bankroll

Think it's the sakulwilai hotel. If I'm passing later I can get the number

El Murphy's I guess

Was just wondering what's the best way to transfer some cash (about £800 or 40,000 baht) from UK bank account to Thailand - I don't have a Thai bank account either and not sure I can open one with just tourist visa, but I might try anyway. Aeon spot don't charge the 150 baht ATM fee, but I guess the exchange rate is not good. Other ways could be via Paypal I guess into the account of someone I know here, if the % is not too high.

Thanks

any gps for it.. or google map

Yeah - http://g.co/maps/w3tzq

Point A, right at the entrance to 62!

A restaurant recommendation:

Just bumped into a guy I know the other day, and he recommended the Backyard Steak restaurant, which is on the main road, near Shell and opposite PTT, on the way out of Hua Hin (closest road is Soi 62). Previously I know a guy that said he didn't like it so I'd never been, even though I live just 5 minutes' walk away. Anyway, was hungry today and decided to check it out - well it was only 159 baht for the buffet which starts at 4pm (until 11) - unlimited pork, chicken and beef steaks (quality OK, typical Thai steaks but very edible), also salads, soup, sushi, and bolognese and pasta dishes. I got there at 5pm and there was already about 20 Thais there, so it seems pretty popular. You'd easily miss this place if you didn't know it was there, but I can definitely say that if you're hungry and don't want to spend too much, the food is pretty good and the setting is nice.

No ABS on that bike as it's just the 150 model I was riding...I guess it wouldn't made a difference.

But you're right about the slow lane driving, definitely the most risky around here. Another terrible spot is near Soi 56 and top of soi 41 at the crossroads on the main road, as everybody is trying to cross from all angles. There must be dozens of accidents around there.

I was wondering whether the Karma Lounge is any good as it seems to be one of the best live music venues in the area...?

are we talking Karma lounge, corner of Patak road and a soi going down to Karon beach north end, traffic light junction?

Yes that's the one I think, if it's still there..

I was wondering whether the Karma Lounge is any good as it seems to be one of the best live music venues in the area...?

I must be driving around with my eyes closed, as just today I noticed they've erected a new red-coloured decorative bridge (not sure what they're called, sort of chinese style things that you get at the entrance to various china towns around the world) that spans from the police box to the opposite corner, at the crossroads to Damnoen Kasam road.

Also, what is the building on the corner that is under construction, next door to the police station?

Good idea. Actually my 15 months year accident insurance that I arranged in UK just expired 3 weeks ago and I had even put a post-it note on my desk as a reminder!! doh!!

Just thought I'd share my experience of a minor motorbike accident that I had recently.

I was unfortunate enough to come off on Monday on the main road, on the way to Khao Takiab...was in the slow lane and the tuk-tuk in front slammed on his brakes and I couldn't stop in time. You know when you have that moment of realisation that you're not going to be able to stop, it's quite scary. I was lying on the main road with the rear of the bike on top of me. I was not going that fast, and I can't remember now if I was too close or not.

The funny thing was nobody stopped to help, except an Irish guy I know who just happened to see it (from another passing tuk-tuk), so he u-turned and came back a few minutes later. The tuk-tuk driver that I hit just wanted to flee the scene and didn't seem interested in helping. The bike's not that heavy but I was struggling to get up.

After a few minutes by the side of the road, checking myself and the bike, I drove to the polyclinic, treated wounds and the final bill was 650 baht...I was actually close to the Bangkok hospital (on the other side of the road) but thought since it was a minor injury I'd rather avoid such a hefty bill.

Anyway it was annoying because it was a brand new CBR, a red one, that I'd picked up the day before....luckily there's very little damage to the bike. But I have to say I'm very happy that I was wearing a very good quality helmet and gloves. Makes you feel lucky to be alive. I'm back to my previous CBR now, red, white and blue. Perhaps red is an unlucky colour for me! lol

Just goes to show, that you never know what can happen. A friend of mine continues to drive around without a helmet even after he hears stories such as this!

I think Lovely Bar has 3 beers all day for the price of 2, which means 3 beer chang for 100 baht! cracking...The bar next to pips bar seems to have changed it's name to Harley bar - or was it always called Harley bar...?

The fish and chip place is victoria 2 - I know Barry, in fact I had a great English breakfast in there today, only 160 baht.

Somebody mentioned that a German guy recently died in Soi 80, but i couldn't find out whether they meant it was an accident or anything more. When I read "trip down soi 80" I thought this post might be related as the Thai lady in Victoria said the guy fell over...but couldn't get any more details than that.

Anyway Soi 80 is a nice alternative to bintabaht, just quiet at the moment, like everywhere else

And how about the Karma Lounge - it looks pretty good. Decent music and any BG's there?

I'm coming to Karon in a few weeks and was just wondering what the nightlife is like - what are the best bars around? read a few reports on the internet but it's not easy to tell which ones are still open and which are closed!

- Thanks

Yeah I was in there last night and there was as poster in the bathroom with the times, so it's definitely on at El Murphy's....

Apparently some winning cows are highly sought after and go for millions of baht. I think it's one of these events where Thais bet on the cows, probably all "under the table" stuff I guess.

Liked the comment about Soi Bus Station. Yeah there's a few scary cows in Hua Hin too....

There's going to be some cow racing next week in Cha-am, my friend is racing his cows there as he breeds cows to race.

Yes - cow racing! I've never seen it but apparently it's great fun. If I can find out more details I might post them here.

If you need to park later than that, another (expensive) option is the Hilton car park - 400 baht for 24 hours, but it's very safe.

Otherwise just park down on Dechanuchit Road (soi 57) as there are usually spots all around there.

Went past Duke's the other day and it's being done up / bulldozed - one of those and not sure which yet - but the whole dining area outside was just a pile of rubble!

The Delize italian place is very nice, but there's also another quite good one on Soi 94 called Trattoria - the details here from the Hua Hin restaurants section on the Thai visa Hua Hin portal, no less!

I've been there only once, the food was great (I had lasagne) - small portions but delicious. It was on a non alcohol day but they still served me a beer :-)

Trattoria Luciano

Italian restaurant and pizzeria, located next door to Sakura Sushi.

Address: 34/175 Soi 94, left side after railway crossing

Hours: 16.00-22.00

On Friday went down to the karaoke and discos, and only Cat Bar Disco was open - everywhere else dead as a dodo!

Anyone know much about this new mall called Colonnade Mall...? apparently there's a hotel as well.

From what I read in a Thai magazine, it seems like it's going to be exclusive boutiques, but somewhere else it said it was replacing Nadpob mall, which doesn't make much sense as that's the new one anyway. Confused.

:-)

Hi,

anyone know if the discos and karaoke are still closing at 2am? I've not been up there for a few weeks but I was told they're all closing early nowadays...Anyone have the full story? I guess it's just the usual BS that seems to happen from time to time...and the bar girls have nowhere to go now once the bars close for the night. Have to say, I was impressed with the quantity and quality of stunners in Bangkok and Phuket recently, puts Hua Hin to shame, and to think that here they ask for 2,000 baht!! unbelievable. LOL

Yes I was confused why he thought it was in Pattaya. Everybody in Hua Hin knows TNT bar :-)

One billion baht - do they mean from just one concert? seems awfully high as that's the equivalent of £20.8 million...I think this figure must be exaggerated somehow.

I'm sure even massive charity concerts in the UK and other places don't generated that much....how can a single Reggae event generate that much cash...?

Perhaps they could employ another 500 security staff at 500 baht per day, so that's 500,000 baht for the 2 days, just 1/2000th of the 1 billion baht it generates....good idea???

Colin, the owner at TNT bar, tells me that he's having a ladyboy show tonight at 9pm by popular demand. Last time it was jam packed, but that could be as it was also his birthday. Supposed to start at 9pm.