BugJackBaron

Well this tops was not the upscale supermarket many expats had hoped for. Indeed, if you want a cup of instant coffee you will pays twice as much as at the 7 across the road. Want a newspaper? Sorry, no-can-do at Tops - go to 7.

So why is it here? One reason: somebody noticed the insane amount of russians and others crowding the 7 in the high season(for some reason none of them thought to go to the family mart across the road).

I did some more digging, and this time I came up with a partial answer - Spellchecker API isn't appropriate for languages without any space between words like Thai. Interestingly it's being worked on for Khmer as well, so it looks as though they may not be working with ZWSP. I still suspect there are other text-breaking issues fouling up Thai spell-checking. So, OpenOffice does not substitute for Word in Thai!

You may want to check the successor to Openoffice - Libreoffice. A google search shows it has an add-on for Thai language. Both have deb packages. I'm not sure openofice has a future any more.

.

"Where have you been buying coconuts for as low as 19 baht recently?"

The "Open" or Street Markets in south Pattaya or across Soi 5 on Thappraya in Jomtien. And, believe it or not, on sale at the Central Festival Market, which is normally one of the most expensive.

You might need to apply a little Lot-Noi-Dai-Mai? in the Street . . .

.

Avoid the tourist spots like behind Mikes shopping. Jomtien Market can be good and I have bought a lare coconut for as little as 20 baht there. On the other the sweet little old lady who parks her sidecar next to the Jomtien roundabout by the 7 (yes next to the new tops now) had the gaul to try to sell me a baby coconut for 30. When I balked she told me the coconut was "big"

.I bought a few items there and found prices to be slightly higher than 7-11 or Family-Mart and Food-Mart. Silly example was a coconut at 35 Baht - I normally pay from 19 to 30 Baht.

Where have you been buying coconuts for as low as 19 baht recently? Even Carrefour has them priced at 30 baht or over right now. Sure, they used to be 15 - 20 baht, but not now.

Depends on the size of the coconut - small ones "baby coconuts" should never be more than 20 Baht. In Bahkok some street sellers have 'em for 10., Pattaya haa a coconut inflation problem maybe. Too many gullible tourists. 30 Baht for a large coconut is beach price and maybe now supermarkets too,

How about Rayong? Pattaya's neighbor with several beaches..some beaches are so quiet like you have your own beach.

I have heard Rayong's beaches are really dirty even by Pattaya standards. Sattaheap may be better .....

The Tops Daily opened today and I stopped by this afternoon and gave the establishment the once-over. I can report that it is definitely a supermarket, albeit a rather small one. I think in terms of space it is not as large as the one at TukCom. But it does have many things you will not find at 7-Eleven, including: a modest selection of fresh meat, fish and seafood; some fresh fruits and produce; baking supplies (flour, corn flour, yeast, brown sugar, etc.); cleaning supplies; a reasonable selection of paper goods (toilet paper, napkins, paper towels); an OK selection of cookies, biscuits and deserts; some frozen ready-made meals; a good selection of cooking oils.

Best of all, the prices are "supermarket prices", way less than the FoodMart across from Pan Pan and generally much better than 7-Eleven. My favorite supermarket in Pattaya is Foodland and a quick comparison of prices, reveals most prices here are very close to those at Foodland. Of course, there is no guarantee they will stay that way. Tops always offers some "hot specials", but they are mostly pretty pathetic reductions of a few baht.

Things that are missing: hardly any cheeses, no fresh bread (only packaged cardboard products), no frozen vegetables.

They are open 24 hours and the staff is quite friendly and helpful. Definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood! And yet...could we hope for something more?

In other words it's barely more than a glorified 7-11. I looked in today too and was not impressed. Not sure about prices but Foodmart now has better choices ...

When II first came to Pattaya round 2005 it was about 80 baht for breakfast at the Ape(A hotel i used all the time in my tourist days).So that woks out to 5 baht per year which is reasonable. This is not. So what gives? Is it a MASSIVE CASE OF GREED? or what? I doubt inflation alone justifies it.

I noticed this for the Lek but are you sure it's true for the Apex?

The sign at the Apex I saw this morning said 110 baht for breakfast as always.

As for the Lek, I went into the Lek to see what the scoop was and found that it was the same old breakfast but there is a package deal - if you buy coupons for 10 breakfasts then they will give you it for 1100 or 110 baht/meal. The same as the original price. Go figure.

You sure it was today? I witnessed such a complaint about a month ago in the Jomtien Branch..

This is standard bank policy and not just Kasikorn(as much as I dislike them)

Not sure about Tai Chi but what looked like some form of aerobics used to be(still is?) practiced around sunset in the middle part of Pattaya beach.

Took a peak inside yestrday. This is a supermarket in about the same way as the 7-11 is.

It's more like a somewhat bigger 7 than a real supermarket. I don't think Foodmart has anything to fear(unfortunately)

A topless beach here. Sure hope not.

It's bad enough seeing some of the guys(in need of diet)flopping shirtless around in the sand.

It's obviously a satellite store since I can see it from my Apartment.

Strange logic? It's a satellite store because you can see it from your apartment?

What is a Tops satellite store? Where is there another Tops satellite store?

If you mean Tops at Tukcom, that's a lot bigger than any 7Eleven or Family Mart and a lot cheaper than Food Mart, therefore making it a welcome addition to the area.

Oops meant to say I could see it from my street and it looks like a mini-tops. The business it replaces didn't occupy a big area.

I think they originally planned to move into the abandoned car-park insidr Jomtien Complex but it's probably good they didn't

It's obviously a satellite store since I can see it from my Apartment.

Absolutely no need for it. 7 and foodmart have the same stuff and people who want fancy stuff go to Foodland or Villa

I'm amazed at how many people seem to still be here. The russians have not gone home to the beautiful moscow spring. The bars and walking street still packed. Is it really low season yet? Has your landlord given you a low season discount?

What's your feeling?

IN Pattaya try the Pattaya Park in Jomtien. He may like taking the cable car up the tower or just swim below.

Also Underwater world on Sukimvet. There is horse treking somewhere around here but I'm not sure if they are still active.Does he like cars? Try the go cart racing near bali hai.

Point is there are choices even here.

Your comment about them , to paraphrase, "coming out of the woodwork" is spot on. It's why when I move , I always look at how the building is made. If there are any cracks for bugs to live in then sooner or later they will. Older building seem more susceptible. In my last place I had two choices: don't eat in apartment or move. I chose the later. And yes spraying etc is always temporary.

What happened TV monitors? Why are there 3 threads currently running about this Pub?

Yes ,its more than strange .

Well it's obvious mate - they are at the Punch and Judy!

I honestly don't see why we need meter taxis in Patters at all.

Hire a motorbike. Negotiate prices before you get on. Learn. The Baht buses are incredibly cheap.

Bangkok needs meter taxis because of its sizeand complexity. Meter taxis here will just add to the problem.

WSJ reported last August; SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Prices for coffee beans have returned to nearly 13-year highs, defying expectations for a selloff ahead of Brazil's closely watched harvest. Coffee futures have shot up 35% since early June, For refence sake, the beans were trading at $1.84/lb back then.

Guess what? April 27, the Chicago trading index reported this;

Consumers got a jolt this week with news that the price of coffee was hovering near $3 a pound, the highest price in more than three decades, forcing many coffee houses to consider raising prices or cutting services. Bad weather in the world's top coffee growing regions, a weak dollar and pressure from emerging coffee drinking markets is putting pressure on the industry, which saw coffee beans trading

The last time coffee prices were higher was in 1977 after bad weather in Brazil, one of the world's leading coffee producers, destroyed more than half of the country's coffee crops

Ok, so now that you are aware that coffee bean prices have skyrocketed, is it really fair to blame Starbucks for increasing its prices?

Rent, electricity and staffing costs have also increased.

So you are telling me that electricity has skyrocketed, labor costs - they really pay more now? - and rent all up, way up?

Well I haven't seen any super hikes at Au Bon Pain or other chains and what's more

other coffee shops don't remove the basic coffee from their display menu The only reason SB took

their basic roast coffee off the menu is to make people(especially tourists) buy their overpriced lattes and fancy-end coffees. To me that's almost dishonest.

I have 1GB ram and 500 MB swap ..it was the default recommended by Fedora.Linux

It works very well.

The old 1.5x rule was true when computers had by default

128MB ram say 10 years ago but is not really valid with more than 1GB

ram - which all modern machines have.

As for Virtual box - it is better than VmWare if you are running linux OS as guest.

VmWare guest linux support is clumsy in my opinion and you have to run through hoops

to get it optimized.

I would certainly try the virtual machine route if you have 2GB ram or more and are not a gamer.

It is a much more efficient use of resources.

Or, if you JUST need to run a few windows programs like microsoft office - do it in Wine and see

if the results are satisfactory(I run utorrent and MS OFFice this way). If not then use a virtual machine.

You don't think you can get decent baked goods (breads, pastries, etc.) at some places in Pattaya? That isn't my impression although its not a big focus for me.

Possible to get ? Yes. Easy to find? No. 99.9% of stuff here is garbage.

There are lone exceptoins - Gaffe cafe by dot com does a good waffle with what tastes like real maple syrup for example. But it is not a chain and not representative,

. It's not a focus for me either but when I do go to a coffee shop and spend

what is the equivelent of 4 thai meals I want value for Baht.

And yes I do like the comfy chairs in Starbucks and the free newspapers. Probably the only things that keeps me checking in.

they also offer tasty baked goods - unlike the sugary processed stuff at S

Different Starbucks use different bakers and many are quite good. I just think that ANY coffee at these prices is a waste of money in ANY type of coffee shop.

I really doubt that is true of any Starbucks here in Patters but would be happy to be proved

wrong. I did notice the last time(3 years ago) I went to Chiang Mai that the

Starbucks stuff was better there. Well no surprise as there are actually a few good bakeries there and they need to be competitive; here however(and in Bangkok too), they have long stopped trying and just cater to the low MceeDee cultural denominator of Pattaya.

Don't know about young goats

but sure a lot of old goats around here.

What a contrast between rip-off Starbcuks and the closest thing they

have in Cambodia: a national chain called the Blue Pumpkin.

In addition to having quality coffee(almost all coffee in Cambodia is superb)

they also offer tasty baked goods - unlike the sugary processed stuff at S - and indeed

a variety of meals(Cambodian and Western).

They are not overpriced and at the end will often give you an

optional "rate our service/venue" card for feedback.

Couldn't even imagine that happening here.

Forgot to add: they also have free wifi - something that won't happen in S Thailand.