Patong - The Wake

[phuketrichard]

seems to be an abundance of food street stalls at every beach now cause they were all kicked off the beaches >
also tons of small places to buy ice coffee
Not sure about Patong, But, street stalls in Kamala are CHEAP,  2/3rds the price of local restaurants and there already cheap as well.

[xylophone]

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.

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Back on to that subject, mainly because I was nearly wiped out (again) by one of these idiots deciding to weave in and out of the traffic as it was grinding to a halt and he decided he would negotiate the spaces at high speed.

 

A friend has told me of an incident a couple of nights ago, at around 2:30 AM, just past the junction of Soi Banzaan and the new middle road where one of these idiots wiped out a pedestrian, who seems to have been badly injured with a bone poking out of his leg, before speeding off without stopping to help.

 

Surely it wouldn't be too hard for the BIB to do some sort of patrol at the South end of Nanai where these black/brown Frenchies reside, because as sure as eggs are eggs, they would nab just about all of them for driving without a crash helmet, and I would suspect that finding drugs would not be out of the ordinary, not to mention drinking and driving.

 

But then since when have we ever relied upon the BIB to do anything other than collect tea money!

[HLover]

Just now, xylophone said:

Back on to that subject, mainly because I was nearly wiped out (again) by one of these idiots deciding to weave in and out of the traffic as it was grinding to a halt and he decided he would negotiate the spaces at high speed.

 

A friend has told me of an incident a couple of nights ago, at around 2:30 AM, just past the junction of Soi Banzaan and the new middle road where one of these idiots wiped out a pedestrian, who seems to have been badly injured with a bone poking out of his leg, before speeding off without stopping to help.

 

Surely it wouldn't be too hard for the BIB to do some sort of patrol at the South end of Nanai where these black/brown Frenchies reside, because as sure as eggs are eggs, they would nab just about all of them for driving without a crash helmet, and I would suspect that finding drugs would not be out of the ordinary, not to mention drinking and driving.

 

But then since when have we ever relied upon the BIB to do anything other than collect tea money!

Could you please post a Google map location, so we can avoid that area like the black plague?

[xylophone]

Snippets covering a few topics so far on here..........

 

– – One about food stalls and cheap food and lo-so Chinese is never more evident than when one sees the long lines of Chinese outside of the Number 6 restaurant, queueing to sit on wooden benches alongside of a busy road so that they can enjoy a bowl of cheap something or another – –hi-so, not so!

 

– – Then there are the numerous food stalls outside of Banzaan market which seem to attract all sorts of tourists, and just last night I saw an obviously hi-so farang sitting on the pavement in amongst the bustling crowds and traffic/fumes stuffing his face with some food out of a polystyrene container, eating it with his fingers. I bet he doesn't book a room at the Sheraton Four Seasons when it's completed.

 

– – Decided to look into the bars in new Tiger over a few days and nights to see what was going on, this especially as a friend had said he had heard of a bar owner there commenting that he was making 2 million baht a month in profit at one of the bars! Having seen the bar and the number of patrons there on a few afternoons and evenings, I would very much doubt that claim. Maybe putting the word out so that he can sell it for a good price, this especially as another bar owner recently moved out because he wasn't making any money – – go figure!

 

– – Out and about last night in Bangla and for the situation, review my last post, because the only thing that changed was the number of walkers in Bangla which seemed down on my last visit.

 

– – It has often been said that the small businesses and nightlife in Patong are sponsored by farangs and that has never been bought home to me more than it was yesterday when I was talking to a local in the know. A massage parlour not far from me is sponsored by an American guy who comes over from time to time; the bar close by is sponsored by an Italian guy and the bar next to that sponsored by a French guy (the bar is up for sale now), whereas a stones throw away another bar sponsored by an Italian guy has failed. Thinking about it, there must be loads of farangs putting money into these small businesses and not getting much in the way of a monetary return, but perhaps it's driven by "lurv" or something similar to it!

 

On that note, the more I think about it the more I realise that this is the case with the vast majority of bars here, although some Thais do seem to own them outright. And on that subject, over the last few nights I have been out, Dons barbecue has been empty, as has Dons pool bar as has his small bar further along the road............ so I suppose that even the unsponsored Thais could be struggling at the moment.

 

– – Still on that train of thought, a friend who sells businesses here, and not bars, deals mostly with farangs when selling these "ventures", a lot of which end up making no money at all and being on sold at a loss.

 

 

[xylophone]

Wake or wake up............not too sure?

 

If Patong is in "wake mode" then the people building all these new hotels and guesthouses certainly don't know it. But then again it has never been understood by many who live here why new buildings go up and others remain half built, whilst others remain unoccupied?

 

Just on the Nanai road side of the almost derelict 990 apartment site called "The Park" I noticed some construction work going on and a large digger doing its business in the very shadow of a large half built shell from the previous derelict attempt. It looks like it could be a hotel or something similar – – just what is needed whilst other smaller places are struggling for customers.

 

My observations show that over the past two or three weeks the tourist count has gone down, although I'm sure there must be a few more coming in now so that they can take part in the madness which is Songkran.

 

I wondered how business was going in a couple of large establishments here and I find that turnover is actually down on last year, that when the very same people were complaining about last years low turnover??

 

Went out the other night and witnessed a fairly busy Bangla with an almost empty Soi Freedom, not to mention moderately populated bars in new Tiger and resurrected Tiger. Such a shame about Soi Freedom because it could be so much more and should be following in the footsteps of the hugely successful Soi Eric.

 

The owner/manager seems to have a mental block when it comes to understanding what is needed to bring back the farangs, if indeed there are any to bring back into what seems to be a dying "pastime". I thought it would be quite simple to understand that if one is trying to attract farangs into any one of 26 bars, then playing some sort of music that would entice them to even set foot in the place would be a must. But no, whenever possible a young DJ blasts out screeching, club type "music" which leaves the ears ringing and has no appeal to just about any of the farangs that would most likely visit the bars – – so they don't. And yet he still plays on, and if there are a few farangs around the place, they leave, absolutely pissing off the bar owners because their customers are being driven away.

 

As is the norm now, those bars which have good quality groups/bands do get to pack in the customers.

 

Now as is very often the case with the rumours surrounding the place, here are some more........... both new Tiger and resurrected Tiger are to be demolished and will be replaced by large department stores, apparently in conjunction with the one which is just being built in the space that housed another white elephant.

 

It was also rumoured that Soi Sea Dragon was going to be bought and knocked down to be replaced by?? Then because the Tiger people would have nowhere to go to continue their business, it was rumoured they would be buying Soi Freedom!

 

Oh well, the only thing constant is change, as the saying goes.

 

And change has happened just near me and the recently newly opened roller blind bar that had no customers and folded within a month, has now been on sold, so it has gone from a bar owned by a Thai girl, with a French backer, to (apparently) a Thai girl with a Malaysian backer. It doesn't change the fact that it is right next to another roller blind bar which has its ups and downs, and this being 50 m away from another roller blind bar (slightly larger in this case) which is mostly deserted.

 

Maybe some folks will never wake up to the fact that the small business turnover here is very high, mainly because there are a huge amount of failures, but then there's always someone else getting off the plane with a pocket full of money, a brain in their small head and no idea how things work here, ready to invest!

[irishken]

23 minutes ago, xylophone said:

 

 

 Such a shame about Soi Freedom because it could be so much more and should be following in the footsteps of the hugely successful Soi Eric.

 

 

What is wrong with Soi Freedom? I Haven't seen it since it opened back up.

I have so many great, but hazy memories of Soi Eric and Mai Thai bar.

[xylophone]

4 minutes ago, irishken said:

What is wrong with Soi Freedom? I Haven't seen it since it opened back up.

I have so many great, but hazy memories of Soi Eric and Mai Thai bar.

Yep, Soi Eric in its heyday was a lively place with good bar owners, pretty girls, good music and plenty of customers.

 

Now there are about 6 closed bars, others for sale "behind the scenes", empty bars, few customers, an average live band and a DJ who plays crap screeching stuff which just about all of the bar owners detest.

 

 

[Timbob]

On the topic of new building projects.... does anyone know what is being built in the huge space opposite B-Quik / Jungceylon where there's currently a night market? I get a good view of this from my balcony and I'm just curious as something is taking shape but I can't fathom what it's going to be. 

[sebastion]

On the topic of new building projects.... does anyone know what is being built in the huge space opposite B-Quik / Jungceylon where there's currently a night market? I get a good view of this from my balcony and I'm just curious as something is taking shape but I can't fathom what it's going to be. 

A huge white elephant.
No matter what goes in it will fail.
Everything South of B Quik is a dead zone slum.

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[xylophone]

13 hours ago, Timbob said:

On the topic of new building projects.... does anyone know what is being built in the huge space opposite B-Quik / Jungceylon where there's currently a night market? I get a good view of this from my balcony and I'm just curious as something is taking shape but I can't fathom what it's going to be. 

Well Timbob, there have been rumours of  "things taking shape" there on and off for years.............from a large hotel in a famous chain, to another Central, to a theme park to a Robinsons and so on, BUT piles of dirt and rubble keep getting shifted around to no avail!

[Timbob]

31 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Well Timbob, there have been rumours of  "things taking shape" there on and off for years.............from a large hotel in a famous chain, to another Central, to a theme park to a Robinsons and so on, BUT piles of dirt and rubble keep getting shifted around to no avail!

They are definitely building something. Here's a photo. It looks like it might be a large water feature or (less likely) a swimming pool.  

[xylophone]

27 minutes ago, Timbob said:

They are definitely building something. Here's a photo. It looks like it might be a large water feature or (less likely) a swimming pool.  

Be better if it was a much needed waste water treatment plant!!!

[xylophone]

6 hours ago, Timbob said:

They are definitely building something. Here's a photo. It looks like it might be a large water feature or (less likely) a swimming pool.  

 

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

Be better if it was a much needed waste water treatment plant!!!

A few years back, an entrepreneurial farang did decide to try and utilise a bit of that land and put down a concrete slab and on it was a sort of catapult contraption where you sat in the pod/capsule and were shot skywards (it was on elastic ropes or similar) however it didn't seem to last long and was never that popular from what I can remember.

 

More than likely because there were similar things in Australia and some accidents had occurred whereby people were literally shot skywards when the elastic ropes broke, so if the Aussies couldn't get it right, I'm sure there were a few folks here who thought that they wouldn't dare attempt something put together by the locals! 

[LivinginKata]

15 minutes ago, xylophone said:

 

A few years back, an entrepreneurial farang did decide to try and utilise a bit of that land and put down a concrete slab and on it was a sort of catapult contraption where you sat in the pod/capsule and were shot skywards (it was on elastic ropes or similar) however it didn't seem to last long and was never that popular from what I can remember.

 

More than likely because there were similar things in Australia and some accidents had occurred whereby people were literally shot skywards when the elastic ropes broke, so if the Aussies couldn't get it right, I'm sure there were a few folks here who thought that they wouldn't dare attempt something put together by the locals! 

 

Thought that was a bit further south at JJ Plaza. Over the years there have been a number of tries at these of these bungy machines. I seem to remember the first was off Sai Nam Yen, road opposite Nanai Road end, opposite the  bowling alley. Next was up next to Valhala on Soi ??. Think another 2 sprung up for a couple of months only. Expensive kit and expensive to move and erect.    

[Psimbo]

7 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Thought that was a bit further south at JJ Plaza. Over the years there have been a number of tries at these of these bungy machines. I seem to remember the first was off Sai Nam Yen, road opposite Nanai Road end, opposite the  bowling alley. Next was up next to Valhala on Soi ??. Think another 2 sprung up for a couple of months only. Expensive kit and expensive to move and erect.    

The Valhalla one on Soi Sunset  was about 20 years ago and some of the bolt locations are still visible in the Expat Car Park (as is the faded paintwork). The structure itself is dumped behind the gocart track to the western side of the road just across from the other cart track.

 

I like the comment about No6 Restaurant above- there can be long queues outside it but the restaurant next to it which I understand is owned by the same people  can be empty. Go figure.

[NamKangMan]

22 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Thought that was a bit further south at JJ Plaza. Over the years there have been a number of tries at these of these bungy machines. I seem to remember the first was off Sai Nam Yen, road opposite Nanai Road end, opposite the  bowling alley. Next was up next to Valhala on Soi ??. Think another 2 sprung up for a couple of months only. Expensive kit and expensive to move and erect.    

 

The one off Sai Nam Yen was a bungy jump, off a crane.

 

XP is describing the "slingshot" and you are correct, it was further up the road. 

 

Below are some Google images of the ride. 

 

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=images+slingshot+ride&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYpJj926_aAhUJgLwKHR2KC2MQsAQIJQ&biw=1455&bih=653&dpr=1.1

[NamKangMan]

7 hours ago, xylophone said:

Be better if it was a much needed waste water treatment plant!!!

 

Possibly an onsite water storage tank for what will be built over it, either for storm water, or town water, or both.

[Timbob]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

A few years back, an entrepreneurial farang did decide to try and utilise a bit of that land and put down a concrete slab and on it was a sort of catapult contraption where you sat in the pod/capsule and were shot skywards (it was on elastic ropes or similar) however it didn't seem to last long and was never that popular from what I can remember.

 

More than likely because there were similar things in Australia and some accidents had occurred whereby people were literally shot skywards when the elastic ropes broke, so if the Aussies couldn't get it right, I'm sure there were a few folks here who thought that they wouldn't dare attempt something put together by the locals! 

There's one of these slingshot things in Clarke Quay, Singapore. People stand around and watch as people pay to be catapulted into the air. Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure they make a tidy profit. I'm just not sure it'd work in a car park or 'bit of land' somewhere behind a supermarket in Patong. Hardly a scenic view. On the beachfront, maybe?

[phuketrichard]

13 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

The one off Sai Nam Yen was a bungy jump, off a crane.

 

XP is describing the "slingshot" and you are correct, it was further up the road. 

 

Below are some Google images of the ride. 

 

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=images+slingshot+ride&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYpJj926_aAhUJgLwKHR2KC2MQsAQIJQ&biw=1455&bih=653&dpr=1.1

one by expat hotel  was a bungy catapult,  there was bunjy jump using a crane decades ago on beach road  down toward the bridge to Coral beach

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, Timbob said:

There's one of these slingshot things in Clarke Quay, Singapore. People stand around and watch as people pay to be catapulted into the air. Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure they make a tidy profit. I'm just not sure it'd work in a car park or 'bit of land' somewhere behind a supermarket in Patong. Hardly a scenic view. On the beachfront, maybe?

I went on one on the Gold Coast a few years ago and it was exhilarating/frightening (take your pick).........agree with your comments as it seemed out of place on empty land in Patong.

 

Also went on a Bungy jump in OZ at the age of around 46 and that scared the sh1t out of me and damaged my ankle! Thankfully those days are over now!

[Timbob]

16 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I went on one on the Gold Coast a few years ago and it was exhilarating/frightening (take your pick).........agree with your comments as it seemed out of place on empty land in Patong.

 

Also went on a Bungy jump in OZ at the age of around 46 and that scared the sh1t out of me and damaged my ankle! Thankfully those days are over now!

I did a bungy jump in Oz too, back in 2002. On that same trip I also did two skydives.... one in Cairns then later in Byron Bay. I absolutely loved the skydives but would never do a bungy jump again! 

[xylophone]

I do believe that this will be the year when many small businesses (yes including bars) go to the wall.

 

If I were alone in this belief, then I would be happy to be proven wrong, however friends who own bars and manage restaurants here, as well as long-term expats, are of a similar belief.

 

Even over the last three or four years folks here have been saying that the high season has gotten shorter and the low season longer, and I would have to agree with that from what I have seen and experienced.

 

The signs seem to be all around the place and even though occasionally places like Big C match, or marginally beat a corresponding month in the previous year or two with regard to turnover, it is sporadic to say the least. And if you took the Chinese out of that store on any given day, the place would be damn near empty.

 

A look at the restaurants in Jungceylon would paint a similar picture.

 

For some businesses, the Chinese are keeping them afloat, but all the time these low rent tourists seek out the cheapest places to eat, and buy food to eat in their rooms, there are many which are struggling.

 

The roller blinds are down on many small shops in several sois around the place and the bars around the periphery are nowhere near what they have been in respect of customers and spend.

 

This expands to the likes of Bangla, which was very quiet on a couple of consecutive nights last week, with just a few front facing bars doing okay, but others doing very poorly indeed.

 

The foot traffic highlighted the demographic change to the old days, whereas now there are groups of Chinese just meandering up and down, smaller groups of Indians with one beer trying to spot a bar girl who might be interested in spending time with them for 500 baht, and various black hookers who resembled the "Michelin man" effigy seen in the old days.........oh and a couple of outrageous Russian "girls" with lips so large and inflated that had they walked into a glass window someone would have had to have prised them off.

 

Sure the bars like New York and to a certain extent, Monsoon do well and they are packed with the younger set, so conversely the beer bars which were so popular in the old days are nowhere near as busy as they used to be.

 

The "flop" which has been Soi Freedom continues in that vein and one would have been lucky to count 20 customers spread amongst 26 bars at a few times during the evening (and a regular occurrence) – – not what was intended or indeed mooted for the potential buyers of bars when this first opened. IMO, some of this is down to demographic changes, but other contributing factors are poor signage, poor management of the Soi, a DJ who panders to the screaming disco funk music, when should older farangs visit, they like to sit at the bar with some music that they recognise or at least understand, without getting their eardrums blasted, and not only the choice of band, but the volume of the music which is sometimes painful.

 

Walking home at about 1:15 AM, the foot traffic had thinned out and although the aforementioned two bars were going well, the band in Red Hot was playing to about four customers in all, which is something I have never seen before.

 

One bar in resurrected Tiger looked to be going okay, whereas the others were scarcely populated, and as everybody knows, the bars behind the front row of one or two, are empty. Similar story with new Tiger.

 

Rumour has it that changes are afoot in Bangla, with sois disappearing, others changing, more shopping venues and so on, so it will be interesting to see if any of this materialises and if it can revitalise what was once a "calling card" for Patong.

 

 

 

[Patong2]

Another good observation.

 

It certainly has quietened down in the last 2 weeks and without the Chinese it would be deserted.

 

Hard to see how some businesses do survive. There is another makeshift area of market type restaurants being opened at the inland end of Soi Sansabai and I wonder how anyone can think they can succeed at the moment.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, Patong2 said:

There is another makeshift area of market type restaurants being opened at the inland end of Soi Sansabai and I wonder how anyone can think they can succeed at the moment.

Yes I have seen them, those and a few in what was the old carpark, but have only seen a smattering of punters spread across them all in the months they have been there, and I too wonder how they think they can survive.

 

Once a bar owner starts to have to dip into his savings in order to keep the bar afloat, then the writing is on the wall...…...and I know that is happening.

 

 

[LivinginKata]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

I do believe that this will be the year when many small businesses (yes including bars) go to the wall.

<snip>

 

Not just this coming year. Already happening these last few years.

 

I would say - I do believe that this will be the year when even more small businesses (yes including bars) go to the wall.

 

I can only say we have had an excellent high season for the longer stay renting (+3 months). Many short stay enquiries that we don't cater for. 

 

It's the long stay guests (year contract) that are impossible to replace when one leaves. Can't say I have lost even one through a failing business. All gone home for personal or Thai immigration reasons.

 

[Lashay]

On 5/12/2018 at 3:57 PM, xylophone said:

Yes I have seen them, those and a few in what was the old carpark, but have only seen a smattering of punters spread across them all in the months they have been there, and I too wonder how they think they can survive

Late late night (3am +) those bars seem to do alright. They had advantage of not being closed by cops around 3am over high season like bars on Bangla. They have developed a late night crowd on the back of that (used to be people would go Chang, but that's dominated by French Arabs now)

 

If they maintain that customer base now that cops are no longer enforcing early closing remains to be seen.

 

The last 10 days have been some of quietest seen on Bangla in long time, in the bars at least. Tons of people around though, Chinese, Indians, Arabs and westerners who either don't seem to drink or just seem to go straight to clubs and either just buy one beer or get totally FUBAR on the 500b open bars.

[xylophone]

29 minutes ago, Lashay said:

FUBAR

FUBAR??………..for the sake of censorship perhaps, a clue would do?

[Lashay]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

FUBAR??………..for the sake of censorship perhaps, a clue would do?

F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition/Reason

[sekmet]

  Rumour has it that changes are afoot in Bangla, with sois disappearing, others changing, more shopping venues and so on, so it will be interesting to see if any of this materialises and if it can revitalise what was once a "calling card" for Patong.      

What sort of changes, if you could speculate?



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[Lashay]

2 hours ago, sekmet said:

  Rumour has it that changes are afoot in Bangla, with sois disappearing, others changing, more shopping venues and so on, so it will be interesting to see if any of this materialises and if it can revitalise what was once a "calling card" for Patong.      

What sort of changes, if you could speculate?

 

So many going around, hard to know which is true , which is not or which is just on longer timescale than most people expect

 

* One or both tigers becoming a central shopping mall

* One tiger moving next to the other

* One getting replaced by a hotel

* Multiple Sois merging to make new complex

* Large well know bar moving to a soi and taking it over

* Massive new complex opening just outside Bangla

* Casino opening near Bangla

 

Probably half a dozen more forgotten. Problem is news about these things leak before they are a done deal (or sometimes wrong info is leaked intentionally) So what will actually happen is anyones guess.