syd barrett

When I am at the north bus terminal, they always tell me 50 baht to town, so I walk, need the exercise anyway. In town, I dont really like the hassle of trying to figure out where they are going and what will be the price, so walking is an option.

I agree with you, walking is beneficial to health, but remember next time not to ask the fare at the North Pattaya Bus Station.

It is 20 baht.

Because next time it might be raining!

....you could have just called the tourist police

and they would likely dismiss the whole matter with a "did you spoke to the staff? yes? then you have to pay", just ask for "Josh" if you have any doubts.... The police in Pattaya, what an oxymoron....

If you approach the Tourist Police in a sober manner, dressed properly, without offensive tattoos and a grazed shaven head and multiple body piercings and facial ironmongery, then they will listen to your complaint in a sympathetic and professional way.

Sadly, less than 1% of Pattaya dwellers fall into the ideal above said guise.

Baht bus drivers are still trying to charge 20 bht to go from Jomtien to Central Festival.

Yesterday when I handed the driver 10 bht he said that it was 20 bht

so after a minute or two of arguing I took my wallet out and offered him a 1000 bht note.

He was not impressed and drove away fuming.

I return from Jomtien regularly and sometimes they demand 20 baht, but I always offer 10 baht and most times 9/10 they accept it.

It helps if the bus is full and they don't know where everyone actually got on board.

The OP should have paid his bill and then walked the short walk to the Tourist Police on 2nd Road in Pattaya and made an official complaint. Also writing to the Pattaya Mail would help and also photographing the premises and warning everyone on the Thailand forums. Once news of this con got around their business would suffer.

The double price menu trick is nothing new and I have suffered that scam in the Philippines but never Thailand (yet).

The scam regarding the girl is a typical London Soho scam.

I will take a stroll down Soi 4 tomorrow and photograph the place and post it here.

The Baht Bus Service in Pattaya/Jomtien/Naklua is on the whole excellent. The routes are good (Soi Buckhaew) etc. A lot of people moan about them, but if they all stopped tomorrow I would be in deep water.

10 Baht is the fare on most daytime trips and in the last 2 years since the fare went from 5 to 10 baht, I have had almost no trouble.

Long live the baht bus.

To the O.P I would estimate that there are 868 buses, but not all on the road at the same time.

Needless to say, my next holiday will be in the Philippines

If you think Angeles and Manila girls don't have pimps/boyfriends, think again.

Pattaya, Soi 6 is hazardous these days. It's not like it was in the old days, in the last few years it has become very risky.

I say: Approach with caution.

I have used ATM's worldwide with the Kasikorn Debit Card and the exchange rate and fee rate are very good compared to U.K. debit cards.

What is the advantage of having your name on the card? ^^ ??

There are a number of trucks for hire on Sukhumvit Between Tesco and Pattaya Tai, parked at the roadside with the phone numbers displayed, bigger than a taxi, but smaller than a big truck if you know what i mean:lol: - 1 would do you, and they can be negotiated to be quite reasonable. I think i saw a couple more today back as far as Makro, you might want to give them a try.

Thanks for that tip, do they come with a driver? And I have absolutely no idea what sort of cost this would be? Any ideas?

I want to remove a load of gear from my apartment in Pattaya to Isaan (near Koen Kaen). It's not really enough for a big van, it's about three pick-ups worth of stuff. Has anyone got any suggestions here in Pattaya?

I don't want to hire-drive a vehicle in Thailand. Are there any local taxi firms who have a van etc. can anyone can suggest something?

Thanks is advance for any replies.

In Pattaya, I suggest that 90% of violent crime against farang is not reported. For example within just the last few weeks I know of two incidents; one in Naklua and one in Jomtien that I felt sure would have been reported in the local press but were not. I think news agencies like Pattaya Daily News and Pattaya One News are 'given' just a few stories per week depending on strict orders to Pattaya police regarding violent crime reportage.

The incident in Jomtien about two weeks ago involved a 65 year old man who was knocked off his motorbike deliberately by yobs and robbed of a small quantity of valuables by four Thai thugs on motorbikes. Although Thai motorcycle taxis came to the rescue, the thugs quickly fled down Soi Chayapreuk.

The point I am making, is that violent crime against solo farang is definitely on the increase in Pattaya (for many reasons) and that in quiet areas after dark, young thugs do look out for 'easy victims'.

We don't know the full facts of this Soi 6 case. On the one hand I feel sure that there is more to the story, but these days I would not be totally surprised if it was an unprovoked case of violent theft from a man sporting an outrageous 'bum bag' which was most unwise.

&&& UPDATE &&&

August 2010

The Bowling Green on Soi Xzyte (Soi Drarin) off Soi Buckhaw is serving 'John Dory' Fish & Chips on a daily basis at 129 Baht.

I was there the other day: Recommended !!

The place is superb. Absolutely the best tasting Indian food for years.

It is very easy to find just a few metres from Kohinoor, going back to Pattaya Tai. The shop front is covered in a kind of Heath Robinson sheet awning.

I will be back.

What you saw probably wasn't a bed-bug as they are very tiny.

Have you considered Siam Sawasdee on Soi Buckhow? Cheap rooms and cheerful guests and just 10 minutes from the sea.

I have discovered the secret is having two expense-free days per week. Just make sure you have food and booze in the fridge for those two days and don't go out except for exercise.

Doing that I have saved 15,000 per month which compensates for the <50 Baht to the GBP and keeps to my THB 65K monthly limit.

I have just watched this news report on the Thai National News and must correct our friends reporting from Pattaya One News:

The ATM's are located on the corner of Soi 6 and Beach Road in the Beach Road Café/Restaurant called 'Stone Oven'. They are not located at Soi 6/1 and Second Road as reported.

I also am suffering this problem on two different PC's and with IE and Firefox. I tried a cookie delete which doesn't work and I have to sign in every time.

I also have a whole range of minor problems to to with posting which I have mentioned on this forum. I can't understand why they had to mess with the previous format which was fine.

OK

Text I enter now without underline.

Now I go back and select the word "underline" above and click the underline button.

And yes it worked as it should. in Chrome.

opalhort

Edit: when selecting text try not to include the CR and LF (carriage return and linefeed). Do the selection line by line. Not sure if this is the cause but it could be the software can not accept special characters for underlining.

OK I am using Vista and Microsoft free browser.

It still happens.

We will have to wait until someone else reports this fault, however not so many people use the underline function ore even visit this support forum.

When I underline I highlight my area with the mouse, then click on the U symbol. Do this and test again please. Thanks.

Not trying to hijack your thread, but have just done a visa run to Vientiane from Bangkok (left from Suvarnabhumi, returned to Mo Chit), so thought it would be useful to add a bit more info. I hope you don't mind.

Similar experience to yours, except I paid 100 baht for a tuk tuk to the Nong Khai border! I had acquired some $s for the visa, so that worked out more than 300 baht cheaper (I paid 1$ extra due to weekend, so $36). I met a Swedish guy there who hitched to Vientiane, as he considered the 200 baht for private hire too expensive (which it is really). There is also public bus to the centre I believe and maybe minibuses, but you get accosted by tuk tuk drivers of course.

The Thai consulate isn't particularly far out of town (maybe 3km), and I walked back on the first day due to feeling like I was not getting a fair deal on Tuk Tuks. The Swedish guy I met walked to and fro each time! I paid 20000 kip for a tuk tuk one way to the consulate when I used them (approx 80 baht). I'm sure you could get a bus if you figured it out.

I got the international bus back from Talat Sao bus station (near the mall), which is 15000 kip (approx 60 baht) and takes you directly to Nong Khai bus station. There are also direct international buses to Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and Khorat respectively (Udon 22000 Kip, Khon Kaen maybe 50000 Kip). I got a VIP bus from Nong Khai back to Mo Chit in Bangkok (700 baht). Journey time 9 hours each way (from and to Bangkok).

Bornslippy

Just a few additional questions because I've not been to the Nong Khai border for a while:

1. Does the Pattaya bus-Nong Khai still stop at the bridge instead of going to Nong Khai bus-station?

2. Is paying in US $ for the visa any hassle. (At Trat Cambodia Border for example they insist on Thai Baht because of the high exchange rate.

3. Do you have to pre-book Nong Khai Buses back to Pattaya (VIP buses).

4. Can I bring a case of Lao beer cans back over the border?

Thanks for any feedback.

Three times now after I have replied in a topic, I choose to underline a word, then my whole post is deleted and it is really annoying because sometimes the reply has taken about 10 minutes and is a few hundred words, lost forever.

????

Thanks for the heads-up.

However, do consider that frozen food does stay frozen for quite a while during a power-cut. (My ice cubes in my freezer stay solid for 12 hours plus, during a power-cut). There was obviously a power failure here and don't forget we are already in an air-con supermarket, not a 90 degree Soi.

If the food sits for days and rots then re-freezing will mean bad food. But non-meat and fish products could safely be re-frozen within 24 hours.

Except for chicken products, re-freezing would mean only bad-tasting rotten foods. In the case of chicken where bacteria thrives in the internal organs then possible food poisoning could occur.

I have experienced severe food poisoning on several occasions in Pattaya and I suggest that the biggest risk is from ready-cooked food in Supermarkets or street-sold food. Frozen food in plastic sealed packets that has thawed and been re-frozen is at the bottom of the risk list.

This is not a criticism of your post, just a non-alarmist response to the risks.

Thanks.

Befriend a local Christian Priest in Thailand and send the money to his bank account. He will pass it on to your girlfriend for a donation of 30 baht to his church.

Don't laugh, this works for friends of mine.

Just buy a case of beer. (12 big bottles or 24 small bottles).

10 litres or more can be sold at any time, and although 1 case of beer is 7.68 litres, Thai cashiers just accept a 'bulk sale' and no problem.

The avearge adult farang male can carry a case of beer without difficulty.

I have been buying the processed cheese slices in Thailand for +9 years now and I always notice the same problem: I have tried almost every brand (of which there are many).

After removing the plastic wrapping and placing the cheese on toast or a muffin, during eating I always experience tiny bits of plastic in my teeth.

I assume that removal of the plastic leaves behind a residue of very tiny plastic strands.

Am I alone in noticing this?

Ive had many a good nights sleep on a plane with xanax, but they are very addictive, just take one for the flight after the meal and a couple of drinks, throw the rest away. You will want the rest when you get home, and its not good, anyone agree?

Yes, they are highly addictive.

Like you said, it's best not to take them regularly and save them for flights only.

In the U.K. they are a Class C drug so only legal to have if you have a Doctors note.

In Britain they are not available on prescription because of their abuse.