Dr. Burrito

It happens to be a place I have to go to, frequently, so my arse burning comes from the overexposure. That and the fact it used to be a great place, at least in the way I consider somewhere to be a great place.

Strictly during working hours, as internet is part of the job anyway, so can dip in and out as I please. Most of the information I need here, which is primarily visa related, I can get while I'm working anyway. Mainly it's killing time stuff.

Do people really spend a lot of their non-working hours on forums? Ouch. Talk about needing a life.

After a company weekend in the lovely little town of Pattaya, it occurs to me that this might at least be an interesting topic, if not a bit heated on occasion.

Where do you think the most scumbag farangs are located? Rather than going by volume, I'll go as a percentage of the population of farangs in said community, because I think that has a higher impact on locale perceptions, reactions and ultimately consequences.

I'll state flat out, Pattaya, hands down, gets my vote. The amount of gut to the ground, seedy, dirty, near underaged pedophiliac type activities with boys and girls, sheer public drunkeness on display, speedo (shudder) wearing, passed out on beaches, benches, nursing a nine a.m. hangover beer behavior, was disgusting. My fellow Thai employees, being a very nice sort, made few comments to me about what they saw, but I could see it in their eyes.

Pattaya, being filled, I guess anyway, with a lot more nationalities of farang must get the most dregs we have to offer, Euro, American or otherwise.

Are you guys that live there or are constantly saying what a great place it is really not affected by this? Or are you part of the perception?

Go ahead and fire back at good old Bangkok(my home) or Phuket or Chiang Mai or Samui, but I really think you will win this vote. Of course, I thought Gore would win the last election too, so shows you what I know about voting.

In relation to this topic, doesn't it make you cringe when tourists start waiing everybody they see, the waitress, gardener, taxi driver, housekeeper, the kids in the school bus...and they do it Indian style as well.....with the palms together at the chest level.....

Do not waii at every moving object you see, and try to blend in!

Don't tell 'em that. It's always worth a hoot watching the awkwardness of the whole affair. Short, younger Thai person wondering, 'Why farang want me dead? What I do wrong?' whilst farang thinks, 'I am indeed a member of the international community.'

I love it!

First place, I was kidding. Seconf place, the next person that gets 'nabbed' and fined for bringing in a few too many bottles of wine into this country will be the first I've ever heard about.

Now a full suitcase of new cellphones, cameras or laptops might be a reason to get nervous, but a few bottles of liquid love, hardly.

I know you guys are the 'authority' on everything that is Thai and Thailand, but I'd place my bets with Chicken Little having a better clue on this matter.

Eh, guess I'll give them all this website and let them decide for themselves.

You just gotta love this country. Telling my mates to bring me 10 bottles of wine next trip for sure.

It is no more legal now to bring in undeclared 10 bottles of wine than it was previously. They've just done away with the form, that's all. If you go through the green line, you are assumed to have "nothing to declare". If they happen to pull you aside for a spot check and find that you DID in fact have taxable items on you, you're still in the same trouble as before.

You noticed as such, I sid my mates. Me, I avoid trouble of all sorts.

You just gotta love this country. Telling my mates to bring me 10 bottles of wine next trip for sure.

Just curious about folks eating habits. WhY? Guess because I love to eat and my ample girth proves it too.

I find myself eating Thai food mostly as a daytime thing and farang food as a night time thing.

Way back when, farang food oriented restaurants here were <deleted>. Not the case anymore. There are some very, very nice venues about town for me and my 44 in. waistline to stroll into and make the owner smile with glee whilst the staff stare is muted horror. Guess they've never been to a Wal-Mart. At worst there, I would look normal.

Anyway, the dinner places, Italian, French, steaks, even some of the Enlgish pubs, ave some very, very decengt to great food, so after I've strolled from the office the five feet to a taxi, I am off to culinary pleasure.

Yet, daytime, I find teh farang lunch type food places, burgers, sandwiches, pizza and such to at best be nominal, usually downright bad in comparison to shop house food whilsit being about 20 times the price. So for lunch, even breakfast, I find Thai to be quite enjoyable, tasty and a wonderful bargain.

Any similar or dissimilar thoughts? Just curious.

Cabbages and Condoms, I believe it is called. Should be on Sukhumvit 12 a few hundred meters in at least, if not more.

Also on Langsuan, soi 3, is a small Thai place ran by a French family called La Lyss. Its in a converted house. Very, very nice place.

If you go there, don't let the dark, lonely street put you off. Its about a 100 meters in on your right.

Very nice people

If your avatar is any indication, you should be the coolest DJ in Bangkok. Good luck and happy spinning

Wet noodles, the whole lot of them. Talking too loud, drinking above their certification rating and generally driving the prices up everywhere they land because of their behavior and habits.

Besides, backpacking should be jungles, deserts and mountains, not Khao San Rd, Samui and Chiang Mai.

Getting hurt? Sorry, but way too dramatic of an idea. As to making an a$$ of ones self if he's not prone to it ordinarily anyway, then he'll probably be just fine. But that's just my opinion.

Just curious how long you guys will be around if this is the level of thought you put into the venture.

Good luck anyway. Bangkok is short of good coffee shop. At least ones with clean ice.

That your list is too much to absorb all at once and learning, really learning, about Thailand is not an internet process nor a list from a friend. Give him a few, and I mean a few, do's and don'ts. If he can't sort the rest out on his own, he doesn't need to be here.

I spent about 45 hours a week for three weeks and it did wonders. I've been lazy since and it shows, but its not too bad because I'm lucky with learning Asian languages.

On the other hand, I've got a friend who is crappy with languages, but has plugged away weekly for more than 2 years and his Thai is becoming brilliant.

Hard work always pays off

Me. I wish they would enforce it, but then, I don't own a bar either.

Pattaya is such a cr@ppy place anyway, can't see how it won't be an improvement.

If its a crappy place then you obviously don't live here?

If you don't live here and it's a crappy place then you obviously don't holiday here?

So why does it bother you? Burrito Boy

It bothers me because it did use to be a great place. I loved going there and enjoying a stroll at sunset, having a nice, quiet dinner and an enjoyable, but not harrased evening out.

Then it became what it is today, perhaps after people like you took over, barkeep.

Shame really

I have a cambodian girlfriend and am constantly getting bitten and am always covered in small bruises - she tells me its a sign of affection but sometimes its hurts like ###### - have felt like punching her in the head a few times but can see its just one of her ways of affection.

anybody else have a woman that bites?

Thai and Lao nibblers are rare, but all Khmer and southern Viet girls seem to want to bite their initials into your stomach. Must be something in the water.

Jesus, hope they have short names then

Me. I wish they would enforce it, but then, I don't own a bar either.

Pattaya is such a cr@ppy place anyway, can't see how it won't be an improvement.

Go on television and seek and audience with Mr. Takshin

Think I answered my own question, but any other links are appreciated.

Trade Fairs

Does anyone know of any good websites that detail the conventions coming into Thailand and the region in general?

Thanks

Dr. Burrito

For us, it was just enver brought up. We went down to the Amphur, tied the knot, and that was that.

On the other hand, we did give them an amazingly handsome little grandson that makes everyone smile all the time.

Very nice, but expensive, Italian restaurant on the corner of Ploenchit and Soi Langsuan, called FABB or something like that. I've been there several times. They have a small band wth a singer, great wine and wonderful ambience.

Its on the ground floor in the corner of an office building right beside the skytrain station.

You really are a group of self-righteous gits, aren't you?