Pdaz

A clearly disturbed Mark Amerson with head dressing following break-up with Thai girlfriend

head dressing... I though he was wearing a turban....

As for harming himself cos of his GF Whay didn't he just go out and rent another one..

32 year old.. bit young to retire ?.. What do these guys do for cash ? They can't all be independantly wealthy.. can they ?

They want to go and check out Soi Post Office and Pattayaland Soi 2..... They'd need more than a solitary pick-up to collect all the rental bikes illegally parked there.. Doubt that a tractor trailer rig would be large enough... Along with far too many badly parked/driven Songtaews Illegally parked rental bikes ( in their hundreds ) are IMHO two of the biggest bights in Pattaya... It used to be easy to park a car/truck anywhere in central Pattaya before middday.. But now it's often hard to find a parking space for a scooter... Nipping down to pick up mail from the post office of visit a travel agent along beach Rd has become a real pain in the a**. Mostly cos of all the rental bikes and bars with stools/trashcans preventing parking.. Must be a real pain for business owners who want customers.. no nearby parking often means going elsewhere to do my shopping..

Jusy had an email from a buddy of mine saying that a well known Pattaya bar manager, Ken (who manages a Walking Street GoGo/showbar) was badly beaten by a group of Thai men this week. Seems that violence against farangs is ever increasing.. This never seemed to happen much in the past. Only occuring on the odd occaision when a drunken tourist had become irate or upset a local. Now I often read about visitors and resident farangs alike being beaten unconcious (or worse) by Thais.. I've lived here close to 20 years and have never had a problems.. In fact I believed that farangs were given alot of leeway and were generallly well respected (as long as they were well dressed and polite) Wonder what initiated this recent attack ?

Sorry Howard, I did not realise you are the guy on the TV that runs the News channel. I used to like your news broadcasts, much better than other news channel in my opinion.

I understand now that setting up of the new News channel is taking up much of your time. I am impressed you find enough hours in the day to keep the web site up to date at all.

Don't tell me you thought he spent all his time hanging around in walking Street in his 'rentaplod' outfit

Two options for the chick peas.. You can buy them canned in Foodland, Friendship etc. They are called 'Gabanzo beans' or some such.. Or for better flavour you can buy them dried and cook them yourself.. they are available in plastic packs in Foodland, Villa Market (and friendship too I think).

As for the Tahini paste the only place I have seen real Tahini is Villa market.. They have two or three brands available but none of them are cheap.. There is also a Japanese sesame salad dressing available in Foodland that is very similar and can be used as a reasonable substitute..

Hope this helps.. I also like to make hummous..

For good quality food, excellent service and a nice ambiance I'd have to recomend PIC Kitchen in Soi 4 .. They have won several food awards over the years.. There is a choice of seating either in an open air lanna style wooden house (upstairs) where you sit on the floor in traditional Thai style or (downstairs) they have a more conventional air con area with tables and chairs.. The resturant is located in a private garden with high walls and lots of greenary.. nice affect at night with coloured lighting.. There is a comfy bar area adjacent to the resturant called ''the jazz Pit'' which often has live music (think quiet and relaxing not overloud) and is great for a pre-meal drink (good cocktails too)

The menu is full of Thai classics and in the 10 years I have been living here I have never heard anything but compliments from the wide variety of friends I have taken there..both Thai and farang. BKK Thais can be pretty hard to please when it comes to Thai food in Pattaya.. They will enjoy seafood along the beach in a informal setting but if you want great food at somewhere more formal PIC is the place.. meal for four adults around 3000 baht and up (not inc drinks) depending on your choice of dishes.. I would have suggested the old ''Vientienne'' on 2nd Rd but it's moved now and is not of the same standard as PIC. Although the food was still better than many Thai places in town as their menu didn't overly pander to farang tastebuds.. Vientienne is still in operation but the new location is not as good as it was.. There are a number of good seafood places in Naklua and down towards Bang Ampur but none ofer anything that could be called ''high class'' as mostly open air and have wooden bench seating..

Many of the other Thai resturants in town cater for farangs and Thai's seem to find the food tasteless or un-authentic.. Appart from PIC or a couple of other places if I wanted up-scale Thai food I'd head to BKK..

I'm not suggesting you do this but, if you don't tell them, providing you don't have a problem, how will they know you've been to Bangkok on it?

Thats the thing, if it was policy / against there contract then sure no problem, bangkok here i come, but if the bangkok police are going to hassle me about it and possibly tow the vehicle off the road for being unregistered i am not sure it's worth the risk.

Absolutely DO NOT TRY IT!!! biking in Bangkok is less for amateurs than Pattaya is. The Police are especially on the ball at this time of year. The traffic laws are far too complicated, e.g. you can only use teh left-most lane. If you are farang you will be stopped, not might, not maybe, not if you do something wrong. YOU WILL BE STOPPED and they will hold the bike.

If you leave your passport as security.........it speaks for itself eh!!

take the bus and enjoy

I ride up to Bangkok quite regularly and would agree it isn't for beginners on poorly maintained rentals.. I have a 1000cc bike purchased and registered in BKK but I live in Pattaya.. I take the bike back to the dealer for servicing as well as riding it to other provinces.. mostly this involves transiting thru BKK.. I have all the gear, boots, lid and jacket etc plus clas one insurance and all the other paperwork.. I would say I get stopped one trip in three by the cops in BKK.. and once youhave been stopped there seems to be a 50% chance of getting a ticket and then it's also 50/50 whether he will make you go to the police station or just give him the cash.. I speak Thai and sometimes this is an advantage.. sometimes it's better to only speak English.. I don't believe they can hold your bike.. but they will take your drivers licence.. Most of the time I've been lucky and the cops have been polite and friendly ( still got a ticket) If you have all the paperwork and your bike is legal there is nothing to worry about.. no diffo than being caught speeding or doing and illegal turn in farangland.. Of course if you don't have any papers etc expect more trouble.. If you get the wrong cop he will hold you up for more cash..

As for getting to BKK it's not a bad ride.. easiest way by bike is to follow Suhkumvit up thru Chonburi (the 3) and then move over onto the 'highway' (the 35) they run parallel to each other but the 35 has a much better road service... You can't use the motorway (the 7) but that's not a problem as it's still being worked on and in a <deleted> condition..

I rode down to Hua Hin three weeks back and only got stopped once on the way back. cop said my pipes were too noisy.. a quick chat and showed him the EU decibel sticker and I was on my way..

Just don't ride up there on a Beach Rd rental ! or without the proper paperwork..

When I mentioned this to Greg, I believe the WOW manager, he suggested I invest in ear plugs..

Yes I had a similar reply from him.. The cynic in me tends to think that they don't really want customers to use the gym at all.. They want you to sign up and then they make it so unbearable that after a few sessions you never return..

The first day I went I asked the stout gay guy (that's fat fudgepacker to you non-PC types) if it was posible to lower the volume.. He gave me a 'customer request' form to fill out <deleted> ?

There were only two other guys training at the time (one in his fifties and one with earplugs) so turning the music down wouldn't have caused any problems.. But no.. not a chance.. as a paying customer I thought it was very poor.. especially being used to Thailand where requests to staff are usually delt with quickly.

The poofs response, (imagine a simpering accent) was, '' we want to provide a 'club' atmosphere ''

Again <deleted> is a 'club atmosphere' I thought the place was meant to be a fitness center/gym ..

Guess I'm confused.. Okay I can see that if all his punters were in the 18 to 20 yr old bracket or if they were entirely made up of wealthy 18 yr old Thai girls who just want to jog or use the cross trainer maybe the music would be appropriate.. But judging by what I have seen the demographics just don't add up.. The majority of his customers will be in the 40+ bracket and IMHO opinion most people of that age HATE LOUD FIRE ALARM MUSIC.......

Anyhow as I have said before the manager/boss comes across as a right smarmy <deleted>..

if you haven't bought a memebership .. DON'T

and if you have.. How about a petition to get them to the lower the volume so we can train in peace ?

When I first went in to enquire it was several Months before the opening.. at that time they were charging around 18,000 baht for a 2 year membership ( though a Thai friend said she'd been offered 3 years for 20,000) then as it got closer to opening the prices went up My neighbor paid 22,000 for 2 years and another guy I know paid 30,000 for a lifetime deal.. From what I could see you could bargain a deal depending on your wants and how much they could pressure you into.. As has been said they have a good location and great equipment.. Unfortunately the music is deafening to the point of distraction, the staff appear sullen and unhelpful and the shortarse smarmy looking boss comes across as a right smug <deleted>... Most people go to a gym to train, relax and de-stress.. they don't want to be pursued by salespeople or have to deal with rat faced expats on the make...

what a beauty!

All spiders bite but few are serious....this one I haven't a clue but you can bet that the average Thaiperson will associate it with a horrible effect and stamp on it.

some large spiders have a remarkable ability to jump.

there is a thing called "Earth Tiger" I believe that is considered quite delicious.

no-one in my office will give it a name other than "Maeng mum" - แมงมุม - spider....

Had to laugh at this... I'm constantly amazed at Thai 's lack of knowledge.. Higher educated ones seem to have very little geographical, historical or scientific knowledge and even their less well educated country cousins seem to struggle to name anyhting other than half a dozen animals,plants,herbs etc that they see everyday... My current GF is Uni educated and works in a management position in BKK... But until this year knew nothing about the two world wars, Vietnam, the genocides in Cambodia, the yeti/sasquatch, UFO's, segregation in USA, apartied in SA and hundreds of other facets of world history and general knowledge.. Let alone knowing that a dolphin isn't a fish and that sealions/seals are also mammals.. Amazing Thailand is correct...

Yes sorry to say they were here when I first moved to Pattaya in 87.. Now there are even more.. It's not really the noise that annoys me so much but the fact they drive along at such a slow speed. They don't 'keep left' and Thai drivers seem unwilling to overtake them.. This causes long tailbacks and can potentially cause accidents... They are a blight.. and as for the 'new cube advertising' Really just another farang desperate to make money to support his life in Thailand.. Meanwhile reducing the quality of life of others.. City hall should ban all slow moving traffic to help alleviate the congestion problems.. Samlors, ancient motocyle+homemade sidecars and promo-trucks... Would like to think a farang would know better but guess ''money number one'' While they are at it why not half the ammout of baht buses too... Everytime I see the promo-trucks with their speakers blaring out I only wish I had a hand grenade..

Thank you, Pattaya_Fox!

Do you subject your members/customers to non-stop high volume 'dance' music while they try to concentrate on their workout like California Wow (Wow! it's loud ) Or is there a choice of music and volume level ?

This is a problem that gets worse every week! You want to go somewhere, but where to park, though it's hard to find, any business with parking has a huge advantage, one of the things? that made the buffalo bar such a success was that it had parking.

Very true.. I've almost give up driving into town now.. and even finding a parking space for a 'big bike' is a pain.... Funny anybody else noticed how all the spaces is the new 'Avenue' multi story carpark are almost permenantly full ? The bottom two floors are all occupied no matter what time of day and whether the stores are open or not... There needs to be asort out of all the car/bike rental lot... they take up so much space along 2nd/Beach Rd there isn't any left for genuine customers..

I will be in Pattaya next week and shall be having some work done on my house. It is a new house in a complex in Baan Sarey. There is nothing in the house at the moment i.e beds, furniture or such like. This holiday I want the shower tiling re-done and power showers installed. So to my point, a few weeks ago there was a big thread on here about air conditiong and from what I gathered A1 were the winners by general consensus, so will probaly go with them for a/c installation. Now going back even further there was a discussion on double glazing and I didn't really get to the end of the thread to make up my mind which firm would be the best. I would appreciate a few knowlagible suggestions from some members,

Thanks

Windsor UPVC windows are the cheapest, there office is at Baan Amphur, Home Mart oposite Ambassdor hotel, there cheap but there qualiy is not the best.

The best Local UPVC company in way of product is ARC, they are based on the Sukumvit between Pattaya Nua @ Pattaya Klang, at the U turn on the highway.

Right oposite them is Euro PVC there windows are also pretty good, run by a couple of british guys

AI aircon is great Will does a great job, & some of the best prices in Pattaya

There is also a new Upvc window company opened in Pattaya 3rd road right next door to the TT& T office, I think there called Durascreen, don't know much about them, but popped in there few weeks ago & product looks real good, run by a young Thai guy who speaks fairly good English

ARC did both my UPVC windows and my Daikin A/C. Can't fault their service, installation or punctuality.. I had the windows done when they were first available in Thailand so they were a bit pricey.. much more reasonable now.. The Daikin unit also wasn't cheap but as it was a split system it suited my place perfectly.. Also fitted a Daikin 'cassette' unit.. Yo get what you pay for and my electric bills are way lower than my neighbors....

Saw two guys training at CalWOW yesterday... One had earplugs and the other left without working out... Seems he asked for the music volume to be reduced.. They refused.. So he voted with his feet... I wonder which membership he signed up for ? And whether he will get a refund ?

Seems like once they have your cash they don't give a <deleted>.... Service staff are unhelpful to say the least and the boss is overly smug too...

California Wow should have them

Naka.

Thanks, I'll give that place a go, though I'm not sure why a fitness centre would be selling them.

You'll only need to be there for a few minutes to see why.... They SHOULD be GIVING them away WITH EVERY MEMBERSHIP !!

I see that the Bob's Texas barbeque joint on Pattaya Tai has closed...that was quick. The place was open like 2 years or so and even made the Guiness record book for world's biggest hamburger. Even all that advertising in the local papers and TV channels could not get people to visit this poorly located restaurant. The restaurant scene in Pattaya is really getting competitive with new places opening daily and the level of decor and service rising too. Bad location and plain cheapo decor no longer seem to cut it in this town.

Bob has opened another Bar-B-Que place at Soi LK Metro (Off of Soi Bua Khao) nearby to ''The Rock House'', 'Lolitas'' and ''The hel_l Club''. Guess he will have more passing trade now.. But parking a truck/car nearby is still a pain...

You have a Duc?

I live in Bangkok and ride an S2R Monster.

I could join you if you were leaving Friday afternoon as I finish work at midday.

Yes I've got sport 1000... Would have been good to join ya but I was hoping to head down on Wednesday or Thursday... early in the AM too... Are you heading down to Hua Hin anyhow ?

Oh and my dealer promises white plates at the end of next week

- 2 weeks after delivery.

Better than Triumph - still nothing after 7 months and contrary promises.

You should've bought a DUCATI....Got my white plates three weeks after delivery....

There's 2 men in Pattaya who I believe could make this happen:

Robert Davis of Slices Pizza/Platinum Motorbike (more likely).

Yeah right ... What a choice ... <deleted> Pizza or a <deleted> Motorbike.... Take your pick ...

Tropo

I'm sure they would have been losing money on me with the electric bill for the 1 1/2 hours I was there.

Don't think Tony is too worried about making a profit.. His 'other' less public businesses make the bulk of his income....

Please explain what fitness equipment a gym should have that Tony's does not?

• A lap pool , not the BS little pool at Tony's that is overloaded with chlorine
  

• Clean locker rooms where you do not have to worry about low life scum robbing your stuff or having to dress next to the urinals, like at Tony's
  
• Machines that are laid out properly with enough space between them , not dumped in rooms that were designed as apartments then retrofitted into a gym
  
• More than one dingy lit tennis or badmiton court/basketball court
  
• Not loaded with beach road freaks lounging around playing the role
  
• Membership should include use of all the facilites and no BS surcharges like lighting the basketball after 7pm
  
• Prolly a few more things also
  

I kinda liked ''membership costs high enough to keep the riff raff out''

That sums up why I didn't bother with Tony's... Your right about exercise equip just dumped in rooms too.. I can't knock the value for money but it''s just not the sort of place I want to train in... Universe on Beach Rd was much better IMHO...

Is the music inside the Pattaya California Wow gym (I mean in the workout area) as loud as they play at the entrance?

Believe it or not what they are playing upstairs is LOUDER... and they have speakers placed at head height (farang height) every 3-4 meters along the walls.. If they didn't have the exercise equipment you'd think the place was fitted out as a nightclub... Also noticed that they have TV screens on the running machines... so you can watch Channel V or some such <deleted>....

Unfortunately there aren't really any other 'decent' gyms in Pattaya in central location with new equipment, decent aircon and expensive enough not to be crouded.

I used to train at Universe beach Rd a few years back.. Handy location, easy parking and I could run/jog along the 'boardwalk' after my workout.. After that moved to Sukumvit I continued to train there but after it changed hands the whole place started to go down hill.. Few customers and the equipment was starting to show it's age.. I tried several of the smaller gyms around town (including Tony's) but again all had either old and worn equipment or not enough gear so it was hard to complete a circuit without having to wait for the station to become available either that or too many Gays..

I joined Fairtex when it opened.. Nice facilities, good staff and good equipment.. Unfortunately the usual issues let it down.. 1, The Thai staff get cold just standing around so they would adjust the A/C up to 26-28 deg... When you went in to train you'd be sweating like a rapist withing minutes.. If I wanted a none A/C gym there are plenty around and a lot cheaper than Fairtex.. Issue No 2 was once again music.. The Thai staff liked to play music that they liked.. ie Hip Hop and cRap As most of the customers were in their late 30's - 40's it pissed alot of people off.. Background music should suit the paying customer not the staff..

So Once my Fairtex membership expired I didn't bother re-newing it.

So now to California WOW.. Had a good look around yesterday.. Yes the music is fractionally quieter than downstairs... But it was still so loud I couldn't hear my own Ipod ! I am also concerned about hearing loss.. Industrial deafness is a big issue in my industry and the thought of spending 1-2 hrs a day in an 80 decible + enviroment is not very encouraging.. Guess it's gonna be earplugs or working out in my backyard..

Oh and by the way I'm not an 'old fogey' either.. unless ya think 32 is old ?

I might have to check out the Castra Praetoria Gym .. Maybe they still believe in pleasing the customer ?

Gonna ride my Duc down to the Hua Hin Bike Week.. Was going down on the 29th Anyone else from Pattaya or Bangkok going down there ?