eyebee

Probably because you're spelling her name wrong - it's Francoise (or Françoise) Therry. Plenty of hits on Google with the correct name.

I renewed my Visa extension on Tuesday (September 4th) at Jomtien. My annual pension is around 550,000 baht and I transferred around 400,000 to my bank a couple of days previously. I presented my bank book, letter from the bank and letter from the consulate regarding my pension. All went through without a problem. Thus no seasoning is required (at Jomtien, anyway).

There are signs on the protective wall around the site declaring that it will be "The Pennsylvania Hotel, Pattaya". Googling those words brought up nothing, and what has Pattaya to do with Pennsylvania, anyway? I'm a bit worried, because my condo (on the 22nd floor) overlooks the site, I don't know how many floors the hotel will be and whether it will obstruct my view.

A friend of mine wanted a coinbox telephone for his bar. He only found one supplier so went there and bought the only model they had (there were quite a few of that model though). He got back to the bar and found it didn't work. He went back to the shop the next day and said it didn't work. "Oh, none of them work sir.", "Did you know this yesterday?", "Yes", "So why did you sell me a phone that you knew didn't work?", "Because you asked for it, sir". The mind boggles!!

There are also several Darts Leagues around. Probably the best for those of an average ability is the Friday League. Palmers Bar on soi Pattayaland 2 (soi 13/4) participates and is always on the lookout for more players.

In recent years there has been no ban. None of the other days associated with the royals are dry anymore.

Apart from the King's Birthday on December 5th. Some years it is dry (like last year), other years it is not. Go figure!

I dont like to remind any one but Thailand is not a Bhuddist country. It has freedom of religion and the state and relegion are separated. It just happens to have 90% of its population that follow Bhuddism, and by the way Bhuddism is a philosophy not a religion.

No more like 95% of the population is Buddhist. But at least I know how to spell Buddhism. And your last point could be debated...

Buddhism is not a religion because there is no belief in a Divine Being. However, it is organised like a religion, with temples and monks etc., so could be said to be a religion in that sense. The spirit houses and other supernatural things many Thais believe in are nothing to do with Buddhism, but a hangover from older animistic beliefs, somehow incorporated into Thai Buddhism...

I noticed today that ESPN7 is now availaible on channel 72 on Sophon. Hopefully that will be covering the opening ceremony and other events. I want to see the ceremony, but won't be watching it live. I've got a HDD recorder so will be setting that.

The present version of the promenade was done many years ago, as you said, but it was poorly done, probably as cheaply as possible and fell apart quickly.

IMO the version before that was much better, and just needed upgrading, rather than replacing, but TIT!

Didn't know that they were going to widen the road, but if they do, what will happen to the stalls that they erect alongside the path- won't be much room left for them?

I hoped they'd shelved the idea of widening Beach Rd. IMHO the last thing we want at Pattaya is more traffic along that route. Lets pedestrianise it - that would be ace - less noise, less pollution, less aggro, lots of room for families with prams and people in wheelchairs -

Then how would people get from North Pattaya to South Pattaya?

I've always got my bits and pieces from Hardware House in Tukcom. I've never had a problem with them and they usually have the parts in stock. High-end video cards? Yes we have. High-end sound cards? Yes we have. New motherboard? Yes. 2Tb disk drive? Yes. If you go to the established names in Tukcom, I don't think you'll have a problem.

I live in North Pattaya (soi 1) and often need to go to South Pattaya. Most songthaews will go straight down Beach Road to my destination, and of course I pay 10 baht. However the occasional songthaew will turn left onto Pattaya Klang. If it does I ring the bell, and pay the driver 5 baht, saying "Haa Baht" as I do so. Never had any problems with this, as the drivers know they are going off the normal route.

I'm wondering whether the raid had anything to do with the current visit to Pattaya by the Home Secretary, Chalerm, or the forthcoming visit to Pattaya by the PM, Yingluck Shinawatra...

Most of the bars charge a bar fine as compensation for the bar losing a member of staff for the night (similar to the EWR (Early Work Release) in The Philippines), what the two do afterwards is purely a matter of negotiation between them. It could be a game of tiddlywinks (though some of the girls are rather naughty and tiddle when they should be winking). Of course this is rather unlikely and all bar owners know what actually goes on, but it gives them "plausible deniability".

I first came to Thailand in 1983. I recall that there were about 36 baht to the pound. One thing I remember, being a smoker, was that there were no foreign cigarettes on sale then. You could only get Krong Thip and Samit (whatever happened to those) and they cost around 18 baht. That of course led to shady guys offering you Marlboro on the streets; a sight you still see sometimes.

I may be getting older ,but i am reliably informed that i still have the body of a God ,unfortunatly its Bhudda.

LOL. My doctor once told me I have the body of a professional sportsman....Jocky Wilson.

Officially alcohol cannot be served until midnight on the 17th. But going by past election days, bars seem to open quietly around 9pm on the Sunday, then gradually ramping up their efforts until everything is in full swing by midnight!

Fascinating story, please let us know the outcome. Looks like there will be serious egg on face...

A couple of years ago I was on a motorcycle taxi travelling up 2nd Road in Pattaya. Suddenly this farang on a motorbike (drunk I guess) veered into our path. There was no way to prevent a collision. My quick thinking taxi driver just put his foot out and kicked the other bike over. He stopped and spoke to the police who soon arrived. The other guy wasn't badly hurt, and soon we were on our way.

Obviously the other guy was in the wrong, and it was better to have one injury than three. But I often wonder what the situation would have been if the other guy was thai and he was kicked over by a farang...

Exactly why it makes essential viewing! :-) This year is building up to be a cracker, what with The Hump and a coach load of 70 year old Russian grannies performing!

I agree with you, but sadly I don't think it will be shown on Thai TV. Mind you I think that some Thai pop songs would make excellent entries to Eurovision. "Diggi Loo Diggi Lay" anyone?

Just a heads up guys. Here in Pattaya there will be 3 dry days next month. Firstly we have Visaka Bucha Day on June 4th. It is the holiest of all Buddha days and so expect the majority of bars to be shut, and you will probably be unable to buy alcohol in the shops. This day applies to the whole of Thailand.

Secondly, and this applies to Pattaya only, we have mayoral elections on June 17th. If this plays out the same as previous elections it means the bars will be shut from 6pm on the 16th and will not be allowed to reopen until midnight on the 17th. However, on previous election days, the bars have been allowed to open quietly from about 10pm on the day of the election before springing into full life at midnight!

So be prepared!!!

Tim's Bar on 2nd Road play a lot of tracks by AC/DC. They're Scottish, right?

It's great, you can now cross 2nd Road without risking your life...

I forgot to mention Somsak's (aka Somsakdi's) on soi 1. The restaurant has been around for ages, has a huge menu and very reasonable prices. I've been there a few times and always found the food very tasty. It's quite a long way down soi 1 (from 2nd Road), but does qualify as being on the baht bus route.

I eat quite frequently at the Nana Restaurant on soi 15, just off Walking Street, and only a short walk from the Jomtien Bus stop outside the school. It's a proper restaurant, but has the feel of a street stall. Their Khao Pat Moo is great at 50 baht, and Khao Man Gai is only 30 baht. Been the same price for years. Loads of dancers eat there too so the food must be reasonable for Thais at least.

Real Ale pulled by a proper hand pump, not those nasty CO2 pumps. I really miss a good pint of Director's, or Landlord or Sam Smith's. Unfortunately real ale doesn't travel well, so can't be imported, and I don't know of anywhere in Thailand that brews its own. Never mind, I will just have to put up with the lager...

Oh, and Yorkshire or Tetley tea bags as well...

I always thought they changed the name of the country so that Whispering Ted could say "Wattana Thailand" instead of "What an ass I am"...