exwannabe

This is # 7 of the Pattaya FAQ: Q: When to book? A: Today Seriously though, I would book as soon as you'r comfortable your plans are set. What you usually see is a gradually drying up of cheap seats as time goes by. Sometimes last minute deals are out there, but this is a bad time of year for that gamble. Traveling Christmas or New Years Eve may help some. but not much. I flew out Christmas Day last year (planned on going to Phuket first, but thought it better to skip and go straight to Pattaya for some reason). Once I left the States it was as crowded as any other trip.

How about "I like TG, but it is a little expensive so do not fly it" Also, it really needs two seperate polls; one for those of us who must cross the Pacific, and on for the Europeans. It is a different set of airlines in the mix, and often with substantially different relative pricing.

The reception is where you think it is by the large pool. It can see across the parking lot, but not easily and it's about 50 yards. You have to walk in by the restraunt (maybe you can go behind it, they were renovating last time I was there so don't know). All said though, it's really quite easy to slip in by the Ruen Thai pool area. And ling-kon is correct, you could stay in the Sabai Wing and sneek in through the lodge. It's a newer hotel, but a little more expensive. And you would have to use the stairwell (6 stories) to avoid the elevator around the corner from the desk. BTW, unless you are running drugs or guns they arn't going to give you another look at this place.

david: Though the AC has no thermostat, I have heard that there is an adjustment for the compressor that is not "normally" not accessable. On my trip this March I am staying at the Sabai Resort (which I assume will have the same AC setup) and might make a run over to the Big-C for screwdriver/pliars and take a look. Stinger: As to meatjoy's post, it's hard to come up with something to cause this reaction. I would say other than the AC the next "worst" item is the hot water which is one of those small tankless jobs on the wall of the bathroom. It might have trouble keeping pressure up if you like it hot. On the plus side you have nice clean new rooms, a nice pool and a good layout with all rooms overlooking the pool (no views of construction/destruction). I have never (in 4 stays) had any glitch in the service at all. The food is fine with good room service (though the kitchen closes a little early). Reasonably quite (loud drunken are usually the only noise). Location is always personal preference, but Soy 2 / 2nd does have some plusses. That said, I looked into the Bella Villa Prima and it looks fine too. Maybe a tad higher quality, but I don't know if the service is as good. Both are quite new.I don't think you can go wrong with a coin flip.

The Sabai Lodge (not the Sabai Wing though) fits this description, the rooms open to the outside and you don't go through the lobby to get in or out (at least for most rooms). Looks like the brand new Sabai Resort also (though I have not been there). Google for the website and you can see the layout of any of these. Most of the hotels on the south side have lobbies you go through to get to the elevator. They might or might not care about your commings and goings, it varies by hotel and who's at the desk. Have never stayed at any of Flipper/Estinay properties, but vaguely remember somebody mentioning one has a side door for quite access.

One other point, I always get cash before running under 1 days worth. Sometimes the comm. goes to shit and you can't get cash for a while from any machine. So don't risk going out for the evening with 100 baht and plan on reloading on the way out.

This thread probably should be in reviews, but I will make one quick comment. "The" Sabai is really a collection of seperate units of various origin who's only common feature is the electric remote control for the TV/Lights/Air. The new wing is maybe my favorite hotel, while the one time time I stayed in a ground floor room (not in the cabins) by the pool closer to 2nd rd I thought it was dark and damp. On the other hand, I haven't been to Pattaya in 4 months and would probably sleep on beach road if I could go now instead of having to wait for March.

When you purchase a sim they might or might not ask for your passport. That's all. As to how regulary this new policy is being enforced, it's Thailand. I think "detack" is probably DTAC, a network provider, along with Orange and AIS

It really is a good idea to grab some of these pills before getting on your next flight out. http://www.panexa.com/ Maybe later they will be available in Pattaya, but for now it's only marketed in the West.

I am now very uncertain about this. If you start to book the flight, the legend indicates only premium economy. The website used to come up with a pop-up when booking the NY flight about using "unrestricted" tickets to get the premium economy seats. This is now gone. But it also lists the aircraft as an Airbus 340-500, with 2 economy classes. See : http://www.thaiairways.com/About_Thai/Publ...rcraftFleet.htm Maybe they are reconfiguring jets as we speak? I too would very much like to know the answer here, as I am the same as you on the shoulder-room issue.

Bird flu, yeah. It's the fear crossing 2nd to get to the big 'C' that's keeping me at home right now. Either that or a temporary lack of vacation days ( 5 weeks a years sucks, I pity the averga US worker with only 2-3 weeks). Seriously, the present flu is no direct danger. The next flu pandemic could come from it, could come from elsewhere, could hapen tommorow, could happen in 10 years, maybe never. We just don't know. In the mean time, might as well

I haven't flown Thai across the Pacific yet, but here's what I gather so far. You are probably flying on the Airbus 340-500 with 2 classes of economy seating. The executive economy looks nice. Its 2-3-2 with 42'' pitch. The plain economy is 2-4-2 with 36'' pitch. To know which ticket you are looking at on thier website, exec econ is fare class Y, while the small seats are flare class B. Sometimes they use "restricted" for plain economy and "unrestricted" for exec. econnomy. You might just call to be safe. From flying Thai elsewhere, I would assume the exec ecoonomy is a better seat/service/ride than EVA's ED, while the plain economy is too small for me. And I do like Thai's hours (though they are only flying a few flights now). That said, unless the price gap narrows a little, I am sticking with EVA ED for now.

I was there right after last x-mass for 2 weeks and thought is was VERY crowded, and do not plan to be there that time this year. That said, I did have a good time.

AA flies it's own jets to Japan, you are probably flying JAL from there to BKK.

The pick-up services at 2000 is slightly pricy, but I would suggest you either take it or limmo service, not try and save about 10 Pounds by using a taxi (on your first trip, after a long flight). if you take a limmo, it's not really a limmo. It's just a decent taxi that is chartered to take you there for a fixed price. Get one at the stand-alone counter near the door, not the "travel agency" type places along the wall. All this will change with the new airport though. The Areca is fine. As far as convience location wise, anything in the rectangle of beach rd/ 2nd rd/ N Pattaya and S Pattaya is fine. You can naviagte this area by foot and baht bus with no difficulty (The Areca is just outside 2nd rd, about a 100m walk). Last year the Areca filled up, you might want to reserve. If you want other comparable hotels, check the review section (or search the archives). Here some are the obvious candidates near the Areca: Sandy Spring Lek Dynasty And a few more blocks away Flipper Estinay

If it's runs w/o fever or vomiting then this is probably the peppers inflaming your stomach (and maybe helped out by too much alcohol). If on the other hand you catch a bug from water or any unclean food you will have a MUCH more serious case of the shits, and will probably get some antibiotics real fast. As far as the TG's being thin, this is just the flip side of the pathetic western diet. And you will catch many eating snacks and pizzas and crap now, so they are getting bigger.

Tried to buy a new SIM at the beach end of Mike's Mall (the one at Soy 12) and they asked me for a passport. This sounded so odd to me that I walked out. Later got a SIM at big 'C' no hastle. Never did know what the hell was going on.

What's all this talk about hotels? This thread is supposed to be about toilets, and damit, once a conversation goes to the toilet, it stays there. One point I would add when you are traveling to the less farang-ised places, bring your own toilet paper with you. Just like American Express cards, don't leave home w/o it. "My real problems will emerge when I start my running program " Same, but my running problem involving toilets starts on its own after about the third day with too much Thai food.

Usually I just take EVA ED from US west coast for about $1000, but decided to splurge this time (also needed some Delta miles). The China Air rates seam to have come down a bit, and if you catch the new jets the business class is quite good from what I here (the older jets were no better than EVA's 747 biz. class). Don't know of anybody else with RT Biz rates this low. Just in case I have started swimming a lot of laps in the pool every morning.

One problem is your "deal" sucks. EVA always has 2 prices available. For west coast to BKK on Delux they are either $1094 or $2113, with absolutely no difference in fare rules. Very bizzare. I suspect the more expensive tickets are sold through the United codings to suckers unwilling to shop. The only variation I have seen in these prices over the last year has been the dollar vs. the wan. Thus, your $1450 is not very good. Maybe you are on some peek time when all the cheap tickets were gone and a broker was only competing against expensive tickets? Try the web site and play around with dates and see what pops up. The simple answer to quality is that it is the cheapest fare with extra leg/side room. The services is definetly not SQ or business class, but isn't bad (I have flown it 5 times now). Certainly have never paid for drinks. Question to you HammerIT, how is SFO to fly out of? I despise LAX with a vengance for international transfers.

I think you should be OK there. After having frequented both Dolls many times the last year, I was in there late March after "Alan" was back in charge. These guys do differ on how they picture the business. "Captain" seams along the lines of daveinthailand, he wants the girls to stay in in order to collect more drink revenue. Expect top notch lookers, but not the easiest girls to fine. I personally tend to like this bar as a place to go just to watch (since I put down many beers and ladydrinks, they are happy). "Alan" seams to think more along the lines that the guys will flock to the best bar fine action. Expect this place to remain a good choice if you need something to go :-) Daveinthailand: I understand your view that private matters should stay private, but I will say this story was circulating lively amongst the patrons before pete had anything to say here, and some versions implied far worse (for both) than anything written here. Hopefully pete will allow Captain to respond, then drop the whole story.

The Sabai Lodge has several buildings with completely different qualities. The newest is there "Sabai Wing", will run you around 1500B, but is very nice. Also, the cottage rooms look quite nice. There is a good reason for the price difference between these and the standard rooms though, so be carefull.

On princapal? You were dead wrong, they have every right to keep a portion of the deposit as a cancalation fee unless they explicitly stated otherwise.

Tom, good answer. Now I'll sleep better knowing there is a real reason.

Dave from Fl, I have made the run from Atlanta 6 (soon 7) times, and have never been able to price the trip well through Delta. The best I can do is fly Delta to LA (about $300) then take the carrier of choice. Look for flights leaving LA around midnight and the timing works well. I personally go EVA Delux from LA through Tapei for about $900US (coach is out for me, so it's an econ+ or biz). If you ever see a Delta Biz fare for under $2000 I would be surprised.