stailmanki

I would love to know what fish are farmed and what fish come from the sea!

Barramundi.jpg

This is "Barramundi," which Thais label as "Sea Bass." It is farm grown and typically lives in brackish water.

tilapia.jpg

This is "Tilapia," which Thais often mislabel as "Snapper." It is farm grown in fresh water.

These two species can be found all over Thailand now. They are cheap to grow and will eat anything. I saw, with my own eyes, one fish farmer feeding dead baby chickens to tilapia.

I think both taste horrible. I also think both are part of a large scam. Real sea bass, which if not farm grown and comes from the sea, is good tasting and does not even resemble barramundi.

Real "snapper" (Red Snapper) has a wonderful taste and has no resemblance at all to tilapia.

Buyer beware!

salt water fish jomtien.jpg

This is not the best picture, but it does show non-farmed saltwater fish that were caught in Jomtien-Pattaya.

I have seen "flounder" (a flat fish with eyes on one side) in the market in Pattaya. It is very good, but you have to buy it fresh (and it is not farm raised).

Alas it's getting harder and harder to find good quality wild sea fish these days.

Sea Bass ( Pla Kapong) in Thailand is related to Australian Barramundi ( an aboriginal Australian word) but of course it's farmed = bland, & speaking of scams is sold in Australia as Barramundi too.

I have eaten Pangassius sold in Pattaya which was called John Dory at a popular pub - I know a little about this as we serve tons of Basa/Paga where I work. Don't try poaching this stuff - it turns a sickly pink colour , it's OK fried in batter - most of our customers don't know.The industry now uses Panga in the same way we used Nile Perch 10 or so years ago, ie it's the cheapest thing on the market.The flounder mentioned above was proably an Indian Hallibut - last of the wild stock ?

Watties is a New Zealand brand

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Some of us have no choice if we want to buy the good imported food we miss from home

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What is the consensus view on Bruno's these days - been a long time since I went.

Does anybody have a recent experience?

Yes - went there with my wife earlier this month because we could not find another restaurant serving imported oysters ( on a Monday night)

We ordered the oysters ( fin declaire) and a poached Canadian lobster , all very well prepared,presented and very good service too , spoiled a little by the Thai businessmen yabbering on their phones.Not cheap but a quality place for sure.

I stayed on a beach called Ao Thian or Ao Tian around Christmas time, the beach was pretty unremarkable, the whole island horribly overdeveloped, but i stayed in a bungalow that you could fish directly outside of, I mean you could practically cast whilst sitting on the end of your bed!! It was nice to chill in the evening with a few beers whilst playing some music. The bungalows were at the furthest end of the beach from the point you walk down from getting out of the taxi and were around 1000 baht a night as I remember.

Thanks Long tang.

I found a nice place via tripadvisor website on Ao Pai - Samed Villa Resort that I would like to try but we will probably hire a bike to get around & check for fishy looking places. I want a break from Pattaya - live in Jomtien so I know a bit about overdevelopment - hopefully low season and week days it wont be too bad - Koh Samet seems to be overpriced.

So did you chuck a line at Ao Thian or see others fishing there ?

Thanks very much Mark

Thanks Rsokolowsk - Maybe I 'll just take the fishing gear and chance it ?

I'm going to be staying at Ao Pai and there looks like some rocky headlands there & elswhere on the island.

Searched everywhere I can think of on the web and found offshore fishing charters & squid fishing but no reference to onshore opportunities.

I know that Koh Samet is a national park but does anybody know if you are allowed to fish off the rocks on the island ?

Walking street primarily.

Spent some time in the Indian/Arab areas just to watch the goings on, which was fun.

I also often avoid Soi Bua Khao when driving myself as the traffic is just beyond nuts there. You can actually sit at a bar at one of the intersections and wait for an accident to occur before your second beer. (Ok, slight exaggeration, but enough to not attempt to go through there driving myself, or on a motorbike taxi.)

Soi LK if you are driving for sure.

I had an friend staying at Metro appartments who couldn't walk well & offered to pick him up there in a Chev Colorado , a nightmare.

You need nerves of steel to drive Soi Buakhao .

VT7 has some great views & a convenient location on the beach in Jomtien.

It's only a few years old and maybe 1/4 occupied most of the time.

As mentioned above internal fit outs differ , I suggest look around at a few - it's a renters market.

You should be able to get a high floor 1 bedroom for the budget mentioned.

Is this guy a troll or not ? This is beside the point. His disgusting tale is being sponsored in what purports to be an expat forum offering instructive advice on how to live in Thailand. One group seems to enjoy this tripe immensely This lot have done more harm to expats in Thailand than any other group. This lot with their "wind ups" and "taking the piss" began polluting the expat population a few years after I arrived. Their gobble-swallow pronunciations (quite clearly evolved from their infamously serious dental issues are eclipsed only by their love of warm beer, offal "fry-ups"and and pies and their interminable arguments that one only need shower once a day. This same waffle-headed pack of ninnies who support this FunFon-goof's current criminal enterprise are equally guilty of wasting hours and hours "watching the foughbough" "on telly" and complaining about Thai people on this forum. Must be getting enough showers when "they take the piss" (whatever the hell * that's* supposed to mean) They appear to hail from one jurisdiction. B'roke-Ass-on-D'ole. I systematically avoid them in the same vein I chose to avoid gaggles of Israeli backpackers. They know who they are.

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Although I completely disagree with 95% of the spirit of your post, I have to say it's a brilliant and hilarious bit of entertaining writing.

And BTW I think you seriously misrepresent the purpose of this medium, which of course is to sell advertising. Our role is to provide membership count numbers and hit/view statistices, to write content that generates the latter and presumably some small proportion of us actually give business to the sponsors at some point.

Whatever marketing/positioning/vision/mission statement the site may present as its purpose to the world is of course a very minor bit of window dressing, which only a fool would take seriously.

I've read all 11 pages of this thread over the course of the day & clicked on two advertising/sponsor's websites. I'm now seriously considering prices of modular homes in Thailand and a holiday in the Phillipines.

HA ! the system works.

Slightly off topic but why waste money on a gas hotplate ? That's not a BBQ !

I like the look of the first of Phil's exapmples above - meat over flames ( embers) is the only way to get a true BBQ taste , added wood smoke mesquite etc is good too.

Gas BBQ's with a hood is awesome for chicken with a can or beer up de ass (note this is my old BBQ).

Looks good , but can do in the oven same.

Did you leave some of the beer in the can ?

Still meat over burning charcoal for me , corn cobs are good too.

Slightly off topic but why waste money on a gas hotplate ? That's not a BBQ !

I like the look of the first of Phil's exapmples above - meat over flames ( embers) is the only way to get a true BBQ taste , added wood smoke mesquite etc is good too.

There is a specialist BBQ shop on Thepprasit one block down from Thapraya , right hand side.

I bought a small charcol BBQ there , they have all sorts and good charcol, wood etc.

Gas BBQ s expensive but good quality.

I have said it before and I will say it again the Russians are still a big improvement on the lager louts who just a few years back used to patrol Pattaya in large numbers.

The new reality is that Pattaya has changed to a mass market tourism destination with huge influxes of package tourists.

The biggest problem in Pattaya is not the Russians but the constant large number of people pouring into a Pattaya where the infrastructure has not kept pace with the amount of people.

Traffic congestion and pollution and overcrowding are the big negatives now and for me have made Pattaya undesirable to live in.

Agree 100% that Russians &c are an improvement on soccer holligans and larger louts.

I hope their currency continues to decline in value against the Baht.

I'd just like to comment on Koh Chang as a getaway island destination for Pattaya residents.

I was really looking forward to going there earlier this month for the first time and hired a car; drove from Jomtien and was on the island after lunch.

Stayed at a cheap place close to the ferry teminal for 500Baht and that was fine.

Next day drove the whole east coast to Bang Bao and had seafood lunch on the pier which was nice although same prices and menu as the places on Walking Street.Getting there and back was hair raising dodging all the helmetless (brainless) farangs speeding around the steep roads. The whole coast is so built out that you never see the coastline at all except from the public lookout place.We searched for a place to take in the famous beaches and could only find one access way squeezed between two resorts on White Sands beach. Finding a car park was as difficult as Jomtien & the beach was crammed with the same people as Jomtien too, although the patches of sand between the bodies were nice and the water was clear it's not what I like at all for my bi-monthly beach fix. Maybe better in the low season & certainly handy if you can't stay more than 100 meters from a 7/11 or a beer bar. We checked out next morning and drove back to Chantaburi's Laem Sing area. The water's not as clear but the beaches are clean and none of the Farang (or Thai) crowds, also the fishing is better.

I would avoid Koh Samet too , for the same reasons as I am dissapointed in Koh Chang.

I'd love to see a place much less expensive than Mantra offer Alaskan King Crab legs.

+1 - A place that specialised in good seafood; imported oysters, mussels ,cold water fish (snapper,sole,cod etc.)

RIGHT ON, Stailmanki!! I'm a native of Boston, so you're hitting dead onto my favorite foods.

Have you thought of the Edge restaurant at the Hilton for their Sunday Buffet?

Alaskan King Crab Legs, oysters, mussels, prawns, and loads of other hot and cold dishes, including roast meats at a carvery.

1200 baht for the meal with soft drinks and juices, and 600 for free flow wine.

My wife and I have been a couple of times and found it very nice.

Thanks for that suggestion & the one earlier for Casa Pascal , I will try both next month and see,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have also heard that Mata Hari has imported (USA) oysters.

There are 3 or 4 places in BKK that specialise in imported (& local) seafood , thats all they serve & thats really what I would like to see in Pattaya

I don't blame Bell for collecting payment at time of booking. Without advance payment, how do they sell that empty seat at the last minute when they find out that person is a no-show? I think we were all spoiled because for so long they did NOT collect funds at time of booking, but as a business, I don't blame them.

I haven't been to Pattaya much in the past year, but prior to that with frequent use of the Bell buses to/from BKK airport, I got the impression that individual passengers were a small fraction of their business. It seemed the buses were full of Indian (Pakistani?) prepaid groups. So, maybe "our" business isn't so much of a priority to them?

I used them for a year every second month from the airport to Pattaya and the bus was always full ( mainly Indians/Sri lankans/Pakistanis)

If you don't book you won't get a seat even in low season , I think you are right they are prepaid tour groups , but wrong that they will not fill the bus if somebody cancels.

I don't use them any more , not because I don't trust their payment system but because the regular Ruen Ruang bus is faster and terminates where I live , NB it's also newer & not as noisy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I'd love to see a place much less expensive than Mantra offer Alaskan King Crab legs.

+1 - A place that specialised in good seafood; imported oysters, mussels ,cold water fish (snapper,sole,cod etc.)

I was curious about the idea that if you need to get a bus from Jomtien to Pattaya during peak hours that a strategy would be to take a bus in the OPPOSITE direction to catch a bus GOING BACK before they were all full.

Not a bad idea, doubles the fare, and adds time, but a seat is a seat.

So I happened to be out around Soi Chayuphruek at 7:30 PM tonight, peak dinner hours, and attempted to get a bus back towards Pattaya.

Actually I walked in a little further to Hotel Furama.

OK, between 7:30 and 8:00 PM I counted approximately:

50 empty buses, would not be flagged down for a bus as they were intent on a FAT charter fare

Half of those I was standing near another bus seeker so they would have at least picked up an instant two

5 buses fully packed, no room for even one stander

10 buses engaged as taxis

I gave up and walked towards Soi Welcome.

There I got a bus.

FOURTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER.

Do the math.

This is dreadful.

Sure it's not guaranteed that you will find a seat on the "bus" going back to Pattaya but it worked for me twice , the best was when I just stayed on the same bus , handed the driver another fare , U turn at Chayapruk & away we went ( sitting in the front)

Who knows where all the other people come from down there ,it's a scramble for sure, easier when travelling alone but I refuse to stand on the back , it's more dangerous than riding a motorbike.

I'm going to try Thepprasitt/Sukumvitt/ Tai next time & see if it's any quicker or easier.

It is always a sour taste when you have to pay the B150

Indeed but what is much worse is what Australian banks charge (o/s atm) , I dont usually use ATMs as I know what they cost.

See copy paste for withdrawal of 25,000 Baht = (150 no problem) + 23.97x31=743.07 = 890 Baht extra

WITHDRAWAL AT O/S ATM 0000000 THA 25150.00THB 0209910101 INCL. WESTPAC FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE AUD $23.97

The Robber Barons get nothing from me usually , I bring cash !

It's nice strolling around the lake ( Bouangkak SP. ?) in the evenings , lots of food of course and the usual Thai sideshows

Have to get from Jomtien to town & back earlier in the day now.

One evening I took a bus from Dongtarn back to Chaiyapruk & got a seat before most of the Russian hordes , stupid paying to go the wrong way but works OK as long as you can get a space on a southbound bus.

Coming back is another story , I stupidly let my wife persuade me to stand with all the others at the school/Pattaya Tai , after getting bulldozed twice by the mass I walked (as usual) along the road past the school , 5 minutes later got a half full bus , maybe just lucky that time.