brummiebob

How was the car parking situation? The Hard rock doesn't seem to have that many parking space for their guests just to begin with.

Must be quite an intimate venue though, it'd be rare to see musicians of this calibre in such a venue now. Are there any opening band?

Can't imagine the 'sponsors' pushing the drinks (beers and whiskey) get much customs afterwards though

McDonald's and Starbucks or even MK restaurants might pay close to minimum wage but they get to wear uniforms and have all that 'aspirational' image rub off on them,

Some are in it to look for a Farang husband, and once they have achieved their goals, they're gone.

These companies don't skimp out on training either, so on day one when these kids got sent to meet customers, they are already indoctrinated/vetted ie. those that will leave probably would have left during the training phase anyway

In my experience, those that are smart enough are smart enough to look somewhere else, so I'm stuck with the most clueless who walk in on the first help wanted sign they found, even the clueless ones left once they wisened up to the choices available to them in the job market.

So, in the short time before they leave, you have impress upon them why should they remain working for you, not the other way round these days, it doesn't need to be better pay, things like flexibility in working hours, allowing them to develop skills, at least see that's there's a career path or at least tolerable working conditions, that might means turning a blind eyes towards a few of their habits.

I'm guessing that not many places are open after 11pm, that should narrows down the choice a bit

Would it offend you less if they'd done it out of sight and not bring out the 'tomorrow' stuff before midnight?

They could have stamped it at 5PM in the back for all we know.

Could you PM me the Name of this place please? I'm curious as I've witness something similar in the past

I just bought a brand new portable 12,000 BTU unit that I am now selling. I paid 12k for it but will sell it for 9k however when being used in air-con mode you need to vent it to the outside via window or something.

Air Con is circulating system for interior air - adding warm outside air increases the cost of operation.

The portable unit doesn't have the compressor that you can put outside, you run the duct/hose from the back of the unit outside otherwise the hot air would be in the room and you won't cool anything

Seriously, I haven't paid attention in the past, but I walked from Soi 5 to Asoke all the time and I haven't seen any dildos, are you talking about the plastic, vibrating ones? or Thai wood carving, which, technically, isn't a dildo. I've seen some bongs and smoking paraphernalia, maybe some of the Johnsons shaped bong maybe... but never a tray full of throbbing, vibrating dildo or even plain vibrator of any sort. (cause I wouldn't mind to find some, sure beats mail order or ferrying them from back home in a suitcase, which could be all kinds of trouble at the customs)

I won't deny that there's lots of porn though, some vendor would even use discreet signs like 'Blue Movies' to avoid the cops (maybe)

There's a western-oriented attraction next to the Zoo "Flight of the Gibbon" that would come and pick your group up in Pattaya if you were to visit them, they might drop you off at the Zoo on the way there or back.

I really feel threatened by all these new foreigner, the bar girls probably feels less disgust/enjoy themselves more when they 'go out' with the young, big tipping tourist compared to beer bellied old fart like me.

Looks like smallest that has compressor that you can put outside starts around 8-9000 BTUs

Anything smaller is old-styled one unit that you mount on a window.

I haven't seen any modern window-type A/C in Thailand, looks like they are no longer sold in large numbers, it might even be cheaper to go with a smallest, more conventional split compressor air cond that you can find, probably easier to find parts should it break down too.

Portable A/C might be more flexible, but it's not split compressor that you required and you can't mount them discreetly and there's a duct that you need to run outside

Another option might be to get a ceiling type a/c in the main room and run some duct into the closet

I'm sure the many bookmakers and entertainment venues in Thailand will want to sort out this mess as soon as possible, don't know how much clouts they would have though...

Bookmakers?

Why do you think people watch so much Football? Why are there multiple newspapers giving the odds and forms every morning and afternoon?

They might not be visible but they do exist, some even have shopfronts.

Any further discussion is probably against this forum's rules though.

Even the bookies from the UK like Ladbrokes and such even bought ads space in the Thai Football papers, they even have call centres in the UK staffed with Thai students ready to answer punter's calls

If you are specifically discussing EPL footy on Thai TV, you are duplicating the thread dedicated to it:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/615853-true-epl-coverage/

But there are issues specific to Pattaya like installers, existing local cable companies.

CTH is using Vietnamese satellite, not the usual Thaicom, so you can't just swap out the box if you've already had a dish from true or freeview, at least you'll need a new lnb, or adjustments made to the old dish, or even a whole new dish pointing in the right direction

Football on TV is not basic rights, but even in Thailand it's a big deal, witness the uproar regarding the European Football and the World Cup on Free TV stuff a few years back.

At least in Thailand you do get all the matches, you can't even get that back in the UK (Saturday Mornings Pub Only Match?)

I'm sure the many bookmakers and entertainment venues in Thailand will want to sort out this mess as soon as possible, don't know how much clouts they would have though...

http://www.cth.co.th/package-599/

Looks like you do get a few more (dubious) channels on cable compared to via satellite, but again depends on where you are.

Some cable operators are anxious about joining CTH proper less they demote themselves to just cable installer and bill collector (and they might not be able to continue having dodgy channels like Astro or Movies from DVDs),

so they might only carry the usual channels from CTH but not participate in CTH's national marketing/ channel numbering scheme.

I suspect CTH is using the premier league as a carrot to lure local operators into joining under their umbrella and have more reach.

http://www.cth.co.th/ CTH, Cable Thai Holdings, which Supply Sophon and other smaller regional operators with contents like Fox, Universal and Syfy has won the bid for Premier League broadcast in Thailand, they are now rolling out satellite service, so if Sophon won't carry the Premier League channels, you can get a dish and box from CTH, too bad they don't have any information in English language yet.

Mata Hari on Thappraya next to Manhattan pretty good

Casa Pascal is excellent but a bit pricier

Horizon at the Hilton has quite a view, and you could go for movies afterwards in the Central Mall downstairs if the mood takes you

I've seen places in malls in Bangkok that sells time to sit in Himalayan salt cave like a spa/sauna, they probably sell the salt too since they are literally bricked wall to wall with them, doesn't look like the franchise had made their way to Pattaya yet, anyway the closest one to Pattaya I've seen is in Paradise Park Shopping Mall on Srinakharin Road, that's near Bangna

My wife needed a spine MRI, quotations were:

BPH 23000 THB

Samitivej Sriracha 32000 THB

Pyathai Sriracha 9500 THB no appointment necessary.

I think also that there is First, Business and Economy...same flight but not same luxuries

Didn't ask PIH

I had a Thai friend who was admitted to Queen Sawang Red Cross Hospital in Sriracha and he was referred to Samitivej for an MRI, all free on the government's dime, I don't think they would charge the Government that much, maybe the price was depending on your ability to pay

I sat on mine once and when I rang up Amazon they sent another one for free, I'm supposed the send the old one back but the UPS agent (Mailboxes etc in Big C) won't accept Amazon's account and insisted on charging me.

Amazon Customer Service is excellent, only trouble is that for some things you can't just email them, but you have to ring them up, depends on which call centre you get put through, the accent and call quality makes it hard to understand them a bit.

Having someone on the ground that is willing to handle warranty for you would be a plus.

Also I got charged the 'electronics' tax rate for accessories like the lighted covers for the older non-paper white Kindle when I ordered from Amazon, so if these guys are bringing them in themselves in suitcases, they should be able to offer them for much cheaper

The Pratumnak Hill has two parks separated by the road, one on the beach/walking street side and the other one on big Buddha hill overlooking Thappraya/Jomtien 2nd Road there's a tunnel under the road connecting the two halves together too if you feel like going for a big run, and paved and off-road cycle tracks that not many jogger use, there's lots of elevation perfect for interval training, good car park, only down side that after 8pm, the place attracts some boys on boys action down in the bushes

As for getting your prescriptions at Fascino, How could you check while you are still at the hospital that are there anything hospital specific that cannot be sold at a pharmacy? Like strong painkillers and such, since there are no formal prescription system in Thailand, it seems that certain strong drugs are only available in hospital's pharmacy

I've had the (dis) pleasure of riding on minivans that is genuinely fast late in the evening, but the whole things felts like coffin on wheels, so unless I really need to go somewhere that they stop without needing to make connections, like Don Mueang Airport, I'd give them a pass

Many people might not know that at PTT (Blue Flame) and Bang Chak (Green Leaf) the price are a few Satang lower than others, everywhere. since they own the Refinery and all others are essentially buying petrol from them, so, it could be worth a detour, some Bangchak stations (In Bangkok) even have a western style fill it your self for a discount of 10-20 satang. The Petronas on Suk just next to Central Rd is being turned into Bang Chak, so the choice is there

Contact the Thai national media,

"Same same Thai" probably translates to: "Dear good sir, we overcharge you regardless of your nationality or race, even if you're Thai, you'd have to pay my price."

I would caution against Paddock in Ratchada in Bangkok, If you know your stuff, they have some decent things, but when I was a total newbie there they sold me old stock helmets and gloves, after I have found other shops like Panda Rider and Dirt Shop I rare go back there for anything, Last time I was there the boots selection was quite good though, and parts like visors are always in stock, compared to Panda rider that might need to order one it for you.

Back to topic though, I use the outer layer of Columbia camping jacket to wear over my normal riding jacket and that works pretty well