Soi 4 Bars

[once a cowboy]

Having read 4be2's comment on Bar 4 I went to the bar last night to see if the comments were justified. It was quiet compared to other bars in the soi and lacked the happy atmosphere of my regular drinking bars, but apart from that it seemed ok. Not my type of bar but in these hard times I wish it well as I do all bars.

[Flashermac]

From my limited experience, Bar 4 appeals more to expats. I have several friends who are regulars there.

[Mekong]

And the owner is also a BM, who happened to have a successful bar on Soi Cowboy a few years ago.

[Flutterby]

<< During one of the "red shirt" riot scenes in Bangkok on 13th April 2009, when a gas truck was hijacked and red shirts threatened to release its flammable contents in Din Daeng, an unknown individual emerged as Batman. The super hero was able to divert the attention of the protesters, opening an opportunity for the rescue team to retrieve the gas truck. >>

 

Your post piqued my interest but I was so disappointed that the video was "Private" and could not be viewed.

[Flashermac]

Strange. It wasn't before.

[The_Munchmaster]

Was down NEP last Tuesday for the first time in years. The big beer bar on Soi 4 to the left of the entrance to NEP was packed but inside the plaza was very quiet. We sat outside Playskool for a few later on but only one or two customers inside, even when a nubile young thing was soaping herself down in the shower!

[YimSiam]

Was down NEP last Tuesday for the first time in years. The big beer bar on Soi 4 to the left of the entrance to NEP was packed but inside the plaza was very quiet. We sat outside Playskool for a few later on but only one or two customers inside, even when a nubile young thing was soaping herself down in the shower!

 

How polite customers have become in this new era - giving the young lady some private time to bathe!

[torrenova]

"On the rail" or street side in Golden is great for watching but I've often found problems if you wanted to "pounce", especially if alone, as you can hardly settle your bin in the half second you have before she walks past, unless you are fortunate enough to get eye contact and have her stop.

 

Viewing and not being able to follow it up is just too frustrating sometimes.

[radioman]

Pay when the beer arrives. Some are too good to be missed

[once a cowboy]

Interesting piece by Stickman yesterday in his weekly on lady drinks. Have to say I agree. Bar girls, not just in Soi 4, have become 'drink mercenaries'. Of course the main reason we go to a beer bar is for the eye candy and a bit of banter with the girls. And it is fair play that the bar girls have to make a living. I don't blame the girls viewing lady drinks as a better alternative to a bar fine and spending time under the sheets with a farang, but equally if we are going to pay inflated prices for a bottle of beer that makes the bar a margin of around 100 baht the bars should at least invest in some quality eye candy and better interiors.

 

There are some horrors parading as bar girls. One bar that used to have a good selection of eye candy should be re-named "Cellulite and Stretch Marks". It puts me off a beer when a aged lump of lard barely constrained by lycra thrusts itself in my face and refuses to leave unless it is fed a drink.

 

The bar formula is flawed. Not just the lady drink farce but the whole concept. Some bars have furniture falling apart and toilets more akin to Bangladesh. You'd think that bar owners would have some basic business acumen and an understanding of customer service, but many don't. Beer prices are always increasing, usually without any justification. One bar regularly increases its prices when the competition does even though its costs aren't increasing. This is just greed. Surely if a bars cost's are stable, and another bar increases its beer prices then if it kept its beer prices unchanged it would be more price competitive. But the business sense of some of the neanderthal bar owners is comparable to a suicide bomber trying to sell life insurance.

 

Running a bar is not rocket science. Pay a decent wage and they will attract decent eye candy. And if the girls receive a decent salary they will be less mercenary, which will make them more appealing to punters wanting to have a chat with them. Oh, and reinvest some of the profits to replace the worn furniture and put some decent plumbing in the shitters.

 

There are of course some well run bars in Soi 4 with attractive girls, pleasant inviting interiors and good customer service. But unfortunately these are in the minority.