Patong - The Wake

[Patong2]

8 hours ago, xylophone said:

Thanks to both of you.............as a matter of interest P2, why so glad to get out of NZ (apart from the mosque murders)?

Had a lot of work to do and as usual everything turned out a bit harder than we thought.

Today the power went off at 8am and didn't come on till the afternoon, the price we pay for power it and they still do no infrastructure.

Managed a night in hospital and some real boring tests that all proved I should have been at work not trying to outdo Xylophone who was really sick.

Having such a bat crazy government that are absolutely naive means I ended up having to do 5 submissions on different bills and prepare for an oral submission on the Monday following the shootings but that was rescheduled to a day after I leave NZ.

The stupidity of the reaction to the shooting, it is a huge tragedy but this is NZ, we had 257 die in the Erebus crash and we all mourned but got on with it. Now the media have it wall to wall and some want to screw with ANZAC Day.

We need to learn a lesson from the Thais, we were here during and after the Tsunami and the Thais picked themselves up and got on.

with it.

The food is at fault and I am putting on too much weight and despite what my wife says it has nothing to do with the Chocolate Mallowpuffs and Chocolate Sqiggles that I am forced to take for stress relief at least 3 times a day.

We actually had some good weather for a while but now I have a chance to ride my Harley it is pouring with rain today and a heavy bike with NZ drivers and a wet road takes all the fun out of it and I already have a damned speeding ticket this trip.

Here we are on a Saturday night sitting at home and we have spent all day working or on a keyboard

Crikey! anyone would think we were old.

That doesn't happen when we are in Patong, there is always somewhere to go, somewhere new to eat and someone to look at.

 

 

 

[stuarty]

Yeah but the Thais have the least empathy in the world. Amulet reliance is laughable, and they have short term memories. The guys who scrape up the mangled roadkill all deserve medals.

[xylophone]

On 4/5/2019 at 10:39 AM, AJBangkok said:

And second when you mention what I assume to be a french themed snack bar as it is named Le Snack and in the same breath mention it has all the “usual fare “ associated with what I assume is a French snack bar and first thing being halal food rather than pork pate on a baguette .... well yes it makes me feel old.

My apologies AJB, as the place is actually called "Le Deli Snack" although I don't think it has served anything since it has been opened as have seen no one in it and no lights in the place!

 

On the subject of bars and businesses, and as also mentioned in a previous post, "Jakes bar and cafe" has disappeared and a new bar has opened called, "Long Time Bar". Now whether that is a portent for the future or tempting fate I don't know, but at least one could get the idea of what "longtime is" depending upon its tenure.....watchful waiting is needed. And anyway Patong needs another bar like a moose needs a hat-rack.

 

Have peeped into La Drinkeria a few times and have seen just a few people in it from time to time, so as "HighPriority" has stated, it would be good to see it succeed because it is a nice clean place and not the usual type of "bar", but as I have said previously, the positioning leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Did go out and about last night for the first time in weeks, but took it easy on the drinks, although had to have my usual few glasses of red wine, and certainly Bangla is quieter than it has been for a while, but that's only to be expected, and whilst some bars looked very busy, others didn't – – patchy would be the best description.

 

Now here's something I haven't experienced before, and perhaps its pointing to the tough time that some places are experiencing, especially with the drop-off in spend..........now I may look to be a "soft touch" or gullible, however if that's the case that would have been evident to some girls I have known over the past 12 years, and is unlikely to have changed, but over the past two days I have been asked by several different girls if I could give them some money!

 

One girl asked if I could give her 200 baht for some petrol, and another two if I could spare some money so they could get some food for their afternoon feed, whilst others not actually directly asking, have said they are basically skint/short of money.

 

Now I know just about every Thai girl working here is always "short of money" but if you add that to the number of girls in friend's bars who remarked that business is "kwy-et" then it's not a good look for a place which is boasting increased numbers of tourists, as something just doesn't add up.

[LivinginKata]

xyl - usual quality post. Thank you. 

[billythehat]

On ‎4‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 5:58 AM, xylophone said:

My apologies AJB, as the place is actually called "Le Deli Snack" although I don't think it has served anything since it has been opened as have seen no one in it and no lights in the place!

 

On the subject of bars and businesses, and as also mentioned in a previous post, "Jakes bar and cafe" has disappeared and a new bar has opened called, "Long Time Bar". Now whether that is a portent for the future or tempting fate I don't know, but at least one could get the idea of what "longtime is" depending upon its tenure.....watchful waiting is needed. And anyway Patong needs another bar like a moose needs a hat-rack.

 

Have peeped into La Drinkeria a few times and have seen just a few people in it from time to time, so as "HighPriority" has stated, it would be good to see it succeed because it is a nice clean place and not the usual type of "bar", but as I have said previously, the positioning leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Did go out and about last night for the first time in weeks, but took it easy on the drinks, although had to have my usual few glasses of red wine, and certainly Bangla is quieter than it has been for a while, but that's only to be expected, and whilst some bars looked very busy, others didn't – – patchy would be the best description.

 

Now here's something I haven't experienced before, and perhaps its pointing to the tough time that some places are experiencing, especially with the drop-off in spend..........now I may look to be a "soft touch" or gullible, however if that's the case that would have been evident to some girls I have known over the past 12 years, and is unlikely to have changed, but over the past two days I have been asked by several different girls if I could give them some money!

 

One girl asked if I could give her 200 baht for some petrol, and another two if I could spare some money so they could get some food for their afternoon feed, whilst others not actually directly asking, have said they are basically skint/short of money.

 

Now I know just about every Thai girl working here is always "short of money" but if you add that to the number of girls in friend's bars who remarked that business is "kwy-et" then it's not a good look for a place which is boasting increased numbers of tourists, as something just doesn't add up.

Yes, very sad to hear that these lasses’ have forgotten certain mantras to be observed when there is a famine of farang suckers. I mean, whatever happened to the terminally sick Buffalo? Has he been eaten to feed the village? What about the eternally accident-prone family members with only a single withered limb between the whole lot of them who still have to work the rice fields in the blazing 40 degree plus sun? Sir, I think you were dealing with amateurs in this instance and well done for holding your bar stool…I mean your ground, on this matter.

[xylophone]

Out and about on Thursday evening as was not sure when the water madness was going to start so didn't want to risk Friday, however it turned out to be an enjoyable evening, catching up with a couple of friends for something to eat, then on to a couple of bars before singing a few numbers at Red Hot – – and on that subject, the band in that place is absolutely fantastic and just about all of them can play several instruments as well as sing and they are extremely talented.

 

I got to sing five numbers and one duet, "Simply the Best", with the delightful lady singer went down extremely well, but as it was past 2 AM in the morning I thought I better make my way home!

 

Having sung its praises, it was nowhere near as full as it usually is (probably half full) and that was pretty much the case all round except for New York bar which always seems to be full despite standing room only? 

 

As I don't normally drink beer much, I didn't pay much attention to the price of it, however I met a great older Aussie guy in Red Hot, who seemed to like my singing, and he was just one hell of a nice guy and we got talking, and he used a play in a band in Oz, and I bought him a drink and when I noticed the beer was 170 baht a bottle, it surprised me as I haven't had a beer there before, still I suppose they have got to pay for the band somehow.

 

The comment was made that Bangla wasn't like it used to be at this time of the year and probably true, and as I've said before, probably best described as "patchy".

 

We did pop along to Tums bar to wish Tum  a happy New Year and he has still got the little four piece band playing in there, and a few people go along to partake in singalongs, usually from 2 AM onwards, however the sound quality is very poor for my liking.

 

Sea Dragon, although it seemed busy at first look, did not have many customers sitting at the bars, many just passing through and this has been the case for at least a couple of years now with the odd exception only.

 

A friend made the comment that this may have been due to the fact that he had not seen many "pretty girls" on his visits these last few times, and I would have to agree with him, although just to prove me wrong, as I was heading home after 2 AM in the morning on the back of a motorbike taxi, there was a stream of quite beautiful young women heading down Soi Sansabai towards Bangla and whatever that held for these girls (nightclubs and pickups perhaps?).

 

Survived the night and decided to pop out on Friday, in the car, which was lucky because there were a few early revellers out, intent on throwing/squirting water at passers-by, so the car was a good move.

 

Because I had been prancing away on the stage the night before, I thought it would be a good idea to get a massage so on the way back I stopped off to get one, and really wanted them to focus on my calf muscles because having played football for many years, and torn calf muscles so many times, they tend to suffer these days. Anyway popped into the empty massage place and as I was just settling down for a bit of a snooze and nice gentle massage, in came three Chinese people, talking at the top of their voices even whilst getting ready for the massage, a couple with their phones going full blast and this never stopped all the time they were there.

 

I was getting very angry so I shouted out for them to be quiet, but that didn't help much and the noise went on, and my massage lady said that she didn't think the Chinese understood English, and my reply was, maybe they will understand a punch in the mouth?

 

On Saturday I was invited along to Big C for a Thai New Year celebration, whereby staff line up to pour water on your hands and also wish you a happy New Year.

 

I thought I was invited along because I had been a customer of theirs since day one, and was perhaps a very special customer, however it turns out that this little ceremony is about respecting one's elders (yes I did feel a bit old sitting there with two very old Thai women and one lovely American lady whom I know) however I did feel humbled and was very pleased that I went along.

 

Photographs were taken and many wais performed before the four of us were given baskets of fruit, which was a lovely gesture.

 

Being Saturday, I had to wend my way through the water madness and the car was absolutely necessary, however I would say that I am sure this Songkran was not as busy as others I have seen in the past, although it did have its fair share of shirtless and fat farangs making fools of themselves, but then that has always been the case here.

[billythehat]

13 hours ago, xylophone said:

Hab snip:

I was getting very angry so I shouted out for them to be quiet, but that didn't help much and the noise went on, and my massage lady said that she didn't think the Chinese understood English, and my reply was, maybe they will understand a punch in the mouth?

I’ve suffered from this type of annoyance when settling down for a foot rub, when in they come…however, rather than raise my blood pressure to Terminator T9000 levels, I found a work-around. When I come to Lalaland I normally bring a supply of Ye Olde English Toffees, you know, the delicious solid lumps of sugary, creamy caramel loveliness your dentist warned you about, taking at least 30 minutes of concentrated double mastication to finish just the one.

 

Anyroad, I was in a massage shop on the Soi that leads up to Patong Tower when such an event occurred. I was already in a fragile condition, nursing a dreadful hangover coupled with a bad case of the tom-tits and was not up for 9 rounds with the raucous Wong family. I reached into my rucksack and pulled out my ace-card, the bag of toffees, and offered them to the offending folk. In a scene that would have put a pack of starving Hyenas to shame, they descended upon the bag and grabbed the free toffees. Worked a treat, nobody could speak as jaws worked to break the sweet down and in at least 2 cases, dentures were dislodged with both sets being pulled out of mouths with the said toffee bonding the 2 together. Bingo.

 

Confucius him say “Beware of round-eyes bearing gifts.” ⚠️

[xylophone]

I thought I'd post on here because the wine I have found is in Phuket, however it's difficult to know which wine thread to post on because there are so many of them and a few of them I just cannot find in the search option, however Linda has helped out, so here goes with this post.

 

Anyway went to the Villa Market store in Chalong and noticed a red wine from Chile which was on special at 409 baht; it was called Brisa Cabernet Sauvignon and it was the 2018 vintage which appears to be one of the better vintages of late.

 

I would have bought a bottle to try, but unfortunately I was there in the period when wine cannot be sold.

So if anyone is looking for what would appear to be a decent bottle of red wine, this might be worth trying........and of course reporting back on how it was!

[madmitch]

21 hours ago, xylophone said:

I thought I'd post on here because the wine I have found is in Phuket, however it's difficult to know which wine thread to post on because there are so many of them and a few of them I just cannot find in the search option, however Linda has helped out, so here goes with this post.

 

Anyway went to the Villa Market store in Chalong and noticed a red wine from Chile which was on special at 409 baht; it was called Brisa Cabernet Sauvignon and it was the 2018 vintage which appears to be one of the better vintages of late.

 

I would have bought a bottle to try, but unfortunately I was there in the period when wine cannot be sold.

So if anyone is looking for what would appear to be a decent bottle of red wine, this might be worth trying........and of course reporting back on how it was!

I have yet to find anything I need using the search facility since TV changed servers.

 

I'll give that wine a try as the Lindemans I bought a couple of weeks ago is still out of stock.

[xylophone]

19 minutes ago, madmitch said:

I have yet to find anything I need using the search facility since TV changed servers.

 

I'll give that wine a try as the Lindemans I bought a couple of weeks ago is still out of stock.

Feedback please MM!

[HighPriority]

Homemade bangers and mash went down a treat with my wife tonight @ La Drinkeria... mash was as good as mine she exclaimed !!

I won’t be taking her back !! [emoji48]????????

 

About to go for a walk down Bangla way, have been amazed at how quiet Patong has been today, a bar lady on Nani Rd told us Songkran had been quiet, maybe farang don’t dislike Songkran as much as the Thaivisa crew and they’re all up at Pattaya ?

 

Ps We were one of three couples to dine here tonight.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

[xylophone]

14 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Homemade bangers and mash went down a treat with my wife tonight @ La Drinkeria... mash was as good as mine she exclaimed !!

I won’t be taking her back !! ????????

 

About to go for a walk down Bangla way, have been amazed at how quiet Patong has been today, a bar lady on Nani Rd told us Songkran had been quiet, maybe farang don’t dislike Songkran as much as the Thaivisa crew and they’re all up at Pattaya ?

 

Ps We were one of three couples to dine here tonight.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

Good news with regards to the quality of the food, however I'm sure the restaurant could do with a few more customers as the few times I've been past, there's been no more than two or three folk in there, however maybe it's taking time to pick up a clientele, because it is a little different from the everyday bar or pub.

 

Staying on that note, I noticed that the burger joint further north up Nanai has closed, which is not surprising because I doubt whether I saw more than 20 people in it in total in its entire life. In addition, it never seemed to open on a regular basis, sometimes being closed all day, sometimes opening around 2 PM in the afternoon??

 

The "Le Snack Deli" place seems to be just about abandoned as have never seen anyone in it, or any lights on suggesting it is open – – very strange indeed.

 

A lady owner of a large massage and beauty parlour, whom I know, commented on how this recent high season had not been very high at all and was worse than last year, and how just now, business is very poor.

 

A hotel just metres away from me has now got a bloody great "for sale" sign strung up across it, which is not surprising given the amount of patronage it didn't seem to have.

 

However on the bright side (for some anyway) a young Thai lady I know has just taken "ownership" of a little massage shop (yes this one is a bone fide one) with the help of her farang backer, however as seems to be the norm in many cases, once this occurred the number of staff increased markedly, so in a room not much bigger than 24 m², if that, there are now five staff, none of which are fully or gainfully employed on a daily basis, however obviously sharing in the good fortune that the farang backer has provided – – but for how long??

 

On a recent foray out into Bangla, I ended up, as is usual, in the bar Red Hot, and was most surprised to see it only about 60% full on arrival, and many of these were Russian, in fact the majority were Russian, and this became more evident as the night wore on and I would suggest that at 2:30 AM, when the crowds had thinned out, there were only about 20 people left, and they were all Russian, apart from one guy from the UK!

 

My favourite restaurant had no more than half a dozen people in it, although apparently had been fairly busy before I arrived, but the restaurant across the road was also devoid of customers, as was the restaurant next door, and these are usually thriving places.

 

In summary, I really do believe that Patong is quiet now, relative to what it has been in previous years, and I also believe that small businesses will continue to suffer. 

 

PS. Must pay another visit to the new Central to see how that is faring.

[HighPriority]

The Burger joint on Nani I noticed when I was here in November, but as you note, it seemed closed (at least whenever I happened past) pity, as I had been craving a burger.

Friends of mine finally took over a large Patong hotel recentlyI, hope it works for them.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Patong2]

Thought we would try "La Drinkeria" for latish lunch today at 2pm

 

Sign on door said 2pm to ......

Blackboard inside said "Open 4pm"

The blackboard was right.

 

Had to settle for a delicious lunch at "Backside Bistro" a few yards further on and around the corner.

Never had a bad meal here and it is very well priced for Patong.

 

Its certainly a hot day today 35C in the shade on our balcony and 56% humidity

but better than being cold.

 

[xylophone]

32 minutes ago, Patong2 said:

Thought we would try "La Drinkeria" for latish lunch today at 2pm

 

Sign on door said 2pm to ......

Blackboard inside said "Open 4pm"

The blackboard was right.

 

Had to settle for a delicious lunch at "Backside Bistro" a few yards further on and around the corner.

Never had a bad meal here and it is very well priced for Patong.

 

Its certainly a hot day today 35C in the shade on our balcony and 56% humidity

but better than being cold.

 

I have just come back to my apartment and when I passed by La Drinkeria it had a big sign outside saying that there was "an open bar for three hours at a cost of 500 baht, all you can drink".

 

If my calculations are correct that would mean about six normal beers or five shorts as per usual bar prices, so the drinkers amongst us might consider it worthwhile, but not my cup of tea, as the saying goes.

 

Yes, Patong2, I have heard good reports about the Backside Bistro and it seems to be doing fairly well, and I only hope it succeeds.

 

I did mention in another post that I would go and have a look at the new Central again, so I did, problem being that on the way there I decided to spend some money which is what I normally do when I'm bored, so 4 new shirts later I ambled into the Central food court and although the surrounds weren't busy, the little dining areas in amongst the fayre on offer were very crowded, almost full in fact, although that doesn't say a lot because I don't think you could pack many people in there even if you tried!

 

As I mentioned sometime before, the food looked very good indeed and was not expensive IMO, so I must get down there and try it, however I did hear people commenting on the fact that it was very good when I passed by their tables.

 

The other restaurants in the place were all but empty!

[HighPriority]

The perimeter restaurants ?
I agree, they seem to be struggling, the outlets in the centre seem to be doing well though.
One thing with Central, if you’re going to use the toilets under the escalators just outside the food court, then don’t forget the aerogard... skeeters are thick.

La Drink on my two visits also gave us complimentary shots of lime vodka when we called for the bill, tasty and a nice touch, not that I’m a spirit guy.
Definitely overstaffed, on the night that they get 15-30 people turn up they’ll be fine [emoji1][emoji1360]


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, HighPriority said:

The perimeter restaurants ?

I meant the few restaurants on basement floor that weren't part of the enclave of various dishes/places in the centre..........couldn't think how else to describe them??

[Patong2]

Went out for dinner at 7.30 last night and as it was 34C decided we wanted an air-conditioned place

 

Decided to go back and try La Drinkeria in Soi Banzaan and very pleasantly surprised.

Both of us had excellent meals, well priced both Euro & Thai and excellent service albeit slow but they updated us 5 mins before etc. 

Nice decor and definitely worth a trip back.

Thanks for the tip

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Patong2 said:

Went out for dinner at 7.30 last night and as it was 34C decided we wanted an air-conditioned place

 

Decided to go back and try La Drinkeria in Soi Banzaan and very pleasantly surprised.

Both of us had excellent meals, well priced both Euro & Thai and excellent service albeit slow but they updated us 5 mins before etc. 

Nice decor and definitely worth a trip back.

Thanks for the tip

That's good to hear P2..........thanks for the feedback.

[xylophone]

On 4/19/2019 at 9:07 PM, HighPriority said:

About to go for a walk down Bangla way, have been amazed at how quiet Patong has been today, a bar lady on Nani Rd told us Songkran had been quiet, maybe farang don’t dislike Songkran as much as the Thaivisa crew and they’re all up at Pattaya ?

Following on from the theme about Patong being quiet, I have found the same and the falloff has been quite dramatic, even though the small business owners I know tell me that it has been a poor season and quiet for some time, it still seems to be more quiet than usual.

 

A boutique hotel in Nanai is offering large rooms at 400 baht a night which is not surprising because the place is up for sale and has been for a while, and a real estate agent friend says that the person wants a crazy price for it, so it won't sell?? 

 

Just a few doors away I noticed a woman's clothes boutique which was offering all stock at 50% reduction, so I would suppose it's not been doing fantastically well!

 

On the subject of boutique hotels, an acquaintance I know is trying to sell one off Rat-u-Thid road, and very central to everything in Patong and although it's only 11 rooms, he wants about 34 million baht for it freehold. I have to say that it is quite a delightful little place and well kitted out, but again a friend of mine who sells businesses here has said that there is just not the money around and even if there was, this would not represent a good deal!

 

Something I have often said about this place is that there is not a great resale of property here, with many properties being on the market for years and I think this is as much because of people asking too much without really realising the market, or indeed paying too much for it in the first place and thinking that property prices rise here like they should do everywhere else, and that's not the case.

 

As if to confirm that, I went down a little road off Phra Baramee this afternoon and noticed four freestanding detached houses, all side-by-side, all for sale and it looks like they have been for some time. The ravages of time and poor maintenance have caught up with them and good luck to the owner trying to sell them, unless they are dirt cheap, but that's not the way that Thais think unfortunately.

 

Just to end on a cheerful note, I was the recipient of a lovely gesture this afternoon..........I was walking back through Jungceylon and popped into the AIIZ store to see if they still had their special offer on on shirts, and they did. 

 

As I was looking through the colours and sizes, three young Aussie guys came in and started to look around and I heard one say that there wasn't the size he wanted, however I was able to put him right by pointing to another shelf with the larger sizes on, and they had a little chat and then moved on with looking at other shirts. Then one of them came up to me and said that he was looking at white shirt because he had to go to a wedding this evening, and as he only wanted that white shirt as a once off, would I like a free shirt that comes with it (there was a special on; buy one shirt get one free).

 

I said that was a wonderful gesture, but surely he or one of his friends could make use of it and he simply said that they didn't wear anything other than T-shirts or the like and as these had button-down collars, he didn't like them either, so he gave me a free shirt and I was very taken aback with his generosity I have to say.

 

I got talking to him and he seemed like a very nice guy, the sort you would hope that your son grew up to be, and I thanked him profusely for his kind gesture – – renewed my faith in humankind for a short while, until I nearly got bowled by a crazy French African motorbike driver on the way back home!!

 

Nice to see the young Aussie guys being well behaved and well mannered and able to string a few sentences together I may add!!

[xylophone]

On 4/21/2019 at 5:14 AM, HighPriority said:

The perimeter restaurants ?
I agree, they seem to be struggling, the outlets in the centre seem to be doing well though.

Back to your comment HP as I went into Patong Central yesterday to have a look around and actually buy some food to take home for the evening as I couldn't be bothered to cook anything, and sure enough only one of the other restaurants had one couple it and that was the sum of it – – don't know how long they're going to last?

 

As for the food I bought in the deli restaurant, well I have to say it was very nice, and I bought two portions which were far too big as my eyes were bigger than my belly it seems, however can't complain and it made a nice change and I will probably shop there again for the occasional evening meal.

 

On the subject of "don't know how long they're going to last", I'm trying to string a few news items together here, so bear with me...........I noticed in the news a couple of days ago that a food vendor had committed suicide because of his debts and apparently the same happened just days before, and I do believe that we are going to see much more stress here in Patong in the coming months, because of the poor state of tourist spend, especially for these smaller and street vendor type establishments. 

 

I've often commented on the number of shop and small establishment closures, and I do believe it's getting worse with a whole row of glass fronted shops in Nanai, now standing empty, this near the empty burger bar that was, just up from a very dilapidated looking and empty small guesthouse/hotel, and now I see that the restaurant Siciliamo is shut and undergoing some sort of internal transformation, so I don't know if it's being revamped or if the owner has moved on/closed it?

 

The small French restaurant opposite Le Deli Snack is closed, so that makes both of them, and although other folks have commented before that perhaps some of these people go back home for the low season, to me it doesn't make a lot of sense because if you own the building then you might as well stay, but if you rent it, then even if you lock up you still have to pay the landlord?

 

Then again, under the part of Jungceylon which is called, "This is Siam" (or something similar) I noticed there were seven shops closed and a couple of them were being absolutely gutted and it looks as if the work had even stopped on that.

 

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, that I really do feel sorry for those Thai folk who dream of owning their own business and try to start something up, only to find it fails miserably, just as much through their own fault as anyone else's really, but still sad all the same.

 

I would say there will be/are a lot of people here living on debt and borrowed loan shark money and that does not bode well for the future of any small business owner, sad to say.

[xylophone]

An Aussie guy I recently met said that he had been out in Bangla Road a couple of nights previously and there were only about 50 people around???

 

I found that very difficult to believe and as I was going out that very evening, I was able to see for my own eyes – – – and he was wrong because there were plenty of people around, and as befits low season, nowhere near what there has been, but that's par for course.

 

Travelling to Bangla at around 8 PM, the bars and restaurants in Nanai were a sorry sight, with just one person in Da Moreno, none in Backside Bistro and one or two farangs dotted about in other bars.

 

Surprisingly all of the pool tables in Dons Pool Bar had gone and the concrete base was being jack-hammered to bits, so have no idea what's going on there apart from the fact the place was barely frequented day or night, so maybe the end of the road for that place?

 

Had to feel sorry for the "owner" of a small massage shop which had recently opened near the corner of Rabbit Mansion, because it had closed, this after quite a few months of never seeing a customer in it! Another dream shattered.

 

Is there a "light on the horizon" or just another farang wishing to lose money? I ask this because I noticed that Montes bar/restaurant seems to have had some sort of resurrection, with a new sign up and tables and chairs outside, but when I passed by the roller blind doors were still down, perhaps in anticipation of yet another "grand opening"?

 

Sadly there was only one couple dining in La Drinkeria, which has had good feedback here as regards the quality of the food and the ambience of the place.

 

Bangla was Bangla, with people milling around and quite a few bars which were sparsely populated, and there were more bar girls and go-go touts in Soi Sea Dragon than there were customers, although it would appear that the touts are not that successful in luring customers into the go-go's, because a couple of friends from NZ wanted to look inside, which we did, and apart from us there were only six people in the whole place.

 

There is of course the mystery as to why shops/establishments keep popping up when others have closed, and perhaps that's just the Thais and the way they think, or of course that they have a farang backer, and that is certainly the case with a lady I know who owns a massage parlour on a main road and who is looking at opening up another one just round the corner, however this one will also include beauty treatments.

 

I say mystery because the past two or three seasons for the existing massage parlour have been poor, with this past season being particularly poor and with business having almost come to a standstill of late.

 

Still, nothing like a farang boyfriend to provide the financial backing for another venture...........!!

 

I still believe there are tougher times ahead.

 

 

 

 

[Lashay]

On 5/11/2019 at 11:34 AM, xylophone said:

An Aussie guy I recently met said that he had been out in Bangla Road a couple of nights previously and there were only about 50 people around???

 

 

An exaggeration but not a huge one, May is always quite but this is quietest ever seen by long shot. Hell last week saw New York with about 10 people in it just after midnight, never ever seen that before. Most of rest of normal mainstreet bars are sub 5 customers at anytime most of night.

 

On 5/11/2019 at 11:34 AM, xylophone said:

Surprisingly all of the pool tables in Dons Pool Bar had gone and the concrete base was being jack-hammered to bits, so have no idea what's going on there apa

Saw it for sale online last month

 

Not only bars having it bad atm (know of 4 that closed this month), Walked down resturant avenue in Jungceylon tonight at dinner time, total of maybe 10 people, in all the restaurants combined. Beach boys are also reporting money way down from normal May.

 

The thai government really need to do something about the strong baht, tourist spending has been wrecked by it for long time, now by reports exports are getting hit as well.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Lashay

[schlog]

4 hours ago, Lashay said:

An exaggeration but not a huge one, May is always quite but this is quietest ever seen by long shot. Hell last week saw New York with about 10 people in it just after midnight, never ever seen that before. Most of rest of normal mainstreet bars are sub 5 customers at anytime most of night.

 

Saw it for sale online last month

 

Not only bars having it bad atm (know of 4 that closed this month), Walked down resturant avenue in Jungceylon tonight at dinner time, total of maybe 10 people, in all the restaurants combined. Beach boys are also reporting money way down from normal May.

 

The thai government really need to do something about the strong baht, tourist spending has been wrecked by it for long time, now by reports exports are getting hit as well.

Yup. Patong is not only quiet like normally in may. It's death. Only some Indians strolling around.

 

Strong baht and crazy price killing it. Stayed 2 weeks ago at the Mandarin Oriental in KL. What you get here on HKT for the same money? A wannabe '5 star' hotel not more.

 

Foodlevel at new Central also going the crazy way. At opening the price for crispy ham, honey ham, pork shoulder... were 59 baht/100 gramm. Then 6 weeks ago price went up to 65. Now prices up 75-150 baht/100 gramm. 1500 baht/ 1kg thai pork lol. Totally over the top and no more for me. Only beer and whisky price are still ok.

 

 

[xylophone]

10 hours ago, Lashay said:

An exaggeration but not a huge one, May is always quite but this is quietest ever seen by long shot. Hell last week saw New York with about 10 people in it just after midnight, never ever seen that before. Most of rest of normal mainstreet bars are sub 5 customers at anytime most of night.

 

Saw it for sale online last month

 

Not only bars having it bad atm (know of 4 that closed this month), Walked down resturant avenue in Jungceylon tonight at dinner time, total of maybe 10 people, in all the restaurants combined. Beach boys are also reporting money way down from normal May.

 

The thai government really need to do something about the strong baht, tourist spending has been wrecked by it for long time, now by reports exports are getting hit as well.

Your views and comments mirror mine Lashay, and just yesterday I walked down restaurant alley at lunchtime and it was deserted apart from four people eating in Wine Connection – – with one other person in a small restaurant nearby.

 

I didn't realise that Don's Pool Bar was up for sale, but it wouldn't surprise me given the fact that it certainly was a dog. And on that subject, I noticed that Montes is fully kitted out now along with tables, chairs and signs advertising that it serves Thai food and seafood, although I've never seen anyone partaking of those advertised delicacies as yet!

 

I have been noticing a few small gangs of Chinese around at the moment and on a foray out the other evening I noticed a group of them converging on a cheap roadside restaurant in Soi Tan (the type with plastic tables and chairs and some sort of buffet style food offering) and the thing with this and others that I've noticed having common is the fact that the Chinese are converging on the very cheap food places, and I mean very cheap!

 

Having said that they have certainly not been converging on the huge newish seafood restaurant on the corner of OTOP and opposite the Grande Mercure, because it has been empty on the many times I've passed by and certainly was the other evening (again). However that hasn't stopped the building of new bars in the OTOP complex, although they are suffering with poor patronage, so why keep building them?

 

Schlog has posted that the prices in the new Central Patong food hall have gone up, so that must be a very recent event because less than a week ago I was viewing the very same food on offer and I didn't think the prices had changed, but there again I haven't been keeping a close eye on it, although I did glance that way yesterday when I purchased some wine from the little wine shop there.

 

Overall the place did not look busy at all, in fact it was fairly empty......another white elephant perhaps?

 

I was out last night and my favourite Italian restaurant was sparsely populated, whereas a couple of others in the same soi were empty and one particular restaurant which seems to do well and caters for a wide range of food styles was also fairly quiet.

 

Bangla was about normal to low for this time of the year, but fewer people frequenting the bars and a friend who went to Tiger Complex said it was "dead" and we ended up in Red Hot and at around 1 PM, it had very noticeably emptied out with no more than a couple of handfuls of people there, whereas in previous times it would still be crowded.

 

Soi Sea Dragon showed the contrast at the moment, with far more bar girls available and milling around the place than there were customers, by a very large margin, so much so that it looked almost ridiculous.

 

As Lashay has said, the strong baht isn't helping visitors from many countries, so spend is going to be down, however the Tourist Authority here have been targeting the cheap Chinese and cheap Indian markets and as can be seen now, they spend very little, despite the "conjured-up" figures that the TAT would have you believe with regards to spend.

 

The saying I would use here would be that Thailand/TAT/Phuket governance have been, or are being, the architects of their own demise, and just to show how the typical Thai mentality is not helping the tourists here, on a couple of occasions over the past week I have a need to hail a motorbike taxi (mainly because my usual guy is not at his usual place) and on both occasions they wanted 100 baht to go from near Makro in Nanai to the other side of Jungceylon, whereas my usual driver would normally charge 60 baht (although I do give him a little more).

 

Obviously I told him no and told him what I give my usual driver and he accepted it. 

 

Business is down, put fares up, piss tourists off, tourist numbers fall, business is down, and the cycle continues..........

[schlog]

4 days ago. Still tasty but crazy price.... 

[Lashay]

On 5/23/2019 at 2:03 PM, xylophone said:

Overall the place did not look busy at all, in fact it was fairly empty......another white elephant perhaps?

Started keeping eye on that food court recently and initially it made no sense to me with the combo court/restaurant set up but from what have seen it actually seems to be somewhat working, around meal times they always seem to have reasonable amount of customers for this quite period.

 

And yesterday think figured out why (mainly by looking at who going), if you are TV stereotypical regular (expat, retiree, regular tourist monger,small business owner) you are not the target market.

 

Additionally don't see it aimed/working for Chinese/Indian tourists despite at least two stalls supposedly catering to them, with most generic national  dishes possible

 

Primary target is first time/second time western tourists who might not be used to/comfortable with normal food court set up or don't exactly trust street food, especially if in a mixed group where all don't necessarily want thai food (or want thai food they feel they can semi trust to be of semi decent quality/cleanliness).

 

Next target market (and would be primary somewhere like Bangkok) is a place for middle/lower upper managment types to go for "working lunch/dinner", without having  to go full resturant. Seen this week alone 2 Patong Bank managers and Thai GM of large hotel with people there.

 

Sure its pricier than regular food courts, but from what seen and tried myself it is also bigger portions and better quality than regular food courts

 

 

Only one that does not make sense is the headline place that has menu on each table (Ocean something) , sorry but doubt many going to a food court to spend 5000 on seafood shared platter or 1900 on lobster, its not Harrods London after all.

 

 

In short, its filling a gap between street/food courts and full resturants (and priced accordingly)  and there is definitely a market for that, so think their success will be really down to getting the word out.

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, Lashay said:

Started keeping eye on that food court recently and initially it made no sense to me with the combo court/restaurant set up but from what have seen it actually seems to be somewhat working, around meal times they always seem to have reasonable amount of customers for this quite period.

 

And yesterday think figured out why (mainly by looking at who going), if you are TV stereotypical regular (expat, retiree, regular tourist monger,small business owner) you are not the target market.

 

Additionally don't see it aimed/working for Chinese/Indian tourists despite at least two stalls supposedly catering to them, with most generic national  dishes possible

 

Primary target is first time/second time western tourists who might not be used to/comfortable with normal food court set up or don't exactly trust street food, especially if in a mixed group where all don't necessarily want thai food (or want thai food they feel they can semi trust to be of semi decent quality/cleanliness).

 

Next target market (and would be primary somewhere like Bangkok) is a place for middle/lower upper managment types to go for "working lunch/dinner", without having  to go full resturant. Seen this week alone 2 Patong Bank managers and Thai GM of large hotel with people there.

 

Sure its pricier than regular food courts, but from what seen and tried myself it is also bigger portions and better quality than regular food courts

 

 

Only one that does not make sense is the headline place that has menu on each table (Ocean something) , sorry but doubt many going to a food court to spend 5000 on seafood shared platter or 1900 on lobster, its not Harrods London after all.

 

 

In short, its filling a gap between street/food courts and full resturants (and priced accordingly)  and there is definitely a market for that, so think their success will be really down to getting the word out.

Good point Lashay and you may well be right.

 

I have tried the food there and think it is good and will eat there again as the prices don't bother me.

[xylophone]

On 5/23/2019 at 2:48 AM, Lashay said:

Not only bars having it bad atm (know of 4 that closed this month), Walked down resturant avenue in Jungceylon tonight at dinner time, total of maybe 10 people, in all the restaurants combined. Beach boys are also reporting money way down from normal May.

Probably my last post for a while as I will be heading off to Blighty (Sussex actually) on Saturday to catch up with some old friends and revisit boyhood adventure places, all this probably for the last time as I have no real reason to go back again after that.

 

I have teed up a meeting with my best friend at junior school, and his sister, and have a big surprise for them because although nobody knows it, I am their cousin, by virtue of the fact that their father's brother decided to get his leg over my unmarried birth-mother when she was 19 and I was the result. Everything was hushed up and I was adopted out and strangely enough I became good friends with both this boy and his sister over the years so no doubt we will have much to discuss after they have gotten over the shock.

 

Anyway I digress.........the little roller blind bar around 50 m from me is up for sale and apparently the asking price is 100,000 baht with a rent of 25,000 baht per month, whereas initially the owner wanted 250,000 baht for it, which would have been ludicrous in my opinion as you would have been lucky to get six patrons in it at any one time.

 

Dons pool bar still looks a mess with concrete and crap all around the place and I don't know who would buy it because it has absolutely nothing going for it.

 

A couple of other small shops have closed in Nanai and there is a rumour that Chinese are looking to buy a type of hotel with chalets in it which would have an association with Watership Down (if you get my meaning) and that could reflect the creep that is happening with regards to Chinese owned businesses here, though I'm not sure how totally "legal" that is?

 

Restaurant alley still looks as bleak as noted in a couple of previous posts and a rather large shop in the second part of Jungceylon has closed its doors – – make that two shops!

 

I also noticed that the newly opened La Drinkeria was advertising a "free barbecue" the other evening, so don't know how that works? Would appear to be desperate for customers, but not sure that is the way to go about improving the bottom line!

 

I've often mentioned about spend before, and things certainly aren't getting any better with the owners of two massage places telling me that they are constantly getting hassle from both Russians and Chinese to drop the prices for their massages, from 300 baht to 200 baht, however they will have none of it.

 

The wife of a friend owns a little food stall in Kathu and sells her food for 50 baht for a containers worth, and with her, it's the Russians who are continually trying to knock the price down.

 

I will be heading out tonight for the last time for a while and it will be interesting to see what's happening out there, although a friend did visit a mutual friend's bar a couple of nights ago and although the bar is large and plays music and serves food, it had no customers in it.

 

The jewel in the Andaman.......ah so!

[xylophone]

Spend is down..........so Jungceylon has now introduced a parking fee for motorcycles/scooters!!!!

 

That will p!ss a few people off no doubt!