doggie888888

It's the same report every year, they just change the dates.

Gives new meaning to the term "foreign joint venture". I hope they got BOI approval.

I was told west is hottest, which makes sense. So we planted trees to shade the west facing walls and windows. Rather unplanned, the tree grew big and started to provide shade over the roof as well

Well, that west facing room is now the coolest room in the entire house!

What's the ratio of sexpat to expat in hk? I suspect it isn't as high as it is in Thailand.

Another reason is weather. Hot humid all year here but there is a winter in hk so people can dress up a bit.

From most street vendors, Thai food is deliciously laden with sugar, msg, palm oil and possibly a drop or two of sweat from the brow of a very hot cook.

Been training my maid to cook the Thai stuff but using healthier oils, a whole lot less sugar or none at all, definitely no msg and voila, it is still delicious !!!!

Maid tells me she remembers the "old days" when her grandma never used sugar except palm sugar in desserts and limited use of palm sugar in a few dishes. Does anyone know if this is true?

God help us all. Another silly season.

How long is a piece of string? Everyone would arrive at a different value.

Assuming you want to recoup the purchase price in say 3years.... A rule of thumb, back of envelope sort of calculation would be 36,000. You adjust that for any potential ups and downs for next few years and see any adjustment is required on the 12,000 as well eg any unaccrued expenses.

It's such a pitty that Pattaya would be 10 times as nice of a place if the descendants of HM penal colonies were refused entry yet they are let loose amongst us law abiding citizens of Pattaya.

"Round 'em up and ship 'em out", it will be like a busmans holiday for the lot of them, "sport".

The old world sent their criminals to us, now we re export some of them back to you and the rest of the world. It's called Aussie's Revenge

The lesson here is never drink with Thai men you have just met on walking street , not the best place to find friends,

Right , but anyone stupid enough to drink with Thai males in the first place would not take that lesson in the first place.

There have been a few times when i had been out for dinner or drinks with Thais. On some occassions, when i wanted to pay, the waiter declined because the Thai had already settled or left instructions that i was his guest. No fuss, no bother.

We are the sum of our own experiences, so i do not share this "don't drink with Thai men" nonsense. Of course, like all other countries, including Britain, there are people whom you just wouldn't drink with.

He is not an Australian, send him home

Thanks for the free meal. My buddy and I had an over under of 9 posts when this was going to be mentioned.

Lol, i thought this would be mentioned by the 3rd post.

Get over it guys, Mohammed, Nguyen, Chang, Goldberg are Australian surnames.

lesson learned

never drink with the Thais

I think the Thais' take home lesson is: never drink with a Cheap Charlie.

But perhaps more accurately in this case, never drink with a Brit but that would be generalising, wouldn't you say?

There is no need to massacre shade trees for safety, lighting or whatever excuses they comer up with. Don't believe me, go to Singapore and look for yourself.

Estate agents in pattaya should pay the sellers and not the other way round...just for putting up with their bullshit. Sorry, this lot (except for a few) are not particularly creative nor skillful at selling anything. For 5% they can't even organize a simple For Sale sign with their phone number on your front gate. They think listing you on their website is the extent of their job.

Don't agree to the 5%. Negotiate it down, you'll be surprised how many accept it.

Welcome to the hotel califirnia....You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!

What i don't understand is why some clean ups have occurred since the coup in hua hin, phuket and bkk, but in Pattaya all attempts at any clean up seem to stall?

Whoever is ultimately behind the infamous "problems" of pattaya must be so powerful that the military handles the matter so delicately.

Whether it is illegal construction, baht bus mafia, motorcycle mafias, jet ski thugs, beach chair vendors, unlicensed sex shows, beach encroachment, underage prostitutes, drugs etc etc etc.

Powder milk is my pet hate. It's usually a non dairy chemical cocktail comprising palm oil, whitener and other yukky stuff. Unfortunately, commonly used here. I always return the satchets and request for milk... And most cafes oblige. However, i feel it casts doubts in my mind: do they then use margarine instead of real butter if they are willing to use non dairy whitener instead of milk?

Does it have beetroot in the burger? If not, it ain't an Ozburger

The OP asks how low you can go, whilst denigrating smokers, Asians and Russians.

Well, for the OP's info, Pattaya has gone a lot lower...ageing, poor, uneducated, rude sexpats

Biden is a moron, I doubt he could point to Syria on a map.

If Biden is a moron, what do you call Sarah Palin?

Steet urchins asking for money if you happen to park on their patch of public road...happens in KL and Jakarta. Probably Mumbai and Manila too. I venture to guess it happens in most places where there is widespread poverty, unequal wealth and lax law enforcement.

Up to us as individuals how to react. Pay up the small fee and move on or, kick up a fuss over a principle but at great risk to self ?

Ooooh, i feel the love now. Maybe it's those tight brown pants and big guns. Lol

My sympathy abated after reading post no 5.

Towards the end, we are asked to support a petition to stop the alleged perpetrators from starting their tertiary education.

On what basis? We can hardly be judge, jury and executioner based on the one sided and badly written reports, tragic as the case maybe for the young victim.

I might support a petition to relevant governments to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice but not to destroy someone's future based on the words of one side only.

"sustainable tourism" and "Pattaya" are opposite ends of the tourism spectrum. And no amount of spin or jingoism will change that perception until real actions that yield measurable outcomes are implemented, without fear or favor.

Don't forget pattaya is where mature trees that provide shade are massacred to make things "tidy".

We use the nearest motorcycle boys. They are great for odd jobs like that.

What's wrong with a couple of bamboo sticks?