Patong - The Wake

[Joe Mcseismic]

The two Villa Markets in Chalong and Cherng Talay have large catchment areas. They would have done a lot better not opening in Patong, but in Kathu.

[xylophone]

35 minutes ago, phuketrichard said:

recall how long Villa lasted in Patong?

Great business model.

even so called smart people/groups make mistakes

Yes I had thought about that when I was composing my post, however forgot to mention it.

 

Having said that, that whole area in Banana Walk doesn't seem to be thriving and the few times I have been in the Starbucks there, it's been all but empty?

 

Again, places like Villa Market, I believe, are really aimed at the expat market here, rather than the tourist, so to position it opposite the beach and alongside a major tourist thoroughfare didn't seem like the best plan in the world!

 

[DrDave]

On 2/22/2019 at 10:42 AM, Mysterion said:

150baht for the pleasure of having a pad thai in a cramped little basement foodcourt is probably not the best value experience for most tourists. Many 5 star hotels in Phuket actually charge somewhere around that price for a pad thai.

 

But alas, It is possible for them to get their pad thai fix in an actual restaurant with full service for only 60baht just around the corner from Central patong.

 

As noted earlier, 30baht gets you a good pad thai(or choice of many other thai dishes) at the Terminal 21 foodhall, in one of the most expensive parts of Bangkok. It drives huge crowds of thais and tourists through that mall all day and night 7 days a week. Wonder why they haven’t figured out that type of business model here yet.

 

The owners of Terminal 21 in Bangkok have a very different business model when it comes to their food court. The food court's sole purpose is to drive a high volume of customer traffic through the mall, which is located on the uppermost floor. The food on offer is incredibly inexpensive, and of good quality. Why? Because the food vendors are not charged any rent, and each must be operated by a relatively well-known standalone restaurant located somewhere in the Bangkok area. It's true that due to the high value to money ratio, the food court drives a tremendous amount of traffic to the mall, but I often wonder what the return on this investment is. Quite a bit of real estate is dedicated to this non-revenue generating area, but I don't know how many of the food court's customers spend money in the mall's shops. From my many visits, it seems that the restaurants located outside of the food court and the shops in the basement (the likes of specialty food shops, pharmacies, etc) do well, but all of the shops in the rest of the mall (the other 4 or 5 floors) seem to be devoid of customers actually buying anything.

[Mysterion]

8 hours ago, DrDave said:

The owners of Terminal 21 in Bangkok have a very different business model when it comes to their food court. The food court's sole purpose is to drive a high volume of customer traffic through the mall, which is located on the uppermost floor. The food on offer is incredibly inexpensive, and of good quality. Why? Because the food vendors are not charged any rent, and each must be operated by a relatively well-known standalone restaurant located somewhere in the Bangkok area. It's true that due to the high value to money ratio, the food court drives a tremendous amount of traffic to the mall, but I often wonder what the return on this investment is. Quite a bit of real estate is dedicated to this non-revenue generating area, but I don't know how many of the food court's customers spend money in the mall's shops. From my many visits, it seems that the restaurants located outside of the food court and the shops in the basement (the likes of specialty food shops, pharmacies, etc) do well, but all of the shops in the rest of the mall (the other 4 or 5 floors) seem to be devoid of customers actually buying anything.

I agree. One thing is for certain, if you cant get people into the mall, you aint gonna sell anything.

 

The interntaional “fast fashion” brands seem to do decent foot tradfic at almost every mall i have seen in thailand. Patong malls really need an HM, Forever 21, Uniqlo etc. these are “anchor” shops that can drive allot of foot traffic.

 

That being said, the busiest malls, with both tourists and locals, that i have ever seen in Thailand(excluding Big C shoppers) are Paltinum and MBK in Bangkok. Both those malls mainly specialize in clothes at wholesale level prices, and they dont have cheapo foodcourts to draw-in anyone.

 

fun fact-  there now appears to be a free shuttle bus between Central patong and central festival for anyone looking to get back and forth to those parts of the island for free.

 

 

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Mysterion said:

fun fact-  there now appears to be a free shuttle bus between Central patong and central festival for anyone looking to get back and forth to those parts of the island for free.

Yes, heard that, but my source said that to use it you had to produce a receipt from a Central store, either way????

[DrDave]

3 hours ago, Mysterion said:

That being said, the busiest malls, with both tourists and locals, that i have ever seen in Thailand(excluding Big C shoppers) are Paltinum and MBK in Bangkok. Both those malls mainly specialize in clothes at wholesale level prices, and they dont have cheapo foodcourts to draw-in anyone.
 

MBK has what was considered to be one of the cheapest food courts in Bangkok, until Terminal 21 came along and undercut their prices. The MBK food court, with it's cash card system still does a brisk business though. Unlike Terminal 21, however, most people probably don't go to MBK for the sole purpose of eating.

[xylophone]

On 2/25/2019 at 6:56 AM, DrDave said:

The owners of Terminal 21 in Bangkok have a very different business model.............

Well at least they have one, which is more than can be said, in my opinion, for things that are currently happening in Patong and as has already been mentioned, the actual marketing/positioning of Central Patong is a bit of a mystery.

 

As for other things........I was out and about last night and was very surprised to see what has happened to the "resurrected Tiger" complex, mystifying to say the least.

 

When it first opened it was full of bars which were going to be sold and fully staffed, much like the original one, and almost a complete clone of the new Tiger, which was opposite, but it missed the mark by a long shot. The few front bars were successful, but behind that there stretched a large area of vacant and unsold bars.

 

Now that huge area has been converted into.......something, but I'm not sure what. It looks like there are about 20 shop-like units either side of a little walkway, with just one being occupied at the moment and having a tattoo parlour in it. Now who is going to walk through a couple of large bars to find small shops?? Not a good mix or logical positioning.

 

Then upstairs there appears to be a Thai boxing arena, which didn't seem to be at all populated when I was there, but then again this whole place has become a bit of a mess in my opinion and as for a "business plan".......hmm. Too much money and not enough brains spring to mind, and designed by somebody with the mental capacity of a pickled squid.

 

Still on the subject of marketing/positioning (part of the business plan) I see that a former unsuccessful Italian restaurant in Soi Banzaan has now been converted into "something". It has the name "La Drinkeria" over the entrance, which is decorated with a wooden frontage in which wine glasses and bottles have been cut out, and it is in dark brown and looks about as inviting as the entrance to an old cemetery.

 

I can only assume (wrongly quite possibly) that this is going to be a wine bar of sorts/similar? But the target market???

 

There are several small bars/drinking establishment within a hundred metres and they are never full and even those folk that sit there would be the usual bar hoppers, drinking beer, and whose most exclusive tipple would most likely be Montclair, so appealing to that market is highly unlikely. Then you have the positioning because there is virtually no foot traffic at this place and there is no parking because all the spaces are taken up with other folks motorcycles.

 

So there you have it, a place (whatever it's meant to be) with very little street appeal, no passing traffic, no parking, in a side-street and surrounds which usually appeals to the budget travellers and resident expats on pensions.

 

A friend tried to explain the rationale to it as he saw it: "someone said, there are no wine bars in Patong, so let's open one, and I know a restaurant in a little backstreet which has closed due to lack of business, so let's convert it into one – – it is sure to be a success because it will be the only one". Or something like that.

 

Unless it's a place solely for the Patong Mafia or the BIB in which case making money is not the issue, I give it less than six months.

 

And just around the story off........met up with a friend last night who has just returned from Malaysia and who had been to Central Patong and said he was surprised that it had actually been opened because there were very few people in it!

 

Bangla was lively last night, but there was nowhere near the amount of people out and about as on my visit last week, and I think the tourist rush/influx that was experienced over a few weeks has diminished somewhat, and as a pointer to this, I have noticed a bunch of property selling guys drinking in a bar here, at 2 PM over several days, and that could well suggest that there is not enough business to keep them occupied!

 

Patong, business, target market, planning, shopping and bars all up in the air and it would make a great case study for the Prof at Darden University who ran a business workshop which I attended, on why Singapore was successful and what changes turned Taco Bell into profitability. But then Thailand is different, just as some of the girls here are...........!!

[Patong2]

Good commentary and insights again Xylophone.

 

Well, rest assured, no matter how bad we think Patong has got,

it is still a million times less boring than Auckland where we have been stuck for the last month.

 

Look forward to diving back into the chaos and pandemonium next month and doing some open mouthed head-shaking at the idiocy of some of the business decisions.

 

 

[xylophone]

25 minutes ago, Patong2 said:

Good commentary and insights again Xylophone.

 

Well, rest assured, no matter how bad we think Patong has got,

it is still a million times less boring than Auckland where we have been stuck for the last month.

 

Look forward to diving back into the chaos and pandemonium next month and doing some open mouthed head-shaking at the idiocy of some of the business decisions.

 

 

Thanks for the compliment P2, but how can you denigrate my beloved Auckland/New Zealand in this way – – just joking as you know.

 

Believe me there are times when I think that moving back to Auckland/New Zealand would be a sensible thing to do, but compared to Patong, it is boring and as I have often said, there is something about the vibrancy in Patong which draws one to the place..........but then again perhaps part of that vibrancy is down to the fact that you never know what you're going to get here, from danger to stupidity, from corruption to construction, to infrastructure fails and sewage smells and so on, and as for a "grand plan", forget it!

 

Will be interested in your comments on Central Patong and the other building of which I have posted, upon your return, but in the meantime enjoy what time you have left in Auckland and have a safe and pleasant journey back to ting tong Patong.

[billythehat]

14 hours ago, xylophone said:

Hab snip:

 

Still on the subject of marketing/positioning (part of the business plan) I see that a former unsuccessful Italian restaurant in Soi Banzaan has now been converted into "something". It has the name "La Drinkeria" over the entrance, which is decorated with a wooden frontage in which wine glasses and bottles have been cut out, and it is in dark brown and looks about as inviting as the entrance to an old cemetery.

Agreed, no imagination some people. What is needed here was to substitute the cut-out glasses and bottles for something more in tune with the real local vibe. I suggest a cut-out in the form of an sweaty elderly pot-bellied farang with 4 hairs left on his head, sporting a stained wife beater tee shirt and a pair of thick rimmed glasses containing the prescription he needed 20 years ago. Draped over his arm will be his ‘beau du jour’ (several decades his junior) staring into her I-phone whilst adjusting her silk hat (sic). The final touch will be to drizzle some coloured blinking fairy lights over the happy couple and voila, what could possibly go wrong? Just think of the ‘selfie’ opportunities for the customers. ????

[Joe Mcseismic]

I think that many of the businesses that open in Patong in rubbish places with no foot-traffic, poor parking etc. are attracted by relatively cheap rent. The rent is cheap for a reason. No foot-traffic, poor parking etc. Circular reasoning.

[Psimbo]

1 hour ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

I think that many of the businesses that open in Patong in rubbish places with no foot-traffic, poor parking etc. are attracted by relatively cheap rent. The rent is cheap for a reason. No foot-traffic, poor parking etc. Circular reasoning.

the main reason i don't go in there is the lack of parking other than JungCeylon.

[xylophone]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:03 AM, Joe Mcseismic said:

I think that many of the businesses that open in Patong in rubbish places with no foot-traffic, poor parking etc. are attracted by relatively cheap rent. The rent is cheap for a reason. No foot-traffic, poor parking etc. Circular reasoning.

Well that has also been my experience with what I've seen around here over the years and regarding the soon to be opened new place called "La Drinkeria", which is labelled a "pub and grill", so I suppose this is better than just another bar, which Patong needs like a moose needs a hat rack.

 

Having said that, it wouldn't appear to be big enough or in the right position to attract custom, including all the other reasons mentioned, however you don't see many establishments here labelled as a "pub and grill" so it will be interesting to see what shape it finally takes.

 

I did spy a farang and a Thai lady in the place looking as if they knew what was going on and I wondered if it was yet another case of opening a business with a farang sponsor for a Thai "partner"?

 

This is certainly the case in a couple of bars very close to me, one of which has closed down for a while, but now seems to be open again, and the closure was supposedly due to the farang sponsor pulling up sticks, but apparently all has been made up and the bar is back open again. Having said that it seems to be pretty well devoid of enough customers to keep it operating profitably at the moment and I don't doubt that other streams of income are sought from the dwindling few customers.

 

A recent post suggested that the top floor of the Aussie bar had closed, but last night in passing I noticed that it was open, so perhaps it was something temporary for repairs or some such like? 

 

There again, the whole place wasn't very busy last night and that was true of a few other establishments and one which really did surprise me was the new Bar Funk, which didn't have that many customers in last night and certainly didn't last week when I was out. So much money has been spent on that place, that I would imagine customer numbers would need to be well up there for it to turn a profit.

 

I have never really seen how this place fits a particular market because it consists of two very large bar areas with seating around them and some extra seating elsewhere, with very loud music making conversation extremely difficult, accompanied by a light show which can annoy the shit out of you and with the occasional woman doing some acrobatics on the bar tops or on something suspended over them – – trying to be all things to all people or missing the market and being nothing to not many?

 

Soi Freedom continues its downward slide with around six bars now closed and the band struggling manfully to create something musically appealing, whilst the bars nearby struggled with trying to fill the empty seats – – not a good look in all.

 

I did see signs of life in Soi Sea Dragon previously with a few bars being quite busy, but over the last week or two, that has dropped back to being a place which struggles for business again.

 

I did visit Red Hot for a few songs and the Russians and the Chinese seemed to be in the ascendance with just a few other nationalities thrown in, then it was onto Hippie Road Bar, off Soi Sansabai, and singing a few more in a place which is well liked by the folks that visit, as it is a place of raw rock and heavy metal songs and seems to be favoured by farangs and Thai bikie types, although they are nice folk and cause no problems.

 

Unfortunately getting home at 3 AM in the morning after a night out on the Turps does not help the old grey matter one iota, however it is one of the things that keeps me here and I often mention the vibrancy of the place amongst other things, and I suppose a dead brain cell or two goes with the territory!

[billythehat]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

Hab snip:

Hippie Road Bar, off Soi Sansabai, and singing a few more in a place which is well liked by the folks that visit, as it is a place of raw rock and heavy metal songs and seems to be favoured by farangs and Thai bikie types, although they are nice folk and cause no problems.

Aye, I’ve repaired to there a couple of times after becoming terminally bored of Bangla and needed to hear a few tunes and have a few more scoops before hunkering down for the night. It was on my way back to my hotel anyway. I noted among the Thai Bikies that a few farangs were wearing club patches too, The Urban Sophisticates MC, The Growling Beards MC, The Long-Haired Idiots With Tattoos MC, or titles of a similar nature. Reminded me of scenes of when I grew up in the ‘70s straddled aboard a very worn-out 1965 BSA 250, sporting a crusty cut-off denim jacket…arhh, great days and all the money in the world couldn’t buy back those times when time meant you didn’t care about time, unaware that later, time doesn’t care about you! Agreed that the bar vibe is cool and nobody bothers you if you don’t bother them. The PA sounds good and usually the band & singer are quite tight and open to requests. One night I requested Whisky in the Jar by Thin Lizzie; the band could play it but the Lass singer didn’t know the words, cue a giant Swede stepping up who said he loved that track and could play guitar and sing. Probably the best cover I heard all night and yes he could sing too. I spoke to the Lass singer in my bad Thai and she said she didn’t understand me (reasonable I mused as it was 2am and I’d had a few scoops by then) but later I was told by one of the staff that the band were in fact Philippine…sheesh…I’ll get me coat…

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, billythehat said:

Aye, I’ve repaired to there a couple of times after becoming terminally bored of Bangla and needed to hear a few tunes and have a few more scoops before hunkering down for the night. It was on my way back to my hotel anyway. I noted among the Thai Bikies that a few farangs were wearing club patches too, The Urban Sophisticates MC, The Growling Beards MC, The Long-Haired Idiots With Tattoos MC, or titles of a similar nature. Reminded me of scenes of when I grew up in the ‘70s straddled aboard a very worn-out 1965 BSA 250, sporting a crusty cut-off denim jacket…arhh, great days and all the money in the world couldn’t buy back those times when time meant you didn’t care about time, unaware that later, time doesn’t care about you! Agreed that the bar vibe is cool and nobody bothers you if you don’t bother them. The PA sounds good and usually the band & singer are quite tight and open to requests. One night I requested Whisky in the Jar by Thin Lizzie; the band could play it but the Lass singer didn’t know the words, cue a giant Swede stepping up who said he loved that track and could play guitar and sing. Probably the best cover I heard all night and yes he could sing too. I spoke to the Lass singer in my bad Thai and she said she didn’t understand me (reasonable I mused as it was 2am and I’d had a few scoops by then) but later I was told by one of the staff that the band were in fact Philippine…sheesh…I’ll get me coat…

Ah the very same girl singer whom I sang with the other night BTH...........I can rattle off Whiskey in the Jar so might have a crack at it next time as the band knows it!

 

Did have a Thai bikkie come up and thank me for singing a Bon Jovi number and he was very pleasant and called me uncle! 

[Joe Mcseismic]

Slightly off topic.

In the 70's, I used to go to a pub in Twickenham called The Winning Post. They had two resident bands that played on alternate Sunday's. One was very good and the other not so much. One day, the really good band just disappeared and was replaced.

A few months later, heard them on the radio singing Whisky in the Jar. They were called Thin Lizzy.

Right, back on topic.

[Forest75]

Hi new here. Thanks xylophone for your updates on patong. I regularly visit phuket, but was thinking of going in songkram. 

In October I stayed at hotel88 on nanni  road. I played 500 bht night, big promotion sign outside..lol..

Does any one know price at the moment, is it still high season..?

Thanks for any replies.. 

[xylophone]

7 hours ago, Forest75 said:

Hi new here. Thanks xylophone for your updates on patong. I regularly visit phuket, but was thinking of going in songkram. 

In October I stayed at hotel88 on nanni  road. I played 500 bht night, big promotion sign outside..lol..

Does any one know price at the moment, is it still high season..?

Thanks for any replies.. 

Strange I don't recall it but will look out for it today for you, meanwhile you might want to check it the Trip Advisor website below.

 

Another hotel nearby also seems ok, called "Forty Winks".

 

As for "high season" well it was late, then came in a rush and now seems to be somewhat quiet but for the Chinese and Russians it still seems like a good place to visit! If you are coming in Songkran you might find the prices a little higher than the "low season" for obvious reasons.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g297930-d3792080-r192810991-88_Hotel-Patong_Kathu_Phuket.html 

 

 

[xylophone]

13 hours ago, Forest75 said:

Hi new here. Thanks xylophone for your updates on patong. I regularly visit phuket, but was thinking of going in songkram. 

In October I stayed at hotel88 on nanni  road. I played 500 bht night, big promotion sign outside..lol..

Does any one know price at the moment, is it still high season..?

Thanks for any replies.. 

Went along and made some enquiries for you at 88Hotel and they weren't quite sure of the room prices in April however they quoted 1200 baht.

 

I then went along and checked out another one just about 80 m north of that one, called "Cello" and one poster had said on here that it had been refurbished in recent times and was very nice, and the price there was quoted as 1000 baht, so I went a little further along to enquire at one called "Forty Winks" and was quoted a price of 1000 baht for a room, however the girl said that you would almost certainly get it cheaper online.

 

I would imagine that if songkran bookings turn out to be a bit of a fizzer, then you could pick up some deals around the place, but then again if it isn't a fizzer and you want to come and try your luck, you may just be out of luck!

 

Anyway, the above should give you an idea of what's going on at the moment.

[Forest75]

Xylophone, thank you for your time and effort for investigating the prices. Yes I know cello, often contemplated staying there as I sit and watch events go by in pim bar opposite.

Didn't know about forty winks, never ventured far up there..

I stayed in Chang hotel a few times over the years, nearly next to hotel88,  but that seems to be shut, there was a lad guarding the desk when I went in there in October to inquire..

I will have a look online, at these places, price..ect.. 

Not that I'm too fussed about that sort of price, just wondered..

Any way thanks for your time, appreciated.

[madmitch]

I reckon a few smaller places will be on low season rates or at least close to them by Songkran. Bookings not looking good for April across the board, apparently.

[billythehat]

On 3/7/2019 at 1:25 AM, xylophone said:

Ah the very same girl singer whom I sang with the other night BTH...........I can rattle off Whiskey in the Jar so might have a crack at it next time as the band knows it!

 

Did have a Thai bikkie come up and thank me for singing a Bon Jovi number and he was very pleasant and called me uncle! 

Sir, given your reputation with the Patong females there’s a good chance you may well be his Uncle…????

[DrDave]

5 hours ago, Forest75 said:

Xylophone, thank you for your time and effort for investigating the prices. Yes I know cello, often contemplated staying there as I sit and watch events go by in pim bar opposite.

Didn't know about forty winks, never ventured far up there..

I stayed in Chang hotel a few times over the years, nearly next to hotel88,  but that seems to be shut, there was a lad guarding the desk when I went in there in October to inquire..

I will have a look online, at these places, price..ect.. 

Not that I'm too fussed about that sort of price, just wondered..

Any way thanks for your time, appreciated.

We've stayed at 88 on Nanai several times since selling our home in Patong. Always good value for money, and have never paid more than 500 baht. As xylophone mentioned, many times its cheaper to book online as opposed to booking directly with the hotel. Once when we were staying there, we needed to extend our stay and saw that the rate on hotels .com was considerably less than what the front desk was quoting. The receptionist recommended that we book online, which I did, and all was taken care of within a few minutes.

[xylophone]

Taking a different tack with this post and I'm sure others can come up with some additions to it........

 

Patong, the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

THE GOOD: – it was good to see Bangla fairly busy the other night although less crowded than a couple of times previously, but that's to be expected at this time of the year.

 

There are some good bands in Patong which are responsible for ensuring some very full bars and providing good listening, and I say this about my favourite band here which is the one singing in Red Hot.

 

The members of the band can play just about any other instrument and the girl singer is hot on the bass guitar and acoustic guitar, and not only that they can sing a few songs in Chinese, Russian, and Spanish as well as knowing a few phrases in other languages, which obviously keeps the audience happy.

 

My favourite Italian restaurant was busy and that is always good to see because it means they will be around a lot longer, and the owner, his wife and the staff there are great people.

 

Not that I'm a frequent visitor to the go-go bars, but a couple of new guys in town wanted to go and I have to say that the girls in Nidas would have to be some of the prettiest around, whereas a lady I have known for quite a few years dragged me into her new go-go venture and I would swear that some of the girls were auditioning for horror movies!

 

And there are less Chinese around in general, so I'm not slipping on lumps of snot on the ground or people coughing in my face, or having to put up with shouting and screaming in Starbucks or the Coffee Club! Long may it continue.

 

THE BAD: – a few more places around here have closed and it is sad to see Jakes bar now empty, as before when it was in its heyday as the Beach-house it provided good food and had many screens on which to see sport. And many of the punters in the place were Brits, however their numbers have dwindled over the years and it wasn't making any money so the lease wasn't renewed. It then became Jakes and has gone downhill ever since, with a bit of a sad story behind it.

 

A Thai lady tried to open a little Thai restaurant in Nanai road, in a place which was at one time a sort of a minimart, however that has been short lived and is now closed and I feel so sad for the everyday Thai folk whose dream is to have their own business, because at the lower end these dreams seem to fail, and they do seem to follow a pattern of poor planning, poor rationale and a poor understanding of what is needed to make a business work.

 

The pharmacy at the end of Soi Patong whiskey has closed and another small shop/bar type establishment at the very south end of Nanai road has also closed as have a few "shops" in that very small soi.

 

Straying just outside of Patong and over the hill towards Kathu, I noticed a string of about four shops all up for sale/lease and empty and looking worse for wear at the moment.

 

Despite a slight fall off in the tourist numbers here, from what I see, although TAT don't see it that way, the traffic here is still appalling and the coaches, buses, and minivans are some of the main culprits, as are the idiots who decide to park alongside of a two lane road, which effectively stops people on the inside lane from having a straight run at a left turn where they are allowed to at traffic lights. The layout of the roads here in general are just diabolical.

 

THE UGLY: – just had three friends come back after spending four days in Pattaya (one of the friends lives here and two others live in the UK) and I asked them what they thought of the place and the general answer was, "dead and dirty"!

 

Whilst eating at a restaurant on Friday I first noticed a couple of Indian guys walking along with a Thai girl in between them, followed by the same again and then behind them were another two Indian guys following on, and there was some quite animated discussion going on, although the Indian guys seem to be able to placate the girls as they walked along and I wondered if these girls really knew what they were letting themselves in for as they headed back to the hotel the Indians were staying in. A lot of working girls will not entertain these guys because of their reputation and penchant for "sharing".

 

Have seen some appalling driving over the past week by the French Africans and French Arabs, not only in and around the area of Nanai, but just about anywhere. They are mad and dangerous and should be taken off the road before they do some serious damage to other people – – I'm not worried about them, as if they go to that great snail farm in the sky, then I will be very happy. Surely something has to be done about these unruly bar-stewards, this especially as yesterday I witnessed a couple of them tear out of a side street on their TMax, NMax, PCX whatevers, and miss a poor pedestrian who was halfway across a road, and perfectly within his rights because he was doing it carefully, by nothing more than a couple of centimetres I would guess.

 

Prior to that, four of these mindless morons were screaming in and out of slow moving traffic on the new middle road and it would only take someone on a m/c trying to carefully navigate through a gap in the traffic to be wiped out completely. The BIB should get off their asses and do something about them.

 

No brains, no road sense, careless, stupid and should probably be locked up before they do too much more damage.

 

[schlog]

Positive is that Big C opens now at 9am. At this time no chinese hordes inside and not to many maniac arabs on the road.

 

[xylophone]

13 minutes ago, schlog said:

Positive is that Big C opens now at 9am. At this time no chinese hordes inside and not to many maniac arabs on the road.

 

Good thinking Schlog.........may have to change my shopping habits!!

[ChasingTheSun]

On 3/10/2019 at 11:58 AM, xylophone said:

Taking a different tack with this post and I'm sure others can come up with some additions to it........

 

Patong, the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

THE GOOD: – it was good to see Bangla fairly busy the other night although less crowded than a couple of times previously, but that's to be expected at this time of the year.

 

There are some good bands in Patong which are responsible for ensuring some very full bars and providing good listening, and I say this about my favourite band here which is the one singing in Red Hot.

 

The members of the band can play just about any other instrument and the girl singer is hot on the bass guitar and acoustic guitar, and not only that they can sing a few songs in Chinese, Russian, and Spanish as well as knowing a few phrases in other languages, which obviously keeps the audience happy.

 

My favourite Italian restaurant was busy and that is always good to see because it means they will be around a lot longer, and the owner, his wife and the staff there are great people.

 

Not that I'm a frequent visitor to the go-go bars, but a couple of new guys in town wanted to go and I have to say that the girls in Nidas would have to be some of the prettiest around, whereas a lady I have known for quite a few years dragged me into her new go-go venture and I would swear that some of the girls were auditioning for horror movies!

 

And there are less Chinese around in general, so I'm not slipping on lumps of snot on the ground or people coughing in my face, or having to put up with shouting and screaming in Starbucks or the Coffee Club! Long may it continue.

 

THE BAD: – a few more places around here have closed and it is sad to see Jakes bar now empty, as before when it was in its heyday as the Beach-house it provided good food and had many screens on which to see sport. And many of the punters in the place were Brits, however their numbers have dwindled over the years and it wasn't making any money so the lease wasn't renewed. It then became Jakes and has gone downhill ever since, with a bit of a sad story behind it.

 

A Thai lady tried to open a little Thai restaurant in Nanai road, in a place which was at one time a sort of a minimart, however that has been short lived and is now closed and I feel so sad for the everyday Thai folk whose dream is to have their own business, because at the lower end these dreams seem to fail, and they do seem to follow a pattern of poor planning, poor rationale and a poor understanding of what is needed to make a business work.

 

The pharmacy at the end of Soi Patong whiskey has closed and another small shop/bar type establishment at the very south end of Nanai road has also closed as have a few "shops" in that very small soi.

 

Straying just outside of Patong and over the hill towards Kathu, I noticed a string of about four shops all up for sale/lease and empty and looking worse for wear at the moment.

 

Despite a slight fall off in the tourist numbers here, from what I see, although TAT don't see it that way, the traffic here is still appalling and the coaches, buses, and minivans are some of the main culprits, as are the idiots who decide to park alongside of a two lane road, which effectively stops people on the inside lane from having a straight run at a left turn where they are allowed to at traffic lights. The layout of the roads here in general are just diabolical.

 

THE UGLY: – just had three friends come back after spending four days in Pattaya (one of the friends lives here and two others live in the UK) and I asked them what they thought of the place and the general answer was, "dead and dirty"!

 

Whilst eating at a restaurant on Friday I first noticed a couple of Indian guys walking along with a Thai girl in between them, followed by the same again and then behind them were another two Indian guys following on, and there was some quite animated discussion going on, although the Indian guys seem to be able to placate the girls as they walked along and I wondered if these girls really knew what they were letting themselves in for as they headed back to the hotel the Indians were staying in. A lot of working girls will not entertain these guys because of their reputation and penchant for "sharing".

 

Have seen some appalling driving over the past week by the French Africans and French Arabs, not only in and around the area of Nanai, but just about anywhere. They are mad and dangerous and should be taken off the road before they do some serious damage to other people – – I'm not worried about them, as if they go to that great snail farm in the sky, then I will be very happy. Surely something has to be done about these unruly bar-stewards, this especially as yesterday I witnessed a couple of them tear out of a side street on their TMax, NMax, PCX whatevers, and miss a poor pedestrian who was halfway across a road, and perfectly within his rights because he was doing it carefully, by nothing more than a couple of centimetres I would guess.

 

Prior to that, four of these mindless morons were screaming in and out of slow moving traffic on the new middle road and it would only take someone on a m/c trying to carefully navigate through a gap in the traffic to be wiped out completely. The BIB should get off their asses and do something about them.

 

No brains, no road sense, careless, stupid and should probably be locked up before they do too much more damage.

 

A couple of weeks ago, i witnessed two enraged-looking thai ladyboys chasing a group of four Pakistani and/or Indian men down Soi sansibai. The four guys were sprinting and they had the fear of Zeus in their eyes.

 

They men ran around the corner near bangla and they seemed to disappear into the crowd.

 

Haven't read anything about it in the Phuket news, so i guess it ended without a major smackdown.

[ChasingTheSun]

Arguably, for better or for worse, there seems to be an encroachment of new retail and food outlets in and around bangla, displacing the gogos and other bars and mom/pop shops. 

 

If this type of “gentrification” continues, it may turn bangla into a shopping/eating street, and may kill the iconic status of the Bangla area as being a “wild west” party place. 

[schlog]

6 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

If this type of “gentrification” continues, it may turn bangla into a shopping/eating street, and may kill the iconic status of the Bangla area as being a “wild west” party place. 

Bangla lost the wild west party status mixed with summer of 69 feeling around 2000.

 

I remember good in my first years in the 90' the scared faces of regular tourists while they drove up bangla in nighttime with their bus lol.

 

US navy in town then the wild west transformed to a war zone.

Crazy glorious days before. Nowadays more like a party in a kindergarden.

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

Arguably, for better or for worse, there seems to be an encroachment of new retail and food outlets in and around bangla, displacing the gogos and other bars and mom/pop shops. 

 

If this type of “gentrification” continues, it may turn bangla into a shopping/eating street, and may kill the iconic status of the Bangla area as being a “wild west” party place. 

I don't really know what it is turning into, and I doubt that the "town planners" know either as it seems a bit hit and miss, with buildings going up and being torn down within years, unsuccessful ventures (witness resurrected Tiger complex) and a throwback to the old days such as Soi Freedom and new Tiger not really working at all, at least not like they used to.

 

I think it's a case that anyone with any large sums of money can build whatever they want, wherever they want provided the necessary "inducements" are paid to the relevant people – – absolutely no planning involved!

 

4 hours ago, schlog said:

US navy in town then the wild west transformed to a war zone.

Crazy glorious days before. Nowadays more like a party in a kindergarden.

I do remember some good times back in the early 2000's and it was a bit raucous and raw at times, however I have to say that in the main, I found the U.S. Navy boys to be very well behaved and polite. Of course you would always get the occasional one going off the rails, which would mean that you would see more of the "shore patrol" guys around in order to keep the peace, if indeed it was needed.

 

There were some crazy times and some real characters around, but after the GFC hit, things slowed quite dramatically.

 

Still, as they say the only thing that is constant is change, so us expats will have to adapt with it.......and something which has just come to mind as I typed that was the fact that I used to like spending a little time in the mid-afternoon having tea and cakes at the little cake shop in front of the large hotel which fronted Bangla and is now home to the new Central Patong and other "places".

 

Maybe not so much the Wild West!!!!!!!!