TheGhostWithin

I was very very sick in Pattaya last year. I actually had a flesh eating bug in my leg, and had daily trips to Bangkok Hospital to fight for my leg to not be amputated (it was no joke). I was on heavy drugs, lucid sometimes, very erratic and moody. I probably came across as a candidate to be an under 35 year old mental health patient. My attempts to be pleasant were used to try to moderate the days I just could not smile because of the pain and fear, as well as a dose of psychological trauma I was going through. The staff at Cheap Charlies on Buakhao pulled me through, their chicken meals (which I recommend, but the full size was too big for me) got me through my time recovering, the staff knew I was unwell and were always extremely kind to me. Not a single staff member showed an ounce of unfriendliness towards me, I was never asked for a tip. The only thing that used to irk me was that demand for the deserts was high enough that when I managed to motivate myself to go outside, the local cheap charlies had already beaten me to the apple pie, or whatever desert was on special for the day. The card for me was worth it, I ate there at least once, often twice daily, virtually every day for a month. Without that place and their western orientated food at a good price being so close to where I stayed, my recovery would have been much worse. The waiters and waitresses at the restaurant were my daily dose of normalcy, watching the behavior of some of the wackheads that used to walk in with the most bizzarre behavior was amusing, but in general most customers appeared "normal", if we as Farang can be seen as "normal" in Thailand. p.s. The staff that I saw on Buakhao were all Thai, we spoke in Thai and they did not have Thai Lao, Lao, or Khmer accents when we spoke. Had I picked up on it, I would have asked them. There are Khmer and Lao people in Pattaya, they tend not to be Front of House on mainstreet restaurants. Isaan yes, Khon Lao or Khmer Khrom at Cheap Charlies, no.