Patong - The Wake

[Richard Kuklinski]

17 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. 

Most of the "wild" disappeared, once they started charging "west" prices on Bangla.  ????

[xylophone]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:22 AM, xylophone said:

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

Just Remembered that the hotel was called Baan Sukothai and some of the rooms were a little "average" but they did have a nice sauna and spa there, as well as the cake/tea shop, and it was good to be able to sit there in air conditioned comfort and watch folks go by, whilst enjoying tea and cake/sticky bun, after a night on the town and turps!!

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Just Remembered that the hotel was called Baan Sukothai and some of the rooms were a little "average" but they did have a nice sauna and spa there, as well as the cake/tea shop, and it was good to be able to sit there in air conditioned comfort and watch folks go by, whilst enjoying tea and cake/sticky bun, after a night on the town and turps!!

 Yes. That used be a rather quaint feature top end Bangla. English style tea room. The hotel was family owned, rather old, and run down. Big property. We walked about a few times. A long time ago.

[Old Croc]

I stayed at the Baan Sukothai around 2002 just before it was demolished.

I enjoyed my stay there, the room was comfortable and the pool, and gardens with Koi ponds, were pleasant. I don't recall the cake shop.

[xylophone]

13 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I stayed at the Baan Sukothai around 2002 just before it was demolished.

I enjoyed my stay there, the room was comfortable and the pool, and gardens with Koi ponds, were pleasant. I don't recall the cake shop.

Yes that's it, and I was surprised how big the grounds were, with a sneaky way to get out of them round the back, by squeezing through a large tin gate structure fronting Rat-u-Thid road.

 

Last there in March/April 2004 and I think the tea/cake shop also doubled as a breakfast room, with outside seating as well (fronting Bangla). Sad to see it go, but it was in need of renovating anyway.

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

I stayed at the Baan Sukothai around 2002 just before it was demolished.

I enjoyed my stay there, the room was comfortable and the pool, and gardens with Koi ponds, were pleasant. I don't recall the cake

 

 

Yes. The gardens and pools were quiet pleasant.

 

The cake shop/tea room was to the right side of the hotel entrance right on Bangla road. The hotel reception was behind the shop. The Pizza Hut was built on the left side not so long before the hotel demolished.

[somelikeithot]

hi 

just back from Phuket and i dont think ive seen it as busy in years

ok there are are a lot of russians / chinese but also alot of europeans and scandies

we stayed in karon but our friends stayed in patong at the Kee resort so we went over the hill to see them as they had never been before ( it certainly opened there eyes ) and they loved it but two single men would !

i think the problem is that now all the main nightlife does not revolve around bangla rd with other complexes offering 

entertainment

i have noticed a very big increase families in both resorts and you still get the people that just walk down bangla to sight see

but the bars we were in on bangla and the sois off them were very busy 

friends are going back next year !

[xylophone]

24 minutes ago, somelikeithot said:

hi 

just back from Phuket and i dont think ive seen it as busy in years

ok there are are a lot of russians / chinese but also alot of europeans and scandies

we stayed in karon but our friends stayed in patong at the Kee resort so we went over the hill to see them as they had never been before ( it certainly opened there eyes ) and they loved it but two single men would !

i think the problem is that now all the main nightlife does not revolve around bangla rd with other complexes offering 

entertainment

i have noticed a very big increase families in both resorts and you still get the people that just walk down bangla to sight see

but the bars we were in on bangla and the sois off them were very busy 

friends are going back next year !

A bit up and down like a whores drawers at the moment and last Monday night a bar owner friend said it was "dead".

 

Agree that more family groups are coming and the "rebirth" of the Russians adds to the numbers and as for Scandies, well I have met many parties from Norway, Sweden and Denmark this year than ever before???????

[xylophone]

On 3/15/2019 at 6:08 PM, somelikeithot said:

just back from Phuket and i dont think ive seen it as busy in years

Sad to see the following...........

 

The huge new seafood restaurant at OTOP has been empty on the two occasions I've seen it and just yesterday there were only half the amount of "fish tanks" that there were previously, and the place has a different name........and if I had to take a guess, I would say it was struggling big time!

 

Having said that the plethora of new bars in OTOP had no more than a scattering of patrons in them and this has been the case on the three occasions I've been there for one reason or another, yet other bars are still being built there?

 

I did spy four people in the burger place in Nanai the other day, and a couple the day after, so that would probably double the monthly takings, as it just does not seem to be taking off, just as the predecessor bars didn't.

 

A Family Mart shop at the south end of Nanai, just over the bridge has closed and is up for sale and likewise for a pharmacy further north on Nanai.

 

I did spy a person, whom I would consider to be the owner, of La Drinkeria standing outside of it on Friday with a sign stating that there was 20% off drinks, but with just about no foot traffic I would suppose it was finding filling the place quite difficult, although I did see two bogan-esque fellows sitting outside of it today enjoying a drink and a cigarette in a very confined space.

 

Now I sincerely hope that I've got this wrong otherwise it would be a very sad sight indeed.......I saw a guy walking down Nanai, South from Pen & Franks Bar and restaurant, looking very dishevelled and carrying a plastic sack, as well as a couple of old tins, what looked to be a broken fan and a little bit of plastic pipe, and my first thought was that he had been scavenging some of this stuff because he had passed a little place where rubbish is usually deposited and was heading south of it.

 

If he was looking for a place to deposit the rubbish, then he had just passed it, so perhaps he was doing some "scavenging" and if he was, then that is sad, and the new immigration rules certainly won't help him.

 

So perhaps Patong is busy in some parts and not others and as many other posters have said, it is all over the place at the moment, and even if tourists are on the increase, then it is not universal and spend is also down according to many friends.

 

So Patong could be labelled "a place of mystery".............queue Austin Powers!

[Destiny1990]

11 hours ago, xylophone said:

Sad to see the following...........

 

The huge new seafood restaurant at OTOP has been empty on the two occasions I've seen it and just yesterday there were only half the amount of "fish tanks" that there were previously, and the place has a different name........and if I had to take a guess, I would say it was struggling big time!

 

Having said that the plethora of new bars in OTOP had no more than a scattering of patrons in them and this has been the case on the three occasions I've been there for one reason or another, yet other bars are still being built there?

 

I did spy four people in the burger place in Nanai the other day, and a couple the day after, so that would probably double the monthly takings, as it just does not seem to be taking off, just as the predecessor bars didn't.

 

A Family Mart shop at the south end of Nanai, just over the bridge has closed and is up for sale and likewise for a pharmacy further north on Nanai.

 

I did spy a person, whom I would consider to be the owner, of La Drinkeria standing outside of it on Friday with a sign stating that there was 20% off drinks, but with just about no foot traffic I would suppose it was finding filling the place quite difficult, although I did see two bogan-esque fellows sitting outside of it today enjoying a drink and a cigarette in a very confined space.

 

Now I sincerely hope that I've got this wrong otherwise it would be a very sad sight indeed.......I saw a guy walking down Nanai, South from Pen & Franks Bar and restaurant, looking very dishevelled and carrying a plastic sack, as well as a couple of old tins, what looked to be a broken fan and a little bit of plastic pipe, and my first thought was that he had been scavenging some of this stuff because he had passed a little place where rubbish is usually deposited and was heading south of it.

 

If he was looking for a place to deposit the rubbish, then he had just passed it, so perhaps he was doing some "scavenging" and if he was, then that is sad, and the new immigration rules certainly won't help him.

 

So perhaps Patong is busy in some parts and not others and as many other posters have said, it is all over the place at the moment, and even if tourists are on the increase, then it is not universal and spend is also down according to many friends.

 

So Patong could be labelled "a place of mystery".............queue Austin Powers!

U sound kinda like if we should  care weather a bar business in Patong has customers and or if the bar makes money or not.

Personally I couldn’t care less.

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

U sound kinda like if we should  care weather a bar business in Patong has customers and or if the bar makes money or not.

Personally I couldn’t care less.

I'm sure most regulars on the Phuket forum couldn't care less about your opinion.

[schlog]

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

U sound kinda like if we should  care weather a bar business in Patong has customers and or if the bar makes money or not.

Personally I couldn’t care less.

I think you missunderstand xylo. It's not about bars. It's about all small or medium size business.

BTW this week one of the most exquisite and expensive spa in Patong closed its doors forever. Not more enough high spending customers around......sad it was a great spa.

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

U sound kinda like if we should  care weather a bar business in Patong has customers and or if the bar makes money or not.

Personally I couldn’t care less.

What a deep thinker you are ! Maybe it’s the wether....

[Richard Kuklinski]

2 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

U sound kinda like if we should  care weather a bar business in Patong has customers and or if the bar makes money or not.

Personally I couldn’t care less.

Perhaps when your favorite bar, restaurant, cafe etc close their doors, and you are left with inferior products and services, at higher prices, you might change your thinking. 

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, schlog said:

I think you missunderstand xylo. It's not about bars. It's about all small or medium size business.

BTW this week one of the most exquisite and expensive spa in Patong closed its doors forever. Not more enough high spending customers around......sad it was a great spa.

Which one was that schlog??

[schlog]

48 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Which one was that schlog??

Siladon Spa up the hill at Amari. They closed the high class spa and having now a cheaper one at the marina hotel. Adaptation to the lower spending tourist level.

[xylophone]

7 minutes ago, schlog said:

Siladon Spa up the hill at Amari. They closed the high class spa and having now a cheaper one at the marina hotel. Adaptation to the lower spending tourist level.

Thanks for that info schlog, and I do believe you're right about the "adaptation to the lower spending tourist level" and it is something that many of the posters have spoken about, especially those who have businesses, or who have friends who do (like me), because it is quite obvious that the push for cheap tourists from China and India, for example, will have that effect.

 

The likes of Big C can show a turnover a few percent above the previous year (when in fact the targets set are much higher) but it does that on the increased numbers, mostly Chinese, and although they are buying cheap stuff, they are buying loads of it. 

 

But this doesn't help many other businesses which don't have the same range of goods to sell.

 

But what confounds me as much as anything is the fact that building is still going on, and I mentioned a huge restaurant and new bars in OTOP, but think about the foot traffic in the new Central Patong (low) or look at the empty chairs in the huge restaurant which fronts the corner of Beach Road and Sawadirak Road, or indeed the low customer numbers at the newish Starbucks at Banana Walk etc etc..........surely an indication that all is not well with the type of tourists Patong now attracts?

[Destiny1990]

6 hours ago, Richard Kuklinski said:

Perhaps when your favorite bar, restaurant, cafe etc close their doors, and you are left with inferior products and services, at higher prices, you might change your thinking. 

Are the guys blocking pedestrians on the patong pavements such as the peanut sellers and fake taxi operators still have decent income? Can someone check this?

[Destiny1990]

6 hours ago, Richard Kuklinski said:

Perhaps when your favorite bar, restaurant, cafe etc close their doors, and you are left with inferior products and services, at higher prices, you might change your thinking. 

Well if u like a romantic Thai dinner with spectacular  views then go all the way up that mountain right across from that gasoline station in Patong.

However i have no clue about their financial situation sometimes its busy other times it’s not.

[Destiny1990]

8 hours ago, schlog said:

I think you missunderstand xylo. It's not about bars. It's about all small or medium size business.

BTW this week one of the most exquisite and expensive spa in Patong closed its doors forever. Not more enough high spending customers around......sad it was a great spa.

Maybe some more diversity would help. Why would u go to the most expensive massage parlor?

a massage is a massage. There is a good place in Phuket town from blind people 250 bht.

[xylophone]

44 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Maybe some more diversity would help

Diversity.........

In my most recent posts about Patong I have mentioned supermarkets, hotels, tearooms, boxing stadiums, bars, restaurants, massage parlours, pharmacies, shops, mini markets, rock groups and so on, along with the state of the traffic and the stupidity of a particular race of cheap tourists.

 

In addition I have mentioned family groups, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Scandies, the BIB, TAT and a few others so I don't know what else you could want as regards diversity??

[Destiny1990]

15 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Diversity.........

In my most recent posts about Patong I have mentioned supermarkets, hotels, tearooms, boxing stadiums, bars, restaurants, massage parlours, pharmacies, shops, mini markets, rock groups and so on, along with the state of the traffic and the stupidity of a particular race of cheap tourists.

 

In addition I have mentioned family groups, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Scandies, the BIB, TAT and a few others so I don't know what else you could want as regards diversity??

So whats the problem in Patong for business owners according to u? Myself i go to jungcylon park my car underneath get groceries and go restaurants etc socializing walking and i have a good time there.

 I have no idea about cashflow situation of these establishments probably some will make money and some won’t. In Europe nowadays smaller innercity shops are going bankrupt which leads to empty shops on prime locations with for rent signs hanging in it.. That reason is that more and more people are shopping online. 

[xylophone]

8 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

So whats the problem in Patong for business owners according to u? Myself i go to jungcylon park my car underneath get groceries and go restaurants etc socializing walking and i have a good time there.

I do much the same if I'm taking my car or motorbike and I do like walking around enjoying the vibrancy of the place, that's one of the reasons why I stay here.

 

As another poster has said, I think you may be missing the point, because the many businesses I speak to, and they would include many in that list in my previous post, state that they are struggling, or that spending in their establishment is down, in some cases quite markedly.

 

If you've been following the thread you will notice that it has mentioned the tourist scenario, whether the spend is up or down, and if businesses are struggling or succeeding, unrestrained building, empty buildings and so on, along with many other aspects of life in Patong, because that's what the thread is all about – – it follows on from an original thread entitled something along the lines of, "Patong is dead/dying", just to give you an idea.

 

So it is nothing more than a thread about Patong and my posts are about the feedback from businesses I know, things I experience and see and also the thread contains similar posts and experiences of other posters – – simple really.

 

If it is of no interest to you, then no need to read it!
 

[Olmate]

46 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Diversity.........

In my most recent posts about Patong I have mentioned supermarkets, hotels, tearooms, boxing stadiums, bars, restaurants, massage parlours, pharmacies, shops, mini markets, rock groups and so on, along with the state of the traffic and the stupidity of a particular race of cheap tourists.

 

In addition I have mentioned family groups, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Scandies, the BIB, TAT and a few others so I don't know what else you could want as regards diversity??

Don,t try to explain, its destiny,s child at work.

[Destiny1990]

28 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I do much the same if I'm taking my car or motorbike and I do like walking around enjoying the vibrancy of the place, that's one of the reasons why I stay here.

 

As another poster has said, I think you may be missing the point, because the many businesses I speak to, and they would include many in that list in my previous post, state that they are struggling, or that spending in their establishment is down, in some cases quite markedly.

 

If you've been following the thread you will notice that it has mentioned the tourist scenario, whether the spend is up or down, and if businesses are struggling or succeeding, unrestrained building, empty buildings and so on, along with many other aspects of life in Patong, because that's what the thread is all about – – it follows on from an original thread entitled something along the lines of, "Patong is dead/dying", just to give you an idea.

 

So it is nothing more than a thread about Patong and my posts are about the feedback from businesses I know, things I experience and see and also the thread contains similar posts and experiences of other posters – – simple really.

 

If it is of no interest to you, then no need to read it!
 

I think most businesses in tourist areas in Thailand been struggling for years but i can not prove that. But there are also a decent amount  that make fat profits year after year. It also depend on how each business is owned example if u own a shophouse no mortgage and u have a salon hair and free accommodation upstairs then u can last forever but if u rent the place for 25k monthly then it’s another story.

How about that cinema upstairs  in yungcylon? Doesn’t look like a money maker to me.

[Richard Kuklinski]

28 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

I think most businesses in tourist areas in Thailand been struggling for years but i can not prove that. But there are also a decent amount  that make fat profits year after year. It also depend on how each business is owned example if u own a shophouse no mortgage and u have a salon hair and free accommodation upstairs then u can last forever but if u rent the place for 25k monthly then it’s another story.

How about that cinema upstairs  in yungcylon? Doesn’t look like a money maker to me.

Did you take into account the purchase price of the shop house?  How long would the salon have to operate to get back that outlay, before the owner could say now they are ahead?

[Joe Mcseismic]

36 minutes ago, Richard Kuklinski said:

Did you take into account the purchase price of the shop house?  How long would the salon have to operate to get back that outlay, before the owner could say now they are ahead?

It's called Capital Gains when the building is sold.

[Richard Kuklinski]

39 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

It's called Capital Gains when the building is sold.

Good luck selling in this market, and it's second hand, when Thai's prefer new builds, and they keep building more and more. 

 

Then, there is the maintenance of poorly constructed buildings.

 

Then, it actually has to make a gain, good luck with that also.   

[AJBangkok]

It’s not that Thai’s prefer new, it’s the system that forces them to buy new. When you buy a new apartment the developer gives you 2 plus years to pay the 10% down payment. They normally have a deal with banks to provide a 90% mortgage which the buyer benefits from. 

When you buy second hand the maximum mortgage you can get is 50 to 60% and most Thais don’t have 40% or 50% cash so their options are limited.

[xylophone]

16 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

But there are also a decent amount  that make fat profits year after year. It also depend on how each business is owned example if u own a shophouse no mortgage and u have a salon hair and free accommodation upstairs then u can last forever but if u rent the place for 25k monthly then it’s another story.

The fat profits, if there are any, are usually made by the wealthy landowners here who have built on the land that they either inherited or bought with their family wealth, and they make their money from the fact that there are so many everyday Thais who want to own/run a business that they willingly enter into lease agreements with these people, only to find that things don't work out for them, but also that they lose their original deposit/lease money.

 

This is very obvious in a Soi like Soi Freedom (bars, I know) where the bars are leased from the owner on a three or nine year lease and when the bar fails, the lessee has to just walk away. I have also seen this in small shops and shophouses in various parts of Patong, where the lessee just has to walk away because business is bad.

 

The landlords of these places don't really care if these shops/bars/whatever go bust, because they have had the lease money paid upfront, in fact they would rather this happened because they can then re-lease the place to some other hopeful. 

 

And it is these hopefuls that I have often posted about, because there are so many of the lower socio-economic Thais who would love to own their "own business" and are drawn to these small lease type businesses. 

 

Just to keep the balance, and I have mentioned this before, so many Thais go into these small businesses with absolutely no idea of how to make it work, or indeed never investigate why the previous business failed, so one cannot blame the landlord for that.

 

I personally know of 12 such businesses, and have seen many, many more go this way and I feel so sorry for these folk, but then again, very often they are the architects of their own demise, and the landlords just happily keep collecting upfront lease payments and so the vicious cycle goes on.