Patong - The Wake

[xylophone]

On 2/12/2023 at 8:58 PM, London Lowf said:

Maybe time for a new thread?

Maybe you are right LL, because the situation in Patong at the moment has changed quite markedly from an almost dead "backwater" to a lively, thronging place which bears no relation to what it was a couple of years ago.

 

I've enjoyed contributing to the current thread, and also in reading the responses, so maybe other posters and contributors, along with the mods, could suggest another name for it and we could still continue a thread about Patong in general, maybe called something like "Patong Life" or something more adventurous if someone can come up with a name??

 

Would be interested to hear any comments.

[xylophone]

Well, no responses to the suggestion to change the "Patong – the Wake" name, so here goes with a few other snippets.

 

First of all there was an absolutely superb piece on Thaiger called, 
Russian brotherhood stealing Phuket jobs.
https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/russian-brotherhood-stealing-phuket-jobs

 

And it pulled no punches and covered many things that bug folk here in Patong, including corruption and the slack BIB, amongst many others; well worth a read.

Luckily enough I don't drive fast here either on my motorbike or in my car, so when I was driving my bike along Nanai Road at about 35 to 40 km/h, I was able to brake sharply, very sharply when a younger Chinese guy decided to walk out into the road without looking and I just about stopped with my front wheel touching his leg, and I shouted some obscenities at him which he probably didn't understand, however the Thai motorbike taxi guys sitting nearby gave me the thumbs up and laughed.

I thought the situation in Patong had improved somewhat, however there still seem to be some small businesses closing down and one of them used to be called "Cheap Charlies" in Nanai, and it was a guesthouse which wasn't that expensive (not too hard to fathom that was it) before it changed owners and names, and now it is up for sale/rent/lease. Another couple of shops in Nanai have gone the same way, and judging by the very few bar mongers around these days, I would suggest that one or two other bars in Nanai would be following that pattern.

Haven't really been out in Bangla as have had quite a few hospital visits what with cutting out a cancer on my chest, and also some major dental work which involved many big injections, which I hate, and which will be about 68,000 baht when the final bill comes in. And when it is all over I will go out on Bangla and celebrate one way or another!

[HighPriority]

After all that you should go out and go hard !

[xylophone]

15 hours ago, HighPriority said:

After all that you should go out and go hard !

Might be able to do that with the help of a Cialis tablet!!

[zzzzz]

I just got my NEW motorcycle license,  ????  ( after 30 years of only a Car license) because of the many check points in Patong, i have avoided it for the past 3 months as i only have a bike now

If i need visit town, I usually go early morn from Kamala to Phuket town and return via the monument, where there are NO check points

So today drove down 2nd road to hard rock an back along the beach road at apx 2:30
what a mad house>

wont be heading back any time soon and wont ever be heading in at night>
so ur reports are eye opening for me,
Thanks!!!


 

[xylophone]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:07 PM, zzzzz said:

I just got my NEW motorcycle license,  ????  ( after 30 years of only a Car license) because of the many check points in Patong, i have avoided it for the past 3 months as i only have a bike now

If i need visit town, I usually go early morn from Kamala to Phuket town and return via the monument, where there are NO check points

So today drove down 2nd road to hard rock an back along the beach road at apx 2:30
what a mad house>

wont be heading back any time soon and wont ever be heading in at night>
so ur reports are eye opening for me,
Thanks!!!


 

Following on from your line of thought, and the fact that I have driven a motorbike here since 2006 or thereabouts, and before that for a part of my younger life, I have never been so scared as I was yesterday when I had to go to the Sainamyen Doctors Clinic to get my wound checked.

 

As I was coming out of the clinic, a Black madman on a large motorbike came roaring up the road (he had no crash helmet and no shirt on) weaving in and out the other motorbikes and overtaking them on the opposite side of the road, and just as he did that a car came out of a junction and he had to swerve violently to miss it, before carrying on as if nothing had happened. I marvelled that no one had been seriously injured by this lunatic.

 

Unfortunately I was confronted again by the same spectacle when driving along what is commonly known as "middle road", when two Black idiots came roaring down the road, again weaving in and out of the traffic and scaring the living daylights out of every-day motorbike riders, and these were closely followed by a couple of others of similar ilk.

 

Quite where the police are when these idiots are on the road is beyond me, especially as following these crazies, were another dozen motorbike riders, without one of them wearing a crash helmet, consisting of a mix of locals and others.

 

It would be great if the police could do their job with regards to maintaining law and order as these idiots were clearly breaking the law in at least a couple of respects, and were a danger to everyone else on the road.

 

As an aside, I found the Sainamyen Doctors Clinic to be most helpful and whereas before I would go to Bangkok Phuket hospital to get my wound dressed, which would take all of 10 minutes and cost me 2800 baht, here it took the same amount of time and cost me 500 baht, so this clinic proved very handy indeed and I found all of the staff to be helpful and happy, which was a bonus.

 

PS. I wasn't sure whether to use the term Black describing those idiots on the motorbikes, but checked on the Internet and apparently it is the preferred term!!
 

[London Lowf]

Xylophone - staying in Patong long-term is very stressful and I believe that you stay in one of the worse-effected areas for this kind of anti social behaviour. I can only leave the relative calm of Kamala for an evening at a time, or an occassional overnight at most.

 

[London Lowf]

While I'm on this thread - on my last two visits to Bangla (Monday and Wednesday) I noticed a huge improvement in the traffic and parking situation, and also the availability of bar stools in the prime spots along Bangla. Maybe things are starting to die down a bit? Even the football juggling guy is easily managing to clear some space to do his show.

 

One interesting point - I understand (kind-of) why guys get all excited by the attention of the bargirls and empty their wallets. That's fair enough if they are needy and are getting some company and maybe some cheap thrills, but it annoys me when the girls try to solicit drinks for me when I've shown absolutely no interest in them - it's just shameless begging! It's mainly the newbies as the more experienced staff know that, although I tip, I very rarely buy a LD.

 

However, if I am genuinely entertained then I am happy to pay - I give the football guy a tip, and also the pole-dancer at Smiley/Tiger who I remember from many years ago and who is a very open and friendly girl - maybe because she knows that I am not trying to get into her underwear.

 

[xylophone]

19 minutes ago, London Lowf said:

also the pole-dancer at Smiley/Tiger who I remember from many years ago and who is a very open and friendly girl - maybe because she knows that I am not trying to get into her underwear.

Point taken LL, but as I've said previously I don't visit many bars, only the very few bars that are owned by friends I know, apart from the occasional visit to Suzie Wong's, which happens about once or every two months, along with friends.

 

And as for getting into the "underwear" of the very masculine, heavily tattooed pole dancer at Smiley, then I have no interest whatsoever, but every one to their own??
 

[London Lowf]

7 minutes ago, xylophone said:

the very masculine, heavily tattooed pole dancer

That's a bit harsh! Have you ever spoken to her? Substitute "muscular" for "masculine" and you're spot on.

 

She's not my sort but, compared to the English ladies football team, she's an absolute cutie.

[zzzzz]

1st time i have been in Jung Ceylon in over 2 1/2 years.

noon- 1:30 pm...its dead>  a few places to eat, Big c, not fully stocked and some shops open>no customers yet Patong is busy
whats taking so Long?

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, zzzzz said:

1st time i have been in Jung Ceylon in over 2 1/2 years.

noon- 1:30 pm...its dead>  a few places to eat, Big c, not fully stocked and some shops open>no customers yet Patong is busy
whats taking so Long?

It certainly is not as busy as it has been in past years, and the ongoing building work and renovations don't help in that respect IMO, and interesting that you should mention that Big C is not fully stocked, because I've noticed exactly the same, yet there are days when the shelves are fairly well-stocked and within 24 hours they are almost empty again, so someone is buying and stocking up??

 

"Tops" in Central Patong is well worth a visit, if nothing else, just for a change of scenery and no building work or dust and dirt to content with.

[zzzzz]

recently i have been travelling from Kamala to the new Robinsons mall near the monument
very nice great Cheap food court, zero westerners>
and than a stop at Villa which has nowadays comparable prices to Tops on the way home  ????

[eezergood]

On 2/19/2023 at 5:46 PM, xylophone said:

Well, no responses to the suggestion to change the "Patong – the Wake" name, so here goes with a few other snippets.

 

First of all there was an absolutely superb piece on Thaiger called, 
Russian brotherhood stealing Phuket jobs.
https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/russian-brotherhood-stealing-phuket-jobs

 

And it pulled no punches and covered many things that bug folk here in Patong, including corruption and the slack BIB, amongst many others; well worth a read.

Luckily enough I don't drive fast here either on my motorbike or in my car, so when I was driving my bike along Nanai Road at about 35 to 40 km/h, I was able to brake sharply, very sharply when a younger Chinese guy decided to walk out into the road without looking and I just about stopped with my front wheel touching his leg, and I shouted some obscenities at him which he probably didn't understand, however the Thai motorbike taxi guys sitting nearby gave me the thumbs up and laughed.

I thought the situation in Patong had improved somewhat, however there still seem to be some small businesses closing down and one of them used to be called "Cheap Charlies" in Nanai, and it was a guesthouse which wasn't that expensive (not too hard to fathom that was it) before it changed owners and names, and now it is up for sale/rent/lease. Another couple of shops in Nanai have gone the same way, and judging by the very few bar mongers around these days, I would suggest that one or two other bars in Nanai would be following that pattern.

Haven't really been out in Bangla as have had quite a few hospital visits what with cutting out a cancer on my chest, and also some major dental work which involved many big injections, which I hate, and which will be about 68,000 baht when the final bill comes in. And when it is all over I will go out on Bangla and celebrate one way or another!

Tim misses & assumes quite a few things here, the taking jobs part (in many fields) is very questionable - Ive been looking for Russian staff for months, many of the other points do hit home. More so for the long termers. In general a monoculture business model is not desirable, with this I agree. 

HOWEVER  I also remember similar rhetoric regarding the Chinese a few short years ago, then the pleas for them to return in order to displace the Indians. It seems only gullible "farangs" with deep pockets and a penchant for being fleeced are welcome here............

[xylophone]

I haven't been out in Bangla for around five weeks, due to health issues and big dental work, so I can't really comment on it, but I have been out and about a little bit in Patong, and what really did surprise me was the traffic (again/still)!

 

I tried to get across what was once called "Middle Road" but is actually called "Phang Muan Sai Kor" (or so I believe) at around 6:30 PM, and the road was absolutely jampacked, nose to tail with traffic at a standstill or barely crawling along, and this went from the roundabout at the south end, past Jungceylon, and up to the far end traffic lights at Phra Baramee and I've never seen it like this before.

 

Just as an aside, the minivans have made a huge comeback and at one time last week I counted 14 of them in a row on Phra Baramee road, heading out of Patong.

 

Meanwhile, elsewhere, in Nanai Road, what was once a café called "555" which closed down some time ago has shown all the signs of opening back up.......well at least it has over the past couple of months, but it still seems to be stalled?

 

I also noticed that the "Green Mango" guesthouse/restaurant was now fully closed whereas it had been closed for a while and then opened up a few months ago, only to close down again? And further south, the Italian restaurant, "The Loft" is now completely empty and looks to have been gutted, although I'm not sure what has happened to the rooms which were available as part of that building.

 

I did visit Patong Central a few days ago and was pleased that it was doing business, but was very surprised at the customer mix, because the seats/tables in the dining area were completely full of Chinese, with the exception of four folk on two tables – – and the poor serving/wait people were not happy with the customers demands and complaints, not to mention the mess. I did pity them.

 

Maybe there are bar mongers frequenting Bangla, but they certainly aren't evident in the small bars in Nanai, or in OTOP come to that, at least not in daylight/dusk hours, so it would seem that the small window of opportunity with the return of the tourists, will be short lived for these bars.

 

And of course to add to the "interest and excitement of the place" along with the influx of the Russians and now the Chinese, the air quality has taken a dive which means sore eyes and a certain amount of hoarseness in the voice – – oh the joys of Thailand. 
 

As a rider to the above, I've had quite a few people exclaim that they believe the tourist numbers have declined somewhat, and a couple of women I know who own massage shops are not exactly inundated with customers, so maybe there is a lull and I haven't really noticed it?
 

[xylophone]

On 2/26/2023 at 7:39 AM, zzzzz said:

1st time i have been in Jung Ceylon in over 2 1/2 years.

noon- 1:30 pm...its dead>  a few places to eat, Big c, not fully stocked and some shops open>no customers yet Patong is busy
whats taking so Long?

Well things are livening up a bit now @zzzzz, although not to their previous levels, but bit by bit Jungceylon is being inhabited by more tourists and a few shops returning, along with the obligatory "property investment booths".

 

Big C does have quite a few Russians and Chinese shopping there, and as has been mentioned before, as soon as the shelves are full of certain produce, within 24 hours they are almost empty again.

 

Patong Central is busy in the café/restaurant/food department, however I haven't been upstairs to view the stores therein.
 

[xylophone]

On 2/19/2023 at 6:15 PM, HighPriority said:

After all that you should go out and go hard !

Took your advice and decided to go out on the town last night and catch up with a couple of friends at Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, where I had something to eat which was, as usual, very tasty, of course accompanied by a few glasses of red wine.

 

It was reasonably full, though plenty of choices for seats, and they had the guitarist "Moody" playing, and he is an extremely good and versatile guitarist and really makes the evening.

 

Then four of us decided to trundle up Bangla, which was only slightly less crowded than in past weeks, apart from the queue waiting to get into "Illuzion" which snaked out to the far side of Bangla and then down some – – have never been in there so don't know what the attraction is??

 

Also visited the Black Horse bar which is a great place to sit and watch the world go by, which we did for about half an hour before heading off into Soi Sea Dragon and as I've posted elsewhere, got the lowdown on the police raid, and we wondered why Suzie Wong's and Harem were closed?? Maybe part of a bigger clampdown although I'm not sure that the last two I've mentioned would be guilty of the sort of misdemeanours already quoted for the closed go-go bar?

 

Whilst the others were going to visit a few other bars, I decided to try my luck at Red Hot as I haven't been there for six weeks or more, and I got talking to one of the tourist police stationed just along the road and he mentioned that they were there to enforce a 1 AM closing time, which surprised me, and sure enough when I got into Red Hot and sang a couple of numbers, I was not allowed to do any more because they were restricted for time!

 

The band had changed a little from last time I visited, although the key members were still there, and I was surprised to be approached by, first of all, a guy from Belgium who said that he had seen me sing over a few years and described me as a "legend", and then a pretty blonde haired woman came over to me and started chatting away and kissing me on the cheek, saying that she had seen me sing there four years ago and was delighted that I was still there, and was hanging around a while and I wasn't sure if she had other intentions, or just wanted a drink, or indeed wanted to buy me one!

 

Lastly a couple of Aussie girls sitting nearby came over and gave me a big hug and a kiss and said, "you were awesome", so my night was made, and I trundled home with the help of a friendly motorbike taxi and this morning I am feeling a little seedy after following the advice of @HighPriority but I had a good time, so it was worth it.
 

[HighPriority]

Alls well that ends well @xylophone ????????????

 

[London Lowf]

On 3/18/2023 at 2:36 PM, xylophone said:

I got talking to one of the tourist police stationed just along the road and he mentioned that they were there to enforce a 1 AM closing time

Yes, all very odd and out of the blue.

 

I was told that it was only for three days but, as you know, my communication skills leave a lot to be desired and so I might have misheard or been misinformed!

 

[London Lowf]

On 3/19/2023 at 8:56 PM, London Lowf said:

Yes, all very odd and out of the blue.

 

I was told that it was only for three days but, as you know, my communication skills leave a lot to be desired and so I might have misheard or been misinformed!

 

Back to 2am closing.

 

Not that they need it now that we're moving away from the peak/high seaons! By 1am Bangla is pretty much winding down and the bar staff get bored and start snacking from the roving vendors.

 

It's also noticable that there is a big increase in LB streetwalkers (and the more up-market freelancers hitting Bar Funk) that only arrive at about that time in the hope of picking up an easy job - all swishing their hair as they mince along the road.

 

[xylophone]

10 minutes ago, London Lowf said:

Back to 2am closing.

I was told it was 2:30 AM LL, and when I left Red Hot at around 2 AM, it was still going strong, or relatively strongly compared to earlier in the evening.

 

Soi Freedom still looks to be a Soi which is struggling for patronage, but Bangla itself was still pretty busy and I didn't go into Soi Sea Dragon to see if the gogo bars were open again, but a couple of friends did venture therein and said everything was back up and running again.

 

Overall Patong is still struggling, but it's a struggle which seems to pit the haves against the have-nots with smaller shops/establishments under financial pressure and a few of them closing down. In fact a row of small shops in Soi Banzaan may soon have to be vacated because the building which houses the shops is being repossessed by the bank so the future of these businesses is uncertain.

 

Into Nanai and the previous 555 restaurant/café which closed down about Covid time and which has showed signs of a resurrection, still seems to be stalled, and although the new owner has renamed it "Verdi", and there is a sign in the window asking for Thai workers/waitresses, nothing has moved in that place for months!

 

Further down, the empty large store which was previously "Tesco Lotus" is being made into something else, but what, is not obvious at the moment. Even further down, the Italian restaurant called "The Loft" is still empty and looking like a very sad place, however that pales into insignificance when one rounds the corner to find that the very large social area of the "Chang Residence Hotel" looks like a bomb has hit it, because the ceiling has collapsed and inside it is un-inhabitable, and it has been like that for some time now.

 

So on the one hand things seem to be looking up, but all is not as it seems I believe.

 

Even the café's are nowhere near what they used to be, and the service at the "Coffee Club" at the front of Jungceylon is absolutely abysmal, and Starbucks at the other side of Jungceylon is only marginally better.

 

I did hear from a former manager of the "Wine Connection" that the restaurant/wine shop would be open early May and at this moment in time the premises are being made ready for that opening. So obviously some of the larger stores are banking on a uplift in Patong's fortunes, but again, I believe Patong is still going through a bit of a rollercoaster ride in that respect.
 

[London Lowf]

I stand corrected on the 2:30 closing - I was told 2am but went home at about 1:45 and the central area around Bar Funk ond down toward the beach was quiet compared to an hour or so earlier..

 

I was going to walk along Sea Dragon for a look as usual at about 00:30 but it was so uninspiring that I turned around and went back to Bangla. Even the eponymous bar was very sparsely populated (by paying customers as opposed to girls!)

 

I've never been here quite this late in the season, but would imagine that this downturn is to be expected as we approach April?

 

I go home next week but am back for June and July - I've never experienced low season before, and so will be interested to see how things are.

 

[xylophone]

I've just noticed on another thread that the tourist numbers in Phuket have improved markedly and that by the end of the year they should be back to the high season norms.

 

Just a couple of bits of information from a couple of friends, the first being a lawyer, who said that they had been fairly busy with the opening of marijuana shops (and similar) and the other piece of information from a friend who is living near Laguna, states that real estate is going very well there and many Russians are buying condos and villas with bags full of cash! (according to his friends in real estate there).

 

That has been supported by a French guy I know here, who manages the small property booths in the likes of Jungceylon, where he said business is very slow, but is brisk in the Laguna area! 

 

So, as I said in an earlier post, some areas/businesses appear to be doing well, whilst others aren't.
 

[Shot]

My wife's shop is busier than ever before. Her sister is now working for us full time, plus another part time employee. They can hardly keep up. But, it will take another year like this, to fully recover from the covid <deleted>. 

[xylophone]

16 minutes ago, Shot said:

My wife's shop is busier than ever before. Her sister is now working for us full time, plus another part time employee. They can hardly keep up. But, it will take another year like this, to fully recover from the covid <deleted>. 

Good to hear your news@Shot and long may it continue.

[xylophone]

On 3/25/2023 at 2:20 PM, London Lowf said:

I was going to walk along Sea Dragon for a look as usual at about 00:30 but it was so uninspiring that I turned around and went back to Bangla. Even the eponymous bar was very sparsely populated (by paying customers as opposed to girls!)

 

I've never been here quite this late in the season, but would imagine that this downturn is to be expected as we approach April?

Well LL, I think my predictions are a bit like the proverbial, "box of frogs" (i.e. all over the place) because despite seeing quite a few Russians and Chinese, and more Chinese now than earlier on, reports from friends who have businesses here are mixed??

 

A friend and his wife who rent out motorbikes have said that things have almost come to a halt, after a busy few months, and a very nice restaurant on the beach, although still busy, is nowhere near as busy as it has been.

 

Managers of a couple of massage shops I know have said the same thing, which will not please the scores of massage ladies who appeared en masse almost a couple of months ago, and who can be seen sitting outside of the shops, sometimes 10 of them or more, waiting for a customer, and this was very obvious when I got a tuk tuk along beach road about a week ago. Probably a couple of hundred women sitting there looking a little forlorn.

 

Some of the bars in Bangla have also seen a drop-off in business, and indeed, in one particularly popular bar, there were actually some spare barstools on Thursday evening – – probably a first for that place for quite some time.

 

For me it brings back memories of a song from way back, "The Thrill Has Gone", because for me it certainly has, and has been that way for quite some time, as it was always a good place to meet friends and have a few drinks, not that I am a big drinker, certainly not a beer drinker, as I would only drink maybe half a dozen beers a month! And sit and watch the world go by.

 

Now though, girls are pestering you for drinks because they don't get a salary any more (or many don't) and on many occasions you will buy them a drink and they won't even touch it, just leave it on the counter and walk away to talk to others, hoping to get another drink there – – all in the process of earning commission.

 

And something which happened just over a week ago, astounded me, was when one of the security guards from way back recognised me and came over to say hello, and we had a bit of a chat and I asked him if he wanted a drink, which he gratefully accepted. Later on when I came to pay the bill I realised that this drink had cost me 200 baht (the same as a lady drink) which I thought was a bit on the nose, especially as the security guard had no affiliation whatsoever with the bar I was at!

 

If ever there was a thrill here for me, and there was early on in the piece because I like partying and lairing up, it seems to have waned considerably. Perhaps the rebuilding of Jungceylon and nearby surrounds will help, but I'm not so sure...........
 

[London Lowf]

I thought the context was "as mad as a box of frogs" which has always been one of my favourite expressions! Sorry if I'm nit-picking!

 

Funny you should mention motorbike hire - I mentioned some time ago that my "agent" now makes more money from renting scooters than he does from his hotel and it seems that everyone is now jumping on that bandwagon and hence the market is now flooded. One of the biggest (if not THE biggest) bars in Kamala has also joined the club in the last few months and has a row of a dozen scooters sitting unused out front and they're going to gather dust over the next few months as Kamala is now well and truly in low season. Riding around Kamala virtually every business now seems to be renting scooters as a sideline and I'm sure it's the same in Patong.

 

Actually, I'm now back home for a couple of months and am not happy about it - I went to my local pub last night and, even with a live band, it was rather boring - the UK is such a grey and dull place for nine months of the year and I was really enjoying my visits to Patong in the last few weeks as it was becoming less hectic - I prefer to sit on Bangla rather than the side-sois as I am very much a people-watcher and was finding it easier to get a ringside seat in all of my favourite bars.

 

And, talking of getting pestered for drinks, this very rarely happens to me as all of the girls in the bars that I frequent know that they are wasting their time - I won't even play dice/connect 4/jackpot with them because I know where that leads..... The hustlers may not like me but I am still made very welcome by the permanent staff as I am a regular and I do always tip. Cheap Charlie? Maybe yes, but I visit a bar every single night and am no longer a bar-finer and feel no need to be made a fuss of.

 

[Patong2]

Definitely lower traffic volumes in the last couple of weeks in Patong, Karon/Kata and even Kamala.

I even got a parking spot on Beach Rd about 5pm the other night and managed to find "Sweets" restaurant and "Karlsons" open which I was pleased to see as we had been unable to get down there since before Covid.

Driving home from CherngTalay from a great comedy show on Tuesday night and had just about a free run at around 10pm. No traffic at all.

Is there going to be a pick up in tourist numbers with Song Kran or is that only Thai's now? We used to get numbers of lunatic Aussie's and other farangs in Bangla Rd for Song Kran but I wonder whether we will see them this year. Wouldn't be missed by most people I think.

Sat in Soi Sansabai for a few hours the other night and plenty of people walking the street, always 

enjoy people watching and the huge diversity of people here.

 

[xylophone]

38 minutes ago, Patong2 said:

Definitely lower traffic volumes in the last couple of weeks in Patong, Karon/Kata and even Kamala.

I even got a parking spot on Beach Rd about 5pm the other night and managed to find "Sweets" restaurant and "Karlsons" open which I was pleased to see as we had been unable to get down there since before Covid.

Driving home from CherngTalay from a great comedy show on Tuesday night and had just about a free run at around 10pm. No traffic at all.

Is there going to be a pick up in tourist numbers with Song Kran or is that only Thai's now? We used to get numbers of lunatic Aussie's and other farangs in Bangla Rd for Song Kran but I wonder whether we will see them this year. Wouldn't be missed by most people I think.

Sat in Soi Sansabai for a few hours the other night and plenty of people walking the street, always 

enjoy people watching and the huge diversity of people here.

 

I agree with your point about lower traffic volumes in Patong, but can't speak about the other areas @Patong2, and just last night I decided to head out on my motorbike to buy some great wine from Aleena House, which is in the same Soi as Carlson's and Sweets, and was surprised how easy it was to get there, and back! 

 

Well there always used to be a certain madness around Song Kran, which is why I refused to go out on the days when it was in full swing, however now it appears to be reduced to one day only in Patong, which IMO is great.

 

Seems we both like to do a bit of people watching! 

[zzzzz]

daily,less and less people on the beach in Kamala<I expect it to pick up next week for Sogkran and than die


On a side note>

I recently got my first Motorcycle license for Thailand ( have only had a car license for 30 years)
Used to be a check point between Kalim and Kamala> 1-4pm and on 2nd road in Patong

anyway, i have been in and out of Patong alot since i go it, i have YET to see a checkpoint anywhere.

disappointed as wanted to pull out my motorcycle license> Did i waste 105 baht?

where's all the checkpoints  :-)   LOL