PattayaMale

It is a menu breakfast and seems to average 130 baht. I had the swiss breakfast on the front patio where they have many tables now. It included, choice of eggs, rashers of bacon, Rostti potatoes, orange juice, bread (toast), coffee. Continental off Soi Bowkow has a similar swiss breakfast for 110 baht with no orange juice. The bacon is sometimes not as crisp as I like it and have asked for it to be cooked more, but that is my taste

Tonight I was at a few beer bars and the owners told me that they all have received a price increase in rent of about 30%. I understand this is both in Boyztown area and also Sunee. One owner told me it was explained to him that the city went around appraising properties which raised the tax. So the owners are passing it on. 30% is incredible. So with fewer customers and higher costs what will they do?

There was even an article in USA Today about these "free" fares and how Thailand is trying to get tourism to rise. I went to Air Asia where it shows London - Kuala Lumpur. When I tried to book I could not get a seat anytime in January or beginning of Feb. I do't know if there is a glitch in there system or if they really are filled. I also tried to book Bangkok to Yangoon and got a really good fare I thought of only 4000 baht.

Following in the GB tradition of letting people know where good food can be found, I found a very good breakfast at one of my favorite places.........Cherry's on Third Road. I go to Cherry's for dinner and did not realize they served breakfast until today. The menu is one of those breakfasts from around the world (English, Swiss, American...). The only draw back is that they don't start serving it until 11am. I asked why they start so late...."Don't know" was the answer....still good though

I don't think they are unrelated incidents. Last year when I purchased my gym membership it was the last 3 days before the price would rise by 20%. Fortunately they had a Lifetime membership so I would not be affected. Pork, fresh vegetables are still inexpensive by USA prices but still up over 15%. Auto prices have fallen a bit but are expected to rise. Why the rise when there should be a big inventory? I don't understand.

He said the PAD made 13 demands the new government must meet and the DAAD had two. "This will show that the change of political camps will not solve the crisis facing the country," he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If this kind of conflict continues, there certainly must be some thing that will happen. I can't see anything else happening except the military taking over. But this time it will not be short lived and may be harsh. What else could be the answer?

It seems that a favorite breakfast place in Day Night has closed. I don't think it has been open for almost two weeks. I heard that there is hope that it may open again, but not sure. This economic down turn may leave us with several more business closings. It is sad to see what is starting to happen. Hopefully, the gay traveler will still continue to show up. It seems that this may be true as on another thread it was reported that Ambiance is almost booked up for the holiday season. Another good sign was reported that the airports are almost up to the level of passengers it had been handling.

Well the boys did not come here to Pattaya. And in my view you might have found the same problem here, finding some one you like to off....not sure. There seem to be a few business owners that are not sure they can make it even to next month. They are behind in their rent and now way are they making twice as much this month either although from what I see, things are getting better, not not great.

I watched his speech on a Thai TV channel and was impressed with his speech in English. I think he was born or raised in England and that is why some opposition said he was not Thai.

I agree that Air Asia has some really low prices and is also a good airline. I have flown them several times. Unfortunately they don't fly to Samui. A person can fly to Surat Tani on Air Asia, make their way to the ferry landing and then take a ferry across. I don't know how much that would save. For my trip Bangkok Air had a "special of the month" form Utapao for 1500 round trip but added 1700 in extra charges for the round trip.

It is great to see that both hotels on this street are installing elevators. I remember staying at both hotels and just going up to the third floor on a hot sticky day was a chore for me. Someone on one of the Boards mentioned that the Ambiance rooms were becoming dated. I noticed from GB's post that now all the rooms have been updated. I hope they will be able to fill the rooms despite the current downturn

English classes have been mentioned several times, this is one of the first things I asked my Thai friend if he would do it. I thought that it would be good to have private lessons, but for whatever reason he wanted to do it in a small group. The cost was 2000 baht for 6 weeks, 3 days a week. One of the things we included was some basic computer skill. (Remember this was almost 11 years ago). The reason for the computer class was so he could learn to send me a daily email. One of the benefits of this turned out to be that he learned to spell very well. And to this day when he wants to learn a word he asks me to spell it. The emails were very short at first. I tried to make mine simple too. When I came back to see him 4 months later I noticed that he had copied my emails by hand and used a Thai English dictionary to learn words I had written. Since MonkeySee is a good distance away, it may be a good idea to ask him about English classes and by sending emails might help him learn. Good luck and have a good trip!

"The Foreign Ministry has quietly revoked the diplomatic passport held by convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ministry said on its website yesterday that Thaksin's red passport was cancelled on Friday after he decided not to appeal his case." For some reason I thought this was funny. What does it mean to "quietly" do something when you post ir on your own website? What may happen next is that his other passport will be canceled now that a new government is in place. However, if done this may cause an uproar with the red shirts??

The concept of discounts are not only a Thai disconnect. One friend of mine who owns a restaurant (Farang) was complaining that he is not getting in the customers these days and so he "must raise prices". I mentioned that I did not think that was going to work???????

I guess I read too much into MonkeySee's post. I don't understand how buying phones is helping. I guess people do go around buying gold, phones, clothes as a way of "helping" without wanting anything in return. Those people have a much bigger heart than I do. When I think of that kind of helping I think of charities.....I guess that could included...... Never mind. Up2you

I am not sure that there is a play book to go by. Different personalities get different results. I always felt that if I would go into a relationship with suspicion that the partner needs all sorts of boundaries or that if I buy things this alone will make him stay, the relationship would probably fail. What has worked for me is to try to build a relationship of security for each of us. Many times the farang or the Thai has received threats such as "if you don't do ....I am going to leave you" or "if you... then I will get this for you". It makes the entire relationship a very material one. I want a relationship based on long term security. Financially, the farang usually starts out with the most money. In my case though I have always tried to make sure my Thai partner has an almost equal say in how this money will be spent. If either one of us really protests then there must be some type of compromise. For sure I am no expert. I realize this fits my personality and it is not universal. But I am happy with how it has worked for me. Everyone must think on their own what matches their personality. I have had friends that have given cars, gold, 40,000 baht allowances, helped build houses for the Thai's parents and after a few years they can't believe that the Thai has left. "After all I did for him, he does this". Usually though this was because the farang would always throws what "They gave" into the Thai's face. Then the farang feels all Thai boys are this way. But when I looked around I saw some great success. One Thai now owns a host bar and makes more than the farang. Still together after many years. Another farang has a wonderful Thai friend. The Thai sees him every night and both are very much in love, but they do not live in the same house. The Thai is up and out the door almost every morning. Neither Thai nor farang worry about what the other does. They don't need to. They are secure in their relationship. I also have friends that would not think of having a relationship. They love the chase and the variety. They may have certain guys they favor, but they do not to be obligated to one person even if the relationship is to be "open". Different personalities.............. Good luck on how you choose to lead your life in this

Ops again What followed was; "Don't hate Taskin. Just be better than him."

GB, Maybe you need to change the title of the thread to "Exchange rate falls to 34 baht to the dollar" Do you think now that a new government has been elected the baht will get stronger? I think I need to go shopping before things get worse. Euro Boys for sure tonight

I noticed that the 2 sources quote different number of votes. Anyway, I wonder if one of the first items of business will be revoking all of Thaskin's visas. This is one of the things the PAD was demanding. Also I noted that the "Red-Shirts" had started to try and mimic the protests of the PAD as they tried to block the entrances and exits of Parliament. Since the vote was so close, it seems that it maybe very difficult to hold a coalition together. Thaskin certainly will try something to gain back power. This is a bigger loss of face than when a coup occurred. He will have a harder time saying it was not democratic since the new government followed the constitution. Interesting to see what is next.

I see that at 10:50 the Nation has the democrats leading 210 - 179 votes for the new prime minister. I thought there was now only 417 MP?How many votes are needed to win.

Today as I was waiting for a car to take me and my Thai friend to the airport in Samui, I talked with the director of operations at the resort I stayed at. He told me that last year at this time through high season his occupancy rate was 80%. Right now it is 10% and they only have reservations which at the peak would put occupancy at 20% this year. He fears he may lose some of those who have made reservations. Some people are waiting to see if things (economy and political situation) worsen. Resort construction is booming but he feels that not enough customer growth will be able to sustain all the properties.

Regarding John, I have just returned from Johns home near Ubon where he lived and have dealt with all the rites etc. I was his closest friend in Thailand. He was a very kind and quiet person who would not do wrong to anyone. I will miss his friendship a great deal as we kept in contact everyday. John was cremated yesterday (Saturday) to which the whole town seemed to have turned out. John now leaves his boyfriend Nui to continue their business near Ubon alone, I wish him well. Goodbye dear friend. I am sorry for your loss.

I knew it! Thanks Geezer. You really know your military uniforms...............

My guess is "Pattaya One" might have typed the wrong month. But as others have said TIT. New Orleans was one of my favorite cities for just pure fun. I lived in Texas for a short while and would fly to New Orleans at least once a month. I would love to have the "Hurricane" drink concession, no matter when Pattaya schedules it!

Sorry the link sent people to the wrong page so I did a cut and paste