Tropical storm floods Pattaya, when it rains it really pours down. I love to see the storm clouds roaring across Pattaya bay from my condo. You can can also watch from anywhere in the world on my webcam.
Here it comes
John Fogerty has a question….
I really love watching the black clouds roll in over the bay.
Is this a road or a river?
Looks more like a river to me. 🙂
Oh oh! This does not look good.
The roads flood so quickly as the drains just can’t handle the incredible volume of water. Often these storms only last for 30 or 40 minutes however that’s enough time to cause havoc.
LadyBoy in distress.
This LadyBoy looks a little concerned.
Houston, we have a problem
Hmmm what do I do now?
Helping hands
You see a lot of this during the storms.
Pattaya weather
South Rd near Tukcom.
My friend and I were relaxing in Starbucks watching the action.
No problem for the Baht bus.
The Song Tao or Baht bus ploughs straight through.
They won’t all make it
Believe me, not all these vehicles will get through.
Help is on the way
Tractor to the rescue.
The result
The beach gets smashed time and time again throughout the year this is the result.
Gutters can’t handle the volume
I don’t think there is any drainage system that can handle the sheer volume of storm water.
Repairs are needed
Sadly this in an all too familiar sight on Pattaya beach.
Soggy footpath
The aftermath of the storm.
Crazy idea
Here are 3 pumps to take the water from the flooded road onto the beach, don’t ask me to describe the logic behind this crazy idea. It simply washes away the sand as you can see in the above photos. One thing I do know however, logic and common sense are thin on the ground in Thailand.
The cavalry arrives
Repairing the beach.
A perfect Pattaya day
After all the rain and floods and beach erosion you can always be sure a perfect day is just around the corner.
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.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
The long-tail boat is designed to carry passengers on a river & may include a lightweight long canoe hull, up to 30 meters long, and a canopy. There is a great variation among these boats, some have evolved from traditional craft types, while others have a more improvised look, the sole defining characteristic is a second-hand car or truck engine.
Crowded and chaotic
This is really a great day out, put it on your bucket list.
Food, food and more food
Bangkok floating market is certainly about Food, food and more food, everywhere someone is either eating or selling food.
Actually it’s not just food
Plenty of stock to sell here.
Clothes & hats a well
This is probably my 3rd visit to the Bangkok Floating Market and I’m sure there will be a 4th.
Long-tail boat
Check out the size of the engine that pushes this little boat along the river and canals.
Bag of bananas 10 Baht
In the supermarket they are 8 Baht each. 🙂
Genuine “copy” Lous Vuitton bags
In Thailand they will sell anything anywhere. 🙂
Bangkok floating market, Rambutans, yum!
This is my 3rd visit to the floating market and is always enjoyable.
Bangkok floating market
The Bangkok floating market is certainly a “must see” when you visit Bangkok. Other interesting tours are of course the Grand Palace and Wat Arun.
Here is our transport
Check out the waterfront homes Thai style.
Bangkok floating market
Lots of waterfront shops and homes.
Thanks for joining me at the famous Bangkok floating market photo blog
A couple of years after this visit I moved to Thailand to live permanently in Pattaya for about 10 years, one of the best decisions of my life.
If you visit Thailand please go and see Famous Bangkok floating market.
When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINK you will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Party Bar Pattaya had a re-opening Monday January 26 2015, a new partner bought into this little business so it was time to sing, dance and celebrate. So that’s what my friend Hamish & I did, minus the singing & dancing, we concentrated on drinking & checking out the pretty ladies.
Just a little corner bar
Located behind the Avenue shopping centre on 2nd road. Nothing too flash just a little corner bar where you can have a beer and watch the passing parade. In many ways people watching is why I also like the Cherry Bar on the corner of Soi 3 and 2nd road North Pattaya.
Party Bar Pattaya Lovely Noi
Noi has just become part owner of the Party bar, drop in sometime and say hello.
Surrounded by gorgeous creatures
What time can I start having fun?
Pretty ladies
Great smiles certainly brighten up the night.
Lovely cowgirl Kung
On this night all the girls wore cowgirl outfits and looked terrific, sadly now however they have reverted to normal clothes. It’s a shame really because any little back street beer bar needs to make sure customers remember them, so a point of difference that separates you from the thousands of similar places in Pattaya can only have a positive effect on the business. Walking street, LK Metro & Soi 6 have the passing traffic but most of the little back street bars don’t, so my message is loud & clear, dress the girls in the western outfits, they look terrific. 🙂
Not all Thai ladies are available in Pattaya for foreigners like myself merely because you have a few thousand Baht to burn on a night out. I was quite impressed by this gorgeous lady so I gave her my card and later in the week tried to arrange to meet her for a drink. To her credit she had too much style to be seen with a fat old Farang like me, so she made an excuse that she was sick. Good luck to you Yuie, stick with the younger cooler dudes. 🙂
Yuie likes to drink and dance.
More Sexy Thai girls dancing in Pattaya Party Bar
Never too young to party at the party bar.
This little guy was happy to be in the action.
Never too old either
Good luck to Party Bar Pattaya, I hope they have success, fun and make a lot of money.
Sabai Wing Soi 1, 3 swimming pools and nice rooms, 100 meters from BigC, great value at only $23 usd per night as of August 15. I live in the high-rise in the background, Markland. For a great room rate book here.
Best Pattaya travel guide gives you quick access to a number of my most popular travel blogs to help you enjoy the wonderful seaside city of Pattaya in Thailand.
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.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Bangkok canal cruise in a long-tail boat, which is known as Ruea Hang Yao, a type of watercraft native to Southeast Asia, which uses a common automotive engine as a readily available and maintainable power-plant.
As you can see many of the waterfront homes resemble shanty towns, unlike other parts of the world including the Gold Coast in Australiaand Fort Lauderdale north of Miami,where any home on the waterfront is usually an expensive mansion.
No luxury here
In real estate terms this is what we call the poverty pack.
The daily catch
Lunch is ready. 🙂
Bangkok canal cruise in a longtail boat
The craft is designed to carry passengers on a river & may include a lightweight long canoe hull, up to 30 meters long, and a canopy. There is a great variation among these boats, some have evolved from traditional craft types, while others have a more improvised look, the sole defining characteristic is a second-hand car or truck engine.
What a huge engine
And bloody noisy as you can imagine.
Waiting in the lock for the water to rise.
Until recently, the canals of Bangkok accommodated many social, cultural, and commercial activities, functioning as important public places for residents of Thailand’s capital city. Dating from the founding of the city in 1782, the canals in Bangkok are of cultural importance to the Thai people, having originated as a means of providing security against attack, as a source of sustenance (food and water), as the focus of religious ceremonies and celebrations such as the Loy Kratong Festival, and as a site for recreational activities such as swimming and boating activities and competitions.
Luxury waterfront home, I don’t think so.
Faced with the combined threats of land subsidence and rising temperatures and sea levels, the World Bank has predicted that Bangkok’s flood risk will increase four-fold from now by 2050. Bangkok is among the top 10 cities in the world facing the biggest potential impact from coastal flooding by 2070. The Thai capital, built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging Bangkok could be merely a foretaste of a grim future as climate change makes its impact felt, experts say.
She does not instill confidence
The river and canals are very busy with water craft buzzing past at a rapid rate, on this day out driver was not at all concerned, but I can assure you we were. 🙂 Not everything goes to plan when you take a Bangkok canal cruise, here is a story from a Thai lady who works for the Bangkok Post. So my advice is if an operator seems angry of unfriendly simply try another one until you are comfortable with your choice.
Many thanks for joining me on my Bangkok canal cruise photo blog.
Not everybody is happy on the river
A Vietnamese cargo ship ploughed into riverside houses along the Chao Phraya River in Phra Pradaeng district yesterday April 5t 2017, damaging three homes.
Residents fled to the streets in panic as the cargo ship loomed over them. Three houses were damaged, one badly, but nobody was injured.
iCheck Inn Soi 11
When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINKyou will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.
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.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Hilton Pattaya five star hotel dominates the skyline in central Pattaya. Perched above Central festival shopping mall the location is perfect.
Even better at sunset
Certainly one of the best locations in Thailand to watch the magnificent sunsets while enjoying a cocktail.
Captured the flash
What a fluke, I managed to take this photos just as the flash activated. 🙂
Hilton Pattaya Spectacular decor
The modern architecture is absolutely stunning.
Lounge near reception
Hilton Pattaya five star hotel is as modern as any hotel I have ever been in.
Cocktail bar and lounge
The Hilton Pattaya is in a perfect location opposite the beach and above Pattaya’s best shopping malls. Central Festival has a huge amount of restaurants and shops so you never really have to leave the building.
If you are in Pattaya and want to go to Hua Hin there is now a daily minivan service, they have offices in Pattaya, Hua Hin and Cha Am, for Hua Hin the mini van leaves at 8:00, 10:00, 12:00 and takes 4 hours to get to Hua Hin, priced at only 400baht.
The Pattaya office is on South Pattaya Road, if your heading towards Sukhumvit road go over 3rd Road and past Soi Ko Pai/ Soi Bongkot and it’s on the left hand side at soi 10, which is around 300 meters or more from Sukhumvit Road.
Pattaya Office 088 709 2365
Hua Hin Office 088 709 2364
Cha Am Office 089 254 1399
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.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
I flew to Adelaide in October then drove to Philip Island along the Great Ocean Road before staying with friends at the winery in Dromana. A couple of days wandering around Melbourne I flew to the Gold Coast for a week to catch up with friends.
This is not part of my travel blog, just lots of photos from 2014 featuring friends, family & trips.
I have to tell you, life is very good in Thailand.
Drinks with Barrie Comfort
A nice Pommie guy who also lives in Markland. I have given him the nickname “Butterfly Dundee”, because he is always photographing butterflies. 🙂
Kayo flew over from Tokyo for a visit.
I have known kayo for around 10 years, we met in Australia when she and I were living on the Gold Coast. I caught up with her in Tokyo in February and she flew to Thailand for a few days in August.
Welcome Inn Soi 3 North Pattaya
One of my favourite places to eat in Pattaya, close to where I live and the food is terrific and very cheap. Sadly it was demolished June 2015.
Greg’s Kitchen
My brother Warren and Lenny Schorsy at Gregs Kitchen. Sadly we lost Lenny in April 2016 to a brief illness, RIP.
Mike Beard the cartoon man.
Mike has lived in Pattaya for 20 years and produces some of my favourite cartoons.
Roland is a very happy Sydney barrister who often visits Thailand for business reasons.
Ooa a gorgeous girl at Drinking St
Sadly this gorgeous babe went back home to the country about a month later.
David Herd Thailand 2014 at Drinking St
A week or two after this photo was taken sadly this beautiful young girl decided to leave Pattaya and go back to her home in the country.
I just ordered a double Jack Daniels.
I leave a bottle or two at the Cherry bar then pour my own at my leisure. The charge s only $10 and the girls provide me with ice & soda. Life is good for David Herd Thailand. 🙂
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.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Holiday Inn Pattaya Beach Road, opposite the Beach in North Pattaya. Consisting of two huge towers, several swimming pools and all the usual five star facilities. The tower on the left opened in October 2009 and the one on the right in August 2014.
Click on the photo below for a terrific room rate, you can book now & pay later, plus enjoy free cancellation if you change your mind. Pattaya is a great seaside city, come & enjoy the fun. 🙂
Great location
Away from the crowds and madness of south Pattaya the location is more peaceful and quiet yet only a 10 Baht bus ride to get to the action.
Looking north to Wongamat
Just north of Pattaya is Wongamat where there are some nice bars and restaurants.
November 2007 Holiday Inn Pattaya
There are 367 rooms in this tower.
Here is what you will see from your hotel window every morning.
Great vision of Parasailing in Pattaya, Thailand
Holiday Inn beach Road
There is another on the terrace as you enter from the street. A 4th pool is in the executive tower in the new building.
Flow Coffee shop
This is one of my favourite places in Pattaya for coffee and cake. At 7pm they offer sandwiches, cakes & pies at 1/2 price.
Delicious cakes & good coffee
Here is an example of the terrific Holiday Inn cakes.
Sunset at the Holiday Inn
They make the best pizzas in Pattaya here.
Assorted cold cuts
If you don’t want a pizza there are lots of alternatives.
Thanks for visiting my Holiday Inn Beach Road photo blog, as you can see it’s an excellent hotel in a great location.
Click on the photo below for a terrific room rate, you can book now & pay later, plus enjoy free cancellation if you change your mind. Pattaya is a great seaside city, come & enjoy the fun. 🙂
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.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Monterosso seaside village Italy is the first village of the Cinque Terre, or five lands as they say in English, the next one along the coast is Vernazza.The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town.
Monterosso
The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town that in the summer months is overrun by tourists.
Pebbles on the beach
The village was briefly excluded from the Cinque Terre trail in 1948, but was re-introduced in mid-1949. This is because Italian officials considered the village too large to be considered part of the historic trail.
Sunbaking on the rocks
This really does not look comfortable to me. 🙂
A lone musician at Monterosso
The two areas of Monterosso are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians, here a busker sits in the dark and plays.
Fabulous Monterosso at Cinque Terre
During World War II, many young men from the Cinque Terre fought for the resistance against the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and the subsequent Nazi German occupation of Italy.
Out of all the Cinque Terre villages this is the only one with a substantial beach.
Monterosso seaside village Italy
An interesting rock formation.
Cold beer and pasta for lunch.
Lunch in Monterossa is a very pleasant experience.
Great pasta in Monterosso
Seafood pasta for lunch was delicious.
Monterosso Cinque Terre railway station
In 1870, the Italian government built a railroad line into the city, which opened it up to the outside world. It is the main way in which people enter the city.
No sand at Monterosso
Tanned & gorgeous, shame about those rocks.
Thanks for visiting my Monterosso seaside village Italy photo blog, check out the other 4 villages.
Vernazza seaside village Italy is the second village after Monterosso and before Corniglia. We chose to stay here because we could park the car close to the village. First records recognizing Vernazza as a fortified town date back to the year 1080. Referred to as an active maritime base of the Obertenghi, a family of Italian nobility, it was a likely point of departure for naval forces in defense of pirates.
Great food at Vernazza
In the 1800s, after a long period of stagnation, Vernazza returned to wine production, enlarging and creating new terraced hillsides. The result was a revitalization of Vernazza’s commerce. Also at this time, the construction of the Genova–La Spezia rail line began, putting an end to Vernazza’s long isolation. The population of Vernazza increased by 60% as a result. Meanwhile, the construction of La Spezia’s naval base also proved important to Vernazza in providing employment for many members of the community.
Vernazza seaside village Italy
On 25 October 2011, Vernazza was struck by torrential rains, massive flooding, and mudslides that left the town buried in over 4 metres of mud and debris, causing over 100 million euro worth of damage. The town was evacuated and remained in a continued state of emergency
Such a peaceful setting
With the arrival of the 20th century, Vernazza experienced a wave of emigration as working the land was viewed as dangerous and the culprit of disease, and the ability to further exploit agriculture diminished.
Sandstone buildings
In 1997, the Cinque Terre was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and in 1999 the National Park of the Cinque Terre was born. Today the main source of revenue for Vernazza is tourism. However, as a testimony to the strength of centuries-old tradition, fishing, wine and olive oil production still continue to take place.
Narrow Vernazza lanes
Great atmosphere at night wandering through the narrow streets.
Busy Vernazza restaurant
This delightful restaurant was right next to my apartment.
Drinks with Jodie O’Neil and Deborah Holliday
The girls & I travelled to Vernazza Cinque Terre from Breil Sur Roya just north of Monacowhere we have been staying in a friends apartment.
Lots of gossip in Vernazza
There could be some morning gossip happening here.
Vernazza seaside village Italy
The steep hills behind Vernazza seaside village Italy.
