Patong - The Wake

[Kopitiam]

16 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I believe that some of what you have said is true, however there is another little moneymaking scheme going on.......a couple of nights ago, a Russian guy and his girlfriend, both wearing crash helmets were stopped and fined 1000 baht for not wearing a mask on the motorbike!!!!

 

I thought I'd heard it all, unless this is some sort of new ruling, and if it is, I had better start wearing one in my car!

 

16 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I thought I'd heard it all, unless this is some sort of new ruling, and if it is, I had better start wearing one in my car!

If you are alone in your car - not required.  But more than 1 person in the car, it is required.

[spidermike007]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

I believe that some of what you have said is true, however there is another little moneymaking scheme going on.......a couple of nights ago, a Russian guy and his girlfriend, both wearing crash helmets were stopped and fined 1000 baht for not wearing a mask on the motorbike!!!!

 

I thought I'd heard it all, unless this is some sort of new ruling, and if it is, I had better start wearing one in my car!

Pure science. The potential transmission of Covid while riding a motorbike has to be around 0.000000001 percent. Draconian, power hungry, stupid, and insane. Just say NO. I often do that with the cops here. It often works! 

[billythehat]

On 11/27/2021 at 10:14 AM, KarenBravo said:

Soi Sansabai, before the third road was built was a small, dead-end Soi. At the end of it, was a housing project call Baan Benjamus. I think eventually, these were all bought out a few years after they were built as the land-price started to rocket.

 

The south side units were small bars, some with pool-tables. The North side units were mainly small restaurants. Pizzeria moved there away from their original place that was in front of what is now Jungceylon. Later on, they stayed in Soi Sansabai, but switched sides.

The Yorkshire in was there as was a small bar that served great fish'n'chips. The bar was named after the rather down and out looking owner. His name escapes me.

 

The Soi really wasn't big enough to have a night out in. It was used for a quick bite and a beer before hitting Bangla.

Yep, definitely a dead-end! Aeriel photo circa late 1970’s ??

 

[zzzzz]

22 minutes ago, billythehat said:

Yep, definitely a dead-end! Aeriel photo circa late 1970’s ??

 

more like late 60's

[HighPriority]

Amazing pic !

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, zzzzz said:

more like late 60's

Yep.. I was there in 75... nothing like the great photo.

[DrPhibes]

Caution with the reopening.  Buddy of mine and I were in Patong on Bangla, about 10 days ago getting close to closing time, when he went off with one of those stunners you see in the middle of the street.  He showed up about 60min later missing his shirt with a harrowing tail.  He told her a price for boom boom which she agreed to, took him to a nice car, opened the driver side and asked for the money, he said no, not until after boom boom.  She takes him to her room several floors up, she immediately asks for the money only a bit more aggressively after he had removed his shirt.  He says no, after boom boom.  She says now or no boom boom.  He says no, not until after boom boom.  The tension has risen pretty high and she refuses viciously.  He says I'm leaving where she blocks the way out of the room saying pay me.  He pushes past her and heads down the stairs where she proceeds to try and kick him down the stairs from behind over and over again as he is trying to get out of the building.  He actually got into the elevator, keeping her out and went up when she was heading to the entrance to the building while he called the tourist police where the call was picked up but no one said anything.  He said you could hear like the TV on but no one spoke with him.  He finally headed down thinking she would be gone but there she was with her supposed boss who was some Thai guy barely awake and not willing to get into it.  Friend finally pushes his way out the door and got back to the bar I told him I was still at, shirtless and really stressed.  I told him buyer beware and bought him a strong drink.  Took me a couple of days to get the full story out of him but says he will never go back to Bangla, easier places for boom boom elsewhere.

[HighPriority]

1 hour ago, DrPhibes said:

Caution with the reopening.  Buddy of mine and I were in Patong on Bangla, about 10 days ago getting close to closing time, when he went off with one of those stunners you see in the middle of the street.  He showed up about 60min later missing his shirt with a harrowing tail.  He told her a price for boom boom which she agreed to, took him to a nice car, opened the driver side and asked for the money, he said no, not until after boom boom.  She takes him to her room several floors up, she immediately asks for the money only a bit more aggressively after he had removed his shirt.  He says no, after boom boom.  She says now or no boom boom.  He says no, not until after boom boom.  The tension has risen pretty high and she refuses viciously.  He says I'm leaving where she blocks the way out of the room saying pay me.  He pushes past her and heads down the stairs where she proceeds to try and kick him down the stairs from behind over and over again as he is trying to get out of the building.  He actually got into the elevator, keeping her out and went up when she was heading to the entrance to the building while he called the tourist police where the call was picked up but no one said anything.  He said you could hear like the TV on but no one spoke with him.  He finally headed down thinking she would be gone but there she was with her supposed boss who was some Thai guy barely awake and not willing to get into it.  Friend finally pushes his way out the door and got back to the bar I told him I was still at, shirtless and really stressed.  I told him buyer beware and bought him a strong drink.  Took me a couple of days to get the full story out of him but says he will never go back to Bangla, easier places for boom boom elsewhere.

Sounds exciting… I’d expect cash up front if in her shoes though.

Not at a car, but certainly at the room.

[billythehat]

3 hours ago, Olmate said:

Yep.. I was there in 75... nothing like the great photo.

Probably on the money there, Chief.

 

This photo was taken looking up Bangla, circa mid to late 70’s.

 

 

[billythehat]

Comparing the old photo with the current 2021 view.

 

Note the similar roof shape of the structure to the right of Bangla Road (old with green tiles and dormer) and current image (brown tiles and same dormer construction) – Location of grounds to Patong Beach Hotel.

 

 

[Yamba]

8 hours ago, billythehat said:

Probably on the money there, Chief.

 

This photo was taken looking up Bangla, circa mid to late 70’s.

 

 

That photo is late 80s as you can see the sign for Faulty Towers which opened in 88 or 89.

[zzzzz]

1 hour ago, Yamba said:

That photo is late 80s as you can see the sign for Faulty Towers which opened in 88 or 89.

dont think so, i moved to patong in 85 and bangla was a sealed road
Fawlty towers was open in the late 80's on the soi leading to the titanic disco>on the left side
no idea when they had moved

End of bangla on left was nordic bungalows and than Doolies.
hang a left on 2000 year road an quick right to Expat hotel and the titanic 

[Yamba]

59 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

dont think so, i moved to patong in 85 and bangla was a sealed road
Fawlty towers was open in the late 80's on the soi leading to the titanic disco>on the left side
no idea when they had moved

End of bangla on left was nordic bungalows and than Doolies.
hang a left on 2000 year road an quick right to Expat hotel and the titanic 

Just asked a mate who was involved in Faulty Towers in the early days, he said it opened in Bangla in 86. Then the owner opened the Faulty Towers Inn in the Expart Hotel soi in 1990.

Maybe they were redoing the road but that photo is from 86 at the earliest.

[candide]

22 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Sounds exciting… I’d expect cash up front if in her shoes though.

Not at a car, but certainly at the room.

It's not the use in Thailand to pay upfront, and when a girl is asking for it, it can be a sign there will be some problem, I.e. the girl will not deliver the negotiated service, is actually a ladyboy, will shout "jep" after 30 seconds, etc....

[KarenBravo]

10 hours ago, candide said:

It's not the use in Thailand to pay upfront, and when a girl is asking for it, it can be a sign there will be some problem, I.e. the girl will not deliver the negotiated service, is actually a ladyboy, will shout "jep" after 30 seconds, etc....

Talking from experience, or a friend told you so?

[London Lowf]

12 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

Talking from experience, or a friend told you so?

Isn't it common knowledge?

 

I can certainly back it up from personal experience - "met" a girl online and subsequently discovered she was one of the regular stunning LBs from the middle of Bangla. Long story short - B2,000 down the pan, and I really should know better with my age and experience. Little brain took over!

[xylophone]

Well, Bangla was looking quite healthy last night, with most of the bars open and probably close to being as crowded as it was in a low off season in the past.

 

Viewing the flow of people traffic from my vantage point, the words of a song by Joe Jackson came to mind....... "pretty girls out walking with gorillas in my street", and that may have been a bit of an exaggeration, and it's probably always been like that, but with the scene very quiet over the last almost 2 years, last night brought it home again!

 

The ex-Suzie Wong girls were crowded round the end of Soi Sea Dragon and a few more bars in Sea Dragon were open, including Hangover Bar which attracted about 10 or more students who seemed to be having a good time, and I have to say that some of the girls were very pretty indeed.

 

Bar Funk was packed, as was the music bar, New York, although I'm not sure why that should be, because the band there are good but nowhere near as good as those in Red Hot for example.

 

On that note (pun intended) I didn't bother to go and sing a few songs in Red Hot because I didn't feel in the mood, and not only that, a friend of mine seemed to take a turn for the worse and really wasn't feeling well at all, so I stayed alongside of him for the duration of the evening to make sure he was okay.

 

All of the bars that had been closed previously due to a Covid scare, were now open, so some semblance of normality has returned, although dead on 11 PM, the police, on their motorbikes (about five of them) made a sweep up Bangla to ensure that the bars were closing/closed, and everyone seemed to comply, although I'm led to believe that some drinking goes on behind closed shutters (reminds me of another song, "no one knows what goes on behind closed doors").

 

I went down the little Soi in where once stood my favourite Italian restaurant, Salute, but it was all closed up and looked so sad and a little dilapidated.

 

Whereas the fondue restaurant (Swiss?) just inside the entrance to the Soi has reopened and had a few customers in it, and looked very clean and new, and just a little further down there was a "Backpackers Inn" bar which seemed very large and I think it was where previously an Indian restaurant stood, and just along from that what used to be, "The Island Bar and Restaurant" is still closed and for sale, and has been for quite a number of years, and certainly looked a lot worse for wear.

 

Not an eventful night out, but one which took me out of my apartment and allowed me to catch up with a few friends, so it was well worthwhile.
 

[billythehat]

12 hours ago, xylophone said:

the words of a song by Joe Jackson came to mind......

Still touring,  new tour starting  in Ireland next year. ????

 

 

[London Lowf]

Compared to when I arrived at the beginning of October, Bangla, Beach Road and Rat-U-Tit have really livened up - although Third Road is seriously lagging behind.

 

There are now very few empty lots on the main drag of Bangla, and bars are very gradually being opened up further into the remaining Tiger complex but, as in the last couple of years, it will never attain anywhere near 100% capacity. Also, there is still no sign of any of the very skilled and athletic pole dancers (rather than pole posers) of yesteryear which makes me wonder - why is it that you can have live music but no girls "dancing" on the bar counters? It's all "entertainment", isn't it?

 

Xylo mentions Sea Dragon Bar and this place seems to be hit with Covid closures more than any other venue - on my visits over the last couple of weeks it has been closed 50% of the time and on the last occasion it was the only bar to be hit.

 

I did have a silly episode on Friday - I have been using the Blue Lotus bar quite regularly and usually buy a beer for a couple of the girls - in fact one is on to me the minute I sit down which I think is a bit cheeky. On Friday I saw an empty table at Heroes Bar opposite and so parked myself there - the girl from BL spotted me, gave me the evil eye and very animated throat-slashing gestures, and then pointed me out to her boss. Obviously, I will never set foot in that bar again so what was she hoping to achieve? Sometimes the Thais seem to have a very strange approach to running a business and encouraging custom.

 

Back on topic - as Xylo states, it does seem that Bangla is getting reasonably busy. However, I think it appears that way because most of the action is compressed between 9pm and 11pm. I think that if the hours were relaxed then the bars would simply have to work longer hours for the same amount of income. From travelling around Patong during the daytime and lokking along the beach, there still are not nearly enough toursits around for the number of businesses that are now open but at least some of them are ticking over.

 

One more observation - the traffic cop sweep of Bangla at 11pm. Most bars seem to <deleted> themselves at the first sign of flashing lights and everything moves behind the shutters, but quite a few don't seem to take a blind bit of notice - particularly the big music venues. Apart from stopping every now and then and peering into the bars (where you can clearly see punters still drinking) I've not once seen one of them get off his bike and actually do anything. Is it just a show of power for the tourists?

 

In my "home" town of Kamala the same thing happens at exactly 11pm, and all without the need for a show from the BIB.

 

[London Lowf]

On 12/5/2021 at 11:45 AM, London Lowf said:

Apart from stopping every now and then and peering into the bars (where you can clearly see punters still drinking) I've not once seen one of them get off his bike and actually do anything.

Correction - last night one got off his bike to take some photos of his colleagues!

[farang51]

29 minutes ago, London Lowf said:

last night one got off his bike to take some photos of his colleagues!

Things are getting back to normal ????

[billythehat]

On 12/5/2021 at 4:45 AM, London Lowf said:

I did have a silly episode on Friday - I have been using the Blue Lotus bar quite regularly and usually buy a beer for a couple of the girls - in fact one is on to me the minute I sit down which I think is a bit cheeky. On Friday I saw an empty table at Heroes Bar opposite and so parked myself there - the girl from BL spotted me, gave me the evil eye and very animated throat-slashing gestures, and then pointed me out to her boss. Obviously, I will never set foot in that bar again so what was she hoping to achieve? Sometimes the Thais seem to have a very strange approach to running a business and encouraging custom.

 

Sir, I suggest you made her lose face amongst her university graduate friends and I refer you to page 66 of the ‘Manual of Guidance Notes for Expats, Mongers and Newbe’s in Thailand’.

 

Section 2.1 specifically refers to the vagaries of ‘Misunderstandings’ between the cultures.

 

In this instance, a ‘misunderstanding’ has occurred:

 

You thought she was indicating a cut-throat and visit to the local prawn farm for you.

How she would explain this, to a BIB for example, was that she was simply indicating you needed a shave and was just telling her boss that.

 

The manual advises that you remain calm, pull your stomach in, look the other way and under no circumstances wobble over to her bar and bar-fine one of her mates. Simples really.

[London Lowf]

The winds of change.........

 

I've been on Phuket for just over two months and the weather has been predominantly rubbish and I have been caught out four times on Bangla and been forced into "distress purchases" of the nasty (but extremely effective) rain coats to make it home reasonably dry.

 

However, at the end of last week the predominant wind seemed to shift from westerly to easterly and the last few days have been pretty good with plenty of sunshine and blue skies. The downside is that the sewers are starting to stagnate and, for the first time this visit, last night I got that nostalgic aroma on a couple of occasions as I was walking along Bangla!

 

When I look around at the major road improvements made over the last 18 months (Beach Road, Rat-U-Tit, Third Road (in progress) and the Patong-Kamala road, how can the main night-time tourist hub on the entire island be left in this state?

 

[Kopitiam]

5 minutes ago, London Lowf said:

The winds of change.........

 

I've been on Phuket for just over two months and the weather has been predominantly rubbish and I have been caught out four times on Bangla and been forced into "distress purchases" of the nasty (but extremely effective) rain coats to make it home reasonably dry.

 

However, at the end of last week the predominant wind seemed to shift from easterly to westerly and the last few days have been pretty good with plenty of sunshine and blue skies. The downside is that the sewers are starting to stagnate and, for the first time this visit, last night I got that nostalgic aroma on a couple of occasions as I was walking along Bangla!

 

When I look around at the major road improvements made over the last 18 months (Beach Road, Rat-U-Tit, Third Road (in progress) and the Patong-Kamala road, how can the main night-time tourist hub on the entire island be left in this state?

Nothing surprising.  The "mess" is part and parcel of the experience of Patong all this while.

[billythehat]

4 hours ago, London Lowf said:

However, at the end of last week the predominant wind seemed to shift from westerly to easterly and the last few days have been pretty good with plenty of sunshine and blue skies. The downside is that the sewers are starting to stagnate and, for the first time this visit, last night I got that nostalgic aroma on a couple of occasions as I was walking along Bangla!

This item was covered in a previous topic regarding the drainage in Patong and subsequent work on the existing drainage works along the main pipework routing, appears to have done little to alleviate the poorly designed and constructed network in the town. Having a combined network of open foul water and surface water, with open grate covers over pipework laid to level inverts and upstream flows from new construction work silting up the manhole chambers, what could possibly go wrong?

 

The existing treatment works capacity to deal with the additional flows into the works was exceeded and untreated sewage would have been by-passed into the sea; Patong bay in this case. With the reduction of tourists, there’ll have been a substantial reduction in peak foul water flows from hotels etc. but this would not have the same effect on the existing flows through an already overburdened and poorly design system.

 

A tourist (from Germany) mentioned to me once about the ‘aromatics’ coming from the sewers.

I said ‘Sir, please remember, in any other country in the world you'd have to pay to get into the zoo. Here, it’s all entirely free!'

[xylophone]

12 hours ago, billythehat said:

This item was covered in a previous topic regarding the drainage in Patong and subsequent work on the existing drainage works along the main pipework routing, appears to have done little to alleviate the poorly designed and constructed network in the town

Hardly surprising BTH, when the contract was awarded to a company controlled by a now deceased Mayor of Patong, then re-awarded just a few years later for more "remedial work", which doesn't seem to have lasted long, and it is not surprising given that it was rumoured at the time that there was a fair amount of "skimming" from that budget.

 

And of course you have the total abortion, and dangerous metal grill drainage system on Nanai Road just at the junction with Soi Banzaan, which was supposed to have stopped the drains from being blocked, but that in itself gets blocked and has to be lifted for the diggers to be able to scoop out the muck/soil/sand.

 

Couldn't organise a p!ss up in a brewery comes to mind.

[billythehat]

8 hours ago, xylophone said:

Couldn't organise a p!ss up in a brewery comes to mind.

I've seen this quote translated in a UK travel brochure as "Bustling with Character."  ????

 

Those grid frames on Nanai do look a wee bit slippy when wet and on a motosai...

 

 

[London Lowf]

Someone had a cunning plan......

 

Let's give the impression that Patong is thriving by having a street food market actually on Beach Road near the end of Bangla. It's already a bottleneck but we can make it even more congested by having folk walking all over the busiest street in Patong oggling the gastronomic offerings.

 

Plenty of room (and tents/tables already installed) on the beach taking up valuable bike parking spaces, but where's the fun in that - we'll just leave them unused.

 

All good practice for NYE - only 10% of the usual tourists, but I'm sure it will be mayhem.

 

You have to laugh......

[Olmate]

7 hours ago, London Lowf said:

Someone had a cunning plan......

 

Let's give the impression that Patong is thriving by having a street food market actually on Beach Road near the end of Bangla. It's already a bottleneck but we can make it even more congested by having folk walking all over the busiest street in Patong oggling the gastronomic offerings.

 

Plenty of room (and tents/tables already installed) on the beach taking up valuable bike parking spaces, but where's the fun in that - we'll just leave them unused.

 

All good practice for NYE - only 10% of the usual tourists, but I'm sure it will be mayhem.

 

You have to laugh......

Glad to be back then! 

[London Lowf]

9 hours ago, Olmate said:

Glad to be back then! 

This place is completely bonkers but I'll take over my home country any time, particularly in the British winter.