The FARANG Speaks 2 Much (tfs2m)

I am sure I should just let go of this whole debacle but with Stickman’s latest column I was thinking it was time to comment once more on the truth. It is funny to me that all sorts of entities can blindly write about something but yet know little about what they talk about. However unfortunate that it was - we bailed on the nana location over simple economics. The landlords wanted way more than the spot is worth. Given the spot does not have a go-go license - they want way more than a simple beer bar can generate in revenue. Even if it were open 24/7. It’s just that simple.

In Stick’s column he mentions what the landlords are asking for the old Mango spot:

The Indians who own the space where The Big Mango was located were approached this week by another interested party. The Indians know that the lease negotiations broke down with the Big Mango because they were asking way too much. You would then think that they would lower the asking price, especially given that they have now missed out on a month’s rent. They have in fact done the complete opposite. The new asking price? A huge chunk of key money (enough to buy a small - medium-sized Bangkok apartment) secures a 3 year lease with a monthly rental on top of that, of get this, 180,000 baht per month! To put that in perspective, I believe only one Nana Plaza bar pays more in rent per month - and most bars pay much, much less. Rumour has it that the Mango boys were offered a 6 figure monthly rent - but nowhere near the amount quoted this week. Given that the space cannot be a gogo due to the weird go-go bar licensing rules renders making money in that space impossible with that level of overhead.

I can confirm that these numbers are more than what they were asking us to pay and the numbers they gave us were over the top as it was. This is just plain laughable at this point. Guys like DTR keep spouting off that business in the Mango was bad and that was why we bailed. If you read DTR’s anniversary post he talks about speaking with Baron Bonk on being surprised that we lasted as long as we did. However this is the same Baron Bonk who in the first issue of the Sukhumvit Eye magazine wrote a scathing article about how bad nana is these days and how he prefers cowboy. I would post it here but since they are not online I will not break their copyright and put the text here but from reading the article one would assume Baron Bonk is done with Nana. Once again - seems the truth is quite hard to come by when it comes to most of what is written about the Bangkok scene.

BTW - happy birthday to the DTR website - here is a link to the original version of it. The use of the scroll tag is priceless.

The larger issue that no one really wants to discuss is that these crazy rents, bad business and the girls leaving the plaza will eventually spell the ultimate demise of nana. This is not something I or many people want. We had hoped that by exposing some of this crap and telling people what really goes on that some of the powers that be might wake up and do something about it. I am sure this is wishful thinking though given that a landlord’s first response to losing a tenant is to raise rents even more. Brilliant stroke of capitalism.

Thinking this is not a trend? I have heard a few soi 4 bars and ancillary businesses talk about their worst year on record and discuss what other places they might move to. If Stickman is correct on this scoop - then it seems some bigger players are also deciding to get out of the soi 4 corridor:

They said that Stick didn’t know what he was talking about when he said that Nana is on the way down. And now another business in the area is about to close. Subway / Coffee World will close in the new year and the reason is very simple. In fact there are many reasons, 150,000 of them to be exact. Subway and Coffee World at that location will be closing for the exact same reason The Big Mango closed. The rent is going from 350,000 baht per month to a cool half a million. The plan is to relocate closer to Soi Cowboy as sales in the Nana are down from this time last year. The new location has not been decided as yet, but the general eastward direction has.

Mango may have been the first to deal with this and for sure we did not think it was going to come to this but it is what it is. I just find it appalling that others in the scene continue to spew without knowing the facts. All in all this evolution could just be the middle-classing of Thailand finally taking its toll on one area of the famed naughty nightlife. If so, maybe there is no stopping it but I think the people who are in the area could slow the process down by banding together to keep the area growing, clean and safe. Some how I don’t think it will happen though.

Being the budding Thai political analysts that we are - I thought this article was telling. Gives another point of view as to why the coup happened, the one I agree with, and discusses some of the ramifications of the current election. Bold article to say the least.