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Patong - The Wake


Patong2

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15 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

I agree, but with the majority of tourist coming to Phuket these days being Chinese, I can't see the Chinese buying a bar / guest house / cafe / restaurant, or taking an Issan bride.  

 

That makes for a lot of empty establishments here in the future, that previously catered for westerners, and we are already seeing it happening now.

 

I agree with you that your average Mr Wang from Wuhan is far less likely to come to Phuket, fall in love with a bargirl, and move here to run a cafe etc than your average Bob from Bristol or Bruce from Brisbane.

 

However taking a bigger perspective if the clampdown on Zero Baht tourism actually works then it is possible that in order to claw back as much money as they can from Chinese tourism, the Chinese ( corporate or illegal interets - not individuals ) do acquire local businesses or have locals front businesses on their behalf.

 

They are doing it already We've already seen crackdowns on Chinese tour guides, Chinese tour companies, Chinese bus and boat owners and chances are these people are not just going to give up and go home. They'll just find a better way to keep doing it and get thier share of the pie. 

 

For that to happen then you'd need Chinese tourism to be sustainable and grow. Investment wouldn't happen overnight  but slowly they could acquire the venues and retask them so that maybe in 10 years time nightlife in Patong will be about popping out at night for a bowl of noodles and a cold Tsing Tao, followed by a foot massage , and some late night entertainment by cracking a bottle of Remy at the local Karaoke. Paradise.

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19 hours ago, Monkeyrobot said:

Full of Chinese, one of them walked up to me and started taking a photo of the shrimp yellow curry I was eating, strange people and the tuk tuk drivers don't like them either, they really haggle on the price, 

Yep, full of these Chinese and you know what?! They spend a great deal on their trips to Thailand (and elsewhere) .......... at hotels, restaurants and shops. Today, the Chinese tourists are a major contributor to the Thai tourist industry (and to global tourism as well ........ check relevant data at locations France, Germany, UK , USA etc) .. So,  "full of Chinese" , really ?! ........  and they "haggle" too ?!  

A request, please do not belittle any race , nation or colour ..

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4 hours ago, Prometheus33 said:

Yep, full of these Chinese and you know what?! They spend a great deal on their trips to Thailand (and elsewhere) .......... at hotels, restaurants and shops. Today, the Chinese tourists are a major contributor to the Thai tourist industry (and to global tourism as well ........ check relevant data at locations France, Germany, UK , USA etc) .. So,  "full of Chinese" , really ?! ........  and they "haggle" too ?!  

A request, please do not belittle any race , nation or colour ..

Can this post be removed?

Just idiotic in the context of the thread

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Back to things I miss, Montes was a relaxing place to hang out with good food and weekend BBQ.  Parking no problem and the staff good.  Hard to find anything similar in Patong these days.

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Been to Patong once, for a few hours back in 2010. I have to return next month as my sister is visiting with my niece, and Patong is their choice of destination.

 

What's unmissable? I'm not looking forward to my visit, so  give me something to look forward to. It can't be that bad, surely?

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1 hour ago, xylophone said:

I used to hang out at a pool bar/pub in Bangla on the corner of Bangla and Soi Sea Dragon in 2005 and 2006.

 

It was called the Bier Kutscher (or similar) and served good bar food, had friendly staff and was a great place to people watch........played the occasional game of pool, but not my forte!!

 

Sad to see it go and Monsoon now stands where it once did.

I think it was the Bierkutsche. Originally it was some meter more up Bangla road and was a good swiss-german-austrian restaurant.

 

On many night outs in the 90' it was our starting point. After a good Gschnetzeltes with Roesti went down to U2 for warm up and watch. Usually when the Christine girls strolled down Bangla, it was time to head to Banana for 2h entertainment.

 

The "love clown" show was always a burner. At 2am went up to Saloon bar and the bars next and behind Fire House. There then rock till 7-9am before we had gaeng hoi pet pet breakfast in the small thai restaurant right side where today Jungcylon is. A friendly tuktuk driver brought you home for 20 thb per person.

 

Patong was paradise of love and rock. Always inspiring and a surprise. Without Patong i would never met guys like Axl Rose but in the 90' it was normal and a lot fun. Never thought that a small bone like him could drink this way lol. 

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13 hours ago, naboo said:

Been to Patong once, for a few hours back in 2010. I have to return next month as my sister is visiting with my niece, and Patong is their choice of destination.

 

What's unmissable? I'm not looking forward to my visit, so  give me something to look forward to. It can't be that bad, surely?

As Patong2 has said, the nightlife in Bangla is worth a visit and you can go from the seedy to the enjoyable (live band) in one strip.

 

Some nice restaurants nearby if you wish to explore.

 

Wat Chalong is a place I recommend to visitors, as are Cape Panwa and Promthep Cape and whilst on the way the small road around the coast is very scenic.

 

Exploring the East Coast makes a nice day out and the beaches in the north west are a cut above the others.

 

Although others decry it I enjoyed Phuket Fantasea as did the others I went with..........not your slick hollywood type show, but a rustic yet enjoyable effort.

 

Shopping is best in Phuket Central Plaza, not too far from Patong and worth the trip.

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On 6/26/2017 at 8:56 AM, phuketrichard said:

Having  lived in Patong in 1985 thru 1996 and now living in Kamala, all i can say is Patong never died,

just constantly reinvents itself for a changing tourist market.

 

Maybe true enough, but if a place keeps reinventing itself to match a market which is sliding down the socio economic scale, then it will end up in a sorry state indeed. Suitable for bogans, lowlife, cheapskates and objectionable tourists........

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5 hours ago, xylophone said:

Suitable for bogans, lowlife, cheapskates and objectionable tourists........

Funny stuff, you think patongs only just become suitable for those types...they and every other type imaginable have been going there for a very long time.

 

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since 2010 the whole third road has filled out an many places on 2nd road have been torn down and rebuilt heading ever higher...

Plus the whole area behind junk ceylon has been torn down  ( for what, i  have no idea )

it was NOT a fishing community since prehaps the 60's,  surely not when i first visited in '75

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On 26/06/2017 at 11:56 AM, phuketrichard said:

Having  lived in Patong in 1985 thru 1996 and now living in Kamala, all i can say is Patong never died,

just constantly reinvents itself for a changing tourist market.

 

 

"just constantly reinvents itself for a changing tourist market." - I see it as a "chicken before the egg" scenario. 

 

Does Patong / Phuket reinvent itself because the tourism market coming here has changed, or has the tourism market here changed because Patong / Phuket refuses to implement any positive change for tourists????

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On 26/06/2017 at 2:40 PM, AJBangkok said:

 

I agree with you that your average Mr Wang from Wuhan is far less likely to come to Phuket, fall in love with a bargirl, and move here to run a cafe etc than your average Bob from Bristol or Bruce from Brisbane.

 

However taking a bigger perspective if the clampdown on Zero Baht tourism actually works then it is possible that in order to claw back as much money as they can from Chinese tourism, the Chinese ( corporate or illegal interets - not individuals ) do acquire local businesses or have locals front businesses on their behalf.

 

They are doing it already We've already seen crackdowns on Chinese tour guides, Chinese tour companies, Chinese bus and boat owners and chances are these people are not just going to give up and go home. They'll just find a better way to keep doing it and get thier share of the pie. 

 

For that to happen then you'd need Chinese tourism to be sustainable and grow. Investment wouldn't happen overnight  but slowly they could acquire the venues and retask them so that maybe in 10 years time nightlife in Patong will be about popping out at night for a bowl of noodles and a cold Tsing Tao, followed by a foot massage , and some late night entertainment by cracking a bottle of Remy at the local Karaoke. Paradise.

 

"chances are these people are not just going to give up and go home. They'll just find a better way to keep doing it and get thier share of the pie." - or move their operation to a neighboring country. Eg. their Communist cousins in Vietnam, where they are prepared to welcome a new "pie" to share.  

 

Not to mention, Vietnam already has casinos in operation. 

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On 26/06/2017 at 3:56 PM, Prometheus33 said:

Yep, full of these Chinese and you know what?! They spend a great deal on their trips to Thailand (and elsewhere) .......... at hotels, restaurants and shops. Today, the Chinese tourists are a major contributor to the Thai tourist industry (and to global tourism as well ........ check relevant data at locations France, Germany, UK , USA etc) .. So,  "full of Chinese" , really ?! ........  and they "haggle" too ?!  

A request, please do not belittle any race , nation or colour ..

 

"They spend a great deal on their trips to Thailand" - really????  Why is it they are called "zero baht tourists" then????

 

"A request, please do not belittle any race , nation or colour." - I think you will find it's their financial capacity that is being discussed.  Not their race, color, nationality etc etc. 

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14 hours ago, Mysterion said:

I first visited patong in 2010.

 

IMHO, it has hardly changed since then.

 

Sure there are a few more shops/guesthouses on new middle road and allot more PRC tourists, but it has still retained the overall look and feel since 2010 at least.

 

When did Patong change rapidly from a quiet fishing community to what it had become in 2010?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"IMHO, it has hardly changed since then." - I think you will find the prices here have changed at a faster pace to other destinations in Thailand, for the same product.  Eg. a Singha beer.

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19 minutes ago, madmitch said:

And the root cause of this is the fact that rents are among the highest in Thailand and are continually increasing. The greed of landlords is probably the major factor in Patong's decline.

 

I agree MM.

 

These greedy Thai landlords were always going to push the tourism market to find the highest point at which they were prepared to pay, just before it broke. 

 

Add to that, paying more for transport per day than your food and beverage, or your accommodation per night, and it was only a matter of time before the independent western tourists would wise up.

 

With a rapidly declining western market here, Phuket's answer was to replace this market with rock bottom F & B, and room rate, Chinese package holiday tourists, in coach buses.

 

Good luck with that. 

 

Phuket's in a race of its own - to the bottom.

 

 

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4 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

At the back of Jungceylon, a Chinese woman decided to let her child defecate on the area which has seats in it (where people could sit and relax), when there were toilets no more than 100 m away.

 

 

Saw a kid taking a wiz ion the Nanjing metro.  Mom didn't seem to mind.

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5 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Really?

 

How do you explain all those vacant bars in Tiger????

 

What about all the businesses for sale here????

 

I suggest, the tourism market changed because Patong / Phuket failed to move with the times and offer a quality holiday experience, and just continued on with the same old BS and scams, thus, losing the lucrative western market, and repelling return tourists. 

Neither Patong nor Phuket has failed .. both are alive and doing well ...... Perhaps one can say that it isn't doing as well as it used to. That's  for sure .. have you taken a look at the world economy recently ?! .. Most people can't afford a decent holiday because they simply do not earn enough these days !! Tourism in Patong / Phuket has taken a hit same as other tourist spots at other places .. 

I was in Patong recently (@ the Burasari) and enjoyed my stay  .. as did my son and his fiancee ( she flew Prague Moscow Phuket , I mention this because the focal point of her / their holiday was Phuket / Patong not Bangkok or elsewhere ) , both have just completed their MBA and I dare say very discerning travellers !! They spent 15  days in Patong and 6 days in  Kata and say they will be back  again .. When young people feel a place is worth going back to, well, I reckon there is hope yet !! 

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The chinese i have seen are about 50% or less couples and 50% or more single women, time to get rid of the bar girls and try out bar boys

Countries all around the world are chasing the Chinese tourist trade, including the USA who are making their tourist visa easier to get for the Chinese and for a longer period of valid to stay time

 

Plenty of new tourist resorts opening all the time, and lots of backpacker/guesthouse being opened by Thai people who give employment to their own family members and are not interested in new updated vehicles and overseas holidays just better wages and conditions for their own people

 

Compeat or starve, Travelworld Australia are now offering a lot more holiday package deals all around the world, including sea and river cruises, train trips, coach trips, disneyland packages, RV hire packages, plus the usual airfare, transfer and accommodation deals, you name it

Where Aussies used to return to places like Bali or Phuket year after year they now try new holiday destinations every year 

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