CheshireTom

Don't forget the (in)famous and oft-derided full English brekkie.

You're not very good at this geography lark - it's a bit silly to describe French cuisine as "Mediterranean". A couple of regions are on the Med, the other 25 or so aren't. Correct. We are talking about Thailand. Except that the Adriatic, Bay of Biscay and English Channel aren't part of the Mediterranean and, as you've already pointed out, you're only talking about some, undefined, Thai seafood. Pizza Company, Gabor. Pizza Company. You should try it. They have an Italian promotion running at the moment. And what has Italian-American cuisine got to do with Croatia or Thailand? It's called Spaghetti alle vongole in Italy. Not too difficult to make .... err, some spaghetti, some clams and some vongole sauce from Tops. Or, are you going to claim that "my clam is different"? Pizza Company is Thai. Same, same, the Thais have lots of different kinds of curries.

FFS! If you're going to jump in, at least try and get to grips with reality beforehand. 1. One player (Fenwick) was on a yellow card. It was his third yellow card of the tournament and he, as well as the aptly named Butcher, were lucky not to be sent off after various assaults on Maradona. As for "rediculous diving" ... around 8' 50" is the offending dive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhz-Xk1ggM

What has French and Italian cooking got to do with Croatia? If you want food done French or Italian style in Thailand just visit a French or Italian restaurant - there are hundreds dotted all over the place. As for your "pasta alle vongole" nonsense - better known as "spaghetti clam sauce" as sold in Pizza Company.

Good post! Any decent response would probably be made over a couple of bottles of red on a Saturday night. Where to start ....... ? Ah, yes - Tommy Walker. He was actually the Hearts manager by the time I became a regular at Gorgie in 1964/65, but his reign over the glory days of the late 50s/early 60s was coming to an end. To be fair, he was aware that no team could comprise 11 gentlemen, hence his signing and development of players such as the great Dave Mackay and Alex Young. However, he did sign Donald Ford who, avoided being booked during his entire playing career (one booking he did get was thrown out on appeal - something to do with being a bit too accurate when throwing the ball to/at the ref. The booking was overturned when it was pointed out that he was also a cricketer of some repute). Scots didn't laugh at Maradona's "Hand of God". They laughed at the English media's attempts to use it as an excuse to gloss over the little man's brilliant second goal. Enjoy ..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-kXwjASEE&feature=related Mmmmmm, Lineker! Makes Berbatov look like a fucking workaholic. It's no wonder he never got booked. He never dirtied his shorts either - well, except for the time he shit himself against the Irish. You're conveniently glossing over the fact that the behaviour of football crowds in general, and Liverpool in particular, was under the spotlight post Hillsborough (the actual game had been delayed because of the events in Sheffield IIRC) and the Arsenal team had made presentations to the Liverpool fans before the game.

All Thai seafood? How do you arrive at that conclusion?

Only if it's valid. If not, it's just a piece of plastic.

Cheats? I don't know which was more pathetic - Williams attempt at cheating, or the crowds reaction to her getting called on it.

Does your average western monger spend 10,000 quid a year in Pattaya? That's 12k Baht a day, every day for six weeks. I seriously doubt it. Odessa has some obvious downsides.

There's plenty of up-to-date DIY info on Thai Visa. Basically, fly to/from Udon Thani (for Vientiane) and take things from there.

The pic was taken from the opposite end of the bay from the Immigration Office.

And, this being Thailand, if you want your Pattaya Beach to be the one with soft white sand, clear blue seas, no high rise hotels/baht buses etc etc it's readily available. You just have to know where to look.

It comes over the border from Malaysia. The same stuff is available in KL.

I don't think anyone's suggested that they are actively pursuing the British "all-inclusive" punter. Unless of course, there are plans to open Butlins in Naklua. Unlike some folks in London, access to unlimited amounts of cheap local booze isn't really a priority for most folk planning a holiday. It certainly won't affect the Indians, Chinese or Russians who are going to Pattaya either. Unfortunately for Olga and Boris, it's a fucking long way from Vladivostock to Skegness. So they might just settle on Pattaya. Folk have been saying the same thing about the Royal Cliff for the last 35 years.

I'll give you a hint. Take a trip up Pattaya Park Tower - or have a look at Google earth - and you might be able to identify the small part of Pattaya where mongers are of any importance. And how do you reach that conclusion? You mean its main attraction for you. I believe MBK has already purchased the land for the next one. Is that why all these international corporations insist on building them - because they don't fill up? I would hazard a guess that you have no idea how much the folk staying at the Centara, Royal Cliff or Sheraton are spending. You seem to want to insist that all non-monger tourists are piss poor and the mongers are the ones with the cash. Aye. Second Rd and Sois 1, 2, 3 and 4 seemed like a good idea 18 months ago. The tourists don't really bother me much, except the hordes to dodge when they're crossing Beach Rd. You hope.

That kinda proves my point, does it not? The 5* hotels aren't aimed at the dontchas of this world. I forget very little. I actually said "It looks like a decent room". You could add Irish, British and American to that list.

Compared to whom? Is that what you refer to as the local economy? Sure. All these 5* hotels and shopping malls are being built for the dontchas of this world. Not! On their 500 baht guesthouses and their 40 Baht draft beers. Stereotyping I know, but no more so than your "cheap people" reference. Bad news for those that own a bar. They're certainly competing for the same workspace. The trouble is that "back where they came from", there is another couple of billion waiting to replace them.

Judging by the logo, presumably it's the Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital at Sattahip. Despite its name, it treats local folk as well as the navy. The 50% surcharge for foreigners is actually a bit of a bargain IMO.

I've seen Adidas All Blacks and Argentina jerseys in Had Yai , but I'm not convinced they're copies - and you'll have to pay 600 Baht upwards for them. No sign whatsoever of any of the other teams' shirts. I bought some Adidas Lions shirts from the same source 2 years ago and if they aren't genuine, I can't tell the difference.

Err, the whole point of the OP is that things are going to change. Apparently there are some cracking young birds in Ulan Bator.

What's a first world beach? Blackpool? Margate? Bournemouth?

I think that some folk don't appreciate the extent of industrialisation of the area surrounding Pattaya and the amount of money that brings into the city. The same folk probably think that the nice new roads from BKK were all built so that mongers could get from BKK to Soi 6 in the shortest time possible. Of course, it may just be that Amari, Centara, Hilton, IHG, Sheraton, Marriott. Central Pattana, MBK, Tesco, BigC etc etc have all got their numbers wrong ...... There's a good recent article here.

Most of my early pics are in albums which are in storage in UK - I have no idea how these pics ended up in Thailand with me. The lass at the floating market seemed happy to see me. A view from the river (Kwai Noi?) when I was headed to Chung Kai. A typical river scene when headed up to Nam Tok on the train. A couple of geezers who appeared in the forest up at Nam Tok. I'm convinced it was some sort of tourist scam. A stop at Nakhon Pathom on the road to Kanchanaburi was obligatory. It possibly still is. My first trip to Sukhothai. Everybody should try and do a couple of days at the historical park at some time in their travels. It's hard to imagine what the Thais were building while the main man back in Scotland was sat in a cave watching spiders. This guy (Mick White?) was responsible for getting me interested in golf enough to actually hit a course or two. He owned the pub (Red Lion) opposite what would become the FLB, as well as The Cherry Tree out towards Siam Country Club. Both places were really well managed and done great food. I'm not sure about the staff at both places though - there was something about the set-up that made me a bit uncomfortable. The ex-missus took no time at all in adapting to things in the UK.

The Bangkok service commences with the winter schedule i.e. from 31 Oct.

Restaurants are pretty much a personal opinion thing. I haven't been in it for almost 2 years but it would rate as one of my favourite three or four favourite restaurants in Pattaya. They do serve Thai food and have a pretty decent website. Mata Hari As an aside, are you the same guy that recommended Chang Lemon and Lime Soda Water?