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Changes - Lower Sukhumvit


StoneSoup

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I can just barely read Thai, at maybe a kindergarten level, and I don't have the patience to stand in front of a construction sign and "cypher out" the text. But I once stopped in front of the sign at that constructio site (across Soi 2 from Annies Massage) and asked my accompanying gf to tell me what was going in there. She perused the sign for a few seconds, and said that it proclaimed an apartment building going in there.

 

There's no reason she'd make this up, but there's also no reason she might not fail to parse between "apartment" and "hotel". Something in that vein is going in. Probably nothing of "sanuk" significance.

 

Cheers!

StoneSoup

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I always thought it was just a refueling stop for hookers and their motocycle taxi boyfriends.

 

So ain't that the same ones we/you are drooling over, before/after paying the bar fines.

 

They are just taking a reality break. :grinyes:

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The "developed" part of the connecting alley between Sois 5 and 7 is owned by the "brain trust" that runs New Wave Soi 7, as well as Mandarin and Silver Dragon bars at NEP.

 

The owners have always seemed astute business types to me (they previously developed, owned and sold Baccara Bar Soi Cowboy, plus Big Blue pool bar at Ambassador Plaza), but I have never figured out what possessd them to invest in the piddling bar at the Soi 5 end of the alley. Of particularly questionable financial sense was the investment in the "Pop Beats" karaoke booths in both the alley, and also inside New Wave bar itself.

 

Then again, I am not privy to the "take", so maybe they are laughing all the way to the bank, and I am in the dark.

 

I do know one interesting "bottom line" figure of note - that being the typical monthly take of the seven pool tables in New Wave. Would you believe - 300,000 baht per month! That's 15,000 games per month - or 500 games (10,000 baht) per day. Interesting figure - 'dwarfs the entire income of many small bars.

 

"Those that can - do; those that can't - teach"

The Fighting Fish

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Dang nabbit, why did you say that?

 

sigh...

 

Okay, not going into the point of how you actually "know" this point of "fact"...

 

I believe the number is purely for high season only. Low season isn't factored into that number. The take for low season would be signficantly lower.

 

This is just an off the cuff analysis based on my experience at that bar (and I have put a number of hours sitting on those stools and standing by the tables).

 

Okay, after having established my legitimacy (lol). I played just above an hour today. Think I played 8 games (won 6 lost 2 if anyone's counting). I am most likely one of the faster players there (meaning when I'm on the table, they probably turn over more games per hour than with the "average" joe). So maybe an average of 6-7 games per hour.

 

Assuming the bar is open for 16 hours, that equates to rougly 4.5 games per table per hour. The tables are not signficantly occupied till late afternoon and thins out considerably around 12:30am (varies). That's only 9 hours of very good turnover (6-7 games per hour) to be averaged with the other 7 hours. During low season (and even high season) I've walked in there during prime time and have seen tables not being utlilized.

 

Anyways, the number just doesn't jive for me at first glance. I'll try and count the games in an hour on the high turnover tables (the ones closest to the bar) and average them with the games on the other tables and see what I come up with in the next few days.

 

On another note, you mentioned that of all the "western" people who contact your company you end up doing business in some shape or form with 70%. That figure seems awefully high.

 

Sorry I'm being a bit critical. Just irked that there isn't more infrastracture supporting investment here.

 

<<burp>>

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Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I always thought it was just a refueling stop for hookers and their motocycle taxi boyfriends.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

So ain't that the same ones we/you are drooling over, before/after paying the bar fines.

 


 

LHL,

I thought I was the only one drooling over my BGs motodriver boyfriends, glad to know I'm in good company. The ones that go screaming down suk at 190kilometers make my heart skip a beat and my hummer swell, if only those hansum daredevils would stop and chat and negotiate a s/t, bkk would be a motoman lover's heaven.

 

 

MaiLuk

 

ps: hehe, couldn't help it :grinyes:

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Their is a sign on the construction wall saying open

Feb 2003

I have just left the nana and 2 weeks ago they pored concrete

on the 1st floor

No sign of any swimming pool

The old pool is still there tho.

Absolutely no hope of opening in Feb

I would say June/July

 

cheers

Khunmi

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Hi Gummi -

 

The seven tables are fully booked, 4 pm until about 11:00 pm. Every day. I'd say 7 games per hour (8.5 minutes per game). That's 343 games. Probably half-booked 11:00 pm until close at 2:00 am, plus 1:00pm until 4 pm. That's 147 more games. That's a total of 490 games. 10 games between opening at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm - easy.

 

Actually, in that particular bar, I'd say the average game during "prime time" lasts less than seven minutes. At night, the general level of play at New Wave is actually pretty good. Of night games (with at least one "regular" at most tables), I'd say 10 percent of games are over after "breaker" has two times "at bat", 50% are over after three times up, and 90% are over by four times (in all cases including the break). The time lag comes from waiting for balls to be racked, trips to "hong nahm", people answering hand-phones, tracking down next player, etc. Once started, games not interupted by phone calls go down pretty fast.

 

My gf and I very regularly run through 10 games per hour, although we go to Brunswick or Swan to get our own table when we decide to have a 10 or 20 game "shoot out".

 

300,000 baht is an actual figure for New Wave, though - based on when it was given to me, I'd guess it came from November of 2002. And it was the formal accounting total (probably rounded to the nearest 10,000 baht for discussion purposes) from management, not from some low-level dek-serve who pulls bills out of the "baht boxes".

 

Concerning the"hit" rate for business - the correct wording should have applied to strangers who came to my firm through advertising or "directed" referral - meaning my first contact with them is through their direct interest in Indo-Siam Group. I was not counting casual contacts who I meet first, and discussion then drifts to business.

 

The formal marketing channels bring me about 65% westerners, and 35% Asians, Arabs, Africans, etc. Not one of the latter has ever concluded business with me. Of westerners, paid business is probably at about 35% of incoming contacts (although some of those just pay a token fee for consulting, or make up some other reason to do small business - mostly for import/export trade data, or importer/exporter listings - just to be "square" - and that's the big difference between them and non-westerners), and another 25% are "still in the pipeline" - continuing discussions, but moving slowly. I'm getting ready to start imposing a "use it or lose it" deposit on perpetual "lurkers" - forcing them to either become a converted sale, or to move on.

 

As more inquiries come in, however, the "westerner" hit rate is dropping. And the rate of non-western inquiries is rising because of things like the marketing campaign for (and at)www.nationalpanasonic.com - it turns out that Matsushita uses this name as a company name in only India, so we get a lot of activity from there as a result (but not from Matsusihita, unfortunately).

 

There are also a couple of channels that give us very near 100% hits - for example, referrals from accountants that we have cultivated. When they contact us on behalf of a company to arrange for a transfer of shares, or change in capitalization, or change of directors, or change in address - we probably convert more than 95% of these into actual business (albeit only 4-6,000 baht at a time). The vast majority of these clients are westerners. This is the part of the business that I am seriously trying to grow - my Thai staff can handle it solo, and it converts over quickly to cash.

 

Damn - I got way off on a diversion of my own thread here. Time to regroup.

 

"Some mornings, it just doesn't seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps." - Emo Phillips

 

The Fighting Fish

 

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