Bazle

I've just seen this, posted today on a FB group, and think it worth copying here to caution potential users: Hi all. Absolutely loving the bolt taxi app, however last night we had a bit of a sketchy experience.... Halfway through our trip from Jomtien to Pattaya our driver (in a taxi company vehicle) suddenly answered his phone and asked us to get out. His conversation (in Thai) was odd and very brief and he strangely asked us to drop us off ... The location he dropped us at was well lit with people around otherwise we we would not have got out... The very odd thing was as we were waiting for our next bolt driver to arrive a car stopped and tried to pick us up, the driver said to my lady "I am bolt" , but the licence plate did not match the new number in the app we ordered.... Fortunately the correct vehicle arrived very within seconds and we got in the correct vehicle... The whole experience was quite strange, but I wanted to share. Moral of the story is make sure you check the license plate number and be careful... Lord knows what would have happened if we got in that other car... I will be following up through the app with the original driver and report best I can...

Thanks, RT. Interesting write-up. 🙂

Judging by his FB posts, Aidan is still in London.

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/12/04/586-million-baht-project-to-expand-jomtien-beach-to-solve-erosion-issues-continues/?fbclid=IwAR3FTLpmJ1N1iFj2lwOa0GpsOBRJacgmL6_eYPVBHnWFUHVRErOL8UNlQSU “For the first phase which is 3.5 kilometers along Jomtien Beach on the Na Jomtien Southern End we have a 586,047,000 baht budget.” “We have hired an Italian-Thai development public company to do this project. The project contract has started from May 30th, 2020 until November 15th, 2022 and is in total 900 days.” “Sand is being taken from Rang Kwean Island which is about 15 kilometers from Jomtien beach. It is the same sand as we took for Pattaya Beach. The goal is to have a similar beach size for Jomtien Beach as Pattaya Beach was expanded to.” “When the project is complete, the beach will be about 50 meters wide.”

... except for Covid-19! 🙂

Can someone tell me why I should pay for a VPN when there is a free one built into the Opera browser, please?

I've just seen a video a mate posted on FB of the devastation of the beach by the rains last night. It looks like the new drainage has had very little effect.

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/2/154480/Thai-baht-slides-after-finance-minister-quits?fbclid=IwAR0OU7OR6dImg2V0GuewjPCW67U3prUbtyqaHmLAd30n-HSclBH_uklRnNA Thai baht slides after finance minister quits Business | 2 Sep 2020 11:31 am Thailand’s finance minister resigned less than a month after he took office, injecting more uncertainty into an economy already reeling from its worst crisis in decades. The currency tumbled the most since July. The resignation of Predee Daochai, a former co-president of Kasikornbank Pcl, will be effective from Wednesday, according to a Royal Gazette announcement Tuesday, Bloomberg reports. Predee, 61, was named as the new finance minister on August 6 and joined Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s Cabinet on August 12. The government did not give a reason for Predee’s resignation, but Thai-language newspaper Krungthep Turakij reported the minister quit because of ill health associated with a stroke he suffered a few years ago. The resignation was not out of any conflict with other government executives, the newspaper reported, citing an interview with Predee. Prayuth may approach outgoing Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob and former president of PTT Pcl Pailin Chuchottaworn to replace Predee, Krungthep reported, citing a source from the government house. A spokesman for the central bank said he wasn’t aware of Veerathai being approached for the job. The baht tumbled by 0.8 percent to 31.301 per U.S. dollar tosday, the most since July 16.

I think it is possible that that article is just badly written, and you are misconstruing it. It says: "Thailand will not be fully reopened to foreign tourists along the lines of the so-called “Phuket Model” any time soon because the government has to consider too many details, deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul said on Friday (August 28)." The word "fully" stands out to me. Is the article saying that the Phuket model will not spread further until the lessons of that experiment are learned?

What has happened to the project to put all the wires underground?

(PUBLISHED : 16 AUG 2020 AT 04:33) Pattaya will spend 160 million baht to improve the city's beach landscape in a bid to attract local tourists. The landscape redevelopment on a 4-kilometre stretch of Pattaya Beach will start in October and is expected to be finished by the end of the year, Sonthaya Kunplome, mayor of the City of Pattaya, said on Saturday. "The City of Pattaya needs to change its tourism strategy to draw local tourists to the city," Mr Sonthaya said. As well as landscape beautification, such as replacing pavements, the new project will involve building car parking spaces for tourist coaches and vehicles and for local visitors, and incorporate underground public toilets. The landscape project -- starting from North Pattaya and running to Walking Street -- would rebuild walkways, redevelop gardens and plant more trees. Mr Sonthaya said the Pattaya Council approved the 160 million baht budget with the hope the beach landscape redevelopment will "add a new magnet" to the area's sluggish tourism industry. In financial terms, Pattaya was one of the hardest-hit tourism areas when the Covid-19 pandemic intensified. Before the outbreak, the city lured 10 million visitors each year, with about 80% of tourists coming from abroad. The largest groups of visitors came from China, Russia and India. As foreign tourists disappeared, the city worked to improve infrastructure and landscape to prepare for its recovery. In terms of environmental projects, the city will launch a beach restoration project on a 3.5-km stretch of Jomtien Beach which has been affected by coastal erosion. The sand filling to cost 600 million baht will replenish the coastline from Lung Sawai restaurant to Jomtien Soi 11. The work is expected to start early next year. About 680,000 cubic metres of sand will be required for the project. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1968875/?fbclid=IwAR3TMHsq7i3VNnLt2OSsL_yF9tW5eyfM4G13gZR5bxBLdXgOK4nFAZm9OIU

Best of luck. You are more optimistic than I am!

Are you expecting to travel just as you would have done pre-Covid?