FarangBuddha

I like both the exterior and interior design of the Mazda 3 hatchback. I see on their website that there is a "new" 2.0 litre sized engine model on offer, along with the standard 1.6 litre variant. Does anyone here own this car and care to comment and what are the main safety and comfort differences between the two models?. The Mazda looks more updated than the Focus and a bit larger than the new Fiesta so would better fit my bill. Also, the website doesn't seem to provide the price for the 2.0 models...only the 1.6 at around 750-850k...anyone know the price for the 2.0s?

Thanks for any feedback.

Hafele stuff is expensive but it is very good quality...and I can think of some interesting things to do with such a fancy plunger...especially with his little Thai friend pictured there

New BMW 3 Series Diesel Under 25K GBP. 145 mph. Not bad value , compared to a 1600 Volvo at 40 K.GBP here.

any car in the UK is pretty bad value, as I cant use it here

and I am here +350 days a year, cause I love to be here

but lets do the bmw-volvo thing anyway, starting with I am a bmw fan

Volvo S80 2,5 Sport, 245hp/360Nm is 2,6 million baht

BMW 523i forget but approx 180hp/220Nm is almost 4 million baht. doesnt get my vote, or money

Volvo S60 180hp/260Nm is 1,9 million baht

not sure what 3 series has on offer here petrolwise as the only one I find interesting is 320d, similar power, but 3,2 million baht. doesnt get my vote or money

now there is one bmw, 525d with its sweet 3,0 oilburner, but+4 million baht, ouch. thers is one more, 520d, and doing some fleetsaletricks it can be purchased by a co ltd for 3,250.000 baht. could get my vote and money

What Volvo has done is to adapt to TH tax system extremely well, and thus have almost acceptable salesprices in TH

In addition they have adapted to TH fuel politics, making fuel costs very low running E85 at 22 baht/liter

Clever Volvo, or is it owner Geely pushing to achive desired volume

Gotta love it...a Geely Volvo

Well as it's obvious to anyone who has been on Central Road that it slopes downward from Sukhumvit to the beach, "up" obviously refers to one traveling In the opposite (west to east) direction.

Very little rentals of any type of housing is available at the moment because of all the Bangkok flood refugees in town. Houses for sale for years in my moobaan have been rented out by refugees on a short term basis and assume it's similar all around town.

Baking soda is just that...baking soda..."Arm & Hammer" is just a brand name. Baking soda is sold in the the baking departments of all the grocery stores in Pattaya.

Oh, well that does make sense. I Googled it and found baking soda to be sodium bicarbonate. I hope it is the same thing as Arm and Hammer baking soda because I do not want to get sick. Thanks.

Google is your friend

What a squalid, cesspool of a destination Pattaya is. The Brit is already dressed for prison by the looks of his pants....and nice tats! And 'luxury' boutique hotel? Jeesh....who writes this claptrap? One only need look at tripadvisor to see it's far from 'luxury'. Regardless, hope the lass recovers.

That description was slipped into the story by the reporter after the hotel owner proffered a nice back-hander to him

Baking soda is just that...baking soda..."Arm & Hammer" is just a brand name. Baking soda is sold in the the baking departments of all the grocery stores in Pattaya.

If you are willing to travel a little try CC Road house on Siam Country Club Road about 3 to 4 Km up towards the lale, on the left, the Burgers are superb and so is the other food.

its the best i have found in the area.

More like 6-7 kilos.

Nam Sing next to Royen Garden on 2nd Road has very good Chinese food (for Pattaya that is).

Right. For Pattaya that is ...

Exactly.

Also note some might avoid that place due to the shark fin promotions there.

As a dedicated scuba-diver that would normally be the case for me as well but as I live in Pattaya and the Chinese food options are so limited, I have to hold my nose...bite my tongue...and tuck into all the non-shark related dishes. Also, anyone I eat with is on notice that NO shark or shark-fin dishes will be allowed at our table anytime I am there.

I agree. When in Rome, etc. I did try their beef black bean sauce chow fun dish there for 200 baht. Everything quite decent, chi of the wok and all that, but the overcooked beef was like shoe leather. It wouldn't have mattered if the beef was raw, the problem was the standard poor Thai beef itself.

What I often do in such situations is ask them to substitute pork for the beef. Pork is generally very good in Thailand and this works out good if you're not Jewish or Muslim.

Next time you should actually order some CHINESE food...you know, the stuff some 1.5 billion Chinese people in China actually eat and not some bastardized concoctions that people eat back in Blighty or the USA

Amusingly the western countries love "Chinese food" yet if presented with actual Chinese food the would refuse to eat it as its "not proper" chinese food !!!!

Well, that's not really true. In the US where I lived we had 2 kinds of Chinese restaurants. One was the fast food place, and yes, made for western tastes. But we have many authentic places, my favorites being Szechuan.

I was working over in Macau last year for a local firm and they showed me some amazing food . These were spit the bones on the table shops, a tad filthy , and beer was prominent on the menu , but the food , oh the food .All sat at round tables we had goose stuffed with sticky rice , turtle baked in its shell , steamed garoupa seared with hot oil, deep fried duck tongues ,chicken knees , deep fried battered crab , steamed prawns , duck and chessnut stew and it went on like that . It was all prepared country kitchen style and served in heated earthen ware bowls . All washed down with Tsing Tao .Top food and cheap . I had lived in Hong Kong before but never come across some of these dishes . Maybe the culture is dying out , like the tutles .

They have a distinctive blend of Chinese and Portuguese cooking in Macau called "Macanese" cuisine that is very good. It combines spices and cooking methods of the old colonial Portuguese power with the native Chinese cooking. It's quite distinctive.

Nam Sing next to Royen Garden on 2nd Road has very good Chinese food (for Pattaya that is).

Right. For Pattaya that is ...

Exactly.

Also note some might avoid that place due to the shark fin promotions there.

As a dedicated scuba-diver that would normally be the case for me as well but as I live in Pattaya and the Chinese food options are so limited, I have to hold my nose...bite my tongue...and tuck into all the non-shark related dishes. Also, anyone I eat with is on notice that NO shark or shark-fin dishes will be allowed at our table anytime I am there.

Nam Sing next to Royen Garden on 2nd Road has very good Chinese food (for Pattaya that is).

Wife and I had a great Indian meal at a new (new owner and manager and chief) Indian restaurant next to Cherry's on 3rd road across from the old Xzyte disco.

Come join us and a group of friend for dinner on Tuesday (11/29) at 6pm and you will enjoy a great Indian meal and even get a 20% discount compliments of the "Frugal Freddy" group from the Pattaya City Expat Club.

Elegant setting, good parking right on 3rd road, reasonable prices for excellent Indian food and a 20% discount, hard to beat, see you all on Tuesday.

How do you order/pay when eating with the Freddy group at a Indian place...I mean, its like Chinese, usually you order a bunch if dishes to share and split the bill.?

A word of warning on the HTC's longer term, I have a HTC and its battery died, my wifes friend has a shop at tuk com and replaced it, the normal price is 1200 baht for the battery, they said HTC are one of the most expensive for parts and batteries, the usb socket also needs replacing and only HTC can do it, none of the repair places have the part, HTC want 2000 baht plus for the socket which other phones is a 100 baht replacement part.

Not doubting your experience but I've had my Desire for over two years without any problems...when you produce millions of anything, there are bound to be a few duds in the mix but one's chances of buying that one is small (but still sucks if it's you). As for batteries, like any large screen phone with a fast CPU, batteries drain quickly, however, I bought a set of two replacements and a charger from a Hong Kong based eBay storefront for US$ 15.00 (including shipping) and now just always carry with me a fully-charged extra battery around with me. (I believe other Desire owners here have bought extra batteries from this same store.)

Agree...this place does very good pizza pies. Located on 3rd Road close to Boxing Roo Bar.

How about some discounts for T-V members?

Unnecessarily vitriolic flame removed

Vitriolic flames about swimming pools...only on T-V

Amongst the tech goodies on offer is a pedestrian sensing auto-braking system, and low-speed anti-collision system (yep, the same system that infamously failed during it's initial media lanuch day, hehe). It also features adaptive cruise control - which varies the speed to maintain correct distance in traffic, and a blind-spot warning system that that uses rader to alert you to vehicles in your blind spot when the indicators are on.

Call me strange but I like to drive my car myself

Also, all this stuff is probably tuned for the driving conditions found on the roads and highways of the USA and Western Europe and not the congested people, moto, and animal infested roads we have in Thailand (and other such countries). I'm sure any pedestrian sensing auto-braking system would be triggered by every soi mutt or moto that came near one's vehicle and constantly slam on the brakes making for a very herky-jerky ride. The same goes for an adaptive cruise control feature...the only such system that works in Thailand is one's foot on the brakes.

Not a bad price, however, unfortunately one also has to pay for the above unhelpful technology as well.

Android phones also very easily sync with yahoo and hotmail accounts thru apps or mail programs included with the phones by the manufactures.

From my experience in the UK and Thailand, I would be wary about relying on syncing with Hotmail.

On a number of occasions my emails have 'backed up somwhere' and then come through in a flood, so some were several days old. I don't know if it is my phone settings at fault or a general problem.

My brother uses Blackberry for its push email service. Probably more reliable??

Probably your update settings...in the mail programs that come with most Android phones, you can set the update frequency from something like every 10 minutes to like twice a day. If using Gmail, the setting is in the Android OS itself. Hotmail and Yahoo also have dedicated Android Apps to push their email services to your phone...again, you set the push frequency in the app settings.

Also in the Android phone, you have to make sure the it's set to allow update services to automatically access the internet (the 3G data network) or have an always on 3G connection.

Of course, with any smartphone, if you suspect something is amiss (or you want to double-check your mail), you can always go to a web-based mail service (e.g. hotmail) using the phone's web-browsing software.

Blackberry's mail services uses their own dedicated servers and system than the open web-based email systems. Works great if security is a priority (until the government orders the system to be shut-down ala Dubai and India) but the phones themselves are not that interesting and the company is in something of a death-spiral so future services and support are iffy.

Price is a major factor when deciding between an Android or an Iphone,

Android phones are between 5000bt - 16000bt

Iphones are 24000bt.

Both can do pretty much the same things but androids are linked with gmail accounts

and google.

As for qaulity i would put HTC & Iphones on the same level, but HTC's are half the price.

Android phones also very easily sync with yahoo and hotmail accounts thru apps or mail programs included with the phones by the manufactures.

iPhones are undeniably cool and feature packed, but don't let the Apple fan-boys sway your decision. There is nothing wrong with Android phones. My requirements were about the same as yours when I went shopping. I bought the Samsung Galaxy Mini, which does everything you require, and a lot more, all in a nice small package that fits in a pocket. Considering its relatively cheap price of 5000 ish, you will have a lot of extra happy-hour money. There is a good thread here about the Samsung Mini, where member named chmod posted a lot of good info.

Ditto...just about any Android phone will fit your needs. Nice thing about Android phones is the variety of form-factors, screen sizes, and CPU speeds, which leads to a wide range in prices from cheap and basic (but still fully functional as the Android OS is the same across all phones) to premium priced top-spec models.

iPhones you can have in any spec and screen size you want as long as its 3", black or white, and spec/OS locked by Apple.

Only have Indian once or twice a year and Ali Babba fits the bill nicely. Maybe on the pricey side and don't know authentic Indian from in-authentic but the taste is good and parking is easy.

What I need is a good middle-eastern/Lebanese recommendation(s).

I think your best bet is Shamy Taste Lebanese restaurant Phratamnak Road corner of Soi 17, South Pattaya (same district as the Indian row). BTW, the place jombom mentioned is roughly in the same district. It's called Lebanese but its really much more like Pan-Arabic. No alcohol served and closed during Ramadan.

A related cuisine, I wonder why more non-Iranians don't take advantage of the MANY quite decent Iranian restaurants in town.

Ali Baba I don't get, I found it to be an extremely heavy ghee laden style the one and only time I tried it. BTW, if you don't mind to get spendy for Indian, I suggest you might consider trying ZAIKA across from Royal Garden. The menu looks great and we had some positive comments on the forum as well. I've not been yet due to the price level (similar to Ali Baba).

Will give Shamy a try. Any comments about the Iranian resto on 2nd Road opposite Central Beach?

As for Ali, its just the first Indian I was introduced to so its a habit and don't eat it much so don't really care.

You are speaking of Pardis.

The owner is very friendly but their prices are higher than the competition and I personally thought their food was not as good as the local competition. Also at the time I tried it, they didn't have sumac condiment, first time I've ever seen that at an Iranian restaurant. I also don't like the one across from Royal Garden. There are so many these days! Mostly they have strengths and weaknesses depending on the dish, but I can suggest Said on 2nd across from Tops Pattaya Klang, and the big place at the corner at the Beverly Plaza Hotel entrance (south Pattaya).

I should say if you are used to dining at fine Iranian restaurants in London or San Francisco, there is nothing in Pattaya that approaches them. But the food at most of them is quite serviceable and the price is right too.

Thx for da feedback...I foresee some middle eastern meals in my near future.

Only have Indian once or twice a year and Ali Babba fits the bill nicely. Maybe on the pricey side and don't know authentic Indian from in-authentic but the taste is good and parking is easy.

What I need is a good middle-eastern/Lebanese recommendation(s).

I think your best bet is Shamy Taste Lebanese restaurant Phratamnak Road corner of Soi 17, South Pattaya (same district as the Indian row). BTW, the place jombom mentioned is roughly in the same district. It's called Lebanese but its really much more like Pan-Arabic. No alcohol served and closed during Ramadan.

A related cuisine, I wonder why more non-Iranians don't take advantage of the MANY quite decent Iranian restaurants in town.

Ali Baba I don't get, I found it to be an extremely heavy ghee laden style the one and only time I tried it. BTW, if you don't mind to get spendy for Indian, I suggest you might consider trying ZAIKA across from Royal Garden. The menu looks great and we had some positive comments on the forum as well. I've not been yet due to the price level (similar to Ali Baba).

Will give Shamy a try. Any comments about the Iranian resto on 2nd Road opposite Central Beach?

As for Ali, its just the first Indian I was introduced to so its a habit and don't eat it much so don't really care.

Just past the place tonight, 24hr opening, perfect. Any menu available yet?

Not sure of demand for 24 hour service at that location...likely to be little foot traffic after midnite. If it was somewhere near Walking Street it would be a different story. Also, the Mexi-food menu limits the 24 hour appeal...I mean how many people want a enchilada combination plate at 8 in the morning?

They have breakfast burritos (an American-Mexican creation) and chilaquiles, a classic Mexican breakfast dish.

As far as 3 in the morning, I can certainly imagine some people wanting a taco snack then.

Lots of people on late night schedules in a vacation/nightlife city like this.

If it turns out there is no business at this new place in the late night, early morning hours I trust the management is competent to make a business decision about how to deal with that. For all we know, those slow times are used for food prep for the upcoming busy day.

But 99% of those people will be in the W-S vicinity and highly unlikely to trundle all the way over the hill and down to the Jomtien Complex for that taco. The only people around Jomtien Beach at 3 am are the other 1% looking to pickup a trannie (maybe they've done some market research and found that this group is inordinatly found of late nite Mex-food...like a big enchilada).

And two items hardly a breakfast menu makes. I wish Gil all the best but just think 24/7 will be a money looser...8 to midnite will do nicely.

Just past the place tonight, 24hr opening, perfect. Any menu available yet?

Not sure of demand for 24 hour service at that location...likely to be little foot traffic after midnite. If it was somewhere near Walking Street it would be a different story. Also, the Mexi-food menu limits the 24 hour appeal...I mean how many people want a enchilada combination plate at 8 in the morning?