A LARGE development centring on an iconic Tiger Bar outlet is going up as the old Soi Bangla in Patong's heartland is being rapidly reshaped.

Across from the new Tiger Bar, another huge space has been bulldozed ready for erection of the Bangla Mall, which is expected to rise to four storeys.

Patong is set to be the key area for property this year and next year. Five-star resort brands are edging out traditional bamboo and thatch establishments, and in the centre of it all, Soi Bangla is becoming Soi Blingla.

Across the swimming pool of the old Baan Sukhothai resort, once a Bangla landmark, clearing and construction for the Sixth Phuket shopping mall continues. The Sino-Portuguese style retail outlets appear likely to add more upmarket bling.

Already the newly-opened Kee Resort, tucked off main-street Bangla, has delivered more stylish central accommodation that is inevitably putting the squeeze on real estate where bars are now standing.

Rising rents are also forcing a gradual reassessment of Blingla's future. Locals are known for price sensitivity in ways that tourists are not.

So while residents are in the process of finding cheaper places to eat and drink and have fun in the less expensive parts of Patong, where beer bars continue to open, the tourists always turn to Bangla-Blingla because it's the known name for after dark entertainment.

While Bangla gains more baht and bling, other parts of Patong are making a bid for customers less content with rapidly-rising prices.

There is no shortage, though, of businesspeople who still see Blingla as an appealing prospect.

One central second floor bar in Soi Bangla that can seat 140 people is now being advertised for rent for 2.5 million baht, with an option of extending the contract for three years for an extra seven million baht.

By then, Soi Blingla should be in full blossom.