ChangFai

That's a lot of Cashew nuts right enough!!

some people hate cashew nuts in their food. i do!

And not a Thai dish !

I was well aware of this scam when I first arrived in 1988.

So, no way did it stop during the Thaksin years.

But because there has been a flood of new gullible tourists from Russia, India etc. , this scam has grown, and is much better reported due to the internet.

This is NOT a new scam.

Jomtien Beach Road is the only place I see those old Red buses on.

A report in the Bangalore Mirror today :

Police are ‘hand-in-glove’ with the mafia

The beaches at these Thai resorts hide a dark secret — a goon-powered jet ski racket which intimidates and rips off foreign vacationers. A Bangalorean narrates his recent ordeal

Thailand has become a destination of choice for Indian vacationers in recent years, not least because a typical package, all found, is even cheaper than a similar one within the country. So much so that around 9.1 lakh Indians — a large chunk of them Bangaloreans — visited Thailand last year.

But the Eden of their dreams has a dark underbelly which reveals itself on the beaches of Phuket and Pattaya — a local mafia-run jet ski scam which has ripped off scores of foreign tourists.

Full Story:http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/1/2012042120120421012208375a5ad0783/%E2%80%98Jet-ski-at-your-own-peril-in-Phuket-and-Pattaya%E2%80%99.html

--BANGALORE MIRROR 2012-04-21

More than North Road has been done with this silly Dolphin lamp posts.

Everything south of the Bali Hai is also another area that has been done.

And more to come.

I was in Thailand during the 1997-98 debacle, and the highest rate I saw for the £ was 93.6.

Talk of it reaching 100 is just a myth that many have told themselves over and over again, until they believe it.

I use The Visa Shop on Soi Buakhao, as I want to get there and back as quick as possible.

Leave at 6am, and back in Pattaya by 2pm.

6 people to a minibus, so never packed in like sardines.

2200 baht all in.

Surprised at the lack of knowledge on Mae Sri Ruen.

Many outlets around Thailand nowadays but Mae Sri Ruan started in Pattaya over 50 years ago.

The Pattaya Glang branch has probably been open over 30 years.

http://msrpattaya.com/menu.html

I was in the old Mike Department Store (not mall) yesterday and they have packets of "Saffron" for 250 baht a packet.

Its definitely Safflower.

Normally its sold along with other spices.

Try the street vendors that hang about Pattaya Tai on Tuesday and Fridays, they normally have a few bags of it.

Cant remember seeing any inside the market itself lately.

You could also try the small night market at the Dolphin Roundabout, that caters to the Dusit crowd.

A few years have absolutely destroyed Pattaya. Sad to see. 2008? <deleted> happened?

1997 was a bigger year for change than 2008.

I can expect a barrage for this, but have bar girls got uglier or have I just become desensitised to their beauty?

Larger population means more ugly girls, and more pretty ones also.

Nothing has changed !

I first came here in 1988, and it always makes me laugh when people say there was no tourist families in Pattaya back then.

Nonsense !

Yeah, utter crap, maybe the people who say that were too busy concentrating on other things to notice.

Not utter crap at all.......right on target. From 1986 to 2001 or so, I do not remember seeing Western women (and Western families). You are giving people the wrong impression that nothing has changed with regard to this issue. The change has, in fact, been massive. No doubt there were SOME Western women SOMEWHERE in Pattaya (Nuns?), but they were surely few and far between as one poster stated.

The only thing that has changed about Pattaya is ....... it is bigger.

Thanks for the review.

Understood. I visit Jomtien often to walk on the boardwalk there. You can take Beach Road all the way to the end, and then continue on through the turns until it connects with Huay Yai. That takes you to Suk. If only going to The View, or somewhere near there, you're only on Suk for 1KM or so.

But yes, Suk is a very busy highway.

I find it frustraing.

I have often driven down to Jomtien and eat now and again at Loong Sawai 2, which I think is as far as you can go.

I dont mind going onto Sukhumvit Highway for a 1KM, but its coming back after sunset, that scares the shit out of me.

I really wish there was an easier way of getting further south from Jomtien.

Great point. Easy scooter ride down here.

But there is no way of getting there without avoiding the death trap that is Sukhumvit Highway ?

Sorry Guys, its just never rocked my boat.

And I first ate there over 20 years ago.

It was Kiss before Kiss became Kiss.

Jingthing, try the Kaprao in Khao Suay.

I just cant get it out of my head that he is recommending The Boat.

I passed by around 8pm last night, already fed, and it was open without one customer.

Laying down a few pot plants can hardly be called a "garden".

Passed yesterday at 4pm ....... and it was OPEN !

Striderman

Definitely one going down at 4pm yesterday, across from Royal Garden.

I was walking past on my way to the Beer Garden.

Looked like a couple of Middle Eastern Gentlemen being stung.

I was under the impression that the Music Festival was the 18th to 20th.

In 20+ years of living in Thailand, I have never met a restaurant that doesnt do carry outs.