Gary

I like some eye candy to look at but that is a pretty much out of the owner's control because he is relying on free lancers. At best it is hit or miss. I do much prefer lady waitresses rather than guys. My main requirement is cold beer at a reasonable price. The Pattaya Beer Garden has never disappointed me in that regard. I must admit that I have never been overly impressed with the food. I think it depends mostly on what you order. I have had excellent food and I have had NOT too excellent food. It has always been edible so no real complaints there. The quality of the food is probably better there than at most places in Pattaya, but that said, the food is mediocre or poor in many other venues. It should be realized that you are not back home in your favorite Mom and Pop restaurant. I usually make it a point to stop in when I am in the area. I also use it as a meeting place before a bar crawl. Pattaya Beer Garden my not be the absolute best but I put it in the top ten percent.

The electric rate in most apartments and some condos is determined by the management. The normal rate is around 4 baht per KWH and I have seen places that up the rate anywhere from 5 baht to 10 baht per KWH. You should always check the rate you are going to get when renting a new place. Our house in the boonies has air conditioning in the bedroom and fans in every other room. We do have two refrigerators, a big one and a small one plus a water pump. Even during the hot season, the air in the bedroom is seldom needed or used. Loei has the dubious reputation as the coldest province in Thailand. The bill at the house is seldom over 1,100 baht per month. My condo has two air con units. The bill comes directly from the electric company and since Jomtien is hotter than Loei, the bill usually is a little higher, maybe 1,200 - 1,300 per month, because the air is used much more. The bedroom unit is used quite often but the main unit is seldom used.

I'm surprised that in this day and age delivery companies have yet to use GPS coordinates. The GPS will normally get you within four meters and finding the right door within four meters SHOULD be pretty simple. For people who don't have a GPS and don't know what their coordinates are, I have asked them to use Google Earth. At least those coordinates will get them pretty close. A phone call to me from that position allows me to find them easily.

Anywhere south of Pattaya Klang (middle road) and Third road is fine. Bars and baht buses all over this area.

It appears that Manny got a little overconfident and walked into a big right hand. He was down and totally out. Who would have thought the Marquez had that kind of power?

I don't understand how Neils has lived as long as he has. With all the people he has scammed, I'd think at least one of them would seek drastic revenge.

I hate flies and mosquitoes, so anything that eats them is my friend. I'm not real fond of spiders but I leave them alone and try not to get tangled in their webs. I think the one you have is a common garden spider. Yes, they can bite if you aggravate them too much but it is no worse than a bee sting.

If you bring a phone that only works on 2G 850, you are going to be disappointed. It won't work. The two major 2G providers are AIS on 900 and Dtac on 1800. Many of the cheaper phones here in Thailand come with no 3G capability and only 900 and 1800 for 2G service.

The condo buildings are only five stories tall and are built in a rectangle open to the air in the center. I hate the condos with the long dark halls and having to worry about fires. All the buildings in the Lalana complex have elevators. Mine is in my name but I don't know about the ones that are for sale.

I have a condo in that complex. Mine is a corner unit so it is bigger and has two balconies, one off the bedroom and another off the living room. We have a washing machine in the kitchen which doesn't look too good but it is handy and the living room balcony is good for a clothes drying area. The corner units are 60 square meters and mine does have a separate bedroom with a built in floor to ceiling wardrobe and cupboards along another wall to set a TV on with a built in desk. With a Thai wife, I couldn't live in a studio. She wants her Thai TV and I want by own TV in the bedroom. The bedroom is quite big and I also have my computer and desk beside the bed. The bedroom has a separate air conditioner. To get back on topic, Lalana is a nice complex and his price is really not too far out of line if you are able to put up with a studio. I was offered 1,800,000 baht for mine some time back but decided not to sell it. I have a nice place to stay when I go down there. A farang wanted to rent it while we were there but I prefer to have it available for myself.

My dad was part of the final cleanup of the PI's. The thing he talked about the most was the typhoon while their LSD was coming in. He said that he was sure that they were not going to make it and after they landed, no one had anything bad to say about the old LSD that they were on after it survived that terrible storm. The worst thing about the cleanup was the Japanese snipers. After the snipers were spotted, they tried to see where they went to hide. The marines were not permitted to shoot them. The area was riddled with caves and no one had any idea of how many Japanese soldiers were in them. Since no one was suicidal enough to go in the caves, they received several shiploads of aviation gasoline in 55 gallon drums. They poured drums of that gasoline into the caves and set it off using hand grenades. He said that it was like an earthquake when several hundred gallons of gasoline ignited underground. He was quite amazed that none of Japanese soldiers would come out even after being warned in the Japanese language by loud speakers at the cave entrances what was going to happen. He couldn't believe that they would rather burn to death than surrender.

I think you can call it a studio or a one bedroom with no living room.

Most health insurance policies will not cover you if you are in a motorcycle accident. The very best policies cover you up to 100,000 baht. That is peanuts in case of a serious accident. I know that young bullet proof guys don't worry about getting badly hurt but it DOES happen. Think about that before renting a motor bike. ADDED - Paying damage for a rented motorbike should be the least of your worries.

I cancelled my Thai LMG health insurance several years ago. My policy said that they would never cancel me because of age but they said nothing about pricing me out. I had one claim all the years I had the policy and that was for appendicitis. I'm taking my chances with government hospitals. If it happens to be a long term illness such as the big C, I'll go back to the US and use my medicare. For a couple hundred thousand baht you can get a lot of decent care at the government hospitals. A private very nice room is 1,600 baht per day at the new government hospital.

I live in Loei province. Our village had a young guy who was going blind. The Loei government hospital diagnosed him as having a brain tumor. They sent him to Khon Kaen for treatment. I don't know which hospital but I think it was the university hospital. They mentioned it was a teaching hospital. The tumor wasn't malignant and he healed up just fine after surgery.

Keep in mind that if you are paying more for your room than you are paying your girl, you are a cheap Charlie.

It probably wouldn't cost me too much to eat there. I'd lose my appetite just looking at the menu.

A $5,000 camera would take the fun out of mongering for me. I'd be too busy watching the camera.

I wouldn't buy a condo as an investment but I would buy one that I intended to live in and keep. There are several things to look at before committing. See that the maintenance fund is fat and healthy. Many condo complex funds have been raped and stolen from. Make sure the electricity is billed directly to you. Some condo units have utilities managed by the condo association. Some double or even triple the actual bill. Assure yourself that the complex security is organized and effective. And finally, buy a unit in your own name that is turn key and that it has electricity and water already working. Buying a unit that the utility connections have not been completed make it impossible to live there. And yes, I do own a nice condo condo in Jomtien. It is my security blanket in case my wife were to throw me out. After 8 years with her I don't think that is likely but one never knows. I prefer to leave the condo empty for my own use. That's where I am now. It's nice to have your own place when you need a change of scenery. ADDED - My maintenance fee is 10 baht per square meter per month. Mine is 60 square meters so it costs me 600 baht per month. There are no other charges. The grounds are well kept and the swimming pools are pristine.

If you have android phone, there are a number of the dog repellents on the android market page that are free to download. I have no idea if they work or not.

Clean, bright, well lighted and openly displayed prices. A huge number of items on the menu is a turn off. Friendly staff is a big plus. I really don't care about the decor or gimmicks. I also expect chairs with a back even if they are plastic. No stools. A busy place is a huge plus but you can't expect that with a new place. No customers week after week sends a message.

I'd guess that it is a solid piece of hardware. The danger I see is that it will be Google centric. Time will tell how open it is. It probably won't be any worse than the Apple marketing scam.

Looks like a nice unit but I couldn't live in a place without a separate bedroom.

I don't care one way or another, but even if he was/wasn't a doper, I don't blame him for giving up. Water under the bridge for sure.

I'm by no means a coffee expert but I do know a good cup of coffee when I get one. If you get to Bangkok and happen to be on Soi 22, try the New Cowboy bar near the Queen's Park Hotel. I usually stay at the Honey House 2 so it's a convenient place to have breakfast. It's a ways off of Sukumvit, maybe 600 meters. They use a coffee press for each cup of coffee.