gaprau25

Adam, congrats on yet another stellar party (which I enjoyed from the comfort of my armchair in Japan. Dammit!)

I used to stay there for weeks at a time. I love the rooms there. But with the noise and the loss of the view, unless they drop their prices to the range of the rest of the hotels with decent rooms and no view (and there are shitloads that fit that description in Pattaya) I reckon they're going to see more and more regulars staying elsewhere. But I sure did love staying there before!

Whoops! My bad! Sorry about that. Yes, it's off South Pattaya road between 3rd Rd and Sukhumvit, on a soi that heads in the Jomtien direction. I just corrected my original post. Sorry!

I liked the Honey Inn. No joiner fee. The air con isn't that quiet, but the rooms are nice. Just be sure to ask for a room pointing out toward Soi 10. If you're on the soi 11 side, bring ear plugs! I wrote this review about the Honey Inn

See "CONS" in my first post.

Unfortunately, no. Just a safe-deposit box system at the front desk.

I had parked just in front of that Russian BBQ restaurant between Pattaya Glang and Soi 7 on Beach Road. There were bikes there, so I just did the park and dash to the beach. But when I got back, it was empty, and I could see the white cross lines and no parking sign. My bad. From that point, I either went to a side soi, where I don't think anybody ever gets towed, or I looked for the mini parking space lines, like the ones in front of the new shopping complex on Second Road, or in front of Royal Garden --- assuming the fucking motorcycle taxi guys don't tell you that only they're allowed

Yes, I definitely over paid that guy. But the main reason was that my US buddy had told me it was waaaaaay on the North Side. He said it took well over half an hour to get there. And given that the motorcycle taxis in town -- particularly on beach road -- won't budge for less that 60 baht, and since I was at an obvious disadvantage not knowing the exact destination, I knew it was going to be on the expensive side. Anyway, the reason for this post is to tell others that the impound is NOT so far away. Confirm it with the cops, and get a map if you have to. Then you should be able to keep th

Shiiiiit! How stupid am I, eh! I was there two weeks and never once thought of just asking to change to the rooms facing the empty soi!! Doh!

Buyer beware! On my last trip, I got my scooter towed for illegal parking. Luckily, the police station on Soi 9/Beach Road have two Western volunteer staff who were totally helpful and explained the ropes. The fine was 500B, and they told me to take a motorcycle taxi to the place they wrote for me on the back of the ticket. I went to the cycle-taxi stand on the corner of soi 9 where they told me it would cost 700B to go there. I was under the impression (from a buddy) that it was way the hell out past Naklua, so I was prepared to pay up to 400, but 700?? Not a fuckin' chance. They cam

I just got back from 2 weeks in Pattaya. This time around, I stayed at the Honey Inn, located on Soi 11 off Soi Buakhao (or off 2nd Road), about half way up the soi. I booked via an agency (I didn't have their number before), but later got their hotel info and requested their airport pickup service at 1,500B. The driver was on time, a safe driver, and spoke English. Ditto with the drop off (1,000B). Pros: It's been renovated, so the rooms are clean. The bed was huge and the room was spacious. The bathroom had a walk in shower with good water pressure. The staff were friendly, efficient, sp

Actually, that's what I thought the post was about in the first place. I was going to go on about the merits of cialis vs. viagra.

I belong to 2 "loyalty programs" (frequent flyer programs). One is Northwest (and KLM). The other is Star Alliance (through ANA airways in Japan, in my case). In both cases, the VAST majority of miles I collect is not from flying, but by using my credit card. And you should be doing this too! With Northwest, I have a credit card from Citibank. Every time I use 100yen (about a dollar US, give or take), I get one mile. Given that everything here is so bloody expensive, I rack up miles pretty fast. And from Japan, I can fly round trip for 20,000miles economy, or 30,000 on business! In fact,

**scratches Bay Breeze Hotel from list of places to stay** Although I think theft can happen anywhere in LOS, it's that "couldn't care less" attitude from the management that drives me insane. I had my room robbed in View Talay and the office staff there wouldn't even let me use the phone (mine had been stolen) and got angry at me when I asked them at least to call Fairview Properties for me. I won't be renting there again any time soon either. Thanks for the heads up about Bay Breeze.

Nice pics! 16 hours to Wheels up. A week in BKK then I'll be showing my ugly mug at the Cherry Bar. Looking forward to seeing all this shit in real life again!!!

Well, as unique an idea as it is, and as much as it serves a niche market, I wouldn't run out and buy IPO shares just yet. Just hope the guy has enough money for cigs after he goes bankrupt.

I often fly Business class to Thailand and I LOVE it BUT, I would never pay for it. It's just too much of a "bend over and grab your ankles" kind of rip off. Instead, I fly economy and upgrade with my frequent flyer miles. Same luxury, doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.

Actually, it's not. Not by a long shot. I lived in Manila for 2 months -- Feb/March -- and it was far from being cheaper than Bangkok or Pattaya. Still, I loved PI. When I was there, even in downtown Manila (Ermita, actually), I thought it would be a fantastic place to set up shop. Not as nice as Thialand, as mrstein has said, but a nice second place!

Yup. As they all say above, this new visa shakedown will very likely see prices drop. That, plus the fact that prices have been rising in part due to the urban myth that the new airport will see an increased flock of people moving to Pattaya. But since nobody is likely to suddenly decide on Pattaya because of 30 minutes saved in travel from the new airport, that will also likely have a negative affect on condo prices. I'd wait a bit. Or rather, I am waiting a bit.

Nice move not losing control. Getting into "fuck you!" exchanges is not only dangerous, but basically fucks over every other foreigner who steps in the guy's bus for the next year. A little ignorance goes a long way in Thailand. Best to keep in mind that the locals try to scam foreigners because they think we have enough money to pay more. And we do -- so in the rare occassions where you have forgotten to set a price, or you've been caught on some loophole, unless it's an outrageous scam, I'd just smile, try to bargain, and pay the guy and forget about it. As for the foreign guys who

Ok, it's not IN Pattaya, but if you've never been to Koh Samed, it's worth a visit. And you can bring a TG with you and neglect to mention that part of the trip to your family.

I stayed at the BJ holiday lodge on Soi 3 for a month this last trip. THe final bill was about 26,000baht for the month. It's new, so the rooms are very clean, and they have a cool open-type walk-in shower. No joiner fee there, but guys who bring a lot of girls back do get the occassional funny stare from the staff. Probably wouldn't even get a sideways glance from a hotel on Soi 7 or 8 Anyway, have a great trip!

Thanks for that link. Checked it out. Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through, but if people are travelling anyway, it's a lot of miles, that's for sure. As for NW -- their frequent flyer program is pretty good as far as getting free flights. From Japan, I can fly to BKK for 20,000 miles return. That same flight cost me 45,000 points with Star Alliance this summer. The downside of using NW is that the arrival and departure times from BKK couldn't be any worse, and they have a cap for the number of seats per flight they allow to be booked on miles. Once the cap is reached, you have to

I'm really looking forward to seeing the new airport...but feeling lucky that I won't have to until December or January after the bugs have (hopefully) been worked out.

I think it's a good hotel, but not great given the price. Also, probably the very last place I'd ever go on vacation with my wife is Pattaya. Somehow, they just don't understand when you say, "I just want to go say hi to some old friends who work in Dollhouse." If I were you, I'd take a right on the road from BKK and head to Hua Hin instead. For the same more or less (in fact, much less) you can stay at Anatara -- fantastic Thai style resort that is sure to wow the socks off the missus.