SGD

Both did and presume still do go to the same place.

It is largely developed to cater solely to this enterprise as previously it was little more than a couple of mud huts.

My take on it is that the owner was probably holding back prices to retain customer when they should have advanced anyway due to inflation prior to the floods. This extra pressure has forced him to act but it smacks of bad timing, however necessary it is.

Personally, I couldn't give a fig about Bt50 over a meal but some will.

As for the sign, the very fact that the previous sign had been removed should have given a hint to the fact that perhaps the previous deal was no longer available. To boycott a place because you assumed it would be the same price as before is stupid and we all know the phrase regarding assumption being the mother of all duckups don't we !

If there was one particular property that I wanted I would just insist that the landlord let me pay my bill directly. A landlord who wont do that is clearly a crook, probably intending to cheat me on the deposit also, and not someone who I would want to deal with anyway....

I think that is the most valid point. You can argue that overcharging on electric is simply massaging the true rent of the property but if someone will rob you for a few hundred, how far will he go for your Bt50,000 deposit ?

Surely a business meeting in Bangkok necessitates opening the piggy bank and splurging Bt1200 or so for a halfway decent taxi.

I cannot even begin to contemplate the thought process that might conceive of a motorbike taxi, bus and bike taxi again combination as a decent way to prepare for a business meeting.

You can level a charge of ignorance at any race but the Eastern bloc had this reputation well before they ever found Pattaya. That they act the same in Pattaya is hardly surprising. Just go ask those in European holiday destinations for their opinions and you will hear a strangely familiar tune.

What is unforgivable is trying to hire a bus when people are already on it. That cannot happen in any country and is not just down to ignorance. If the Japanese tried it (which they never would by the way), their actions would be met with screams of horror as they sought top force their perceived superiority on non Japanese (an overplayed tune as well) but we somehow excuse the Eastern bloc when they do the very same thing.

That they can be identified by their region is not racist, just the truth.

I once flew from Samui to Pattaya with a Spanish guy who had a bar / restaurant in town that did Spanish food. Last saw him a couple of years ago but he'd been in Pattaya years. My memory puts it on one of the Sois between 7/8 and Centre Road.

If you use 600 units of electric at 8 baht against the rough 3.5 baht for domestic usage, you are overpaying 600 x (8 - 3.5) = 2,700 baht extra a month.

Many agents take 1 month as commission so the landlord never gets your 2 months deposit. You need to know this as many will wait for a new tenant to get their deposit to pay you ! Sod that and use the deposit for the last months' rent.

As for the electric, just find a place with your own meter at 3.5 baht or very near. Don't fall for this rip off scam.

Naam's argument is valid. Paying low wages will only get you frustration. Paying decent part time wages is a bit of a waste as for just a little more you can have full time.

If you live in a mansion with servants quarters then you are fine with a live in but if you live in a 1 bed condo, live in is hardly practical. I found that live in only works if there is a clear separation between their living space and yours. Adding a computer, extra True cable box (Bt500 a month) and a decent tv in her room will pay huge dividends as she wouldn't be able to finance it herself. Allowing them use of a motorbike is best avoided as you will be forever dealing with accidents, damage and possible theft. Pay her enough to allow her to buy her won bike if she wants to.

I liked a live in but be sure you get one who can do what you want, not a pretty one who turns your head and would rather have her own maid !

8.5m baht is no small chunk of change. It is around £175k or $275k. Many folks "retiring" to Pattaya don't have this amount, even after a lifetime of "work".

I can rent a 3 bed house with a pool and a decent garden long term for no more than 25k a month. I could spend 100k I know but no need to. Say that works out to 300k a year and a post tax return on investments of 6% and you have a figure of 5m, raise that return to 10% and you get a figure of 3m baht. Now just how good is this 8.5m baht house that you can never legally own, which you could lose in the blink of an eye and you start to wonder why people would ever buy, if they had the cash to invest somewhere else. Putting your money into investments in a safe country means never losing them, unlike Thailand's houses !

Yet I like owning my own house. I value the ability to do what I want with it and feeling relatively safe in the knowledge than at least the landlord cannot sell it out from underneath me. I wouldn't however part with 8.5m to buy a house. I could see me paying 25m for one if I could justify it though.

7 years ago the £ was worth around 75 baht. Today it is worth 48 baht. That 8.5m house used to cost only £113k, not £175k, now almost 50% dearer. Add in recession and you have the answer why westerners are not queuing up to buy houses in Pattaya. Russians and the like never knew these exchange rates and those buying now are often using cash from dubious origins.

Right now my wife is happy with just watching online.

Could you please elaborate on this because it is the lack of this option, probably due to lack of knowledge and low quality, that I am exploring the slingbox option.

I would much rather do it all online, even through paid subscription so any details you have would be much appreciated.

Still thinking about getting Thai TV in the UK.

Would a Slingbox work "the other way around" from Thailand to the UK ?

Get a decent internet connection in Thailand, a True subscription and installation, a minimum specification PC and router and then ....... can I view it in the UK ?

If so, how do I change channel on the True system ?

Just trying to think outside the box to get Thai TV in the UK.

I know there is stuff uploaded in low definition onto youtube etc. but I'm looking for a way to get real Thai TV in the UK, preferably HD but at least decent enough to show on a 50" tv.

Willing to explore any avenues but whilst you hear stories of people doing it, I haven't seen nor do I know anyone who has such a system.

case of heineken costs 900 baht.

Heineken is produced under licence in Thailand.

That equates to 37.5 baht per bottle at cost.

Just how do places sell it at Bt45 then ? Something is not right there.

Unless it is reasonably discounted from the new price why would anyone believe that it was well cared for, not written off and repaired, nor been thrashed within an inch of its life ? Of course you wouldn't yet some clamour for near new prices of second hand machinery.

My guess is that you'll have to accept less than you think it is worth and less than it may actually be worth. An older vehicle suffers less from a direct comparison to the new one.

The storey is symptomatic of the childish tales Thai people tell western people as their best effort and lie to explain why they have done something stupid or simply cheated the westerner.

They think we are as stupid as they are and judging by the responses here, they are right !

I want a pocket sized translator and remember seeing some in places such as BigC but I never recognised any of the brand names and could never work out whether one was better than another, so I never bought one. Now I need one for a Thai person to help their English tuition so I'm back to square one.

Any ideas or recommendations gratefully received.

I'm in Bangkok for the next couple of days and would like to pick one up before I leave.

I need to get some books and a translator and would rather not just traipse around Bangkok aimlessly !

Large and small Thai - English dictionaries

Electronic translator

Books in Thai covering tense, nouns, verbs etc.

All to assist Thai person learning English but needing to deconstruct Thai first.

Lastly, some educational books for kids covering the Thai language and so forth. Pitched at around the 5 year old age range.

I need to get some books and a translator and would rather not just traipse around Bangkok aimlessly !

Large and small Thai - English dictionaries

Electronic translator

Books in Thai covering tense, nouns, verbs etc.

All to assist Thai person learning English but needing to deconstruct Thai first.

Lastly, some educational books for kids covering the Thai language and so forth. Pitched at around the 5 year old age range.

Rhetoric question... Of course everybody wants to live as nice as they can comfortably afford.

Which itself begs the question as to just how little some can afford and whether in advancing years, they may be better off "back home" as health insurance and the wherewithal to pay medical bills is beyond them.

It is bottom feeding Pattaya style though isn't it ?

Would anyone choose to live there if they could afford to live somewhere else ? Probably not.

Sausages make or break a good English breakfast and the Pig & Whistle on Soi 7 has had better than average sausages for years, thus garnering my vote as a stable good breakfast. I don't vote on price so I don't chase Bt59 deals like Crazy Daves but I guess the vast improvement in meat in Pattaya over the last few years means more places can offer quality bangers, but it will have to be at a price, as they are not cheap.

With all due respect to the former owners, I never liked the place for two reasons: 1) I could not find real New Orleans' style food there and 2) grossly overpriced.

I never lived in New Orleans so I could not vouch for any authenticity but I will agree that their pricing was on the toppy side. However, when they delivered on quality, the price seemed largely a non issue.

Perhaps they became infamous not because they were good per se but because they were better than the alternatives at the time.

I thought it was quite good years ago, but it went downhill IMHO. I hope that the new owners can return it to its former glory.

Same here. A menu that did not move with the times and downward spiralling quality and presentation until I stopped going quite some years ago.

I want to be around Soi 7/8 on my next trip down to Pattaya but I want a place with a decent TV, not an ancient old box or a tiny portable. Not necessarily looking for a 50 inch plasma but even a decent 29" flat screen or 32" LCD would do.

Wi-fi at a decent speed also desirable, as is a safe which can take a 14" laptop.

Any ideas ?

This is true. I was chatting to a Bangkok taxi driver the other day who had just returned from Saudi where he'd been working in a factory for a couple of years and sending over money to his fiance. He came back to find his fiance and the money nowhere to be found. Amounted to three and a half million baht. When I asked him how he felt about it he just said, 'I was stupid.'

It would be refreashing to hear more farangs admit their stupidity rather than become cynical and bitter because they were basically stupid.

Prey tell where Thai taxi drivers can go to work for a couple of years and come out with 3.5m baht saved ? That is around $50,000 each year after all costs. I'd take such tales with a pinch of salt.