teelack

Some god stuff there. Might try to remember Mr. Yuslas Sakkashit.

You are right about the stops made by the driver. Always seems to happen. I even went home with one driver some years ago coming from DM to Pattaya as he had forgotten something! Strangely enough I would say that I have never been more than say 20 minutes at Passport. This in spite of shoes and belt off and hanging onto pants.I tend to go through at approx 5.30 PM and perhaps this is a good time but its just not been an issue.

I have never had a delay on the motorway yet but always plan for it. For me I allow 3.5 hours prior to the flight. When I hit the airport and get rid of the bags I wander down to the 7/11 and spend some money on phone credit and other things that I might need like batteries for the headphones. I then meander down one floor to the Restaurant Street and see whats interesting and have a light meal. After reading the paper, having the meal its time to hit the passport control and then into the international area. If you ask you can have free internet at either the cafes or go to the information desk and get it there. After a quick catch up on the net the plane is minutes from loading so I then get whatever duty free I decide to buy in Thailand and its up up and away. I think that taking the extended version like the above does give you some peace of mind.

I must be missing something but seeing as I usually get through immigration before the baggage comes through I fail to see how I could save any time!

Thanks, Cannot see me ever getting there but I enjoyed seeing it through your eyes.

Well if there was a serious saving in time or I had a disability or whatever, maybe but when I have been on a plane for 12 hours there is nothing I like more than a fast walk to the immigration to get the blood flowing. I am also aware that in minutes I will be back on my ass again in the back of a cab. I guess that as someone that enjoys walking up to 10 kilometers a day the service is a bit difficult to see as valuable.

Wow! Thats a LT for some of us and certainly more than the cab to Pattaya. Thanks for the info but I will give this one a miss.

Whats the extra charge for this service?

It might be just me but I tend to get into Swampy 8.30/9.30pm and I almost always manage to get through immigration and down to the carrousel before my luggage has appeared.

In fact I did take her there but not to our taste. Anyway, I have been enjoying the speculation and the thread has taken on quite a fun aspect and it just goes to show how difficult it is to get things right at times.

......yes but if its for the locals then I may as well get my Thai GF to register.

LOL..........how about a Thai mobile number? This way applications can be checked on the spot.

Sounds good Marc. Just ask any of the serving girls?

Thanks for the photos. They bought back some good memories for us Pattaya starved guys,

The hotel that I stay at has given me a good deal for the next trip. I would however point out that I deal direct with the manager and I have learned that he is the only one that can do a deal. He workss the day shift and if you dont catch him you dont negotiate. I am fussy in that I know the sort of room that I want, a pool and lack of noise. I also want a bath and a safe in room. I guess that you can take pot luck but the quality and location of the room is important to me. By creating a 'credit rating' I can get away often not pyingg till leaving day or worst case split the bill in two. I think that I have given you some good reasons to think ahead. By the way, I now ALWAYS book direct with the hotel and have not used an agency for perhaps two years.

It may have escaped you but to most of the world as far as I can read on the net and see on the TV still considers Pattaya to be the ultimate mongers destination and sex capital of the world for many. If and when they close the go gos and there are not thousands of prostitutes in the place I may concede that you have a point. Even the OP says in part that "...the only reason..." is because of family and what have you. There have been threads here in the last year by the way about kids being taken out ointo the city centre at night and to be honest it horrifies me as both a parent and a grandparent. Perhaps you should get out more?

Hi there. Just wondering. Is your wife Thai? The only reason that I ask is that I have never seen Pattaya as a family holiday place, or to put that another way I think that there are many better places in Asia to have a family holiday.

I guess I must be lucky. My flight is 10000 Kilometers and takes around 12 hours but is cheaper now than I paid 10 years ago. I have no issues or problems with Thai at all other than all cattle class seats are rotten on all airlines that I have travelled on.

I fancied staying in Soi Buakou so I looked at this place on the Internet. I got a bit confused with the different buildings and what have you and have decided that I will have a look at the place next trip to see whats what. I think that looking at 3 or 4 different places while your in town sets you up for future trips. Some places you will love and some you will hate when you actually get there. Its so much different from the brochures on the net. I have also found that some of the more expensive places are not worth the money and some of the cheaper places not fit for the dog.

1200 baht in high season for a fully equipped, upgraded and modern hotel in high season in the middle of town? Sounds like a bargain to me!!!!

I can be reasonably confident of getting from Swampy to Pattaya hotel in 90 minutes using Mr T and thats 1000 baht plus tip if I have a hundred. I get in at roughly the same time as the OP and this gives me a great night in Pattaya. There is time to get SSS and into town, have a drink or two and sort a girl out.

Anyone been offered the Thai made El Cheapo ED medicine?

In fairness I have been using them for about 10 years and no issues other than one missed pick-up. Sounds to me that the one trip that your basing all your comments on was an abberation.

For some reason or other I have never been able to contact then ussing my laptop but have no issues when I use a PC in a cyber cafe! Thanks for the update re charging. This was supposed to come in in September but they had not introduced it in November so I thought that they had quietly dropped the silly idea. Fear not some one else will see an opportunity and pick up the ball.

I enjoy crawling the go go,s but I also found that the last time I was in Pattaya I hardly ever went there. As with the above I dont really know the reason. Scott was a good host, the ladies were OK and there was draft beer but something didnt gel. Its not bad but its not good. I will try again next month and will see how I find the place seeing as the management has changed.