teelack

Thanks for taking the time with that very interesting topic.

I am aware that I am not the only one that gets a Pattaya cough when I go to LOS. I am sure it would happen anywhere as I believe that it is the result of air-conditioning. I tend to believe that this is a combination of the rooms, gogo's etc rather than aeroplanes but who knows. My reason for writing this is that rather than getting this at home I started getting the cough during my last week in Pattaya so off to the pharmacist at Watsons. They came up with something called MUCLEAR. This has turned out to be better and cheaper than any other fix that I have had. More often than not I end up going to the GP after about three weeks but I feel sure that this has fixed me. For 180 baht this is substatially cheaper than local pills and potions that I have tried. If you get the dreaded Pattaya cough then give this s try.

I have been in Pattaya almost every season and the only time the rain has been an issue, and this is about three times in the last ten years, is when there is a cloud burst. I have been up to my waist in water and fallen down a hole that was two feet under water and ripped my pants (I was carrying a girl home from the X Zone at the time)but its such a rare thing that I discount it as being important. The rain that I associate with Pattaya in 'winter' is a sharp shower that is over in minutes and is not worth worring about.

Here is a brief review of the Triangle Bar. I went there a couple of times during my last trip but it would heve been three except that it was closed on Buddha Day. No problems. The best way to describle this place is Cheers in Pattaya. This is a friendly place in that I chose to sit on the side overlooking the street. I never did get a seat overlooking the Barbie and believe that I would have to be there a bit earlier for that treat! While I was there it was clear that this is a drinkers bar. The almost full time happy hour almost assured this. The price of two bottles if I recall correctly ranged from 80 baht for stuff like Leo up to 95 baht for SML which in my mind is really 100 baht for two beers whatever you select. This is really on par with dozens of bars in the area but there is the bonus of free wifi which I never got working. There were two things that I liked about the bar other than the street scene and these were the company that I met and the food. There is always someone to chat with and always peace if you want it. Now to the food. This place has a little cookery attached to it which manages passable snacks from about 50 cents. If you want something basic like an egg roll and chips, freshly cooked thats bought to wherever you are, its 100 baht and sometimes a snack and a beer is just what I do want. The boss man of the food area, a Euro, could not have been more helpful when I had a hot beef rool with his suggested horseraddish sauce. Spot on for 70 baht! So there you have it. The bar buzzes but then so do many in the Soi Buakow and Soi Honey area and in the same price bracket. I guess that all this means is that the whole area is worth a visit at times if what you want is a low cost drinking session with someone to have a chat with.

Bugger all! This is the best time of year to go. Its hot, mainly dry except when it rains and in Pattaya you are never more than a few metres from a bar to rest up between showers. Dont think, just go!

Thanks for taking the time. Never been there and probably never will but enjoyed the Evil trip.

Worth a mention is that the only place that ever tried me on was MM's favourite place, Hooties. I thing I said something like "No thank you kind sir" and just kept walking into the place. They will hit you up if your in a crowd and want to watch a show without buying a drink.

Quite simply, no

Here is the update. Sorry I do not have a completion date bit I think that all the main concrete pours have to be over and this is the noisy operation. As far as I can tell the building does not shade the Ruen Thai pool but during the day there is a fair bit of noise. The bars on second road between 2 and 3 were indeed closed and gutted and then re-built. There are three of them and two have live bands so its a busy little area. They reopened late last year. On the subject of bars. There really are loads in the area. There is a newish complex back down second road towars Soi 6 as well as the complex where the Atlantic bar is although a number of people have jumped ship and use Drinking Street. Also dont forget the complex in Soi 3 made famous by Jamies trip report!

On the subject of the black girls in Walking Street. I can indeed confirm the 1500 baht LT. The lady I was chatting with was only away from Kenya for a month and she says this is 2 weeks in Pattaya and 2 weeks in Singapore where she expects to make 200 S$ a night. As a matter of personal choice the lady was not my thing for one real reason and that was because her elaborate hair style was unwashed for to long and didnt smell that good.

Sounds like a good deal and whatever else will be fun because thats what Baby Dolls does. I do however have one suggestion and that is that you update the photo collection on the link at the foot of the page. Its a day or two since Ricky was there.

Whatever...thanks for drawing my (and I am sure others) attention to something that was neither clear or generally known or understood. Knowledge as always is power.

What airline dictionaries are there?

My dictionary tells me that the word direct means "Without delay" therefore in strict terms it cannot have a stop or stops of any number.

Here is the new hotel fronting Second Road and Soi 2. Wonderfully enough the Clasroom gogo is still going but for how long is anyones guess. The photo is taken from the Khun Pub (or whatever) with my back to the Sabai Inn

Thanks for explaining that. Shows that I am never too old to learn-only too old to remember!

Direct? Non Stop? Its all a bit over my head for humble Kiwi boy but I thought that they were the same.

Auckland to Swampy. The Australian airlines take over 3 hours extra and stop in Sydney.The Thai flight also gets into Swampy at 8.30 PM so thsatanother night in Pattaya. Yeah!

Same same withThai Air flights out of Auckland. All the recent flights have been half full and I have been able to get three seats or the emergency exit ones where I can stretch out. The one annoying thing is that when I log onto the Thai Air site the prices are 50 % greater than the specials offered by the travel agents. I have till the 31st to book a flight at the equivalet of 31000 return and this is a direct flight and is what I was paying years ago for a one stop flight takeing a lot more time to get there and back.To be honest I am a happy traveller.

I have on a couple of occasions in my life been caught up in scams. Its like auction fever where you are caught up in the moment and the people doing the scamming seem to have a natural talent for it. What is galling afterwards is that in some cases you have genuinely befriended these people, taken them into your home and introduced them to your wife and family. Over my life I have seen some totally amazing skills developed by poor or desparate people and this is just another example and perhaps the correct response might be "There by the grace of God go I"

Remember that at the Sabai you have access to I think 5 pools in total. I did try the Ruen Thai one day but went back to the main pool. There was always seats and shade and minimal noise so no issues. Yes, this is the space that is being built on and I think that old clunker of a pub must be a very valuable site mnow. As far as I am aware its only used as a social club for Sabai staff. One high season change. In the low season there was always a baht bus that would stop for you in the soi but in 4 weeks only one ever stopped. They are all looking for the Russian/Asian taxi business. No issue to me but a small sign of the times.

Having just had a month in Soi 2 I will give this one a go. There is a large new place going up on the corner of Second Road and Soi 2. It sometime works 24 hours a day but there is little noise at night. They are well on with the construction and there have been some large concrete pours in the last month. As for noise, well I had no complaints but the area of the Sabai where the Ruen Thai pool is (the renovated pool nearest to Second Road was too noisy for me but apll the other pools are free of noise. I have to admit stayin at the Sabai Inn on the side next to the the Soi 2 Inn and neaver heard a thing so no complaints for me. In summary, there will be noise in some of the rooms but I cant tell you what ones these are. I had a walk up Soi 1 but ut seems reasonably peaceful to me. I will post some photos of the construction in the next day or two.

Just to tidy u this topic here is my actual experience of getting to the airport. With Bells they tell you to be ready 30 minutes before the listed departure time and I was. When it was only 15 minutes to departure time I got Dao to phone up. "Be there in next ten minutes". So whatever this bus was going to be late. The minibus did arrive and off for one more pick up and onto the station. Got there about 5 minutes late. All the passengers and baggage transferred and we were obvioulsy being waited for so there must have been a hitch with someone on our pick up list. I have to say that they had a clean and well fitted out new bus and there was good leg room. The bus was as far as I could see almost totally sold out so the system still works for them. We got out of the station exactly 20 minutes late. I was a but suprised that they made zero attempt to make up any time. The bus travelled at th usual Bell speed and in exactly 90 minutes we were at Swampy. What can I say other than adequate as I had time up my sleeve but really if you were economising and could share a cab it would be a much better deal.

My suggestion is this. I used to stay there all the time until they did the recent re-build. There are two pools and one seems to be in constant shade and I am unsure if they have any shade on the upper one. Needs checking out. Because of the renovations I do believe that you need to check it out before you commit. Why not call in and inspect the place and let us know. IMHO its too much of a risk without a look-see first. The street should be getting quieter now and this was never an issue for me even in the busy times. I think this is a good location for getting anywhere and if it was OK I might even consider moving back.

Just a final comment on the Belll saga. I never get to use it coming into Thailand so all my comments are regarding Pattaya to Swampy. For me its a shame that they have made it so difficult. The timing works well for me and I am as happy in a bus for a 90 minute trip as a cab.I phoned them up and they will not accept a booking over the phone and if you want to ensure a pick up you have to prepay the by the day before travel. I did have a reason to go to the area of the bus station so I did indeed book. Its really crazy that they ask you so many questions on line (like your home address, flight time and number) yet when you rock up its simply date, time and pick up point. The cost of the trip prepaid is 250 babt, 20 baht dearer than on line but if you have the time and dont mind a bit of screwing about there you have it.