PattayaPete

Usually I am smart enough to stay home when the big rain is on. Unfortunately the wife decided to visit Central yesterday for a beauty appointment. At 7pm I got the phone call. No taxis so please come and get me. Arghhhhh. In the end she had to walk from Central to Third Rd because I just could not get through. Driving on third was a nightmare lots of water and lots of mad drivers. In the end we got home just after 9pm So 2 hours to go about 3 kilometers. Here is some of my dash cam footage of the trip.

I just ran BBC 1 for 30 minutes without it freezing. I did not use a VPN but I do have very quick fibre internet.

You can pay at the 7-11. I have yet to find a way to pay power or water online. I did once try to set up a direct debit which I am told is possible. I got the form from the bank and took it to the main power office off Sukhumvit. Stood in a queue for an age and then the cashier had no idea what to do with it. I left it with her but it was never activated.

You can now use Bitcoin to pay for your food and drink at the Pattaya Beer Garden. As far as I know we are the first business in Pattaya to accept Bitcoin for payment. Background Information Bitcoin got off to a rocky start in Thailand when the financial authorities declared it was illegal to use here. There was no law covering Bitcoin but an opinion was given and most people (including me) decided to wait and see. We waited and what we have seen is that the same financial authority came out this week and say it is not really illegal although if you were to buy Bitcoin in Thai Baht

Left turn on red is allowed by default. It is only not allowed when there is a sign disallowing it. The signs in Pattaya have a red left arrow and some English writing that is very ambiguous. So, if no sign, proceed with caution. If there is a sign, regardless of what you think it might mean, wait for the green.

OOOh can I have a go too :-) I have studied color and correcting photos and videos for years. I still suck at it. It is very much a subjective subject but I think the more you do it the better you get. Looking at Patna's correction, he improved the skin tones but ended up with a harsher picture which I did not like. Therefore had to have a go myself. In my version I adjusted all the colors saturation level individually, used a noise reduction filter and sharpened the final result, all in photoshop. Learning color correction can improve you photos remarkably but it's a real rabbit hol

This change is working for me. I pass through that intersection everyday and it is often congested with long delays caused by traffic merging at the next intersection - Pratamnak and Thappraya. If coming from Jomtien then a left turn into Pratamnak at the police box opposite Sugar Hut gives you a straight run to 2nd Rd with very little delay. If you are starting north of that intersection then a left turn at Thappraya and 3rd and a right turn at Pratamnak works well. Overall this has probably reduced my trip time by 3 - 5 minutes.

Gimmble, my apologies that our service was not up to scratch. We have a simple and straight forward rule at the Beer Garden and that is . . . . if you are not happy with any aspect of our service we will give you a full refund, no questions asked. This is fully explained in the "Guarantee" which is included in every menu. To get the refund you MUST ask to speak with the Duty Manager. One is always on duty. The Beer Garden is open 18 hours a day and serves well over 2,000 meals every day. That's a lot of hours and a lot of meals. It is not possible for me to personally be there c

It's on Soi 16, South Pattaya Rd. Drive down South Pattaya Rd towards Sukhumvit. Past Third Rd, turn left on Soi 16. It's just inside the Soi on the right. Can't remember what the sign says but it's a standard Thai foot and oil massage place downstairs. Nigel operates from a much bigger room upstairs. Best to phone for an appointment first.

Many years ago I injured my back in a drunken fall. Tried many things to get rid of the pain to no avail. I then reluctantly tried a chiropractor who magically fixed it in less than 10 minutes. So I'm now sold on the idea. Ever since then the pain returns every three years or so and another visit to a Chiropractor sorts me out for another 3 years. The I moved to Pattaya. Three years on and I'm in need of an adjustment so I searched out and found David Peck. I instantly did not like this guy. As mentioned above his bed side manner is horrible but I could live with that if he could fix

The blueish one is Baan Hadd U-Thong condo and the white one is an hotel with mainly russian and korean guests.

You can catch a baht bus on Pratamnak near Soi 5. They are less frequent than Thappraya Rd but I'd guess no more than a five minute wait. It's not on the published route for coming back. You'll need to hire one specifically - cost 150 - 300 baht. There are plenty of 7/11s close at hand. The nearest supermarket is on Thappraya near Theprasit Rd. Maybe a 15 minute walk. Soi Diamond to Soi 5 would be about a 25 minute walk. A lot of it up hill.

It's a question as old as this board. Relying on what others say is bound to get you into trouble because the cost varies according to YOUR attributes. I've come up with this handy table to help you calculate the correct amount. All calculations are based on long time. For short time you should pay 66% of the calculated rate. Base Charge 1,000 Upmarket bar add 500 Downmarket bar subtract 200 Girl 1 -5 add 0 Girl 6 - 8 add 300 Girl 9 - 10 stunner add 500 You are over 70 add 500 you are over 50 add 300 you are under 30 subtract 200 You are fat add 300 You are skinny add 300 Y

Well we did not make our Saturday opening target. It was always an ambitious target to finish it in 6 days but I didn't want to extend the target as we would undoubtedly have missed any new target as well. Things are looking good for re-opening the kitchen tomorrow (Monday 19th) around 6 pm. I'm actually very pleased with the work done and the staff are looking forward to getting to grips with all the new flash equipment. Monday night service might be a little slow as we bed in all the new gear and the new menu.

Wine is expensive in Thailand because of a very high tax. Having said that we try real hard to find good wine at reasonable prices and our markup on wine is very low. Over the last few weeks I have made the extreme sacrifice of tasting over 30 bottles of wine (provided free by our suppliers) to try and find some bargains. We do sell by the glass at 110 baht and bottles range from 750 to 1,380 although we do also stock Moet and Chandon Champagne for 4,950 baht a bottle.

Yes, it's a completely new wine list although at the lower end of the price bracket. Some very nice Aussi wines and a great New Zealand white too.

After months of planning and hair pulling we will be ripping the old kitchen apart this week and installing a better bigger version. The work starts in the early hours of Monday morning and if the Thai gods are willing will be completed on Friday 16 September. The brand new kitchen should be in full operation again on Saturday. We have always struggled to meet demand in the high season but with the new bigger kitchen there will be 4 more cooking positions and more space for preparation and refrigeration. With the extra staff and equipment we hope to provide a better service this high se

The latest craze sweeping Thailand is the band Turbo and their song "Itchy Ears". The title and the actions may seem a little at odds with each other unless you know that the vulgar Thai word for a females genitals is "hee" and the Thai word for ears is "hoo". Hoo is often used as an euphemism for hee. Now enjoy the video :-) Nine million hits and counting . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkjbnjJlFDk

Suicides happen everywhere and in far greater numbers than you probably realize. The western media do not report suicides generally as it is something which engenders copy cats. Thai media has no such qualms so you hear far more about it here. The Thai police do not usually cover up murders unless they have some financial involvement. One case I have never forgotten was an acquaintance of mine who was found dead in his room. He had a plastic bag over his head and his hands were handcuffed behind his back. Police verdict, suicide - forum opinion, obviously murder. The reality was

Thanks for the feedback. I apologize unreservedly for any aspect of our service which has not been up to standard. As always if you are not happy with any aspect of the service at the Beer Garden then we will happily refund your money. Our guarantee to that effect is printed in every menu and all managers know they must honor it. Secondly I'd like to assure everyone that I am as involved as ever in the operation and have no intention of selling out or lowering my involvement. I believe we produce a consistent product most of the time but I know we do slip up occasionally. I am hap

Joe you are struggling with this one. Who told you most people want a bill with itemized tax and service. If that were true then all the other businesses around would do that as well. The butcher, the baker the candle stick maker, the supermarket the book store, the go go bar even little Noi's Som Tum stall on Soi Joesadreamer. Restaurants and hotels are not a special category as far as billing and tax goes. They are under the same law as every other business. They are not providing a service by doing this but duping their customers into believing that prices are cheaper than they rea

I think as I live here and run a restaurant my understanding maybe a bit better than yours Joe. Yes we have to pay VAT and taxes. As you rightly say 7% vat and normal company tax. However we do not add this to a customer's bill or deduct the amounts from the menu price list and put a little ++ at the bottom of the page. Like all responsible, honest businesses we calculate our prices knowing that we will have to pay VAT and tax. Our price on the Menu is what the customer pays. We take care of the tax. The first + in your "not shit hole establishment" is the vat, the second + is the

Mr T's service was fine by Thai standards. The OP made the common mistake of assuming service in Thailand would be the same as his home country. It's not! Lesson learned I presume. Most taxi drivers in Thailand have no idea where anything is. That's why you can get a taxi to take you 120 kilometers for $35. How much would it cost in the US. Much more but then you would expect the driver to know how to get you anywhere. You get what you pay for! The only taxis I use are in Thailand are the Bangkok ones. I do not get into one unless I know where I am going and how to get there

I was raised in New Zealand where tipping was virtually unheard of. It's changing a little now and is more common as this pernicious habit spreads from other countries. I hate the American system and think it is fundamentally wrong. People should be paid a fair wage for a fair days work. Tips should be recognized as a bonus received for exemplary service, not part of making a basic living. If someone is paid half the minimum wage then the whole concept of a minimum wage is a joke. Clearly the minimum wage is not the minimum wage. Once I started traveling I was very uncomfortabl

All truth passes through 3 stages First it is ridiculed Second it’s violently opposed Third it is accepted as self evident That’s a quote from the movie documentary “House of Numbers”. A film that looks at the current and previous state of Aids research through the eyes of many notable and well qualified researchers. The film reaches no conclusion on the validity of Aids as we currently see it but it clearly shows there are very divergent opinions among those who should be in the know. I’d thoroughly recommend that anyone with an interest in Aids watches this documentary. It i