Bruce Mangosteen

The website I saw definitely looked open, but that's part of the magic of the internet. https://www.tawandang.com/

They probably have menus in English at the location. If not and you have any sort of reasonable smartphone, Google Translate is your friend.

For a day trip consider Ayutthaya, one of several former capitals of Thailand. It has a Thai historic district with several UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as various other temple ruins, and many lovely working Buddhist temples. If you decide to make a night of it there, there's a funky little bar area called the Grand Plaza. If you don't especially care about fancy digs and prefer to walk from the bars to your bed, stay in the Ayutthaya Grand Hotel. Otherwise opt for the Krung Sri River Hotel, which is a 10 minute ride from there in a tuk tuk. Assuming you fit in one, I barely do. Pics of a lot of this stuff, and some other stuff including Pattaya, in my recent trip reports. https://forums.pattayatalk.com/topic/73036-mangos-trip-of-32024/ https://forums.pattayatalk.com/topic/73377-mangosteens-trip-of-4-2025/

Good suggestions above. For Doi Sutep you should dress respectfully, long trousers for men and long sleeves for women, or you will be asked to rent clothes to cover yourselves. Look out for the guys in goofy-looking pantaloons who didn't know and turned up in shorts! Also in Pattaya Khao Chee Chan, a golden Buddha image inlaid on a mountainside, and Viharnra Sien, a Chinese-style Buddhist temple with abundant displays of artwork and statuary. Added: Mulanithi Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan is a Chinese Buddhist temple similar to Viharnra Sien, located in Naklua. While it's closer to Pattaya it's nowhere near as elaborate.

Bless her, at least she was honest about it. The learning curve for some guys is a LOT steeper!

IIRC they used to have a really nice barbecue buffet in the outdoor part of their restaurant, which was called something like "Captain's Table".

Seems to me that's the way the weed shops are going, little mom and pop stands now have to have a doctor on staff. Only the biggest ones will be able to accommodate that requirement, the rest will go tits up. https://www.nationthailand.com/news/policy/40051965 I'm afraid I don't share your faith in how much compassion the Thai elites have for the peasant class. It's a bit more than that if you go back and read the articles I linked.

Enforcement begins; authorities tip their hand to show the intended beneficiaries of killing app-based ride sharing apps: https://thethaiger.com/news/pattaya/rogue-app-drivers-face-tough-pattaya-clampdown Even the title of the article starts the big reveal, i.e. ride hailing app drivers, who were previously doing nothing wrong, are now "rogue", LOL. "On Monday, August 18 at 4.45pm, top brass gathered at Pattaya City Police Station’s Operations Centre for an urgent summit on transport reform. [...] They were joined by leaders of Pattaya’s three largest transport cooperatives: Thongchai Sukkhokjai of Pattaya Cooperative Transport, Supachai Phuengprapha of Bo Thong Taxi Cooperative, and Jarun Thongsri of Pattaya Dolphin Taxi Cooperative, alongside senior traffic police officers." This is like the FBI convening a meeting on bank safety, and inviting Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger. The article rehashes the law that basically stigmatizes and discriminates against ride hailing app drivers, then reports that cops took to the streets: The Pattaya News reported that the sweep revealed multiple app-based drivers operating without proper registration as “electronic hire vehicles (R.Y. 18)” or lacking the required licences. Instead of immediate penalties, officers issued warnings, provided guidance, and urged drivers to register via the Department of Land Transport’s website. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand then the icing on the proverbial cake: Officials also promoted the future of eco-friendly travel. Electric taxis and baht buses from brands such as Toyota, DYD, MG, and AION were highlighted as safer, greener alternatives. And, in case they hadn't thrown the corruption in your face hard enough, the article ends thus: Police stressed that app-based drivers must comply quickly or face tougher action once the October deadline arrives. Cooperative leaders also called for unity in shaping a modern, lawful, and environmentally friendly transport system for Pattaya. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! They're not even trying to hide it. Even for Thailand, this is fookin blatant. "Bolt drivers are rogues, the taxi mafia is modern and lawful, and we're gonna force adoption of electric vehicles as taxis" so Somchai will soon be out of luck trying to earn a few extra baht with his 5 year old Yaris, and will need to sink a million baht into an electrical vehicle, license, insurance, etc. if he wants to keep taking fares. Because "unity". Sorry Somchai. Buh bye, Bolt.

Foodland?

Presumably you have to pay extra for that one.

Maybe? https://bolt.eu/en/airports/hkt/

You perhaps missed the more obvious one that involves beer that has been *ahem* run through a friend, so to speak.

Admittedly it's a mixed bag to say the least. They're pretty good (bad?) about bar closing times outside the entertainment zones, because those are easy, stationary targets, and neighbors complain, while the smoking in bars regs are ignored because cops actually have to go inside and collect evidence, and nobody really cares about it. The changes in cannabis regs may be an interesting case study. However, the extent that I agree with you is indicated by my statement that the random, opportunistic enforcement is the most likely result. This is most in keeping with how other similar regulations are enforced. I do think that enforcement around the airports will be more strict than elsewhere, given that airport transport seems to have been a particular flash point for taxi mafia protests and disputes.

I hadn't looked at the comments until your post. Seems to me that most of them have missed the point about the facial recognition, and all but one missed the point about cars having to be registered as public vehicles, and all of them appear to have missed that drivers will have to get public transport drivers' licences, at least as of this post. IMHO, these are the three main obstacles to the continuation of Bolt. Grab looks to have transitioned into mostly a food delivery service. I wouldn't be surprised if they transitioned their remaining taxi drivers into delivering other stuff like small electronics (e.g. from Tuc Com shops), (legal) pharmaceuticals from local mom-and-pop druggists, and other un(der)served market segments. As far as whether the new regs will be ignored, that's one of the three possibilities. The other two are: - They will be enforced vigorously due to pressure from the taxi mafia. This is not out of the question considering that the taxi mafia are probably the ones who had enough clout to get the regs passed in the first place. ...or... - They will be enforced inconsistently, such as when the opportunity for a bribe presents itself, or when a driver has an accident or other problem. The cynic in me would insist this is the most likely scenario.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1366270-thailand-tightens-grip-on-ride-hailing-with-tough-new-rules/ Had a minute waiting for the missus to get ready for the gym.

I haven't seen anything else in Thaiger, nor on the Pattaya Mail. Maybe they just wanted me to start this thread on here.

You're more familiar with your location than I am but I used to hang out in the Rompho Market bars quite often, and I don't remember too many baht buses in that area at night. That was some years back and things admittedly could have changed. Seems to me like the loss of Bolt will cause things to go back to how they were before Bolt: You collected the names and numbers of half a dozen baht bus drivers and guys like Mr. Dream, and if you needed to get somewhere you ran down that list of prospects until you got a ride. This is obviously not as convenient as an app with little cars running around on a map, but it mostly worked quite well. For backup there was always bike taxis, but these days I'd definitely wear some sort of do-rag on my head so as not to add to my head lice collection from those disgusting helmets they make you wear now.

In that location I think your only option without Bolt, at least at night, will be bike taxi. They'll be the big winners here either way, seems to me.

Yeah, it's possible they'll work out a compromise. Seems to me like a big bone of contention between taxis and ride hailing services is airport runs, so Bolt conceding those might be a way out of this.

IMO these changes are meant to put the ride hailing apps out of business, mate.

This is the thing that would give most farangs heartburn I would imagine. It's a backdoor way for the Thai government to track the movements of tourists.

The only thing about tuktuks that work like Bolt is that they have more than 2 wheels. Otherwise, in most places they're like tiny songtaews (baht buses) that only one or maybe two farangs can fit into at a time.

The tuktuks? No reason for Bolt to change anything until the rules come into effect I suppose. TIT, rules can change before the ink on the paper dries, as we've all seen before.

The Pattaya Mail chimes in on this question: https://www.pattayamail.com/travel/expat-dreams-shattered-in-thailand-cockup-conspiracy-or-just-plain-nonsense-509021 Benjamin Hart, the irrepressible founder of Bangkok-based Integrity Legal and a Thai national, has recently done a good hatchet job on much of the hostile click-bait material in his video: Debunking Thai Secret Plan Against Expats. He acknowledges that expat life for farang has gotten more difficult in recent years – you no longer see the term “paradise” applied to western life here – but denies there’s a conspiracy to doom we westerners. Pattaya Mail comments below on some of the doubtful claims made by Hart’s opponents. More at link, if you're interested in Barry Kenyon's take on the matter. Perhaps confusingly, Benjamin Hart's opinion is not included, and there isn't even a link to his video. Your humble servant has looked that up:

Maybe they'll replace it with tuktuks?