FarangBuddha

I am a former bar/restaurant owner. There is no license in existence to play music, me and the wife went to the government offices and checked it out. The authorities are very keen on copyright issues however. You can have your true TV on the music channels and everything will be ok but if a Thai artist/video comes on you will be nicked if you are unlucky and a passing cop walks in. Likewise pirated cd's or dvd's, they will come in and search through you stuff to see if you have any and if you are playing them in your bar - then they will nick you. Otherwise everythings ok no problem! I never played any cd's or dvd's even if genuine - I used the Grooveshark website to play my music and had no trouble whatsoever.

Sounds like they are just enforcing the law to me...good on them. Foreigners doing business in Thailand should comply with all laws and regulations that are applicable to their business. There are legitimate agents for businesses that want to play copy righted material in public venues. PM to me if you need a referral for an English speaking lawyer in Bangkok.

Surprised that the quality COULD go down.

Here here...I don't see anything new in the op's post...seems to me that was always the case.

A few weeks ago Numchai had billboards allover Pattaya which anounced that he had LG 50" plasma for sale at 12.990 Baht.So I went there to look for the tv as it was a good promotion.Of course there was no where to find the advertised plasma.

Upon Inquiry I was told that on purchase for a certain amount of money you would receive a lottery ticket,with that ticket you could join a lucky draw on the last Sunday of that month where ONE plasma screen would be drawn and sold at 12.990 Baht.

I know there is a specific word for this kind of practices,but however the government has ordered a crackdown on it,it is not allowed to name the word on TV due to forum rules.

I've heard of balloon-chasers but T-V chasers?

Numchai are giving gift vouchers for cash at the moment ,so another good thing.

I think you mean vouchers for cash discounts...I priced the bluray player I wanted to buy at both and Powerbuy was the same price as NC (after voucher) so just bought at Power and collected my points too.

Well unfortunately its really a "he said she said" situation as it seems you can't prove the money was stolen from your account. If your card details were skimmed, whose fault is that...the account holder it the bank? I am Nit blaming you but just asking a rhetorical question. Banks have to be careful un these cases because if they were to easily credit accounts in these instances the fraudsters and tricksters would have a field day.

The only way to be completely secure from this kind if thing is to not have an ATM card and do all your transactions at a teller.

I've always received good sales and after-sales service from Numchai...they get my thumb's up! However, I do get points and other stuff when purchasing electronics at Power Buy using my Be 1st Card so I may start to buy stuff there as well.

Truly sad that death seemed the only recourse here. Rest in peace.

Sorry to be the one to have to inform you but it's the only recourse for everyone...some just get there a little sooner than others.

Frozen? Villa, Tops. Also Paratha

You don't have to worry about a new 40 storey condo being built in front of your building and blocking your expensive ocean views because its already been done.

And the corollary: you save money because many of the formerly "ocean-view" condos are now "wall-view" and so can be purchased at a substantial discount.

first you admit to parking where it is ILLEGAL and then you cop and attitude when the police when they try to assist you in retrieivng your illegally parked vehicle. Good on the BIB for enforcing the parking regulations and let me thank you for contributing to the Pattaya City government coffers.

Yeah...fat men going shirtless everywhere showing of their man-titties are really disgusting! Just more of the quality tourists Pattaya is attracting.

Between the taxi mafia, building mafia, jet ski scammers, and a multitude of lowlife farangs, this story just adds icing on the cake to cross sleazy Pattaya off list. I'll enjoy my far more civilized Chiang Mai thank you very much.

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the biggest scammer in Thailand, currently residing outside the country, hail from your neck of the woods?

I blame the crash of the Irish economy and the austerity measures that have been put in effect...they thought they were rich but found out they are poor as they always have been, so, as a people, they're under allot of stress right now.

Probably not legal what the club is doing as the DVDs were most likely purchased by an individual under a "personal use" license (and later donated to the club to setup a lending library). (I assume the DVDs were not originally purchased by the club, under a use/hire license). What Bob is doing is most likely legal, however, as lending to others for personal use, without charge, is permissible under standard personal use licenses for CDs, DVDs, etc.

Wonderful...I don't have to water the garden for a week or so.

The point is....Pattaya City rakes in huge amounts of tax revenue off from the tourist who come here and businesses. The city has NO excuse to have construction done incorrectly and not up to be up to "developed world" standards. Even cities with a low tax collection base (compared to Pattaya) such as Sriracha or even Roi-et in Isaan maintains its streets better than Pattaya that has the big BAHTS.

I don't think most of the rest of Thailand did much better than Pattaya during last year's indundation. The fact is, when it rains that heavy in a short period of time, just about anyplace in the world will flood. (I seem to remember floods in much of Europe and the UK when they get sudden flash rainstorms.)

If it was Pete's place, I'm sure the headline would have referenced a "Walking Street" beer garden.

Nothing like true love

No big...there is no shortage of bars in Pattaya...the least ferengs can do is follow the law when doing business in Thailand.

Well the counterfeit tat you buy in the tourist stalls are going to be a high percentage of polyester. For good quality clothes at a reasonable price check out the Export Shops in Central and Big C on 2nd Road.

Exactly...tons of quality stuff at Central Beach or Royen but it don't cost B 200 per shirt...definitely not for the baloon-chaser crowd

Who transfers money to a stranger's bank account because that stranger calls them on the phone and asks them to do that?

That is terrible for them and even worse the Hotel refused them access to their own safe-boxes, can they do that?

Welcome to the "Land of Smiles."

A good guess is the flooding disrupted the supply.

Lots of stuff has gone missing from the shelves I notice.

I noticed the term "good" butter in the op, which suggests to me the imported stuff so I don't think it's related to the flooding. I too have noticed a diminished supply of the imported stuff...maybe the European cows are on strike because of the austerity measures like the Greeks and apparently the Belgiums now too.

Didn't mum once advise all of us not to take a woman we might have just met back to our room...guess she knew what she was talking about

Just Google it...they bought some online airline price database company awhile back so you will get all the fares available.