Big fire down Soi Bintabaat

[Korkenzieher]

Collonade is a case in point. With the outlets that were there before that White Elephant development was started, being unable to induce tourists into even so much as crossing the Petchkasem road for a beer or food; then the notion that they could be attracted to bars which might actually involve 5 minutes walk, or getting transport, is pie in the sky IMHO.

[oakdale160]

The concept of having a 'designated district' for naughty stuff, fairly easy to get to and yet a little off the family tourist beat, is a good one. But it needs thought,consensus, cooperataion and planning by all in HH--- Please stop giggling !

[Korkenzieher]

Sorry, but from my own observations I have to disagree. It just ghettoises the new locale because prostitution becomes the only raison d'etre for the place, and the only reason for individuals to be there. It kills diversity stone dead, and tourism with it. From conversations I have had I accept the idea may be popular with expats (who see the world entirely differently to tourists). From observations of an area where it has been tried, it is a disaster.

[richard]

Sorry, but from my own observations I have to disagree. It just ghettoises the new locale because prostitution becomes the only raison d'etre for the place, and the only reason for individuals to be there. It kills diversity stone dead, and tourism with it. From conversations I have had I accept the idea may be popular with expats (who see the world entirely differently to tourists). From observations of an area where it has been tried, it is a disaster.

Soi 80 seems to be working well. Name of the game seems to be find the Binta bar owner in which soi 80 bar

[oakdale160]

Where was this place where the whore ghetto failed.
I dont see any lack of traffic in NANA, COWBOY, BANGLA
Dont see much diversity there either.

[Korkenzieher]

We're talking about Hua Hin, and I think you would have to accept that the scale and profile of tourism is somewhat different.

And I don't think it invalidates my comments - Nana and Cowboy aren't exactly family friendly, or catering to 'high value' tourists. (whatever *that* means).

@ Richard - I think 80 is overwhelmingly an expat area. Most 2-3 week tourists never get there and apart from the handful of bars at the Petch end, it is usually stone dead.

[uncle tom]

Walked up soi 80 last night for the first time in five months and was amazed by the number of new bars and restaurants - the top end has really woken up since I was last here, and there are many more girls than during the high season.

If the trend continues, and the other side of the road starts to fill out, it could seriously challenge the bintablock as the primary nightlife centre.

[Korkenzieher]

It might not be a bad thing, if it happens reasonably organically. I haven't been onto 80 for a couple of months due to passport renewal and family issues in the UK, but certainly the last time I was there, there wasn't a lot going on inland of the 2 or 3 bars closest to Petch.

Pricing in the centre of town is making a lot of people think twice about going there anyway - along with all-too-frequent police clampdowns - unless they have specific reasons to go. I still think tourists will default to binta-block, simply because that is where the hotels are clustered, but things can and do change.

[richard]

If the trend continues, and the other side of the road starts to fill out, it could seriously challenge the bintablock as the primary nightlife centre.

The other side has quite a few senior armed forces/police residential homes

[oakdale160]

80 has the hardware but not the software. The way it works in Thai, if ONE bar gets it right , the others will follow and 80 might move from being a sad apology of a bar St to a thriving whoreing haven--- half a dozen real hotties and an experienced mamasan is what is needed.

[hhfarang]

I think the posts by Uncle Tom and Richard above have merit. Soi 80 might become the next major Hua Hin nightlife area, but only if the "other" side of the street sells out for the same purpose. I don't see that happening any time soon though.

[margaretcarnes]

80 has the hardware but not the software. The way it works in Thai, if ONE bar gets it right , the others will follow and 80 might move from being a sad apology of a bar St to a thriving whoreing haven--- half a dozen real hotties and an experienced mamasan is what is needed.

And maybe Linda feels it's time to be retiring rather than take on the job! Although at one time she probably would have given the chance.
I do think 80 is destined to remain more of an expat area, and agree with HHF and Richard that the other side of the soi won't become bars in the foreseeable future. In fact the owners of the other side could probably have all the bars down there closed overnight if they felt like it.
Which is maybe why those bars haven't progressed much beyond the 'sad apology' stage. They are still basically residential town houses which could revert to purpose at the drop of a knicker leg.

Besides which, 80 is IMO still too far out for tourists. Even if they pass it on the way to the Grand - with families in tow - your average tourist would have to be big and brave to venture down there wouldn't they? As Korkie rightly says even Satukharn Square used to be a bit of an adventure for some. Although I blame the road junction more for that.

[Dan1]

Isn't the whole of Soi 80 owned my a high ranking Police Officer. Isn't also named after him Soi Sarowat ?

[steve2]

IMHO this is a loss for HH the Bintabaht had character that added value to it as a destination. I read that none of these bars make money which is rubbish! Sure they have some slow months but make up for it in high season.

The problem is bigger than just getting punters in the door! You need pretty girls to do this and girls are getting hard to find Thailand compared with a few decades ago. Demographics have changed! In the 70’s which is before Thai birth control, Thai’s had an average of almost 4 children. This resulted in many young girls until the early 2000’s those women are now in their 30’s. The child births have dropped to below half of that and there are many more opportunities for young women. This is evident in the quality of girls in the bars today. Go back even 10 years and some of these girls wouldn’t have even been considered by any bar owner.

Anyway it saddens me to read about this…

[Korkenzieher]

There's a couple of misconceptions steve2. Firstly, the rents of the bars in town are very high. Since 2007 there has been a substantial collapse of western tourism to certain parts of Thailand - whatever TAT says - and nowhere is this more evident than the Sois around Bintabaht. In 2007, most evenings during the high season were pretty busy and you could say that the high season ran pretty solidly from October through to February.

Since 2007, tourism numbers to Thailand are officially higher and Hua Hin is allegedly regularly booked out. However, it is pretty clear to anybody who cares to look, that most of this is due to internal Thai tourism, and increase in Asian visitors in general. What is also pretty clear, is that those new types of tourists don't seem to be attracted by bars and restaurants that are, fundamentally, designed for people with European tastes. The bars remain largely empty and the season ever shorter. The lame apology that passes for high season in Thailand in the last 5 years or so doesn't get under way much before Christmas. While things appear better than they were a couple of years ago - particularly for the restaurants - times are still pretty thin.

Consequently, there simply aren't the people to justify the numbers of bars that need to be funded all year round. To see why, it is worth chatting with certain bar owners, who are willing to be more forth-coming about rents (Thais and more than happy to tell you about a Farang who is being skinned blind, by their estimation...). For anybody who sits on Binta long enough to see the real level of passing trade, 7 days a week, it is pretty clear that for some, if not most, the sums just cannot add up. Even in certain bars which appear to be reasonably busy.

As for your solution - that is just what most people don't want to see - tourists and expats alike - because if the only way to run a bar is by de-facto pimping, then pretty soon there is little to distinguish Hua Hin from Soi Cowboy or Walking Street in Pattaya. If there were more customers in the bars, there would be more girls. But unfortunately putting in more girls and hoping for customer levels to jump as a result is not only putting the cart before the horse, but is likely to hit the bourgeois diversity that makes the place acceptable to the vast majority.

Losses of bars to incidents like the fire is a real shame, because the new building, whatever it is, will have a higher base cost that has to be recovered - and bars just ain't cutting it.