kosman

To one and all who gave me suggestions here....Thank you. I have gone to all the places mentioned here and found the service friendly and fast . the prices are excellent and I find the quality the same as anywhere else. The only pharmacy I had any problem was the one on the northeast corner of second and central road. The pharmacist seemed offended that I asked for Cali's and pointed rather indignantly to a sign that said prescription required. Now to piggyback on another thread, about tipping and this is generally about health care.... The dentist on the 4th floor of central plaza has a tip jar on the receptionists desk. I am a very liberal tipper but that is going way too far. I am almost finished with business here and am about to start my real holiday. To whomever in a thread discussion that I offered to drink a beer with.... The time is here or I win the argument.

I am glad to hear the positive assessments. I have had negative experiences in other parts of the world with my former colleagues on group passes. Here is to looking forward to the guys having a good time. They do deserve it.

I was kind of hoping to avoid that. How long is their leave until they depart?

Where and how do you get the discount card?

Thanks to all for all the great information. Luckily, the medication I take regularly is the most common and least expensive world wide. At least now I know there are decent sources for my needs in and around Pattaya and can concentrate on my wants, Right now the want list includes steak, lobster, cold beer and hot women.

A very sensible answer but I am not coming from the USA. Actually I have not been in the USA for about 4 years. Usually I get my needed meds in Dubai but this time I will not have time to stop in town. Usually the pharmacy in the airport has what I need, but I wanted a back up plan. The available medications in Afghanistan for me are very limited as in emergency supplies only. Good to know about Dr. Oliver. Thanks.

For all you expats out there, which Pharmacy would be best to buy regular drugs? Which one is stocked the best and which one has the best prices. Nothing exotic, I will need to stock up on diabetes, antibiotic and blood pressure meds. Thanks and see you all soon. This is starting to be the longest week in my life. Oh the anticipation. K

A bonus for Jollibee's is if you really want to assure a GFE take your BG there. Just my humble opinion, but it has never failed me.

I don't know. When I leave Afghanistan, all that crap tastes pretty good to me.

I thought the capacity was always one more

You just hit home in north central Pennsylvania. I cannot help you with the labels but are you selling the pickels yet? I have not been home in a long time and I bet they are real close to what I remember buying at the farmer's market. Do you make anything else of interest?

To take part in this discussion. This is not a scam it is an illegal business. That being said it is a business and I have never known the businss owners to not take care of their complaints. I wish some other businesses would stand behind their products as well as the pirate movie dealers. For argument sake, it would be a scam if they were selling the movies as originals not copies. They actually like to brag about how good their copies are. The OP's advice for tourists to make sure what they are getting is good advice. My only disagreement is this is not a scam. Now for more important information....Less than a month to go!!!! I am looking forward to being harrassed by tailors, drink sluts, vendors, and generally having a blast. See you all soon

Rosie O'Grady's has always been a definite stop for me. The service is good and so is the food. But, what I really like about the place is that I can enjoy a nice quiet hassle free beer either before, during or after the beer bars. The staff has always been friendly to me and I never had to wait very long for a refill. On my next trip I will be a frequent visitor for a quiet breather during my rounds. Has anyone stayed in their rooms? Every time I have tried to book in the past there is always no vacancy?

I think it would be a good type of hotel while on an extended layover near the airport. It would also be a very nice deluxe short time hotel with a deluxe price. I cannot see such a small room being more than 1 or 2 nights acceptable.

Thanks! The thing about Long Island Ice Teas are that if the first one is not very good, the second is always better.

That was just my guess, but if you and I both know you cannot apply logic to the borders. Perhaps they found nothing wrong with the first set and decided to let the others go through, perhaps they were just being dickheads. My vote would probably be on the latter but i am just in a pissy mood with over 50 days to go before my trip to Pattaya. Will someone please drink a Long Island Ice Tea and tell me all about it

Probably because they are made of unprocessed plant material and not allowed into the USA. Probably the same rules in most other western countries. Same reason you are not supposed to bring live orchids back. Just my two baht worth of thinking. time is slowing down until my trip. Days are starting to get longer and longer.

That is the first time I have ever been referred to as moralistic I guess being politically correct comes next. I usually don't have the subtlety to suggest anything and my post was not an attempt to do so. It was just me expressing my own opinion based on the current thread for anyone to read and agree or disagree with. I was also not trying to be helpful to anyone, although if it does help, that is good. If my expressed thoughts seemed to make light of and trivialize the OP's concerns, that was not my intent and my apologies to the OP if that is how it was received. With the date of my arrival in Pattaya getting closer and closer, what is the current average exchange rate for USD at the booths? Continuing this discussion over a cold beer is still an option. Playing with the BGs over a cold beer is a better option. Two LDs to the first BG to call me hansum man. See ya all soon.

That thought makes 58 days seem like such a long time.

Just a personal thought here. We all go to Thailand because there is something that draws us there. Most of us like it because it is so different from where we came from in the first place. That includes the people, their attitudes and even the quality of things like food. We know things will not be what they are at home and that has a lot to do with why we travel to Thailand in the first place. Now if you narrow that down to a single establishment, say the PBG for example, I am sure that there is something we each like about the place or we would not go there in the first place. So, (just my wild thought here) if there is something that you don't like, don't order it; order what they make that you do like. I have been traveling in and out of the third world for so long (you can decide where Thailand fall on that scale) that when I am in a restaurant, I usually order what i want, and eat what I get. Most of the time what I get is the cooks interpretation of what I ordered. If I wanted food just like they serve where my house is, I would pretty much stay home. Since I am on a rant here, let me say that I have always enjoyed my visit at PBG. I have never received exactly what I ordered....never, but what I did get was always served with a smile and prepared with the intent for it to be pleasing....and it was. I have never picked up a free lancer there but have seen a few that I would not mind having dessert with in a more private location. My only suggestion for PBG...can you please update your web page? Well this was just a personal thought observation, your may vary. I would be willing to discuss further in February over a cold beer or a Jack and coke, or other adult beverage. or we can have the adult beverage without discussion as long as there are lots of lovely ladies we can look at.

So, these days, where is the best burger available in Pattaya? To me that is thick juicy, red/pink in the middle, cooked onions, fresh bun and without lettuce and tomato. Good fries are a bonus.

I have always enjoyed Pattaya Beer Garden and it is one of the first places i want to visit upon my return to Pattaya in February. The last time I was there was during some holiday where alcohol was not served, but I wanted food. My order was for a cheesburger and french fries, rare with cooked onions,. After waiting about 20 minutes the waitress came back and said that they don't have. I was confused because other patrons were getting cheesburgers which is why I ordered one. I asked what do they have, she pointed the order ticket cheeseburger (have) french fries (have), onions (have) rare: Not have My final order: Cheeseburger, medium with cooked onions, make cheese burger red inside. It was cooked just to my liking. The beer bar outside of the beer garden gave me a beer in a large paper cup.

In my own opinion newer safes change the combination every time you use it, but they still have a master key because some people cannot remember a four digit code. They are reasonably secure from outsiders and cannot be opened with a credit card. However, you still have to worry about the staff in some hotels. I use a sealed envelope to prevent one or two bills from being taken from a stack. But if someone goes into your safe they can still take the entire envelope. They hotel room safe is good for keeping your valuables safe while you have company in your room. Mostly, the room safe keeps honest people in your room more honest. Like anywhere, if someone wants your stuff bad enough, they will find a way. All you can do is try to make your stuff not an easy target. My routine is to not leave all my valuables in one spot, but use various hiding places. All you can really do is protect yourself from amateurs and not be interesting to professional thieves.

I like to just let it fly with what ever the mood take me to. Usually if I plan to sleep alone it does not work out and other times I am just too picky for finding someone that interests me. It does not matter if I go loom alone or with the princess of the hour, I always have a good time in Pattaya. The good thing about Pattaya is that no matter what time of the day or night you decide you do not want to be alone, there is always a way to fix the situation.

I think you handled that correctly and the mamasan did as well. It sounds like a fair resolution between the bar and yourself. Now I ask, 75% in jest, was it fair for all parties concerned including the waitress? 1. She had to pay for the drink for herself, did she get the commission? 2. She paid for the drink so did she get to sit down and drink it with the purchaser? 3. Did she get an employee discount on top of her commission? 4. Did she drink all of it with herself, or leave it half full and get another drink from another customer? 5. Did she give herself a tip for serving herself? I hope she did not over tip. 6. Since she became a customer, did she buy one of the other girls a lady drink? The life of a waitress is so complicated. Oh well, just some mindless pondering while I attend to the mundane life in the high dessert of Afghanistan. February never looked so far away. Maybe i can make it there in January