Emil

A new Dusit hotel was on the verge of opening when I left Pattaya in mid Dec and should be open by now. Its located on 2nd RD adjacent to the Avenue Mall. They might have some special on to attract customers.

Based on location I would choose any of the LK's over the RG. Also the LKs have fitness centers (at least the Metropole) if that a priority.

That's good to hear that no key is needed as I remember about 10 Thais lost their lives when Route 999 went up in flames a couple years back and the back exit was locked. Did anyone get into trouble with the authorities over that incident?

Do you have a back exit, I don't recall seeing one but then again I never looked closely for one.

Not a maid service, but I live in a small apartment complex and a Thai lady (speaks very good English) who also lives there with her English husband and their small son does laundry and room cleaning to supplement his pension. I don't know if that includes rooms from outside our complex but if your interested I could ask. We live over near Carrefour.

I've seen the lower priced ones over at Carrefour for around 1000 baht, sometimes less if they put one on sale. If your looking for an even lower price then check out the 2nd hand shops.

Steve they must have thought that I was a VIP as I went there this past July to pick up my new passport which had the additional pages and get my income verification. I had applied for the passport 12 days earlier when they did their outreach at the Dusit in Pattaya. Went in with TGF and didn't have any appointment. Picked up the passport along with the letter to immigration requesting the transfer of visa. Gave them my form for the income verification, paid the $30 at the cashiers cage and about 30 minutes latter we were out of there. When we went there in 2007 the TGF noticed Tata Young and her father arrive in the same small office. I told her to go over and ask for her autograph but she was too shy.

Can be done. I did mine about 3 years ago. Went to the Embassy, filled out a form and gave them my passport and form, waited a short time and then my name was called and my TGF and I were out of there. No cost.

For the past four years I've been renting year round, however prior to that time I found that if I dealth with the hotel in person I had very good success. Back then I wouldn't book any place prior to arrival (except for my first 2 trips), just show up and check into a place for a couple nights. When the manager arrived later then I would talk to her/him on what they would charge me if I stayed there for the duration of my trip. If I didn't like the figure I would beginning looking at other hotels. I would ask to see a room at a place that look good from the outside, if I liked the room then I would ask for the rate, If that rate was within the ballpark then I would ask what they would charge for the length of my stay. You need to have the manager on site as this person is the only one that can offer the discounts. Another thing I found that worked was look for the just opened hotel, they don't have a dedicated following and will often have opening specials and hungry to fill the rooms if they have a high vacancy rate. What I mentioned will usually work for lengthy stays and the longer the better, not if your only staying for a few days. I remember one time when I was staying at the Eastiny Place, I had to go down to reception to get something out of my security box. A guy who was checking in was bitching to them that the rate that he was being charged was higher than what he had paid on his last trip. It was 850 a night, after he checked in and went to his room the clerk that was assisting him came over and took care of me, she also thanked me for not mentioning to the guy that I was only paying 650 a night.

I used a smiley not a bang head or bend over and show my ass emoticon. If you go back and look at the post that you 1st quoted me, I stated that the passport was issued by the US Department of State. Seriously if you mean where do you pick it up, I picked mine up at the Embassy and if your familar with its layout its the small office area that's off to the right when you approach the office areas after going thru security. Same place one goes to pick up their verification for monthly pension or adding additional pages to their passport. Since I submitted my application forms when they did their outreach at the Dusit I can't comment where at the Embassy you would turn in that paperwork.

I don't know where the LK plaza is located but if your on 3rd Rd heading south it will be on the right hand prior to the Pattaya Tai intersection.

I've mentioned this a few months back so I'll repeat for the OP since he's relatively new to the board. Some months back a customer was in Secret's drinking with one of their ladies and buying her L/Ds. They had discussed going L/T and a deal had been reached between them. Larry had been by and had talked to the guy prior before moving on to talk to other customers. Awhile later he stopped by and the guy was by himself and he asked if the BG was back in the locker area changing. The customer said yes but that she was not going with him as one of her prior customers had just arrived and that she was now going out with him. Larry called the service girl over and told her to have the cashier deduct the cost of L/Ds from his tab and to charge those cost to the BG. When the BG found out, she wasn't to happy and asked Larry why? He asked her why she had changed her mind about going out with the 1st guy and her reply was that the former customer paid her more than what she had agreed to with the first guy. Larry then told her that she would then have plenty of extra baht to pay for her L/Ds. This was done without any complaints from the first customer and I'm sure that what happened quickly spread amongst the other BGs that this type of behavior would not be accepted.

I don't think he made this up as I posted that he had nothing but praise for Secret's on the Secret's board. I just find it hard to believe that he doesn't know who Soi 7 is when he's a member of the Secret's board and has been in Secret's during his current holiday more than I have during the past year and I was in Pattaya for 8 months. He also got to level 2 in less than 2 months where others on that board have been members for months and are whinning why they can't get to that level and the quickest way to get to level 2 is to introduce himself to Soi 7. I also asked why he didn't personally raise the issue with management when he's had plenty of opportunity. If he had and gotten a piss poor response then blast away and tell everyone of the problem. I like warnings, just would like a little more detail and justification especially when its easily available.

After just looking at the Secret's board I'm now even more confussed by the some of the comments of the OP. He stated earlier something like "Who's Soi 7? on this thread. Well I noticed that cebual is a member of the Secret's board and joined both boards at the same time 28 Oct.. If anyone else is a member of Secret's then it's pretty hard not to know who Soi 7 (Larry) is because he's a very prolific poster whose avatar includes a picture of himself with 2 BGs. Also cebual has already been admitted to level 2 on that board which means you have to be known to the mods and the quickest way is to introduce yourself to Soi 7. I noticed that cebual posted a reply to a thread that Soi 7 started that showed the current lineup of daytime coyote dancers which included himself in the photo (ruined the photo). In another topic posted regarding the new Sunderland manager cebual posted that Larry would be the best person for the job. Nowhere does he bash Secret's only talks highly about the place and enjoys its food. Appears to go there often and is still in Pattaya. I just don't understand why he didn't raise his concerns with them as he's had plenty of chances.

Frosty what I found odd about the OP's post was that he said he observed this leaving and returning a few times. First when they get barfined they change into their street clothes and most of the time I don't even recognize them unless I know them a little. But the biggest oddity is that not once did he mention that when he saw the BGs return 15 minutes later that none of the punters who had barfined them return to make it an issue. I know that if I had paid 600 baht for a barfine or 1000 baht if it was before midnight I would have been right on their heels and talking to management about a refund. This is why I brought up the policy of the BG's going out for a bite to eat or to pull their turn as a Hello girl.

cebual, Soi 7 is the board handle for the early shift manager named Larry. If you were in there before 10 PM you probably saw him usually wearing a Secret's shirt and ballcap. After 10 PM Ben is the manager. If a BG's left on barfine (you could tell as they would have changed out of their coyotee outfits or gowns if hostesses) and then returned 15 minutes later then the punter should have immediately brought the problem to the attention of management. I'm pretty sure that his barfine would have been refunded.

I hope you didn't think my response indicated that you angered me, not in the least. I am still curious how you know that the coyotees or hostesses that left were indeed barfined. I gave you a possible answer as to why your seeing these ladies leave and then return a short time later. My answers were not guesses as I know that they do rotate out for a bit to eat and also to act as hello girls.

Are you sure that these coyotes and hostesses were barfined when they left? Did you see barfine on the itemized receipt? I know that the BG's working there get staggered periods of time off to go out and get a bite to eat, they usually eat on the nearby soi where Misty's and Angelwitch are located. Also they are rotated on short increments to go outside and be a Hello Girl. A 3000 baht long time fee is definetly not the standard although I wouldn't be surprised that maybe a few might ask for that if they are very popular and may even received that amount if the punter is willing. I know that if I were a working girl and guys were asking me to go L/T every day and very early in my shift I would start asking more to see what the market would bear. Anyone who wouldn't is not to smart.

The place looks nice, but I hope you mean 8 baht a unit for elec and 25 for water.

Having just returned from 6 weeks in Pattaya, where I don't spend much time on the boards, I didn't see the fridge for sale post. Still at 4500 baht a month it wouldn't take much for this place to be better value for baht compared to Skytops for a month.

I wouldn't care where the National Passport Center is located unless I was driving to the place to pick it up. Since my original was mailed to me it wouldn't matter if the place was located in Death Valley. The point of this topic is where are renewals that are processed by the US Embassy in Bangkok originating. I've seen US citizens at the US Embassy in Bangkok who have lost their passports, so unless they are getting a special piece of paper or document to enable them to get thru immigration at BKK then they are getting their passport issued by the Embassy.

Pattaya International Hospital's email address is: picpih@loxinfo.co.th. Ask them for a quote.

Like I mentioned earlier, the US Embassy makes trips to Pattaya. If I were you I would first shoot off an email to them to ask when is their next outreach to Pattaya. They might just be coming during January so you could wind up in Bangkok when they're in Pattaya. Not all US passports are created in Washington. My original was issued by the National Passport Center in Washington but the one I renewed this past August was issued by the United States Department of State which is home to all US Embassys. If you do go to Bangkok to get your passport you might inquire in they can fast track the process. It will cost you more but would save you the cost of another trip and the time.

Martin I don't think it fair to bring in his association with Harris Black, afterall past associations with shady characters didn't hurt Barack Obama. 4500 baht a month, that's somewhat less than the place over on 2nd Rd that you did a review on earlier this year.

I'm back home now but earlier this week they were installing the windows on the upper floors. I wouldn't expect this place to be open until late in 2009.