Ex Penh Man - I agree with your observations re Pattaya, I was in Big C Pattaya Klang mid-day yesterday having a coffee observing the mood and whilst black was in reasonable evidence I did see some rather scantily clad Thai women. I don't own any black clothes and I suspect it wouldn't be the first ...

Hanno, I'd imagine that the xmas and New Year events put on in the hospitality sector are a lucrative source of income given that the 4-5 star places are now charging anything from 7,500 - 15,000 baht for their gala events, featuring music, fireworks etc. ( and it's compulsory if you are staying the...

Pattaya Local Authority have already announced that the official Loy Khatong, Fireworks Festival and New Year Celebrations, ( which is a massive crowd puller domestically and internationally tourism wise ), have all been cancelled this year. So clearly a subdued December in Fun town is to be expecte...

Since I got my annual extension of stay based on retirement this year I find living here is a breeze immigration wise. Jomtien immigration is a 10 minute walk down the road, the 90 day report is basically a walk in/walk out 2 minute exercise and a re-entry permit took me 20 minutes. There was a pers...

I'll be flying with Thai Smile, Udon to BKK next week. All in inc 20kg luggage 1090baht. ($31) This is not a special, its a daily price!. About the same distance in kms as BKK to PP, but not $180 as is normal, none sales price for that. Just shows what extra $ and bollox is still added to fly betwe...

Be interesting to see how this pans out. The biker guys hit the Thai's bike and didn't stop so were in the wrong in the first place, the Thai guys react in a group and smash up the car and presumably would have wanted to do the same to the driver given the chance, and the bikers retaliate which unfo...

Drugs are illegal in most countries PR. I think you have been in Thailand too long if you consider that police rounding up random tourists and submitting them to drug tests is normal. In most countries this is not normal. Thailand is definitely not "most countries", but a lot of tourists ...

Don't know why anyone gets bothered by these headline grabbing stories, I'm sure some guy in headquarters is going to sit there monitoring my everyday movements. Immigration brought in a crappy 3 page personal information form recently, the most apparently sensitive questions being optional, took me...

When u walk past agogo bar, sometimes u can peek inside n see naked dancing ladies or "ladies" why nobody talks abt that? I don't think so, if a gogo is showing naked flesh I suspect it will be behind closed doors and will have security on the door. Reading the Thai forums, and again in t...

Btw, for you people who know Thailand well, has it now become acceptable for women (who are not street-walkers or available for sex) to walk around the streets at night dressed only in a bikini/underwear ? Do they go into shops,bars and restaurants like this at night IN TOWN ? (Beach bars are diffe...