contemplating

Thank you for the dentist info. It is true, that no one asked about a dentist, but the way I see it, there are way too few quality services in this country, and if someone finds good service, then I hope he tells everyone about it. I have done the same a few times also. A business that provides a good service, should be recommended to friends. Isnt that the way free enterprise works?

Well, if the US government donated the buoy, why didnt they promise to change the batteries every year?? They should have known This is Thailand. Thats what happens everywhere in the world that something is donated. The receiver thinks that since its free, you dont have to take care of it.

Hello all, and especially to Jing. I kinda understand what your getting at, BUT, even though the beach and beach road should be the "Jewel in the Crown", it is a piece of shit, with or without the girls. A "destination" resort should be more than one beach road. Sure, I wouldnt take my family for a walk there at night, but then I wouldnt take my family for a walk during the day either. What would they see, vendors, a sea of umbrellas, and if they could actually see the beach, they would see a garbage dump that even Manila would envy. You said that its impossible to walk there, have you seen any other street in Pattaya that you could walk on with your family? Every space is filled with junk to sell, and the sellers are the ones that really bother you. If I want a shirt, I will ask, I dont need a special price for a piece of s...! Every sidewalk is so full, that you cannot walk side by side, so how do you plan on walking with your family, in a line with the kiddies getting stopped by the vendors? There is no room to walk in Pattaya, and that is a fact. Besides the girls, the design of the beach walk was all wrong. The architect may have had some artistic ideas, but its impossible to navigate the trees and narrowing of the walk, for no reason at all.

What would you actually do with the girls? Where would you move them to? Off to some dark soi? For one reason, they are there because the potential customers are there. Another reason, is that they probably feel safer together, and in a relative open space. I agree, there are ä-way too many but that is a sign of this sick economy, there is just no work for them. Maybe can do like Pol Pot, and send them to the rice paddies would be an answer. But if you send them away, please send a few vendors with them, and anyone trying to shake your hand on the street.

I have posted several times about the shit on the beach, so maybe the subject is getting a bit old, but im sure there are many that think the same way. If the beach is the "jewel in the crown", then please someone take the garbage off the crown so we can see it. I can accept unimpaired steets, garbage and even the motor bikes, but a sea full of garbage is not what people come to a "destination" resort for. Although I have heard that somewhere in Manila, you can get a tour to the famous dump there. That might be a new idea for Pattaya, and can build a monirail, so everyone could get a better view of the crap that floats up on the beach.

Please dont start confusing people with facts! This is TV, and we dont need facts, to come to our conclusion.

Hey Asiacat, that was a great story!

he must be related to the other idiot, Mr Savage, from the BKK riots. Im sure he will be crying in a few days too.

Was at Jomtien this evening, and the beach looked like a garbage dump! Yes, there were lots of Jellyfish washed up on the beach too, more than I have seen before. I sometimes take a dip to cool off, but I wouldnt recommend it to anyone else. Im sure if your wife was stung by a large jellyfish, she would have noticed it, but I have been stung by very tiny jellyfish that left marks like flea bites, and they seemed to get worse the next day, very itchy. For some reason, the local government doesnt realize that the beach has to be clean, if this is called a "destination" resort. No reason why the beach cant be raked every evening, by a tractor, not by hand like the vendors do, that is only to smooth out the sand.

Well, IF I get stopped, and IF they ask me for green book, or a copy, and IF I just tell them to F... off, and IF they still give me a ticket, can I tell them that someone from TV told me to say that?? That may not be a very good excuse. Of course I could just tear up my ticket and then tell him again to F... off, but............. I just dont see the advantage in trying to push them.

I have been stopped a couple times, and was asked for papers, and before I could produce them, they just told me I could go. Maybe they just didnt feel like getting in a conversation in a language that might be difficult for them. Yes, they stop a lot of motor bikes, but there are more reasons than just collecting money, many bikes are stolen, and some Thais, are carrying drugs or weapons, and that could be why they dont always bother with checking farang papers, so sometimes there are advantages of being farang.

I think the monorail is a great idea, and if it went along the beach, and was high enough, you could view all the garbage floating in the water, and look at all the beautiful umbrellas. Also you wouldnt have to actually sit on the beach, so you could avoid all the vendors, broken sidewalks, drug dealers, and working girls, or (boys). And if they started it now, they wouldnt have to worry about finishing the road to Jomtien. Probably be finished by 2050.

Just wondering how long it will take you to drive to these free ATM's, and how long do you want to wait in line to use the machine? Sounds like driving a hundred km to fill up on cheap gas. In other words, are you really saving anything, or just pretending to save? If you are actually near one, when you need money, then thats ok,

If you want to save on beer, just leave out one of the eight bottles. By the way, seems some of the bars raise the price of drinks, when they serve the free food. Of course you could bring your own bottle of water, and just eat free! You would be their most preferred customer!

Well, my opinion is just go for it! Instead of trying for the best school in the world, just start at a school, and learn what you can. Im sure if you go through the whole course, you will end up learning enough Thai to get you through everyday situations. After that, if your still interested, then you can go for your PHD or what every. I would guess that the teaching skills of the teacher are most important, not just the school. I was in one of the schools here for a while, but then had to go back to Europe, and stayed too long, and lost my visa.

I think what is worse than a not so good teacher, are students that want to impress someone with their Thai, and hold up the whole class, while they are showing how clever they are. We had practice like "what do you like about Pattaya, but instead of taking it as a practice, some students went off on their own show, about their whole life in Pattaya, but that happens in all the schools, and you cant pick your classmates, or teachers for that matter.

Just pick a school, get your ED visa and hope some Thai sticks in your head. You will know much more after one year. And another thing, they will tell you at the school, that before you get your next visa, the imigration will give you a little quiz. Well, after the first three months, they gave me a quiz, so they want to make sure you are really learning something, not just playing around.

Good Luck!!

Hey, the glue trap is great, but dont let your dogs or cats near it. I have even taken them to europe, and our rats and mice always get stuck.

This really has to be some kind of joke. I cant believe the army has regulations to impose punishment for this sort of thing. At least they believe "it may be destined for use in possible violence". I always thought grenades could be use for plowing the fields. Only in Thailand!

Would love to join the gang, but first need to get back to the cold north for a couple months. I havent done much sailing, just building and repairing. After building my own boat, discovered I didnt care much for sailing, but would stll like to give it another try. If you hit a reef, then I can be of some assistance.

Silpaban is on Pattaya Klang, not Sukhumvit, down the road from Foodland. Its on the corner of a small soi, but I dont remember its name.

kitten was found, tired and raggedly looking, he just wanted a weekend out with the girls!

We lost our 5 month old kitten last night, somewhere near Google bar, Mabprachan. He has a collar with bell and rabies tag, he is very friendly. If anyone seen him since last night, please send a reply. May have been frightened by the dogs last night, ran off and cant find his way home, at least I hope that is all that happened.

You can try Silpaban, on Pattaya Klang, near Foodland. I think that shop has everything, and not expensive.

If you are crossing over from the right lane to the left to make a u-turn, or what ever, it is very easy to be rear ended, because you are going slower, and the left lane is moving very fast. I have had this happen to me several times, on Sukhumvit. Getting from the slow lane to the fast is not always easy. I have been driving a motor bike for more than half a year now, so most of the mistakes I have made are in the past. If you are here for a short time and not used to the traffic here, then many things can happen, but driving without a helmet, especially on Sukhumvit is crazy. I agree, a lot of farangs here have completely forgot how to drive, and start to drive like a Thai. I dont know the statistics, but I would guess that first timers here, on a rented bike, have the most accidents.

Well said!!

I think eefoo has come to the most logical conclusion in this story, if there is something logical about it. The fact is that the idea of this roundabout, is not a roundabout, and people coming from Naklua are forced to drive in the opposite direction, if they are going to Beach Road. This same type of road design is everywhere in Thailand, and very dangerous, making a U-turn from the fast lane. Sometime you need to go many km in the wrong directions to get where your going, so people start to learn the "shortcuts". Probably at 4am, this shortcut has been done many times, without an accident. But in this case, a tragic accident, and because a farang was involved, it gets even more coverage. I wonder if the road department ever learns anything from the accidents that happen.

Nothing to do with kasikorn bank, but i had an account in BKK bank and it was inactive for about 15 years. Went to the bank, to see if the account was still active, and surprise, surprise, it was still active and had accumulated a lot of interest. So not sure what the rules are here, maybe every bank is different, but in my case, i had very good luck.

`This seems to be a very hot topic, and it should be. But when I was a kid and watching the cowboy flicks, there was always a lynching. Even then, I thought this was a bs movie, since people cannot be so stupid, as to want to lynch a person. Well, seems there are a lot of people trying to lynch this guy already. Fortunately in the last half of the post here, some people looked at the other side of the coin. As someone said, I'm sure that most or all of us have went home legally drunk, according to our own countries laws. I live next to several bars, and every night, all you decent farangs come here and get legally drunk and drive home.

As far as "scum" are concerned, I'm sure most Thais consider all of us scum. Just remember, the next accident might be you, and if you have to pay "according with Thai customs", then you just might lose everything, guilty or not. As for everything bad happening in Pattaya, because of all the "scum", one reason is you are reading about it in Pattaya visa, or a Pattaya paper. There are accidents all over Thailand, but why would they be in the Pattaya news?? No one here is interested if a baht bus gets in an accident in bum f--- egypt.

Changing of drinking attitudes in Thailand does not start with catching tourist and trying to make money off of them. We have no idea what will happen with this "Canadian ", but I'm sure he wont get off easily.

"Why would girls get in with a drunk?" Well, they could have been waiting for him to pass out and take his money! Or maybe he was just so charming, that they fell in love with him!

I have seen many wrecks around the world, and it is very common for people, especially the driver, to walk around in a daze, just too much stuff going through his head, and the fuses are blowing. Thats why the police they take blood test. Its not a situation where you "guess" if someone has been drinking or not.

Its good to see a good discussion going on, about a very important subject, much better than where to get the best sushi. Maybe some day, things will change here, as far as drinking goes. Actually, we all of us should probably "go back home", but then what would we have to complain about?

Aren't we all on our high horses tonight. Im sure not one of us has ever drove after drinking in Thailand. Tragic as it is, wait till a few more facts come out. As someone mentioned, there should be some cctv in that area, maybe that will change the picture some. That is a dangerous roundabout at the best of times, and giving way is not the way it is done here, bigger is always right.