Joop

Dude, no way in hell I would let anybody shoot my balls with DMSO... Foolish to let Indian medicine anywhere near your nuts... (1.2 BILLION Indians BTW) Good luck to ya Joop

I am going to post this in my trip report this next week but figured I would plug a former board members new coffee shop which has wi-fi. Paul Pitini, who used to post as BeachBoy, moved to Thailand a couple years ago and has been settling into the expat life real well. He has a lovely wife, a new baby girl, and seems very very happy. Anyways, he was looking into starting a business. He looked into all sorts of things and ended up going into a quality coffee/gourmet ice cream shop. He ordered his gear from Italy (Paul is a Sicilian-American) and put ALOT of effort/thought into this place. I think it is a great spot, he does high end specialty coffee, hand made gourmet ice cream and has a nice little menu of some pretty good food. He also has beer/liquor but his specialty is his coffee. All of his prices are very good (Latte-35 Baht, Beer-55 Baht, Salads-60 Baht and his ice cream is well priced too 45-65 Baht for sundaes...) I spent over 3 hours there and could barely get my bill over 350 Baht (mostly Heineken) He also has wi-fi available. It is free and all you have to do is ask him for the login/password. The shop is located on Soi Buakhao not too far from Lolita’s, so it makes a nice little stop off on the way to or way home from Lolita’s. Here are some photos of the shop: And one of Paul and his staff: Please stop by and say hello, it is a great place and Paul is a really good host. Cheers Joop

I love UAL, they have never booked my United FF trips on their airline but they set you up pretty good on both Thai and ANA... No prblems what so ever redeeming my miles... When I fly for work, United gives me free upgrades to business class all the time... Don't know how NWA is but I will always fly United because they treat me too good. Cheers Joop

I have also heard that Koh Chang is beautiful... http://www.koh-chang.com/ If you make it down to Koh Chang you will probably want to make it an overnight trip... I have seen some great photos of the place and will make a stop there my next trip. The other one that is highly recommend is Koh Sichang, which is a little closer then Koh Chang and can be done as a day trip.. http://www.kohsichang.com/ or some other info here http://www.ko-sichang.com/beach.html. Good luck and enjoy whichever island you go for!! Cheers Joop

Just went to the Holiday Bowl here in last night and enjoyed watching the Cougars bet up on Old Texas!! :) I have been pretty lucky with my Bowl Picks so far... I already do a free Yahoo league with my coworkers, I will just set up two next year and see who wants to play... I am expecting to be in Asia(Japan/Korea) mid January, which would probably put me in Thailand sometime during your stay, would enjoy hooking up for a few beers. Cheers Joop

It was fun... A different sort of Fantasy Football league then I was used to... I like the head to head leagues and will start a free FLB one for us next year... It involves drafting a team before the season starts and keeping/trading those players throughout the season. This league was more of a salary cap league... Very different but both are very fun... Anyways, congrats to the big winners... SteelPower and the kids... and to Greg for starting this up... I will definately play next year. And John, looks like you bested me 9 out of the 17 individual weeks so I owe you a beer... But I did beat you in the final talley so what the heck!! Give me a heads up when you will next be in town and we can have a couple together... Cheers Joop

I think Gren has some good ideas there... Chicks on the course would be good... As I have stated in another post... Dudes were way fucked up by the time I got to the party... so drunk in fact they couldn't keep posession of their own trophy... hehe Anyways, you guys have a good time, may stop by for the night before with my new bride... Have a good time guys Joop

Sorry ff29, The 2nd is an important day for me and will be heading off on my honeymoon on the 3rd!! I will have operatives nearby in the event the trophy needs rescuing again!! :) Cheers! Joop

OK, as some of you know the trophy for last years RideHer cup mysteriously vanished the night of the event... You see, the Europeans where in such a sad drunkin state they were unable to protect the treasured ill gotten trophy they had "won"... Not being a golfer, I came to the party a little later then most and heard various descriptions of how the Europeans had fixed the tourney and some horrible accounts of handicap fraud and turncoats... It really wasnt very hard as Duece and Doggie were very preoccupied to know quite what was going on and I am sure no one even knew it was missing til the next day... hehehe USA USA USA!!! So, wasnt too sure what to do with it... after confiding with a couple guys decided that the trophy was to travel the US/world and we would take ransom pictures and post them periodically on the board... sounded like a grand idea then this little war popped up so the trophy and myself spent most of the last 8 months in the middle east... First, immediately after the tourney it went with me to Australia, we spent a week in Darwin then went to the Gulf to prep for the war. Here it is in Barhain at the Grand Mosque Here it is in Saudi Arabia at Prince Sultan Air Base. It flew out to the USS Lincoln, USS Kitty Hawk, and USS Saipan While on the Saipan we went through the Suez Canal which was way cool… Here is some compound in Egypt… The Trophy enjoyed a short stay in Sicily, enjoyed multiple helicopter rides and three landings on aircraft carriers… he made a complete circle around the globe, going From the US to Italy, to Bahrain, to Thailand, back to the US via Japan… He did have one small accident in his trip to Saudi… but nothing a little superglue couldn’t take care of!! Since he was in Bahrain and Saudi during a shooting war I attached a copy of the Anti Terrorism Medal to the trophy as a little reminder of his travels… In all, it didn’t quite work out the way we planned it but it was fun traveling with the little guy… We will see what the losers do this year with him aye… I will be in town during the tourney so if you Europeans decide to fix the tourney again you had best keep your eye on the trophy!! Cheers Joop

dtom, I actually bought it in Bahrain... You can get them in Thailand too... they are about 15000-16000 baht... The price has already come down about $70 since March when I bought mine... I like it cuz it is small, color, and has polyphonic ringtones... I just got a data cable yesterday so now I can interface with my laptop better... Samsung makes a nice color flip phone, the v200 that looks pretty cool... http://www.directmobilephones.com/samsung_v200voda.htm Panasonic has a nice one too... both are pretty pricey right now but I imagine they will come down soon... Cheers Joop

On my Nokia 6100, I have a function in Settings, Call Settings, and then I can scroll down to "Send my caller identity". Options on this phone are "Set by network", "Yes" or "No". I select No and then no one gets my number. Works great here in California, I didn't try it in Thailand though... Good luck Joop

Jesus, are you guys a bunch of jaded SOBs or what?? "All thai girls are the same" "Most important thing is money" "You can take the girl out of the bar but you can't take the bar out of the girl" "Money number one is required newbie reading" "Private Dancer is so true, everyone should read it..." What a crock of shit guys... I think you guys have used every cliche in the book in this thread... You guys are killing me... TGs are no different then any other girl in the world... You can't spend 10 days with a women and have her trust you... that is what everything boils down to... trust. These chicks don't trust you any further then they can throw you... Trust takes time... Even if you are sending money whos to say you will keep sending it... I had one of my "sisters" go through that one... dude supporting her for 6 months and then nothing... just dropped off the face of the earth... Screwed her up real good... She wasn't messing around on him either... contrary to this threads opinion, not all TG are the same... The reason these girls act like this is because we give them every reason too. You talk about the girls lying, bet you have never lied to one have ya... Also, I bet you that money is not important in your life either... Food, rent, med bills, ah heck, who needs money... I know my world revolves around my job and the money it provides... Money is #1 in my book... why should it be any different for these girls?? Like attracts like, if you are pulling all the sharks you need to look inside yourself and try to figure out why that is... Check out my trip report on the members board(relationship and culture section) and tell me they are all the same... 2.5 years and going... How long now for Pete, Ben, Gerald, Mats, etc... Good luck. I need a beer Joop

Sounds like you are having a great time!! I echo Davys comment... Phuket is where I would take my Mother if she came to Thailand... NOTHING compared to Pattaya. The one or two "hot chicks" you find in Phuket are average in looks compared to Pattaya and Pattaya has WAY better Go-gos and Discos... Beer bars are pretty much the same but Phuket still can't hold even a close second to Pattaya in that department... Soi Bangla was a real dissapointment in my opinion... Trust me... Pattaya is the place to be for the women. Cheers Joop

I was a Bellmen in college... so tipping is real important to me too... If someone is giving me good service they will know it... Works great if you go to the same place often... Like here in Bahrain, I call the radio taxi dudes, they say "We are busy and it will be 1 hour"... Once they ask my name, "Oh Mr Joop, we will be there in 10 minutes!!"... So my nice tips to them are money well spent. You guys will met Dale at PIC, he is one of my better friends in Thailand but I will NEVER go shopping with him... He makes me feel like I am taking food off of the poor ladys table... Last time after he bartered her down to pennies on the shirts I slipped the poor lady a 100 baht note to make up the difference... I felt bad for her man... Upto you guys... You sure as hell won't find me bitching about a few bucks here or there... life is too short... See ya guys soon!! Ole Tom, I will probably cook the pig on the 8th or 9th... depending on a trip to Phuket I wanna make... I will let you know. Cheers Joop

Come on guys... 10 baht, 50 baht, 100 baht... so what? My friend Dale will haggle to the death over 20 baht on a shirt then go and spend 5000 baht on a lobster dinner... "Its the principle" he tells me... I don't get it that is for sure... I think it is crazy to get wound up over money... We are in Thailand to enjoy ourselves and just have fun... I work hard for my money but I guess I am just charitable, 20 baht is not anything to any one of us... It is a meal for a Thai person... So what is my point... I don't know, but why bitch about the small stuff, just let it go off your back and enjoy all the good stuff around you... My two cents... Cheers Joop

You shouldn't be surprised at all Baz, I always check Google or someother web search engine before I post ANYTHING that I may be considered sensitive. There is not a freaking thing about CG that is classified. Troops locations are known WELL in advance and even when they put a bunch of Marines down in Hat Yai some industrious (and now richer) Thai had already gotten a bunch of hookers down there from Bangkok waiting for them... Ships schedule and Port visits are broadcasted at least a month in advance... you just don't pull up a big ass ship and park it in a parking spot, all sorts of paperwork is involved and Tugs/harbor masters/ and every single hooker in that port know when/where that ship will be. Even Hotels know, I tried to book a room at the Holiday Inn in Darwin when I was meeting a ship there and the receptionist was "Sorry sir, we have a lot of Navy folks coming, can we get you a room at so and so..." People tend to kneejerk about things being secret and classified, but ships movements are hardly classified nor are troop locations and what hotels they are staying at... Usually CNN gives you all the info you need... Cheers Joop

For anybody from the US/Canada/Australia, goto http://www.tollthai.com, they have good deals on calling cards to Thailand, around 18 cents a minute to a mobile phone anywhere in Thailand from the US... I use it religiously and have never had any problems... Real easy to recharge your card either over the phone or via the internet... Cheers Joop

I have been out of the bar fining scene for a while now, but there is no way I would pay before the service... When I was an young buttefly, the girl was given a sliding tip based on performance... The happier I am, the more she is gonna get... And I tell them that before the night begins... Worked very well... Especially on the second or third time I barfined them... Cheers Joop

I bought a nice Nokia 8250 in Pattaya my last trip at one of the many Phone shops on second road... They want 12000 baht for the new ones (it is a triband and will work when I get back to the USA). But they also have a "used" section where I got mine for half price... I am very happy with the phone, they gave me a new number with the SIM, and all is well. I took the phone with me to Bahrain, bought a 10 Dinar($27US) SIM SIM card here and the phone works great... When I get back to Thailand I will just replace my old SIM card as we will see how it works... It has only been a month so it should still be active I think. If not, then I will have to buy a new number with is cheap, like 300 baht or so... When I get back to the states I will have to see which provider I want to use... I would highly recommend looking into the used phones... Many TGs will pawn them and you can get quite a savings... My phone even came with some cool extra ring tones... Cheers Joop

Philadelphia 27 Miami 10 Whoops, I thought you were talking about Football... ;D Joop

I believe the Penthouse is having problems right now due to a issue with Cats-A-Go-Go, which is downstairs and run by the same folks... I am not too sure who is running the Penthouse right now. The Penthouse is a lot of fun to be in for a night or two... Some of the rooms have bathtub jacuzzis, sex swings, and balconies over looking Soi Pattayaland... They are pricey at about $50 a night... Its not my recommendation for the long haul, rooms are just too small and dark and like I said, too much money. They are great to have a party in... It depends, you will probably do better staying at the Flipper and then cruising down to the Penthouse to check the place out since they are having issues. Cheers Joop

You can get a hold of IB who runs the RG at ottesen@loxinfo.co.th I am not too sure about the HS modems... You can buy inexpensive internet deals that let you dial in for less then 200 baht... Speed is around 40K when you dial in using the lines at the RG. Beware the Thai power if you are from the states... 220V/50hz. Cheers Joop

Bearshare.com is another site like Kazaa... I am not too worried about Kazaa and them using my computer/bandwidth, if they are or not... I get plenty of free stuff (music/movies/etc) so it is ok with me if they do... Those damn pop-ups do drive me crazy... Good advice, maybe I'll go find a program to stop those buggers... Joop

It is the Vengaboys, from their "The Party Album" or from their greatest hits CD. I use Kazaa to download my MP3's , goto download.com and search for Kazaa, download, install, and then you can download all the free music you want... good luck Joop

I don't want to get too involved with ship schedules and all as that is bad for security purposes (and illegal). Plus I don't know exactly where the ships are stopping for their port calls. But I can tell you no single ship in the US Navy carries 8000 folks. Carriers will hold about 5000+ with the airwing and crew on board. They do of course have a whole group full of support ships (Carrier Battle Group) but they rarely bring the whole gang in. I can tell you no carriers are traveling until April through the asia area, so you shouldn't see 8000 sailors in Pattaya in March... Again, I don't know about the smaller boats, but as I type this there are no (planned) carriers moving through Asia in the next month or so. Even if there were to be 8000 sailors on the ships, not more then half will be allowed out in town on any given day, most will have to be back to the ships by midnight. I actually had a great time in the Classroom ago-go when I was there a while back. It was fun to see some kid from nowhere Nebraska staring at some sweet dancer with his eyes wide and mouth open... Guys ST in the bathroom and anywhere else they could find a niche... They do affect the prices a bit when they are in town but they are a kick to watch, many of the younger guys have never left their homestate until they went to bootcamp... They are funny to see man. Like I said before, don't let the sailors affect your trip, most won't go north of Friends bar area, so Central and North Pattaya are unknown to most of them. They will stay close to walking street and south Pattaya... They won't stay more then a couple days either, so don't let them factor into your plans. This is the best info I have, but you know the Bar Girls know before anybody that the ships are coming in... I will email some friends for you and see what they say, but don't let it change your plans. Take care Cris