֎ Some massage parlors, bars and clubs are still doing poor business in Pattaya. You can spot them by the staff sat outside peering into their mobiles and ignoring the passing trade. If you are really lucky, one might raise her (or his) eyes and speak a nonchalant phrase. Bangkok Stickman first raised this issue last year and the habit has spread here. Case of IDGAD, or I don’t give a damn.
֎ If Thais have a 2 or 5 or 10 year tourist visa to UK, can they spend more than 180 days there in any one year? The British government website says one visit must not stretch beyond 90 days, but no overall annual limit at 180 days if subsequent visits are made. Yet it also says that entry may be refused if “the intention is to make the UK your main home”. You figure it.
֎ Don’t forget the colorful Pattaya Kite festival on the beach, in front of Central Festival, February 24-28. No Chinese balloons please.
֎ Beer taxes are up again: 30 baht per case or just over 1 baht per bottle. That’s the second raise in less than a year.
֎ According to the Trade Policy and Strategy Office in Bangkok the national inflation rate has now shrunk to an annual rate of 5.02 percent. These guys obviously haven’t been shopping recently.
֎ If you get a new passport, you can’t use it or even leave the country until you visit immigration to transfer the old stamp to the new document. Blank passports aren’t worth a dime without action.
֎ Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother (Moroccan proverb).
֎ The remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.
֎ This year’s Valentine postage stamps in Thailand depict a rainbow rose and give off a pleasant fragrance thanks to new techniques. Some say it resembles after-shave lotion.
֎ M2M Bar Club Cabaret in Jomtien Complex has a different show every night of the week. Professional too by any standards.
֎ A new sign on Walking Street claims to have Russian ladies inside. Don’t you need a work permit to labour in the nightery industries?
֎ New research says that 71 percent of us don’t like our food served on wooden platters or plates. But one percent said it depended on what type of wood it was. No accounting for taste.
֎ The road to success is always under construction.
֎ Nobody knows the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. That from Bill Cosby who has had his share of trouble.
֎ What is the most disgusting food in the world? Chocolate covered bacon comes near the top of the list.
֎ What’s the oldest club in town? Many say the oldest “proper” club is Tahitian Queen on Beach Road from 1978. But other candidates include the Marine. Few can remember that far back.
֎ The best view in Pattaya to watch the sun set could well be the Horizon rooftop bar of the Hilton Hotel. Can be breathtaking.
֎ Best proof the Chinese are well and truly on the way are the teams of workmen renovating the cabaret venues on Thepprasit Road. Lots of red paint being splashed out there.
֎ After all the fuss about cannabis shops and cafes setting up all over Pattaya, visitors are perplexed that most of them always look so empty. Was this much ado about nothing?
֎ The average price of a full English breakfast in UK is now 11 pounds (440 baht). The average price in Pattaya is less than 200 baht. Maybe the sausages are smaller.
֎ Villa Market has a large branch on Sukhumvit inside the Little Walking Street. If you are looking for the city’s most elaborate wine display and hundreds of imported food items, this is the place. Don’t expect bargain basement prices of course.
֎ Frasers in Jomtien is offering a free dessert with a main eat-in meal on Mondays only. Hit it.
֎ Hollywood bar, soi 6, claims to have cold drinks, hot ladies and no hassles. Aircon too. Give it a try.
֎ All credit to Hand to Hand taking down sandwiches, water and juice to those behind bars in the Pattaya police station holding cells.
Happy Hunting!
