1st of September 2010: THE BACKSTAGE PRESENTS ITSELF

Or introducing The Backstage into the (gay)scene of Patong Phuket

Yesterday we started to distribute invitations to our Introduction Party on the 1s of September, this coming wensday!
Also we started to hand out flyers, in Paradise as well as on the (gay)beach. The weather is good, in other words no rain, not many clouds ... ergo excellent beachweather ;-)

To do a decent job, we made two invitations, one specially for our relations and bosses of the other gay, straight friendly/gay friendly places in Patong, and a flyer for the potential customers of The Backstage.


The invitation, of which here on the left a black and white print, we had printed on orange paper (how original huh?) and was folded in such a way that you could take apart the 'curtains', on which we had "We invite you", after which the invitation itself becomes visible.. well, have a look for yourself.
We hope it will be appreciated. Thai custom more or less demands that one tries to bring the invitations around in person to the bar owners, or at least try to do so. And if an owner is present, or its manager, then one is supposed to buy a drink, offering one same time, and then hand over the invitation.... at least when one invites a Thai owner... with farang owners things are much easier and its not necessary to sit down, enjoy/buy drinks etc.
Because of this custom/procedure (if one wants to do a proper job of ones invitations) one needs to plan ... and in my case, also coordinate with Kik. Some owners, mainly the big ones and/or the ones with whom we have a more special bond, will appreciate if I visit them in the presence of my husband.
Which is rather difficult, because Kik works now 3 shows per night at Simon and is often deadtired from them... but these next couple of days we will make a sincere effort.
Those places which are farang owned, run by farang, or thai run and owned but whom I know from visits in the past, I can handle myself, preferably together with our manager Gong.
Haha, one feels like one can not go out in the street without supervision.


Right: And then we also use this time to hand out flyers on the beach, in Paradise Soi, specially tonight when there's also a streetparty going on (Gay & Lesbian Night) to make promotion among our potential customers.

We truly hope we'll be able to give a decent introduction of what The Backstage is all about, what we like to accomplish, next to running a healthy business ofcourse ;-)

We also like to keep a relative low profile, because same time we also still busy learning to walk (see previous entry!) and only when we think we did a decent job of learning to walk, we will have a real opening of The Backstage.
We hope we will be able to plan that one sometime November!

Learning to 'walk' is fun .. Our first steps back into the scene ;-)

Two weeks now we are operating,

and with all our experiences, we rediscover also the fun of learning and to start a total new venue in a 'new' location.
Easy? Absolutly not.
How long before everything will be perfect (whatever that may mean)? Probably never.
How long before improvements? Probably all the time, some visible, some not ... our little list is endless allmost and in time we hope to see it get shorter instead of growing, as it does at present ;-)

And yes, the atmosphere at Backstage is pretty okay. The consept of 2 in 1 seems to work out just fine for all who come to visit us. It's same time getting used to as well, but fun same time.
Visitors who like to sing, can do without others, who like or enjoy a quite talk are being disturbed.

In other words, The Backstage is a place in development, because we like to be your home away from home, the place to unwind and relax.

Food

At The Backstage one can eat simple but delicious Thai food for allmost half the price of a beer. Also all kinds of riding foodstalls pass our front and among them regular one who sels deserts... for 5 baht a piece.......and tasty!

Right: The desert arived in front of The Backstage, and I tried allready a lot of them and it becomes harder to let the guy go, haha!

In other words, when at The Backstage one can take the opportunity to eat like the locals here do for same price as all these locals pay!
O, and in case one of you might worry about food safety: How they do it I do not know, but this guy (me, lol) with a sensitive tummy, hasn't expierenced any problems yet.........and, glad to say, haven't heard of others who had these kind of problems.

Opening hours

For August, contrary to what we announced here on the weblog, we are open every day from 4 pm till 2 am with option to stay open till 4 am.........but to be honest, we hope that wil not happen too often, because if you want us to take good care of you, we must be same time be able also to take good care of ourselfs ;-)
O, it might happen one of these evenings that we are 'closed' because we are preparing for the Introduction Party on the 1st of September, but if we feel forced to do so, we make announcement on the doors of The Backstage!

Introduction Party

To introduce The Backstage into the scene, we decided to introduce ourselfs with a party on the 1st of September!
We hope that evening to be able to show the possibilities Backstage has to offer.
We also hope to be able to tempt the regular visitors of Paradise Complex, to hub acros the street, walk around 2 corners and hub into The Backstage once in a while to enjoy, relax and if so wanted, have fun ;-)

Promoting Backstage

Now we finally opened up on this new location of hours, we clearly need all the people to know and find out about us.
So, we do what we started at J&B Bar: we promote with actions on the (gay)beach, and in the guesthouses & hotels who are gay, gayfriendly or straightfriendly.
We also decided to promote ourselfs in the two gay magazines Thailand knows: Thei Puan and Spice.
Thai Puan's closing date though was on the 19th of August, so we very quickly made a first add for them, which will be in the edition for September/October. This first excersise with advertisements you see right here ;-)
Spice Magazine, with his new owner Wayne came down from Bangkok to visit Phukets gay scene aaand we were happy to welcome them twice aand did hopefully same time also some business with them...so next issue of Spice should have us in it as well ;-)



Left: The Add as will be shown in the opcoming new issue of Thai Puan, do you think it tells roughly what we try to do?

Next to that we have a lttle list with idears for making Backstage more positivly known on Phuket and beyond.
But with every step we do, we will do our utmost not to promote more then we think we can live up to.
Nothing is worse then genuine dissapointed visitors because we suggested more then we could deliver upon.
The Backstage and its staff looks forward to welcome you.

O, and in need of a good, old fashion coffee, well, we serve coffee in all its veriaties... inccluding our naughty coffees as the old customers of J&B have goten accustomed to ;-)

See you soon, and if not possible, please do not hestitate to react or write to us, here or on our email adres backstage.phuket@gmail.com.

Take best of care
Sawadee krab

Two new stafmembers and pre-warning soft opening!

Left: Mos, our new stafmember, 19 years old and a friendly enthousiastic guy from Kiks home area from the north east of Thailand



Right: and one other new stafmember in the person of Jimmy, he is not new here in Patong and speaks english very well;-)

We will plan our soft opening on the 22d or 29th of August... just keep an eye out for further information from us here, or simply become a follower of this weblog! ;-)

Introduction promotion at The Backstage!!

Though we like to be more then a place to drink, sadly to get the people to find their way to our new location AND to tempt them to change a little bit of their routine when out and about in Patong, we need all kind of radical promotions and activities to get known here in Patong.
This will be the first of many actions/promotions we will undertake to make our fellow gays and their friends to find their way to our little soi/street.

Two in One, The Backstage finally started!

Sunday the 8th, finally we started to operate our Backstage.

Right: The first customers at Backstage, Nextdoor, from left to right Rob, Hans, Jub & Gong. Hans, when in Patong Phuket, regularly game by to wittness the progres between april and now!

Am not unpleasantly surprised with the result. The atmosphere we think is good, BUT has and no doubt wil improve in time... because The Backstage is not about perfection but about creating a relaxing home for all who visit us... and as such that will take time ofcourse.
Hopefully all your comments and of all who come to visit us, wil make The Backstage grow into something more, a true Purple Meeting Point, a little gem, hiden away in a side street, where ALL feel welcome and at home.

A challenge indeed, and that challenge is just starting!

2 in 1


The Backstage now consist of a 'pocket' theater, with one of the smallest stages, comfortable couches and chairs as well as karaoke fascilities on one side.
And, what we like to call Backstages Nextdoor,
where our bar ( a former receptiondesk) is located, where one can eat, drink, play games, talk, meet, whatever one likes to do.

The place, or should I know say places, is not perfect yet... a lot of little things still need to be done... and even when all done, The Backstage, we hope, will never be finished, because we like and hope to be able to adjust to our friends & customers wishes. LOgical, we think, if you like to be there home away from home ;-)

Backstage soft opening expected on the 8th of August...

It is a while since we start working on The Backstage concept. When we thought we had finally all arranged and were practically ready to open The Backstage, we discovered that our neighbours left their building and we could rent it now as well.

Temptation! We could not resist ... result, everything got terribly delayed BUT we think we can be happy with the result.

When we talk about the addition, we talk about "Nextdoor", but officially it will be The Backstage.
Its interior, set-up, etc., its all different. You can also say: you get two for one ;-)

We hope though with the addition of nextdoor we can become a better and more true purple meeting point!

For now we formulate our "mission statement" (sounds more expensive then it is, I assure you!) as follows:

BACKSTAGE, a Purple Meeting Point - Theater Cafe where one can, next to relax, talk and meet others, also play and/or enjoy (live)music, lipsing (playback), karaoke, cabaret, show, play a game or a combination of these.
Your home away from home, for Thai, expats and tourist a like. Where one can meet and make new friends, unwind and enjoy a good time.
We did not pick the easiest of locations, but we are confident that its more then good enough to make our wish come true, to create that home away from home!
O, and next to good drinks, fine coffee & tea, we might also be able to serve you some simple Thai food and snacks!


The Backstage will now consist of two pretty different parts, at least thats what we think ;-). A so called 'modern' part, with small stage, karaoke installation, wide screen TV, dvd and comfi couches with aircon if so wished, and the 'old' part, with recycled furniture from J&B, old receptiondesk as bar, glass cabinets in an orange and purple setting. Informal from A till Z!


Left: Nextdoor getting pretty full when more stuff was delivered, some 'old' some new ;-)

We will be able to do more then one activity, if we get into the mood for that (hehe), we can also host a private party without having to close the rest of The Backstage.

Do not expect though a lean, mean and sharp entertainment machine. The Backstage is and will be for a long time a project in development. Everything you see when you come to The Backstage can be changed next time you visit.
We start simple in every respect, at least thats how we think about our decor and concept.
Its your remarks and experiences, and the feed back you are wiling to give us, which will decide how The Backstage will develop.

For the month of August our opening hours will be:

Sunday and monday : from around 4 pm till 2 am;
Wensday up to friday: from around 4 pm till 2 am
saterday and tuesday: closed (except for private party)

During the month of August we will have soft opening special promotion:

All drinks, buy one get one free!
Special bottle prices:
when one buys one bottle (with free mixers ofcourse), one can get the 2d bottle for half price, though on this 2d bottle we only serve 2 free mixers,
Nice detail: If you can't or are unwilling to finish your (2d+) bottle, we will reserve your botlle for your next visit... as long as it is not longer then 4 (!) weeks (exceptions possible after special arrangement with management! ;-) ).

We hope to see you (again) when you have the chance to visit Patong Phuket.

Our guests will have to make our Backstage work, we (the staff and yours truly) hope only to be pleasant fascilitators ;-)

Below: As reminder, our location: