Damon

I lasted 2 days before deciding that enough was enough. I now flee to elsewhere in SE Asia during Pattaya Songkran. It's a great time to explore where the wanker tourists are not.

I've had this problem too -- along Beach road at the Soi 1 area (where my condo is right now). Sometimes it takes 4-5 baht buses before one (already packed with passengers) can be bothered to stop and pick me up. Meanwhile the empty ones just roll on by... Yeah, I can understand that it makes good business for them to rip off the Russians and whoever else will pay crazy prices for a private hire, but it can really be annoying at times. So many times I just say fuck it and walk down Beach road instead. It doesn't take much longer (the traffic jam once you're south of Soi 13 or so just keeps getting worse) I enjoy a good walk, and there's a surprising amount of talent working the beach these days. I guess that makes me the winner despite the attitudes of the greedy, lazy baht bus drivers.

For streaming, this site is normally pretty good: http://www.sportstreamlive.tv/ But as always, it's hit and miss as to whether a given feed is any good (or even available). If SuperSport can be found again here in SE Asia, that would be great. But my understanding is that they changed the satellite settings so there's no longer a signal to grab in this region. It's really unfortunate that no one could come to an agreement on that, because SuperSport was the best rugby channel going. Dr. Mick, you could also add Jack Tar bar on Soi 6 as a possible venue. Some days, we might be interested in sports other than watching rugby and I've heard that Soi 6 has *ahem* some alternative entertainment available for those so inclined. Really looking forward to the WC and I hope we can get a good group together. I travel a lot to the Philippines, but I'll be sure to be in Pattaya for the WC if there's a fun crew on hand to enjoy the games with. My team (Canada) will totally suck and will be lucky to beat even Japan but I don't care. It's rugby, after all!

I didn't know Metro Apartments was a rugby bar, so thanks for the info on this thread. I normally go to Jack Tar bar on Soi 6 for rugby, so now I have an alternative.

On their website, I haven't seen any mention of cooking facilities in the room. Is there anything you can use for cooking or will you have to bring your own gas burner or electrical hotplate? Obviously this isn't important to the guys staying for a few days, but those of us considering a monthly rental will want to be able to do a bit of cooking (at least I would!) ...

That timing is excellent. Wish those kinds of layovers were available on the Vancouver flights I examined!

The images aren't working for me, but otherwise this sounds very interesting for later this year. I'd be interested in 2 month stints at a time in between my other travels elsewhere around SE Asia.

I hope you checked out the length of the layover in Incheon. I looked at a similar deal from Vancouver and the layover was something like 8 hours, which is about the worst possible interval. If it was shorter, it would be OK (but awkward) to wait a bit for the next leg (I could read a book, play a PC game, etc for 4 hours at a stretch, I guess). Longer and you could book a small room at an airport hotel and get a good sleep. But 8 hours? Worst of both worlds, IMO. Too much time to keep yourself amused and too little to make a hotel worth the bother. You got a good price - I didn't see anything quite as low as what you're claiming. But I happily paid a couple hundred bucks extra to get a much better layover schedule through Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific.

Agreed 100%. NP is perfect when all you want to do is have a long discussion with your mates and solve all the world's problems during the course of an evening. There's no point in going there alone, but when you can shoot the shit with your friends over the course of a 4-5 hour chin-wagging session and walk away with 400b damage ... well, it makes for a cheap night and leaves plenty of baht in my pocket for the nights when I'm headed for pricier venues and areas elsewhere in town. The fairly quiet music is another bonus as it makes conversation easy. And as a side note, I've found the girls at Jane Bar to be very good at following up on drinks orders and making sure our glasses and bottles remained filled. Many beer bar girls can be lazy at customer service, but not that crew. I've only seen one I would consider barfining there, but that's not why we visit the bar in the first place!

I hope this service is in full swing during the Rugby World Cup next year, as I'd love to visit NZ to take in a few matches during the course of the tournament.

I've been there a few times recently (afternoons only) and never had a problem. The Thai food there costs twice what it would in a Thai food court (or the like) but the portions are twice as large, so it all works out nicely. Excellent Thai food! And of course the music is normally quite good too. I've had no problems with the wifi either, for those who like to take their netbooks with them (like me).

This is the latest problem I was thinking of at the time I posted. No professionally-made AV (or any other) program should ever cause a major problem like this. AVG has been going downhill for at least two years now and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. That's why I now lump it in with MacAfee and Norton on the "do not touch with a 10m pole" list...

Why are you guys downloading/installing AVG and Norton when they are well known to be very poor products? Get that shit off your systems ASAP and go with avast! or pretty much anything else. nod32 has a good reputation as does Kaspersky if you don't want to go the freebie route. AVG, Norton and MacAfee should NEVER be going on any user's PC system as they are often worse than the viruses themselves!

Try avast! anti-virus software. It's free, updates automatically in the background, and I haven't caught a thing since I first installed it two years ago. Avast AV Highly recommended. And whatever you do, don't install McAfee or Norton AV systems. They're cures that are worse than the disease. Another one with a bad reputation is AVG which used to be great until a couple years ago. (That's when I switched to avast!).

Oh yeah, they LOVE pulling sleds (or wheeled carts when there isn't any snow). On Vancouver Island where we lived, snow was not a very frequent occurrence so the only way to give ours a taste of "husky work" was with a specialized cart that was essentially a metal sled on 3 wheels. Our "tracks" were empty logging roads and that kind of thing. We didn't take them out often enough to allow them to develop any real stamina (they'd last 2-3km before getting pooped out) but their initial excitement was unbelievable. Around the house we had to be very careful about hiding the harnesses and not letting the dogs see them. If they so much as glimpsed a harness you'd think it was the most exciting thing in their lives. And if you carried one toward them they'd be bouncing 2m into the air and shrieking like a pack of wolves. It was tough to get them calm enough to actually get fitted into the harness and then crated for the trip to the logging road, but it was well worth it. Agreed on the animal rights activists being morons (but then again they usually are). Huskies and all other sled breeds simply love pulling something while they run. Denying them because it's "abuse" is just retarded.

Any indications on when it will be opening? Hopefully soon, as I'd like to do a bar crawl in that particular area when I get back this weekend ...

Nice pics, thanks. Don't have any of my own to post as they were all pre-digital photos. At one point we had easily 500 puppy pix of Mischcha but none of them got scanned for Internet purposes. Not even the official show photo when she took Group 4th to get her final Championship point. (We were all excited and jumping up and down at that, but the look on her face was "WTF? You silly humans, we're just did the same thing today as all the other shows!" But she did very much enjoy the small ice cream cone we bought as a special treat for the newly minted Champion, LOL) Very interesting news on the falconry, Mirky (I'm only quoting part of your reply to save room in this post). I had no idea it would be so cheap to get an actual bird of prey -- was thinking the prices would have another 0 on the end, maybe two of them! At the moment I'm flipping between Thailand and the Philippines (with some exploration in Indonesia planned for next year) so the potential falconry will be on hold for now. Unless of course I can take him to the airport and look authoritative and say I'm there to clear the runway of nuisance birds... That Brahminy Kite looks very cool, by the way. They are also very intelligent and act more like a friend than a dog. They're exceptionally good-tempered and good-natured dogs who would only bite under extreme duress. They're also highly photogenic as Tom's post indicates. You're not wrong on any of this, mate. Additionally: They are very difficult to train (all sledding breeds tend to be) as they were bred to think for themselves when pulling sleds through white-out blizzards when the driver had no idea where they were going. Very smart dogs but a nightmare for standard obedience. Mishcha learned very quickly what "sit" meant but pretty much refused to do so on command. Me: Mischcha, sit! Mishcha: Hmmm... my silly human is getting ideas about who's actually in charge here. Since he doesn't have any food, this is stupid. Me: Mishcha, sit! Mishcha: He's starting to look a little angry. If I'm not careful, he'll storm off into the house again and I'll get bored. I suppose I can sit, but only if I make it look like it was my idea in the first place. That's always good, because he starts to think he's making progress with this worthless "obedience" thing, I get a scratch behind the ears (and maybe a treat later) and yet I haven't given up anything vital in the owner vs. human balance of power. Let me count to five and then do it ... ** Mishcha finally sits ** The only one of our three who could even come close to "standard obedience" was Rostoff who was as dumb as a sackful of hammers. Also, they are useless guard dogs and watch dogs as they love everyone. If a burglar comes to your house, your Siberian Husky will probably hold the guy's flashlight in his mouth for him. Once a year they 'blow their coat', which is to say shed the dense fluffy undercoat (always white or cream-colored). One Siberian Husky can shed enough undercoat to fill 6.7 king size mattresses, more if you have shag carpets or any carpet with a contrasting color to the undercoat. They are highly proficient killers of chickens and other small livestock. If (and when) they escape, there will be a butcher's bill for any unsecured livestock in the area. They really do love to run too -- and yes, they won't come back very willingly if and when they escape. Recapturing an escaped husky is a bit like hunting down a Special Forces POW who's been highly trained in "escape and evade" tactics. They love you, but they love open spaces even more, it seems. They need a large yard with high fencing that can't be scaled plus underground chicken wiring. This minimizes but doesn't eliminate escapes. And yes, they WILL spend an extraordinary amount of time excavating your yard so that it resembles a WW1 mud moonscape. They also need a lot of exercise as they're highly active dogs. Maybe I'm making it seem that they're a nightmare breed but every potential owner needs to know these things about Siberians or their ownership of one (or more) will be a very unhappy one. We never owned any but they do have a reputation of being more aggressive and prone to violence than Huskies. Otherwise very similar dogs except for the size differential. Again, never owned any but I agree with the comments about Akitas and kids. I've heard negative things about them that way, but they are in fact courageous guard dogs unlike the sledding breeds. I think it's been answered already but the short answer is "not really". Even with the undercoat blown out, they still get hot and need lots of shade and water when the heat is on. They're perfectly happy in freezing weather that would give any of us frostbite and hypothermia but they're not tropical dogs at all. Even if I had a house and large yard in Thailand, I would never own a Siberian there for just that reason.

One of the most interesting posts on here in a awhile. Thanks for that. I've never owned a bird of prey although falconry is pretty cool and something to think about one day. Back in Canada my family had Siberian Huskies (one of which made it to Canadian Champion status in the ring) plus a Silky Terrier. But I live in condos/apartments here so buying even a small dog is out of the question, unfortunately. But it's nice to hear you can still find a good dog despite the inherent risks. Good show on finding a Malinois. I don't think I've ever seen one but I did surprise the hell out of the owner of a Belgian Tervuren by immediately recognizing her breed at a show while she was grooming it. Apparently everyone else thought it was a long-haired GSD. Beautiful animals. Hope both puppies do well and make it past the 6 months mark. Funny that you wound up with two dogs despite wanting just one. We had three Huskies at one point despite wanting only one at a time. Crazy dog owners aren't as bad as the proverbial crazy cat ladies, but some of us come close at times!

For eating out, I still like Globetrotters in the little soi between Pattaya Klang and Soi 7 as the taste and price is right. Plus it's close to the beer bars too which makes for a pleasant evening overall. Look for the bright yellow and blue colors as it's a Swedish restaurant When I order in, I like Pattaya Pizza as they're simply excellent if slightly pricey. They're the only place that reminds of Scoby's before that place shut down some time last year.

Cheers, Idefix. Some good research there. I've never been in Cosy's and it's been 2+ years for Roxy for me. How does the talent in those places compare to Champagne? I hope you're willing to suffer a little to do a bit more research In the meantime I'm not in Pattaya so you'll have to do the legwork for me :)

I don't drink draft as it's utter shit. Bottled beer is considerably cheaper in Champagne as compared to WS. Cheapest bottle I've found is 105b in Champion. (95b bottled beer in Champage and 65b during happy hour from 2pm-9pm) Strangely enough, when I've paid bar at Champagne it was 550b. Maybe you're getting the "special tourist" rate or only going for the showgirls? Ladydrinks are 95b, lady drink cocktails are 120b. Looks like you need to be a bit more alert when in Champagne!

I am extremely selective about any WS places I visit these days. Crazy prices and largely poor attitudes from the girls there, to the extent that any WS visit is a short one once I say hello to a friend or two in the area. Otherwise I'm much happier with the LK Metro area and the news of another LK Metro gogo (hopefully another good one too!) is great news for when I return. I sure hope LK Metro doesn't become another WS. The LDOP's need a place to go and the tourist trap that WS has become is a perfect spot for them to hang out and be LDOP's. Let LK Metropole remain the quieter, friendlier and more affordable area. Everyone's a winner in that scenario!

Yes.

I am in almost exactly the same situation except my room is in Markland on Soi 1 and costs a bit more than 7k. The ocean view is worth it (at least for now) but when the 1 year contract is up I will be weighing my options. If I decide to give Indonesia a go -- and I like it -- then I'd be in Thailand only 1/3 of the time. So keeping a permanent room in Pats would be rather silly at that point. We'll see what the new year brings, but I do enjoy being a bit of a nomad (hey, it's my name spelled backward!). If I give up the room in Pats then I'll leave my excess belongings in a friend's house after getting rid of the ones I don't truly need. Belongings, that is... not friends! There's plenty of SE Asian world out there to explore and in the past I've been guilty of being too Pattaya-centric with my tastes. The PI is great fun (although the infrastructure is fairly shit) although I have not yet seen a place I would want to rent full-time there as with Markland in Pattaya.

Bay Breeze just had a large number of expat Philippines-based golfers booked in for the last two weeks. I think there were about 20 of them so there's no doubt they contributed significantly to the room shortage during this time (if your report is current, that is). At other times there is probably a lot more flexibility in changing rooms, but the large group they had booked in didn't make things easy for you. Those guys are leaving tonight (Saturday October 23rd) and won't be back until the second Saturday of October next year, if it helps with your trip planning. From what they've said, they had no complaints about Bay Breeze and plan to return next year. I know all this as one of the trip's organizers is my best mate in the PI and we had quite a few beers together last night around and about town!