monkeyman

Hi Dave I agree that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. As already suggested, tribute nights to specific bands might be worth a go. There's a Brit band called The Hamsters who do very popular tribute nights to both Hendrix and ZZ Top.

Greetings Monkeywatchers, showaddy crap, and welcome once again as we grab our spoons and stir the Pattaya porridge for all it's worth. Right, chocks away. Punch-ups in Patts are big news at the moment, and there was another one a couple of Sundays ago in which six Thai blokes attacked a chap and gave him a good kicking. Nothing new you may say, except that this time it wasn't at a bar or Go Go, it was at the Sutawat Temple in East Pattaya - and all the brawlers were monks. Hell's teeth, what's the world coming to? The way things are going you'll have to be careful how you look at a nun

It always is.

Greetings Monkeywatchers, showaddy crap, and welcome to this month's plunge into the murky waters of Fun City. Right, off we go. Well, last month saw Thailand's latest step in the War On Tourism as the authorities decided to crack down on alcohol advertising. Bars were raided, condoms confiscated (no, not that sort) and huge fines threatened for any bar displaying alcohol adverts outside or inside. This is all allegedly "to protect non-drinkers". Protect them from what exactly? Passive drinking? With the attitude this lot have got to tourism, I'm surprised TAT hasn't been declared a terror

I always read all your comments and can assure you that they are very much appreciated. Perhaps I should say so more often. Thanks for the support, guys.

Greeting Monkeywatchers, and welcome to this month's melee of musings on the happenings in Happy Town. There's been some discussion recently about how the 'girlfriend experience' in Thailand is dying out because of the shitty attitudes of the girls. Or perhaps it's just getting a little too realistic for comfort? Some Brits might be struggling to fund future trips to Pattaya after their new Government came up with a package of austerity measures alleged to be fair but mainly aimed at middle and upper income earners. Of course, they've got it all wrong. What they should have done i

Greetings Monkeywatchers, and welcome to our 50th edition as the horror that was the curfew fades from what's left of our minds and life in Patts returns to abnormal. For those of you weren't around and missed the dreaded curfew, here's some candid photos of the unfolding drama on the first night, live and as it happened… Here's an action shot on Beach Road at 9pm… And here's one of Walking Street at 10.30pm… And one of LK Metro at midnight… Yes, the last two photos are indeed in the wrong order. No fooling you guys. Sales of barbeques have reportedly p

Greetings Monkeywatchers, and welcome to a new fiscal year full of fun as Monkeywatch celebrates its fourth birthday, an occasion which surely warrants an extra special edition. But that'd be hard work, so sod that. We start off this month with a bit of sad news, namely the demise of one of the best-known local Elvis impersonators who was found dead at his home in South Pattaya the other Wednesday. Now that's taking the impersonation just a little bit too far. Well, after the red shirts and the yellow shirts, Pattaya now seems to have acquired itself a new group called the no colo

Greetings Monkeywatchers, and welcome to another peepshow on Pattaya. Let the eyeballing commence. Well, a couple of weekends ago we were once again treated to that wonderful event known as the Pattaya International Music Festival. The basic idea behind this is that you close some roads for three days causing complete gridlock so that a load of Thai teenage gangs can come into town and have a punch up. Oh, and a few bands that nobody's ever heard of play a few tunes. This has the potential to become as popular as Songkran. Deep joy. There were some rumours flying about that the 60s Bri

I had this same problem a couple of weeks ago. Seems to be a temporary glitch.

Greetings Monkeywatchers, showaddy crap, and welcome to the month in which Julius Caesar ignored the warnings and got taken from behind - and he wasn't even in Sunee Plaza. Let the games begin. Thailand's tourism council has said that, because of political instability and the possibility of violent protests, foreigners should avoid visiting Bangkok from February 26 onwards. So that means nobody can ever go there again, right? As you're no doubt already aware, Tahitian Queen 1 on Beach Road was raided a couple of weekends ago. The police officers involved, who were from t

I'll have some of that. See you there Dave.

Greetings Monkeywatchers, and if you think you think you've got problems with snow, whenever my girlfriend goes to powder her nose I have lend her a straw. But I digress, so on with the show. A Russian tourist was sliced in two by a speedboat the other Monday whilst swimming in a boating channel off the coast of Koh Larn. A police spokesman said they were still trying to locate the man's other half, though it's unclear at this stage whether or not they were referring to his wife. Last week saw the staging of the Cowboy Music Carnival 2010 at Bali Hai Port in South Pattaya

Greetings Monkeywatchers, and a Happy New Year to one and all as we emerge from behind our sofas after pretending not to be in when the usual hordes of ghastly relatives came to visit. Okay, on with the business. There was a nasty incident the other Friday when a truck went out of control just off the Pratamnuk Road and crashed in the base of an apartment complex, spilling its payload of quick drying cement over a crowd of elderly residents. So some old people really are set in their ways. A lottery ticket vendor in East Pattaya had a less than happy Christmas when she w

I think they did have a go a while back. If I remember correctly, some of the girls were found to have work permits as ballerinas.

The Sabai Wing thermostats are on the outside of the units so easier still.

Greeting Monkeywatchers, and welcome to our festive edition as we remember The Nativity, the story which taught us all that you won't get a room at Christmas if you haven't booked in advance. A gathering of 3500 newly recruited bureaucrats was addressed by the Interior Minister at a two-day seminar in Jomtien the other week. They were told, amongst other things, that they must protect the country and abolish drugs. And no doubt during their lunch breaks they'll be eliminating poverty, ending war and reversing climate change. November 14 saw the opening of Louis Tussaud's W

Beats me why anyone would want to spend their Xmas surrounded by the sort of pissed-up tossers that Pattaya normally attracts over that period. Humbug.

Good.

...or maybe it's me.

I doubt if it was the allegations.

Greetings Monkeywatchers, as we light the blue touch paper of our damp squib and remember Guy Fawkes, the only bloke in history who knew how to deal with politicians. Right, off we go. There was a story reported from South Pattaya about three weeks ago entitled "Canadian loses 500,000 baht's worth of valuables following room theft". So how do you smuggle a room out of a hotel without anyone noticing? Two monks were arrested for begging a couple of Saturdays ago after being caught doing the rounds of Third Road bars asking punters for money. They were both taken to the t

Greetings Monkeywatchers, and welcome to this month's hot off the press stories that you'll be able to read about in Pattaya People in six months' time. There was a minor disturbance in one of the fast food joints last week when an Arab starting mouthing off about his food not being hot enough. Fortunately, the establishment's customer service manager was on hand to smoothe over the situation by hitting him in the face with a chair. I must say it's most gratifying to see that so many businesses in Pattaya are taking the trouble to equip their staff with the necessary interpersonal sk

It's nice but I wouldn't say it was worth the extra. On the other hand, if you're going to do it, do it now as it'll probably never be this cheap again.

Guess you've never been to GB then.