Pattaya storm water solution involves digging up part of Beach road and laying a 2 meter pipe underground to stop the storm water flooding the road & footpath.
Huge drain pipe
Lets hope this strategy works, the current system has never been able to handle the huge volume of water from storms in the wet season. It is not just the water that falls on Beach Rd, most of the Soi’s in North Pattaya run down hill from 2nd Road bringing a huge volume of water that runs over the footpath and destroys huge sections of the beach.
Here’s what happens to the beach
This has been the case for many years. For more storm damage just follow THIS LINK.
Here is a video of the flooding
Beach Rd Pattaya flooded, more water than Songkran.
That’s a lot of water right there.
They are sparing no expense on equipment
It’s a very noisy disruptive project, let’s hope it works.
No problem on the footpath
All the disruption is on the actual road, traffic of course move very slowing with on one or two lanes to use.
Near Soi one
I must give them credit, they are making good progress.
Pattaya storm water solution
Trucks and excavators all along Beach Road.
This footpath is going to need some work. 🙂
It’s now March 2023 & I think we are in for another 6 months of pain before this project is completed. Having said that I really believe the workers are doing a great job & as fast as possible.
Opposite Markland Soi 1 March 15
Progress is being made.
Pristine equipment
This fabulous gizmo is probably only 30 years old. 🙂
Finally the steamroller arrives
This one will leave you rather flat. Steam, what steam? I don’t see any steam. 🙂
May 21 2020
I’m guessing it will take another 6 months to level up & re-fit all the pavers.
Thanks for visiting my Pattaya storm water solution photo blog.
Coronavirus impacts Pattaya which has resulted in a 44% drop in tourists in February 2020. Many Thai people find themselves without work so they have left Pattaya to return to their villages in the country. As you can see the beach is deserted at 8am on March 3rd 2020, only a few short months ago it was teeming with Chinese tourists.
This is how it was…
Seven days a week thousands of Chinese tourists would storm the beach to clamber aboard the boats to para-sail & visit Koh Larn island.
Typical over powered tourist boat
Only about 25% of the boats remain on Pattaya Beach, the rest are in moth balls. 🙂
Patrick is feeling lonely
Well known restaurateur Patrick Van Den Berghe finds himself alone on the beach, time for him to go back to his steakhouse & order some French oysters & lamb shanks. 🙂
Pattaya Beach never looked so good
Of course my opinion is purely a selfish one, however there really is nothing to like about thousands of Chinese tourists inhabiting the beach. 🙂
“There is high chance that the country will be in a technical recession — contraction of the economy for two consecutive quarters,” said Anusorn Tamajai, director of Economic and Business Research Centre at Rangsit University.
The masked man cometh
I actually tried a mask, I hated it & lasted 1 hour, in fact it was because of pollution not the virus.
Pattaya pollution
This was January 10 2020.
This was a typical Pattaya morning
Hundreds of buses would clog up beach road from 8 am seven days a week.
Waiting to pick up the tourists around mid day.
It’s fantastic now without these monsters taking over Beach Road.
Nothing like a peaceful Pattaya morning
Well folks enjoy it while you can because at some stage in the future the dreaded Chinese tourists will return. 🙂
A beautiful Pattaya morning
March 8 2020 & a perfect day. See for yourself on my webcam, just follow THIS LINK.
Coronavirus impacts Pattaya
This man & his dog are loving the peaceful atmosphere.
Desperate times in Pattaya
People queue in jomtien for a free meal outside Yupins. Twice a day. The queue goes past The Venue, past The Spring Onion, down the road, round the corner and today reached Dicks Cafe. 75% of working age people have lost their jobs in Pattaya. No savings, & no chance of getting any money over the next few months. Can’t pay their rent & 3000 are homeless. They can’t sleep on the beach without getting arrested. Can’t sleep in the parks (closed) and can’t sleep on the street (strict curfew after 10pm). Desperate, desperate times here for these poor people.
Fat Coco Pattaya is certainly a noise machine, a couple of days after they opened, on December 28, the music was excellent, one of the many bands actually had saxophones etc. The following night the quality diminished greatly, quite monotonous including a shrieking female presenter with a microphone.
Life is good…..
Unless of course you are a neighbour (which I am) or a hotel guest trying to sleep. 🙂
Could this be the stairway to heaven?
Probably not, but here is the song anyhow by Led Zeppelin, by the way it goes for 8 minutes. 🙂
I like these colours
The opposite side is not as attractive, then again, at night with the music blaring who would really care?
If you want to just lounge around & listen to the music….
This is the place for you. 🙂
Jimmy Buffet knows exactly what to do.
The stage
Here is where the noise is manufactured. 🙂
There’s an attractive rubber duck.
It’s so important to have the right toys in a pool.
Another bar on the north side
Not sure what the drink prices are, but they were charging a whopping B500 or $24 AUD to enter. I wonder how many Thai ladies will fork out 500. I also wonder if they are actually being charged that ridiculous amount. They can come to my room in Markland & listen for free. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Here is my view
Trust me ladies the music is still very loud up here. This photo shows the pool area before it was transformed.
Fat Coco Pattaya
Even though they have been operating there is still some fine tuning to be done.
Cactus anyone?
Just don’t get too close if you have had too many tequilas. 🙂
“Tequila” is a 1958 Latin-flavored rock and roll instrumental recorded by the Champs. It is based on a Cuban mambo beat. The word “Tequila” is spoken three times throughout the tune.
La vida es buena
Of course you all know this means “life is good” in Spanish.
Finally the food…
Looks like wood fired pizzas to me.
Here is how it looked on Feb 16 2020.
On the 15th they had an event which was widely advertised, for some crazy reason the entry fee was B800, or $40 AUD. In my opinion very few Thai people or foreigners would pay that inflated price. It turns out there were only around 20 people, & half of those would have been staff.
Two days later
The wreaking crew moves in.
The cost so far must be very high
They don’t seem to understand people are not stupid, they want value for money on a night out.
Here is the next project
Let’s hope it has more success than Fat Coco, aka the noise machine. 🙂
Swimming pool is re-born
After the failure to attract a crowd they have done an about turn & bought back the swimming pool. The main reason for the failure was the entry fee of B800, or $40 AUD, nobody is prepared to pay such a ridiculous price.
Thanks for visiting my Fat Coco Pattaya photo blog. If you would like to stay in the A-One hotel, for a very good room discount just use THIS LINK.
Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet at the East Coast kitchen in the executive tower on the 6th floor. Available from Thursday night until Sunday night. Priced at B1100, very reasonable for what they offer.
Lots of seafood choices
Apart from seafood there are are a variety of Thai dishes, salads & deserts to choose from.
Oysters from Korea
I always enjoy a buffet that offers fresh oysters.
Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet
Korean oysters don’t particularly impress me, I prefer French or Australian, check out THIS LINK for lots of variety.
Barbecue prawns were delicious
Oysters to start followed by these prawns.
Delicious crab
Very fiddly to eat of course, you just need to persevere. 🙂
The busy chefs
They do a great job on the barbecue making sure everybody has plenty to eat.
There is also an indoor kitchen
When you count all the waiters & waitresses there is a huge number of polite staff looking after you.
Thai food is also available
A very good variety of food to please all pallets.
Desert to finish off an excellent dinner.
There is also lots of ice cream flavors on offer.
A choice of 2 place in the hotel for a pre dinner cocktail.
Before dinner we went to the sky bar for happy hour, two for one drinks between 5 & 7 pm are terrific value.
Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet
This is also a wonderful venue for cocktails at sunset. I’m so lucky to live only 200 meters from this fabulous hotel, I guess you could say it’s my local drinking hole. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet photo blog.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Fresh seafood Naklua market, it’s been 4 years since I published my blog on this lively venue, so I thought it was time to re-visit & see what changes have taken place.
The variety is amazing.
So is the crowd, better to visit mid week if you can.
Price is per kilo
I’m guessing you would get around 3 for a kilo.
Many varieties of fish
Including live fish that they will clean for you on the spot.
Fresh seafood Naklua market
Lots of fresh vegetables also on sale.
Scallops look very good.
There are so many choices, how do you make a decision on what to have for lunch? 🙂
First I’m going to try an oyster.
These are B50 each or $1.60 USD, there are also some for B40, or $1.30 USD. I can buy imported oysters from Franceat El Mercado in Bangkok for the same price.
Quite large as you can see
I was pleasantly surprised, very tasty even without lemon, lime or sauce.
OK, now for some fresh prawns
B270 or $9 USD a kilo, what a bargain.
Now here is the clincher…
This guy will cook your prawns or other seafood for B30 a kilo, how easy is that?
He will even supply a chair. 🙂
So you can eat the freshly cooked seafood right here. We had our prawns boiled rather than barbecued, so we decided to eat them at home after they cooled down.
Iconsiam shopping mall Bangkok on the Chao Phraya River is yet another wonderful Bangkok shopping venue. I certainly believe Bangkok now rivals Tokyo with the best shopping malls in the world.
The forecourt
This is where you arrive on the free ferry shuttle from Sathon wharf. The River Park is a riverside community space covering a 10,000-sq. m. area in front of ICONLUXE. Open daily, it welcomes all visitors to enjoy an enchanting view of the Chao Phraya River amid lush, green auspicious trees.
Entrance to the mall.
Stairway to heaven. 🙂
You will need several hours to explore this wonderful shopping precinct. In fact there are over a hundred famous restaurants from all over the world available in seven spacious zones, each of them catering to diverse culinary tastes. Check out THIS LINK for details.
One section of the ground floor as you enter.
For a list of the hundreds of shops just follow THIS LINK.
Estimates are that there are about 3,500 domesticated elephants in Thailand. Roughly 3,340 wild elephants live in 69 wildlife sanctuaries and national parks across the country. Thailand’s population of wild elephants has been rising.
However, it’s a far cry from a century ago when at least 100,00 elephants roamed the heavily forested Kingdom. Loss of habitat and poaching helped lead to the steep decline in the elephant population.
While on the subject of animals
This bull is a real cool dude. 🙂
That’s all folks
Thanks for visiting my Iconsiam shopping mall Bangkok photo blog, please go to THIS LINK to see some incredible buildings along the Chao Phraya river.
But wait, there’s more.
A new huge branch to open in February 2021. In addition to the main Starbucks signature coffee bar, the Starbucks Reserve store will be the first to serve Starbucks’ Mew Jai ‘Blend coffee grown in the northern part of our country, along with the’ Tee Vana ( Teavana ™ Bar) ‘first in Thailand. For customers who like drinking tea. Both Earl Gray Lychee and Peach Mojito Tea There are also cocktail bars that are not yet available
Food Park Central Marina is a great example of eating cheap in Thailand. Only 5 minutes walk from my condo & offers a huge variety of very good fresh food.
There are so many choices here
Like most food courts you put money on a card & get your refund when you finish.
Duck is always popular
The hanging ducks are a common sight in Thailand.
Fresh seafood is available
So many choices & such little time. 🙂
Food Park Central Marina
Cooked food examples on display to tempt you.
Wonton soup
A favourite of mine & only B70 or $3.40 AUD.
Lots of skewers
The staff here are deaf, but you would never really know.
Bbq skewers
They also specialize in sausages however the skewers are world class.
Teriyaki chicken
Absolutely delicious, as good as I have ever eaten, and only B15 each or $0.70 AUD. These great skewers just melt in your mouth.
Food Park Central Marina & finish off with a Thai classic
Magnificent Mango & Sticky Rice. Certainly one of Thailand’s iconic dishes.
Sadly now in October 2020 we are in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis & 80% of the outlets here at the Food Park have closed. I really can’t see them re-opening until mid 2021.
If you have the time please check out some of my favourite restaurants, just follow THIS LINK.
Thanks for visiting my photo blog. For a selection of cheap places to eat just follow THIS LINK.
Margarita Island Venezuela & Caracas in 2001, digital cameras were very ordinary in those days so my apologies for the poor quality of the photos. 2001 was another frantic year for travel, two trips to Thailand & around the world via Spain, Venezuela & Los Angeles.
Caracas
I wasn’t too impressed with Caracas, after a couple of days there I headed for Margarita Island. Above is the view from my hotel of the city & the surrounding mountains.
One of the best steaks I have ever eaten.
It was Argentinian beef & I went back another night for a repeat. I was travelling with Les Scheffer back when we were good friends, it’s now 2020 & I have been on his blacklist for the last 5 or 6 years. 🙂
I’m sorry to sat Les passed away in March 2020, RIP.
I had arranged to meet a couple of ladies
Through an internet dating site, they were very nice & a lot of fun.
Margarita Island
Margarita Island is part of Venezuela, & lies in the Caribbean Sea 40 kilometers north of the mainland. It’s a very popular holiday destination.
View from our hotel
Porlamar is the favored haunt of holidaying Venezuelans and is full of glitzy shops, huge hotels and beach bars.
We hired a car to check out the island
Most people live, or stay, on the eastern peninsula, home to the cities of Pampatar, Porlamar and La Asuncion.
Tough times Thailand 2019 on two fronts, first we have Thai immigration making it more difficult for expats to live in this wonderful country, secondly the exchange rate for Thai Baht to the Aussie dollar (and other currencies) is hitting rock bottom.
The following 2 charts will highlight the situation.
This is not a travel blog, it is part of my personal photo history.
This photo blog covers from July 1st to December 31, for the first 6 months of 2019 please go to THIS LINK.
Australian $ to Thai Baht
In 2012 there was 33 Baht to the dollar, today it’s 21.
Australian term deposit rates
In 2012 they were over 5%, today it’s a miserable 1.5%.
Rising costs for food etc
Five years ago in 2014 this selection cost $72 AUD, today it would be $98 Aud, one of the reasons Thailand has become less attractive for expats.
Life is still very good in Thailand
Just ask my good friend Hamish, he hasn’t a care in the world. 🙂
Most afternoons I tear myself away from the computer & enjoy an afternoon coffee.
A small tip for a little lady
I often give this nice lady a B20 tip when I see her of a morning sweeping the road at Terminal 21, it’s just under $1 AUD. She gets so excited you would think it’s 200. 🙂 I’m guessing they don’t get paid too much.
Love watching the storms roll in
So exciting when the storms roll in over Pattaya Bay.
There’s nothing like a September sunset.
I was sipping a red wine at the Holiday Inn watching this magnificent sunset.
Doug Burrows, Bill Perry, David Herd, Brian Rawnsley & Shane Andrews. Shane is here for some major dental work which is around 1/3 of the cost in Australia.
Fusillo Italian restaurant
A nice evening with Matt Harkness & is girlfriend Bow.
Spaghetti seafood
Fusillo is in Naklua Rd, what a great looking dish.
From floor 22 in Markland. For more magnificent sunsets follow THIS LINK.
A super cloud
This was 8 am on the morning of October 13, the previous shot was 6.15 pm the same day.
Halloween
Lola, Nina & Lucky playing trick or treat. I anticipated the visit & stocked up on lollies etc.
The boys from Oz
Shane Andrews, Bill Perry & Greg Caldwell were here for some major dental work. According to Greg he paid 55,000 Baht or $2650 AUD for 1 x Implant – 1 x Root canal – 2 x removals and a complete clean which took 2 hours’ in the chair.
Holly’s coffee at Terminal 21.
helping me maintain my 112 kilos.
Tough times Thailand with high levels of pollution in Pattaya
The unhealthy haze from farmers burning their crops in Thailand & neighboring countries.
Thailand is the least miserable country
Australia comes in at 54th. 🙂
Let’s talk about convenience, I often wonder what it would be like living in Australia again. I ask my friends on the Gold Coast to imagine if they could walk from their home to Robina Town Centre, Southport Park & Pacific Fair in less than 12 minutes? How convenient would that be?
Well folks, that’s what I can do in Pattaya, add to that the 6 five star hotels also within 12 minutes of where I live. All with terrific restaurants & coffee shops.
Plus I have a 24 hour supermarket, chemist & The Coffee Club on the ground floor of the condo where I live on the 20th floor with a view to die for. I probably should mention the 200+ restaurants & food courts also within 10 minutes walk.
Convenience folks, are you getting the picture? 🙂
The burning question is, could I be happy living in Australia again?
Cruise ship visits Pattaya
December 7 & a cruise liner anchors in Pattaya Bay.
Beachfront restaurant Pattaya is aptly named Surf & Turf & is rated number 100 out of 1187 restaurants in Pattaya. For far better food photographs than in this post just check out THIS LINK for my previous Surf & Turf photo blog.
Location
On the beach next door to the Long Beach Garden Hotel.
Beachfront restaurant Pattaya
A fairly ordinary front entrance.
Air conditioned inside section
It’s much nicer inside which you can clearly see.
Catering for the smokers
The further away from me the better. 🙂
Inside in the aircon.
Especially during the day the front area beside the beach is the most popular part of the restaurant.
Another outdoor area
There is quite a number of different sections in this popular Beachfront restaurant Pattaya.
This is the beachside section
No aircon but they have plenty of fans & there is usually a beautiful breeze coming off the ocean.
An unusual dish
My friend ordered snapper, as you can see the portion was rather small & there was a skewer of beef with it.
Here is the seared tuna
Rather delicious.
Chicken Satay
The peanut sauce was excellent.
Oysters from France
Delicious, rather expensive here, around B500 or $24 AUD for 6, double what I pay at El Mercado in Bangkok.
My 2 Australian friends
Ian Fraser-Smith & David Robertson from the Gold Coast in Australia are regular visitors to Pattaya. They were both impressed with the food at the Surf & Turf.
For far better food photographs than in this post please check out THIS LINK for my previous Surf & Turf photo blog.
Thanks for visiting my Beachfront restaurant Pattaya photo blog, Surf & Turf has good food in a great seaside location.
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Pattaya storm water solution involves digging up part of Beach road and laying a 2 meter pipe underground to stop the storm water flooding the road & footpath.
Lets hope this strategy works, the current system has never been able to handle the huge volume of water from storms in the wet season. It is not just the water that falls on Beach Rd, most of the Soi’s in North Pattaya run down hill from 2nd Road bringing a huge volume of water that runs over the footpath and destroys huge sections of the beach.
This has been the case for many years. For more storm damage just follow THIS LINK.
It’s a very noisy disruptive project, let’s hope it works.
All the disruption is on the actual road, traffic of course move very slowing with on one or two lanes to use.
I must give them credit, they are making good progress.
Trucks and excavators all along Beach Road.
It’s now March 2023 & I think we are in for another 6 months of pain before this project is completed. Having said that I really believe the workers are doing a great job & as fast as possible.
Progress is being made.
This fabulous gizmo is probably only 30 years old. 🙂
This one will leave you rather flat. Steam, what steam? I don’t see any steam. 🙂
