The Pelé Jersey TR - January 2023 PH & TH

[deleted]

7 hours ago, Rom said:

Thanks Sylvester for addressing me (Rom's Pelé jersey) directly.

You are quite welcome. Talking to shirts is not a natural thing for blokes to do, but I am happy to play along. I hope Rom is keeping you well laundered, If @Rom takes you to Pattaya, I can recommend a great place on Soi Buakhao for him to have you cleaned and pressed:

[Rom]

Thanks Sylvester.  And thanks for risking the wrath of some BMs by posting a pic with the S word.  Can't complain laundrywise.  Rom has me hand-washed by hot sissies  I mean transes so I am a happy camper jersey.  And here is a rare 2nd of the day TR update:

So I had mentioned Phoebe Cates was going to arrive today in BKK.  Well she did not.  Not her fault poor trans.  Despite visas to TH not being required of PH nationals they don't allow them to depart unless they have a prior record of returning and proof of income.  Phoebe had neither so she was made to go to a special emigration line/room where they interview them 1-on-1 and check the paperwork.  Phoebe had prepared well with Rom's assistance and all was in order but the line took too long and she and other passangers missed the flight.  In the US the airlines would have allowed to rebook but not in tough luck PH so Phoebe had to buy another one-way ticket for tomorrow.  This was where the stress for Rom comes in because the ticket cost like 105 USD and Phoebe only had 90 and she asked Rom for more money including for overnight expenses.  Rom had left her 300 explicitly for taking with her to the airport but she had given and spent most of it.  So Rom told her to go borrow what she needed from someone else and do whatever she has to do to board tomorrow.  It seems Phoebe managed to buy the ticket but there are other hurdles she has to clear and it remains to be seen if she has the focus to be at the airport with sufficient advance tomorrow in case new hurdles pop up.  You all may think Rom is a bigtime sucker for going to all this trouble and expense to bring coal to Newcastle (i.e. a ladyboy to Thailand or sand to the beach like they say in Rom's country) and maybe he is a sucker but not unconditionally.  If he had traveled together with Phoebe he would have been stuck in that emigration room with Phoebe and maybe miss his flight which would have professional consequences.  That's why he did not.  But today's events have of course adversely affected Rom's own travel plans and stressed him as he remained all day on stand-by at and near the hotel.  But that's OK.  Tonight he will likely fuck the MILF he met on the Skytrain who is coming by for a beer in the balcony over the river.  Let's see if Phoebe shows up tomorrow at Don Muang where Rom will pick her up.

And speaking of MILFs coming by for beers, this is a good time to share some recent malt-related developments in TH.  It seems fruity weisses are all the rage in the Kingdom now.  Last September Rom had already noticed a couple new ales on the 7-11 shelves and this time even more new ones he spotted.  They are not so expensive either at around 50 baht a tall can.  The wine coolers (Spy) have also become more bubbly like beers.  Singha is trying out a "limited edition Reserve" which is a little % stronger and cloudier like the weisses.  So far in the bars it is still the same Singha-Chang-Leo-Heineken quartet.  Is there not one bar owner in Thailand who, beer serving being his line of business, can figure out on his own that if he spends an extra 10 baht on a novelty premium beer he could dazzle and GAIN discerning farangs with microbrews?  I am just a jersey.  I don't drink beer.  But I get soiled by it often enough to figure out it would be good business at minimum risk.  Here is a pic of the beers in Rom's room stash as of this post.  Lychee; passion fruit; strawberry weisses, wheat hefeweissen.  Try them out sometime. Hasta Mañana compadres...

[deleted]

1 hour ago, Rom said:

Thanks Sylvester.  And thanks for risking the wrath of some BMs by posting a pic with the S word.  Can't complain laundrywise.  Rom has me hand-washed by hot sissies  I mean transes so I am a happy camper jersey.

As I said in another thread, words themselves are neutral. What really matters is the context and intent of how words are used. 

[Rom]

Yes Rom’s filipina trans main squeeze Phoebe Cates did show up at the airport and since then it was the end of Rom’s TH mongering as we knew it.  I am Rom’s white Pelé jersey and for the last 72 hours I’ve watched in disbelief how Rom diligently took Phoebe to Nana to a GG club with nudies on stage; to Soi Cowboy to Cockatoo where Phoebe felt uncomfortable to be with the prosti ladyboys and threw a hissyfit afterwards; to the PatPong night market where Rom just paid for all kinds of trinkets and carried them; to the royal palace and the temples where he bought her a traditional Thai outfit to do the rounds;  PLUS he hooked her up with a couple of his trans friends who had come from Pattaya to party with Rom while/in case Phoebe did not arrive.  In the meantime, here at LBR Rom BM-graduated from non-descript “Big Swinging Dick” to “Big Swinging Dick With A Ladyboy HAREM”, which was very prescient of LBR since Rom had so far not TRed about his BKK harem, of which you can catch a glimpse in the pics below … as far as Phoebe  and Rom are concerned, let’s call it the honeymoon stage, which I think is not going to last much longer.  Stay tuned.

Rom's talking Pelé shirt.

[Zeppie]

Great view Rom.........you have to share the name with us.

[Rom]

19 hours ago, Zeppie said:

Great view Rom.........you have to share the name with us.

Hi Z.   This is Rom myself (not the shirt) taking your question.  What "great view" did you mean?  The daytime river views are BKK's Chao Praya from its left bank hotel where I stay (Royal River) and the nightime view is from a nearby restaurant (don't remember the name) between the hotel and the nearby "Sang Hi" bridge.  The view of the transes are Phoebe Cates, Cici (a pinay residing in Pattaya) and Lydia (a Thai Onlyfans money trans).  Hope these answer your question. 

This is a good lead for me to share my views about what I like in Thai hotels if anyone is interested ...  I like space and nostalgic grandeur.

I started coming to Thailand professionally in the early 1990s and would stay at good to top hotels built in the 1970s and 1980s.  One feature that was common to all those hotels was SPACIOUSNESS: rooms, hallways, gardens, and also plenty of in-house staff and services.  I remember staying at a hotel (Trocadero) where they had a ground floor barber with a prosti permanently on duty.   She could polish your nails or she could polish your knob with her mouth while you were getting a haircut  (Seriously!... I witnessed it and tried it once).  She could also come to the room for fuck massages.  Despite the apparent seediness of the barbershop it was a good hotel with a legit ground floor shopping gallery that the barbershop was part of.  It was near the river, but not with a river view.  So I haven't been back although I keep reminding myself I should to check if the barbershop is still there and if it still as an old whore on duty. 

As I became mongering-focused, I started staying at the Nana Hotel (the mothership) as it enhanced the mongering experience of the much mentioned "glory days" that were characterized also by earlier bar closures with the action moving over to the Nana Disco.  But once in a while I would treat myself to a nice river hotel like the Shangri-La or the Sheraton back when their rates were not so high (and the baht 40+ to the USD).  If an employer was paying, I would stay at the Oriental BKK, the most awesome hotel in the world, even if it meant no LTs with prostis for the duration of my stay (you couldn't get young cheap bargirls/transes in). 

Lately I have been staying at this Royal River, but that's mainly because I come to BKK with sex partners already lined up in advance and don't need to find them in the Sukhumvit bars anymore so no pressing need to be near there.  The Royal River is an impressive architectural endeavor from the 1980s when construction space was not at such a premium.  Besides the spacious room with balconies 20 meters away from the water, it also has huge dining halls and outdoor courts where often I am the only guest sitting and reading a book or typing TR updates for ladyboy boards.  Huge gym and not so huge pool, but rarely anyone there other than me and my trans friends.  It also is surrounded by a traditional Thai neighborhood of wood shacks, 3 story buildings and small ground shops, all of which are disappearing before my eyes as riverfront real estate values skyrocket.  The hotel has a very lax approach to front door security (which could be a problem) but the upside is that I can bring into my room as many sleepovers as I want.  Right after covid the room rates became a bargain, but it's probably not going to last as there were signs already during this stay that the hotel is approaching full occupancy.

I am currently in Pattaya and this trip I chose to stay at another dinossaur from the spacious 80s: The Tropicana, which is located a little south of soi 6 with its low-rise motel type premises spannig the whole stretch between Beach Road and Second Road.  It has 2 pools, one of which is magnificent.  The rooms are somewhat dated but they were top of the line when the hotel was built.  At 1,200 baht per night with breakfast for 2 you can't beat a deal like that.  I don't understand why being so cheap it has so few guests, especially since Pattaya tourist levels seem to have fully recovered from the covid slump. Some pics below.  Despite the nostalgic charm and space, I like to stay closer to Walking Street and may do so again on my next visit at the hotel where I usually stay with a room facing the ocean.

Now for those who might be tempted by my BKK and Pattaya choices, there are DOWNSIDES to both of them:  The river hotel in BKK is far from the mongering center of Sukhumvit and getting there by taxi will take 20-30 minutes absent traffic.  With traffic or if it rains, it can take much longer with the taxi meter running mercilessly and my only option becomes public transportation (MRT+ BTS) which is not as convenient.  Also on the return trip, many taxi drivers are not interested to go there on metered fare (90-120 baht from Sukhumvit).  In Pattaya, the downside of the Tropicana is that it only has one street access on Beach Road (the Second Roaad access is closed and barbed-wired).  So if I am coming back to the hotel on the Second Road baht bus, I have to get out past the hotel and then walk the length of soi 6 and then walk back on Beach Road and the service road to the hotel entrance.  Soi 6 is fun to walk through, but not several times a day or when you just want to get to your room and rest...

Here are the pics:

 

[Zeppie]

9 hours ago, Rom said:

Hi Z.   This is Rom myself (not the shirt) taking your question.  What "great view" did you mean?  The daytime river views are BKK's Chao Praya from its left bank hotel where I stay (Royal River) and the nightime view is from a nearby restaurant (don't remember the name) between the hotel and the nearby "Sang Hi" bridge.  The view of the transes are Phoebe Cates, Cici (a pinay residing in Pattaya) and Lydia (a Thai Onlyfans money trans).  Hope these answer your question. 

 

Hello Rom.....i phrased it the way I meant it, but you covered......nice......appreciate the complete info.  

[Rom]

I am Rom's jersey and I am back to report on the 3 nights Rom spent with Phoebe Cates in Pattaya.  On hindsight, he is not sorry he brought her to TH BUT he was happy to see her go back home and he will never do it again with someone like her.   Not that she is a bad kid, but she has for a while now had a chip on her shoulder about Rom's polygamous ways and during the trip more than once behaved too sassy for Rom's liking and he had to remind her he is the boss.  Moreover it was a lot of hassle and expense for Rom focusing on her needs and whims: the foods she likes, the souvenirs she needed to gift, her veto of ladyboy bars where she knew Rom would bring her face-to-face with competition, a new suitcase, taxi to airport, pocket money, it never ended...  Rom also ended up wishing he had not put her in touch with a local pinay trans (Cici) who was fresh off a breakup with her former Aussie bar owner BF and was not a good influence on Phoebe as the 2 of them chose to separate from Rom rather than party with him and Lydia as he had hoped.  Sex with Phoebe remained intensely GFE (and was actually enhanced by the make up component) and she remained a joy to sleep with holding Rom tight all night and there was nothing she wouldn't do for him in the morning when Rom is at his manly best.  But I think you get the picture:  Rom did a good deed for a friend, but with the money and time he spent on Phoebe he could have enjoyed meeting new transes and perhaps helped them as well.  For sure it would have made for more and juicier TR posts than this one, which Rom kept deliberately short and without clear pics of Phoebe to spare her from the infamy of a ladyboy board's exposure.  Here are some pics:

[Woodie]

1 hour ago, Rom said:

(Cici) who was fresh off a breakup with her former Aussie bar owner BF

Well, that is some news. Didn't expect that.

I have a sort of a connection with Cici even though I have never had a meeting with her. Think I might have mentioned it before. Had a meeting arranged for a LT visit, but had to call it off due to an unexpected business meeting. I was really looking forward to it, even though it was way above my usual budget. One downer of our planned meeting was the stipulation that we were not to be seen in public due to my age. It was all going to occur in her room! Food and all.

A pity because I would have been the youngest 59 year old she would meet!.

Never mind, all water under the bridge.

[Woodie]

23 hours ago, Rom said:

I am Rom's jersey and I am back to report on the 3 nights Rom spent with Phoebe Cates in Pattaya.  On hindsight, he is not sorry he brought her to TH BUT he was happy to see her go back home and he will never do it again with someone like her.   Not that she is a bad kid, but she has for a while now had a chip on her shoulder about Rom's polygamous ways and during the trip more than once behaved too sassy for Rom's liking and he had to remind her he is the boss.  Moreover it was a lot of hassle and expense for Rom focusing on her needs and whims: the foods she likes, the souvenirs she needed to gift, her veto of ladyboy bars where she knew Rom would bring her face-to-face with competition, a new suitcase, taxi to airport, pocket money, it never ended...  Rom also ended up wishing he had not put her in touch with a local pinay trans (Cici) who was fresh off a breakup with her former Aussie bar owner BF and was not a good influence on Phoebe as the 2 of them chose to separate from Rom rather than party with him and Lydia as he had hoped.  Sex with Phoebe remained intensely GFE (and was actually enhanced by the make up component) and she remained a joy to sleep with holding Rom tight all night and there was nothing she wouldn't do for him in the morning when Rom is at his manly best.  But I think you get the picture:  Rom did a good deed for a friend, but with the money and time he spent on Phoebe he could have enjoyed meeting new transes and perhaps helped them as well.  For sure it would have made for more and juicier TR posts than this one, which Rom kept deliberately short and without clear pics of Phoebe to spare her from the infamy of a ladyboy board's exposure.  Here are some pics:

Can you report on Roms connection with Cici,(if any).

[Pulci Gorgon]

I wonder whether that was a smart decision to invite Phoebe Cate to Thailand.

1) After spending 300 $ on her account, how did the airline fare cost ? 105 $ or 105 $ twice ? It's a bunch of money. Meanwhile Rom found that prices at CIB. It's not really consistent. 

2) Rom spent 500 or more $ to make her visit Bangkok 2 or 3 days. She must have felt uprooted. She must have wondered why she had been confronted to Thai competitors. She could have feared an investment on her person for human traficking. I understand easily she could have become unpleasant. (I remember my Thai ladyboy who followed me from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi. She had felt very nervous till I paid her a provision on her "contract". 

3) I chatted with a mate who had hired a Pinoy ladyboy to take care of him (in Pattaya LOL). He explained me that Pinoy ladyboys spend their free time comparing how much money they make just to play the role of the flower pot and sex doll at night. Of course, they will always find mates with generous sponsors who visit them once in a year. 
And they will compare and complain they are not treated well enough. 

I thought that Rom who's one of the most experienced mongers in Pinoy ladyboys in our the whole community. I find it strange that he made such a decision. Ladyboys we fuck are whores. We come, we fuck and we go. We don't pay for the fuck, we pay to be free after we go. 

[Rom]

I am but a shirt ... blahblahblah ... but I can tell Rom regrets some of what I revealed in the last 2 TR updates. 

First I was too candid about Rom's diligence and generosity with Phoebe Cates which was then used to challenge Rom who could have asked me to reiterate what I already had written; hoover the challenge post; or ignore it.  He chose the last option. 

Second, Rom is too much of an eager sharing spirit (show-off?) and, on hindsight, he should not have brought blondie Cici on stage.  He will say only that Cici must now be in her mid-30s and Rom knew her back in her home PH way before she made the jump to TH.  He did not really think anyone else would recognize her and was trying to impress the BMembership not with Cici but with the other one (TH Lydia) who is a bit of an internet porn star (and possibly the brightest trans Rom ever met; also in her 30s).  And that's all Rom has to say about those 2.

Back when Rom was posting at PY, no other BM there came remotely close to him in terms of so intimately exposing so many ladyboys in the non-advanced public threads of the board regardless of being constantly heroed for doing so.  He knew what he was doing and never had a problem with any of the models.  Here at LBR Rom became more circumspect not because he became more fearful of being heroed, but because he had learned at PY (and keeps confirming it here) that anything he posts can and will be used against him to disparage his character by that tiny minority of jerks that can be found in all walks of life who live to stop things, especially when others are shining.  That's the reason in his last TRs here at LBR Rom has been using aliases for his sex partners (Phoebe Cates, Greta T, Condoleezza Rice, John Lennon, Mowgli, Michelle Yeoh) and never shows the face of some of them.  But both at PY and here, Rom sometimes chose not to mention AT ALL a selected few of his sex partners who were either personally involved with other BMs, who had too much prestige to be cast as Rom's sex toys, who would generate too much resentment and backlash from other BMs if they knew Rom fucked a ladyboy they lusted after but had failed to; or who Rom knew follow the online ladyboy boards as some of them do.  All this to say that what Rom reports is the truth, but not necessarily the whole truth and please understand if he does not give names and details for all the transes he fucks.

Back to the ongoing TR: Phoebe Cates departed back to the PH and Rom stayed in Pattaya for the remainder of this trip.  The first couple nights after she left he finally did the ladyboy bar rounds and his first 3sums of the trip, which took an unexpected turn at the very end as  will be reported in a forthcoming final post.  Here are some random pics:

[Woodie]

4 hours ago, Rom said:

I am but a shirt ... blahblahblah ... but I can tell Rom regrets some of what I revealed in the last 2 TR updates. 

First I was too candid about Rom's diligence and generosity with Phoebe Cates which was then used to challenge Rom who could have asked me to reiterate what I already had written; hoover the challenge post; or ignore it.  He chose the last option. 

Second, Rom is too much of an eager sharing spirit (show-off?) and, on hindsight, he should not have brought blondie Cici on stage.  He will say only that Cici must now be in her mid-30s and Rom knew her back in her home PH way before she made the jump to TH.  He did not really think anyone else would recognize her and was trying to impress the BMembership not with Cici but with the other one (TH Lydia) who is a bit of an internet porn star (and possibly the brightest trans Rom ever met; also in her 30s).  And that's all Rom has to say about those 2.

Back when Rom was posting at PY, no other BM there came remotely close to him in terms of so intimately exposing so many ladyboys in the non-advanced public threads of the board regardless of being constantly heroed for doing so.  He knew what he was doing and never had a problem with any of the models.  Here at LBR Rom became more circumspect not because he became more fearful of being heroed, but because he had learned at PY (and keeps confirming it here) that anything he posts can and will be used against him to disparage his character by that tiny minority of jerks that can be found in all walks of life who live to stop things, especially when others are shining.  That's the reason in his last TRs here at LBR Rom has been using aliases for his sex partners (Phoebe Cates, Greta T, Condoleezza Rice, John Lennon, Mowgli, Michelle Yeoh) and never shows the face of some of them.  But both at PY and here, Rom sometimes chose not to mention AT ALL a selected few of his sex partners who were either personally involved with other BMs, who had too much prestige to be cast as Rom's sex toys, who would generate too much resentment and backlash from other BMs if they knew Rom fucked a ladyboy they lusted after but had failed to; or who Rom knew follow the online ladyboy boards as some of them do.  All this to say that what Rom reports is the truth, but not necessarily the whole truth and please understand if he does not give names and details for all the transes he fucks.

Back to the ongoing TR: Phoebe Cates departed back to the PH and Rom stayed in Pattaya for the remainder of this trip.  The first couple nights after she left he finally did the ladyboy bar rounds and his first 3sums of the trip, which took an unexpected turn at the very end as  will be reported in a forthcoming final post.  Here are some random pics:

In the last photo, that could almost be BB sitting under the fan!.

Cici looking good in her 30's. Wonder why the breakup with her bf?. They were running a bar together. Now there's a reason!.

Lydia I have seen in a few of her videos. She's ok. Not my style but what the heck.

[Pdoggg]

On 1/30/2023 at 8:17 PM, Woodie said:

One downer of our planned meeting was the stipulation that we were not to be seen in public due to my age. It was all going to occur in her room!

Possible that age is not the reason she did not want to be seen in public.  Could be she didn't want boyfriend, sponsor, or sponsor's mates to see you two together.

[Woodie]

19 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

Possible that age is not the reason she did not want to be seen in public.  Could be she didn't want boyfriend, sponsor, or sponsor's mates to see you two together.

Could be, but she did ask my age before adding the conditions. I think a bit of narcissism was at play.

[Zeppie]

1 hour ago, Woodie said:

Could be, but she did ask my age before adding the conditions. I think a bit of narcissism was at play.

Woodie............I think if you had a big squirrels nest added to your avatar, at the elbow, she would change her mind...... (dont ask me how i come up with this crap!.....it scares me too.)

[Rom]

This is Rom posting as myself (not as the shirt) and before ending the TR I would like to update my latest impressions on Pattaya relative to what I reported when I was previously there in September last year (http://www.ladyboyreview.com/index.php?/topic/10137-its-official-im-back/&do=findComment&comment=224382&_rid=10259) :

 

-Thailand tourist activity has rebounded sharply but still only at half pre-covid levels.  But I think in Pattaya the rebound has been stronger than the TH average.  I have been going there for 30 years and I never saw Walking Street so crowded to the point it was impossible for me to walk unimpeded holding hands with Phoebe Cates.   It felt like that in the Buakhao area also.  Expect the rebound to continue.

THAILAND TOURIST ARRIVALS, 2018-22

-by nationality, there are clearly more Indians (from India, not PK or BD) than ever and they are more than any other nationality.  Mongering farangs are back in force and flocking to Buakhao-Chayapoom.  I saw plenty of Russians too, including many guys of military age.  The Arab sois were partially reassigned but many middle easterners in town, including youthful ones in the clubs.  Who I did not see as much this time were the Chinese getting on and off buses on Beach Road like they used to.  Was it my impression or middleclass Thai families are starting to take beach vacations in Pattaya?

-despite the crowds of tourists I saw on Walking Street, commerce and hotels are not back to what they were before covid.  Some biggish hotels remained closed and I wonder if they will reopen.  Room rates online were dirt cheap for high season.  As to shops, many of the street level ones remain closed especially along Second Road where like half are shuttered down. I suspect this to be a major societal change that I also observed in Bangkok as more shopping is being done online and at malls and the old street family shops even if they can compete are not being carried over by the younger generations.

-the old beer bar plazas along Beach Road and Second Road keep disappearing and I don't think they are being offset by the new bars of the Soi Buakhao area like the Treetown plaza which is fully booked now but I don't think it makes up for all the bars lost in the old soi MIT plaza.  In general the beer bars also have fewer and older women than what I recall from 10 years ago.   On the other hand, there are many GG cuties lining up the sides of Walking Street but some are not barfinable and those who are are pricey.

-other than Delirious Bar and New bar, all the other ladyboy bars I visited in Pattaya were not doing too well.  Sensations and TJs in particular were so sad to look at as I approached from the outside that I did not even went in for a beer.  Even KRUs was a shadow of its former self with no more than 6 or 7 ladyboys and selling beers at 99 baht.  What happened to all the ladyboys?  On soi 6 I counted a grand total of 3 different ones over almost 2 weeks of passing there 2 or 3 times a day to access my hotel on Beach Road.  Even soi 6/1 late night did not have the scary ones anymore.  New bar-Thaiger bar seemed to be doing OK with 5 or 6 attractive enough freelancers, but still the farangs outnumbered them by more than 3 to 1.  The bars on Buakhao (Fantasy, Pook, and a new one called Old n7) were holding their ground although Annie my annointed Diva was not at Pook.  Treetown is now fully leased but I only counted 5 transes amidst the 100s of GGs in the bars there.  Ladyboywise therefore the one Pattya bright spot is Delirious (Romscar TH Ladyboy Bar of 2022) and the runner up may well be Duangjai a little down the soi.  Where I think I saw more ladyboys than ever was Walking Street and to a lesser extent Beach Road.  I recognized some that I knew had worked in bars!!!

-the local Indian businessmen are branching out beyond the tailor shops and restaurants no one goes to.  Over the years I have witnessed how they take over 1-by-1 the empty bars and go-gos of sois 13/3 and 13/4 (before Boystown) and on this trip I saw the Penthouse Hotel no longer has the FOR SALE/LEASE signs so it may have become Indian-owned like everything else on soi 13/4.  They are also slowly gobbling up Walking Street and there are 2 fancy clubs that play Indian music.  It seems they can't easily get the Thai prosties to work for them.  If they could they would own the rest of Pattaya.

-the marijuana business is booming and you can buy decent quality blunts for 100 baht from street vendors.   Or 3 doobies for that price.  If you are a weed connoisseur (I am not) there are dozens of premium varieties to choose from.  Somehow I am still conditioned to be afraid of the Thai police if I smoke it, so I don't.  Plus it counteracts the Kamagra.

-the South Pattaya beach strip was sand-replenished during covid so it now wider and seems less crowded.  I got the same impression in Jomtien and I think it is not just more sand but underscores the fact that tourist numbers are still only half of their 2017-19 peaks.

-Barfines are up and I paid 1,000 baht to get a GG out of the bar before midnight (when the barfine falls to 500).  To compensate (and induce me to barfine her) she offered to LT me for 1,500 and it was the best spent money of the trip.  I think in Pattaya it is still possible to get STs at 1,000 a pop and LTs at 2,000.  Not so in BKK.

-Online sex connections are very easy with many attractive women 30 and above contacting me who probably were not outright prosties.  Such contacts may well be the future of for me as I age.

-Exchanging money in Pattaya is getting trickier with the TT exchangers no longer offering the same rate in all their locations.  While the USD cash rate has hovered in the 33.5-33.8 while I have been here, some of the TT shops round it down to 32.0 which is like a 5% penalty.  I fear that what TT is doing is gradually offer worse rates same-same as most other operators already do including the banks.  I know of 2 places that give rates as good or better than the higher TT rates.  One is on soi Post Office and the other on Second Road next to the Lek Hotel.

This is getting kinda long.  I think it's enough impressions-sharing.  Hope they are useful or interesting to some BMs. Cheers

Rom

 

[Woodie]

3 hours ago, Zeppie said:

scares me too.)

And me!

[Woodie]

56 minutes ago, Rom said:

Indian businessmen are branching out

What has puzzled more for some time is, how do these Indian business men get to stay in Thailand and run their businesses?. Some years ago I looked into running a small business there and got told flatout that there was no chance. Had to conducted by Thai nationals.

Do I smell a rat or not?.

[Woodie]

1 hour ago, Soju said:

Perhaps these "Indian" businesses people are Thai citizens who have lived and invested in the country. No rat required.

So you are suggesting that these clothing shops are run by Indian immigrants that have Thai citizenship?.. That is the only conclusion that I can come to.

[Pdoggg]

15 hours ago, Soju said:

I also agree that Delirious is doing well and must say it is my favourite bar in Pattaya.

Mine too.  Great music, ambiance, and staff!   

 

15 hours ago, Soju said:

I wish they would turn down the volume on the music in Fantasy and Old n7 however.

Volume is great at Pook though.   

 

On 2/6/2023 at 9:10 AM, Rom said:

Exchanging money in Pattaya is getting trickier with the TT exchangers no longer offering the same rate in all their locations.  While the USD cash rate has hovered in the 33.5-33.8 while I have been here, some of the TT shops round it down to 32.0 which is like a 5% penalty.  I fear that what TT is doing is gradually offer worse rates same-same as most other operators already do including the banks.  I know of 2 places that give rates as good or better than the higher TT rates.  One is on soi Post Office and the other on Second Road next to the Lek Hotel.

 

The place on Soi Post Office is Damini.

http://www.daminiexchange.com/

Some TT Shops may have slightly different rates often due to exactly when a particular shop updates their exchange rates.  But I suspect the shop that had a rate 5% less wasn't TT but T or TG with the exact same look and color scheme.

[Quietguy]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:10 AM, Woodie said:

What has puzzled more for some time is, how do these Indian business men get to stay in Thailand and run their businesses?. Some years ago I looked into running a small business there and got told flatout that there was no chance. Had to conducted by Thai nationals.

Do I smell a rat or not?.

On 2/6/2023 at 10:14 AM, Soju said:

Perhaps these "Indian" businesses people are Thai citizens who have lived and invested in the country. No rat required.

On 2/6/2023 at 12:03 PM, Woodie said:

So you are suggesting that these clothing shops are run by Indian immigrants that have Thai citizenship?.. That is the only conclusion that I can come to.

@Woodie, people from India have been in Thailand since the 18th Century. Many married and had children with Thais. Under Thai law any child born in Thailand with either a Thai mother or father is automatically entitled to Thai citizenship. It is estimated that around 400,000 Thais are of Indian heritage, 2% of the population.

Also anyone can apply for Thai citizenship if they have lived legally (with appropriate visas) for over five years and are of good character with no criminal record. Around 65,000 people from India have acquired Thai citizenship by this route. You could too if you want to set up a business in Thailand. 

Apologies to @Romfor thread derailment, but I felt Woodie's question needed to be answered. If Rom feels this is inappropriate he can delete it and I will reply to Woodie in a new seperate thread 

[Pdoggg]

1 hour ago, Quietguy said:

Also anyone can apply for Thai citizenship if they have lived legally (with appropriate visas) for over five years and are of good character with no criminal record.

Before some of you guys get your hopes up permanent residency and citizenship are not easy processes. I don't personally know even one farang who has permanent residency status and do know a guy who applied but got knocked back.

[Woodie]

8 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

Before some of you guys get your hopes up permanent residency and citizenship are not easy processes. I don't personally know even one farang who has permanent residency status and do know a guy who applied but got knocked back.

That's what I understood. It is not easy.

When I made inquiries about running a business through a well known falang legal office in BKK, they made it clear that it would not be easy. I could not open a van door or put petrol in. I would be caught if I had a non Thai passport.

[Rom]

On 2/7/2023 at 6:33 PM, Pdoggg said:

(...) I suspect the shops that had a rate 5% less wasn't TT but T or TG with the exact same look and color scheme.

Thanks PD.  While in Pattaya I noticed the copycat visuals but did not connect the dots that the worse rates were being offered by the copycats and only by the copycats and NOT by TT.  If so, my conspiracy theory of gradual collusion to rip off visitors is not underway ...  I will pay more attention next time and if i see a TT offering anything less than the best rate I will take a pic and post it here.  Btw, there is a small independent exchange bureau on Walking Street  (midway to the left as you walk south) that also gives good rates, including at night when no one else does it around there.

 

17 hours ago, Quietguy said:

Around 65,000 people from India have acquired Thai citizenship by this route

Yes 65,000 OUT of 400,000 according to your Wikipedia source.  Which means there are 335,000 NON-CITIZEN ethnic Indians also born in Thailand of BOTH ethnic Indian parents in many cases from families that have been in Thailand for generations.   I learned from one such "born-in-Thailand Indian" that he and his family were limited in what businesses they could operate.  Thai-Indian mixed-bloods have a better chance at full citizenship especially when the father is the Thai one. 

This is a complex issue with racial biases on both sides as Indians (in general, not just Thailand) are known to seggregate themselves by arranging marriages within their ethnicity and castes.  So please I would rather not discuss this further in my TR and suggest if anyone has anything else to add to move the conversation to the privacy of the lounge where mod1 can watch for red lines...