losgrad

Yes, ditto for me. Originally, I obtained the "Sentri" passcard for my regular visits into Mexico (NEXUS for Canada) and then the program allowed me to join the Global Entry for no additional fees or interviews. I travel through SFO and the kiosk gives me a ticket and I walk around the Immigration lines and show the ticket to the exiting agent. At Customs, they take the ticket and pass me through. Those who have applied and been interviewed realize the fines and penalties are doubled should we violate any of the laws. I believe this program and others similar should be more widely used as they focus on the individual 'traveler' rather than the robotic process of minimally screening all travelers and expecting sufficient resources to do an adequate job. Having worked in 'secure' facilities, it'd take many times the current resources to apply thorough 'checking' and screening of all airline passengers - think cavity searches, etc... so pre-screening, pre-approvals, etc.. are IMHO the way to go to keep the cost of our security and airfares low, yet providing more resources to check those that may require it.

The rain comes down hard and fast here, but even after that big one a year or two ago, within 24 hours, it's all drained into the nearby ocean (I took pictures that night and the next morning). For many years, I lived in a California seaside resort town that had periodic flooding, but it sometimes took a few days to drain in the lower areas as the water had to actually pass through the drains (not just over or around as it sometimes does here), some of which may have been below sea level at high tide. This night and during the big one a few years ago, I happen to be out on Walking Street and both times returned the next morning. I took the picture below from the corner of Pattaya Tai (South) and 2nd Road where the baht buses usually queue for customers to Jomtien. As you can see, it would not have been easy for potential passengers to cross so the baht buses were loading up (literally with baht) with passengers just past the main entrance to Walking Street on Pattaya Tai as it comes around Beach Road. Motorbikes could not pass through the deeper areas, but the baht buses were going through with a few detours here and there. For a trip to Jomtien, the drivers were charging 400 baht, but we joined another couple and paid 100 baht each. Later, I was able to take a motocycle taxi for the standard rate as 3rd Road to Pattaya Klang was fine. For those concerned about the storms and heavy rains affecting their holidays, I say it won't (much less than Songkran or a national holiday :). That night after leaving FLB as mentioned by MM, it started to rain very hard. I proceeded with my mini-bar crawl to Baccara, Heaven Above, etc.. Sure, we got a little wet walking between the bars across the flooded streets so I bought my lady a pair of rubber sandals for 60 baht, an umbrella for 100 and plastic bagged her high-heel leathers. Upon entering Heaven Above, they provided towels to dry off so we were comfortable. P.S. When I leave my condo, I often do not return for 10-12 hours so during non-dry season, I'll always carry an umbrella for the rains (usually only last an hour or so) and/or the soi dogs that are out past midnight in the outer areas of town. Or if you prefer, whenever it rains, there are always vendors selling umbrellas (100 baht for small; 200 for large). We saw one BIG guy using three umbrellas to protect himself from the rains, so it might cost some of you a little more :)

Yes, periodically, I'll run into people from one of the Spanish speaking American countries and I'll converse with them a bit. In Chiang Mai coming down from the mountain temple, I spoke with a couple from South America who were very surprised to be able to speak in their native tongue here in Asia. In Japan, I met a young Japanese lady who had spent a year in Central America in the Education Abroad Program and since my Spanish language skills are much better than my Japanese, we spoke Spanish for the next few days :) In relation to the OP, his GF will encounter people who make assumptions and stereotypes, but that's part of the international traveling experience - good and bad. Hopefully, she takes it as a learning experience and enjoys the diversity of an international city. P.S. Part of my original plan was to bring a girl from the Philippines to live with me in LOS, but with the limited 30 day Visa and the abundance of ladies in Thailand, my plans changed, but sometimes the idea resurfaces :)

It's funny as my wife is Thai and some Thai ladies ask her in English if she can speak Thai :)

Since I enjoy the shag before going to sleep and utilizing the morning wood, I plan not to be alone (also for the reasons BM Teerak mentions above). Some of my expat friends prefer to sleep alone. Although, I was married for dozens of years in the USA, there were many nights I slept alone :). The choices and options here are much easier to implement to meet our personal preferences.

To the OP, "Thank you for posting" as information sharing is part of the internet experience and each of us can then be better informed to make our own decisions. As a regular bicycle rider (push bikes?), I ride throughout Pattaya and Jomtien, sometimes going to the Darkside and south into Huay Yai areas (I'll stop into bars or massage places to get a shower :). My bike isn't expensive, but about a month's salary for a regular working Thai so I am sure has some 'theft' value. We take precautions, heed warnings and then make personal decisions whether riding expensive bicycles, motorcycles, cars, etc... or just walking which I also do daily (24 hours a day throughout Pattaya) and could not outrun a bullet or even a knife by a passing pedestrian. During my long-distance cross-country rides across the USA, I often parked my expensive motorcycle in very dark secluded rest stops or shady motel parking lots where there is an increased risk vs. in my home garage. Is it less risky than riding a bicycle? I don't know, but we make our personal risk assessments and must often compromise if we are to live our lives. Sometimes, just taking a bargirl into our home has some risks regardless of our multiple layers of security and technology. A personal decision some of us make and others do not. Last week, when visiting my local bike shop on Therrapasit Road, I brought up the subject of these internet reports of thefts in Huay Yai and he acknowledged the reports. He also mentioned five bicyclists getting surrounded by 3 motorcyclists with guns robbing them of their bikes. When he indicated the Thai police were very interested in pursing these culprits (alleged gang members), I didn't take it too seriously, but reading this most recent report makes me feel more positive, but I probably still won't ride in that area for awhile without my bullet proof vest and being well armed :) Ok, just as any thread, I choose to read those that are helpful, informational or just interesting. This subject applies to me as would any on being a pedestrian, motorcyclists or using the services of bargirls. For my current lifestyle, it's still a wonderful place to live. I read the warnings about the city, the country, etc.. but plan and make decisions to accommodate my life here as after my due diligence I balance my risk factors with the benefits of enjoying this life. By the way, great party last night for Hammer's Birthday and I walked home from Soi Buakow at 3:30 am across 3rd Road et al to my condo near Sukhumvit.

As a regular movie goer, I love the prices (seats and popcorn) and the seating comfort (with assigned seating) here compared to my home country. Being able to view first run western or Thai movies at such reasonable rates is great. I do miss the independent foreign (non-Thai) and USA movies, but expat friends share them with me for home viewing. If a movie is entertaining, I enjoy a few hours of escapism. If the movie sucks, then I get in a good nap. My Thai lady knows where I want to sit and we schedule to purchase tickets after the advertised 'show time' in order to avoid others who don't seem to consider that one does not have to sit directly in front of or behind another viewer when the theatre is 90% empty. At "The Avenue" we have also learned that if no one purchases a ticket 10 minutes before the scheduled 'Show Time,' then they cancel that particular showing so we must sometimes purchase tickets prior to the official show time. Another difference, is they seem to keep their AC just a little cooler than the theaters at Central Festival and Big-C, so I dress accordingly. Enjoy your time and take care of what you can control.

Tonight, I stopped by the new bar location. Much bigger 'bar' (full circle) with more seating and excellent adjacent parking for both motorbikes (free) and automobiles (40 per hour). It was almost a full-house with Adam being a great host to everyone there. A short and safe walk to 2nd Road through the mini strip mall with Papagayo A-gogo. It's just down from Kiss 24 hour eatery and across 2nd Road from Mike's Mall. It's also just a short walk to LK Metro a-gogos. I like it already and will plan on dropping by regularly.

Same thing happened to me in BabyDolls, but I let it go after first getting the 'confused' look and then one of disdain. I didn't return for awhile, but am now back...on occasion.

I know the area well as it's on my path to Soi Buakow. There are some good eateries nearby like "Beefeaters" for their weekend bbq buffets. I wish you well and will visit on opening day. Chok Dee mak mak.

Firstly, I am sympathetic with the OP for the anxiety he went through and the lost days playing on holiday - not a good way to end a monger trip. In the States, it is: Doctors for diagnostics; Pharmacists for prescriptions (clinics for outpatient and hospitals for inpatient) I know some pharmacists here try to impress or expand their role and it comes down to our discretion whereas in the nanny States they would lose their licenses. 2nd and 3rd opinions are not cost prohibitive and using the right professional for the job. Take care and enjoy your next trip.

A few years ago, I bought one of the better mountain bikes at Big C for around 4-5000 baht. It lasted a few months before getting pretty shaky as parts wore out. I then bought a used one from LA Bikes on Therrapasit road Jomtien for 6000 baht. It still rides great with lifetime of free adjustments. I have since bought another used one for 8,000 and this bike is fast for me and rides strong. I ride the 6k bike daily to the gym 20 minutes each way and every other day I ride the 8k bike from Central Pattaya to various areas around town (alternating days walking and riding) or through East Pattaya or Jomtien and beyond - not a lot of KM for real bicyclists, but good for a novice or casual rider. I still have the original bike I bought at Big C and its ok for riding to the store and back, so usage and budget are important. Oh, I always wear a lightweight motorcycle helmet, bright clothing and have lights; but we take our chances. I know it sounds counter, but I feel safer riding my bicycles than I do riding my 200 cc motorcycle here. I am a very experienced motorcyclists owning more than a dozen from dirt bikes to big cruisers and riding a few hundred thousand miles all over the USA, but in heavy traffic here I can go faster than traffic, go between vehicles motorbikes cannot and just ride on the far left out of the way of fast moving vehicles (watching for car doors to open), but hopefully I won't regret it :). Ive read the reports of guys hitting bicyclists and motorcyclists with pipes with the intent to rob, but I've seen these reports years ago in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai so I am extra careful and prepared when riding in more remote locations. Enjoy and take care.

Great pictures, RhinoTusk! When our favorites didn't make it to the finals, Jack and I left so I am not sure who won, but the selection is getting better each year. The judges don't have the same selection criteria as we do, but I know most of us disagree amongst ourselves which is actually good, less we seek the same ladies in every venue :) Here are a few of my pictures from the 2012 Pattaya Motor Show. The show goes through the week with some other events next weekend.

It will not be difficult to find 1-2 Thai ladies who will do 'everything' for you, but will two be enough to prevent your 'boredom?'

I also have the Kindle Fire and use it along with my original iPad to browse the web, email and read books. With the Amazon Prime I am also able to download free books and some shows (some of my downloads are blocked while overseas where I spend the majority of the year). P.s. I was trying to hit the "+" button for your post, but with my iPad touchscreen, I sometimes miss as the "+" and accidentally tap the "-" as they are too small and too close together. Sorry, about that

Yes, in Pattaya when I encounter a FL with a lot of make-up, evening dress and high heels; I always ask if they are a lady-boy :) For a moment the lady is upset, but once I tell them it's because they are so 'beautiful' they smile and we continue the conversation. Admission was 'free' this year as the event's organizers thought attendance might be low due to the recent floods, otherwise it would have been 120 baht ($4). From Nana metered taxi fare was 170 baht plus road tolls. I have also attended the Auto/Motor shows in California - San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego; but this one is larger plus the ones in CA don't include a beautiful lady in front of every vehicle :) Yes, those ladies were a show stopper!! Nom Yai! (Big breasts). Almost every man stopped to view the ladies while wives, GF, mia nois, etc... were asking, "what brand of car is that?" It was a car customizer, I think :) For you golfers or girl watchers (Paula Creamer, et al), there's an LPGA event every February at Siam Country Club in Pattaya. I've watched LPGA tournaments in the USA, but here you can bring your camera and take pictures (just don't do it in the middle of their back swings :).

Sorry, I didn't know it required any action by the viewers. In my Firefox browser, I just open the forum, a thread and the pictures just come up. Thank you. Well, in years past, the ladies had these tag numbers not much different than what we see in Gogos, but this year I didn't see any tags. A few years ago, I met a lady in Bangkok who claimed to be a former model and had done this event. She was telling me the codification and significance of the numbers on the tags on each model. Not sure if she was 'go hok' (b.s.) me, but either way, the prices she told me were beyond my interests for a 'date' with no guarantees of anything further. Anyway, here's part 2 of 2 of my pictures. At the bottom are pictures from Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Krispy Kreme :) and a flood charity event for dogs left behind (I am sure those countries to the east of Thailand would have 'rescued' the dogs :). The ladies are Thailand TV and movie actresses. Oh, and one picture of a cutie on Sukhumvit promoting condos. Just wanted to share :) Take care and I hope everyone ends 2011 happily...... as I sadly visit the USA for awhile (been here for 11 months straight without leaving the country and need to visit my kids and my mother, although my 27 year old daughter and one of my sons did come for a visit this year. They could see I was happy, why and were happy for me; good kids :).

Once again, I attended the annual Motor Expo in Bangkok (usually attend the annual show in Pattaya too, see other old post). With hundreds of models - cars, motorcycles and ladies - it's always good for a few photographs. I apologize to those real photographers, but as you can tell from my 'lighting' and other mistakes, I am not even a hobbyist photographer and use a camera just above a pocket camera. Anyway, this is part 1 of 2 (I think). On this trip away from my Pattaya home, I also visited the city of Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) which I'll post some pics on another report. If you travel around Thailand to places like Ayudthaya, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Korat, etc... you could see where some of these ladies may originate (of course with less makeup and small city attire). In Pattaya we get a good mixture with many lovely Isaan ladies from the rural farming areas, but during the recent floods I thought we got a very good influx of refugees from everywhere (at least that's what each of the ladies told me :). Take care and enjoy.

Good pictures! The last few weeks, I've walked down Soi 7 everyday and a few times a week down Soi 6, but somehow miss the new buildings and other changes. You're a very observant photographer :) When I was a visitor, I also stayed a few times in a Soi 6 guesthouse and learned about avoiding 6/1 as much as possible. It helps when you have a Thai lady escort as she will protect her investment and ensure your safety as even 'they' don't want to mess with a Thai lady and her assets. Thanks again.

Besides pets, I have a western attitude about any foreign living thing in our living space - pests. She believes if they do not bite or are not harmful, then why kill them (Buddhism). I grew up a buddhist too, but a convenient westernized version :) Except for the gecko in the patio of our old apt (who I knew ate intruders), I like our condo sterile of other living things. Since I dislike and have allergic reactions to pesticides, I spray them with liquid soaps. Otherwise, she cooks, cleans, keeps order, shops, etc...exactly as I like which is a major change from living with my ex-wife. P.s. I am still not OCD like some of my expats friends, but I do carry hand sanitizer alcohol with me everywhere. Maybe, I'll graduate someday :)

Good pictures. Thanks for making the effort to include the banners, billboard or poster for each project. I walk by these places all the time, but often miss the projected plans. For me, it will be interesting to see the changes during the next few years. For some of you long-timers, you've already witnessed Pattaya's many transformations. Enjoy.

Nice pictures. The last two pictures of the lady in the massage shop as you probably know, she is the owner and was married to either a police officer or military man from Sattahip. She enjoys practicing her English. It's next to the 44 Pharmacy on one side and a gold shop on the other (yeah, I know it's like saying it's next to a 7-11 or Family Mart :) and across the street (Soi Buakow) from Sugar Sugar A-gogo. I use to eat there regularly when it was open 24 hours, but now the hours are more limited and they raised the prices. It's not as busy as it use to be, but the food is still fairly cheap and good (they use to have two different cooks - day and night, but not sure which one is now the regular hours cook as I haven't eaten there recently). You are served or some people self-serve your free water in 'tin cups.' Actually, the picture Gabor took of the market and food stalls with Central Festival Mall, Hilton Hotel and View Talay 6 in the background is a very popular place for the late working Thai ladies to eat. It's open 24 hours with many different food carts of various Issan foods, open seating and mainly gets busy very late at night. There are often some 'lookers' in there. Soi Buakow (and much of Pattaya) is constantly changing - new buildings, new businesses, signs changing and business enterprises changing, etc... Even walking through parts of this long soi multiple times a week, I am surprised to see things I hadn't noticed, but know something has changed. Weekend traffic is heavy especially when they have special events or markets on Beach Road which redirects traffic (2nd Road being a one-way North; traffic going South has to either go to 3rd Road or use Soi Buakow). My Expat friends who live in other parts of town don't visit the area much as if they have transportation they can drive or ride to get anything they want anywhere in town, but for people who walk, it's a great area for most everything, especially if you're on a more limited budget. Well, you'll have no problems meeting your 1000 baht limit, but you may have to work to meet your 'trim' body preferences (you can't always fish in the barrel :)

Yes, it is towards 3rd Road on the same soi as Dream Teen Massage. During the time I lived on the next soi I dropped by a few times to take a look-see, but none of the ladies caught my interest (but Dream Teen did :). There were always mini-vans and baht buses dropping off loads of tourists and afterwards, these guys would walk down to Soi Buakow trying to figure out their way back to 2nd or Beach Road as the baht buses would often quote them higher rates to get back.

For two years, I lived in an apt off Soi Buakow, but moved 6 months ago to Pattaya Klang. I still go to Buakow for my 70 baht haircuts, 100 baht foot/Thai massages, 200 baht oil massages (w/500-700 baht extras), a drink in one of the beer bars or a good Thai meal in one of the restaurants (Soi Leng Kee has many inexpensive Western restaurants), before going to the Walking Street for the night entertainment. The bars and gogos are Ok, but WS still has better and more of them, but Buakow has many inexpensive guesthouse options for LT barfines and out-of-town visitors. Predominantly Western punters, but I often see tour groups of Indians get dropped off at the 'soapie' on Soi 21 between Buakow and 3rd Road who then try to find their way back to the tourist areas. New beer bar complexes being built in southern end of Buakow. It's a different place to hang for awhile, especially if you're on a budget and I agree with the other poster that Tues/Fri market is also pretty encompassing for Pattaya (but dissimilar to the weekend mammoth market in Bangkok). Also note that the baht buses going south on Buakow usually go West on Pattaya Tai to 2nd Road (closest corner to WS) except on Tues/Fri during the market when all traffic is required to go East on Pattaya Tai (so just get off at Pattaya Tai, walk across the street and catch another baht bus going West towards 2nd Road and Walking Street). Enjoy.

During the last few weeks, the quantity of Beach Road ladies has increased. Normally, there's a certain percent that are within my 'preferred' range and that percentage hasn't changed, but with the increased numbers, there are more in my selection pool. The local ladies aren't happy with the increased competition which is both attributable to flood needy ladies from Ayudthaya, Bangkok and Chiang Mai (from my small poll sample :) and the regular annual high-season return migration of ladies from Isaan. Yes, in the last few days, I've had two on Soi 6 from Bangkok (or at least that's what they told me :) and last night met a 20 year old Uni-student new to me on Beach Road which agreed to a LT. However, many young ladies give the "Uni-student from Bangkok" story so who knows... It doesn't really matter as long as I enjoy their services (and company), then I'll 'take care' of them. I've seen one of those two on Soi 6 now working in a different part of town and I plan on repeating with the Beach Road Uni-student until she returns to school in late November (her story). From my observations on the routes I traverse, a typical weekend has heavy traffic on Beach, 2nd and Klang; but this past week it was horrendous on the weekend and typical heavy weekend traffic during the week. It's heavy from mid-day and then gets even heavier during the evenings and thins out after midnight (last night at 11:30 pm it was very slow on Beach, but 2nd Road was Ok). I walk as fast or faster than the pace of weekend traffic so it hasn't affected my ability to get anywhere in a timely fashion. In fact, one fellow walker remarked, it's easier for us now as we can cross the streets almost anywhere without waiting as the traffic is stopped. Yes, I am taking an optimistic view of this unfortunate disaster. Have you seen the faces of the Thais up north wading through the waist high waters? Land Of Smiles :) What can you do, but take care of those within your realm and enjoy the day.