cowboy

comments like that clearly show how little experience some people have. I have stayed at more than 30 hotels in pattaya in rooms that cost as little as 700 baht a night up to the marriott at 3200 baht a night. each has its place. For my money the flipper is a dive and not worth it when for a few hundred baht more you can get a much nicer hotel for say 1000 or 1200 baht. For some people as little money as possible is themost important thing so if they want to stay at flipper mai pen rai. I have stayed at Marriott and they are not tiny simple rooms. anyone that thinks so is hasn't stayed there and is talking out their ass. The Marriott is easily one of the best hotel in pattaya. They easily have the most comforable beds I have stayed in. The level of service is the best I have experienced in pattaya and the morning breakfast buffet is the best hotel breakfast I have had outside of the sofitel in bangkok. So where do I usually stay in pattaya? Sandy Springs, whitehouse condotel. They have a good bang for the buck and are in my budget. I don't need to stay at the best or one of the best hotels. A really good hotel for a modest price is usually the one I choose. I don't have an unlimited budget so I try to spend it on things I like more. saving 3000 baht a night on a hotel for a week is 21000 baht. that allows me to ring the bell at a bar spend 6-7k baht feel like a big spender and still have enough money to do 3 or more trips a year to los. i suppose if i only had enough vacation for 1 trip i might spend more on the hotel. Am i gonna bust someones chops if they choose the marriott or the flipper. hell no! it's thier money they get to spend it they way they feel. for all the people that are appalled by some one trying to post information about what they think is a good deal

I have stayed at dynasty suites and have friends that have stayed at both dynasty and worburi. They talked about worburi being nicer but the last 2 trips they stayed at dynasty again so if you were counting where they spent their money the picked dynasty. The danysty bkk was a little cheap looking the last time ai was there but it is a decent value room are a decent size etc just looked a little worn. That was 18 months ago. since thwen they have been doing remodeling so it may now look better. But back in aug the remodel was still going on. Dynasty grande is nice. I stayed there in aug for 1800 baht anight and it was very good service and very nice rooms. great value at 1800.

Mr Mango, The oil industry denies it but they manipulate prices. The law of supply and demand does not function properly when dealing with oil prices. For the last 20 years the major oil companies have been working to eliminate anything or anyone that gets in the way of coordinating oil prices. ANd they have been doing a good job of it. while not entirely successfull the major players now control a greater percentage of the product lines from crude oil to producer than at any time since the original standard oil company. As for a caribean refinery, the only one I can think of you referring to is in puerto rico. at 77,000 barrels a day that is very small in US production terms. and the output is not sent to anywhere but us locals. the refinery is part of shells acqusition of smaller refinerys. http://www.shellchemicals.com/magazine/1,1..._id=111,00.html

"Shell oil sells gas in the U.S. and Europe from the same refiner so production costs are the same, and European distribution costs are about as efficient so tell me how it could be anything else than taxes." Mr. Mango, while I can't gaurantee it, I am willing to go out on a limb and state that gas in Europe and in the US are not from the same refiner. Shell maybe the same parent company for both countires. But the cracking plants will be different based on where the crude comes from. Oil is sold based on its specific densities and impurities. The oil companies have departments of economists that do ecometric models to calculate production rates, and product mix. what crude oil goes where, what products it produces, and where is the final product sold, is a dizzing array of choices. Bottom line: In the absence of government interference oil companies will charge the maximum price that the market will bear. Both Europe and the US have taxes on gasoline. For the last several years that has had little impact on the price. If there were no taxes the oil companies would have charged the same price and made greater profits. Oil companies and crudes oil producers both have the same goal. Maximize profits. For both of them profit maximization occurs with raising product prices. As long as the USA import the majority of its oil products Oil rpices will have asubsatntial impact on the US economy as much or more so than the FED's manipulation of the discount rate.

I owuld stay away from malaysia too many problem with muslims there. They will give him and the Thai wife a hard time. Singapore might be a good choice. He should have no problems there thai wife accepted everywhere. Plenty of english peaking people and a good city. I would not recommend sing for a long vacation becuase there is not much to do from a vacation stand point. but lots of movies in english. good parks, football and cricket golf and a large expat community amke a good place to live. easy 1 hour flight to pattaya. phuket, or bkk cheap fares as well. if he ever needs to he can also got to work in a/c with a 90 minute flight to clark.

My old redit union stared charging outrageous fee in addition to the exchange rate. I have switched to keypoint becuase the have no atm fee no foreign transaction fees and a decnt exchange rate.

I have stayed at both the marriott and the Hard Rock. One things about the more expensive hotels. Most have better BEDS. The hard rock has decent beds but the Marriott has great beds, great rooms, great breakfast buffet, great service. The Marriot is easly the best hotel I have stayed in Pattaya. Way more comfortable. The last time I was there it was raining for like 3 days. I would sit in the large overstuffed chair reading by the patio whilst the BG sat in bed watching thai TV 15 feet away. When I felt like a coke I walked out and down the hall an into the Mall. went to drugstore and bought a six pack brought it back into the room and put it is the fridge. They had great service in every aspect. plus down comforters on the overstuffed super plush bed. The breakfast buffet was big with every kind of food you could think of. I am found of the salmon so mosr morning I would have them poach some eggs to go on my english muffins and salmon. The oysters were good as well. I like the hard rock becuase it has the best pool I have ever seen outisde of the waterparks in florida and taxas. The rooms are not special but the view is nice and the beds are good. they also have a good gym on premise and the last time I booked there the package included use of the cabanas and free limo service from bkk to pattaya nad back. I would consider it a better hotel than say sandy springs but most of the time I don't feel like spending the more than $80 us and so I don't stay at hard rock unless they are having a special. Most of my trips I have stayed the residence garden or sandy springs, sabai lodge, mercure, whitehouse condotel, or dynasty. I have stayed at flipper lodge, siam bayshore, montien, sunshine. I get deals thru latestays or directrooms etc. My first few trips I stayed in Sheraton Grande Westin Grande and Bel Air princess In BKK. Got the rooms thru priceline and paid about 3000 baht a night. Very nice comfortable hotels. More recently I have stayed at majestic Grande or Dynasty Grand and Bel aire princess. mainly becuase I could get the rooms for 1600-2000 baht a night and they are very nice hotels. THE ONE THING ALL THE EXPENSIVE HOTELS HAVE GREAT BEDS very supportive very soft very confortable. after staying at some of the other htoels and sleeping on a mattress that was slighty harder than the floor I am picky about the hotel. I don't rag on guys that can't afford 1500 baht anight for a room why do all that fucking cheap charlies rag on me?? bullshit I have heard enough Crap on this board to fill alifetime.

as I have posted many times before. gym at mariott is small and lame. Gym on beach road is old and rusted with no a/c. montien has a nice gym many machines and free weight but they are not girl friendly. A-1 cruise ship has a very nice gym elliptical trainiers, stair steppers, treadmills, rowing machines, universal and nautilis as well as free wieghts and classes. Lk metro is suppose to have a decent gym but I have not seen it. hard rock has a decent gym but a little on the small side. small amount of free weights, universal gym treadmill eliptical trainer. Siam Bayshore has tennis courts but the gym is next to useless.

best price I haveever gotten at the marriot was $80 US. that was 4 years ago. LAst august I tired to get in the marriot but they would not go below $125 US I tried several times starting in april but every reply was I got was they were happy to have me consider them again and they were pleased to offer me a special discount of only $125 a night. a couple of weeks before I was to go I decided to spurge for 1 week and pay the $125. when I sent back the booking they reply sorry they were FULL. this for the first week in august. So much for the long remember low season. right now the best rate for august 2007 I can find is $113 US. makavelli, does your price include VAT and service charge. Marriot prices go both ways. sometimes you get quoted a price that includes them sometimes a price that has VAT and service added on to it. right now the best price I see inculding vat and service is 4600 baht.

I was checking on flight from sfo to bkk for january, I can't tell you the price becuase every time I selected a date it came back that the flight was sold out.

UTFSE

my suggestion would be to open a keypoint credit union account. I you have your SS check Direct deposited in your account then the account is free, Then the REALLY GREAT thing is all, ALL ATM transactions are free. If you a THAI bank and they charge you a fee then keypoint will refund it to you. doesn't matter where you use the atm, Keypoint refunds all fees. in addition they have very low rates for wire transfers if you need to do one and free online banking. For more information go to http://www.keypointcu.com/ cheers

dynasty grand is nice but I don't know if they will have their 1600 baht a night rate in feb. I stayed there in august and it was very nice. dynast inn is till open but under remodeling rate should be aorund 1299 baht a night, rooms are niot as nice as majestic but they are bigger, najestic suites rooms are slightly larger than the bed. warburi is down the street also around 1200 baht a night.

Right now as of december 17 latestays.com shows the hard rock hotel with availble rooms x-mas thru new years for 3500 baht. given thr price so0me of the other hotels are charging for that week it is not a bad deal. Hard rock has the best pools in all of pattaya IMHO and it also has a good gym and a decent locations. rooms are only okay but beds are good and all room have an ocean view, Good breakfast and despite some uninformed comments they are BG friendly. I have never been charged a joiner fee. and girls have been free to come and go to my room without anyone hassling them. http://www.latestays.com/

I didn't see anyone sya anything about family. If i was bringing family and not mongering I would use a discount reservation website and book either A-1 hotel. Montien, or siam bayshore. Montien and Siam are not girl friendly. I don't knoe about A-1. All are reasonably near the action although at various points. All have decent rooms Montien's is a little older but still nice with nice beds. Siam bayshore is nice with nice beds. Montien has a great gym- good variety of equipment, A-1 has fantastic gym (eliptical trainers, treadmills, concept III rowing machines, free weights, and universal weights, steam room, very modern) but you have to pay 250 baht if your are a guest or 500 baht of you are not staying there. siam bayshores gym is pretty lame but siam does have several nice tennis courts and some great restuarants. all of them have good pools. cons- siam and montien are not girl friendly A-1 is always full of busloads (literally) of chinese tourists of packed discount tours. all can be had for around 2000 - 2500 baht through discount travel agencies/ I stayed ay siam bayshore this last august thru latestays.com and paid 1900 or 2000 baht a night.

you can try lkmetropole it is suppose to have a gym and be a decent place with discount rates for stays over 1 week. there are some board memebrs here that live there maybe they could provide better details. http://www.lkpattayahotel.com/metropole/accom.html

I am surprised no one has mentioned Baywatch on beach road The best breakfast in pattaya, although sportmans and pig and whistle are close competitors. Berlin coffee house and the restuarant next to it have good food and one of them is open after the bars close. Veintien as mention in previous post has good seafood but is pricy. Ruen Thai is a nice restuarant to take a girl out to a fancy restuarnt but not spend a fortune, then on soi post of I think is Orleans restuarant. Have had good ribs there as well as a pretty good steak. The s&p in the tech center is a good snack.

The pool is a no go. They have it completely torn up and were jackhammering it in monday the 27th of nov. I doubt it will be functional for a while. I also found that the hot cold water shower expeince could be easily solved by turning it all the way to hot and letting it runs for a couple of minutes. Once the water got hot and stayed that way then the controls worked fine and I culd set the water at the exact temperature I liked.

Dr pack's hours sunday 10:30 a.m to 1:00 p.m. closed monday, tuesday thru sat 10:30 to 1:00 AND 2:00 TO 6:30. or that is what I recall. Novapark entrance is about 25-35 meters off of beach road on pattaya central. It is right there next to the miniture golf place on beach.

whereabouts of Nova park hotel? should be pattaya klang or central pattaya hotel between beach road and 2nd road. central is the one with tops market and bowling alley. easy walking distance from soi 7 assuming that you don't need to see a c chiropractor.

I am in the whithouse right now. The in room internet works great. 100 baht a day, but a nice fast connection 24/7. Lift is working. I have not heard any constuction noise. They are building a large new hotel across the street. My room is in the front of the building facing dynasty and I haven't heard anything. owuld attribute that to the double pane insulated windows and sliding glass doors. In addition to being energy efficient they also reduce outside noise substantially. I would not worry about the construction. I will check on the pool and post later.

scalawag, I find it hard to believe that we are talking about the same sandy springs hotel. I have stayed there many many times and I think it is a good bargain. For 50-100 baht more than the dynasty you get a room that is maybe 25% nicer than dynasty. flipper is a shithole and cost 700 baht a night dynasty at 950 -1000 baht is okay hotel sandy springs has better beds and nicer rooms for 1050 baht a night. what make sandy springs overrated?? alfred, BTW down the street at beach road is the AA hotel, the other way across from sandy at 2nd road is the LEK hotel, between sandy and dynasty is whitehouse condotel. this last august the whitehouse was advertising rooms for 1150 baht. Directly across from sandy is a decent place. I haven't stayed at whitehouse but the rooms look great. Inn house- The rooms are small but nicer similiar to SS. cost for rooms are 650-750 baht. better deal than flipper by far.

whitespider, even easier, much easier and you will never have to crack open the case. Buy an external hard drive with automatic backup software. Backup all your data to the external. Once it is working fine. Disconnect the external and pack it for shipping. erase your main computer drive and sell the computer. Chances are the new external drive is faster and better than the drive you have in your computer. I have pasted the link to once of the many possible vendors. If you think you will want a laptop in LOS then you might want to consider a laptop external that runs off the usb power. They copst a little more money for the sdame size but are smaller and lighter. Note desktop usually have 3 1/2 inch drives. laptops usually have 2 1/2 inch drives http://www.buffalotech.com/products/produc...p;categoryid=17 peace bro

The beds at RG are queen beds and they are as hard as fuckin concrete. If that is your thing then you will probably be happy there. Beds at dynasty are okay but I think the beds at sandy springs down the road are a little better. Beds at sandy springs are kings and are comfortable firm but reasonable soft as well. I am a side sleeper. I was in a bad motorcycle wreck years ago and they had to do bone graphs to recreate my hips sockets and parts of my knees. Too hard a bed and I get rotator cuff soreness. sandy springs is about 105 baht a night. Beds at siam bayshore are kings and firm but with a softtop. cost is 2000 baht a night. Beds at the marriot are kings nad are very nice. They might be pillowtop mattresses. I am not sure but very plush on top but still firm enough to hold your weight and give support. cost at marriot is 4000 baht a night.

I stayed there 2 weks ago. only half true. There is wireless in the lobby only. Not in the rooms. They turn the network off at 11:30- midnight and do not turn in on again unitl the morning. If you need to log in for work or other things between the hours of midnight and 7 am them you will need to use a computer shop around the corner on 2nd road.