stevemcm

The Jomtien Grand Palace is a very pleasant hotel, 2 of it's 3 swimming pools are excellent. I have stayed there in the past and know the layout so I can get away with using the pools even though I now stay at a condo. Having said that I have only been prevented from swimming at 1 hotel's pools it was the Royal Cliff most places are glad to have a bit of extra custom. I usually hire a motorbike but have left it at Marine Plaza many a time and have never had a problem getting back on either a baht bus or motorcycle taxi even in the early hours. If you want an early night but still fancy an afternoon drink with some nice female company walk about 800 metres up the road (Soi Wat Boon) beside the hotel away from the beach where you will find the Winchester Club, an orange building on the left just after an S bend. stevoh.

Hi DGP, I didn't intend to cause offence, have deleted the relevant text. stevoh.

Attached is a screen dump of the Latest Thai Airways Teletext Offer. Stevoh.

Pete, Yes please could you move all the pics to the new directory. Afterwards you might as well delete the old directory. Thanks. stevoh.

Hi - I've just uploaded a photo and it has been put in a new directory under my login name rather than the usual "stevoh" directory. stevoh

Jenteal, you can wear more or less what you like. If you turn up in shorts, sandals, a football shirt & a Simpsons' beer hat you can expect to be treated as a holidaymaker. You will also tend to be accosted more by timeshare and other touts and will have a harder time haggling over prices. I recommend planter's rig in the evenings, this is open necked long sleeve shirt and smart but casual long trousers for example the imitation Rohan action trousers which you can buy in outdoor sports shops. They are smart(ish) have lots of pockets and are light, cool & cheap. The girls prefer smartly dressed men a well dressed dustman will get more attention than a scruffy brain surgeon. One thing that really bugs girls is to have your shirt unbuttoned. A friend, Woody said watch this, unbuttoned his shirt and lounged back, the girl sitting with me immediately leant over gave him a cuddle and buttoned his shirt up. The other thing of importance to girls is personal hygiene, smell like a goat and you won't get much. Associated with this is facial hair generally the girls associate this with a lack of hygiene. For a visitor it can be intimidating or even frightening on one's first trip, it is worth remembering that the girls have feelings too so behave decently, especially if you in a group, and reap the benefit. stevoh.

Tom, I regret that I will not be in Pattaya for my Nov & Dec visit but will be in Cha Am at first then I am going down to visit friends in Malaya and Singapore. I will be at my usual condo in Pattaya from 3rd Jan 2003 until 1st April 2003 apart from a trip to Cambodia probably in Feb. stevoh.

Woody, I had already bought my tickets with EVA ( 3 Nov to 12 Dec & 2 Jan 2003 to 1 April 2003 ) before this advert appeared. I posted the ad purely to inform other board members. stevoh.

Woody, Not this time as I already have my tickets for the next 2 visits. Both with EVA. stevoh.

It's out of Pattaya but I like the 2 gound floor pools at the Grand Jomtien Palace the 3rd. is on the 6th. floor and is not so good. Although the pool is not exceptional try the one on top of Mike's Shopping Mall, admission 60 Bt. Go in the middle of the day when you will meet a lot of the girls who work in the shops, they go up there for their bait. Over the years it has been a happy hunting ground for me. stevoh.

Robert CC They call themselves The Pinewood Residences and are off 2nd. Road to the right halfway between Central Road & the Dolphin roundabout as you go north. Look here:- http://www.pattayacity.com/pinewood/location.html Stevoh.

It Depends where "home" is for people from the UK good quality ammo ( balls) are cheaper in Thailand. Stevoh.

There are pairs of (usually attractive) girls on Beach Road in particular who have clipboards and ask you if you will answer their questions for some reason or another, it varies. Just smile, say "Meeow Kap" and walk on. They are nothing like as aggressive as the touts in Tenerife for example and once you have been in town for a spell and are no longer white as a shithouse ghost, they will not even bother asking. Stevoh.

Have never stayed at Dynasty in BKK but the one in Pattaya was excellent. Quiet location, no guest fee, good pool & rooms, friendly staff. Breakfasts are crap so specify no breakfast and room rate falls from 990 to 900 Bt/night (Feb 2002) use the saving to buy your breakfast at Yorkies. Use the nearby staff entrance to the Royal Cliff where there is an excellent bakery for a dinner time snack and the sports club has a book exchange, read the newspapers in their business centre and post your letters there, I've never had one go missing yet. Check out the special offers, they occasionally have banquet meals in their Chinese restaurant at good prices but DO NOT DRINK with the meal, a glass of wine and a beer will cost more than the whole meal, besides you get unlimited chinese tea. Stevoh

Dad, The only real benefits are increased baggage allowance of 10 Kg and you can check in at the First Class counter if a Gold member & business class counter if a silver member. Effectively you are jumping the queue, quite handy at BKK especially. The award cheques are a con you have to buy a full price economy ticket plus 3 award cheques each way for a free upgrade to Evergreen. It is cheaper (in The UK at least) to buy a consolidator's Evergeen ticket in the first place. That is to be guaranteed an upgrade, you can present you award cheques at check in and ask for an upgrade, you will rarely get it 'cos Evergreen is nearly always full. Stevoh.

Tom, It depends on the type of ticket you have with EVA as to whether you can change your return date. The cheapest deals sold through consolidators are as you say unchangeable but you can get changeable and indeed open ended return tickets at a (Very High) price. Stevoh.

Mike100 I've never flown with Sri Lanka a friend, Coventry Bob, actually wasted his return ticket to avoid the delay and dangers at Colombo. However there is supposd to be a peace agreement between the Sinhalese government and the Tamil Tigers now so don't let it worry you. Stevoh.

I have found the internet very good for getting an idea about the prices and times of flights, but useless at telling the availability and actually booking them. The high street travel agents are mostly owned by either Thompsons or Thomas Cook who are their own consolidators and do not deal with all airlines e.g. China Airlines or EVA Air. Go to an independent travel agent for the best choice and price. Much more useful than the internet are the ITV teletext pages which can be viewed 8 at a time on the internet at www.teletext.co.uk where some good deals can be found. If you are visiting for 2 to 3 weeks, especially in low season, it is often better to get a holiday than a flight only. The holiday companies get airline seats at a price you and I dream of but these tickets cannot be altered in any way, and mostly do not qualify for frequent flyer miles. If visiting for longer, then buy your own ticket these are availabe for durations of 30 days, 6 months or 12 months & naturally the longer durations cost more. A recent Teletext offer with EVA Air for a return LHR-BKK plus 3 days in a BKK hotel was available for 419 GBP with a 30 GBP single supplement. I checked the deal, the hotel stay could be either at the beginning or the end of your trip and the ticket was for 30 days duration, increasing the duration to 6 months was another 50 GBP with a further 50 GBP for a year ticket. In the event after talking with the operator, I bought an Evergreen (enhanced Economy) ticket of 6 months duration with hotel and single supplement for 620 GBP. Before you bombard me with emails this deal is sold out. Two teletext deals remain current, I was going to try and upload a screen dump of the relevant teletext pages but decided I would probably balls it up so I summarise the offers below. 1 Thai International 469 GBP + 2 nights accomodation (Single Supplement 30 GBP) 2 Garuda Indonesia 429 GBP flight only Both offers are on teletext page 223 today 19/3/2002 and the UK contact number is 01792 483351. This is the same company I got my Eva Air ticket from and I would expect availability to be similar, i.e. no flight departure for 3 weeks around Easter and none in July or August offer resumes in early September and ends 1st November. Note this is for departures the return can be within the above dates e.g. my ticket is for 4/6/02 - 30/7/02 and I have bought another for 30/10/02 - 18/12/02. Unlike holidays better ticket deals can be obtained by booking well in advance. Now onto Airlines: all economy class unless listed otherwise :- BA - Food fair, service fair, individual TVs I have never had such an uncomfortable flight the seats were so cramped, never again. BA Business Class - Food good, service good, individual TV & video, seat reclines to a bed, best flight ever my employer paid, never again can't afford it. Quantas - Food poor, service abysmal, poor TV, slightly more legroom then BA but can't compete with Asian Airlines, the aircraft was a pretty colour bright red with Aboriginal artwork, never again. Thai - Food good, service very good, poor TV, roomy seat, will fly again if price right. Eva - Food very good, service very good, poor TV, roomy seat, will fly again if can't afford Evergreen Class. Eva Evergreen Class - Food very good, service very good, individual TV, very roomy seat both wider and more legroom and much more standing room, from only 60 GBP extra each way my preferred way to travel. Cathay Pacific - Long flight via Hong Kong, Food good, service very good, poor TV on 747 individual TV on Airbus, fair legroom, will fly again if price right and I fancy a few days in Hong Kong. Malaysia - Flight via KL, Food good, service fair, good individual TV includes games, roomy seat, will fly again if price right. Singapore - Flight via Singapore, Food excellent, service very good, individual TV, roomy seat, will fly again if price right. Turkish - Flight via Istanbul on Airbus which I think is more comfortable than B747, Food fair, service fair, poor TV, SMOKING PERMITTED in 1999, short wait in Istanbul on both legs, will fly again if price good. Emirates - Flight via Dubai, Food very good, service very good, good TV, Airbus to Dubai (good), B777 to BKK (bad), long waits in Dubai might fly again if very good deal e.g. they do some cheap business class fares otherwise not. China Airline - From Amsterdam so shuttle cost needs adding. Food very good, service very good, poor TV, roomy seat, will fly again. DO NOT CONFUSE WITH AIR CHINA. Thats enough for now. Stevoh.

Hi folks I've often noticed people playing golf between the two runways at Don Muang airport. Does anyone know if visitors can play the course, or is it restricted to Air force personnel? I remember flying back to the UK on QF1 and the following days QF1 flight, landing in a rainstorm skidded off the runway onto the course, luckily no one got hurt but it must have been fun for the PAX. Stevoh.

I used to watch football matches in Tim's Bar until my mate K???? got banned out for dancing! Since then I have been using Warbler 2. Any suggestions for good air con alternatives 'cos I suspect Pattaya will be fairly busy during June and the Warbler may be full. I know of 6 people who have changed their usual visit to June so they can watch the footie at a reasonable times and then go for a good night out afterwards. Stevoh

Hi folks can anyone tell me what is the current status of 2nd road. When I was last in town it was initially 2 way then it was made 1 way and about 3 weeks later made 2 way again.

I agree with Papa it is better to rent even if living in Pattaya permanently. I know most people want to live near the action but if you have transport take a look at some of the really good deals available at the hundreds of condos in Jomtien. Just walk into the condo of interest and ask at the Office, you'll get a better deal than with an agent. I especially like some of those at the far end of the beach where it is handy for breakfast at Yorkies. Even from here I can be at Marine Plaza on my motor bike within 15 minutes. Regards, Stevoh

There is a Photo shop near the KR bar at Jomtien which will write your photos to CD but as I have not yet used the service I don't know the cost. Stevoh.

Am arriving BKK on flight BR68 on Wed 5th.June does anyone wish to share a limo???