Erictheking made an interesting comment on the "past tense bars" thread that caught my attention. He mentioned that Thailand has an abundance of beer bars, which foreigners can buy for minimal investment, and that often go tits up (my words, not his).
This leads me to wonder: why haven't beer bars caught on in Phnom Penh? They are cheaper to open than regular shophouse bars. You don't even need walls. You just rent a small outdoor bar amongst a larger complex of small outdoor bars, and all of a sudden you're a businessman.
I would absolutely frequent a beer bar complex in Phnom Penh. One thing I like about beer bars is that you can sit at the bar, outside. That's nice. The weather is normally quite nice at night in Southeast Asia. Sitting outside at night drinking beer is nice. I know you can sit out at the little tables in front of a lot of Phnom Penh hostess bars, but I don't like that. I like sitting at the bar. How many Western-oriented hostess bars are there in Phnom Penh where you can sit outside at the bar? I can think of one. Black Cat. I like Black Cat. It's successful.
There's a great outdoor bar at the Speke Hotel in Kampala, Uganda called the "Rock Garden." Slutty women abound. I digress. My point is, we need more outdoor hostess bars. Why not a Western-oriented hostess beergarden of some sort?
I can only think of one reason why outdoor beer bars haven't caught on in Phnom Penh. Maybe having Khmer chicks frolicking with Western guys outside, in the view of motodops and the world, is too "in your face" for Cambodia. I don't know.
I heard that Golden Soriya Mall on St. 51 might include a beer bar complex; I don't know if it ever happened. I have also heard about the planned or actual beer bar complex in Sihanoukville, near the Golden Lion roundabout or something like that. I haven't been to Sihanoukville in 6 years, so I don't know if it's successful.
So, to wrap up, I think a Western-oriented beer bar complex or outdoor hostess bar could do well in Phnom Penh, and I'm not sure why one doesn't exist already.
Why doesn't Phnom Penh have beer bars?
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Disagree. They have them in Bangkok and Chiang Mai and far away from the beach in Pattaya and Phuket.
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Bangkok has more than a few Beer bars and of course every beach area in Thailand has them
Prephas the reason PP doesn't are two fold,
One as Gav mentioned. keep it inside
two, SPACE, where would u put it where you could have a central garden and bars around?
Prephas the reason PP doesn't are two fold,
One as Gav mentioned. keep it inside
two, SPACE, where would u put it where you could have a central garden and bars around?
"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer." HST
Like it or not, the closest thing PP has to a beer bar complex is ... martinis.
Fits all the criteria, far away from downtown yet within easy reach, and in an enclosed area far from locals'prying eyes.
The Black cat is pleasant enough but it's quite small and the hostesses selection is limited, with few of them willing and eager to discover new horizons (they tend to be much more amenable if you meet them at HOD afterhours).
Fits all the criteria, far away from downtown yet within easy reach, and in an enclosed area far from locals'prying eyes.
The Black cat is pleasant enough but it's quite small and the hostesses selection is limited, with few of them willing and eager to discover new horizons (they tend to be much more amenable if you meet them at HOD afterhours).
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Golden Sorya Mall has a set up like that. I used to go there a bit when I worked near there, there seemed to be a lot of fighting.You just rent a small outdoor bar amongst a larger complex of small outdoor bars, and all of a sudden you're a businessman.
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The beer bars in Sihanoukville you mentioned are I suppose quite like the Thai version you see in Bkk and they are located in such a way that they are not easily viewed from the main street so are therefore semi inconspicuous. They are all in one soi down a ramp a few blocks from the beach. They seemed semi busy every time I have been there, for Sihanoukville anyway.
For the record even Udon Thani has beer bars and Chiang mai has lots. In both cases they are pretty shit although the Chiang Mai versions do offer a post-spicy drinking opportunity.
For the record even Udon Thani has beer bars and Chiang mai has lots. In both cases they are pretty shit although the Chiang Mai versions do offer a post-spicy drinking opportunity.
I don't see why an all outdoor beer bar complex would cause a fuss nowadays. Don''t several bars like Candy have street level outdoor seating out front with working girls sitting, drinking, entertaining customers and calling out to male passersby? I know a few years ago this scene would have had negative implications for the owners but things seem to be easing up in that respect. No? It's not like the girls would have to be scantily clad or pole dancing or the like.
I would definitely be a patron. I dislike indoor bars for the most part (in decent weather anyway). Thats one reason i don't care much for Angeles City or PP nightlife.
I would definitely be a patron. I dislike indoor bars for the most part (in decent weather anyway). Thats one reason i don't care much for Angeles City or PP nightlife.
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Yes Golden Lion Plaza was finished a few years ago.gavinmac wrote: I have also heard about the planned or actual beer bar complex in Sihanoukville, near the Golden Lion roundabout or something like that. I haven't been to Sihanoukville in 6 years, so I don't know if it's successful.
It went 3 times over budget and 4 times over projected construction time.
Whilst it was intended to be a complex of 10 bars along the lines of girlie beer bars of Kho Samui and Pattaya, each bar with girls, that has not eventuated.
Between the concept origination and construction start in 2005 and the completion in about 2007, Cambodia changed as a tourist destination. Most of the girl scene that existed before has been wiped out. It was quite thriving back then, it has continued to contract and now it is apparently very small.
There were worries that the bar owners charging bar fines would be viewed as pimps and arrested. It was hard for the oners to find girls who stayed. There are not all that many punters in Snooky now and the number of places serving them (and bars as a whole) has increased exponentially. All these factors meant that the Plaza has developed primarily into a street of normal bars not girlie beer bas as originally intended.
Most of the bar owners, especially the early days were basically skint and even had trouble paying $150pm rent especially in the low season and many closed during that time and went back home to work. The plaza was often deserted sometimes with only 3 bars open. It has taken a long while for it to be a semi-lively bar complex. It still remains one of my favourite places to visit and drink when in town.
Of the 10 bars, only one has not sold. Others have sold up to 6 times. Only one has sold at a decent profit, one late last year sold for a bit above cost the only other bar not to have sold previously. I now only know 2 of the bar owners and one really treats it more as a place of residence than a bar.
Even the devlopers/owners of the Plaza have sold out.
As for developing one in PP.... mmm... Land prices are high, so rents will be high. The crackdowns on the girlie scene have happened in PP as well as Snooky. Corruption is worse. The owners of the Golden Lions Plaza never had to pay any bribes, I can't see this happening in PP. If it works there will be a copy cat operation pretty quickly. PP is already flooded with girlie type bars, in fact any type of bar for that matter.
Face it the girlie bars on 104/136 in PP and other streets don't appear to be successful and you can just as easily hop from bar to bar there as from bar to bar in a beer bar complex and even get airconditioning!
cheers
LaudJohn
Note to self: Must be nice to morons.
Somebody tried a mobile bar in SR. Great idea but the powers that be didn't like it.
http://www.tourismcambodia.com/news/loc ... le-bar.htm
http://www.tourismcambodia.com/news/loc ... le-bar.htm
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Not recently, the cops got all the outdoor seating pulled inside on a whole lot of streets. Anyway it annoying having chicks shouting at passersby, I've noticed they do it to all the wrong people, like elderly men with their elderly wives and backpacker chicks.Soi Dog wrote: Don''t several bars like Candy have street level outdoor seating out front with working girls sitting, drinking, entertaining customers and calling out to male passersby?
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I thought I had heard this as well?I heard that Golden Soriya Mall on St. 51 might include a beer bar complex
The first bar on the left in the Golden Lions was always good when I was visiting, run by some English guy.
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Well I wrote it a few posts up the page. Are you suffering from attention deficit disorder?angsta wrote:I thought I had heard this as well?I heard that Golden Soriya Mall on St. 51 might include a beer bar complex
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