Butch

What?? not another year old ? Bloody hell mate, you must be pushing some big numbers now... Can't make it this year, sadly. Have a good one anyway. Cheers Butch

Not sure but I think "hollywood" was bang opposite the entrance to the flipper, and adjacent to Sailor Bar, so don't think Sailor took it over... Poteen Still on Soi 8 I think was owned by Danny, the irish electrician and his lovely wife. I remember his new born daughter as well, and I think he left pattaya shortly after the "Britiannia Bar" a couple of doors up (now jungle bar) which was run by Mickey from Leeds and his mate Skinny, was sold. The halcyon days of Pattayaland 2, when you could easy spend a whole evening there. The Winchester in Jomten when Bill ran it (surprised no one has mentioned it yet). Last I heard Bill was in Angeles, either that or working as a stunt double for "Frank Cannon". Emergency Room (those "blood transfusions" were great). Pleasuredome (is it still open?). Dave's GB bar on second Rd and Jacky Bar next door. Paradise bar at the lower end of 8 with the great pool table and naughty girls. That GoGo / club on Pratumnak hill with the water show, can't recall the name (freeway?) but had a good few nights in there when staying at the RG when it was first built. Lastly, the G Spot next to the weekender before the fall out between guys who were supposed to be friends.highlights include Jacko showing porno's on the big screen, filthy dancing competitions, strong drinks free poured, and a good venue all round. Cheers Butch

Hi MM I can't buy that, what was stopping the driver asking someone to give directions or translate in the case of a misunderstanding?. Also i thought arrangements with Mr T were made via email, he said it had been made previously, and it would have no doubt included the name of the hotel. Whenever I book a taxi, I always include the name of the hotel and the address. maybe we should ask the OP if he had informed him of the ultimate destinstion. however, I can't honestly beleive the OP would simply ask for a drop off to Pattaya without a hotel to go to, it doesn't make sense. I can't for a second believe MR T would let a driver pick up a farang & just do a simple pick up without having a specific drop off.

Hi If I emailed a taxi co, and they assured me they were aware and knew my ultimate destination, I'd expect the driver to know where he was going. Giving the OP a hard time because he had no map, number or contact details is a bit unfair because I'll wager most of the people here have, at one time or another risked it when visiting somewhere or even on their regular trip to Patts not bothered to take the details. Kind of hypocritical if you're one of those. also, bear in mind it's a first trip, so maybe despite covering all bases, this one slipped through. Somewhat ironic that MR T is iterally 5 mins walk away from CT, but as said, it might have been a job that was farmed out, and on balance, I've used MR T for years and will continue to do so because his drivers are polite, good, have clean vehicles and offer excellent value for money. The fault I think lies with the driver, not MR T or the OP. The driver should have stopped and maybe asked perhaps the TP or BiB to explain he had no idea what his customer was on about, I mean Soi 9 is on the way to Walking Street, failing that any half decent Baht bus driver or MC Taxi would have done. Lesson learned, shit happens and on the plus side, you got there safely in the end. Cheers Butch

Hi LDK mate, I''ve just returned from not so sunny Manila and am now in the UK. BTW don't fly Cathay Pacific , they suck (not in a good way either). I'm in Patts Early June mate and look forward to seeing you in Mistys. Still on the San Mig lights?. Arno, yes, I am happy to pay more for a beer in Mistys because I like the place, and always have. Not wanting to harp on about how good it is, but many of my friends drink there so I guess it's the familiarity of the place and the way I'm treated as a customer that keeps me going back. I like Catz as well, but a Happy hour doesn't have too much influence where I decide to drink, and overall I guess the price of a beer generally levels itself out during any trip and therfore doesn't affect my budget as much. An expensive venue will not put me off going there,but neither will a cheap one, and I'm not well off or in a high flying job by any means (quite the contrary in fact) I prefer good, decent , honest professional service, which is all too rare in Pattaya these days, and I'm prepared to pay more for it. I do concede that I didn't read every post in this thread, so yep, you got me there... Cheers Butch

I honestly can't see what all the fuss is about. VIP card is there, take it or leave it. If a guy is hung up over a beer in a bar being 25 baht more than one down the road, the answer therefore is not hard to work out. Get walking. Why is it that one negative TR which mentions Mistys being quiet is being used as the yardstick to determine whether the place is any good or not?. I've been in Superbaby when there have been less than 2 punters. Same goes for Happy . Going into a place twice in a month hardly constitutes an accurate piece of research. I could go to Old Trafford twice in one month and draw exactly the same conclusion. If the price of a beer is going to dictate or stop me doing something or going somewhere I want to then there's no point in going to Patts in the first place. As for the price of a bottle of beer, go in and ask, if then you can't afford it, leave. Butch

Not to mention his selling off most of the UK's Gold reserves for a fraction of their value, a truly inspired move... What a wanker. Butch

Yep, thats a real tough one to work out.

Ben99 not far from the truth sadly. another example of the UK Govt making idiots out of the hard working man. Butch

Hi fellas Long time since my last post but there is an interesting link that is an old one but still valid and gives some substance to the fact this may well be a case of sour grapes by some people intent on destroying the reputation of this guy or the website owner. Pattaya cam info It is about the history of pattayalivecam.com and the old cam links used to go direct after the download of some javascript.some of them may be cached in google, such as the cam at Lobster pot on Walking street, Tonys cams and the 2x ptty2 cams.Personally I'm not forming an opinion, just that would you build up a site for 7 years just to scam people?.There is also a german site featuring pics from 2001 that was a livecam party, where a group of guys went to each cam for an hour and were filmed.If I find the link I'll post. Regards Butch

Hi Fellas If you have a broadband connection then try the following: go to www.thaidisco.net ,then, or before if you like do a search for Ripcast version 1.3.2 It will allow you to rip the songs being played at 128kb bitstream as mp3's. Theres some great stuff being played but the playlists are somewhat repetetive. Ripcast takes a wee bit of navigating about in, but it's pretty easy once you've used it a couple of times with the"help" function. For the Thaidisco.url to paste into the window in Ripcast (if you are using Winamp) ,right click on the stream in the Winamp browser window and got to "file info" there you wil have the active streaming URL. Regards Butch

Hi Fellas I recently flew Emirates to PI and found that apart from the good service,they were not too fussy regarding baggage weights,letting me off with 6 kg over (a 30 kg limit in Econ as well). One of the other good points is that in Heathrow they form the waiting passengers at the desk into an orderly Que and call you forward rather than allow a free for all scrum to the check in desks. It's only the second time I have used Emirates,I usually go EVA to the Far East or Gulf to the Middle East,I would certainly use them again though. Regards Butch

Hi Fellas Every year the same questions pop up re CG.Personally I have found all the guys to be polite,well behaved and normally friendly to one and all.Yes,their presence is noticeable (i.e Bf'ing most of Charts girls from Classroom one night leaving him with 9 girls,going across the road to Penthouse and renting the Triplex and having generally good times,good work fellas but drop an invite thru the door next time eh?). PTland 2 is heaving with servicemen,everywhere is busy and the place comes alot more "buzzing",with girls coming in from BKK to cash in. Things in general step up a couple of gears,but if you venture up to Soi 6/7 or Naklua area you will find the solace you seek.Even the bar complexes along Second road opposite Made in Thailand are USM free.The nightclubs are often busy though. All in all the guys are just letting off steam,enjoying Pattaya how it should be enjoyed.I've never had any problem with them,and if you are worried about the selection of girls being less,then don't,they are still there and often out after their first S/T,or back to work the next night,just take your turn fellas. Regards Butch

Hi Cruk I stayed in May but left after 4 days because I was so dissapointed with it.The rooms were noisy,cluttered and leaked near the window during rain,I found cockroaches in the room and the lighting was bad.The phone in the lobby outside would ring every day at 8 am for ages,I could hear water running thru pipes all night long,and just was not impressed at all for 1000THB per night.I moved to the Residence and found the extra 300 THB per night was well spent,and it is a world away from the PH.The breakfast provided at the PH was very poor,the food being left out uncovered for the duration of the morning. I'd save yourself the bother and book into the Flipper Soi 7 or 8 or the RG. Hope that helps Regards Butch

Hi Oukiva The noise in the PH was not surpirsingly from the street [mind,I was never in when the outside was busy ;D] but from the noise by other guests and the maid in the morning.The annoying thing in the morning was the phone in the outside lobby/corridor would always ring for ages and ages.Also the noise of water running from showers etc was very audible.They have a website but to be honest the photos are not much use. It is by the nature of its location a noisy hotel. Regards Butch

Hi Oukiva All the rooms in the Penthouse on Soi pattayaland 2 are decked out in wall/ceiling mirrors,but such is the poor lighting setup in the rooms it is too dark to see anything in the ceiling ones [they also seem to be slightly darker than the wall mirrors]. I personally didn't like the PH and left after 5 days.I agree the novelty is nice but not everything,as the room fell pretty far short of the 1000THB per night standard I was expecting. If mirrors aren't important and you want value for money try the flippers on Soi 8 and Soi 7 [anything from 700Baht per night upwards depending on season],or the Pig and Whistle on Soi 7 [i *think* around 500/600 Baht per night but could be wrong].Otherwise get the FLB rate at the Residence Gardens for exceptional value [1300 per night],not bad for your own suite and impeccably clean rooms.Personally I think the only thing PH has in it's favour is location. Hope that helps Regards Butch

Hi Fellas I've said this before it's a good laugh when the US military are in town,they're a decent bunch of guys and behave themselves better than the tourists.Theres also a raised MP presence in town,with guys on bikes just looking around,so as an individual you tend to feel safer as well [they're usually big fuckers too]. apart from that as Cris said,they hike back on board around Midnight so there are several lashed up TG's about cos they've been brought drinks all night ;D to quote; "Really don't let it figure in your plans" too true, just go there and have a good time Regards Butch

Hi Fellas The PLB's list of phrases is good but bear in mind that Thai is a tonal language so the pronunciation could be 100% but if the tones are out then it sounds bollocks basically.for example "mai mai mai mai mai?" sounds the same but with different tone inflections means "new wood doesn't burn does it?" [source Thai for beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker] The book I mentioned above comes with three tapes [excellent for tonal practices],writing excersises [not as good as some] several vocabulary lessons and is 600 THBish from the bookshop on Beach Rd near Royal Plaza or alternatively the bookshop at the end of Pattaya Central Road where it joins Beach Rd. There is also Thai for Intermediate learners by the same author and again comes with three tapes,but then it gets into all kind of complicated shit. I have the ISBN numbers of both and I believe they are availible from Amazon at a vastly inflated price. As a writing system I can see the logic behind it [Hey I understand Thai Logic,do I get a prize?] but I'll be fucked if I can be bothered to learn it,cos most of the signs are in English lol. Pom bpai rong reem tam chuck wao kup. Butch

Hi Fellas I'll keep it simple,what are the basic differences in the rooms Siam,manila and Phom penh?,I can see the pictures on the site but they are hardly any help.I'd like to know specifically about the Penh because there seem to be two descriptions of it on the same page. Also are the VCD's free or do you need to hire them? [players and discs]. Lastly are the safety boxes downstairs any good?,I have no problem bringing a padlock but that fact I need to bring one doesn't inspire me with the greatest of confidence. Thanks in advance fellas Regards Butch

Hi Fellas A good warning to heed,but there is a way of telling the difference,which will work against one just printed or copied out via a high end printer. All Thai Bank notes of 50B upwards have small strips [3mm long upwards] of UV sensitive material spread all around the note in the actual paper itself.I don't know if it's actually a metal,anyway,if you hold one under a UV light you'll see what I mean [the UV lights you find in dark Go Go's and nightclubs.]. Of course this won't help if you're passed one in daylight,but next time you are in a gogo you'll see what I mean,that is unless of course you have a fake one :-[ > Every currency has fake notes in circulation,theres no reason why LOS should be any different. Regards Butch