Megaparty fo New Year may move to Patong

Sydictive representatives confirmed to last night they are exploring the option of moving the event to Patong Beach, saying with 12 days to go they can no longer afford to negotiate with those at Surin Beach who oppose the event. “We would like to release official facts later on once our engineer, production designer and architect have confirmed with us everything is feasible,” a spokesperson said. The shock move came following an appointment party organisers had with two general managers of hotels in the Surin Beach are, who demanded “substantial” amounts of compensation, organisers said. One hotel, which organisers refused to name, requested B3.5 million as the “strict minimum required to ensure that some of our guests are compensated for the disturbance,” an email said. Another hotel also requested “a couple of million baht”, the organisers said. “The two hotels have almost 100 per cent occupancy – we know this only based upon the booking information they showed us in the meeting,” a Sydictive representative said. “But they have notified us that they would like us to compensate them for all the rooms and that they will be allowing their guests to stay there free of charge because of the “disturbance” that will be caused to them. “Even before our team has discussed this in detail, you can probably see from the figures that it is not a feasible proposition for us. “With 12 days to the event, we cannot afford to lose any more time to ‘negotiate’ with them any longer. “We have already had to use our limited resources on trying to accommodate and compromising to their needs. And at this point, time is simply a luxury we do not have.” The organisers of the megaparty have said in the past that they had already spent B66 million and expected the entire outlay would be B120 million. “It was a really hard decision … to make. And we would like to express our deepest and most sincere apologies to the shop owners and hotels who have supported us throughout. Of course, if they would like to come join us at Patong Beach we would be more than happy for them to [do so].” Sydictive representatives said they would be taking a 30 per cent cut of food sales by vendors, and 60 per cent of beverage sales. “The vendors will provide the food. The restaurants will provide the food that they want to (or their speciality if they would like) whereas we will provide the alcohol. As we have an official alcohol sponsor (and one that most clubs/bars use), they will be ordering through us to them at factory price, and we will have stocks on hand during the days of the event should they run out of any alcohol. “Personally, I understand that the restaurants will be quite concerned that it means that there will be a cut out of their profit. On the contrary, our proposal is only as follows for two reasons: “Number one, we are bringing in customers (as we provide the entertainment, the renovation of the venue and the safety and security). “Number two, food and beverage pricing – our menu prices will not be roadside low-end pricing. The pricing will be [set at a level] to ensure that everyone makes money and the partygoers can enjoy good food at an affordable price. “