Patong - The Wake

[xylophone]

16 hours ago, Kopitiam said:

If you have lived in China, you will know why.  Near misses are a daily occurrence on Chinese roads, especially in the cities due to the huge population.  Same with talking aloud, if you don't shout, you will not be heard.  Just like rushing for food at a buffet.  If you are too slow, there will not be any food left to eat.

And the explanation for walking 2/3/4 abreast on a narrow road whilst continually dodging traffic and doing nothing about it (like walking single file for example)?

 

Or walking straight out on to a road without looking, or indeed standing in the middle of a road discussing which way to go?

 

And what about cutting toenails on a restaurant table or hoicking on the floor?

[xylophone]

15 hours ago, Lashay said:

Backside Bistro has new place at entrance of Central (coming from Bangla). While not expensive, it's not as cheap as Nanai either. Basically a "burger joint" with standard prices

I hope they do well Lashay because at least they tried to bring something a little different to the table (pun intended).

[xylophone]

On 7/14/2019 at 4:55 AM, ChasingTheSun said:

that being said, we may be consciously noticing the Indians more just because there are less chinese crowding the scenery. Sort of creates an illusion of greater indian numbers:

 

i have noticed what seems like more aussies the last several weeks, but maybe thats just my mind playing tricks on me as well.

In relation to this part of a previous post of yours, I was out on Friday night and Bangla was pretty well packed, probably as much as I've seen it since the last high season, or almost anyway!

 

The Aussie bar for the first time in many moons was relatively full, as were quite a few other bars, including the music bars, so maybe it's holidays or cheap flights which are enticing the tourists.

 

Having said that there were far more "Indians" around than I have ever seen, apart from in the movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"!! However a friend of mine suggests that many of them may be from Pakistan, rather than India, as he said he had seen an article somewhere which stated that Pakistan was the largest source of inquiries as to holidays in Phuket in recent months?

 

There were Chinese amongst the walkers and revellers but these numbers were dwarfed by the folks mentioned above. Although this is not the case in Big C lately, where the Chinese are relatively abundant and as loud as always.

 

The influx of Italians, hoped for by my Italian restaurant owner friend, doesn't seem to have materialised that much and the few times that I've been there recently, I haven't noticed it as full as I, or he, anticipated?

 

In addition, the Italian restaurant across the road was playing host to about six diners only.

 

Nothing much else to add from my other posts, apart from the fact that the two new "cafes" I mentioned in my last post, don't seem to be doing much, if any business at all. Not really surprising given their location, but since when has that ever deterred farang-backed Thais from opening something up somewhere, no matter where or what! 

[ChasingTheSun]

38 minutes ago, xylophone said:

In relation to this part of a previous post of yours, I was out on Friday night and Bangla was pretty well packed, probably as much as I've seen it since the last high season, or almost anyway!

 

The Aussie bar for the first time in many moons was relatively full, as were quite a few other bars, including the music bars, so maybe it's holidays or cheap flights which are enticing the tourists.

 

Having said that there were far more "Indians" around than I have ever seen, apart from in the movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"!! However a friend of mine suggests that many of them may be from Pakistan, rather than India, as he said he had seen an article somewhere which stated that Pakistan was the largest source of inquiries as to holidays in Phuket in recent months?

 

There were Chinese amongst the walkers and revellers but these numbers were dwarfed by the folks mentioned above. Although this is not the case in Big C lately, where the Chinese are relatively abundant and as loud as always.

 

The influx of Italians, hoped for by my Italian restaurant owner friend, doesn't seem to have materialised that much and the few times that I've been there recently, I haven't noticed it as full as I, or he, anticipated?

 

In addition, the Italian restaurant across the road was playing host to about six diners only.

 

Nothing much else to add from my other posts, apart from the fact that the two new "cafes" I mentioned in my last post, don't seem to be doing much, if any business at all. Not really surprising given their location, but since when has that ever deterred farang-backed Thais from opening something up somewhere, no matter where or what! 

Good to hear that the aussie bar was doing better. Wish them luck.

 

I have noticed allot more indian/pakistans families/couples at Cafe del mar in kamala beach over the last month. Must be big spenders if they are drinking/eating at that overpriced beach bar.

 

On the brightside....perhaps an influx of Indian or Pakistanis will also bring us an influx of new high quality inexpensive indian/pakistani restaurants?? 

 

 

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, ChasingTheSun said:

Good to hear that the aussie bar was doing better. Wish them luck.

 

I have noticed allot more indian/pakistans families/couples at Cafe del mar in kamala beach over the last month. Must be big spenders if they are drinking/eating at that overpriced beach bar.

 

On the brightside....perhaps an influx of Indian or Pakistanis will also bring us an influx of new high quality inexpensive indian/pakistani restaurants?? 

 

 

Yes I was pleased to see the Aussie bar with a few more folks in it, because it is a bit of an icon and I know the manager there who is a nice guy.

 

Don't know much about Kamala and its tourists, however on the subject of spend, surely there has to be a few big spenders in amongst the dross that we are getting here?

 

As for the potential of "high-quality inexpensive Indian/Pakistani restaurants", well we have a few restaurants of that ilk, although not necessarily high quality, here in Patong, yet I've never had a meal in one which has absolutely blown me away (as I sometimes had in the UK or in NZ for that matter).

 

And as for the four restaurants in a row in soi Sansabai, I have eaten in two of them and they were okay, yet in the four times I have passed the new completely white restaurant, it has had nobody in it, and I'm not surprised as it is about as inviting as a morgue!

[ChasingTheSun]

58 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Yes I was pleased to see the Aussie bar with a few more folks in it, because it is a bit of an icon and I know the manager there who is a nice guy.

 

Don't know much about Kamala and its tourists, however on the subject of spend, surely there has to be a few big spenders in amongst the dross that we are getting here?

 

As for the potential of "high-quality inexpensive Indian/Pakistani restaurants", well we have a few restaurants of that ilk, although not necessarily high quality, here in Patong, yet I've never had a meal in one which has absolutely blown me away (as I sometimes had in the UK or in NZ for that matter).

 

And as for the four restaurants in a row in soi Sansabai, I have eaten in two of them and they were okay, yet in the four times I have passed the new completely white restaurant, it has had nobody in it, and I'm not surprised as it is about as inviting as a morgue!

I seldom see Indians/Pakistanis eating in any of those restaurants. That’s probably not a good sign in regards to authenticity/quality and/or the price of those joints.

 

100 baht for a single freshly made plain naan is also a deal-breaker for me, and 300 baht for a single small bowl of chicken curry is also nuts. 

 

I feel 15 baht would be fair for a simple piece of Indian bread in phuket or anywhere in asia. 150 baht for a chicken curry would be reasonable.

 

i suspect the Indians feel the same about the overpriced tourist-trap Indian restaurants in patong .

 

We did see a large influx of new authentic mainland PRC style Chinese restaurants when the chinese numbers were going through the roof. Mind you, i always thought they too were just overpriced tourist-trap predators. They seem to be shutting-down now almost as fast as they had popped-up.

 

[madmitch]

I was in Bangkok last week and was surprised to see the number of fairly new Indian restaurants. They're everywhere now, well certainly  in the Sukhumvit area. Lot of tourists as well from all over.

[Lashay]

5 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

100 baht for a single freshly made plain naan is also a deal-breaker for me, and 300 baht for a single small bowl of chicken curry is also nuts. 

 

I feel 15 baht would be fair for a simple piece of Indian bread in phuket or anywhere in asia. 150 baht for a chicken curry would be reasonable.

 

i suspect the Indians feel the same about the overpriced tourist-trap Indian restaurants in patong .

That's something that has always annoyed the hell out of me here, i like Indian food but here only gone to these resturants twice in last decade, because even though can easily afford it consider the prices just stupid and a total rip off. They are not just expensive by South east Asian stanards but by world standards.

 

For example most seem to price chicken currys at around 300thb (£8) where i can get same in equivalent level establishment in London for £5-6. If a Thai curry here can be priced sub 200 on average no justification in extra costs for Indians to be 50% more expensive. Its not hard to get most of the main Indian spices here and they are not stupidly expensive like the stuff in the farang supermarkets.

 

It really does not susprise me most of the Indian restaurants around sit nearly empty most of the time, because if we find them over priced god only knows what the Indians think

 

Thank god can cook most of my fav Indian dishes myself....though i have been forbidden to ever make a indian lamb curry in the house again...though cannot really blame her, smell can really linger for days 

[Isaanbiker]

On 6/25/2017 at 5:25 PM, Monkeyrobot said:

Full of Chinese, one of them walked up to me and started taking a photo of the shrimp yellow curry I was eating, strange people and the tuk tuk drivers don't like them either, they really haggle on the price, 

Be happy that they didn't spit into the pool where you swam in. Happened to my wife and me in Jomtien and we then hit them with ice cubes. The pool boy had the most successful hits from a secure distance, almost invisible....

 

You've gotta love these Chinese tourists. 

[Isaanbiker]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

Yes I was pleased to see the Aussie bar with a few more folks in it, because it is a bit of an icon and I know the manager there who is a nice guy.

 

Don't know much about Kamala and its tourists, however on the subject of spend, surely there has to be a few big spenders in amongst the dross that we are getting here?

 

As for the potential of "high-quality inexpensive Indian/Pakistani restaurants", well we have a few restaurants of that ilk, although not necessarily high quality, here in Patong, yet I've never had a meal in one which has absolutely blown me away (as I sometimes had in the UK or in NZ for that matter).

 

And as for the four restaurants in a row in soi Sansabai, I have eaten in two of them and they were okay, yet in the four times I have passed the new completely white restaurant, it has had nobody in it, and I'm not surprised as it is about as inviting as a morgue!

Opps, please not now. I mean the morgue. 

[fforest1]

I am sure there are lots of Indian restaurants in Phuket.....But in Pattaya there is just a ridiculous number of Indian restaurants...... 

[Ron jeremy]

1 hour ago, fforest1 said:

I am sure there are lots of Indian restaurants in Phuket.....But in Pattaya there is just a ridiculous number of Indian restaurants...... 

I am sure there are lots of Indians in Phuket, but in pattaya there is just a ridiculous number of Indians. 

Therefore the high number of restaurants perhaps?

[Destiny1990]

2 hours ago, Ron jeremy said:

I am sure there are lots of Indians in Phuket, but in pattaya there is just a ridiculous number of Indians. 

Therefore the high number of restaurants perhaps?

A ridiculous number of Indians in Pattaya? When did you see them?

Yes there are a bunch of Indian restaurants in Pattaya especially across from Central festival however doesn’t look like they got a profitable business and In Patong same same !

[sunnyboy2018]

On 6/28/2019 at 2:21 PM, sunnyboy2018 said:

There ate NO tuks tuks in Pattaya. There is no parking of any vehicles on the beach side of the road.

That is no private 4 wheeled vehicles and no vehicles at all on the beach side. 

[sunnyboy2018]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:51 AM, hansgruber said:

Soap and deodorant got me good. Lol

I was just Central and got a good whiff of a group I was walking behind. It was a Body odour cloud that I almost succumbed to. 

Deodorant must be against their religion or something. 

They think curry powder is deodorant. 

[xylophone]

On 8/28/2019 at 4:42 AM, sunnyboy2018 said:

They think curry powder is deodorant. 

Curry powder I can handle, but unwashed, bacteria filled sweaty orifices and armpits I cannot!

[xylophone]

Patong, a place of contrasts/contradictions?

 

I'll start with Nanai Road because it's a road I travel up and down extremely frequently to get to my apartment, and it is a road which was very popular with expats going back some 10 years and more, and I have to admit that I didn't go much on it when I first arrived here, but later grew to see that it had a sort of "charm" to it in one way or another.

 

It was popular with expats because there were plenty of bars and cheap accommodation, and it was also within walking distance of Bangla and its environs, and newly arriving expats, especially from the UK, felt almost at home in this place.

 

Now driving down Nanai last night at 8:30 PM I realised how much things have changed, and even so over the past few months – – the Italian restaurant in South Nanai, "Valerio and Antonio" was shut and has been mothballed or closed for a week or so now and it's not surprising as I never really saw anybody in there.

 

Driving past an empty Dons BBQ and completely gutted pool bar, then past an empty Quenchers (which I'm told serves good food, especially breakfasts), onto an empty Offshore Bar and the same with Long Time Bar, as well as the Backside Bistro, opposite of which a small guesthouse has closed, as has a shop next door, I felt a tinge of sadness because of the emptiness of the road, and it didn't help that the newly opened cafe 555 had nobody in it, yet again, but the surprise was the fact that the bar/restaurant "La Drinkeria" was closed again and I don't know whether it is because of the "low season" or the fact that the business has failed?

 

A restaurant which I consider to be a bit of "benchmark" of activity in the area, "Da Moreno" had just two people dining in it, but then again it could have been full earlier on and had just emptied out during my passing it, but I have seen it in a similar state just recently. 

 

Then there were a couple of "for sale/for rent" signs at premises in Soi Banzaan, and that whole area that I had just driven through had the smell of "abandonment/decay" about it.

 

Of course it's not helped by the fact that many of the expats, especially those from the UK, would be feeling the pinch with the strong baht, low pound and the new immigration rules and I do believe this has played a major part in the decline of this area, with them leaving or just not visiting any more.

 

Contrast that with my drive past the coach park next to Jungceylon, which was almost full of large new coaches, so somebody must be arriving here, and I reasoned that they must either be in Jungceylon shopping, or hitting the nightlife in Bangla.

 

The five restaurants in the little Soi which houses my favourite Italian restaurant were sparsely populated, and I noticed the large "Jaspal Tailor" shop had closed and was in the process of being gutted.

 

Elsewhere Bangla was about average for a typical low season night and the places which were most full of punters were those in which there were bands, although I must say a few of the smaller bars a little further down Bangla towards the beach did have a few customers, but it was patchy.

 

The "beer bars" in the regular haunts had more bar girls than customers and the comments from the girls in my regular bar which serves as a "window to the world" for me, was that things were very quiet and they pointed out that the many large groups of Indians and Chinese walking up and down, were spending nothing in any of the bars, although I did notice two young Chinese girls in the bar and a few more out on the street, so perhaps as someone has said previously, the younger Chinese are getting out and about and finding their freedom!?

 

The local Thais to whom I speak also paint a picture of doom and gloom, and on the one hand the large hotels and TAT stand by their statistics which may well be the case in some more upmarket areas, but is certainly not widespread.

 

I'm never sure whether folks who open new premises here think they have found the "secret weapon/location" or whether they are dreamers with no experience whatsoever and a Thai girlfriend in tow, and the latter would seem to fit the bill, this by virtue of the fact that a few of the places I have mentioned are relatively new, as is the almost always empty bar which has had several reincarnations, opposite the derelict "The Park", and the just completed "Harlekins" bar (south Nanai) which has been empty despite being ready for business for a couple of weeks now.

 

I, and others on here, have often said that this will be the crunch year for small businesses here and I am seeing that almost on a daily basis.
 

[LivinginKata]

Another excellent report xyl .... I have to agree with you about business along Nanai. It's a sad sight. No idea how our rental houses will fair this year. Not looking good. No serious enquiries so far. 

 

And I agree the latest round of Immigration retirement rules are forcing many folks out of Thailand, plus the strong baht/weak pound is crippling.

[metisdead]

A troll post and a reply has been removed. 

[xylophone]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

La Drinkeria" was closed again and I don't know whether it is because of the "low season" or the fact that the business has failed?

PS. Have just been nearby and it is now open, so not sure what the story is as have seen it closed on a number of occasions??

[schlog]

Also a sad example for small businesses is the ground floor in JC. Sure more then 20 shops closed and empty. Depression is spreading like cancer.

 

I'm sorry for the good normal hard working thais who suffer most for the stupidity of the guys who in control.

Also my friends who work in 5☆ hotels in Maikhao feel it. Their service charge was never low like this year.

 

Tops in old Central cut down the bakery again. Only 30% of the old size 5 years ago is left. It's symbolic for the numbers of farang here.

[Olmate]

6 minutes ago, schlog said:

 

 

Tops in old Central cut down the bakery again. Only 30% of the old size 5 years ago is left. It's symbolic for the numbers of farang here.

That would make for an interesting “pie graph”! Wonder if Lady Pie feels the same?

[xylophone]

47 minutes ago, schlog said:

Also a sad example for small businesses is the ground floor in JC. Sure more then 20 shops closed and empty. Depression is spreading like cancer.

Yes Schlog, the closures started off slowly and have picked up pace recently, sad to say.

 

Also the top floor of the main JC is struggling big time and a couple of the little "shops" have closed down, and one of the girls I was talking to has said that business is very bad. Lack of customers is obviously the main thing, but every one of those small places sells exactly the same things, or almost, and in addition, much can be bought in the likes of Big C a little cheaper.

 

On that note, I did notice a few similar style stores on the second floor of the old Central had also shut down, and on the few times I have visited the new Central extension, I haven't seen enough customers to be able to justify its existence, yet the Central Group still decided to build a small one in Patong, which is also suffering the same fate.

 

Some of the smaller places are learning a lesson the hard way.......that the numbers that TAT consistently quote do not equate to spend or quality.

[Lashay]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

On that note, I did notice a few similar style stores on the second floor of the old Central had also shut down,

Someone with small stall there told me central just increased a lot of rents

[madmitch]

I went to Jungceylon yesterday evening. It was fairly quiet but with quite a few people roaming. But what was evident to me was that the restaurant street was almost empty. It's always been overpriced - even the fast food outlets are more expensive there than anywhere else in Phuket - but most of those places had no more than two tables occupied, and this was at peak dining time.

 

I ate in Wine Connection, my table doubling the number of people in the place, but don't think I will again. The menu and food has gone downhill in the past year or so at all branches, or at least the ones I've been in. New owners trying to fix something that wasn't broken.

[xylophone]

16 minutes ago, madmitch said:

I went to Jungceylon yesterday evening. It was fairly quiet but with quite a few people roaming. But what was evident to me was that the restaurant street was almost empty. It's always been overpriced - even the fast food outlets are more expensive there than anywhere else in Phuket - but most of those places had no more than two tables occupied, and this was at peak dining time.

 

I ate in Wine Connection, my table doubling the number of people in the place, but don't think I will again. The menu and food has gone downhill in the past year or so at all branches, or at least the ones I've been in. New owners trying to fix something that wasn't broken.

From my observations MM it has been fairly quiet for some time now, and quite how the two Italian restaurants stay open is a mystery.........although it has been suggested that all is not exactly "kosher" with these two places as regards rents!!

 

As per your post........does the Wine Connection have new owners? Certainly the menu has become very limited as I went to eat there a couple of weeks ago and it had changed markedly with one of my favourites being removed!

 

[madmitch]

14 minutes ago, xylophone said:

From my observations MM it has been fairly quiet for some time now, and quite how the two Italian restaurants stay open is a mystery.........although it has been suggested that all is not exactly "kosher" with these two places as regards rents!!

 

As per your post........does the Wine Connection have new owners? Certainly the menu has become very limited as I went to eat there a couple of weeks ago and it had changed markedly with one of my favourites being removed!

 

The original French owner sold some time ago and the new owners expanded the chain but it took them a while to mess about with the menu too much. They probably were looking at profit margins on individual dishes before culling some and changing others. But they're getting the simple things wrong; just to use my Caesar salad as an example: dry chicken pieces, burnt bacon pieces and so little dressing you couldn't taste it. Not impressed.

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

The original French owner sold some time ago and the new owners expanded the chain but it took them a while to mess about with the menu too much. They probably were looking at profit margins on individual dishes before culling some and changing others. But they're getting the simple things wrong; just to use my Caesar salad as an example: dry chicken pieces, burnt bacon pieces and so little dressing you couldn't taste it. Not impressed.

 

We stopped dining at any of the Wine Connections outlets quite a few years ago. Food preparation standards fell short, service standards not so good, and they ain't so cheap. 

[fforest1]

On 9/16/2019 at 11:39 AM, LivinginKata said:

 

We stopped dining at any of the Wine Connections outlets quite a few years ago. Food preparation standards fell short, service standards not so good, and they ain't so cheap. 

The Wine Connections wines would not know what a bargain is if it ran over them....

[hansgruber]

On 9/16/2019 at 11:39 AM, LivinginKata said:

 

We stopped dining at any of the Wine Connections outlets quite a few years ago. Food preparation standards fell short, service standards not so good, and they ain't so cheap. 

The problem is that all the food is pre cooked or prepared in Bangkok now. One kitchen weighs it and sends the food to all the other branches across Thailand. 

It's just reheated garbage. Nothing is prepped locally.