Patong - The Wake

[xylophone]

On 10/17/2019 at 3:25 PM, Kopitiam said:

As xylophone said above "Never a dull moment".

Quite right Kopitiam, and as I have been prompted by another member who posts herein, I will give my latest update on my ventures out in Patong..............

 

I did notice that the digger/excavator was out again a couple of days ago in Nanai after heavy rainfall, lifting up the very heavy metal gratings that they put over the newly installed drains and hauling out tons and tons of sand again, again, again.

 

Then a little later on and further down the road they had decided to try and suck out the sand which had been washed down the drains into the lower part of Nanai and were completely blocking them.

 

So as I said previously, the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff mentality is still strong and I would DEARLY love to know where all this stuff comes from, because either someone owns a very large sandpit and it's rapidly being emptied, or the foundations of many houses are being washed away on a regular basis??

 

As others have said, there are more people about than of a few weeks ago and quite a few of them are Russians, and I have encountered a few whilst singing a few songs in one of the bars and although they appear to be very polite, they are also very drunk! As for the Chinese, well again, there are more about. But nowhere near the amount that were promised by various agencies. And the Indians abound in Bangla, not spending but just walking and looking, and holding hands (the men that is).

 

The hotel restaurant, "The Green Mango" is now closed and is up for lease and a very small Thai restaurant further north has also been closed down now for many months, which is a shame because it was quite reasonable. 

 

The adjoining rooms as part of a small guesthouse have been unable to be let, so the bottom floor has been turned into a motorcycle rental place, although it's not as if Patong is in need of any more of these, with one opposite closing just a month ago!

 

Just outside of Starbucks, at the Jungceylon/Banzaan entrance, a small juice kiosk which recently closed down has opened back up again and it would appear that payment of rent was a problem. To coincide with this, the Korean kiosk just a few metres away has also closed, but that is not surprising because I've never seen anybody eat there, so I thought its time was limited, and so it was.

 

Wandering through a completely rearranged Big C, which must've been designed by a madman, because nothing is easy to find and nothing is apparently where it should be....I asked one of the staff if they could direct me to a particular item, and they said yes it would be in the imported items section and pointed out where it was. However there were only a few imported items there, then there were more at another place further away, and yet again more at other places dotted everywhere.

 

And if you want an example of (IMO) stupidity, then go and look for the fresh vegetables (in particular tomatoes, lettuce, chilies etc) which are spread out across several display cabinets – – the same vegetables in different cabinets.

 

It is no wonder that I am starting to do more of my shopping at Villa Market and Central.

 

Whilst wandering around the supermarket I was walking past the fish counter and spied a young girl who was standing behind the rows of fish stacked up in the ice and her head and shoulders were just above the display, so imagine my surprise when she decided to sneeze, not once, not twice, not three times, but many times, without putting her hand over her nose and mouth, and directing all of this sneezing and whatever else went with it over the fish in front of her – – luckily I don't eat much fish!

 

Now onto something which I may get a bit of flack about: –

 

I remember when I first came here how I was having difficulty "getting my head around" old farangs dating and going out with/living with much younger Thai women. Then as I got to realise that it was more often than not a reciprocal thing, the farang was looked after and got what he wanted, and the Thai woman was also looked after and as well as getting some security and probably got money for her self and her family. So I reasoned that this "was part of life here".

 

However I never did come to terms with it completely and thought how lucky the old farangs were to be having these young women in tow.

 

Just a few days ago I encountered something which made me think again because I was introduced to an old guy, mid-60s or slightly older who had been living with an attractive Thai woman some 35 years younger, and he was almost beside himself because this woman had suddenly disappeared and he couldn't get in touch with her and he wondered if she had gone off with someone else, and he was devastated.

 

Well I looked at this chap and I could not feel sorry for him in any way, shape or form, because he was a scruffy looking individual, well overweight with a huge gut, wearing a dirty singlet which had large flabby tattooed arms and shoulders showing through, and sand shoes/flip-flops which should have been thrown away years ago, and housed some scruffy feet with dirty toenails.

 

By all accounts his girlfriend was smart and lovely, and it would appear that she was in it for the pecuniary angle, but surely the guy could have at least looked clean and well dressed and taken pride in his appearance, especially with someone like that in tow.

 

Surely it is easy to have some sort of pride in one's appearance, especially here when there is only a basic dress code required, and even the basics can be casually smart, but not in this case.

 

Perhaps he thinks he is a "hansum man" but surely a look in the mirror should convince him otherwise.

 

"Never a dull moment".
 

[Patong2]

Referring to Xylophone's last post about the revolting creature sneezing all over the fish at Big C.

 

3 weeks ago, we were having a coffee and a chinese man coughed and hoicked as he passed us and we could both feel the wet of his filth. Mrs P loudly adressed him and his ancestral lineage but he never even turned a hair, let alone tried to apologise, just absolutely oblivious how offensive he was to us let alone any scrupulously clean Thais he contaminated.

 

After suffering bad cold symptoms getting worse and worse and a flight home she eventually gave up and wennt to our doctor and was diagnosed with early signs of pneumonia as well. I caught it off her a week ago and we both have spent a week in bed for all the wrong reasons.

 

I used to laugh at the paper facemasks but I am not doing that now. There is no real answer to these and sadly Patong seems to have a lot of illnesses going around, especially dengue. 

 

 

[billythehat]

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 4:19 AM, xylophone said:

Hab Snip..

Quite where all this sand/grit/silt comes from is a mystery, unless the hills behind Nanai are made of sand (which I don't believe they are), yet time after time, after heavy rain, the same scenario plays out, and because of this one would have thought that the engineers/workmen would have tried to locate where this stuff comes from, or even why it happens, but critical thinking skills are not found often here, nor for that matter are normal thinking skills.

 

The origin of the increased sediment transport into an area may be erosion on land or activities in the water.

In rural areas, the erosion source is typically soil degradation by intensive or inadequate agricultural practices, leading to soil erosion, especially in fine-grained soils. The result will be an increased amount of silt and clay in the water bodies that drain the area. In urban areas, the erosion source is typically construction activities, which involve clearing the original land-covering vegetation and temporarily creating something akin to an urban desert from which fines are easily washed out during rainstorms and into the surface water system in Patong. On higher elevations around Patong where there has been extensive remodelling of the existing terrain to facilitate new highways/infrastructure, fines in the exposed soil will be washed into the gravity surface water sewers and accumulate downstream. Where most drainage systems are designed to be self-cleaning to mitigate silting up, I doubt this has happened in Patong mainly due to the city Engineers failure to take into account the network required to cover the over-development of the city. But let’s not get lost in the details here…

[Old Croc]

On 10/27/2019 at 2:23 PM, Patong2 said:

Referring to Xylophone's last post about the revolting creature sneezing all over the fish at Big C.

 

3 weeks ago, we were having a coffee and a chinese man coughed and hoicked as he passed us and we could both feel the wet of his filth. Mrs P loudly adressed him and his ancestral lineage but he never even turned a hair, let alone tried to apologise, just absolutely oblivious how offensive he was to us let alone any scrupulously clean Thais he contaminated.

 

After suffering bad cold symptoms getting worse and worse and a flight home she eventually gave up and wennt to our doctor and was diagnosed with early signs of pneumonia as well. I caught it off her a week ago and we both have spent a week in bed for all the wrong reasons.

 

I used to laugh at the paper facemasks but I am not doing that now. There is no real answer to these and sadly Patong seems to have a lot of illnesses going around, especially dengue. 

 

 

Influenza Type A is going around at the moment. I know of several people who were afflicted and the hospitals are crowded.

[xylophone]

On 10/28/2019 at 8:49 PM, billythehat said:

In rural areas, the erosion source is typically soil degradation by intensive or inadequate agricultural practices, leading to soil erosion, especially in fine-grained soils. The result will be an increased amount of silt and clay in the water bodies that drain the area. In urban areas, the erosion source is typically construction activities, which involve clearing the original land-covering vegetation and temporarily creating something akin to an urban desert from which fines are easily washed out during rainstorms and into the surface water system in Patong.

Thank you for your detailed information on the subject BTH, most enlightening, thank you.

And the reason I write again is because after the recent very heavy rains, the diggers were out in force yet again.

 

I had watched a lot of the soil/mud cascade down the hillsides from a position on my balcony, so I can see that this soil/mud is the cause of one part of the problem, as you have said, but further up Nanai, the excavators were again lifting out bucket upon bucket of sand, not mud or soil, but sand pure and simple, so I wonder where that is coming from? Literally, there would have to have been tons of it over the years.

 

Not only do I wonder where it is coming from, but I know it has been happening for a few years now, so are we going to see a whole bunch of houses fall down the hill, or the Hasip Pee road disappear as well?

[beechbum]

It's been happening for a lot more than a few years.

[billythehat]

7 hours ago, xylophone said:

Thank you for your detailed information on the subject BTH, most enlightening, thank you.

And the reason I write again is because after the recent very heavy rains, the diggers were out in force yet again.

 

I had watched a lot of the soil/mud cascade down the hillsides from a position on my balcony, so I can see that this soil/mud is the cause of one part of the problem, as you have said, but further up Nanai, the excavators were again lifting out bucket upon bucket of sand, not mud or soil, but sand pure and simple, so I wonder where that is coming from? Literally, there would have to have been tons of it over the years.

 

Not only do I wonder where it is coming from, but I know it has been happening for a few years now, so are we going to see a whole bunch of houses fall down the hill, or the Hasip Pee road disappear as well?

It’s possible that a fair proportion of that sand has come down along with the soil you mentioned. Sand (fines) is part of the soil matrix combining clay and other components (loam) that make up the soil layer above a strata of impermeable rock formation. Excavation and heavy rainfall will separate these elements as noted in my previous email. Any excess sand noted in drainage systems should be investigated to source, the mitigations should start there and appropriate action taken against the ….hang on, whatever was I thinking…I’ll get me coat. ????

[LivinginKata]

41 minutes ago, billythehat said:

It’s possible that a fair proportion of that sand has come down along with the soil you mentioned. Sand (fines) is part of the soil matrix combining clay and other components (loam) that make up the soil layer above a strata of impermeable rock formation. Excavation and heavy rainfall will separate these elements as noted in my previous email. Any excess sand noted in drainage systems should be investigated to source, the mitigations should start there and appropriate action taken against the ….hang on, whatever was I thinking…I’ll get me coat. ????

 

It's clear to me that the development on the hill above Nanai and the the removal of trees and vegetation has loosened up the soil and caused massive soil erosion.  

[xylophone]

13 hours ago, billythehat said:

Any excess sand noted in drainage systems should be investigated to source, the mitigations should start there and appropriate action taken against the........

Almost forget that TIT Billy..........silly boy!!

[billythehat]

19 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

It's clear to me that the development on the hill above Nanai and the the removal of trees and vegetation has loosened up the soil and caused massive soil erosion.  

Sir, you are, uncharacteristically, correct to allude to what is happening on the hill. If I can make my annual sojourn to Lalaland this Christmas to avail myself to the delights of the Temples, Thai food, friendly locals, etc. I’ll have a quick butchers around the affected areas and see what may be occurring here. I think the locals may be missing a trick with all that excess sand; set-up a couple of stalls around the silted-up chambers, take out a few scoops of the ‘special’ Thai sand and pour into egg timers and sundry tourist tat and flog it to the tourists. Add a few food carts and hey, it’s a win-win biznit!

 

A quick note on building on soil slopes; there are several standard remedies we can apply to stabilize slopes that avoid such occurrences and comply with building control. Whether this applies there and is built into the design may be open to discussion. Freak/extreme weather will always be a problem that can only be factored to agreed limits in design calculations and, unfortunately, disasters around the world will continue. However, where it is avoidable and loss of life occurs, there really is no excuse.

[xylophone]

I think it would be fair to say that the majority of the farangs who live here and have done so for some time, are predicting that this so-called "high season" will not live up to its nomenclature.

 

It's not just hearsay, but in my case and that of many others I know, they have spoken to small businesses, bar owners and other folks involved in the tourism/entertainment industry, and overall, spend has been poor, even if TAT are extolling the virtues of their marketing campaigns bringing more tourists into Patong.

 

Given the above it still amazes me that there are folks out there who will ditch what seems to be common sense and plunge headfirst into a new venture – – maybe it's something about the place which instills some sort of madness into people??

 

Points in question: – 

– a new cafe/bar has opened up in the south end of Nanai, where several previous ones have failed.

– It is opposite another bar which recently opened in place of several other previously failed ventures.

– A guy and his Thai wife whom I know, are currently looking to buy a restaurant here, even though they own another business, but have been amazed at the prices being asked for the equivalent of a one-room shop house. One example is for a room just about big enough to swing a cat, for which the current owner wants 100,000 baht per annum key money and 23,000 baht per month rent – – and it's not in a particularly good location either. Anyway, quite why they are looking to buy something when there are plenty of others around the place which are struggling big time, is beyond me.

– A juice bar outside of Jungceylon has closed again, and it sits a short way away from the Korean food kiosk which has also closed, but looks like it is being renovated (some other poor sucker perhaps).

– And despite there being a light on in the La Drinkeria bar/restaurant a few days ago, everything has gone quiet again, so I fear the worst for this venture.

 

There are plenty of other places that have closed or are feeling the pinch, yet there always seems to be some sucker out there willing to take a punt on sinking money into something which has never worked in the past, and looks likely to never work in the future!

 

Aside from the above, there are a few more people milling around than in the recent past, and that's not surprising given that this place is a holiday destination, however a regular visitor here decided to meet up with a friend at a bar in OTOP and was taken aback by how few people were there, something he's never seen the like of before, this despite there being many new bars being built.

 

As has been noted, there are more Indians here than there ever have been before and true to form, I saw three of them arguing with a massage shop owner, who was quickly losing her cool with them, as it seemed that they wanted a lower price for the services offered, and she was not having any of it whatsoever, gesticulating wildly as well as being in their face, which is unusual for a Thai lady. 

 

So we have perhaps a predicament which sums up this place – – an influx of cheap tourists who are not prepared to spend much; greedy Thai landlords who are asking far too much for their rabbit-hutch shop spaces; the Thai lady who wants to open and run a business here, despite having no knowledge of how it works or doing any research into it, and the occasional farang who left his brain in the toilet on the aeroplane on the way over and wants to "support" his new-found love by buying a business for them, and there are few of them around and I have mentioned previous examples, so no need to go into that again.

 

Alongside all of that and the feedback which is coming from the half empty guest houses and small hotels, sparsely populated restaurants and bars, and taxi and motorbike drivers whom I know, there are still some new, albeit smaller, guesthouse type properties being built – – go figure.
 

[xylophone]

  I am sure that @Patong2 and maybe a few others will be pleased to know that La Drinkeria is now officially open again, with opening times from 4 pm til 11 or 12 pm (not sure on that).

 

It appears that the farang and Thai owner decided to close it down for the "low season" and are now getting ready for the "high season" onslaught..........hmmm.

 

More people around at the moment, and one lovely little story from a manager at one of the larger hotels here, although not positioning itself as such, when the maid who was attending to a room rented by an Indian family kept reporting to her superior that the crockery and cutlery had to be replaced every day, because they were missing whenever she went into clean the room.

 

This went on until this family were due to check-out and the manager and a couple of security guys took them to one side and wanted to check their bags, which they duly did.......and found the cutlery and the crockery from several days, as well as a few, glasses and would you believe a pillow and a blanket!!!

 

Perhaps the budget Indian airlines are advertising the trips to Patong as a wonderful opportunity for the visitors to restock their homes back in India?????? 

 

On a related subject, I was speaking to the lady owner of a small jewelry and trinket shop whom I have known for 12 years, about business, and how it was going for her........and her answer was "no good".

 

She then offered a different take on things here saying that the government was to blame for making her and many of her friends who owned small businesses here, unhappy!

 

I questioned her on how that could be possible, and her answer was that the government was responsible for trying to get Indian tourists over here, and all they ever did (if indeed she had some pass by) was to go and look in her shop, handle the goods and try and beat her down on price, making her very unhappy indeed, and for this usually chirpy and cheeky lady to be really feeling "down in the dumps", then times must be hard and I felt so sorry for her.

[GeorgeCross]

On 11/5/2019 at 6:15 PM, xylophone said:

Given the above it still amazes me that there are folks out there who will ditch what seems to be common sense and plunge headfirst into a new venture – – maybe it's something about the place which instills some sort of madness into people??

 

well faced with eventually running out of money and returning home most, if they have some spare cash, will have a punt with a business to stay here. afterall the upside is they get to stay here forever.. and the downside is they'd lose 500K or so and have to return home anyway, but back home they can quickly earn it back again

 

oh and one thing about business you only need ONE working business to be successful and this will prompt entrepreneurs to try multiple endeavours searching for their winning ticket

 

[madmitch]

I took a rare visit to Soi Bangla on Saturday night with five friends over from the UK.

 

The first thing I noticed was the number of touts with their boards advertising pingpong shows and f***ing shows, the latter being an ad I'd rarely seen before but now pretty common. Russians and Middle Easterners were joining in the fun advertising their own venues. I'm sure they all have work permits!

 

The second impression was that of noise. There was hardly a spot on the whole Soi where you weren't bombarded with exceptionally loud music, generally from one of the newer, larger, glitzier bars that now seem prevalent at the Rat-U-Thit end of the street, attracting a totally different crowd from the older bars at the beach end, though taking a seat in Kangaroo Bar, always my place of choice to start an evening, the drum and bass music from the new Pumpui Bar opposite made conversation difficult.

 

In general Bangla was busier than I'd expected with the aforementioned bars at the beach end doing a decent trade and the live music bars also pretty busy, especially New York. The beer bars in Soi Freedom and Tiger were quite busy at the front but practically empty as you went further inside. As a group of six we were in demand as soon as we entered such Sois and complexes being pulled into places we had no intention of going to. They seem desperate for customers and the couple of places I went to had very persistent girls trying to get drinks. My friends obliged but as a grumpy old git who basically dislikes this type of establishment I sat there nursing my Chang!

 

Soi Seadragon seems to have new places open but as I have been ripped off before I tend only to use the Suzy Wongs establishments, the original still being the best of the gogo bars in my opinion. And it seems many agreed as it was very busy, with much of the clientelle being Indian. Still good fun as I rarely visit such pIaces these days and my friends certainly enjoyed the show; I just wish they obeyed the non-smoking laws in there!

 

Returning back to Bangla itself, I'd soon had enough and left before midnight leaving some of my friends to spend their hard earned cash on overpriced beer and even more excessively priced lady drinks. They're on holiday!

 

I go rarely enough to see many changes every time I go, not for the better for us older guys as bars are definitely tending to cater for a younger crowd. I enjoy it, noise excepted, for three hours or so but that's enough these days!

[xylophone]

On 11/11/2019 at 9:08 AM, madmitch said:

I took a rare visit to Soi Bangla on Saturday night with five friends over from the UK.

 

The first thing I noticed was the number of touts with their boards advertising pingpong shows and f***ing shows, the latter being an ad I'd rarely seen before but now pretty common. Russians and Middle Easterners were joining in the fun advertising their own venues. I'm sure they all have work permits!

 

The second impression was that of noise. There was hardly a spot on the whole Soi where you weren't bombarded with exceptionally loud music, generally from one of the newer, larger, glitzier bars that now seem prevalent at the Rat-U-Thit end of the street, attracting a totally different crowd from the older bars at the beach end, though taking a seat in Kangaroo Bar, always my place of choice to start an evening, the drum and bass music from the new Pumpui Bar opposite made conversation difficult.

 

In general Bangla was busier than I'd expected with the aforementioned bars at the beach end doing a decent trade and the live music bars also pretty busy, especially New York. The beer bars in Soi Freedom and Tiger were quite busy at the front but practically empty as you went further inside. As a group of six we were in demand as soon as we entered such Sois and complexes being pulled into places we had no intention of going to. They seem desperate for customers and the couple of places I went to had very persistent girls trying to get drinks. My friends obliged but as a grumpy old git who basically dislikes this type of establishment I sat there nursing my Chang!

 

Soi Seadragon seems to have new places open but as I have been ripped off before I tend only to use the Suzy Wongs establishments, the original still being the best of the gogo bars in my opinion. And it seems many agreed as it was very busy, with much of the clientelle being Indian. Still good fun as I rarely visit such pIaces these days and my friends certainly enjoyed the show; I just wish they obeyed the non-smoking laws in there!

 

Returning back to Bangla itself, I'd soon had enough and left before midnight leaving some of my friends to spend their hard earned cash on overpriced beer and even more excessively priced lady drinks. They're on holiday!

 

I go rarely enough to see many changes every time I go, not for the better for us older guys as bars are definitely tending to cater for a younger crowd. I enjoy it, noise excepted, for three hours or so but that's enough these days!

Nice post @madmitch

and generally reflects what I have found on my visits out and about in Bangla.

 

It seems like we have some of the same tastes in bars and music and although I'm not a big beer drinker I do appreciate a nice beer occasionally, but in a bar where you can hear one another speak, but unfortunately those are extremely hard to find these days.

 

I have said it before, but I believe the sois like Tiger and Freedom, as well as Sea Dragon to a certain extent, have to be close to being totally unprofitable for the bar owners, and your observations would tend to back that up.

 

Outside of Bangla, I've noticed that although there are more people about, the small business owners I have spoken to are still not that optimistic about what is to come, much of that judging on what has just gone and what they are experiencing at the moment.

 

Having said that, as I was driving about today I did notice that some of the bars in Nanai do have bums on barstools, not many, but better than none, and as if to counterbalance that, the juice kiosk outside of Starbucks Jungceylon looks to have closed again after closing and reopening, and the Korean kiosk looks like getting another lease of life as paint is being applied to the outside and I can't make out whether it's going to be Korean or Chinese!

 

On the whole Jungceylon is not that busy and on level 3 there are still a few empty shops/stalls, but nowhere near as bad as the second floor in Central where 25 of these shops/stalls have closed down!!

 

Also noticeable in Jungceylon is the fact that one of the larger property investment booths has downsized quite markedly, whereas out and about I have noticed the Outside People Chasers (OPCs) are back on the road again, stopping people and trying to entice them to take a free scratch ticket to see if they have won anything, which if they have would enable them to attend a property seminar, with the chance of a large prize being awarded.

 

Of course the established folk here know that this is a big ruse and that every card is a winner and its no more than a prospecting tool to try and get people to seminars where they can be pressured into signing something.

 

And the beat goes on...........

 

[Patong2]

Well there is no denying it, the high season has started

and with good numbers. Crowds everywhere and the traffic!!!

Seems to be more Russians back but all nationalities seem up in number.

 

Travelling in and out of Patong you seem to strike heavy traffic most times of the day.

 

Our usual restaurants are fuller but will it translate into spends in the bars of Bangla?

They are the lifeblood of the old flavour of Patong which sadly, is in danger of vanishing.

[xylophone]

5 hours ago, Patong2 said:

Well there is no denying it, the high season has started

and with good numbers. Crowds everywhere and the traffic!!!

Seems to be more Russians back but all nationalities seem up in number.

 

Travelling in and out of Patong you seem to strike heavy traffic most times of the day.

 

Our usual restaurants are fuller but will it translate into spends in the bars of Bangla?

They are the lifeblood of the old flavour of Patong which sadly, is in danger of vanishing.

Yes, P2, we'll have to agree with you on that as I was out on Saturday night and Bangla was heaving, and a few of the bars were busy, but perhaps more people walking about than actually spending money?

 

There were about 20+ people in the little Italian restaurant in which I was dining, however when I passed La Drinkeria that night and on a couple of other occasions, it had six customers in it one time and none on others, so I believe that will struggle for this coming high season.

 

The likes of Soi Freedom and Tiger, I don't believe, will ever return to their previous popularity with regards to punters, and certainly the Aussie bar will never, because of the fact that the right-hand facing side of the bar has been sublet, so they were obviously feeling the pinch.

 

A friend has just returned from Europe after being away for six months and yesterday was commenting on the fact that during the daytime at least, he did not consider it anywhere near as busy as it has been in the past. Also interesting, he complained that on two nights he was ordered out of Taipan at precisely 2 am in the morning, at the urging of police, who were adamant that the place had to close??

 

Initially I thought that there might be a crackdown and the fat brown envelopes were not doing their job, however a friend has suggested that maybe it's the police from Bangkok who are in town at the moment doing their stuff – – and that seems more likely, as that does happen from time to time.

 

The small business owners/shop-owners and even the property booths are having a hard time of it, although as Patong2 has said, there are more people about.........but it's about the spend, and as if to back that up, a friend who sells businesses here was talking to a couple of Russians who were interested in opening up a small hotel, but with the amount of money they had available it would have been lucky to have bought them a miniature condo, so wealthy they were not!

 

I was in a popular bar in Bangla on Saturday night and a group of about 10 to 12 women (average age around 30-35 perhaps) came into listen to the music and watch a few dancers, however there were only about four or five drinks bought between the lot of them, so the bar was not going to get fat on the profits from that group, and I think that seems to be mirrored in many places.

 

Perhaps evening and night times is where it all takes place, because Jungceylon and its environs, despite being busier than they have been recently, are nowhere near enough to swell the bank accounts of the small business owners.

[Patong2]

This 2am closing thing I don't understand.

I went up Bangla Rd at 6.15am this morning and there were loads of people coming out of the night clubs on the north side of Bangla (is that where Illusion is now?)

 

Bangla is real interesting at that time of the morning and when you get down the beach, it is just so beautiful. It still excites me every morning with that panorama.

 

What has happened to the cruise ships? Saw 2 together about 5 days ago but none since. If I recall correctly we were getting them nearly everyday at this time last year.

 

Any idea what the new development up hill at the south end of Patong beach is (past Amari and on the left towards Tri Trang)? They have destroyed one of my favourite patches of jungle unfortunately. Walking up the hill it was great to see the odd squirrel and have an excuse to stop and watch these energetic little creatures.

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, Patong2 said:

<snip>

What has happened to the cruise ships? Saw 2 together about 5 days ago but none since. If I recall correctly we were getting them nearly everyday at this time last year.

 

 

Usual only Monday and Thurday regulars. Other cruisers tend to be specials.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Patong2 said:

This 2am closing thing I don't understand.

For some years now, the bars etc have closed at about 2 am (or perhaps it was 3 am at one time) when the so-called "Bangkok police" have paid a visit to Patong, and the bar owners get the nod from the local BIB that this is about to happen, so it's not a new thing but I haven't seen it of late I have to say.

[Old Croc]

3 hours ago, Patong2 said:

What has happened to the cruise ships? Saw 2 together about 5 days ago but none since. If I recall correctly we were getting them nearly everyday at this time last year.

One came in to the deep sea port a day or so ago:

 

[Patong2]

20 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

One came in to the deep sea port a day or so ago:

 

 

Where the heck was that?

Great photos

[LivinginKata]

6 minutes ago, Patong2 said:

 

Where the heck was that?

https://www.thephuketnews.com/passengers-on-stricken-cruise-ship-safe-navy-to-assist-immediate-repairs-73746.php#OKjoeDPOJ3QW3KBt.97

[Patong2]

Well I missed that

 

A case of "be careful what you wish for" I suppose

 

Thanks

[xylophone]

14 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

https://www.thephuketnews.com/passengers-on-stricken-cruise-ship-safe-navy-to-assist-immediate-repairs-73746.php#OKjoeDPOJ3QW3KBt.97

Thanks LiK........I have to say that when I saw the pic that Old Croc posted I thought there was something wrong and the ship seemed to be listing, but I posted nothing because my knowledge of ships/ports and the like is very limited!

[xylophone]

On 11/26/2019 at 11:08 AM, Patong2 said:

Our usual restaurants are fuller but will it translate into spends in the bars of Bangla?

They are the lifeblood of the old flavour of Patong which sadly, is in danger of vanishing.

I have been out to Bangla a few times, and out and about in general, many times, but there is not too much new to write about!

 

True enough there are more people around then there were a few months ago, but in truth, nowhere near the amount there have been in the past and it’s just not from my observation, it’s also from talking to many small business owners.

 

The Chinese are here, but in nowhere near the numbers they have been previously, but I have seen more Indian raiding parties than previously, although none of them have visited the totally white Indian restaurant in Soi Sansabai and I think it’s all but closed at the moment. Never seemed to work from day one!

 

Of course with the drop in tourists comes the drop in the number of people who would perhaps be looking for holiday homes here and the property booths are struggling big time on this. It would appear, on feedback from a few girls, that not only has the size of some of the booths been scaled back, but the hours they are required to work have increased a little.

 

Some of the girls are finding it difficult to get the appointments with which they are targeted, and this is a concern, even with the more “outgoing” ones who regularly try to chat with passers-by.

 

There are a few more closed roller-blind shops around the place and on the whole everywhere is still suffering to one degree or another.

 

Amongst all of this there is the “good, the bad, and the ugly”!

 

The good was that on my last visit to Soi Freedom there were quite a few punters in the place and that must have pleased the bar owners, because they’ve had some extremely lean times, but some bars are still empty though!

 

The bad being that even Thai friends I have here are struggling and I find it so despairing that I cannot do anything to help them in their situation.

 

As for the ugly, well I know a guy who has decided to open a bar in what was the old car park off Soi Sansabai and behind the boxing stadium, which at the moment has a few bars dotted around the place with just a few drunks in them as the night wears on into early morning, but nowhere near any custom to be able to keep anyone in profit, BUT, there is always someone who is willing to give it a go and whether it’s a case of “Go boy, yes you can do it” or someone having a “brain fart” I do believe the outcome will be the same.

 

Lastly on a positive note, I discovered a lovely little massage place, complete with a sauna or two in Nanai Road, right opposite Makro and where Dons pool bar was, and next to the Tesco minimart, called Pualang 2.

 

Well I must have driven past that place a thousand times and never noticed it, but it had a promotion on a sign outside of it, so that did catch my attention – – “30 minute herbal sauna, followed by body scrub and massage” for a total of two hours and costing 950 baht.

 

I had been sick last weekend, what with throwing up and spending hours on the toilet, then sweating profusely and then shivering as if I was sitting in the Arctic, and this lasted for about four days, during which time I took loads of painkillers/anti-inflammatories/codeine etc to try and get some respite and it is just about now out of my system, and I thought a damn good sauna and massage might be just what I needed. So I booked the two hour promotional package and it was sublime – – the place was immaculate inside, had a few lovely small saunas which would probably seat three each, and individual massage tables as well as showers and toilets.

 

I can highly recommend it if you are looking for something just a little bit special.

[London Lowf]

Let me add…..

 

On my far-too-frequent visits to Bangla I tend to park at Banzaan, grab some food, and then walk down Sansabai. What a difference since they’ve set up barriers and eliminated 90% of the traffic! It is now a doddle to stroll along there as they have also eliminated the crazy parking, but where on earth does everyone leave their bikes now? I still never have a problem near Banzaan so it’s not around there.

 

Regarding the new “entertainment area” next to JungCeylon, I remember having a couple of drinks as the sole customer at the very first bar two years ago (IIRC) and thinking what an odd place to setup a business? I use it as a shortcut to Sansabai both going to and returning from Bangla and, apart from “My Bar” on the corner that had some very hot young things last year, the entire area was/is always dead.

 

It’s a shame because the live music bar at the back near the toilets has far and away the best band I have ever seen in Phuket – in fact, it’s the only one that I bother going to. The lead guitarist is highly talented and they manage to do a set without finding it necessary to insert the f-word at every opportunity like some on Bangla.  He also does that classic audience favourite of leaving the stage and posing with various punters while he’s playing.

 

Contrast that with the awful racket that comes from the venue next to Sea Dragon Bar – it is one of my favourite bars as it’s fun to watch the freelancers at work opposite but some nights I just cannot tolerate the intrusive noise – is it karaoke, because it certainly sounds very amateurish?

 

Another of my favourites used to be Aussie Bar – for the very reason that it seems to be struggling. I don’t think that they’ve ever felt the need to try to appeal to the mongers and it’s one of the few bars where the staff do not hustle you for drinks although this year I have noticed that many of those on the main drag seem to let me get on with my beer and people-watching with the minimum of pestering. Sadly, the now-vacant section is a bit of an eyesore and it is not a comfortable place to pass the time – how much time and money would it take to make it look at least presentable? Some hording with a lick of paint would be a vast improvement.

 

And what has happened to Tiger? I could justify B140 a pop for warm beer for the entertainment provided by the very athletic and talented pole-dancers of yesteryear. Sadly, they seem to have all vanished (or retired, more likely!) as the girls now just do the standard disinterested posing and barely twitch a buttock! Not tempted.

 

Maybe it’s just me getting older, but this visit I don’t think that there is going to be much to entice me to spend more than beer money on Bangla!

 

[LivinginKata]

My report as a small scale business home rental owner in Patong and Kata, rentings are way down, as in 50% down. We were surprised to be almost full last year. But not this year. Very quiet. Small shop renters will not survive this so called high season.  

 

 

[Lashay]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

As for the ugly, well I know a guy who has decided to open a bar in what was the old car park off Soi Sansabai and behind the boxing stadium, which at the moment has a few bars dotted around the place with just a few drunks in them as the night wears on into early morning, but nowhere near any custom to be able to keep anyone in profit, BUT, there is always someone who is willing to give it a go and whether it’s a case of “Go boy, yes you can do it” or someone having a “brain fart” I do believe the outcome will be the same.

 

 

 

 

With the bars in san sansabai carpark, not hard for them to make money if they have any kind of history (clients) here, some have rents as low as 10k per month they only need few customers per night, though the hours some are pulling are just plain crazy, know one owner there rarely closes before 7-8am and regularly goes until midday, then is back there for 8pm. She looks permanently wrecked these days.

[xylophone]

12 hours ago, Lashay said:

 

 

With the bars in san sansabai carpark, not hard for them to make money if they have any kind of history (clients) here, some have rents as low as 10k per month they only need few customers per night, though the hours some are pulling are just plain crazy, know one owner there rarely closes before 7-8am and regularly goes until midday, then is back there for 8pm. She looks permanently wrecked these days.

So if working all hours and catering for the early morning stragglers/drunks is the m/o then either a sure way to an early death, or going bust (but as you suggest, perhaps a few lucky ones do ok)........not a good option IMO. And I don't think my friend is contemplating those sort of hours!

 

Have been through there a few times between 1 and 2 am and it is still fairly deserted apart from a few revellers in the Hippy Road Bar.