teelack

Thanks for al your comments guys. Heres an up date. I still enjoy the phone but the issue is that my main telecom provider at home sim does not work at home. I also have a sim with Vodaphone and that does work fine as does the 1-2 Call sim. So there you have it. Its only half useful. Just a side issue and that is that whilst I agree about having a good camera in phone as being useful I can now buy something top brand for say 2500 baht with Zoom, flash and 14 mp. I like a real camera and therefore having one in phone is not so important. Bottom line. Was it worth it? Hell yes, it got me over the gap in my brain that said that an old bastard like me could never work one. I can and do and its sitting there for my next trip overseas.

Hi there Scott. It looks like you have cracked it (horrible expression but...) Keep it all going as I am counting the days till June and I can claim another free ale!

I was advised that Mr T's cabs were kept up to date on late and early flight arrivals by computer. Whatever I have been both late and early and have had no issues. And for the boardie that does not think its important for the driver to know his way around. This is OK if you know, but for a newbie it could be a nightmare. Take the Eastiny or Sabai groups with a lot of places spread out. I have met Pattaya cabbies that screwed this lot up and I didnt have cases to hump around.

I just cant see why anyone would pay 1500 baht for a metered cab whos driver may not even know Pattaya rather than ordering a Mr T (or similar) for 1000B and who's guys know the place.

I think that people need to see the X Zone as a multi purpose place rather than a gyno outfit. Like Basle I have met Phil and hes a good operator. I like the place because it serves good beer, draught that is. I can name some places in Pattaya where the draught is always putrid but to be honest I have never had a bad one here. The girls do change a bit and this is no different from any other go go but there are often some cuties here. Sure, like other places there are dragons as well. This place is a good one for just kicking back or in fact having a raunchy night or even just people watching ( go on admit it-we all do it!). Both Nev and Phil have done more (IMHO) than any other bar owners in Pattaya to get things right and have answered hundreds of questions and tried to adapt the place to their clients needs and the turn out that I saw shows that they are generally succeeding.

...and Goballs had no balls at all!

Hardly the same phone as this has a querty keyboard which is not predictive. As I say, this has been for me a great introduction. I am a technical Luddite and needed the confidence to move on and this is what I have gained. I can afford to lose out on 2200 baht but not 22000 so the trial run has given me a lot of confidence. As I say, this is IMHO still a reasonable phone for simple calls and SMS and because of the size of keys is fine for me. The only reason that I started the thread was to either encourage others or to warn them and people can take out of it what they want.

Not at all. I got what I paid for and to be honest other than the unlock situation it is a really good phone and well worth the 2200 baht. I also know that the twin sim works fine and that will be great for travel. The point is that I now have the confidence to pay say 15000 baht equivalent for a quality version and still have this one as a back up.

Thanks Monty. Unlike Jacko I love the bloody thing but unless I can get it unlocked at a reasonable price I might as well ditch it and get a new one. By the way reference the camera. Even at the highest resolution and quality it looks as if its only about 1 megapixel, say 150 KB. Bugger but this is something that I wish I had known as it is something that you can check in store before you buy. The camara is rated at 8 MP and thats what I thought I was getting.

Ok, I just don’t want to be left behind in the technology race but with the cost of smart phones being high and my digital skill levels being ho hum I decided to give it a try. Down to Tucom in Pattaya and get dazzled with the range and boggled with the techo stuff. There was however one or two things that I wanted and these were: Biggish keyboard as I am not that slick and have never had a querty keyboard on a phone. I would like a dual sim and needed to check that my home sim worked with the phone. After having looked and asked and been totally overloaded with info I settled for a Samsung Galaxy S11. It seems to have what I want. Now here’s the thing. I know that my home telecom provider looks for about 24000 baht and that the genuine phone price in Pattaya is about 16000 baht so I settle for a copy at 2300 baht. I know there will be compromises but not sure where. I spend two days fiddling, twiddling and trying to get the technique sorted out and eventually come to grip with the basics. I can make and receive calls, SMS /MMS and what have you. I have all the basics like time and date sorted and have taken my first photos. I had a mini card in my phone so I didn’t need to spend more at this stage. Now the review. First thing that I notice is that the photos are crap. I was told that this is one place that the copy phones make savings and to be honest this one is not worth using. The next down side is that the battery has less capacity that I would have expected and although I have been fiddling with it a lot, I give it a daily charge. I have tried the radio and recorder and that’s fine. I turned on the wi-fi and it works but I didn’t go much further than that so have no idea what works and what doesn’t. The call and ring volumes are fine and the personalization and settings are reasonably easy to manage as are the alarms etc. I took the phone back to 1-2 Call and its set up for voice mail but I had trouble with the broken English description so I will contact them for instruction on the Internet. I am now home and find that my main phone number does not work with the phone (Emergency Only) but a secondary providers sim is fine. Bugger because this is of little use to me and if I want to use my phone with dual sim I may have to get it unlocked or whatever. Was the experience and cost worth it? Well so far yes in that it was a cheap learning experience and whilst I was worried about my ability to work a touch phone I believe that I can and would consider getting the real thing. I hope that this review is of help to any others thinking about making a similar purchase.

Used Mr T and the service was excellent.

Thanks Scott but should that not read"Keep the beer cold and the girls hot?" Sitting at airport now gently weeping by the way!

OK Scott. I dont take things back lightly but as you will recall we had a long chaat last night at closing time. Whilst the club is still not up to speed in terms of girls it is in every other respect that I care about and perhaps I can confirm the following to any readers who are interested. Yes the sign is outside offering draft and 85 baht Leo. Yes, I had a lady happy to come and sit with me. The place is therefore interactive. Yes I do realise that your giving your best shot without a doubt. Thanks for the insights into Thai life and of course the free beer! Regards. Teelack

Bit noisy in Soi 1 at the moment.

Thanks Scott but three attempts is enought for now. Next time in Pattaya perhaps.

Perhaps I read it wrong but I thought that you were getting draft beer but still none. I spent my 125 babaht on a SML and sorry but thats all for me. Lots of great places in Patts that do cater for us lesser drinkers.

I dont think that the promotion will have legs till we get some feed back. Sadly the opening weeks of this place went well astray and whilst the management have good intent it will all come down to the attitude of the girls. They need a reason to interact as far as I have been advised (and failed to do so) and I hope that this promotion will do it. Clubs like this are great when they are great and excruciating when they fail to live up to the hype.

Hi there Mark. Fairly basic breakkie. This place is in Pattaya Klang between the Topps supermarket and Beach Road.

The 50 baht breakfast.

Hi there Marc. I did look in but the times that I have the place has been a bit quiet. I also have an issue with the fact that the place has no draft beer as its what I prefer.

In answer to a couple of questions here. The Boat is about 100 metres up Second Road from Pattaya Tai on the right. The Jimmymac breakfast is as good as ever but it is now 110 baht..

I was in the Boat today and all the meals there are value for money as far as I can see. there is tons of Thai food for 45 b and up. I also recommend thiis place. As for the cheapest well I think that honor goes to the place just down Pattaya Klang from Topps who does an American breaffast for 50 bant.

I for one apprecite it if anyone offers us any special deals. Sure, they sometime take a while to sort out but I am happy with what I am getting from you. As a side issue I asked your manager a couple of nights ago if in fact he was Nev, having never met you. He wasnt but he shouted me a beer! Thanks.

Thanks Nev. The card wwas there and I gave it a work out last night!

Excellent. Thanks for that. It was one of your older staff members but sorry I dont know her name. I will drop in and pick it up tonight.