Kerryd

In California (and many other "Western" countries) they'd actually have police out on patrols instead of spending their whole shift sitting in the station. In (some) other countries, those Police Boxes would actually have police in them. In (some) other countries, if you ran a stoplight or stop sign or drove the wrong way down a street or drove on the sidewalk or drove without a (license/registration/insurance) or drove above the speed limit or screamed down the road with straight pipes or (insert a couple dozen other offences here) - the police would nab you almost instantly and there'd be no "slipping a 1000 baht note under your driver's license to get out of getting a ticket business". Just like "back home" if I got pulled over for (no license/helmet/registration/insurance) my vehicle would be impounded on the spot and towed to an impound yard. None of this "pay a 200 baht ticket" and then drive away and hope you don't get stopped again within a week nonsense. But This is Thailand and things don't work like they do "back home" so you either have to adjust - or go back home - because things aren't likely to change anytime in the near future. Unless it's "change for the worse" of course. Which is definitely possible, especially in this region of the world.

Lame video with almost NO narrative. And it is about people - who REGISTERED (and received a notification) getting a shot of Pfizer at CENTRAL FESTIVAL. Not "Walk ins" and not Terminal 21 and not Moderna. Edit: Also - they are (or were) only giving the shot to people who had NOT had a vaccination shot previously. I was registered and did receive a notification, went there at the appointed time, did the paperwork and was then told I wouldn't be given the shot as I'd received an AZ vaccination a couple weeks earlier (also from the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital - but at their Building D location). Some private hospitals were registering people to get Moderna vaccinations - in October. No word yet if that is still going to happen.

Yeah, he was only with them for barely 1 1/2 years.

I've said for years that the Thai Olympic White Water Kayaking teams should be training on Soi Khao Noi and Khao Talo. They could turn that into a new tourist attraction ! Kayaking down the soi, dodging food cart vendors, floating garbage bags (and cans) and the odd crocodile/snake (on the advanced courses). (Like how we proposed turning Kandahar into a pro golf course, where the bunkers were actual bunkers and the sand traps were booby-trapped. But hey, lots of sunshine ! And probably less hostile gunfire than in most American cities !)

Ah - saw that graph (in Thai) in "that" newspaper. Alcohol restrictions to remain as they are. Some restaurants will open. A friend of mine has a bar/restaurant/coffee shop on Buakhao that he kept open until the last shut down, even though he was reduced to just selling coffee. (He used to be able to sell "dine in" meals, then it went to "delivery only" to "no food" and then not even coffee.) Don't know about the whole "vaccination" business though, especially expecting customers to show proof of vaccinations and/(or) negative covid tests ? Sheesh, maybe they should have to show that they have a valid visa/extension and that they did their last 90 day report on time as well ! (Most of his customers are foreigners.) Will that be required at every shopping mall and 7-11 as well ? Walk into a 7-11, do the temperature scan, wait to have your "proof of being fully vaccinated" (card or certificate) scanned - or a recent "proof of negative covid test within the last 72 hours" certificate scanned, then proceed to the cashier to buy your pack of cigarettes or pay your water bill ? Can't see that happening.

I can't find a link or reference to the "gatherings of up to 25 people". And no mention if the restrictions on alcohol have changed either. (So maybe 25 people can "gather" but only 1 can still "drink" ?)

Lol - I've had a covid test (negative result) and got my first AZ shot a couple weeks ago and have no proof of either. Was I supposed to take a photo of getting the jab and keep that on my phone ? Little late now. Years ago in Canada when people donated blood they had a card that would be annotated to show when they donated. One - it helped the donor keep track of how much they'd given and two - it let the hospital/clinic know how long it had been since the donor last gave blood (as there is supposed to be something like a 3 month period between donations). When I get my annual PA 1st VIP Accident Insurance every year, the girl at the bank fills out a form and a detachable card in a booklet, which she then gives me. Shouldn't be that hard to make a similar detachable "covid vaccine" card where the details of who you are, when you got jabbed (and with what) could be recorded. And the quoted article in the OP says areas in the "dark red zones" which includes Pattaya/Chon Buri so there's no reason to think that we'd be excluded, though there is a possibility of the governor and/or Pattaya Mayor maintaining some restrictions if they see spikes in infections. Here is a link to the Facebook article quoted in the OP: https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/photos/a.10151714100817050/10158222422072050/

That would be the South Pattaya Road/Sukhumvit intersection (you can see the Esso station and Burger King in the background). That intersection floods almost as soon as there's a cloud in the sky. I recall not long ago there were pics of kids playing/swimming in there because it was so deep that no traffic was brave enough to try and cross it.

Had an appointment at Bangkok Pattaya hospital this morning. My buddy drove me as it probably would have been dumb for me to try on my scooter. Soi Khao Noi was a raging river from around the Mike Orchid Villa housing complex down. We cut over to Nern Plerb Wan which was flooded as well but not as deep, It was funny though when we got to the first big storm grate on Khao Noi and the water was backflowing out onto the street. Normally that doesn't happen until a bit further down. Went down the railway bypass to highway 7, then over to the Suk. Was fine until that depression between the North Pattaya Intersection and the Hospital. The water didn't seem that deep but a lot of people weren't testing it, either sitting still blocking a lane or making a U-turn. Traffic heading south had just stopped period and was backed up to Mini Siam. We followed a line of traffic that was trying to stick to the far edge of the right lane where the water seemed shallower. Once past that puddle we had to cut back to the left to make the turn into the hospital. About 1 1/2 hours later, on the way home, that area was cleared up but when we came out of the tunnel (just past Central Road) the traffic was backed up almost to the tunnel. It seems the South Pattaya Intersection was still flooded. We were able to cut across the Suk and take a side soi to the railway bypass, then up Nern Plerb Wan and over to Khao Noi again. No problems as the rain had eased. I tried to take some pics through the windshield but it was raining so hard that even with the wipers on full blast you couldn't get a clear pic.

Didn't get proper permission and possibly encroaching on public land. Lol - from the same city gov't that not long ago was demolishing private buildings after they accused the owner of those buildings of encroaching on the same kind of public land (just a little further up the coast). Just a wee bit of hypocrisy there. What was the plan ? Spend hundreds of millions on the project, then sue (themselves) for encroachment, then release more contracts to tear up the bits that are on "public" land ?

Gees - do you think maybe that will be a part of the restoration plan that they have barely even gotten started on ? Maybe you should go down there and tell them to make that their priority because you are inconvenienced by it. I'm sure they'll drop everything and immediately get to work on that part of the restoration. You know, once they've "grown a brain". From an article 8 days ago: "Meanwhile, Pattaya City has started the renovation of North Pattaya to South Pattaya Beach at a distance of 2.7 kilometers. Mr. Kietisak Siwongchai, the Pattaya City Deputy Administrative Chief Officer, told The Pattaya News, “We have hired the Nong Nooch Landscape & Garden Design Co., Ltd. to renovate the beach since August 6th of this year which is expected to be finished in November 2023." "This ambitious plan includes underground bathrooms, exercise areas, plenty of seating spots and shade/trees, repaired sidewalks, plenty of shrubbery and plants, a children’s playground, better lighting, more space for parking, room for food cart vendors, handicap spaces and access, and much more." (My bolding and underlining.)

Exactly. From Sukhumvit west to the ocean, Pattaya is 99% concrete. Nothing but roads, buildings and parking lots from Naklua to Big Buddha Mountain.. Due to the natural slope, every time it rains, all that water wants to head to the ocean. It's not getting absorbed into the ground and the aquifers like it normally would. Pretty much all of the original (natural) drainage canals have been filled in and paved over ages ago as well. Add to that a poor drainage system which plugs up with accumulated garbage and construction waste (i.e. sand and unused concrete) and causes the water to backflow onto the streets and you end up with all that water being channeled almost straight at the beach. Most of the water from the Darkside gets drained to (somewhere) and not just the "railway channel", which often floods anyways. Right where they are putting that high speed rail line. (Maybe that has something to do with all the drainage work they are doing along the railway bypass road recently ? Trying to keep the water from washing out the new rail line perhaps ?) It's not going to Sukhumvit though some may think so. The flooding around the South Pattaya intersection is mainly because it's a natural depression so runoff is running into it from 3 different directions (runoff from the Darkside between the railway bypass and the highway, plus runoff coming down the Suk from the North and South). If all the water from the other side of the railway bypass was being dumped onto the Suk, there'd be a raging river all the way down South Pattaya to the ocean every time it rained. (And down Thepprasit as well.) They've had the pumps on the Suk by the Esso station for what, a year or so now ? Just West of that, there's a small soi behind the Batman building that they dug up around the same time and never seem to get around to finishing whatever it is they are doing there. You can see the drainage channels under the soi. There are two of them, each larger enough you could drive a large ATV through then and not worry about hitting the sides or your head on the top. Those are supposed to drain the water from the center ditch on the Suk and send it (somewhere towards the ocean). By rights, if those drainage channels keep going (wherever) and don't suddenly turn into little drainage pipes, they should be large enough to drain all that water from the Suk around the South Pattaya intersection. If they ever get around to finishing the job that is. It was noted in the past as well that the city often doesn't turn on the drainage pumps until the water is backflowing up and out of the drainage pipes. You know, instead of turning them on when it starts to rain so the pipes are near empty when all the runoff starts to accumulate. I know you don't want to run the pumps when they are "dry" but you don't need to wait until Lake Sukhumvit has filled up before starting the pumps. Jomtien doesn't have the same problem - yet - as it's not completely paved over (yet) so more water goes into the ground. It's also a smaller area than Pattaya and not as built up (yet). Give it another 20 years though and they'll probably experience the same issues.

Bang Lamung is the local post office for most of Pattaya. That and the one at Chaiyapruek. Those other places you see are "outlets" where you can drop off mail and pay for postage. They don't hold/sort/deliver mail. And I've never said anything about duty being waived. I was talking about the amount that had to be paid. I've paid varying amounts of duty at both the Chaiyapruek and Bang Lamung Post offices as well as at the Laem Chabang Customs Office. I used to order a lot from Amazon and AliExpress and - in my experience - when the amount of Customs Duties owed was under 500 baht I'd have to go to the post office to get the parcel. But if the amount owed was more than that, I usually had to go to Laem Chabang to get the parcel. I even had to go to the Laem Chabang Food and Drug Administration office to get a parcel that had nothing but powdered drink mixes (Crystal Light). It wasn't even a large order (less than 2,500 baht) but the clerk decided I was probably selling the stuff and should have a business license. Tried to explain to him that because of shipping charges it was cheaper to make 2 orders a year instead of 4-5 and his response was that I should order enough to last one month at a time ! (Never mind that I showed him what the shipping charges would be on that small of an order compared to what I'd been charged to ship enough to last 6 months.) I think the actual Customs Duties were barely 400 baht but I had to get a friend to take care of things and that cost another 1,000. That's only happened once in the last 10 years though. There is a mail sorting station way out on highway 3240, on the left side right after you go over the highway 7 overpass. Went there once as the delivery guy told me I had a parcel there. Naturally they knew nothing about it and I wasn't actually expecting anything either. It didn't appear that they did anything other than sort mail to be delivered to the various areas around Mabprachan.

I lumped those two together because they sort of work in the same way. From the CDC: "Viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells." First, the vector (not the virus that causes COVID-19, but a different, harmless virus) will enter a cell in our body and then use the cell’s machinery to produce a harmless piece of the virus that causes COVID-19. This piece is known as a spike protein and it is only found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. Next, the cell displays the spike protein on its surface, and our immune system recognizes it doesn’t belong there. This triggers our immune system to begin producing antibodies and activating other immune cells to fight off what it thinks is an infection." (Their bolding - not mine.) "Inactivated vaccines also fight viruses and bacteria. These vaccines are made by inactivating, or killing, the germ during the process of making the vaccine. " So both use virus cells to teach the body what to look for and how to fight the Covid-19 virus. Which is of course quite a bit different from the RNA vaccines. The 3rd type (Sub Unit or Protein) vaccines work by using "harmless pieces of protein" from the virus to "teach" the body to recognize the virus and develop antibodies. There are other ways to make vaccines as well but according to the CDC: "Currently, there are three main types of COVID-19 vaccines that are authorized and recommended or undergoing large-scale (Phase 3) clinical trials in the United States." (Those are mRNA, Protein Sub-unit and Viral Vector.) Sino uses inactivated (i.e. "dead") virus cells.

My bad. I thought it was the last post in one of the threads I'd posted in this morning but it was higher in the other thread. (And I was on my phone at the time instead of on the computer as I am now.) Hate trying to surf the forum and type posts on the phone.

Just got back from Central Festival. I had an SMS about getting a Pfizer shot there this morning. Got to the 6th floor just before 9 and there was maybe 80 people already in line. (Bring a pen with you !!) Got the the registration desk around 9:30. They were trying to send people that hadn't filled out the form to the back of the line, and directing those who had filled it out ahead of the others. The form asks if you've had a vaccination (doesn't matter what kind) in the last 14 days. I checked "No". But at the desk there's a sign saying you have to tell them if you have had a vaccination before (no matter what or when). I was honest and told them they (Bangkok Hospital) had given me a shot over 2 weeks ago. That was it. Stopped my processing and sent me on my way. The Pfizer shots are, for now, only for those who have not had another vaccination yet. Got home a Bangkok Hospital phoned me to remind me that I was scheduled for a Pfizer shot (left hand not talking to the right hand). I asked her about if I could get the Pfizer as a second dose. She wasn't sure and told me I should wait until the hospital calls me again (whenever, if ever, that may be).

Guess my last post was deleted for some reason. Just got back from Central Festival. The Pfizer vaccine is only for those who haven't had a vaccination before. The form they give you asks if you've had a vaccination in the last 2 weeks but that is the standard form they use. I was honest and told them I had an AZ shot over 2 weeks earlier. They stopped doing my paperwork and sent me on my way. Note: take a pen with you. If you grt to the heaf of the line and don't have your form filled out, they will send you to the back of the line !

Just FYI - I did a little research this morning and it seems a lot of medical studies suggest that a shot of AZ and a shot of Pfizer (or Moderna) is better than 2 shots of the same vaccine. That is because there are basically 3 types of vaccines and they work in different ways. One type uses "Viral Vector", like AZ and Sino. Another type uses "RNA" like Moderna and Pfizer and a 3rd type is something called "Sub-Unit" or Protein" like Novavac. Keep in mind that no vaccine gives you 100% protection from getting infected. However research indicates that even a single vaccination of any type of vaccine will protect you against suffering the most severe effects if you do get infected. Which could make the difference between life and death for some people.

Tried doing a quick (i.e. only a dozen sites) search to see if there was a minimum time between getting an AZ jab and another (of anything). It seems most of the tests were done on people who had their 2nd shot 4-12 weeks after their first. Couldn't find anything saying that having a 2nd dose 2 weeks after the first shouldn't be done, but most agree that the longer between doses the better (but not longer than 12 weeks). However, those studies were about people getting 2 does of the same type of vaccine. Remember, one type (like Sino and AZ) use attenuated virus cells and other types (like Moderna and Pfizer) use mRNA. It seems one type produces more "T" cells and the other produces more "anti-bodies" and most research indicates that a shot of each is better than 2 shots of one. Based on that, in my unprofessional opinion, I'd say getting a Pfizer dose within a couple weeks of an AZ jab shouldn't be an issue, as they are 2 different types of vaccine. But if you had any kind of reaction to the first jab (of whatever, Sino or AZ) then you should probably wait before getting a second dose (of whatever). I will ask the staff when I get there this morning and try to get an actual, educated (i.e. professional) opinion and post it when I get back.

For Freddie's Sake people. READ. The AZ vaccinations are being given at Building D at the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. The Pfizer vaccinations are being given by BHP on the 6th floor of Central Festival Pattaya. Thanks to a message above I checked my SMS messages and found I have a Pfizer Vaccination today (this morning actually) at Central Festival. That is 15 days after I got the AZ jab at BHP. I will ask them when I get there if I should wait, but who knows if they'll schedule another vaccination. Also, the Pfizer vaccination is probably the result of registering on that expatvac site. Has to be, as I doubt BHP would have arbitrarily made an appointment for me to get a different vaccine after having already given me the AZ just over 2 weeks earlier. Annoying that BHP phones me the day before I have an appointment, but didn't phone me about this vaccination. Had I not seen the post above about the SMS message, I would have missed the appointment.

I agree. Which is why I hope I don't have kids. At least none I know of. I'm a ways away from 70, but even a 60 year old having a kid is bad. You'd be 80 when "it" graduates high school, assuming you made it that long. My dad passed on at 77 (I came along when he was 29 though). If he'd had a kid at 60 though, he'd have died when the kid was just 17. And the kid would quite likely end up a new "dad" who probably wouldn't care for them as much. Or worse, might care for them a little too much.......... The g/f told me a couple years ago that her mom wants her to have a baby because she misses having a wee one around the house. Apparently she'd have no problem with her daughter popping one out and leaving it with her to raise. (Assuming the daughter and her boyfriend/husband/whoever was chipping in to help raise it of course.) I know a guy up north who recently had a kid and I'm sure he's a few years older than I am and, I suspect, probably not destined for a long, healthy life (drinks and smokes a lot). His daughter will be lucky if he's still around when she graduates. Of course, a lot of punters have no idea about what is really going on "back home". I suspect many rarely, if ever, visit the better half's home village. I've heard some mention that they refuse to go and if the girl's parents want to see her, they can come visit (for a couple days) and that's it. Used to be as well that a girl wouldn't bring a foreigner "home" with her as she didn't want the whole village to think she was a hooker and the foreigner was one of her customers. And most old, dawdling foreigners wouldn't want to spend a lot of time in a remote Isaan village anyways where the only thing to do all day is swat at flies and try to remember the names of all the chickens running around the yard. So they may not have a clue that her "mom" seems to have a lot of kids for a woman "her age". Or that "her brother/cousin/uncle" never seems to have a wife/girlfriend of his own, but is always around when she comes to visit. I'm surprised we haven't read stories about all the dead "kwai" littering the rice fields of Isaan, as they haven't been getting the medicine that all those girls in all those bars over all those years have said they needed ! "Oh won't someone think about the buffalo !"

Ahh, "that" Kingston. Last time I was there was the summer of 2006, doing pre-deployment training before going on my second stint in Afghanistan. I'd worked with one of the other guys doing the PDT when we were in Kabul during our first contract. He really wanted to go to the Plaza ("Plazoo") to check out the strippers. At the time I think that was the only strip club in Kingston. 10 minutes in and I was bored and ready to leave. 1 stage. 1 stripper that would come out (clothed) dance for one song, leave for a minute, come back for one song and at the end of it take off her bra just before leaving the stage again, then she'd come back for one more song and just before it ended she'd take off her panties and then walk off the stage. I was ready to leave before she finished the 3rd song. And then a 20 minute break before the next one ! I tried to explain to my friend what the "gogo" bars in Thailand were like but he didn't believe it. Never went back to the Plaza after that. I'd been to some bigger (and better) strip clubs in Canada. Having a "lap dance" where you have to keep your hands to yourself and she keeps half her clothes on ? Boring. And expensive. In BC they have a law that there has to be a (12" ? 16" ?) gap between the stripper and the customers and neither is allowed to cross that gap (the customer could get tossed if he crossed it and the stripper would get a warning if she crossed it because the bar could be fined and lose their liquor license). But the girls do apparently make good money. Many work for companies that hire them out to different clubs. They end up on a "circuit" where they go from club to club, city to city, then start over again, maybe with a new look and new name. Between salary and tips and even merchandise (signed posters and photos for example), a lot of them do OK. Of course, in some places the "trade" is "managed" by some unsavoury types. Not unusual to go to a club or massage joint and see the muscle sitting there to make sure the customers don't get a little too familiar with the girls. (In Western Canada, that "muscle" usually wears HA colours.) And in North America, the "lookers" often work for "talent agencies" that arrange modelling gigs and "other" jobs for them. For example. A former First Lady used to work for such an agency. She did a number of modelling gigs and the agency would be hired to provide "eye candy" at exclusive parties attended by the rich and powerful. The "models" were usually "available" if they caught the fancy of any of those elites. Kind of like how a certain (supposedly wealthy) real estate broker, who was at one such party with his (second) wife, took a fancy to one of the "models" and slipped her his phone number while his wife was in the bathroom. (He ended up dumping the wife and marrying the model a little while later.) In Thailand the "lookers" often also work for such agencies, but are usually referred to as "pretties". Depending on the girl, the party and how much is being offered, they may be "available" to the guests as well. There are also high end "coyote bars" where the really pretty ones dance and try to attract the attention of the "richer" customers. Used to be one near soi 5 in Pattaya, hidden in a soi between #2 road and Beach road. Mostly Thai customers because a) they had a dress code that included no flip flops, wife beater t-shirts or shorts and b) it was expensive. As in 300 baht for a beer you could get at a bar 100 meters away for 80 baht. Oh, did I mention that the "bar fine" was 12,000 baht ? I think that was to keep the customers from bar fining all the dancers minutes after the place opened, leaving them with no one on stage. Also kept most of the "foreigners" out as well. But the women dancing there were some of the hottest women in the country. Some had been in Thai versions of Penthouse or other magazines and almost all the others could have been "runners up" as well. Most of them worked for agencies that also hired them out to go from club to club on a circuit, though it was usually a month per club/city. And they got paid good money. The club in Pattaya did have a rule that the girls had to "sell" a certain number of lady drinks to get their full salary. My friend said she made something like 30,000 a month just to dance but if she sold a certain number of lady drinks she could make up to 20,000 a month more. Not including tips. The "star" performers made a lot more. (At that time, a "service" girl working at serving drinks and cleaning tables made around 4,500 a month in salary.) But most spend like the good times will never end and in truth, no one really expected the good times to end this time either. Sure there was the ban on tourists and a lot of places closed, but I doubt anyone really expected it would drag on this long. Remember the stories early on of bars staying open and paying their staff salaries, in the expectations that things would go back to "normal" in a couple weeks or so. Which turned into a couple months, which resulted in a lot of those places also closing down. And now it's been about what, 17 months since they stopped letting tourists into the country ? Even for people who did put some money away for a rainy day, that's a long time to try and survive of your savings.

As some have mentioned, few Thais put money away in the bank (for a rainy) day. When a new girl gets a job in a bar, the first paycheque often goes to her "sister" that got her the job, her share of the rent on the room she shares with 3-4 other girls and then on the "tramp stamp" tattoo. Eventually she'll get her own place, a few more tattoos and send some money home to the parents (who are probably looking after her kids). After that she'll most likely spend, spend, spend and then hope that one of her friends has bought some food she can share. Some of the smarter ones will work on building their own home but most will blow through their money as fast as they make it. One girl I know is now feeding chickens at a poultry farm. When the bars shut she had her own place. Then she had to move in with a friend as she couldn't afford the rent. Then she couldn't afford to give her friend any money so she went back to her home village. From Baccara gogo girl to Isaan chicken feeder in 1 short year. Another friend is working in Germany. She saw an ad for a (used) Mercedes. She wanted to buy it and park it at my place. I told her to be smart and keep her money in the bank because she won't be back here (for good) for maybe 3-5 years (or more). What's the point of buying the car and having it just sit somewhere for years and years (as I certainly wasn't going to drive it). I told her to save her money so that when she does move back to Thailand she could buy a newer car probably for the same money (or less) and still have money in the bank. Which she would need to start up a business and keep it running until it is able to start turning a regular profit. She's learning, especially when covid shut down the place she was working and she had to live on her savings for a few months. She's also learned to say no to her Thai friends who keep hitting her up for money. (I love rubbing it in when I remind her that she used to do the same thing to me. Now it annoys her when her "friends" keep asking for more and more money - like she was some kind of ATM or something. It's hilarious when the sandal is on the other foot.) Of course, a lot of them put their faith in fortune tellers and the lottery, so why save money when you know for a fact that "good fortune" is coming real soon now !

Tried it once last May when I was doing my Retirement Extension. It didn't give me the same number format as what Immigration was using. For example, the app said my appointment # was something like "A8001" but Immigration uses 6 characters (like "AB8001") or something like that. So I never heard my number being called out over the PA. (I had arrived something like 20 minutes before my appointment time to be on the safe side and never heard them call anything resembling my appt # on the PA system.) When it was time for my appointment, I went to the "Exit" door and showed the girl there the appointment on the phone and she waved me to the desk (after I did the temperature check). (I had tried to go in a few minutes earlier but the gruff guy that normally is behind the front desk wouldn't let me in.) At the front desk I showed the staffer the appt on my phone, she asked to see my passport then gave me a queue ticket. There was 1 person ahead of me in the queue. However, the line up of people outside went from the door to the far end of the tent and curled back again, plus there were maybe 2 dozen people sitting under the tent on the other side (where I'd been waiting). As I was a bit hobbled at the time, I was much happier sitting in a chair on the right side of the parking lot than doing the slow shuffle with 80 or so people in the snail trail line. I haven't tried setting up any other appointments to see if the number is screwed up for them as well (on the app). (I don't want to set up appointments to test the system then cancel them and have it recorded in the system.) Got my 90 Day coming up. Might try making an appointment for that as a test to see if anything has changed. Though if they are still doing the procedure where they collect everyone's passports and take them in for processing, it probably wouldn't matter if you had an appointment.

For those who are unaware - cruise ships did come to Pattaya before. I just read an archived article in the NY Times of cruise ship trips in 1981/82, some of which included stops at "Pattaya Beach". The QE2 cruise that docked in Pattaya was in 1983. Remember, there used to be a large pier that ran out into the bay, right next to where the water pumping station is (a stone's throw from the entrance to Walking Street). (Two piers it seems at one time in the 80's. I only saw 1 when I was here in the 90s though.) That pier was demolished after Bali Hai was built. The water was probably deeper then as there probably wasn't as much sand being dumped on the beaches and then washed out into the bay in those days. Just last Sept, city hall approved a new "cruise ship terminal" project with the pier sticking out from the point of land past where Bali Hai is located. It's funny, because an article from last June said there was a lack of interest from marine construction companies to do such a project. Also keep in mind that many of these projects are nothing more than "trial balloons" being floated to gauge public (and corporate) interest in such projects. If the interest is minimal, the project quietly fades into memory. If they get a rousing response, then they can proceed onto the next step (usually allocating budget, tendering proposals and getting the necessary approvals). The old piers in the early 80's, just before the start of what is now Walking Street The proposed approved 2.9 bln baht cruise ship terminal project: (Can't remember if we can link Bangkok Post articles here, but that's where the image came from.)