voracious

There's often a bit of truth, when the girls write you or talked to you. Many will even caution you when you're "loved up" ... even if you choose to ignore it. In this case, "You don't understand lady in Pattaya". The gentlemen above are giving you good advice. Enjoy the illusion. Don't fool yourself. Until you are ready to be in country and take the girl out of the game, 99% chance you're just a part of the game. I've met a couple who don't fool around on their out of country boyfriends, but they are very, very, very few and quite far between. Live, learn, and move on.

Wish I was there. Hope you have a terrific turnout and good times ensue

I've never had a problem... don't worry too much. Depending on your Asian ethnicity, you might do better with some types of girls, worse with others. I've never (that I can recall) been barred from entering any establishment... :)

Sorry...forgot to answer the first part of your question. Me = nope, never have tried Pattaya Cooking School. Good luck & have fun with it :)

I've done Marriot's program 2x and Happy on my last trip. Both were good, though different. Marriot (next to royal garden mall) cost more, everything is pre-chopped, they hand you the ingredients and you "assemble" Happy Home Thai Cooking School (link) is a smaller, family type business. Quite a variety of choices in what you can cook and they can do special requests if you give them lead time and whatever additional cost for supplies. I did Frog one day, which I don't normally eat, but was interesting to make. Not expensive. (Near Central Pattaya Road, across from the end of Soi Bouk

Stayed in Dancewatchers in VT2 (one with a pole) and it was great. Have a scooter and you're set.

A bag of frozen peas is helpful the first day or so of recovery. No regrets here. Got mine done in the USA.

People at work (none of them are Asian) were outraged and were trying to gauge my take on it (me being Asian)... I told them it was annoying, but we (Asians) to some extent have to have a thick skin about it. For some reason it's "ok" here in the USA to dump shit on Asians where you'd expect rioting and burning cars if you did it to someone else. The twitters on "Asians can't drive/fly" right after the crash were even more offensive, to me, for the families of those hurt or killed in the crash. There's always going to be people like that in this world.

The other posters are serious, and correct... Pattaya is a dangerous place to learn...not only because of the traffic, but by the number of inexperienced, reckless, and drunk motorcyclists around, many of which are other tourists... I drive and motorcycle in Thailand, but will be the first to say it's quite a bit more of a challenge than many other places, and IF...IF you get in an accident, don't be surprised if it's your fault regardless of what happened, especially if you collide with a Thai national.

TheHunter: Following your posts in this thread, I don't think you'll have a good time in Thailand with Thai girls. Head to the Philippines. They speak English there and your thug ability will be admired and respected. Make sure to demonstrate it with the group of kids that swarm you along Perimeter. It'll be quite a treat. (edit for my Karma: Don't be a tough guy in foreign countries. We'll read about you in the paper. Don't forget you heard it first here! )

It's funny, but the one time I stayed @ Galaxy, the girls who were getting ready for stage on the back steps were always pretty interactive. By that I mean flirty, grabby, smiling, etc... When I've been in the bar (only once or twice) I must have gone in at the wrong hour, as I didn't see a lot of eye candy... but that's the nature of things, hit or miss, too early or too late...

I see video.

Road is done, but they've been doing some kind of work in front this past week. I am not sure how long it's going to take but it looked like a bit of a mess. Perhaps someone knows more. I'm in Chanthaburi at the moment, so I can't provide a photo.

Excellent photo series. Part of it has that urban devoloution feel to it.

I've eaten there & like the place too :)