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By: Gordon Hua Hin
July 9, 2019

It looks like fun, sitting in a bar, drinking, chatting and having a good time every day surrounded by beautiful women.I was dead wrong.

The truth is, if I wasn’t at the bar, it failed. Some nights I would be lucky to make one thousand baht if I decided to take a night off without being there hosting. That was with over a dozen girls working for me most nights. So, I quickly began working seven days a week….much more than I had before my retirement.

I lost count of the number of times a drunk didn’t want to pay his bill or wanted to challenge me to a fight over a small amount. Some of these were even so-called friends of mine.

The hours and drinking began to put a serious strain on the relationship between me and my wife. I became verbally abusive and lost sight of who I was. I began to consider my drinking companions as more important than my wife, who at this point mostly stayed at home with our young child while I got drunk at the bar every single night.

This tale doesn’t even begin to get into the number of times local officials demanded more cash from me simply to stay open, false promises and poor maintenance from repairmen, or the constant headache of bar politics in which the owner of the beer bar near me seemed to hate my guts simply because I was busier than him and would constantly try to sabotage me or challenge me to fights.

One night, I had enough of the mamasan and her poor performance and fired her on the spot. She had been deserving of it for a long time, but I made the mistake of doing so drunk. She left and took the entire staff with her.

Full https://www.pattayaunplugged.com/submis ... nightmare/

I have been successful in real estate and understand finance

(he then goes on to describe a series of blatantly amateurish decision making)

a tale as old as time its self

You should have done some research before about running a bar in Thailand.
Owning a bar in Thailand its a fastest way’s toward death !

This sounds a lot like the story of people who eat in restaurants so they think they can own a restaurant or stay in hotels and think they can open a hotel..BnB..etc.
I have encountered these same sad stories here in Cambodia with locals who thought they could build apartments next to their houses and reap the rewards of the tourist boom.
Shoddy construction, poor design, no idea of the commitment involved and loans that cannot be repaid....and now the covid 19...shutdown and exodus...
My landlord about cried when I told her I was NOT going to ask for a rent adjustment and I would honor the 1 year deal I signed the 1st of February.
I had moved because my previous landlord had gone broke and was just waiting for my lease to run out to sell the units.
What did a guy think he was going to have to do when he opened a bar in Thailand????
His only recourse was to close 2 nights a week and just work 5...
Even in a different country a bar owner must be on top of everything...same with restaurants..hotels..
any cash business...

Wonderful cautionary tale. Business and pleasure just don’t mix.

The guy was super brave. Didn’t have experience in running a bar or even anything in the hospitality industry, in a foreign country, possibly not fluent in Thai, trying to run a business were the rules aren’t clear. And the poor guy was trying to be a customer and an owner at the same time.

At least he learned and got out.

TL;DR

Man owns a girlie kinda bar in Thailand which also promotes and profits from prostitution. Upset it didn't go well financially when bargirls and customers behave badly costing him time and money.

I am figuratively self-combusting with sympathy.

The only happy western bar owners I have ever met over here, or indeed anywhere, all don't drink. If you do indulge it will end in disatser. Add a posse of hookers in the mix and its mayhem.

Let's face it owning a bar is akin to being a drug dealer so the same rules apply. See The 10 Crack Commandments by Notorious B.I.G. below for further details. Just change the drug references to alcohol.

Rule Number Uno, never let no one know
How much dough you hold cause you know
The cheddar breed jealousy 'specially
If that man fucked up, get yo' ass stuck up
Number 2, never let 'em know your next move
Don't you know Bad Boys move in silence and violence?
Take it from your highness
I done squeezed mad clips at these cats for their bricks and chips
Number 3, never trust no-bo-dy
Your moms'll set that ass up, properly gassed up
Hoodied and masked up, shit, for that fast buck
She be laying in the bushes to light that ass up
Number 4, I know you heard this before
Never get high on your own supply
Number 5, never sell no crack where you rest at
I don't care if they want a ounce, tell 'em bounce!
Number 6, that goddamn credit? Dead it
You think a crackhead paying you back, shit forget it!
7, this rule is so underrated
Keep your family and business completely separated
Money and blood don't mix like 2 dicks and no bitch
Find yourself in serious shit
Number 8, never keep no weight on you!
Them cats that squeeze your guns can hold jums too
Number 9 shoulda been Number 1 to me,
If you ain't gettin' bagged stay the fuck from police
If niggas think you snitchin' they ain't trying to listen
They be sittin' in your kitchen, waiting to start hittin'
Number 10, a strong word called consignment
Strictly for live men, not for freshmen
If you ain't got the clientele, say "hell no!"

25 30 years to late
Setting Phuket .. Patong beach...
Just a few Bars... People not Jaded--- Rock Hard Cafe... Larry;;;; Big Bill ---- Ira

Just a few Places

It was a blast from the past... Do not regret owning it was good fun the tourist much different laid back
diving .. but you said The magic words.. Do not drink in your own bar Never... If staff see you this way
then they do the same..
Sorry for this guys bad luck

And in Pattaya, ffs. Why anyone would want to spend longer than a few days there is a mystery to me.