Not having ventured out much at all, especially in the evenings, I accepted an invitation from a visiting Aussie friend here, when he suggested meeting at a Chinese restaurant in Jungceylon for dinner one night, and as I haven't had a Chinese meal in decades, I accepted.

 

It was a clean and tidy medium-sized restaurant in Jungceylon (what I call the second half of Jungceylon) and I let him do the ordering as I had no idea about the offerings on the menu, but what I did see was that there were no vegetable dishes included in any of the dishes and I just followed his lead.

 

He had bought along a bottle of "sparkling Shiraz" something I have never tried and never wanted to, but I thought I'd go along and give it a go and I can safely say that I won't be trying any more of it?

 

Well the food was delivered quite speedily and was completely and utterly tasteless and not one of the three dishes he ordered for us really tickled my tastebuds at all.

 

If I were to describe them, they were bland, tasteless, and expensive for what they were, so I will never go to that place again and I now see why I have become a fan of Thai food (on occasion) because of the plethora of taste sensations in their dishes.

 

Having said that, my Aussie friend said he would rate the food at 4/10, whilst I would have given it 2/10, and he enjoyed the sparkling Shiraz, and I would also give that a 2/10.

 

Before we parted company we had a couple of drinks in the Irish Times pub which was completely empty when we got there and only had three other customers when we left, so it would appear that that place is struggling as I have noted that a few times before.

 

The Churrassco restaurant was doing good business and has a good reputation, however there is going to be some competition for it because approximately 80 m away, another restaurant is opening up and it is a "South American restaurant" (El Gaucho?) and it would appear to have a similar menu to Churrassco. Time will tell.

 

I will get back down to Blue Beach Café and Restaurant (one of my favourite restaurants in Patong) when a friend of mine comes back from a trip to Malaysia, as I haven't been for a while, mainly because I am somewhat restricted as to how far I can walk and a couple of folks whom I meet at Blue Beach always want to have a few drinks in Bangla and want me to tag along, and I can find this a little onerous.
 

Perhaps a couple of items which may be of interest to Patong folk, so here goes: –

 

I went to the Tops basement floor food supermarket in Patong just to have a look around and decided I would buy something to eat for dinner that night and attached to the "meat section" was another section which had ready made platters of various foods, laid out ready to buy/eat, however when I studied these more closely, a lot of what was on show was very old indeed – – grey meat, cheese which was curled up at the edges and so on so I gave those a miss.

 

I did however spy something which took my fancy, which didn't look that "old", and it was a "spicy beef pie", so I thought I'd give it a try and took one home with me. Big mistake, because whatever was inside the pie had long since deteriorated into a couple of small pieces of beef no bigger than a fingernail, with no gravy or other filling to fill the void, so I managed to eat a little bit of the pastry and threw the rest away – – no more food from that section!

 

The second item I heard from a couple of friends with whom I was having coffee the other day, when they sprang a surprise, saying that what is now known as "Soi Freedom" (in Bangla road) has been sold, or is just about to be sold to a developer who wishes to turn the whole area which is now Soi Freedom, into a multistoried nightclub!

 

So the bars in that Soi will be paid out and vacate the premises, ready for the demolition and building of the aforementioned nightclub.

 

When I first came here in 2004 that was called Soi Eric and was a buzzing nightlife centre, although it was later partly demolished and renamed Soi Freedom, which has never reached the dizzy heights of Soi Eric, and it's shortly to be a nightclub, as if Patong/Bangla needs another nightclub – – that is if the news I heard from my friends is kosher. Time will tell.

Well a kindly "nudge" from another poster on this thread has prompted me to post again after a long layoff, both me and the thread!

 

Although my fractured coccyx appears to have healed, the damage/non-use of the glutes has meant that I am not able to walk distances, although that is improving as time goes on, so any foray down to Bangla these days is certainly out of the question; and that also means that my once frequent trips to Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, are no more, although I must endeavour to get back down there because I enjoy the food and I have friends who eat and drink there.

 

In the meantime I have frequented Churrasco a few times because it is nearby and I have to say that the steaks at that place are the best I've ever tasted anywhere, and this combined with the fabulous wait folk make for a good evening out, and just recently I tried their Wagyu burger, complete with accoutrements and that was also fabulous – – and the best thing is that it is just about in walking distance, or I can take my motorbike and park nearby which I have done on occasion.

 

I have managed to drive my car down to La Capaninna and eat there and it has become one of, if not my most favourite Italian restaurant, so I'm spoilt for choice provided I can get around a little.

 

I have no idea what the monstrosity called, "Patongo" was meant to be, but it seems a total waste of space and money because there's next to nothing there at the moment apart from a couple or three outlets selling food and its deserted.

 

Although the traffic here at the moment is bad, and the state of the traffic matches the state of the roads, which would appear to indicate plenty of tourists, but according to a couple of friends who have massage shops here, there is a dire shortage of customers, with them saying that it's quietest they've ever known it and they are hoping for a bumper "high season".......hmmmm, not sure about that.

 

I have encountered a few Russians here, one of whom I met at my recent visit to the driving licence centre way south of here, and he was an okay guy with a reasonable sense of humour, of which most Russians are supposedly devoid!

 

And talking about my visit to the DLT, it was a nightmare and I had to go on three separate days (don't ask why, it's tedious) and on the first visit there was a queue of over one hundred people, and some, and the same on the second and third days, so I wasted three days of my life queueing to get both my driving licences renewed, even though I did the tests online and although it shortens the actual time I was in front of the machine, it did nothing to alleviate the pain of waiting many hours in the queues. There has to be a better way than this!!!!!

 

As has been mentioned previously, there are a few Russians here who are buying up properties, and the ones I've seen are mostly small guesthouse type properties for a few million baht, although one in Soi Banzaan has been bought by some Greeks and it is an extremely small property and as yet I haven't seen any activity in or around it??

 

It is my birthday coming up this Sunday and I will be 78 years old on that day, something I never thought I would achieve given the life I've led and the dangerous situations and countries like been in, however I'm still enjoying my red wine, the occasional trip to a good restaurant and a weekly meeting with my lovely Thai daughter in Phuket town, because she is just fantastic and for me, makes my life worth living.

 

I will end on that note as I've had a long layoff from the thread, and can't think of much else to write about, and it doesn't help that I'm still getting dizzy spells from my motorbike accident/concussions so until next time, goodbye for now.
 

I’m glad to see you are still kicking and even better getting out and about Xylophone !

Happy birthday for Sunday 👍🏼

22 hours ago, xylophone said:

Well a kindly "nudge" from another poster on this thread has prompted me to post again after a long layoff, both me and the thread!

 

Although my fractured coccyx appears to have healed, the damage/non-use of the glutes has meant that I am not able to walk distances, although that is improving as time goes on, so any foray down to Bangla these days is certainly out of the question; and that also means that my once frequent trips to Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, are no more, although I must endeavour to get back down there because I enjoy the food and I have friends who eat and drink there.

 

In the meantime I have frequented Churrasco a few times because it is nearby and I have to say that the steaks at that place are the best I've ever tasted anywhere, and this combined with the fabulous wait folk make for a good evening out, and just recently I tried their Wagyu burger, complete with accoutrements and that was also fabulous – – and the best thing is that it is just about in walking distance, or I can take my motorbike and park nearby which I have done on occasion.

 

I have managed to drive my car down to La Capaninna and eat there and it has become one of, if not my most favourite Italian restaurant, so I'm spoilt for choice provided I can get around a little.

 

I have no idea what the monstrosity called, "Patongo" was meant to be, but it seems a total waste of space and money because there's next to nothing there at the moment apart from a couple or three outlets selling food and its deserted.

 

Although the traffic here at the moment is bad, and the state of the traffic matches the state of the roads, which would appear to indicate plenty of tourists, but according to a couple of friends who have massage shops here, there is a dire shortage of customers, with them saying that it's quietest they've ever known it and they are hoping for a bumper "high season".......hmmmm, not sure about that.

 

I have encountered a few Russians here, one of whom I met at my recent visit to the driving licence centre way south of here, and he was an okay guy with a reasonable sense of humour, of which most Russians are supposedly devoid!

 

And talking about my visit to the DLT, it was a nightmare and I had to go on three separate days (don't ask why, it's tedious) and on the first visit there was a queue of over one hundred people, and some, and the same on the second and third days, so I wasted three days of my life queueing to get both my driving licences renewed, even though I did the tests online and although it shortens the actual time I was in front of the machine, it did nothing to alleviate the pain of waiting many hours in the queues. There has to be a better way than this!!!!!

 

As has been mentioned previously, there are a few Russians here who are buying up properties, and the ones I've seen are mostly small guesthouse type properties for a few million baht, although one in Soi Banzaan has been bought by some Greeks and it is an extremely small property and as yet I haven't seen any activity in or around it??

 

It is my birthday coming up this Sunday and I will be 78 years old on that day, something I never thought I would achieve given the life I've led and the dangerous situations and countries like been in, however I'm still enjoying my red wine, the occasional trip to a good restaurant and a weekly meeting with my lovely Thai daughter in Phuket town, because she is just fantastic and for me, makes my life worth living.

 

I will end on that note as I've had a long layoff from the thread, and can't think of much else to write about, and it doesn't help that I'm still getting dizzy spells from my motorbike accident/concussions so until next time, goodbye for now.
 

Happy birthday and I hope you get back to full health soon

I just passed my 76th and just about alive and kicking..living the quiet life over here in Kata. My wife sold off our main property in Patong 2 years ago. She still has a small building in Patong and only go over the hill when our handyman needs technical help. I drove over on Tuesday about 09.30 and was surprised at the volume of traffic on Karon road and Nanai Road was very congested. 

Keep on trucking XY ! Happy bday.

On 11/20/2025 at 8:44 AM, xylophone said:

Well a kindly "nudge" from another poster on this thread has prompted me to post again after a long layoff, both me and the thread!

 

Although my fractured coccyx appears to have healed, the damage/non-use of the glutes has meant that I am not able to walk distances, although that is improving as time goes on, so any foray down to Bangla these days is certainly out of the question; and that also means that my once frequent trips to Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, are no more, although I must endeavour to get back down there because I enjoy the food and I have friends who eat and drink there.

 

In the meantime I have frequented Churrasco a few times because it is nearby and I have to say that the steaks at that place are the best I've ever tasted anywhere, and this combined with the fabulous wait folk make for a good evening out, and just recently I tried their Wagyu burger, complete with accoutrements and that was also fabulous – – and the best thing is that it is just about in walking distance, or I can take my motorbike and park nearby which I have done on occasion.

 

I have managed to drive my car down to La Capaninna and eat there and it has become one of, if not my most favourite Italian restaurant, so I'm spoilt for choice provided I can get around a little.

 

I have no idea what the monstrosity called, "Patongo" was meant to be, but it seems a total waste of space and money because there's next to nothing there at the moment apart from a couple or three outlets selling food and its deserted.

 

Although the traffic here at the moment is bad, and the state of the traffic matches the state of the roads, which would appear to indicate plenty of tourists, but according to a couple of friends who have massage shops here, there is a dire shortage of customers, with them saying that it's quietest they've ever known it and they are hoping for a bumper "high season".......hmmmm, not sure about that.

 

I have encountered a few Russians here, one of whom I met at my recent visit to the driving licence centre way south of here, and he was an okay guy with a reasonable sense of humour, of which most Russians are supposedly devoid!

 

And talking about my visit to the DLT, it was a nightmare and I had to go on three separate days (don't ask why, it's tedious) and on the first visit there was a queue of over one hundred people, and some, and the same on the second and third days, so I wasted three days of my life queueing to get both my driving licences renewed, even though I did the tests online and although it shortens the actual time I was in front of the machine, it did nothing to alleviate the pain of waiting many hours in the queues. There has to be a better way than this!!!!!

 

As has been mentioned previously, there are a few Russians here who are buying up properties, and the ones I've seen are mostly small guesthouse type properties for a few million baht, although one in Soi Banzaan has been bought by some Greeks and it is an extremely small property and as yet I haven't seen any activity in or around it??

 

It is my birthday coming up this Sunday and I will be 78 years old on that day, something I never thought I would achieve given the life I've led and the dangerous situations and countries like been in, however I'm still enjoying my red wine, the occasional trip to a good restaurant and a weekly meeting with my lovely Thai daughter in Phuket town, because she is just fantastic and for me, makes my life worth living.

 

I will end on that note as I've had a long layoff from the thread, and can't think of much else to write about, and it doesn't help that I'm still getting dizzy spells from my motorbike accident/concussions so until next time, goodbye for now.
 

 

78? Yep, they breed them lads tough in Sussex! I had no idea anybody was older than LIK!

 

Can’t make the steak lunch this year due to the recent passing of my dear brother who’d been suffering from blood cancer. Apart from the loss and grief, what I can impart to the living is to make sure all your affairs are in order before you depart to the choir invisible. Anyone who has/going through the probate process will know what I’m talking about here.

7 minutes ago, billythehat said:

 

78? Yep, they breed them lads tough in Sussex! I had no idea anybody was older than LIK!

 

Can’t make the steak lunch this year due to the recent passing of my dear brother who’d been suffering from blood cancer. Apart from the loss and grief, what I can impart to the living is to make sure all your affairs are in order before you depart to the choir invisible. Anyone who has/going through the probate process will know what I’m talking about here.

Great to hear from you BTH and my condolences with the passing of your brother, sorry to hear that.

 

You make a very good point about "all your affairs being in order" as after my accident here I got to thinking about what will happen when I depart this mortal coil and visit the great vineyard in the sky, and despite making a new Will about three or four years ago  covering my assets here and in New Zealand, I changed my mind and have left everything to my dear Thai daughter here.

 

I say "changed my mind", because I had left varying amounts to folks in NZ and Australia (friends and some relatives) and when I thought about it, they were all in their 50s and 60s and had their own homes and were probably not short of a bob or two, and my dear daughter here who has just reached 25, has a lifetime ahead of her and the only money she has at the moment is that which I give her on a monthly basis and that which she can earn from her part-time teaching job. So I decided that the money would be well "spent" if given to her, and I feel very good about it.

 

So the rewriting of two Wills and contacting the two lawyers here and in NZ, made me realise that there was a lot to be done, so set about doing it and hopefully all will be fine when the dreaded day comes.

 

Maybe your prompt will help others on the thread, however on to a different subject and sad that we won't be catching up again this year BTH, so that being the case have a good/Merry Christmas and happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Hey!  Happy Birthday!! 🙂

 

I did manage to catch up with a friend and a couple of his friends in Blue Beach Café and Restaurant last night and I enjoyed it, especially as it's been only the second or third time I've been out in almost a year (I think!).

 

The evening started off well when I hailed a Tuk Tuk outside of my condo block and when I asked him how much it would be to take me to Blue Beach, he replied, "200 baht" which surprised me because although this is supposed to be the standard fare for driving in and around Patong, other drivers try to charge a lot more.

More to the point he was very helpful when I was getting into his vehicle, mainly because I have still got a problem with my lower back muscles, and also because I seem to have damaged my knee in some way, so I'm not that mobile. However he kindly helped me in and asked me if I was okay to go and off we went!

I was so pleased with his manner and the fact that he didn't try and rip me off with the fare, that I gave him 300 baht when we arrived at the destination and I also took his phone number, because someone like that deserves more business and if I can put any his way, I certainly will and of course I will use him in the future if I need to.

 

Blue Beach was fairly busy and I ordered the chili squid which I have had before and is quite nice, although I've got to say that there was a fair sized portion of it this time, so much so that I couldn't finish it.

 

My friend and I decided to go for a walk up Bangla (me walking very slowly) and just as we walked past the little three-piece band that was playing at Blue Beach, the guitarist recognised me from my singing exploits of a few years back and asked me to do a couple of numbers with him/them, so I did. Reluctantly so in the first instance as I couldn't remember the words to a couple of the favourite songs he wanted me to sing, so I followed his lead and it seems that they went down well, as we got some good applause!!

 

We stopped in a nice bar called The Black Horse and it is a great little bar with friendly staff and no one pestering you for a drink or whatever, so we stayed there until his two friends caught up with us and I had a couple of drinks and then decided that it was time to go home.

 

Because of the state of my back and my knee, I was helped up Bangla by a security guard whom we both knew, and I said I would be okay to manage Soi Sansabai on my own (famous last words) because by then I was pretty well out on my feet, but I struggled up the Soi to the very top and thankfully managed to get back to my condo but was reasonably exhausted by then.

 

Interestingly enough at Blue Beach there was a party going on at one table with about 10/12 people celebrating the birthday of a petite, good-looking Thai girl who was with an Aussie, boyfriend I think, although I'm not sure that it is destined to be a long-term thing, because when I asked him about his plans, he put his arm around the girl and said that he wasn't sure but implied that would be with her – – to which she gave a look of disdain/disintest. So not sure about how long that will last.

 

On another note it was the first time I've walked up Bangla for some time (as I already mentioned) but I was surprised to see the changes, mainly because Soi Freedom has completely disappeared and nothing else has appeared in its place, after quite a few months, which wasn't supposed to be the case, so keep an eye on that!

 

There was a large "Weed" shop where there once was a bar and some of the bars were not that busy, although there were a fair few people meandering around the Soi, so what that says about the future for Bangla is anyone's guess.
 

If I'm not careful this thread will end up more like a "xylophone travel blog", so more comments from more posters would make it more interesting I think!

 

Well there are certainly more tourists around at the moment and just a few days ago that was made plainly obvious when for some "unknown reason" Big C was extremely crowded and I was informed that a couple of cruise ships were docked just offshore Phuket and the passengers were milling around looking for goodies to stuff in the suitcases they were also buying, and these folk were mostly of Chinese/Malaysian origin and I was told that the ships had set sail from Singapore and Malaysia, so that explains it!

 

On top of that there are also a lot of other tourists, and India would take second place from what I can see in Patong. If you add to that the many Russian single tourists and families then you have quite a mix.

 

Jumping around a bit, I noticed that the partially built/unfinished/skeleton of an apartment block at the southern end of Nanai Road is now being completed and I wonder what type of apartments they will be, however from what I can see they are not very big, so maybe apartments for Thai folk or cheap farangs?

 

With these tourists comes the increased traffic, including the many idiots with no crash helmets riding the large motorbikes who delight in speeding in and out of the stationary traffic, and I have to say that I've almost been the victim of a few of these f/wits – – where are the traffic police when you need them?

 

Still on the subject of traffic, the powers that be have decided to erect some pedestrian traffic lights just before the turning into the Jungceylon car park and as of today the majority of the road users have failed to notice them, not that they are particularly visible, or that there are markings on the road which would suggest that this is the place where pedestrians can cross, so the cars and motorbikes go happily on, and the place is somewhere with an accident just waiting to happen.

 

I met up with the wife of an old friend, who had recently died, on her visit back to Patong and we had dinner at the Wine Connection in Jungceylon and I've always liked it for the variety of meals, although the tiny amount of wine in my wineglass would have probably only filled an egg cup, and this time the Harrisa chicken, which sounded tasty was something I have never experienced with chicken before; inasmuch as it was boneless chicken fried in Harissa spices, but the chicken had a texture to it which was unlike any I've ever tasted in my life, more like compressed rubber and I wondered if it was reconstituted chicken or similar?

 

We had a good catch up and it was great to hear her news since she had relocated to Norway, where her husband came from, and she looked to be in good form and had moved on from her sad event, and I look forward to seeing her next year when she comes back for another visit to see her friends.

 

We parted company at about 9 PM and I made my way back to my condo and had a small port on my balcony before retiring.

 

A pleasant day in all.

16 minutes ago, xylophone said:

With these tourists comes the increased traffic, including the many idiots with no crash helmets riding the large motorbikes who delight in speeding in and out of the stationary traffic,

They don't need a helmet as they don't have a brain to protect😑

47 minutes ago, chercheur888 said:

They don't need a helmet as they don't have a brain to protect😑

That would certainly seem to be the case and whilst I don't care if these idiots are injured/die from their stupidity, I certainly don't want to be one that suffers because of it. 

 

On that subject, there are a fair amount of "longstay" farangs here who just don't wear a helmet and they should be easy targets for the police/traffic police, however nothing is ever done about this and in ensuring that the law is followed!

Carry on Xy, we appreciate the reports.

 

Wine Connection Restaurants were sold to an investment group some years back, the owner maintaining a percentage and his import/export company. So it's not surprising the quality is coming down, investment people looking at costs.

9 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

Carry on Xy, we appreciate the reports.

 

Wine Connection Restaurants were sold to an investment group some years back, the owner maintaining a percentage and his import/export company. So it's not surprising the quality is coming down, investment people looking at costs.

Same old same old the world over huh…

On 12/8/2025 at 10:13 AM, grumpyoldman said:

Carry on Xy, we appreciate the reports.

 

Wine Connection Restaurants were sold to an investment group some years back, the owner maintaining a percentage and his import/export company. So it's not surprising the quality is coming down, investment people looking at costs.

went to the newly refurbished wine connection in central>
Prices up ALOT, the lunch special ..sucks...and quality down

NO MORE

6 hours ago, zzzzz said:

went to the newly refurbished wine connection in central>
Prices up ALOT, the lunch special ..sucks...and quality down

NO MORE

I did notice the newly refurbished Wine Connection in Central, but as I've never eaten there, I wouldn't have any idea about the price of the food. However from what I can remember of my Patong Wine Connection experience, the food was "reasonably priced" and I have enjoyed their pasta dishes in the past.

However my next restaurant visit will be to Churrasco (again) because it is superb and as I don't really worry about restaurant prices, then it's definitely on the cards, as will be a visit to La Capaninna for some good Italian food.
 

On 12/7/2025 at 4:49 PM, xylophone said:

If I'm not careful this thread will end up more like a "xylophone travel blog", so more comments from more posters would make it more interesting I think!

 

Well there are certainly more tourists around at the moment and just a few days ago that was made plainly obvious when for some "unknown reason" Big C was extremely crowded and I was informed that a couple of cruise ships were docked just offshore Phuket and the passengers were milling around looking for goodies to stuff in the suitcases they were also buying, and these folk were mostly of Chinese/Malaysian origin and I was told that the ships had set sail from Singapore and Malaysia, so that explains it!

 

On top of that there are also a lot of other tourists, and India would take second place from what I can see in Patong. If you add to that the many Russian single tourists and families then you have quite a mix.

 

Jumping around a bit, I noticed that the partially built/unfinished/skeleton of an apartment block at the southern end of Nanai Road is now being completed and I wonder what type of apartments they will be, however from what I can see they are not very big, so maybe apartments for Thai folk or cheap farangs?

 

With these tourists comes the increased traffic, including the many idiots with no crash helmets riding the large motorbikes who delight in speeding in and out of the stationary traffic, and I have to say that I've almost been the victim of a few of these f/wits – – where are the traffic police when you need them?

 

Still on the subject of traffic, the powers that be have decided to erect some pedestrian traffic lights just before the turning into the Jungceylon car park and as of today the majority of the road users have failed to notice them, not that they are particularly visible, or that there are markings on the road which would suggest that this is the place where pedestrians can cross, so the cars and motorbikes go happily on, and the place is somewhere with an accident just waiting to happen.

 

I met up with the wife of an old friend, who had recently died, on her visit back to Patong and we had dinner at the Wine Connection in Jungceylon and I've always liked it for the variety of meals, although the tiny amount of wine in my wineglass would have probably only filled an egg cup, and this time the Harrisa chicken, which sounded tasty was something I have never experienced with chicken before; inasmuch as it was boneless chicken fried in Harissa spices, but the chicken had a texture to it which was unlike any I've ever tasted in my life, more like compressed rubber and I wondered if it was reconstituted chicken or similar?

 

We had a good catch up and it was great to hear her news since she had relocated to Norway, where her husband came from, and she looked to be in good form and had moved on from her sad event, and I look forward to seeing her next year when she comes back for another visit to see her friends.

 

We parted company at about 9 PM and I made my way back to my condo and had a small port on my balcony before retiring.

 

A pleasant day in all.

 

I have not been keeping notes on this. But over the last 20 years I would say western farang deaths by motorbike are quite a bit higher in Phuket as compared to Pattaya...

 

Pattaya has weekly even daily sometimes Thai deaths by motorbike, but surprisingly, farang deaths by motorbike are almost, but not quite, uncommon in Pattaya....

 

I think one reason is that all expats are almost forced to get a motorbike in Phuket...No one wants to deal with the awful taxis in Phuket....

 

 

19 hours ago, redwood1 said:

 

I have not been keeping notes on this. But over the last 20 years I would say western farang deaths by motorbike are quite a bit higher in Phuket as compared to Pattaya...

 

Pattaya has weekly even daily sometimes Thai deaths by motorbike, but surprisingly, farang deaths by motorbike are almost, but not quite, uncommon in Pattaya....

 

I think one reason is that all expats are almost forced to get a motorbike in Phuket...No one wants to deal with the awful taxis in Phuket....

 

 

I don't know about the farang deaths in Phuket by motorbike as compared to Pattaya, but I do know that the roads are becoming extremely crowded now and when you add the idiots coming from French North Africa, the Arabic states and the Russians to those which are already making the roads dangerous here, you have a recipe for disaster.

 

As for taxis here, I really don't mind them, and now that I have found a good tuk tuk driver, I will use him whenever I can, however having said that, the traffic at the moment is horrendous so I'm not surprised that taxis and tuk tuk drivers lose their cool from time to time!

 

Although the traffic is horrendous, suggesting there are many more holidaymakers here, several women I know who own beauty/massage shops are complaining about lack of custom, and even those they do get want to beat down the prices which are already low and I really don't know how some of these women/girls manage to survive in these places.

 

My favourite restaurant at the moment, Churrassco, however, was full the other evening when I went again, so I will probably pay a visit around Christmas day/time although I think my friends may well be celebrating at Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, so I may well end up there?

On the subject of food and restaurants, I've come to the conclusion that my culinary skills have severely fallen away over the last few years, and where once I was happy to spend time putting together a meal, nowadays I find it a pain, so more eating out is on the cards I do believe, provided I can take along one of my favourite bottles of wine (and pay corkage of course).

Jumping around a bit, which I am apt to do on this particular thread, and now that Christmas day has come and gone (yippee) I got to thinking about friends that are no longer here, not because of death, but because of the "perils" of owning a bar!

 

Having said that, one of my great friends back then, did drink himself to death, despite being hospitalised three times in ICU because of cirrhosis of the liver and despite being told that it would kill him, he ignored it, kept on drinking, and it did (sad to say) because he was a lovely guy and had one of the best bars in what was then Soi Eric.

 

Now I come to think about it there was a guy who owned a bar just opposite his, who hanged himself off the balcony of his house with a steel rope, which left quite a mess. He got into financial difficulty mainly because his girlfriend at the time was filching money from him, knowingly and also unbeknownst to him and I also believe he had a bit of a drug habit, so all that combined convinced him to take his own life.

 

Another friend who is no longer in this country had a successful bar in Soi Freedom, which he took a long lease on, signed by his girlfriend, despite the fact he was warned against having such a long lease. And then he went overseas to sort out some things and top up his coffers, and when he came back his girlfriend had sold the bar from under him!

 

Of course he was very unhappy about this and their relationship ended, until he found a new lady, then bought her a small business, only for her to move out of his apartment not long after, leaving him high and dry and very disappointed.

 

Another friend and his wife had a very good bar, which I and friends would frequent reasonably often, however due to Covid and "unbridled spending on it" they owed the bank too much and had to sell it.

 

Just the other day I went into an Italian restaurant that I sometimes frequent, only to find an old friend and former restaurateur, taking care of the place whilst the owner was incapacitated, and we were both very pleased to see each other especially as I had visited two of his other restaurants in the past.

 

Unfortunately he had a similar fate to those people above in as much as his "girlfriend" managed to relieve him of his first restaurant, only to relieve him of his second enterprise, which was a small 7-Eleven type shop!

 

Last I spoke with him he had opened another restaurant in Patong, but has since sold it and when I asked him what he was going to do now, his reply was, "I'm going back to my own country as I've had enough of this place, because Patong is nothing like it used to be and I have come to the conclusion I don't like it any more" – – or words to that effect.

 

There are a few other instances I can recall (and some that I can't at the moment) including a bar/guesthouse which was previously called "Canada House" which the owner sold due to the owners girlfriend taking her own life and it is now up for sale again having very few customers from what I can see.......... 

 

There are a few Farangs who have made money on bars and the like over the years, and plenty who haven't and in my case I was very lucky because not long after I arrived here some 18 years ago I managed to buy a house at a "knockdown price" from a farang who owned a bar and was in financial difficulty and I was able to pay cash for it (using my girlfriend at the time for ownership) so got a bargain. 

 

Especially so when five years later when we were going our separate ways I managed to sell it at a profit and my girlfriend at the time didn't want any money from it, however I did buy her a small business and also a small piece of land next to her mother's house up north, and still came out with a profit – – having said that it was a case of luck rather than judgement and having an honest and caring girlfriend.

 

Plenty of other stories that I don't know about, I'm sure, but then Patong and Thailand will always be both a drawcard and places where fun is easily had and money is easily lost!

I'm sure you've heard this old saying XY:

 

"you want to become a millionaire in Phuket (?), start with 10 million".

8 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

I'm sure you've heard this old saying XY:

 

"you want to become a millionaire in Phuket (?), start with 10 million".

Yes I have heard that saying GOM, which is why I have my investments in New Zealand and transfer some for cost of living expenses, and of course buying red wine!!

Not having been out much at all over the past few months, mainly because my back injury has played havoc with my muscles and I find it easier to sit in front of the computer or TV after enjoying some nice red wine. Having said that I'm hoping to go out this Friday evening to Blue Beach Restaurant and Café to catch up with a couple of other friends, but things being what they are, I will see how it goes.

Thinking about it recently, I think this thread should be called "Patong – – Paradise Lost" because Patong is nowhere near like the fun/party place of old and the more I look around, the more I see older farangs sitting in bars nursing their beers, looking miserable, and although Bangla is still lively, there is still a lot of foot traffic passing through, rather than making use of the bars. Not surprising given the cost of a lady drink these days.

A couple of Thai women I've known for quite a few years, own two massage establishments and they tell me that business is VERY slow at the moment and the "high season" as such didn't really materialise for them, so although they employed a few extra staff for the supposed farang onslaught, the girls really aren't making any money, sad to say.

Certainly Patong isn't the place it used to be and the traffic is absolutely horrendous, made a lot worse by the crazy drivers from Arabic countries, those of French African descent with a few crazy Russian and other farangs thrown in, making it very dangerous heading out on a motorbike/scooter, so I'm really pleased when I can venture out in my car. On top of that there is the state of the roads here, which to put it bluntly, is pathetic and although from time to time somebody seems to go out at night time to fill up the holes with tarmac, a few days after that being done, because it is done so poorly, the holes reappear.

Big C has been fairly busy of late with the Chinese onslaught where families have been buying the suitcases in Big C and filling them up with all sorts of dried fruits, and anything else that is dried, to take back to China/wherever.

I was waiting at a checkout in Big C and a guy started talking to me and asked how long I'd been here, and I told him, and his reply was, "well you sure must have sampled a lot of weed in your time here"! My reply was that I don't touch the stuff and I don't think I have since the early 80s when I was in the USA, this along with some wonderful cocaine, which I could quite easily get hooked on if I wanted to!

He asked what I was doing here and I told him – – retired, and I asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to open a weed shop specialising in a special sort of marijuana which had beneficial effects to people suffering from diabetes (something I'd never heard of) and I felt like telling him that the weed situation here at the moment was a bit precarious because nobody quite knew what was happening on that front.

He then asked me if I knew anyone with a Thai passport that he could contact with regards to opening up this business and I told him I didn't (a bit of a porky) and I told him I had to be somewhere else and bade him farewell as I didn't want to get involved in where I thought the conversation was going.

Finally, I went to La Capaninna a couple of weeks back and had two setbacks – – one was where I took wine along to accompany the meal, only to be told that because the elections were on, alcohol was forbidden! I found it strange because I wasn't going to vote and wasn't going to walk around sharing the wine willy-nilly, so I shouldn't have been a threat!

On top of that, the menu has changed quite substantially and whereas before one could get a quite hefty antipasto to start, followed by a good sized pizza, now the antipasto consists of mozzarella and ham and nowhere near the size of the previous offering, followed by very thin pizza which was totally the opposite to what was previously served – – such a shame as I used to like their food.

Ol mate the weedhead needs to go and have a beer and marry a bargirl… 😁

1993, first timer Phuket. Took a bus from the airport, dumped in Phuket town. "Where the F is the beach my buddies told me about"?

Tuk Tuk driver was a girl maybe 18, younger sister in tow, dump me at Nordic Bungalow Bangla. Next door, Rock Hard. Beachside, Paradise Bar, best club sando ever, I think Tropica was one of the only hotels on the beach at that point.

Yes, paradise lost, sorry to get nostalgic.

12 minutes ago, Priorexpat said:

1993, first timer Phuket. Took a bus from the airport, dumped in Phuket town. "Where the F is the beach my buddies told me about"?

Tuk Tuk driver was a girl maybe 18, younger sister in tow, dump me at Nordic Bungalow Bangla. Next door, Rock Hard. Beachside, Paradise Bar, best club sando ever, I think Tropica was one of the only hotels on the beach at that point.

Yes, paradise lost, sorry to get nostalgic.

FArk, 1993, try 1965, it was the most wonderful place to be a boy😭

On 2/25/2026 at 8:13 PM, Olmate said:

FArk, 1993, try 1965, it was the most wonderful place to be a boy😭

Giogio at Tropica said there was no electricity then, you must've been nature boy 😄

On 2/26/2026 at 2:58 PM, Priorexpat said:

Yes, paradise lost, sorry to get nostalgic.

One thing I remember was negotiating the ruts in the dirt road between Patong and Karon Beach.
Think "tarmac" was put down in the late 80's.

22 hours ago, BaanOz said:

One thing I remember was negotiating the ruts in the dirt road between Patong and Karon Beach.
Think "tarmac" was put down in the late 80's.

I lived on sai nam yen in 85,86, during rainy season we would watch the tuk tuks get stuck in the mud heading south past the hideaway ( run by Gary)

"1993,

I think Tropica was one of the only hotels on the beach at that point".

5555.
not even close to true