teelack

Well here is the point for me. Seems that I am still downloading and nearer the three thousand mark. Lets get real. I am sure that there are a lot out there like me in that this is a site for mongers. I have many hundreds of 'questionable' photos taken in Pattaya. I will go as far as to tell the following story. Some ten weeks ago I met an a'gogo dancer in Pattaya and she perhaps came to my room six times. As she was leaving on day one I asked her if I could have some photos. By this time she was fully dressed and without a word and without hesitation stripped and from that point on I became a shutter bug. This has happened before but she was the best and I now have hundreds of photos that I appreciate and want to keep. There are some very happy memories there and unless there is a better way to save and appreciate some of the better days of my life I will take the risk and be happy that there are options for me to use.

Well here's the issue. I also have a lot of photos on an external hard drive. One of the things I was conscious of was what would happen if that was stolen, destroyed or indeed seen by my family should I be incapacitated. Its a finely balanced argument but as I have to keep on learning (and I am an old bastard) how to handle the Internet and keep in touch with technology. Sure there is always a chance that something will go wrong but if the Cloud became open slather I doubt I would be top of the list to invade.

Being something of a computer amateur I was interested to read a press article on Flickr. I have a computer that I need to replace shortly and it still holds most of my photos. I installed it without any real issues and set to upload. The programme gives you 1 terabyte of photograph storage for free and it can be totally private and secure. Over a few days I progressively downloaded my photos and there were over 2000 stored there. I was looking through them and got something of a surprise. There were dozens of shots of some of the photo essays from places like Private Dancer which I was never aware of downloading. I even ended up with the avatar used by MM! I am still learning how to use this programme but so far I am pleased with it and am enjoying the surprises.

Thanks for the review. I will make sure that I never wander into the place! Sorry but this simply isnt my type of cuisine.

I had a big ro om at the old block of the D Apartments on Soi Buakhao a couple of years ago. It was OK for facilities but an excellent location. Having said that there are probably hundreds of places in town in that price range and I would let your 'fingers do the walking'.

I have just recently started to read Stickman. Here's my take. The Internet is a wonderful place. I can turn on and gain information on a wide range of topics and get up to date knowledge of where I intend visiting. AND ITS ALL FOR FREE! I admit that perhaps I get blase about what I get for almost nothing and sometime need a reality check. For the above reasons I believe that wherever Stickman is located and whatever his perceived personality, he does a great job for those that want the sort of information that he provides. Like a number of commentators about the Thai scene I believe that he writes well and his news and commentary on the areas that he specialises in are worth while and also thankfully entertaining. He also writes (as evidenced in his latest column) about parts of the Thai life style and culture that whilst I might be on the receiving end of, never run into in an open way and never expect to. Personally I think that there is a place for all the people who want to share knowledge of their pet subjects for free and even if they get some things wrong at times the world will be a worse place when all the news is centralised blandness and politically correct.

Thanks both posters for some fun with the signage in Pattaya. Its one of my favorite pastimes. I still enjoy a place off Beach Road that has a checkpoint before the hotel manned by a security guard. The sign says "STOP FOR POINT CHECKING" which seems terribly logical when you come to think about it.

Sailfast! Commiserations. I tend to be in the UK if It is my year to go there in June. The fields of rape look spectacular but I blame to stuff for giving me the most dreadful doses of hay fever and this seems to last as long as I am in the UK. Never happened when I was a kid but then again there was very little grown then. By the way and for the squeamish I think that this can safely be called Canola now.

I realise that this will be different for expats but can I suggest the following for holiday makers. I have settled into a plan that works real well for me. Lets for example take someone who uses pound sterling. My guess would be that over say the last three years the average value against the baht would be say 50 baht to the pound. How simple is it to simply keep to this formula whatever you pay for your baht. Prior to any trip I might buy up to five lots of baht at different prices and to keep track is simply not worth the effort so to me I would say that every purchase is at fifty baht to the pound. In this way whatever I buy, pay for or transact it is real simple as I am not remotely interested in adjusting on a daily or monthly basis. The only caveat to this rule is that if there is a devaluation or something that say shifts a currency over ten percent then you need to revise the bottom line. Please believe me when I say that since I took this line these discussions about FX rates simply don't occur.

That market has gone. It did however re-open in a more sophisticated form about 100 metres South on the left (as you head back into town) and can be seen from Second Road. This is of course if they haven't moved elsewhere recently! While you are in the area can I suggest that you make a visit to the 'shop' behind Big C which is another 100 metres South/ Head up either of the sois that run alongside the Big C and on the road at the rear you will not miss the place. Its gigantic and has everything that you might ever need in life.

What a great lesson to us less than phone savvy people. I did recently mention that the rate on a booking site was a great deal less than on the hotels own booking site and I guess your experience underlines the fact that in this day and age rocking up to reception and expecting a great deal is a thing of the past.

A guy goes into the postal service to apply for a job. The interviewer asks him, "Are you allergic to anything?" He replies, "Yes, caffeine. I can't drink coffee." "OK, have you ever been in the military service?" "Yes," he says, "I was in Afghanistan for one tour." The interviewer says, "that will give you 5 extra points toward employment." Then he asks, "Are you disabled in any way?" The guy says, "yes. A bomb exploded near me and I lost both my testicles." The interviewer grimaces and then says, "disabled in your country's service! Well that qualifies for extra bonus points. Okay. Looking at the regulations you have got enough points for me to hire you right now. Our normal hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 am, and plan on starting at 10:00 AM every day." The guy is puzzled and asks, "if the work hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM , why don't you want me here until 10:00 AM ?" "This is a government job ," the interviewer says. "For the first two hours, we just stand around drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that."

This question is a good example of when you need to swallow your pride and ask your GP based on your actual physical condition. I would go as far as to say that it is bloody stupid to pose questions such as this on a forum like this. The other thing is that you simply dont know in Thailand if you have the real thing or some rat poison. I have no issues discussing ED issues with my GP and they can not only offer good advice but also give you samples of various types to see what best suits.

Thanks Jacko. I often see messages with offers pop up on the screen and this list was worth printing out and also keeping a copy on the laptop.

As I reported in a recent trip report keep an eye out for the annoying bloody tailors ignoring you because they are busy on their mobiles. Suggest that you ignore these guys as obviously they are not hungry enough.

Billions. I have corrected the red neg that someone gave you. They might not like the sentiment but you do (IMHO) the board a service by taking the photo and publishing it here. Whenever I am in Pattaya I see tee-shirts that I would neither wear in Thailand or indeed any other place. Someone on this board was asking recently where they could get a tee-shirt printed and I suggested the place in Third Road almost opposite the Bliss BJ place. This place has stuff that is totally outrageous but I really don't care as I don't buy them. Whilst not on the same scale for instance the common shirt with "No money no honey" is in essence suggesting that the girls are all prostitutes. This must upset all those shop,office, nursing and bank girls for instance who are not up for sale. The interesting thing to me is that there must be a demand for this type of shirt as I imagine that this is not a one off special.

Whilst I am 10,000 KM from Pattaya the place is still in the back of my mind. Despite waking up with a hangover from a drunken evening around the outdoor fire I got motivated this morning. I need to think NOW about getting my garden into order and spray the weeds so that the place doesn't look derelict during my absence. I need to get space sorted for the millions of leaves that fall onto my property and constantly need tidying up. I also have two new pairs of walking shoes and I will be out later running them in before departure date. I am getting a bit annoyed that the plumber hasnt got back to me as I need work done on the system before I go and as I dont want to piss off the house sitter by having blocked toilets and leaky pipes. The weather is however so good at the moment and I can see tomorrow as being a beach day again. Thee place that I love is usually deserted but there was a shipwreck there in the 1870's. I have found all sorts from it from ships timber to perhaps over 3000 pieces of sand polished glass which I turn into art projects along with shells, stone and wood bought home from the beach. I am sure to some that this sounds boring but to me its a good use of great weather, fresh air, exercise and then when it rains, as it will, I will catch up on the dozens of indoor projects that I need to complete before the next 'wheels up'.

An hour ago I decided to alter a booking I had made for June when I am travelling to Chang Mai. I decided to add to my booking by purchasing the breakfast in with my room rate. It is quite a saving but more to the point I want a reason to get my lazy ass out of bed in the mornings and get out and about. I booked with Expedia and the great thing about this place is that the bookings can always be done toll free and in person with a real live agent. The initial booking was great and the change was just as good. All in all an excellent experience and all charged in my local currency. Within a minute or two the revised itinerary was on my computer awaiting a print job and transfer to some other email accounts for safe keeping. I like the toll free, live person and local currency option and can recommend Expedia.

This subject reminds me of an issue that I have and I wonder if anyone has an answer. Last time heading to Thailand I ordered a cab (Mr T by the way) and did not get a response. I ended up sending three emails and then through the help of a friend was told that he had repeatedly been responding. I was puzzled but said friend suggested that I try the Spam folder. Thing is I have a "Junk Mail' folder (on this notebook) and the confirmation wasn't in there. I also have a newish laptop and looked in there and it has both Junk and Spam and there were the confirmation emails as I had been advised. Besides feeling something of a dingbat I wonder where I went wrong. I always thought that Junk and Spam were the same thing but perhaps not but it has left me rather confused. Any thoughts or suggestions please?

....and of course those pesky apostrophe's. They can trip up journalists and reporters as well as us common mortals--as I often read in the newspapers.

I look for reasons to change from my usual airport to Pattaya taxi. I fail to see any reason to change.

I have had the same number in Thailand for some while now but I only use the phone for calls and SMS. I recall maybe a couple of years ago having one of those cheap data plans and within an hour or two all my credit had been sucked out of my phone on a trip into Walking Street! At home I simply buy a monthly 'combo' that gives me minutes, SMS and data. Easy stuff. In Thailand I have an AIS, 1-2 Call number. What I would like is some data while I am in the country. I have never bothered in the past but would like to do more travelling around the place and I believe using Google Maps or something like it would be a great help to finding places and my way around. Can anyone please explain how I add data to my prepaid AIS account so that I am only buying what I need for a holiday? I also guess that I need to constantly switch off my mobile data while I am on the move to stop it logging into every free site that I pass. Can you please un-confuse me on this issue.

Thanks to all for sharing the lunacy that we call the English language. Very entertaining.

Back to the topic. For the first time in forever there are return fares available from NZ to Bangkok return.at roughly 21400 baht equivalent. Bearing in mind that my exchange rate is crap at the moment this is a brilliant price. The bad news however is that this is with Qantas. Its OK if the flights are Emirate code share but still I am scared off from my recent experience with them. On the same basis I have booked with Thai Air and on the same exchange formula this, a direct flight is approx 28000 baht.

Well all I can say is that I hope that you are taking Russian language lessons or you will have no one to talk with! One of the changes that I have made in the last couple of years in Pattaya is to do bit of 'Pre Loading'in that I never would drink until it was going out time at night. I do however admit that since moving to the Soi Buakhao area there are so many places to drink on the cheap. Don''t get me wrong. I am not drinking to get drunk but I have discovered the joys of watching the Pattaya circus at sunset, motor cycle madness, chatting up the girls on their way to work and just getting a gentle buzz on. IMHO this is a lot better than sitting outside a 7/11