Patong - The Wake

[phuketrichard 4,063]

Having  lived in Patong in 1985 thru 1996 and now living in Kamala, all i can say is Patong never died,

just constantly reinvents itself for a changing tourist market.

 

Edited June 26, 2017 by phuketrichard

[Lucky mike 341]

I think Patong has been slowly been choked to death by greed ! Rip Patong.....

[AJBangkok 728]

15 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

I agree, but with the majority of tourist coming to Phuket these days being Chinese, I can't see the Chinese buying a bar / guest house / cafe / restaurant, or taking an Issan bride.  

 

That makes for a lot of empty establishments here in the future, that previously catered for westerners, and we are already seeing it happening now.

 

I agree with you that your average Mr Wang from Wuhan is far less likely to come to Phuket, fall in love with a bargirl, and move here to run a cafe etc than your average Bob from Bristol or Bruce from Brisbane.

 

However taking a bigger perspective if the clampdown on Zero Baht tourism actually works then it is possible that in order to claw back as much money as they can from Chinese tourism, the Chinese ( corporate or illegal interets - not individuals ) do acquire local businesses or have locals front businesses on their behalf.

 

They are doing it already We've already seen crackdowns on Chinese tour guides, Chinese tour companies, Chinese bus and boat owners and chances are these people are not just going to give up and go home. They'll just find a better way to keep doing it and get thier share of the pie. 

 

For that to happen then you'd need Chinese tourism to be sustainable and grow. Investment wouldn't happen overnight  but slowly they could acquire the venues and retask them so that maybe in 10 years time nightlife in Patong will be about popping out at night for a bowl of noodles and a cold Tsing Tao, followed by a foot massage , and some late night entertainment by cracking a bottle of Remy at the local Karaoke. Paradise.

[xylophone 11,744]

2 hours ago, Lucky mike said:

I think Patong has been slowly been choked to death by greed ! Rip Patong.....

I was going to add to that, greed and stupidity, but in thinking about it it is the greed which is creating the stupidity!

 

In an effort to get more rent and/or key money from anybody and everybody, more shops, shophouses and small hotels are being built, but the problem is there are so many empty (and near empty) ones at the moment although that doesn't seem to be a problem for the landlords/owners.

 

Just a couple of days ago I was driving down the "new middle road" and was astounded by the number of closed places, newly built and existing empty places and those still being constructed. The near derelict building alongside and slightly behind the "B-Qik" car maintenance depot has been transformed into a lot of smaller establishments (bigger than your average shop) and a couple of establishments have set up shop (sorry about the pun) however with so many similar type buildings being empty a little further down the road, one has to wonder about the future of these.

 

Still I don't suppose the owners mind too much, especially if the new occupiers pay a few months rent upfront and/or some key money, because they will keep that if the business fails and just wait for another sucker to come along.

 

Sometimes I do feel sorry for the occasional Thai family who have set up shop because it has been their dream, only to see it fail miserably and lose their money. I know of a couple of establishments where this happened and one Thai lady approached her cousins to put some money into opening a restaurant, so they did and it failed – – it failed because it was in exactly the same position that the previous restaurant was in and that also failed . Out of the way, no foot traffic, nothing different offered to many others near that strip and so on.

 

Sometimes it would appear that people just do not do their homework.

[Prometheus33 41]

19 hours ago, Monkeyrobot said:

Full of Chinese, one of them walked up to me and started taking a photo of the shrimp yellow curry I was eating, strange people and the tuk tuk drivers don't like them either, they really haggle on the price, 

Yep, full of these Chinese and you know what?! They spend a great deal on their trips to Thailand (and elsewhere) .......... at hotels, restaurants and shops. Today, the Chinese tourists are a major contributor to the Thai tourist industry (and to global tourism as well ........ check relevant data at locations France, Germany, UK , USA etc) .. So,  "full of Chinese" , really ?! ........  and they "haggle" too ?!  

A request, please do not belittle any race , nation or colour ..

[Patong2 308]

4 hours ago, Prometheus33 said:

Yep, full of these Chinese and you know what?! They spend a great deal on their trips to Thailand (and elsewhere) .......... at hotels, restaurants and shops. Today, the Chinese tourists are a major contributor to the Thai tourist industry (and to global tourism as well ........ check relevant data at locations France, Germany, UK , USA etc) .. So,  "full of Chinese" , really ?! ........  and they "haggle" too ?!  

A request, please do not belittle any race , nation or colour ..

Can this post be removed?

Just idiotic in the context of the thread

[GiantFan 196]

Back to things I miss, Montes was a relaxing place to hang out with good food and weekend BBQ.  Parking no problem and the staff good.  Hard to find anything similar in Patong these days.

Edited June 26, 2017 by GiantFan

[naboo 2,483]

Been to Patong once, for a few hours back in 2010. I have to return next month as my sister is visiting with my niece, and Patong is their choice of destination.

 

What's unmissable? I'm not looking forward to my visit, so  give me something to look forward to. It can't be that bad, surely?

[xylophone 11,744]

8 hours ago, GiantFan said:

Back to things I miss,

I used to hang out at a pool bar/pub in Bangla on the corner of Bangla and Soi Sea Dragon in 2005 and 2006.

 

It was called the Bier Kutscher (or similar) and served good bar food, had friendly staff and was a great place to people watch........played the occasional game of pool, but not my forte!!

 

Sad to see it go and Monsoon now stands where it once did.

[schlog 1,312]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

I used to hang out at a pool bar/pub in Bangla on the corner of Bangla and Soi Sea Dragon in 2005 and 2006.

 

It was called the Bier Kutscher (or similar) and served good bar food, had friendly staff and was a great place to people watch........played the occasional game of pool, but not my forte!!

 

Sad to see it go and Monsoon now stands where it once did.

I think it was the Bierkutsche. Originally it was some meter more up Bangla road and was a good swiss-german-austrian restaurant.

 

On many night outs in the 90' it was our starting point. After a good Gschnetzeltes with Roesti went down to U2 for warm up and watch. Usually when the Christine girls strolled down Bangla, it was time to head to Banana for 2h entertainment.

 

The "love clown" show was always a burner. At 2am went up to Saloon bar and the bars next and behind Fire House. There then rock till 7-9am before we had gaeng hoi pet pet breakfast in the small thai restaurant right side where today Jungcylon is. A friendly tuktuk driver brought you home for 20 thb per person.

 

Patong was paradise of love and rock. Always inspiring and a surprise. Without Patong i would never met guys like Axl Rose but in the 90' it was normal and a lot fun. Never thought that a small bone like him could drink this way lol. 

[Patong2 308]

12 hours ago, naboo said:

Been to Patong once, for a few hours back in 2010. I have to return next month as my sister is visiting with my niece, and Patong is their choice of destination.

 

What's unmissable? I'm not looking forward to my visit, so  give me something to look forward to. It can't be that bad, surely?

Naboo

what are your likes?

The beauty of Patong is it has such variety.

If you like the rural atmosphere of Thailand there are still patches a few minutes away by car or bike.

You want deserted tropical beaches with white sand? 30mins north to Mai Khao?

You want crazy frenetic night life? still flashes of it in Bangla at night.

Shopping, don't ask me about <deleted> shopping, suffice to say the ladies in your group have a huge choice to waste their time and money (hopefully not your money)

 

Last night my wife had an in depth conversation with a guy who had taken a lady boy back to his room the night before, while I was discussing with a guy his experiences in Cambodia & Vietnam in the 70's and 90's and that was only 2 hours of our day.

 

If a person can't still have a pretty pleasant time here, they are probably a pretty unhappy person or just a miserable prick but you should have met Patong when it was alive.

[xylophone 11,744]

13 hours ago, naboo said:

Been to Patong once, for a few hours back in 2010. I have to return next month as my sister is visiting with my niece, and Patong is their choice of destination.

 

What's unmissable? I'm not looking forward to my visit, so  give me something to look forward to. It can't be that bad, surely?

As Patong2 has said, the nightlife in Bangla is worth a visit and you can go from the seedy to the enjoyable (live band) in one strip.

 

Some nice restaurants nearby if you wish to explore.

 

Wat Chalong is a place I recommend to visitors, as are Cape Panwa and Promthep Cape and whilst on the way the small road around the coast is very scenic.

 

Exploring the East Coast makes a nice day out and the beaches in the north west are a cut above the others.

 

Although others decry it I enjoyed Phuket Fantasea as did the others I went with..........not your slick hollywood type show, but a rustic yet enjoyable effort.

 

Shopping is best in Phuket Central Plaza, not too far from Patong and worth the trip.

[xylophone 11,744]

On 6/26/2017 at 8:56 AM, phuketrichard said:

Having  lived in Patong in 1985 thru 1996 and now living in Kamala, all i can say is Patong never died,

just constantly reinvents itself for a changing tourist market.

 

Maybe true enough, but if a place keeps reinventing itself to match a market which is sliding down the socio economic scale, then it will end up in a sorry state indeed. Suitable for bogans, lowlife, cheapskates and objectionable tourists........

[beechbum 1,205]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

Suitable for bogans, lowlife, cheapskates and objectionable tourists........

Funny stuff, you think patongs only just become suitable for those types...they and every other type imaginable have been going there for a very long time.

 

[Mysterion 132]

I first visited patong in 2010.

 

IMHO, it has hardly changed since then.

 

Sure there are a few more shops/guesthouses on new middle road and allot more PRC tourists, but it has still retained the overall look and feel since 2010 at least.

 

When did Patong change rapidly from a quiet fishing community to what it had become in 2010?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Mysterion