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A Bar in Soi 8


Lancelot

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Yesterday evening -May 24- I went to a bar at the lower (Sea side) end of Soi 8 and Beach Road. I've been dinning there (yeah, I'm a cheap charlie) since 2003. The food is good and its not expensive.

But you get what you pay for...

I ordered a pork chob and mashed potato entre. After 30 minutes and observing diners that arrived after me being served, I looked back to the kitchen staff and smiled, in the vein off "Did you forget me?

Big mistake...

I was duly scolded by the waitresses as in wait your turn!!! After 40 minutes I walked over to the well nourished mamasan and asked if I could just pay for my drink and leave. She responded by raising her voice and letting me know that I had just arrived and that many people were ahead of me and that I was being a pain. I made no comment and returned to my seat.

As luck would have it, my meal arrived -and was slamed down in front of me- shortely after I spoke with the mamasan. I ate some humble pie, along with my supper, paid my bill and left.

My point in sharing this is that sometimes no matter how hard we try to "get along" the bottom line is that foreigners in Thailand will at some point be abused. Its just the way it is and I have learned to expect it but its still unpleasant. Had I been more forceful and disputed the staff and mamasan's abuse, there is no doubt in my mind that the situation would have escaleted to the Thais becomming physiical and/or the police being involved.

Watch your step :)

Lance

PS- I have eaten there many times and also brought new customers. I will not go back :D

Name deleted as naming and shaming is not allowed on the forum - mario2008.

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Mr Lanzerus,

Yep you can get bad service anywhere. Been to said eatery with someone who eats there regular. Waitress had a bad attitude and the regular said he wasnt going to eat there. He already knew what lay ahead. I went ahead and had a bad experience.

This other resturant located on corner next to Diana has puzzled us for years. Good food, good price, bad service for both Thai and falang. Sometime they surprise you, sometimes you cant get waited on at all? Left there many times after looking accross resturant and seeing other customers without orders. The resturant is so convient. I am sure that is all that keeps them in business.

TIT

:)

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Mr Lanzerus,

Yep you can get bad service anywhere. Been to said eatery with someone who eats there regular. Waitress had a bad attitude and the regular said he wasnt going to eat there. He already knew what lay ahead. I went ahead and had a bad experience.

This other resturant located on corner next to Diana has puzzled us for years. Good food, good price, bad service for both Thai and falang. Sometime they surprise you, sometimes you cant get waited on at all? Left there many times after looking accross resturant and seeing other customers without orders. The resturant is so convient. I am sure that is all that keeps them in business.

TIT

:)

I guess that you mean 'Kiss' restaurant. I used to dine here regularly, particularly breakfast. I found that good service was down to knowing a few of the regular staff and tipping fairly at the end of each meal. The staff there have memories like elephants, they remember you.

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If i walk around in Pattaya, i ask myself, how dead can a place be? It looks more to a ghosttown then to a tourist place! And yes people feel that tourist are rare, but sadly they don't understand that you have to cherish the few, who are still spending money!

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That's what I like about Pattaya your spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out you really are. Theres no need to put up with shabby service theres plenty of other places crying out for your money. Service with a smile the only way to run a business, it goes a million miles when the staff welcome you when you enter, smile when taking your order and serve you.

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Most of these businesses are run by non business people it seems, and is it me or do all thai kitchens have the one frying pan/cooking ring !,. 4 of us eat together and get the meals up to 30 mins apart in almost all of them, :D ....

:):D:D

I just had to laugh. It "IS" the Thai way. Because I'm a cheap charlie I don't dine at the fancier places so I can't say that ALL Thai restaurants are the same, but certainly the lower end ones are. Thais serve one person at a time and if there is 4 or more of you in a group you can be assured that the first person served will be finished their meal long before the last person is served. That is why most of us who go out as a group usually visit one of the buffet type places where you serve yourself from trays of food prepared previously.

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Mr Lanzerus,

Yep you can get bad service anywhere. Been to said eatery with someone who eats there regular. Waitress had a bad attitude and the regular said he wasnt going to eat there. He already knew what lay ahead. I went ahead and had a bad experience.

This other resturant located on corner next to Diana has puzzled us for years. Good food, good price, bad service for both Thai and falang. Sometime they surprise you, sometimes you cant get waited on at all? Left there many times after looking accross resturant and seeing other customers without orders. The resturant is so convient. I am sure that is all that keeps them in business.

TIT

:D

Hey Cowboy, long time no see :)

I've always tried to get along with staff at this bar so their attitude supprised me. Another time they forgot my order at Sailor Bar and the mamasan was very apologetic. I guess the difference was that time I was talking to my buddy and forgot to ask about my meal. Hey, thats it - don't ask, LOL!

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Mr Lanzerus,

Yep you can get bad service anywhere. Been to said eatery with someone who eats there regular. Waitress had a bad attitude and the regular said he wasnt going to eat there. He already knew what lay ahead. I went ahead and had a bad experience.

TIT

:)

Yes you need to go a long way to beat the 'service' there, shame the food is quite good.

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Yesterday evening -May 24- I went to a bar at the lower (Sea side) end of Soi 8 and Beach Road. I've been dinning there (yeah, I'm a cheap charlie) since 2003. The food is good and its not expensive.

But you get what you pay for...

I ordered a pork chob and mashed potato entre. After 30 minutes and observing diners that arrived after me being served, I looked back to the kitchen staff and smiled, in the vein off "Did you forget me?

Big mistake...

I was duly scolded by the waitresses as in wait your turn!!! After 40 minutes I walked over to the well nourished mamasan and asked if I could just pay for my drink and leave. She responded by raising her voice and letting me know that I had just arrived and that many people were ahead of me and that I was being a pain. I made no comment and returned to my seat.

As luck would have it, my meal arrived -and was slamed down in front of me- shortely after I spoke with the mamasan. I ate some humble pie, along with my supper, paid my bill and left.

My point in sharing this is that sometimes no matter how hard we try to "get along" the bottom line is that foreigners in Thailand will at some point be abused. Its just the way it is and I have learned to expect it but its still unpleasant. Had I been more forceful and disputed the staff and mamasan's abuse, there is no doubt in my mind that the situation would have escaleted to the Thais becomming physiical and/or the police being involved.

Watch your step :)

Lance

PS- I have eaten there many times and also brought new customers. I will not go back :D

Name deleted as naming and shaming is not allowed on the forum - mario2008.

What name? the restaurant name?

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Bad service, you are right on not to return no matter how good the food is at this place. After a complain I would fear eat their food anyway. About the only thing you can do, which you have done is to give other a little headsup about the place so we can make our own call. You must be such a very kind soul I would have had a few choice words(polite) for that waitress and walk out. This sound like a really SH##Y Place, how can they stay in business with service like this, I wonder??? :)

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Bad service, you are right on not to return no matter how good the food is at this place. After a complain I would fear eat their food anyway. About the only thing you can do, which you have done is to give other a little headsup about the place so we can make our own call. You must be such a very kind soul I would have had a few choice words(polite) for that waitress and walk out. This sound like a really SH##Y Place, how can they stay in business with service like this, I wonder??? :)

I think Thais want to blame us for their economic problems instead of taking responsibility for their own stupid actions that have resulted in a massive downturn in tourism. I think frustration is showing in the form of anger.

Maybe after a lot of places have gone under they will realize that anti-foreigner immigration policies matter......that democracy matters........that the rule of law matters.......and that Pattaya-Jomtien will never be Monaco.

I miss the way it used to be prior to TOXIN.

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Bad service, you are right on not to return no matter how good the food is at this place. After a complain I would fear eat their food anyway. About the only thing you can do, which you have done is to give other a little headsup about the place so we can make our own call. You must be such a very kind soul I would have had a few choice words(polite) for that waitress and walk out. This sound like a really SH##Y Place, how can they stay in business with service like this, I wonder??? :)

I just think they don't care. There is always a new customer comming in, so why bother to retain old customers? The place is usually busy so that probably serves to reinforce the sour attitude of staff. Funny thing was, I just thought they had forgotten my order and I was trying to remind them in a gentle way when I looked towards the kitchen area and smiled as if to say "Remember me?" Several people that came in after me were serve before me (both thai and western dishes) so I just wanted to get back in the system so to speak. When the mamasan dressed me down, she loudly proclaimed that I had just walked in and that many people were ahead of me. Whatever...

The attitude comes from the top down. I've observed the owner, a german guy (always perched near the back table parallel to the little soi on the south side) abuse a few customers as well. One customer started his motorbike too close to the "owners table" and man did the angry deutch flood the air :D The mamasan can be loud as well and I think staff take their cue from this.

Anyway, I'll try to look at this as an opportunity to seek out new places to spend my baht :D

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Well my friends, not wishing at all to dis-agree with you, but I have had meals there as well, and have you seen how bad mannered many of the tourists are to the person taking and paying for food?? I am not talking about the English either, the Russians, Germans, Nords etc are just as bad...and I am afraid we all end up treated the same...it is a very busy, cheap place offering 24 hour service.

It is true that anti-foreign policies televised in Thai blame us for their troubles but you should blame the Thai goivernment for that, not the local who believes what he is told.

(Even the Pattaya Mayor has said many times (in Thai) that Pattaya would be better off with less foreigners and more Thai visitors)

I am not trying to get into an argument with anyone it is just how it is! :)

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If i walk around in Pattaya, i ask myself, how dead can a place be? It looks more to a ghosttown then to a tourist place! And yes people feel that tourist are rare, but sadly they don't understand that you have to cherish the few, who are still spending money!

busy compared to jomtien.

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Well my friends, not wishing at all to dis-agree with you, but I have had meals there as well, and have you seen how bad mannered many of the tourists are to the person taking and paying for food?? I am not talking about the English either, the Russians, Germans, Nords etc are just as bad...and I am afraid we all end up treated the same...it is a very busy, cheap place offering 24 hour service.

I am not trying to get into an argument with anyone it is just how it is! :)

Disagreements can also be positive, in the vein of learning another point of view.

I agree that some foreigners -of every nationality- behave poorly in Thailand and I am embarrased by it. But some Thais treat foreigners poorly as well. I think thats the point some of us try to make here, not that we "hate" the thais but we sometimes disagree with their conduct.

Anyway, I think Thailand in general and Pattaya in particular has suffered from visitor overload and that also contributes to attitudes. Why should they improve their customer service when they are always busy? And what recourse do we have other than not returning? Just because I am a customer does not give me license to lord it over the staff. However, because I am a customer, I should be able to politely point out a problem and not be abused for it :D

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The attitude comes from the top down. I've observed the owner, a german guy (always perched near the back table parallel to the little soi on the south side) abuse a few customers as well. One customer started his motorbike too close to the "owners table" and man did the angry deutch flood the air :) The mamasan can be loud as well and I think staff take their cue from this.

Anyway, I'll try to look at this as an opportunity to seek out new places to spend my baht :D

There's a hotel on Ko Samui I will never stay at again because of the owner. Too bad as it was otherwise a nice value with very nicely finished rooms. The staff was nice, but this guy was just disagreeable. Always complaining about something the staff was doing wrong or had missed, and I mean very trivial things.

As a guest it was about as awkard as being a dinner guest when a family starts arguing. The kiss of death was he took the same attitude when talking to my girlfriend, which I didn't know until later.

Bad service is as much the manager/owner's fault in Thailand as it is in the west.

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Bad service, you are right on not to return no matter how good the food is at this place. After a complain I would fear eat their food anyway. About the only thing you can do, which you have done is to give other a little headsup about the place so we can make our own call. You must be such a very kind soul I would have had a few choice words(polite) for that waitress and walk out. This sound like a really SH##Y Place, how can they stay in business with service like this, I wonder??? :D

I just think they don't care. There is always a new customer comming in, so why bother to retain old customers? The place is usually busy so that probably serves to reinforce the sour attitude of staff. Funny thing was, I just thought they had forgotten my order and I was trying to remind them in a gentle way when I looked towards the kitchen area and smiled as if to say "Remember me?" Several people that came in after me were serve before me (both thai and western dishes) so I just wanted to get back in the system so to speak. When the mamasan dressed me down, she loudly proclaimed that I had just walked in and that many people were ahead of me. Whatever...

The attitude comes from the top down. I've observed the owner, a german guy (always perched near the back table parallel to the little soi on the south side) abuse a few customers as well. One customer started his motorbike too close to the "owners table" and man did the angry deutch flood the air :D The mamasan can be loud as well and I think staff take their cue from this.

Anyway, I'll try to look at this as an opportunity to seek out new places to spend my baht :D

Get your facts right before sparking off, he's not German, he's Swiss!! :):D

Well my friends, not wishing at all to dis-agree with you, but I have had meals there as well, and have you seen how bad mannered many of the tourists are to the person taking and paying for food?? I am not talking about the English either, the Russians, Germans, Nords etc are just as bad...and I am afraid we all end up treated the same...it is a very busy, cheap place offering 24 hour service.

It is true that anti-foreign policies televised in Thai blame us for their troubles but you should blame the Thai goivernment for that, not the local who believes what he is told.

(Even the Pattaya Mayor has said many times (in Thai) that Pattaya would be better off with less foreigners and more Thai visitors)

I am not trying to get into an argument with anyone it is just how it is! :D

Totally agree with your comments. :D:D

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Bad service, you are right on not to return no matter how good the food is at this place. After a complain I would fear eat their food anyway. About the only thing you can do, which you have done is to give other a little headsup about the place so we can make our own call. You must be such a very kind soul I would have had a few choice words(polite) for that waitress and walk out. This sound like a really SH##Y Place, how can they stay in business with service like this, I wonder??? :D

I just think they don't care. There is always a new customer comming in, so why bother to retain old customers? The place is usually busy so that probably serves to reinforce the sour attitude of staff. Funny thing was, I just thought they had forgotten my order and I was trying to remind them in a gentle way when I looked towards the kitchen area and smiled as if to say "Remember me?" Several people that came in after me were serve before me (both thai and western dishes) so I just wanted to get back in the system so to speak. When the mamasan dressed me down, she loudly proclaimed that I had just walked in and that many people were ahead of me. Whatever...

The attitude comes from the top down. I've observed the owner, a german guy (always perched near the back table parallel to the little soi on the south side) abuse a few customers as well. One customer started his motorbike too close to the "owners table" and man did the angry deutch flood the air :D The mamasan can be loud as well and I think staff take their cue from this.

Anyway, I'll try to look at this as an opportunity to seek out new places to spend my baht :D

Get your facts right before sparking off, he's not German, he's Swiss!! :):D

Well my friends, not wishing at all to dis-agree with you, but I have had meals there as well, and have you seen how bad mannered many of the tourists are to the person taking and paying for food?? I am not talking about the English either, the Russians, Germans, Nords etc are just as bad...and I am afraid we all end up treated the same...it is a very busy, cheap place offering 24 hour service.

It is true that anti-foreign policies televised in Thai blame us for their troubles but you should blame the Thai goivernment for that, not the local who believes what he is told.

(Even the Pattaya Mayor has said many times (in Thai) that Pattaya would be better off with less foreigners and more Thai visitors)

I am not trying to get into an argument with anyone it is just how it is! :D

Totally agree with your comments. :D:D

Interesting attitude. Do you work there as well?

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Insight, you're not worth the response!!! :):D:D

Thanks for the quick response.

Just seems a little strange how the nationality of the owner would have any effect on the OP's experience there.

Unless anything overwhelmingly positive is posted to the contary, I'll be avoiding the place myself during te next upcoming trip to Patters.

Edited by Insight
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Insight, you're not worth the response!!! :):D:D

Thanks for the quick response.

Just seems a little strange how the nationality of the owner would have any effect on the OP's experience there.

Unless anything overwhelmingly positive is posted to the contary, I'll be avoiding the place myself during te next upcoming trip to Patters.

Insight, If you read the quotes and my comment then you would have realized that I was not responding to the OP, but to #17 Lancelot who made the assumption that the owner was German (wrongly).

I think maybe his assumption was that because most of the menu is German, then he has to be!

No I have no connection with the place, and I don't think they will miss your few Baht!!

:D:D

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Insight, you're not worth the response!!! :):D:D

Thanks for the quick response.

Just seems a little strange how the nationality of the owner would have any effect on the OP's experience there.

Unless anything overwhelmingly positive is posted to the contary, I'll be avoiding the place myself during te next upcoming trip to Patters.

Insight, If you read the quotes and my comment then you would have realized that I was not responding to the OP, but to #17 Lancelot who made the assumption that the owner was German (wrongly).

I think maybe his assumption was that because most of the menu is German, then he has to be!

No I have no connection with the place, and I don't think they will miss your few Baht!!

:D:D

Silly me. I had the two people confused.

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