Bushcraft

Points 1 to 10 are right on the button, I thought I can't be the only one who finds these things both irritating and amusing. I'll add one that really gets my goat: the sheer incompetence of most Thai car drivers of either sex, who sit inside 1-2 tons of metal and represent a lethal threat to all around them. It's the slow, hesitant (i.e. scared, nervous) ones that are worst, they'll get you killed on a motor scooter faster than somebody who is proceeding at a decent but confident and predictable pace. Oh, and here's another: the Thai's complete indifference to the temperature of food. Time and again, when ordering a Thai dish, the rice appears on the table 10 minutes before the pad kapouw or whatever, and sits there getting cold.

I thought "How to win friends and influence people" was written by Dale Carnegie - may be a pseudonym though, or I'm under the influence .

Well finders, keepers - you had every right to scoff it if it invaded your space.

Fair enough Pete, a good response by an owner who obviously really cares. Glad your problems stem from very high demand rather than the opposite, and good luck for the future.

Sorry bigstuy, but in his post Frostie said: "and the manager made it right. Hell, I told her not to worry about it, that I didnt want anything else (was a bit freaked at eating that much raw chicken), and told her not to bother - but she removed the meal from the bin anyway (I would have paid without complaint), and I'm sure she told the cook off for it, so thats handled. :)" He clearly talked to the manager on duty, who attended to the problem. Pete the owner was not there, so he talked to the manager. Hopefully it also got to Pete later. And he has every right to pass on his impressions on this forum if he sees fit, it's not the kiss of death for a business to have negative comments posted - it keeps them on their toes.

That's bad news Frostie, as I'm also a great advocate of PBG's food and service. Haven't been there for a few weeks, however, so can't comment further. A friend was telling me recently that the waiting time for a meal had soared up to the unacceptable level of over one hour again though. No doubt Pete will get onto this if made aware.

I concur that Patrick's Belgian does a good steak. Also I've never had a less than excellent one at Pattaya Beer Garden, well worth ordering and reasonably priced.

Saving Ryan's privates One flew into the cuckoo's nest Annie got yer gun An orifice and a gentleman

That's a great story LOL. Here's another, a dialogue that made me laugh. An Irishman had been found guilty of theft in an English magistrates court. Judge: Have you anything to say before I sentence you? Irishman: As God is my judge, oi'm not guilty of this crime. Judge: He's not. I am. You are. Six months.

Love you dearly my dextrous friend, lol, and your post above this is spot-on brilliant. Being fluent in English, German and (reasonably well) in French myself - and having been exposed many times in the past, when I was important, to business situations where there were 'representatives' of all three languages present, in which case English mercifully becomes the lingua franca - I'm well aware of the problems in including everyone when things get more social - the most cunning linguist gets to spend his time interpreting for the less practiced, and generally has a lousy time of it. The only real answer is to fit in and adapt, I'm afraid, which means learning Thai if you live in Thailand and want to socialise with Thais outside the bar and bedroom.

Good luck to these servicemen - they are young, virile guys with their whole lives ahead of them (unlike yours truly, who has a great future behind him). I'm frankly amazed at the good manners, friendliness and discipline of those I've had the pleasure to encounter on e.g. WS, Soi 8 in previous years. If these are typical products of the US armed forces, then the latter are definitely doing something right by their country and indeed the sane world IMHO. Long may that continue, and these attributes combined with clearsighted leadership and sheer professionalism will always win out in the end against the chaos that is rapidly coming about in the world. Buy the young buggers a drink guys, and thank the great architect of the universe that we have them and their ironclads on our side.

Sinsinbad mate, welcome to Thailand. I can only concur with other probably more knowing BMs who have posted. Mr T. does indeed run a most efficient taxi service, and somewhere along the line communication was apparently lacking. If you book a taxi you are usually booking a subcontractor who may not be very familiar with Pattaya. As Canterbury Tales really is a needle in a haystack where most non-residents are concerned, I'm not surprised that you had a problem. It's important in Thailand to cover all the bases by knowing and telling them in detail what you want for your money, otherwise you can come to grief in much worse ways. Clear instructions to the driver put the problem in his court: what hotel, what soi would suffice. If you told Mr T. that info when you booked, ok his fault. If not, yours I'm afraid. TIT, and western standards don't apply if you want to stay sane.

Three years in Thailand and never been to Patts? He's in for a culture-shock of course, but leave him to our tender mercies and we'll do our best to ensure that he wants to come again soon

Sorry, but I'd class that so-called 'class' in the video as the common, unscientific brawling you might see on Soi 8 at 2.45 am. No technique, no finesse, no thought behind the footwork, no self-protection, just whale away at the opponent and hope he cops more than you do - that stuff is for people who've just learned to walk upright and breathe through their noses. It wouldn't get the OP far in MMA either, because that's geared to let grapplers win and has a shed-load of rules to make sure that's so.

Reminds me of the scene outside King's Cross station in London in the 80s. A down-and-out was sitting on the pavement begging, with a sign around his neck: Wounded in the Falklands. Two city gents saw him, reached into their wallets, each extracted a 20-pound note, gave these to him and walked on. The man called after them: "Gracias senores". Oh the irony of it.

Thanks MM, I was going to post about this myself, having taken a huge detour trying to get home from Soi 8 to Jomtien tonight. It truly makes the mind boggle that people on presumably not insubstantial salaries, in senior positions, can time major roadworks to coincide with easily the busiest time of the entire year in a tourist resort. We've just had the slowest low season in living memory, the problems with the road surfaces were perfectly apparent for months if not years, and these goombahs decide to wait until the major influx of visitors arrives rather than fix things when the inconvenience is minimised. I really wonder who is responsible for the final decision-making, what connections they have to avoid their heads being on a block (as they surely will avoid it .. mai bpen rai etc.), and with what qualifications they obtained the power to seriously inconvenience tens of thousands of people in the first place. Lessing had it right: "Even the gods fight in vain against stupidity".

Couldn't agree more, slow is the way to go here, and riding as defensively as possible. Nonetheless only sheer luck has saved my bacon several times while out on my scooter, as many Thais have very little 'road-sense' and will do the most crazy, unpredictable things. Three examples: 1. Waiting at the front of the lineup, at the red light to cross Pattaya Tai from 3rd Road on the way to Jomtien. A Thai girl jabbering on her mobile is in the right-hand lane as if wanting to turn right. The light changes to green, she suddenly turns sharp left to enter Pattaya Tai, across the entire bevy of bikes just starting to move off. How everyone missed her I don't know, it frightened the daylights out of me. 2. Waiting at the end of Soi Buakhouw to turn left into Pattaya Tai. A gap appears in the traffic, so I start to move off when something - I don't know what - makes me momentarily look left rather than right before I accelerate out. A motorbike taxi guy is travelling at speed, going the wrong way on the wrong side of Pattaya Tai, right across my path. That would have been a very nasty T-bone, very possibly fatal, and I learned there and then that you have to look in every direction, not just the 'legally possible' directions. 3. Stopped in the right-hand lane on Pattaya Tai to turn right into Soi Buakhouw, indicator flashing, a policeman on a motorbike pulls up behind me. A gap appears in the oncoming traffic, I'm about to accelerate into the right turn when the copper suddenly accelerates past me from behind and turns right, though I was already starting to move. Don't know how I missed him, and I shudder to think what the consequences would have been if I hit a copper, right or wrong. It's very dangerous out there.

Same to you chaps, and I hope you have every success in 2011.

Obviously because his name's Dale, and Thais might have trouble pronouncing that

Welcome to the board Dale. I wish you the very best in building BB back up. It's reputation declined quite rapidly and markedly over the last 1-2 years (see comments on this and other fora), and you have your work cut out.

The whole and sole potential benefit of this proposal surely lies in the final sentence of the OP: "It is hoped the new 24 hour license will stop some of the alleged corruption involving local government officials and Police Officers which was highlighted by delegates during the meeting." It's irrelevant whether bar-owners actually stay open 24 hours - the point is it would stop the uncertainty, shake-downs, abitrary arrests and sheer extorsion exercised by people in a position to make life difficult for bar-owners and line their own pockets. Whether it will happen is one thing (I'm not holding my breath), but surely it is desirable for that one reason alone. If you run a bar/agogo in Pattaya you are literally at the mercy of not-very-nice people who have earned or purchased positions of power over you, and that should stop for the good of both the business owners and their customers (to whom the costs of doing business are passed on). This would be one way to crop the wings of the corrupt. Gets my vote, certainly.

Good on yer mate, I hope your book sells well, I enjoyed the instalments on the Board a lot.

In my personal experience it ranks one above necrophilia, so don't bust a gut trying to notch one up.

Ok, but not necessarily in the right order: American Swiss Burmese Thai (loads) English (loads) German (loads) Serbian French Dutch Indian Cambodian Indonesian Finnish Swedish Japanese Irish Scottish Luxembourgois Australian Not enough really ..

Very nice Sue, thanks for posting them - good memories.