lapd

Getting pretty fast speeds with AIS 3g 2100. Tried in several different places around Pattaya at different times of day and night. 5-20Mb/s down and 1.5-7Mb/s up. You need a phone that works with 2100Mhz to get the faster speeds otherwise it uses 3g 900Mhz which is much slower or EDGE which is slower still.

Their FAQ explains quite well including how to test if your phone and AIS SIM are compatible.

http://www.ais.co.th/3g/faq.aspx?language=en

This is a pretty good list of all the plans from all the providers and what the phone codes are to get them.

http://thaiprepaidcard.com/3g-data-plans-for-12call-dtac-and-true/

Lots and lots and lots of places with wood fire oven. It's not essential to good pizza but it is the best for italian style.

Here is a novel idea. Maybe it's time they should consider that it was a Thai or Thai's that did it. Now that they have wasted the first few precious days focusing solely only on foreigners...unbelievable.

+1

It's true that they tend not to want to blame their own but I seriously doubt it's a Thai. It's a very small island but lots of tourists coming and going. The odds are it's some foreigner that came in on a boat. If a Thai wanted to murder and rape tourists they could do that on the mainland just as easy with much less chance of getting caught. Seriously doubt some Thai living on the island would do that for the first time or that a Thai would go there to do that. Doesn't make any sense. Also, the incidence of Thais raping and killing tourists in general is extremely rare.

It does happen on the mainland and its not extremely rare, not at all. Foreigners dying via window suicide is a complete joke... only this week in BKK yet another. You would be horrified at the amount of assaults logged and reported in tourist areas they just dont get any further and the victims go home and its just another statistic.

You seriously doubt its a Thai why ? the vast majority of murders are done by Thai in Thailand just like all other nations murders are in the majority perpetrated by their own population.

Now you are trying to mix in foreigners joining the Thai diving club. Sometimes pushed but there is often very different motive there. Not at all the same as raping someone then hacking them up with a garden hoe. Selective ignorance?

You seem to really want to use this to make Thais look bad for some reason. Not even any suspects yet. If there is a DNA test to determine the ethnicity that would help.

I agree all those toppings isn't really traditional for Italian pizza.

The crust on the other hand had good char and excellent flavor.

It was indeed a European style crust that an American could love ... not a cracker.

BTW, it is low season. I have seen it rather crowded before. I wouldn't judge by the crowd.

Crust is the easy part. Most pizza places in Pattaya can do good crust. It's all about the cheese and tomato sauce. You gotta import that stuff if you want to make good pizza and most places don't. This place is an italian restaurant so maybe they do import it. I've never tried the place because it's always empty so there must be some reason for that.

Pizza Italy Pattaya!

https://www.google.it/maps/place/PIZZA+ITALY+RESTAURANT+AND+GUEST+HOUSE/@12.92823,100.88343,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x335a3a5257fa758c

pizza.jpg

Crust was delicious.

OK ... this version probably too many toppings.

Once cut the crust got soggy of course.

So order a more basic topping to fully experience the excellent crust.

That's not italian style so why are they calling themselves pizza italy? Already false advertising. Also everytime I walk by that place it's always empty. Doesn't look like they are doing any delivery service either. At least I never see any delivery guys coming and going. Surprised they are still in business.

Here is a novel idea. Maybe it's time they should consider that it was a Thai or Thai's that did it. Now that they have wasted the first few precious days focusing solely only on foreigners...unbelievable.

+1

It's true that they tend not to want to blame their own but I seriously doubt it's a Thai. It's a very small island but lots of tourists coming and going. The odds are it's some foreigner that came in on a boat. If a Thai wanted to murder and rape tourists they could do that on the mainland just as easy with much less chance of getting caught. Seriously doubt some Thai living on the island would do that for the first time or that a Thai would go there to do that. Doesn't make any sense. Also, the incidence of Thais raping and killing tourists in general is extremely rare.

Tried Pizza Big in Naklua the other day. Was pretty good italian style imho. Reasonable prices. Opens at noon with other italian things on the menu including pastas etc. I would say it was as good with similar pricing to La Bocca in Jomtien for pizza (never tried anything else at either place). So either place would do depending on your location. Ambiance is similar but La Bocca may be a bit nicer fine dining type feel if that is of importance to you. Marinara was about 200baht and Ham and Pineapple was around 250baht as I recall. That seems to be what you will pay for italian style with good imported cheese pretty much anywhere around town.

Most if not all of the Thai pizza places such as Loaf Bakery use the cheaper local cheese which has almost no flavor. Cheese makes the pizza. Unless a place specializes in pizza or uses a lot of cheese such as an italian restaurant my advice is to avoid it because it is almost certain they use the local cheese.

If you don't want italian style then Pizza Company is the no brainer can't go wrong consistently good go to place if in doubt and of course they have their own reliable delivery service. They do use good cheese which is the most important thing. Don't like dining in with them. Often crying babies or kids running around. Service from poorly paid and trained Thai staff often lacking.

I don't do NY Pizza anymore. They seem to have changed their ingredients to save money and it's like eating sawdust now. Not sure what they did. Some speculation they use different flour and water down their pizza sauce. I think they still use good cheese but the other things are enough to stop me from going there anymore. Used to be my favorite.

I am not sure I have read whether the dna identified from the semen found in the female victim and/or on the cigarette butt was that of her boyfriend.

Now that the d.n.a. testing has supposedly eliminated all the "foreign" suspects the police should now start testing locals, including identifying and locating all those that have left since the incident. I doubt this will ever happen as it may unearth the real perpetrator and we all know that locals are never guilty of crimes against foreigners.

Odds of it being a 'local' as you call them are slim to none.

I was in Central Festival yesterday for lunch.

Never saw the place so quiet.

You were not in the same Central Fesitival I was. About as busy as usual I would say.

Also, seen lots of apparently non-resident farangs wander around the Buakow farang ghetto yesterday. So seems like lots of of new farang tourists in town.

The whole thing with the shorts in the guys suitcase only to realize the police put that in there at the crime scene was just too much for me. These guys are completely incompetent.

What about that share a ride app? The one that has a lot of taxi companies quaking in their boots trying to get it banned. Any plans to bring that to Thailand?

The driving skills of the average domestic car driver here are what would have me quaking in my boots. Many seem to have neither insurance nor licences. Professional drivers are bad enough.

"Professional drivers" in Thailand could means guys who may have been up for 3 days straight hopped up on coffee and redbull rushing through traffic to get in as many fares as possible. Do you think just because they are a 'professional driver' they are better than your average driver?

I don't know much about the share a ride app but I would imagine there are ways to filter out bad drivers. Maybe a rating system or something.

What about that share a ride app? The one that has a lot of taxi companies quaking in their boots trying to get it banned. Any plans to bring that to Thailand?

The thing I hate the most is the way they drive using the gas pedal here. They seem to want to be fully on the gas or fully off all the time. No in between. It drives me nuts constantly accelerating and decelerating.

Traffic still backs up badly around Central Festival Mall. Weekends are a zoo. Business as usual as far as I can tell.

Standard US wall outlet voltage at 110v is half the Thai wall outlet voltage. I think you are confusing the fact there are often 2 x 110v lines in us households. They can be combined for 220v for heavy appliances like dryers. However that is infomation that is not of any use to an end user.

All you need to know is that US uses 110v 60hz and Thailand uses 220v 50hz. Just make sure the equipment you are plugging in is rated for that. Most wall adapters for electronic equipment can do both.

Tipping seems to be big in the US because minimum wages are quite low. So service people have to rely on tips to make a living wage. It's gotten out of hand in places like Las Vegas where everyone wants you to grease their palms for any little thing. I won't even go there because of that.

Not sure what you mean by food courts. There is no service in food courts and usually you have to purchase tickets so why/who/how are you tipping? The food carts and little mom and pop restaurants are family operated with no paid employees so again, no tipping required. Farang run restaurants/bars are obviously employing Thais so a tip for good service is recommended.

Talk to a manager at I-Rovers on LK Metro. They can come up with most anything in sports.

Go in the morning as they do the best breakfast in town at a knock down price of only THB 99

Just ok imho. Also I think you can get it all day till 6pm. Pretty much any cheap buffet in town can beat it since the amount of food you get is fairly minimal and fixed and nothing special. Only reason I can see anyone liking it is for the black pudding (pigs blood sausage) which I think is totally disgusting.

Witherspoons was busy at a time when iRovers was completely empty even though there were soccer games on. Probably means better drink prices. Only thing is it's right on Buakow and open air so maybe a bit hot and noisy.

Talk to a manager at I-Rovers on LK Metro. They can come up with most anything in sports.

They can put it on one of the screens but problem is if there is any Soccer, or Cricket, or Rugby going on (and there always is) that will be the only sound you get. They can't or won't have multiple audio programs playing as it would just be too much competing noise.

Their 99baht buster all day breakfast is just ok minus the Black pudding (pigs blood sausage). Nachos with Chili were pretty good if not a bit expensive.

You can buy commercially produced stuff at any 7-11 behind the counter. The labels are all in Thai which should tell you something. There is a red, blue, green, and orange label version but I have no idea what the difference is.

I tried the blue label and it tasted like I would imagine paint thinner tasted like. Homebrew stuff can be bought from street stalls but I wouldn't recommend drinking that.

http://live-less-ordinary.com/southeast-asia-travel/lao-khao-thai-moonshine-yaa-dong-lizards

All it did was stop the price increasing. Condo's are still way overvalued even though there is a huge glut. Rent/hotel prices are still no bargain unless it's a dump. The place would have to be practically sliding into the sea before people start lowering prices.

Bar/restaurant owners are always complaining about too few customers. If they want more customers they should lower their prices.

The only thing that there are less of are Russians. The way their dear leader is acting that is fine by me. I have no patience for them anymore. Their exchange rate is quite low now and probably going lower with the latest sanctions. They can all go on holiday in Sochi or whatever and enjoy their slide back into the good ole days of empty shelves.

It's quite a bit cheaper to buy online. Especially progressive lenses. What Euro Optical sells is not anything special compared to the online places as far as I can tell.

Wrong. At Euro Optic I'm getting about 5 hours of one-on-one time in 3 or 4 sessions with a very experienced optometrist who knows her stuff. I'm also getting 2 pairs of training glasses - also progressive at different corrections to test my eyes out with them for a week at a time... and to test out angles, which are extremely important with progressive lenses if you need correction for distance, middle and near. I will have final training glasses made and tested before I have the permanent ones made so I know they are going to be perfect.

I have a very complex vision puzzle that other optometrists have never managed to solve... including optometrists in Australia, Philippines and Malaysia... and wasted a lot of money too.

I made a bet above. You're welcome to apply.

Now if a person has a very basic vision problem, then basic lenses will probably do the trick and you could order them online, but not for me or many others with complex vision impairment. To be honest, until I met Maria at Euro Optic I didn't think it was possible to solve my problem. She hasn't taken one baht from me yet after many hours of work.

People are suggesting that I have a prescription that can be filled - this is absurd. I have about 10 pairs of glasses at home, all compromises (and failed experiments) that didn't work. Most optometrists don't like dealing with customers like me as they need to work too hard for their money - or just set me up with something which doesn't work.

If progressives are not made properly, you will not wear them. I have 20,000 baht's worth of worthless progressives in my draw to prove that.

If you have wierd eyes and/or need a large correction then you are probably an exception that cannot use online places. Most people don't need that. All they need are their prescription numbers which the websites make easy to submit via forms. Lots and lots of people happily buy online. Lots of positive testimonials. Most places also give the option to send them back for a refund or exchange if it doesn't work out minus shipping charges. It is most definitely a lot cheaper.

I don't have weird eyes. They would look quite normal to any observer.

Sure, the majority of vision impaired people would probably get by with simple lenses, but you're out of touch with reality to think that people in my category are unusual. Just because a person is happy with their lenses does not mean that they cannot do better. I've spent most of my life looking through sub-optimal lenses provided by lousy optometrists... but I was getting by fine.

For example, take a person who has never worn glasses who doesn't see too well. This is very common in underdeveloped countries where many people cannot afford glasses and certainly cannot afford proper eye exams and prescription lenses. We take them along to one of those market stall which sells 100 baht non-prescription reading glasses. You could give him any pair and he would be extremely happy. Suddenly the whole world would appear clear and bright, despite his lens being way off what his prescription should be.

The bet I offered earlier is open to everyone, so you're also welcome to apply. The idea is to prove I'm paying 5x too much.

Clearly you have drunk the optometrists koolaid in their response to online retailers undercutting their lucrative business. It's your money up to you.

It's quite a bit cheaper to buy online. Especially progressive lenses. What Euro Optical sells is not anything special compared to the online places as far as I can tell.

Wrong. At Euro Optic I'm getting about 5 hours of one-on-one time in 3 or 4 sessions with a very experienced optometrist who knows her stuff. I'm also getting 2 pairs of training glasses - also progressive at different corrections to test my eyes out with them for a week at a time... and to test out angles, which are extremely important with progressive lenses if you need correction for distance, middle and near. I will have final training glasses made and tested before I have the permanent ones made so I know they are going to be perfect.

I have a very complex vision puzzle that other optometrists have never managed to solve... including optometrists in Australia, Philippines and Malaysia... and wasted a lot of money too.

I made a bet above. You're welcome to apply.

Now if a person has a very basic vision problem, then basic lenses will probably do the trick and you could order them online, but not for me or many others with complex vision impairment. To be honest, until I met Maria at Euro Optic I didn't think it was possible to solve my problem. She hasn't taken one baht from me yet after many hours of work.

People are suggesting that I have a prescription that can be filled - this is absurd. I have about 10 pairs of glasses at home, all compromises (and failed experiments) that didn't work. Most optometrists don't like dealing with customers like me as they need to work too hard for their money - or just set me up with something which doesn't work.

If progressives are not made properly, you will not wear them. I have 20,000 baht's worth of worthless progressives in my draw to prove that.

If you have wierd eyes and/or need a large correction then you are probably an exception that cannot use online places. Most people don't need that. All they need are their prescription numbers which the websites make easy to submit via forms. Lots and lots of people happily buy online. Lots of positive testimonials. Most places also give the option to send them back for a refund or exchange if it doesn't work out minus shipping charges. It is most definitely a lot cheaper.

It's quite a bit cheaper to buy online. Especially progressive lenses. What Euro Optical sells is not anything special compared to the online places as far as I can tell. No premium brand name frames and Hoya lenses is what Euro Optical sells I believe. Same as a lot of other places.

Some people prefer to deal with a person at a retail shop and the Philipino lady at Euro is an optometrist with good english. You can also try on different frames and get a feel for their quality which you obviously can't do online. So if you want to get progressive lenses from a brick and mortar retail place you are probably better off to go there than the franchise places which seem to just have sales people or minimally trained people. Euro optical specializes in progressive lenses so that is what she is going to try sell you. If you don't want progressive you might be better off going somewhere else.

We had a problem with a Mr T driver recently. I chalk it up to the individual contract driver and not the service. Guy went into Bkk to stop for gas when he could have done that before picking us up. Stopped for coffee half way to Pattaya and kind of twiddled his thumbs there a bit. Said at the beginning he knew exactly where to go (when we told him where we were staying) then more or less got lost once we hit Pattaya. A journey which should normally take 1.5 hours took us 2.5 hours. We were not impressed and we are normally Mr T fans. Again, we chalk it up to the individual contract driver and have contacted Mr T directly to let him know about this guy. Will still use Mr T in the future as long as this is not a trend.

Oh for Budda's sakes. Just say "Mai Ow". Solves most of these problems with minimal fuss. Seriously, a pretty girl trying to sell you something is one of the first things you should develop immunity to in Thailand you tourist!!!