BugJackBaron

I'm just curious as to what specific things you need from a health food store.

The ones I remember in Canada were expensive and had stuff like flax seeds, herbs and maybe some goat milk.

Some tofu burgers too. Perhaps that is what you are looking for?

But I have found good Thai herbs in pharmacies and goat milk and flax seeds can be found in the better Supermarkets like at the top of Emporium. Almond milk for example.

I am also curious if the more "hippy-friendly" Chiang Mai has health food stores though even there the closest I saw was a cool juice joint/vegetarian place.

Having been here in CM for 3 years now,I must have tried every supplier...markets,supermarkets etc

and every type of cut,sourced from Thailand,Canada,USA,New Zealand and Australia.

Ive been cooking for many years so I know what to do.Ive tried Bashing it,marinades,Tenderizers ...all to no avail...very little 'beef' taste and never realy tender.

I saw a post here that TOPS in Pattaya had some promotion on Aussie steak so I went to The Airport Plaze TOPS to see if the promotion was still on.

Yes it was...but the prices!!!

Fillet (tenderloin) 1800 baht/kilo Rib eye and sirloin 1400 baht. In Rimping the prices would be 800-1100 baht for Aussie beef. Tops also had some Whole rib of beef that looked good at 1400 baht/kilo

Assuming....and hoping...that perhaps the TOPS meat was a higher quality that the normal fare, I invested in a 259 grm Ribeye at 375 baht.

Smeared it with fresh crushed garlic and Black Pepper...greased my cast iron griddle plate...waited until it was smoking...laid the steak on for a minute...turned it over...for 3 mins..turned again for 2 mins.

By far,the best steak Ive had for quite some years...tasty and tender.

So,am I right in thinking that the usual imported Aussie beef is just the average quality??

I think u are right. Just because it's from a western country doesn't mean it's good.

Unfortunately, much import stuff from the west is subpar in their own countries.

That's the reality of globalization - a way for 1st world countries to dump their crap on the third world.

I'm still hoping genuine Alberta beef makes it here though.

Best in Canada.

What do y'all reckon will fill the space left by the big Orangerie. Anything? Maybe a soapy massage?

The odds are,windows covered in a rainbow colour sticker with big letters coming soon for the rest of days of the avenue.

I guess they must get wholesale price on those stickers by now.

I hear Wall Street - yes the big Bangkok English cram school - will open their first Pattaya branch there. Remember, you heard it here first.

It wasn't really By the Sea anyway, that kind of marketing that is an obvious distortion doesn't help either. I agree, I never saw one ad or special promotion.

At least it get some promotion now on this forum although I assume it's a bit too late .

Having watched all of this develop over the past 23 years (especially over the past nine years), I am forced to conclude that people who are doing market research do not have any idea what they are doing..........or they are simply taking "ignore reality" pills.

You mean Thais actually DO market research?!

OK probably just some DNS problems then...hopefully will get better soon. I want to download the rest of House

I have my connection with TOT (in Phetchabun) and get DNS not available a lot of the time. Calling helpdesk and telling them,

get many times a reaction of surprise. And then the promise to sort it out in the evening . . . (they actually do sort it out ).

The new version of COMODO firewall gives you the option to use their DNS (for free), bypassing any Thai DNS service

Well I was wrong. Seems to be torrent throttling. I am now getting consistent 10-20 kb/s at the Big Mango in Nana

So what is it? censorship? I find that hard to believe as I am watching youtube now

But, HOW ABOUT THE ZERO TORRENT SPEED TODAY?

no need to exaggerate - i have gotten at least 10kbps at times today... but averaging about 2.... which is a LOT more than zero.... hahahahahah... welcome to thailand..

OK probably just some DNS problems then...hopefully will get better soon. I want to download the rest of House

So what is it? censorship? I find that hard to believe as I am watching youtube now

But, HOW ABOUT THE ZERO TORRENT SPEED TODAY?

Hey you pirates out there! r me r.

TORRENT SPEEDS WERE BEAUTIFUL UNTIL TODAY..

NOW ALL TORRENTS SEEM TO HAVE GROUND TO 0 kb/s up and down.

WHY IS THAT?

By the way I have tried several free wifi spots.

Hope torrent comes back soon. 

Sorry for ranting 

On Sukamvet one good one is Hunter Pub in the Landmark. A couple of seats are close to sockets too.

Being in Nana it is not the cheapest place in the world but the quality and service are very good.

If you don't mind a short BTS ride then SalaDeng is by far the best area I have found for free wifi .Check out Mimi's cafe behind that big department store. You can sit for hours but they close at 7.

One of the things I like about Molly Malone's in the relative consistency and reliability of their food offerings... I've eaten there many times during several years living in BKK, and I can go there knowing the quality of the food and the service experience usually will be pretty much the same, and good, from time to time. It's not a hit or miss kind of place...good one day...terrible the next.

I understand some people may have different views on food, and like or not like something prepared a particular way. But when other people start talking about "inedible"or "ants", those kinds of tales are totally foreign to all of my experiences with Molly Malone's. Those are so far from my experience, it does make me wonder how, or when, the posters came up with those kinds of experiences.

And contrary to what another poster suggested above, I don't base my judgments here based on quantity...but rather, on quality, price and value. The Sunday roast at MM's is all you can eat, certainly good food, and with all the other things thrown in (wine, desert and coffee/tea) a great value for the 349 baht price.

I had the burger at MM. Completly average. Not much better than some fast food places but much pricier.

The other great thing about Huntsman is (drum roll) FREE WI-FI! And the manager is so nice he even

found me a seat with a plug for my laptop(with its lousy battery life). Many places don't permit plug ins.

And the connection is great.

Last time I was in Phuket was about 3 years ago and at that time there was a really

nice crepe place in Phuket Town run by a pleasant hippyish looking guy from Britanny.

Is it still there?

stickman advertises molly malone's around patpong area

Molley cant even make a good burger. How can they do Sunday well then?

I don't trust stickman.

Only good buffets are expenive. The Hunter's pub in the Landmark is reasonabe

at 600 baht for Sunday buffet.

Most research tends to view soy consumption in a positive light.

Personally I would be much more concerned with red meat consumption and the possible negative health effects of too much red meat in the diet than with any perceived problems with soy.

More and more research is coming out about the possible harmful effects of eating red meat too often.

Simple observations might show that such 'soy issues' are mostly prevelent in the West.

It's not so simple. The east eats soy often in fermented form which may mitigate the negative effects. For example, Miso soup from Japan. Also the chinese or koreans don't eat soy the way we would eat bread. And certainly not as a substitute for milk(not traditionally anyways).

 The red meat  research is also tainted as it measures red meat plus carbohydrates - did you have fries with that Whopper? I thought so. This is a BIG confounding variable which is not eliminated in studies for a variety of reasons. Other factor include frying vs roasting or boiling. The Okinowa in Japan - one of the longest lived people do in fact eat pork soup. But it has been boiled for a long time. This may mitigate the effects of hormones in the meat. We know from pictures of Sitting Bull that the indians of North America were strong, tough, hard to kill - and did NOT eat cheerios for breakfast. Meat was the main staple of many tribes. 

 This is why I stayed out of this thread. There are too many vested interests to trust the "research" that comes out these days. I believe in high fat(no transfats! ) low protein and no carbs except from fruit. Eat natural.Avoid bread if possible and eat no or little rice.And soy is not on the shopping list. 

No ISP will block torrents but they might throttle them. Try bittorrent client instead of utorrent. If there is still a problem see if your apartment is firewalled. This however is very unlikely.

I will second the sugggestion of the gourmet at the emporium. It is the only one that seems to have old cheddar. As for Chesire....I have never seen it Thailand. Not in places high or low

There are many talented second-language speakers of Thai. We just rarely run into each other, I guess. But I not infrequently meet or overhear foreigners with good Thai, though it's difficult to gauge actual ability from brief encounters.

I've never had the chance to speak with most people on this message board, let alone in Thai, but in addition to our many helpful native contributors, there are several regular posters here whose input is always insightful and educational.

I'd say that that mental list I keep includes mangkorn, but then he'd accuse me of further idolizing.

Those who have worked in Korea or Japan probably remember what happens to a small percentage

of foreigners who get good at the local tongue - they become TV celebrities. Wow a farang(or in Korea wai gook) who can speak our language! Whopee! Think Yi han woo or Robert Halley.

 I don't know about China.

How about in Thailand?

So far all I have seen is this  Andrew Biggs guy and he is a royal bore. Just howmany make the "TV scene"?

In Thailand? not so many. One weirdo in Sala dang was swearing at foreigners..in English and Thai!

Many more where I worked before - in Korea.

Well I first came to Pattaya more than twenty years ago and believe me it is infinitely better today.

I think the big problem for many farangs is that Thailand is no longer that cheap compared to their home countries.

You cannot come to Thailand anymore on an average western salary and live like a king that is a fact.

Thailand has a higher standard of living now and expectations and much greater for many Thais.

It is all for the better imho

Well maybe not like a king, but certainly a prince. Let's take an average american salary as 2000 US a month - that is probably way low.

That is about 70000 Baht a month. Even in Bangkok you can do well on that.

In Pattaya it would get you a one bedroom in View Talay easily. And you could party and eat western almost every day if you wanted.

Keep in mind that 20 years ago there may have been less choice of western goods as well.

Current average social security check is about US$1040 per month........hard to make it on that. Pattaya-Jomtien is a retirement place mostly. It used to be fairly easy to live off of a small pension........now it is not.

Many things were better in the past (80s and 90s):

cost of living was less in real terms,

crime was not an issue,

visas were not an issue,

xenophobia was nowhere to be found,

no traffic jams,

no parking problems,

less people pollution,

much less stressful environment,

nicer class of farangs

Jomtien Beach still had the beautiful shade trees

the real estate hounds were nowhere to be found

Everything just seemed more relaxed and easy and fun. Even the Thais seemed much nicer back then.

I think a lot of people will agree with what I just said.

Pattaya, like so many other resorts, had a Golden Period, not too much development but just enough to feel like you were still in the exotic East but with some Western facilities....that was the 80s-90s.

It was a fun time.........that period has gone and will likely never return.

Ah so now we are interpreting average western salary to mean retirement pension!

Wow.

Well 1000 is still more than 35,000 baht.

English teachers in Bangkok make about 30,000. That is hard but in Pattaya it is doable and you could still party every weekend at least. And as it is your pension(US social security) it would presumably never run out.

And if you were to top it off with some part time work as many do you could live very well indeed.

Well I first came to Pattaya more than twenty years ago and believe me it is infinitely better today.

I think the big problem for many farangs is that Thailand is no longer that cheap compared to their home countries.

You cannot come to Thailand anymore on an average western salary and live like a king that is a fact.

Thailand has a higher standard of living now and expectations and much greater for many Thais.

It is all for the better imho

Well maybe not like a king, but certainly a prince. Let's take an average american salary as 2000 US a month, though this is probably way too low.

That is about 70000 Baht a month. Even in Bangkok you can do well on that.

In Pattaya it would get you a one bedroom in View Talay easily. And you could party and eat western almost every day if you wanted.

Keep in mind that 20 years ago there may have been less choice of western goods as well.

I don't know if this has been posted before, or if anyone knows or has seen this guy. He lives in Thailand and is a business consultant helping companys understand the culture in the country they are setting up in.

Anyway on the Tom Minster show it was said he can speak at native level in 15 languages meaning he can speak, read and write, and he can converse in up to 30 languages!!! Which is just mind boggling to say the least. However, I think we who are learning Thai may find this inspirational.

Here is a few vdo's of him on a Thai chat show, demonstrating his language skills. I cannot find part one, but the other 3 parts are here.

He also has a blog where he has some vdo lessons on learning thai which some may find useful...

His Blog

Enjoy!

No, No, No. What can I say? Well, first the right word for such a person is "polyglot" and not "linguist". Linguists are professional scientists.

15 languages at native levels? Very doubtful. The maximum is thought to be about 6 - this is just common sense as it takes much more than just vocabulary and grammar to be fluent. Cultural immersion for 10 years is about minimum.

By fluency I mean would pass a level 6 National language exam(as many countries offer). Level 6 being the most advanced.

Even the linguist and polyglot Krashen - who speaks 10 languages at DIFFERENT levels - acknowledges this.

Sounds like some hype though I have no doubt the guy is talented.

While I have never looked for it, I doubt it is available. It is very much a specialty loaf, as it uses a number of unusual grains and also beans all ground together into flour. Recipes vary, but this is average:

2 1/2 cups Hard Red Wheat or Organic Kamut

1 1/2 cups Spelt

1/2 cup Barley

1/4 cup Millet

1/4 cup Lentils

2 Tbsp Great Northern Beans

2 Tbsp Red Kidney Beans

2 Tbsp Pinto Beans

Thx. As I have no kitchen I will keep searching

Is it available in Bangkok?

Pattaya has a lot going against it as a family type resort. What it is is a great place for lonely people with a bit of cash. It's a great place to meet up with friends. It has nearly everything you want (whatever your needs) close by.

It's not a place I'd want to live permanently, but I really enjoy my visits. I can go out to the bars occasionally have a really good time without taking a lady home with me (I have one waiting, so I don't need any extra).

I know many people who live in Pattaya and they have a good life, most of them are settled and bypass the obvious nightlife, so there's definitely something that keeps people there.

First, may I suggest we actually respect each others opinions........and accept that some people like the place and some do not like the place......views and opinions differ.......one is not necessarily right.

Pros:

Carnival-like energy (hard to get bored)

Situated on the beach

Decent choices of Western food

Good choice of movie theaters

Some decent malls w/ ac

Foodland (etc)

Ladies for rent

Cons:

Poor infrastructure

Too much traffic

Too many people

Too many concrete coffins

Too many bad farangs

Too many bad Thais (most unfriendly in all of Thailand)

Too much crime

Too filthy/dirty (the air, water, etc)

Too expensive (prices have risen off the scale of what is reasonable for the location and services)

I won't comment on the pros but I am curious why you say poor infrastructure.

The Baht bus is 10 to 20 baht for anywhere from north jomtien to Naklua.

Try going a similar distance in Phuket and tell me how much it costs.

Oh that's right, Pucket has no baht buses! you need to hire a taxi or motorbike taxi.

Too much traffic.

I laugh at this. Try living in Bangkok where you will enjoy the longest traffic light wait in the world and it can take you 1 hour to move 1 kilometer.

Too expensive . I can get a reasonable priced 2 course western meal in Pattaya fairly easily.

IN Bangkok this is a lot more difficult.

Chiang Mai is probably cheaper though...

-That is for sure!

No this is for sure,I just don't understand how we got on without this anally invasive treatment for tens of thousands of years,but I guess up the <deleted> shute has to be good for you,so many people here believe and enjoy this kind of treatment.Personally I shy at the thought of something up my freckle.But this is Thailand.

Well 10,000 years ago our diet was VERY different. Natural and not processed. So no need.

see www.paleodiet.com

The obvious one: pick up a fishing line and find a nice spot on the local river.

In Bangkok you can see Thais fishing from many major bridges. Not sure how "aroi" the fish

they catch is though.