Evil Penevil

You nailed it.Thai authorities at the national level are showing bar owners, Thai and farang, who's the real boss. It doesn't matter what arrangements the bar owners have made with the local and provincial authorities, it's the big boys in Bangkok who are calling the shots. The edicts of Chinese emperors ended with the words, "Hear and obey tremblingly." That's in essence what the central Thai authorities are saying to bar owners these days. Evil

My Internet connection collapsed in the middle of my previous post and only about half of it reached the board. It took the techs a day to straighten the problem out and I've filled in the gaps, mostly missing pics. Sorry for the fractured early version. Inconsistency is the hobgoblin of almost all restaurants in Pattaya, not just the small ones. A restaurant that serves up great food one day can be way off the mark the next day. That generally has to do with who's in the kitchen- the regular chef or cook or a substitute. A big, big problem is that a lot of Thai cooks don't know how farang food is supposed to taste. They prepare dishes according to recipes or instructions, but don't have a real sense of what they are supposed to be sending out to customers. In terms of consistency, Casa Pascal is exceptional. It achieved a high standard for its food years ago and has maintained that standard. In 2014, I took a lot of pics at CP but never got aroundto doing a review. I'm posting them below so you can compare them with the recent pics from 2017. Not much has changed. Just one other note: there's been some discussion as to whether CP offers baked beans at its buffet. Some days I've seen beans on the buffet table, other days not. I don't eat farang breakfast more than twice a month, so I don't know why beans are available some days and not others. Evil

Casa Pascal offers the best breakfast buffet in its price class in central Pattaya. It is located just off 2nd Road near The Avenue and across from Royal Garden Plaza. Eggs and breakfast meats are cooked to order at an outdoor grill and fry station. The choices include steaky and back bacon; marinated chicken; ham; sausage and marinated pork. Inside, there's an outstanding selection of freshly baked breads ... along with cold cuts; a small salad bar fruits; pickled and smoked herring; cheese; Asian and Western hot dishes (soups, pasta, stir-fry, potatoes); cereals; yogurt; fruits; desserts; and the customary condiments. It includes as much coffee, tea, juice and soft drinks as you can knock back, all for the reasonable price of 240 baht. It's actually a combined breakfast and lunch buffet. The friendly staff keeps the chafing dishes well filled between 8.00 a.m. and 2 p.m., which are convenient hours for those who wake up when their cocks grow, not when the cock crows. There's also free WiFi with a strong signal, although it is a bit of a hassle to log in. You can find bigger breakfast buffets in central Pattaya, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better one under 250 baht. That said, we have to keep things realistic. Should you want a full English fry up, you're better off heading to Retox, IRovers or another English pub/restaurant as some of the components of a full English are missing from Casa Pascal's buffet. But if you can accept a breakast without black pudding, tinned tomatoes and fried mushrooms, CP is a great choice. The absolutely best breakfast buffets in Pattaya, in terms of variety and quality, are in the big hotels like the Hilton, Sheraton, Royal Cliff and Dusit. However, they cost three to five times as much as Casa Pascal, which can't be beat regarding value for money.

Did any of the girls you sat with in Pattaya go go bars quote you such prices (4,000-5,000 all night) to your face or are you repeating what you've heard and read? If you were quoted 4,000-5,000 baht by a girl, in which bar did that happen? The reason I ask is that these prices are indicative of the high end of the range for Pattaya go go girls. A BF of 1,500 baht usually means you're trying to BF a 10-day coyote dancer before midnight and 4,000-5,000 baht is what some of the most popular girls would ask. Were you trying to BF La La or one of her friends? These girls are much sought after and can easily get two S/T in a night at 2,000 to 2,500 each, so it isn't strange they would ask 5,000 baht if they're are going to be taken out of action all night. But I have to emphasize, it's only a small number of girls who can command such fees. It's by no means the "norm" on WS, much less all of Pattaya. So when you compare prices in Pattaya to Angeles City, you have to make it fair. The prices asked by the La La- level girls of Pattaya should be compared to the top girls in the big AC "Walking Street" show bars, not the AC girls who work in tiny bars at the far end of Fields Ave. or beyond. There's a broad range of prices in both Pattaya and AC. No doubt you can find girls in AC who charge half of what the top tier girls do in Pattaya, but you can also find thousands upon thousands of girls in Pattaya who also go for half the top rate. Evil

I know it was closed Sunday because they were working on the kitchen, but it was supposed to be open again today. Last week they ran into a real hassle as half the kitchen equipment intended for The Bite got stolen. The spelling mistakes are probably down to a Thai staffer's difficulties with English. Evil

I had dinner last night at The Bite, which is the reincarnated Bite Me! on the same premises near the corner of Third Road and Soi Lengkee. I had one of the two daily specials- escalope of chicken with a four-cheese and mozzarella sauce and sauteed potatoes and a garden salad on the side for 245 baht. Basically, it was a chicken cutlet topped with cheese, grape tomatoes and herbs. This was the pic on The Bite's Facebook page ... and this is how it looked when it can down in front of me: The boneless cutlet was tender and moist, although the cheese topping was a bit bland. The potatoes sauteed with onions were good, but lacked the lardons seen in the FB photo. The garden salad was made from fresh ingredients that had flavor and lightly dressed with balsamic vinegar. The quality and freshness of the ingredients made it better than most of the generic garden salads you get in Pattaya; however, I can't get too excited about even the best garden salad. The portion was large and I wouldn't have been able to finish a bigger one. It was well cooked and went down easily, but in terms of flavor, Saturday's special fell short of the dishes that had been served at the old Bite Me, What had distinguished the old Bite Me! menu was the creative use of herbs and spices to give a new take on familiar dishes. Quality ingredients, bold flavors and impressive plating had been the hallmarks of the old Bite Me and the new Bite with have to play a bit of catch up to match the old one. I did discuss my observations with The Bite's owner. He told me that the Thai chef who prepared the meal had been working for the past four months in the kitchen of the Robin Hood Tavern. That could be part of the problem. The diners at the Robin Hood could have had different expectations than the fans of the old Bite Me. I don't want to sound too harsh. The meal I got Saturday night at The Bite was far better than most of the farang food available in Pattaya and definitely value for money at 245 baht. And it's still early days for The Bite. It may take a few more days to bring The Bite up to Bite Me's standard. I wish I had eaten at The Bite on Friday night. The special had been chicken piccata: ... or chicken breast chicken with a lemon butter, white wine and caper sauce, served with sauteed peppers and a choice of couscous, pasta or potato. That sounds more like the old Bite Me! Naando's Indian Restaurant continues to operate out of the same premises, but there isn't anything noticeable Indian in the dining area. The kitchen for Naando's is on the second floor, separate from The Bite's kitchen on the ground floor. Although Naando's seems to be aiming mainly for take-away and delivery, you can have any dish from its menu on the premises. This was just a quick review of one special at The Bite. I'll be making a return visit soon to take a look at its full menu to see if it's much different from the old Bite Me. Anyway, best of luck to The Bite and I'll be back in hopes of more great meals. The Bite is open from 1.00 p.m. and 10 p.m. I read that between 8.00 a.m. customers can order breakfast dishes from the nearby Retox, with coffee and tea brewed on site. Evil

Take a look here: The best free office software 2017. The article has some recommendations. I can't speak from personal experience as I've always used the original Office. Evil

This is a bit of a double post, but I think it is justified in that everyone may look for information about the reincarnated Bite Me in the other thread. Good news! I plan on visiting tomorrow for the soft opening. It's still the same location on Third Road near the intersection with Soi Lengkee, but under the name The Bite. That's an improvement to start with. Evil

Yes, Bite Me used multiple social media outlets to advertise its specials. That was a good move, as not everyone uses FB, BUT, Bite Me also got a lot of criticism for "spamming." That is an absurd accusation, considering the posts were always informative. The good news is, the menu is back at the old Third Road location under the name "The Bite." If everything goes as planned, I'll pay a visit tomorrow. Evil

Some details about the party at Sexy in the City, lifted from another board: It's our annual 4th of July party, always one of our biggest events! Featuring: -Bar Decorated in USA colors and Flags for this day -All the girls dressed in USA dresses and colors -American Style BBQ at 6PM featuring Burgers, Hot Dogs and American style sandwiches along with many American favorites -This day only, Budweiser Beer to bring back the feel of home available while supplies last ... -Limbo Competition with the girls, always a lot of fun to see -Free Shot with first drink for all military veterans -Best in American top 40 music from the last year -Hosted by an actual American Veteran We are located on Soi 6 across from the Queen Victoria Inn.

Coop at Chik N Coop bar will be starting his annual BBQ and July 4th party at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Sexy in the City on Soi 6 will also be having a Independence Day party. To everyone, everywhere, who is celebrating the Glorious Fourth, stay safe and have fun! Evil

There's more to worry about in PI than bar raids: Philippines Becomes Hotbed For ISIS Activity As Foreign Jihadis Join The Fight That's some heavy-duty stuff going on in Mindanao: Gov't to halt Marawi offensives for 8 hours to observe end of Ramadan "Some 300 people have been killed while tens of thousands were displaced by a month of fighting between government troops and Maute extremists in the southern lakeside city. The government has declared a national holiday on Monday for Eid'l Fitr, the official end of the month-long fast. Adiong said around 300 civilians were still trapped in Marawi that has been heavily damaged by air strikes, ground assaults, and sniper fire. The fighting prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to place the entire Mindanao under martial law." But the familiar bar raids continue in A/C, plus some other schemes to squeeze money out of tourists: BEWARE - Police Set-ups are back in Angeles; 'Planting of prostitutes' reported in Pampanga CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – If there is "tanim-bala" in Manila airports, there is now "Tanim- P–a" (planting prostitutes) scheme in Angeles City that victimizes foreigners. This alarming news cropped up during the recent meeting among top officials of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and members of the Regional Advisory Council, (CIDG-RAC). And this new scheme is more severe and cruel than the much hated “tanim-bala” at the airport since the victims, mostly foreign businessmen, would be threatened by some erring policemen in Angeles city with filing of a non-bailable crime of rape, abduction, among others if they ( victims) would not agree to pay huge amount of money to “settle their case.” Reports received by Senior Supt Benjamin Silo, Jr., showed that a number of foreigners, some of whom Koreans and Americans, have fallen prey to the modus operandi of unscrupulous policemen who are in cahoots with prostitutes. Under the set up, the prostitutes and their police partners would look for foreigners who are looking for a partner for the night. The CIDG official told Silo that once the foreigner and the prostitute agreed to go to a hotel “for a fee” the girl would create a drama and suddenly accuse her partner of rape and abduction. At this juncture, the policemen-cohort of the woman would suddenly arrive on the pretext of investigating the rape or abduction complaint lodged against the unsuspecting “customer.” Worse, there are also minors being offered to customers, and once the foreigners bite it, they would be immediately arrested for non-bailable offense. The erring police would then inform and threaten the customers that their cases are serious ones and they may rot in jail if they would not immediately settle the fabricated charges. (Mar T. Supnad) SOURCE: Tempo.com posted by JC on 2016-05-03 Evil

The only people who could answer that are Thais in positions of authority and I doubt even they know at this point. According to a post on another board, out-of-town heavy weights are behind the latest crackdown and i's not a local effort. Another theory is that bar owners haven't heeded warnings about the way girls are clothed and act outside the bars and this is a way of showing them who's boss. A corollary to that theory says some influential Thai voices want laws and regulations to be followed and that includes no sale of alcohol in bars before 6.00 p.m. But if history is any guide, yes, it will blow over. Also according to a post elsewhere, the QV is a licensed hotel with a full-service restaurant and is not subject to the restrictions on alcohol sales by bars. Evil

It's still running, but you can't buy tickets on line. You can, however, reserve a seat by phone from 15 days in advance to an hour before departure. Details here: How to Booking. The ferries have over 300 seats and very few passengers, so there's virtually no chance they will be sold out on the date you want. I haven't yet taken the ferry myself because a friend told his journey had been extremely rough in one direction (to Hua Hin) and just rough in the other. He hadn't thought to get motion sickness pills for the way over and spent 1.5 hours of the two-hour crossing puking in the toilet. He got some dramamine in HH and the journey back wasn't as bad, he said. Since I am prone to sea sickness, I decided to forego the trip. Evil

Coolidge was most famous for his answer to a beautiful young lady at a White House reception. She told Coolidge she had made a bet with her friends that she could coax the President to say more than two words. "You lose," was Coolidge's answer. In terms of what I'm reading now, I'm almost finished with Embassy to the Eastern courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat by Edmund Roberts and published in 1837. It's an account of a three-year voyage to Asia and the Middle East to establish diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cochin-China (Vietnam), Siam and Muscat. It's fascinating to read his account of Bangkok and the Royal Court in 1832. Evil

It was the leg and thigh, which in the U.S. is considered a quarter chicken. I had one of the pieces and my dining companion had the rest as she isn't a big fan of lamb, but liked the korma. Evil

The Web site says he was the chef at Country Favorites for four years. Evil

I ordered delivery from Naando's Indian Restaurant on 3rd Road around the corner from Soi Lengkee. It opened recently in the premises formerly occupied by Bite Me! I opted for delivery because the TG visiting me didn't feel like going out to eat. She really likes Indian food, so Naando's was a logical choice. The chef at Naando had been the chef at Country Favorites. I had never eaten there, but I know its food had gotten high marks from others. Here's what we decided on, with the descriptions and prices taken from the online menu: Tandoori Chicken – half (chicken marinated in yoghurt batter with Indian spices, barbequed in the tandoor oven) 160; Lamb Korma (a creamy, more mild curry with tender lamb pieces in a rich creamy sauce with yoghurt) 280; Mixed Raita (onion, tomato, cucumber added to yoghurt with a hint of salt and red chilli powder) 120; Prawn Biryani (prawn/shrimp cooked in a wok with yoghurt and Indian spices, then added to the hot Basmati rice) 250; Aloo Naan (a flat Indian bread stuffed with mashed potatoes mixed with coriander, salt,chilli powder, then baked in the tandoor) 90; plus butter naan (50) and butter paratha (60). Total cost was 1,010 baht with free delivery to central Pattaya. There's a 50-baht charge for delivery outside of the central area. I placed the ordered on line through Naando's Web site. The instructions said if you hadn't received a confirmation call within 10 minutes, you should call them. After 15 minutes, I called Naando's order line and found out they did indeed have my order. Delivery was estimated in 45 to 60 minutes. The person who spoke with me (sounded like a native English speaker) was very helpful, went through the order item by item to make sure it was right and asked if I had any special requests. He called back after a few minutes to double check one particular item. The order arrived in about 45 minutes. The portions weren't huge, but were enough for the two of us and we still had quite a bit left for another meal. She took one of the naan orders home for her 4-year-old son. With a flaming chili pepper in its logo, Naando's can be expected to offer spicy dishes. However, what we had was at my request mouth-tingling spicy rather than mouth-blistering. I'm sure that those who like a stronger bite in their Indian food could either order dishes that are inherently more spicy or ask to have more chilis added. But it is also important to remember that Indian food, just like any other spicy cuisine (Thai, Mexican, Chinese Szechuan), isn't only about capsaicin heat on the Scoville scale. It's the flavors imparted by a mixture of spices and accented by the heat that is important. Our dishes were excellent in terms of flavor balance, particularly the lamb korma. Everything was freshly made from quality ingredients. No complaints from either of us regarding the taste. To me, the tandoori chicken order was more a quarter than half chicken, but that would be my only quibble. I look forward to trying more dishes from Naando's and plan on visiting the restaurant for a sit-down meal in the near future, maybe to try the nalli nihari, a slow-cooked lamb stew with bone marrow. The menu at Naando's is quite extensive, with 118 dishes listed, of which 13 are lamb dishes. There are vegetarian options as well as meat (chicken and lamb), seafood and fish. You pay a bit more at Naando's than you would at some other Indian restaurants in Pattaya, but the quality is high with the food prepared by chef who really knows what he is doing. Evil Here's a copy of the online menu:

I believe that the law states only rooms in establishments licensed as hotels can be rented out for less than a month. Anyone who rents out a condo or two for less than a month is in violation of Thai law, but as you note, the law isn't vigorously enforced. I was thinking it wouldn't be hard for the condo associations to make and enforce their own rules against ST rentals. The explanation I have heard as to why this isn't done is that it would drive property values down, especially in buildings where owners have bought condos for the purpose of renting them out for income. It's not easy to find long-term tenants in Pattaya and ST are the only way some condo owners can earn money. If all of them were forced to sell their rental units, the already over-flooded condo market would take a further hit. Of course they could let their units stand empty until a LT renter come along- and many do just that- but most can't afford to do that. Evil

I moved out of View Talay 6 after a year because of all the hassle with short-stay guests who rented through Airbnb. The condo next to mine was rented out on that basis and one night a very drunk Russian mistook my door for his and tried to kick it in when his key wouldn't work. Because of earlier incidents with blaring loud music in the middle of the night, I had the direct number to the building's security guards, but they didn't get to my floor fast enough to make a difference. The noise finally aroused the other two guys who were staying with him next door and they dragged him inside. The door held, but had to be replaced. My landlord wasn't pleased, although there wasn't much he could do. The Russians denied any knowledge of kicking the door and the condo's owner refused to take responsibility. The management of the building couldn't (or wouldn't) do anything, either. It was at that point I told the landlord I wouldn't be renewing the lease. He moved me to a condo on another floor for the two months that remained on the lease, but there was so much noise and general hassle I moved when the lease expired. He was absolutely livid about the whole Airbn thing. Seems like it wouldn't be hard to make and enforce a rule that condos can only be rented out for six months at a minimum. Evil

In all the hundreds of visits I've made to go go bars in Bangkok and Pattaya, I've only seen one violent incident in a go go bar and that was after the farang manager had tried through conversation for 30 minutes to get the customer to leave. The customer had fallen in love with one of the girls, but she didn't want to speak with him. However, the customer wouldn't leave and in the end, the manager and door staff swarmed him and literally carried him out, with him thrashing wildly the whole time. Even then, he wasn't beaten. I believe the bad rep for some bars came through incidents involving extremely drunk and aggressive farang, like football hooligans. I think it is largely a myth that Thai door staff beat farang without reason. Most Thai door staff have more tolerance than their counterparts in the West. I've seen much worse fights in bars in the U.S. and Europe than in Thailand. Of course, I have seen several very drunk and sometimes argumentative customers escorted from bars in LOS, but without violence. I have also seen some heavy-duty fights in discos and nightclubs on a few occasions, mostly in BKK. Go go bars have been calm in comparison. Evil :

Has it been confirmed that Pattaya Pete has sold PBG? If so, who are the new owners? I must admit, it's been a long time since I've eaten at PBG because of discouraging reports about the food there. Evil

In the past, the management of Bite Me didn't miss a beat in using the punter boards and social media to keep customers informed. I strongly doubt they would open a re-incarnated Bite Me without extensive promotion on the Internet. Things can get well rowdy at Retox on Soi Lengkee on game nights and Retox Xtra could be a way of offering the same Retox products and prices in less enthusiastic surroundings as well as reducing crowding. It's also possible there may be other plans for it in the future, depending on how things work out for the other Retox places. Evil

Their style of slapping (it ain't fighting) tells me they don't have experience from street confrontations. It also meant none of the participants got badly injured. Contrast that with the Songkran video of the passenger in a car who beat up and knocked unconscious a defenseless older man on Pattaya Klang. Maybe it was a "Buy 1, get 1 free deal" deal. However , it isn't unusual to see members of the same club, association, group, etc. wearing identical shirts. Think sports fans on a game day. It does remind me from an experience during my university years many years ago. On weekends, I had a job that was the best possible preparation for dealing with farang expats in Pattaya as well as some BMs on the punter boards: I worked as an aide at an institution for the mentally handicapped, nowadays called people with intellectual disabilities. The inmates were adults with severe retardation (in the clinical sense) who couldn't fend for themselves but didn't have family and were institutionalized by court order. University students were hired as aides for weekend outings to parks or special events like parades, street fairs and festivals. All the inmates wore identical outfits so they could be spotted easier if one wandered off, or, in the worst case, a description could be given to law enforcement. In winter, they all wore the same style of parka in a bright orange color. Any time I see a group of people wearing the same T-shirt, I think about those outings. On several occasions, I've seen bar girls do significant damage to aggressive punters, although spiked heels and/or bottles usually came into play. Luck yfor the ME guys that none of those girls had a boy friend among the WS moto drivers or security staff. Evil