prospero

2 minutes ago, AloisAmrein said:

Clean air in Pattaya? Are you dreaming?

Clean air or not, the oral farts from smokers don't make it any cleaner.

Time for smokers to take responsibility for their own habit. Public resources, including law enforcement and sanitation, should not be taxed by people who don't clean up after themselves. 

At Dong-Tarn beach, there are now specific areas set aside away from the beach chairs for smokers to light up. This removes them, and their stink, from those who wish to breathe clean air.

This is a partial solution. It doesn't do anything to discourage smokers in the "open" areas of the beach. 

I think it's quite clear what I was referring to, Sanuk. When you enter a country you pass through immigration. There are officers who stamp your passport. We call them immigration officers. They man booths. You wait to approach a booth, sometimes for a long time. Once you're at the booth the officer checks your passport and other travel documents. He or she takes a photograph of your face and stamps your passport, after which you can pick up your luggage, pass through customs and leave the airport.

There is a small immigration office in the new U-Tapao terminal. You'll see it on your right as you wait in line. 

Arrived through the new terminal at U-Tapao. 

Confronted with huge immigration lines, mostly Chinese tourists.

Eight passport lanes. Only three open. No express lane for Thais. 

The same inefficiency and indifference in new surroundings.

Welcome to Thailand.

The absolute best way to stop smoking, or drinking is to fly to Boston and be treated by THE MAD RUSSIAN. 

I'm not kidding. He rid me of my powerful addictions to tobacco and alcohol in ONE SESSION each!

Worth the trip. He charges next to nothing. You'll make the money back in less than a year, and save on cancer treatment. 

Boston is a lovely city.

Don't believe me? Just Google "Mad Russian Boston".

If you're searching for a car online, and you come across offers that seem too good to be true, they probably are. 

If you contact one of the scammers via, say, Craigslist, you will get a reply like this:

BEWARE: THIS IS SUCKER BAIT

The key is the large sewer pipe they're installing underneath the new road. Rumor has it that the large empty plot of land between Jomtien Condotel and Pattaya Park is, at long last, being developed. A giant shopping mall, luxury hotel, and condo towers will be built sometime in the next five years -- sooner rather than later. 

All that effluence has to go somewhere. 

And road access for the tourists and tour buses will be essential. 

I am a US Citizen living in Thailand on a retirement visa.

Yesterday, I left my US Passport in the wash. It is now damaged.

How can I get a replacement for the US Passport? 

If I bring the old one to the US Embassy will they give me a replacement on fhe spot or ask me to apply for a new one? If I apply for a new one, do I get the same expiry date as my old passport or is my new passport good for ten years from the time I apply?

What about my retirement visa stamps? How can I replace? 

What if I have to show my passport for bank or hotel accommodation before the new one arrives

Luckily, I do have photocopies of my passport face page, visa page, and entry card.

I need to send a shipment of books to Kuala Lumpur.

Does anyone know an inexpensive, reliable way to do that?

What type of plane are they using on this route ? I hope Airbus 320-321.

Their fleet is entirely Airbus 320-1.

Don't forget the time difference between Thailand and Malaysia.

New York Pizza. Hands down.

And prompt delivery.

Also big tree down on Sukhumvit near police HQ. Half of rode shut down. Branches interfering with BTS. Pretty sure current has been turned off.

Madness.

Jomtien Condotel.

• Direct access to Dongtarn beach
• Easy walk to beach through lovely garden
• Easy walk to Thappraya Road
• Olympic swimming pool
• Competition quality tennis courts
• Blissfully quiet
• Well built, well maintained.

Can anyone recommend an orthopedist in the Pattaya area that is not connected with Bangkok Pattaya Hospital?

Your reply was entirely expected, Mr. Bone Ranger. You really can't answer my post in a cogent way, so you resort to ad-hominem and call me "dumb". I notice you do that to other posters who disagree with you. Sticks and stones, Mr Bones.

I think it's quite clear that you don't understand how Pattaya operates. You are the classic naive expat bar-stool bloviator who thinks he knows Thailand and wants to remake the country to suit his shallow image. I don't know if you're British (I have a feeling you are). but your attitude is utterly colonialist.

You decry corruption at City Hall. Did it ever occur to you that the Junta -- the ones who ordered the beach clean-up -- are as corrupt, possibly more corrupt?

There are lots of places that can offer you untouched, sandy beaches -- I mentioned East Malaysia in a previous posting. There are others, in Thailand, Indonesia, and New Jersey.

Why don't you take yourself to one of them?

I ask, Mr. Bone Ranger, because you have to be consistent in your crusades. I made my point a couple of entries ago.

The concessions are an eyesore/The bars are an eyesore

The concessions are allowed because they pay corrupt officials, same for the bars.

The concessions bring down the quality of life in Pattaya, so do the bars.

The TAT tourist brochures don't show you pictures of the beach chairs, neither do they show you pictures of the bars.

Both the beach chairs and the bars are part of a Pattaya culture that goes back at least for the 25+ years I've been coming here. Tourists and locals alike have enjoyed them and given them business. Locals have profited from them, supported themselves and their families.

If you're going to condemn one, then condemn the other. It's called consistency

I certainly don't want to draw conclusions from your handle, but "Bone Ranger" is a sort of double entendre. Perhaps you enjoy the bars just as they are the way many of us enjoy the beaches just as they are.

Are you ready to go after the gogo bars Mr Bone Ranger? Don't they offend you?

I'm sure you must also be offended, Mr. Bone Ranger, by the unsightly dens of iniquity that flourish all over Pattaya -- not only on Walking Street, but wherever decent people walk. Brazen whores of either sex are trying to lure you into vice and folly. Loud music blares out onto the street. Male and female prostitutes, shout "welcome" and often approach naive tourists who have read nothing about these establishments in the TAT tourist brochures. I'm told these harlots sell their sexual services in utter defiance of Thai law.

Clearly, bribes have been paid, to the police and to city hall. Otherwise Pattaya would be a serene shoppers paradise, a family destination where one could walk the streets unmolested any time of the day or night.

Clean beaches, clean streets. A noble objective.

What you don't seem to understand, Mr. Bone Ranger, is that these are businesses. They are part of a culture that has been here for decades and has provided income for many Thais -- not only the concessionaires but vendors, and masseurs. If the chairs were always empty, they wouldn't be profitable, would they?

Why do you feel the necessity of interfering with a system that you clearly don't understand? This is Thailand. Get used to it. There are lovely beaches on the East Coast of Malaysia. Why not go there?

If you want the beaches to be aesthetically pleasing, why not remove the hundreds of huge European men and women in bikinis and thongs? They lie on the sand, their enormous bellies and breasts -- not to mention their man boobs and bulges -- visible to all, their blubbery flesh turning from sickly white to lobster red -- an affront to the unspoiled beauty of the pristine sandy shore.

I mean, you don't see people like this in the tourist brochures, do you?

I certainly don't want to look at them. They offend me. At least when they're sitting under the umbrellas, their unsightly presence is hidden from the view of passers by.

This has very little to do with the beauty or ecology of the beaches. This is about the military displaying its power. The little guys -- the concessionaires, the masseurs, the vendors -- get pushed around. They lose one day a week's income. They have to reduce the number of chairs. The ones I talked to were seething with anger. Of course, they had to obey. This is a submission society.

If you want to improve the quality of life on the beaches, reign in the developers that have built monstrosities close to the shore. Take down the Waterfront, a gargantuan eyesore that will be visible from everywhere and block views from the top of Buddha Hill. It's clearly illegal, even though the developer was able to get approval from the authorities. I wonder how that happened?

Move buildings, not chairs.

Dined there last night. A wonderful place!

Ambience, food, service -- all first rate. Lovely Anglo/Continental menu. Excellent value for money.

John Ellis, the proprietor, is to be congratulated. Soon, you won't be able to get a table without a reservation.