Udon's Farang Nightlife

[vincemunday]

Yesterday evening I went to a bar on the Nittayo road, on the corner opposite the post office and farang butcher to meet Peter for a beer, some of you will know him from the beach bar. The bar was packed, they had a couple of girls serving tables and they serve Thai food which I didn't eat but looked very nice. My bill for two big bottles of Leo and a sprite came to 180 baht, they do a deal there 3 big bottle for 199 baht but I'd already been out to UD town for a couple. The bar is well worth a visit if you want a quiet beer without being hassled by the ladies of the night.

[vincemunday]

Forgot to mention, they also do farang bar snacks, chips, wings and ribs etc.

[timmy]

whats the name of the bar ? is it Peter who runs the bar ?

[vincemunday]

The bars name is in ThaI so I'm afraid I don't know and is run by a Thai man, the only reason I mentioned Peter is because a few people know him and he's been very ill but is thankfully on the mend. The bar itself is on the corner where you do a left to go to JingJoes apartments though if that helps?

[tamada]

... Guess the Local Supposely Hells Angels were at the one bar.Accross from the clock.It got wild. ...

Quite possibly those were some of the Jesters MC on an away day from Pattaya. Some of them may look rough but they are big on shandies and latte's when on a road trip. Gotta stay relatively sober to keep up with replacing the bits that keep falling off their hogs.

[old timer]

Yesterday evening I went to a bar on the Nittayo road, on the corner opposite the post office and farang butcher to meet Peter for a beer, some of you will know him from the beach bar. The bar was packed, .

OT was out and about yesterday early evening and I was surprised how busy it was it a lot of bars including Day and Night. In fact its the busiest I've experienced for years. Maybe Easter holidays has something to do with the influx of customers or is Udon recovering for bar owners.
Lots of the usual bar conversations amongst tipsy falangs which OT loves to hear.

OT..................

[papafarang]

no OT two peak periods for customers Christmas and songkran. customers will dry up again by early next month . then it's a long slow death for most places until the cool season starts. 3 months and the " transfer" season starts every bar goes up for sale, lucky ones will sell and another farang will try his hand at running a bar. the ones that don't sell will spend months paying out their own pocket to keep it going. anyway good to hear there's still life out there

[vincemunday]

The bar I was in last night was mainly full of locals, there was just a few Farang so I guess they will stay busy, we will see. There's at least one other 'farang' bar that's heavily frequented by Thai, perhaps that's the way forward?

[mac1966]

Always interested to hear what's happening in udon nightlife scene.

Sent from my SM-G7102 using Tapatalk

[tamada]

The bar I was in last night was mainly full of locals, there was just a few Farang so I guess they will stay busy, we will see. There's at least one other 'farang' bar that's heavily frequented by Thai, perhaps that's the way forward?

Of course it is the way forward for anyone hoping to do business in Udon Thani. However, there will be the same, high 'retail churn' as businesses come and go broke with only the landlords happily recouping deposits from the preponderance of Thai owned and operated bars, restaurants, clubs and what have you that can't make it past 12 months. Beyond location, a well managed, funded bar or restaurant can beat the odds if it offers or fills some niche regardless of who the owner is as long as they don't try and cater only for foreigners.

[vincemunday]

It's a shame, no one likes to see someone lose their hard earned money but sometimes it's their own fault. They open a bar, play loud music, put a bit of "eye candy" on stools and expect the bar to work whereas most of the expat community here are married or in relationships and don't really want to drink somewhere with their wives etc and have bar girls trying to cadge drinks and more. 9 times out of 10 if me and the dear lady wife go to a bar that's got bar girls in we will move on, there are exceptions, there's a bar down nutty park for example with girls but the lady who owns the bar makes sure you aren't hassled by them if you're with the missus, strangely she does okay too.

[Udon Map]

They open a bar, play loud music, put a bit of "eye candy" on stools and expect the bar to work....

Bingo!! It takes much more to run a bar successfully than alcohol on the shelf and girls on the stools. Bars are businesses; yet so many westerners come to Thailand and don't realize that. It's just a guess, but I would wager that more bars change hands every year in Thailand than any other single type of business.

[wazza]

I visited Thailand, went to bars, loved it, retired and opened one, as I knew how they work, played my music and stocked my favourite grog , provided my favourite food, employed friends of my GF to staff it

Next week, I struggled to cover the costs, ( didnt know i had to pay for licences for music and tea money, no money in Archa with free ice )

Staff lost 3 grandparents, sewed 10 Rai of rice, 3 of their friends were boxing with their Bfs and Police raided me twice as I was open at 0100.

2nd week , the balloon chasers didnt turn up as hoped for my Free Friday night buffet, as my all day breakfast starting at 1100 to 1800 hrs wasnt doing all that well.

3rd week, went to other bars to see how they made money

4th week, booked a ticket to Pattaya and closed the bar

Its a satrical post ok, but I wonder how many bars in Thailand go this way every month

[vincemunday]

My guess is lots and lots...

[mathusalah80]

whats the name of the bar ? is it Peter who runs the bar ?

In 'English speak' the name would be pronounced "Yok Yai"
Provides another welcome addition to the growing number of alternative to running the twin gauntlets of traffic & police, getting in and out of town.

[vidmaster]

I think yok yai means " big joke" unless anyone knows better?

[Drunk Monkey]

As ever ...lots of armchair experts commenting on how to , OR ... how not to operate a business here ..noted most of whom never have done so HANDS ON or would want to even try .. mostly negative comments on how these places will fail for numerous reasons rather than best wishes for success .

Life thru rose tinted glasses ???????? or not but despite the many challenges whilst in business here Dao n I prefer to remain very positive as things are progressing quite well with regard to our business plan .... a cup half full person rather than half empty .. alas seems most internet armchair experts on all things Thai just seem to revel in the doom n gloom aspects of general living and/or running a bizz here, and actually appear amused when an individual encounters difficulties or a business goes to the wall.... very sad attitude imo .

To quote a well known local businessmans words to me the first day i landed in Udon ..

You cant win ... succeed and you will get slagged off and despised by the jealous ,,, fail and you be ridiculed and the source of amusement for the people who never even visited the business ... pretty accurate comment IMO .

On the footfall front ... IME ...The ISAAN provinces including Udon seem quite busy at the moment and lots of new venues opening and an upturn in enquiries plus customers for 3dm products , im guessing also a high percentage of these are choosing the UDON ring road for their location as town center a bit choked for driving and parking , cheaper rents services easy access probably the reasons .

GOOD LUCK TO ALL IN BUSINESS HERE ...live the dream if it makes you happy .

DM

[Chuchi]

On the footfall front ... IME ...The ISAAN provinces including Udon seem quite busy at the moment and lots of new venues opening and an upturn in enquiries plus customers for 3dm products , im guessing also a high percentage of these are choosing the UDON ring road for their location as town center a bit choked for driving and parking , cheaper rents services easy access probably the reasons .

GOOD LUCK TO ALL IN BUSINESS HERE ...live the dream if it makes you happy .

As a customer I personally would like to see a few more eateries along the ring road ,saving me a journey into town.I look forward to trying a certain new addition in the not so near future.Good luck with the restaraunt.

[Benchwarmer10]

It's not all doom & gloom. At BW we are achieving slightly more than our business plan targets. We've reached next months target already. Certainly not record breaking stuff, far from it, but considering the current business climate, paying all the bills and employing one more staff member, with a bit left over is pleasing.

[robytoby1960]

By the way, does anyone remember the Black&White Bar? It was situated in the former "farang street" opposite to Grand Complex. Steven his wife and his son! Where are they now?