teelack

The thing that generally concerns this site is not the average Thai wage but the wages expected in Pattaya. I think that we are all aware that there is an underclass of people living on bugger all in the provinces. Knowing that your girlfriend is being paid at the level of a university professor or an army general is totally unhelpful to understanding the costings in Pattaya, what we should or would like to be paying for our time there. Some months ago the Bangkok Post reported that there would be dreadful repercussions if the minimum daily wage was set at 300 baht!

Body Corporate Fees. These can be the biggest rip-off if you own a condo or a time share. The typical costs include jointly shared lawn mowing/gardening, pool cleaning, sports facilities, shared spaces, security lighting, security and a hundred and one other things. This is usually an annual fee and decided by the committee voted or designated (or the project owners) to look after the running of the complex. It can in some places make the difference between buying or not as it is often uncontrolled and in some cases is manipulated by the owners or management to regain discounts offered when a purchase is made. Caveat Emptor.

Appreciated the report and it appears that in the three years since I have been there things have gone down hill but I would still go there despite your comments as I have had so many good times there that it is hard to believe that it has all vanished.

Thanks for that but it didnt do too much for me. Here is a strange thing. I am of the age and history that the Nazi era still evokes dreadful outrage in me. I am a history buff and even this week I am reading about the Germany of the thirties. For some reason the spoofs on Hitler like the first one here are fine because they are riduculing what should be made to look rediculous. On the other hand I get indignant when I see Nazi flags etc for sale in Walking Street and have taken issue with them but simply get a smile for my troubles. This I understand as I can hardly expect a twenty year old Thai to understand what an evil force they were. I can laugh at Hitler and his mob but have no understanding how anyone would want to display a swastika or a German flag. I do understand by the way, about the swastika good fortune symbols as used in some other cultures but this has nothing in common with those used by the Nazi party.

Excellent! Thanks

One thing not mentioned (I think) is the body corporate fees for having a condo in a complex. I guess if you have a big place and want swimming pool gym etc this has to be a significant sum.

Most of us commoners think it would be worth a few baht for a bit more width!

18 Coins is not a buffet but there is ample food and the Thai lady that I took there enjoyed the Thai menu.

18 Coins in Soi Buakhao.

Thanks. That was a good read although I find it hard to believe that the Koreans cannot find Thai workers willing to accept the money being offered by them to work.

I also got Pimsleur for free from the public library but for me I find it difficult to work on my own with Thai. I sometime think back to the comments I heard about learning golf on your own. When you do take lessons it takes ages to unlearn the poor habits that you did learn. I think that learning from a Thai may be the only way to go if you are really serious. There are Thai communities all over the world now and I would think that tracking these down to find out if they have a language class might be the first step.

I am not a Babydolls lover but this is a must visit place when in Pattaya. I think that in some ways it epitomises the place. The girls are rarely glamourous but for the price of a drink will give you a Pattaya Experience. I do try to judge places more on attitude than the looks of either the place or the girls. This is why I rarely visit some places amd spend up in others. Keep the good work up.

Thanks for the pix Grubert. I have avoided this place because the reviews have been negative but you photo gallery proves that this could indeed be a place worthy of my time and money.

Thanks for that. It is always of interest to see these things as people like myself have no idea what they cost.

Always good to hear from you. Keep them cumming!

Didn't open it but I wondered if Ikkrang was in there?

Thanks for the advice. I am still playing with the idea and I will download the Kingsoft as well and see how that works. . I still have some time to experiment.

Book in for a couple of days and go around the area for a look. I am sure that there are better places than these.

A couple of years ago I raised the question here about the compatability of Open Office. My situation is that I have a PC and a laptop and both need replacing but the software (in my home country) will be in the region of 14000 baht and I only use Word and occasionally a spreadsheet for simple calcs. While all is working I recently downloaded the Apache version and have been sending it to all my own accounts as attachments and to my mobile. I had to download an app for my phone as it would not open but so far computer to computer it has been great and no loss of formatting. I have also stared send out attachments to friends etc and this has been no problem either. Has anyone out there any comments to make about possible downsides and issues before I take a changeover further.

Then quite simply they will lose business. I have never not been able to get 6 Kamagara in a pharmacy for the last few years and I have never been to Tims one. There are places off Soi 6 and on Buakhao that have this as their standard costing.

There seems to be a general belief that Chinese air lines are only now appreciating how to treat Western clients and it is for this reason that they seem amateurs. I flew China Southern last year and the flight was ok but neither the beer or white wine was chilled. because of the massive saving and a supply of 180 baht Thai sleeping pills I simply slept all that I could, but then I do that most trips.

Brilliant. I usually ignore these briefings but it sure as hell would get my attention.

One other thing that I didn't realise when I wrote this was that I can in fact top up any phone from the machine in AIS. All this 'learning' came about when a mate sent me his sim card and asked me to top it up when I came to LOS as his was due to expire before his next trip. I duly did this with all the hassles involved (using the spare phone and mail to and fro the guy) and it was only when I was introduced to the machine that I realised that I could put in my ten baht and select any number to add the credit to. Just to save people getting pissed off at me I can see me having a couple of sessions each time I am in Pattaya as I get to Central Plaza a few times each week even if its just for a ice cream at Mc Donalds.

Thanks for the report. I never stop learning from this site. I had no idea that there was a border crossing there.

There is a lot of talk about Sonkran but seems to me you have caught the essence of the thing and made me thankful not to be there!