henrik2000

Ok, thanks, so "eyoung" isn't a regular Thai or Isaan word - except for that bird.

Hi all, thanks for good advise and for good stories! The "whistling bird" is indeed that Asian Koel and not the bird photographed. Interestingly, in the video from South India it seems to talk in another local dialect, while across Thailand it always seemed to have the same vernacular. Ok, "nok" is bird, but could you translate "eyoung"? And would that be Bangkok Thai or Isaan/Lao or both?

Can't you not pro forma book another room maybe even in another hotel for her? Then see on the ground what's possible.

Hello, bigger parts of Thailand have that "whistling bird". The whistle sounds rather man-made, not unpleasant, not singing, but not croaking either. The "whistling bird" sits usually unvisibly high up in the tree and lets off a whistle regularly, maybe over hours. It is a signature sound of upcountry Thailand, but can be heard in urban centers too. At least 2 or 3 luukthung-morlam songs feature that whistling, among them this song (Youtube) at 0:10 and at 0:17 (maybe imitated in studio, but not wholly unrealistic). Who knows that kind of bird? Actually I belive it is the bird from the photo below, but am not sure. That bird from the photo below roams the ground floor with macho swagger in small gangs and doesn't whistle at all. When whistling, it seems to perch solitarily in the canopy, perhaps calling out for a lovely feathered maiden. Who can identify - the "whistling bird" - the pictured bird whether they are one of a kind or not? Thanks!

That sounds nice at first, but I'd also feel shy, getting preferential treatment ahead of all the Thais. What might they think about this foreigner and this policeman?

That would be totally impractical for me. Besides, the money in your pocket could also get caught in the rain, a danger that you see with wallets. But on my next tourist trip, I definitely must learn to pay "by scan", as they do a lot upcountry, if not in Bangkok or Pattaya. I keep my wallet well tucked away and compared to about any other country, I found Thailand exceptionally safe. All the time people bring me cameras and actually wallets that I forgot somewhere, including on Sukhumvit road, Bangkok. I checked there four times in about 4 days. The last time I was in the police box I was totally alone. No policeman, no visitor except myself. The found wallets were sitting in their tiny box just behind the counter's glass. Mine was still not there. I could have taken all of the other, swell wallets away, or maybe not. Are you suggesting a friendly smile and nice words in Thai? Or are you suggesting money, whisky or something? While I did pay policemen in Cambodia and Gambia, with good effect for me, I'd never dare to even hint at payments in Thailand or Vietnam. Don't know about Philippines, police were so polite and accommodating there that I never felt I need to get out of a tricky situation.

No, I wouldn't, even if it was delicious Indian food or any other good smell. I hadn't thought about the smell problem when I asked the question.

Interesting comment.

Great story. But if I saw wallet at that price and that location, I'd never dare to buy, except you are there to confirm the quality. But I never believe a vendor's tales.

Thanks for the info. I wonder what the owners wish.

In ViewTalay 7, anybody can use the lifts without a key card or any other measure. So any beach bum easily reaches the 20th floor and your outer doorstep. Is that the case in other Jomtien buildings as well? I only know one other condo building in Bangkok, which is generally posher, where you need a magnetic card to use a lift.

Hi all, thanks for recommending Jacob. Now I went to Central department store, 3rd floor, and browsed Jacob first and when I wasn't totally happy with the selection, I checked any other brand for wallets and still ended up with a relatively cheap Jacob. It suits my preferences most. Stupidly I forgot to bring Euro bills for a test fitting, as they are especially large, not in denomination, but in millimeters. The regular priced Jacob wallets have a discount of 30% on them, while the one that I bought had a discounted price on it already. Central also has heavily discounted brand wallets online, but the information counter in the mall told me that that was online only. Staff was super friendly and very helpful in finding a wallet exactly to my requirements. They spoke useful English, but seemed to love my Thai exercises. Even though I browsed all the brands, the final selection was between two different Jacob wallets. For once it's a NICE souvenir from Thailand, and not wooden elephant junk or day-glow paintings of nudes on the beach. And when I later see the brand name, I will remember to pronounce it like the sweet shop clerks: "Djaah gkob" (djaah frog?).

For the record, for the lost key card the hotel charged me 300 Baht. I got a new key card immediately, but only this time I also had to pay a key deposit of 300 Baht, that had not been necessary before. They treated the loss like some personal, awkward failure, like, I don't know, wetting myself in the lobby or something. Though I am sure that other tourists had even bigger problems and caused more difficult circumstances. Now somebody may have found my wallet including that key card and has a key to the back garden door, but this doesn't seem to worry the hotel. I am sure the hotel also worried that now I am without money and would embarrass them all with tearful pleas for help, even though I assured them all the time that I was still cashed enough without a problem and that also no important original documents or credit cards were lost. Anyway there was no compassion, only fear. -- I visited the police box a third time to ask for my lost wallet yet again, and this time they put the found wallets into my hand. Swollen as they were, they weren't mine, unfortunately.

Hi, for the record, Jacobs told me 2 retailers in Pattaya (I had explicitly asked for men's wallets near Jomtien). I partly reprint this here without permission, but hope they don't mind. I also hope it is in accord with the forum rules. We are selling in two locations near Jomtien Beach. The closest location to Jomtien is Outlet Mall Pattaya (https://goo.gl/maps/fdrzb1XzYpkTJjVy5) which features both men and women products. We are located on the Ground Floor. The second location is in Central Pattaya ((as recommended in post above)) on the 3rd floor Men's fashion section will feature only men's products. (https://goo.gl/maps/q5wXzoSgJMA9Jj5m7) For some reason to mind come 2 telephone hotline calls that I recently had; both were very helpful, to the point, in clear English, and without smoldering in the queue, with Hops Brewhouse and with AIS.

By the way, i just stopped by a Findig, the ubiquituous shoes and leather goods retailer also in my Jomtien area. They do have several wallets, the by far nicest one with smooth leather and quite roomy was 1290, the next down was 790 and considerably less appealing. I didn't buy yes and will still see if i can get my hands + eyes on a Jacobs. Yes, i am not far from Pattaya, but have a certain aversion.

And when he asked me about the contents? The name on the American express gold card? That police box inside had the claustrophobic atmosphere of a Calcutta train station ticket counter en miniature. It's difficult to imagine how you could do any serious paperwork there, especially in foreign languages. When I went there a second time to ask again, there was no anglophone tourist assistant police, only one Thai officer who spoke very little English, and when he heard that I spoke a few words ofThai, he switched completely to Thai, and I understood nothing. I believe they had even one more lost and found wallet when I showed up for the second time about 5 hours after my first visit. It was still not mine.

The wallets on the website look good and well-priced. They don't have a list with retailers, only online markets. But i want to hold the wallet in the hand first, it's one of the things i don't like to buy online. I messaged them via contact form about local retailers. I am not fully sure the message went through though. I will report back if something interesting happens.

Thanks, there were no credit cards or somesuch in the wallet. I never put them in there. Also the passport was not lost, but a photocopy.

Hello, i lost my wallet this morning on Jomtien Beach, nicely almost next to the police box. I believe it disappeared when i rummaged through my beach bag and also checked the content of the wallet. This is quite clearly not a theft. About 3 hours later – after discovering the loss – i went into the police box. The officer there was a foreigner without uniform. He showed me 3 lost-and-found wallets that weren't mine (but nicely swollen) and sent me off. He didn't want any details like name, exact circumstances, content of wallet. The atmosphere was very rushed, and i thought he feared a sob story from me. (A local Thai business person actually advised to say "Oh, now i have no money, please help to find the wallet quick".) I said i'll ask again some hours later. I am not in a financial or legal drama now, just sad. Is there anything you advice me to do, except being less careless in the future? -- part 2 -- This was in the lost wallet: Good money, copies of documents that reveal my name and my Thai phone number, the key card to my resort's backgarden door (key card to room not lost, original documents not lost). The key card to the resort's backgarden door has no print on it, it's blank with smeared illegible scribbling. So far i didn't tell the resort about the lost key card. I wonder if it will be a bigger problem? I am ready to pay for a damage. It was for a less used backgarden door that opens to the public area.. Thanks!

Hello all, that's good news about Jacob. I will see if i can find them locally, and maybe report back here.

Hello, i need to buy a decent leather wallet, if possible in Jomtien. Can you recommend a shop? I am happy to pay good money for good quality, but i think leather wallets are often rip-off-tourist junk. If you know a good source around Jomtien, please let me know. If Pattaya is clearly better for that, i'll trek there, but Jomtien would be much more welcome, even if a little more expensive. Thanks!

Hello, OP again here. Have you seen any changes to Pattaya's Thai live music scene since Christmas 2022? Any openings or reopenings or closures since then? Aware that SinLaping and Kon Lah Fun are busy each night. I am back in town for a bit. Also interested in new places for live dance pop or jazz, but not straight rock (neither Thai nor English). Thanks!

I do like Candy shop, Lucifer and Muzzik Cafe. 5 years ago in Patpong, who would have guessed that Lucifer is such a heaving place with a great dance pop band. Candy Shop and Muzzik Café certainly seem rather similar. But on two visits, listening in from outside, I decided to sit down in Candy Shop, not Muzzik Café, as the music in Candy Shop seemed a bit more spicy.

Hello, regarding taxi service to Pattaya I had the following experience with a big agency I won't name. I appreciate your comments on practical and cultural questions. I booked the taxi trip Don Meuang - Jomtien by email, which seems to be this agency's preferred mode (not online form). I wrote a very clear list of time of arrival, flight number, place of origin, my name, my phone, my Line ID, number of passengers etc. They confirmed quickly by email and mentioned gate 7, where they would await me. The English was rather broken, though, even if the confirmation was undoubtable. 2 days before the flight, the airline messaged me about 50 minutes flight delay (for a 45 minutes flight and a parallel flight by a competitor). Should I tell the taxi agency about this flight delay? If this was NamLadyDrivers with their very smart English by email (experienced on two occasions from Suv), I would have immediately messaged them about the delay. But Nam doesn't serve Don Meuang, and with this agency here, with their broken English, I was wary. I have experienced huge misunderstandings out of very small changes of plans. I worried (stupidly?), if I message them about the flight delay, they might misunderstand it as a cancellation. (I had situations like that before more than once with Thai friends, hotels, etc). I was very sure that my taxi agency would check the plane's actual arrival online, especially as several experienced Thai people had told me that local planes are always late (which seems not true, looking at displays in domestic airports). Just when I finally boarded my delayed plane upcountry, the taxi driver called me and asked where I am in Don Meuang. I had to tell him that my plane upcountry had not even started and that I would be at Don Meuang only an hour later. The driver or the agency had obviously not checked for delays online. The next misunderstanding was in Don Meuang itself, when I waited at gate 7 INSIDE the building, while he expected me to be OUTSIDE (it was my first booked taxi service from Meuang and I thought it went like in Suv., where you meet your driver INSIDE the building). Outside on the road, my driver couldn't wait long for me because vehicles have to be on the move there; so he did some useless circles around the airport and we exchanged frantic calls and messages. He had basic English that was okay for the occasion, and on phone calls I had useful Thai on hand. While I was waiting on the road (after finally figuring I should NOT be INSIDE the building), I boarded at least two wrong taxis who I had taken for my booked vehicle. My youngish driver had a big comfy car and an easy-going smile. He didn't seem to mind the confusion and delay very much. He said, "oh, that's Thailand, planes always late". But then, why didn't he check my real arrival time online? I asked him that, but didn't get a clear (for me) answer. Then we got into a friendly small talk in Thai and English about Thai life, job life and Thai music. (He lost his office job in Covid time, but office life was too serious and unplayful for him anyway, he said.) I played him one Thai song from my phone which we discussed. Then he said something I didn't understand, and I knew I had to turn off the music from my phone, as that very much disturbs my understanding of foreign languages (whereas Thai people never seem to mind loud vocal music while talking about something else). When somehow my phone kept yodeling in spite of my tapping "STOP", I said a bit loud to my phone, "now stop, stop". After the phone was finally silent, I tried to pick up the conversation, but now my driver was totally silent too. He didn't say a word, he didn't look at me in the rear mirror until we reached the destination 50 minutes later. I paid the fixed price, tipped him 100, and he left with a resignated smile.

For the record, I also found a glorious car wash in New Sukothai that was extremely service minded, including delivery of tourist and car and fixing scratches and offering alternatives here and there. Serviceable English spoken by one office lady, also by Line. When I dropped the car at the car rental place later, they said, "oh the car is beautiful, no problem at all". And indeed I think after that car wash in New Sukothai, it looked better than on day 1. I first went to another car wash, the one next to my hotel. That was very rude and they kind of chased me back out. Luckily they did, because I ended up with the nice car wash. I can't really judge the quality of their cleaning, but anyway everything went very well.