MM

CentOS...don't recall which version.

Linux with Apache.

Sorry for that. I noticed it too. The board server had been running without a reboot for 369 days, though I've had to go in and kill and restart a few processes over the last couple of months. I was just trying to reach 365 days...which we did 4 days ago before I did a full reboot of the system....it was sort of a test/milestone I wanted to reach. I was even thinking about having a party for its one year birthday, but we had a party on that day anyway So, it's all rebooted, everything should be a bit crisper now.

Have you tried with a different computer? The problem is, it works for me all the time. Trying another computer might lead to a different result. Let me know.

See if it works better now.

Could you be more specific? How is it not working?

I'd give Switzerland a try.

We're into pictures here, especially .JPGs. Powerpoint and most other file types are not allowed to be posted.

After the recent "confusion" as to your identity and your relationship with Harris Black/azharleyboy, for you to be requesting PM's and emails so shortly after being reinstated to the board is a bit ... suspicious. That is HBs mode of operation. If you want to market this place, post the pictures here rather than doing it off the board.

Not Just Beer and Skittles: You have to admire a bar owner who manages to overcome adversity to turn his joint into a popular attraction, be it a beer boozer or a den of the chrome pole. Down in Soi LK Metro, off Soi Diana Inn, the Champagne ogling den has been a prominent feature since it kicked into life just over three years ago. It proved quite popular, although I have to admit to not being much of a fan. Then came a crunch when a partnership dispute erupted and the place was closed for a period of time. When the dispute was resolved, Champagne struggled to return to life, but the owner has persisted and since undergoing a major renovation it is now well worth a visit. Puke green is the predominant colour in the den, and while it isn’t exactly a flattering hue, it doesn’t detract either. The music is quite good, draught amber nectar is available all night for 55 baht a glass, and happy hours run from 7:00-9:00PM. [Night-March] COYOTE HARDLY UGLY: Here are two good reasons for at least giving the Coyotee’s den (Soi Marina Plaza, off Walking Street) a whirl on almost any night of the week. (Photo by DAK) The overall numbers, quality, and friendliness of the dancing damsels is what makes Champagne worth visiting. Most are a friendly bunch, and there are plenty of them, both of the wardrobe malfunctioning g-string types and the more overdressed coyote style. Looks vary from attractive to plain, but this statement could be addressed to the vast majority of dens and beer boozers in Fun Town. The self-administering body painting show is one of the best I’ve ever witnessed. Four or five ladies of lithe proportions spend a number of minutes applying multi-coloured streaks of paint to their bodies and the end result is like witnessing exploding kaleidoscope. The damsels then repair to the shower to wash it all off. I think someone should point out to the management the shower glass should be opaque; although doing that would spoil the optic nerve moment for those imbibers for whom a clutch of women engaged in ablutions is a turn-on. New Chips are Down: The Pratamnak road end of Soi Diamond has become a hive of bar building and renovating activity in recent weeks with the opening of one new four-storey nightclub/coyote den called B4, and the remodelling of two existing places: namely Shooters (which has been turned into a hip-hop lounge and had its official opening on 20 November), and the Casino Club. The latter has been gutted inside and expanded in the hope of making it more customer friendly in terms of room to move. When Casino first opened in August 2005 and for much of the next couple of years it was always busy from late at night until the early hours. With rival places springing up it seems the owners have decided they need to apply a makeover to keep the drinkers coming back. I’m told the Diamond ogling den, further down the narrow part of the lane, is due to be renovated and remodelled in coming weeks. They held what will be their final dance contest for the year on Loy Krathong night. As usual, the contest was well attended and proved the den can still attract customers when it has something special to offer. Sadly, in-between these events it is a shadow of its former self; hence the desire to make some much-needed changes. Ten Years After: The FLB lounge-lizard libation room (Walking Street) will be celebrating an amazing 10 years of operations in December. During that time it has had only one change of ownership, although there have been a few managers and the interior has undergone a couple of minor facelifts. FLB has one of the most popular websites around town: www.pattayatalk.com, so to find out more about planned events in the joint just add it to your favourites list. Taking up the contest cudgels: The Sisterz ogling den (Walking Street) will be holding another of its increasingly popular dance contests, this one on Thursday night 11 December. If past contests are anything to go by then this should be well worth marking in the diary. They are usually reasonably tight-run affairs that kick into life around 9:30-10:00PM and don’t drag on interminably. Given their amazingly cheap libations, with standard thirst-quenchers just 59 baht after happy hour, I would think the joint will be bursting at the seams for most of the night. Not a Coyote or even a Dingo in Sight: It appears as though the experiment of trying to be a noshery during the day and early into the night and then turning into a coyote dance den later in the evening has failed for the Ingo’s establishment on Third Road, opposite the Buffalo beer boozer. A few months back the management of Ingo’s thought they had hit upon a great idea to utilise their available space more effectively by adding a couple of chrome poles and a small dance stage and hiring a couple of ladies to cavort about said poles in short shorts and crop tops. The aim was to attract the drinking classes after the noshites had taken their fill of fine food and wandered into the evening. After not being able to attract much in the way of chrome pole molesting talent it seems the owners have sensibly ditched the idea and are now getting more sleep at nights. A Real Regular’s Hangout: That popular afternoon den Far East Rock (Soi Post Office) appears to have carved a solid niche for itself among a core group of men with nothing better to do than pour alcohol down their throats from the early hours of the afternoon while inspecting the various shades of skin tones on damsels whose dress sense tends towards the minimalist. Certainly beats watching afternoon television and is far more entertaining and refreshing than being perched on an outside bar stool looking at the passing parade. Draught beer at about 50 baht a glass is the preferred libation while ly water is only 60 baht for those who would like to remain in the world of sobriety during the daylight hours. On a recent visit to the den I think it would be fair to say there were at least a half-dozen ladies who had svelte figures and wouldn’t have looked out of place in a more prominent den of the chrome pole. I was told at least one of the wallet emptiers was indeed employed in a top-class joint in the evenings, using Far East as a place to play in the afternoons. The music is quite good, 70s and 80s-style rock and pop, and the majority of the customers were clearly regulars. Just before I arrived a new face had been in the den and decided to pay the bar for six of the very best dancers. Probably needed to field a Rugby Sevens team. The negative as far as attracting new faces through the door might well be the jocks-in-frocks at the front door. While pleasant enough I wonder how many potential customers just keep walking because they think the den is full of the gender-confused? If you’ve never been in and happen to be passing just offer a polite, “How’re they hangin’ Bruce?” as you open the curtain and step inside for a quiet drink or six. No Longer a Pensioners Paradise: While chatting to a long-term Thailand visitor who has been residing in Pattaya since the days when places like the Pattayaland sois were just open ground, he reminded me of the exponential rise in quality of the wallet emptiers who make Fun Town their primary hunting ground. Back in the 1980s and certainly when I first started coming regularly to Pattaya in the early 1990s, the ladies of nocturnal habits and questionable morals were generally considered to be the least attractive in terms of looks and age compared to their Bangkok counterparts. In those days the genuine head-turners plied their trade from the Patpong dens, with Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy taking the dregs. Pattaya was viewed as a bargirl’s retirement village. Of course there were always lovely ladies here: anyone who had a camera and collected his own happy snaps in those times would be able to provide visual evidence of that. As with anything involving a broad range of bar types and styles and a period of time, my comments have to be generalisations. Nonetheless, since the late 1990s the growth of Pattaya has seen a lot of younger and attractive (to Western eyes anyway) women starting their careers in chrome pole molesting and wallet emptying here in Fun Town, rather than kicking off in the bright lights of Bangkok and then slowly sliding down the age and looks scale before coming to Pattaya for their final fling. As my friend noted, in his opinion the girls in Pattaya are a lot better looking and younger than they were a decade or more ago. I know for certain they gained a far better sense of sensual dressing than was the case in the mid-1990s. Back then girls would say the only women who dressed alluringly were the ladyboys, and they didn’t want potential walking wallets to confuse a genuine distaff operator from a wannabe. Piece of Pith: It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them. From http://www.pattayatoday.net/index.php?acti...ews&id=4331

Not Just Beer and Skittles: You have to admire a bar owner who manages to overcome adversity to turn his joint into a popular attraction, be it a beer boozer or a den of the chrome pole. Down in Soi LK Metro, off Soi Diana Inn, the Champagne ogling den has been a prominent feature since it kicked into life just over three years ago. It proved quite popular, although I have to admit to not being much of a fan. Then came a crunch when a partnership dispute erupted and the place was closed for a period of time. When the dispute was resolved, Champagne struggled to return to life, but the owner has persisted and since undergoing a major renovation it is now well worth a visit. Puke green is the predominant colour in the den, and while it isn’t exactly a flattering hue, it doesn’t detract either. The music is quite good, draught amber nectar is available all night for 55 baht a glass, and happy hours run from 7:00-9:00PM. [Night-March] COYOTE HARDLY UGLY: Here are two good reasons for at least giving the Coyotee’s den (Soi Marina Plaza, off Walking Street) a whirl on almost any night of the week. (Photo by DAK) The overall numbers, quality, and friendliness of the dancing damsels is what makes Champagne worth visiting. Most are a friendly bunch, and there are plenty of them, both of the wardrobe malfunctioning g-string types and the more overdressed coyote style. Looks vary from attractive to plain, but this statement could be addressed to the vast majority of dens and beer boozers in Fun Town. The self-administering body painting show is one of the best I’ve ever witnessed. Four or five ladies of lithe proportions spend a number of minutes applying multi-coloured streaks of paint to their bodies and the end result is like witnessing exploding kaleidoscope. The damsels then repair to the shower to wash it all off. I think someone should point out to the management the shower glass should be opaque; although doing that would spoil the optic nerve moment for those imbibers for whom a clutch of women engaged in ablutions is a turn-on. New Chips are Down: The Pratamnak road end of Soi Diamond has become a hive of bar building and renovating activity in recent weeks with the opening of one new four-storey nightclub/coyote den called B4, and the remodelling of two existing places: namely Shooters (which has been turned into a hip-hop lounge and had its official opening on 20 November), and the Casino Club. The latter has been gutted inside and expanded in the hope of making it more customer friendly in terms of room to move. When Casino first opened in August 2005 and for much of the next couple of years it was always busy from late at night until the early hours. With rival places springing up it seems the owners have decided they need to apply a makeover to keep the drinkers coming back. I’m told the Diamond ogling den, further down the narrow part of the lane, is due to be renovated and remodelled in coming weeks. They held what will be their final dance contest for the year on Loy Krathong night. As usual, the contest was well attended and proved the den can still attract customers when it has something special to offer. Sadly, in-between these events it is a shadow of its former self; hence the desire to make some much-needed changes. Ten Years After: The FLB lounge-lizard libation room (Walking Street) will be celebrating an amazing 10 years of operations in December. During that time it has had only one change of ownership, although there have been a few managers and the interior has undergone a couple of minor facelifts. FLB has one of the most popular websites around town: www.pattayatalk.com, so to find out more about planned events in the joint just add it to your favourites list. Taking up the contest cudgels: The Sisterz ogling den (Walking Street) will be holding another of its increasingly popular dance contests, this one on Thursday night 11 December. If past contests are anything to go by then this should be well worth marking in the diary. They are usually reasonably tight-run affairs that kick into life around 9:30-10:00PM and don’t drag on interminably. Given their amazingly cheap libations, with standard thirst-quenchers just 59 baht after happy hour, I would think the joint will be bursting at the seams for most of the night. Not a Coyote or even a Dingo in Sight: It appears as though the experiment of trying to be a noshery during the day and early into the night and then turning into a coyote dance den later in the evening has failed for the Ingo’s establishment on Third Road, opposite the Buffalo beer boozer. A few months back the management of Ingo’s thought they had hit upon a great idea to utilise their available space more effectively by adding a couple of chrome poles and a small dance stage and hiring a couple of ladies to cavort about said poles in short shorts and crop tops. The aim was to attract the drinking classes after the noshites had taken their fill of fine food and wandered into the evening. After not being able to attract much in the way of chrome pole molesting talent it seems the owners have sensibly ditched the idea and are now getting more sleep at nights. A Real Regular’s Hangout: That popular afternoon den Far East Rock (Soi Post Office) appears to have carved a solid niche for itself among a core group of men with nothing better to do than pour alcohol down their throats from the early hours of the afternoon while inspecting the various shades of skin tones on damsels whose dress sense tends towards the minimalist. Certainly beats watching afternoon television and is far more entertaining and refreshing than being perched on an outside bar stool looking at the passing parade. Draught beer at about 50 baht a glass is the preferred libation while ly water is only 60 baht for those who would like to remain in the world of sobriety during the daylight hours. On a recent visit to the den I think it would be fair to say there were at least a half-dozen ladies who had svelte figures and wouldn’t have looked out of place in a more prominent den of the chrome pole. I was told at least one of the wallet emptiers was indeed employed in a top-class joint in the evenings, using Far East as a place to play in the afternoons. The music is quite good, 70s and 80s-style rock and pop, and the majority of the customers were clearly regulars. Just before I arrived a new face had been in the den and decided to pay the bar for six of the very best dancers. Probably needed to field a Rugby Sevens team. The negative as far as attracting new faces through the door might well be the jocks-in-frocks at the front door. While pleasant enough I wonder how many potential customers just keep walking because they think the den is full of the gender-confused? If you’ve never been in and happen to be passing just offer a polite, “How’re they hangin’ Bruce?” as you open the curtain and step inside for a quiet drink or six. No Longer a Pensioners Paradise: While chatting to a long-term Thailand visitor who has been residing in Pattaya since the days when places like the Pattayaland sois were just open ground, he reminded me of the exponential rise in quality of the wallet emptiers who make Fun Town their primary hunting ground. Back in the 1980s and certainly when I first started coming regularly to Pattaya in the early 1990s, the ladies of nocturnal habits and questionable morals were generally considered to be the least attractive in terms of looks and age compared to their Bangkok counterparts. In those days the genuine head-turners plied their trade from the Patpong dens, with Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy taking the dregs. Pattaya was viewed as a bargirl’s retirement village. Of course there were always lovely ladies here: anyone who had a camera and collected his own happy snaps in those times would be able to provide visual evidence of that. As with anything involving a broad range of bar types and styles and a period of time, my comments have to be generalisations. Nonetheless, since the late 1990s the growth of Pattaya has seen a lot of younger and attractive (to Western eyes anyway) women starting their careers in chrome pole molesting and wallet emptying here in Fun Town, rather than kicking off in the bright lights of Bangkok and then slowly sliding down the age and looks scale before coming to Pattaya for their final fling. As my friend noted, in his opinion the girls in Pattaya are a lot better looking and younger than they were a decade or more ago. I know for certain they gained a far better sense of sensual dressing than was the case in the mid-1990s. Back then girls would say the only women who dressed alluringly were the ladyboys, and they didn’t want potential walking wallets to confuse a genuine distaff operator from a wannabe. Piece of Pith: It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them. From http://www.pattayatoday.net/index.php?acti...ews&id=4146

What happens when you click it? I use it regularly and it seems to work fine.

Economic Error: I hope I’m not being premature with this (unlike most other areas of my life), but I think myself and others have been wrong about the potential strength of this high season. Given all the global problems, no one really thought Fun Town would be busy this high season, yet the trends are already showing a marked increase in tourist numbers. The high season officially starts on 1 November and my own empirical evidence, allied with comments made by others, makes it abundantly clear the crowds are back. For example, the Club Oasis ogling den (Soi Buakhow) was busy throughout the low season, but, if it’s possible, was even busier early on a mid-week evening with a swag of very friendly chrome pole shufflers looking to empty as many wallets as possible. One of my favourite munching palaces, Wi’s (Third Road, opposite X-Zyte head-bangers audito-rium), endured a very poor low season, but on my last visit the place was three-quarters full and the staff said every day had been good for the previous week. For some houses of enterta-inment and a few nosheries the difference between the high and low seasons is marginal: they’re always busy and have been doing well for years, despite increasing competition. Yet, a whole swag of joints across the city have been hanging on by the barest of margins: raiding their bank accounts, selling properties overseas and here, bringing in cashed-up partners, all in an effort to stave off closure. These places will now be hoping to take advantage of the overflow caused by having Fun Town close to putting out the ‘House Full’ sign again, at least in terms of nocturnal wanderers. I’m the first to put up my hand and say I was mistaken. CALENDAR COVER GIRL: The Pattaya by Night 2009 Calendar features dancing damsels from some of the best dens in Fun Town and the cover girl comes from the Heaven Above ogling den (Soi Diamond). (Photo by DAK) Shameless Plug: The Pattaya by Night Calendar 2009 has well and truly hit the streets and, I’m extremely happy to report, it has not only been well-received but is selling well. It is of the desk, rather than wall, variety and features such worthy dens of the chrome pole as Baby Dolls (Soi 15, off Walking Street), Club Boesche (Soi 16, off Walking Street), Club Oasis (corner Soi Buakhow and Soi Chaiyapoom), Coyotee’s (Soi Marina Plaza, off Walking Street), Heaven Above (Soi Diamond), Secrets (Soi 14, off Walking Street), Sisterz (Walking Street), Super Baby (Soi Diamond), Super Girl (Soi Diamond), and Windmill Club (Soi Diamond). The popular and long-established specialist fetish-wear outlet Boutique Sexy (shop on Third Road, opposite and between the Boxing Roo and Buffalo beer boozers) is also featured (February). The calendar retails at 200 baht and can be purchased through the above-mentioned places as well as the DK bookshops in Soi Post Office and Central Pattaya Road and on the web via www.dcothai.com. The First of the High Season Dance Contests: This is the postponed from October event at the Coyotee’s den of the chrome pole (Soi Marina Plaza, off Walking Street) and will now kick off on Sunday night 30 November. My understanding is the contest will commence sometime between 10:30 and 11:00PM and will involve dancers from at least three other dens. Past contests in Coyotee’s have always been good affairs and this one should be worthy of including in your diary. The Dust Has Well and Truly Settled: The storm-in-a-teacup crackdown on the activities of the dens of Soi 6 lasted about as long as a premature ejaculator in a roomful of naked Playboy bunnies. While the solicita-tions of the damsels on the streets was less cajoling than in the past when I took an evening constitutional for research purposes recently, the sheer numbers of wallet emptiers sat outside their respective places of employment in various stages of undress made it look as though it is simply business as usual. Every place had the majority of its one-eyed trouser-snake fiddlers out on the pavements, knitting woollen scarves or table mats, meditating with that thousand-yard stare only a true mendicant can achieve, or with their noses well and truly at the feed trough keeping their constant hunger pangs at bay. The situation inside the Sierra Tango joints varied from busy to almost morguelike. The Mandarin Club ogling den was in the latter category. While it is a nicely -appointed and clean place it lacks the one thing to bring in customers: sufficient dancing damsels. There were just seven when I looked in, and only a couple could be described as worthy of donning a g-string. Libations are reasonable, starting with ly water at 70 baht and lady drinks 90 baht. As with most other places in the soi, bar fines are 300 baht for a limited time in the company of the damsel of your choice. One lady declared the price of her experiencing her charms would be 1,000 baht, but quickly reduced this figure to the more standard 700 baht. Just a few doors away up the soi is the Betty Boup chrome pole palace. This place is absolutely awash with dancers, of quite youthful appearance in many cass. The music is standard car alarm with a screech, ly water starts at 75 baht, and lady drinks are an even 100 baht. The bar fine is 300 baht and the trouser-snake fondler asks for 700 baht in attending to your desires to reduce your liquid weight by a few millilitres. The standard uniform is high-heel boots, fishnet stockings, a short skirt and easy-to-open top. While the Pook den likes to refer to itself as of the ogling variety I find it disconcerting to have to battle through a gobble of katoeys just to mount a set of stairs to reach the next floor and see what all the fuss, if any, is about. So, I haven’t bothered, as yet. Most of the other places in the soi are of the Sierra Tango variety with bar fines 300 baht and the damsels having their mitts out for 700 baht. Lady drinks are usually between 90 and 95 baht but other libations can be as low as 30-40 baht. Happy Siblings: The Sisterz chrome pole palace (Walking Street) has extended its happy hour to 11:00PM with most libations at a mere 45 baht and even when this ends the cost of thirst-quenchers merely rises to an almost ridiculously low 59 baht. This includes Chang, Singha, and Tiger bottled amber, large Chang amber draught, house liver wasters, and ly wasters. Shows begin around 9:00PM. Sisterz will be worth visiting on Thursday night 27 November when they will hold a St Trinian’s Schoolgirl Party. I expect the joint will fill up early with English headmasters and members of the plastic raincoat brigade. For people not familiar with the St Trinian’s movies (I think they were popular in Britain in the late 1950s, early 1960s), just come on down to Sisterz and check out the party. Back in the Kitty-Litter: In any collection or grouping of dens of the chrome pole, and even beer boozers, the strength of the area can usually be improved by hoping those who are struggling eventually lift their game and begin attracting more custom. For much of the past year the Catz ogling den (Soi 16, Covent Garden Complex) had been a shadow of its former self, especially since Lanky Bob sold his share in the joint, for genuine health reasons. This weakness led to a concomitant drag on the fortunes of other establish-ments in the same complex. I’m happy to say the situation has now been reversed and Catz is once again worthy of regular patronage. I had been told Lanky Bob has been lured back into the play palace and his efforts, as well as a change in mamasan, has worked the necessary wonders. Heard and Seen Around Town: It looks as though the fag ash brigade might once more be forced into taking their drags and heavy puffs outside to the street following a not-unexpected series of visits to a number of dens of the chrome pole on Walking Street in the first week of November by a team of officials charged with enforcing the non-smoking ban. Eight people attired in various uniforms and flashing badges that may have been genuinely certifiable accreditation to a local video shop rental card wandered about in search of people engaging in the act of polluting the atmosphere by way of cigarette smoke. Needless to say, the dens visited were owned by foreigners rather than locals. They probably figured a foreigner would come up with the 20,000 baht fine faster than most local operators. Is this the start of a continuing stub offensive or just a quick drag and puff to fill empty coffers? Only the coming weeks will tell. The opening of the new Bubbles ogling den (Pattayaland Soi 2) is not far away judging by the work that has been completed on the outside of the building as at the start of the second week of November. I presume the new owners have reverted to the old name of the den as a way of hoping to attract those punters who might have fond memories of the place in its heyday from about 1999-2003. Not surprisingly, the Honey Club ogling den (Soi Honey Inn) has closed its doors. It possessed all the ambience of a municipal tip and simply didn’t attract sufficient numbers of chrome pole shufflers to get punters through the doors. Piece of (Aging) Pith: Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly? A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon. (my new email address is: duncanstearn@gmail.com) From http://www.pattayatoday.net/index.php?acti...ews&id=4146

A Year Old Already: On Saturday night 1 November the Sakura Club ogling den (Soi 15, off Walking Street) will be holding a party to celebrate its first anniversary. This place has been a relatively quiet operation since it started, usually drawing punters through the portals who have already spent a few baht in the very popular Baby Dolls (next door) and What’s Up (across the soi) dens. While it has never enjoyed the same popularity as the aforementioned, it has had its moments and is usually worth at least one drink. Management are apparently intending to introduce an expats discount card where punters will be able to pick up a 20 percent discount on drinks, obviously outside of happy hours and not including ladies libations. Good idea and it’s nice to see people at least trying to expand their regular trade when business is a little slow instead of resorting to price gouging and scams. The Call of the Card: In the last issue I mentioned the Boxing Roo beer boozer and occasional punting paradise (Third Road, opposite Soi Lengkee) will be showing Australia’s premier horse race, the Melbourne Cup, at around 9:30AM on Tuesday 4 November. The night before there will be a small party where interested persons can come along and, should they wish, hand over either 100 baht or 1,000 baht and go into a sweep for a runner in the big race. If you draw the eventual winner, runner-up, or third placegetter there’s a nice return on investment: definitely better than bank interest or owning shares in Lehmann Brothers. I’M WILLING TO BE CLUBBED BY ANY OR ALL: The Club Boesche ogling den (Soi 16, off Walking Street) has been battling through this low season just like many other places, but can usually be relied upon to have a few shining examples of the art of chrome pol On Hold for Now: The Coyotee’s ogling den (Soi Marina Plaza) had intended to hold one of its popular dance contests on Sunday night 26 October, but a couple of the participating bars apparently asked if the event could be delayed to coincide with the start of the high season. So, mark down Sunday night 30 November in your diary because that’s the intended new date for the contest and it will be well worth attending. Popped its Clogs; Blowing its Bubbles: Over the years I’ve written of places that, for some strange reason, appear to be black holes when it comes to the number of businesses failing on the site. One of these used to be the building housing the Coyotee’s ogling den, but three years of success has changed the ‘fortunes’ of that site. Another building that has failed to be much of a success over the years is in Pattayaland Soi 2. It’s a narrow shophouse at the Beach Road end of the soi and has been tried as a den of the chrome pole for years, the last incarnation going under the name Popcorn. After struggling for almost a year I notice the shutters have come down and there’s a sign on the door offering the joint for a bargain 800,000 baht. Prior to becoming Popcorn it was operated for years under the name All Girls, although in unkind moments I used to refer to the place as All Ghouls. Of the six dens then run by the same group in Pattayaland Soi 2 it was always the worst in terms of the quality of dancing damsels and general ambience. During the heyday of Pattayaland Soi 2 I imagine it still made a decent monthly profit, but short of most other dens in the street. It was no real surprise to see it sold off to the first person with a wallet-load of personality willing to attempt a revival. Equally, it was no surprise to see the new owners made hardly any changes to the inside of the den and, this being the case, it wasn’t much of a shock when it failed to attract enough custom to stay open longer than a year. Indeed, that it lasted a year was almost amazing. On the other side of the coin, the former Crystal balls-r-us pink palace, situated right next door to the long-established Cheers beer boozer, has apparently been leased out to the management of the Rodeo Girls ogling den (also in the same soi; like a Tasmanian township, they keep it all in the family). When the group alluded to in the above paragraph was in full flight this joint went under the name Bubbles, and was one of the top three or four dens of the chrome pole in Fun Town for a long time. I’m not sure if the new owners intend to revert to the old cognomen, but we’ll know soon enough. Business, Almost as Usual: In the last column I made mention of a sudden hange in the status of Soi 6, Fun Town’s best-known and most popular hangout for men with only a short time to spend an afternoon. Deadline constraints made it impossible to provide a wealth of detail, but the following is basically my understanding of what happened. After foreign news reports, complete with revealing footage, were broadcast, officials charged with upholding Thailand’s good name and reputation sent the proverbial ‘rocket’ up the clackers of as many people in dun-coloured uniforms as they could find. These suitably chastised pen-pushers then demanded something be seen to be done to make Soi 6 resemble an un-used back-lot on a Warner Brothers studio (‘please supply tumbleweeds and a strong wind, if possible’). Most bar owners recognised the crackdown for what it was: the standard bluff-and-bluster, huff-and-puff of officialdom with the usual nod-and-a-wink to ride it all out and wait for the dust to settle. Although bars were now officially not permitted to open their doors to the paying public until 6:00PM, the majority opened anyway, but did not have any girls on the street, just hanging at the front door and waving punters through the portals. If anybody was old enough it might have reminded them of speakeasies, in the days of Prohibition in the United States. After a series of meetings between bar owners or their representatives and licensing officials the bars are now back to their old opening hours of around 1:00-2:00PM, but they have been warned to keep the outside solicitations well and truly in check. Supposedly, only two girls will be permitted to spruik for custom outside, and these damsels must be dressed in no more than a combination neck-to-knee bathers, long woollen socks, and sensible shoes while their mouths are covered with gaffer tape. A Walk on the Dark Side: As most expats are well aware, the growth in the number of boozers offering female entertainment of the grab-a-snatch variety in the eastern areas of Pattaya has been phenomenal in the last five years or so. It wasn’t so long ago that there were just three or four places open for business of the afternoon delight variety, most frequented by golfers returning from a hard nine or 18. Now the average through soi has a veritable clutch of places. One of the more prominent and certainly popular of the streets is Soi Khao Noi with the bulk of what are all Sierra Tango boozers situated beyond the railway line, heading east. On a recent lazy afternoon I decided to check out four places all within a short stroll of each other. The first one I went into was the Flintstone. It has only been open two months and is nicely appointed. The joint employs about a dozen ladies of varying degrees of attractiveness. Amber fluid is of the bottled variety only, ly water is 50 baht and there is a pool table with games charged at 20 baht a time. Just a few metres down the road is Paradise. This place has been open since March 2007. Its entrance is unpre-possessing but once inside punters must surely be reminded of a standard Soi 6-like den. It has added a pool table, but games are free for customers. While there were only seven or eight ladies working, they were a typically friendly lot of knob fondlers and, of the four places I was to visit, Paradise was easily the busiest in terms of bums on seats. Lolly water is just 30 baht and lady drinks good value at only 80 baht. Bottled amber goes off at a mere 50 baht during a 6:00 to 7:00PM happy hour. Heading further towards Sukhumvit Road is Noi’s. This has been open longer than the other pair and is a combination open-air seating area at the front and a little more private section inside. The pool table gets plenty of use from both customers and girls and is, like Paradise, free for customers. About 12 ladies, two or three very easy on the eye, were on hand to greet customers with the traditional between-the-legs handshake. Lady drinks at 50 baht and ly water at 30 baht make this good value. The last place I intended to visit was the Cock Inn. I have no idea how good or bad it is because there was a single lady re-arranging the deck chairs when I wandered past and with no eye candy to draw me into the place I just kept on walking. I’ll have to save it up for another sojourn. All the boozers open early and, due to the zoning regulations, are supposed to be closed by midnight. In all places the standard bar fine for an in-house organ recital is 300 baht, with the lady providing the mattress action asking for 700 baht. For me, the two standouts were Paradise and Noi’s, based not just on their pricing policy, but as much as on the general ambience and attitude of the working wenches in both joints. Piece of Pith: Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. From http://www.pattayatoday.net/index.php?acti...ews&id=3975

As Obsession says, the only hold up might be if you go earlier on a market day. Otherwise, it's a short trip and moving well most of the way. It's much faster than coming down Beach Road to WS. Since I haven't figured out any way to tell if the bus is going right or left at 2nd, I assume the worst (right). If the bus stops in either of the rightish lanes at the red light on 2nd, I will just buzz and get off then rather than taking a chance of a right turn/buzz/find a pull out place option. If it's a green light at 2nd, and he starts for the right turn, I buzz to alert him to pull over ASAP on 2nd. I love the ones that turn left!

At 2nd and Pratumnak, they either turn right onto 2nd or left onto Pratumnak...with about 80%/20% probability. Neither case puts you within 30 yds of WS. That was an exaggeration. More like 100 yds? Point being, it's pretty easy to get to WS from that area, but not as easy as I earlier stated.

Every baht bus turns right at Pattaya Tai. I lived in this area for over 3 years, went to WS every night and it was always easy to get there. You might have to walk....oh, maybe 30 yards and wait at most 2 minutes.

I was told it depends on the location of the tooth for the root canal. Mine was a front tooth, so it might vary.

I just had a root canal and a crown put in. Took 3 visits and cost 5Kb for the root canal and 10K b for the crown. SMILE Clinic across from Tuk Com.

Flamingo? Circus Circus? Ambassador City? What a crock! Read the OP as spam touting these dog hotels.

The other post was using a different IP address located in Thailand. Your current post (the one quoted), is using a private IP address, i.e. 192.168.xxx.xxx, and I am baffled at that. Maybe change your password or make sure you log out if at an internet cafe?

Bars and Gogos section, Jason!

They BLT has sliced tomatoes. How do you think that would work with those "ittie bittie Thai tomatoes"? Seriously, in answer to your question, they have decent sized tomatoes sliced for the BLT. I doubt they would qualify as "nice big juicy western tomatoes". On further thought, your question just seems to insinuate "western", i.e. "western USA"=good...Thai "ittie bittie"=bad. Fruits and vegatables can be grown in many different countries to many different requirements. They are much more international and less chauvinistic than some people. Edited to add sarcasm.

Just to update you on the BLT "crispy bacon" issue, I went to PBG tonight and ordered the BLT "well done". The bacon arrived crispy (as it should for a BLT). Pete even ordered one to try. It was a truly delicious BLT!