gumbleby

Quite a nice place, if getting a bit worn. I didn't stay there recently as it's a bit outside the action. I wouldn't hesitate staying there again though. It's in between a few nice restaurants and it's along the Songthaew route. It's a bit set back from the main road so fairly quiet. It's also very near the bus station and a supermarket with western products.

Quite a nice place, if getting a bit worn. I didn't stay there recently as it's a bit outside the action. I wouldn't hesitate staying there again though. It's in between a few nice restaurants and it's along the Songthaew route. It's a bit set back from the main road so fairly quiet. It's also very near the bus station and a supermarket with western products.

Quite a nice place, if getting a bit worn. I didn't stay there recently as it's a bit outside the action. I wouldn't hesitate staying there again though. It's in between a few nice restaurants and it's along the Songthaew route. It's a bit set back from the main road so fairly quiet. It's also very near the bus station and a supermarket with western products.

Any recent experiences using Bolt from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)?
A few years ago I used Bolt a few times to go from BKK to Pattaya, but I gave up on them. Too many scams and difficulties finding the car (it wasn't always clear what level, many times the car has a different license plate than the app, and sometimes the driver claimed they couldn't find you, so you can't complain to Bolt if they insist on extra payment, and I got a bad rep with Bolt. Similar problems Pattaya to BKK. I had better experiences via Agoda, or booking from the stall in Jomtien Complex.

That's more or less how it worked end of December. Before you're allowed to go to passport control there's a check for your Covid documentation. Then passport control and waiting to collect your bags. After you pass customs you get to the international arrivals hall, where you are greeted by a mass of hotel representatives and staff to get all arrivals in contact with the right people.
It seemed a bit chaotic, there's so many hotels now, but there's plenty of people pointing you in the right way. Go with the flow and you should be on your way in no time. Just make sure you have a copy (or 2) of your booking and your Thailand pass at hand.
In may case I was asked me to wait a bit before I was taken to the car, which took me to the hospital for a snot donation, and then on to the hotel for what turned out to be about 8 hours quarantine.
I had time left for dinner at Circus (formerly Telephone Pub) and a short visit to Dream Boys. Everything had to close by 11PM.

That's more or less how it worked end of December. Before you're allowed to go to passport control there's a check for your Covid documentation. Then passport control and waiting to collect your bags. After you pass customs you get to the international arrivals hall, where you are greeted by a mass of hotel representatives and staff to get all arrivals in contact with the right people.
It seemed a bit chaotic, there's so many hotels now, but there's plenty of people pointing you in the right way. Go with the flow and you should be on your way in no time. Just make sure you have a copy (or 2) of your booking and your Thailand pass at hand.
In may case I was asked me to wait a bit before I was taken to the car, which took me to the hospital for a snot donation, and then on to the hotel for what turned out to be about 8 hours quarantine.
I had time left for dinner at Circus (formerly Telephone Pub) and a short visit to Dream Boys. Everything had to close by 11PM.

Just got my Thai Pass. Two more weeks. Now I just hope Omicron doesn't throw up some last minute obstacles. Just like last time, my annual travel insurance policy was accepted without problems.
As usual, I'm not covered if I have to go into for quarantine (I might be covered for a few days if I'm lucky).

Just got my Thai Pass. Two more weeks. Now I just hope Omicron doesn't throw up some last minute obstacles. Just like last time, my annual travel insurance policy was accepted without problems.
As usual, I'm not covered if I have to go into for quarantine (I might be covered for a few days if I'm lucky).

I actually travelled to Thailand for a short holiday in september, using the Phuket Sandbox system. I wouldn't repeat it tomorrow, but after 18 months with no travel it was quite a relief to have a real holiday, however short.
The administrative overhead was more manageable than many of the comments everywhere suggested. I used my normal year-round travel insurance without issues.

I actually travelled to Thailand for a short holiday in september, using the Phuket Sandbox system. I wouldn't repeat it tomorrow, but after 18 months with no travel it was quite a relief to have a real holiday, however short.
The administrative overhead was more manageable than many of the comments everywhere suggested. I used my normal year-round travel insurance without issues.

6 weeks for me I can't wait.  Will definitely visit. How are Sky Bar and Double shot doing?

Yet another incompatible system.

The whole repression of drug use and trade causes far worse consequences than the drugs themselves.
 
First for the drug users themselves, who not only have to cope with their addiction, excessive prices and a supply of very uncertain quality, but also with all the legal consequences and further fallout.
 
Then there's the whole corrupting influence of drug money on society (Mexico, Colombia,...).
 
I feel the world needs to evolve to a different way of dealing with drugs. Full-on legalization without restrictions is probably a bad idea, but an arrangement where addicts (or just curious people) have a legal way of procuring drugs for personal use, in a safer environment, with counseling and a proper follow-up (unlike legal medicine nowadays: I'm thinking about Michael Jackson and Prince for example).
 
Laws where the victim and the author are the same person seem like a bad idea to me (drug use, or prosecuting minors for taking sexy selfies come to mind).

The whole repression of drug use and trade causes far worse consequences than the drugs themselves.
 
First for the drug users themselves, who not only have to cope with their addiction, excessive prices and a supply of very uncertain quality, but also with all the legal consequences and further fallout.
 
Then there's the whole corrupting influence of drug money on society (Mexico, Colombia,...).
 
I feel the world needs to evolve to a different way of dealing with drugs. Full-on legalization without restrictions is probably a bad idea, but an arrangement where addicts (or just curious people) have a legal way of procuring drugs for personal use, in a safer environment, with counseling and a proper follow-up (unlike legal medicine nowadays: I'm thinking about Michael Jackson and Prince for example).
 
Laws where the victim and the author are the same person seem like a bad idea to me (drug use, or prosecuting minors for taking sexy selfies come to mind).

It's the same T-shirt as the masseurs, but the manager is wearing a vest over it, (SA) DOM (EN).

It's the same T-shirt as the masseurs, but the manager is wearing a vest over it, (SA) DOM (EN).

If you're staying in a small hotel, make sure you have the precise name and coordinates available (e.g. phone number, adress,...).
 
Last time I traveled with them, Bell Travel had no idea which hotel a group of Indians were looking for - In the end they had to take them to walking street to find their own way.
 
If you're staying in Jomtien, be aware you'll be probably be the last passenger on the van that takes you to your hotel

Good that you mentioned it. I passed a few times through the airport last november and noticed the same thing - the exchange rates near the railway station were comparable to the rates in the city rather than to the usual (poor) airport rates.
(I was taking the airport bus and the airport rail link to go from Pattaya to Bangkok - saves the long ride to North Pattaya - we were staying in Jomtien).

I'll also arrive in Pattaya late next week (for one week), so if there's a party for forum-members, please keep us informed.
 
I'm posting very rarely, but a regular reade.
 
I'm easy to recognize as well ; very fat, handsome , no lack of hair yet, but it's slowly turning white, normally I sport a beard, but BF claims it scares the children so I have shave when in LOS

Samut Prakaan Crocodile Farm and Zoo ; Aquarium in Siam Paragon (als : a boat ride on the shark tank) ;
 
Taking the public boats on the klongs and on the Chao Praya river.

I believe this must be a brand new hotel. The page to which you link states "Opening in December 2014" ; the map on this page situates it almost opposite Signature hotel. When I look at this area on Google Street View, it looks like the startup of a construction site.
 

I've rented a car 3 times already, every time for a week, visiting BF's family and friends in Isaan.
 
I recognize the remark about mixing up blinkers and windshield wipers. After I return home I occasionally have the same problem again. Fortunately the pedals are in the same places.
 
It helps I've got quite a bit of experience driving on the left ; having a local car also gives the right clues to keep to the correct side of the road  - I'd hate having to drive a left hand drive car on the left side of the road ;
 
I think it's very useful having a local along for directions and to help interpreting traffic situations. I hope my BF gets his driving license soon though.
 
I found the roads generally in good condition and not too busy. That said, the to my BF's home must be the worst road I've ever seen - the locals joke the road has ten-thousand holes. Some sections of the road between Pattaya and Nakhon Ratchasima are extremely winding.
 
I find Thai car drivers hardly worse than elsewhere - at least inland (I guess traffic is crazy in European cities also - maybe that explains it). The motorbike drivers are slightly suicidal (for one they rarely use the special lane on the side of main roads). I like driving in the beginning of the night, the roads are more quiet ; the disadvantage is there's a lot of buses on the road then, they tend to be some of the most annoying drivers. Last time I drove was in January, during caning season, there were a lot of extremely slow, top heavy trucks loaded with sugarcane on the roads.
 
Fortunately all important road signs are Thai-English.
 
I've never driven in Bangkok itself (I rented a car from the airport once - the traffic jams when I wanted to return the car were impressive), In Pattaya I hated driving along Beach road etc.
 
I never had more than a cursory stop from the police.
 
I've also been doing a bit of bicycle touring in Thailand. I generally found it fairly enjoyable. Dual carriageway main roads are very disagreeable unless there's a decent shoulder, I avoided main roads where I could. People were at times somewhat surprised seeing a fat farang touring on a loaded bicycle, they were very helpful and friendly though.
 
I found no complete, detailed road maps for Thailand, I regularly ended up basing myself on the satellite imagery on Google Maps.  Even so, finding the correct turnoff points in villages was a bit of a problem though - I didn't have smartphone or GPS back then.
 

I've rented a car 3 times already, every time for a week, visiting BF's family and friends in Isaan.
 
I recognize the remark about mixing up blinkers and windshield wipers. After I return home I occasionally have the same problem again. Fortunately the pedals are in the same places.
 
It helps I've got quite a bit of experience driving on the left ; having a local car also gives the right clues to keep to the correct side of the road  - I'd hate having to drive a left hand drive car on the left side of the road ;
 
I think it's very useful having a local along for directions and to help interpreting traffic situations. I hope my BF gets his driving license soon though.
 
I found the roads generally in good condition and not too busy. That said, the to my BF's home must be the worst road I've ever seen - the locals joke the road has ten-thousand holes. Some sections of the road between Pattaya and Nakhon Ratchasima are extremely winding.
 
I find Thai car drivers hardly worse than elsewhere - at least inland (I guess traffic is crazy in European cities also - maybe that explains it). The motorbike drivers are slightly suicidal (for one they rarely use the special lane on the side of main roads). I like driving in the beginning of the night, the roads are more quiet ; the disadvantage is there's a lot of buses on the road then, they tend to be some of the most annoying drivers. Last time I drove was in January, during caning season, there were a lot of extremely slow, top heavy trucks loaded with sugarcane on the roads.
 
Fortunately all important road signs are Thai-English.
 
I've never driven in Bangkok itself (I rented a car from the airport once - the traffic jams when I wanted to return the car were impressive), In Pattaya I hated driving along Beach road etc.
 
I never had more than a cursory stop from the police.
 
I've also been doing a bit of bicycle touring in Thailand. I generally found it fairly enjoyable. Dual carriageway main roads are very disagreeable unless there's a decent shoulder, I avoided main roads where I could. People were at times somewhat surprised seeing a fat farang touring on a loaded bicycle, they were very helpful and friendly though.
 
I found no complete, detailed road maps for Thailand, I regularly ended up basing myself on the satellite imagery on Google Maps.  Even so, finding the correct turnoff points in villages was a bit of a problem though - I didn't have smartphone or GPS back then.
 

I have a boyfriend now, before that I used to just go with the flow (I rarely discussed money, the exact deeds, nor short time or long time except as a practical matter). Most of the time it turned out quite well (not necessarily what I had in mind upfront, but quite satisfying nonetheless). If we got along well, and I felt like it, I sometimes invited my guest for staying overnight, often after I gave his tip. Quite often they ended up staying.

I have a boyfriend now, before that I used to just go with the flow (I rarely discussed money, the exact deeds, nor short time or long time except as a practical matter). Most of the time it turned out quite well (not necessarily what I had in mind upfront, but quite satisfying nonetheless). If we got along well, and I felt like it, I sometimes invited my guest for staying overnight, often after I gave his tip. Quite often they ended up staying.