Mon, Oct 28, 2002 page10

• Bali bombing stuns nightlife in region

  SERVICE SECTOR Pubs and restaurants in Southeast Asia that cater to foreigners have seen a dramatic drop in business since the Oct. 12 explosions in Indonesia

  • AFP
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  Nightspots in Asia's key cities are feeling the sting from the fallout of the Oct. 12 Bali bomb blasts with several pubs and restaurants catering to tourists and expatriates seeing declines in business.

  From Bangkok's world famous Khao San Road backpackers' haven to Boat Quay in Singapore, business operators said sales have dropped noticeably since the carbomb attack on the famed Indonesian resort island.

  

  Foreigners sit at a pub along the Boat Quay area of Singapore on Saturday. Nightspots in Asia's key cities are feeling the sting from the fallout of the Bali bomb blasts with pubs and restaurants catering to foreign tourists and expatriates seeing declines in business.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Security has also been beefed up significantly with police increasing patrols and pub managers imposing their own security checks. Tourism is a major industry in the region.

  Kornkanok Temeeraksa, manager of Gulliver's Tavern in Bangkok's Khao San Road, said business was down by a fifth.

  "More than 20 percent of my customers have disappeared. It's really quiet during the day," he said.

  Across town at the Bull's Head, a British pub popular with expatriates in the Sukhumvit area, business has been down around 25 percent, manager Chris Byrd said.

  "Last night we had a monthly event here, a DJ night ... It was absolutely dead. One of our competitors, who is a good friend of ours, the manager of the Londoner [another British pub] said `yeah, it's been awful.' We've been down on average around 25 percent, but last night we were 70 percent off," he said.

  Over in Singapore, the scene is equally sombre as business operators in Boat Quay, a favorite haunt for tourists and resident expatriates, reported fewer customers since the massive carbomb blasts outside a Bali nightclub that killed nearly 200 mostly foreigners and injuring hundreds more.

  "It has dropped a bit since the Bali blasts. It definitely has a part to do with it," said Steven Nobel, general manager of the Penny Black Victorian London Pub.

  In neighboring Malaysia, a spokesman for the exclusive Datai resort on Langkawi island -- a popular destination for foreign tourists -- said it experienced a 10 percent to 15 percent drop in cancellations.

  On the resort island of Penang, a spokesman for the Paradise Sandy Bay Hotel described the situation as "sick." Occupancy rates had been dropping since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US when it lost 25 to 30 percent of visitors, he said.

  While the Bali incident had not really affected it yet, he expected the fallout to "really hit" later this year.

  In Manila and Jakarta, the situation was somewhat better with tourists and foreign expatriates apparently not disturbed by the horrific events in Bali.

  Officials and pub managers in Manila said they saw no sign that foreigners were shunning tourist hang-outs in the Philippines.

  "After the bombing [in Bali] they said no one would go shopping but we went around and there were so many in the shopping malls, so many in the lobbies of the big hotels," said Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Velasco, head of Manila's police force.

  "It is a wrong conclusion to say people are not going out. It is business as usual," he said.

  Domingo Roblando, assistant manager of Cafe Adriatico, one of the landmarks of the Malate tourist district in Manila, said "there are still many foreigners coming here. It doesn't look like it went down."

  In Jakarta, business remains brisk as usual at D's Place, a favourite watering hole for long time expatriates and oil roughnecks in the Blok M area of South Jakarta.

  "Our best interest is to ensure the comfort and security of our customers despite the tragedy in Bali. We're coordinating with local police and military to ensure that the neighborhood remains safe," D's Place owner said.

  In Hong Kong, Angelina Marcelino, manager of Joe Banana's, a popular expatriate pub in Wanchai, said: "There has been no noticeable change in the number of customers for us, but some of the pubs down here are sometimes a little quiet.

  "We have tightened security. There are two security guards standing at the door who check the bags of everyone who enters the pub."

  At the upscale Q Bar in Bangkok, security has also been boosted.

  "We've tightened up our own security and we've worked with the police also. We're not letting taxis or any kind of vans or truck -- any vehicles -- stop in the perimeter of the club. They have to keep the flow going," general manager Daryl Scott said.

  Police in Kuala Lumpur said they had met with the management of hotels and nighspots to establish cooperation in maintaining security after the Bali explosions.

  Staff have been told to keep an eye out for suspicious vehicles parked outside, city special branch chief Baharum Ibrahim said.
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