SunnyValentine

My Austrian Bank does charge me 0,3% of the amount on SWIFT. There is a Minimum charge of I think 6€. My Thai Bank charges a flat 500 Bt per Transaction. Don't send Thai Baht from abroad, use your home currency (in case it is Dollar, Euro, Pound). Then the exchange is done in Thailand at much better rates! One example a few month ago: In Austria I would have had the rate of 48,20 to the Baht. Same Day the rate for cash in Thailand was € 49,90, and the rate for SWIFT transfer 50,40 But check out with the Agent first if he needs a TT3 for the sum, as Thai Banks recently issue TT

I don't know about 2 BR condos for short-time rent in View Talay. Residence Garden though has some. But for 5 Days around X-Mas you are quite likely too late now; suggest you try to get some single rooms, take what you can get. Sunny

You can get Ipod for reasonable prices in Bangkok. About the same as in UK. Sunny

So, YOU were that F*t guy on a Moto I used to run over twice while I was walking from SOPA Road to Soi Arab twice lately? In this case, please accept my sincere apologies! Sunny

Baht Bus took me 6 Minutes from the Entrance of View Talay until Marine Plaza (walkway to Walking Street) today. What's your problem, Bigmike? Sunny

Did you try the Boathouse in Jomtien? It can be booked through Residence Garden, nice rooms, on the Beach, nice location if you like Jomtien. Sunny

Try www.viewtalay.net for a Condo in View Talay, Jomtien. They might still have some! Sunny

As I understood these news these busses are planned to driver other routes than the usual Baht Bas route. Also, they will have a total of 22 or 24 buses, to cover 3 long routes, all the way from Naklua to Na Jomtien, including Tepprasit Road and some strtches East of Sukhumvit. This probably will mean that the buses go every 20 or 15 Minutes. I guess a lot of people will stick to 10 (or 5) Bt, and immediate service. Of course the new routes might be of interest to some people. But I think 30 Bt is way to high! Sunny

Roppongi, cheap new phones 3000 Bt up, 2nd Hand maybe 1500 up. Check out MBK Store in Bangkok (BTS National Stadium) for the best prices for both used or new. In Pattaya go to Big C North Pattaya, or in two month or so, go to tuk.com (Electronics and Phone Store in South Pattaya Rd. around Soi Day / Night, to be openend in November). Sunny

Since today (or maybe yesterday) I realise that all unread discussions (marked with a logo) are reset once you write a message. Bug or Feature? Sunny

Rick, Roof Garden Inn is quite nice, nothing too fancy, but clean, well equipped rooms there. Location is in the middle of Pattaya and Jomtien, so you need a baht bus every time you leave your Hotel. No problems, they run 24 hours, but still worth considering. On the Sabai, I would say that they are quite professional, and probably able to finish the new wing in time. I would not worry much. Location in North Pattaya can be quite nice, lots of friendly beer bars, a few Gogos, and easy transfer with Baht Bus to everywhere. If the price difference does not matte rto you, go with Sabai. At Ro

Royal cliff Hotel has Broadband Access in some (most?) rooms, and Wireless in the Lobby and Cafe areas. Don't know the price, though, but I guess it will be more than the Joiner Fee. Sunny

Unless things changed dramatically in the last month, you can get a (2 Weeks I believe) Visa at Vientiane Airport, Luang Prabang Airport, Khon Kaen / Vientiane Border, and probably a few Border stations more. Cost is 20 US$, and a photo. Really no need to get a Visa in advance. If you happen to have a few Days time, go to Luang Prabang. Although it is getting more and more touristy in the last couple of Years, it is still a nice change of pace from Pattaya. Forget the nightlife there, bring your own, or just go sleep early, get up early, check out the scenery ...... Sunny

You can buy pre-paid internet access cards in lots of shops in Pattaya and Thailand. You get a username, a password and numbers for various areas. Expect to pay around 12 - 15 Baht an hour service. I can recommend Loxinfo Cards, as they have dedicated numbers for most cities in thailand. A lot of the others just use the general Internet Number 1222, which is (theoretically) accessable from every land line in Thailand for the cost of a local call (3 Baht, plus surcharges at Hotels, no matter how long the call takes), but is busy more often than not. Also, beware of some very cheap cards wit

I used the www.viewtalay.net Appartments quite often within the last Year. Everything was fine there, can only recommend. I do like the location near Jomtien Beach, it is 10 Minutes no hassle to go to Pattaya with Baht Bus, also no problem in the night (might just have to change the Bus at the South Pattaya - 2nd Road Intersection.) Last Year I made reservations for December 1 to Jan 15 by the End of September, and could not get an Appartment for the full time, as they were heavyly booked. Had to move to Sunshine Hotel for the last 10 Days. So, make your Booking now! Sunny

While stiill waiting for TT&T to drop by and install ADSL at my house in Jomtien, I still use Loxinfo Dial Up, the 63 hour Card. I tried a few other companies' cards before, but they were all a total mess. Now, it seemed to me that in the last month the Speed on Loxinfo was deteriorating. What once was fairly quick, seemed to take longer and longer since some time. I made some checks recently, and found out that most of the waiting time once you click on a link is not so much the times it takes to transfer the content data, it is the time the DNS Server takes to answer. So, yesterday,

Stayed with my Laptop in a lot of Pattaya Hotels, including RG, Sabai Inn, Sunshine, Flipper and a few more. Never had problems with theft. Maybe I was lucky? Never heard of other guests having problems either. Of course, a little bit of consideration on your guest's possible habits might be wise. (More on that if needed in the Members forum ....) Other than that, a lot of Hotels here seem to have the nasty habit of cutting off the Phone line after 10 or 20 Minutes use. A positive exception is the Residence Garden. Not only do they have a separate phone plug for the Laptop, they also ha

I had no problems (and a reasonably fast connection) at the Internet Cafe in the Sunshine Hotel Soi 8. I bought a prepaid "card" (actually a piece of paper with my name, kept on the premises) that gave me the Minute for 60 Satang. Open until three or 4 in the morning. Sunny

Quite a few, but unfortunately (?, wholly depends on you) are of the gay kind. Sunny

From my window-shopping experience I can tell that you get quite good offers on Computers in Thailand, but only if you don't need the most advanced stuff. For the high end Models the prices here are ridiculous, but for the regular ones (those that could have been high-end 2 Years ago) you can get competitive prices if you shop around. Sunny

Tuk.com in Pattaya is expected to open sometime in November. It will be on South Pattaya Road, near the Day-Night Hotel. All the Big Supermarkets have PC, of variying Quality, and the staff is usually clueless. I very much doubt that they have any kind of after-sales Service at all. Prices are ok, though. There is also Liberty Computers on Second Road, farang owned, I have not bought there, but heard they are ok. I doubt there is much of a second Hand Market, well, there is the Cashconcerter at Carrefour, and I see classifieds in both Weekly Papers, though I doubt you can sell quick through

Sunshine has nice Balconies in its new Wing. There's lots of action to view from there at Soi 8, but hardly a Gogo, though. Sunny

Well, even on topics about Cigars (remember Bill C.), Taxi Drivers or Photo Shops, you can never be shure that the occasional Bar Girl story does not jump in .... Sunny

Last Year while in Pattaya I stumbled over this site. Was not really excited, maybe I smelled the rat, don't know. Anyway, after being home in Europe for some Days, I visited pattayalivecam again, this time they offered an incredible cheap price for the Royal Garden Marriott, somewhere around 1000 Bt. That made me interested. After some reading the associated fine-print on this Offer it turned out that the prices was valid through August 31st only, but I can swear that on August 29 while still in Pattaya I did not see this offer, only in the very first Days in September! Name it like you

Last couple of Days it was hot, sunny and dry in the Daytime, with some Rain in the Evenings. Sunny, looking out into sunny Pattaya right now at the Moment .....