MrWorldwide

Are we just whining about songkran in every thread now?

The man has a point, even if I still have no idea why Costas started this thread.

After the mob in Soi 7 yesterday, I expected to see some life in the bars when the sun set : nothing could have been further from the truth. Billabong in LK Metro had a reasonable turnout, but I've never seen the bars on Diana so empty and Buakhow was much the same. Went into Oscar's GoGo on LK at the insistence of one of the girls I was with - there was one other punter and he looked bored. When he left we followed soon after, leaving the girls on stage to their own devices. I'm assured that it will pick up on the 18th and 19th - the last two days of Songkran here in Pattaya - but last night was the pits.

If you look closely at the second photo in my OP, two Farang are loading one of the blue PVC cannons and the later photo was taken from inside a bar where several were strewn on the floor of the bar for their owners if needed. Saw several of them on Soi 7 and a couple on Beach Road : no attempt to hide them from the Police. I did cop a couple of sprays from them but the bucket of ice-cold water down the back is worse, IMO. Goggles, as I mentioned earlier, are an absolute must, as is some sort of waterproofing for your wallet.

Funny how there seems to be so many expats, living here, that hate Songkran. Probably got a lot to do with where they live of course. Songkran in Ubon Ratchathani is a joy and I look forward to it every year!

Maybe getting doused at around 8AM one Songkran morning when the going is usually clear with a 5 Litre bucket of water at point-blank range on your motorbike, sending the bike to the ground and smashing it and leaving yourself in a bloody mess with your glasses broken has something to do with it.

... and the guys that did were laughing.

As much as I did enjoy my first rodeo on Soi 7 yesterday, I can easily see how that could happen as the madness intensifies. Other than your post, I have absolutely no idea what this thread is about - unless George has recently been knighted or inducted into the Thai Hall of Fame, how is Songkran any different for him than the rest of us ??

Edit: reading redandyellow's posts has completely clarified what this thread is all about. Mental illness isnt something to be taken lightly, so I'll leave it there,

It was great to see the younger Chinese tourists getting right into it yesterday in central Pattaya, even if the guys seemed to be having considerably more fun than their lady friends. Less enthused by the massage harpy who insisted on throwing ice cold water on the front of my shorts - at that stage I was dry and it was clearly designed to make me look like I'd just peed myself - hilarious stuff if we were both 12 years old and enrolled in a Special School. That effort aside, I had a surprisingly good time yesterday. Let's hope the overall happy vibe lasts for the remainder of this endless holiday.

Those blue ones will get them a nice fine if caught.

Please post less shirtless farang, and more thai girls.

Agreed - hansum men, every one of 'em

Of course, shirtless Thai girls would be the way to go, but the only time I saw anything like that was a katoey keen to show off her doctor's handiwork : not really the stuff of dreams (my dreams, at any rate). I'm going back with a freelancer associate today and she does have a penchant for exhibitionism after a few drinks - see if I cant improve on this lot.

Dunno - a Thai offered to sell me one but I declined. The blokes on top of that truck basically had a massive hose that drenched everyone within range, but when they lost water pressure they copped it from all sides : i guess they could tell you what it feels like to get it in the eyes. I got two pairs of goggles and was generally happy except for the ice-water-down-the back.

One last hurrah - the sun will never set on an empire so ably represented by so many in faraway lands

For those who believe the Thai smile is a rare commodity in Pattaya, there were plenty on display yesterday.

That's it for now.

Second Road near Central - plenty of smiles in the back of the baht buses despite the odd drenching

Hard getting decent action shots when there was so much ice-cold water being hurled everywhere.

I realise that we dont want 15 Songkran threads, but in the interests of keeping the photos in one thread and not making life any more painful for those accessing TV from a phone or tablet, I'm hoping the mods will indulge me here. I'll keep this to two or three photos per post as no-one wants to see a huge slab of photos quoted in a reply.

Monday April 13, ~2:30pm

Soi 7 was the last place I would have ridden a motorbike ...

Everything I saw was good-natured - hopefully that will remain the case.

funny how you arm chair detectives come to conclusions, it was a head-on collision, i could walk 50 yards from my condo and see many motor bike taxis, riding on the "wrong " side of the road , against opposing traffic, so how can you judge, or perhaps you were all there and witnessed it, (yep thought so,no you wern't, probably wrapped up in bed with your cup of cocoa, you are all guessing again

-Hence my 'benefit of the doubt' comment ....the TV way is to lynch someone based on the first report submitted by a Thai on the back of a motorbike, desperate for some kind of eyewitness account. Not gonna change anytime soon - we just like lynching people. That said, if he was drunk it woulldnt have improved either of their chances even if the motosai rider WAS on the wrong side of the road - all pure speculation based on nothing more than the near misses I see every single day. Thai men, in particular, seem to have absolute confidence in their own reflexes and those of everyone else around them on the road - totally misplaced IMO,

People that live in the Pattaya area should have no reason to defend themselves against the OP, if he does not like it good for him/her. He has started 15 meaningless threads in 50 posts total

yes, but the thread is yet another occasion to tell the small-minded about the many good reasons to live in Pattaya

I'm not small minded, besides you guys who live there and the people who go there each year for the beer and hookers, most others have a very negative opinion of Pattaya. I know this is ill informed, and that's why I asked. But you can't deny Pattaya's reputation. For example, I'm an expat in Phnom Penh and there's a huge fear among expats there of people coming over from Pattaya to Cambodia.

I know Pattaya is much more complex than what people make it out to be, that's why I'm interested in it and asked this question. If I was small minded I would've just written it off, like 99% of people do. I appreciate the good side of Pattaya too, and thanks for the responses.

Right, and if I wanted to peddle stereotypes I might post that I heard most of the expats in PP were either heroin addicts, failed entrepreneurs or Svay Pak predators on the run from the law in several countries. Many of those who 'fear' Pattaya refugees seem to have spent plenty of time here indulging in the same vices - what they really fear is that the same malaise will spread to the Khmer population of Pnomh Penh, prices going up while attitudes plummet. If some of the bitching on various forums is accurate, that process may already be underway.

As an illustration, the standard rate for company in 2010 was 30USD and the two contractors I engaged during my time in PP were both very happy with that. The next time I checked it was 45USD and I'm now being told that 'skilled contractors' are charging 60USD, more than many here are prepared to pay a local contractor for an overnight job. As with anything in that industry, you tend to get what you paid for (sometimes not even that), but if the stereotype of a Pattaya refugee is a rabid cheap charlie lured by the promise of 50 cent Happy Hour beers and cheap companionship, perhaps it will be a lot more of the former and considerably less of the latter. I shudder to think what the PP equivalent of Coconut Bar is, but then I shudder when i think of Pattaya's Coconut Bar .....

I dont think the PP 'elite' (the aforementioned stereotypes, anyway) have a great deal to fear from your average old bloke looking for a change of scenery. We're an erudite, well travelled group with a wide variety of interests - dont judge a book by it's cover

From the photo you can see why a wall like this collapsed. Lego may have been stronger.

OK - I laughed - but apparently they've realised the error of their ways and will be taking a completely different approach when they rebuild the wall.

http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/en_US/

That's something for Prayut and his mates.........bring back Songkran to the original dates of 13, 14 and 15 April.......PERIOD!!!

<deleted>......start on the 11th and finish on the 19th!!!

Nothing to do with Prayut - short of closing the bars I dont see how he could stop the madness that is confined to a single city. A city which just happens to consider corruption a virtue - money talks, joe, simple as that.

Have the number of Chinese increased in the past couple of days? I mean are there even more right now? Are numbers expected to fall back at the end of Songkran or is this a nightmare without end?

Why would numbers magically drop off after Songkran ? No shortage of Chinese and Korean tourists here right through low season 2014 - there seem to be more tour buses now, but many are half-empty.

I wont even ride a motorbike here -

1. its dangerous trying to ride a motorbike sober

2. when I've had a few I'm sure I'd forget all about point 1.

Seriously, if there is one thing that the nanny states we've come from finally got right it was cracking down on drink drivers and its way overdue in Thailand. If the OP needs any help packing, I'll also volunteer my services.

Luxfare, that fits the description of a bloke I just saw running down Buakhow with a water pistol and a pair of safety goggles shouting 'I'll &lt;deleted&gt; kill you ALLLLLLL !'

Hallelujah - USPS is finally giving me something of value:

April 10, 2015 , 2:24 pm

Processed Through Sort Facility

ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)

OP: I was referring to Thai Muslim who were a large proportion of the local population and in some areas still are. Over on the 'Dark Side' much of the land and shop houses are owned by some Thai Muslim families though they do not display their wealth. In the reverse quite extensive poverty.

Again as a bit of background info many of the beach businesses such as umbrella / chair rentals are owned by local Thai Muslims; many are licensed beach massage ladies. Motorbike taxi drivers etc, etc. In addition there are a number of Thai Muslim local politicians.

OK - my mistake - I've seen a few at Big C extra wearing the hijab or the Malay-style hat but I cant say I've seen many elsewhere here.

Might be time to restate the central point I tried to make in my OP:

Songkran will need to be a complete turnaround for many of the bars and restaurants in this town to keep their doors open beyond May 2015 IMO.

Whether the root cause of that downturn is currency fluctuations or rising prices - or a combination of the two - my point was that I just dont grasp how many of these businesses have lasted this long. Even last night, when I thought there were a few more punters around, if I took photos of the people in the bars in central Pattaya and photoshopped out the Thais working there, they would have been very sparsely populated. I understand that the town has changed and no-one is immune from inflation, but the impact of a very strong baht in the wake of the greenback's resurgence seems to have reined in a lot of our 'disposable' income. I guess those still here in May can either laugh or grimace at this post - assuming it isnt simply another long forgotten prediction to add to the thousands made for Pattaya's future over the years