Kaoboi Bebobp

I don't know if you can read this Housing HCMC FB page without being a member. But it is full of listings. I happen to be a member because I was looking to live there early this year. Decided against it. Reason: Saigon apartments are on the same expense level as Bangkok, only Saigon does not have a metro transit system -- although a Skytrain/subway system its slowly being built. 

You have a very large apartment in HH. Something like that is bound to be 10 million to 15 million dong/month (22,300 dong/$1). Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/330339417123482/

I'm not aware of any bus service from the Pattaya North to DMK. The first Bangkok bus leaves at 0430, to either Ekamai or Mo Chit.

 http://www.pattayabus.com/desktop/en/pattaya-to-bangkok-timetable/

Taking a taxi from Mo Chit Terminal to DMK is very easy. It's about 20-30 minutes, and roughly 150 baht.

The Londoner's brewer just posted on FB that he's in Munich to buy some brewery parts. Says he can't wait to get brewing again. There's hope!

2 hours ago, allane said:

When I used to do that trip, the BTS Sukhumwit line ended at Onnut. The incoming bus stopped there to allow incoming passengers to disembark, but with one important caveat.Only those with no baggage disembarked there, because the driver would not open the baggage holds.  What is the policy on this at Udomsuk ?

Same. No undercarriage luggage to be off-loaded. It's the same at all the other stops. I get off at Udom Suk every time, but I just have a small backpack. The run from there to Ekamai can take as much as half an hour, much to my regret a couple of times.

24 minutes ago, Anthony5 said:

 

 

I would have thought a test run should be made before the purchase.

You would think so but they were going to buy from the Chinese all along.

The only thing I buy is amlopine besylate (Berlin Pharma) 10 mg. I buy a box at a time, 10 x 10. = 250 baht from SC Drugs on Rama 4, Bangkok. SC is considered to be one of the cheapest places in BKK to buy drugs. 

This must have been the tender that two Euro companies pulled out of because the authority kept changing the specs, which came to  resemble more and more the Chinese bidder's product.  Oh, look, here it is:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/789521-bangkoks-new-bus-fleet-saga-why-scania-volvo-opt-out/

5 hours ago, smokie36 said:

 

I don't know why that place does well as it has ++ pricing and not much else on offer.

[Sorry, this is not the post I was trying to quote; was thinking Deserted's post would come along . . .]

The Dubliner is now Harrity's, which seems a pleasant place and I found the staff to be very good. However, with only a couple of "loss leader" beers for happy hour till 7 or 8 pm, it's as expensive as every other bar down the tourist strip.

Royal Oak leaves me kind of cold, as does the Robin Hood.

The boringly dull Queen Vic was bought by someone else a few months ago and they immediately boosted the prices of everything. New rather disinterested manager too, with Peter having gone. 

Overall, as I may have said above, Bangkok's pub scene is looking to be in a somewhat dire state, TBH. 

I take the BKK-Pattaya-BKK bus 3-4 times a month. Haven't noticed any change in skeds or passenger traffic. I travel in mornings though, 9 am to 1 pm range. Buses leaving every 10-15 minutes. If the OP goes at night, that's definitely a different story.

 As Allane notes above, go to Mo Chit and take the express bus to Pattaya. One time for me, it took only 1 hour, 50 minutes to Pattaya. Most days Ekamai to Pattaya, it takes 2 hours, 15 minutes to as much as almost 3 hours.

In Canada, a premium craft beer would be about 195 baht/pint. I believe Guinness is just a bit more. It just shows you how much of an import tariff is applied in Thailand and how much more bars have to charge, both due to the tariff and extreme Bangkok rents they pay. Had an import craft beer at Hair of the Dog (Soi 33/1) recently. It was 250 baht + VAT + SC, for grand total of 292 baht. No thanks. 

That's quite the electricity bill. I flit between two small Thai apartments. Total of 2 bills last month was $74.

The apartment situation is looking much better than early last year and the year before. TTP appears to be a much better value now. 

I'd given up on Phnom Penh and haven't been back this year. But once I accepted the idea of living in the Tuol Tom Poung (Russian Market) area, which is developing slowly but surely in terms of restaurants and bars now, I'm gradually thinking about moving back there from Bangkok. 

I'd only moved back to BKK from outside Pattaya three months ago. What a price shock! Everything from resto meals to supermarket groceries to transit has gotten very  expensive. My transport bill jumped from 550 baht a month in Pats to over 4,000 baht. My bar bills soared 30% to 50% because of the higher prices -- Black Label was about 110 baht in Pats, but is 160 to over 200 in BKK. Was recently in a new craft beer bar. An import beer was 250 baht, plus VAT and SC. Total 300 baht/$9US for a 12oz/330ml glass! I'd done some paper numbers but the shock hits you when you're going to the ATM and taking out 50% more every transaction compared to Pattaya.

As a smoker in Thailand, 125 baht a pack is way over the Cambodian price of $1.50/50 baht.

I've spent a lot of time trawling the PP property rental pages recently. Rents seem to be visibly coming down. Some properties with certain features used to be listed at $500-$550, even $600 a month are now down to $400 to $450. Some posted places have updated comments dropping the rent. Reading those rental pages used to scare me off, now it's not so bad. 

But prices aren't everything in decisions about where to live. I miss PP and the people I knew who are still there. Hope to be back before the end of the year.

9 hours ago, Deserted said:

A new pub gives you more options. In my opinion many of the ex-pat bars are over-priced and poorly managed. there are some good ones of course, but a lot of them haven't got much going on, as anyone who has been in The Queen Victoria and many others like it can tell you.

Yup, agreed. I have mostly abandoned the "downtown" expat bars these days: too expensive, little atmosphere. OK, they pay huge rents but I'm not going to subsidize greedy Thai landlords. Bars are starting to sprout in the neighbourhoods, "locals" as the Brits call them. I am spending most of my time near home.

They have been open since mid-July. More than two months and still no brew pub beer. That might tell you something. Ahem . . . Until they show up with the beer, it's just another bar to me.  The only thing I miss are the great staff from the old bar, although a handful of them have returned, thankfully. Saw them on (soft) opening night.   And it's the same for me, living in the even sois of Phra Khanong, it's quite a hike. Whereas I can hop on the BTS to 33/1 for the newly opened and pleasant Harrity's (ex-Dubliner). 

7 hours ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

I hope you find a country that meets your exacting pizza serving standards where you will be happy.

It's not about pizza, or mathematical exactitude or marketing-engineered standards, it's about the simple acknowledgement that we are two human beings (customer and server) deserving of mutual respect.

12 hours ago, BruceMangosteen said:

They had roadblocks set up at all three major roads entering/leaving Pattaya last week, up near Sukhumvit. I noticed yesterday the one on Pattaya Tai was gone. Point being, have some sort of paperwork and DL as roadblocks becoming a real pain in the arse. 

Yes they have become a real pain. Even my moto taxi guy has started handing me a helmet for the first time in over 2 years. 

1 hour ago, pattayadude said:

you probably wouldn't want to know..I frequently come across this sort of rage and anger in various 7-elevens,beer bars and mom&pop stores.. In the Philippines or latin american countries that I  frequently visited during the last 15 years, these sort of things hardly ever happen. I just can't figure out the source of the anger in Pattaya..One thing I noticed though, most doesn't have any sense of humor and generally no tolerance to any friendly joke.

If you wore a loud, striped vest over a flowered shirt, giant goggles, and a flower on a stem planted on top of your head, they would laugh then. Sad but true.

The lack of friendly contact is one of the great detractions of living here. While my current neighbourhood has its friendly folks, I find I've had to go the extra mile just to get anything resembling a civil, polite transaction completed.  I find it somewhat exhausting having to step up my game when entering an office or shop. Here it's just plain work and I'm pretty tired of it. 

I was treated for prostate cancer by radiation oncologist Dr. Sakpisid Nawasiri at Bangkok Hospital in 2014. My Gleason score was 7 with a PSA of 14.3. Two years later, PSA continually decreased to under 1.0 now and no evidence of spread based on blood tests. I was treated by Image Modulated Radiation Therapy. My Canadian doctor informed me afterward hospitals  in Canada typically treat cancer with the radioactive beads. 

re Tanatawey Place behind Fortune Town. This used to be my go-to hotel when commuting from Pattaya. Great place. However, walking to FTown means dodging some heavy foot and moto traffic. But more important, you cannot escape stairs going up or down to enter the mall. Go down to the basement, you have to descend, then climb or descend steps as the floors are uneven. The main floor requires taking 8-12 steps or more to enter the mall and then descend to the walkway to the MRT.  

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

I believe the winchester is closed.  Drove by the other day and it seemed empty.  Shops closing all over the place.  Tukcom was a ghost town yesterday at 5PM.  Very few people there and many shops gone.

Today Tukcom was the same as you describe. Around 2 pm, having hit four floors, nothing but emptiness. Few customers and now fewer occupied shops. 

From 12:30 pm at Tukcom, I went to Benjamit (maybe 6 tables occupied), Central Festival Central Market (very light customer traffic), Big C Extra supermarket (very light), HomePro (virtually empty). I always fear the run up Soi Yume to the u-turn (hate Sukumvit) after 3 pm. Today, completely unfettered headway for my return to the Darkside, except on southbound Suk, of course. 

Was great for shopping and relaxing. But yes, I voted Decreasing quality of life after 12 years of visiting/living in Pattaya.

100% female?

I just paid 300 for very quick service a couple of weeks ago. In fact, I can only ever remember paying 300 over the last several years and don't recall it ever being 200 baht.

I've been to Pattaya International Hospital numerous times over 6 years, including for treatment after a moderate motorcycle accident. Always felt I got good treatment or diagnoses. Wasn't too expensive either.

3 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

 

You wrote, "I bring nearly everything important I need from home in Canada or order online now. Otherwise, I shop as little as possible and mostly buy imported goods and foods. "

 

Then you proceeded to thoroughly bash Thai shopping. 

 

If you bring everything from home or order on line..........how the heck would you know? 

 

I haven't been back to Canada in 20 years but the lack of hospitality and rudeness of Quebec shopkeepers still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.   And getting rolled by a Montreal go go dancer in the middle of winter struck me as the height of bad form for tourism.  Whoever broke into my rental car at the airport and stole all my ski equipment I'll still fracture your skull if I find you. 

 

Given a choice of Quebec or Thailand - Thailand wins hands down. 

 

You jumped over the "now", which may be too subtle. In a 12-year period, I went from buying everything here and eating on the street to bringing most things with me and never eating street food. Miserable service and product quality in Thailand has turned me into an importer and I make most of my meals at home. 

Maybe you ought to go back. Can't speak for Quebec, but service, helpfulness and courtesy has improved immensely in Toronto.