Patong - The Wake

[xylophone]

I was out and about in Bangla last night, for the first time in perhaps a month (or thereabouts) but unfortunately got soaked by a cloudburst on my way, but never mind I soon dried out.

 

Had two of the small offerings at the Blue Lotus Café (formerly Smiley Bar) and found them to be very good and just filling enough, before moving outside of the bar to explore Soi Freedom as it seemed to have quite a bit of activity, and I wasn't disappointed, because just about all of the bars were now open (with the exception of two I think it was) and there were quite a few farangs going in and out of the place, so it was pleasing to see.

 

Plenty of girls, and many new ones, and I was even propositioned by the friend of an attractive 21 year old girl, on behalf of the young girl, because supposedly she found me attractive and wanted to get in touch via Line, so I called both of them over and explained to them that I don't have Line on my old flip phone Nokia, only to find out that the 21 year old doesn't speak any English anyway, so the whole exercise seemed pointless, so I and a couple of friends moved on to another bar!

 

There was a DJ where the band used to play, and there was also a lady boy bar, staffed completely by lady boys and some of them had made a big effort to look attractive, and some of them were. Not my scene, but different strokes for different folks.

 

All in all I found the reinvigorated Soi Freedom to be a "breath of fresh air" and will certainly visit it again and I am on the lookout for a band to play there, at the behest of the owner of the Soi, and I think I have found one for him.

 

Walked around for a little while and noticed that New York bar was packed to the gunwales, and quite a few other bars were well stocked with punters, and the place, dare I say it, seemed to be getting back to some sort of normality.

 

My last port of call with a couple of friends, was Red Hot, which was quite busy, but nowhere near like previous months, and the lead guitarist, one of my favourite players, has left, which was a disappointment because he knew my songs inside out and also the little nuances we would build into them. However I did get to sing three numbers, which got good applause and appreciation, which always makes my evening.

 

Never mind, it was an enjoyable evening and sort of gave me a new lease on life with regards to Bangla Road.

 

Jumping around a bit here, but as I had to eventually get a tuk tuk to get to Bangla because of the rain, the driver took a route down Soi Sansabai and I was very surprised to see a lot of new establishments open, from small restaurants to massage parlours, to small shops of varying descriptions – – a good sign, and let's hope it continues.

[London Lowf]

I wish I had your optimism Xylophone - I was also on Bangla on Saturday and it was reasonably busy for Covid times, but I was also there last night and it was dead - on both occasions from 9pm to closing.

 

in a rare moment of weakness I bought a bar girl a LD and she told me that she gets B7,000 every two weeks - but only if she sells at least 50 of them. I assume that otherwise she gets zilch. That works out B140/drink which is very fair as they are B220, but I have often wondered and commented on how the bars can justify having so many girls, many of them far from attractive, hanging around in front of the bars touting. Well, the more the merrier for the bar owners - the more girls there are then the smaller the chances of them getting to their individual targets.

 

The girl told me that she has not "worked for two years" and is wasting her time in Patong and is going home next week.

 

Stories like hers and the shenanigans of the bar owners, assuming what she told me is true, take a little of the shine off Patong for me and explain my sometimes negative attitude and now make me even less likely to buy LDs in future.

 

I do realise that many of these small bars can make a killing just from one or two two-week millionaires an evening. Their were a couple of guys in The Black Horse last night (one of the least pushy bars) and they were getting well and truly fleeced as every girl in the bar wanted a piece of the action. But this is what Bangla does - the guys were fresh off the plane, middle-aged and unattractive to a discerning woman, but the girls made them feel good for a couple of hours even if they did end up with an eye-watering bar bill.

 

Understand that I do enjoy the vibe of Bangla - it's far livelier than my base at Kamala, which is why I ride there so often in the evenings, and I am dreading returning to my grim UK home with it's rather dull pubs in a couple of weeks - but it does have its negatives.

 

Incidentally, that stage at the end of Soi Freedom (I call it Soi Blue Lotus!) had a Thai band last night doing Thai songs and it was going down very well and so I was able to walk down there relatively unaccosted. I spotted three of the cigarette touts taking five and enjoying themselves so it was going down well.

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by London Lowf
To make it better!

[xylophone]

15 hours ago, London Lowf said:

Understand that I do enjoy the vibe of Bangla - it's far livelier than my base at Kamala, which is why I ride there so often in the evenings, and I am dreading returning to my grim UK home with it's rather dull pubs in a couple of weeks - but it does have its negatives.

I think this paragraph from your post sums it up for me, because many of the guys who come here do so looking for a bit of life and activity and of course being fêted by the girls in the bar, and to be honest that has never changed – – the girls in the bar bit, I mean. Your bit about the rather dull UK pubs also helps to answer the question, because they are here for something completely different and exciting, and they don't mind paying for it.

 

More than 15 years ago when I first started coming here, the story was the same; go to a bar, get pestered by the girls for lady drinks and end up with a large bar bill, which didn't faze me one bit, because I was here on holiday to enjoy myself, and to a certain extent they provided the enjoyment with their banter and antics.

 

Probably more to the point is that I rarely get bar girls asking me for a drink these days, even though I do go into new bars with new girls working there, and certainly the girls in the Black Horse, which I have visited for quite some time, have never asked for a drink?? If they are engaging and fun, then I will offer to buy them one, but only because of that.

 

Perhaps you should take that hat off, which has the words, "sucker" or "newbie" written on it???? – – just joking my friend, but seriously if you simply tell the girls that you are not going to buy them a drink, or "mai mee tang" they don't pester you again and you can sit there in peace and quiet, apart from the loud music!

 

As regards the "busy" aspect of your main post, I haven't experienced that which you post about, possibly because I only go out infrequently and those times I have been out, it has been fairly busy......seems like the pickup in business could be a lot slower, but then again there are quite a few folk out there who are picking this, and I mentioned the new shops opening up around the place, and in Nanai, almost opposite the new restaurant on the corner there are three new places which have just opened or are in the process of opening up??

 

I'm not saying they all know what they are doing, and I will mention a particular bar which has opened up opposite the entrance to Makro in Nanai, in a very large double sized store which used to be the opticians, and I really can't see how that is going to work, and on the few occasions that I have driven by, there hasn't been a soul in the bar, so good luck with that one. Having said all of that, Nanai is one of the busier places around in Patong, along with Beach Road which has a few more establishments open now.

 

I remain optimistic because I have seen Patong at its worst (I think), and even now with its faults, it is an improvement on that particular time. And as many people have said, it will take some time for this place to get back on its feet, however slowly, but surely, it is making an effort.
 

[London Lowf]

I guess part of my "problem" is that I have now become more cynical. When I first came to Phuket in 2014 I was one of those guys that was happy to pay for the company (and more) but I have never mastered Connect 4 and the dice-in-a-cup, jackpot flips and hammering nails in to a tree trunk get a bit tiresome after a while. Also, in the early days it was always a four-week holiday and so the excitement was easily maintained. Now that I've retired I do three months at a time - five months this visit to make up for last year's lock-downs - maybe I am just getting the time to "tink too mutt".

 

Nowadays I buy the odd LD to "play the white man" (sorry for the non -PC expression if it offends anyone) in order to help the girls rather than as a groping fee and it now annoys me to learn that the boss may pocket the girl's share if she doesn't make her targets.

 

Regarding Black Horse - I do buy the odd beer for "Da" who is a very hard and conscientious worker and is on the go non-stop but it's at beer a customer price, not a LD, and she is happy with that. I'm not sure that any other bars will allow that.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by London Lowf
To m ake it better.

[7491]

Not a lot happening in sunny Phuket at the moment????????????????

[schlog]

2 minutes ago, 7491 said:

Not a lot happening in sunny Phuket at the moment????????????????

We are all in bangla ringing the bells and let the chicks dance!

[sallecc]

18 minutes ago, 7491 said:

Not a lot happening in sunny Phuket at the moment????????????????

Yep nothing happening, it's terrible here, I'm warning everybody, don't come ????

[London Lowf]

It’s interesting how this thread has evolved from the earlier “Patong is dead” one, and the fact that it is now well over four years old. Although some posters are trying to be exclusively positive I think that I take a more realistic view. Many might say that I am negative - I don’t believe I am as I much prefer Phuket and Patong the way they are now – riding the moto is a pleasure on the empty roads, the beaches are quiet and I can always find a good seat at my favourite bars. But I am not trying to run a business here and have some sympathy for those that are.

 

For example, I look at the picture above of New York bar and it only looks half full – that place always used to be 100% packed. The Tiger bars in the next picture barely have a customer in them, and I can guarantee that those in the second row will be deserted and further back they won’t even be open – even pre-Covid that place was less than 50% occupied. And bear in mind that any business is now concentrated into three hours between 8-11pm unless you have a decent day-time expat customer base like Kangaroo and a few places on Nanai do. Most of Bangla and the side sois are now open but I don’t believe that there is enough tourist cash to sustain all of them.

 

Yes, at first glance Bangla does look quite busy but look closer – look how many bars have a dozen girls trying to make money from three customers. I often sit opposite the quite large Love Pumpui bar and it has about twenty girls many of which I would judge among the most attractive on Bangla (I like tall and skinny) but I can’t remember the last time I saw more than three customers in the place.

 

Book a room in a high-rise hotel (I’ve stayed at Royal Paradise and Andakira recently at huge discounts) and look out over Patong in the evening and see how few hotels have lights on and are actually open. Look out over the town during the day and see the lack of traffic and the abandoned constructions.

 

The area towards the beach has recovered a little but Third Road is still mostly shuttered. A similar story at the southern end of Patong with many of the 2-star hotels around Malin Plaza still shut. The Banzaan night market now comprises about a dozen spread out cheap food carts – no seafood, no clothes or souvenirs, no atmosphere! On previous trips I used to eat there 3/4 times a week but since October I’ve been once and haven’t returned.

 

Travel north from Patong and there’s the huge Kamala Falls development - part finished and occupied but the remainder now mothballed. Platinum Bay at the north of Kamala – mothballed. A large development as you enter Surin – mothballed. A big project at Koktanod (Layan) – mothballed. The huge Wyndham-managed Laya Resort near Layan Beach – in October there was some work going on but that now seems to have virtually ground to standstill. At the southern end of Nai Yang beach a new development was started right next to the one that was abandoned many years ago, but that also now appears to be mothballed. I haven’t been through Laguna recently but I seem to recall at least one project clearly on hold. I only know of one development that seems to be going ahead and that is the eco-friendly Layan Green Park, but even there they seem to be back-pedalling and in no hurry.

 

These are just the paces that I notice on my rides north of Patong – I assume that it is the same all over the island? It always seems to be the same story – put up the relatively cheap labour-intensive RC skeleton, maybe some blockwork walls (or maybe not!) and then the marketing crashes and the cash runs out.

 

Perhaps we need a new thread – “Phuket - the future” - because it died, we’ve had the wake, and Covid (or rather, the Thai government’s response to it) has put the boot in for the foreseeable future. Phuket does have the climate, beautiful beaches and scenery to be a successful tourist destination when all restrictions are lifted, but there has been over-capacity for years and I wonder what will become of those abandoned projects and the numerous businesses that have not yet been confident enough to re-open. Are they waiting for the Chinese?

 

If you look at the TA forum many of the potential tourists are struggling with the Test & Go or Sandbox applications and many are nervous – what happens if you fail the day 1 or 5 tests? There are too many negative stories going around.

Yes, Phuket/Patong is recovering very slightly thanks to a number of brave and adventurous travellers prepared to take the risks but the numbers are still tiny.

[Olmate]

2 hours ago, London Lowf said:

It’s interesting how this thread has evolved from the earlier “Patong is dead” one, and the fact that it is now well over four years old. Although some posters are trying to be exclusively positive I think that I take a more realistic view. Many might say that I am negative - I don’t believe I am as I much prefer Phuket and Patong the way they are now – riding the moto is a pleasure on the empty roads, the beaches are quiet and I can always find a good seat at my favourite bars. But I am not trying to run a business here and have some sympathy for those that are.

 

For example, I look at the picture above of New York bar and it only looks half full – that place always used to be 100% packed. The Tiger bars in the next picture barely have a customer in them, and I can guarantee that those in the second row will be deserted and further back they won’t even be open – even pre-Covid that place was less than 50% occupied. And bear in mind that any business is now concentrated into three hours between 8-11pm unless you have a decent day-time expat customer base like Kangaroo and a few places on Nanai do. Most of Bangla and the side sois are now open but I don’t believe that there is enough tourist cash to sustain all of them.

 

Yes, at first glance Bangla does look quite busy but look closer – look how many bars have a dozen girls trying to make money from three customers. I often sit opposite the quite large Love Pumpui bar and it has about twenty girls many of which I would judge among the most attractive on Bangla (I like tall and skinny) but I can’t remember the last time I saw more than three customers in the place.

 

Book a room in a high-rise hotel (I’ve stayed at Royal Paradise and Andakira recently at huge discounts) and look out over Patong in the evening and see how few hotels have lights on and are actually open. Look out over the town during the day and see the lack of traffic and the abandoned constructions.

 

The area towards the beach has recovered a little but Third Road is still mostly shuttered. A similar story at the southern end of Patong with many of the 2-star hotels around Malin Plaza still shut. The Banzaan night market now comprises about a dozen spread out cheap food carts – no seafood, no clothes or souvenirs, no atmosphere! On previous trips I used to eat there 3/4 times a week but since October I’ve been once and haven’t returned.

 

Travel north from Patong and there’s the huge Kamala Falls development - part finished and occupied but the remainder now mothballed. Platinum Bay at the north of Kamala – mothballed. A large development as you enter Surin – mothballed. A big project at Koktanod (Layan) – mothballed. The huge Wyndham-managed Laya Resort near Layan Beach – in October there was some work going on but that now seems to have virtually ground to standstill. At the southern end of Nai Yang beach a new development was started right next to the one that was abandoned many years ago, but that also now appears to be mothballed. I haven’t been through Laguna recently but I seem to recall at least one project clearly on hold. I only know of one development that seems to be going ahead and that is the eco-friendly Layan Green Park, but even there they seem to be back-pedalling and in no hurry.

 

These are just the paces that I notice on my rides north of Patong – I assume that it is the same all over the island? It always seems to be the same story – put up the relatively cheap labour-intensive RC skeleton, maybe some blockwork walls (or maybe not!) and then the marketing crashes and the cash runs out.

 

Perhaps we need a new thread – “Phuket - the future” - because it died, we’ve had the wake, and Covid (or rather, the Thai government’s response to it) has put the boot in for the foreseeable future. Phuket does have the climate, beautiful beaches and scenery to be a successful tourist destination when all restrictions are lifted, but there has been over-capacity for years and I wonder what will become of those abandoned projects and the numerous businesses that have not yet been confident enough to re-open. Are they waiting for the Chinese?

 

If you look at the TA forum many of the potential tourists are struggling with the Test & Go or Sandbox applications and many are nervous – what happens if you fail the day 1 or 5 tests? There are too many negative stories going around.

Yes, Phuket/Patong is recovering very slightly thanks to a number of brave and adventurous travellers prepared to take the risks but the numbers are still tiny.

When do you leave! 

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, London Lowf said:

It’s interesting how this thread has evolved from the earlier “Patong is dead” one, and the fact that it is now well over four years old. Although some posters are trying to be exclusively positive I think that I take a more realistic view. Many might say that I am negative - I don’t believe I am as I much prefer Phuket and Patong the way they are now – riding the moto is a pleasure on the empty roads, the beaches are quiet and I can always find a good seat at my favourite bars. But I am not trying to run a business here and have some sympathy for those that are.

 

For example, I look at the picture above of New York bar and it only looks half full – that place always used to be 100% packed. The Tiger bars in the next picture barely have a customer in them, and I can guarantee that those in the second row will be deserted and further back they won’t even be open – even pre-Covid that place was less than 50% occupied. And bear in mind that any business is now concentrated into three hours between 8-11pm unless you have a decent day-time expat customer base like Kangaroo and a few places on Nanai do. Most of Bangla and the side sois are now open but I don’t believe that there is enough tourist cash to sustain all of them.

 

Yes, at first glance Bangla does look quite busy but look closer – look how many bars have a dozen girls trying to make money from three customers. I often sit opposite the quite large Love Pumpui bar and it has about twenty girls many of which I would judge among the most attractive on Bangla (I like tall and skinny) but I can’t remember the last time I saw more than three customers in the place.

 

Book a room in a high-rise hotel (I’ve stayed at Royal Paradise and Andakira recently at huge discounts) and look out over Patong in the evening and see how few hotels have lights on and are actually open. Look out over the town during the day and see the lack of traffic and the abandoned constructions.

 

The area towards the beach has recovered a little but Third Road is still mostly shuttered. A similar story at the southern end of Patong with many of the 2-star hotels around Malin Plaza still shut. The Banzaan night market now comprises about a dozen spread out cheap food carts – no seafood, no clothes or souvenirs, no atmosphere! On previous trips I used to eat there 3/4 times a week but since October I’ve been once and haven’t returned.

 

Travel north from Patong and there’s the huge Kamala Falls development - part finished and occupied but the remainder now mothballed. Platinum Bay at the north of Kamala – mothballed. A large development as you enter Surin – mothballed. A big project at Koktanod (Layan) – mothballed. The huge Wyndham-managed Laya Resort near Layan Beach – in October there was some work going on but that now seems to have virtually ground to standstill. At the southern end of Nai Yang beach a new development was started right next to the one that was abandoned many years ago, but that also now appears to be mothballed. I haven’t been through Laguna recently but I seem to recall at least one project clearly on hold. I only know of one development that seems to be going ahead and that is the eco-friendly Layan Green Park, but even there they seem to be back-pedalling and in no hurry.

 

These are just the paces that I notice on my rides north of Patong – I assume that it is the same all over the island? It always seems to be the same story – put up the relatively cheap labour-intensive RC skeleton, maybe some blockwork walls (or maybe not!) and then the marketing crashes and the cash runs out.

 

Perhaps we need a new thread – “Phuket - the future” - because it died, we’ve had the wake, and Covid (or rather, the Thai government’s response to it) has put the boot in for the foreseeable future. Phuket does have the climate, beautiful beaches and scenery to be a successful tourist destination when all restrictions are lifted, but there has been over-capacity for years and I wonder what will become of those abandoned projects and the numerous businesses that have not yet been confident enough to re-open. Are they waiting for the Chinese?

 

If you look at the TA forum many of the potential tourists are struggling with the Test & Go or Sandbox applications and many are nervous – what happens if you fail the day 1 or 5 tests? There are too many negative stories going around.

Yes, Phuket/Patong is recovering very slightly thanks to a number of brave and adventurous travellers prepared to take the risks but the numbers are still tiny.

Well there's no doubt about it that you are right in many of your observations, and although I have tried to be positive, mainly because I have seen the real downside of it in a couple of previous years, and compared to the just recent past there has been a slight uplift, so for me that is a positive sign.

 

It's not going to set the world alight, but it is a move up the scale, albeit slight.

 

On the last Friday night when I last went out, Bangla was fairly busy and the New York bar was packed so there are folk about, but nowhere near as in the past, but then that is to be expected.

 

Here is another take on it..........way before Covid came on the scene Bangla was slowly dying and it had been getting worse since about 2011, which was the year a great mate of mine sold his very popular and beloved bar. The reason being was that takings had been falling for at least a year prior to that and what was once an extremely busy/crowded Soi (Soi Eric) had suddenly become almost empty.

 

I remember him commenting to me that, "the takings have been falling, and last night I can't determine whether we made 10 baht or lost 10 baht, so I think it's time to sell". And he did.

 

If you add various other events into the above, it will be seen that Patong has been subject to ebbs and flows over it's time, and just to prove that, there is a large unfinished/derelict hotel apartment opposite Simon Cabaret, and there are a few other unfinished/derelict projects around Patong, and way before Covid hit home, businesses/construction was failing all over the island, and "The Park" on Nanai is a good example of this.

 

Then there was the time when rumour mongers put it around that Bangla was about to close and bars would go out of business, so a huge area under the boxing stadium was designated the "new Bangla bar area" and unfortunately a few unlucky punters bought some of them and it collapsed because Bangla stayed as it was!

 

Then there was the old "Tiger Complex", complete with upstairs disco which was all the rage, until it caught fire, and then "Tiger 2" took over and it was never the same with many partly empty bars which gave way to many more fully empty bars, and that's where it has stayed.

 

I could go on and there is much more that one could recall which highlights the ups and downs of the place, and I will remark that in its heyday Bangla and Patong were great places; lively, full of fun and interesting people, and with the nightlife scene just about catering to every taste, but whilst all this was going on and the powers that be were raking in the money, nobody thought about improving the infrastructure, or stamping out the taxi Mafia, or the jet ski touts, or indeed improving the place to attract more affluent tourists – – no, no one took any notice and Bangla and Patong suffered, and IMO the place is still suffering some of the consequences of this, and once Covid struck, that proved to be somewhat of a death knell.

 

I'm forever hopeful that Patong/Bangla will continue, because when all's said and done it is a town next to the sea, with a nice enough beach and great climate, so there's no reason for it to be overlooked by holidaymakers, although one has to say that TAT have made a dog's breakfast of any attempts to bring tourists here, and IMO they have no idea at all, so that doesn't make it any easier for all of the businesses here, but I'm forever hopeful the place will recover, as it has done since the depths of despair of about 18 months ago, and there are still businesses willing to take a chance, and good luck to them.
 

[rott]

On 6/25/2017 at 1:09 PM, LivinginKata said:

 

I thought the title was quite clever. Previous topic was about Patong dying, and we all mostly agreed it was. So now we are into the wake period of mourning in the Irish party way ...

In the nearly Five years since how do you think it has performed.? Still a wake or wake over and everyone gone away.? 

Some people I speak to in Pattaya have done the Sandbox there and think it is/was wonderful. 

[xylophone]

16 minutes ago, xylophone said:

although one has to say that TAT have made a dog's breakfast of any attempts to bring tourists here

Something I forgot to mention on top of this quote above, was that the TAT did focus on the Chinese market and in some aspects it proved profitable for the low/medium priced condo sellers, however it really didn't do much to lift the profile of the place, nor did it bring huge profits, because many of those went back to China by virtue of the structure of the businesses here – – joint Thai/Chinese, if indeed a Thai was even involved?

 

They focused on the cheaper end of the market and it backfired, they did nothing about the reputation of the place and it backfired, and they did nothing about persuading the powers that be that the infrastructure needed updating – – so in effect they have reaped what they have sown, and the old quote, "they are about as useless as tits on a bull" comes to mind. 

 

Sad state of affairs for the smaller businesses here.
 

[Patong2]

Just now, Patong2 said:

 

London Lowf

 

As the poster who started this 5 years ago (can't believe it is so long) I have been wondering whether it was time for a new thread perhaps "Patong the Resurrection" but then I think and sometimes look back on some of the excellent and insightful posts on here by yourself and many others and especially Xylophone who has kept us up to date while we were locked for 2 years in the socialist gaol that NZ has become.

 

For someone looking to track the fortunes of Patong this thread would be valuable.

 

We flew out of NZ just before New Year 22 and were very concerned at what we would find.

 

Once again Patong is very very different and has lost some of the things we really enjoyed but it still has plenty to enjoy and compared to the depressing and fearful Auckland we left, it is just about heaven.

 

Very sad to see the carnage of businesses that are closed but a few new ones open and already we have almost too many great choices of restaurants to eat at etc. The beach is great first thing in the morning but I miss seeing the night clubs empty out into Bangla Rd at 6am. Always a fascinating collection of drunks, very pretty ladies and boys. Now Bangla at 6am is still full of pussies but they are all 4 legged ones.

 

Thanks to everyone who has posted and look forward to seeing such intelligent and insightful comments on this thread or a new one.

 

 

 

[London Lowf]

7 hours ago, Olmate said:

When do you leave! 

March 1st - I'll be back!

[London Lowf]

28 minutes ago, London Lowf said:

March 1st - I'll be back!

There are many things that I dislike about the UK, but they are leading the way in returning to a normal post-Covid existence - I fly direct BKK-LHR and do not have to do any testing at all.

 

Hopefully, by the time I return, Thailand will have "woken up and smelt the coffee".

[xylophone]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:04 PM, London Lowf said:

Hopefully, by the time I return, Thailand will have "woken up and smelt the coffee".

I, like many others here do hope that Patong continues to "wake up", but it's more the stuff ups on behalf of TAT and the government which have impacted most of all, however the old saying (or something like it) "once a party town, always a party town", comes to mind.

 

I say this because despite some doom and gloom around the place and some slack nights in Bangla of recent times, last night was heaving (or pretty much so later on) with the music bars 3/4 to full, and although there were quite a few smaller bars with very few customers in, bars like Kangaroo were absolutely packed – – so a bit of a mixed bag.

 

Suzie Wongs has opened again, and Harem is still going, as well as a couple of other small gogo places which have just opened, however I didn't bother to visit because I am bored with them, and if I was with a small group of lads on a night out, then it might be different because some fun can be had. But for the time being; not interested.

 

I felt sorry for the bar owners in Soi Freedom, because they just weren't many farangs in the place, and it's a far cry from its heyday when it had every bar occupied and a great band at the end, but not so now, and IMO it is a Soi with unfulfilled promise, and I wonder how much the ownership has to do with that, and of course the lack of a band.

 

I got to Bangla at around 7:15 PM and it was deserted, but little by little the punters arrived and as I mentioned earlier later on in the evening it livened up, and at about 11 PM when I was contemplating leaving Red Hot and heading home, there were more Tuk Tuks lining Rat-u-Thid road (each side) than I have seen in many years! Of course they were waiting for customers and there seemed to be a fair number of those.

 

I don't know if it's a sure sign of things picking up, but for the first time in a years I saw Thais in Bangla brandishing the A4 size laminated "Ping Pong Show" placards, not that they have ever been of interest to me, but there were probably about 10 of these guys in all, looking for customers.

 

Meanwhile back in Nanai, new premises seem to be springing up, including a French patisserie or similar, and one thing that hasn't changed is the fact that some of the bars seem to be draw cards for the "wifebeater T-shirt wearing potbellied farangs" and come to think of it, looking around Patong over the last week, I have noticed a plethora of what I would call "low-end tourists"-- -- -so much for the arrival of the wealthy tourists!
 

[London Lowf]

One major problem for Patong is the fact that Thailand in general is being very slow to transition from the pandemic status - for example, the mask-wearing rules are laughable (although I did adhere) and I believe that the vast majority of schools throughout the country are still closed?

 

Regretfully, I flew home to the UK last Tuesday but at least I needed no tests before departure or on arrival - all I had to do was file an online "Passenger Locator Form" which was simply a more elaborate version of the Thai TM6. Everything is open and back to normal back here.

 

My father is currently on his way back from South Africa via Zurich - again, no bureaucracy apart from the PLF.

 

This is what I meant when i said "wake up and smell the coffee" - a large part of the world (even Australia!) is moving on and Thailand needs to catch up and stop making it so difficult for regular tourists.

Edited March 6, 2022 by London Lowf

[grumpyoldman]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:34 PM, Olmate said:

When do you leave! 

Back to grammar school mate, suppose to have a question mark at the end of that as opposed to the exclamation.

 

But sure, ol boy has some time on his hands, and yeah, the invest in the project that quits when there are no more investors has been a long time island boondoggle so abandoned projects (?) no surprise there.

 

Phuket will be happenning, bigtime, again when we're done with Covid and the Ruskies get rid of Putin.

[London Lowf]

9 minutes ago, grumpyoldman said:

Phuket will be happenning, bigtime, again when we're done with Covid and the Ruskies get rid of Putin.

Regretfully, I believe that Phuket is more dependent on Chinese tourists (and investors) than the folk that post on here.

 

I say regretfully because the beaches and roads were an absolute delight the last few months without them, although a large number of Phuket businesses (Tiger Group) were totally dependent on them and remain closed.

[StayinThailand2much]

The last time I went to Patong, in 2019, at the time of European summer holidays, there seemed to be less (Western) tourists in Patong and at other beaches than 20 years ago. Prices, of course, were much higher, while the quality of service had declined. Everything seemed to be tailored more towards Chinese tourists.

 

However, Patong, particularly, seemed to have lost a lot of the charm it had 20 or even 5 years earlier.

Edited March 6, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[Olmate]

4 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

Back to grammar school mate, suppose to have a question mark at the end of that as opposed to the exclamation.

 

But sure, ol boy has some time on his hands, and yeah, the invest in the project that quits when there are no more investors has been a long time island boondoggle so abandoned projects (?) no surprise there.

 

Phuket will be happenning, bigtime, again when we're done with Covid and the Ruskies get rid of Putin.

No question.Simply a sarcastic exclamation!! ????

[KarenBravo]

4 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

Back to grammar school mate, suppose to have a question mark at the end of that as opposed to the exclamation.

 

But sure, ol boy has some time on his hands, and yeah, the invest in the project that quits when there are no more investors has been a long time island boondoggle so abandoned projects (?) no surprise there.

 

Phuket will be happenning, bigtime, again when we're done with Covid and the Ruskies get rid of Putin.

Oh dear. I'd rather have incorrect punctuation than an obvious spelling mistake.

Happenning? Too many N's.

Which school are you going back to?

[Jai Dee]

A reported troll post has been removed.

[CharlieH]

Reported post and responses to it removed.

[HighPriority]

8 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

 

 

Point of the post was that Phuket will be back, and yes, I think this thread itself needs a wake. Something like "Phuket Now" or "Phuket Today" would be better.

Knock yourself out, I look forward to reading.

[London Lowf]

On 2/22/2022 at 4:32 AM, London Lowf said:

I only know of one development that seems to be going ahead and that is the eco-friendly Layan Green Park, but even there they seem to be back-pedalling and in no hurry.

Unfortunately, looking at their website and numerous YouTube videos, this development is very much targeted at Russians!

 

Another kick in the goolies for Phuket!

[xylophone]

As regards Patong, I have seen quite a few backpackers strolling around the place, and these along with the budget end tourists, are unfortunately not going to save Patong.

 

A few more "Arabic looking" guys roaming around the place, and judging by their dress code, they're not going to boost the coffers of businesses here, nor are many of the other low end visitors and to prove a point, I was getting a foot massage at the local massage shop where I know the owner and her sister, and have done for years, when a tall slim Pakistani in his early 30s scruffily dressed, came in and wanted a massage.

 

A while later he came out of the back of the shop with the masseuse, and she sat outside on the chair whilst he talked down at her, seemingly arguing with her and saying that "she wasn't his friend" and she looked decidedly uncomfortable and I was about to go out and help her, when this guy walked away. 

 

I asked what it was all about and she said that if he could get a discount on the massage he would bring many of his friends to the shop, and she said that only the owner could do that, then he asked for a "hand assisted extra" for 20 baht, which she refused and he was not very happy at all.

 

So, far from attracting the rich and famous, Phuket, or at least Patong, has managed to attract a few dregs and low lifes from what I've seen just recently.

[London Lowf]

Sounds like the place has gone downhill since I left ????

 

Never mind - yesterday I booked my fights for my return in October - a long wait, but summer in the UK is tolerable, it's just the winters I can't handle ????

[xylophone]

It's been a few weeks since I had been out and about in Bangla, however last night I decided to catch up with a mate from Oz, and also have something to eat and have a look around.

 

I was surprised that the Blue Lotus Café has ceased selling food, because I thought their "snack like" offerings were great, although I was told later that they would conjure up a pizza if requested. Having said that, I walked past the place a few times last night and it was absolutely empty, such a shame for a place with so much potential.

 

So we went down to the recently opened Blue Beach, which is actually on the beach, or should I say fronting it, and it is looking really great now, and the covered restaurant area was almost full, so I and my Oz mate ate at the bar, and my "hot Thai basil" dish was excellent, and he said his pizza was likewise, so I will be visiting again not only for the vista/wonderful setting, but of course, the food!

 

Walked down Soi Sansabai on the way to Bangla and noticed that it was a lot busier than before with more restaurants now open, and that includes the Pizzaeria Hut Italian restaurant, which I've always liked, and Wicked Bar which used to be a favourite when it was owned by a couple of Kiwis. 

 

There were also new places which didn't really strike a chord with me, so remembering them is difficult, especially after a night out on the town!

 

We did stop for a drink in Soi Sea Dragon, but I've probably been here far too long, because the girls didn't seem that pretty any more, and were more clingy and continually asking for a drink when we had only just sat down – – a sign of the times I suppose, because rumour has it that no salaries are paid these days, so what remuneration the girls get comes from what drinks they are bought.

 

We also visited Soi Freedom and it wasn't overly busy, but there were more than the normal amount of ladyboys mincing around, and I realised that the lady boy stage show had been reincarnated, hence the reason.

 

One thing that did amaze me was that where there was once two bars side-by-side, they had been made into one large bar and in front of them were a large number of new, wooden tables and chairs, and they didn't look cheap at all. Looking into the bar there was the usual stainless steel stand which is usually filled with ice and packed with fresh seafood (at least in many others I've seen) empty but waiting to be used when the place was fully up and running.

 

Quite why anyone would put a "restaurant" in a narrow Soi like that, with music from a DJ, and ladyboys miming to various hits, is beyond me, and I would suspect it will end in a costly failure, sad though this may be, planning and ground work for such a place shows little in the way of intelligent thought!

 

There were quite a few people on Bangla going about their business, whatever it was, and I would have to say that the place has become more cosmopolitan even over the last month or so, because I encountered more Australians, a few Norwegians, some girls from Germany, a couple from Lithuania, some Brits, to mention just a few, and they all told me they were on holiday, so Patong is still a drawcard even in these difficult times.

 

I did end up, with my Aussie mate, at Red Hot and although it was fairly crowded, it was nowhere like it used to be, but then that's only to be expected.

 

One thing that did become obvious to me last night, this whilst sitting at a bar being pestered for a drink by a girl to whom I'd never said a word, was that I am just about over this scene, and probably have been for a few years now. Whereas at one time it was all the rage to go to Bangla a few nights a week, catch up with a few mates and have a few drinks, a few laughs and generally have a good time, but now I don't really enjoy it any more, mainly because I am now not a big drinker and prefer wine over beer, and really don't like spirits, so my beverage options are limited on a night out.

 

Furthermore I really can't find the effort to sit there trying to engage in small talk, with a smattering of Thai and English, with a girl whose raison d'être is not to entertain, but to solicit a drink from you, no matter what. Having said that it's probably been like it for years, and maybe it's just me getting old, but years ago it seemed that the girls were prettier, more engaging, and of course could be fun – – but now?

 

The other side of the coin is that to relative "newcomers" to Patong, the bar and go-go scene is new and exciting and is probably something they haven't been used to in the past – – so life goes on here, and I now prefer to meet up with a small group of friends and enjoy a meal and a few glasses of wine, with perhaps a visit to one quieter bar to enjoy the interaction, laughs and jokes, whereas the newcomers revel in the newness and enjoyment that I first encountered all those years ago.

 

C'est la vie.
 

[MajorTom]

57 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Furthermore I really can't find the effort to sit there trying to engage in small talk, with a smattering of Thai and English, with a girl whose raison d'être is not to entertain, but to solicit a drink from you, no matter what. Having said that it's probably been like it for years, and maybe it's just me getting old, but years ago it seemed that the girls were prettier, more engaging, and of course could be fun – – but now?

I was done with this when i was 30ish. Nothing to do with age. Just takes a certain time and exposure before you get bored with this game.

Also, It doesn't help that most of the attractive girls are long gone from the bars, and that the cost of barhopping is actually very expensive now. 10-15 years ago you could do a full night out throwing ladydrinks around, and it did not cost you an arm and a leg. With today's prices and exchange rates its very different.