Patong - The Wake

[billythehat]

13 hours ago, xylophone said:

Don't know whose post you are referring to, but I know them now as "resurrected Tiger" (rose up from the ashes of the burnt down place) and "New Tiger"cos it was built from new AND you are right, there are so many empty bars in the resurrected place.

 

Having said that a lot closed in New Tiger after the initial "rush" and quite a few have been replaced with pool tables. Even in the high season the customer numbers were down for most of the bars..........not surprising with bar fines at 1500 baht and lady drinks between 220 and 250 baht.

 

Times they are a-changing!

Long, long ago, when the earth was young…well, about 2001 actually, I remember my favourite wander around Patong in the evening (depending on what delightful hovel I was staying) was to bypass Bangla on the top end, grab a wee bowl of bugs-over-rice and a yard of mineral water in one of the small restaurants on the left-hand side. I remember that the clientele were mainly Asian, a few Europeans and sprinkle of buzzard faced Aussies; no Ruskies then although did talk to a Kazakhstan cop and his missus sitting on the adjacent table, should they count as the former.  Having been hit for a hefty 45 Bhat, including water (I could never finish the huge plate of food given) I stuffed a few extra tissue napkins into my pocket to cover the instance (always) of no bog roll present in any of the gentleman facilities I intended visiting during that night. Dusting off the chow that had escaped my mouth, stomach in and chest out I headed in the direction of Sawatdirak Road. Although not far from the Dante’s Inferno that is Bangla, the noise was much less as was the lighting and general traffic. About 2 thirds of the way down on the left side was a row of co-joined bars (can’t remember any names – perhaps some of the incumbent inmates here can help) one of which always had a live band. Great vibe, friendly non-hassling staff, no bar lasses scamming for drinks, and the beer was cheap too. Alas the band finished at 12 on the dot and so I switched my legs into auto-pilot mode and headed down the road, hooked a left at the beach road and wobbled in the direction of Bangla.

 

Just before Bangla there was an entrance to small area of bars, maybe a dozen or so, but no real vibe so one beer and move on. Now on Bangla, my favourite haunt were the bars of Soi Gonzo, especially a bar called Lips Bar which was located right down the bottom end on the right hand side near the small alley which connected to the next soi up. This was then run by a great old Aussie chap called Justin and his Thai missus who ran a tight ship with the girls who were a great crew too. I spent so much time there that I can’t really remember too mutt about the other soi’s although I did venture into the original Tiger a couple of times but that Techno drivel in the disco was never my scene. Before the disco entrance there were seating areas on the first floor where one could have a few scoops before deciding on the next port of call, unless of course, you’d acquired an acquaintance during the course of the evening. Don’t remember too mutt about the ladyboy soi either (or even if it was called Soi Crocodile) as I have zero interest in gentleman sausage. The costumes were good though and the LB’s on the front stage certainly could dance…less aggressive then too.

 

If staying up from the 200 year road I would cut through Soi Sansabai to source an irrational desire to eat a kebab or similar greased soaked offering. There used to be a few street facing bars usually populated by tired old men with expressionless faces perched on bar stools staring at the passing folk. Wonder if they’re still there?!

 

Now where did I put that hotel card with the address…hmmmmm…better get back there pronto…the sun is coming up…belch…I wish I hadn’t eaten that kebab…and where’s my treasured green felt hat?...

[sekmet]

My apologies. Yes, resurrected Tiger. The back end is the new toilet facilities from the other adjacent now demolished soi. Facilities are far cleaner and functional, but same hag collecting your ten baht.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[madmax2]

What Wake, There are 33 hotels in the pipeline with a total of nearly 6000 rooms

A lot of them major players, Plenty of Russian and Chinese tourists arriving as well

Bar trade is down no wonder,  a lot less booze and bar girl tourists are arriving

personally i do not fell sorry for foreign men who make their money by pimping bar girls out

If they tried the same thing in their home country they could look forward to a holiday behind bars, not where drinks are served but the solid steel type  

[chercheur888]

At least the taxi rates are not as bad compared as follows to other cities. Not as bad as Zurich.

https://www.carspring.co.uk/taxi-price-index-usd/

They took the data from the official website of the city, don't know if available for Phuket website, and of course not for Tuk Tuk's.

The model of the cars are different too.

[xylophone]

5 hours ago, madmax2 said:

What Wake, There are 33 hotels in the pipeline with a total of nearly 6000 rooms

A lot of them major players, Plenty of Russian and Chinese tourists arriving as well

Bar trade is down no wonder,  a lot less booze and bar girl tourists are arriving

personally i do not fell sorry for foreign men who make their money by pimping bar girls out

If they tried the same thing in their home country they could look forward to a holiday behind bars, not where drinks are served but the solid steel type  

Ah were it as simple as your post implies, but the reality is much different, with a few fishhooks thrown in, so to speak.

 

For a start the thread is about Patong and the hotel numbers you quote are those relevant to the whole of Phuket island.

 

How many of those will be built in Patong, well who knows at this moment in time, however it’s a good bet that the major players will be looking to build near pristine beaches, not those polluted by waste and criminals as in Patong. That is unless they mirror the building of the Grand Mercure hotel in Patong, which is probably the only flagship hotel of the group which is built opposite a waste disposal plant and waste-water treatment site.

 

On a warm night the smells from those wafting across to the hotel, along with the smells from the garbage trucks parked alongside of the hotel, are reminiscent of the smells emanating from the toilet in the third class carriage of the Bombay express. Not the best location for a flagship hotel.

 

Those beaches further up the island and indeed some south of Patong will more than likely see most of the building of these new hotels.

 

It was quoted that Russian passenger traffic here increased by 17% in the first five months of this year, however one has to remember that a lot of the Russians vacated the place a couple of years ago, so more than likely this percentage increase is coming off quite a low base, which does take some of the gloss off the figures, and those I have seen are certainly not high-class tourists.

 

Arrivals from mainland China rose 8%, but then it is plain for all to see that the arrivals we are getting here are the lo-so Chinese, part of the zero baht tourism influx and they seek just the cheapest hotels and if they do spend, it’s not on big-ticket items, more on packets of seaweed and dried fruit (see a post earlier from me with regards to statistics from a Chinese newspaper).

 

Now onto the “fishhooks”…….. There are a total of 1724 hotels in Phuket and only 429 are licensed and the reasons why many are not licensed are because they are the small boutique/guesthouse type places and registering them as a hotel and paying the necessary fees and taxes was never in the original budget, so the owner could on sell them (on lease) more easily.

 

A lot of the tourists from the low end, not only Chinese and Russians, but other nationalities seek these out because they are cheap and maybe some will close, maybe they won’t but that’s not the point. The point is that the tourism influx we are seeing here is at the lower end of the spectrum, whereas the likes of the new hotels being built by JW Marriott, Sheraton, Intercontinental, Park Hyatt and so on will not attract those people, so new marketing initiatives will have to be put in place by the powers that be to get the wealthy tourists here, and the betting is that if they do come, Patong will not be a top end destination for them.

 

As also stated in my previous post, research has shown that those wealthier Chinese that do travel are not that interested in shopping, but in other pursuits like quality sightseeing and so on and I’m not sure that they would look forward to a crowded trip on a mangy boat to a very crowded Phi Phi island………..that’s not the pursuit of the wealthy.

 

So it’s a complicated issue because in Patong we have the low end tourists, we also have the low end/cheap hotels and guesthouses which may or may not be around if the registration issues cause problems, and if this happens and prices increase, the low end won’t come here anymore and the already struggling accommodation places and shops will continue to struggle.

Already this is showing from a very low low season and indeed just at the end of the new middle road, within 200 m of the makeshift roundabout there are 30 shops and shophouses closed and for lease/rent. In fairness some of these have just recently been built and are waiting for prospective buyers, if any should arise.

 

However to get a bigger picture, look for the small hotels/guesthouses in the roads off of that road and you will see a few closed ones and this also applies to the batch of them a little further south.

 

It’s a situation which Patong has gotten itself into by poor overall management and greed of course, and quite how it’s going to remedy the situation because it is complicated, remains to be seen.

 

 

 

 

[madmax2]

12 hours ago, xylophone said:

Ah were it as simple as your post implies, but the reality is much different, with a few fishhooks thrown in, so to speak.

 

For a start the thread is about Patong and the hotel numbers you quote are those relevant to the whole of Phuket island.

 

How many of those will be built in Patong, well who knows at this moment in time, however it’s a good bet that the major players will be looking to build near pristine beaches, not those polluted by waste and criminals as in Patong. That is unless they mirror the building of the Grand Mercure hotel in Patong, which is probably the only flagship hotel of the group which is built opposite a waste disposal plant and waste-water treatment site.

 

On a warm night the smells from those wafting across to the hotel, along with the smells from the garbage trucks parked alongside of the hotel, are reminiscent of the smells emanating from the toilet in the third class carriage of the Bombay express. Not the best location for a flagship hotel.

 

Those beaches further up the island and indeed some south of Patong will more than likely see most of the building of these new hotels.

 

It was quoted that Russian passenger traffic here increased by 17% in the first five months of this year, however one has to remember that a lot of the Russians vacated the place a couple of years ago, so more than likely this percentage increase is coming off quite a low base, which does take some of the gloss off the figures, and those I have seen are certainly not high-class tourists.

 

Arrivals from mainland China rose 8%, but then it is plain for all to see that the arrivals we are getting here are the lo-so Chinese, part of the zero baht tourism influx and they seek just the cheapest hotels and if they do spend, it’s not on big-ticket items, more on packets of seaweed and dried fruit (see a post earlier from me with regards to statistics from a Chinese newspaper).

 

Now onto the “fishhooks”…….. There are a total of 1724 hotels in Phuket and only 429 are licensed and the reasons why many are not licensed are because they are the small boutique/guesthouse type places and registering them as a hotel and paying the necessary fees and taxes was never in the original budget, so the owner could on sell them (on lease) more easily.

 

A lot of the tourists from the low end, not only Chinese and Russians, but other nationalities seek these out because they are cheap and maybe some will close, maybe they won’t but that’s not the point. The point is that the tourism influx we are seeing here is at the lower end of the spectrum, whereas the likes of the new hotels being built by JW Marriott, Sheraton, Intercontinental, Park Hyatt and so on will not attract those people, so new marketing initiatives will have to be put in place by the powers that be to get the wealthy tourists here, and the betting is that if they do come, Patong will not be a top end destination for them.

 

As also stated in my previous post, research has shown that those wealthier Chinese that do travel are not that interested in shopping, but in other pursuits like quality sightseeing and so on and I’m not sure that they would look forward to a crowded trip on a mangy boat to a very crowded Phi Phi island………..that’s not the pursuit of the wealthy.

 

So it’s a complicated issue because in Patong we have the low end tourists, we also have the low end/cheap hotels and guesthouses which may or may not be around if the registration issues cause problems, and if this happens and prices increase, the low end won’t come here anymore and the already struggling accommodation places and shops will continue to struggle.

Already this is showing from a very low low season and indeed just at the end of the new middle road, within 200 m of the makeshift roundabout there are 30 shops and shophouses closed and for lease/rent. In fairness some of these have just recently been built and are waiting for prospective buyers, if any should arise.

 

However to get a bigger picture, look for the small hotels/guesthouses in the roads off of that road and you will see a few closed ones and this also applies to the batch of them a little further south.

 

It’s a situation which Patong has gotten itself into by poor overall management and greed of course, and quite how it’s going to remedy the situation because it is complicated, remains to be seen.

 

 

 

 

All doom and gloom  aren't you, personally i think the booze and bar girl tourists are the bottom of the heap as far as low end tourists go

The chinese and Russians are stopping in resort hotels, the low end B&BG tourists are the ones who want cheap GH accommodation and they only businesses the support is B&BG's, unlike the tourists you are continually complaining about who spread there money around different businesses doing tours and seeing the sites and keeping the general economy going

 

Small hotels and guesthouses, the farang operated ones are having a hard time because there are a lot more Thais now operating the same businesses, they are not complaining or closing because of a lack of business, if you cannot compete get out of the business, complaining on forums like this will get you no sympathy, learn how to run a successful, profitable business if you can

 

If they closed all the girlie bars tomorrow and all the cheap B&BG tourists went to the well known red light town of Pattaya it would have little or no effect on Patong or Phuket, your numbers are small and make no difference to the tourists trade in Phuket now

The majority of tourists who are not sexpats would only visit bangla road once or twice in a two week holiday for a drink and to watch the crowds reaction to the Katoys and bar girls and the old men chasing them

 

The season none of the new hotel/ resorts and not being built in Patong is because there is no land left to build them on, its all taken up by small guesthouses

 

etc,etc,etc, your only interest in life seems to be Patong, which is not Phuket and what's going on there, all the expats i know are not particularly interested in Patong and have better things to do with their lives     

[happyas]

1 hour ago, madmax2 said:

All doom and gloom  aren't you, personally i think the booze and bar girl tourists are the bottom of the heap as far as low end tourists go

The chinese and Russians are stopping in resort hotels, the low end B&BG tourists are the ones who want cheap GH accommodation and they only businesses the support is B&BG's, unlike the tourists you are continually complaining about who spread there money around different businesses doing tours and seeing the sites and keeping the general economy going

 

Small hotels and guesthouses, the farang operated ones are having a hard time because there are a lot more Thais now operating the same businesses, they are not complaining or closing because of a lack of business, if you cannot compete get out of the business, complaining on forums like this will get you no sympathy, learn how to run a successful, profitable business if you can

 

If they closed all the girlie bars tomorrow and all the cheap B&BG tourists went to the well known red light town of Pattaya it would have little or no effect on Patong or Phuket, your numbers are small and make no difference to the tourists trade in Phuket now

The majority of tourists who are not sexpats would only visit bangla road once or twice in a two week holiday for a drink and to watch the crowds reaction to the Katoys and bar girls and the old men chasing them

 

The season none of the new hotel/ resorts and not being built in Patong is because there is no land left to build them on, its all taken up by small guesthouses

 

etc,etc,etc, your only interest in life seems to be Patong, which is not Phuket and what's going on there, all the expats i know are not particularly interested in Patong and have better things to do with their lives     

etc,etc,etc, your only interest in life seems to be Patong, which is not Phuket and what's going on there, all the expats i know are not particularly interested in Patong and have better things to do with their lives 

  Name of thread;    

Patong - The Wake   

[phuketrichard]

as to chinese shopping,  ever gone to Big c in Junk ceylon?? full of Chinese with FULL baskets   :-)

[madmax2]

27 minutes ago, happyas said:

etc,etc,etc, your only interest in life seems to be Patong, which is not Phuket and what's going on there, all the expats i know are not particularly interested in Patong and have better things to do with their lives 

  Name of thread;    

Patong - The Wake   

Patong is the tourist capitol of Phuket, and as long as the rest of Phuket is surviving Patong will as well, should hold a wake for the sexpats as a lot of the girlie bars will be replaced by businesses that are profitable

[schlog]

15 minutes ago, phuketrichard said:

as to chinese shopping,  ever gone to Big c in Junk ceylon?? full of Chinese with FULL baskets   :-)

To be honest, 1 full basket with Mama and other cheap stuff for a noisy hord of 10 and then blocking the cashier by trying to pay 135.56thb by CC which many times doesn't work.

 

BTW the guys who i know who spend before real money in Bangla are all now spending in bkk or kul. 1 of this guys easily spends same amount per day like 50 chinese. So Patong sure miss the big spenders.

[madmax2]

Major shopping areas for tourists have been and are being developed outside of patong

The tourists still stop in hotels and resorts in Patong and these businesses are happy with the business income they supply when these tourists return from their tours and shopping trips and cater to them to get as much of their business as they can food and drinks, entertainment etc

It effects a lot of small businesses here but there is nothing new about this way of running a tourism businesses, it has been going on in other tourist destinations for many years very successfully 

[xylophone]

37 minutes ago, phuketrichard said:

as to chinese shopping,  ever gone to Big c in Junk ceylon?? full of Chinese with FULL baskets   :-)

I go just about every day and sure enough there are some full baskets, but then mostly full of cheap junk and as the GM of the store has told me, even this stuff is becoming less popular.

 

Profitable and big spending tourists  do not simply buy packets of seaweed and take them back to their own country in a cardboard box!

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, madmax2 said:

All doom and gloom  aren't you, personally i think the booze and bar girl tourists are the bottom of the heap as far as low end tourists go

The chinese and Russians are stopping in resort hotels, the low end B&BG tourists are the ones who want cheap GH accommodation and they only businesses the support is B&BG's, unlike the tourists you are continually complaining about who spread there money around different businesses doing tours and seeing the sites and keeping the general economy going

 

Small hotels and guesthouses, the farang operated ones are having a hard time because there are a lot more Thais now operating the same businesses, they are not complaining or closing because of a lack of business, if you cannot compete get out of the business, complaining on forums like this will get you no sympathy, learn how to run a successful, profitable business if you can

 

If they closed all the girlie bars tomorrow and all the cheap B&BG tourists went to the well known red light town of Pattaya it would have little or no effect on Patong or Phuket, your numbers are small and make no difference to the tourists trade in Phuket now

The majority of tourists who are not sexpats would only visit bangla road once or twice in a two week holiday for a drink and to watch the crowds reaction to the Katoys and bar girls and the old men chasing them

 

The season none of the new hotel/ resorts and not being built in Patong is because there is no land left to build them on, its all taken up by small guesthouses

 

etc,etc,etc, your only interest in life seems to be Patong, which is not Phuket and what's going on there, all the expats i know are not particularly interested in Patong and have better things to do with their lives     

Firstly, I am not all "doom and gloom", I am a realist and always have been and I report in posts that which I see.

 

In response to some other aspects of your post which contains some inaccuracies, especially relating to this, "If they closed all the girlie bars tomorrow and all the cheap B&BG tourists went to the well known red light town of Pattaya it would have little or no effect on Patong or Phuket, your numbers are small and make no difference to the tourists trade in Phuket now"

 

You imply, no you state, that I am a "sex tourist" however I won't press for an apology although you are wrong and for the record I would go to Bangla no more than the number of times you quote for the majority of tourists here (who are not sexpats according to you) which is once a week and then it is to go and see friends who own bars. And just to make sure you are quite clear about this, the two bars I mainly visit do not have girls for hire/working girls.

 

I go to see my friends and enjoy the live bands (often joining in when I can) and for me it is an enjoyable night out and I can also observe and people watch, which is something I like doing.

 

I know Thai folk who own small hotels here and they are also struggling and they don't just cater for the sex tourists, they cater for anyone who wishes to stay there. Another point here, is if you wish to visit some of the cheaper/low end/budget guesthouses and hotels in Patong, then you will see they have some of the Chinese tourists staying there and I have observed them using these facilities. Even one Thai Chinese owner who initially catered for the Chinese influx is finding that numbers have dropped off (and not just because it's low season) but because the tour operators are seeking out those owners who will give bigger discounts or accept payments via other routes. The only good thing about these cheaper places is that those Chinese who wish to explore this place on their own and not as part of a tour group can find places to suit their low-end budget, and there are more of these.

 

And quite what this has to do with me and my post, I'm not sure, "if you cannot compete get out of the business, complaining on forums like this will get you no sympathy". ??

 

Do you really believe this........."The season none of the new hotel/ resorts and not being built in Patong is because there is no land left to build them on, its all taken up by small guesthouses" . I doubt whether the land upon which these small places are built would be big enough to accommodate one of the larger hotel groups, nor would it be in the desired location. Food for thought!

 

And finally, I do live in Patong and my main interest is here and I am out and about in the place just about every day, however I do have a car and I travel around the island from time to time and I visit Phuket town at least a couple of times a week, sometimes more if I pick my daughter up and take her out to lunch, as she is resident in Phuket town, attending a good school there.

 

As well as that I travel down to the south of the island to have a look around and occasionally do some shopping, and as the thread is about Patong, that's what I was focusing on........

[Old Croc]

OK, some of my earlier memories of Patong.

I first came about 1997 (ish) on a cruise ship from Singapore. Spent a rainy day wandering around and getting my first inklings that it was better place for a holiday in many ways than my usual haunt, Bali.  Ducked out of the rain a couple of times into a very friendly Australian bar on the beach road south of Bangla. Forget the name. 

I started coming to Patong regularly around the turn of the century usually over the xmas/new year period. Stayed at many different hotels including Patong Resort, Baan Sukhothai, Safari, Phuket Bungalows, Patong Bay, Swiss Palm and a few others, whose names now escape me.

 

On many evenings I enjoyed a few sundowners at a beach bar called Bavaria where you could start the night off watching the sunsets and the beach activities wind down while  sucking on a good German brew, The waitresses were nice and friendly (not for sale) and I made a couple of friendships that lasted for years. They described how they escaped the tsunami by fleeing upstairs. Apparently a speedboat became lodged in the front window of the building underneath them.

I had a favorite bar in Bangla, one of the first going up the road on the right side. I was treated like the king I always thought I should be. My favorite little lady would see me coming up the road and run over to me, guide me to my favored seat at the front of the bar (anyone already sitting there were moved), given the coldest beer from the ice and mopped down with a moisturized towel.  Either I was the most hansom guy in town or the biggest tipper, not sure which!  One New Year I started there and partied at several of the bars up and down the street until dawn.  The entire street was ankle deep in fireworks residue. The 20 or 30 of us still standing, all drunk, happy and friendly, congregated at the one bar still open continued for some time.

After a late night I would often stop at the little bar in the front of the Savoey for a nightcap.  Their speciality was an Irish coffee, made with much showmanship, and laced with a number of liquors guaranteed to put you over the top if you weren't already drunk. It wasn't cheap, but the still the best Irish coffee I've ever tasted.

I spent most days on the beach, swimming (never caught a disease or copped a brown floater in the face), lying on a sunbed under an umbrella, getting massages and feasting on fruits delivered by a friendly covered lady.  By contrast topless Euro ladies were in abundance and some were even worth looking at.  I was eating at the Savoey one time when I noticed staff and many customers rushing to peer over the low wall separating the restaurant from the Safari's pool. An amazon like Scandinavian at the pool thought it was a good time and place to free her, not insignificant, puppies!

On another occasion, when still dressed from the plane, I walked into reception at Patong Bay Garden Resort, to be confronted by the sight, seared into my eyeballs to this day, of a 70 or 80 yo granny stepping out of the pool side shower wearing only a tiny thong. Her skinny, very low hanging, front hardware were burnt black and leathery from years of exposure to the sun!

The influx of Chinese in lieu has some good points.  

In 2004 I couldn't get a booking over Xmas so I wasn't in my usual beach front hotel when the Tsunami came. I came instead in February. I wanted to spend money in a more direct way than donating to some of the questionable charity collection agencies in Australia. I stayed at the Safari that time and was surprised to see virtually no evidence of the tragedy apart from a few boarded up premises and dead gardens. An incredible cleanup job. Safari replanted their gardens with thousands of plants while I was there.

The beach was pristine and almost empty. As has been said by many. that would have been an excellent time to plan and build the place into a world class destination.  Instead the likes of the mayor at the time saw it as a means to personally enrich themselves.

I live on the Island but don't go to Patong anymore.

[happyas]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

Firstly, I am not all "doom and gloom", I am a realist and always have been and I report in posts that which I see.

 

In response to some other aspects of your post which contains some inaccuracies, especially relating to this, "If they closed all the girlie bars tomorrow and all the cheap B&BG tourists went to the well known red light town of Pattaya it would have little or no effect on Patong or Phuket, your numbers are small and make no difference to the tourists trade in Phuket now"

 

You imply, no you state, that I am a "sex tourist" however I won't press for an apology although you are wrong and for the record I would go to Bangla no more than the number of times you quote for the majority of tourists here (who are not sexpats according to you) which is once a week and then it is to go and see friends who own bars. And just to make sure you are quite clear about this, the two bars I mainly visit do not have girls for hire/working girls.

 

I go to see my friends and enjoy the live bands (often joining in when I can) and for me it is an enjoyable night out and I can also observe and people watch, which is something I like doing.

 

I know Thai folk who own small hotels here and they are also struggling and they don't just cater for the sex tourists, they cater for anyone who wishes to stay there. Another point here, is if you wish to visit some of the cheaper/low end/budget guesthouses and hotels in Patong, then you will see they have some of the Chinese tourists staying there and I have observed them using these facilities. Even one Thai Chinese owner who initially catered for the Chinese influx is finding that numbers have dropped off (and not just because it's low season) but because the tour operators are seeking out those owners who will give bigger discounts or accept payments via other routes. The only good thing about these cheaper places is that those Chinese who wish to explore this place on their own and not as part of a tour group can find places to suit their low-end budget, and there are more of these.

 

And quite what this has to do with me and my post, I'm not sure, "if you cannot compete get out of the business, complaining on forums like this will get you no sympathy". ??

 

Do you really believe this........."The season none of the new hotel/ resorts and not being built in Patong is because there is no land left to build them on, its all taken up by small guesthouses" . I doubt whether the land upon which these small places are built would be big enough to accommodate one of the larger hotel groups, nor would it be in the desired location. Food for thought!

 

And finally, I do live in Patong and my main interest is here and I am out and about in the place just about every day, however I do have a car and I travel around the island from time to time and I visit Phuket town at least a couple of times a week, sometimes more if I pick my daughter up and take her out to lunch, as she is resident in Phuket town, attending a good school there.

 

As well as that I travel down to the south of the island to have a look around and occasionally do some shopping, and as the thread is about Patong, that's what I was focusing on........

 Another troll you don't need to feed xylophone.

Your much appreciated ,up to date , telling things as they really are posts give the true picture of Patong goings on.

Keep it up.

[xylophone]

19 minutes ago, happyas said:

 Another troll you don't need to feed xylophone.

Your much appreciated ,up to date , telling things as they really are posts give the true picture of Patong goings on.

Keep it up.

Much appreciated "happyas"........yes and I suppose I am "guilty" of feeding the trolls and must stop doing that, but sometimes their accusations and assumptions  (as in another poster) border on insulting! 

[DrDave]

Relating to the statement that only Bangla mongers stay in the low-rent guesthouses, that's not what I've personally observed. While staying a week in a 500/night guesthouse recently, I noticed that nearly all of the guests were eastern European couples. Looking around at the neighboring guesthouses, nearly all of the traffic going in and out was the same demographic.

 

The statement that there's simply no land left in Patong upon which to build a new hotel is just not true. Looking down on the town from the higher elevations, one can clearly see 3 very large tracts of undeveloped land all within a 2 minute or less walk from Jungceylon, which would be more or less the center of town. There's also another large tract just south of Macro. Additionally, anyone who's been here for any length of time knows that it's not uncommon to raze recently built structures in order to put up something new. I think the smart money (e.g. large hospitality corporations) is waiting to see what Patong's future holds in terms of a casino or other unique draw, before committing to any large-scale development.

 

Now, as an exception to the "cheap-Chen" rule of low-spending Chinese, in Big C yesterday we joined the checkout line behind a group of Chinese who were searching their collective pockets to come up with the money to pay the bill. Usually, it's just a couple of hundred baht, but this group handed over a wad of bills, and my wife and I looked at each other in amazement as the cashier counted out eleven 1,000 baht notes! Looking at their cart, is was full of what looked to be normal bagged groceries. Couldn't have been electronics or cell phones, as those have to be paid upstairs. My only conclusion is that they were buying up the higher-end dried fruit to be packed into a suitcase and brought back to China. Still - that 11,000 baht wasn't much of a benefit to the local economy.

[Patong2]

Old Croc

Probably this speedboat your friend was talking about.

There were actually 2 jetskis under the boat.

Taken from the beach side

 

Many sad memories from then but it was amazing how the people recovered and got on with it.

[happyas]

17 hours ago, xylophone said:

Much appreciated "happyas"........yes and I suppose I am "guilty" of feeding the trolls and must stop doing that, but sometimes their accusations and assumptions  (as in another poster) border on insulting! 

The "other poster' seems to have gone to play elsewhere now and this newer one now has opinions that are so far off the mark, that you need not entertain him either.

Those who insult etc only do so because they have nothing to contribute.

Keep the up to date reports coming and ignore the few fools that go against you.

[madmax2]

On 7/20/2017 at 6:37 PM, DrDave said:

Relating to the statement that only Bangla mongers stay in the low-rent guesthouses, that's not what I've personally observed. While staying a week in a 500/night guesthouse recently, I noticed that nearly all of the guests were eastern European couples. Looking around at the neighboring guesthouses, nearly all of the traffic going in and out was the same demographic.

 

The statement that there's simply no land left in Patong upon which to build a new hotel is just not true. Looking down on the town from the higher elevations, one can clearly see 3 very large tracts of undeveloped land all within a 2 minute or less walk from Jungceylon, which would be more or less the center of town. There's also another large tract just south of Macro. Additionally, anyone who's been here for any length of time knows that it's not uncommon to raze recently built structures in order to put up something new. I think the smart money (e.g. large hospitality corporations) is waiting to see what Patong's future holds in terms of a casino or other unique draw, before committing to any large-scale development.

 

Now, as an exception to the "cheap-Chen" rule of low-spending Chinese, in Big C yesterday we joined the checkout line behind a group of Chinese who were searching their collective pockets to come up with the money to pay the bill. Usually, it's just a couple of hundred baht, but this group handed over a wad of bills, and my wife and I looked at each other in amazement as the cashier counted out eleven 1,000 baht notes! Looking at their cart, is was full of what looked to be normal bagged groceries. Couldn't have been electronics or cell phones, as those have to be paid upstairs. My only conclusion is that they were buying up the higher-end dried fruit to be packed into a suitcase and brought back to China. Still - that 11,000 baht wasn't much of a benefit to the local economy.

Have a look at the land you are talking about up close, cost a fortune to develop it

There is still some overpriced undeveloped land at the north end of the third road

[madmax2]

23 hours ago, happyas said:

The "other poster' seems to have gone to play elsewhere now and this newer one now has opinions that are so far off the mark, that you need not entertain him either.

Those who insult etc only do so because they have nothing to contribute.

Keep the up to date reports coming and ignore the few fools that go against you.

Just lost interest in the absolute garbage some people post, more interesting topics elsewhere with intelligent none trolling posts to respond to

[madmax2]

Phuket jock is the only person posting on this topic who probably owns and operates a business in Patong and knows what he is talking about

Anyone who thinks that asking people who manage businesses or owns them for information about the businesses they own or operate will be given accurate information does not have a clue, probably has been previously employed as a manager and lost his/her job for giving out information they should not have

 

Anyone with a good profit making business will tell you want you want to here or miss inform you

Business managers rarely know everything about a business, they are just employed to manager staff and can be sacked at any time the owner wants to, they are just another paid employee and some think they are a lot more important than they really are

 

What wake patong will still be thriving long after i and all the other posters on this topic are dead and gone, the same as this topic will be, so i will not post on it again, its a total waste of time, not because the amature trolls, stalkers worry me

[happyas]

28 minutes ago, madmax2 said:

Phuket jock is the only person posting on this topic who probably owns and operates a business in Patong and knows what he is talking about

Anyone who thinks that asking people who manage businesses or owns them for information about the businesses they own or operate will be given accurate information does not have a clue, probably has been previously employed as a manager and lost his/her job for giving out information they should not have

 

Anyone with a good profit making business will tell you want you want to here or miss inform you

Business managers rarely know everything about a business, they are just employed to manager staff and can be sacked at any time the owner wants to, they are just another paid employee and some think they are a lot more important than they really are

 

What wake patong will still be thriving long after i and all the other posters on this topic are dead and gone, the same as this topic will be, so i will not post on it again, its a total waste of time, not because the amature trolls, stalkers worry me

hahahaa..you only managed 24 mins away, before coming back and posting more nonsense...stalkers??  amature?? trolls ....you really are mad max 2..

 

PS  Bet you'll be back again, contrary to you words  "so i will not post on it again,"   

[xylophone]

On 7/21/2017 at 9:25 AM, happyas said:

Keep the up to date reports coming and ignore the few fools that go against you.

Why not indeed.

 

Went out on Tuesday night to catch up with friends before they were heading back to Melbourne and had a nice meal at my favourite Italian restaurant, Salute.

 

At 8:15 PM Bangla was quite busy, but not so the bars, even those with the bands in which usually do get full, but perhaps this was a little early.

 

The buildings which were alongside of the resurrected Tiger have now been completely demolished and there is a large vacant lot there and I asked a couple of folks who were working nearby if they knew what it was going to be and none of them knew. A friend said that he thought it was going to be a shopping centre which was going to have a walkway over to a department store which was due to be built on a vacant space on the opposite side of the road – – but then rumours always abound in this place, so who really knows apart from the developers.

 

Because it was the last night for some friends, they wanted to head down to the bottom of Soi Freedom to listen to the Filipino band as they are very friendly with the lead singer, so that's what we did and it was an enjoyable night all round.

 

Having said that, the Soi was almost devoid of customers, as was the usually busy Smiley Bar and a glance round at the other bars nearby reflected the same situation.

 

As I have often said on these threads, the demographics have changed and the days of the older Western bar mongers have waned somewhat and the place is more alive with younger folk, notwithstanding the fact that other nationalities are visiting/viewing Bangla Road, although not with the purpose of drinking in bars, more just looking at the place. The younger element was again obvious as I was wending my way home at about 1:30 AM because both Monsoon and New York were absolutely throbbing and young folks were lining up to enter Illuzion.

 

Seduction nightclub/disco was also open again after the fire, however didn't see anybody lining up to go in there, as perhaps they were a little bit wary after the fire. Seeing that it was open I glanced up to see if the Higher restaurant had opened up again as it's a place I loved to eat at, but no luck and I did hear that the chef (Ronnie who was once head chef at the Hyatt in Auckland) was now plying his trade somewhere in Kamala.

 

One thing that hasn't changed is the fact that despite the late hour, there were still streams of young attractive women heading down Soi Sansabai, presumably heading to the discos, as all of the bars were shutting at that time. 

 

Bangla will always be a drawcard in one way or another and it is a place where one can eat and have a good night out with friends, as well as listening to live music, so I doubt whether that will change and it does add a sort of "character" to the place.

 

Because it has changed, and there are not anywhere near the same amount of folks just visiting bars for the girls, I often wonder how some of them make enough money to live as certainly it's not like the old days when I began living here some ten plus years ago, and in the days of my friend's bar in Soi Eric, which at times was packed to the gunwales with farangs. So change is constant and sure Bangla will take on a new persona, but quite what it will be????

 

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, madmax2 said:

Phuket jock is the only person posting on this topic who probably owns and operates a business in Patong and knows what he is talking about

<snip>

So he is the only member posting here who owns and operates a business here in Patong. I guess I must have been invisible to you when I have made repeated posts about our business in Patong. And I have always been truthful about the ups and downs of our business. No BS here.

[Psimbo]

 I noticed a while back that The Deli, near the Post Office had gone. I rarely used it as I always thought the goods were over-priced.

 

I suppose the western deli style things in Makro and Big C would have affected them over time.

 

I always preferred Patong Meats for my treats.

[phuketjock]

4 hours ago, madmax2 said:

Phuket jock is the only person posting on this topic who probably owns and operates a business in Patong and knows what he is talking about

Anyone who thinks that asking people who manage businesses or owns them for information about the businesses they own or operate will be given accurate information does not have a clue, probably has been previously employed as a manager and lost his/her job for giving out information they should not have

 

Anyone with a good profit making business will tell you want you want to here or miss inform you

Business managers rarely know everything about a business, they are just employed to manager staff and can be sacked at any time the owner wants to, they are just another paid employee and some think they are a lot more important than they really are

 

What wake patong will still be thriving long after i and all the other posters on this topic are dead and gone, the same as this topic will be, so i will not post on it again, its a total waste of time, not because the amature trolls, stalkers worry me

Spot on Max but unfortunately you forgot about LIK  who has been in business in Patong

for a very long time and now finds himself in the unfortunate position that all his Patong

businesses are in the Nanai area which has sadly been decimated by the greedy antics of

the tuktuk and taxi mafia. You are also correct about the wake nonsense wakes are for when

something/one dies and Patong is very much alive and kicking. This thread means nothing

to anyone with a brain.  

[madmitch]

1 minute ago, phuketjock said:

Spot on Max but unfortunately you forgot about LIK  who has been in business in Patong

for a very long time and now finds himself in the unfortunate position that all his Patong

businesses are in the Nanai area which has sadly been decimated by the greedy antics of

the tuktuk and taxi mafia. You are also correct about the wake nonsense wakes are for when

something/one dies and Patong is very much alive and kicking. This thread means nothing

to anyone with a brain.  

I think the wake should be for the old thread, not Patong itself. Perhaps there will be a wake for this thread soon as it's just heading in exactly the same direction but about 100 pages short!

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, Psimbo said:

 I noticed a while back that The Deli, near the Post Office had gone. I rarely used it as I always thought the goods were over-priced.

 

I suppose the western deli style things in Makro and Big C would have affected them over time.

 

I always preferred Patong Meats for my treats.

 

That's sad to hear. I only go down that way when I have to pick up undelivered registered post. I had thought it still open. I used it for years before Carrefor came along, also the German Deli on the other side of the road. I thought his prices were OK, for sure cheaper than the now Villa Market (not that it lasted long in Patong). I liked the Thai Chinese owner, always helpful. I stopped going when the one way system started, ,meant I had to drive all round town, only to find no parking space. I knew he had been trying to sell for quite a few years. Just too much BIG competition, now a bad location, no parking area, disaster.

[KarenBravo]

14 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

That's sad to hear. I only go down that way when I have to pick up undelivered registered post. I had thought it still open. I used it for years before Carrefor came along, also the German Deli on the other side of the road. I thought his prices were OK, for sure cheaper than the now Villa Market (not that it lasted long in Patong). I liked the Thai Chinese owner, always helpful. I stopped going when the one way system started, ,meant I had to drive all round town, only to find no parking space. I knew he had been trying to sell for quite a few years. Just too much BIG competition, now a bad location, no parking area, disaster.

He did very, very well for many years. Ripping off all cheese-lovers in Patong because he had a monopoly on foreign cheese.

I won't shed too many tears.