Asia's nightspots hit by fallout from Bali bomb blast

Asia's nightspots hit by fallout from Bali bomb blast

Bernice Han, Agence France-Presse, Singapore

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.

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 told AFP.

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 somber 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 10-15 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 United States 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
favorite 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 told AFP.

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 told AFP.

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.