buckeroo2

I replied to the other thread on the 300k returned by taxi driver,and scrolled down to see this thread,

i have looked into buying a bath bus and taxis with my wife,

just a few things people should know,if they dont already ,unless you are a multy here in thailand and can pay cash,you have to borrow from the bank or eslewhere,they can pay the bank back up to 1700 baht a month or more depending on how much they borrow,plus pay city hall and insurance etc.

,if you own one baht bus or taxi you can either drive yourself or lease it out at between 800 to 1000 baht a day shared or one out. which is done buy about 80% of baht bus drivers,so after they get that,, the rest is theirs ,less petrol.

Which in the the last 20yrs that i have been paying 10baht ... petrol has gone up considerably since,BUT i still pay 10 baht NOW....MAFIA is used by thais for every little thing,how many times have you heard you wife or TG say u mafia,

If anyone gets in a baht bus to go off route [only you] it is auto 100 baht up before u NEG,same with a bike taxis neg 1st.

the new taxis are only trying to keep pace with them, YES there are a couple of bad apples in the game,, all round.

Most of them are only trying to earn a quid,you see the baht bus drivers with wife and kids in the front,TRYING to get 10 baht from us poor old farang,

i have lived here fo 6 yrs and the only agruement i have had is when i did not neg.[twice] i give 200 baht for baht bus to take me home from pats m/bike 120.

Are we that hard up after spending maybe 1000 baht on drink to give a new taxis the same as a baht bus, and go home in comfort.

I am sorry for what happen to the dr and others,

I carnt wait to get back to OZ next week for a holiday so i can tell everyone in sydney not to get a taxis cause he took me the long way home,he must be in the mafia., I hate posting unless i can help someone or vise versa,cause too many people dont do their home work, and have nothing better to do than put pattaya down.i have 2 young kids here and love it.[Oh AND A WIFE]

cat

You certainly went in a round about way to make your point - what are you trying to say ? - maybe a little more clarity and succinctness would help

A lot of people have paid 20/25.000 baht for their membership.

Are you saying this money went to the staff member then he issued a fake card ? if so Tony did not get the money, will he honor your fake card ? if it's been going on for a while we are talking some serious money loss here.

That is exactly what I heard.Mr Tony will not honor your membership I you paid 25000 baht for a so called "fake" membership card,however the issuer was a senior and well known member from tony's fitness.

So next time you buy a membership from tony's keep in mind that if he feel the need to fire one of his employees he can call your membership not valid.Would like to know what the thai courts think about these practices.Happy I'm no member of tony's fitness.

How senior of a member of Tony's staff? I paid cash 15,000 baht cash for a lifetime membership 18 months ago during a promotional event. I paid the cash to Tony's brother, Nicky, who was the manager of the fitness center at the time. I was issued a lifetime membership card and a receipt documenting my cash payment. If Tony's employee sells memberships, accepts moeny on the firm's behalf, and writes receipts on Tony's printed contracts, I am not sure how Tony can refuse to honor the memberships. I know TIT but surely even in Thailand a contract such as this hould be legal and binding.

uses and pay 10 Baht a trip - But that is another thread.....

I thought the fare was 5 baht. Why do you pay double?

They have removed the old blocks at the front entrance - the ones that were sort of open faced blocks and now replaced them with solid tiles - they were cementing them in place yesterday afternoon. So far just the right half near Au Bon Pain has been upgraded - the other half towards McCafe is still as b4

Will UBC be much different ?

Certainly more expensive,like x 4. Olympic coverage on UBC very poor, Sophon Channel 39, brilliant !

I have both Sophon Cable and UBC satellite - UBC picture quality is far superior as is the selection. And yes, UBC is far more expensive - I pay 1500 baht + a month for Gold pkg.My condo charges me 200 baht/mo for my Sophon cable. My Sophon is often off the air. UBC is always there - sometimes in a major storm I will get a message "searching for signal" but that never lasts more than a few minutes.

Bangkok has metered taxis so why can't Pattaya?

What was the major mover that made Bangkok taxi operators finally start using them?

Bangkok is the very public 'face' of the nation. It's where most of the finance, technology and industrial base is and has the highest population density. It's home to the countries leading universities. It's where they have international conventions and meetings of heads of state and leaders of various international political and financial alliances. It is where foreign management of multinationals reside, close to their head offices. It is the seat of government and home of the Royal Family. It is the capital. It is also where first-time tourist spend most of their time.

Pattaya is not a commercial gold mine, industrial beehive or financial hot-spot; the dormitory towns way out east support the local migrant workers in the growing industrial complexes out that way. Pattaya is where, on average, the tourist spends 3 nights.

The whole of Thailand uses some form of songtaew or baht bus at some level of their local transportation infrastructure. Pattaya just is not big enough or important enough to warrant the government action of the type that made the Bangkok taxis turn their meters on. There never has been and never will be any significant local (and by local, I mean Thai resident) demand for any air-conditioned meter-taxi fleet here.

Agreed

OK, here is what I witnessed yesterday - I am not going to try to interpret or guess what was happening - - just my eye witness account. On my way to WOW yesterday at 4 PM I was walking to the front entrance of The Avenue on 2nd Road and I saw a "Pattaya Traffic Police" truck parked in the street with its lights blinking atop the police truck alongside four taxis in front of The Avenue. Two police officers were talking to the driver of the 4th taxi - #13 - they had brought out a Denver boot - not sure what it is called here in Thailand - but it is a metal device attached to a wheel of a car to make it immobile. They brought it over to the front passenger wheel and started to attach it to the car. The one ploce officer was talking to the taxi driver and he then said something to the other police officer attaching the boot and that officer took the boot back to the police truck. The officer talking to the driver of taxi #13 then wrote up something that seemd to be a citation. There were 3 taxis in the queue in front of taxi #13 and all 3 drivers of these taxis seemed to be holding similar citations when I arrived.

The first 3 taxis were motioned to leave by the police. They all pulled away and left from in front of The Avenue. The officers continued to talk to the driver of the last cab - #13. This all took about 10 minutes - When I went to the gym they were still having a discussion with the driver of taxi # 13.

About 2 hours later I left the gym and walked to the front of The Avenue and 4 cabs were sitting in their usual location - including the second taxi in the queue - Taxi #13.

100 baht a time, roughly £1.70 - can't beat that for the facilities you get!

Does Tony have different charges? Yes

Do I get a staff discount at my gym back home because our company has a lot of members? Yes

Do I have a problem with different charges at gyms? No - as long as I'm happy with what I'm paying

...and in reply to an earlier post, I use the third road gym with the muay thai ring out the back - as it has the best selection of weights

Jackie...me 'ole boy.Suppose I'll start on a positive note.Tony's Gym(as I've already stated) is a very well-appointed Gym

and the Foreign price is(viewed without comparison to others) an extremely satisfactory one.You don't have problems yourself

with the Double pricing at the Gym and good for you .Gym facilities or the Falang price as a "value for money" concept was

never(and never will be) an issue I have a problem with.(so I fully agree with you).

If we were in Australia(Darwin for example) and all Caucasian Aussies noticed that all Aborigines with Aboriginal facial features

were paying half their fee(or the Caucasians were paying double..same net-effect) and indeed this "special promotion" was aired

and advertised on local TV and Newspapers, then good luck to the people who would make the case that it was not a

Racist act.It would certainly be viewed as one by Authorities.The Falang fee at Tony's Gym when compared to the Thai one

is(to be fair to you) probably not a huge detrimental financial factor to a Foreigner over here with a nice Pension Income.Indeed,

you could argue that the price difference is a "pedantic" one and not worth all the fuss over??

History though is riddled with such "pedantic" discussions.Even more "pedantic"(for example) would be the treatment of Black

school children in Louisiana/Mississippi in the 1960's when black kids had to sit on different sides of the school-bus and drink

from different water-faucets in school.There wasn't even a financial element(like Tony's) to this....and it wasn't "harming" anyone

but it was viewed as "wrong in principle" and am happy to say is an activity that has been eradicated in these states!!

I do(to be fair again to you) share your opinion that Thai people(generally) are much poorer than Foreigners and have a

hard lot in life...indeed you'd have to have a heart of Carbon Fibre not to feel sympathy for them.To have "philantrophic"

tendencies is a noble trait and I myself have such tendencies.I just believe that I'm "going down the wrong road" in giving it

to Tony's Gym.Being Irish and Roman Catholic I go to Mass at St.Nicholas's church on Sukhumvit almost every Sunday

(a beautiful church that has English Services).If you really want to be philantrophic to the Thai people take a trip into the

School For The Blind in Naklua or the School For The Handicapped on Sukhumvit.Give of your time to the lovely people here and

make a donation on your way out .If you go to the School For The Handicapped on Sukhumvit....please try to say hello to a

wonderful old Thai Lady called Maria.She's in her 70's and blind...and a lovely,lovely lady with a heart of gold.There's lots more that

I do....but I think you get my point....I myself simply strive for equality of treatment/price but to do so need not mean that you

are unsympathetic to those less fortunate around you..it is possible for both trains of thought to co-exist

Just an aside- probably not relevant - When Tony's brother Nicky was the manager at the larger gym on 3rd Road we often chatted. At the time I was an occasional visitor to Thailand, visiting a few times a yr for 1 month at a time. Nicky told me that the great majority of the club's membership fit the same profile - occasional visitors who bought yearly memberships - they counted on the occasional visitor - the ones who bought memberships and are not residents/frequent users - he also told me that their active membership is around 6,000 people.

It's the fixed weight barbells that go to 120lbs.

I was speaking about fixed weight dumbells - they go up to 100 lbs at WOW - nothing higher

. Your reasoning doesn't hold water - how many people would jump through hoops to get to a gym like you did in the PI? I am 55 yrs old and work out to stay fit - I am not a serious weight trainer - and I do not enjoy the gym - but I go to the gym for a 90 minute workout every other day and I never miss a session -

You're being too hard on yourself. A person who trains 90 minutes every other day and never misses a workout is extremely motivated in my book.

Do any of us really enjoy the sessions? To be honest, probably not. It's the results we enjoy.

There's got to be some reason why home equipment is seldom used.

Tropo - checked the dumbells today at WOW - I stand corrected - they start at 10 lb - from 10 lb-50lb they have 2 sets of each weight class. The rest go from 55 lb - 100 b and they have 1 set for these higher weights. The 110lb dumbell I spoke about before must have been a figment of my imagination - no dumbells at WOW over 100 lb.

Have you tried to DRIVE OUT the back entrance?

How about driving in ? with the horrible blind curve where a motorcycle is bound to be roaring around head first.

I just returned from WOW and can report that they are tearing out all the bricks again at the front entrance between McCafe and Au Bon Pain. I am not sure they know what to do with the entrance - they have torn it out and replaced it a number of times and they are at it again. Not sure if child labor laws exist in Thailand but 3 people were tearing out the old bricks - one male adult and 2 kids - pre-teens it appeared to me.

me, 2- I walk 15 minutes to WOW - which is healthier? - talking a songtaow to the Dolphin Turnaround or walking 15 minutes in each direction to the gym.

Then using your own reasoning I'd say walking 30 minutes in each direction to Fairtex would be healthier????

I already walk 15 minutes to WOW which is in Pattaya Tai. Fairtex is another 3 KM to Pattaya Nua. I am not sure how many people can walk in 20 minutes the distance it takes a songtaow to go 10 minutes. I have a friend who has a small shop at the Dolphin turnaround and I have walked many times fom Pattaya Tai road to this shop - never in 30 minutes - I can get to Tops in Pattaya Klang in 30-40 minutes - add another 20-30 minutes to the Dolphin Turnaround and the 100 M to Fairtex - so I should walk 1 hour in each direction to get to the gym in tropical heat and torrential downpours - usually it is one or the other this time of the year- who needs a gym after that exercise? It doesn't always work to say that if something is beneficial then doing that twice as much or twice as often gives one 2X the benefits. With that reasoning maybe instead of working out 90 minutes every other day I should double that to 3 hours and increase it to a daily routine. I have PAD - peripheral artery disease and already have 3 stents in my legs and one in a coronary artery. My right calf hurts a lot when I walk more than a few blocks - yeah, probably time for another stent - but again I walk as much as I can - but 4KM from my house to Fairtex and then back is not an option.

Oh I do apologise tropo...5 paragraphs obviously are pushing your powers of thought-process,are they??Adding

paragraphsif you don't mind,terrible behaviour...I should be locked up for such a heinous offence

Funny thing is,in my last post I made many points and asked of you quite a few probing questions,but you've chosen

(as I fully expected) to address none of them in an intelligible way!!

More holes in your deluded latest post,my dear tropo.You've said that I've apparently joined the Royal Cliff Gym specifically

instead of Tony's because of the aforementioned pricing policy.I don't know if you're dyslexic or just have selective-memory-syndrome

but I 've clearly stated in previous posts that I joined the Royal Cliff Gym on its own merits and that pricing/fee did not enter

the decision-process.I just happen to like this Gym because it's closer to where I live.To have joined the Royal Cliff Gym on the

sole basis of a spiteful rebuke to my opinion on Tony's policy just makes no Economic sense(5,999 v's 24,000).But of course I'd

said all this already,but apparently didn't sink in with you the first time...how about now?? .

Really ,to have brought up the above assertion...when it was clear that I had already tackled and answered it.....it defies

logic.Once again,this is getting embarrassing + what are your considered thoughts to the points I raised in my previous post??????

I was at the Big C Central Festival at Pattay Nua and they had a demonstration on the ground floor today advertising a fitness center - called Fitness Z or something like that. They had about 6 Thais - one ladu, the rest guys doing sort of sychronized dance exercise routine in the middle of the mall. They had a booth set up and a video presentation. I just walked by - did not get details - but it appeared to me that the ad said the fitness center is in "B" of this buidling - basement at Big C? no idea -

The location is convenient for me, and would assume many others. Fairtex looks fantastic but too far for me, so I would never use it. Calfornia Wow does pick good locations.

It's what? All of 3 kms from The Avenue?

3 KM is an eternity if you are talking about getting there on public transportation. If a gym is not convenient to access, that membersghip will be useless - you'll never use it. I can walk to WOW or Tony's in 15 minutes - I go religiously every other day - if I had to get to Fairfax - I might make it once a week - too easy to look for excuses to blow off the gym - inconvenient location would be at the top of my list. If you want to get into a routine and maintain it - make the process as convenient as possible starting with Location! Location! Location! - (same same real estate)

Are you serious? It would take all of 10 minutes and 10 baht (and no wait as it's on the baht bus route) to get from The Avenue to Fairtex in a baht bus to the Dolphin Roundabout which is less than 100m to Fairtex.

With your attitude to training it's obvious you aren't too serious. Just to highlight what dedicated training is all about, I recently spent a month in a rural province of the Philippines. I religiously road my motorcycle 23 km to the gym 4 times a week and never missed a workout rain or shine. I even bought my own fan and extension to use in the gym as they didn't have fans. It's all about personal motivation and nothing to do with location. Some people have home gyms and never use them. If you make more effort to get there, the chances are you'll have better workouts. I wasn't about to ride 46 km to the gym and back for a lazy workout.

If I had the choice of two gyms, one nearby and one 5km away, I would gladly choose the more distant one if it better served my training needs.

me, 2- I walk 15 minutes to WOW - which is healthier? - talking a songtaow to the Dolphin Turnaround or walking 15 minutes in each direction to the gym. Your reasoning doesn't hold water - how many people would jump through hoops to get to a gym like you did in the PI? I am 55 yrs old and work out to stay fit - I am not a serious weight trainer - and I do not enjoy the gym - but I go to the gym for a 90 minute workout every other day and I never miss a session - I do it for health reasons - move that gym 3KM and have me navigate the songtaows and try to figure out which ones are going to the turnaround and which are turning at TOPS and that every other day routine would be history. Yeah, I know - just ask the driver - been there, done that - "Go to Big C Central Festival?" - and I get a nod of the head and hop on and a few blocks later the songtaow turns off on some small soi and I have to get off and get on another one - I am talking about your average Joe who goes to the gym to tone up , stay fit, etc - put up a few roadblocks or inconveniences and watch the workout frequency plummet. Just like New Years resolutions - people are full of good intentions - and it lasts about a month - work, family, business - all sorts of things take get in the way - make the gym an extra 3 KM songtaow ride and the chance of a workout program decreases -

As I said, I am not a serious weight trainer but for 2 yrs I went to Tonys and hired a PT there. It was my way to stay motivated - 1) I had an appointment so I had to go regularly and 2) the PT was tough but made the work-out enjoyable. Without the PT I would have slacked off. After 2 yrs I can see the positive results and have enough motivation to get my butt to the gym on my own accord without outside motivators.

What are the boxing facilities like at WOW? And is the air-con good, as this is what lets Tony's gym down, though it is a very good gym.

Does WOW attract many little hot females to inspire me whist working out?

WOW is downright chilly. The A/C vents are overhead and when using some machines the cold air blows right down on you and I workout there fast to move on to a location that is not quite so cold. Again I workout in off peak hours and the A/C is going full force with maybe 50 people in total working out. Maybe when it is more crowded before and after work-it may not be quite so chilly.

Sometimes at Tony's it felt like I was in the steam room - but again I went there during off peak hours. THe A/C at WOW is a godsend when compared to Tony's.

BTW, I have lifetime memberships at both Tony's and WOW and I much prefer WOW - I see no difference in their free weights except WOW has newer equipmment.

Does WOW have 135 lb dumbells? To a casual fitness trainer, I suppose all gyms are alike.

Fair enough - I do not have any idea how high their dumbells go in weight- I do know they do go to at least 110 LB. It seems that many members at WOW leave the weights wherever they last used them and I put the weights back on the rack so I have clean space to work-out - the most I have returned to the rack is 110 # - if they have 135 # dumbells I imagine they would stay unracked as that is beyond my weight capability.I do know that they have 4 dumbells at each weight class beginning at 10 lbs and going up in 5 LB increments - I will check on Friday and let you know how high the dumbells weights go. But like Tony's the dumbell space is too limited - more than 4 people working out at the same time and you trip over each other.

The boxing is Kick Fit boxing They have a ring set up on the main floor but it is more for fitness training as opposed to any serious boxing training. I have noticed that women are using this tarining more than the men - maybe 65-35 split in favor of the women. The advertised promotion price is 4000 baht for 4 weeks of kick fit boxing training - I know no further details than that.

I went to Tonys for a few years and his membership tended to lean to westerners - more westerners than thais and far more men. WOW tends to have a more even split - maybe a leaning a bit to Thais as predominant membership. Also, there are many more Thai women at WOW than at Tonys - and when I go - always in the afternoons every other day, the Thai woen tend to slightly outnumber the Thai men - not sure about the before and after work crowd - have never been there after 6 PM.

The location is convenient for me, and would assume many others. Fairtex looks fantastic but too far for me, so I would never use it. Calfornia Wow does pick good locations.

It's what? All of 3 kms from The Avenue?

3 KM is an eternity if you are talking about getting there on public transportation. If a gym is not convenient to access, that membersghip will be useless - you'll never use it. I can walk to WOW or Tony's in 15 minutes - I go religiously every other day - if I had to get to Fairfax - I might make it once a week - too easy to look for excuses to blow off the gym - inconvenient location would be at the top of my list. If you want to get into a routine and maintain it - make the process as convenient as possible starting with Location! Location! Location! - (same same real estate)

California WOW is in The Avenue Mall. On 2nd Road nearly opposite Mike's Shooping Center, just south of Soi Diana

The monthly price whch was quoted to my mother was 5,000 baht

The lifetime price was 11,999 for three years, and then 3,000 / year after that.

The equipment is very good, the hours are 7:00PM to 10:00PM (or later)

The music is bothersome.

Prices quoted by California WOW vary daily, even hourly.One day I was quoted lifetime membership of 41K baht and 100 baht yr/maintenance fee. The next week I paid 21,900 bahty for a 3 yr membership and then 1,000 baht/yr thereafter. A friend went the next week and got the membership/same period for 15,000 and 100 baht/yr thereafter. Last month they were offering a Black card membership - supposedly their top tier membership for 25K lifetime. And peridically there have billboard outside advertsing 1 day only special - if you don't get the price you want, try another sales person the following day. And I believe they are open before 7 AM - I think 5 AM, maybe 6 AM and they close at midnight. Tony's is 24 hour but they cut off the A/C during non-peak hours - and sometimes even during peak hours. BTW, I have lifetime memberships at both Tony's and WOW and I much prefer WOW - I see no difference in their free weights except WOW has newer equipmment. Tony's staff is definitely friendlier and they have a pool, steam room, tennis, basketball, etc - WOW has only a gym, kick boxing, and yoga.

I had a look at the Mantra website a while back. Very flashy. No mention of PRICES. That is always a bad sign. They want to attract those who are not at all price sensitive, so needless to say I have never been there, and never will.

Their food prices are on their website.. I was considering going there for a meal. I changed my mind when I saw the price on something being 4,200 baht.

http://www.mantra-pattaya.com/menu.html

The 4200 baht is for the surf and turf - steak, lamb and king prawns

so i pull in to the Shell gas station, immediately hop out so i can see the meter before they start pumping, to make sure it has been reset by the phi beta kappa attendent. they tried to distract me telling me i'm in the motorcycle only lane, but the other accomplice starts to put the nozzle into my car. the first accomplice has moved into position completely blocking my view of the meter. io tell him to move but he stands there, then i push him out of the way. the meter still wasnt reset. i blurted out "you no reset meter, you try to cheat me", but i caught it with maybe 1/2 second to spare.

this game has been going on for years at this station. i'm told other stations do similar things, but none does it 100% of the time as the Shell station.

verify with your own eyes so the crooks dont cheat you.

Simple query - Why would you repeatedly go back to a filling station that cheats you?

Do regular visitors to Pattaya consider this reasonable?

i bought a soft drink on soi buakhao the other day and was given a glass with some ice but no bottle. I looked at the bill and saw it was 75 baht. I assumed I had bought the whole bottle and I asked where the rest of the drink was and after some denial and bluster was eventually given the bottle I'd purchased. On the top of the bottle was the price "17 baht" and (I think) - "Foodland". When I suggested that this was an unreasonable mark-up - about 440% - I was asked to leave.

this seems rather poor behaviour to me. Is this maark-up normal on drinks in Pattaya?

What kind of bottle was it that they gave you with a price of 17 baht attached?Because for 17 baht you can nowhere buy a 1,25 liter bottle and it would be way to much for a 33 cl bottle.

The 500 ML bottles of Pepsi that I buy at 7-11 or Foodmart are 17 baht.

I would tend to agree with what you say.My 2 friends had taken steroids for ages and they were into competition body showing(dont know what it is called) and they were huge and were always ill and tired.

I'm hardly ever ill and don't feel tired unless I've just pounded my body in the gym. Try 2 hours of intense weight training someday...you maybe surprised to learn that it can be tiring.

It would seem likely that your friends were suffering from other, non-steroid related conditions, and you've assumed steroid use was the cause. No autopsy will ever state that someone died of steroid abuse. You were probably making that assumption to back up your biased attitude towards bodybuilding.

I left Califonia WOW yesterday and was walking in the direction of Pattaya Klang. I walked to the next white crosswalk and right at that crosswalk I encountered a pharmacy that advertised steroids on the side of its establishment - There was a pic of a body builder type guy and it was called "40UP". The sign said to come inside to talk to the pharmacist about steroids - seemed rather obvious that this place was pushuing steroid sales - not sure about the quality or legality - but the place certainly was not selling the stuff "under the counter".

75 for a soft drink is not unusual in gogo bars. You didn't mention what kind of establishment you were in.

Try any of the go-go bars in Boyztown - a glass of coke, some bars give you just the glass and some give you the bottle, costs anywhere from 150-180 baht - I have a Singha and then a Coke - bar tab is always between 350-400 baht - when I talk to managers or mamasans about prices they tell me I am paying for entertainment and in true Thai fashion that business is so slow they have to raise prices to make money - I go out a lot less than I used to - I speak with my wallet.

a few years ago a friend of mine used a cc card at a travel agent to purchase an airline ticket in pattaya. Later he found out that his card info was stolen and someone made bogus charges from india.

How safe is it to use a cc card in pattaya? anyone have any bad experiences? I want to purchase an airline ticket at a travel agent but am a bit reluctant b/c of my friends experience. I may purchase in cash. What do you think?

Some years ago I used a credit card in Thailand and within a few weeks some major charges fraudulently appeared on my card - a major hassle to cancel the card and get it re-issued as I was living in Thailand and the credit card was US based. I haven't used a credit card here since. The other day I bought 2 LCD flat screen TV's and with some trepidation I thought I would give the credit card route another go. But then the vendor offered me a discount if I would pay cash - that made the purchase payment option easier to decide - paid cash and not worrying about going on line everyday to check to see if someone stole my credit card info to make purchases. I simply used a few ATM cards and made the withdrawal needed to buy the TV's - peace of mind, indeed.

there's a sports shop on the 3rd floor in the big C shopping center - north pattaya.

in the back area they have all kinds of sporting goods and exercise equipment - I've bought free weights up there and some mats, they might have what your after.

I think you'll find it's on the second floor.

Would this depend on your nationality? British - ground floor / American - first floor; British - first floor / American - second floor - and so on.

Yes, if you are British the sports store mentioned is on the 1st floor - if you are American it is on the 2nd floor - no nationality will find this store on the 3rd floor - I think only the cineplex is on the 3rd floor.

Reasonable people know that service in thailand may not live up to western standards we might get in our home country, but Homeworks Pattaya has set new lows for bad service. For a place so highly staffed, with lots of English speakers around,in my opinion they are the worst possible store to do business with. when things are going well, they are fine. but god forbid something is wrong with your purchase, you can forget about getting any help.

your only recourse will be to dispute the charge with your credit card company back home. if you paid cash, you're out of luck. i'm not going to go into any detail of what they did, but i will never consider spending 1 baht in that store again, and i would strongly encourage others to think twice before going there.

i have to rate stores based on how they treat people under bad circumstances.

Homeworks Pattaya receives an F minus grade.

Boonthavorn seems to be the best in town but they don't carry everything.

If you're in doubt, I would suggest avoiding Homeworks pPattaya.

If you really want an eye opener Try kangyong hardware just outside of Pattaya. One English speaking man & if you let him go before you are done with everything your doomed. That & the Thai's do not seem to understand Thai or anything to do with basic construction. They (most of them wouldn't make it a half a day working at Macdonald's.

Boonthavorn I think is the best , a little pricey but to me worth the value.For bathroom & kitchen they are way better than the home pro-homeworks home mart shops. I inquired & they will order pretty much anything you want- you have to be explicit in explaining what you want. You can be sure of that.

I went to Boonathavon Monday to purchase granite for new counter tops. The sales woman was unable to answer any question in regards to how much granite I needed to purchase even though I had the measurements of the area to be covered. She also could not answer any questions about granite vs marble vs tile - advantages, disadvantages. I tried to ask my questions in a manner I thought were easy to understand. I then asked if there was someone else with whom she could consult and she told me to come back later when the regular staff person would be working. I left and purchased elsewhere.

I bought mine at Home Pro last year. I bought venetian blinds for six average sized windows and a fabric vertical ceiling to floor blind. The selection was good and the price was reasonable. I think the fabric vertical blind was the most expensive - something in excess of 10,000 baht - I would never choose that style again as it is too light weight and when the sea breeze kicks in the blinds just blow in the wind and the purpose of having blinds is defeated. I think the venetian blinds cost in the neighborhood of 1000 baht each - they measure about 100 X 150 CM. Home Pro had a nice in store selection and a catalogue from which you could select less common styles/colors.