Guess Bar is moving

[Guest]

The best sex I have ever had in Thailand was with ladyboys in On Nut so I will applaud the efforts to go out on a skytrain limb

[Guest]

What about up by Soi Cowboy, threr are no LB bars up there. (there was one off a back street years ago "Honey something" but that area got torn down.

[Rollo Tomasi]

.......so much for lease contracts and a lot of notice for tenants

Yep - contracts of any kind are virtually unenforcable in Thailand. Compensation is expensive and retribution is deadly!

Pick up stumps quietly and play someplace else!

Talked to Jay last night and she joked about moving to London.

Ahhhh... The Honey Bar! That brings back memories! But I doubt if Soi Cowboy (and the surrounding area) is an option really. It's probably next on the list of places that will crumble to a pile of fading memories.

Nana are asking silly money just to walk in the door and all along Sukhumvit is extremely expensive especially for coveted BTS proximable sites.

[Thaime]

Guess Bar has the best atmosphere in Bangkok.  I hope the new place has the same feel.  With Jane, Joy, Nan, Pear, and Nancy I'm sure it will.  Good luck to Jay in finding a new home

[MARKUK]

Around the asoke area would be my vote as someone else suggested Soi 10 would be ideal, just inside there is a row of shops etc and you can even go for a romantic stroll in the park!! no ST though so maybe a problem

[Stewart]

but good to know that Jay had a contingency

One months notice? Getting the news in Spore?....what contingency?

One months notice means her negotiating position is crap compared to 1 year ago......a desperate landlord, so close to zero key money and very low rent. Now SHE is a decent business, and every potential landlord will know this.

In terms of location, this is a business, not an ATS forum club. Where the money comes from, move there.

Less forum members going there might have more impact on this forum than on Jay's bank balance.

I don't see how she can possibly be ready in a new place on 30th Nov. Suggest she offers a callout service - website with girls photos, central mobile number to call and make booking, girls comes to your hotel.....might keep revenues ticking over a little until new place ready. Better than zero revenue, and more importantly lost momentum, losing girls going to other bars, etc

[bangkoksins]

she is somewhat miffed but not totally surpris=by the actions of the owners of the building.

She is in a prime location. Why is she surprised.

She knows Bangkok.

I wish her evey success but this should not be a surprise

[Skinhound]

I agree with the earlier posters that Soi Cowboy would be a good option. Soi Nana is obviously first choice but Soi Cowboy would be far better than Patpong. Easy to get to from NEP and not so full of gawking tourists as Silom road.

[natabroad65]

Half the fun of visiting Guess was to do with scampering as quickly as possible through that fleapit of a building with its bored and skanky semi-superannuated geritaric ggs before hitting on the oasis that was Guess.

Looking at the development on Suk though, I guess we should have realised that the building was on borrowed time - it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Yeah, it would be good if Jay could find somewhere local to where she still is (certainly for me, as I'll always stay at the same little hotel way down Soi 11 that I'm so fond of) and didn't there used to be an ladyboy bar a while back tucked away on a small soi off Soi 8?

Neverthless, the key factor apart from those already already mentioned is to maintain the bar's Unique Selling Point. In other words, keep the lounge bar vibe, the good music, the no hassle reliable un-f*cked up girls, the normally excellent music and the other things that differentiate Guess from the Nana shitbox's.

If Guess has to move to Patpong to keep its uniqueness and make Jay a deserved profit then I'll happily cab it over there on my quarterly short hops from Cambodia.

[stogie bear]

(natabroad65 @ Oct. 27 2007,14:11) Half the fun of visiting Guess was to do with scampering as quickly as possible through that fleapit of a building with its bored and skanky semi-superannuated geritaric ggs before hitting on the oasis that was Guess.

Looking at the development on Suk though, I guess we should have realised that the building was on borrowed time - it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Yeah, it would be good if Jay could find somewhere local to where she still is (certainly for me, as I'll always stay at the same little hotel way down Soi 11 that I'm so fond of) and didn't there used to be an ladyboy bar a while back tucked away on a small soi off Soi 8?

Neverthless, the key factor apart from those already  already mentioned is to maintain the bar's Unique Selling Point. In other words, keep the lounge bar vibe, the good music, the no hassle reliable un-f*cked up girls, the normally excellent music and the other things that differentiate Guess from the Nana shitbox's.

If Guess has to move to Patpong to keep its uniqueness and make Jay a deserved profit then I'll happily cab it over there on my quarterly short hops from Cambodia.

[PigDogg]

Sounds like Jay got a raw deal from the landlord.

Any chance Guess will move to Pattaya?

There's really no location in Pattaya that's trully inconvenient and lots of empty bars so one wouldn't have to pay for goodwill. I would also think that a lower rent but lower revenue Pattaya location would enable Jay to take more time off.

[Socrates999]

Time for you all to consider the sponsor-a-Guess-girl-during-the-transition fund. Take one home for a month or so. Hell, take 2. Win-win-win

[mardhi]

The landlord of the current building has treated Jay surprisingly well ever since the bar opened. She was only 1 of 2 bars that had a private meeting with the building owner as against the manager of the place and he explained to her exactly what was happening and why it was happening. The reality is that 90% of tenants DONT pay their rent or at least on time, the two that do (Guess and one other) had a personal visit from this hi-so Thai guy who normally does not even go to the complex. He explained that in a nutshell only two tenants had contracts which had not lapsed (Guess and one other) and that Guess bars contract expires in mid November 07. As it is he is going to return her security deposit in full (+25% inconvenience money) and not charge rent for the last month. Furthermore, he is giving as much notice as he can, within the confines of the sale agreement - basically the building is being sold with no outstanding leases in place and the sale will close on or around 1st Dec.

Its inevitable that in a building where 90% of the tenants dont pay the rent, then re-development is the way to go - its certainly what I would do in the circumstances and I dont think Jay has any issue with his approach. Its not great for her, but then she is also a realist and can see that other bars are really struggling. It will be interesting to see what actually happens to the building - I have heard various rumours but none of them confirmed as fact.

The upside is that unlike the bars in Suk Soi 10 which were demolished overnight - Jay is going to be allowed to plan the removal of everything she wants albeit in a tight timeline, but its a lot more than many bar owners get when there lease is up/operating month to month.

So its a difficult situation for sure, but not as bad as it could have been. The struggle now will be too find something else that allows her to re-create the right environment in a new venue and within a short space of time. As it is, I can see her taking a 1 year lease somewhere as an interim measure and then spending more time to find a more permanent home for the bar - maybe even going as far as buying a freehold shophouse and getting a mortgage on it so that this issue does not come back every now and again when someone wants to redevelop something. However to be honest, November is not really the best month to be looking as peak season is just weeks away and everyone knows that.

Cheers
Mardhi

[thegame925]

A great shame - I had not realised how little security of tenure one had in Thailand, and I would have thought after extending the bar recently, tenure too would have been extended.

One of the great advantages of the curent location was the clean, inexpensive, short term rooms above the bar, That aspect will be difficult to replace.

I hope Jay will not go into anything which may be expediant but that won't suit her long-term objectives.

I am sure regulars will understand a "temporary location" for 6 months or so whilst Jay finds that which she considers "The right location".

I also appreciate the need to keep the girls together - Jays training on patterns of behaviour/attitude etc has been an important factor in the success of "The Guess Bar"

Good luck - Bangkok needs "The Guess Bar" run in Jay's personal style.

[allstar88]

if its not too expensive patpong would be great