Koala Bar gone.

[vlad]

Would appear the Koala bar is having its final night due to the landlord giving Justin short notice, good guy Justin all beer going cheap everything must go this friday get yourselves there and give him a good send off'
On a personal note wish you well in your new bar if you have 1 Justin.

Billy.

[PortugueseManOfWar]

three to four weeks ago justin was talking to me about closing and going back to australia. doesn't seem like short notice to me. regardless of the time line, it is another change in the landscape for udon. nothing stays the same.

[NongbualamphuKid]

there seems to be a lot of development going-on that side of thong-yai road, i wouldn't be surprised if
rents / leases were jumping in prices recently. landlords really only concerned with the bottom dollar.

[PortugueseManOfWar]

rents have already gone up in ud town. i know of several vendors who have left and are leaving.

[NongbualamphuKid]

honestly now P-man-o'war, i often poke around over there at UD town and for the life of me i don't
know how 90% of those businesses function? oh the anchor shops, mcdonalds or shabushi or the
lotus might be doing ok but all those ritzy stalls are just that? like showpieces? a setting in a play?
i never see anybody buying anything there? and how much are there rents? i just don't see how it's
sustainable? oh as long as they have live music and serve beer and food there will be people milling
about but how can you make a profit when you're only open from 5-10? i've seen other open-air malls
fail pretty badly here, folks want to browse in air-con comfort, not sweat hiking from shop to shop
and those little independent vendors will all be heading back to preecha market soon i believe.

[PortugueseManOfWar]

honestly now P-man-o'war, i often poke around over there at UD town and for the life of me i don't
know how 90% of those businesses function? oh the anchor shops, mcdonalds or shabushi or the
lotus might be doing ok but all those ritzy stalls are just that? like showpieces? a setting in a play?
i never see anybody buying anything there? and how much are there rents? i just don't see how it's
sustainable? oh as long as they have live music and serve beer and food there will be people milling
about but how can you make a profit when you're only open from 5-10? i've seen other open-air malls
fail pretty badly here, folks want to browse in air-con comfort, not sweat hiking from shop to shop
and those little independent vendors will all be heading back to preecha market soon i believe.

i really don't know enough about the inner workings to have a reasonable opinion about it, but i wonder the same as you do.

i don't recall what the rents were, but i understand they have almost doubled. that was the kiss of death for most of them. i understand that there was a lot of take-out business at some of them, which could explain the lack of visible customers.

[NongbualamphuKid]

and it is a pleasant esthetically pleasing place with the water fountains and gardening but when you keep driving the rents up like that i just don't see how the little guy can do business there? unless you're trading
a large volume you would have to compensate by raising your prices, which in turn will certainly prohibit
the local Thais from buying anything there, as they certainly are conscious of prices and value received. :hai:

[johnwills]

honestly now P-man-o'war, i often poke around over there at UD town and for the life of me i don't
know how 90% of those businesses function? oh the anchor shops, mcdonalds or shabushi or the
lotus might be doing ok but all those ritzy stalls are just that? like showpieces? a setting in a play?
i never see anybody buying anything there? and how much are there rents? i just don't see how it's
sustainable? oh as long as they have live music and serve beer and food there will be people milling
about but how can you make a profit when you're only open from 5-10? i've seen other open-air malls
fail pretty badly here, folks want to browse in air-con comfort, not sweat hiking from shop to shop
and those little independent vendors will all be heading back to preecha market soon i believe.

Normally when we go into Toys-R-us there are no other customers, so how these places are staying open I've no idea.

[UdornLA]

this should be a major heads up for anyone thinking about investing any large amount of money in a bar / restaurant / business, as at any time, you're landlord may decide not to renew your lease, or at a ridiculous prices when getting the sell offer. DN and NP, along with Centerpoint are prime examples. soi sampan to follow suit. even if owning the land, the big boys club will put enough pressure to simply take it, if you don't accept their offer.................... : : : :

wouldn't be too hard to stick a bag of illegal contraband in your restroom......annonymous tip, and away you go............ *()(*^ *()(*^

you simply are not allowed to be too successful here of a threat to their income................

[Somchai Terdsak]

^Right, UdornLA ^.
IMO, Thailand is a place to retire to, not a place to try and earn a living.
It's lost most of its appeal for me over the years.