jfchandler

For right now, the prior problems with access to airports and the bus and train networks have pretty much subsided.... Everything's running again now....in terms of greater Bangkok and Thailand at large.

However, the protests continue.... and as long as they do, it's impossible to predict what things PAD might target where and when -- apart from the ongoing main protest sites around Govt. House. So that creates some uncertainties.

Based on current circumstances, I wouldn't put off any planned trip. But I would monitor closely info sources like the Bangkok Post or Nation newspaper to keep tabs on the situation as it evolves. It's impossible to predict where things will stand two weeks from now.

But right now, life in BKK for the most part goes on as usual....

Strange note on their web site....

PLEASE NOTE

THERE IS NO COVER CHARGE TO ENTER

THE AIR CONDITIONED MAIN BAR OR GARDEN AREA.

ENTRY FEE APPLIES TO THE ICE BAR AREA ONLY

I love a good pancake for breakfast, and have definitely missed good ones here in Thailand.

Regarding the recommendations above, yes, Little Home Bakery makes decent pancakes, a bit thin in depth, but well prepared and good taste. Nothing fancy.. But very cheap, about 60 baht or so per order, depending on your choice of various available toppings. Locations in the basement of Silom Complex, in Chong Nonsi and on Soi Thong Lor.

However, I can now add and recommend another maybe even better (though not cheaper) alternative: Bourbon Street Restaurant in Washington Square, just off Suk Soi 22. They have an all-day breakfast menu, and the other day, we sampled their two pancakes and bacon offering.

Although the breakfast was somewhere in the 150 to 200 baht range, the pancakes were very tasty...a bit thicker in depth, a bit bigger around, and very moist and tasty, and served with a bottle of Log Cabin syrup. For the price, I definitely could have eaten more than two pancakes....but... what can you do.... The pancakes came with two slices of very good, crispy-cooked American style bacon, or you can choose other breakfast meats.

So, rather than go light, I combined the pancakes and bacon with Bourbon Street's four eggs breakfast, which comes with your choice of breakfast meat, a pre-formed hash browns patty and a couple of slices of toast. Together with the pancakes, it made an excellent, though not cheap, American breakfast.

For a really hearty, satisfying American breakfast, the combo of the two is a great choice, if price isn't a consideration. Both breakfast choices also included your choice of breakfast beverage (coffee, tea, or juice). But if you're on a budget and/or not a big eater, then Little Home Bakery makes a nice, satisfying alternative.

At least on the menu, Bourbon Street doesn't offer any toppings choices for their pancakes unlike Little Home Bakery, where the menu gives you various flavor/toppings choices. But both place's pancakes are good enough to stand on their own, with just a bit of syrup and butter.

If Bourbon Street was REALLY serious about their breakfasts, they'd add a new menu item with eggs, meat AND pancakes, either in addition to the potatoes choice, or as an alternative in place of potatoes. Anyone listening out there???

You can see a bit from the photos above....

Based on just one visit that involved a hard shell taco, a chicken enchillada and a potato enchillada, rice and beans, I would say.... I wouldn't go there just to eat the food.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it, and the small shop is clean and pleasant... The food is home-made, and relatively freshly prepared. But, as you can see, the portions of rice and beans are very small. Likewise on the size of the enchilladas... But in addition to the smallish portions, I found it pretty average and distinctly lacking in real flavor... with the exception of the margarita, of course.

So, for me, the food was just something to keep the margarita from totally wasting me...

And sometimes, that's perfectly fine....

But for food alone, Sunrise Soi 12 and Charlie Brown's IMHO serve up far better and more authentic food offerings... And both have very nice margaritas of their own, particularly Sunrise if you like flavored mango or strawberry varieties...

However, for a traditional margarita, blended or on the rocks, Mamacita's is a killer.

So let me see if I understand this correctly....

The police could perfectly well shoot the guy themselves, since he was in possession of a single yabba tablet.... War on drugs, you know.... But the concerned neighbor faces attempted murder charges for shooting a fleeing rape or robbery suspect who ends up not seriously injured???

There was no mention of whether the shooter was Thai or farang...though I'd guess Thai under the circumstances. So the original suspect will get 10 years in prison for possessing the single yabba tablet and maybe a month for attempted rape??? Regarding the shooter, hopefully common sense will prevail eventually...

Agreed... The housing cost is really dependant on what area you want to live around BKK...

If someone wants to live in the Silom/Sukhumvit corridor, in a decent sized western style apartment, then the 15,000 to 25,000 figures are a good range, though much higher prices are sought in that area as well.

If someone doesn't mind living farther away from the center city (and away from easy transit via BTS and MRT), and a range of more western oriented businesses, then the 6,000 to 10,000 range certainly is do-able and reasonable.

Someone had a good and simple suggestion earlier that folks should remember for any future meet-ups...especially if they happen to be in a busy place like Gulliver's...

Simply print out a "TV" sign on a piece/pieces of paper...and bring those to hang/display on the table/tables.

Then maybe so many folks won't get lost en route....

There was a recent article in MSN Money that explains how U.S. banks are milking customers for all kinds of fees these days, including on foreign transactions.... I've included that portion of the article below. The expert interviewed recommends, and have I here in the past, that people who travel abroad a lot consider using a Capital One credit card because they have accounts that allow NO foreign transaction fees when used for purchases.

10 Things Your Bank Won't Tell You - MSN Money

hi there ,

i live in lam lu ka , near the old airport , in a nice complex , 2 bed 72sq m condo , can buy for 1.4 m or rent for 12,000

daily living , 300 bt for for and ciggys= 2100bt a week, lpg for car = 300 bt a week , electric , re air con = 500bt a week , i do not drink so no money there,

all that adds up too 2900 bt a week = 11,600bt a month , add rent if don't buy = 23,600bt , but am sure i do not stick to this a mount , re toys for my car , or eating out sometimes , nearer 30,000bt a month for me .

hope this helps you?

oops forgot ubc 1500 a month and water bill 200 bt a month and internet 800 bt a month

And no expenses for medical/dental/eye care or health insurance???

Nothing for visa renewals or related travel???

No trips back to your native country???

Nothing on women (wife/GF/other....)???

My gf and I live on 25,000 a month and run a car. Its more than possible. The only hitch I ran into was a big medical bill last year, but apart from that we don't go over 25,000 a month. However, my gf owns her own house.....so no rent. The govournment is currently paying the water and half the electric so apart from the internet and UBC no large monthly bills. We eat out about 6 evenings a month and have a minibreak up north every 3 months when its visa run time. If you're not a big drinker or party animal.......why not....most Thais manage on half that !

Sorry, but I'd say your conclusions are a bit misleading since you acknowledge you and the GF have no monthly house payment or rent. So, since most people have to pay for their housing one way or the other each month, living in BKK, you can add another 15,000 to 25,000 per month in rent or other housing payments (at a minimum) to your 25,000 total, and come up with a real 40,000 to 50,000 total -- which certainly is more common and realistic for farang in BKK....on the lower end of the spending scale.

Hoping everyone remembers here.... it's your price-jacked petro dollars that are going to fund both the purchase and reported financial windfall/investment for the team. Glad the Abu Dhabi folks are finding something useful to do with the money that they and the rest of OPEC are draining every day from the world's coffers.

Thailandfriend is where oldie farang meet young thai girls

as u guys saw in the gulliver's

OBVIOUSLYyyyyy

Or, as in obviously the case, where some "young Thai girls" go to meet "oldie farang"....

ThailandFriends web site, of course, and Gulliver's as well...

Regarding the best margarita to be found in Bangkok.......

What's next up for sale, the house?

Photos of his shapely billionaire daughter from her just-concluded uni days... I understand daradaily is putting together a quite attractive offer...

A sneak preview...

luv the Imelda Marcos shoes

You're a BAD man... sir John!!!! How did that photo escape inclusion in the recent BKK university girls photo escapade..... Hmm... seems that blouse is fitting a bit loosely...for some reason....

Did someone say, a TV version of all you can eat Mexican food night at the Great American Rib Co.?????

It gives me shivers...just thinking of it...

As a lifelong lover/consumer of Mexican food, I have been given the authority to make the final selections in this Bangkok contest (excluding other Thailand cities), as follows... as of Sept. 2008.

--Best Value for Mexican food - Sunrise Tacos, Sukhumvit Rd. Soi 12

--Best food at sit-down Mexican restaurant - Charlie Browns, Suk Soi 11

--Best fresh, kick-ass margarita - Mamacita's, Suk Soi 15 side-soi (don't even talk, until you've tried them).

--Best/broadest selection of flavored margaritas - Coyote, Soi Convent or Suk Soi 33.

--Best Mexican food buffet -- haven't sampled as yet, so leave it to others to say, Bourbon Street on Tuesdays, Coyote on Fridays, or....????

--Hottest Salsa -- Sunrise Taco's John's Super-Super Hot....

--Best Choice for Mexican Regardless of the Hour -- Sunrise Tacos 24 hours delivery.

Anyone want to argue with me... it's chile rellenos at 20 paces...

PS - Kudos to Sunrise and Greg for recently offering a very tasty weekend special of Chile Rellenos, which I've yet to see on any other Mexican menu in BKK.

In short, there isn't any ONE clear winner in this contest. There are, rather, individual aspects of each of the various Mexican offerings in BKK that place them above their peers. There is no one single overall winner here, as yet. But I hope they all keep trying!!!

That's certainly OK... Watching soccer play during each half is certainly no more interesting than watching the on-field occurrences during any routine NFL timeout period. In fact, I'd say, they are about equal in terms of their relative interest level.

Hahahahahahaha... I am laughing here... As an American...I care nothing about soccer...(aka European football)...

But the fact that Thaksin has sold M.C. at least suggests to me that the current Thai government/court's efforts at freezing his assets in connection with the various court cases have had some impact... And... that's a heartening thing to hear. Now, hopefully, PPP notwithstanding, the various court cases will follow thru to their conclusions, and the assets be seized or not, depending on the outcomes of the verdicts.

It would be nice to see justice done...for a change.

That would be '[world] football, apart from one odd country'.

Last time I checked, the American style of football was being played in a fair number of other countries around the world, and U.S. pro teams have been playing well-received exhibition games in various places. Just give it a bit more time...and the virus will spread... The only ODD thing is why anyone would prefer soccer over American football in the first place...

I did think it was interesting...in watching some of the various Olympic volleyball and basketball contests on Thai TV... which were broadcast via the Beijing Olympics Broadcasting (BOB) Co..., the games/matches did have some actual (attractive) cheerleaders on the court during half time and breaks. But the TV folks seemed to go out of their way to AVOID showing any of them...even when there was nothing else to see during break times... by panning back to the wide angle arena/stadium views... Someone got a problem with cheerleaders????

There’s a lot of lame excuse on this thread isn’t there.

As for me im actually a ghost. Now im in the grave at the wat with a notebook powered by a nuclear battery.. HA beat that!! lmfao.

I agree with Rak JT... too much DRAMA here....

Next time, let's have a guy be the organizer of a BKK TV get-together...

Maybe some of the excessively DEMOGRAPHIC/GENDER conscious TV folks instead spent the whole night over at the nearby ThailandFriends table...

Oooopppsss... sorry... gotta go... school recess is over... and my Mom's waiting for me at home with my after-school milk and cookies.....

Hahahahahahaha... I am laughing here... As an American...I care nothing about soccer...(aka European football)...

But the fact that Thaksin has sold M.C. at least suggests to me that the current Thai government/court's efforts at freezing his assets in connection with the various court cases have had some impact... And... that's a heartening thing to hear. Now, hopefully, PPP notwithstanding, the various court cases will follow thru to their conclusions, and the assets be seized or not, depending on the outcomes of the verdicts.

It would be nice to see justice done...for a change.

After hearing about a relatively new Mexican-style restaurant in Sukhumvit/BKK lately on TV, I meandered on over to check it out this evening, ordered a litre of margarita for 500 baht (or 150b per large glass), and came away more buzzed than any time I can remember in the past year of living in Bangkok. And... that's saying something.

The place is Mamacita's.. located just off Sukhumvit Soi 15... take a right on the side soi just past the Dream Hotel, and you'll see it on the left hand side in the court wing of the Royal President Hotel. It's little more than a few tables in an alcove of the hotel, and the food, while reasonably priced and offered with a decent homemade salsa, is nothing to write home about... But ahhhhhhhh...the margarita.......

Too often in BKK, margaritas arrive with that stale, syrupy sweet taste that virtually screams... I've been made with a mix out of a bottle. But at Mamacita, Bee, the proprietress, freshly squeezes limes for your margarita... adds Triple Sec, tequila and ice, and voila... a masterpiece for Thailand... so fresh and wonderful tasting... it's hard to describe.

Upon asking, I learn that in fact she had added a bit of sugar syrup to the mix, saying that Americans seem to like that. But the litre pitcher she prepared for the TGF and I didn't taste it, and next time, I'd tell her, leave out the syrup... just tequila, Triple Sec, fresh lime and ice, please!!!! Bee offered...she'd be happy to make them either blended or on the rocks, as the customer prefers.

Today on the day we visited, Mamacita's was offering a daily special of a hard shell taco, two enchilladas, rice and beans for 199 baht. So we ordered that for a snack, along with the litre of margarita... Between the two of us, the TGF consumed maybe 1/3 of the pitcher with our meal, while I consumed probably 2/3rds... because, I'm a bigger guy at 200+ cm, and, as mentioned above, the margarita was delicious... But much to my surprise, after finishing our meal and getting ready to leave, I found myself distinctly buzzed.....

Indeed, moreso than anytime I can remember in the past year of living in BKK, and to the extent that, it was a bit challenging to walk back to my home a few sois away on the other side of Sukhumvit Road. Now, that was just after one pitcher of margaritas...of which I consumed about 2/3rds... And, it found me more buzzed than any time I can remember lately...including long nights at Tawandaeng, Absolute 7, any number of other pubs and other places around BKK.

Now...to be clear and for the record, we went there about 6 pm on a weeknight, and getting buzzed was seriously the last thing on my mind. It was just a snack and drink after a day out and around. But, as a serious consumer of Mexican food and drink, I must say, for BKK or anywhere else around these parks, Bee at Mamacita's serves up a darned fine, absolutely fresh tasting, refreshing margarita... Just don't drink it too fast!!! If anyone in BKK is mixing a better margarita, I haven't tasted it.

Pitcher of margaritas at Mamacitas... 500 baht

special of the day... hard taco and two enchilladas... 199 baht

Mamacita's menu offerings

It's that kind of broadcast schedule that makes trying to rely on pubs/bars pretty useless for NFL games.... I mean in terms of .... who's going to be open to show games that air here between midnight and 6 am in the morning, on the various True Sports channels... assuming you don't have Gold or Platinum at home.

But...on a related note, I came across an advertisement lately (but haven't been to the place) for the Woodstock Bar and restaurant on Thong Lor Soi 13.... Their web site talks about them showing NFL games every Monday night.... But... I think, that's obviously not Monday night football, because of the U.S.-LOS time difference... So... maybe they are recording the Sunday U.S. games (that air here early Mondays) and then show them during their Monday evening time as a promotion?????

Dunno... never been there.... but curious if anyone has any experience with them and what they do???

Getting online banking access is certainly EASIER in Thailand for someone who has a WP... In that case, no questions asked...

But for those without a WP, it still can be done, but you may have to shop around at different Thai banks...and even different branches among the same bank.

To give one illustrative example from a year ago, I was turned down when I went to the SCB branch near my home... They said no work permit, no account. I was really frustrated and unhappy. So I went home, checked more, and finally called the SCB Call Centre, and they said SCB bank policy was only to require a long-term visa (1-year), but not work permit. So they suggested I go to a farang area branch like Paragon or Siam Square. Went there, and got told no again by the counter staff at the different branch there... Asked to talk to the manager, explained what the Call Centre had advised. He went away....talked to various folks, came back and finally said OK... and just asked to see a copy of my apartment lease (which I didn't have with me that day, and never did end up giving to them). But they opened the account with Internet banking access that day anyway. And gave me a free wall clock as well, for opening a new account.

That was when I was new to living here, and it made me CRAZY... But now... with a bit more experience under my belt, I come to realize that that experience was pretty typical for farangs dealing with Thai banks. It wasn't just a bad day/bad luck for me... That's the way they operate in general. So you just have to understand that going in, and be persistent, and be prepared to put up with some NOs, maybe many NOs, before you finally get a YES.

I'm originally from California, so I'm backing up the TV broadcast issue by locating the streaming radio broadcasts of both the Raiders (KSFO-AM) and the 49ers (The Bone 107.7 FM)...which I've used here the past couple weeks and both have worked fine via my True 2 mb connection.

Have you been able to listen to NFL games over the internet from these radio stations?

I admit I haven't stayed up to date but it used to be that they turned off the internet streaming for NFL games because their broadcast rights only covered the local radio market. So while I could listen to WBCN right now over the internet I would not be able to for a Patriots game.

Lom, yes... absolutely... hahahaha... The only reason I would be listening to those Bay Area radio stations would be to hear the Raiders and 49ers games. I've caught all their pre-season games on Internet streaming radio, and had no problems either with quality of connection or having a non-U.S. IP or blacking out just their NFL content from streaming.

Now, I should be clear... 1) this is the first time/year I've needed/tried to do this, so my successful experience so far has only been with this year's pre-season games, obviously haven't had a chance to try this during the regular NFL season, as yet. and 2) I've only tried with those two Bay Area stations because I follow those teams, haven't tried with stations/teams in other markets.

But I'll sure find out this coming week, with the start of the regular season...and update here.

In terms of other options, I did check the NFL web site re their streaming TV and radio options...

For streaming TV, NFL offers an all season pass for all games for $210 U.S., a weekly pass to all games in a single week for $20, and any single game of your choice each week of the season for $160... I like watching football, but am not crazy about it... So for me, those pricing options are a bit steep, especially if I can watch 49ers games via TVU/CBS station for free.

But if you don't mind radio, the NFL seems to have a good deal on their "Field Pass". Looking at their web site, it seems to say you'd have access to all NFL regular season and post season game and pre and post game radio broadcasts for $39.95 if purchased during the regular season or $29.95 if purchased during the pre-season. They also offer a monthly option of $9.95. And it specifically talks about the access being "anywhere in the world."

I've never used this yet...and probably won't if I can continue to get the Raiders and 49ers games for free.... But this service appears to also say you can listen to the broadcasts either live or go back later and listen to past games, even back to 2004. The web site says they have a 7 day free trial, so I may give that a shot regardless.... It also appears they give you the choice of listening to either the home team or visiting team broadcasters, for each and every game.

If anyone has used this here in Thailand and has any experience/comments, I'd love to hear them.... The price certainly is reasonable, considering it's access for all teams and all games for the entire season...albeit radio.

http://www.nfl.com/fieldpass