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I lived in this town for 8 years when I worked in the gemstone industry. Chanthaburi has one of the largest gemstone markets in the world, so the town has an international business presence, yet very few tourists visit here. The language barrier is a burden, but people are more 'down to earth'. One welcome new addition since my last visit is Central Mall. There's a beer garden with live music, I'm going there tomorrow to see Pixxie, will post an update, other nights I hang out at the Koff House. Despite few farang living here, you'll see Santa and Christmas trees

I attended this event two years ago and never posted these until now.

Greetings Monkeywatchers, showaddy crap to a cool yule, and welcome to the Christmas edition of Monkeywatch – which is the same as all the others. Humbug. Walking Street seems to be something of a talking point at the moment as city leaders wrestle with the street’s rapid decline in popularity with international tourists who now refer to it using names like Little India, Mumbai Village and George Foreman – oh sorry, that should be Mohammed Alley. Mind you, there are other points of contention too, like rip-off prices for drinks and ladies, and touts selling tickets to ping-pong shows that

Yesterday afternoon I took a ride on the white baht bus along Sukhumvit to Geko Cafe. The cafe is unusual with telephones on the wall as decoration, however there is a semi undercover parking area where a number of classic cars are kept. Lighting in the parking area was not good for photography but the vehicles were interesting. I enjoyed by Danish Pastries and Coffee and the cost was only 120 baht.

Pattaya - Yes International - Several falang competitors so, arguably, yes Bikini - Not for all competitors (thankfully!) Beach - Yes Race - Yes, theoretically, but not for many of the participants! I stood on the beach opposite Klang. The race was supposed to start at 5:30pm from outside of Central Pattaya (formerly known as Central Festival) but didn't until about 5:50pm. I wonder if they were waiting for the sun to fall below the horizon so as not to shine directly into the lenses of the professional photographers who had set up to do their work. A bunch of people started

The morning walk.

Central Pattaya aka Central Festival last night, 30/12/2025.

Christmas Day I went over to Central Mall for the free entertainment. They were singing Christmas songs and dancing to Christmas music, and most of the presentation was in English. I glanced into the crowd, curious to count how many farang I could see, and I counted three. After awhile, I was in need of some liquid refreshment and headed over to the beer garden, but when I was ready to return for the featured performer there were so many people I couldn't get close to the stage. The headliner was Pixxie. A pixie is a mythical creature of

Nalkua Walk and Eat Festival. This annual event runs from Late December to Mid January. It is a long post, I. realise, however if you speed read through, it will give an idea of what is on offer. Prices are competitive; rather a lot of competition in a relatively small space.

The entertainment at Terminal 21. The images with the dancers on stage were taken at too low a shutter speed and there is motion blur..

Taken 30th December 2025 - Street Food available for the New Year Countdown.

The food on offer for the New Year Count Down.

When I'm in Thailand I use my mobile phone as a hotspot for WiFi..... Works good enough to watch streamed HD TV.... I have an AIS SIM and when we land I get a month unlimited data plan from the AIS booth at the airport..... Perhaps just buy a cheap 5G mobile and use it as a hotspot in your condo.

A new arrival. Oops. A little wind; nothing extreme.

13 mm to 56 mm

Dismantling the stage.

The girls in the front are delicious, but look closer at the crowd , its why we love Thailand. As to Jacko's above post it never gets old to be reminded of this. One of my first trips here and on a baht Bus a lady with a big bag sat close to me, her friend across and engaging me in conversation. I remember thinking I read about this on the FLB forum. Before I could react the driver stopped and ordered them off.

What the OP is looking for is either called a "pocket wifi" device, or a "mobile hotspot". "Pocket wifi" seems to be a Thai or Asian reference. For example, here's Netgear's page on these gadgets: https://www.netgear.com/home/mobile-wifi/hotspots/ ...or: https://www.netgear.com/on-the-go/hotspots/ Look for a device that's either certified for the Thai network you want to use, or more generally an "international" unit, certainly one that's unlocked. Some but not all support esim. If buying in Thailand you should be able to find these either in Tuc Com or a phone shop. I'd lo

Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they arrive, St. Peter says, “We only have one rule here in heaven: Don't step on the ducks!” So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on a duck. Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever

The perfect woman is hard to find! Sent from my CPH2669 using Tapatalk

Actually I find that there is wisdom mixed in with the mirth. Well done for taking aim at the aimless. Already looking forward to next month's targets. Sent from my CPH2669 using Tapatalk

From rusty blue to bright red and shiny to white with alloy wheels.

Reading elsewhere all seems as before

Nice one, lightened the generally gloomy mood around town.

Groan mark 2 Sent from my CPH2669 using Tapatalk

Groan! Sent from my CPH2669 using Tapatalk

Police (just out of shot) removing unlawfully parked motor cycles.

The facts of life in few words Sent from my CPH2669 using Tapatalk

And I thought it was about blow jobs but this is Pattayatalk after all Sent from my CPH2669 using Tapatalk

I looked at the reviews on booking.com there was a real mixture of nationalities. lots from UK and USA, a few Arabs (one complained of being treated as invisible and won't be back) and a few from India but definitely mostly white.

I realize I was misleading about health insurance. I retired from the Federal Government so have a generous heath insurance benefit. It has been criticized in the past as unfair compared to those that rely on Medicare or other private insurance. I think true but its the same BCBS that members of Congress have even when they are out of office. So you can see where any attacks on that perk are going. As to the women , while I'm no Gabor ,Expat cost are radically different from even LT visitors. No Walking Street but also no Beach road. But with my relationship with the wife those times

House build in KK: 400,00 total. Split with wife and her sister. They had the land about 1.2 million. But I was WTF is the Air con, refrigerator.landscaping, hot water heater? So another 200,000 of my money. Electric 3,000. Internet 1,000 month way overpaying so can cut that in half. Not eating Thai or Lao Thai food 5 Million/month from Villa and Paleo Robbies. Ok maybe 20k/3 months. Up country Makro about 1200 month for vegetables,fruit assorted junk ,candy. R/T flight KKC-BKK 1250 baht, Nams taxi to Pattaya 1200, Aot to Bangkok 1200 also. Beachfront condo in Naklua 15,000/month. B