Patong - The Wake

[eezergood]

15 hours ago, Adumbration said:

Can you please provide a rating for each of the restaurants in your post based on how noticeable the smell of sewerage is while dining.

Moron 

[Adumbration]

On 1/6/2023 at 1:29 PM, xylophone said:

I decided to venture into the heart of what a socially inept poster described as a "cesspit" in order to renew my 90 day extension, and I was very surprised, because I expected to see a long queue – – but there wasn't!

 

In fact there were only three people waiting outside of the office, but nowhere to park my bike until the guy who does the 90 day extensions appeared at the back door, immediately recognised me and asked me for my passport and told me to wait!

 

So sitting astride my motorbike (because there was nowhere to park) I waited just a few minutes and he returned with my passport and the 90 day extension and bid me Happy New Year, and I thanked him profusely, and I have to say that this guy is the one I have dealt with over many years and he is particularly well mannered and helpful.

 

It would appear that the queues of previous months are no longer evident, which will be good news to Patong residents.

Haven't got your head around doing your 90 day report online yet?  PM me and I will talk you through how to use a computer.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Adumbration

[pagallim]

5 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

Haven't got your head around doing your 90 day report online yet?  PM me and I will talk you through how to use a computer.

For those who actually live in Patong (I don't), no hassle calling in and doing the 90 day in person as everywhere is quite easy to get aroung.    I've done the on-line report a couple of times, but prefer to use the 90 day requirement as an excuse to use the excellent 'drive through' facility in Phuket Town Immigration then onto one of the many excellent restaurants in the area there for lunch.

 

Perhaps your comments about smells in the area of restaurants are indicative of your own choices and perhaps budget, rather than what is actually available?

[Adumbration]

11 hours ago, pagallim said:

 

Perhaps your comments about smells in the area of restaurants are indicative of your own choices and perhaps budget, rather than what is actually available?

Oh please.  I lived in Phuket for over a decade and four of those were spent in Patong.  Most of the guys posting on this thread would know me by sight.

 

Anyone that denies the drains in the streets of Patong do not reek during high season is just delusional.

[Bkk Brian]

12 hours ago, Adumbration said:

Haven't got your head around doing your 90 day report online yet?  PM me and I will talk you through how to use a computer.

Been living in Phuket for around 17 years, never done an online report, used the drive through at Phuket Town, Patong Beach Road or since the one at Bluetree opened I always do it there now, its just 3 mins from where I live.

 

I also work online so no need on a walk through on how to do it on a computer.

[CharlieH]

Reported post and response removed.

 

Keep it civil please no personal remarks etc.

[xylophone]

Such a pity that this thread was "interrupted" by just one poster who described Patong as a cesspit, and this poster was the one who suggested that I was a "barstool monger and beer swiller" (or words to that effect) and that I was "living from cheque to cheque" and who had previously accused me of being ignorant.......not nice at all!!!

 

Fortunately quite a few other posters here took umbrage at his posts and replied accordingly, and it was pleasing to see. 

 

Back to Patong........and I will be scooting along tomorrow to get some more of the excellent Californian wine (Gnarly Head Authentic Black) I bought from Aleena House Wine, near Patong Tower, because it was excellent, and I have posted about it on the "Red Wine Bargain in Patong" thread, although not sure that the word "bargain" best describes it, and anyway, now I have tried that one I may well try the Cabernet Sauvignon from the same producer! 

[grumpyoldman]

If you are walking on Bangla toward the water, about halfway down, is there still the lefthand turn to a bunch of Thai stalls and seafood restaurants? Used to be some good food down there but I can imagine they might have done away with that section.

[xylophone]

10 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

If you are walking on Bangla toward the water, about halfway down, is there still the lefthand turn to a bunch of Thai stalls and seafood restaurants? Used to be some good food down there but I can imagine they might have done away with that section.

There is a small Soi about halfway down Bangla on the left-hand side, almost opposite the entrance to Soi Sea Dragon, and it is called Soi Patong Resort, but I don't recall any Thai stalls down there, but there are a few good restaurants although one of them Da Mario has been closed for a while.

 

There is a restaurant called Eurasian which has an eclectic mix of dishes, including many Thai dishes, then there is a Scandinavian restaurant (and I'm told the steak there is excellent) and the recently opened Italian restaurant which I visited just last week, called, Anema e Core, and the food there was very good and not expensive.

 

There used to be a bar called the Patong backpackers bar, however not sure if it is still there, and there was also a Patong Whiskey shop, next to an Indian restaurant which I think is now closed. Having said that, there is one small bar opposite the Italian restaurant and it doesn't have the thumping music that many others do, and one can order food from the Italian restaurant opposite, and eat it at the bar and it makes a nice break from the racket emanating from some bars on Bangla.

 

Now digging back into my memory banks I think just a few metres past the entrance to this Soi there is another very small/narrow Soi and I have seen Thais going down there and coming out with food, so that maybe the small Soi you are talking about, although I've never been in it!
 

Edited January 13, 2023 by xylophone

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

There is a small Soi about halfway down Bangla on the left-hand side, almost opposite the entrance to Soi Sea Dragon, and it is called Soi Patong Resort, but I don't recall any Thai stalls down there, but there are a few good restaurants although one of them Da Mario has been closed for a while.

 

There is a restaurant called Eurasian which has an eclectic mix of dishes, including many Thai dishes, then there is a Scandinavian restaurant (and I'm told the steak there is excellent) and the recently opened Italian restaurant which I visited just last week, called, Anema e Core, and the food there was very good and not expensive.

 

There used to be a bar called the Patong backpackers bar, however not sure if it is still there, and there was also a Patong Whiskey shop, next to an Indian restaurant which I think is now closed. Having said that, there is one small bar opposite the Italian restaurant and it doesn't have the thumping music that many others do, and one can order food from the Italian restaurant opposite, and eat it at the bar and it makes a nice break from the racket emanating from some bars on Bangla.

 

Now digging back into my memory banks I think just a few metres past the entrance to this Soi there is another very small/narrow Soi and I have seen Thais going down there and coming out with food, so that maybe the small Soi you are talking about, although I've never been in it!
 

Spot on mate, used to lunch Eurasian 2/3 times a week, lovely lady and great spot. 

[HighPriority]

It’s more like a 3m wide hallway…? If it’s the one I’m thinking of.

I used to get street food from the Soi adjacent to Taipan nightclub, nice simple, cheap Thai food and the girls used to come offstage and head straight outside to get a feed as an added bonus ????

[London Lowf]

On 1/13/2023 at 6:41 PM, HighPriority said:

and head straight outside to get a feed as an added bonus

This must be why they are generally getting so big!

 

I've noticed that some of the most successful mobile traders on Bangla are the ones selling snacks - some of the bar girls cannot resist and, as soon as one buys, they all seem to follow suit.

[London Lowf]

Yes, I'm back! Phuket in general seems a lot busier than a month ago and the traffic through Cherngtalay is worse than ever despite (I assume?) the hill being fully open. The ride around Patong yesterday evening was heaving.

 

I was expecting difficulty parking my scooter on beach road but it was fine and I found a slot opposite Pimnara as usual. Walking into Bangla I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have finally got rid of the stupid "keep left" rule. It was about 10pm and the street was busy but still room at most bars although Kangaroo was heaving, as always. Further along, the Rock Star bar was almost empty so I ended up there - maybe they've had some bad feedback on the internet?

 

Looking to my left, Black Horse next door was full - it used to be my main bar but, since the owner seems to have decided to "bring in the girls" to assist with post-Covid recovery, I can rarely find a seat. The bar opposite was not very busy (as usual) but that may be because of the rather unexiting girls dancing on top of the bar, although the sister Blue Lotus next door does seem to be doing much better these days - maybe because the girl that I had a problem with some time ago has taken her bad attitude elsewhere?

 

Bar Funk didn't seem very lively from my viewpoint and I later wandered down to the food market for a pad Thai and that was also not very busy. On the return walk I looked in to Tiger and then along Soi Sea Dragon and, although my initial impression about Bangla being busy was based on the footfall along the main drag, a closer look made me believe that it is not any busier than mid-December.

 

As I said at the beginning, driving around Patong it definitely looked full of tourists, but maybe Bangla is not the major attraction these days. Too many stories of being scammed in the bars?

 

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by London Lowf

[DrDave]

On 1/13/2023 at 6:41 AM, HighPriority said:

It’s more like a 3m wide hallway…? If it’s the one I’m thinking of.

I used to get street food from the Soi adjacent to Taipan nightclub, nice simple, cheap Thai food and the girls used to come offstage and head straight outside to get a feed as an added bonus ????

Yes, I think that's the one he was thinking of.  3m wide hallway is about right - very cramped considering the food stalls and dining tables had to share that small space. I remember being incredibly hot and uncomfortable while eating in there. Haven't been to Patong since pre-covid days, so I don't know if it's still in operation.

[London Lowf]

I had to ride into Patong at about 6pm on Friday evening and the traffic was horrendous - the hospital/police station intersection was a nightmare even on two wheels.

 

Last night I went to Bangla and it was the busiest that I have ever seen it in the eight years that I have been visiting - parking the scoot was quite a challenge and navigating Beach Road and Bangla was slow and difficult. Odd, because on previous visits it has been reasonably quiet - do people only "party" at the weekend, even when on holiday?

 

The queue to get in to Illuzion was pretty much blocking the street at 11:30 and, when I returned a little later after some nosh it was just the same.

 

There were also loads of youngsters (sub-30) in the bars and I saw a couple of groups that had settled down with a full bottle of spirits - great for the bars, but not so good for the girls.

 

I've remarked before that it is becoming increasingly infrequent to see a bar-fined girl doing the "walk of shame"along Bangla with a total mis-match in tow - it still happens, but on nowhere near the same scale of a few years ago. I think that Bangla has recovered remarkably well and is now attracting a younger crowd who are more interested in drinking and partying with their mates rather than seeking out the sexier attractions.

 

One thing that did sadden me was the rubbish everywhere - last year there were litter-pickers constantly going back and forth and they kept the place pristine. Now the area is covered in cigarette butts and general rubbish.

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by London Lowf

[xylophone]

21 hours ago, London Lowf said:

I think that Bangla has recovered remarkably well and is now attracting a younger crowd who are more interested in drinking and partying with their mates rather than seeking out the sexier attractions.

I would have to agree with you there LL, as I've noticed the same thing, whereby the days of the fat, potbellied old farangs sitting at bars trying to chat up bar girls, seems long gone, although there are a few old mongers milling around the place, but nowhere near the numbers of the past.

 

Having said that, if one ventures just outside of, say, Bangla, some of the above-mentioned old mongers can still be found propping up other bars like those in OTOP and similar in Nanai, so perhaps it's the crowds driving them away, or perhaps the cost of drinks for the girls or indeed just the noise, which is louder and more intrusive than I've ever experienced here before.

 

There's definitely a younger crowd, and also more families, and I do know for a fact that some of these are Russians, probably escaping the Putin push into Ukraine.

 

On the subject of loud music, it is one of the things which annoys the proverbial out of me, because if I go out to eat/enjoy a meal, or have a drink, the last thing I want is music drowning out the conversation. It was bad enough in the past, but now it's almost unbearable and unfortunately many places seem to want to compete with one another for the loudest music! And I had to laugh a couple of weeks ago when I saw something on Facebook with regards to one of the bars having an evening of partying with free food available, and it advertised itself as, "a great bar, with good music and........... ".

 

In actuality the music from that particular bar is absolute rubbish and it's not only me saying that, but friends who have stopped off there for a drink don't stay longer than one drink, because the noise is awful and deafening.

 

Bangla itself was "shoulder to shoulder crowded" on Saturday when I visited it, and it seemed as if there were many people who walked up or down for a look, but didn't frequent the bars that often??

 

I and a few friends visited a bar in Soi Sea Dragon and whilst we were having a drink, there was an incident going on in a little go-go bar just up from where we were sitting, complete with BIB, and although I can't be 100% sure of these "facts" it would appear that the farang who was slumped in a chair outside of this little bar had tried out some of the local "weed", and it really did have a "knockout" effect on him, and despite several Thai guys trying to revive him, in the end they ended up carrying him to the end of the Soi, and I am not sure what happened to him from thereon in!

 

Although I enjoyed my evening out, it had been about two weeks since I last ventured out, and for quite some time now I have thought that, "I am over Bangla" because it holds nothing for me any more and I'm not a bar Monger, but would rather sit chatting to friends whilst/after eating a nice meal, which Bangla does not fulfil for me these days.

 

I nearly didn't go out on that Saturday because of these thoughts, but I did want to catch up with a couple of mates, so I did go out, and strangely enough, I enjoyed it, and even though I wasn't going to stop at Red Hot, in the end I did and was joined by another friend and quite also enjoyed that part of the evening, so maybe I won't give Bangla away completely!!

[London Lowf]

The litter-pickers are back! Maybe they don't work on weekends as there is simply not enough room?

 

I must admit that I liked Phuket much more last year - as an early Sandboxer in October I had to endure "dry" bars and shut-down businesses when I first arrived but by the time the peak season arrived things were much improved and it was actually very comfortable and the bars, restaurants and hotels seemed genuinely pleased to have some customers. One thing I remember was a group of excellent breakdancers who used to put on little shows along Bangla during the evening - no room for them these days, although the Thai "cowboy" illusionist still manages to find a bit of space.

 

Last night on Bangla was busy and not too frantic but, after last week, I will avoid it on Fridays and Saturdays.

 

One thing that has struck me is that the most attractive girls around are no longer the Thai bar workers, but the tourists - not the pasty-faced over-excited "are we having fun yet" Europeans but some of the more subdued and elegant Koreans (I think) are quite gorgeous.

 

 

[farang51]

3 hours ago, London Lowf said:

although the Thai "cowboy" illusionist still manages to find a bit of space.

I haven't seen him for years; nice to hear he is still around. I am very impressed by his thumb number - especially as he is doing it right in front of people and not on a far away stage.

 

The new Michael Jackson also manages to find a bit of space.

 

[DJ54]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:54 PM, xylophone said:

Gnarly Head Authentic Black)

Sounds like an excellent choice…

True to its name, Gnarly Head Authentic Black opens with brooding aromas of black cherry, black licorice and vanilla providing a powerful entrée to this big, robust Petite Sirah-based blend. Dark and inky in the glass, concentrated flavors of boysenberry and dark chocolate are framed by hints of baking spice on the finish. Styled to stand up to the heartiest of dishes, boldly pair this full-bodied wine with venison chili, meat lovers pizza or grilled rib eye steak.

[London Lowf]

Que?

[xylophone]

16 hours ago, London Lowf said:

Que?

Had to chuckle at your response L L, and the description given was (I think) the one posted by the producer in California. Having said that, I tasted a second bottle a couple of days later and it was completely different to the first one, and I've heard of "bottle variation", but this took it to new levels!!! So I will have to try another one!

 

Now back on to the thread.......having managed to stay alive on the back of a motorbike taxi heading down to the Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, I was pleased to reach the place in one piece, what with being "cut up" by morons driving PCX bikes and weaving in and out of traffic at speed, almost colliding with the motorbike taxi I was on, as well as nearly being wiped out by a farang who decided to do a U-turn on a very busy road without any indication whatsoever – – I don't think I have ever witnessed such atrocious and dangerous driving in my 16 years here. Bloody idiots all of them.

 

Luckily enough I was able to meet some friends at Blue Beach and enjoy a nice meal in a tranquil setting, with guitar player "Moody" entertaining the diners, and there were many of them as the place was just about full.

 

This place is what Patong has been waiting for, and there are some rooms available overlooking the beach. What more could one ask for.....

 

The friends and I wandered up Bangla and it was very crowded, probably the most I've seen it for years, and there were more friends at the Black Horse bar, so we stopped for a chat and a drink, after which we visited a couple of other establishments at which we knew the owners, before one of the overseas guests wanted to go to a go-go bar (not a new event by any means). 

 

So the leader of the pack decided to lead us into Suzie Wong's 2, and I duly followed, only to leave about two minutes later because the place was nothing short of a disaster, populated by fugly women, all vying for a drink and wanting to hold your hand and converse in their own limited command of the English language. Not for me so I popped out to see another friend who owned a bar nearby.

 

The group decided to go on to another go-go bar, but I was not up for that as, "once you've seen one, you've seen them all", although I will add a proviso to that, inasmuch as the original Suzie Wong bar does have some very good looking girls in there and I don't think there's anything to match it here?

 

Anyway, as per the norm with me I decided to walk up Bangla towards Red Hot and in doing so passed the New York pub bar, which was absolutely packed, with people standing outside, but I've got to say the singing was very, very average, so perhaps people were enjoying the noise, because surely they couldn't have been enjoying the songs because some of them were being murdered!

 

Whereas the band/group in Red Hot are several notches above any of the others I've heard here, so I was pleased to be able to get up and sing a couple of numbers with them.

 

It was then that the very likeable captain from Jetstar, whom I'd met before, came over and as I was on my own, invited me to join his table of other Jetstar crew, all of whom were very amiable Aussie folk, and I have to say that I felt in good company because I have flown Jetstar dozens of times and have always had a great flight and great service, so I felt very comfortable in their presence.

 

I eventually found my young and very good motorbike taxi driver who safely delivered me home, and I will always look out for this young guy because he is a good driver and very courteous.

 

So, Patong continues its "resurrection" and Bangla certainly helps, as do the new/newish restaurants that are opening, and the only complaint from me is that the place is seemingly full of absolutely crazy/stupid/ignorant/first time motorists, many of whom haven't a clue about a road code or indeed road safety.
 

[xylophone]

Watch out the Russians are coming........ well that's been happening for a while now and they seem to be a generally well-behaved bunch many with families, and the limited interaction I've had with them has been good.

 

Watch out the Indians are coming........and in greater numbers, however again they seem to keep out of trouble and don't bother anybody.

 

Now the worst possible scenario has happened – – the Chinese have arrived and I experienced this this morning in a small Italian café where a couple of Chinese families decided to take over one quarter of it, with four adults and four children, and as per usual they were noisy, so much so that I and a couple of friends decided to drink up and leave. As I went to pay the bill one of the Chinese males was trying to order something extra and was actually shouting at the little Thai lady behind the counter, then he had a problem with his money as he didn't want to use any 20 baht notes for some reason??

 

As the guy was shouting at her I rolled my eyes and she did likewise at me with a sigh, as if to say – – "I know, I know".

 

They would have to be the rudest, most obnoxious people I have ever encountered apart from Nigerians (where I lived on and off for about a year) and have no sense of manners. I noticed this especially when I found one Chinese guy with his feet on the table in Starbucks, clipping his toenails!!!!! I just couldn't believe it.

 

Then another day, looking outside of the window at Starbucks a Chinese woman proceeded to allow her child to take a dump on the edge of the pavement, when the toilets were mere metres away.

 

I have absolutely no time for them and if you find me one day posting from inside the "monkey house" you will know that I have done something nasty to one of these ignorant people.

[schlog]

The chinese are loud and rude but normaly they are no danger.

 

Xylo you forgot to mention the french arabs, the lovely guys from the banlieues. They are such a danger with their big motorbikes. Driving super crazy around Patong. Horrible.

Oohh how i missed them the last 3 years NOT!

 

Right now Patong must be in top 3 in the world "most dangerous place to drive".

[xylophone]

21 hours ago, schlog said:

The chinese are loud and rude but normaly they are no danger.

 

Xylo you forgot to mention the french arabs, the lovely guys from the banlieues. They are such a danger with their big motorbikes. Driving super crazy around Patong. Horrible.

Oohh how i missed them the last 3 years NOT!

 

Right now Patong must be in top 3 in the world "most dangerous place to drive".

Quite right schlog, I did forget to mention these dangerous idiots, most probably because it has become the norm to see them breaking just about every rule on the road and putting people's lives in danger, so please forgive me for that error.

 

Now a quick précis of my last escapade out: –

 

Blue Beach Café and Restaurant – – almost full, great atmosphere and vista, nice easy-to-listen-to duo churning out the music, and of course excellent food.

 

Bangla Road: – very crowded; New York bar full, but still bar churning out cr@p music! Seems like somewhat of an anomaly, this.

 

A long queue stretched from Illuzion nightclub out into the road and then some.

 

Soi Freedom – – busier than it has been for quite some while which is pleasing for the bar owners.

 

Soi Sea Dragon – – busy and getting busier by the week.

 

Red Hot – – simply the best band in town attracting all sorts of folk, with many dancing, and many Russians in attendance. My favourite music/band venue.

 

A good night was had by all, but with a tinge of sadness because a very good friend (and bar owner) of mine here for some 15 years departs in just a few days for the UK, after Covid and falling patronage meant he had to close his bar, so he is now going back to try his luck and build up his bank balance. All the very best of luck to you old friend.
 

[London Lowf]

I agree about the New York Bar - the music is invariably atrocious and yet the place is packed with a big crowd also getting a free show from the road outside.

 

As an aside from the usual Bangla stuff, I had a look at the OTOP bars a couple of evenings ago. I did have a look almost exactly a year or so ago but it was very slow to recover from the lockdowns and was deserted. This time it was reasonably lively but I felt a little odd as I seemed to be one of the youngest guys there - at 69! Like Bangla, you still get music from several directions at once but it's not too bad, and it was nice to simply enjoy a beer (or four) without getting hustled. It's definitely a more comfortable drinking environment than the roadside bars along Nanai, etc.

[grumpyoldman]

On 2/4/2023 at 7:19 AM, London Lowf said:

I agree about the New York Bar - the music is invariably atrocious and yet the place is packed with a big crowd also getting a free show from the road outside.

 

As an aside from the usual Bangla stuff, I had a look at the OTOP bars a couple of evenings ago. I did have a look almost exactly a year or so ago but it was very slow to recover from the lockdowns and was deserted. This time it was reasonably lively but I felt a little odd as I seemed to be one of the youngest guys there - at 69! Like Bangla, you still get music from several directions at once but it's not too bad, and it was nice to simply enjoy a beer (or four) without getting hustled. It's definitely a more comfortable drinking environment than the roadside bars along Nanai, etc.

"seemed to be one of the youngest guys there - at 69!"

 

Clearly you haven't been to Angeles City yet, where that age is but a teenager.....

[London Lowf]

One thing that has really struck me lately is the number of red-plate vehicles around - surely an indicator of a recovering economy? Parking on beach road it looks like every other scooter is brand new - I exaggerate, but it is a large proportion that I've never noticed before.

 

Scooter rentals really is a huge and profitable business - my accomodation agent says that he now makes more profit from his fleet of scooters than he does from his family's modern medium-sized hotel. He showed me the rental app on his phone and the old Nmax that I rent cost him B84,000 a few years ago and has so far generated B340,000 in income - impressive figures.

 

He usually rents to punters in the neighbouring 4/5-star hotels and his short-term rates are eye-watering and yet he has no shortage of customers.

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by London Lowf

[xylophone]

On 1/22/2023 at 8:05 PM, London Lowf said:

I had to ride into Patong at about 6pm on Friday evening and the traffic was horrendous - the hospital/police station intersection was a nightmare even on two wheels.

I just had to comment on that LL, because the traffic here now is the worst I've ever seen it in my almost 16 years here, and the drivers seem to be a mixture of obviously Thai, with their usual bad road manners, wobbly Russians on wobbly bikes and the same with the Chinese, and on that note, on my visits to Bangkok Phuket hospital a couple of times over the past few days, I've noticed quite a few Russians with lots of bandages on their legs and arms – – motorbike accidents!

 

Jungceylon is now just about fully back to normal and quite busy, with Big C being the busiest of all, and guess what, with a huge percentage of Russians milling around the place – – who'd have thunk it!!

 

I took a trip to Central Patong and although it was not too busy overall, the food hall on the bottom level was busy and again, mostly populated by Russians and a few Chinese! I like to take a trip over there because they have a slightly different food selection than Big C and this time they had a lovely "healthy fruit and cranberry snack bar" from NZ which I happened upon and I bought a couple, which was fatal because I'm now addicted to them!

 

Not only is the traffic horrendous in general, Nanai Road, which is narrow, is now a nightmare come 5 PM and the road off it, Soi Banzaan is just about impassable at times due to stupid parking and the inability of Thais, in the main, to be able to judge distances between cars and motorbikes on the road. However the small bars dotted along Nanai seem to be doing reasonable business at that hour, apart from a few bar mongers who can be seen at these places throughout the day, but they seem to be in the minority.

 

I did hear some sad news that a young and attractive (32 years old) Thai woman had hung herself a few days ago, and it seems to be over a domestic argument, and it made me very sad, as it did a few friends of mine in that Soi.

 

I met up with a couple of bar owners yesterday and asked them how business was going, and they said it was "up-and-down" and they echoed the comments of myself and LL on this thread, whereby they suggested that although Bangla Road itself was crowded, the bars were not so much. They also suggested that one of the reasons was because the clientele were younger and there were more families visiting these days, however they could well be Russian families escaping the war.

 

I'm hoping to get out again at the end of the week, but over the past couple of weeks I've had quite a few dental visits with the extraction of a molar, double root canal and also a couple of visits to the dermatology department, and just a couple of days ago rather large skin excision, requiring 22 stitches, so those events have slowed me up somewhat, but plenty of painkillers should put me right, as has the occasional glass of wine or three!

[London Lowf]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

I'm hoping to get out again at the end of the week, but over the past couple of weeks I've had quite a few dental visits with the extraction of a molar, double root canal and also a couple of visits to the dermatology department, and just a couple of days ago rather large skin excision, requiring 22 stitches, so those events have slowed me up somewhat, but plenty of painkillers should put me right, as has the occasional glass of wine or three!

As my father, who will soon be 94 keeps reminding me, we're all getting old!

 

But just another note on the traffic - there's another thread about the numerous "arrests" outside Patong police station last week and I was sat on a red for 14 minutes* watching the whole thing at exactly 7:00pm, not 7:30 as stated in the article. The cops were operating the lights manually and were so engroseed in pulling over and herding the unfortunate victims that it slipped their minds to switch to the next phase - it was quit comical watching one cop suddenly realising that they weren't on auto and he literally sprinted to the control box.

 

* I was due somewhere at 7:00pm just along the road and just caught the red and checked the time in frustration.

[London Lowf]

Maybe time for a new thread? I know many of the old-timers and long-termers will hark back to the good old days of the last century but, as Xylophone noted above, Patong is busier now than it has been for several years. I've been coming for eight years and can't remember it ever being this busy - riding around my local area there is not one single "For Sale" or "For Rent" sign and I'm already worried that my landlord will "inflate" my rent next year - if i was in her shoes I would!

 

And now I can sympathise with those that found Covid a bit of a double-edged sword as it made Phuket a far more pleasant place to stay in many ways - I certainly look back to my Sandboxing days of October 2021 with some nostalgia.

Edited February 12, 2023 by London Lowf