Subpar

It's amazing that they catch so many smugglers.

The reason they catch so many is because in 90% of cases, they know exactly who to pull aside and they were expecting them. This info was from a former Bangkok DEA guy.

Why is it that every time someone says something positive about Pattaya there's a *certain group* that can't help but to wade in with their words of wisdom?. Like many people on and off this forum, I could live anywhere in Thailand (or pretty much the rest of the world for that matter) I want to, but chose to live in Pattaya. Everything I want or need is in Pattaya, and it's not exactly a rocket science to simply not go to anywhere that isn't to your liking. It's a plenty big enough town with so many options for everything, to do so is easy.

There's people on this forum that live all over Thailand, some of them in places I'd rather be shot than have to call home. But there's no way would I (or anyone with an ounce of decency) bring this up in a post and ridicule their choice of a home address that suits their needs . If they're happy that's just great and I'm very happy for them. Why can't some people get this through their heads?.

2 places I know of.

The first is on Pattaya Tai, opposite side of the road from Friendship and up a little towards Sukhumvit from there.

The second is on 3rd Road. Heading North it's on the right hand side not far before the Pattaya Klang intersection.

Both have exactly the sort of signs in your photo as samples outside their shops. When stuck in traffic at both locations I notice them all the time!.

Probably the oddest place in Pattaya that you would expect to find BP monitoring devices is Chic Republic furniture store on Sukhumvit. But they have them!.

If security and a sea view are the main points you're looking for, then a Condo will most likely suit.

If you have a family or need bigger than (say) 135 sqm to not feel like you're boxed in, a house will suit better.

It really does exist and it is worth the prices. Like everyone else, well everyone else who isn't living on some shoe-string budget, I can order from any number of pizza places in Pattaya. I just want very good pizza, and these are exactly that.

They will put you to sleep at the BPH dentistry, but it costs around 27,000 baht per hour. I know because I did it twice 2 years ago while having work done that I really didn't didn't want to be awake for!. There's medical tests involved first before they'll do this, so the actual cost is more. And it was worth every Satang!. Another option they have at BPH is Nitrous Oxide which might be a better alternative if we're just talking about a filling. No idea how effective this is or the costs. Next option would be a sedative pill. I know for a fact they'll do this at Pattaya International and would think at BPH as well. All of this is for adults though, not sure if they'd do the same for kids.

One thing for sure though is you need to get your little boy through this in a positive way, laying the law down and being hard is not the way to do it. There's a lot of people out there with extreme dental phobia that stems from bad experiences as a child, me included.

http://www.americanpizzapattaya.com/

Problem solved. The thin crust taco pizza is a must try!. Enjoy.

I actually saw one advertised at 12mSq in one of the developments.

My master bedroom en-suite is bigger than that. Much bigger than that. Couldn't imagine living in it though

Fascino might be the place to look. The one on Pattaya Nua has walking aides and wheel chairs sort of things so I'd assume they have them.

I've been to many places in Thailand (including Pattaya) and elsewhere that are similar/better quality and/or better value, though not necessarily on Sunday lunchtime.

And they would be.......

I'm always looking for good buffets. Don't care about the price but there's just something about a buffet I really like where you can take your time, and chat away while having some drinks in between courses that are served at your speed. They're particularly good when someone says "you've got to try this" and what they have looks sensational but it's too late when dining ala carte, you're stuck with what you ordered.

So yes please, tell me where similar/better buffets are in Pattaya. I've tried most all of them in the 5* hotels but must have missed some somewhere.

Curious about Mantra, what's the deal? Lunch or dinner buffet? Only weekends or every day? Price? What's included, why is it good?

Brunch buffet from 11:30 to around 14:30 on Sundays only. It's best to book, normally there's seats available but I've seen it fully booked many times and not just in the high seasons. Price is in the ballpark of 2000 Baht a head for food, I don't know exactly because we always have drinks on the bill as well. There's an option to add all you can drink wine that's something like 1400 Baht but I've never tried that, a few glasses is enough at that time of day!.

On to the food, it's like nowhere else in Pattaya or any high end hotel I've stayed at around the world, which are many. There's food stations for seafood, sushi, roasts, curry, steaks/lamb, chinese, cold meats and salad (we're talking Parma ham and smoked Salmon at that station to give you an idea), cheeses, and deserts. This is all top-shelf produce, mostly imported, and it's superb. You would be doing well to sample everything in one visit, even small portions of everything would be too much. I've taken family and friends from overseas there many times in the past and it's never failed to impress, a buffet like that in the Western world would easily be $100++ and that's if you could find anywhere with such a selection.

Just an edit to add, it makes no sense to go there for ala carte dinner IMO. Done that once and it cost more than the buffet for 3 courses, and the portion size is set by the Exec Chef obviously. Go for the brunch instead, pretty much everything on the main menu is on offer and you can help yourself.

Mantra Sunday buffet.

x100. Best by far, we go once a month and sometimes twice. It's not expensive for what's on offer, which is quality.

Well I can certainly understand why you play alone. Bottom line being, if you (and you caddy with your clubs) can cover the ground to where you ball lands in the time it takes someone to drive the same distance in a cart, I wish you luck with your quest for gold in the upcoming Olympics. As for the "old, unfit, and lazy" rot, what about players who want to get 18 holes in AND be back in town by 10:00-10:30 due to comittments?. If there's nobody walking in front of us that won't let us through, we normally manage this easilly. And health benefits are gained by early morning gym sessions on non golf days, not pretending that stop-start walking at a female's caddy speed is some sort of a cardio session .

After a reccomendation from a friend, I tried American Pizza Pattaya recently. Not sure if links are allowed here or not but the website is the same as the business name (without the spaces obviuosly). We had a large thin crust Taco pizza and it was plenty for a hungry Farang and a Thai girl. Tasted very good too which is the important part, lots of good ingredients were used!. They cost 530 Baht deivered which will have some people on this forum reaching for their well used defibrillator, but for those of you not living on thin air who put quality first and want an American style pizza, you'll be happy. I'll be getting another one this weekend for sure.

Carts do nothing to speed up the game

We were a 3 ball of single figure players all with our own carts and went around Mountain Shadow in 2:40 earlier this week. Even though we had a very early tee time there were groups in front of us (all in carts) but we didn't have to wait for more than a few seconds for them to motor away on the few occasions we got close. Has any 3 ball in history ever walked that 18 holes in that sort of time?. Of course not, which is why a 3 ball in carts will always catch a 2 ball walking and hopefully be allowed to play through. Carts do everything to speed up play, providing everyone on the course is using them (and can stay on the short stuff obviously).

Sounds about right Bangkoklasse, you and I and pretty much every golfer I know in Pattaya (which is a lot of people) are all on the same page. The important part of this is we all believe a bigger tip for an above average caddy is well deserved, as is giving a minimum tip to the slackers. When the caddys sit around comparing tips, as they do every day, hopefully the message gets through that they're either not doing a good job, are middle of the road, or that their extra efforts to do their job well are being rewarded. What should not happen though is everyone just paying 300 Baht or whatever for a caddy no matter what sort of a job they did, this will make the useless ones stay that way and the good ones think "why should I bother"?. And this happens!.

My range is 200 for any caddy who can barely be bothered to go through the motions and actually detracts from the enjoyment of playing a round, 300 for any caddy that would rate a 5 to 8 out of 10, 400 for a very good caddy, and 500 for the rare one who's so good a note of her/his number is made for future games at that course.

When the course is wet, no carts on the fairways and that's a given. When the course is bone dry AND you've still got to stick to the cart tracks only AND carts are mandatory, well that my friend is pure BS.

The compulsory cart part is something I don't mind as I use one anyway for my weekly games in Pattaya. What I cannot and will not do is ever play any course where carts are compulsory BUT you cannot take them on the fairways. All this achieves is the absolute certainty of walking to the other side of the fairway from the cart track (see Murphy's law) to where your ball is to find that the club you really need isn't among the 3 clubs you and your caddy carried across, and with people waiting to hit behind you there's no choice but to play some stupid shot beyond your skills or having to lay up. Next problem is trying to steer shots off the tee against your natural shot shape to stay close to the cart tracks with the inevitable result being.....

The argument that carts ruin fairways is a pure BS, I've played courses in several countries that were holding pro events in the coming days and carts are no problem on the fairways. They may stop carts perhaps 1-3 days before events though but for 1 reason only, so the cameras don't pick up any tyre tracks that might detract from the look of the course to tv viewers. Burapha in Pattaya and Royal Pines on the Gold Coast are prime examples of this.

In short, anyone who gets suckered into paying for a mandatory golf cart then actually ends up walking further during the round than if they played without a car need their heads examined, and you WILL walk vast distances if sticking to the cart paths if you want to GPS your travel for 18 holes some time. Too many good courses in Pattaya that allow carts on fairways to have to deal with that crap.

I wonder, what was it that scared you away ?

What I saw was a few cuts of horrendous looking *meat* that looked like it should have been binned. We're talking an unnaturally dark color, borderline on purple, with black around the outer edges of fat and the bones. I'm from the bush as a youngster and we wouldn't have fed roo legs in that condition to the dogs, we'd know they'd been hanging in the meat locker far too long. Again though, this was a one-of visit and I've never been back but I will stick my head in there again for a look.

Thanks for that Sigurris, I drive past there often and had no idea the place even existed. Will definitely have a look in there this weekend.

Luudee I went to the butcher shop you mentioned near Foodland once and was absolutely horrified at the *meat* they were trying to sell. Couldn't back out of the door quick enough and have never returned. That was perhaps 2 years ago and in the morning, probably not long after they would've opened that day if this makes any difference. Has something changed and is it worth another look?. I normally buy all my fresh beef/lamb from Foodland and frozen from Macro as a guide to what I consider good meat and butchers. Thanks for any input on this.

I can't remember the name of the place but it's on Soi 13 / 4, half way up on left from beach road, last bar before Penthouse hotel.

Great roasts, chicken beef, pork, lamb with full trimmings for about 250.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand.

That'd be Palmers and you are right, the roasts and food in general there are really good and have been for about the last 20 years!.

If you have a look at sixtthailand you'll likely find what you're looking for. I haven't used them, but did contact them recently about renting a Beemer for a week with a pick-up/drop-off in Pattaya and they said they could do that.