Digger

Just out of Interest where you directed to the office to talk about this or was it done in the walk through booth area? I recall one extremely jaded guy who works on the desk and he was just plain rude to everyone. I had reason to go into the office once, without going to the desk as I wanted to check on a re-entry permit and the two younger, more senior guys in the there were great - a great credit to the Immigration Police in their attitude. This was about a year ago in the office, but the older attitude guy was there about 3 months ago when I used the Mukdahan crossing coming back from Laos - he seems to work mornings.

90-day notification of staying longer than 90 days

To aid a competitive angle with other local Asean countries, why are all people treated the same with the Immigration Department?

For example, a CEO of for example, Toyota in Thailand has to go every 90 days and fill out a 90 report card. Is this the image the country really wants to be portraying to business leaders who can influence massive investment in a region which is increasingly chasing every investment dollar?

Perhaps follow the approach as used in Singapore and grant 2 year extension of stay with no further reporting requirements unless something changes, such as home address. Although in Singapore, even that is not needed - they know where to find the CEO of Toyota if they need to - he works at their Thailand Head Office.

Perhaps grade companies and positions as they do in Singapore based upon monthly salary - 6 grades of employees - the top 3 grades (highest paid, professionals) receive much easier conditions (given their employers trust them with multi million dollar contracts and so on). Manual type workers have stricter conditions to ensure jobs not being taken from locals.

I worked in Singapore for 3 years and never once visited either a immigration office or work permit office. I am seriously considering moving back as the cost advantages of Thailand are now being reduced and the ease of administration is much much easier. My visa and work permit were approved even before I moved to the country. The small matter of income tax at average of 12% versus 37% is also coming into the equation but Thailand needs to think - why are so few regional headquarters based in Bangkok? Business leaders have better things to do than go and sit in an office for 5 hours while their admin clerk runs around for a yearly extension of stay and a 3 minute smile with the immigration guy. PR requirements in for example in Singapore are simple - I know countless business professionals who have it - its much more cumbersome in Thailand and thus leads to people feeling they are not part of the country and there ability to stay is at the behest of a immigration clerk. As I understand it there is not even a right of appeal.

Business does not like uncertainty and Thailand's Immigration department is considered as a business inhibitor by many business people I know.

Once you add the fuel tax surcharge + VAT, then its just above an average of 4b unit at the moment for electric - or at least was when I simply divided total bill by number of units shown on the bill. That is PEA so outside Bangkok and I get billed direct from the electric company. However I use a fair whack of electric so the lower threshold amounts get proportionately eaten up by the load at top rate price. Somebody who uses considerably less than me, may find their average is lower than this.

Pattaya Garage is indeed about 300m BEFORE traffic lights and you can spot it by the large arch shaped roof that extends behind it where all the work is done. It is NOT easy to spot from the road as it has a very narrow driveway down to the main workshop. I have not driven down that part of Sukhumvit for a while but it used to be easier to spot as there are large patches of undeveloped land either side of the group of some ten shophouses of which its a part. Hence you could see the arched roof extending out the back, but if something is now built on land before it - you have probably no chance of seeing the roof. I would concur with other posters - I have had much better results from Pattaya Garage than the other place mentioned. Much more highly regarded however they have little to no English speaking staff.

So I assume you lent the $4000 of your own free will? i.e. the guy did not steal it, therefore what you need to do is consider suing him to get it back. Did you have an agreement written down?

The process is long and expensive - I doubt any lawyer would touch it for less than 60,000b in fee's and realistically you maybe looking at 200,000b if you use a foreign lawyer. There are no punitive damages in Thailand - but equally even if there were, why would they apply? From what you have described it was a simple loan and he cannot afford to repay it.

You will end up going round the houses and it goes to court - he says he just does not have the money to pay you back in one go however maybe can afford 2000b month for the next however many years. The court would likely agree with that timescale and you win the case. The court will award costs of probably 4000b to you.

So you end up winning morally and also losing big time financially. In the meantime, he then sues you for defamation on the one hand and for threatening him, in writing - both of these could cost you a lot of money to sort out.

Just write it off.

When reading it, I fully expected to see, "Once saved 50 kids from a buring orphanage."

TheWalkingMan

That event is being planned for next month, once all the camera crews are in place......

I have worked in the hospitality industry in various roles for nearly 20 years and can count on one hand the number of executive and head chefs who have ANY comprehension of how to run a business and how to price items. That probably explains why the failure ratio of restaurants is so high in the first 2 years. Most have ZERO idea about cost management & pricing. This sounds like another great example of someone who has not got his sums right. Great for the customer, but get it while you can as he will be closed in about 3 months, or he jacks up the prices and everyone stops going.

Sad scenes at the court I am sure.

14 month old baby, pissed off parents, disappointed wife, "thai lawyer"(defending you but needs interpreter), bored judge and all these for a lousy 53gms of ice and sweedish snitch?

Stay off drugs, and guns and marrying bar girls, at least while in Thailand

Or the flip side is "Show me how to make class A drugs in a country where they sentence you to death for doing it". Taking this into account do you think the guy is just plain dumb or as guilty as they come? I would go with the latter especially as he has countless other convictions for doing funny enough the same thing....

There is a new motorbike taxi stand just to the left of 7-11 which is adjacent to the said temple if that is any help if its Horseshoe Point you need to get to. I have often noticed baht busses (red colour as I recall), but no idea where they go as I have my own car.

Sorry I cannot get the hang of quotes -

Jebhead - WR now have an office on Sukhumvit - literally as you come off the new motorway extension and turn south on Sukhumvit (in the direction of Pattaya Klang) they are in the small row of shops off that exit lane - website is -

Digger - as every window is made to the exact size of the opening they cannot really have a price list as standards vary so much. They also do negotiate!

The recent window install was about 1.7 wide by 1.4 high with one fixed and one sliding pane, insect screen, one locking handle and double glazed and that was 13k.

Worth thinking about what you want to do with insect screens as these can add substantially to the cost. Hope this helps.

Excellent - many thanks, that is just the kind of info I was looking for. Seems pretty reasonable price wise to me at least for what you ended up with size wise.

I had a UPVC casement door fitted last year and subsequently replaced some ali sliding doors and a window with UPVC.

When I initially looked around I had a visit from EuroUPVC, Arc, WR Vinyl and another Thai company also based on Sukhumvit - all these companies showrooms are very close to each other. Arc was by far the dearest, the Thai company next followed by Euro and the WR. EuroUPVC is run by an English guy but unfortunately he never got round to sending me a formal quotation as promised even thogh following a lot of reading and recs in various forums I was predisposed to use them.

I finally used WR Vinyl which is run by a German guy - Peter.

One big advantage of UPVC is that it actually seals whereas my aluminium doors/windows nearly all have small gaps that insects/weather can and did penetrate. Yes it is much more expensive but also I and my TGF feeel much more secure - I replaced the front sliding doors after we came back one evening without keys and my girl friend opened the "locked" sliding door simply by pulling it rigourously! Potentially you may be able to achieve the same result with some good quality ali but I was not convinced. I have also gone double glazed where I thought it made sense.

If you are looking at specific security then I would suggest taking the time to visit the different companies and checking out the options and costs. If you decide to go this route make sure everything is very clear on what you are expecting including any repairs that may be needed as this can be an area that gets left unfinished and is a pain to sort out unless you know a good tradesman/jobbing builder.

All of them also offer different window glass colours which can influence the level of heat transfer - but also can increase the cost quite a bit.

I have often thought about upgrading my windows but never gotten round to it, as I tend to not like, not even understanding ballpark figures before talking to them as price lists are next to impossible to obtain. Could you assist by advising how much you ended up paying for the casement door and a simple window (guestimate of size, eg 150cm * 80cm high will do and if you had it as sliding window, opening out, double glazed, multi-locks etc fitted). I often glance at the trade UPVC place at the Sukhumvit end of Soi Siam Country Club but never heard any comments about them.

Many thanks

Digger

Yes that surprises me too. I would think they would lose quite a bit of custom not doing something like cooking a steak how the customer likes it. But I suppose if it goes well then they must be doing something right.

I worked for a large steakhouse chain (300 units) once upon a time. They had a five state region that was almost broke because of poor performance of the units in that area. I think they wanted to get rid of me (my charming personality I'm sure) and gave me that region to supervise. In 6 months I turned it around and it was one of the most profitable areas in the company. It was simple, I ignored everything else and taught the cooks to cook a steak medium rare. It is just a matter of percentages. 80% of customers order MR. Forget about rare and well done, they confuse cooks. Get medium rare correct 100% of the time and you will make money. Same with a wife. If she gets sex right she can keep a sloppy house or spend too much money on groceries. How many guys divorce a woman who is really good in bed every day?

I would imagine the problem has a lot to do with how you define medium rare? With perhaps 20-40 nationalities as customers it is not easy as a US focussed chain within the US. Not meant as a slate - I have travelled a lot and I always ask how a kitchen defines medium rare, medium etc etc - but I doubt many do and they 'assume' there own understanding should be telepathically beamed to the chef. That I suspect is the root cause of the issue.

You probably need to add a water filter similar to the used in swimming pools and fill it with a filter medium called ZEOLITE. I had to do the same thing for my swimming pool and house water as the iron content in ground water is very high. Zeolite from the research I undertook is apparently the medium that can remove the iron from the water. It wont get all of it but since I put in an extra filter its removed the bulk of it. Couple of Western pool suppliers in Pattaya stock the Zeolite and the filters you need.

Just to add some updates to this thread as I spent Christmas and New Year down around Mabprachan Reservoir and ate out a fair amount.

Had Christmas day Dinner at Lakeside and it was its usual good quality, fixed 4 course menu for about 950b as a recall. The place was packed out and service slowed down from usual but only to be expected I guess on such a day. They had a Cream asparagus soup as one of the starters which was very good and as usual Roast Turkey with sprouts etc for the main. There was no thai option and no a la carte being served - just choices from a fixed menu. Also ate there a few days later and had a steak with a dijon mustard cream sauce (Fillet steak from New Zealand) and that was very good.

Had Thai food one night at Khun Johns and maybe its just me but I thought something was not as good as before and my partner agreed. Maybe a change of chef has occured.

Stopped at Magnolia for a early dinner and the place seems devoid of any customers. I just ordered a Hamburger and it was OK but not great.

Ate one night at the Rendevous and it was good, simple English style food. Big portions and relatively cheap but no ambience to speak of.

The Manekin Pis still serves good steaks but I think the Belgium owner has now gone and it seems to be run by his former partner. Service is warm and friendly but not exactly slick.

Ticino seemed to be doing quite well the night I visited. Seems like the Swiss are continuing to eat and drink and the think crust pizza here is always good.

The thought I took away from all places was (relatively) how quiet they all were (Lakeside excepted on Christmas Day) - certainly feels like much fewer people are around the area which does not bode well for the future and may mean lots more trecking into town in the future if things do not pick up.

Bangkok's restaurants just don't compete with those in Thailand's regional tourist centres on any level. I agree about the comparison to London, though not for Pattaya but Bangkok: Overpriced and mostly poor quality everywhere.

Well, Simon, I guess we will agree to disagree on this one. I expect that you really haven't experienced the truly wonderful restaurants that Bangkok has to offer. I have no knowledge of the better Phuket or Chiang Mai restaurants, but Pattaya has noting to offer that comes even remotely close to the best restaurants in Bangkok. If you haven't tried Vertigo, C'est Bon and the River Patio at the Oriental Hotel, you should (these are just a few, there are many more). And, if you know of any restaurants in Pattaya that can equal their quality of food, ambience and service (and the lack of "bill shock"), I and other TV forum readers would like to know of them. And, please, any such list should not include (for credibility sake) Bruno's, Pascals or Sugar Shack. Cheers,

Why do you make reference to "shock bill" - when pretty much all the restaurants you mention apply the same approach to pricing i.e. ++ ? Not diagreeing with your statement just strange that you focus on the shock value more than anything else.

Personally having eaten at many of the places you mention - I would not consider them comparable - but for different reasons. If I am looking for a riverside restaurant, I would not be going to Bruno's or Pascal for starters and conversley if I am in Pattaya I would not trudge all the way to BKK for dinner.

These should be completed to the revelant ISO standards.

And these standards are what exactly?........ Oh they are not defined. No surprises there.

Simple reality is that this was an illegal venue operating without valid licences - however those who are charged and employed with checking it get away scot free. I suspect the families of the victims feel the same, and what exactly does a marketing mgr have to do with in house fire safety? Talk about typical Thai Scapegoats........

Lakeside at Mabprachan reservoir does roasts every weekend - had it tonight but the Sirloin roast beef not the lamb - superb. Had New Zealand lamb before and its delicious - 350 baht is quite expensive but they offer seconds and thirds with real roast potato and heaps of vegs if your hungry for the same price. This is a good place to take someone to eat - its a lovely venue/ambience and reasonable (for the quality) price - its not cheap but they are clearly not aiming at that market - if you want quality you wont be upset to go here. They have NZ Lamb, Beef and US turkey every weekend served a la carte - they say its like a carvery just better and I for one agree.

Judging things purely by the number of cars parked at different venues I would hazzard a guess that there are only two who are doing ok/good - thats Rendevous and Lakeside, both seem to have a steady trade whenever I am driving past and/or eating in both. Both seem to be focused on different segments but they both look to be doing well. I have eaten in both and while the food is not comparable, nor is the price - neither are expensive IMHO for the relative quality/ambience they provide but they are not really comparable offering wise. Rendevous is somewhere you go to eat something like a cafe, Lakeside is a restaurant with a good wine list at excellent prices. One thing I like about both is that neither have ++ charges - the price on the menu is what you get charged, no service charges or VAT added. Also I see that Lakeside take credit cards now for those that want to go out and don't want to trek down to 7-11 to find the nearest ATM.

Agreed in pretty much every respect.

However, you get very good main course meals at the Rendezvous, so it is a little more than just a cafe, and their roast dinners are excellent and very large. I'm not that crazy about veg, but I always eat the ones at Rendezvous because they are so tasty and not overcooked.

Their Thai food is also very good and excellent value.

Also their restaurant is out of site of the bar, so it is suitable for families who have a problem with bargirl/waitresses.

Yes, Lakeside is in a different league. Nice place, and well run.

Every one has different tastes - Rendevous reminds me of something like Rosie O Gradies or another Pattaya pub/bar serving food of large portions, cooked OK but not fine dining - nothing wrong with that at all - but if If I want to eat premium food, I go to Lakeside, the roasts are superb because of the quality of the meat. Having said that they are poles apart in terms of pricing lakeside is 350bt for roasts with seconds and thirds thrown in - not sure about Rendevous in terms of seconds I just remember getting a cheap bill - for my money I would and do frequent Lakeside more often as I much prefer the ambience and food as does my missus and she calls the shots later on when we get back home......

Patsfarang - Rendevous is on Soi Siam Country Club just after Mannekin Piss and Outback bar on right hand side - you cant miss it. Its before Peacock hotel if that helps.

Overall, I think both places have really lifted the offering around the lake - And that is a seriously good thing - Rendevous is catering for the large plate diners and Lakeside for more a la carte diners - both are excellent value for money and both offer good quality food at value for money prices according to their own segment. These and Ticino are helping eradicate any need to cross sukhumvit for a good meal anymore.

Judging things purely by the number of cars parked at different venues I would hazzard a guess that there are only two who are doing ok/good - thats Rendevous and Lakeside, both seem to have a steady trade whenever I am driving past and/or eating in both. Both seem to be focused on different segments but they both look to be doing well. I have eaten in both and while the food is not comparable, nor is the price - neither are expensive IMHO for the relative quality/ambience they provide but they are not really comparable offering wise. Rendevous is somewhere you go to eat something like a cafe, Lakeside is a restaurant with a good wine list at excellent prices. One thing I like about both is that neither have ++ charges - the price on the menu is what you get charged, no service charges or VAT added. Also I see that Lakeside take credit cards now for those that want to go out and don't want to trek down to 7-11 to find the nearest ATM.

The easiest way to spot this place is look for the HUGE rooftop sign saying Central aircon - thats them just over the ridge on left hand side between Pattaya Nua and Pattaya Klang where the new fly over is being built - they are past ARC - another aircon shop. I look at many and chose Nanaparn - I have always been very impressed with them especially on pricing and after sales service.

I was just visiting a sick friend in Bangkok Pattaya Hospital this morning, all the staff are now wearing face masks, since yesterday when they were not.

Came down in the lift with a young doctor who was not wearing one, he said, No point, they don't work when they get wet from breathing and in any case this 'flu is no worse than any other ordinary 'flu.

And that replicates advice I read from as I recall the BBC when quoting a health authority in the UK - basically the masks dont do ANYTHING to prevent the spread of this infection, thus they are a waste of time and actually a hinderence to good simple hygiene like washing your hands etc (Having said that seems Britain's NHS hospitals are probably not the best adverts for hygiene after so many bacteria led deaths in wards but thats another story)

Have been to Nice the other night and learned that the owner is selling the business. Hope he sells his recipes as well!

I drove over and ate there for the first time today. I was the only customer, and, after eating a very tasty dish of fettucine, with chicken, mushrooms, and garlic, I spoke with the owner, Jean-Claude, for a while. He told me that the main reason why he's closing is that he's fed up with trying to find decent Thai staff in the area. I think we can all understand his frustration with that.

I suggested to him that I'd post here tonight, and ask that any of you who knows of a solid restaurant worker in the Mabprachan area, you send that person to talk with Jean Claude at Nice. His salary seems more that fair to me; but I won't publicly post that. Perhaps we could ask some of the better cooks and/or waitresses around if they have any friends who are looking for a good job in these tough times. I am NOT suggesting that we steer anyone away from their current job; just that we try to help find a good, out of work, restaurant helper (preferably one who can learn to cook the excellent Belgian recipes that JC has).

Some of you have expressed satisfaction with the unique food served there; and, based upon my one meal, and an examination of the unusual meny, I agree with you. I think it will be a loss to the area if we can't help JC find at least one top notch employee.

The obvious question to me would be how do places like Lakeside and Delibean find good staff? I always think they are good as I equally find the staff at Ticino, Courtyard, Rung Tip and to a lesser but not a bad extent Manekin Pis. Maybe these guys know something our man from Belgium does not? Having said all that, I do recall lakeside said they were having problems with 3 of their chef team so maybe its just a Mabprachan thing or maybe I have been in Thailand too long to actually expect anything more than routine service - if they get the food and drink order correct I consider it a major bonus

Sounds to me at least that your operating under a fixed contract which you signed for one year - are you sure your even *due* any compensation? at best, sounds like you may have a claim of one month for lack of notice but it will depend upon the wording of your employment agreement.

I would imagine the "JV" to which you refer has already sought advice behind the scenes and is probably not far off the ball - you have a 1 year contract and they are electing NOT to renew it - same as you could elect NOT to renew it.

You might want to go and see a lawyer specialsing in employment issues and show them your contract and the original one - They may be able to determine that the original contract stands in term of severence - i.e thats the date you first started working for that organisation - however unless it states it implicitly (like commencement of service is deemed as XXX date), you may be out of luck.

This is what led to the menu of Asian foods although as I understand it, he considers it a trial - having said that, he then told me its proving very popular with farang customers and the feedback has been very good. None were bad, but none were the same apart from having egg noodles as the base.

Having said all that - did you mention it to the owner - he is always there every evening I have been there and very approachable guy, although he tends to come to you so I am asuming he was not there when you ate, otherwise at least based on what I have seen, he would have come and chatted and checked that everything was good with the food. As I say, I have always found him very keen to hear feedback either good or negative which frankly is how it should be.

I have traveled in Indonesia and Malaysia and what Lakeside served me and called "chow mein" was very much like a nasi goreng...thin glassy type noodles and chilies in it. Why not call it that and I would know what to expect! Whatever you call it, it was crap and way too expensive at B 260 for a TINY portion (with very little "imported Australian" beef)

As to the owner, he was nowhere to be seen on the evenings I was there. Like I said, I hoped this place might become a regular stop as I live on the Farside but I have yet to be overly impressed with any meal I have had (some dishes are okay, some terrible, nothing outstanding) and the prices expensive (expecially for the Thai food). He does good with sandwiches at the cafes...maybe he should stick to them.

That must be in the race for inaccurate quote of the year - Chow Mein is fried noodles and Nasi Goreng is fried rice. Any other comments are clearly not merited or warranted given your demonstrated understanding in matters of Asian basic foodstuffs :D

I think there's a rough road ahead for The Lakeside; and the original Deli Bean is a shorter drive for me (and for you) when I want a good sandwich, or smaller meal.

The original Delibean has closed and the staff moved into the one at Lakeside - I believe the original location is being turned back into offices for the residential housing estate where it sits.

That must have been a fairly recent development, Digger. I haven't been to Lakeside for about 3 weeks (or more); but, on that visit, the owner told me that the original DB was still running, as the residents of the moo ban there were a steady customer base. Oh well, still worth the drive to Lakeside for Deli Bean food, as well as for the Lakeside dishes that I like.

Based upon your recommendation, I'll have to get off my "addiction" to the John Dory, and try a couple of other items. I'm personally glad to read your positive comments on the level of business. I DO want this place to survive; and I'm always willing to allow for improvement over time. I certainly had to do that with The Courtyard, which was a near disaster when they first opened; and is now my most frequent lunch stop.

I found out last weekend when I went there for breakfast - everything has been moved to Lakeside including the staff that remain - apparently its because Lakeside was sucking their volume (no surprises there) and a key member of the staff left that store without warning - the owner said, its easier to close it than to try and support it from Lakeside when it would be inevitable that the store at Horseshoe Point would not be viable. (And I suspect he wanted to bring those experienced girls into the store at Lakeside which presumably has a much larger potential.) - The menu at Delibean has also expanded considerably - its now much more than just sandwiches given their bigger kitchen facilities at Lakeside. Everything else seems much the same.