I am staying at the Sabia Lodge as I am typing this. Sabia Lodge will close on September 1 2023.

All the staff are transferring to Sabia Sabana which is only about 50 yards away. One of the staff said new owners are taking over while another said it was being handed back to the owners. The staff have no idea what is going to happen to the lodge. I tried to book dates from Sept 1st. All dates come back as unavailable.

It's looking more and more likely that Sabi Lodge is not going to be demolished.  Some redevelopment of the front

area only.

Looked at the Sabi Group website.  

Sabai Lodge Pattaya is temporarily closed from 03 April - 23 December 2020.


We look forward to welcoming you back to the hotel from 24 December 2020.

If Sabi Lodge is going to be demolished and will no longer be available within the Sabi Group why not say so.

Well done pomchop, couldn't have summed it better. Happy days, especially with all the bars in the general area of soi1 and soi2 now all sadly gone. 

21 hours ago, champers said:

I go past from time to time and will update on any developments I see.

Thanks Champers, would certainly be interested with what they are doing at Sabi Lodge.

Surely they are not demolishing the whole of Sabi Lodge.  From the pic posted looks like they have

demolished the smaller pool area and the rooms around the pool which border Soi 2.  Sad day if the

whole lot is going. Stayed there a few times. Nothing special, comfortable enough and enjoyed my stays there.

Samuel Johnson once stated that to be born an Englishman was like winning the first prize in the lottery of life.

If he were around today I wonder what he'd make of being born a Palestinian in Syria and having to apply to stay in Thailand.

I thought it was Cecil Rhodes who made that statement. I stand to be corrected.

As Rooney860 says, any writing on the Queen's head and they won't touch them.

Loose lips sink ships

EVA has been randomly cancelling midweek flights between London and Bangkok during the low season for the best part of two years. Quite frustrating if you are affected.

I've been flying from London to Bangkok with EVA since they started the service and have never had a cancelled flight. But I mostly fly at weekends which could explain things. Might also explain why my flights are always jammed packed! Shall be flying again on Saturday week.

Eva tend to cancel the Wednesday or Thursday flight as i've found out to my cost.

I was in Pattaya in May. The Jasmine Mansion hotel in Soi Buakaow had a for sale sign on their pool table for 25,000 baht. I'm pretty sure it was 25,000 baht. You can see it from the road, it's out front.

The one problem i had was that the street money changers wouldn't touch any note that had writing on the queens head.

It's now on iplayer for anyone who missed it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0100vtt/Thailand_Tourism_and_the_Truth_Stacey_Dooley_Investigates/

When i started watching this program i asssumed it was a repeat and had been filmed a few years ago. With comments like it's never been cheaper to have a holiday in Thailand. Err i don't think so. Made out that hotels guests never ever leave tips for the maids and they only have their wage to live on. If the maids do a good job which so far they always have, i tip them. Ok it's only 20 or 50 baht every other day.

When i arrived in the middle of April, the two smoking rooms on the long walk to immigration were closed for Refurbishment. So the signs said.

Leaving in the middle of May, an information desk in the E zone departure gate area, had a sign on the desk saying which gates on Level 3 you could go down to for a smoke.

Have flown Eva Air the last five years LHR-BKK-BKK-LHR. Never had any real problems with them, and all in all a good airline. The only gripe i would have is that the food could be a bit better. Just recently, May and June, and looks like possibly July and August, Eva have been cancelling their Tuesday and Thursday flights from LHR-BKK and BKK-LHR. Was due to fly to BKK on 12th May, but got a call a week before from Netflights to say my flight had been cancelled. Told the lady no problem for me, i'll fly back next day. Extra day in LOS and just kept me on the 30 day visa excempt limit. On another forum, a fellow said he got less than 24hours notice his flight had been cancelled !!!. Again on another forum someone is saying Eva are short of planes this summer and autumn due to new cross-straits routes into China and the EXPO, combine that with 3 new 777’s still sitting at Boeing in Everett Washington due to problems with the seat production from a sub-contractor.

A good read of the worldwide problem with rubbish in the sea.

Drowning in plastic: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of France.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environme...-of-France.html

Try http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/visa_wizard.html (Consular Affairs Visa Waiver Wizard) which is taken from the US Embassy site in the UK.

I've never been to the US, but i believe if you have a criminal conviction like drink driving then you need a visa to enter the US.

I assume it's for all British passport holders from wherever they travel from.

Don't you have to fill in something online at least 72 hours before you travel to the US or you could be refused entry ?.

Found it.

From 20 January 2010 it will be mandatory for all airline passengers travelling to the United States under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) 72 hours prior to departure.

Was watching one of those tv programs on UK Customs a few weeks back. Showed one clip where two female custom officers were looking at a screen as newly arrived suite cases were going through the x-ray machine. Obviously deciding who they should stop going through the green channel with too many cigarettes etc. One of the officers said "We are looking for people who have 600 or more cigarettes in their cases".

i assume in Thailand they don't have the phrase "I'll stick a broom up my arse and sweep the floor at the same time shall i" when asked about something not being done or too slowly.

Not trying to be disparaging to our Australian cousins, just thought it may be of interest to some Australians.

The dark details of their family histories are to be revealed to thousands of Australians this week following the release of details of the convicts Britain sent to the new colony more than 200 years ago.

The British government has released the details to coincide with Australia Day on Tuesday, allowing individuals to search through an online data base to check if they are descended from criminals.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...o-released.html

Was in departures after immigration and security check and wanted a last cigarette before the flight. Was in the E zone departure gate area and noticed the sign for the smoking room had changed from floor 2 to floor 3. Makes my way down to floor 3 but can't see a smoking room. Noticed an information board which tells you where every thing is and it says at the bottom smoking room floor 2. After having a smoke in the smoking room on level 2 i get somewhat confused. Where the hel_l is the escalators i usually use to get back to level 3. Found them behind some glass partioning and what looked like a security check area. Had to go through another security check, hand baggage xrayed everything out of my pockets etc before getting on the escalator back to level 3 then 4. Is there a smoking room on level 3 i missed ? or will smokers have to go through this everytime they want to pop down to level 2 for a smoke.

I was in a bar in Soi Buakaow when the heavens opened. Never seen such flooding before. Really felt sorry for the shops etc that are at street level as they really got a lot of water inside their businesses. When it was time to go back to the hotel (Sabi Inn Soi 2) it was roll up the jeans to the knees and wade up to 2nd road. The next night was in a bar near Big C and one of the girls told me only two of their service girls were able to make it in to work.

If you can wait till 22nd October you will get a computer with the new Windows 7 operating system. If you can't wait till then make sure you get an offer for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

I can certainly testify how sharp cats claws can be. Occassionally when either my ex or myself was standing by the kitchen sink doing the washing up, our cat would jump up just above the knee, climb up to our waist, have a look at what you were doing in the sink and then jump off.