so can anyone tell me what its like to be a ferang in business in thailand..im looking at buying a bar in bkk in a few years and im starting to do some research now...what is the criteria as such...are there any social issues i should be aware of and do i need protection....serious posts would be appreciated although some humorous would be ok hehehehe

im a standard user so i cant perform a username search...do u have his link at all...ty

doesnt work unfortunately...its ok ill do a search if i can

thanks anyway

"I_love_som_tam" journals... !

Thailand attracts some screwed up people or else screws some people up. Unfortunately, these are the ones that stay.It can also be said that alcoholics should not own bars.

There are two foreign bar owners in my area that should not own bars with there Thai wives/girlfriends. Neither of them should own bars.

One man, from England, is married to a very lovely and kind Thai woman. They have owned the bar for about 6 months. When sober, the husband is a very decent guy and runs quite a successful little bar. When he's on the piss he is also fairly decent. Then he reaches a point of intoxication where he becomes violent and uncontrollable, verbally abusing his wife, staff and even customers, driving them all away.

He begins drinking when the bar opens at 1030 am and drinks until the bar is closed. On some occasions he has chased his wife away with his verbal abuse. She finds solace at a mutual friend's bar. On one such occasion my biz partner and I were there when he came and tried to physically assault her for not being at her bar. My business partner and I had to intervene and calm him down.

On another occasion his wife left after one of his tirades. When he could not find her he grabbed one of his staff members by the hair and dragged her around the bar, taking his aggressions out on her. Realizing the error of his ways, he took off. The next day, 15 male members of this poor girls family were at the bar waiting for him. He f**ked off back to the UK until things settled down.

Another man from England opened a bar with his very beautiful Thai girlfriend. They have had the bar for about six weeks. I met his girlfriend just after they bought the bar and she was getting it ready to open.

On opening night I stopped in for a drink to welcome them to the area. I was the only customer. It was my first time meeting the boyfriend.He was drunk at 8pm and was frustrated that he had no business. I told him that it's low season, things are slow but will get better beginning in October. He was so depressing that I finished my beer and went to visit my friend from New Zealand who has a bar just down the road.

While walking back to my bar a short time later, i noticed that the boyfriend had smashed all the tables and chairs in front of his bar out of frustration. Things got worse from there.

A week later, at about 11am, the boyfriend was at the bar, drunk already, when his girlfriend asked him to stop drinking. He became enraged and began to choke her in front of the bar for all the world to see. He suddenly came to his senses when she was on the verge of passing out and took off, fearing the possible appearance of the Thai police.

His girlfriend ordered the staff to lock up the liquor and go home for the day, giving the keys to the alcohol to one of the staff members. The boyfriend returned at about 2pm and discovered that the bar was closed. Lacking the funds to drink elsewhere, he took his umbrella and smashed the glass out of the brand new upright cooler that had been delivered the day before. He sat at his bar, steadily drinking until he passed out.

He has been hold up in his hotel room with only Jack Daniels for company. He probably won't live much longer.

well thanks for the stories but im not an alcaholic...i do however like most males enjoy a nice cold beer on a hot and with thailand being hot doesnt mean that i will drink every day...in fact im focused on business and doing very well here in new zealand..im running two companies at present which i own and created from nothing and am starting a 3rd...the fact that i wish for some information is that i have fallen in love with thailand and its people and culture and respect and would like to ahve some business opportunity there at some stage...i come into some money in 3 years time and have thought what i should do with it..and as i like thialand and its lifestyle i would like to own a bar there..i have worked in bars before being the head barman at the bar that won pub of the year in london in 1995...thats 7000 bars in total there if not more now...so as u can see i have the drive the interest the knowledge of the industry not to mention some great contacts but unfortunately i dont have the knowledge of the thai way and if i amto business in thailand then i would liketo know more about that..u know....people make their own mistakes and sometimes we choose the wrong business to be in....its obvious that that is what those few people did..thanks

thanks for that