Evil Penevil

It is possible if the "vote giver" accessed Gabor's post from another location than the thread itself. But that isn't the case with the votes on posts from 2003. Which year are you talking about? Evil

Unless you have no other choice, DO NOT stay at the Amari Boulevard. I concur completely with the posts above. There are much better hotels in the Sukhumvit area for roughly the same price that are guest-friendly. You can get the Dynasty Grande cheaper and the Adelphi Grande for about the same price. Citadines (several locations in the Suk area) is also cheaper. Usually you'll find a special offer for a hotel in the President chain that equals the Amari Boulevard rate. These are just a few examples- there are a dozen other better options to AB as well. Evil

Gabor's champion gave him nine more positive votes a few minutes ago, all posts from 2003 and none of them substantial. Evil

Go to Gabor's profile page. It will look like this: In the Overview column, click on Reputation, then clicked on Received: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "Final page" symbol (>>): That will bring up a page that looks like this: Click on the number of any post on that page (#61485 in the above example). That will take to the thread where the post originally appeared back in 2003. Scroll down to the bottom of that page and you'll see who has viewed that thread since the last software upgrade: Only two people have viewed that page since the upgrade. Since it is unlikely I've given Gabor the plus vote, the other name (which I have marked out) is the one who voted the post up. That BM, as well as Cennn3 (Baht) on some posts, has voted up many of Gabor's nine-year-old posts. Evil

It's the will of three individuals. At least it isn't a conspiracy, just three people who decided to boost Gabor's rep by voting him up every day. In about 10 days, Gabor swung from negative 30 to his current total above 100, thanks to votes from mainly three BMs. Evil

I know! I know! Actually, three BMs have, as you phrase it, "diligently" supported Gabor. But I won't out them either. It would be good if one of them would come forward on his own and explain why. Evil

A short update: The flights on June 30 and July 1 were canceled by Tiger and the flight on July 2 was fully booked, so passengers who were supposed to have flown on June 30 and July 1 were given the option of waiting another day in hopes of getting on the Cebu Pacific flight to Clark on the next day, July 3. But Tiger didn't even know if seats were available. I simply requested a refund at at that point and took a flight to Manila on Cebu later that night. Never again with Tiger. They cancel flights too often and don't offer realistic help when they do. Evil

Gabor moans constantly about what he feels are unjust negative votes. But if you look at his Reputation page, you'll see that the vast majority of negative votes he received are for posts in which he indulged in name-calling, insults or inane conspiracy theory stuff. There are two or three posts for which he may have gotten negative votes he didn't deserve, but that can depend on the context of the whole thread, not just a single post. It could even be down to fat-finger errors. In any case, there are very, very few "innocuous" posts for which Gabor has received negative votes. But many, many of Gabor's plus votes were given to posts he wrote years ago, some as far back as 2003. Cenn3 (Baht) started the trend but he has a couple of imitators Here are some examples: I counted about 25 positive votes on posts from 2003 and at least 100 on posts written prior to the introduction of the Reputation system in May last year. Check it out yourself. Make sure you go to the the "oldest" of his Rep pages: page 63. Because Gabor isn't writing enough new posts per day, the members who wanted to vote him up had to go back in time to find posts for which to vote. They went as far back as 2003 in hopes of hiding their machinations. About a week ago, I watched in real time as one BM clicked on the green plus sign on every post Gabor had written in a meaningless thread. His rep total went up by 18 points in just a few minutes. Who has abused the system more: those who vote down Gabor for name-calling, insults and idiotic content about conspiracies or those who vote him up on the basis of nine-year-old empty posts? Ity would be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY nice if one of Gabor's supporters would have the courage of his convictions and answer my question. Evil

I departed Swampy at 2330 on July 2, returned at 2350 on July 9. The flights were delayed during take-off and landing at BKK, about 30 minutes each time. The pilots on both flights attributed the delays to runway work. No hassle with Immigration leaving Thailand (not one other passenger waiting when I walked up to the check point), but the feeder snake was very jammed on arrival. I burned one of my Premium Lane cards and went through in two minutes. Evil

I had problems with Chrome on both the PT and Secrets' site for a few days. I updated to the latest version of Java and everything was back to normal. I had disabled the automatic updates for Java, so I was running a older version. Don't know if that was the entire problem, though. Evil

I use United because of its frequent flyer program, coupled with a relatively short flying time to/from Newark Liberty. (20 to 24 hours in either direction). As a 1K elite flyer (means I put in 100,000 elite miles in a calendar year), I am allowed three suitcases each weighing up to 70 lbs. I also get priority tags on luggage, which means they are among the first down the chute. I get six "Global" upgrades a year, which means all my flights to/from LOS are in biz even though I've only paid between $1,200 and $1,500 for the tickets. The schedule to/from Newark Liberty isn't that bad. Take off from EWR is at a convenient time (11.00 am), but arrival in BKK (after transfer in Narita) is a bit late (between 1100 and midnight). On the way back to the U.S., the flight departs BKK early (600 a.m.) and gets into EWR at 4.30 p.m. So United does it for me as I draw so much advantage from the FF program. It's not just upgrades, but also very heavy discounts on rental cars and hotels. But as someone else said, if you don't fly enough so that elite FF is a realistic possibility, just go with the airline with the cheapest prices. Evil

EDIT: I posted about receiving a similar warning before reading MM's post that thesituation had been resolved. I'm leaving the detailed advisory from Google in case it can be of any help. I get a similar warning when trying to log in via Chrome, but not with Firefox or IE. Evil

I'm writing this from a Bangkok hotel because the Tiger flight from Swampy to Clark was canceled for the second straight day. There was nothing on the Tiger Web site about the cancellation before I left for the airport. Tiger comped the passengers on the canceled flight for a night in the hotel and dinner as well as breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Luckily the hotel at which I'll be staying in AC won't charge me for the night I missed. But it's a major drag and I'll try to avoid Tiger as much as possible in the future. Evil

Yes. You started another boring, repetious "look-at-me" thread in which you try to use confrontation as a means of attracting attention to yourself. No lies about anything. By not continuing that discussion, I was doing you and the board a favor. It's pointless to debate Harris Black's manifold online identities because nothing I write would make any difference to you. It would only give you the opportunity to indulge in more name-calling about something that is not germaine to Pattaya Talk. Evil

Bumping up this old thread to ask if anyone knows what finally happened with the German guy in the pic. I haven't seen him around since October and hadn't read any reports about him until today. On another board, there was a post suggesting he might be in BKK now, in about the same shape as before, but it is unsure if it is the same guy. Anyone know what really happened with him? Evil

It's safe to say from your respective postings on the board that there are light years of difference between you and Cennn3. Evil

Every hotel has the right to charge a joiner fee for any UNREGISTERED guest who spends the night in a guest's room, even if the guest has paid for double occupancy. It doesn't happen often in Thailand these days, but hotels in some parts of the world won't allow unregistered guests to stay at all. Also note that hotels like the Hilton won't allow you to register a guest one day and register a new girl the next. A joiner fee isn't a scam; it's a policy by which the hotel discourages its guests from bringing back unregistered guests. That said, you lose nothing by trying to walk the girl up to your room, especially if it's not in the wee hours of the morning. A lot of hotels with joiners' fees will enforce the joiner-fee policy selectively. If you're discrete, they won't ask for it. But if you're challenged, it's best just to pay the extra 1,000 baht. Arguing the matter with the front desk with a girl at your side will cause you and even worse, the girl, to lose face. If you're determined to protest, do it the next morning with the day manager. Evil

Hit the Quote (single post) or MultiQuote (several posts) button for the post(s) from which you want to quote: That will bring up the entire post in a quote field. Use your mouse to highlight the parts you want to exclude, then hit delete to get rid of them. Be sure NOT to delete the "end quote" code [/qu*te]. That will have leave you with: You can then write your reply in the field beneath the quote box. Hope this helps! Evil

I stumbled by accident into a small wet market in Pattaya last year. It isn't visible from the street. It's down a spooky little alley way off the continutation of Soi 15 that runs past the school and Sikh temple towards Tukcom. Here's a more detailed part of the map: You walk down the alley past some loading docks and you're inside a large indoor market, with the wet section to the left. They were working on poultry when I passed by, but I saw a row of pigs' heads as well. You can exit to Pattaya Tai through a shop at the north end. But it's a very small operation compared to Klong Toey. Evil

Yes, I have stayed at the Dynasty Grande on Soi 6. I prefer the Phachara, but that is because I always try for a one-bedroom suite whenever possible. The biggest room that is available at the DG is 43 sq meters and for roughly the same price, you can get a 65 sq m one-bedroom suite at Phachara. That's the deal-clincher for me. But the pool and fitness center at the DG is better than the Phachara, so if that's important to you, the DG has the upper hand. In terms of other facilities aside from the pool and room size, the two are about equal in standard. Evil

Whether you can cancel or not depends on which rate you choose. The highly discounted "early bird" rates require that you pay in advance with no refund. For the less discounted rates, you don't pay in advance, but your credit card will be charged for one night's fee if you cancel less than 48 hours in advance. Evil

I have stayed there five or six times and it's one of my favorites in BKK. I'll probably be staying there again for a few nights in July, but am always tempted to try new hotels. The Phachara is a four-star hotel/serviced apartment establishment, so definitely air-con and hot shower/bath. Very, very clean, which is my top priority when it comes to a hotel. The one-bedroom units offer the best value for money (special on now, you can get one for USD87 per night) but the studio rooms are also good VFM. Guest friendly, but the hotel staff are inconsistent about asking for the girls' IDs. Sometimes they do, other times not. Every room, whether studio or one-bedroom, has a kitchenette and a washing machine/dryer, which is very useful if you're staying three or four days or longer. Laundry is cheap in Thailand, but I find it convenient to wash my own clothes. Every unit has a balcony (interesting to watch the activity in the street). Good flat-screen TV. OK pool, but a swimming pool isn't a big factor for me. The location is great in terms of both business and pleasure. It's a short walk to the Nana BTS and even shorter to NEP and all the other bars in the area. I don't often eat breakfast, so I can't comment on that aspect. For the price, you can't do much better in BKK. Evil

The most popular variation of the cheesesteak uses Kraft Cheez Whiz, a processed cheese spread. Pat's and Geno's sell ten times as many cheesesteaks with Cheez Whiz as with American or provolone cheese. I don't like Cheez Whiz at all and prefer my cheesesteaks with provolone, but I am clearly in the minority, at least in Philadelphia. The Philly steak sandwich was first sold in 1930 by a hot dog vendor who fried thinly sliced rib eye steak together with onions and served it on a hot dog roll. It became very popular, especially when the hot dog roll was replaced with a hoagie roll. Cheese didn't become part of the sandwich until the 1940's and provolone was first used. Cheez Whiz was first marketed in 1952, but it's really what put the cheese in the Philly cheesesteak. Evil

On the Secrets'board, the former owner Cronus said: "The Jolly Friar in Jomtien is owned and operated my friend Mark and his wife Mai, they will be changing their name slightly in due course to reflect the sale of the Pattaya Jolly Friar and I wish them luck with their expansion plans. I have spoken with Mark and he wants to reassure everyone 'nothing will change' in Jomtien except the name!" In that same post, he wrote that he was divesting his "business concerns" in Thailand to concentrate on a China-based export company. In answer to follow-up questions, he said he still owned China Garden and it was being run by his wife's brother and a Thai manager. He also said the new owner of the Lone Star and Pattaya Jolly Friar was named Kell, who would be "coming to the boards" soon. Evil

That puts things in perspective. But I wish the new owner luck. The Lone Star definitely has potential. Evil