Kaoboi Bebobp

On 12/2/2016 at 4:51 PM, JemJem said:

Cool. I love night markets. Remember the Suan Lum night market (near Sathorn), that was sadly closed a few years ago ?! It was a great place to spend at least a couple of hours at; with a nice beer garden inside.

Yeah, I really miss Suan Lum. Food delivered to your table, nice lighting, good selection of beers and occasionally a decent band on the far stage. You could sit up close to it or sit at the back and avoid the music. The toilets were decent and clean, too. I also miss all the other places closed now over the last few years. 

I can't imagine visiting the Neon market. It looks huge, which means nightmare crowds if it ever catches on with the locals. 

Being an old fart, I recognize my kind. Look for the guys supporting the rail seats in so many places in Pattaya. Old Nikom Court at Soi Diana is a biggie, then south along Buakhao anywhere. And north along Buakhao. These scenes are everywhere. I'm thinking mornings and afternoons. Yes, there are girls but it looks like they keep to themselves unless asked. Pattaya Klang beachward from 2nd Road. There are some of these in the small sois between 3rd Rd and Buakhao, from Klang south to well, South Rd. Plus New Plaza is open in the afternoon, too. The middle bars are busy, Ma Mak and Micky's. I really don't think the OP will lack for company, well, not in the "high season" anyway. 

As for Bangkok . . . it's going, going, gone in a different direction. 

22 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

But the new bus station is a pain to get to and will require a taxi ride instead of the convenience of a skytrain station.

 

Best option now will be to take skytrain to Swampy and bus from there.

 

Edit: as far as I remember the skytrain / MRT at Morchit is not near the bus station and needs a taxi ride?

It was 50 baht on a moto taxi to the Mochit bus terminal when I did it a couple of years ago. It's quite far.

On 10/23/2016 at 0:29 PM, jumbo said:

Going to HCMC for a project on the outskirts, District 7. Any knowledge on hiring a car and driver for at least 5-6 months?

Don't know if this helps, but a friend had a six-month contract in HCMC and used Uber to get to work every day. Cheaper than flagging a taxi down. 

5 hours ago, berybert said:

One thing people could do rather than worrying about taxi's etc is to walk. I often drink in the Robin Hood and miss the last  train home. So I walk, Takes about 20 minutes can add another 10 to 15 minutes if you are around the Asok area and miss the train from there.

Seems to me far to many people forget they have legs once they arrive in Thailand.

Clearly, you don't live at On Nut, Bang Chak, Punna Withi, Udom Suk, Bang Na or Bearing. Or Ratchadapisek. Many people have moved well out of the tourist trap district. 

Agreed. On Nut is a total bore since the demise of On Nut Night Market. There's is nothing there except endless mini-apartments (yes, affordable but 28-32 sq metres!) and Tesco Lotus. The Big C Supercentre down On Nut road is useless. The area is also very crowded on the streets and in the BTS station.

Try Phra Khanong. There's the fun W District (with good food, clean toilets, almost!), J Bar, Craft, Mom (I think this is the name) and Romanesc. Condos include: Wyne, Aspire 48 and older, cheaper Waterford Park. 

I've lived in all those areas too. And having moved out of BKK for 2 years until recently, spent 5-6 days a month in BKK. I found it very difficult to get a taxi home/hotel in either direction -- down Ratchada or outbound Sukhumvit -- during the late evening, not early morning. Also, the BTS is getting more and more crowded through all hours. At 10 pm, I've had to watch 2-3 trains go before I could get on the BTS outbound along Suk. It will only get worse as more condos come onstream at Phra Khanong and On Nut, not to mention the heavier traffic from mall shoppers at the Em District. 

Traffic is just getting worse overall. So, something to consider in terms of location to work and play.

To update: I finally got my new extension moved over to my new passport but not without obstacles.

Since I got the new extension in Bangkok only in July, Jomtien said the transfer had to be done there. So back to Bangkok and the Chang Wattana challenge.  Arrived at 10 am, with 52 people in front of me, and was seated in front of the officer at 3:30 pm. She was great and service overall was terrific and friendly. But 8 hours of travel time and waiting! At Jomtien, maybe an hour tops.

Might explain my complications. I'd moved to BKK in July, registered there and immediately had to renew the retirement extension, with less than a month left. After a couple of months, I knew BKK was not for me so I re-registered my (reclaimed) apartment with Jomtien. This is where I thought I could have my extension transferred. Nope. 

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

You mean that locally (or Chinese) grown stuff with the $0.02 "Product of Australia" label slapped on it?  And I'm only partially kidding.  

 

For a few bucks, I can get set up with authentic looking packaging that claims my produce is grown on Jupiter with absolutely no pesticides.  Happens all the time.  (Not the Jupiter part)

A rule of thumb test is whether the package is completely in perfect English, with no Thai (except possibly a sticker). 

6 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The problem with salads in Thailand is they're using Thai grown produce, and as reported here recently, a lot of Thai grown produce has problems with excessive pesticide residues.

 

The so-called organic and other locally generated quality/safety marks basically mean nothing here, as they're not enforced by the government or anyone else. And past independent testing has shown those kinds of labels also have pesticide residue levels in excess of standards.

 

And of course at restaurants, you never really know where they're sourcing their salad ingredients from, making it even more difficult to know if one's attempts to eat "healthy" is in fact resulting in you eating very "unhealthy."

 

http://www.thaipan.org/node/849

 

 

Yeah, it's scary and slowed my salad intake down recently. I used to buy a lot of take-home items from the Foodland salad bars. But they've been looking decidedly second-tier lately and lacked any flavour. 

The following is for "cooks": Then a few weeks ago I decided to go all the way and buy nothing but imports from NZ, Oz and tomatoes from Israel, I think. From Villa. What a difference! (What a price!!!). When I cut into an onion it was like reliving my childhood and our home vegetable garden. Flavour like I haven't tasted in years. Red/yellow peppers amazing. Tomatoes like I'd just picked them. Lettuce that actually had that earthy lettuce flavour. The kitchen smelled of fresh veggies for hours. This hasn't happened since I left the far west. I think buying the ingredients for home use works if you eat salads every day. 

Sat across the street from BB at Buddy's many times. Always thought BB was consistently busy and that it would last. Well, if they can't make it, no one else can. Seems to be a pattern. Brave new businessmen with good ideas put up a massive deposit and sign on the line for a massive rent. But the odds are you're going to fail because the greedy Thai landlords want an arm and two legs for rent. Probably won't see Buddy's around much longer either because they've been forced by police to close at midnight from now on, even though others can stay open. 

19 hours ago, SooKee said:

Well. Walked up past The Robin Hood and The Royal Oak last night. Royal Oak looked busier but both just seemed a bit drab. Maybe they're better when the entertainment isn't on hold but I gave them both a pass last night. On the basis of that, don't think I'll be making the trip out to The Londoner.


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Next time by there, stop into Herrity's, located between the Hood and the Oak. Only been there twice but service was pretty good and the outdoor terrace quite comfortable. Got there for happy hour pints just in time (8 pm). I ordered one and I was asked if I wanted to order more at the happy hour price. I did and so they served them as I needed them. 

The Londoner is off the beaten path for me. The only reason I'll go out there is for the brew pub beer. I'm just not confident we will see that beer any time soon. However, I hear they're doing great business, with huge Thai clientele. 

Does anyone know if they are only opening at 3 pm? Anton's used to open in the morning but they stopped that some months ago. Then started mornings again, then stopped it again. 

2 hours ago, rott said:

Agree Smokie. My problem was that once I was in Jools I never seemed to get out in any state and look elsewhere

I have since taken to rediscovering Patpong, lovely bars just a shortage of customers - and no I am not on about go-gos or whoring dens.

Not sure what I did to get in bold. But to be fair my last post was very lucid considering I had just got in after my first session in four days.

I'd forgotten about Patpong until you mentioned it. It's about the only venue with anything remotely boasting a bit of the classic Bangkok character. I hope it still has it, anyway. One of my faves was Cosmos, especially on a Friday night when it was very busy with a wide variety of nationalities and just decent fun. I too am not talking about skirt chasing. I just enjoyed the atmosphere. The two Thai brothers who owned it were always there. The stouter brother with the long grey hair was a real gent.

You wrote:

Quote

Bangkok bar life has seemingly "moved on" and become sterilized, homogenous whatever and lost the bit that made it interesting.

Agree. 100%. I would add the long-running decline of sanuk has removed a lot of this town's attraction. Which leaves not much left. I guess it was inevitable when the current administration is bent on selling everything for malls and "cleaning up" Thailand's image.

It's unknown at the moment by the Hemingway's lessee or the new investors whether the 100-year-old teak house will survive intact or be disassembled (to disappear, is my guess).

I expected to see a sea of black clothes today. Not even close. I rode from the Darkside to Jomtien and back to Retox and then to Big C Extra. 25 km in total. One could be forgiven for not seeing today as any different from yesterday. Except for very light traffic. I enjoyed that a lot.

Just got turned away from Immigration. Early arrivers were served and they are vetting new arrivers. But most are being told to come back Monday. Got my extension transfer forms. Office closing soon, checking clerk said. 

I am following this thread. I need to get my retirement extension transferred from old passport to the new one, and buy a re-entry permit. Very soon.

Please post here if you hear any news about whether Jomtien Immigration will be open tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 14 and/or next week.

I am caught between two chairs. Just got my new passport. Was planning to have my retirement extension transferred to my new passport tomorrow, as well as buy a re-entry permit. However, Thursday's Big News may impact this plan. 

I suppose the question is: If I depart Thailand, can I use the extension in my old passport along with the entry stamp and get the outbound stamp in the new passport? Any experience? Yes, I had already been planning to go to Cambodia after receiving the new passport.

Thank you.

That's a tough one, because BKK rents are exploding. Anyway, try the area west of Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station, particularly Pracha Songkro. I used to walk through there from Ratchada 3, to go to the Big C Extra on Ratchada. Lots of low-rise apartments there of decent quality. As well, the area along Ratchada Soi 3, behind Fortune Town, has lots of low-rise places there. 

Yup. If I wanted to pay western rents, I'd just stay in Canada but would get more for that kind of outlay, such as a downtown condo near the waterfront, with everything I could ever need all within walking distance, including much cheaper groceries! 

Just to add a thought: The Phnom Penh units are more interesting living spaces, with huge balcony or terrace; large full-size kitchens (although a bit of overkill); larger washrooms with nice tiling. Often enough, a PP unit's rent includes cable TV and internet, plus the garbage fee. Renting a BKK condo usually includes nothing. So cable TV, internet, electric and water charges are all on top. So you add 3000-4000 baht to a 16,000 rent. I've declined a couple of units because of this reason and remained in my studio apartment outside Pattaya. I also have a unit in Bangkok. But this is going to end soon.

15 hours ago, Mekong Thunder said:

From what I've seen a huge,brand new 2 bed 2 bath apartment of 80m2 or more in PP is around USD $500 per month in a  good location like the Russian Market/Toul Tompoung,Olympic Stadium,Toul Kork or Riverside (which I personally  would avoid like the plague!)

They make Bangkok's pokey little rabbit hutches with sticky carpets look like the total ripoff they are at double or triple the price!

Agreed. In the new Bangkok condos, the units are like coffins. $400US and more for 32 sq metres, plus plus plus. 

After weeks of the same thing, I have to bring up this very annoying behaviour when loading a forum. The ad inserts between groups of threads come in last. I am about to click on something and the page content jumps forward and I end up clicking on air, or an ad I have no interest in, or thread I didn't want to read. This happens via Bangkok or Pattaya internet services. 

I don't suppose anything will be or could be done about this. But this issue really downgrades the TV reading experience. It's so annoying sometimes I just kill the tab and go somewhere else.

13 hours ago, Deserted said:

Soi 8 is alright although I think it has gone downhill a bit.

 

Best pint I've had was in The Clubhouse, worst was a pint of tiger in The Robin Hood. It was flat.

My local pub in Phra Khanong has fresher, colder Tiger draft than RH. And cheaper.  I was a regular quiz night player so had lots of chance to drink beer at RH but never had a good pint (of Tiger, Carlsberg or Heineken) there. Ever. 

17 minutes ago, Think2Mutt said:

It has definitely changed,it's got worse!

I haven't been in the Soi 8 Pub/Kiwi in the evenings in something like 3 years; had a couple of unremarkable breakfasts last year. I too felt it was not worth returning to and it seems to be the same. None of my friends has ever recommended hitting the Kiwi for a few. And no word of mouth either, which is the usual way people hear of worthy pubs.