Rumcabal

A friend went to take a few photo's of the George Washington aircraft carrier at Laem chabang , but could not find it

Any one know where it is , and know if its possible to get near it to take some photos ?

TL :jap:

Yes, its possible to get very close to it. They are even running tours every 2 hours. You can get in to see the flight deck and bridge. You will see a little camp set up outside the ship staffed by navy folks.

As for where it is well, I mean, once you drive into the port it is very hard not to see it. Just drive into the port, you will see it on the left hand side. If you cant see it, just get closer to the water.

For the next poll, you can ask if we would like to get the fat old farangs, without shirts on, off the beach road.

Haha yes now thats a true eyesore thats worth cleaning up

I never bothered training at the other gym across the road because of that very issue. You're walking over people to work out there. The old 3rd Road gym was also too cramped. I find the soi 16 gym spacious and that's one of the reasons I train there only. My current membership doesn't allow me to use the other gyms.

Yeah I've never used Tony's gym on soi 16. I dont really like that walking street area and I live 5 mins from his gyms on third road. I didnt realize Tony sold individual memberships to his gyms. All his gyms on third road sold a yearly membership that allowed you use any of the gyms. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for membership to the soi 16 gym only? It would have to have been a good bit cheaper than 6,000 baht, right?

Thanks for your report.

It is a shame that he's based his new and "amazing" gym on the old junk from his other gym that he closed. Those old rubber DBs are a joke, especially if you want to go heavy.

Having no water is ridiculous beyond words.

I've never seen a gym anywhere in the world where you're on display to the outside public on a busy road. How does this feel?

Did you use this gym as part of an existing membership deal?...or pay for a casual visit?

You said the aircon was on. How cool was it? In Soi 16 the manager used to go around turning the units off if it dropped below about 28C to save power.

Agreed the old rubber dumbells are a joke, especially when there is bits and pieces of rubber that has fallen off them!!

Yeah the road thing wasnt really an issue. There is very little people walking by so noone really gawking in. The taffic outside is moving pretty fast so same same. Plus inside on the first floor there is a partition wall that divides the room. If you are sitting down behind the wall you are not visible from outside.

I'm an existing member - paid my yearly 6,000 baht a few months ago.

In terms of the heat, well it depends on your personal preference. I kinda like the heat and so I was comfortable but everyone had a different level of comfort. Having a serious cardio workout may not be terribly comfortable.

As I said, I found its biggest advantage to be the space and room you have. I'll probably use there as my regular workout spot from now on. I prefer it to his gym across the road.

Get your drinking water from one of the dispensers inside banks?

:D:D

Err just to be different and actually reply to the OP's original question.

I went to this new gym yesterday. It was all right. What I liked about it was the room you had to work out. There's plenty of space around the equipment. That was one of my pet peeves at his original gym across the road. You had to be nearly stepping over people working out to move around. No such problem at the new place. The air con was turned on. Although I guess it must be very expensive to run because the ceiling is so high and the outer walls are just clear plastic sheeting that are not sealed at the bottom. No water - same as his other places.

It consists of 2 floors. On the ground floor its basically all the old equipment from his 'old' 3rd road gym. The one that got demolished a few months ago. He has applied a fresh coat of paint to the equipment, does that count as making the equipment new again?? Upstairs then there appears to be all genuinely new equipment. This 'Eagle' brand that I've never heard of but it looks pretty good. There is some aerobic gear on the 2nd floor but its 90% lifting equipment. If you want to do cardio you are probably better off going to his original gym across the road. Finally there is no punch bag in the gym. He does have a Muay Thai academy opposite this new gym where all that kind of work out equipment can be found.

I don't know where you got that a country can not print more the 10 times the gold it physically holds especially when its unaudited?

It is called Fractional reserve banking and is fixed at x10 since the creation of the FED in 1913. It is for the USA, the topic is about the USD, I don't know about the others countries but my guess us that at least UK and EUR does the same, as they have the same base.

http://en.wikipedia....reserve_banking

Actually the fractional reserve ratio established by the FED is %10, that means they can make x10 time more paper than the reserve they have (or they say they have).

Unfortunately its worse than that. There is no relationship between the dollar and gold. Nor any other paper or 'fiat' currency. Not since Nixon removed it from the gold standard in 1972.

Fractional reserve banking applies to all commercial banks and it allows them to lend out up to 10 times the amount they keep in reserve.

The FED is not bound even by these lose fractional rules. Its free to do whatever it wants with your money supply. And you or even your representative in congress is not entitled to ask for an audit of this institute.

If you read the entire string of posts, it should have been obvious that my "rant" regarding offensive remarks about Thais was not directed at you or your original post. Your post was simply too mundane to deserve space here (in my opinion).

Well for such a 'mundane' topic this is sure turning into a great bare knuckled boxing match. Thats part of the addiction of TV, no matter how mundane the title you never who will jump in or what direction it will take. I'm enjoying this thread................

I went to the spin class on Saturday evening. It was the first day without water. Many members were asking where the bottles of water were. The spin instructor looked mortified and was apologising profusely. She was saying, 'next time you can bring your own'. Afterwards I checked with her and she said that you were allowed to bring in your own water. Yesterday I went again and saw many people bring in their own bottles without any problems. So it looks like you can bring in your own.

On a related note - does anyone know whats happening with his new gym across the road from his old one on third road? All the gym equipment has been moved in and has been in place for over a month. Most evenings I see some staff members there dusting and cleaning there but its still not open. Seems it was ready to open a month ago. I ask the staff there and all they say is 'tomorrow', 'tomorrow'. By tomorrow they mean go away and stop annoying me. It seems they dont know.

I have been speaking to property sellers in the Nirum Condo and this investigation has led me to find out why the prices in Nirum are going up even though the bhat is strong and Pattaya is very quiet due to a world recession.

The market has been distorted - A chinese man is buying all the condo's. He owns many small condos and most of the condos now on floor 14 of the tall block. Quiet clever really, when times are tough people look for cheaper accommodation. So buy loads of it up, have people employed to give the condos a make-over so they look good for flangs, and then sit back and collect rent. When things get better, property prices go up with demand, then sell.

The market has been distorted - really??? There's a willing buyer, a willing seller, both of whom are happy with the purchase price or else they wouldnt be participating. Seems like a regular market transaction to me.

That's pretty dumb. He may save a few baht on water but he's going to lose a lot of customers if he does that.

I used to bring in my own bottled water until a security guard told me I couldn't take it in so I started bringing an empty bottle and filling it up from the water cooler. He now turns the airconditioners off at 9pm so I now need at least 2 litres of cool water to get me through a workout. Forcing me to buy water is over the top for me. If I can't smuggle in my own water I'll give Tony's a miss.

Yeah I agree. It's quite petty to take away the water fountains. I dont understand what Tony is playing at. He knocked down a fine gym on third road, I used to use it all the time. The weird thing was there always seemed to be people sitting around the front desk at this gym buying the shakes and drinks that they used to sell. If you refuse to allow folks take in their own drinks and instead force them to buy from you, you run the risk that you'll piss people off who would normally have bought drinks there anyways. People usually dont like being told what they have to spend their money on. I dont know how much he expects to gain from his latest strategy but my guess is not much. I wont be buying any drinks there, thats for sure.

Well yesterday it still said 7999thb for one year. They do however have a temporarily offer for 5999thb but that won't last long. I <deleted> paid it a month ago I think I know.

Then again this goes for their locations on 3rd road, I never been to their walking street gym but I do have acces to all gyms with this membership. The "bodybuild" gym on 3rd road has been relocated two weeks ago across the road from the "fitness" gym on 3rd road going south past pattaya thai and still hasn't opened yet.

Its a bit confusing.

Apparently if you are renewing existing membership its 5999thb for a year

If you show a gym membership from another gym in Pattaya its 5999thb for a year

If you sign up 1 or 2 friends to full membership you will get your membership for 5999thb for a year

All other cases its presently 7999thb for the year

However last year Tony did the exact same thing. He raises yearly fees to 7999thb for all members. It must not have generated sufficient revenue for him because two months later he reduced the fees back to 5999thb. My guess is that he will probably do the same again this year. Just give it a month.

He won't because Tony has now introduced one price for all his gyms. The price he quoted was for all gyms. Tony is losing money hand over fist so it shouldn't take long for him to change things around again. Remember the gym that was going to amaze us to be completed soon. You can forget about that one already as no construction has been going on at all.

Nah Tony's superamazing gym should be finished real soon. The building appears complete and there is equipment inside. I dont quite know why members cant use it now, seems like it should be functional. However all the equipment has come from his smaller gym along third road. That gym has been demolished and the equipment transferred to the new one. Also I dont quite understand why he now has 2 large gyms, with pretty similar facilities, located across the road from each other. But hey its Tony, I'm sure he knows what he is at, in a superamazing kind of way.

Sorry but I cant click on that menu to enlarge it.

Also had a pint of Guinness there last week. Its the real deal - delicious. Is there a happy hour price for that too??

Got suckered into seeing this movie on Sunday. The Thai lady I was with wanted to see it or else some Thai movie. I figured it was the lesser of 2 evils - wrong. The Thai movie could not have been worse. Spoiler alert - stop reading if you want to go and see this movie - but nothing happens. Over 2 hours sitting down and watching nothing happen. Every now and then you get the feeling that something might happen - but it never does. 2 guys sparring over probably the most boring girl in the world - please. I felt like demanding a refund. Funnily enough the sound went out for about 10 minutes towards the end of the movie. I was delighted in that I thought we could leave. Unfortunately it came back on but with a plot so thin it didnt matter that we had missed 10 minutes of it.

Yes it's back only better. Genuine Guinness and Killkenny back in Jameson's . But this time the real thing . This is not the Guinness and Killkenny we used to get but the real thing from Ireland . This has been tried and tested by non other than Jameson's most famous Irish Customer and friend Chef Adrian the Executive Chef from the Dusit Thani , and he told me in no uncertain terms that we could be onto something here , as he quaffed his second pint. A perfect time to come and try out the new Killkenny and Guinness would be right now.

Hmmm The Guinness sounds great - hopefully poured correctly and not the American way of vertically dumping it into the glass. How much for a pint?

apparently not in Nirun

I purchased one condo at Nirun 3 years ago at 350 and then got another at 380 last year, I looked for another this year but they wanted 400 for it, so it seems the OP is correct and the prices are creeping up which is a good thing.

Patrick

If anything this post shows that prices there have stagnated - not increased. A person *asks* for 400 and Patrick considers it too expensive. Dont confuse the asking price with the final selling price. Someone asking for 400 does not mean every condo there will now sell for 400. Even if that were the case, it would mean whole 20,000 baht increase in a year.

Since when have you had to fool or push women from Pattaya

to work as prostitutes. Think about it why would she pick women

who object to prostitution in a place like Pattaya where there are

thousands of hookers.

+1

Agee totally with the OP. The staff there are very professional and courteous. They know what they are doing. Whether or not you agree with the visa system here is not the point. In comparison with the horrendous immigration departments I've dealt with before in the US the service in Jomtien is top notch.

Yes its horrid. Especially before a freekick or something like that. As the player squares up to take the free, you already know that he has missed. Ruins the excitment.

I read this post on One Pattaya News:

"The curfew in Pattaya and 23 other provinces has been extended for 3 more nights up to and including Saturday 22 May"

Does this mean that the curfew will end at 5am tomorrow (Saturday) morning? Or does it include Saturday night and so will end on Sunday morning?

Wow - she had 'accessories' in the bag worth 990,000 baht??? What were these accessories - a Mercedes?

He also wrote on of the best insights into how badly bar girls are treated when sent abroad

" my name in Lon" show the tragic things a young lady has to do to survive, yes, it may called fiction, but a a lot of it is based upon fact

Err Have you even read this book? For a start its not a work of fiction. Its a true story about a girl, who's name is 'Lon'. Hence the title. That's a picture of her on the front cover.

Secondly, with the notable exception of 1 English guy who was just a slob, she got treated quite well when she was abroad. A Swiss guy married her but then foolishly thought that since they were married he wouldn't have to pay her for sex anymore. A Swedish guy then took her to Sweden and she seemed to have no complaints about him. Unfortunately, he lost his job and had to moved to Spain but the Swedish state seemed to take very good care of her. Gave her a place to stay, free health care..etc.. It was her decision to leave and return to Thailand.

If there is a real villain in this book, its clearly her Mother. Who shows no compassion or sympathy for her own daughter. Places continuous and unrealistic demands on her. Borrows huge sums and places the burden of debt repayment on her daughter. This book had nothing to do with her 'survival' and everything to do with her Mother's lifestyle expectations.

I know there's Asian University off highway 331. Its about 20km from Pattaya. Its an international university though so all classes are in English. They have business and computing. I've heard its expensive though.

Tony's Gym (three locations I believe) will have a decent 1 year membership price . The large gym on 3rd Avenue has an "annex" across the street which is quiet from the main building. The good thing about this gym is that it also has a large pool, steam room and sauna. It isn't as "trendy" or new like CA WOW but it does offer more than just a gym to work out in. (membership price is less than CA WoW)

Yeah I've been a member of Tony's gym for nearly 2 years now. He has 3 but I normally go to the one on third road opposite Xyte. I think its slightly better for weights than his larger gym on the corner or third road and Pattaya Thai. There is more room between equipment, sometimes at his main gym you cannot lift until the person beside you has stopped.

However he is raising prices. Annual membership has jumped from 6000 baht to 8000 baht. Lifetime membership from 20,000 baht to 28,000 baht. Also he has introduced a 'bring your own towel' policy. He has a poster up saying how the theft of towels was costing him 60,000 baht per month. I cant really see how so many towels could have been going missing, especially since you have to hand in your membership card to get a towel and you dont get the card back unless the towel comes back, but if Tony says so then it must be.

Anyways the reason for these measures is because he is building a new 'awesome' gym thats gonna be the best in Pattaya ..etc...etc..... Its going to be located opposite his main gym now on third road, beside his Pattaya 'hotel' place. A few months ago I saw that it was going to open in March 2010. That poster went away and was replaced with one that says 'opening in 2010'. The last few days I've noticed a structure going up at that location so I assume its getting built now. All existing members will have access to it. I've no idea how good it will be or what equipment/facilities will be there.