drpaul854

Logan, Come for the time of your life - solo you will not be for long, unless that is the way you want it to be. You will find it easy to meet and make friends of both the male and female variety . American absolutely no problem. If you get bored of Pattaya (hard to imagine after being in Iraq) you can visit any of the numerous travel agents in town and arrange a trip the same day if you wish for northern Thailand (mountainous beauty) or Western Thailand (Phuket, Krabi, Ao Nang - all great for scuba and beaches). It is beautiful, friendly, realtively cheap and not to be missed.

Add another vote to the new 777 Elite seats are way worse than the Evergreen Deluxe seats in the 747. The entertainment is better but nothing beats a cofortable seat for a 20+hour trip. I hope their 747 hold on for a while longer - after that I may have to switch Airlines - maybe Thai out of New York

I agree with Chivas - I just did a trip in the middle seats without discomfort (6 foot and 190 lbs - much better than coach aisle or window on EVA - The seats are big and the armrests are rather wide and double so there is no sharing involved. Might even be better than the aisle as no service carts or big passengers are bumping into all the time - just a bit harder to get up and walk around - but not that much harder. You can always try for a last minute switch going into this last trip all my seats were middle and 3 out of 4 were changed to aisle - but the one BKK to EWR stayed as middle and I made out just fine

I found his service to be excellent with no extras to the 1200

Thai Air website offers the Premium Economy option during online booking

9-04 sitting in the beer bar complex just before Walking Street and all of a sudden several Thai's start hauling sandbags and lining the entrance to the bar. Short time later it is raining - HARD - and the sandbags did little to keep out the floods. Still had a fantastic time sitting on the bar stool with water knee deep throughout the bar complex. Not every night and it is all taken in stride. Have a good time - I returned last September without a day of rain in a week and a half. But a couple of days after I left - huge rain and floods. You never know and it doesn't really matter.

Stayed at Dynasty and Whitehouse last week - no noise problem, there is some constuction going on but no pile pounding or jack hammering last week. Who knows about next week?

I had the pleasure of using Mr. Toom's service a few weeks agos - class act, nice car, good driver - and no jewelry shop stops. Recommended and I will be using again

That about says it all She obviously was not broken up about it, doesn't seem like winning was the most important element for her, rather not playing it safe and entertaining the crowd seemed more important - these snowboarders are a different type of athlete.

In contrast to BigSwede I just returned from Pattaya yesterday and stayed 5 nights in the Whitehouse Condotel and was very happy with service and facilities. I had stayed there in September also (the first week they were open) and there is a little growing pains with this new place but I always found the staff to go out of their way to help and be friendly towards me and my guests - above and beyond most other places I stayed over the past few years in Pattaya. True - there is no pool (supposed in the works soon) but the "ancient Key" system is the same found in most hotels in Thailand (except at the Condotel the key is easily removed from the oversized magnetic holder that works the lights and AC - allowing your to carry the key if you wich or for letting the AC to be run while you run out for quick errands - unlike many other places) I enjoy having to lock my door - prevents accidents IMHO. The choice of TV channels is one of the best in Pattaya I believe and the bed linens and towels superior to most places. My internet connection was not under the TV (which is easily moved) but along a strip on the wall just above desk level. My toilet bowel was normal sized for my American butt (we are not known for having small butts) and the corner glass enclosed shower stall is outstanding IMHO. And 3% for using VISA - is there any place under 2000 Baht a night does not charge extra for credit cards - not that I have found. Besides there is a ATM right outside the front door if you are short of cash. There is still some growing pains for sure - the inconvience of BigSwede's water leakage should have been compensated for. And I did have one inconvience when my guest locked the bathroom door and closed it while outside of the bathroom. At 2 am it took front desk and security a while to find the key (hopefully it is now conveniently located for future incidents) but they worked friendly, professionally, steadily and without complaint to resolve the issue. The front desk person at 1 Am on another evening had difficulty explaining to me how to make a local call on the phone - but he tried hard and kept at it till I comprehended and made it work. (just dial 9 and then the number but at first he kept insisting I use 001 before the 9 which just linked me right back to him at the front desk) They need this basic information to be located on a card in the room No complaints from me - will stay again

Regarding the 800-850 Baht rides to BKK airport - I have found impossible to get this rate for an early morning ride. They count on turn arounds who drop off Bkk to Pattaya passengers and there seem to be no 8AM rides available from Pattaya to BKK. Also never trust the taxi/car stand salesmne/women who tell you tolls are included in your price. Both times I "went" for this I got limited English speaker drivers who knew nothing about this pre-paid toll deal - even when written on the receipt (which they could not read anyway and which I could not make a big deal over when trying to catch a plane. But that said - I have never had a ride not show up at my hotel when prebooked from one of the taxi/ride stands.

I had the pleasure of using Mr. Toom's service on February 17th for the trip from BKK to Pattaya and was very pleased with his on time performance, decent comfortable ride and great price. Highly recommended

I have flown EVA Evergreen Deluxe several times out of EWR and (like everyone above) would highly recommend them for the nominal extra cost (after all you will be spending 40+ hours in them). One more thing I love - buy some noise cancelling headphones - decent quality - makes a huge differnce in relaxation when you don't have to crank the volume on the airline cheap set to hear over the roar of the engine. You can go cheap like I did my first few flights - buy a pair of the overpriced but decent quality Bose on ebay, use them for the trip and then sell them on ebay for about the same as you paid.

I do not remember the exact time (2 or 2.5 hours comes to mind) but I do recall that the fast boat and the car drive were very close to the same time (the ferry being just a bit faster - but the car will pick you up at the door and has a better chance of leaving on time) Have a good time

Same same but 12 hours in front of you rb - looks like Mr. Toom will be busy

I do not know of any flights from Phuket to Krabi. There is a ferry (both a slow and fast boat service) available and easy to sign up all over town. For about the same price you can negogiate a taxi to drive you - no very exciting but with a nice AC car you are comfortable and seeing some of the countryside. (I do lots of scuba when over there in LOS and more boat rides did not sound exciting - YMMV. Also I would recommend Ao Nang rather than Krabi town itself. Krabi is a town with out much of a beach or interesting to do. Ao Nang is a beach town with lots more to do - including long tail boat rides to the great cliffand cave beach of Phr Nang. Great for rock climbing if you are into that. Also a night life life - though somewhat tucked away compared to Pattaya (then again what really compares to Pattaya anywhere) Should be no problem getting places in your price range - but I have not been there in almost 2 years.

It is working for me

In general the prices seem to sky rocket in June due to the summer travel season (SEA residents of USA with children out of school traveling home). You would be lucky to find anything in the $1000 - 1200 range. Generally prices go up in June and back down in September - you can save big bucks by heading over the end of May or Early September. EVA has a special of $550 USD RT LAX to BKK but it expires the end of May and it is for "cattle class" (that's coach class that is more like domestic US coach than say Cathy coach to SEA). Depending on your size and needs it could be a bargain even with finding RT to LAX seperately.

jtiger - and a few others posted earlier are correct - jet lag effects you more when flying in an "easterly" direction (plot the shortest route with a straight line on a map and put a compass in the middle to determine if you are flying east or west - and if it is half way like New York it counts as easterly plus the maximum time zone changes) For me flying from East Coast USA to LOS - no problems. Flying home it hits me hard for 4-6 days. Not enough to deter me from my next trip though. As for you Brits (and others) not noticing it when flying easterly into LOS - well lets just say the distractions and late nights in LOS more than make up for the jet lag

EVA special (but it is crappy, crowded coach) $550 USD LAX to BKK for trips before the end of May

If yoiu just want a place to store things for possible retrieval when away from home you should open yourself a free hotmail account that you can access from any PC and your email will be stored at msn's hotmail.com not anyone particular computer. Available anytime, anywhere. Just go to www.hotmail.com and click on the "sign up" button

I stayed there the first week they were open back in late September or early October. I have a review posted in the hotel section - very nice rooms all brand new. Nice restaurant that was still getting sorted out during my stay. Extremely friendly and helpful staff to you and your guests. Rooms similar size to Sandy Springs, there is no bath tub but an excellent large 3 sided shower with plenty of room for 2 or 3. There is no pool so the balconies are not as good as the pool side balconies of the Sandy Spring. My room faced the large construction project next door so basicaly no useable balcony. Not sure about the higher floors (I was on the 2nd floor) or the other side. Does have an in room safe large comfortable bed and a good reception and a good selection of channels on the TV. Of course it has the great Soi 13 location also.

Price to become certified in scuba - not exactly sure but I seem to remember thinking that it was not that much cheaper than doing it in the states. Scuba is one thing not priced a lot cheaper in Thailand than back home. If your vacation time is short I would suggest taking the course at home saving you time for more fun things not available at home - of course if you are like some lucky BMs and spend months at a time in LOS - then go for it and take the course there.

I agree with yselmike - check out steve's digicams for the best info and comparisons - http://www.steves-digicams.com/ - My opinion is to get the Nikon 4600 (4 megapix & video w/o sound)or 5600 (5 megapix & video with sound). They are the smallest digital that use AA batteries - have a decent zoom and a great close-up ability and a built in lens cover. Somewhat slow between pictures but there is enough internal memory to shot 3-5 pictures before the camera backs up (if you need 3-5 pictures in 3 seconds). I have heard complaints about poor dark location performance - but I have had no trouble in dark rooms (I suspect poor camera setup by operator). The worst point is the flash - it is slow to recharge - the amount of time it takes depends on how much of the flash was used on the previous picture since it only uses the amount of flash need for each individual picture (not all or nothing like old flashes). My choice for using AA is that I like to travel to several different places that often use a host of different electrical systems. I like to travel light and I am not keen on carrying a bunch of electrical adapters and hoping one is right for my location. Plus I don't like to get caught short on batteries at a crucial time (you would not believe how many pictures you can take of Ankor Wat in a single day) You can get cheap AA just about anywhere in the world that has electric and if you are going to a place that doesn't have electric it is a lot easier to stock up on AA then stocking up on expensive propritary rechargeables that other cameras use. I keep AA rechargeables for use at home, when I travel I bring one or two sets of Lithium AA on a trip. The Lithium's are pricey but last 4-5 times as long as alkaline AA making them cheaper in the long run (plus they weight half as much).

Pattaya is not a world class dive area, but depending on what you have access to dive at home it could be a large step up. There are a couple of decent wrecks and some reef diving - enough to keep you busy for 2-3 days. I have used Mermaid Dive Center. For some outstanding world class diving consider Phuket's Liveaboards to the Similian Islands. Some of the best value liveaboard diving around (but it cuts into your nighttime activities)