Hobgoblin

There are plans for Robinson to come to Pattaya, but allow a couple of years for that. Also Central will probably follow. Another year.

Robinson = Central

Pattaya People News, mostly because it looks like a sleazy tabloid rather than a respectable source for news. Inside, it's not much better... the stories are not set up in a proper journalistic format (who, what, where, when and why in the first paragraph).

I actually know a "friend of a friend" who volunteered at PPN for a few months, and apparently, all the television news and printed news is taken from the previous night's police reports and city hall notices and translated from Thai into English... VERBATIM. Hence, the complete dearth of journalistic creativity, proper grammar usage and usefulness.

We will never see stories about when this water pipeline work in South Pattaya will be finished, how long Thappraya Road's widening will take, or what is being done about water shortages.... but we will always know the name, age and nationality of ANYONE who so much slips on a banana peel.

These rags do a complete disservice to the city of Pattaya by being lazy, and focusing on everything negative about the city. Any first-timer who reads any of these so-called "newspapers" would assume that Pattaya is a crime-ridden cesspool, which (in comparison to other like-sized cities all over the world), it is not.

Pattaya Mail is the only paper that I would even consider extracting anything newsworthy from.

Three types of food I'd really love to see here:

- Moroccan, WITH the traditional seating (on the floor, sitting on pillows)

- Jewish Deli, with bagels, real Rye bread, pastrami and corned beef!

- Brazillian BBQ (all you can eat, and a crew of skewer-bearing waiters circulate around the restaurant offering you what meat they have)

Alas, no luck on any of these!

Personally, I would use an agent. Only costs you 20 ringgit more, cheaper than a taxi there and back 2 days in a row and gives you more free time.

Hi,

Where could I find an agent to do that, at the airport?

I always use the NJ Money Changer on Chulia Street - it's located right next to "Hotel Swiss". Drop off your passport straight from the airport (20-30 minute drive), your visa will be ready by 14.30 the following day. Always make sure you don't schedule your trip on a Thai or Malay holiday - the consulate will be closed.

It's gaudy and an unimaginable waste of money that could have been spent on any one of a thousand things around the city that would be much more beneficial the the populous than reminding everyone the name of the city they're in.

For Shame!

I'm sure I'm seconding suggestions from others, nevertheless, here's my short list:

1) A real New York style Jewish deli (with rye bread, corned beef, bagels and pickles on the tables) Think "Brents" in Los Angeles.

2) Bike paths that are FAR removed from idiotic drivers.

3) A Philharmonic symphony orchestra and proper opera house (I think this one is a stretch, but I'd sure enjoy it).

4) A big English language bookstore like the one at Siam Paragon or Emporium... someplace where one can browse numerous unwrapped books in an aircon environment all afternoon when there's nothing else to do.

5) Metered Taxis.

6) A proper colloseum where we can stone all the baht-bus drivers who have ever raised their voices or fists to a farang over a meager 5 baht.

7) working and synchronized traffic lights - news flash to Pattaya City Hall - installing the lights along doesn't work; they must acutally be turned on for their full effectiveness to take place.

8) Anti-gridlock laws.... so when I try and cross Thappraya Road on 3rd road under the bridge, I can get across instead of idiot baht-bus drivers heading to 2nd road blocking the intersection so *no one* can go.

9) More green areas and parks with TREES

10) More TREES lining the streets

11) Less visible UTILITY WIRES along the streets

12) No stray dogs; a proper animal control service to capture these scavangers and put the mangy, diseased ones out of their misery... thhe healthy ones sent to mine diamonds and write children's novels.

13) A law against parking attendents and guards using LOUD WHISTLES to direct you into your parking space.

While both Tequila Reef and Mike's have great food, the atmosphere is quite different between the two. If you want lively, loud (but full of Beach Road riff-raff), go to Tequila Reef. For more laid back and a quiet dining experience, try Mike's. Prices are comparable. Mike's has better Margaritas.

I live in Jomthien, so perhaps I'm biased - since it takes 5 minutes to get to Mike's and 30 minutes to get to Tequila Reef.

I don't condone it, and I refuse to do business with any place that practices double-charging. I don't see it as charging Thai people less, but I see it as charging non-Thai people more. It's racism, pure and simple.

On the occasion I've had to use a bathroom at a "beer bar complex", I just threw down the two baht and used the bathroom without even looking at the person collecting. Paying customers shouldn't even have to pay to use the restrooms in the first place.

What about the Ko Lan boat trip? I've always paid 20 baht - same as the Thais.

I've almost fell victim to this scam.

I drive a car, so my fill-ups are generally around 1,000 baht and not 60. I drove up and noticed that after pumping only for a few seconds, the meter already read 280 baht. I caught this right away, and began reprimanding the attendent (thankfully I speak Thai). I wound up paying only 1,000 baht for a 1,200 fill-up. I probably lost a few baht, but from here on in, I will always tell them to reset it to zero.

Those with locking gas caps will eventually have more control over this situation, as it's up to you when they actually stick the nozzle into your car. If they can open the cap, they usually begin filling up before you even tell them how much you want.

They're typical scammers trying to even out the distribution of wealth. Beware.

I seem to remember posting a message along these lines sometime last year, but this issue is getting out of hand again, to the point of being ludicrous.

Traffic lights are installed at key intersections throughout the city, but are never used except as flashing reds or ambers. Even some lights that have been working for ages are now being turned off. For the life of me, I cannot even begin to comprehend how a city can spend the money to install signals, but just let them sit there unused while traffic in the city is getting worse day by day. As someone who drives a car, this is very frustrating, and dangerous.

These are the intersections that I've noticed that have non-working signals:

1) Thappraya and Theprassit Roads (was working for a little while months ago)

2) Thappraya and Pratamnak Hill Roads

3) Thappraya and 3rd Road Viaduct

4) 3rd Road and Pattaya Soi 17

5) Thappraya and 2nd Road/Lower Pratamnak Road

6) Pattaya Klang & Soi Arunothai/ Soi Yumae (Carrefour)

7) Sukhumvit Road & Sukhumvit Soi 53 (Nern Plub Wan)

Intersections that need signals badly:

1) Pattaya Tai and Soi Kophai/Soi Bongkot

2) Therprassit Road and Theprassit Soi 8

Feel free to add to either list.

I've driven all around Thailand, and every city seems to have their act together in one shape or form regarding traffic. Why does Pattaya, a key tourist area, neglect this area so? With high-season right around the corner, we know that traffic will be at its peak - and with all the out-of towners milling into the city, this situation will come to a head if something isn't done.

Hi,

did you find a company. We will be moving next weekend. I need a smaller truck (not too many items), but those should be reliable guys. Any recommendation?

Thanks

Moo9

I didn't find a company, so I just used a friend's truck and made 4 trips instead of one.

It seems no one knows of any self-storage.... business idea

Eudora

http://www.eudora.com

The baht busses are out of control. I drive, so I have no use to patronize these scumbags. They are the absolute worst drivers in Thailand.. stopping on a one-lane street without warning to "honk" at someone, changing lanes without even *looking* and clogging up the streets.

How the baht bus companies manage to locate the nastiest, greediest and scummiest people is beyond me.

I think the only prerequisite for operating a baht bus is that you *must* have less than one hour driving experience.

More do-gooder foreigners who think *they* know better than anyone else... it makes me sick when tourists come here and pull shít like this.

Maxnet here in South Pattaya is erratic.

I have a 1mb connection, but I can only seem to get the full 1024 between the hours of 3AM and 8AM. The rest of the day, I seem stuck at speeds more common with 256, even 128 speeds.

I heard that the international bandwidth pipe is overloaded or undergoing upgrades... does anyone know anything about this, and when or IF it will ever get fixed?

There are two cities that are permanently under construction: Las Vegas and Pattaya. I find the latter to be the worse of the two.

First off, it's currently impossible to get to Bangkok without having to navigate through some construction zone or another. Normally, the best way to Bangkok is via the Bangkok-Chonburi Motorway (Route 7). This road of course, is being torn up in several places. First, the T-junction where the spur of Route 7 that ends up in Laem Chabang is closed on the northbound direction -- traffic is re-routed on to the westbound direction of the spur, requiring you to take the U-turn bridge 1000 meters down the road, then return to the northbound lanes once again.

If you choose to skip the above all together and start your Route 7 journey from the Laem Chabang spur, you're in for more treats! There is a fairly major project in progress at the entrance to the Laem Chabang Port off of Sukhumvit Highway, which I can only guess will eventually be a flyover for thru-traffic. Either way, after you survive the endless delays this little segue doles out, you are free to enter the motorway spur, and be on your merry way to Bangkok. Of course, this is after you manage to find your way to the main segment's northbound lanes while dodging slow-driving, lane-drifting trucks hauling shipping containers.

Once you're on these lanes however, you will soon be diverted onto the frontage road while crews widen the expressway. I'm not as resentful towards this, however; this is one construction project that's much needed, since the segment of Route 7 from the Laem Chabang spur to the Chonburi bypass is littered with slow-moving trucks that outnumber passenger cars 10 to 1. The southbound traffic is not singled out... you can enjoy the bumpy frontage road on your way into Pattaya.

Somewhere in Samut Prakan province, they are widening yet again... drive carefully, because like the widening project near Sri Racha, there are no cones or markers set out to show where the concrete ends and drops a foot into the dirt. Ouch!

Sukhumvit Road throughout Pattaya is also being torn up. North of town near Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital as well as the south end between Pattaya Tai and Chayapreuk Roads, there is shoulder work being done. Crews seem to have finished this weeks ago in some places, yet new pavement hasn't been laid. The same scenario is also present on Pattaya Tai (South Pattaya) Road between Sukhumvit and 3rd Road... the work seems done, and no one has bothered to re-surface yet. We should have a pool on when South Pattaya Road finally gets re-surfaced... I'll take the third week of December

Whatever these projects are, I'm sure after they're done, the roads once open will be much nicer, smoother and better drained (during rainstorms), but Holy White, Feathery Jesus it's a pain the rear right now. Please excuse my venting, but I'm sure anyone else who drives and who has had to drive in a northerly direction recently shares my disharmony, and what better place than here?

Enjoy the potholes, everyone!

Thailand (and every other country) should legalize marijuana. It's a relatively harmless substance (much less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol, which *are* legal). It makes people happy unlike booze, which is a depressant and causes men to beat their wives.

Plus, the government could put a tax on it and make money. All criminalizing marijuana does is create more law-breakers and clog up the courts which should be used for crimes where there are victims.

Regardless of my liberal views on this, these guys should have known better, and ignorance is no excuse. They should be prepared to receive punishment for breaking Thai drug laws, no matter how unjust they may be.

Hi,

I'm curious as to what other UBC subscribers experience in the way of weak signals and outages. Each time it rains heavily, I get the "E52 Searcing for Signal" error on a blank screen. I got used to this, but today, it's simply cloudy and I'm getting a lost signal.

Is anyone else in the Pattaya/Eastern area experiencing similar issues, or is it most likely a problem with my dish that I will have to get UBC to repair?

First, to clarify the post made by libya_115, not all American pizzas are thick-crusted... only "Chicago style" pizzas are. Pizza from New York are thin like Italian pizzas, but the crusts are not crispy.

The closest you will ever get to NY Style pizza is the food cort at the top floor of RGP or the Spiccio in the food court of Carrefour, but alas, neither deliver.

The best delivery IMHO is the Pizza Comapny (http://www.pizza.co.th). Many topping choices, dependable delivery, lots of side dishes like breadsticks and salads, and a good price.

Pizza Hut is a close second. I don't like Nick's either -- it's too Italian. I avoid pizza joints that call a plain cheese pizza "Margherita", because they are of pure Italian persuasion, which I do not care for. But that's just me

The problem is with Thailand's international pipe. I recently went into the TOT office to upgrade my DSL to a 4mbit connection and was told to wait until November when the international link was fixed.

I have a 1mbit Maxnet connection, and it's only operating at about half the speed until about 2-3AM when it's full speed until 6 or 7 in the morning.

Hopefully, this problem is being caused by widening the pipe to allow for more bandwidth (and faster speeds for less money). Only time will tell.

Hi,

I will be moving into a new rental house, and I need help moving some of my larger posessions, such as a computer desk, mattress and some custom furniture among other things. I heard somewhere that there is a moving company that uses proper moving trucks (or at least a covered truck to protect from the rain, etc). Does anyone know if this company does indeed exist?

Also, I have a lot of "junk" that I don't want to toss, but don't want cluttering up my new house (which is much smaller than the one I have now). What would be suggested for self-storage? A friend just suggested that I rent a cheap 1,000 B/month room somewhere and store the stuff there, but I'm wondering if there is a cheaper and more orthodox solution to storing stuff here.

Thanks!

This is typical of the Rattanakorn group.

I rented a place there for 6 months... and this is *not* the kind of village you want to invest in. The houses are poorly built.... uneven tiles, poor paint trimming... everything indicitive of cheap, untrained, whisky-fueled, fresh-out-of-Surin labor.

The houses are built mimimally, with the thought that those who buy them will remodel them. Another typical Thai method akin to building the wall, finishing it, painting it, then knocking out a huge hole for a window, finishing it again and painting it again.

Because of this, homes can look however they like.... so there is no unity to anything like in View Talay. They built the property walls only 1m high, WITH holes in them... which means no privacy, something that should come with homes of these prices.

In a few years, it will look like just another unkempt, rundown neglected village. The roads will have potholes that will never get fixed, the beautiful pool they built will eventually fall into disrepair.

Not to mention the STUPID dolphins and windmills they recently erected in the middle of the "swamp". They did a beautiful job with the swimming pool end of the swamp, until they put a giant blue "Swimming Pool" sign there. It's just gaudy.

Oh, and NO HI-SPEED INTERNET! The TOT lines they installed throughout the village CANNOT receive TOT's DSL for some reason. A friend of mine who owns a house there is beside himself because of this.

All in all, this village is not worth the land it sits on. It sits on reclaimed SWAMPLAND that sits 2 meters below the ground.

thai bart sell off down 1.4% against dollar

bart falls sharply against us dollar

What's with these guys who type "bart" and "bath"? Its spelled baht, according to every bank in the world!

Bart is a bratty 10 year-old, and a Bath is something everyone in the world should do at *least* once a month

I agree.

Unfortunately, all we have to choose from here are motorbike taxis, which are cheap but dangerous, and the baht busses - who are inconsiderate and dangerous drivers.

I'm not sure if there is any mafia involvement, but it's fishy as to why there are no proper taxis for hire in town.

Personally, I would love to see every baht bus in the city vaporized.

Hi,

Im curious to know if there is a public waterpark in Phuket (akin to Pattaya Park on Jomtien Beach). I will be travelling to Phuket for a few days in August, and while I love the beach, but I'm not a big fan of seawater, so I am wondering if there such a place in Phuket to have a swim.

Thanks!