Circus Bar etc. up for sale, and is Gay Soi 4 going soon?

[Olddaddy]

On 6/3/2026 at 3:51 AM, Patanawet said:

Why do you post utter tosh?

At least I'm born in Australia unlike some !! 

Oh it's ok I have empathy for you ☺️ 

[Patanawet]

1 minute ago, Olddaddy said:

At least I'm born in Australia unlike some !! 

Oh it's ok I have empathy for you ☺️ 

Q.E.D.

[Olddaddy]

Just now, Patanawet said:

Q.E.D.

As a matter of interest do you take your walking stick with you when your walking the Sois?.👴👴

[PeterRS]

6 hours ago, zoomomancs said:

But might the doubt about the future of the Soi account for the price drop?

The doubt about the Soi's future is well over a year old. Perhaps it could be a result of the major successful redevelopment on the other side of Silom on the corner with Soi Convent leading the owners to realise Soi 4 now has significant unrealised profit potential. Merely a sad guess!

[macaroni21]

Yet another thought came to mind: why does the owner of Circus need to sell? And it's almost a fire sale too.

I think it's a safe assumption that leases on Soi 4 will not be renewed. That doesn't mean a business must be sold even if the owner does not want to invest in a new location. He can simply run the business till the last day and then close it. After all, it was implied (though not explicitly stated) in the sale notice that the business is profitable.

What I reckon the problem is is that there may be about 4 million baht in an outstanding bank loan. Perhaps the 14 million paid to purchase the business 5 years ago was borrowed, and only 10 million of that has been discharged. 

If that's the case, then closing the business when the lease runs out will leave the owners with a balance sheet liability of 4 million in bank loan, and no operating business to generate future revenue.

Now, I am just making an educated guess. I have no inside information.

But what this means is that a buyer must be careful what he is buying. Will it include a loan liability?

Frankly I can see no reason to buy the business at all. If someone is interested in getting into the gay bar/ restaurant trade, then set up a new one at wherever is the new location most likely to get traffic. The only possible value is the brand-name/trademark and the goodwill that may come with the Circus name though even that might not be worth much. Circus as a name has only been around for 5 years. Before that, it was Telephone Bar for decades. Yet when a new location near Moonlight opened and began trading under the Telephone Bar name, the crowd didn't migrate there. That should be a salutary example for any new entrepreneur.

 

[Patanawet]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

The doubt about the Soi's future is well over a year old. Perhaps it could be a result of the major successful redevelopment on the other side of Silom on the corner with Soi Convent leading the owners to realise Soi 4 now has significant unrealised profit potential. Merely a sad guess!

Well, as I said, "I've been hearing this annually for at least the last 15 or so years BUT this time Peter you might have something.

[Patanawet]

9 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

As a matter of interest do you take your walking stick with you when your walking the Sois?.👴👴

No O.D., I leave my  Burmese Army Trekking Stick in my hut.

[PeterRS]

21 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

The only possible value is the brand-name/trademark and the goodwill that may come with the Circus name though even that might not be worth much. Circus as a name has only been around for 5 years. Before that, it was Telephone Bar for decades. Yet when a new location near Moonlight opened and began trading under the Telephone Bar name, the crowd didn't migrate there. That should be a salutary example for any new entrepreneur.

I honestly cannot see there is any brand name value in 'Circus'. Even today I have friends (admittedly older ones) who refer to that bar as Telephone. Given the major covid fall off in customers, there must be massive numbers who attended the original Telephone Bar and therefore fondly remember it but for whom 'Circus' fails to register much. I always found it a strange name to choose for that location - but that is no doubt just me. There was a very clear and specific reason at the outset for choosing 'Telephone' as the bar's original name. I wonder what value if any 'circus' brought to the location.

[hank75]

On 6/4/2026 at 12:14 PM, macaroni21 said:

Yet when a new location near Moonlight opened and began trading under the Telephone Bar name, the crowd didn't migrate there. That should be a salutary example for any new entrepreneur.

I mentioned this in a different post. Apart from the name, new Telephone has no similarities to the old one, which was a farang friendly pub-restaurant with prominent Soi 4 frontage. It was an iconic spot for gay cruising and people watching. The new Telephone is targeted at Thai customers in the after hours, chose a tucked away locale and made their frontage as non-descript as possible, an IYKYK spot. Apart from the name there is nothing in common. There isn’t even a telephone in sight. Circus was tipped to inherit the Telephone mantle which they more or less appeared to have done (I have my doubts about the effectiveness of running a cabaret-type show, having queens drag you in)