hiromj

Excellent

Thanks

This topic worked very well for me as I will be doing this in two weeks....but maybe in Japan.

I am looking for a condo in North Pattaya. I prefer two or three bedrooms with a good view of the ocean. I am working in Laem Chabang and I have the utmost respect for others propery. I am looking for a minimun of one year with a good possibilty to extend further. I prefer to deal with an owner directly if possible. I do not mind paying the monthly rent (somewhere around 20,000 or 30,000 Baht) but I do not want to pay the large up front key money. If you have something or know of something, please PM me the details. I am currently staying in Sri Racha so I am available to view any prospects.

Thank you all for the information. It's all part of my education. I have always been to Pattaya on business so we always had personal drivers. This time I will be moving to Pattaya and I will have a car so I am trying to get a handle on rough costs and the rules and regulations. I will use 20,000 p/y as a baseline for my calculations.

Electricity 1000 Baht-1800 Baht per month Winter-Summer

Water: 200-400 Baht per month

Landline Telephone: 500 Baht per month average (few overseas calls)

TOTAL MONTH: Approx: 2300 Baht per month.

Thank you very much for the information. I may go with a 25,000 Baht condo and reserve 5000 Baht for utilities as I will need satalite television also. So, I am assuming 25,000 Baht should get me a decent condo. True?

Can someone please give me rough price per month for car insurance? Campany car is also included in the offer.

Com'on Mobi. I know you're there. Help my out a bit when you have a chance

Well, just recieved a formal job offer from Thailand in the Pattaya area. In the offer, they are offering $30,000 Baht per month for housing. My question is, Can I get a nice place for that amount? I would be looking for a furninshed condo with a good view of the ocean. It does not have to be in Pattaya. It could be anywhere from Laem Chabang to Jomtein. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Is that you total allowance for accommodation AND utility bills? If so you can rent a nice place for 15,000 baht per month and use the other 15,000 baht for water, electric, telephone, satellite TV etc.

You will have no worries. Just take your time and view several properties before parting with your cash and deposit. Good luck and don't believe the guy renting you the accommodation: He WILL tell you lies. Find out everything for yourself.

Thanks for the help. the offer just came in this morning so I am still digesting it. I didn't even think about the utilities and deposit so I added those to my list. So, you someone give me rough numbers for all utilities?

Can someone please give me rough price per month for car insurance? Campany car is also included in the offer.

Well, just recieved a formal job offer from Thailand in the Pattaya area. In the offer, they are offering $30,000 Baht per month for housing. My question is, Can I get a nice place for that amount? I would be looking for a furninshed condo with a good view of the ocean. It does not have to be in Pattaya. It could be anywhere from Laem Chabang to Jomtein. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone ever heard of this? If so, what is it?

Without having time to read this entire thread, I will say that I have been riding motorcycles in Japan almost everyday for over 12 years without incident. In fact, I considered myself a very safe and cautious rider. Then one day last month, I hit a slick spot on the road (slow speed and didn't even see it). Next thing I knew, I was down. Now, I do remember precisley my head slamming on the pavement as it made quite a sound. If I was not wearing a very good helmet at the time, 100% chance that I am dead right now. I don't care how good a rider you think you are, it takes less that a split second for everything to change for the worse. I will never ride without a helmet again. BTW, the rest of my body is finally recovering.

Thanks for that, hiromj. Most of my m/c fall-offs occurred when I was paying attention, was sober, experienced, well trained, etc. But then suddenly I was lying on the road with a bruised shoulder, a broken shoulder, no skin on my palm, and hideous scratches on my helmet. A speed of even 40 kilometers per hour creates velocities that the human body was never designed to endure.

No problem. I may have been slightly off-topic but I wanted to take the oppotunity to point out, through personal experience, the importance of good equipment while riding in any hostile environment. Most of the helmets I see here are less than useless.

Without having time to read this entire thread, I will say that I have been riding motorcycles in Japan almost everyday for over 12 years without incident. In fact, I considered myself a very safe and cautious rider. Then one day last month, I hit a slick spot on the road (slow speed and didn't even see it). Next thing I knew, I was down. Now, I do remember precisley my head slamming on the pavement as it made quite a sound. If I was not wearing a very good helmet at the time, 100% chance that I am dead right now. I don't care how good a rider you think you are, it takes less that a split second for everything to change for the worse. I will never ride without a helmet again. BTW, the rest of my body is finally recovering.

Ayuttaya is quite a drive, i have done it myself so expect about 5 hours journey time. i use a guy that does pat/bkk/waits 2 hours/patt for 2000 (good for Embassy visits when i am too lazy to take my own car and drive) so i would have thought you might be looking around 2500b to Ayuttaya in his car. driver only, don't know?

Thanks for the info. Can you PM me his contact info? I am looking fora car and driver and I need to make two stops and they will have to wait for me at both stops. The price I got was slighly higher so maybe he is in the ballpark.

I may need to hire a driver for one day to drive me from Pattaya to Bangkok/Autaya(sic) then back to Pattaya. Does anyone have any experience with this and, if so, approxomately how much should it cost? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We are sure getting the lowdown on the hotel. Now, does anybody know if someone died or not?

Oh there is no doubt that someone died there on Monday.

It was a groom to be next month of a good friend of my wife.

She [the friend] is distraught and the family have flown in to take care of things.

The only question is how a healthy successful businessman dies

alone and unexpectedly at the age of 40.

[Please keep the speculations to yourself, thank you]

It could be just a heart attack and someone with unlucky genes.

Or maybe not. We will have to wait and see what the hospital says.

There was a similar incident in Pattaya a while ago. Seemingly healthy low 40's man dies after a game of squash, which he played a lot. Very sad but it does happen. Maybe the Internet exposes it more. My condolences to your wife's friend and their families.

The scam works best in an environment with more motorcycles because they use far less gas. If a motorcycle only puts in 100 Baht and then a car comes behind it and fills up, the car's driver will probably not notice the extra 100 Baht they are being charged. If an attendant does this enough times during the day (and it happens more that you may think), it adds up quite nicely. It is very possible to pump gas without resetting the dial.

Everybody has to die somewhere.

Recent posts on another topic about phone cards mentioned an old scam that been here for a number of years and ccontinues today.

The Pattaya Tai Shell Station has been stealing money for years. I was there a few years ago to fill up, when I observed an older worker filling a motorcycle and not resetting the pump and before filling the next vehicle. He saw me and said "what you looking-you have some problem?" I sent e-mail to the Shell Oil Company Thailand. They did not respond. Maybe they don't care at Shell Oil Thailand.

Perhaps the gas station rip off can happen anywhere. The point is that is that happens on an apparently frequent basis at the Shell station located next to the CAT Telephone office on Pattaya South Road.

I only go there when I don't have another choice. Of course you are correct to say to get out and check the pump reading. My point is why buy from the thieves and then have to always distrust them and protect yourself. There are other places to get gas and I have never seen this rip off done at any other Pattaya gas station. I think most other stations have pumps that require resetting once the hose is returned and before an additional amount of gas can be pumped. I wonder if this feature has been disabled at Shell. What would a wise man do? Would he buy at Shell or find another vendor?

It's called "hanging the pumps". Been happening for years, and not just in Thailand. A long time ago (late "70's), a couple of my friends worked a gas stations and did it all the time. A nice bonus to their incomes and tax free.

When does peak season end? I am thinking about coming the second week of January and I am wondering if I will have a hard time finding a hotel. Also, will the hotel prices still be peak season rates?

So I will continue to "enjoy" the excessive heat we are now experiencing this cool season and just reach for the air con remote

please stay on topic and whine a bit more, thanks!

O.K. reverse whine. Every morning I sit at my office desk wearing my big leather jacket and sitting on my hands for warmth. And this lasts from December to April.

The global warming bandwagon has got to be the greatest scam since the 'millennium bug' fiasco. Instead of whining about how unseasonably hot/cold the weather is, we should be creating a 'get rich quick' scheme to take advantage of those that seriously think imposing such things as a 'carbon tax' and investing money into nebulously named 'renewables' is going to make a halfpence worth of difference in the lifetimes of us, our children and our children's children.

My thoughts exactly. Al Gore sure is getting rich from all this.

Don't worry, it will all be finished in 2012 (big belief here in Japan).

One weekend is unbelievable to stop serving alcohol for elections, but two is........words fail me!!!

The Italian place (sorry, forgot the name) does a very good steak. They have a meat counter and cut off the piece you order and cook it to your liking. As I recall, it was around 500 Baht. Very good and highly recommended.

Hi folks,

Can you help me with some good restaurant recommendations please.

About 12 months ago I stopped going to Western restaurants as I was invariably disappointed, and realised I could do much better food at home than most of these 'restaurants', and I do enjoy cooking (have a full euro kitchen). Therefore I am afraid my finger is a little off the pulse of the restaurant scene in Pattaya. We still go out for Thai food, but if I fancy farang food I stay at home and cook.

My problem is that my parents are arriving next week for a 3-4 week stay, and my father is allergic to all seafood, so that pretty much rules out all Thai food as they will even put nam plaa in the bloody fried rice. I will of course cook sometimes, but they are on holiday and will want to go out wining and dining, so I would be grateful if you could share some of your good experiences of western dining in Pattaya.

I don't mind going 'high end' a few times, but don't want to do that every day. I am not cheap, but feel value for money is important, and I am sure there are plenty of places that do steaks just as well as Manhattans, but don't charge 3,000 baht for the priveledge (as an example).

Any recommendations gratefully received.

Swing low.....

Gullivers

Shinanigans

There is a good Italian place on Beach Road (big place and has outdoor dining) that does a very good steak.

Hopf (not my favorite though)

That's all I can think of now.

Cheers.

I think I recall seeing some on Soi 8 between Beach Road and Second Road.