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Take dental reviews here with a grain of salt. A lot of negative reviews tend to get deleted.  Probably because they are worried about Thailand defamation laws.  So you tend to only get positive reviews around here.

Dice Rileys (part of Avani Hotel) Sun brunch buffet is probably one of the best in Pattaya for the price (450 baht) right now.  12noon to 4pm.

https://www.facebook.com/events/652755585206545/

The highlight of this buffet is the Turkey carvery which is always excellent.  They also have pizza which is just ok.  Cooked to order pasta with your choice of sauce.  Also barbecued shish kebabe chicken and shrimp outside.  The shrimp was really good.  Very meaty and juicy. 

They usually also have roast beef at the carvery which is pretty good for Thailand.  But it's cooked medium, not medium rare so some some guys complain it's a little dry.  I usually hate all reasonably priced beef in Thailand.  Not the case here.

They have several other dishes which can change from week to week.  There is also a full salad bar and desert table.  I'm pretty frugal and I think the 450 baht is worth the splurge once in awhile for what you get.

15 hours ago, JamJar said:

 

As you know, the new SIM promo has not ended. I don't know why your waste time and energy speaking to sales clowns, when you already have all of the information at your finger tips.

 

I already told you that transferring within the same network to qualify for the new SIM promotion is not possible.

First you say call them, then you say don't waste your time talking to them.  You also claim you told me something that you didn't.  All you seem to be doing it talking down to people here and then acting like they are being ungrateful.  This stuff is changing all the time and they don't make it easy by openly advertising a lot of these thing and you are acting like it should be obvious.  

That's about all I have to say without violating rules by saying what I really want to you.

2 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

It's already happening. We were in Pattaya last week and went to a gogo bar that's always full of Chinese, my friend saw a girl there who was gorgeous (according to him - I didn't find her attractive), but she was busy with Chinese customers every single time we went there. Eventually one night we stayed for a long time and she freed up to come have a drink with him. She wasn't friendly and you could tell she doesn't like him, and when he said he wanted to bar fine her she said she doesn't do bar fines! Complete <deleted> as ANY girl who works in a gogo does it, she just didn't like him and/or thought he'd pay less money than an Asian guy would. I should mention that he is a white American guy in his 30's and quite attractive - she didn't like him simply because he wasn't Asian.

 

And in general it seems girls want higher "tips" than before. Quite a bit more demanding. Bangkok rates.

Not sure what your point is.  There have always been girls that specialize in Asians/Chinese that do not go with foreigners.  Especially Chinese Thais.  Farangs are considered lower class than Chinese Thais.

4 hours ago, MadMuhammad said:

One thing that many propel don’t mention is the influx of Thai tourists. Many more seem to be spending weekends and national holidays here than ever before. Their money is as good as anyone’s 

Bangkok Thais have always been buying condos and coming to Pattaya on weekends.  There are more of them with money now so there is more of that going on.  But this is nothing new.

6 hours ago, kinyara said:

One thing I do notice in all areas of the City be it Central Pattaya, Jomtien, Naklua or across the Sukhumvit is the number of empty premises with For Sale/Rent signs up. I've lived here a long time and it's not something that's been particularly visible in the past. I think it's as good an indication as any of a slowdown in business generally not just tourist centric. 

???  There have always been For Sale/Rent signs up all over the place in the decades I have been coming.  I guess you just haven't noticed.

Walking street was packed with tourists as usual tonight.  Lots of everything.  I would guesstimate maybe 40% were Asian couples/families or whatever who are not here for the girly bars and just want to look at the spectacle.  Maybe 10% Russian who are kind of like the Asians in that regard.  Maybe 25% East Indians probably looking for a group rate or something, and the remainging 25% single male Caucasians. 

I was told by someone I know who goes to such places that some gogo bars down there were relatively busy, like the ones with happy hour.  At least that is what I have been told because I would never go into such places myself, nope.

Oh, but looks like at least one of the two stages overlooking walking street, the ones that have the Eastern European ladies dancing in them, had a Thai lady instead (GASP!!!).  Clearly a sure sign of end times for Pattaya.

4 hours ago, murraynz said:

do you talk to any bar managers,mamassan or even 'longterm' bar ladies..?? they will all confirm for you---that pattaya is very quiet at present...the patrons spend a lot less than prveiously..

i personally see in the popular  bars--very few customers, even on a saturday night..

So just like they have been doing the last 20 years then.  There will never be enough customers who never spend enough money and they will always complain about it.

2 hours ago, Beggar said:

Pattaya after the lowest low season of all lowest low seasons

 

 

Can confirm.  I was at some bar somewhere and it wasn't busy.  So therefore all of Pattaya is totally dead and doomed forever. 

16 hours ago, Ron jeremy said:

What a discrepincy , one man says it's packed with tourists, another says no one is in town.

I think the nobody in town people mean no euro trash drunks like them who just sit in bars day and night.  But who am I to judge.  Oh and there are plenty of those guys around right now so I have no idea what they are talking about.  They probably have been going to the same bar the last 15 years and think just because that bar is dead now that all of Pattaya is dead or something.

I went to the AIS office and they told me those cheap data promotions for new SIMs were finished.  Of course they then tried to sell sell me a new SIM anyways claiming the new promotion is 350baht a month for 1mbps.  Something I knew I could get on my current traveller SIM because is shows up on the MyAIS app.  Conveniently, they failed to tell me that part.

When I pointed that out I got the standard deer in the headlights look and they just clamed up because now they lost face or don't like farangs telling them they are wrong or catching them in a lie or whatever.  One of the more annoying things about trying to get stuff done in this culture.

I also asked about transferring my number from my current SIM to a new SIM.  Never really got an answer.  So in other words, the standard frustrating waste of time experience trying to deal with customer service at AIS trying to get anything other than the bare minimum simple as possible things done.

1 hour ago, JamJar said:

 

1175

1678

1331

Call them and ask them yourself.

Do you speak Thai?

13 hours ago, pepi2005 said:

Pattaya once had something that is usually extremely expensive for tourism marketing agencies to achieve: a world-wide brand image. In this specific case, the image "A CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS", and for the city to be a fun place with CHEAP BARS and GIRLS (sex).

 

However, they turned arrogant and started to clamp down on bars that stayed open for longer than midnight (later to be slightly extended again), started with "crackdowns" on bars that displayed nudity, fun bars were replaced with faceless 'condo' buildings (mostly empty during the year) or fastfood shops, and the barfines and fees for girls are today a MULTIPLE of what they were just a few years ago. 

 

Sex in Pattaya is now more expensive than in most European countries (if you know where to go). To that, add airplane tickets, food and accomodation. Uniformed highway men on every 3rd corner checking alcohol levels, unfriendly faces from arriving at the airport until leaving, visa hassles and more. Mandatory biometric registration as if you were a suspect entering a jail.

 

No surprise that tourist numbers are dropping.

Except for the fact they aren't.  Change the title of this thread and ever single argument supporting it to Euro tourists.  Tourist numbers overall are rising.  More tourists here than ever.  Maybe less Euro tourists which is not a bad thing imo. More of what they usually come for available for the rest of us.  There are still PLENTY of Euro's around Buakao btw.  Lots and lots of them everywhere.  And plenty of eager Issan beauties around separating them from their cash.

In the traditionally Euro area of Naklua, maybe less Euro's but more Asians and Russians.  Lots of signs and menus in Mandarin (?) and Russian there now.

The guys complaining that it is not as busy are probably looking at it through Euro eyes imo.  So maybe some of the Euro places they used to go are not as busy and not as many of their fellow Euro's to socialize with.  But more of everything else replacing them.

4 minutes ago, JamJar said:

 

1175

Call them and ask them yourself.

Calling them is usually useless imo.  Most have no clue and don't speak English well enough to understand half the time.  I can usually get better info from a Thai website using Google translate.  Assuming the info is posted somewhere.

On 9/1/2019 at 10:07 AM, JamJar said:

New SIM offers for September;

 

DTAC;

 

Buy a new SIM and within seven days, apply;

*104*430# for 31 GB @ 4 Mbps, 100 baht per month. 

*104*100# for 101 GB @ 4 Mbps, 200 baht per month. 

*104*131# for 131 GB @ 4 Mbps, 250 baht per month.

 

For the 1st month, then;

 

*104*433# for 31 GB @ 4 Mbps, 100 baht per month. 

*104*111# for 101 GB @ 4 Mbps, 200 baht per month. 

*104*133# for 131 GB @ 4 Mbps, 250 baht per month.

 

for months 2 until 12.

This so you can vary the package after testing for the first month.

The other networks auto-renew the starting package

 

AIS;

 

Pick up a new AIS 4G SIM and within seven days of opening, add at least 200 baht and then apply the code *777*909# 

That will get you 110 GB per month, capped at 4 Mbps(0.5 MB/s) for 200 baht per month.

Alternatively;

*777*918# for 32GB per month , capped at 4 Mbps(0.5 MB/s) for 100 baht per month.

 

Truemove H;

 

Pick up a new Truemove H 4G SIM and within seven days of opening, add at least 200 baht and then apply the code *900*9605# for 100 GB per month, capped at 4 Mbps(0.5 MB/s) for 200 baht per month

Alternatively;

*900*9604# for 30 GB per month at 100 baht per month. 

Truemove H package includes free in-network calls

 

Tourist SIM are not eligible..

 

For future reference as things change and new promotions come out etc. , where is the official source that this information came from?

Also, can I (easily) transfer my number from an existing SIM, such as a Tourist/Traveller SIM, to a new SIM so I can take advantage of this?  I tried on my existing AIS traveller SIM that is a few years old and can confirm this didn't work.  Said "no longer eligible".

16 hours ago, BritManToo said:

It's probably a mistake to buy the Tourist SIMs, as some Thai companies like to rip foreigners at every opportunity.

Those seem to be the only options at the Airport and at their stores.  At least that is what they display in english.  I'm sure if you know what you want they can pull it from under the counter but they probably won't tell you about them if you ask in English.

It would be a rip off if these codes I am now reading about, that give you super cheap data, actually work on non-tourist SIMs like that other thread seems to indicate.  Is it possible (and straight forward) to transfer my existing cell # from my AIS tourist SIM to a non-tourist SIM so I can take advantage of the cheap data codes?

5 hours ago, thaiflyer1 said:

I/d say the roast chickens in Big C are no where near the size of the fresh ones, as for the ones on carts they are tasty but the original poster wanted one for xmas day dinner.......probably doesnt want to trek out xmas day morning and serve it up for lunch

xmas day is just another day in Thailand.

4 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Billabong was busy but it always is. Soi Diana beer bars, my old huntig ground, had neither staff nor customers, a wasteland.

Then find some new places. There are lots of dead beer bars on some of the side sois.   Lots of bars right on Buakao were hopping.   I don't really go to Pattaya to sit in beerbars myself.

3 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

I was there Wednesday. Maybe everyone went home Wednesday morning as it was dead, apart from a couple of bars, the following night.

Where?  What time?  What bars?

6 hours ago, yogi100 said:

 

No one I know goes to Pattaya to visit malls and food courts.

 

They go for the girls and the bars. My friend who lives in Pattaya says the bars are dead, there's little of the traditional party atmosphere and lots of girls have called it a day and gone elsewhere or back to their homes and families.

 

His immediate words were 'it's dead' when I asked him on the phone 'how is it out there'.

Then I guess "your friend" should try find some new bars.  Soi Buakao bars were a zoo on Tuesday night as was LK Metro.  The whole street was like one giant street party from Klang to Soi 15 and beyond.  It gets a lot busier on weekends.  So tell "your friend" to try something different.  

Walking street is busy as always.  Inside bars down there it's a different story. The places with happy hours and good prices can be busy.  Some places may be dead there but there is usually a good reason for that.  2 good reasons in particular.  

AIS is generally better than Dtac.  Better coverage and better 4G data speed.  Especially upload but it depends on location.  I am just saying that has been my experienced on average.

180-200 seems expensive. Whole roasted chicken in Big C is 125.  I get them from those food carts for around 150, including rice and that tasty sauce.  Much better than the BigC chicken, and bigger.

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

I called into Triangle Bar a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't even have to share a table with people unknown to me.  I had a table to myself, that how quiet it was. 

You found a table in a bar all to yourself.  Quite a convincing argument that Pattaya is dead.

7 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

According to TAT?  Are you a Thai spam bot?

So lets all believe some guy cherry picking the same story to make it sound like it's down overall instead?  Multiply your  by 10 because I guess a simple person thinks that makes it better somehow.

Seems to be less Russians around.  But I notice more of them around T21 and Naklua so maybe they are just more spread out now.