BugJackBaron

There's some very rough patches on that road which could cause a bike traveling at high speed to lose control.

This is true, but as a rather long straight road with relatively little traffic and hardly any buildings or pedestrians at the far end, I suspect that it does attract a lot of people on large bikes who are tempted to ride at high speed (or in cars too, for that matter).

It's a great road to ride as there is relatively little traffic - especially at the far end. The rough patches will certainly get worse as the rainy season approaches and the rain and heat play havoc. The other problem is that at the far end there STILL is no streetlight activation so you will be driving in the dark from middle road till Chayapoom (sp.)

I drive "like an old lady" (according to my ex) but have never had a serious accident on my simple manual Honda scooter.

You may want to think about how people who do have good staff keep them for as long as they do. Talk to robin hood bar or Sam's mexican restaurant in Jomtien. They treat their staff well and they are loyal.

Unless you are the owner of the place you mentioned, you do not have a clue of what really happens.

Really? Well, I have talked to both owners as a regular customer for more than 2 years. And I have seen staff last there for just as long. I have also talked to some of them and they expressed satisfaction at "better working conditions than other places" (to paraphrase ) Is there some secret privy only to some "inner circle" ?

OK, so you are under the impression that by being a regular customer , owners were open to confine in you about their business?

When i speak with my customers, no matter regular or not, i certainly do not discuss my business or staff.

About their bank balance no. About business practices and philosophy, yes.

The biggest problem I have is that sooner or later everyone seems to get into minor

accidents with their cars. Fender benders and stuff. On a bike well ... that may translate into a 1000 dollar hospital bill.

My former students at companies have many stories about this.

Almost none of them drive a bike anymore.

So that is one qualitative answer. I once asked my doctor how many accidents involved just motorbikes vs. just cars.

He smiled and said the government does not keep accurate information about this.

I drive my bike only in Jomtien area and even that is getting unpleasant now.

You may want to think about how people who do have good staff keep them for as long as they do. Talk to robin hood bar or Sam's mexican restaurant in Jomtien. They treat their staff well and they are loyal.

Unless you are the owner of the place you mentioned, you do not have a clue of what really happens.

Really? Well, I have talked to both owners as a regular customer for more than 2 years. And I have seen staff last there for just as long. I have also talked to some of them and they expressed satisfaction at "better working conditions than other places" (to paraphrase ) Is there some secret privy only to some "inner circle" ?

You may want to think about how people who do have good staff keep them for as long as they do. Talk to robin hood bar or Sam's mexican restaurant in Jomtien. They treat their staff well and they are loyal.

There is a soapy in Udon, I think the name of it is Oscars. But, not really sure.

When they say 300K they are talking about Udon prope not all the suburps that surrond. Ad those and yuo get a real feel for the size. You really can't tell when you leave Udon and go into say Nong Bua. Start putting that ogether and yuor probably taliking more like a million.

I have other things to keep myself busy these days. Back in the days when I did he bar crawl. Thee were only three farrangs places in town and only one where you could find rent a honey.

The city has made it very clear that they don't want to be another Pattaya.

Next time you come grab a tuk tuk and have him take you to the Thai spots you will have more fun.

Just a personal thought based on my bar crawls from years back.

Been here for ten years, there are a lot more farrangs and a lot more places for them to go to.

Happy that I did it back in the day,. when we were special hee. In those days a walk through Robinsons would have you hooked up in no time.

But, farrangs are not that unusual now, so things are very diferent

Pattaya is yuor best bet.

Your post is kind of rambling. I'm curious as to how the city has made it "clear" they don't want to be another Pattaya.

I seem to remember a year or so ago enjoying the two or so streets of farang style bars near the bus station. There was

even a go-go show( though it wasn't open that night). This is much more - I am told - than any other city in Northeast Thailand.

apex hotel and lek hotel both on 2nd road, both serve absolute slop 220 baht thats £4.40 or $7..........i personally eat light at kiss food on 2nd rd, kiss is one of the best places in pattaya for good cheap food and fast service.

though nothing in this world beats a coffee and a plate of pad kapow moo latte song kai dow mai suuk on soi nam keing for 60b ;-)

Huff huff..ok I'm up on the soapbox now. No good buffets in Pattaya period. Bangkok yes but good ones not cheap.

Best value for money is the 1000 baht one I saw in that big central hotel in Vientienne, Laos a few months ago. Quality ingredients.

Probably this was doable in Thailand 20 years ago. Not now.

What about the poor girls that make a living just walking up and down beach rd?? will they have room to walk??

It's pretty clear that the beach will be wide enough in some spots, like near central shopping. Expect them to congregate more in that

area.

Thai places are the place to go for fun.

Was just in Sisaket province, passed one farang place there, a Western male, aged 50-60, sitting by himself at the bar in an otherwise empty bar, beer Chang in front, beyond that a small TV with Nat Geo on it in Thai....

The next night was the exact same.

Think I'd rather inject toilet cleaner and just be done with it.

Ok Khun Watchaporn, but in Udon it was 3-5 years ago much more different. Many farang bars were bussy every day, also in the afternoon. The farang population of Udon is rising.

Why are the bars quite??

Is it the strong Baht? Is it the changing behaviors.....they are fet up with the girly scene, ladydrinks and barfines?

What is it?

Hard to say but I can tell you that in the Jomtien beach area of Pattaya the bar scene is quite horrible. The Rumpho bar complex had more action

a year ago when it wasn't finished than it does now. . Now it is almost dead. So to answer your question, I believe that the problem is the exchange rate + low season. In the case of Pattaya , Russians are also a problem as they never visit bars. One of the best restaurants in Pattaya has also complained that this seems to be the worst low season.. So I suspect it's not just Udon and not just bars.

Good News? Well, downturns are downturns because sooner or later recovery happens.....

I agrees with Barak regarding the interior of the place. But the thread was on breakfast not lunch or evening meals which I am sure they have a loyal norwegien crowd but the menu is expensive at those times compared to the competition around there.

Still sticking to my first comments the Pig and Whistle is streets ahead for value.

Yes. Drift away from the specials at Linda's and the prices are more in line with a 5 star restaurant.

Rice soup = 245BT I recall.

She has some lunch specials too for 195BT. Hard to beat.

Hmm..Richman Poorman now has 150 Baht lunch specials. Prices in Jomtien always seem a bit higher(Pi n Whistel for example)

in Jomtien than they do in Pattaya so this is a good trend.

I have been giving Windows 7 an honest try for the last 4 months as a linux user and

while the UI is nice and handy, I cannot believe how annoying it can be.

Linux has no malware or adware to bring the system to a crawl despite 4GB ram.

That is why I would choose linux.

I was surprised to find an American breakfast at Linda's for 119BT.

Start out with refreshing towel, cappuccino,

scrambled eggs, 2 thick cut bacon, potato, small salad, orange juice & very good European service.

And they carry the Bangkok Post.

Hard to beat. No?

A very good choice.

Linda's is a Norwegian restaurant but they serve a lot of international dishes , and the prices are not expensive when you compare the quality .

I will try the breakfast next time.

I can't recommend it for breakfast - price notwithstanding, it was tasteless junk.

Richman Poorman is the only one I've seen that offers such choices as bagel and cream cheese(very genrous with the cheese) and others.

Mixx Discotech and any Russian area of Walking St. They have rip-off prices. Belive it or not guys there are areas of walking st where u can see a gogo and pay 55 aht for that cheap charlie draft beer...

Nobody said it yet, so here comes Devil's Advocate:

What you see at Soi Bua Khao is more evidence of the old seedy Farang oriented sex scene being pushed further out from the bay / beach areas (which see more high end development) into sad little back sois (like Bua Khao) that can't handle the traffic. Pattaya's first red light slum, for a particular kind of expat.

(You're welcome. )

Hmm...well Soi BueKao has been around for at least 20 years and was as seedy 10 years ago when I first came here as it is now. So when was this "pushing out"? I also have noticed far more "western style" working ladies standing by the 7 on Walking Street. So isn't Walking Street getting seedier despite the package tourists?

If you look at te huge billboard on Pattay beach near walking st, it clearly shows that trees will be replanted and that there will be space to walk. BTW the coconut ladies, in my informal survey, said they have no plans to quit after the change(though some seemed unaware of the plans). Plus ca change ...

Jomtien now in full battle gear

In my opinion there are no good breakfast buffets in that range though there are some just so-so ones. Stuffing yourself with a bunch of digestively incompatible foodstuffs is not a great idea. My friend does this and always complains of feeling bloated.

In Bangkok you can get some good breakfast buffets(or used to be able to) with things like sushi and quality ingredients but not at that price range.

I'm not even sure there are any left on the lightside

quick update for Jomtien . Well, it's started but so far very low key and not so aggresive.

Mostly Thai kids doing the shooting from strategic locations by bars near beach Rd.

Interesting. It seems really slow to start in Jomtien . No barrels of water in waiting at the curb yet. Along soi 6 Thepassit rd towards foodland there was no evidence of anyone preparing...yet,

CLOSED in Jomtien

Dine From 99

Good rididance.

Oxford Street Sports Bar (across from Jomtiem Market) CLOSED

Possible new Italian place may be in the offering in its place ,"Da Vinci",,,, Yellow alert Jingthing!

Battle Stations!

Aussie Bar. in Rumpo Complex(next to Jomtien Market) Not closed but the food menu is long gone as well as the spirit of the place with the new owner.

Where to get a decent meat pie in Jomtien now?

how's the pig and whistle, jomtien doing ??

They seem to be doing OK though I woudn;t say great. It may be the only sports bar left in Jomtien and their price of about

225 B for an acceptable daily western food special seems to be in the right ball park. They are also spacious and air-conditioned and I often see crowds in there when it gets really hot. You can even read the British tabloids as you sip on some ale !

CLOSED in Jomtien

Dine From 99

Good rididance.

Oxford Street Sports Bar (across from Jomtiem Market) CLOSED

Possible new Italian place may be in the offering in its place ,"Da Vinci",,,, Yellow alert Jingthing!

Battle Stations!

Aussie Bar. in Rumpo Complex(next to Jomtien Market) Not closed but the food menu is long gone as well as the spirit of the place with the new owner.

Where to get a decent meat pie in Jomtien now?

So let me get this straight. They are going to make the beach as narrow as it was 10 years ago? I remember vaguely that ir was difficult and unpleasant to walk through at that time.

Will it keep the ladies of the night out? I doubt it. As long as there is a place to stand and walk .

If they are adding just one "lane" to the road, it seems to me there will be areas to walk and possibly sit. The pavement is quite wide in most places.

So if it to be a 5km stretch of stalls, does anyone think it will be successful?

I predict we get a lot of empties during the low season and then....?

I have noticed that in many stores there are always some laptops - often in the 13000 -18000 baht midrange -

that have Ubuntu as the default OS.

So if you are in the market for a laptop(I think I've seen Toshiba doing this) and want an easy way to play

with linux, why not buy one of these?

What models have you seen with linux preinstalled?