irishman

About 6 months ago, I read a report in one of the local rags about the quality of the water at Pattaya beach compared to 5 years ago or before they came online with the water treatment plant. The conclusion was that the beach water at pattaya beach was much cleaner than before, was safe for swimming, and in fact, was cleaner than Jomtien Beach because Jomtien still dumped raw sewerage in the bay and was doing more so now because the population was growing. Cheers

Try the soi bookouw market on Tuesdays and Fridays also for a good cheap selection! They cater to foreigners! Cheers

Different people have had different success depending on the location. Go down to Carefor and talk to the TT&T people and see what they offer. I'm using MaxNet at the present and it's OK during the times of low usage (early morning) but slows way down in the afternoon and early evening. You never know what to expect in Thailand until you try it! Cheers

If you absolutely want to pay up for electronic gadjets, there is a big center on Pattaya South between Second and Third roads. You can find most stuff there. Cheers

Before the Tsunami you rarely saw familys on Beach road or Walking street. Now they are all over the place and space is definitely getting harder to come by in the more touristy areas. Cheers

try Stable lodge. Soi 8. A little pricier than you specified but afteer having a bad experience there, it seemed a bit better in September. Cheers

And you will be arriving in BKK when? Cheers

Every airline has different rules for different classes and whether or not they are the primary carrier. You really need to address this question to the airline with which you are flying! Cheers

I took the 777ER back form BKK to Taipei on Sept. 5th and when we arrived, I was surprised to see that a second 777ER had arrived just ahead of us and we followed it to the terminal. I think that EVA presently only has 2 in their stable but they are indeed, nice planes. Cheers

If you aren't bored at home, you will never be bored here. Here you have just about everything you had at home and then there are things pertaining to the opposite sex which can consume hours just by itself. Cheers

I like to always have my lady arrange to meet me at the airport. Definitely makes the ride to Pattaya more enjoyable and she usually find a good deal as well. Cheers

You know, a lot of the hotels have a bit of a sea view if you specificially ask for it. For, example, Flipper Lodge on Soi 8 has rooms with a sea view if you specify the upper floors on the beach side. That might be something to try as they have a website and time is wasting. Eastiny has same. Cheers

I always have liked the Flippers and usually use them when I have free days. You are right in the middle of everything and the rooms and pool are clean. Cheers

A certain young lady that used to work at FLB got a breast augmentation at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital in February of this year and had a lot of trouble with residual pain. One side healed fairly quickly but the other side remained swollen and tender where the incision was made and return visits provided no relief. She is still having problems 7 - 8 months later. That incident along with Moulie's problem and my personal experience with a blood infection has made me very leary of trusting them for anything. I think I would utilize a BKK hospital like Baumgrad (sp?) for such an operation. My G

Hell, if I ever took a bath in those tubs I would worry more about possible infections! Only a shower for me please! Cheers

I'm not sure if there is a website or not but my condo / hotel is always advertising locally for rooms with a sea view for the cheap price of 599 baht a night. Pattaya Hill Resort. Cheers

Stayed there one night about a year ago. Was unimpressed! Cheers

Pattaya International Hospital has a couple of fine looking dentists that do a good job also. Cheers

For just a night or two, you might consider Koh Samet. It's only a little over an hour away and you can book reservations through Malibu travel. They have a cheap van service also but for the convenience, I would just contract for a car to get you there and get a car there to bring you back. The van takes almost twice as long with all the pick-ups it has to do. Cheers

The 200k in retirement accounts isn't going to do you any good for another 15 years so you can't really include it. I think retiring at such a young age and with only 200k might prove to be a tad foolish in the long run. Assuming the baht doesn't change for the next 15 years, ( yeh, right ) you will have an average of about 45000 baht a month to live on until you each age 59 1/2 and your income will increase. Certainly there are people living in Thailand for that much a month or less (witness Soi 7) but it wouldn't be my cup of tea. And while you are fairly young now, you don't have any

I haven't stayed there recently because I thought it was an absolute shit hole and there are lots of other options around there. Cheers

Used to be a cheap flight from BKK to MNL and return. Used them for that route and the service was good. No complaints. Unfortunately, they have now closed that route due to lack of interest. Cheers

Hi Gabor, I only mentioned the Markland because I have a friend who owns a studio there and was living in a house with his girlfriend. He had absolutely no trouble keeping it rented year round even during the slow season. Typically, a punter would only rent for a month or two but with having advance notice of the forthcoming vacancy, he would advertise and have someone to fill the condo as soon as the previous tenent moved out. Thus I think it would be a better choice for a rental unit than VT where there are always many vacancies trying to get noticed by a perspective tenent. Cheer

The places are long and narrow so the only great appartments are the 2 on the end with the view. The rest are always experiencing a high turnover rate. And each of the approx. 17 floors have many, many single room studios. Really to small to live in long term so they have a high turnover. Cheers

If I were to try and buy a condo for rental purposes, I certainly wouldn't go out as far as Jomtien. Punters want something near the center of the action, like maybe Markland or similar. For once I agree with some of Gabor's comments. And I believe that he has a condo in View Talay(?) in Jomtien. Cheers