PattayaPete

Misunderstandings between Thai and Farang often lead both parties to assume the other is stupid. After living here for a while I just ignore the small miss-communications that seem to part of every day life. The problem is it can be hard to explain why these little problems occur however I recently came across a crystal clear example which is easily tested by anybody. It started with a friend of mind lamenting that his Thai girl was stupid. Why? Well he was paying her 5,000 baht a week and she suggested to him she would prefer to get 20,000 baht lump sum a month. When he told her that he actually pays her more than 20,000 baht a month she did not believe him. Four weeks in a month, 5,000 a week = 20,000 a month and she could not be persuaded otherwise. He asked her how many weeks in a year and she had no idea. Hence he deduced that she was stupid and began immediately to pay her 20,000 a month thus saving himself 20.000 baht a year. The story got me thinking and so I asked a whole bunch of Thais how many weeks are there in a year. I asked waitresses, dancers, bar girls and managers and even a few university graduates. No one knew. Not one person. Most people just looked at me with that "stupid farang" look and professed to have no idea what the answer was. Some of the smarter ones did the math . . . 4 weeks in a month, 12 months in a year duh, that would be 48 weeks. So then I got to thinking, well how do I know there are 52 weeks in a year. I asked quite a few farangs and not surprisingly everyone knew the answer is 52. Clever farangs and stupid farangs alike, all knew the answer. When I asked them how they know, no one could remember. They just knew. What I have deduced from this is that for some reason farang culture has decided that the number of weeks in a year is an important bit of information to impart to our children where as Thai culture places no importance on this information. Therefore a farang not knowing could perhaps be thought to be not so bright where as a Thai not knowing is normal. Why farangs consider this information important, I have no idea. This is a very minor thing but there are hundreds of examples of things we know and Thais know and we each assume the other knows. Many of these things we only know or the Thais only know because for some unfathomable reason our respective cultures have decided it is important to know that. Different cultures emphasis different facts and we are all a bit stupid when dealing with a different culture. That's my theory anyway. Postscript. I was quite surprised to find on further investigation that 52 is actually the wrong answer. The correct answer is 52.14 or 52 weeks and one day in a normal year and 52.28 or 52 weeks and 2 days in a leap year. I guess I am not as smart as I thought I was

Well I can attest to the fact that I've known BigD for many many years and he has often posted nice things about my places on the forums. He has never asked me for any discount.

I apologize unreservedly to anyone who gets less that top service and food at The Pattaya Beer Garden. We strive to be the best that we can and when we fail to meet our high objectives it distresses me. My distress however does not compensate customers who have a less than stellar experience. We do however have some policies in place to do just that. On the last page of the Menu you will find our guarantee that your experience at the Beer Garden will be a good one. If it is not then you may request an item be replaced or a full refund given. All managers and staff understand this guarantee and that the person who decides what is unacceptable is the customer. In the unlikely event that the guarantee is not honored in a timely and friendly fashion by the staff or Duty Managers there is an email address (info@pattayabeergarden.com) that you may write to for a double refund. I get those emails. We have two Duty Manager during the day shift and at night two Duty Managers and two Assistant Managers, patrolling the Beer Garden. They all wear name badges identifying their position. There job is to spot problems before they occur or to fix them immediately they do occur. If you experience any problem please ask to speak with one of them. They are pretty good at fixing things and are trained to do so with minimum fuss. I’d like to cover some of the things mentioned above. I am not making excuses but would like to point out where problems can occur and what we do about them. STAFF: We have over 60 staff and although our management and cooking teams remain stable there is always a fairly high turn over in serving staff. The skill level of serving staff will vary. Some have been with us since day 1 but we always have new people starting. They all receive training but some are no doubt better than others. They all pass a basic English test but new staff can have difficulty understanding some customers. If your server is inadequate ask for the Duty Manager. They will take over serving you and also note the staff member who caused the problem and put them in for further training. FOOD NOT HOT: This seems to be more of a problem at this time of year. The cool winds that make the Beer Garden so pleasant can also cause food to cool down very quickly. Managers are aware of this and make considerable effort to get the food to the tables quickly once it is cooked. A delay of just a couple of minutes can make a big difference. If we mess up please do send the food back or request a refund. We never expect customers to eat cold food. BUGS. Yes it is a constant battle to keep the bugs under control. The Beer Garden is sprayed by a professional bug control company once a month and the kitchen is sprayed every night after closing time. It’s an endless battle in Pattaya but we do all we can including maintaining high hygiene standards in the kitchen. Som Tum corner, where customers may make free Som Tum for themselves is cleaned every 30 minutes by the cleaning staff. However as customers are making the food themselves we can not control the cleanliness they exhibit. Som Tum is on the Menu for 60 baht and may be ordered from the kitchen. If you choose to make it yourself for free then it may be necessary to clean up after a messy customer. WHERE’S PATTAYAPETE. The Beer Garden is open 16 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is obviously impossible for me to be there all the time or even a majority of the time. That’s why we have so many Duty Managers and Assistant Managers in place. I am there most evenings between 7 and 10 pm but I maintain a low profile. Our Managers have to be able to deal with all problems that arise without relying on me or Ann. When they fail to do so I really do appreciate receiving an email or having details posted on the forums. I take all complaints seriously and they are always followed up and where possible improvements made. WHY WE HAVE A GUARANTEE Ideally we would provide top service every time to every customer. Sadly I know we fall short of this ideal. The Beer Garden is one of the busiest restaurants in Pattaya and we serve well over 500 meals every day. That’s a lot of meals and a lot of chances for something to go wrong. The reality of dealing with Thai staff can be daunting. The level of service we require our staff to give does not come naturally to a lot of Thais. We pay our service staff well and do expect them to strive hard to reach the required levels of service. However striving and reaching are two different things and some do not make the grade. New staff have a month to reach the levels we require. Some make it, some don’t but while they are learning all probably fall short at one time or another. That’s why we have a guarantee and will cheerfully refund your money when we don’t meet your required standards. Sorry for being so long winded but I really do care and will make every effort to ensure our customers have a good experience. My passion for achieving this can be a bit wordy :-)

Any wifi router can do this. You don't need a modem, just a wifi router. An easier solution is to bring any Android cell phone as long as its running Android 2.2 or later. Android comes with a free app that will turn your phone into a wifi distribution point.

Most of the tracks are on 6 day rotate. That means they play once every 6 days and that could be at any time during the 16 hours we are open each day. The current stuff rotates a bit faster depending on how current. The hottest tracks play once every 2 days. In radio terms that means you are unlikely to hear the same track twice in a week of constant visiting for long periods. I once worked on one radio station that had hot tracks on a 90 minute rotate. Now that did get repetitive.

Bodfish, I only have one Adam Ant song on the play list - Goody Two Shoes. Just did a search of my fairly extensive video resources and can't get a copy of Friend or Foe. I could add Stand and Deliver but I thought it was a bit naff :-)

Around 300 baht but be careful. A lot of so called Blu-Ray disks are actually re-encoded blu-rays written to a DVD 9. I've seen a few with 25 gb (25 gigabyte) written across the cover and these have been genuine BR disks.

I've put the reserved sign on your seat already Spring.

I've been reading the topic every day LTGTR. Not much for me to add apart from a thank you for the feedback to those who replied. I realize that this is not a scientific pole but it's nice to know that a lot of people think I'm on the right track with the music.

I am quite passionate about the music we play in the Beer Garden. I have a background in radio broadcasting and have dealt with music for the masses for a long time. Selecting music in a Pattaya venue is a difficult task because there is such a wide variety of visitors. We have old, young and middle aged people, cultures of every variety and in general people who grew up to very different styles of music. It's clearly not possible to please all of the people all of the time. I'd describe the beer garden music as predominantly classic rock and pop, a little bit edgy but reasonably main stream. I get a lot of very positive comments on the music but also a few knock backs. Here's an email I just got and my response. "Can u please improve the music. The staff were excelent. Specially didi and superatne. The food was good too, the veiws were breath taking. If you fix the music I think I will live here Sent from my iPhone and my reply Hi Priya The music at the Beer Garden is a mix of classic rock and pop with just a little contemporary music mixed in. It is targeted at farang men aged between 30 and 60. I understand that not everyone will like this type of music but it does appeal to a majority of our customers. If you know Pattaya you will know that most bars play modern music targeted at a younger audience. I have no problem with that but we are trying to do something a little bit different at the beer garden. If you are a serious music lover you might find the beer garden music can broaden your music appreciation. Most of the songs are from a time when rock music was at it's strongest and lots of trends that have influenced current music were being established. The hip hop and dance music of today for example had its roots in 70s disco music. I am pleased the staff, food, and views were to your liking. If you are in the beer garden again I'd be happy to talk more about the idea behind the music we play. Regards Peter I know I'll never get the music to satisfy everyone but I do appreciate feedback. If you have an opinion I'd love to hear it in this thread.

I thought about it but decided it would upset the "Chilling" aspect of the Beer Garden. A nice Jazz 3 piece would suit me but not really something you can easily find in Thailand.

The coasters are still in operation (we ran out for a week or so around Songkran). Afternoons there are just people chilling and relaxing eating and drinking at the Beer Garden. The girls do not come till evening time.

This question gets asked occasionally with different answers depending usually on how long ago the answerer was there. Things have changed in the last few months but rather than tell you, I thought I'd show you. The video was mostly shot last Wednesday between 8pm and midnight. That is the time to find girls in The Beer Garden. It was a typical Beer Garden evening, if anything perhaps a bit quieter than normal. No bar fine fee of course.

If you have been following the drive to get more Freelancers into the PBG, I am happy to report we seem to have suddenly got it right (at last) For the last 2 weeks girls outnumber the guys in the bar (as they should) often by 2 or 3 to 1. Between 7pm and midnight there are lots of girls in, looking for Mr Right. We are averaging 30 to 50 girls in the bar at that time with the peak being about 9pm. The old promotions have finished now, but the new one seems to be really doing the job with the girls. Basically, unescorted ladies can drink free, every night of the week between 8 pm and 9 pm. It seems this is the magic that brings in the girls. We have been doing it for the last 2 weeks with marked success. As always its a mixed bag of girls that turn up from the ugly to the sublime. Lots of young stunners though most of the time and plenty of the more experienced variety as well :-) The afternoons have been picking up as well but its still only a few girls turning up at that time. If you are freelancer hunting I'd definitely suggest you check the place out between 7pm and midnight. Other times continue to be hit and miss. Its hard getting photos of the girls as many with to remain anonymous but I'll add a few photos to this post next week to give you an idea of whats going on. Pete

That is exactly right.

Just a reminder that the promotion is still running and will continue through April and maybe beyond. It all happens, every Friday from 4 pm to 9 pm. A few have asked how it is going. It's been a good success on the girls side with lots of new ladies turning up to try there luck. Strangely for a promotion designed to get the girls in early it has resulted in the most girls being in the bar between 9 pm and 10 pm. That's because the normal late crowd still turn up around 9 pm and are bolstered by their sisters who came early for the promotion and stay on for a while. On the guy side it has not been spectacularly successful. We are doing about 5 barfines a night. I budgeted for much more so don't be shy guys. See how the other half live, come in and get barfined. You know you want to :-) PS Don't be shy. I see quite a few hook ups being made but no barfine request. OK, it's only 200 baht but you may as well have it. This is supposed to be fun and it doesn't make you a cheap charlie. Mamasan AE is sad to have so little business.

Biggles, by 8:30 there were 40 girls in the bar and some extraordinarily cute ones as well. I'll keep working at getting them in early but it's a struggle :-)

I'd rate it a mild success Zeus. We had a few ladies in just after 4 pm. About 5 pm 4 absolute stunners arrived, had their drinks and left without anyone approaching them. By 7 pm we had far more ladies than usual and by 9 pm things were really rocking. Over all lots of free drinks for the girls and 5 bar fines for the guys. Of course I want far more but we only started promoting 2 days before the event. These things take time to really take off. The key is word of mouth amongst the girls and more horny guys. The girls side worked well and will only get better. The guys will need more time but I'll keep plugging away.

I gave a guarantee in January last year that we would not raise liquor prices for 1 year. Well that year is now up but the good news is we will still not be raising prices for the foreseeable future. We adjusted a few food prices in November last year but the changes were minor and mainly about getting a better class of steak. As with liquor I have no plans to raise food prices at all this year.

We are promoting to the girls with flyers which set out the full details. Bottled beer, draft beer and Spy Wine cooler as well as soft drinks and a maximum of three per girl per night.

You are right of course agogogaran and people could abuse the promotion. I have been involved with hundreds of promotions over my working life many of which were open to similar abuse. The nice thing is that people that abuse these sort of promotions are in a very small minority. Many business owners are scared to run promotions for fear of such abuse. It's a very minor issue and really should not be of concern. You may not believe it but most people have a good heart and are completely honest. The few ratbags out there have never diminished my belief in the basic goodness of most people.

"What, no freelancers!!!!", I hear people say. Well, yes the Beer Garden does have freelancers and quite a few of them however they rarely turn up before 9pm. Those that do come early rarely find a farang to hook up with so they stop coming in early. A vicious circle really. In the past we have run successful promotions aimed at getting the girls in early. They work, insofar as the girls turn up but as they still don't find any action they soon get bored with it and revert to turning up later. To combat this we are launching a new Friday promotion this week aimed at both sides of the problem. For the girls we will be offering free drinks (yes free) between 4pm and 9 pm on Friday nights. This offer is for unaccompanied girls sitting at either of the two bars. For the guys we are offering Bar Fines between these times. Bar Fines may not sound like much of a promotion but the BIG DIFFERENCE is that WE will pay YOU the bar fine. If you hook up with a freelancer in the Beer Garden between 4 pm and 9 pm on Friday nights, WE will pay YOU a 200 baht bar fine. The 200 baht will be credited to your bill, so that's 3 or 4 extra beers for free. To accommodate this we have appointed Ae as Mamasan. If you want to bar fine a girl, just ask your server and she will bring over Mamasan Ae to sort things out for you. Ae will add the 200 baht credit to your bill. What happens after WE pay YOUR bar fine is as always in Pattaya between you and the girl. We expect you to leave with her but after that you'll need to figure out what happens, yourself. If you do not use the full 200 baht credit, we will not pay it back in cash. You need to spend it or lose it. You can use it on any of our food or drink products. So, the girls drink free and the guys get paid 200 baht for picking up a girl. That has to be a good deal. If it works well on Fridays we may introduce it as a nightly promotion but with shorter hours. You'll hear about it here if we do.

I've ordered and received many, many things from the internet. Had 100% success with arrival of the goods. Customs and duty is a crap shoot. Some stuff just arrives at the door with no duty, some you have to pick up from Bunglamung Post Office and pay the duty that has been assessed when the goods arrived and some you have to go to customs at the port (Lam Chabang), open the goods and let customs inspect them and assess the duty. Biggest thing I have ordered are the freestanding table lamps we use at the Beer Garden. I ordered 40 of them along with chargers at a total cost of well over 40,000 baht. When they arrived I was summoned to the customs office at the port. I noticed a sign on the wall there that said goods under 1,000 baht free, between 1,000 baht and 40,000 baht duty will be assessed as per the book rate and over 40,000 baht an import license is required. Although the value of the lamps was clearly stated on the package the customs guy asked me what they cost and I said (having regard for the sign), 39,000 baht. Ok, he said, 39,000 baht plus 3,000 baht shipping that's 42,000 baht for duty. I thought I was fucked but he decided to let me off the 2,000 baht and I paid duty on 40,000 only. They have a huge book which lists items and the duty payable on them. They never seem to be able to find the right listing though and usually proffer a percentage as a question. If you say OK, it's done but if you quibble with them they may pick a lower percentage and see if you are happy with that. If I have to go to the customs office I also say I do not need a receipt which cuts down on the paper work which seems to take them ages to complete and may may get you a lower price during the percentage negotiations. BTW the lamps came from China and they definitely wanted duty on them.

Stinky, if you mean by licensed that it will run on any network, then yes you can buy them now in Thailand. My phone is like that and I got it in Central on the second floor (32,000 for 3gs). I believe True are also selling non-specific network iphones as well. That means I don't have to jailbreak my phone to use it on AIS (which is what I do) however I still choose to jailbreak it to get access to Cedia apps and also because in version 3.1.2 tethering (using iphone as modem for a lap top) is disabled (so network providers can charge more for this service) PdaNet app restores this functionality but will only run on a jailbroken phone.

You can Jailbreak 3.1.2 with Blackra1n which you can get from http://blackra1n.com/ It works well and its easy to do however once you do it your phone will not restart without running Blackra1n again. (Every time you want to restart your phone). Although that is a bit of a pain its not much of a problem as I am never far from a computer and I never restart my phone. Ran out of battery once but a simple matter to plug it into the computer and run Blackra1n again. Expect a better solution soon.