spuey

thanks for your replys. have booked up for a 2 week break, starting in clark angeles (gotta see it as heard so much about it)

flying cebu air, vey cheap i thought, just over 14g for the return for 2. direct to clarke airport...

enjoy songkran everyone

hi,

planning a trip to phillipines over songkran. on a uk passport can stay for 21 days without a visa with a return ticket. does anyone know if the same applies on a thai passport as my girlfriend wants to come .. as far as i can gather its the same but just wondering if anyone can confirm...

thanks

sorry but i dont understand where people are coming from, from my experience for 10 baht you can hop on a bus, which are usually around in seconds without hassle, no a doubt you have to be carefull for pick pockets on the bus which have been highlighted in other threads, but generally they are spot on.... like said..baht buses rule..great means of transport..great price....

what about adding a blood type field to the profiles?

We could all fill them out.... then two years later when an urgent need for a perticular blood type happens.... those members known to have that blood type can get emailed right away?

im o negative also, staying in pats at the min, if i can be of help let me know

hi,

great stuff kerryd, will check it out...

hi,

heard there is a chess club in jomtien? anyone out there know whay days they meet, where etc..

any info on this would be spot on

cheers

although the title of the thread seems a little harsh, with saying goodbye to sterling (although there is talk of britain going bust) i do think that bingobongo is right as far as uk expats relying on the GBP exchange rate dropping nearly 30 percent will feel the pain, and maybe if it does not rebound then some may not have the option but to return to uk, as far as exchange rates being cyclic i agree but this globally is a unique situation and the uk seems like its by far near the bottom of the pile concerning getting their act together to pull themselves out of ressesion....so who knows where the pound is gonna end...i think know one, and yes i agree with bingobongo, how cant it have an effect on tourism with the amount of gbp exchanged and spent in thailand in the past?

anyway....off too soi 8 now for a few beers...last thing on my mind will be the demise of the great gbp

hi

well i have just bit the bullet and trasferred enough cash to last me for 3 months, transferred it 1 hour ago, got 45.75 to the pound...

had no option..its all bad news from the uk...i dont claim to know alot about the economy, but if its gone to 45-46...then it could go below 40 and so on...

maybe the wrong move, sterling may recover all more likely the baht might crash...who knows...? you can only make your desicions and live by them.

hi,

living in thailand at the moment for a longish career break and need to start working again in maybe 3 months. Am interested in working in the offshore buisness (electrical) but anything for starters....anyway seems like the first step is to do a offshore safety course, as i`m situated in thailand getting a little bored i thought it would be a good idea to do one whilst i have time on my hands.

so could anyone advise me what courses i should do to allow me apply for jobs in the future?

also any advise to get a position on the rigs would be greatly appreciated,

i am located close to MOGIT so it would be ideal, but if need be i would travel to malaysia if the certificate was properly accredited,

like i said, i am just trying to find my feet with getting a position on the rigs, and although i have a wealth of experience in electrical engineering/maintenance, most positions are asking for saftery cert and experience on the rigs, which i dont have....so i guiess the first thing is this certificate and worry about the experience later....any advice would be great..

cheers

yes not good news, i agree, onlyway to combat it is a slight change in lifestyle, i started being a "cheap charlie" about six weeks ago and amazing how much you can actually save, now 1000 baht is over 20 quid, it makes thailand now comparable to the uk, a shop round tesco lotus is getting close to a shop around the uk...scary really...wheres it gonna end?? possibly a much earlier than planned flight back to the uk?

agree walking street was pretty rammed on new years eve, but it seemed like there was a very high proportion of thais on walking street, which as said before are not tourists, bars to me seemed busy for sure but not to the extent of struggling to find seats, etc.

Was in insomnia bar on walking for the countdown, pretty empty..buisiest bar for the night..baby dolls.

what a great detailed and imformative post this is, everything you need to know, nice one

Was out last night soi 7 soi8 thought is was alot more busy than it was when i was there last time, 3 days ago...no doubt about it its gonna be real busy here over xmas and new year, but maybe not as busy as previous years. Personally i like it as it is, but if i owned a buisness here i depend on i would be a little worried rifht now i think.

Mobile Passport Application Center opens.

On Wednesday Morning, we made our way to the Nusa Playa Hotel located in Soi 13 off Jomtien Beach Road to check-out the Mobile Passport Application Unit which has come here to the Pattaya area until 7th December. This is great news for local Thai's who would normally have to travel to Bang Na in the outskirts of Bangkok to make the application. We arrived early on Wednesday Morning and the numbers of applicants was low, however we were told by staff that from late morning onwards the numbers dramatically increased.

Pattaya One News

hi,

just read this today, we were planing a visit to bangkok to sort out passport, i know it says between the 2nd and 7th, will this include the 7th do you think? if so will be there tomorrow.

cheers

The Thai Baht has already weakened, and the U.S. trading currency markets have not even opened. Wait until tonight.

Barry

The Baht strenghtened against the pound today and later this week when the UK lower interest rates you will be very lucky to get 50 to the pound

Also there will be more interest rate cuts in the US and Europe but unlikely in Thailand as they do not want to have a weak currency

i will second that. down down down...lets hope the markets have written in the inevitable rate cuts in the uk on thursday, if not then in the 40s we go.

looks like those cheap road side stalls gonna be crowded with brits in the not so distant future...

oh dear...wish i had brought at 60

low baht against the pound is due to uk economy being in such a mess, and this will not be rectified for a long time yet. Dollar remains strong trading at just over 1.5 dollar / pound. No doubt these conflicts will effect the exchange rate in our favour, but like been said, more uk looming interest rate cuts will cancel any gains made imo.

best to get used to 50 - 55 Baht to the pound i think for a long time, sterling was allways over inflated anyway.

hi,

whats the situation on bar closure tonight (last night of closures), as having mixed feedback on this one, being told

1. bars are closed all night, no go go bars no drink

2. bars are open drink no music no go go bars

3. bars open drink etc, music will start at 12 midnight

any enlightenment on this chaps?

cheers

hi,

thanks to everyone for replys, some good advice. Staying east pattaya, near soi cow noi. Visisted pattaya many times before on holiday, but living here seems alot different, nice to be able to stay in at night sometimes without the feeling of a night wasted.

any idea where to get pattaya mail news from?

cheers

hi,

this happened to me also, two ladies on baht bus, one with baby. Had my phone in a leg zip pocket next to her.

She unzipped pocket and was taking the phone out when i noticed, thought i was imagining things and brushed it off.

nice post, makes you realise..

hi to all,

just like to introduce myself as new to the forum as i am now living here and would like to keep up to date with whats going on, and hopefully give some helpful input,

living here for a month now, allways visited it at high season, as plesently suprised that everything is still kicking as per usual without so many crowds.

looking for things to fill my day time, as cant spend night and day in the bars. thinking of maybe gym etc, maybe going to learn thai etc

anyone with any ideas of what going on clubs meetings etc would be great,

uk exchange rate is shocking, dipped below 52 yesterday which must put a strain on all uk living here, as im used to 65s.

cheers