Evil Penevil

Thank you, Gabor. I'm glad you see the light. Evil

Nothing I write is bullshit. I think you have had some very painful reminders of that by now. Demanding payment for an UNREGISTERED overnight guest is standard practice in most hotels around the world. Many hotels and guest houses in Pattaya choose to allow because they do more business by being guest friendly. If both guests are REGISTERED at the hotel. But the hotel can always demand payment for an unregistered guest. Yelling and threatening the front desk personnel may work at a shabby budget hotel with mostly East European guests, but try insisting that you won't pay a joiner f

It's a fee that some hotels impose if one or more UNREGISTERD guests stay overnight in your room. Depending on the hotel, the fee can range from several hundred baht to 1,000 bahtor more. While you can enounter joiner-fee scams, a joiner fee isn't always a rip-off. It's a policy decision by the hotel to discourage guests who are likely to bring back P4P providers to their rooms. To be considered "guest friendly," the hotel must allow your unregistered guests to stay overnight without extra charge. Moreover, you must be able to change guests every night or even several times in the same da

Keep in mind that Chinese New Year (Spring Festival, Year of the Rabbit) begins on Feb. 3 in 2011. Prices tend to be higher (and planes at full cpacity) for a week before and about two weeks after that date. It's the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar and thousands of overseas Chinese travel at that time. If you are flying through Taipei or Hong Kong or even Tokyo, you usually have to book early. Before Spring Festival and after (it lasts up to 10 days, depending on the country), flights to/from Asia are often cheaper because of lower demand. Evil

Have flown with them several times from JFK to BKK. Never a hint of a problem. Evil

You can safely eliminate the second option. But instead of functionally illiterate, I would suggest he not the English so good write. The question becomes: From which language is a native speaker most likely to translate "wandering eyes" as "skipping eyes"? Evil

Thanks, Joe. And on to a new point - More than one poster has maintained that picture taking on the street can put the photographer in danger of a kicking. Has anyone actually seen this happen? Has any bar owner had a customer object to another customer taking pics in your bar (assuming photography is allowed)? Has it ever led to a discussion with injuries? I doubt many farang are all that sensitive about having their pictures taken, considering there are dozens of Asian and Russian package tourists who walk up and down Walking Street filming every inch of the way. There would be

It wasn't much of a point, but since you're a glutton for punishment ... Arno, cousin, Myrrh, Upharsin and Syb are right. It would not be a good idea to print out the OP and read it to a Thai male in an attempt to deflect his anger. In fact, I doubt a printout of my OP - or anyone else's OP - would serve much use in a street confrontation in Pattaya or anywhere in the world, except maybe if you rolled it up real tight and jabbed it in your opponent's eye. Along those lines, it wouldn't be a good idea to frost a cake with motor oil or to lubricate an automoble engine with cake fr

Time to read the writing on the wall, Arno! From Daniel 5:25-28 :25 And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. :26 This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; :27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; :28 UPHARSIN: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to Pattaya Addicts and Pattaya Live (actually, the Bible says "Medes and Persians," but I thought I'd make it more relevant.) Sorry, MM. I know I should have ignor

Definitely. I would be very discrete in taking pictures of the Amish in Intercourse Village, PA or Coptic Christians in Cairo. But I was discussing in the OP common situations on the street and in bars in Pattaya. I know better than most there are some individuals in Pattaya and Bangkok who don't want their pics taken, but their objections are based more concern about Interpol or their parole officers or the research department of America's Most Wanted recognizing their pics than religious/cultural beliefs. I'd say that if you are worried about taking photos in the street, don

Rascall - First off, I'm not qualified to give advice about real-life legal situations in Thailand. I have enough background to discuss broad principles of street photography, but not specific applications of the law, especially not in Thailand. With that proviso, here are some suggestions for questions to ask an attorney who is qualified to advise on Thai law: Section 287 of the Thai Penal Code makes it illegal to produce pornography for purposes of TRADE. Is production of sexually explicit material for non-commercial purposes, with one's wife as the model, also considered illegal?

Confusion abounds about privacy and photography, particularly as it relates to the Internet. This post summarizes what‘s allowed and what’s not. Bottom line: There are no significant restrictions on street photography in Thailand. You don't have a right NOT to be photographed. If the publication of a picture taken in or from a street in LOS is going to cause you problems with your spouse, boss, creditors or parole officer, then the only real solution is to stay secluded. If people can't see you, they can't take your picture. There's no other realistic way to render impossible the

Here are some sample pics of wives and girlfriends of top international football players. You can see the entire layout with all the names of which player is with which girl here: The Hottest WAGs of the 2010 World Cup. Enjoy! Evil

You might want to look at the Lido Beach Hotel, which is located on Beach Road about half a block from WS. It doesn't have a pool, but otherwise meets your needs. It is possible to bargain with them about the rate, but a lot of times the hotel is full due to regularly returning guests. Otherwise, the Residence Garden (in the banner ads, special rate for Pattaya Talk members) isn't a bad choice. Evil

Looks like the crack down is off to a good start: Iranian Man Arrested for Smuggling 3 Kgs of Ice.

Coke is readily available in Pattaya at all 7-11s and every other food and convenience store. You can get it in both cans and bottles. There's even a guy who sits outside a WS establishment and sells it in plastic bags. Evil

My TG's daughter (age five) cried when we checked out of the Centara Beach Resort. To her, it was a fantasy world. She loved all the activities for children - swimming and dance classes, exercise sessions, arts and crafts, etc. The water park was also great for her. It costs a bit, but it is definitely the best hotel in Pattaya for children. You can see some pics in a mini review I did here: http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...st&p=725801 Evil

It would be more accurate to say that, in LOS at least, that some Russians are gangsters, some Thai people have pitiful existences, quite a few West Africans are involved in criminal behavior and most of the Arabs I've encountered are antagonistic. I've never written anything that either states or implies race or national origin determines a person's character. I have written T/Rs that are all sunbeams and bunnies, but by looking at the world from a different angle, I saw warts on the fantasy. It's called reality. I guess I've always been aware of the ugly spots, but now I decided to wr

I implied nothing of the sort. I only said he didn't like his picture taken. BTW, is he your cousin? Are no West African drug gangs operating in BKK or Pattaya, in your opinion? Please read that in both of the ways that it is intended... Evil

Very interesting article in the Bangkok Post: Narcotics cops to target Africans Let's hope they succeed and that the gangs they run out of Bangkok don't switch their base of operations to Pattaya. Evil

I'm stuck in the U.S. as well, but I wish you the best of luck with the party and will be sure to drop by Chanpen on my next trip to Pattaya. Evil

I've done the early morning flight to Tokyo dozens of times to catch the non-stop to Newark Liberty. I simply stay up all night and head to the airport at about 3.30 a.m. It depends on circumstances, but often I won't even have a hotel room that night. I check out as late as possible the day before, leave my bags at the concierge desk and then come back to collect them before leaving for the airport. Plenty of places with inhouse S/T rooms (or go to S/T hotel) if needed that night. Staying up all night means I sleep most of the flight to Tokyo. Evil

It is not guest friendly. It's a very nice hotel and value for money at 1,766 baht/night, but there's a 1,000 baht joiner fee. It's high to discourage male guests from bringing back girls. It's a good deal if you register with a companion who will stay with you the whole time (no joiner fee), but not if you plan to switch partners every night. Evil

As others have said, just reply to them that you don't feel comfortable emailing your credit card information. I have stayed at the Dawin, Dynasty Inn and Dynasty Grande. None of them insisted on my c c number upfront. They replied to my email, in which I politely declined to give my cc details, by saying in effect, "Fine. Pay when you arrive." Evil

That means if you're a black male in some cities in the U.S. who engages in high-risk behavior (unprotected sex, especially with other males; or injects drugs), you have a bigger chance of getting HIV-infected than people in some African countries. It's hardly a startling conclusion. The key concept here is "high-risk behavior." Avoid it and there is a very small chance of becoming infected with HIV, no matter what your race or where you live. Evil