Patong - The Wake

[sebastion]

Usually, they're on T-Max bikes. There are several foreign-owned "Hoons-R-Us" businesses in the Nanai area that rent these bikes exclusively to their countrymen.
I don't know if she's still around, but there was one overweight female as you described who was notorious for T-Maxing around town, without regard for anyone else on the road. If I recall, she was sort of a party girl for this crowd, and saw her nearly run over an attendant at the Caltex station one time while holding court with her friends du jour.

Just say it.
The North Africans with a French passport.
They have basically taken over the south end of Nanai Rd.
They hate wearing a shirt while riding also. Not sure how they survive here without working but they always run in a pack and are extremely rude because they feel safety in numbers.
Catch them one out and they couldn't act more sedate.
Please don't lump them with French people as they aren't true French. We are ashamed of them.

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[xylophone]

On 01/02/2018 at 7:04 PM, cloudhopper said:

^Then it seems this thread should be re-titled Patong Dawn of the Dead

It could have any number of titles and this is a carry over from the original one which went something like, "Patong is dead".

It's not dead as can be seen, however it certainly is changing, and discussing this just a couple of days ago with three friends over coffee brought up an interesting conundrum!

There are those who say that this place is going downhill fast; those who say that they wouldn't buy anything here because of this and possible poor resale prices; and those who lament the lo-so tourists spoiling the place.

 

Then of course there's the other side of the equation where it could be argued that there are some very wealthy people and companies who see this place having potential, otherwise why would the Sheraton be building a hotel here; why would there be a huge hotel/condo development in Rat-u-Thid road and why would somebody be building a new shopping complex just off Bangla Road?

Then I posited the following.........if the Sheraton and its likes were aiming for the top end of the market (which is what Sheraton usually does or at least the higher end of the market) then what does Patong have to offer the wealthy tourist, especially in relation to other places?

– A pristine beach? Not likely, with this being a very poor beach complete with jetskis, parasailing and lo-so tourists.
– Clear blue sea water in which to swim ?IMO the seawater here has always been marginal and even worse now that sewage spills into it on occasion.
– The chance to laze on a lounger under a nice umbrella and feast on fine food – – the chance would be a fine thing.
– High-end restaurants? Under a handful of fine dining restaurants in Patong and not likely to set the world alight.
– High-end retail shops? Plenty of rip-off/copies to be had, but then the high-end tourists don't want that.
– A good public transport service? Only in dreams, with this place having congested traffic and noisy, blaring tuk tuks.
– A good infrastructure which supports the buildings and community it serves? Only if you like the occasional flood, muddy water and awful smells coming up from the drains.

I'm sure there are others, which would suggest that Patong really has nothing to offer the high-end tourist and the longer this goes on and the longer that TAT targets the likes of the Chinese and Russians, the worse it will get.

As I mentioned a long time back in one of my posts, Patong has become a "paradise lost", well at least from what it could have been, and all because of greed and a lack of planning. So now we are seeing the result and it may well end up being a haven for lo-so tourists and singlet wearing bogans.

[DrDave]

27 minutes ago, xylophone said:

...

Then of course there's the other side of the equation where it could be argued that there are some very wealthy people and companies who see this place having potential, otherwise why would the Sheraton be building a hotel here; why would there be a huge hotel/condo development in Rat-u-Thid road and why would somebody be building a new shopping complex just off Bangla Road?

Then I posited the following.........if the Sheraton and its likes were aiming for the top end of the market (which is what Sheraton usually does or at least the higher end of the market) then what does Patong have to offer the wealthy tourist, especially in relation to other places?
 

I think that the investment that's been occurring is due to the potential that Patong has in the future.

 

I believe that a casino of some sort will be in Patong's future. If and when that happens, there's a huge opportunity for a re-birth, as there would most likely be a "new sheriff in town" with the power to turn things around. A casino is big business, highly focused on profitability which requires more affluent customers, which in turn requires being located in an environment desirable to this demographic.  Imagine the local government officials being replaced, and the local mafia being run out of town. This would open the door to jetski and parasail-free beaches, proper beach services and amenities,  as well as convenient and reasonable transport. More upscale food and lodging would follow.

 

This isn't going to happen overnight, but I think that over time, this is the direction Patong will be taking.

[xylophone]

39 minutes ago, DrDave said:

I think that the investment that's been occurring is due to the potential that Patong has in the future.

 

I believe that a casino of some sort will be in Patong's future. If and when that happens, there's a huge opportunity for a re-birth, as there would most likely be a "new sheriff in town" with the power to turn things around. A casino is big business, highly focused on profitability which requires more affluent customers, which in turn requires being located in an environment desirable to this demographic.  Imagine the local government officials being replaced, and the local mafia being run out of town. This would open the door to jetski and parasail-free beaches, proper beach services and amenities,  as well as convenient and reasonable transport. More upscale food and lodging would follow.

 

This isn't going to happen overnight, but I think that over time, this is the direction Patong will be taking.

We can only but hope DrDave!

[schlog]

40 minutes ago, DrDave said:

I think that the investment that's been occurring is due to the potential that Patong has in the future.

 

I believe that a casino of some sort will be in Patong's future. If and when that happens, there's a huge opportunity for a re-birth, as there would most likely be a "new sheriff in town" with the power to turn things around. A casino is big business, highly focused on profitability which requires more affluent customers, which in turn requires being located in an environment desirable to this demographic.  Imagine the local government officials being replaced, and the local mafia being run out of town. This would open the door to jetski and parasail-free beaches, proper beach services and amenities,  as well as convenient and reasonable transport. More upscale food and lodging would follow.

 

This isn't going to happen overnight, but I think that over time, this is the direction Patong will be taking.

I also think we will see a casino on HKT. But why choose Patong as location with all the big problems. Many outsiders got a bloody nose in Patong. Also building land is very limited. It would be much easier at locations like Maikhao or BangTao. My bet is on Maikhao where the Sheriffs having a huge new headquater and Anupas has many Rais.

[sebastion]

I also think we will see a casino on HKT. But why choose Patong as location with all the big problems. Many outsiders got a bloody nose in Patong. Also building land is very limited. It would be much easier at locations like Maikhao or BangTao. My bet is on Maikhao where the Sheriffs having a huge new headquater and Anupas has many Rais.

Plenty of room in Jungceylon. Top floor is a ghost town anyway.
A casino could fit in there with ease.
That bowling and games centres are basically abandoned except for a few bored tourists who hate the heat.
Doesn't need to be a world beater. Gamblers will gamble in a public rest room.

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[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, schlog said:

I also think we will see a casino on HKT. But why choose Patong as location with all the big problems. Many outsiders got a bloody nose in Patong. Also building land is very limited. It would be much easier at locations like Maikhao or BangTao. My bet is on Maikhao where the Sheriffs having a huge new headquater and Anupas has many Rais.

 

I doubt it. The builder of the Patong Tower who built an illegal extra floor for a casino is still waiting to have a casino licence .... waiting waiting

[sekmet]

Patong – The Wake, and for the purposes of this post, split into Death and Resurrection!
 
DEATH: using the literal sense in this instance, I was driving my car south down Nanai road a couple of days ago and as I rounded a corner I came face-to-face with a couple of Chinese on a motorbike heading straight for me (obviously on my side of the road). I came to an abrupt halt just metres from them, however they continued their slow but steady progress, so I also drove towards them to try and show them that they had no right to be on this side of the road and they finally cottoned on, with the girl passenger screaming at the driver, so he veered across to the other side of the road, narrowly missing a tuk tuk. Close shave for them.
 
Later in the day I was heading north along Nanai and a motorcycle in front of me swerved quite violently to avoid a couple of Chinese who decided to step out from the party of about 15 who were meandering along Nanai and I don't think they know how lucky they were.
 
If you want abject stupidity then witness this: – a group of about 10 or 12 Chinese were standing just about in the middle-of-the-road at the Banzaan/ Nanai intersection whilst traffic was trying to negotiate ways around them and despite people tooting and waving at them they continued to stand there oblivious to all that was going on. Even a farang on a motorbike shaking his hand at them and shouting, "firking stupid Chinese" did nothing to interrupt their chattering. Do these people have a death wish or are plain stupid?
 
Now using the word DEATH to signify the end of something/change: I ventured down Bangla Road on Tuesday afternoon and was surprised how empty the bars were, whereas at one time at least a few of the bars would be quite full of drinkers in this supposed "high season". At one time the new Tiger complex would have had quite a few farangs perched on the barstools, however on this occasion there were just under a dozen people spread across all of the front bars. Furthermore, in all of the remaining bars down Bangla on average there would be less than four punters in the places!
 
That has certainly changed from the old days. Not only that, the patronage of many of the bars at night has also dropped quite markedly and although Bangla Road itself is busy, and god knows where these people go, many of the bars are struggling as I've often mentioned previously. However now it appears to be reaching a critical point because in Soi Freedom there are still empty bars and many empty seats as the night wears on; new Tiger is nowhere near the buzzing drinking emporium that it once was, and this is the same with resurrected Tiger across the road, and to top the lot, my favourite bar has had to part company with its Thai band (who were very good) mainly because of poor patronage and not being able to cover their outgoings (hardly surprising when the band were paid almost 400k baht per month!).
 
This was a bit of a blow for me because I used to like singing a few songs with them and they always welcomed me on the stage and the audience seemed appreciative of my efforts – – so what to do now for an evening's enjoyment?
 
As if this wasn't enough, the Filipino band at the end of Soi Freedom (who were also very good) have been replaced by another band and they are nowhere near in the same league, and I doubt I will be able to sing a few numbers with them because they don't seem to have a regular lead singer who is familiar with what I sing.
 
Another nail in the coffin with regards to my evenings out and a sad loss for those regulars who liked the other band and Lovely, their fabulous singer.
 
RESURRECTION: "it's life Jim, but not as we know it".
 
Although many of the bars would have to be struggling, and owners have told me this, as are many of the massage parlours, perhaps the resurrection will come because of the increasing number of Russians (more than I've ever seen since I first arrived on these shores) and of course the hordes of Chinese, the likes of which I have never experienced here.
 
The restaurants underneath and beside Bangla Boxing Stadium were full of Chinese and I didn't see a European face anywhere. Big C has started to become a little ridiculous at times with the hordes of rude and loud Chinese pushing and shouting whilst filling their trolleys full of cheap crap. And one of them got quite annoyed with me when she decided to jump ahead of the queue waiting at one of the checkouts and tried to hand her items to the checkout lady, this when I told her that there were other people waiting and that she should move to the back. So she plonked her items down on the counter and stormed off.
 
No doubt this resurrection will help some aspects of the Patong economy, however one wonders how much when there have been posts on the fact that the Chinese tour groups try to drive down the accommodation costs to a point which can become questionable for the owners of the establishment.
 
And with the increasing number I see along Nanai road, this would suggest that some of the cheap and cheerful (and some good for the price) guesthouses and the like are being frequented by this influx, so perhaps some are happy with it or are just happy for any type of income?
 
So things are changing as they always do, however what doesn't seem to change is the ridiculous rents that landlords are seeking for bars in Bangla and for me that, along with the changing demographics, will mean that bars will only be bought by the naive, stupid or those being encouraged by their "new-found loves".
 
And as for putting up with the hordes of Chinese and Russians...........not something I look forward to but will have to try and live with it for the time being.
 
True to form: A corpulent Chinese guy wandered down Soi Freedom to have a look at the band, halted for a short while before hoicking a huge golly on the ground next a the table of a couple of customers, then turned and went
 
 

Out of curiosity, do Thais noticeably prefer one brand of tourist over another? I'm not an expat and have only traveled to Phuket once a year for the last ten years.

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[DrDave]

10 hours ago, schlog said:

I also think we will see a casino on HKT. But why choose Patong as location with all the big problems. Many outsiders got a bloody nose in Patong. Also building land is very limited. It would be much easier at locations like Maikhao or BangTao. My bet is on Maikhao where the Sheriffs having a huge new headquater and Anupas has many Rais.

Maikhao would certainly be an option, but that would require starting nearly from scratch.

There are actually several large available land plots in Patong that would be suitable for a casino. Patong has an advantage in that there is already an infrastructure in place (somewhat broken, but not beyond repair), with a lot of hotel rooms, including some newer upscale hotels & condos in the TriTrang area, such as the Rosewood.

[xylophone]

7 hours ago, sekmet said:

Out of curiosity, do Thais noticeably prefer one brand of tourist over another?

From my experience, and in talking to many Thais in the businesses around here, from managers to shop assistants....yes!

 

The Chinese are despised and the rude Russians are a little better. In fact many's the time I've seen the Thai staff admonish the Chinese for handling the cakes etc and the looks they give them say it all (and they tell me also......"no like").

 

Much the same in the large Starbucks store where the staff often admonish the Chinese (not the Russians) for high noise levels, feet on the tables, rubbish on the floor and kids running amok. 

[xylophone]

13 hours ago, DrDave said:

Imagine the local government officials being replaced, and the local mafia being run out of town. This would open the door to jetski and parasail-free beaches, proper beach services and amenities,  as well as convenient and reasonable transport.

Thinking about this post DrDave, I really can't see it happening...........the officials here from the top to the bottom get millions of baht in graft from the tuk tuk mafia, jet-ski thugs and tea money from businesses, so they won't want to see that change. BUT they may want to see a casino because it is a business they can extort MORE from; on top of the corruption that already exists here!

 

So the environment won't change to suit the top end tourists, they will hope that an increase of any sort of tourist (esp Chinese) will be enough to line their pockets.

 

As an aside, but related, I've been in the casino in Auckland many times and although they have a "high rollers" section, the main casino is often densely populated with the average to middle class punters, including many Chinese!

 

1 hour ago, DrDave said:

There are actually several large available land plots in Patong that would be suitable for a casino.

True and the one opposite the back of Jungceylon would be ideal. As for the top floor of Jungceylon, IMO not a starter due to space and layout, not to mention possible structural weakness problems.

[Old Croc]

Rumour has it that there is a Phuket casino already built and ready to go.

 

https://www.facebook.com/kohRangNoi/

[macahoom]

48 minutes ago, xylophone said:

From my experience, and in talking to many Thais in the businesses around here, from managers to shop assistants....yes!

 

The Chinese are despised and the rude Russians are a little better. In fact many's the time I've seen the Thai staff admonish the Chinese for handling the cakes etc and the looks they give them say it all (and they tell me also......"no like").

 

Much the same in the large Starbucks store where the staff often admonish the Chinese (not the Russians) for high noise levels, feet on the tables, rubbish on the floor and kids running amok. 

 

A little bit off topic, but maybe of interest:

 

Just stayed in the Grande Centre Pointe Terminal 21 in Bangkok.

 

I was often the only westerner at breakfast. Very rare to see a non Chinese about the whole hotel.

 

This was actually not a problem, as these were not the general type of lo-so Chinese who seem to flock to Phuket. They were very well behaved.

 

The only downside: because the hotel is catering for guests who are about 95% Chinese, this was reflected in the breakfast fare. The breakfast food aimed at westerners was limited and not of the quality you might expect from a hotel of this class. Cheap muesli, cereals and yoghurt; a small selection of horrible cheap bread. A few cold cuts and a joke cheese plate - cheddar and possibly red Leicester cut into small cubes. They couldn’t even poach an egg for me.

 

It’s been a couple of years since I last stayed in Bangkok. I’m wondering if all the better hotels are like this now?

[SooKee]

59 minutes ago, xylophone said:

From my experience, and in talking to many Thais in the businesses around here, from managers to shop assistants....yes!

 

The Chinese are despised and the rude Russians are a little better. In fact many's the time I've seen the Thai staff admonish the Chinese for handling the cakes etc and the looks they give them say it all (and they tell me also......"no like").

 

Much the same in the large Starbucks store where the staff often admonish the Chinese (not the Russians) for high noise levels, feet on the tables, rubbish on the floor and kids running amok. 

Feeling I get is that the most favoured tourists / customers are those that they can screw the most baht out of at any given time, whether or not the services / product that the venue offers come up to scratch or not.  The thing I noticed most about many of the venues I used to visit a few years ago, and a marked change from say 10 years ago, was the growing sense of 'entitlement' to your baht that many of them have.  You are there ONLY to pump money their way regardless of whether you are enjoying it or having a good time or not.  The less money there is around the worse it gets as they get even more pushy and demanding with grumpy scowls and looks of indignation when you fail to meet their expectations and open the baht tap sufficiently.  I certainly do agree that places like Patong attracts the very worst of Thais and their attitudes are even more noticeable when the money fountain gets turned off.  Sure this some lovely Thai folk there, but they are way outnumbered by the parasites and scammers.  I also think, given the 'It's all about the money money money" attitude that pervades, especially in Patong, if the Chinese or Russians were dropping bucket loads of baht the staff and management would be far less appalled and disgusted at their behaviour.  It's just that this particular brand of tourist add insult to injury by meeting the entitlement to baht expectations even less.

 

Lots of things I dislike about Phuket which caused me to bail on the place including the change in tourist demographics (the lo-so Chinese; grumpy, rude Russians, obnoxious strutting French Africans and arrogant Arabs) which I think is down to multiple factors (including that Patong, given what this thread is about, has little to offer of any quality other than its overpriced mini-Pattaya scene), the awful traffic and dismal public transport, the stupid killjoy squad regulation of the beeches (no sunbeds, no umbrellas, no vendors, no restaurants) and even night life but I think that the impact that Patong has on the general tourist income probably isn't actually that great in the grand scheme of things.  it's just that Patong is far more condensed, far more narrowly focussed in what it actually offers and because of it's nature can attract the worst of tourists too with even the standard of the historically higher spending farangs defaulting down to the bogan and trailer trash types.  Loads of people still going to Phuket I suspect that have ZERO interest in Patong or its lacklustre offerings and those that go to the five star resorts I'd guess are often content enough to stay within the self-sufficient confines of their chosen resorts.  Probably those that venture outside do so out of curiosity and maybe don't repeat the mistake.  I'd be surprised if the tourist baht income was as high as it was in its hay-day and I wouldn't be surprised if TAT regret their pursuit of certain markets but I guess there's also still enough income at the moment for none of the powers that be to need to resort to crisis measures to 'bait the baht' back in.  Meanwhile, I doubt that Patong will change or die any more than it's been doing for the last few years but will just continue to wallow in the lo-so mire it's become with the reports of what's going on there not changing much from the 'wash, rinse, repeat' nature which is simply a consequence of to being what it is.

 

Must admit, one thing I really don't miss is the standard of the Chinese that Phuket / Patong seems to attract vs those that one sees around BKK.  I guess the 'all-in bucket tours' are targeted more at the beach locations like Phuket where they can batter down the cost of hotels to the lowest denominator and scam the most out of their victims with trips to buy over-inflated cheap trashy crap from the out of town tourist gift centres.  I'm sure there are still a lot here, and at times the total lack of self awareness (which seems to be a national trait) still surfaces (but FAR less so than is evident in Patong) but overall the quality of the Chinese tourists here seems much higher, with far greater numbers of monied independent travellers, some of them positively charming, such as this little bomb-shell I bumped into on the BTS at Asok, good English, very well spoken, on the way to Hua Hin with her parents having already visited Chiang Mai and Burriram.  Happy to meet Chinese folks like her any day of the week.  And thank god the weather was cold enough for boots!!

 

 

[phuketrichard]

for years there were rumors that Fantasea in Kamala, was to be the site of the new casino,  they have/had the land, they have a helicopter landing zone, 400 + rai of land,  was told they already brought all the slots aswell

Now they are building  a HUGE condo, villa's, mall, retirement project...

Rumors will always be around in Thailand

 

 

 

 

[SooKee]

3 minutes ago, macahoom said:

 

A little bit off topic, but maybe of interest:

 

Just stayed in the Grande Centre Pointe Terminal 21 in Bangkok.

 

I was often the only westerner at breakfast. Very rare to see a non Chinese about the whole hotel.

 

This was actually not a problem, as these were not the general type of lo-so Chinese who seem to flock to Phuket. They were very well behaved.

 

The only downside: because the hotel is catering for guests who are about 95% Chinese, this was reflected in the breakfast fare. The breakfast food aimed at westerners was limited and not of the quality you might expect from a hotel of this class. Cheap muesli, cereals and yoghurt; a small selection of horrible cheap bread. A few cold cuts and a joke cheese plate - cheddar and possibly red Leicester cut into small cubes. They couldn’t even poach an egg for me.

 

It’s been a couple of years since I last stayed in Bangkok. I’m wondering if all the better hotels are like this now?

Depends which hotels, most I'd say are not, especially the 17 (owned) hotels of the Accor group and places like the Landmark and Sheraton.  Guess it all depends on where they are doing their marketing.  I'd sure agree about the standard of Chinese travellers here in BKK farmer cultured and better mannered, noticeable everywhere (with a few minor exceptions) through malls, hotels, restaurants and even the streets.

[Lashay]

On 10/02/2018 at 6:58 AM, sebastion said:

Just say it.
The North Africans with a French passport.
They have basically taken over the south end of Nanai Rd.
They hate wearing a shirt while riding also. Not sure how they survive here without working but they always run in a pack and are extremely rude because they feel safety in numbers.
Catch them one out and they couldn't act more sedate.
Please don't lump them with French people as they aren't true French. We are ashamed of them.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

Many survive by drug dealing back in France/Europe 6 months of the year. If you talk to them they are quite open about this.

[xylophone]

On 11/02/2018 at 7:18 PM, DrDave said:

This isn't going to happen overnight, but I think that over time, this is the direction Patong will be taking.

Well Phuket needs to understand just how many tourists it can entice here..........this from an article in a USA travel item:-

 

Chinese tourist boom……

For developing nations, that’s putting a strain on infrastructure, underpinning the biggest airport-building program in the region’s history. Thailand doesn’t have a single international airport that isn’t way over its designed capacity, and long lines at immigration are common.

 

Sound familiar?
 

[Kopitiam]

20 hours ago, xylophone said:

Well Phuket needs to understand just how many tourists it can entice here..........this from an article in a USA travel item:-

 

Chinese tourist boom……

For developing nations, that’s putting a strain on infrastructure, underpinning the biggest airport-building program in the region’s history. Thailand doesn’t have a single international airport that isn’t way over its designed capacity, and long lines at immigration are common.

 

Sound familiar?
 

Why is Thailand/Phuket not learning from Singapore?

http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/singapore-businesses-get-ready-slice-chinese-tourist-pie

[xylophone]

Decided to venture out on Tuesday evening and at just after 8 PM, I found it very difficult to get across Nanai road because of the volume of traffic, which a friend later explained was due to the non-moving traffic on the new middle road, so drivers were using it as a shortcut.

 

Got a motorbike taxi and went past an empty but beautifully refurbished Chang Residence bar and restaurant, an empty Dons Barbecue and Pool Bar, a couple of other sparsely populated bars, a full Da Moreno restaurant, one bar with just a handful of punters in and another couple of empty bars!

 

Got into Soi Banzaan and down the bottom it was absolute chaos with the traffic backed up from the stationary traffic on the new middle road, motorbikes with indicators indicating where they weren't going to go, people stepping in and out of the traffic and as per usual, the cars and trucks unable to pass one another despite the fact that they had about a metre of space on both sides.

 

Luckily enough my motorbike taxi driver managed to navigate this mess and shot down along the service road by Jungceylon, which was kindly opened by one of the security guys on duty.

 

I doubt whether I have seen this many people milling around this particular area and if you were to draw a circle from Banzaan market around Jungceylon and slightly to the north of the new middle road (incorporating the two Chinese restaurants and a couple of others) then it would have to be amongst the busiest I've seen.

 

I did notice that the "night market"/"whatever it was meant to be market", alongside of Jungceylon had been pulled down and a friend in business here said that it was due to the fact that the rents were too high and the renters couldn't make it work financially?

 

In Bangla, the recently opened "night market/food market" on the right-hand side about 50 m from the Jungceylon entrance, was full with not a spare seat in sight, whereas the resurrected Tiger and the new Tiger were struggling for punters.

 

I won't go much into the state of the bars because that hasn't really changed over the past few months, however I did notice that they were a few small parties of younger guys visiting the bars in Soi Freedom and chatting away to the girls, whereas at one time this would have been the domain of the older bar mongers.

 

Suffice it to say that a few of the Bangla fronting beer bars were doing okay, whereas others were struggling.

And although the Chinese are here in noisy, bad mannered droves, they were conspicuous by their absence in Bangla, and that seems true to form in the main, with just the odd exception.

 

I did see some graphs relating to the spend of various peoples here in Phuket/Thailand and it appeared to show the Chinese spending the most, however things don't compute in my opinion..........and one of the reasons could be that the total spend from a Chinese tourist could well be counted as that which starts in China, in prepaying for the tour, so how much of that actually finds its way to the local economy?? 

 

 

[SooKee]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

...<snip>

Got into Soi Banzaan and down the bottom it was absolute chaos with the traffic backed up from the stationary traffic on the new middle road, motorbikes with indicators indicating where they weren't going to go, people stepping in and out of the traffic and as per usual, the cars and trucks unable to pass one another despite the fact that they had about a metre of space on both sides.

 

...<snip>

The traffic situation in Patong is always annoying I find unless travelling at the deadest times of day / night.  Not helped by the inadequate road system and lack of planning, especially for traffic coming down Kamala and Kathu.  Mind you, (mostly non-existent) Thai driving skills don't help!  One of those countries where the ability to drive seems to be mastered only at the most basic 'mechanical' level (Malaysia not much better and even worse on the selfish / reckless front), the mental component of driving is like 'pfffffft'.  What with:

 

1. (As you mention) an almost TOTAL inability to judge the width of their vehicles (resulting in no-overtaking / passing where it would be easy and appropriate to do so or taking MASSIVE swings out to take a left turn that even a 32 ton artic' wouldn't need).
2. Absolute ZERO forward planning (such as failing to notice a parked vehicle and change road position to negotiate it until RIGHT up its backside or not changing lanes to turn left or right until RIGHT AT the junction).
3. VERY rare use of indicators at all to turn / manoeuvre / stop.
4. Ability to 'drive' with anything like a degree of confidence ONLY if going in straight line (countless times they slow to a crawl with needless repeated braking when negotiating any part of a road with a bend in it and, if something is coming in the opposite direction, often come to a total stop!!).
5. Slowing down to an absolute crawl WAY before necessary to take a left / right turn.
6. Using / texting on phones / yakking to passengers when they SHOULD be concentrating on driving / riding (one of the reasons I only EVER walk facing oncoming traffic, best to do it anyway but especially here for fear of being back-swiped and being crippled, or worse, by some muppet not concentrating / looking where he/she is going)
7. And of course the ever present recklessness of some drivers, problem exacerbated when they are drunk.

Mix that up with the zero traffic / safety awareness of many of the pedestrian tourists (dare I mention the Chinese being at pole position in this regard!!) it's only surprising there aren't more daily casualties in Patong.  More down to luck than judgement for sure!!

 

[xylophone]

34 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Mix that up with the zero traffic / safety awareness of many of the pedestrian tourists (dare I mention the Chinese being at pole position in this regard!!) it's only surprising there aren't more daily casualties in Patong.  More down to luck than judgement for sure!!

Agree on all counts and just yesterday afternoon as I was driving down Banzaan on my motorbike, a parked truck and an overtaking bunch of motorcyclists left me the narrowest of gaps to drive in, however this was made near impossible by the fact a couple of Chinese decided to step out into the road into that very space – – without looking I may add, so I couldn't help but clip one on the arm with the wing mirror and handlebar, and she looked very startled!

A few days previously a couple of Chinese decided to cross the road without looking and the guy in front of me just about carted the male, but swerved viciously to avoid him, and I had to do almost the same. Same thing happened in the road alongside Jungceylon and stories of this are myriad amongst friends I have here.

 

Seems they may have a death wish...........or of course they could be just plain stupid (and I know which one I will plump for).

[schlog]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

........and one of the reasons could be that the total spend from a Chinese tourist could well be counted as that which starts in China, in prepaying for the tour, so how much of that actually finds its way to the local economy?? 

 

 

Exactly! Huge numbers of them only spend a little here.

 

But some of them really spend and then not clever lol.

 

One of the most expensive spas in Patong, which charge 3.000-5.500 Baht, has more then 50% costumers from China.

Also the live shows for chinese with ticket prices of 2.500 per pax.

 

Crazy they are no doubt!

[xylophone]

Well, the new bar at the bottom of Nanai six called "Experimental Cocktail Bar" seems to have been a failed experiment, because it is closed and up for sale!

 

And I don't know how long the new little restaurant which has opened up inside a long closed minimart of some description, a little further along the road, will last, as I have not seen people flocking to it as yet. However for the sake of the Thai owner, I really do hope that it works, and I do feel sorry for a lot of the everyday Thai folk who believe they can open up a little business and get it to work, only to find that lack of planning, lack of business nous and high rents ensure an early closure.

 

[pistachios]

 

On 2/23/2018 at 10:23 AM, xylophone said:

 

 

Suffice it to say that a few of the Bangla fronting beer bars were doing okay, whereas others were struggling.

And although the Chinese are here in noisy, bad mannered droves, they were conspicuous by their absence in Bangla, and that seems true to form in the main, with just the odd exception.

 

 

 

 

That's strange, I went to Patong for the first time in years last Thursday. I really hate this place now and avoid it like the plague, but used to come often 8-9 years ago. While I agree about the horrendous traffic (it was jammed almost all the way from karon), I have never seen Bangla Road so packed. All the bars were pretty much full, even deep into the side alleys. 

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, pistachios said:

 

 

That's strange, I went to Patong for the first time in years last Thursday. I really hate this place now and avoid it like the plague, but used to come often 8-9 years ago. While I agree about the horrendous traffic (it was jammed almost all the way from karon), I have never seen Bangla Road so packed. All the bars were pretty much full, even deep into the side alleys. 

Could have been a "good day" Pistachios, and although Bangla road itself is often packed with people they are not usually frequenting the bars like they used to (or spending the same).

 

Having said that the front bars on the lower left of Bangla heading towards the beach are very busy and always seem to be, but the likes of Soi Freedom, Sea Dragon, New Tiger and resurrected Tiger, apart from punters on the entrance bars, are also nowhere like what they used to be.

 

 

 

 

[xylophone]

Patong, a place of contradictions...........

 

The nightlife of Bangla Road certainly attracts its fair amount of people, however as mentioned previously they are not the same demographic as before and just the other night I was surprised at the amount of drunk young people staggering around the place at about 1 AM in the morning, with the old bar mongers nowhere in sight.

 

The New York bar was absolutely packed and there was standing room only, and people were spilling out onto the pavement. Monsoon was busy but not quite so packed and people were queueing up to go into the discos.

 

New Tiger had its fair share of punters, but nowhere near like it used to be, and the last 25% of bars in that place are unoccupied or nearly empty. Resurrected Tiger is even worse because once you get past the 2 sets of bars closest to the street, the rest are unoccupied/empty.

 

No contradictions there, because that's what a lot of people come for and Bangla was heaving.

 

However if you are overseas and looking at holiday brochures you will see photos of sunny Patong and a crystal blue sea, but that is tantamount to a lie.

 

Closer to home, at one part of Patong you have the Sheraton Four Seasons hotel being built, almost opposite the murky sea waters into which effluent often flows. At the south end where you have such prestigious hotels as the Amari, there are also areas of murky sewage infested water. In addition, the Grand Mercure must be the only hotel in that chain which is built almost opposite a waste treatment plant, the smell of which often wafts around that area.

 

Then you have the huge Indigo hotel (or perhaps condotel, not sure) being built on Rat-u-Thid road and not more than a stone's throw away from the complex labelled something like "Beyond Patong", with the huge seafood restaurant in front of it being empty every time I have passed by and a similar comment was made by a friend who lives nearby.

 

The fastest selling condos/apartments on the island are those at Patong Bay Hill where one is guaranteed a 7% return for 15 years, with some sort of buyback clause. However, if you do the maths you will find out that it is not the good deal it appears to be, because your only "capital gain" will be that which you can get when the buyback takes place after 15 years and who knows how much that will be worth? However, it seems to be a winning formula because Pisona Group are building another block of something or another just off Phra Barami Road, using the same formal by all accounts.

 

All this with over 900 "would-be" apartments in Nanai road abandoned/derelict and the abandoned ACE condominiums a testimony to corruption. Another part-built apartment block not far from the Terraces is in a sad state and just nearby The Crystal Patong stands strangely empty. And the many roller-blind shops closed and for lease at the south of the new middle road tell a similar story.

 

So there you have contradictions within contradictions with new hotels going up, whilst not far away another newly built hotel is struggling for patrons, new condos being built whilst others remain unfinished and derelict, and the promised beach and sea experience falls somewhere in the region of taking a dip in the Ganges.

[sekmet]

Patong, a place of contradictions...........
 
The nightlife of Bangla Road certainly attracts its fair amount of people, however as mentioned previously they are not the same demographic as before and just the other night I was surprised at the amount of drunk young people staggering around the place at about 1 AM in the morning, with the old bar mongers nowhere in sight.
 
The New York bar was absolutely packed and there was standing room only, and people were spilling out onto the pavement. Monsoon was busy but not quite so packed and people were queueing up to go into the discos.
 
New Tiger had its fair share of punters, but nowhere near like it used to be, and the last 25% of bars in that place are unoccupied or nearly empty. Resurrected Tiger is even worse because once

There were a number of small bars adjacent to Resurrected Tiger which wet demolished last year. Still empty?



Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, sekmet said:

There were a number of small bars adjacent to Resurrected Tiger which wet demolished last year. Still empty?

As you said.......demolished and now a flat concreted space which has many food stalls in a food market style set up and this seems to be doing well in the nights I have been in Bangla.

 

Rumour was that this area was going to house a big Dept store attached by a walkway to the new complex being built across the road..............but then rumours abound in this place!

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

As you said.......demolished and now a flat concreted space which has many food stalls in a food market style set up and this seems to be doing well in the nights I have been in Bangla.

 

Rumour was that this area was going to house a big Dept store attached by a walkway to the new complex being built across the road..............but then rumours abound in this place!

With the current demographic, overpriced street food seems one of the best ways for locals to make money in Phuket (not just Patong). Near me the tables near the street food stalls are packed every evening, despite being more expensive than some of the restaurants! Various reasons: it's deemed as inexpensive because it's on the street; customers can drink beer purchased in the 7-Eleven; it's a Thailand experience.