Patong - The Wake

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, zzzzz said:

could the pick up in Patong be accounted for by an additional 20,000+ Russians since Nov 1st?  ????

In my opinion, that could certainly be the case, and I did mention something about that a few weeks back, and there is also a pickup in the number of groups of Indians I see roaming around the place.

[Kopitiam]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

In my opinion, that could certainly be the case, and I did mention something about that a few weeks back, and there is also a pickup in the number of groups of Indians I see roaming around the place.

The Indians, just like the Chinese once were are everywhere.

[London Lowf]

10 hours ago, zzzzz said:

could the pick up in Patong be accounted for by an additional 20,000+ Russians since Nov 1st?  ????

Yes indeed - a lot of the crowds milling around are Indians and SEAsians and so sightseeing rather than spending anything in the bars.

 

I was on Bangla last night and it was busier than I've seen it for many years - I thought this might be the case as the traffic on the roads at each end on my ride to my parking place was close to gridlocked. Even with the space-wasters there were plenty of punters spending money in the bars and most of the girls had a drink in front of them, albeit not from me as I became a cheap Charlie a few years ago.

 

Surprisingly, the ebb and flow of punters meant that the usually busy Blue Lotus bar was not even half full although the sister bar (Black Horse) opposite was packed and so I stopped there for one and noticed that they have now officially taken over the bar on the opposite corner that used to be an offshoot of Sunset - I was surprised that they have bar-top poll dancers (of sorts, attired in blue, of course) but I guess that the proprietors have now embraced the P4P scene as since Covid there are always plenty of non-uniformed girls hanging around out front and touting and they are clearly available for takeaway!

 

it struck me last night that the only stunning females I have seen recently have been SEAsian tourists - tiny, cute and very pale and so I would guess Korean? Maybe I'm just getting old and/or I've just spent too much time on Bangla over the years....

 

[jak2002003]

How are hotels in Phuket now, still half empty?

 

Thinking of booking a trip to Phuket for a week, but worried it will be too quiet. 

 

 

[stuarty]

28 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

How are hotels in Phuket now, still half empty?

 

Thinking of booking a trip to Phuket for a week, but worried it will be too quiet. 

 

 

No, they are half full.

[London Lowf]

22 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

How are hotels in Phuket now, still half empty?

 

Thinking of booking a trip to Phuket for a week, but worried it will be too quiet. 

 

 

A lot of hotels and businesses didn't survive Covid but, looking at the main booking sites, those that did are already reasonably full.

 

Bangla is busy, as is Beach Road and OTOP - compared to exactly a year ago it is thriving. It is not too quiet.

[Patong2]

Definitely a lot busier the last week or so and traffic heavy last night too and pavements crowded.

 

Went down to Karon & Kata on Sunday night and significant numbers of tourists on the streets compared to even a week ago, so things are definitely picking up.

 

A word of warning,

returning from our favourite restaurant on 9pm Sunday night and we were stopped at the Karon View Point by the police. Pulled over and spoken to and they wanted to know whether I had had a drink. No problem for me but they were stopping every vehicle and about 10 police at the checkpoint.

 

Have been stopped here before so make sure you don't drink if you are going to drive. There are enough dangers on this road without you being half cut.

[xylophone]

On 11/15/2022 at 9:38 AM, Patong2 said:

Have been stopped here before so make sure you don't drink if you are going to drive. There are enough dangers on this road without you being half cut.

@Patong2 makes a good point with regards to drinking and driving, because it's something I haven't done here, preferring to take a motorbike taxi in the main, or occasionally a tuk tuk if it's raining, and despite warning a friend of mine who regularly drives home after a few drinks, he still does it!!!

 

Was out on Friday evening and have made the Blue Beach Café and Restaurant a regular meeting place because it fits the bill as both a bar and a restaurant and it's a good place to catch up with friends to start the evening, and enjoy a nice meal and a few glasses of wine before setting off to Bangla.

 

Bangla was very crowded and I have to backtrack on my comment in the previous post regarding the popularity of the lady boys show in Soi Freedom, because on Friday there were quite a few people viewing it, so it hasn't died a death yet. On that subject I would think that any poor person who took up the invitation to accompany a gargantuan lady boy (think Dwayne Johnson in a tightfitting dress) who was parading around Bangla looking for business might well die a death in his/her company!

 

Moving away from the usual content, because as I said Bangla was crowded as were many of the bars, but what has struck me about Patong in general is that there are a number of new restaurants opening up, and in particular Indian restaurants – – noticed a new one in Soi Sainamyen the other day, and a new one being built just up from that on Rat-u-Thit, as well as others I haven't previously noticed a bit further down that road.

 

I did mention the Russians in another post and apart from having met a couple, and viewed quite a few others whom I thought might be Russians, a long-term friend of mine here who has some Russian contacts on Phuket has told me that many of them are moving back and buying up houses in the Laguna area, sometimes many at a time with large amounts of cash – – perhaps getting their money out of Russia whilst they can??

 

Parts of Patong flooded a few days ago (again) and I decided to have a look at the major road/waterworks which were being undertaken at the southern end of what was known as "middle road", to see how that was coming along and after two years it looks as if they might be nearing the end of it – – again. Fingers crossed.

 

So Patong looks like it's returning to some sort of normality, although when I drive around and look at the derelict and semiderelict buildings here, I wonder if the place will ever reach the dizzy heights of the past!
 

[Kopitiam]

I was in Big C, JungCeylon last week.  Looking around, I don't think JungCeylon will be ready to open in Q4 2022.  The "central plaza" in the middle is all cut up and many empty shops have no renovation going on.  I don't think Robinson is coming back.  Nothing is going on behind the shutters.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

noticed a new one in Soi Sainamyen the other day, and a new one being built just up from that on Rat-u-Thit, as well as others I haven't previously noticed a bit further down that road.

I forgot to mention that adjacent to the Indian restaurant being built, is a beauty/spa salon, called "So Relax", which I have walked past quite a few times and never really noticed it!!!! And as my big toe was hurting, I popped in to see if they would have a look at it to see what they could do.

 

They quite rightly diagnosed an ingrowing toenail and said they would give me a pedicure and fix it at the same time. So I took them up on the offer, and sure enough it was an ingrowing toenail, BUT what surprised me about this place was how immaculately kitted out it was, scrupulously clean, new equipment and well attired women, so I can highly recommend it should anyone need the services of a place like this, which seems to cater for just about all beauty and relaxation needs.......and no I don't have a financial interest in the place, just think that some places deserve a little promotion in these difficult times.
 

[xylophone]

On 11/20/2022 at 1:34 PM, Kopitiam said:

I was in Big C, JungCeylon last week.  Looking around, I don't think JungCeylon will be ready to open in Q4 2022.  The "central plaza" in the middle is all cut up and many empty shops have no renovation going on.  I don't think Robinson is coming back.  Nothing is going on behind the shutters.

I've heard all sorts of rumours from different Thai folk, some from Power Buy in Central and couple of those people said that it was going to return to Jungceylon soon, but as you have stated, there appears to be very little work going on to accommodate the return of the place as a busy shopping mall?

 

That's a pity because there is a lot more activity these days in Patong, what with an influx of tourists, with 55,097 Russians making up Phuket’s largest tourist demographic in November, and many finding their way to Patong,
with the second largest tourist group in Phuket in November from India, with 26,525 travellers, according to Phuket Immigration. The third largest group was Australians, with 13,868 tourists. British visitors made up the fourth largest group with 12,340 tourists. Germans came in fifth place, with 11,097 tourists.

I certainly came across many Russians when I went out on Tuesday evening to have a lovely steak at a Norwegian restaurant, in the walking street leading to Patong Tower, called West. It was beautifully prepared and very tasty, and I'll have to go back again for another one.

Had a couple of glasses of wine at Blue Beach Café and Restaurant as it has become one of my favourite haunts, then foolishly decided to go out on the town despite having downed about a bottle and 1/2 of wine as well as a beer. 

Went to the reopened Smiley Bar in Soi Freedom, where I caught up with a couple of friends, and the Soi was reasonably busy, however I should have gone home then rather than downing a couple of rums before wending my way to Red Hot to sing a few songs, and staggering home at 2:30 AM. 

Bangla was certainly busy as were the surrounds like Beach Road, and plenty of activity in Soi Sansabi, even at the late hour when I was on my way home. And I was surprised that the little walking street in which I first ate, started to liven up a little later on in the evening and I remembered it from many years ago and even then it was a clean and well-kept place with some nice little restaurants and shops in it, including a nice wine shop (now)!

Another sign that things are picking up is the fact that a friend of mine from Karon often pops into Bangla to catch up with friends, and if he has imbibed too much he often books a room for the night, and whereas just a few months ago he could get a room for about 400 baht a night, many of them are now around the thousand baht so coming in on the bus and getting a taxi back would now be cheaper.
 

[London Lowf]

20 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Another sign that things are picking up is the fact that a friend of mine from Karon often pops into Bangla to catch up with friends, and if he has imbibed too much he often books a room for the night, and whereas just a few months ago he could get a room for about 400 baht a night, many of them are now around the thousand baht so coming in on the bus and getting a taxi back would now be cheaper.

I do the same on occasion (for various reasons) and last year got some killer bargains including a couple of visits to 4* places such as Royal Paradise which are normally well out of my budget. Last Tuesday I ended up in a place on Nanai - the worst I have ever experienced in Phuket.

 

I wonder if there is now a shortage of accommodation in Patong - so many hotels are still mothballed or even abandoned and as we approach high season there are simply not enough rooms.

 

[schlog]

On 11/20/2022 at 1:34 PM, Kopitiam said:

I was in Big C, JungCeylon last week.  Looking around, I don't think JungCeylon will be ready to open in Q4 2022.  The "central plaza" in the middle is all cut up and many empty shops have no renovation going on.  I don't think Robinson is coming back.  Nothing is going on behind the shutters.

Last what i heard from shop owners in JC is that soft opening will be in february 2023.

[Kopitiam]

7 hours ago, schlog said:

Last what i heard from shop owners in JC is that soft opening will be in february 2023.

Not surprising that they will miss 2022/2023 high season business and I don't have high expectation of "soft opening" in Feb 2023.  I reckon it's better late than never.

[Patong2]

On the bright side, an enterprising local has completed the new road that goes from the top of Patong Hill (off on the left going towards Kathu, a big concrete road where there used to be a lone elephant tethered) and exits onto the Patong Hill Rd at the bottom of the hill about 400m before the traffic lights.

Definitely best viewed by going from the Kathu end.

On the way down the hill near the bottom, just past the newish PTT petrol station there is a road to the left with a sign up saying "Open Now". Not sure what the "Open Now" sign refers to but go up the road and it goes past a go kart track and eventually a Cobra Show and the old ZiplineMax.

It is a mature 2 lane concrete road and meanders past through forest etc and parts are very steep.

Lovely drive through here.

You will come up the hill to the new part which links through to the Patong Hill Rd and there are the best views you will see of Patong on your right and Kathu on the left.

Take your good camera with you and get out of the car and have a look.

The road is steep but certainly very well built. Take care and don't tell too many people about this new gem.

Don't go when raining

 

[d4dang]

Patong was pretty quiet in 84 but there were some real hotties. The construction boom was gaining momentum.

[xylophone]

32 minutes ago, Patong2 said:

On the bright side, an enterprising local has completed the new road that goes from the top of Patong Hill (off on the left going towards Kathu, a big concrete road where there used to be a lone elephant tethered) and exits onto the Patong Hill Rd at the bottom of the hill about 400m before the traffic lights.

Definitely best viewed by going from the Kathu end.

On the way down the hill near the bottom, just past the newish PTT petrol station there is a road to the left with a sign up saying "Open Now". Not sure what the "Open Now" sign refers to but go up the road and it goes past a go kart track and eventually a Cobra Show and the old ZiplineMax.

It is a mature 2 lane concrete road and meanders past through forest etc and parts are very steep.

Lovely drive through here.

You will come up the hill to the new part which links through to the Patong Hill Rd and there are the best views you will see of Patong on your right and Kathu on the left.

Take your good camera with you and get out of the car and have a look.

The road is steep but certainly very well built. Take care and don't tell too many people about this new gem.

Don't go when raining

 

Just so that I understand this, are you saying that one can come from Kathu to Patong, and bypass the landslip by taking this "new road"???

 

One more question, please, do you think that my little Suzuki Swift would be able to safely negotiate that road??

[huahinjoe]

Here is a short clip I found on Youtube from yesterday. Fox walk regularly does great clips if you want to feel the atmosphere how is the life there in Phuket nowadays.

 

 

[Patong2]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Just so that I understand this, are you saying that one can come from Kathu to Patong, and bypass the landslip by taking this "new road"???

 

One more question, please, do you think that my little Suzuki Swift would be able to safely negotiate that road??

Yes it completely bypasses the slip on Patong Hill but is not a great option as it is much longer and very steep in parts.

I drove our little front wheel drive Honda Jazz with 4 adults in and had no problem so expect the Swift would fly over it. (Couldn't resist that) Don't go in the rain as there was still some crumbly debris on the road which may make it slippery and you would miss the great vista over Patong.

Probably the inclines are about as steep as either hill from Nanai Rd to Hasippi Rd that runs along the top of the hill behind Patong.

[London Lowf]

It this the same road?

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1279245-new-local-road-from-kathu-to-patong-to-open-on-father’s-day/

 

[London Lowf]

An amusing incident a couple of nights ago on Bangla - a young guy at the next table leaned over and very knowingly told me " Be careful, they are all prostitutes".

 

Which made me wonder - do a lot of Western guys visit Thailand assuming that all of the girls give it away for free? I mean, he was drinking beers at a bar on Bangla, what on earth does he expect?

 

[Patong2]

17 hours ago, London Lowf said:

It this the same road?

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1279245-new-local-road-from-kathu-to-patong-to-open-on-father’s-day/

 

That is exactly the same road.

 

I tried the other private road on the other side of the highway and it is pretty well advanced but just a single strip of concrete most of the way and a steep muddy track yet to be finished.

My passengers got a bit nervous after we went through a deep boggy patch and they weren't keen on the last steep stretch at all.

Probably OK on a bike but you will get dirty

I'll update on that when it is complete.

[zzzzz]

why use it as the patong hillis open for cars both ways

[HighPriority]

On 12/3/2022 at 6:14 PM, Patong2 said:

 

Probably the inclines are about as steep as either hill from Nanai Rd to Hasippi Rd that runs along the top of the hill behind Patong.

Hasippi Rd… my wife has just explained to me it is Haa Sippi Rd, 50 year Rd she says.

My wife and I have been to a seafood restaurant up on that Rd a couple of times, good food and a great view over Pa Tong.

One night we took a couple of my farang mates up there along with a couple of her friends and a driver they knew, Toon.

The lady that ran the place was a great hostess and at the end of the evening we retired down to Bangla Rd, the girls took us to a bar on a side Soi called “<deleted> Bar” same hostess… ????

The first time my wife took me to the restaurant on Haa Sippi Rd she made me dismount her scooby and walk down the bottom part as it was too steep (she’s very cautious on the bike) I ran that road a couple of times and going down the other side was crazy treacherous, just running !!

Im looking forward to getting back over.

Edit
the bar name was an abbreviation of “blow employment”

[Patong2]

15 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Hasippi Rd… my wife has just explained to me it is Haa Sippi Rd, 50 year Rd she says.

My wife and I have been to a seafood restaurant up on that Rd a couple of times, good food and a great view over Pa Tong.

One night we took a couple of my farang mates up there along with a couple of her friends and a driver they knew, Toon.

The lady that ran the place was a great hostess and at the end of the evening we retired down to Bangla Rd, the girls took us to a bar on a side Soi called “<deleted> Bar” same hostess… ????

The first time my wife took me to the restaurant on Haa Sippi Rd she made me dismount her scooby and walk down the bottom part as it was too steep (she’s very cautious on the bike) I ran that road a couple of times and going down the other side was crazy treacherous, just running !!

Im looking forward to getting back over.

Edit
the bar name was an abbreviation of “blow employment”

Yes, I just went to Google Maps to see how they spelled it in case someone wanted to search which road I was talking about.

You are right, there has been a couple of really good restaurants up there and  bars with a great view.

Your wife was right to make you walk down, we have sat at what used to be Monty's Bar at the bottom of the hill in wet weather and watched several motor bikes lock up their brakes and the weight and slope made them career down until the rider jumped or fell off. The steep roads here are not for novice bike riders when it is wet.

[London Lowf]

22 hours ago, zzzzz said:

why use it as the patong hillis open for cars both ways

Same as climbing Everest - because it's there!

[Rhacsyn]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:44 PM, Patong2 said:

Yes it completely bypasses the slip on Patong Hill but is not a great option as it is much longer and very steep in parts.

I drove our little front wheel drive Honda Jazz with 4 adults in and had no problem so expect the Swift would fly over it. (Couldn't resist that) Don't go in the rain as there was still some crumbly debris on the road which may make it slippery and you would miss the great vista over Patong.

Probably the inclines are about as steep as either hill from Nanai Rd to Hasippi Rd that runs along the top of the hill behind Patong.

A bit late in the day for me to post but I will put my pennies worth in anyway. Yes, you are right and it is not a great option, but as an interim road at the time probably seemed a good idea. I have been over it (carefully!) and found it difficult and tricky to rejoin the original road at the junction near the elephant house where it finishes. Had I had a say, I would have suggest3ed allowing traffic (as a short term emergency option) to run the other way along this road. Coming from Patong you would turn left at the top near the elephant house and rejoin the original road near the police box in Kathu, where it starts now. Coming up the hill from Kathu I would have made it one way and have two lanes running from Kathu to Patong. Just an after thought.....

 

Regardless, I am sure that most using this road know that it is a little slower than normal but now ok to travel the original road in both directions. It added 6 or 7 minutes to my journey from Kathu to Patong around 5pm yesterday and a damn sight quicker then either of the Karon or Kamala options.

 

Finall, I have been aware that they are making good progress in "shoring up" and repairing the slip fall road and get to read last night that they plan to open it fully on 25th December 2022 :).

 

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/christmas-present-to-phuket-motorists-patong-hill-road-to-reopen

[xylophone]

Last night Bangla Road was not so crowded as it has been on my previous visits, and maybe it was because rain had been forecast and it had been drizzling a little bit early on, or maybe it is "just one of those things". Having said that, when I eventually ended up at Red Hot and the band decided to sing a couple of numbers in Russian, at least 25% of the folks in the club/venue got up and danced on the floor, singing in Russian – – so there are plenty of them around.

 

Continuing on that note, I would estimate that the vast majority of the shoppers in Big C when I visited yesterday were Russian, apart from a couple of small crowds of Indians who delighted in picking up just about everything in the chocolate section and  trying to open it, and they aroused my suspicions by crowding around so that one could not see what was going on – – if indeed anything was??

 

A couple of new things to report, inasmuch as a friend of mine who has a problem with his neck and has not been able to sleep well, decided to go into one of the cannabis bars to try out one of their joints to see if that would ease the pain and relax him, so I followed him in, and although it's been decades since I tried any of that stuff, I did have a big puff of his joint, and it didn't seem to have any/much effect. Anyway he decided to stay in this bar and finish his "spliff" and said he would follow us a little later. 

 

However about 10 minutes later when he appeared in the other bar where we had stopped for a drink, he seemed decidedly unsteady, and after having one beer, decided that he wasn't feeling that special and toddled off home. Speaking to him the next day, he explained that he had to go home because he was totally out of it, out of his tree, off his face, however you want to describe it, but did say that it was "bloody strong stuff" and that he was not going to go there again, although he did get a good nights sleep!

 

A couple of us went to Suzie Wongs, and what surprised me was the "lewdness" of the new "show" which left nothing to the imagination and involved a lot of oral "manoeuvres", shall we say.

 

As is per the norm for me these days, I ended up at Red Hot and after doing a couple of songs was on my way out, a little inebriated, when an Aussie guy stopped me and said how much he and his wife enjoyed my singing and that they had seen me there before, and they had come that night especially to hear me sing a few songs!

 

They were travelling back to Adelaide the next day and so I thought I would ask the band if I could sing one last number for him, which they agreed to, and it went well and he and his wife were extremely happy and gave me a big hug before I wobbled off into the night to get a motorbike taxi to take me home.
 

[London Lowf]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

Last night Bangla Road was not so crowded as it has been on my previous visits

Funny you should say that - I was there last night and was surprised at how busy it was and has been on my last few visits. At about 10:30 there were no seats available at Kangaroo (as usual, although two frontage tables were occupied by staff taking the weight off their feet), Black Horse or Blue Lotus but i did find a slot at Rock Star which has become my go-to bar these days. Later, I tried Sea Dragon Bar which used to be one of my favourites but I went there while Sandboxing last year and didn't enjoy the Suzy Wong rebranding - apparently it's now part of the same group as Kangaroo although there is still evidence of SW in the girls uniforms. Anyway, i ordered a San Miguel at B99 (they have touts in the street out front with placards "All beers B75" but that's usual business practice here) and it arrived without a condom (looking around, no-one else had one) which was rectified and it was also COD which I've never experienced on Bangla before.

 

By the time I finished that beer the Brazil-Croatia match had concluded and it did then get decidedly quieter so maybe that's when you were there?

 

[London Lowf]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

Continuing on that note, I would estimate that the vast majority of the shoppers in Big C when I visited yesterday were Russian

They are arriving en masse - my landlord in Kamala says that many are looking for long-term rentals rather than hotels and this is borne out as I ride around the backstreets as the "For rent" signs have all vanished.

 

I took the hint and have agreed a one-year contract on my apartment (at good discount) whereas up to now i have always done a couple of months at a time.

 

Also, I think that the Chinese will soon be back - maybe March?