Sa-teef

I've stayed at Keerati Home Stay, eaten at several of the restaurants and visited several bars and both of the ago-go's on Soi LK Metro. It's an up and coming area without a doubt. I've stayed at Jasmine Mansion just around the corner and there are a wealth of good eating and drinking places in the other side streets nearby. I've stayed on or near the place for all of the 3 1/2 months I spent in Pattaya this year. It will never be a Walking Street but it can be a very enjoyable area. A lot of potential in the businesses located in the area I think. Agree with you about the food in Soi Chaiyapoon. I've had the fish and chips at Canterbury Tales, Neeroys and Seaside and they were all good food at a very reasonable price. ~Sa-teef

Ah Ruskiehat! Your class far exceeds my budget! I think I am firmly planted as a cheap charlie in my eating habits in Pattaya, mainly because I don't feel the need to seek out the finest restaurants. So many of the of value priced places satisfy my simple palat I'm afraid! And how interesting Emil that three of your favorites are also mine now! "1. White Knight buffet on Soi VC, don't let the gay area scare you away. 2. Cherry restaurant 3. Vientienne on Walking St, haven't tried the one near the Big C on Pattaya Tai. 4. Num Chai on Soi Buakaow 5 Thai Bar b Que buffet joint on 3RD Rd, the one near the snooker place." A very recent convert to White Knight! Great buffet dinner. Vientienne has a wonderfully wide selection of thai food and I haven't had anything there I didn't enjoy. Numchai on Soi Bhuakow. Vientienne without the ocean view or table clothes. Very reasonable prices. Sportsman on Soi 13. Still my favorite english breakfast establishment. Chickabob on Soi Diamond, Walking Street. And the classy lady who runs it always gets the spices just right for my taste. If I'm eating from there I know I've had a wild night on the town! ~Sa-teef

Trying to think like a Thai and knowing what part of town they are familiar with or think you would like to stay in might help a little? There is the P J Inn out on Soi Sukradee off Pattaya Klang that is a pretty Thai place: Look for this sign off Pattaya Klang: There is the B R Inn on Soi 12 between Beach Rd and Second Rd: And there is also the K K Inn just south of the Pattaya Tai/Second Rd intersection just off of Walking Street: It could be any of those. B's and P's...............K's and R's get a little confusing for Thais sometimes. Good luck, Sa-teef

"I think this deposit requirement is relatively new as I checked the website a few months ago and I do not recall seeing it. " Yes, it's new. When I made my reservation for May '05 it wasn't required. The day I walked in he told me rather sarcasticly that he was surprised to see me since Americans all pull no-shows! Quite a way to impress your customers: insult their country of origin with the first handshake? ~Sa-teef

The Thai kareoke was operational in '05 when I was staying there. They would finally shut-down around dawn, and then three days a week they were pounding stakes into the ground with sledge hammers right outside your window about that same time! When I stayed there: -there were bugs in the kitchen and bathroom, -the linen was paper thin, -the beds were horribly uncomfortable for me. I woke with a backache most of the days. -there is NO SECURITY because they leave the supposedly locked entrance to the apartments blocked open most of the day and night. that entrance is open to the dirt lot. On the plus side: -the rooms are quite roomy. -the furniture is new and relatively unused (circa 2005). -they are working to keep the place up. I saw lots of painting and repairs going on during my short stay. I would never consider staying there or on the market lot again. But you can inspect it yourself (do check the noise level at night!) and come to your own conclusions. ~Sa-teef

Two votes for Jasmine Mansion. I stayed there for ten days in April and if I was doing another short stay that would be my first choice. There is no lift, so if a couple flights of stairs would be a problem for you it might not be the right hotel. But I agree with the other poster in all respects. It's kept very clean (think it's only been around for two years) and Kevin or Jin seem always available for any questions or issues. The staff was top notch when I was there and I found it very good value. I've posted a review of it in the hotel review section as Vikingfan. ~Sa-teef

It was origianlly written a couple of years ago and not by John Cleese. Completely debunked at the time. Can't you find anything original or new? ~Sa-teef

I won't be using him again. I had a reservation for Sept 2nd 00:30 hour and his driver pulled a no show. I tried calling the two numbers supplied and there was no answer. This is two out of three efforts to use his service with unsatisfactory results. NEVER AGAIN!!!! ~Sa-teef

Yes, a good Brandywine or Arkansas Traveler tomato is hard to beat! You might experiment with some open pollinated varieties and consider screening them with cheesecloth to limit the amount of direct sun they get. Quite a few varieties blossom and set fruit based on length of day so you may have to do some research to find out what is appropriate in Thailand. There must be an agricultural extension office in most areas of Thailand, and finding one of those guys or a prof at a Radgie who teaches the subject would have you sitting pretty. Get this worked out and write down what works becasue I'll be doing the same in a few short years! ~Sa-teef

Nice work again , Monkeyman! Your hospital story is good: "One of the local hospitals recently conducted some practical training for large-scale road accidents in Thailand by simulating an accident scene. Nice thought boys, but wouldn’t it have been easier to hang around for a few minutes and wait for a real one?" But the best hospital story of the month had to be the one where the guy jumps from the window of one hospital and they call an ambulance to take him all the way across town to ANOTHER HOSPITAL? that one defies even thai logic.... Thanks for brightenning up our day! ~Sa-teef

"EVA Air is primarily a shipping, as in freight, company and the Boeing 747s I've personally seen EVA use have all been Combi-s" I think I've been on both varieties on EVA, but I wouldn't bet money on it. Either way, I love flying triple 7's so it was good news to me! NOT that I want to argue the point, but it looks like you may have got your information from the Boeing website: Boeing Aircraft 365 seats in a 22/70/273 configuration. But the EVA website describes their fleet in a little different terms: EVA fleet 316 seats in a 42/63/211 configuration. They probably generate nearly the same amount of revenue with the larger number of premium seats with less weight and operating expenses. Their fleet information shows : 6- 744's, 9-744 combis, 3 744F's with seating from 368-386 on the 744's to 272 seats for the 744Combis ========================================== My September and November trips on Korean Airlines will be 744's from ORD to Seoul and 777-300's from Seoul to BKK. I'm looking forward to the trips for more than one reason! ~Sa-teef

Long waits are going to be more common I think. From the Bureau of Transportation Statistics: "Thursday, July 13, 2006 - U.S. airlines carried 0.5 percent more domestic and international passengers and flew 4.8 percent fewer flights on their systems during the first four months of 2006 than they did during the same period in 2005" US Flight Stats It's a fact of life with higher fuel prices I think. The airlines have to cut costs everywhere they possibly can to hope to make a profit. I noticed on EVA's website they will be adding two more triple 7's to their routes to the USA this year. By 2009 they will have a total of twelve 777-300ER's serving their USA routes, replacing all their present 747-400s. Smaller, more fuel efficient planes mean they can hold the line on costs and we are ultimately ahead, but at the price of having fewer options sometimes. I haven't flown Korean Air for nearly ten years, but I'll be doing it twice on trips to LOS this fall. If this string is still around I'll give you my honest opinion afterwards. ~Sa-teef

Kevin and Jin, the propriators at Jasmine Mansion are in the process of renovationing a building for long stay occupants. Their hotel is reviewed in the hotel section here and if I was staying four months Kevin would be a good starting point for a long stay place. You might consider contacting them depending on the time frame of your stay. kpm217@yahoo.com Or alternately, you might consider staying there the first couple days and searching on the ground. As OnMyWay has said, many of the best buys will not generally be available on the web. The one bedroom apartment I'm staying in for the month in September @ 15k has no e-mail or website. You just have to do a little looking around on the ground. And that's kind of interesting in itself as you found out before. Good luck, ~Sa-teef

Well over in that neighborhood you knew I'd have some pics of it, didn't ya? But not many. I was busy and didn't make it inside to see any of the rooms. The lobby area looked nice. I'll try to take the nickel tour in September and get some pics. ~Sa-teef I'm sure those are rack rates which will de deeply discounted. Let's not forget the Mercure' (sp) is over in "that area" as well as the LK Metropole and they both seem to be pretty busy? LK Mansions is on a side street off Soi Bhuakow near Central and the hospital. The LK Group didn't come to own a third of the real estate in Pattaya by happenstance.

Soi LK Metro is basicly a long two blocks long with a 90 degree turn in the middle. It runs between Soi Diana Inn and Soi Bhuakow. You are surrounded by good, reasonably priced restaurants on adjoining streets and there must be 3-4 places on that street as well that serve food. Bars are everywhere, with two ago-gos and lolitas also on the street. I stayed at Keerati Home Stay at the Soi Diana Inn end of the street for the month of June: I never had any issues with noice to be honest with you? I stopped several times at Metro the last ten days of April when I was in town and tried to look at a room, but they were always booked solid. I guess that might say something about the place as well? ~Sa-teef

I used Mr Toom's service on 1 June for a pick-up at the airport heading to Pattaya. The driver was waiting for me with my name on a sign board as advised. A good, safe driver in a clean Toyota. Polite and professional in every way and got me to Pattaya safely. I had a 4:30 am pick-up heading to the airport on 30 June and that did not go so well. The driver was early and all seemed okay at first. An older gentleman in a ancient 940 Volvo. He was driving VERY SLOWLY the entire time through Pattaya and never seemd to pick-up the pace once we were out on the expressway. He kept it EXTREMELY COLD in the car and eventually I realized that he was very tired and trying to stay awake! His driving was irratic, wandering across lanes (far more than the usual thai driver! ) and his speed varied from 60 kph to 100 kph and back again, constantly. The lights on the dashboard kept blinking off and he hit the dashboard and they would pop back on...sometimes! It took us 2 1/2 hours to make it to Bangkok. At that hour of the day most drivers make it in 1 hr 30-40 minutes. I nearly kissed the ground when I got out at the airport! I was going to take his license plate number to report to Toom, but the plate on the back of the car was missing! I contacted Mr Toom via e-mail, but it didn't sound like there were any repercussions on the driver for this experience. I am debating whether to ever use Mr Toom again. I would advise anyone who has this driver in a old 940 Volvo to NOT GET INTO THE CAR if he shows up to pick you up! On the board it's all about feeback and sharing the good with the bad. I've had some of both with Mr. Toom's service. ~Sa-teef

I had a rather bad experience with one of Toom's drivers on the 30th of June. I e-mailed Toom and got apologizes but no assurance that the driver was disiplined or questioned in the matter. I'll post the whole story in the rides section...... ~Sa-teef

I stayed there for eight days in April and was happy with my stay. I had the 800 baht suite in the back fo the building but if I stay again I would likely opt for the standard rooms in the front with a balcony. "good hotel, great staff especially the cute receptionist!" Yes indeed! She has sort of an English twang to her voice which was endearing! Picked it up from boyfriend you figure? Assuming you're talking about the young one and not Kevin's wife Jin, who is attactive and very helpful from my experience. A good place. I posted a review in the hotel review section. ~Sa-teef

Yes, all orders that I have had there come with a dinner roll and a BIG SALAD! The baked pasta night (it was lasagna and rigatoni or something along that line) was excellent IMO. I'll be staying over in that neighborhood in September so it looks like HB and I will be dining together regularly..... ~Sa-teef

Another classic from our resident mammalian cousin! Great stuff and always enjoyed. Thanks for the efforts, ~Sa-teef

Nice work! I'm in awe. I would empty the bank account for that threesome in the middle! ~Sa-teef

"I thought Shilo's comment on not giving a rat's ass on what he left behind for his kids was a little harsh.I thought that he was going to follow up by saying that he had no kids and thats why he didn't care............apparently not.....lol I guess i'll never understand the mindset of many Americans that i encounter on this board." I think it is entirely Shilo's perogative what he does with his money. And I think there is an entire separate section open to Yank-bashing for you! If I buy real estate at all in LOS I would never dump it on my kids to dispose of it. Far better to give it to a local charity in my mind, but always UP2U. With the exception of inflation in rents paid and posible appreciation in real estate owned, I think your assumptions are very good Shilo. Approaching a major decision like owning property should be done with care. You've got the right idea. ~Sa-teef

I'm sure you see plenty of LP taxis in Bangkok, Dave. I used to anyway, and I'm an old fart remember! I scheduled Mr Toom earlier this week and he was back to me in less than three hours! Still quoted the 1200 baht all up price to me. I'll post how his driver does (like I can keep my mouth shut about anything?) after I'm in Pattaya. ~Sa-teef

Incase Mark doesn't see this...... You might PM OnMyWay about his experiences there. Don't recall they were real positive. Or do a search better yet of Stereo...in the last six months or so..? ~Sa-teef

Just to show you I have a sense of humor...... -------------------------------------------------------------- Donald Rumsfeld briefed the President this morning. He told Bush that 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To Rumsfeld's amazement, all of the color ran from Bush's face, then he collapsed onto his desk, head in hands, visibly shaken, almost whimpering. Finally, he composed himself and asked Rumsfeld, "Just exactly how many is a brazillion?" ~Sa-teef