jacko

As to the old adage of 'would you say it face to face'.....I always think it is a blessing that someone here can respond strongly to some thick bully without the fear of physical retribution. There is some guy who posts here who attacks people with pizza I recall at the slightest provocation. I would die if I got an anchovy near my mouth!

Most were just complaining of the deterioration of Pattaya...... there was no doubt that it is still better living here than most places in the UK. And I don't think anyone was saying it wasn't. If someone cannot afford to go back home though, I wonder how they would be surviving here? Anyhow, Atlas2, a very good post balancing the negatives on the board, perhaps I am a major contributor to the doom and gloom, but that is my nature, panic, if this place becomes unbearable I don't think there would be any-place to go for me! I bought my 'house' at a considerable bit less than 65 baht/£, nearer 55, but I could not afford a place similar to this in the UK. (Maybe I could but the day to day expenses would have me selling up soon) Yes P4P is certainly easier, better etc etc, but that seems a shallow thing to use to justify my reasons for being here, I am not just a nonce. You only pay VAT...well I get that, plus tax on bank interest, something for my house ownership and I seem to pay something for my car and bike each year.... let us not understate the reality. BUT... of course they would bleed me dry in the UK! Motoring, yes, you got that right, I can drive a larger vehicle here, only negatives, traffic is worse as is driving standards and parking in town. Again, right on the entertainment, although some of my beers are more than UK prices.... especially if I get nostalgic for a pub environment... those guys have been sneaking up prices for a few years. Don't play golf, maybe I should! Surprised you got jetskis in there, what are they now, 45,000 baht/hour? Haircuts, spot on 100 baht yesterday, (including 30 tip)... ears shaved, nose hair trimmed, eyebrows too. They can't do that in the UK without 3 health and safety representatives there! Health... I have to say the UK wins, because of NH, despite state of the art hospitals here. The cost is high as you age and I have little faith of being treated 'fairly' at the BPH! A bad health bout here could bankrupt you. People who harp on about 'public' Thai hospitals, well the one I visited scared me. You say Electricity is cheaper, well it is hard to calculate how much it is in the UK, standard charges and multiple tariffs. In the UK isn't it about 15p/KWH? Here I pay about 10p/kwh, So agreed, but the difference is less than I thought. Baht buses are useless, can't get on one and it is faster to walk. Trip in a taxi to my UK airport £25-27, less than 1500 baht! The array of 'fruit and veg' in the UK is at least equal in a big supermarket. More fruits here is balanced by more veg over there I believe.. but still many things are hard to find in LOS. I have cable TV, it is shite, but way way cheaper. Of course my life here is far superior to anything I could afford in the UK...... it will likely last too as the UK is certainly deteriorating faster than here. I gave up on the UK many years ago, prior century, why would I bring there into any comparison, life in Pattaya beats Bangladesh too I bet! The fear might be, if Pattaya continues on it's current paths, I may think of elsewhere, where the hell would there be then?

This time of year I don't think anyone does that well...... me after nearly 9 years.

Capital gains tax due?

I was told that Wong Amat is predominantly Russians by someone who lives that way.

Parents can go. The kid at my house was getting yak-yak from his mother as she was showing him the report card over Skype.

Yeah, that's a big one for me, standard in 'American' breakfasts, one or 2 of those disgusting hotdog type things flash fried or barely warmed still shiny with grease... they are vile, and constituted of lips-and-arseholes.

My vacation schedule was such that I often came in September, although I would try to make it late in the month in the hope of getting a bit of dryer weather (early Nov). I came to think it was the best time of year to come, particularly compared to peak season, or Songkran, or hot season. I liked it to be a bit less crowded and the girls a little hungrier.

Schools are closed until after the Thai New Year.

I made a 'visa run ' into a trip or two to Cambodia (Snooky), which involved an overnighter in Koh Kong and change of vehicle. There might well have been more than 12. Your configuration doesn't seem to consider a long back seat or driver even. Non could have been described as comfortable...... you will get what you pay for and after another miserable hot trip from Snooky to PP, on something between a minibus and a coach, which also got packed, I was looking for flights back to Thailand. I go back a few years, the mini-bus trips to/from Bangkok and airport were horrible too.

It is the hot and dry season so there is a lot of dust in the air, to go with the diesel exhaust. Dried sewage becomes airborne too. Not sure of the impact of AC, I use that all the time, but live out of town and haven't had problems yet. I certainly do start to feel rough in the throat if I am in town for a night out, but all the risk factors are being thrown at me, on the back of M/C taxis breathing the aromas, smoky GGBs, popping from 100% humidity, 30 degC into AC places, swilling ice-cold SML over my throat, and snoring my drunk head off all night after.

Well you specified you wanted to work in Thailand.... not a good start as it suggests to me 'work' isn't your primary motivation. It likely will to employers too. If you are already financially secure enough to come to Thailand, you could do what others do, come here, open a bar, get skint, go home. You should consider a few years working wherever the work is, it gives you time to earn some tax free money and get international experience, before getting picky. As Mick says, and he does, work wherever they send you and make Thailand a base. There are a lot of guys who have. Get yourself registered with some of the international job agencies, ensure your CV is a good one. Here is one to start you off....but beware, I have been retired nearly a decade so am out of date.

Waxwork (24hr)

It is probably people who live in the area, Expats, like myself, who will gripe about this event. We don't have much need of the markets and it snarls up traffic for a large area and inconveniences our lives. We often forget Pattaya is not about us in the slightest, and needs to keep making money. Songkran is complained of more so, but as sure as hell, it is going to happen, this year and next.

Yes and large coaches used to go too. The type you are talking of sounds like First Class Visa Runs or Five Star, with the nice big seats and limited to 6 passengers. There are still 12 seater buses doing the run.

Struggled to get back out of town myself yesterday in the afternoon, a lot of traffic seemed to be coming into town. I can see the difference in 'driving styles' when all these guys come into town from Bangkok, they seem to go out of their way to block the usual channels to the front for the bikes. I need to go into the Naklua area today and hope some aren't using that as an alternate route. We missed all this last year I think.........another reason not to go into town...... I worry about these drunked up kids who seem to feel a need to be armed.

One walked past me in Tesco yesterday and I swear the vegetables were wilting as he passed.

I am not MM of course but we have certainly rejected 'voice only' before. Well I mean they were never 'in' were they?

I have Sophon and it ain't great. Not having Thipmanee as well it is hard to compare..... it is a bit of 'the devil you know....' The English Film channels are forever deteriorating, into a long run of adverts mainly for condo buildings. The local news reports seem to be deteriorating too, with out of date fuel/exchange rates and repeated news reports that are the same as the previous night. Whoever manages these channel must be out to the pub as sometimes the films being played are bad copies, jump around and now and again you get the director's commentary rather than the correct audio track, plus a film might suddenly stop in the middle and be replaced by adverts. But that is to do with the channels available not the carrier. Sophon has a moderate picture quality and generally they are quick to come out and fix problems, plus I got 2 free months last year. The only thing that would make me switch would be if I could get regular (live) UK Premiership football, but that isn't going to happen for 3000 baht/year. True satellite costs too much for the amount of TV I watch... mainly news programmes. It is tuned to the Thai main channels (3, 5 , 7) more , they all carry those. As to the number of channels (65 I think), who cares, when am I going to need Russian TV or want to watch guys going round and round the holy Kasbah or a group of Sikhs playing strange instruments making an infernal racket.

Most certainly unattractive. Looks like someone with leprosy sneezed on you.

State of Grace.

28,000 per month isn't so bad.....but you have to pony up 56k including the deposit. Deposits make me nervous in Thailand.

If it stops some-place it ain't direct, it is via..... so it is up to me if I accept the lie presented to me. I only hope it is apparent.

Yeah something odd...I made a post and it came back with all this gobbledygook at the bottom, but when refreshed looks okay. Warning: preg_match() [function.preg-match]: Compilation failed: range out of order in character class at offset 54 in /home/ptalk/public_html/forums/admin/sources/classes/text/parser/bbcode.php on line 1457 Warning: preg_match() [function.preg-match]: Compilation failed: range out of order in character class at offset 31 in /home/ptalk/public_html/forums/admin/sources/classes/text/parser/bbcode.php on line 1457 Warning: preg_match() [function.preg-match]: Compilation failed: range out of order in character class at offset 54 in /home/ptalk/public_html/forums/admin/sources/classes/text/parser/bbcode.php on line 1539 Warning: preg_match() [function.preg-match]: Compilation failed: range out of order in character class at offset 31 in /home/ptalk/public_html/forums/admin/sources/classes/text/parser/bbcode.php on line 1539 etc etc etc