Evil Penevil

I don't know if the BiB have recently changed their routines, but for decades farang caught up in raids on nightspots were never forced to give a urine sample.  They were simply told to pay their tabs and leave.  There were a few exceptions if a farang was obviously tweeking or got belligent with police, but those exceptions were few and far between over the years.

2 hours ago, chessman said:

... it’s a kind of upmarket restaurant/bar that caters to middle class and rich Thais, not in a tourist area or near the MRT/BTS. Less than 0.1% of their customers would be foreign. 

Exactly. It's an out-of-the-way place that had virtually no foreigners as guests pre-corona.  If you're never going to go there, why would you care what its policy is during a pandemic?

Keep in mind that for years there have been many farang bars in both Bangkok and Pattaya which refuse entry on the basis of race or ethnicity.  Thai males and "unaccompanied" Thai females are often forbidden entry.  I don't think these admission "policies" are based on racist ideology but are rather an attempt by the owners to attract the most profitable customer base while keeping the local staff happy.  Same-same with the Fullmoon Terrace & Bar.

5 hours ago, champers said:

Evil. You are really Jsixpack?

No, I only post under the handle Evil Penevil.  I have never used any other board name.

Evil

4 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

You bring back fond memories.  The first time I read a post like that it was 2007.  Almost word for word.

You can read "doom-and-gloom" predictions about the worst-ever low- or high-season that go back even further.  The oldest Pattaya-centric forum still in operation has archives that go back to 2002.  Many of the posts written 16 or 17 years ago are strikingly similar to posts you can read today.  Here are a few quotes from 2002 and 2003 about low season. 

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I have no idea what the official figures are for Pattaya, but anecdotal and visual evidence indicates that this low season is likely to be a survival of the fittest test.

 The generally accepted figure suggesting tourism is down by 60% is more than bulwarked by knowledge that certain United Nations’ agencies have placed farangus largesse perambulatus walletis on the seriously endangered list.

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As an indication of how slow it was, one evening as I was headed to FLB I walked past that large beer bar complex at the beginning of Walking St at a little past 8 PM.  I looked over as I received many "Hello Welcomes" and looked at approximately 80 - 90 ladies in those small beer bars and only saw 2 guys sitting at the bars.

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I was in Pattaya from April 14 -30 and then again from May 19-30. It was much slower in May than the month before. A friend and I walk along Soi 7-8 at around 1:00am in the morning, many of the bars had no customers in them. Two dozen bar girls all looking at each other and no clients. I stay on Soi 8 and several time I would leave my hotel late to do internet, etc. a?nd the girls walked up to you and tried to get you to take them, without bar fines even.

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The bottom line is business is very slow Cobra Gold is over and no more Gis are in town. It is a buyers market.  So much so that I may go back early next month.

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I was in Pattaya from May 6th to June 5th, and guys it is the slowest i've ever seen. The beer bars are empty, and the girls are hungry. 
 

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loads of girls, not many customers,hasnt rained for about 6 days, but before that was raining hard nearly every 2nd day, very hot, a go go's shutting about 2.00am-2.30am, beer bars open all night/morning (reduced lighting/music) police have a mini surge/crackdown about once a week then everything returns back to normal the next day,world cup being shown live in about 90% of all the bars, english hooligans certainly do not exist in pattaya or if they do i havnt noticed them, hotels about 60% full, due mainly to honk (sic) kong/chinese customers.]

Complaints about low season even predate the Internet boards by at least 10 years.  From The Seattle Times,  June 14, 1987:

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The declining U.S. dollar has helped raise Pattaya Beach back to its former prosperity as one of Thailand's most popular tourist resorts. A year ago, its annual hotel occupancy was down more than 50 percent from four years earlier, the beaches were littered with trash, the water was becoming polluted, and tourists complained of harassment by transvestites and prostitutes.

The resort's glut of bars, massage parlors and prostitutes created a severe image problem and scared away middle-class and family tourists, the hoteliers said. ...

From The Economist, July 6, 1991:

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Today Pattaya is a mess. Uncontrolled building has ruined its shoreline. The sea is coated with a film of raw sewage. Last year so many tourists died in mysterious circumstances that even the shady mafia that controls the town was embarrassed. An alarming proportion of the bar girls, many of whom are in fact transvestites, are HIV positive. Lucky is the hotel with 10% of its rooms occupied. ...

From MT (Management Today), Dec. 1, 1991:

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Tourism is one of the key areas being targeted by a Thai government set on growth, and a major clean-up campaign is to be launched to rid the country of its sleazy sex and drugs image.

Of course, none of this changes the fact that 2019 could well be the worst low season ever in Pattaya's history.  But it's also important to keep things in context and gloomy predictions and observations have been around for a very long time.

Evil

4 hours ago, ALFREDO said:

You right - he is from an Ex Communist Eastern European country 

Is it Hungary?  ????????????

Seriously, as others have said, it would be absolutely best for your non-friend to beg or borrow (I won't say steal) the 2,500 baht. If that ls totally impossible, there are a few other options, but none of them are certain.  

1)  The embassy of his home country may be willing to lend him the money. Your non-friend apparently lacks the resources to travel to Bangkok, but he could at least give the embassy a call.  Even if the embassy can't lend him money directly, the consular officers may know of a Pattaya resident who is willing to help a fellow countryman in dire straights.  

2) The airline may be willing to lend him the overstay fee.  The reason isn't kindness or customer service, but because the airline would face so much potential hassle and expense if a passenger is denied exit by Thai immigration officials.  It's easier for the airline to make sure "troublesome" passengers leave the country on the booked flight rather than deal with a deportation.

3) It is not outside the realm of possibility that Thai immigration lets him through even if he doesn't have the cash to pay the overstay.  He would be sent to the overstay counter and they would require him to sign a binding agreement to remit the overstay fee plus an extra penalty, but it would be less hassle and ultimately, expense, than denying him boarding.  Get rid of him and flag his passport so he's denied entry to Thailand again if he doesn't pay the penalty.

However, there is NO guarantee any of these possibilities will work.  The only sure way for him to leave as scheduled is to have the overstay fee in his pocket when he checks in.

Evil

@soistalker   Chik-N-Coop Bar always puts on a great (and free!)  BBQ blast to celebrate July 4th.  Ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers are freshly grilled, accompanied by all the traditional sides.   The festivities begin at 5.00 p.m. 

Chik-N-Coop is located in the beer bar complex that runs parallel to Soi Diana between 2nd Road and Soi Buakhao.

Heaven Above on Walking Street and Sexy in the City on Soi 6 also have Independence Day parties.

Evil  

On 6/11/2019 at 1:14 AM, Jingthing said:

Think of all the ways Thais serve our beloved western foods.

 

Ice cream on a bread roll

Ketchup on pizza

"Steak" 

"American" Fried rice with "hot dogs"

Chicken "Maryland" (completely UNKNOWN in Maryland)

Spaghetti with spicy Thai stuff

 

The list could go on and on.

 

Are our traditional western foods being shamelessly culturally appropriated?

Authenticity is a muddled concept when it comes to food.  Who gets to decide what food is traditional and whether it is authentic? What standards are used? Until objective standards can be established for traditional ethnic and national dishes, it's a meaningless discussion.

Like chefs and cooks all over the world, Thai cooks have tried to copy foreign foods and often failed.  But there's nothing sinister about it.  It happens everywhere.  Much of what is called Thai food outside Thailand is atrocious.

A few points:

Chicken Maryland (aka Maryland Fried Chicken or Chicken a la Maryland) is indeed a dish with its roots in the state of Maryland.  However, the Chicken Maryland served outside the U .S. seldom resembles its traditional U.S. namesake.

A half-dozen stories exist about the origin of American Fried Rice, but all agree it was invented by a Thai cook.  Most versions say it came about during the Vietnam War years to feed U.S. servicemen stationed in Thailand or on R&R in Bangkok.  Some claim it was an attempt to create an American breakfast with fried rice instead of toast as Western bread was expensive and could be hard to get in Thailand in the 1960s.  Others say it was simply an adaptation of Thai fried rice to American servicemen's tastes as they didn't like Thai vegetables or spices.

Ice cream between halves of toasted bread rolls or buttermilk biscuits is a dessert in a few trendy U.S. restaurants, but it's quite rare.  It's more likely Thai chefs were inspired by Japanese Shibuya Honey Toast.

Thais are not the only one who sometimes put ketchup or exotic toppings on pizza, however much it horrifies aficionados of traditional Italian pizza.  It happens all over the world.  Some people just like the taste of ketchup and have it on almost everything.

Thais have been making spicy noodle dishes for centuries. With the availability of dried spaghetti in Thailand in modern times, it's not much of a stretch that spaghetti became the base of some Thai dishes.

Grilled meat has also been eaten in Thailand for a long time.  It was the quality of native Thai beef that made Western-style steak problematic.  However, cross-breeding has produced Thai beef that is tender enough to be eaten as steak.

Appropriation of traditional Western dishes?  No, merely adaptation.  And if you you don't like it, don't eat it.  Problem solved.

Evil