maipenrai

How true, BigD - I had a guy last trip who didn't even know his way into Pattaya, and I hadn't been there enough times to know myself. Thankfully we turned into South Road just in time, and I was able to get my bearings a bit later and guide him to my hotel.

Hi Wagger - could be an idea, anybody else interested?

I imagine they'll be busy, redctt - a lot of Thais travel out of town for Songkhran too. I spent last Songkhran in Chiang Mai, and the hotels were very busy and also increased their rates. I hope to catch a day or two of it this year, but unfortunately will be leaving on the 15th of April. It would be interesting to hear your comparison of the event in both cities; have you seen Songkhran before? If you want to hook up for a beer in CM, let me know- I had a great time during Songkhran there last year.

Anybody care to share a taxi from the Nana area to Pattaya on Feb. 19th? Would depart around noon or shortly after.

I tried to make a reservation at the QV for late February - Bert got back to me right away and said the better rooms were full, so he got me a room in their new sister hotel, the Lord Nelson, instead for 700b a night. I had to change my reservation slightly to allow for Bangkok activities, and once again he got back to me right away and did it without any problem. I'm looking forward to checking out both establishments and their surrounding area...

Does anybody out there have any idea what a general price would be for a round trip ticket from Bangkok to Jakarta? I'm not interested in internet listings, I was thinking more of cash deals from the travel agents around Sukhomvit.

When I was in Pattaya last year I stayed at the Intown Holiday Hotel on Soi 10, 2nd Road - there was a laundry right next door run by a young woman who spoke good English and wasn't hard to look at either; prices and service were great. I remember she had a lovely little Siamese kitten that I'd play with for a while when I was picking up or dropping off clothes; unfortunately it got run over by a motorbike and the poor girl was devastated. Hope she and the laundry both are still there in February.

For me, shorts in the daytime and pants at night - I get a real reaction out of Thai mosquito bites.....also I wear polo shirts most of the time day and night....

I stayed there twice in Oct./Nov. on the advice of a friend who was just completing a two-month stay there, and neither of us had any problems. Great price and location, and no staff trouble of any kind - I'd stay there again any time.

Please note Thailand drives on the correct side of the road though Funny, I always thought Thais drove all over the road.... ;D The "other" side of the road to most of us Western types, Crackpot....

Interesting - I know they have been building Royal Enfields for years, and they are now available this side of the pond, but I didn't know they also had the tooling for the old Nortons as well....

Well - written, Bub - I wasn't aware you had gotten into things this deeply. It looks like you've really put some time and effort into finding the right woman, and I sure hope it works out well for both of you. Keep that positive attitude, would be a pleasure to discuss things more over a beer or two sometime.... I will be back in April to see my CM sweetie again, we'll see how that turns out...

Yikes, I wonder how much it weighs? That's more like a two wheeled car than a bike.... over here in northern Canada we get a lot of tourist bikers coming through in the summer, and I see the trike conversions are becoming more popular, especially with older riders. Just bought my first road bike in 25 years last summer - my old dream machine, a 1972 Norton Commando - pristine condition and excellent price - $3500 CDN, couldn't resist ;D - bought it too late in the summer and haven't had it on the road yet, but will do a lot of riding this next summer.... thinking of buying a newer bike too

Hi Bub - glad you enjoyed your first trip, I'm sure it won't be your last. Before you decide to take a tg home, though, do a lot of research - you are thinking of plucking a flower from a very special garden, and it could wilt on you...Thais don't always assimilate into our "wonderful western world" that well. Go to www.stickmanbangkok.com and read some of the "Reader's Submissions" for first hand accounts from others.... Personally, I have been to the LOS three times in the last few years, and will return in three months. I still have to work for a few more years until I get my pension, a

This is a motorcycle you're talking about, nidnoyham? Jeez, sounds more like a projectile to me... last year I took my buddy's R1 for a ride, was just amazed at the speed and power... most of my motorcycle experience is on dirt bikes, big cross country jobs like Huskys, and this was the first road bike I had ridden for years - had it up to 150mph in no time flat....but on an empty road! I don't understand riding bikes this big and fast on crowded streets like Pattaya's... And you're right, why waste beer on assholes ;D? Throw something else at them instead....

I think big bikes like Harleys look ridiculously out of place in Thailand - a four -wheeled equivalent would be a 70's Lincoln Town Car on Sukhomvit. The hot little bikes the locals ride are so much better suited to the traffic conditions with their narrow bars and light weight. One of my BKK buddies is a former Canadian roadrace champion who plied his trade on TZ750's in the seventies; he now rides a 150 in Thailand. He told me he didn't want anything bigger because he'd probably end up dumping it on wet pavement - too easy to spin the back wheel on the oily surface. As for th

Have to agree with Thaidane here - the Intown Holiday Hotel on Soi 10 (or is it 11?) is a good deal- quiet, clean, many services around, cost me 500B in late October, increased to 600B in early November but still a good deal. My friend recommended it to me, he stayed there for two months; I was only there for four days at a time, twice, but I really liked it.

I never feel cold in the FLB, or any other Thailand bar for that matter, because: a) I live and work outside in a country where temperature extremes are customary, and winters are long and cold; whenever I am in the FLB I usually have a warm young lady (or two!) cuddling up to me!!

How true - check out the price of Cathay Pacific's flights from LA versus the flights from Vancouver - much cheaper!! It isn't just Air Canada that screws us.

Stayed in the Welcome Plaza for three nights on my first visit to Pattaya in March '02 - was charged a joiner fee for one of those nights, and a receipt for this was included with my bill when I checked out. Don't know why it was only the one night, but I haven't been back since. It's a great location, rooms aren't bad, but there are too many other hotels that don't charge joiner fees for me to bother with this one again. I was a walk-in, and paid 850 a night.

Hi Joey_Dep - Booked a return flight from BKK-MNL in March at the little travel agent next to the Parkway Hotel - close to Soi Nana on Sukhomvit - for 8500B cash on Kuwait Air. Had some anxious moments and security hassles due to the Iraq war happening around then, but everything worked out okay in the end - this amount worked out to @$303 CDN at that time, best deal I could find on the internet before leaving Canada was over $800 CDN -big difference!! There are benefits to having cash-based economies... Good luck.

Well, be it SARS or terrorism, I refuse to worry much about these - I still think one has more chance of being run over crossing 2nd Rd. than you do being affected by these, and if I had the time and the money, I would be on the next plane to Pattaya tomorrow. If your number is up, it is up - although one should keep one's eyes open and one's wits about them. Or, as I prefer to quote, "a ship in harbour is a safe ship, but ships were not meant to stay in harbours."

My advice as a Canadian is don't bother with TC's at all - if you have any leftover CDN currency you can change it easily at the moneychangers, and just use your debit card at the ATM's for the rest of the time. It's worked fine for me for my first two visits, and you get a better rate than you would with TC's , too.

I know, I know - shame on me for wasting one night. Fact is, I was pretty wasted myself after two solid weeks in Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, etc. , and one good night's sleep felt pretty good. I was back to my "normal" self again the next day ;D.

After staying at the Dynasty in Bangkok for a couple of weeks I took advantage of their free ride to Pattaya in return for two nights stay in the resort - have to agree that it is a pain in the ass to get back to at night. The room was nice - seemed triple the size of the BKK room for the same price. The first night I was trying to get home with a couple of shopping bags full of stuff - saw a girl on a motorbike and asked her how I could get a taxi there - she replied that if I took her to the adjacent hotel for short time she would give me a ride home on her motorbike!! Only in Patt