Patong - The Wake

[DrDave]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Well DD, I very much doubt that it would be a "peaceful and private setting/beautiful quiet oasis" as it is just about in the middle of a nightclub (actually just one side but an integral part of it all the same)!

 

Wouldn't surprise me if the Yorkshire was bought by Taipan's owners, as they had plenty of money to go around because of the previous decades of good times for the club – – but now?

 

"The pool area at the Yorkshire was a beautiful, quiet oasis - just steps off of Soi Sansabai, but well designed and landscaped to provide a peaceful and private setting."

 

"was" being the operative word regarding pool aesthetics in this situation!

 

[beechbum]

13 hours ago, xylophone said:

Well DD, I very much doubt that it would be a "peaceful and private setting/beautiful quiet oasis" as it is just about in the middle of a nightclub (actually just one side but an integral part of it all the same)!

 

Wouldn't surprise me if the Yorkshire was bought by Taipan's owners, as they had plenty of money to go around because of the previous decades of good times for the club – – but now?

Leased.

[xylophone]

Some odd snippets to go on the forum whilst we are waiting for better times/or not, although there's not a lot happening around the place, I did notice that the little bar/restaurant in Nanai called "Pen and Franks Cocktails" which has been there for ever and usually shut down in the low season, was today being emptied out of all its furniture and fittings, so I fear the worst for that Nanai icon.

 

Yet at the same time, and just north a few metres, and on the opposite side of the road, a bar has sprung up in what was formerly a nice little restaurant called, "Backside Bistro", and it doesn't look like an eatery at the moment, but who knows, and if it is just a pure drinking establishment, then it is right next to the "Longtime Bar" (possibly the same owner??) so that will be interesting.

 

Last week, just about all of the bars shut around midnight, give or take 15 minutes or so, so it will be interesting to see happens this evening when I wander out to catch up with a couple of friends.

 

I had to have a wry smile this afternoon in Big C when they were blurting out Chinese music (Chinese New Year or thereabouts?) with no more than a handful of customers in the place at the most, and not one of them looked anything like he/she had Chinese heritage! Perhaps they were hoping for a few busloads to turn up from Bangkok?

 

The shops on the left hand side of what was called the middle road, have started to be demolished, either that or they are falling down of their own volition and the place looks a complete mess.

 

Just behind that and just inside of Soi Sansabai is where a new bar was constructed (and a double one at that) which was supposed to be the first bar to herald the start of the new construction of bars on a very large space of flat and empty ground, one to rival Bangla by all accounts, but after a couple of months, it appears to have closed, or at least it has moved to what used to be called "Wicked Bar".

 

Not surprising really because just one bar on a huge flat empty piece of ground, stuck out like the proverbial racing dogs' goolies and was hardly going to be a crowd puller (in my opinion).

 

I have spoken to a couple of farangs who have managed to come back in from  overseas and have completed the 15 day quarantine, with one saying that it was awful, and the other saying that the food and service in the hotel in Bangkok was very poor, so he complained and was upgraded, and from then on enjoyed a big room and great food!

 

Looks like the secret is to complain!
 

[Agusts]

Bangla and Patong bars are all open way past 12 now, still going around 2am when I left..., Illusion and Suger discos also open, plus Tai Pan...

 

Strangely though all bars in Kamala still shut exactly at 12 for some reason,  I'm told the police comes right on time and asked them to close - didn't they get the memo I guess...!? ????????

 

Jungceylon shops are really not doing any business, I always saw them open but never went in, the other day I was looking for something and went inside of quite a few , but mostly not much stock really, so even if the customers come they have little choice...????

 

[LivinginKata]

The closure of the 7s and Family Marts continues. See a couple more closed on Nanai Rd. Here in Kata, 2 closed at the weekend. Some look the moth balled, other cleaned out.

 

Sign of the long time times .... not good

[xylophone]

6 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

The closure of the 7s and Family Marts continues. See a couple more closed on Nanai Rd. Here in Kata, 2 closed at the weekend. Some look the moth balled, other cleaned out.

 

Sign of the long time times .... not good

Yes the big Family Mart adjacent to a 7-11 on the Nanai/Banzaan corner has gone, but wondered why they put the two so close in the first place!

 

The new bar just a little south of this in Nanai is called "The Rock Bar".......right next to "The Longtime Bar"??

[schlog]

32 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

The closure of the 7s and Family Marts continues. See a couple more closed on Nanai Rd. Here in Kata, 2 closed at the weekend. Some look the moth balled, other cleaned out.

 

Sign of the long time times .... not good

Central Patong also closed. Looks like they not believe in chinese new year boom. Was there 2 days ago and Tops cleared off all but not 1 reduced beer wine or whisky. Suckers. Byebye see you again in 2022.

[redwood1]

On 2/1/2021 at 5:16 PM, schlog said:

Central Patong also closed. Looks like they not believe in chinese new year boom. Was there 2 days ago and Tops cleared off all but not 1 reduced beer wine or whisky. Suckers. Byebye see you again in 2022.

I have not seen any specials or clearance prices on beer or wine in Thailand for about 2 years now.....Maybe they have a law against discounting alcohol now?........Go into ANY grocery store and look at all those boxes of wine collecting dust.......A great time for a 20% off or 10% off or 5% off.....Nope......Its a great time for a 0% discount...lol

[xylophone]

36 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

I have not seen any specials or clearance prices on beer or wine in Thailand for about 2 years now.....Maybe they have a law against discounting alcohol now?........Go into ANY grocery store and look at all those boxes of wine collecting dust.......A great time for a 20% off or 10% off or 5% off.....Nope......Its a great time for a 0% discount...lol

I spoke to the general manager of Big C a while ago about this, and as you infer, alcohol is not allowed to be promoted, so you won't see any "specials" advertised, but what you will see if you look carefully is that the price of the wine has been discounted (looking at the little pricetag).

 

That's why whenever I go to a supermarket, I carefully inspect the pricetags to see if anything has been reduced, and a few times I've been lucky, and even now in the Big C at Patong there is a Chianti on the shelves, which has been reduced from about 799 to 399 baht a bottle!

[Yahooka]

On 1/30/2021 at 12:12 PM, xylophone said:

Some odd snippets to go on the forum whilst we are waiting for better times/or not, although there's not a lot happening around the place, I did notice that the little bar/restaurant in Nanai called "Pen and Franks Cocktails" which has been there for ever and usually shut down in the low season, was today being emptied out of all its furniture and fittings, so I fear the worst for that Nanai icon.

 

Yet at the same time, and just north a few metres, and on the opposite side of the road, a bar has sprung up in what was formerly a nice little restaurant called, "Backside Bistro", and it doesn't look like an eatery at the moment, but who knows, and if it is just a pure drinking establishment, then it is right next to the "Longtime Bar" (possibly the same owner??) so that will be interesting.

 

Last week, just about all of the bars shut around midnight, give or take 15 minutes or so, so it will be interesting to see happens this evening when I wander out to catch up with a couple of friends.

 

I had to have a wry smile this afternoon in Big C when they were blurting out Chinese music (Chinese New Year or thereabouts?) with no more than a handful of customers in the place at the most, and not one of them looked anything like he/she had Chinese heritage! Perhaps they were hoping for a few busloads to turn up from Bangkok?

 

The shops on the left hand side of what was called the middle road, have started to be demolished, either that or they are falling down of their own volition and the place looks a complete mess.

 

Just behind that and just inside of Soi Sansabai is where a new bar was constructed (and a double one at that) which was supposed to be the first bar to herald the start of the new construction of bars on a very large space of flat and empty ground, one to rival Bangla by all accounts, but after a couple of months, it appears to have closed, or at least it has moved to what used to be called "Wicked Bar".

 

Not surprising really because just one bar on a huge flat empty piece of ground, stuck out like the proverbial racing dogs' goolies and was hardly going to be a crowd puller (in my opinion).

 

I have spoken to a couple of farangs who have managed to come back in from  overseas and have completed the 15 day quarantine, with one saying that it was awful, and the other saying that the food and service in the hotel in Bangkok was very poor, so he complained and was upgraded, and from then on enjoyed a big room and great food!

 

Looks like the secret is to complain!
 

 

Regarding "Pen and Frank`s" it says on their FB page that they will reopen when the incertainty with covid 19 is gone.

Lets hope so.This is a gem of a restaurant  I used to frequent a lot when staying in Patong with generous and friendly owners.Best of luck to them.

[xylophone]

On 2/1/2021 at 4:38 PM, LivinginKata said:

The closure of the 7s and Family Marts continues. See a couple more closed on Nanai Rd. Here in Kata, 2 closed at the weekend. Some look the moth balled, other cleaned out.

 

Sign of the long time times .... not good

You are right about the closures of 7s and Family Marts and I hadn't noticed too many, as I wasn't really looking, but now I start looking, I find loads of them have closed.

 

And just a few days ago I had cause to pop into a local Family Mart, looking for a tin or a jar of peaches for a recipe, and I had never really looked at the produce on display in these places, but I was totally shocked by what I saw.......row upon row of many different types of crisps, chips, salty and sugary snacks, pots and pots of different sorts of noodles, but nothing that you would call even remotely healthy.

 

If they were all like this, then it's no wonder that they closed, because apart from being far too close together, there was nothing different about them – – just selling complete cr@p.

[Olmate]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

You are right about the closures of 7s and Family Marts and I hadn't noticed too many, as I wasn't really looking, but now I start looking, I find loads of them have closed.

 

And just a few days ago I had cause to pop into a local Family Mart, looking for a tin or a jar of peaches for a recipe, and I had never really looked at the produce on display in these places, but I was totally shocked by what I saw.......row upon row of many different types of crisps, chips, salty and sugary snacks, pots and pots of different sorts of noodles, but nothing that you would call even remotely healthy.

 

If they were all like this, then it's no wonder that they closed, because apart from being far too close together, there was nothing different about them – – just selling complete cr@p.

You must have missed the dairy cabinet,the deli items,the cleaning,the personal items, the pharmacy,the grog n smokes ,the bill paying etc n on n on! And you,ve just noticed?

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, Olmate said:

You must have missed the dairy cabinet,the deli items,the cleaning,the personal items, the pharmacy,the grog n smokes ,the bill paying etc n on n on! And you,ve just noticed?

Not at all.......the dairy cabinet was a couple of metres wide and full of sugary yoghurt's and the like.

 

What deli items there were consisted of a couple of packs of Frankfurter-like sausages.

 

The pharmacy items consisted of a couple of small shelves of deodorants and similar. Plus one shelf of cleaning items.

 

Yes there were 4 or 5 bottles of wine behind the counter next to the smokes cabinet.

 

But 80% of that shop was full up with rubbish as I've already mentioned.
 

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Not at all.......the dairy cabinet was a couple of metres wide and full of sugary yoghurt's and the like.

 

What deli items there were consisted of a couple of packs of Frankfurter-like sausages.

 

The pharmacy items consisted of a couple of small shelves of deodorants and similar. Plus one shelf of cleaning items.

 

Yes there were 4 or 5 bottles of wine behind the counter next to the smokes cabinet.

 

But 80% of that shop was full up with rubbish as I've already mentioned.
 

Oh dear! So much for local knowledge I guess........

[xylophone]

36 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Oh dear! So much for local knowledge I guess........

Now what's local knowledge got to do with anything??

 

For even the smallest of items, I will go to Big C, and for anything different I will go into Phuket town.

 

In the 14 years I've lived here, I don't think I've ever seen anything much of any use in one of these places, 7-Eleven perhaps, but certainly not Family Mart.

 

Bottles of wine standing up in the windows, rapidly ageing from the heat and light, and if you found anything healthy in one of those places, you'd be one of the few people who have.

 

But then again, perhaps the rubbish sold in those places is to your liking. No accounting for taste!
 

[Olmate]

11 hours ago, xylophone said:

Now what's local knowledge got to do with anything??

 

For even the smallest of items, I will go to Big C, and for anything different I will go into Phuket town.

 

In the 14 years I've lived here, I don't think I've ever seen anything much of any use in one of these places, 7-Eleven perhaps, but certainly not Family Mart.

 

Bottles of wine standing up in the windows, rapidly ageing from the heat and light, and if you found anything healthy in one of those places, you'd be one of the few people who have.

 

But then again, perhaps the rubbish sold in those places is to your liking. No accounting for taste!
 

Got me why you went in there for your peaches ,????! 

[LivinginKata]

5 hours ago, Olmate said:

Got me why you went in there for your peaches ,????! 

 

I wondered that too. Would not expect 7 to sell canned peaches.

[xylophone]

18 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

I wondered that too. Would not expect 7 to sell canned peaches.

Long story LIK.........tried on the off chance, but shocked at the unhealthy rubbish they did have!

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

Long story LIK.........tried on the off chance, but shocked at the unhealthy rubbish they did have!

 

It's called a convenience store. I don't go there to buy groceries. I go buy fast foods, crisps, toiletries. Cold drinks. When I fly travel about Thailand after check in hotel first thing go 7 and buy the necessities like booze, coffee (so many don't have black coffee), shampoo (if not supply), snacks like crisps etc.  Saves paying hotel prices, Yes ... I know ... cheap  Charlie.  

[xylophone]

Just now, LivinginKata said:

 

It's called a convenience store. I don't go there to buy groceries. I go buy fast foods, crisps, toiletries. Cold drinks. When I fly travel about Thailand after check in hotel first thing go 7 and buy the necessities like booze, coffee (so many don't have black coffee), shampoo (if not supply), snacks like crisps etc.  Saves paying hotel prices, Yes ... I know ... cheap  Charlie.  

Yes, a convenience store full of unhealthy snacks and the like, and I guess I'm used to the convenience stores in NZ, where you can buy different things.

 

I don't go there to buy groceries either, but as I said it was on the off chance, this also because the small Tesco convenience store up the road does have some vegetables, and chicken, pork and other meats in the display cabinet, so I foolishly thought this one might have a similar range.

 

But as I said, I was surprised that a store would have so much unhealthy rubbish in it, so it's no wonder that the Thais are getting fatter as time goes on.

[xylophone]

I was pleasantly surprised by the people walking around in Bangla on Friday evening, not huge amounts, but a smattering more than previously. The numbers were enhanced by a couple of large groups of young folk/students who looked like they were enjoying themselves and they seemed to be a mix of Thai and other nationalities (some European by the looks of things?).

 

Salute restaurant was empty apart from myself and one other, although they did have a couple of orders for takeaways, and I really do hope that they succeed and pull through these bad times, as it is a good restaurant with nice owners, serving good food.

 

The very large "Bar Funk" has closed for now, which is not surprising because the two Russian dancers on the bars, who looked about as tasty as a plateful of cold soup, couldn't do anything to attract the punters, so it was invariably almost empty.

 

The "Stereo 27" bar which did have a band in it, has also closed and I did see a few members of that band playing in "Sweetie" bar up the road a little.

 

Suzie Wong's had a whole bunch of farangs in it, with about 40% of those being there to celebrate a birthday, and then in came a little party of about eight Thai women/girls, some of whom knew the dancers. So it was a little crowded for a while.

 

As per usual there were the folks begging, and as always, I gave some money to the poor crippled lad who was endeavouring to sell small garlands. Then I was approached by a guy with 1/2 prosthetic leg who waied me a couple of times, and to whom I gave what spare change I had in my pocket, which was enough to buy him two beers, which I later saw him carrying from the liquor store – – and even later on, he was sitting outside of a bar begging again; so much for giving money for food/to help the starving!

 

On the way back home, I noticed that the new bar in Nanai, "The Rock bar" still had a few farangs in it, along with some girls, whilst the bar immediately next door, "The Long Time bar" was empty, and this was the case earlier on in the evening when I passed by, so I would suppose that the owner of the LT bar is well peed off with his new neighbour, because he's taken all of his custom, along with some of the girls!

 

More shops being emptied out, whilst one or two new stores seem to be opening. Strange days indeed

[redwood1]

I wonder what happened to these guys?...... Phuket went from crawling with Tuk Tuks to almost none these days....

 

[Mai mee]

On 2/23/2021 at 8:10 AM, redwood1 said:

I wonder what happened to these guys?...... Phuket went from crawling with Tuk Tuks to almost none these days....

 

Like that's a bad thing?

 

The good news is there's now plenty of parking on beach road, even though the surface has been completely torn up and patched in by the electric cabling project. Hopefully they'll resurface the road when they finish, but it is a good time to do that underground work while the traffic is so light. Getting around town by motorbike or even car is now quick as a flash, and you'll be able to park when you get there. Many of the street food vendors set up along the beach on Fri, Sat, Sun nights and it draws a nice, mostly Thai crowd to eat and relax along the beach in the evenings, all at Thai prices now, not the ridiculous prices that many were asking along the beach when the place was crawling with holiday making farangs. 

 

The beaches are clean, and wide open, and the water is the clearest I've ever seen it, almost unreal. If you're a resident, it can be refreshingly open and different. The majority of small shops and bars are closed but Makro and Supercheap are well stocked and staffed. If you're a big time monger you're going to be disappointed, with Bangla a shell of it's former self, operated by a skeleton crew, and many of the smaller neighborhood bars and beer bars gone but the paucity of other punters makes every falang handsomer by 30-60%.

 

Time will tell how it all pans out...

[xylophone]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:21 AM, Mai mee said:

Time will tell how it all pans out...

Yes indeed it will, and although I get hopeful (from time to time) that Patong will open up again, several things seem to happen which shatter that hope.

 

A few more small shops closing down and being emptied out of all of the fixtures and fittings, and indeed rooms being advertised for 250 baht a night, and to counter that, a couple of new bars opening up, but the latest rumour is about the future of Jungceylon and indeed Big C, and that worries me.

 

The first rumour I heard was that Big C was closing in a couple of weeks, and that would be catastrophic for me and quite probably for the likes of many other expats here, however the second rumour was that Jungceylon itself was closing down, although Big C was staying open!

 

I wouldn't mind that (the second rumour) at all, because Big C has entrances and exits enough to be able to satisfy any foot traffic, and for the farangs like me, they do have a wide selection of goods, and enough to satisfy my needs without having to travel to Chalong or Phuket town to do my shopping.

 

Indeed time will tell if either of these rumours comes to fruition......

[schlog]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

Yes indeed it will, and although I get hopeful (from time to time) that Patong will open up again, several things seem to happen which shatter that hope.

 

A few more small shops closing down and being emptied out of all of the fixtures and fittings, and indeed rooms being advertised for 250 baht a night, and to counter that, a couple of new bars opening up, but the latest rumour is about the future of Jungceylon and indeed Big C, and that worries me.

 

The first rumour I heard was that Big C was closing in a couple of weeks, and that would be catastrophic for me and quite probably for the likes of many other expats here, however the second rumour was that Jungceylon itself was closing down, although Big C was staying open!

 

I wouldn't mind that (the second rumour) at all, because Big C has entrances and exits enough to be able to satisfy any foot traffic, and for the farangs like me, they do have a wide selection of goods, and enough to satisfy my needs without having to travel to Chalong or Phuket town to do my shopping.

 

Indeed time will tell if either of these rumours comes to fruition......

Closing JC i also would not care. But Big C would hurt. No more fresh french bread...no more Casino products....lets hope that it's only rumour.

[DFPhuket]

My fairly reliable source says that Jungceylon - except for Big C - will be temporarily closing. During the closure the mall will be completing some needed renovations. Considering that during the rainy season there are often buckets catching rain water, that could be a good thing.

 

The large awning between the buildings also needs some work and the one that collapsed a year or two ago in front of the entrance also needs replaced. Both would be difficult to do if the mall remained open. 

[xylophone]

On 3/5/2021 at 9:19 AM, DFPhuket said:

My fairly reliable source says that Jungceylon - except for Big C - will be temporarily closing.

Yes, right on the mark DFPPhuket, as I went in there yesterday and witnessed the clearing, unwittingly so because I went to pay my 3BB bill as well as get a little shopping from Big C, which thankfully as you say, is still staying open....whew!

Outside of that, things are patchy, but the new "Rock Bar" in Nanai seems to be doing well and early this morning at about 1 AM when I passed by, it was busy, whereas the bar next door only had about three punters in it.

I had thought that my favourite Italian restaurant, Salute, was going to close, but the owners are keeping it open and are trying to work through the crisis, so if anyone has ever thought about visiting it, then please do so as it will help them with their endeavours.

Bar Funk which had been closed, has now been opened up again, this because the ownership of the bar was between a local well-known businessman, and the original owner of the "Bar Funks", and the original owner has handed over management, or perhaps even the half ownership of the bar to this well-known businessman, and last night it really didn't do any business at all – – go figure.

Suzie Wong's was shut for a private function and it had a few of us guessing as to what that might be, or who might be hiring the place, because it wouldn't be cheap by any means.

Quite a few people milling around and I would say there were some out-of-towners here, and a few more farangs than before, and I do know that a few have found their way back here, so maybe there are more on their way?

One odd site I did notice in Bangla was a Thai guy, stripped to the waist, riding his pushbike and waving a very large and shiny machete around the place, looking very menacing and I wondered if some cops might appear to take him away, but no, he kept cycling down Bangla, stopping occasionally and waving his machete around, before riding on.

I ended up visiting the Hippie Road Bar as I was meeting a French friend there, but sadly for the place, which has endeavoured to keep open and profitable, there were only about a dozen people in total; still the owner remains upbeat, and good on him for doing so.

[schlog]

After month of maledives style paradise at patong beach with seaeagles and blue water now the new hub is complete. Hub of giant electric boxes on the beach. Or like the songteow and beachboys call them the new toilets.

Every 200 meter you can find this amazing looking boxes bigger then most rooms for rent. Amazing patong.

[xylophone]

Looks like the same old routine – – a couple of places close, and a couple open, and one of those would be a new Thai restaurant in Nanai, where the old, "I love spaghetti" restaurant was, and it looks to be a rather grand place, and has a "cooking school" as part of its being.

 

Smiley bar in Bangla opened on Saturday, with the bar about half the size of the old one, if not less, but still a nice place to sit and have a natter, as well as look out onto Bangla. It also looks out onto what's left of Soi Freedom, which has one bar open on the corner, and that's it.

 

A few other bars were open, and about the same number of punters as has been seen on previous weekends, and another bar which was owned by a friend has closed, and I'm not surprised when I hear about the rents which are being asked by the landlords, this especially in extremely hard times.

 

I find it unbelievable that landlords will still ask 150,000 baht per month for a very small bar in times like this, because there is absolutely no way that a bar owner (or should I say lessee) will be able to make enough money to pay that extortionate amount.

 

Suzie Wong's seems to have turned over a few of its girls (sorry about the double entendre) and I noticed a couple of them working in another bar nearby, not the one owned by Suzie Wong's owner, and I wonder how they will fare given the fact that at least Suzie Wong's would attract punters who would spend a bit, thereby enabling the girls to get paid their salary, whereas the other smaller bars around the place would not have the custom to ensure these girls were able to take home a decent wage.

 

As I was making my way home at about 12:30 AM, a petite girl who used to work as a dancer in another bar, came rushing out and grabbed hold of my arm and asked me to go into her bar and buy a drink, but I'd had enough already and just wanted to get home, but she was desperate, so I gave her some money and suggested that she might want to buy herself a drink as I was not interested.

 

I would imagine there would be many girls working in the bars, even now, who would not be able to earn anywhere near enough to keep themselves going, let alone send money home to the family.

 

Some of them are hoping that the relaxed restrictions mooted by one official or another, will come to fruition........

[zzzzz]

well i guess thats it for Patong:
cant see the bars, clubs, staff hanging on 

 

 

Thailand’s Centre for Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has confirmed the closure of entertainment venues in more than half of the country’s provinces.

 

The confirmation came via a tweet on Friday morning which said that entertainment venues in 41 provinces must close from Saturday (10 April) and was also later confirmed by CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin during the daily COVID-19 briefing. 

 

Entertainment venues, which include bars, pubs and massage parlours, must close for 14 days, the tweet read.

 

No restrictions on restaurants were announced, other than being required to maintain social distancing measures.