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How do the bars survive?


bumblebee

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Hi fellas, good old thread and I'll chip in my two bob from ma personal sporran. B)

I'm not going into any other bars business as it's none of mine.

Doris's bar is hers, yup initially financed by myself (not a great deal, circa 5k) but has been self funding for 3 years; rent is 25k pcm and key money 100k every November 25th.

Not once in 3 years have I been asked for key money or rent, Doris takes care. I'm lucky in that she doesn't drink or smoke and saves for a rainy day. I always pay my bin and have never had a free drink. The girls are paid their LD's out every night as Doris know they need something in their purse for the following day; she gives money to Bom to make the daily feed for the girls or goes to the market herself; usually Naklua fish market if she's had a reasonable night. Barfines remain rock steady at 300 barts

She has 4 on salary and the rest are freelance by choice; good job if you can just turn up when ye like, get free drinks and a shag plus tips...where do I apply? :huh:

Low season...it was a bastard this year, one day she only sold one sml...aargh! It's currently picking up and takings are up, not colossally but enough to make it through the month. She makes a reasonable profit on beer/whisky/cider but nothing outrageous; probably around 25% once the bills are paid.

I'll have an guestimate now...average turnover per month is probably 150k at the moment; take off your overheads & stock and she's left with roughly 30k. Though there's always a bill to be paid, tonight the bar licensing guy will come and wants 6k.

With regard to rents; these are based on square footage. A small enclosed bar on Buakhow with rooms above they'll want 75k pm. Larger bars 100k. The landlords could not give a flying fuck about low season hence some bars will go down.

Plans for the future...I'm retiring at the end of January so hopefully I'll be able to take a bit more interest other than randomly turning up & guzzling whisky. I'd like to refresh the bar & make improvements; I have the ideas but she wouldn't let me do it until the Key money was paid and she knew she had another year. 

Be well guys.

 

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4 hours ago, petesie said:

Plans for the future...I'm retiring at the end of January

You can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Congrats Petesie!   :drinks:

Thanks for the insight into rents.  I enjoy poring over numbers so quite interesting to me.  Guess if rooms are refurbished enough so they can be rented to farang for about 10K a month then some of the bars with rooms above can be a moneymaker.  But it doesn't seem to be an easy way to make a living.

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On 12/9/2019 at 3:43 AM, blind boy grunt said:

indeed Duke, good results for you and us, well done  Man Utd. i really could do without the totally useless world club thing coming soon though...

Actually while i'm here Duke, i was thinking about you recently, "why?" you no doubt ask..... well i'll tell you. 

You're from Stockport aren't you? Funnily enough i used to work in Hannover back in the Early 80s with a guy from Stockport. His name was Steve. The worst snorer i have ever heard but that's a bit besides the point. As is most of this post i guess but sometimes it's good to ramble on. 

So.. do you know Steve? i reckon that you probably do as there are possibly very few people that live in Stockport, or are at least willing to admit to it!
I'm sure that you must know him.... I've seen Coronation Street... every body knows everyone in that part of the world.

Some of you American chaps reading this are possibly baffled... "corrie st?.  what the hell is that?" well.... i'll help you here... it's an english TV soap opera... been playing since before Kennedy was shot, or just after. To help you visualise it...just think "Deliverance" in half-hour episodes but without the Banjo's.

It used to be based around a pub called the Queen VIc or something, owned by 'Dirty Den' and his Missus Ena Sharples.

You guys are probably wondering what i'm talking about... don't worry, so am I. Just a bit of English culture for you on a pretty nippy Thailand morning. I confess though sometimes my memory goes a bit haywire. Corrie was never the same after Albert Tatlock shot J.R.
Anyway to get back on topic before the Moddy fellows shout at me, Lady drinks! i'm pretty sure that Dirty Den once bought Elsie Tanner one in the 'Rover's Vic' or whatever the pub was called... I'm still convinced that he was trying to get in her pants.

And Ladyboys... must admit that i was never very sure about  Victoria Principal... looks too much like 'lily'.

:yes:

WTF was that all about buddy.:acute:

As Boycie once said, " Have you been on the funny fags again Rodney"????

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10 hours ago, petesie said:

Hi fellas, good old thread and I'll chip in my two bob from ma personal sporran. B)

I'm not going into any other bars business as it's none of mine.

Doris's bar is hers, yup initially financed by myself (not a great deal, circa 5k) but has been self funding for 3 years; rent is 25k pcm and key money 100k every November 25th.

Not once in 3 years have I been asked for key money or rent, Doris takes care. I'm lucky in that she doesn't drink or smoke and saves for a rainy day. I always pay my bin and have never had a free drink. The girls are paid their LD's out every night as Doris know they need something in their purse for the following day; she gives money to Bom to make the daily feed for the girls or goes to the market herself; usually Naklua fish market if she's had a reasonable night. Barfines remain rock steady at 300 barts

She has 4 on salary and the rest are freelance by choice; good job if you can just turn up when ye like, get free drinks and a shag plus tips...where do I apply? :huh:

Low season...it was a bastard this year, one day she only sold one sml...aargh! It's currently picking up and takings are up, not colossally but enough to make it through the month. She makes a reasonable profit on beer/whisky/cider but nothing outrageous; probably around 25% once the bills are paid.

I'll have an guestimate now...average turnover per month is probably 150k at the moment; take off your overheads & stock and she's left with roughly 30k. Though there's always a bill to be paid, tonight the bar licensing guy will come and wants 6k.

With regard to rents; these are based on square footage. A small enclosed bar on Buakhow with rooms above they'll want 75k pm. Larger bars 100k. The landlords could not give a flying fuck about low season hence some bars will go down.

Plans for the future...I'm retiring at the end of January so hopefully I'll be able to take a bit more interest other than randomly turning up & guzzling whisky. I'd like to refresh the bar & make improvements; I have the ideas but she wouldn't let me do it until the Key money was paid and she knew she had another year. 

Be well guys.

 

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Good to hear your bar is nearly doing as good as our shop petesie, it is sad to hear some bars really suffer even in high season .

    Apart from the purchase price I have never had to help with funds for the shop and after all expenses it also helps the family , pays Dao's room rent and pays for my trips to and from Thailand and the purchase price of the second shop ( now sold ) .

I see some bars / shops in my soi doing it tough and others doing well ,its hard to put a finger on how it all works but I do think management plays a big role and great staff .

  I do wish all the businesses great success and hope that new buyers don't get conned into those pyramid scams in the Bar scene and get done .

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5 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

You can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Congrats Petesie!  Thanks for the insight into rents.  I enjoy poring over numbers so quite interesting to me.  Guess if rooms are refurbished enough so they can be rented to farang for about 10K a month then some of the bars with rooms above can be a moneymaker.  But it doesn't seem to be an easy way to make a living.

The rental situation in Patts reflects the state of the property market. We stayed in condo's for 3 years; when we initially moved in to the Urban they wanted 25k but took 20. After a year we moved up the Soi to City Garden, wanted 20k but took 17, a year passed and we moved to Diamond Suites just off Thapraya outside Jomtien. Again advertised for 22k for a 2 bed place but took 16.

A one bed place in most places can now be had for 10k or less. Studio's for 8. Earlier this year we bought a 3 bed house on the Darkside in a nice quiet compound, a different pace of life...I find I actually now stay home the odd night. :huh:

Bars with rooms above will struggle for occupancy these days. The current guesthouse rules cripple the bar & guesthouse owner. I note that beer bars tend to bimble on even though custom is down while larger enclosed type bars are really struggling or closing.

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2 minutes ago, stoolpusher said:

Good to hear your bar is nearly doing as good as our shop petesie, it is sad to hear some bars really suffer even in high season . Apart from the purchase price I have never had to help with funds for the shop and after all expenses it also helps the family , pays Dao's room rent and pays for my trips to and from Thailand and the purchase price of the second shop ( now sold ) . I see some bars / shops in my soi doing it tough and others doing well ,its hard to put a finger on how it all works but I do think management plays a big role and great staff . I do wish all the businesses great success and hope that new buyers don't get conned into those pyramid scams in the Bar scene and get done .

Cheer Nosher. ^_^

I was up the Poon on a few occasions a week or so ago and it was fairly quiet; I don't think the Nightwish expansion scheme will somehow catch on up there. Delirious is picking up pace with a good deal on premium whiskies, good to see Som has hung up her boots and is doing ok in her new bar. Herberth was telling me Som shit herself when he showed her the booze bill. :spiteful:

Not a great deal of foot traffic at that end of the Poon...true story now...my mate had a 50% share in the George & Dragon (Para Marine bar) which was previously situated where the Triangle Bar now sits. His partner wanted shot of it as it wasn't making money so offered it to him. I advised him to do so but he didn't want to commit to LoS as he couldn't be there to run it so they just gave it up & moved round the corner to where the old Boom was.

The Triangle bar is now one of the busiest bars in Patts and is rammed every night, the music is great with the band being one of the best I've heard in Patts. They probably take more in a night than what he was offered for the pitch.

 

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7 hours ago, blind boy grunt said:

totally off topic i freely admit.... but you can't have a go at me Petesie! But good to see you and Nosher chatting after recent events in other places... good on you both:drinks:

Why on earth would I want a go at you? I don't even know you?

I don't want a go at anyone mate. :blink:

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On 12/11/2019 at 8:28 AM, petesie said:

we initially moved in to the Urban they wanted 25k but took 20. After a year we moved up the Soi to City Garden

I think Soi 15 is a great place to live.  Rental prices are coming down now that Grand Avenue units are available. One guy just signed a year's lease for a small 35 sq meter one bedroom for 14K.

I guess you prefer City Garden to the Urban or you wouldn't have moved?  I'm more familiar with the Urban. Does City Garden have any unforseen negatives?

 

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We were on a lower floor in the Urban next to the Avenue Residence which was fairly gloomy, it was also showing it's age as most of these units do. Furniture is old as were all the electrical stuff, toilets were pokey and had low water pressure. The room opposite across the Soi in the Residence had a couple of guys staying there who liked the odd spit roast on their balcony. Doris called it the Boom Boom room. ^_^

City Garden wasn't too bad but as I said the units are small and 46 sqm with the same story with the amenities and it wasn't long before we were ready for another change. Doris liked the convenience of the location so I had to drag her kicking & screaming to Diamond Suites towards Jomtien. An incident with security there changed her mind. Someone tried to steal her bike and the guards did nothing and let them have access to the basements. The management got a good yakking when Doris and the BiB showed them the CCTV footage.

She liked the extra room of Diamond Suites and the pool layout was better with a great balcony so she soon got used to it and didn't mind the extra 8 minutes on the bike.

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15 hours ago, petesie said:

We were on a lower floor in the Urban next to the Avenue Residence which was fairly gloomy, it was also showing it's age as most of these units do. Furniture is old as were all the electrical stuff, toilets were pokey and had low water pressure. The room opposite across the Soi in the Residence had a couple of guys staying there who liked the odd spit roast on their balcony. Doris called it the Boom Boom room. ^_^

My mate stays in the Urban every winter and one year he was on that side of that building and had two problems.  He was on a low floor by a tree and there lots of flying critters.  And motobike taxi guys were yapping outside all night.  That's changed as they built a Thai restaurant there.   Very simple construction which wouldn't be expensive to demolish if they wanted to develop the lot.  Actually he had a third problem there as his lady dejour kept biting his manhood so he had to throw her out. But that could have happened anywhere.  :biggrin:

Now he has moved to the other side of the building and is quite happy there.  The units there are bigger than elsewhere, but I don't like the cheap floors.  Would much rather have tiles than fake wood.  

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I'll get back on topic...this is a brief synopsis of actual events. :huh:

Part 1
 
Doris awakes around midday…checks her Phone to see what drinks are required for the evening and sends the order to the Bond Shop for an afternoon delivery.
 
Somtan fix required so quick sms to Aew and a pee and she’s up for the day. On the way downtown she stops at a photo shop to get a CD copy of the security camera footage required by the BiB to prove it’s working, photocopies of her licenses & pics for her Bar Owners application for another year…450 baht…quick frown as this was only previously 150 on Soi Buck so despite a smile to the Chinese lady she vows never to go back there.
 
She swings by the market behind T21 and picks up some glassware for the bar…500 baht.
 
Another market is visited and 200 thb of food for the girls, goes to bar, puts food in fridge for Bom to find and drops glassware and paperwork ready for the evening.
 
Walk up to Soi Buck and deposit the nights previous nights takings in the big K, she notes her mortgage payment has just been taken out. Drops by the Big C to pay her monthly internet for the bar…700 barts.
 
Head home to relax for a few hours…soon as she gets there an sms from Bom saying she is sick…3rd time in 2 weeks. Has another shower and put on the glad rags ’n slap and heads back to open bar…

 

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Part Deux...
 
Lock the house up, jump on the PCX and head downtown…roadworks on Klang are a pain and she finds her head nodding off waiting to pass the Sukhumvit lights. Park the wee Honda & into the bar, no customers yet. Nisa has opened the bar and stocked the fridge so a quick check of the billing and the Newbar night starts. 
 
Not a bad night and good to see new and old friends alike. One customer complains that he initially went to the centre bar in the complex and asked if it was Newbar which they told him it was. He chatted to Bambi then noticed New & the girls so moved. Bambi has now been sending him sms death threats saying if he barfines one of Newbar girls she would kill him. This has happened before…she goes over to Bambi, as her teerak has advised & tries to have a quiet word with her.
 
Bambi sees her approaching, panics, swinging a punch. New forgets what the teerak says & piles in to a Ladyboy bar fight, clocks Bambi a few times…Bambi is a big unit these days but now scared and runs behind her bar, New follows, gets her in a headlock and says sa-top. Back to the bar and carry on…
 
End of the evening circa 2:30 am, cashing up and putting all the girls tips and LD’s into small envelopes for them. Call from Soi 9 to go and report there as complaint made against her…

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Part Trois
 
Got there to find the LB bar owner has stated New tried to steal from her bar…CCTV footage shows the Bambi chase and at no time did New go near the till. BiB sgt says give me 10k and it will go away.
 
New tells him to go away and lock everyone up…he relents and says report back tomorrow. On the way back she gets a call from the girls…Nidcha has been hit from behind by a maow driver on Soi Buck while walking home and is in the Emergency room.
 
Into Pattaya hospital & finds Nidcha has had 2 teeth knocked out and damaged ribs & legs…Mama please help me...New makes sure she is ok and pays the 5k hospital bin.
 
At home she notices her teerak is still up and he gets it all on the Line call…a relaxing cup of tea, quick hour of Thai TV and falls asleep on sofa. 

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Part Four…Groundhog Day
 
Wake up to sms from Soi 9 to report back there at 4pm. The bill from the Bond shop has come in so she sends them 10k via the big K app. Her sister has a day off from her job in a hotel so she turns up to help clean the house & garden. Other sister, a cashier in Serbian Bar wants her to pick up her son from Rayon, not today…busy.
 
Bom messages her she’s off for a week as her boyfriend is here…no notice, just get on with it. The PCX is playing up so off to the local shop for a quick fix, 500 barts.
 
At Soi 9 the big fat day SGT gets a replay of last nights complaint. The bar owner is adamant New tried to steal from her and wants her jailed.
 
New stays quiet. The big fella sizes everyone up then tells New to stay away from the other bar. He then says why am I looking at a fight between 2 ladyboys, get the fuck out of here.
 
Bambi laters tells everyone she put New in hospital for a week…what a lovely girl.

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2 minutes ago, bumblebee said:

Like a soap opera, and good shots to accompany it all Petesie.  Did this all happen recently?

In the last few months mate but all in the same course of events, just thought I'd put a perspective on New's daily dealings with trying to run the bar.

It's not all bell ringing & good times, she has to cope with a lot. 

She's a great girl and I'm lucky that she has a sound sense of judgement...fuck knows why she chose me. :huh:

 

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I rarely step in...

The girl 3rd from the right pitched up early on New & Boms birthday. I got chatting to the lad who brought her, he explained he seldom dabbles but this one called him out of the blue after a year from his last dabble and asked if he would take her out on her birthday. I recognised her from bar pics as having briefly previously worked in Newbar though had never met her.

While I was chatting I noticed the girl had started a money necklace, no customers in yet so only the girls had pinned notes to it. New & Bom had not started theirs yet. I called Doris over and mentioned it to her, she knew but was reluctant to say anything so I asked her to tell her that I was the one asking. This was relayed and she came over to show me her ID and it was indeed her birthday. An awkward moment but I explained that it may be her birthday but it wasn't her party plus she didn't work here anymore...an ouch moment.

I also quietly explained that New & Bom had paid for the food and all & had worked all year for this night so not fair to them. She was visibly upset. The fella didn't see it as an issue and obviously felt for his date. I explained again to him that she was welcome but it was not her party. An awkward moment so I excused myself for a drink at 69. :unsure:

When I returned the fella and his girl had gone. People had started to turn up and the party was on. New later explained that she had to get rid of the girl from the bar due to the usual Pattaya issues and that she'd been in the Monkey House for a while.

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