POOR OLD RICHARD

Just for LTMU

A friend in Bangers emails to tell me that the new micro-pub on Silom, @Richards, is not exactly the roaring success that its owners were hoping it would be.
The antiquated triumvirate of Rita, Jemima and Victoria advertise @Richards as тАЬa new and exciting gay bar and restaurant and poised as an alternative to the soi 4 barsтАЭ

тАЬPhooeyтАЭ says my contact. тАЬItтАЩs a morgueтАЭ He uses the word MORGUE deliberately since one of the three тАШexcitingтАЩ owners, Jemima, used exactly the same word to describe one of the soi 4 bars in a magazine he part owns. JemimaтАЩs point was to try to put readers off visiting the world famous soi 4 and go instead to the little alleyway in which he part-owns the pokey @Richards.

The owner of the maligned soi 4 bar & club was livid and threatened. The result is that Jemima now has to advertise this comfortable and welcoming soi 4 club with its truly exciting dance show for free for the next twelve months.

I asked my friend if there was anything good about @Richards?
"Rita Richard only started this place up because he has already drunk all the money he made on the sale of the Telephone pub a few years ago. Like a dog returning to its own vomit he did the only thing he knows how to do and that is sell drinks to the few people that can find his bar".
"But" he continues тАЬYou can have a good laugh to yourself looking at how depressed Rita is. The place is a dump and he knows it. His partners are Jemima, a former Kleeneze salesman whose conversation is not special and the horrible Vikki who sits near the doorway greeting customers like a vulture eyeing up a bit of carrion".

тАЬThe best thingтАЭ, he writes, тАЬare the double front doors so that elderly, wheelchair-bound customers can get in with ease and others can leave with haste once they realize what a mistake they have madeтАЭ.

You don't say?
That place is now on my MUST DO list!
I love a train wreck.

Just for LTMU !

Oi oi oi, i am sorry ! i am gone now ! :argue:

You don't say?
That place is now on my MUST DO list!

Me too!



I love a train wreck.

Me too!
But not in the Thai sense: when one bf shows up, unannounced, while you are...'entertaining' another.

I must say that I do not know the history of the place or the owners/managers, so I come at this as someone unbound by prior involvement. My experience of the place, the one time I visited, was that it was a nice, quiet alternative to many 'gay' places and place looked smart and well decorated and furnished. The food I saw delivered to other tables was well presented and looked appealing. I only had a starter and that was filling and up to standard. My only gripe was the time it took for the food to come, which is possibly the longest I have ever waited for a starter anywhere in the world and considering the number of people in the restaurant I found it quite unbelievable.

I can only assume that perhaps the service (which may have been addressed since I last visited a couple of months ago) or indeed the location, which did not seem to be attracting many people down the alleyway to the few businesses there, are to blame.

Having said all that, I do not understand the mentality of people who seem to rejoice in the 'possible' failure of a gay business (or indeed any business) which caters for gay people. I also do not understand why obvious untruths are told to 'big up' the post and make it seem more interesting or entertaining - the place is neither 'pokey' nor a 'dump'. I cannot speak about the owner 'drinking his profits' from a previous business sale, but I doubt if the poster, or his 'friend' have inside information on the finances of the owner of @Richard's.

I have made some negative comments about some places I have stayed at or visited in Thailand but I hope these have been based on true experiences and not maliscious gossip.

when one bf shows up, unannounced, while you are...'entertaining' another.And doesn't want to join in

Any publicity is good publicity. If this place fails, it will fail, mai bpen rai. Just make sure you spell the name right.

[wowpow]

Can't quite understand why Palmolive is getting herself all in a lather over this bar. There are plenty of unsuccessful bars around. Do I detect more than a touch of Schadenfreude?

when one bf shows up, unannounced, while you are...'entertaining' another.And doesn't want to join in

Exactly!
Otherwise; it's more of a (combination) Powder-Puff Demolition Derby\Relay Race. Where I do all the laps.
Start your engines!
Let the games begin!

Oops, I'm out of gas!
But Num has plenty. (Damn Som Tam!)

[lonelywombat]

Can't quite understand why Palmolive is getting herself all in a lather over this bar. There are plenty of unsuccessful bars around. Do I detect more than a touch of Schadenfreude?

Do I detect more of LMBU

I would rather have a reputation for Interesting Info.

A noble goal, dear. Keep trying. At the moment, your reputation is, er, somewhat different.

I would rather have a reputation for Interesting Info.Perhaps our noble Moderator could start a new Forum - "Interesting Info". A lot of what I see posted is Not So Interesting Misinfo or Why I Hate {such and such} Bar

[lonelywombat]

Wombat I think I would rather have a reputation for Interesting Info, many people like to read, then being like you in Pattaya, called the groper that poor old guy who is to mean to pay, but gropes all he boys.

Once again you have got your knickers in a knot.

As far as this board is concerned I overpay the boys I go with.

Unlike some I do not run up accounts, look for free drinks or food
nor do I stay long term in one star accommodation, nor look for kickbacks from over the top promotions

Are you still hidden in that room at the back?

He uses the word MORGUE deliberately since one of the three тАШexcitingтАЩ owners, Jemima, used exactly the same word to describe one of the soi 4 bars in a magazine he part owns. JemimaтАЩs point was to try to put readers off visiting the world famous soi 4 and go instead to the little alleyway in which he part-owns the pokey @Richards.

The owner of the maligned soi 4 bar & club was livid and threatened. The result is that Jemima now has to advertise this comfortable and welcoming soi 4 club with its truly exciting dance show for free for the next twelve months.


This message may be barbed but the quote definitely has a lot of truth in it. Jim and another club member, Philip from Cutey & Beauty, took over Thai Puan magazine. Thai Puan was the LYC Thailand magazine for many years. They have reinvented the magazine to promote their own businesses. Jim did write a series of reviews in which he described Roxy in Soi 4 as a morgue. The owner did threaten to sue Jim so he had to make amends.

I see this message as the owners of @Richards getting a dose of their own medicine. They are always running down other gay businesses and their owners - I'm sick of it and so are many other club members.
Jim and Richard now have their claws into the Bangkok Pride Festival and what I wonder will they be doing to that to boost the profits of their pub?


.

[lonelywombat]

[quote="let me tell u" dont they pay you enough working in that cafe, I have never had a back room to my knowledge, but Im sure if i did I would not forget to pay for it.[/quote]

I am a self funded retiree dont live on a government pension. I own the restaurant dont work in it.

Still have your meat and 2 veg in Brighton?

If my best friend said that someone was in a room out the back out of the way, then I would believe him

... That Jim is (like Hedda) Internet-challenged and has no idea how to get the connection-by-proxy-server working, so if you're hoping he will read your comments ...

Wombat I think I would rather have a reputation for Interesting Info, many people like to read, then being like you in Pattaya, called the groper that poor old guy who is to mean to pay, but gropes all he boys.

I think I have seen 'the groper', whilst in Throb the other week this guy kept circling the stage and everytime he liked a boy he would try and fondle them. The boys didn't like it (obviously, as they kept shielding their jewels and backing off) and even he did not seem to be enjoying himself as I never saw him smile once. Eventually one of the waiters went up to him and told him to sit down. I think it was embarrassing for all concerned, except him!

I have cut down on my visits to Throb/Splash, one reason being the repetitive shows and another being the high number of breeders (mainly women) who now frequent the place in organised coach parties. I still like the place and also admire the high standard of the performers (I still find the Tina Turner guy outstandingly good and the big girls are a blast - although they could drop the bits of the show where it is just the guys doing Kylie or S-club routines - which bore everyone to tears). I understand the need for the owner(s) to make money to stay in business, I just wish it was not a venue where you feel crowded out by gawping breeders.

Back on topic, there are obviously a few people who have issues with the owners of @Richard's but personally I still feel that the restaurant itself is stylish (all a matter of taste of course, which sometimes I may not have an abundance of) and the food is of decent quality and well presented. I just think that it is a bit out of the way for most to enjoy (unless you want a quiet meal with a loved one), away from the other gay restaurants and bars.

[cottmann]

... I just think that it is a bit out of the way for most to enjoy (unless you want a quiet meal with a loved one), away from the other gay restaurants and bars.

Just the reason I went! Enjoyed my liver and onions, too.