it in some time and when you think that it is a large soi, full of go-go establishments, and a plethora of bars, then it really should be a bit of a drawcard, but it has been struggling this past low season and even at the end of the high season last year.

 

Having said that, a friend who decided to stay here overnight, managed to get a room for 600 baht and it was within walking distance of Bangla, so hardly busy/high season prices?

 

A visiting Ozzy friend wanted to go into one of the shows to see what they were like, and after half a beer and looking at some fairly average bodies and floppy hooters, not to mention being pestered for drinks, he wanted out pretty quick, so we left. Really can't see the attraction in these places.

 

Stayed out later than I normally do and got a motorbike taxi home at about 2:30 AM; nearly got wiped out by a speeding motorbike overtaking a car on the wrong side of the road, but recovered enough to turn into Soi Banzaan (and negotiate the broken concrete road which has sunk about 6 inches and is dangerous) to witness the disgusting amount of rubbish/plastic bags/bottles/food which littered this soi. Really no need for that as it could be easily cleared up when the stalls pack up to go home.

 

It will be interesting to see what the high season brings because as others have said there is some building activity going on with at least a couple of large hotels going up and I wonder what the new hotel on beach road is faring like (Beyond Patong?). As for the smaller hotels/guesthouses, well from feedback, it's going to be another difficult year for them.

 

A Thai friend has just returned from overseas to oversee remedial work on her condo, which was built about seven years ago and has some major problems with leaks, cracks and poor workmanship in general. It wasn't exactly cheap and at about 76 m² should have provided great accommodation, however the layout and planning inside it is abysmal and it has to be the first time I have ever seen a toilet door opening onto the kitchen work surface!

 

The concrete slabs opposite the back of Jungceylon have been laid and it looks like it is going to be a sort of "tent city"? Meanwhile just a little further south, work seems to have stalled on some roller blind type establishments, which doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

Ah well, life goes on here in Patong, with its ups and downs, varying between dying and being resurrected and through all of this, I don't see the quality experience improving one iota.

 

Happy birthday

53 minutes ago, xylophone said:

The concrete slabs opposite the back of Jungceylon have been laid and it looks like it is going to be a sort of "tent city"? Meanwhile just a little further south, work seems to have stalled on some roller blind type establishments, which doesn't surprise me one bit.

I noticed the tents today.  It looks like a market. I get a good view of this from my balcony. 

 

And yes, Happy Birthday!

On 11/28/2017 at 6:43 PM, Timbob said:

I noticed the tents today.  It looks like a market. I get a good view of this from my balcony. 

 

And yes, Happy Birthday!

Happy belated xylophone.  Nice to know that at 70, a couple times a week night time adventure is still in the cards.

30 minutes ago, steelepulse said:

Happy belated xylophone.  Nice to know that at 70, a couple times a week night time adventure is still in the cards.

Thanks SP, and I have to admit that after a few glasses of wine and a few beers, not to mention prancing around on a "stage" singing rock songs with two bands, it takes longer to recover now!!

On ‎28‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 6:43 PM, Timbob said:

I noticed the tents today.  It looks like a market. I get a good view of this from my balcony. 

 

And yes, Happy Birthday!

A banner outside of it says, "Chillva night market" and states it runs until Dec 10th. There is one in Phuket (near Tesco Lotus) and I think that it is a permanent fixture, so wonder what will become of this one as it was very busy last night at 8.30 pm when I passed it on my way to Bangla.

3 minutes ago, xylophone said:

A banner outside of it says, "Chillva night market" and states it runs until Dec 10th. There is one in Phuket (near Tesco Lotus) and I think that it is a permanent fixture, so wonder what will become of this one as it was very busy last night at 8.30 pm when I passed it on my way to Bangla.

We went on Sunday night. It had the usual food stalls and clothing. There was a seating area where people could drink and listen to the 'entertainment', but we didn't stay (listening to the Thai woman with a foghorn voice bellowing over the ridiculously loud speakers is not my idea of entertainment). Yep, only until the 10th. 

 

No idea what they're planning for the site, but I can hear the heavy machinery doing something.

Couple of weeks ago 2 of the long time empty new shop houses at the south end of Nanai (opposite Sun Hill) opened as a French/Paris baker and butcher. The third shop house seems to be bike hire only.

 

Initially I was excited at having a French bakery near my  doorstep. But what a disappointment. Thought there would be proper counters and displays. Seems to be just a glorified bar/light meals with a very small display  counter out front.  First time I went there were only a few small baggettes, couple of small cakes, and small quiches.  No customers except the owner (I guess) sitting drinking at an outside table. I had to  search for an assistant to buy a quiche, I asked for it  to be heated up and I would take away.  Young lady had no idea what I wanted so I attracted the attention of the boss who was more interested in his beer. He barked orders and the lady disappeared into the kitchen. Some very long time later she came back with a very big polystyrene box, I paid the 140 baht and took off. Got home and the quiche was still stone cold. Never heated.

 

Went back again a few days later, no quiches in display, no customers, and just a disinterested young guy (son ?) at the bar. Asked about quiches, he had no idea. Can't see this place lasting long. Wrong location (no passing trade), wrong attitude, and no bakery or meat items.  No sure what is the marketing theme.

 

    

 

 

10 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

Couple of weeks ago 2 of the long time empty new shop houses at the south end of Nanai (opposite Sun Hill) opened as a French/Paris baker and butcher. The third shop house seems to be bike hire only.

 

Initially I was excited at having a French bakery near my  doorstep. But what a disappointment. Thought there would be proper counters and displays. Seems to be just a glorified bar/light meals with a very small display  counter out front.  First time I went there were only a few small baggettes, couple of small cakes, and small quiches.  No customers except the owner (I guess) sitting drinking at an outside table. I had to  search for an assistant to buy a quiche, I asked for it  to be heated up and I would take away.  Young lady had no idea what I wanted so I attracted the attention of the boss who was more interested in his beer. He barked orders and the lady disappeared into the kitchen. Some very long time later she came back with a very big polystyrene box, I paid the 140 baht and took off. Got home and the quiche was still stone cold. Never heated.

 

Went back again a few days later, no quiches in display, no customers, and just a disinterested young guy (son ?) at the bar. Asked about quiches, he had no idea. Can't see this place lasting long. Wrong location (no passing trade), wrong attitude, and no bakery or meat items.  No sure what is the marketing theme.

 

    

 

 

Saw that open a short while ago and thought about location etc.

 

Seems like some businesses here are opened by folks who have no idea whatsoever, or who have left their brains on the plane OR are trying to please a new-found love......

22 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

Couple of weeks ago 2 of the long time empty new shop houses at the south end of Nanai (opposite Sun Hill) opened as a French/Paris baker and butcher. The third shop house seems to be bike hire only.

 

Initially I was excited at having a French bakery near my  doorstep. But what a disappointment. Thought there would be proper counters and displays. Seems to be just a glorified bar/light meals with a very small display  counter out front.  First time I went there were only a few small baggettes, couple of small cakes, and small quiches.  No customers except the owner (I guess) sitting drinking at an outside table. I had to  search for an assistant to buy a quiche, I asked for it  to be heated up and I would take away.  Young lady had no idea what I wanted so I attracted the attention of the boss who was more interested in his beer. He barked orders and the lady disappeared into the kitchen. Some very long time later she came back with a very big polystyrene box, I paid the 140 baht and took off. Got home and the quiche was still stone cold. Never heated.

 

Went back again a few days later, no quiches in display, no customers, and just a disinterested young guy (son ?) at the bar. Asked about quiches, he had no idea. Can't see this place lasting long. Wrong location (no passing trade), wrong attitude, and no bakery or meat items.  No sure what is the marketing theme.

 

    

 

 

Money laundering is the marketing theme in some shop in patong.

4 hours ago, schlog said:

Money laundering is the marketing theme in some shop in patong.

I don't doubt your word for one minute schlog, however I thought the idea of money laundering was to put ill gotten money into one end of the pipe and get it out of the other end cleaned, and by this I mean untraceable, but at least something does come out the other end.

 

What I'm saying is buying a brand-new Mercedes for 4 million baht and then selling it a year later for 2.5 million baht has to be a damn sight better than buying and fitting out a shop, only to find that you lose everything at the end of the day because it becomes worthless and no one will buy it.

 

Having said that, if the property was purchased, then there will be some capital left at the end when sold, but unless it is, then the idea of laundering money via this methodology would seem to be a little pointless, or am I missing something?

Can't speak about that shop but about 3 shops/ businesses i know sure. Their fittings and rent are only peanuts compared with their fake turnover without customs.

 

Some "organisation" only opened years ago a big hotel in Maikhao with same purpose. They don't need guests. Size and ways of this kind of business are extreme. 

 

Only in Germany in 2016 it had a volume of 100 billion euros of which 20 billions went into real estate.

10 hours ago, schlog said:

Can't speak about that shop but about 3 shops/ businesses i know sure. Their fittings and rent are only peanuts compared with their fake turnover without customs.

 

Some "organisation" only opened years ago a big hotel in Maikhao with same purpose. They don't need guests. Size and ways of this kind of business are extreme. 

 

Only in Germany in 2016 it had a volume of 100 billion euros of which 20 billions went into real estate.

I agree.

I've always suspected that the large restaurant on Nanai built by a prominent local business group, but never opened was built for just that purpose.

All it takes is a business-type that deals primarily in cash sales, with the potential to have the kind of turnover that would equal the amount of money to be laundered. It also requires that the government's revenue department doesn't perform site checks or any other audits to ensure that the business is actually a going concern.

Quote NKM: "It's the fact that someone has actually confronted them about their unacceptable behaviour".

 

Perhaps badly behaved and tight would be another description, or I suppose lo-so also fits the bill.

 

Such a pity that the poor girls in Starbucks have to put up with this behaviour, but being Thai they are too polite to ask a large group of Chinese, who have only bought one drink between them, and have slept for quite a few hours waiting for their bus to arrive, to move on. One girl suggested that a group had been there for over eight hours, with one drink between them all!

 

Saw another example today which quite astounded me, when a party of about eight Chinese people, accompanied by a shopping trolley from Big C, full of the usual 20 baht rubbish took up residence in the large Starbucks, bought one large coffee and proceeded to tip it into a whole bunch of other plastic cups for everyone else to share – and that was it.

 

The more I see of the type of Chinese people we get here, the more I despise them.

Went over to Patong for the first time in god knows how long, It's amazing, I didnt think it could turn into more of a s#%t hole than it was but they've managed to do so.

The place stinks of rubbish, it's literally a living dump!

2 hours ago, beechbum said:

Went over to Patong for the first time in god knows how long, It's amazing, I didnt think it could turn into more of a s#%t hole than it was but they've managed to do so.

The place stinks of rubbish, it's literally a living dump!

Slightly off topic. I drove through Kamala for the first time in four years.

Now that place has been brutally raped. I was shocked at the changes.

20 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Slightly off topic. I drove through Kamala for the first time in four years.

Now that place has been brutally raped. I was shocked at the changes.

You drove!

58 minutes ago, beechbum said:

You drove!

Yes, on a motorbike.

10 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

Slightly off topic. I drove through Kamala for the first time in four years.

Now that place has been brutally raped. I was shocked at the changes.

What happened to Kamala??

 

How was it “brutally raped”?

6 hours ago, Mysterion said:

What happened to Kamala??

 

How was it “brutally raped”?

Go have a look your self.

i live here ( and have been since 1996,  yes its changed,  but "raped" far from it, its still 10x nicer than Kata, Karon or Patong. with no 3-4 story shop houses lining the whole main road,  Still 75% of the people living here were born here, still a small village feel and the locals smile at you.

BUT we have 7 7/11''s, a big c, tesco, various mini marts, some decent restaurants, and a few lady bars, 2 days a week night market, 2 days a week day market,  still can see trees and green grass and the mtns.

 

11 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

Go have a look your self.

 

Would have been helpful for you to backup your intial outrageous statement on Kamala being “brutally raped”. That was probably one of the most ridiculous over-the -top statements ever seen on this thread.

 

Anyhow, yes i have seen Kamala.

 

Kamala(and all the other beach towns) may not look like what it did 30 years ago, but it still probably offers the best overall beach town experience on Phuket. 

 

Indeed, there are several 5 star resorts currenty being built in Kamala for a number of reasons.

 

Try turning off the main road next time you are driving  through Kamala.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

i live here ( and have been since 1996,  yes its changed,  but "raped" far from it, its still 10x nicer than Kata, Karon or Patong. with no 3-4 story shop houses lining the whole main road,  Still 75% of the people living here were born here, still a small village feel and the locals smile at you.

BUT we have 7 7/11''s, a big c, tesco, various mini marts, some decent restaurants, and a few lady bars, 2 days a week night market, 2 days a week day market,  still can see trees and green grass and the mtns.

 

 

You covered it well.

 

In addtion, its the only beach on west coast with a charming beach boardwalk full of restaurants and a couple of new world class beach clubs(cafe del mar etc)...right on the beach.

 

Kamala offers a relatively quiet relaxed village atmosphere, one of the nicest beaches on the west coast, and yet easy access to patong for when you want to party.

 

Kamala is really the unknown, but developing fast, gem of Phuket.

Kamala is really the unknown, but developing fast, gem of Phuket.

If Kamala is the gem, then I'd hate to see the 50 baht trinkets.... :)

For me, Kamala changed after the tsunami when they built the 'airport runway' main street.