Hobgoblin

Try any "Video EZ" or "Tsutaya". I live on the dark side, so the only ones I know of are the Video EZ on Khao Talo and the Tsutaya on Nern Plub Wan. There used to be a Tsutaya on Tukcom, but I believe it's relocated.

1) Bury utility cables city-wide

2) Issue 10-baht bounty on each stray dog - you'd see the mongrels disappear REAL quick.

3) Pothole suggestion box. Fill these things before they claim anymore lives.

4) Add traffic lights to at least 20 intersections throughout the city.

5) Enforce anti-gridlock law and red-light running.

6) See to it that any roadwork project that's started is finished (Read: Thappraya Road)

It's amazing to me how people on this form are so quick to judge and flame others - the anonymity of the Internet at its ugliest. Dieter asked a perfectly innocent question looking for people who want to have conversations beyond the realm of beer, football and floozies. But no, we have to:

1) Pick out petty spelling errors from someone not native to the English language.

2) Call him a troll.

3) Insinuate he's into "Ganymede type" pleasures.

4) Start a flame war with other posters in his thread.

This forum is here for just the purpose Dieter made use of. Information, interesting stories and ideas. And to Dieter himself, if he's not yet given up on this thread - no clue, buddy. There are plenty of intellectual people in Pattaya, but we've all become products of the environment here, and we have to act brain dead just to fit in. Perhaps if we had a Philharmonic Symphony or opera venue....

I thought the videos were pretty good - things are explained clearly, and sure - the pronunciation is "off-key", but I would not expect a non-native to speak perfectly clear even if they are fluent. I have a French friend who speaks English fluently, yet he cannot shake that accent, and I understand every word that he says.

Your initial retirement visa gives you a one year stay. Once you arrive here, you can acquire a muliple-entry visa at any immigration office. If I am not mistaken the local cost is 6,900 baht for the year. Perhaps someone can correct this number. Good luck.

I think u got me wrong I dont have a retirement visa I wanted to know where in neighboring countries near thailand could i go and get a multiper entry ED visa with the document fr the thai language school

I obtained my visa in Penang without any problems.

Of course, if you have a low tone (live or dead syllable) or a falling tone, it's not clear since those tones can come from both consonants, depending on which tone mark is used, if any.

คุณหอบกอบลินครับ

Please explain to us how one might obtain a low tone (live or dead) from the consonant "พ". I do understand a falling tone in that "พ่า" and "ผ้า" have the same tone, differing only by tone mark. Thank you.

Oops My mistake in the post - only falling tones should come from both these letters. Low and Rising come only from ผ, and high and mid should only be from พ.

There are some videos put up on the web by what sounds like a foreigner, whose Thai pronunciation is fairly good (better than mine). He has up an instructional video of the tone rules that hit the nail on the head:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlw4NJdnNE

Now, if only I had access to this when I was learning

There aren't any differences in the actual sounds those characters make in an orthographic sense when contained within a word. What may be different are how they are spoken when spelled:

พ (พอ) - Phaw[M]

ผ (ผอ) - Phaw[R]

These two characters exist for the same aspirate 'P' sound (three when you count ภ which is low) because of tones. Because of tone rules, a low or rising tone cannot come from a low consonant, and a mid or high tone cannot come from a high consonant. The same sound with both these classes covered insures that any tone can be attained from the same aspirate sound. So, if you hear an aspirate 'P' with a low or rising tone (such as ผม or ผ่าน), you know it's spelled with Phaw[R] Pheung[F]. If you hear a high or mid tone (พ้น or พา), you know it's spelled with Phaw[M] Phan[M]. Of course, if you have a low tone (live or dead syllable) or a falling tone, it's not clear since those tones can come from both consonants, depending on which tone mark is used, if any.

Learning the Thai alphabet and how to read (tone rules, stops, vowels, etc) is highly recommended if you seriously want to learn Thai. I came across these videos on YouTube that may be of use: http://www.youtube.com/ashoka10

Check the View Talay Villa office - they should have something, but book it fast, as December is high season and reservations may rent out fast.

Hi,

I frequently use the Bangkok Metro (MRT), and have always wanted to know exactly what is said when approaching the station. I can pick out the words "Kaw Kwam" at the beginning and "Khao-Awk.... something ... rot" at the end. The English that is spoken after it is the station name, and then "Please mind the gap between train and platform".

Thanks!

Hi,

I am currently enrolled in Thai courses at the Walen school at the Times Square building in Bangkok. I heard today that they are opening up a satellite school in Pattaya. This may be good news for anyone living in Sin City who wants to learn Thai and obtain the 1 year education (ED) visa, and do NOT wish to travel up to Bangkok every week for their 4-hour Friday class.

If buying here, I'd try Watthana Computer on Klang. Macs use the same type of memory as PC's, just be sure what type you need (SD-RAM or DIMM, or whatever) and the speed. The people there are very good at what they do, and they're honest to boot. I always look there first for any computer supply of consequence. Keep clear of Tukcom - even for RAM, unless it's the Mac store there on the 1st floor (Cell Phone Floor).

I was so excited when the Villa opened here - but now that the novelty has worn off, I find myself only using it for two things; bagels and frozen burritos (astonishingly cheap for a frozen good - B45).

Anything else that I enjoy, I can get elsewhere for less. I, too have become dismayed at their apparent lack of results importing requests for me (things I would buy by the case if they were able to get it).

You can give it all to me - I'll take it off your hands

Late as usual, I will just add that the steak house nobody seem to be able to name is called Sure Park, off soi 24 (or 22) soi Nern Plub Wan. Quite OK food, and setting is nice, prices also. So overall OK, but not great.

The Inn on the lake had a great opportunity, but messed up. Not very good food, VERY slow service, far too high prices for what you got... And now I hear they are about to close. Not surprised.

Khun John's is in my opinion a very good Thai resto, but do not order foreign food there. And yes, do avoid the band!!!

Ticino and Swiss Paradise: Both very good. Little Hill used to be good, but has slipped, and never ever changes the menu. Predictable and boring.

Mulligans pub: Limited experience, but not very good food, same for Lake Mabprachan Resort. Both seem to attract the bargirl seeking croud...

Sorry Monty...

Sure Park is great - outdoors and good portions. It's better than any other steakhouse I've found on the beach side of Sukkie. If coming from Nern Plub Wan, it's soi (Maipaglia) 24 - follow the windy soi and eventually you'll see the place on your right. Coming from Khao Talo or Khao Noi, go towards Wat Boonsamphan, and on the top of the road the Wat is on, there is a 7-11 (Kind of across from the Pattaya Hill development). Take the soi behind the 7-11 and follow it down, keeping right at the fork. After a sharp leftward bend, the place will be on your left.

And yes, Ticinos - è molto gustoso, ma un piccolo problema zanzare... bring OFF

This smoking ban is ludicrous, as are all bans worldwide. The decision should be up to the establishment and NOT the city, state or national powers.

Wow, you guys are harsh, but no one seemed to remember this fact:

Even with properly validated tickets, they still attempt to swindle 20 Baht from people exiting the parking lot, and probably succeed at times.

That reason alone determined my action to leave the lot without paying, and why I would not feel the least bit bad about the guy paying 20 Baht out of pocket. If they were honest like the guys at Friendship who don't pull scams, I would have gone in and had the ticket validated, but these clowns break the rules, so if they do it to me, and my other friends who have reported the same, they're doing it to everyone. And if they are swindling people and making extra money on the site, they *deserve* to be fired.

To say nothing of the trouble the attendant may have in explaining an unstamped ticket and no parking fee received.

There's no controls or printouts, and the tickets are hand-written. There are 1,000 ways for them to deal with it if there isn't a stamp on it.

Hi,

I have an interesting story from tonight worthy of Weho. Anyone who frequents the new Villa Market will know what I'm talking about.

I went in tonight around 11PM. I like to do my shopping late because traffic is lighter and the store is less crowded. I spend about 20-30 minutes in the store and spend roughly 1,700 Baht on various things. As what usually happens, I forgot to take my parking ticket in with me, and hence it never got stamped. As I'm leaving, the parking attendant demands 20 Baht. Now 20 Baht is no huge amount of money, it's just the principle of the thing. I am a regular and frequent customer at what arguably is the "anchor" of the Avenue complex. Stamp or no stamp, I should not be forced to pay anything for parking having spent such a sum at the store. I show the attendant my receipt, but he persists - he wants 20 Baht. So I tell him I will not pay, nor will I inconvenience myself by going back into the store to have the ticket validated. Had I parked there without patronizing any of the businesses there, I could understand, and I would pay. So I make the decision to leave without paying, and in doing so, I really rattled their cages because they started yelling and waving at me.

Normally, I would not have done this. At Friendship, for example - the attendants there are grumpy, but honest. However, during previous outings to Villa or the movie theater, I *have* had the parking ticket stamped, and these parking clowns *still* demanded 20 Baht, which I also refused to pay. Tonight was the first time that I refused to pay and left having neglected to get the ticket stamped. My rationale is that during any given day, there may be a number of people who *do* dole out their 20 Baht. The fact they try and extort money from the customers of this mall really irks me - one would think that there have been many others who have dealt with the Avenue Mall Mafia and have lodged complaints of their own. I will be calling Villa in the morning to lodge my own complaint in this matter. Who knows how many people these guys have ripped off?

That's all from me... how would you guys have handled this situation. I'm also interested in seeing what Weho has to say in this matter, if in fact he's no longer banned

-H

It's pronounced exactly how it's spelled...

พัทยา

พัท-

First syllable "put" as in putty, with high tone

-ท-

Second syllable ('ท' character is voiced as the terminus of first syllable and stands alone as the secon) "tha" as in the TU in "King Tut", with high tone

-ยา

Third Syllable "yah" as in "Yawn" with middle tone.

isn't the second sound "ท" - taw tahaan a mid tone??

พัทยา -

a - short "A" - high tone

ท - ta - mid tone -

ya - salat "AA" , long "A" - AH sound

unless of course you are an English expat in which case it is simply the comparative of "PATTY" = "PATTIER"

ท is a low-class character... so the rule with a short vowel (as is this, the inherited 'a' sound) is high tone. A mid tone would come from a long vowel, just as it does with 'ยา', since 'ย' is a low character as well.

It's pronounced exactly how it's spelled...

พัทยา

พัท-

First syllable "put" as in putty, with high tone

-ท-

Second syllable ('ท' character is voiced as the terminus of first syllable and stands alone as the secon) "tha" as in the TU in "King Tut", with high tone

-ยา

Third Syllable "yah" as in "Yawn" with middle tone.

I'm not sure what "British" style entails, but Chow Soy on Soi Buakhao claims to be "European" style Chinese food. The food there is pretty good, but nothing like the Chinese food one can get in San Francisco.

Now if I can find a SF style Chinese noodle place...

First, one more romp with one of Pattaya's finest. Then I'd attach a grenade launcher to my bumper and blow up every empty baht bus I can find.

Then, treat my two closest friends and Weho to a fancy dinner at Manhattan's steakhouse with a rare and expensive French wine. I'd then divide up all my possessions to my friends, call my Mom and sister and tell then I love them.

I'd then kill my neighbor's yappy little dog in a very inhumane way. Lastly, 47 hours in, just to display contempt for fate, I'd do a swan dive off the Pattaya Park tower wearing a chicken suit.

This is truly a sad story, and if you all would humor me, I would like to set the record straight of what *really* happened to this guy, who is a close friend of a close acquaintance of mine.

First and foremost, he is *not* a pedophile. Gay, yes - pedo, no. He had frequent encounters with guys of legal age (18+), and yes, had a large collection of printed photos of these guys. The circumstances that led to his arrest I'm not entirely privy to, however, he was set-up by the 14 year-old son of a man who knew NOT about the photographs, but the fact this chap was relatively well-off. The complaint was launched, and the police subsequently raided his condo and seized his photo albums as evidence.

To make a long story short, he was exonerated of the charges relating to the 14 year-old boy, and the police issued him a formal letter of exoneration stating that he was set up from the beginning, and has been exonerated of all charges, including the possession of porn.

The sad part of this story is - those bottom-feeding rags Pattaya Mail and Pattaya People, with their obvious lack of commitment to truthful reporting, have tarnished this man's reputation here in Pattaya by hastily publishing lies, and have no doubt created a tsunami of bad press that will wash up in England, and haunt him there... even with the letter from the police. Oddly enough, he is apparently prohibited from showing this letter to the press for reasons that can only be face-saving tactics.

What this teaches us is that *anyone* can be set-up like this if you a) flaunt your wealth, and B ) make enemies here. If you make enemies with someone who is struggling on 10,000 Baht a month, and they know you are sitting on a pile of cash, you're in quite a pickle. These people who initiate these set-ups don't take into account the profoundly negative affect on your life, and just see a pile of money.

The worst thing is the fallout this guy will experience - he's been verbally accosted here, and will no doubt become threatened when he goes back to England - letter or not. People hear "pedophile", they don't want excuses or letters of exoneration... they want blood. Even being accused of it means you are guilty in the court of public opinion.

-H

Regarding background checks, if the US, Canada and South Korea cannot successfully weed out these guys, what makes you think that Thailand can?

If someone's never been in trouble for such things, it's not possible to conclude they're a risk. It's not like they have it tattooed on their forehead.

Just my two satang...