MC_Ldop

Kevin Meach, owner of Jasmine Mansion on Soi Buakhao, has several updated on his Riff-Raffles blog. His latest posts are particularly interesting and revealing, as most of them revolve around the events leading up to his divorce. Anyway, here's the latest. Off to See Our Daughter in Bangkok [Continued from My Worst Day (Week?) in Thailand.]The conclusion to this sorry week was our trip to see Pakpao in Bangkok. We collected James from school, headed to Sri Ratcha where we collected Sam from his school and made our way to the northern part of Bangkok. The journey involved a fair amount of bumper to bumper traveling through Bangkok’s Friday night traffic — it is bad every other day of the week, just worse on Fridays! To make matters even less appetizing I had to contend with Mrs. Boss’ rather erratic driving, which saw me sitting in the front passenger seat doing an impersonation of a startled rabbit — in fact, rabbits that wanted to know how to act startled could have taken lessons from me such was my level of startledness! Mrs. Boss journeyed from one lane of the freeway to another for most of the trip and either completely ignored or, worse still, shouted and swore at those motorists who deigned it necessary to, quite understandably from where I sat, hoot their horn at her. When she was not traversing the lanes it appeared as though she believed the dotted white lines indicated that she had to travel along the centre of any one of them, she therefore chose to occupy two lanes of a fast moving freeway and not for the first time this week I felt my life was coming to its conclusion! After approximately five hours in the car we reached our destination and Mrs. Boss had booked us into a hotel very close to our daughter’s residence. On the face of it, the hotel looked fine. It was only a year or so old and though sparsely furnished, everything that was there was modern. We had managed to secure two rooms with a private hallway between them so the boys were separate from Mrs. Boss and I when it came to the sleeping arrangements. After such a journey we were all tired and hungry, so we headed off to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant. Whilst en route, Mrs. Boss telephoned Pakpao to advise of our arrival. She was not pleased to be advised by our daughter that she was out eating with friends and would see us in a couple of hours. The whole point of coming here was to see Pakpao — if we had just wanted to go for a meal then Pattaya has a thousand restaurants for us to choose from! Full Story Jerry's Visit and PMT We have spent the last few days endeavouring to come to terms with our recent misfortunes in Pattaya. Mrs. Boss has been as sociable as ever and just shrugged her shoulders whilst I opted for the more sensible programme of sulking and not speaking to anyone. I am sure those of you whom have taken the time and trouble to read my writings to date would agree that the more mature stance was taken by me! One of our most regular visitors to the hotel is Jerry, who hails from Colorado in the USA. Jerry is now retired, although during his working life found employment across the globe and is, as such, an unusual breed (i.e. a much travelled American). He visits us here in Pattaya approximately every three or four months for a month at a time. Jerry and I had similar experiences growing up and have enjoyed many lengthy conversations over the last three years and become close friends. Jerry has not featured in any previous tales of mine due simply to the fact that he is a normal, decent human being who does not leave a trail of disasters in his wake. In this regard he is therefore unworthy of any mention, although being unworthy in this sense is a good thing. As has now become common practice Jin and I endeavour to go out for dinner with Jerry at least once during each of his trips. This time around we decided to take him and his partner to The Orangery restaurant where we had spent and enjoyable evening celebrating Mrs. Boss’ birthday a few weeks ago. During that first visit we were accompanied by Dan who claimed to own a 90-percent stake in the restaurant. Whilst we were there, the staff all fussed over him rather more than they did with us and this added a level of credence to his claim. There were then several occasions where Dan would take leave of his duties at Jasmine Mansion claiming he had to pay the staff at The Orangery or deal with some other issue at said establishment. He would then disappear for a couple of hours and return to work, he would always be here at the hotel far longer than his normal hours so this neither caused us a problem or seemed implausible. Full Story Boys Are Off, Peter's in Town, and a New Chef Arrives Although it appeared to be a slow start to the month it was a situation I was grateful for. February appeared to see us scampering from one rock to the next in an attempt to avoid being drowned by the sea of lies that flowed towards us in a Tsunami-like fashion. Slow, quiet, non-descript — yes I would happily live with these descriptions of my life in Pattaya. What I have come to realise is that over the last few months, incidents related to poor form on the part of our guests have abated considerably. It was, at one time, an almost constant nightmare dealing with the cerebrally challenged who stayed with us here at Jasmine Mansion. Although the odd complete plonker slips through the net, in the main we have an established base of fully house-trained visitors, most of whom are returning customers back for their second or subsequent visits. The boys are coming to the end of their present academic year and that, of course, throws a few more problems the way of Mrs. Boss and I. Last year was a nightmare as they spent the entire two months at home, we were very short of staff and at every turn one appeared to be tripping over one’s children. I understand completely that they were bored and really desired nothing more than some time being taken on a day trip or two by their parents. However, time was not something we had on offer twelve months ago so they either moped around the house or, worse, still moped around the mansion! Full Story Off to Koh Larn for Fishing, Seasickness, and Relaxation Well, our new chef Chin has continued to turn up to work and cook. All the other staffers are here most of the time, so life at Jasmine Mansion Pattaya has continued its peaceful progress through the month. The boys are now on their school holidays and alternating between at home with either Mrs. Boss or me. I have been going to the Mansion with less and less frequency than has been the case since moving out to Thailand well over three years ago. I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to spend time with the children and just chilling out by our swimming pool. Mrs. Boss arranged a day trip for us to take the boys to Koh Larn (a nearby island) and booked a private boat for the journey. We were due to be at the docks around 9:00AM and in order to ensure we were all up and ready on time, Peter came over the night before and stayed at our house. We had a couple of bottles of wine out on the terrace the night before and were in bed early and reasonably sober. At 7:30AM I was up and dressed while the boys were bathing and almost ready. Peter was also up and downstairs enjoying his morning coffee. It looked as though we were all ready to go on time! It was at this point I realised that Mrs. Boss was not only far from ready — she was, in fact, far from even having woken up! A quick shake of her arm and a nice cup of tea left by the side of her bed seemed sufficient to have, at last, woken her and I returned to sit outside and chat with Peter now thinking we would be only a little late. Full Story Realizing the End of My Marriage in Thailand It soon became clear to me that somehow the seasickness incident of the previous week had stirred something far darker in Mrs. Boss than I had imagined. She had arrived in Udon Thani the morning of the day that Peter and I had arranged to meet up for our marathon pool-and-beer-drinking session. Mrs. Boss had been made well aware of the date before she had departed and it was therefore something of a surprise to receive a call from her early in our pool exchanges that was pure vitriol. I stood mouth agape for a minute or more as all sorts of wild and completely ridiculous accusations were being hurled at me and eventually decided the best thing to do was switch the phone off. Now cutting Mrs. Boss off deliberately takes a lot of guts and you know that if you ever undertake such action then you will be unleashing ‘the beast’ from within her. It was therefore with total justification that, when she was calling again some 30 seconds later, I left the phone alone — I saw no benefit whatsoever in picking it up and she was several hundred miles away, gone for a week and thus had ample time to calm down and return to planet Earth! The phone call did rather knock me off my stride, albeit true to say that I had by that time not quite gotten into my stride. Peter was playing the best pool I have seen from him and he ran away with the match winning by the very comfortable margin of 19 to 11. We followed the pool-and-beer session with a curry — how very British of us — and were home by around 9:00PM. I did a little work before retiring to bed and found myself to be more than just a tad confused by Mrs. Boss’ recent behaviour. I would have understood if her recent anger was following the wake of our arguments during and following my return from Hua Hin. However, I had believed all of those difficulties had been resolved and could not bring myself to believe a reduced spell of dangling a line in the sea was the reason for this magnitude of marital mayhem. Women — Thai women in particular — I will never understand them! Full Story

Looks pretty nice, though it's too bad about the location -- too far north for me.

I would change the topic from "new(bi)" to "new(bie)". You don't want people pointing you to Boyz Town. I agree with the previous poster. Monkey talks. You can find a young hardbody to do everything you ask.

This is super old. Silverman and Kimmel aren't even together anymore.

Kevin Meacher, who may or may not still own Jasmine Mansion (read on to find out!), has a slew of updates on his Riff-Raffles site. Before I post some excerpts, he asks that you head on over to this list of Thailand blogs and vote for his site. Riff-Raffles is currently hovering in the 90s, but with your support, Kevin hopes that it'll rise through the ranks. Now on to the stories! Back to Pattaya for a...Divorce? I had expected the Hua Hin trip to be the end of my second book. The conclusion of the book followed by, hopefully, selling our plot of land, leasing our Pattaya hotel and moving forward as a family for the future — whatever it may hold for us. “So you go Hua Hin and fuck lady and lick pussy then!!!” Mrs. Boss volleyed as we arrived home from the hotel on my first day back from Hua Hin. This was not a question, you can be sure of that. This was a statement of fact from a woman who believed she had been in a room with me misbehaving with some lady or other. “What?” was my response (albeit a somewhat startled one). This was most certainly a question. A rather heated and extremely one sided conversation followed, with me again sitting mouth wide open and totally lost for words. Rarely am I lost for words and now, twice in less than 12 hours, I am in the same position. However, this time there were no secret compartments in my bag that would extricate me from my situation. There were, in fact, no secret compartments anywhere that held anything even remotely capable of protecting me from the venom and the fury that was now being launched in salvos at me. Full Story Iron Chef Pattaya So there I was back in Pattaya, sitting with the world crumbled around my feet. I had no idea what to do and no way of proving my innocence. Mrs. Boss had made her hatred of me perfectly clear over a 24-hour period and then, without warning, changed 180 degrees and was full of smiles and the joys of spring! Women — how on earth do you work them out? With her birthday imminent and her reasonably good mood continuing, I decided to stick with my policy of saying nothing that may be likely to ruffle even a single feather. This muteness is rather alien to me, though perhaps I have been missing something as it seems to be achieving rather more than my fighting back has in the past! I have absolutely no idea how things will unwrap over the next few weeks or so, but with the birthday followed by a two-week vacation on her own — first to Udon Thani and then a couple of weeks on the island of Phuket — things really should not seem that bad for Mrs. Boss. Anyway, here’s hoping! Full Story The End of An Era? It looks as though we may have come to the end of an era. An offer has been made to purchase the lease of our Pattaya hotel from Mrs. Boss and me…and we have accepted it! A deposit is to be paid before the end of this month with the balance payable prior to end of March. March will therefore be a handover month with Mrs. Boss and I withdrawing from the scene, although we will remain in close contact with the hotel to offer any assistance the new operators may require. The reality is that I feel as though a ten-ton weight has been lifted from my shoulders and that freedom beckons. The daily grind for both Mrs. Boss and me having to rise early and spend so many hours at Jasmine Mansion very nearly broke our relationship. Should the deal progress as planned, I think it has arrived just in the nick of time. I remember as a young man, being told by my grandfather, who was my closest relative, that although I was not a lucky person I had the most important luck of all. He explained that when my back was against the wall, when everything was at its darkest and there appeared to be no escape, that is when my luck would always come through. Throughout my life this has proved to be wholly accurate and once again my grandfather’s words appear to have rung true. Full Story My Best Day in Thailand To say it was my best day in Thailand would probably be an exaggeration and also irrevocably damage my relationship with Mrs. Boss, who will claim that I should be saying that our wedding takes the number-one spot. However, regardless of its ranking, yesterday was undoubtedly a high point, in more ways than one, of my time here. The day did not start too well, although I am not one who calls 3:30AM “day” and being woken by the alarm after only four hours sleep is unlikely to find many of us full of the joys of spring — even if it happens to be spring! However, despite the hour I rose immediately and woke the rest of the family and we prepared for our day out. Our first stop was at Jasmine Mansion to collect two members of our hotel staff: our maintenance man Kung and our assistant manager Dan. They jumped into the car and in no time at all Jin and these two guys were chatting, laughing and joking as if it were the middle of the day. I was more interested in trying to catch up on some of the sleep that had been denied me by our early start and was soon making sarcastic comments, under my breath of course, but still loud enough to be picked up by Mrs. Boss’ highly trained aural organs. Full Story My Worst Day (Week?) in Thailand So I have one of my best days ever in Thailand and should have really expected what followed. The good times here in Pattaya just do not last — well for me they don’t, that is most certain. The last week has been awful even by comparison to the very, very awful times previously experienced here. I am still endeavouring to come to terms with what has happened and am struggling to know where to start with my tales of woe! This week was as though the bowels of hell had been opened and deposited their somewhat unpleasant contents upon my head. This is not the first time I have been dumped on by the bowels of hell and now believe them to be located directly above my head rather than, as has been commonly imagined, in Hades. I think Rung, our cook, should be my starting point. At this moment in time I want to kill her although it is more one of those “killing is too good for her” type moods. As I have previously explained, whilst I was away in Hua Hin at the end January, Mrs. Boss informed me that Rung had to go into hospital for a serious operation and would likely be away for a month or more. I endeavoured to ascertain exactly what was wrong with Rung and the type of operation she was undergoing. This was met in the same way as all other direct questions are here, with a complete load of twaddle and ending with me being none the wiser. The only thing that was crystal clear to me was that we were contributing some 50,000 baht towards Rungs operation and rehabilitation plus we would be paying her in full whilst she was away from work. Rung has been our cook for around 20 months now and despite her occasional moments of complete stupidity has proved herself to be a loyal employee. The fact that we will be subsidizing her to such an extent seemed fine with me, given Rung’s track record. Full Story

When I booked, it was a little over $35USD through Agoda. The prices have gone up since then. My friends were charged 1,300 for the small room (walk-in rate), which was more than I was paying for the junior suite.

Several boardies have mentioned staying there. From what I remember, they've had success at getting a good walk-in price that was better than anything you could pre-book.

http://www.villapanalee.com/ I haven't seen too many posts on this relatively new hotel (opened December 2007), but I was interested in it because I like its location and they have wired Internet. The hotel itself is pretty nice; it's better than most of the guest houses in the Soi Buakhao area, though not as the nice as three of the LK hotels in the vicinity (Royal Suites, Metropole, Renaissance). If anything, it competes in the mid-range market with Pattaya Bay Resort and Golden Sea. The hotel is located on the same soi as Dream Teen Massasge and PP Massage -- Soi 21 between Third Road and Soi Buakhao. It's a short walk from one of my favorite outdoor food markets and it's easy to catch a baht bus or motorbike taxi. It might be a tad out of the way for some people's tastes -- especially newcomers -- but I love the location. Random story: I had to deliver a bag to the LK Metropole and the motorbike taxi driver in front of the karaoke place to the left of the hotel wanted to charge me 40 baht for this quick ride. It should have been 20. I just told him I wasn't going to use him again and made a point to wave every time I was on another motorbike. The rooms are pretty modern, though the beds are of the typically stiff Thai variety and some of the furniture design is inefficient. The black-out curtains are thick and very effective for blocking out sunlight. The aircon is powerful and cools the room down quickly. The hotel purports to have keycard access, but it's not the magnetic cards that are pretty standard in the Western world. It's that stupid system where you put a plastic block in a lot to turn on most of the outlets in the room and to access the elevator in the evening. All in all, it's a pretty good room that's better than most in the area but not as good as some. The in-room Internet was annoyingly slow. Web browsing and email were often a painful experience. I've had better WiFi connections at Pattaya Bay Resort and Bella Villa Prima. Oddly enough, I made a few Skype calls to America and the quality was fine. The connection in the lobby was better, but still not great. The lobby area features an open-air design, but the airflow is sporadic. At times it's fine at others it's hot. Some people might feel a bit uncomfortable checking out monger boards and other naughty sites in an open area. The pool was a pleasant surprise. It's a salt-water pool, which is much better for your skin than chlorine. People with chronic eczema, psoriasis, etc., would definitely enjoy the pool. Most Thai girls would not enjoy the pool, since there are no umbrellas or large plants to provide shade. Overall I was mostly happy with the hotel, but the sluggish in-room Internet is a deal breaker since I have to work an hour or so a day. For those that aren't concerned about Internet access and want something better than a guest house, I'd recommend this hotel. It's just a tad below Pattaya Bay Resort in terms of the quality you get for the price, but the advantage is that you can easily walk to many places and don't have to rely on the hotel tuk tuk. As for the rates, don't follow the ones you see on the official site. I emailed them for much better rates and found even cheaper ones on Agoda. However, at a recent glance, the Agoda rates have gone up a tad. I had a few friends meet up with me at the hotel and the front desk charged them more for a small room than I was paying for a big room. That situation was kind of crap, but not surprising for this town. Anyway, here's a brief pros/cons lists for those with a short attention span. Pros Location Better and bigger rooms than a guest house Swimming pool Everything is relatively new and in good shape Friendly service staff Cons In-room Internet is really slow Bed is on the hard side No shade for TGs at the swimming pool Typically inefficient Thai furniture Lobby and lift are hot

I'm in town now if anyone would like to purchase this set.

I'm selling an Xbox 360 gaming console that's in great condition. This is a US version, but can be modified to play "backup" games. I brought it over to Pattaya and didn't have enough room to bring it back, so it has been sitting in MM's room for over a year. The system is barely used, comes with three games, and a custom power supply. Included in the deal is: - Xbox 360 gaming console with 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, and S-video/composite TV cables - Custom two-prong power supply that works with 110 or 220 - Crackdown - Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 - WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 The price for this package is 9,000 THB. I'm in town 23-June if you'd like purchase this set.

The shuttle drops you off here. This leaves you less than five minutes from Hell Club. Unfortunately, the map system doesn't have Soi LK Metro finished, but it's around here.

You know you'll miss: "Shrek's Bomb" "Wondersool Tonight" "I Shot the Sheriff (But I Did Not Shoot the Deepyootee)"

The OP made a mistake and has since corrected it. I'm actually checking out Agoda based on another boardie's reco. Some of the rates are better than what the hotels were offering (including the low season discount). The boardie that recommended it to me had a problem with the hotel and didn't want to stay for the full time he reserved. Agoda cleared that up right away and refunded the difference. That's great service compared to most Thai businesses. I believe Agoda used to be Precision Travel, which was also highly regarded.

Kevin Meacher (board member Cookie), owner of Jasmine Mansion on Soi Buakhao, has a bunch of new stories on the companion site to his book, Riff-Raffles. Here are some excerpts. Hua Hin Internet and Sleeping Maids Work in Hua Hin was finally picking up. Kevin managed to do some work on the new book and together with the pages proofed that I had emailed him prior to our trip, we appeared to be at least making a start. I did a couple of hours editing before Kevin called and made arrangements for us to go out and eat. A pizza and a glass of quite dreadful red wine followed and we returned to the hotel for an early night. I was quite amazed that we were both being so sensible. Up early the following day and with no hangovers, both Kevin and I made considerable progress on our specific tasks. However, there was still no Internet connection and two days had passed without any sign of the hotel staff doing anything to rectify the situation. We both decided to visit the reception and confront whoever was now on duty. Back in charge was the large female receptionist and we went through the problem with the Internet yet again. Full Story Hua Hin Nightlife and the Faulty TV By the time Kevin’s last night in Hua Hin arrived we had completed over 90 percent of our work. He was going to finish off the last few pages of proofreading the following morning, before his taxi arrived at midday. We decided to go out for a few drinks and a bit more of the Hua Hin nightlife. We managed a few bars, several beers and a few games of pool before heading back to the hotel. We were probably a little on the tipsy side but in control of ourselves and had successfully managed a few days away together without getting into any real bother. I bade Kevin farewell and as his taxi disappeared, I recalled that nothing had been done about my faulty television set. I was gripped by a sense of panic at the thought of having to discuss this with the reception staff, but composed myself and spoke to the manager. He apologised for the inconvenience and assured me something would be done immediately. He was not wrong. By the time I reached my room, the room maid was there with the television on. “Look it okay now,” she said smiling at me. I took the remote and tried the channels only to find it was exactly the same as before. “No, it is not okay. You see only these four channels work and the other six do not?” I said smiling back at her as I kept pressing the buttons on the remote control. She was no television engineer and it really was not her fault. She used her walkie-talkie to inform somebody of something and told me it would be fixed soon. I suggested the television only required retuning, but that I was unable to do this as the menu was in Thai but, again, she simply smiled. I returned her smile and she left the room. Full Story Peace, Ladyboys, and Credit Card Issues After Kevin’s departure and my completing the changes to my work, it was now time for a few days rest and recuperation in Hua Hin. I would spend the day by the beach and eat early evening before returning to my room to watch a movie. Sunday, however, there was a football game that I particularly wanted to watch, which was not on any of the channels on the hotel television. After wandering through Hua Hin’s red light district, such as it is, I came across a completely empty bar which I felt suited my mood perfectly. Nung’s Bar is hidden away in one of the narrow side streets that make up this part of the original Hua Hin. I was soon chatting with Nung, a rather butch lady, and then playing pool with her. She was extremely friendly and hospitable and termed herself a boy. So she was born a lady and now considered herself to be a boy. “Er…is that not then a ladyboy?” I mused. I then recalled Mrs. Boss having made up the expression “kating” — the opposite of katoey — to describe women who want to be considered as men. I decided it probably better to go with this than travel down a completely new, confusing and, to be honest, completely pointless train of thought. Nung’s number-two in the bar was Jennifer. Jennifer had been born a man but was now a katoey. Jennifer spent most of the evening by the mirror doing her make up whilst the business carried on around her. To be fair to Jennifer, the final results were well worth her effort, but how anyone could endure that length of time putting on makeup day in and day out is, quite frankly, beyond me. When it came to pool, Nung was good but Jennifer was better. Over the course of the three nights I spent visiting Nung’s bar, she thrashed me every time — at pool that is just in case you allowed your mind to wander! Full Story The Return of the King (to Pattaya) After what was a narrow escape from an embarrassing situation, I headed back to Pattaya, full of the joys of spring and looking forward to seeing my wife and children. We stopped en route in Bang Na, on the outskirts of Bangkok, where I purchased some toys and games as my belated birthday presents for James. I arrived back at the Jasmine Mansion at around 6:00PM. I had to do a double take on entering the hotel as the café area, in particular, was somewhat different from how it had been only 10 days prior. The tables were all covered with tablecloths and upon them sat candles, plates, folded napkins, wine glasses and small bouquets of roses. It actually looked rather wonderful and very similar to how I had imagined the café looking when I had discussed this matter with Mrs. Boss more than a year ago. I was soon speaking with the staff — all somewhat more eager to hear what I thought of the new cafe style rather than my trip away. I soon discovered that one of our new male recruits, Dan, had suggested these changes to Mrs. Boss who had heartily agreed and set off immediately to buy everything he had considered necessary. Funny, I thought, how Mrs. Boss listens to every word said by everybody and anybody other than me! Full Story

I've had Mexican-Americans from San Francisco and Los Angeles tell me that the best Mexican food is found in San Diego.

That's not true at all. For many of us, dining is one the big draws (in addition to other things). The Thai food I enjoy in Bangkok or Pattaya is not like the Thai food I enjoy at home.

I miss the post-count error and the chaos it caused! Bring back the error!!!

For VoIP, wired is definitely the way to go. The LK Metropole, LK Royal Suites, and LK Renaissance have wired connections. I've used VoIP through the wireless connections at Pattaya Bay Resort and Bella Villa Prima. It was okay, but not something I'd rely on for business calls.

While EVA's pricing is certainly competitive, you should also consider what you'd be using the accrued mileage for -- upgrades or free flights. EVA's program looks pretty inferior.

Naturals are better than enhanced versions, just like Thai girls.

Mine has a 9 and yours does not. It's a lucky number for Thai people.

I'm still puzzled as to why anyone should care about their post count.

EVA's program is pretty limited. If you fly to other destinations for work or play then it's worth it to sign up with an airline that's part of a bigger group like Star Alliance or One World. Star Alliance One World

I used the airport pickup service once. There were no problems at all.

Anyone try Joost in Thailand? There's lots of good stuff there. If you know how to fake your IP, Hulu should work.