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Posted
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.

Posted
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.

Posted
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.

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Posted

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.

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Posted
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. 

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Posted

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 ????

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Posted
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.

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Posted

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?

 

 

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Posted
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.

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Posted

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.

 

 

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Posted
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.

 

patong-nat-bangla-road-mj-big.jpg

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

Gnarly Head Authentic Black)

Sounds like an excellent choice…

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Posted

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.

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Posted
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.

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Posted

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.

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