June '07 Prowler

[K2]

Out yesterday ....

Phuket.Baronbonk.com::Prowler from Phuket( Team building – a lesson for Football Club owners )::

Prowler

As with every low season bars and restaurants are offering special deals to attract who ever is in town into their establishment. I noticed a very good breakfast offer by Scruffy Murphy's Bar on Soi Bangla the other day.
Hotels and guesthouses are offering monthly rates with good value discounts. With less tourists in town the pace of life down Bangla is slower. Also the heavy rain squalls that are sweeping the area tend to keep people indoors.

MICHAELS BAR
This English owned bar is in the confusing streets of Phuket City. The main way I can find it is that you can see its sign from the front door of the famous On On Hotel. It is very well laid out with a mixture of bar stool seating or some comfortable private booths. The bar is well stocked with a wide variety of spirits and some unusual tipples. Towards the rear is a pool table leading further back to what I must say are probably the cleanest toilets in Phuket City. In fact the entire bar area was also spotless. There is food available at reasonable prices. This bar seems to be more of a local for the ex pats who live and work in the city.

FAULTY TOWERS.
Faulty Towers on Soi Sunset recently announced that there is a change at the helm. Simon is bowing out of the partnership after a two year stint to move on to other things. The bar will continue with Paddy running things himself. The most important piece of news is that the cook is staying. The star bargains in the pub remain. A pint of draught Kilkenny is 180 Baht and the newly introduced Bulmers Cider at only 190 per pint bottle.

KAMALA
While driving through Kamala recently I noticed that more new bars have opened along the main road. One eye catcher was called Roma Bar and is blasting out bright red neon lighting like some demented sci fi space capsule. I don't think I would want to be trying to have a drink in such garish surroundings.

SOI SANS SABAI
Since it became the late night street everyone is trying to get in on the action. What were dilapidated old buildings are being replaced with new cafe/bars. The Lek Murphy Irish Pub has somehow got itself some rooms and morphed itself into The Lek Murphy Irish Hotel. They are now staying open late into the night playing the hotel 24 hour coffee shop rule. Several mini greasy spoons take away joints now also are open. One is called "El Tels" and offers curry sauce over chips!! Welcome to Benidorm. (This is what happens when air flights get too cheap). The front half of this Soi is beginning to remind me of the old Monty Python English holidaymaker sketch (Watney's Red Barrel. ) At least the guest houses further on in are not jumping on the band wagon and remain quiet at night.

TIGER INN RESTAURANT
When Tiger Inn on Ratutit Road was still in its final construction phase rumours abounded that the Tiger complex on Soi Bangla was going to be torn down and the bars forced to re-locate to the ground floor of this complex. It has not happened, much to the relief of the many bar owners in the Tiger complex who operate on a three year lease. Instead the Tiger Inn has made its ground floor into a huge open air restaurant and a clutch of pool tables at the rear. At night time it is offering a whole range of sea food just like the ones along Beach Road. This place has several advantages over the open air sea food restaurants on Ratutit. The most obvious one is that it is under cover so if it rains it does not matter. Secondly, it has full toilet facilities so you don't have to leave your table and walk a hundred yards and pay 5 baht for use of a dirty toilet. After dinner it is only a short walk to Soi Sukhumvit and a little further to the Rock Hard junction of Soi Bangla.

SOI EASY - NOT
Not all is well for some of the bar owners in the Soi Easy complex. Where is that, you may ask? This Soi must be the most under performing Soi on Bangla. It is the one hidden under Dragon Club behind the stairs. Most people simple walk past thinking it is part of Dragon. Now the developer has decided to tear out some bars and re model the place. The only problem is that some of the bar owners are losing big chunks of their bar areas. These are what they paid for on their lease. Needless to say they are not happy but cannot stop the rebuild. To add insult to injury I am told the developer has made all the new bars exactly the same so it looks like some kiddy's lego set. What the bar owners really need are some large signs to attract the passers by inside. Price control would also help. One bar is charging an astronomical 250 Baht for a 330 ml bottle of Stella Artois!! That is more expensive than back in London.

SOI SUKHUMVIT
First it was a dead end. Then it opened up and you could stroll through into Soi Sea Dragon bottom end by the bull rodeo place. Then they closed it again and lost all that foot traffic. Soi Sukhumvit is full of lively bars and has the advantage of overhead cover from the rains. It would make great sense to re open the end and have a walkway into Sea Dragon once more. I have heard that this is soon going to happen.

And finally:

TEAM BUILDING ????
I know that some bigger establishments like to lay on trips for their staff on bar closing days as a team building exercise. Picture this. This pub decides to take all their staff away for an over nighter to Koh Lak National Park over a serious Buddhist Holiday. One member of staff did not attend saying that he was sick. The bar owner fined the employee over 3000 Baht claiming that they had already paid for food and accommodation. ??? (What Thai waiter requires 3000 Baht for room and board I ask). I think that the owner in question is way out of line and should consider that many of the staff would rather be left alone on Holy days to attend the Temple with their families

[Nautilus]

Has anyone stayed at The Lek Murphy Irish Hotel?

:: Hotel Lek Murphy's :: Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand ::

[IRISH JONNY]

my mate tony ran the pub for LONG TIME....HE JACKED IT IN ABOUT A YEAR AGO.THEY WERE BUILDING THE HOTEL IN APRIL........
ID SAY NOT MANY HAVE STAYED THERE AS IT IS BARELY OPEN.ITS ON SOI SANS SABAI

[LivinLOS]

I was wondering what happened to Bugle.. I havnt recieved one for months and months..

[norrie]

Originally Posted by IRISH JONNY

my mate tony ran the pub for LONG TIME....HE JACKED IT IN ABOUT A YEAR AGO.THEY WERE BUILDING THE HOTEL IN APRIL........
ID SAY NOT MANY HAVE STAYED THERE AS IT IS BARELY OPEN.ITS ON SOI SANS SABAI

wheres tony now?hes a top guy,always a laugh when hes around!

[IRISH JONNY]

Originally Posted by norrie

wheres tony now?hes a top guy,always a laugh when hes around!

last i hear he is still back home in cork city............that was 2 months ago.......ij

[Crustasian]

Originally Posted by IRISH JONNY

last i hear he is still back home in cork city............that was 2 months ago.......ij

I met him a few months ago and he was with a Thai GF from up North.He said that he would probably move up to her area and live there provided everything worked out with his business back in Cork.

Tony is a top man and always treated his customers as special friends.I wish him well where ever he is.

[Bello Uomo]

Thanks for the update K2.

Always interesting to read news about the nightlife scene in Patong.

Looks like Soi Eric isn't the only soi to undergo some transformation. And I agree - Soi Easy needs a facelift. Shame that most of the girls working down there seem to be the least enthusiastic in all of Patong.

I must try the chips with curry sauce at El Tels.

[Red Bull]

Originally Posted by K2

FAULTY TOWERS.
Faulty Towers on Soi Sunset recently announced that there is a change at the helm. Simon is bowing out of the partnership after a two year stint to move on to other things. The bar will continue with Paddy running things himself. The most important piece of news is that the cook is staying. The star bargains in the pub remain. A pint of draught Kilkenny is 180 Baht and the newly introduced Bulmers Cider at only 190 per pint bottle.

Is this a new chef?
I thought the previous chef had left for more $$$.

[LivinLOS]

Old chef was retained in the end.

[fredgsanford]

Thanks K2. Planning the next trip & its good to know what's going on.

Cheers