| The idea of owning a bar on a tropical island is | | | | discharged himself from hospital too quickly, again |
| many people's fantasy but does the reality live up | | | | ignoring doctor's advice. His next boozing session |
| to the dream? | | | | was too much for a body that was tired of it. He |
| In a good year, in excess of four million people | | | | passed away in his sleep. |
| visit Phuket in Thailand. A lot of those visitors will | | | | The crazy thing is he didn't even need the bar. He |
| love it. Some will love it so much that they want | | | | had worked hard in his home country and was in |
| to live here. | | | | a position to retire. I and other friends had tried |
| Every year thousands of people come to Phuket | | | | to persuade him to give it up. The problem was |
| hoping to set up a new life on a tropical island. | | | | he was one of the few bar owners who was |
| Many of them need to make a living and quickly | | | | making a good profit and he found it hard to walk |
| discover that employment opportunities for | | | | away from a good business. In the end he was |
| foreigners are very limited. So what are their | | | | too good at being a bar owner for his own good. |
| options? Well one of the most likely avenues is to | | | | The strange thing is most of the people who buy |
| invest in your own business. And what is the | | | | into bars have come to Phuket for a better |
| easiest business to get into? Owning a bar. | | | | lifestyle. They want to live in a tropical island |
| To many people it sounds like a dream. A life on | | | | paradise. Phuket is their dream home and owning |
| a tropical island, days by the beach and evenings | | | | a bar is how they will fund their life here. The |
| partying in your bar. But does the reality match | | | | problem is owning a bar excludes them from |
| the dream? | | | | enjoying the island. |
| It is something I considered doing when I first | | | | Most bar owners wake up mid-afternoon with a |
| arrived in Phuket. I checked out the options; | | | | hangover. They lounge around their budget |
| spoke with estate agents, bar owners, even bar | | | | apartment shaking off the hangover until it is time |
| girls. In the end, I decided it just wasn't worth it. | | | | to go into the bar and start work again. They |
| I was new to Phuket and still naive to many of | | | | could do this anywhere. Phuket's glorious beaches, |
| the pitfalls that await bar owners but even then, I | | | | islands and other tourist attractions are irrelevant |
| could see there were so many problems with | | | | to the bar owners because they hardly see them. |
| owning a bar in Phuket. To begin with, 'owning a | | | | I know a couple of bar owners who did not even |
| bar' is a misnomer as you will almost certainly be | | | | know there had been a tsunami until the evening |
| leasing and probably at very unfavourable terms. | | | | when they set off to work. I know another who |
| It is difficult to make a decent living from a bar | | | | after three years in Phuket had not yet seen |
| and in fact most fail in the first two years. Even if | | | | Phang Nga Bay, Phi Phi Islands, Nai Yang Beach, |
| your bar does make money, your working status | | | | Nai Harn Beach, in fact anywhere more than a |
| will probably be illegal. The laws in Thailand are | | | | few kilometers from Patong. |
| stacked against foreigners owning a small | | | | I don't want to totally put off potential bar |
| business. | | | | owners. I just want to open their eyes to the |
| As much as all these things concerned me, they | | | | sort of life they will be buying into. I think for the |
| were not my biggest concern. The biggest factor | | | | right type of character, under the right |
| in turning me away from owning a bar was the | | | | circumstances, it is an okay option. If you are |
| lifestyle. I got to know quite a few bar owners | | | | young, you can handle this lifestyle much better. I |
| and when I looked at their lives, I knew it wasn't | | | | know when I was in my twenties I did lots of |
| for me. It is just such a crap life. | | | | boozing and was always able to shake it off |
| Don't get me wrong. I love a night on the beer. | | | | ready for the next session. As you get older, |
| Even several nights on the beer. But having to do | | | | your powers of recovery diminish. |
| it every night at the same bar as a job? It would | | | | For somebody who is looking for a couple of |
| soon lose its charm not to mention the obvious | | | | years partying and is willing to get in and out, |
| health problems that go with such a lifestyle. | | | | owning a bar in Phuket is a decent option. If you |
| Since I made that decision to leave the bar | | | | have the sort of discipline where you can go to |
| business alone, there has not been one second | | | | the bar and entertain customers without getting |
| when I have looked back and regretted it. I know | | | | drunk every night, then maybe it is for you. But |
| plenty of bar owners and consider several to be | | | | as a long-term source of income - for most |
| friends but I never envy their lives. Recently, the | | | | people it is just not worth the sacrifice. |
| untimely death of one of those friends really | | | | Another bar owner friend decided to sell up after |
| drove it home for me. | | | | a couple of years in the business. He was a young |
| He was not yet 50 years old. He owned a bar in | | | | guy and his bar was making him a living. The |
| one of the sois (side streets) off Soi Bangla in | | | | problem was he had got to the stage where he |
| Patong. He was a nice guy, easy going and easy | | | | hated his bar. He hated going to the same place |
| to talk to. Although I saw him no more than once | | | | night after night, he was sick and tired of dealing |
| a week, we always enjoyed a good chat and he | | | | with bargirls and their petty squabbles and he was |
| was one of my favourite bar owners. | | | | tired of feeling crap all the time. |
| Over the previous year, he had a few health | | | | So he sold up and got out with a nice little profit. |
| problems. He had been in hospital several times | | | | It wasn't until after he sold the bar that he |
| and the advice from the doctors was plain and | | | | discovered the reason why he felt crap all the |
| clear - stop drinking! | | | | time. It wasn't just the hangovers; they were |
| The problem is it is very difficult to stop drinking | | | | masking the real problem. He had Leukemia. |
| when you are a bar owner. The two things that | | | | I'm not saying that owning a bar actually caused |
| bring customers to these small bars are the girls | | | | his Leukemia but it certainly did not help his body |
| and the owner. And often the girls will not work | | | | deal with it. What it did do was put him in a frame |
| very well if the owner is not there. | | | | of mind where he thought it was normal to feel |
| Regular customers like to have a chat with the | | | | bad all the time and he accepted it. Fortunately, |
| owner. Often, if the owner is not there they will | | | | he got out in time, was diagnosed and returned to |
| just move on to the next bar. Quite simply for | | | | his home country where he was successfully |
| these bars to work, the owner has to be there | | | | treated. |
| most of the time. | | | | He is now all clear and he hopes that one day he |
| So couldn't my friend have drunk soft drinks? Well | | | | can move back to Thailand. At the moment, his |
| he did that for a few days but the boredom got | | | | regular check-ups prohibit that. He says that now |
| to him. You spend the evening sitting at your bar, | | | | he looks back at his time in Phuket and realises he |
| bombarded with the deafening music that these | | | | was in a rut. He was making enough money to |
| bar complexes seem to think is a good drinking | | | | live but he couldn't save anything. His life revolved |
| ambience. For a good part of the evening, you | | | | around going to his bar every night so he was |
| may not have any customers, but still you need | | | | just not doing the things that drew him to |
| to be there just in case. You can watch the TV | | | | Thailand in the first place. He would never return |
| but you can't hear it. Your only company is the | | | | to the bar business in Patong. |
| bar girls who are probably nagging for time off or | | | | So to recap. If you are thinking about becoming a |
| free drink. | | | | bar owner in Patong, what can you expect? Well |
| And when the customers do arrive, they want to | | | | you will spend most nights sitting at your bar |
| get drunk and they want you to get drunk with | | | | waiting for customers and listening to dreadful, |
| them. Of course, it is okay for the customers. If | | | | loud music. You will struggle to make a worthwhile |
| they are on holiday, they are only doing it for two | | | | profit. You will have to deal with the antics of |
| weeks before they return to their regular lives. | | | | your bar girls. You can decide to either spend |
| The bar owner is doing it night-after-night, | | | | your evenings sober and bored or drunk and |
| year-after-year. | | | | happy. |
| They offer to buy you drinks and it is bad | | | | Assuming you go for the drunk and happy option |
| business not to accept. If you do keep your | | | | (most bar owners do) you will eventually pay for |
| discipline and stay sober then the evening is | | | | it. I don't know a single bar owner who looks like |
| insufferable. Drunks are very entertaining when | | | | a picture of health. It is a demanding life and if |
| you are drunk with them. When you are sober, | | | | you do it long term you are probably taking a |
| there is nothing worse than trying to laugh at | | | | few years off your life expectancy. |
| their inane ramblings. | | | | You could take the attitude that work is always |
| So despite the doctor's warnings, my friend was | | | | crap. It is crap in your my home country so you |
| soon drinking again. It just goes with the territory | | | | might as well have crap work in Phuket. Well fair |
| of owning a bar; you are going to drink a lot. | | | | enough, as long as you go into the bar business |
| It all caught up with my friend. He had a bad | | | | with your eyes open and not with some |
| motorbike accident. He never drove drunk but | | | | rose-tinted vision of days by the beach and nights |
| motorbike accidents happen easily out here. He | | | | partying. |