One PATTAYA
Fun Town’s most vibrant
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1 - 15 September 2011 Issue 23 www.pattayaone.net
PATTAYA ONE ANNOUNCEMENT...
Now IN PATTAYA rant
Fun Town’s most vib
www.inpattayanow.com
Pattaya One is coming to the end of our first, exciting and successful year. Our readership numbers of both the hard copy newspaper and, especially online, have been remarkable, and we are extremely grateful to you, our readers, for making the paper the success it has become. In terms of entertainment, columnists, the way we report the news and our many stories from around the town, the reaction from you, the readers, has been extremely positive, and we have tried to keep the quality of the paper’s content consistently high.
On many occasions we have set the agenda of news reporting in the city with a firm focus on the human-interest angle of major stories. With this approach to news we were first to break the jet-ski scam story in a way that was picked up internationally and locally by other news organizations, and which resulted in local bulletin boards being overloaded with readers’ views. Our coverage also led embassies to change their travel advice for their citizens travelling to Pattaya. We were also responsible for a ground-breaking partnership arrangement with the popular Thai Visa website in our early days which saw that website record some of its highest hits and comments. One thing we always wanted to do better was become more topical, but for a newspaper printing only once every two weeks, this was virtually impossible. So, having listened carefully to feedback from our readers, and also looking at how the world of publishing is increasingly moving from hard copy to online, we have decided
JAWS IN DANGER
SHarK releaSe PrOGraM aIMS TO HIGHlIGHT SerIOUS PrOBleM An organization called Dive Tribe has organised the largest co-ordinated shark release in Asia, to take place on Saturday 3 September. Working in conjunction SI (Scuba Schools International), Waterworks Productions Underwater Movie Co, Scuba with Mike, Save Koh Tao Group, Adventure Divers, Underwater World Pattaya, and Dr Wayne Phillips of
Mahidol University, the release will occur in Pattaya, Koh Samui and Koh Tao, with the possibility of more releases to take place at other locations at later dates. The aim of the Great Shark Release is not to suddenly fill the tourist-packed waterways with close relatives of that infamous Hollywood man-eating monster Jaws, it is in fact an effort to high-
ConTInUeS on page 3
>
By Staff Writers
that from 1 October, Pattaya One will become an exclusively ONLINE publication, to be updated daily with news, opinions, stories, and all your favourite columnists, as well as useful tips and information for visitors to Pattaya. The new website will be called In Pattaya Now (www.inpattayanow.com); don’t bother to look just yet, we’ve still got another month to go! Many thanks to all our readers for making this such a rewarding and enjoyable first year of Pattaya One’s life. We hope to see you from 1 October online.
A IN PATTAY
W N01O /10/11
02 Pattaya One
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New Zealand man murdered in Jomtien
A New Zealand national, named as Mr Charles Edmund Jones, aged 58, was found dead in a Jomtien condominium on 23 August and police have charged a Syrian refugee with his murder. Initially local police attempted to prevent journalists from reporting on the murder, however following enquiries from global news organizations, the story was released to the media. The dead man was President
of the World Croquet Federation and was on his way back from the United Kingdom to New Zealand but had stopped off in Thailand. He was found in his rented room in Jomtien two days after arriving for a six-week holiday. According to reports, Mr Jones was intending to start a Croquet Club in Thailand and had himself been through a turbulent year following the death of his mother and brother.
The man suspected of the alleged murder is 21-year-old Mohamad Shanar Ryad, a former Syrian soldier who holds UN refugee status in Thailand after fleeing the recent violence in his homeland. He was arrested at a Lebanese restaurant in South Pattaya, near Soi VC, where he works as a cook. He was taken back to the condo to perform a reconstruction of events. Mr Ryad claimed he had been invited back to Mr Jones’
room to smoke marijuana but then claimed the New Zealander produced a knife and demanded the pair engage in anal sex. Mr Ryad claims he was able to turn the knife on Mr Jones and repeatedly stabbed him in the neck and upper body. The Syrian then fled to his Thai girlfriends’ apartment, making sure to abscond with Mr Jones’ laptop, mobile phone, and a wrist watch, none of which have been recovered.
On Wednesday 17 August, an American resident of Pattaya was found dead inside his apartment. Police and rescue services were called to the SY Mansions, located off Third Road in central Pattaya after residents reported a foul odour coming from an apartment. The room was occupied by a 48-year-old Mr George P. Stanco, originally from New York in the United States. It was estimated that Mr Stanco had been dead for approximately two days. He was
found lying on his bed. There were signs of a disturbance around the main living area but this was put down to a pet rabbit (possibly answering to the name of Roger) that was also found inside the apartment. In the bathroom, evidence suggested Mr Stanco suffered health issues prior to his death. A bottle filled with medication was taken into evidence by police. The actual cause of death was not known at the time of going to print.
Bar raid turns up just American found dead a dribble of miscreants in apartment
A late night bar inspection involving about 150 police officers and other uniformed persons was conducted in the early hours of 20 August, a Saturday morning, or very late Friday night depending on your point of inebriation. The operation started with one of those photo-opportunity parades held in front of Pattaya police station where the officers, all shiny boots and tight uniforms, were given instructions from Police Colonel Tirapon, Deputy Commander of
Chonburi Provincial Police. There was an air of excited anticipation from many of the officers as they expected to make many arrests and seize lots of drugs. It’s not sure which of the two prospects filled them with more excitement. Instead, the operation, which was centred on the late night bars in the South Pattaya area, resulted in the arrest of just four people. They failed urine tests and were charged with class 1 drug consumption offences.
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1 - 15 September 2011 Issue 23
Fun Town’s most vibrant
Jaws in Danger From page one
light the desperate plight of these magnificent creatures and go some way to explaining their importance for humankind. The Great Shark Release is an idea dreamt up by Gwyn Mills, the British founder of Dive Tribe, who has lived in Thailand for 11 years and made Pattaya his base two years ago. As he states, “We have a big problem and all the dive stores around Thailand have been complaining that they see no sharks on dives anymore.” For example, Sylvia Gogh, a PADI Course Director who lived and worked in Thailand until 1999 and returned to dive the Similans, expressed dismay that her group did not see a single shark over a two-week diving holiday. “Twelve years ago you just had to put your head in the water and there they were, swimming majestically. What has happened?” she asked. The basic answer is overfishing. Dive Tribe keeps a watchful eye on the industry and Mills said he is exasperated by the extent of shark fishing taking place not just around Thailand but the entire southeast Asian region. Sharks are captured and killed almost solely for their fins, which are used in soups and are a delicacy particularly favoured by the Chinese. An estimated 78 million sharks are killed each year for their fins and flesh. Considering the fact that shark fins and meat contains up to 42 times the medically acceptable level of mercury for human consumption it is surprising the trade can possibly continue, as the meat
is potentially harmful to health. A further 26 million sharks are killed each year for a variety of other reasons. Tests in Thailand and Taiwan show some sharks contain mercury which exceeds the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended levels. The United States and Australian authorities have also warned the public and particularly pregnant women and young children against the consumption of shark meat. As Gwyn notes, “If we remove all the apex predators from our oceans this will upset the natural balance and can lead to a catastrophic chain of events. Humans rely on the ocean for the oxygen we breathe and 70 percent of that oxygen is produced by phytoplankton and algae. Sharks are vital in the food chain because they remove many of the small fish and crustaceans that eat this phytoplankton and algae. It is claimed by scientists that sharks have kept this balance for 420 million years.” Gwyn goes on to paint a depressing and much under-publicised picture: “In less than 10 to 20 years we humans have wiped out 90 percent of some species of sharks from our oceans. This means the phytoplankton eaters will increase which will then lead to a breakdown in the marine environment.” As he states, “It’s just not possible to remove the apex predator and think that everything will be OK.” With their slow gestation period and the fact some species of shark produce live young (viviparous), and only have very few pups, it
Despite the Hollywood hype this is not the end anyone should cheer for sharks
soon becomes apparent they cannot recover from this kind of intensive fishing. “In the 1980’s there was a moratorium on Atlantic Tuna as stocks had been severely depleted. We are now 30 years on and those stock have still not recovered. Tuna spawn hundreds of fish at a time so what chance do sharks have?” “It is past time that Thailand put in some legal protection of our sharks, as we know for a fact that numbers have steeply declined over the last few years and illegal fishing continues in many of our National Marine Parks.” Thailand permits the sale and supply of shark fins to the Chinese markets and the public can sample shark dishes in many restaurants around the country, including a number in Pattaya. Elsewhere, the governments of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Marshall Islands, Honduras, Maldives, Bahamas, Chile, the province of Ontario in Canada and the American states of Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington are among the first to have enacted legislation prohibiting the sale, possession, distribution and trade of the much sought-after shark fins and their by-products. The Malaysian state of Sabah is moving in this direction as well. Malaysia is ranked 10th among the world’s top shark-catching nations, yet Sabah fishermen and divers have noticed the impact on the region’s ocean ecosystems. Malaysian media suggests the state government of Sabah is planning to impose a ban on shark fishing by 2012, becoming the nation’s first state to do so.
Minor Victory Recently Dive Tribe was able to convince the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Bangkok to remove sharks fin from its menu. Gwyn claims, “No one has the right to remove a species and then hide behind the fact that it’s their culture. Thankfully the management of the Conrad could see that consuming sharks fins is now sensibly viewed as politically incorrect and in very poor taste. “By removing sharks fin from their menu they have shown the market they are working on becoming a sustainable and eco-aware company and showing the rest of the hotel market the way forward.” The Dive Tribe release program will help shark conservation by putting a few animals back into the ocean where they belong, but the event is primarily designed to raise awareness that sharks are not food,
Pattaya One 03 or pets. “We are currently raising funds from all around the world and letting the public know that Thai sharks are fast becoming extinct,” Gwyn said. “With these funds we will be purchasing sharks from local restaurants and pet shops and then placing them in our holding tanks at Underwater World ready for release on 3 September. Underwater World also have captive bred sharks which will be for release in Pattaya.” Gwyn understands there is a moral dilemma that purchasing sharks from restaurants and other businesses is actually helping to fuel the trade. Gwyn says, “Firstly we will be buying the sharks all in one day so no extra stock will be bought by retailers. They do not know we are coming and this is just a yearly operation. You cannot fuel a trade in just one day a year. Also, these sharks are as good as dead so why not RF tag them release them back into their natural habitat and give them a second chance, and by doing this let the public know that sharks are friends not food?” Talking of the local shark fin restaurant trade, Gwyn says, “We are urging people to say ‘No’ to sharks fin soup. Please walk away from restaurants that serve sharks or have them on display. We ask the public not to keep sharks as pets or on display in bars, clubs or restaurants; it’s cruel and unethical.”
Economic value Offering a positive view, Gwyn adds, “Sharks are potentially great for the economy. Scuba diving, which is now the second largest sport in Thailand next to golf, is reliant on repeat customers. Divers will come back to a dive destination if they have exciting dives. Ask any diver what constitutes an exciting dive and most will say, ‘Seeing Sharks’.” A study by PEW in Palau quantified the economic benefits of the shark-diving industry and found that its worth far exceeds that of shark fishing. The estimated annual value to the tourism industry of an individual reef shark frequenting these sites was an estimated US$179,000 (5.37 million baht) or US$1.9 million (57 million baht) over its lifetime. In contrast, a single reef shark would only bring an estimated US$108 (3,250 baht) if it was on your plate. People interested in learning more about the Dive Tribes Great Shark Release can e-mail them at info@thedivetribe.com or log on to their website www.thedivetribe. com/sos
04 Pattaya One
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Kris & Noi’s
Two-Bob-Bits
Private
Do you have a question about customs or culture, or perhaps just a general comment on life in Thailand? Email Kris & Noi at: knprivateposts@gmail.com Helmetless I bought a motorbike for my stepdaughter as it’s an awkward journey to school by bus. My wife and I told her she must always wear a safety helmet, but after a while we saw her without it. She said it was a short journey to buy lunch and had forgotten. I said that if it happened again I would stop her using the bike. But a few weeks later we saw her bareheaded; she says it’s too hot wearing it and none of her friends or teachers wore them. I took the bike from her, and now she doesn’t talk to me. This is totally out of character as
she has always shown me respect and love, and I love her like my own flesh and blood. My wife thinks I am being too harsh but I only want to protect her. Colin Dolby The majority of Thais choose to ride without safety helmets; it’s bad enough seeing adults ignoring commonsense and the law, but they also allow their children to risk brain damage or death. But therein lies your problem; every day your stepdaughter sees friends, teachers and other adults riding bare-headed, so she feels that helmets are un-
Hit the cricket sixes in Bangkok As part of the Asian Cricket Sixes Tour (ACST), the Chaophya Park Hotel Thailand (Bangkok) International Cricket Sixes Tournament 2011 will be held at the Harrow International School in Bangkok, from Friday 21 October until Sunday 23 October 2011. As event organiser Michael Maher notes, ‘We are proudly again working with the Southerners Cricket Club to bring this excellent tournament to you. Join us for this excellent ‘Friendship Through Cricket’ event.’ Once again the Chaophya Park
Hotel in Bangkok is the Title Sponsor and the Official Hotel Partner for the event in 2011. The Official Room Rates for teams and everyone involved with the tournament are: 2,200 Baht single, 2,400 Baht twin/double, all including breakfast. Bookings must be made directly through the hotel for the tournament. Maher said, “We will send booking requirements once your place in the tournament has been confirmed.” Local team fees have been dropped this year for up to eight
New MERCY Center Children’s Home set to open Sunday 25 September will mark the official opening of the new MERCY Center Children’s Home (Baan Khong Por). A ceremony will begin at 3:00pm and they have extended an invitation for Pattaya One patrons to attend. In the meantime, MERCY are
asking for volunteers to help with the organization of the event. Their invitation points out that it will be a celebration of a decade of “Bringing Hope to those in need” in Pattaya. The afternoon will include live music from We2R1 and international friends plus glorious food, courtesy of the Accor Group of
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As a resident for many years I can’t help but appreciate how busty the girls are now compared to the past. My evening companions usually come from a gogo lineup, so I can say that, in my personal experience, most of them are natural, not surgically enhanced. So what has happened, are we paying them too much these days, so that they spend their money on too much fast food instead of rice? Ike Claudius
necessary and, like so many others, thinks that bad accidents will always happen to other people, not to her. Seeing as how useful the bike is for her travelling, maybe a compromise could be reached. Explain your justifiable concern for her safety, and then allow her to use the bike. However, if it happens again, then the bike will be impounded for a period, say a week. Hopefully she will be grateful for your generosity and regaining the convenience of the bike and will respect your wishes; and eventually understand the importance of wearing a safety helmet.
It does appear that more service girls have surgery to enlarge their assets than in the past. Also there are bras that give a girl a realistic bust boost. These are so effective that many a bust-lusting punter who has barfined a girl because of her beautiful bulging cleavage has been dismayed to see the melons become lemons when unhooked. However, Thais in general are becoming bigger and heavier, just as in the western world. A line up of gogo dancers nowadays contains much more wobbling flesh; and not only knockers, but also waistlines and thighs.
players per team, to 15,000 Baht. This includes the Tournament functions, transport to and from the ground each day from the Chaophya Park Hotel, a tournament Shirt, Cap and Souvenir Program, the actual tournament costs, Event Trophies and more. If you cannot arrange a full team but still wish to join in, Maher says you should still consider coming, as he is fairly confident he can match people up with a team for the event. Maher said the people involved with running the Pattaya Sixes cricket are hoping to bring up two teams to compete at the Bangkok event. Given the way Pattaya Sixes has managed to grow in strength in recent times this should not really be a problem. Nonetheless, anyone who would like to join fellow Pattaya
expats and regulars in competing in the Bangkok games should go on-line and check out www.pattayasixes.com to see who to contact. For further information and bookings, log on to their websites: www.thailandsixes.com & www. cricketsixes.com
Hotels and delicious New Zealand ice cream generously donated by Bourbon Natural Dairy Co Ltd. The Mayors of Pattaya, Nongprue and Pong have pledged their attendance to grace this memorable occasion for a short official opening ceremony. MERCY Center is well known for its care and protection of abused, misused, abandoned, orphaned children at their Children’s Home. MERCY, too, cares for 100 poor families, delivering vital foodstuffs to the Pattaya slums every week. It also runs a ‘Single Parent Support Project’, ‘Care for the Poor’ and The Scholarship Project which, through
Pattaya Street Kids and independent sponsors, currently enables 220 students to attend school, by supplying essentials such as school fees (where necessary), books, shoes, uniforms, lunches and care. The MERCY Center’s offices are located by Big C South off Duck Square/Pattaya Tai. You can find out more on 25th September or by telephoning our new member, Lyndy on 088-208-1318 or email her: mercypr.lyndy@gmail.com. Official invitations will be issued and, meantime, if anyone would care to donate time, goods or currency towards the organization of the festivities, please let her know.
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Pete’s Peregrinations By Peter Lloyd
Muscat, Oman
I am writing this in Muscat, Oman, where I have had to come, on 24 hours notice, for 2 days of business meetings, after which I fly back to Thailand again. Usually I love visiting Oman, but this time it’s slightly different, because it is the Moslem fasting month of Ramadan, which means all the shops are shut during the day, no food is served in any restaurants, there are no cars on the road, no pedestrians, and no alcohol can be served, anywhere, day or night. The whole place simply shuts down until sunset, when everything suddenly springs into life as the inhabitants break their fast. Being a non-Moslem, I sensibly
brought some Mama brand noodles with me from Thailand, for consuming in my room during the day so I wouldn’t die of hunger, and for a nightcap, I brought some Sangsom rum. I am here with a business partner from the UK, who has a distinctly more refined palate than I do, but he gratefully got stuck into the noodles at lunchtime, and also
< This was Nong Khai in early
Nong Khai
August, with me mucking around on the fourth-top step, just above river level. The river was very flooded even then. This is the same place just two weeks later.>
Who said the Mekong is drying up?
After my Oman trip, we came up to Nong Khai for our second visit this month. The first was after Nok 10 [storm] had hit, resulting in metrehigh floods in the town centre. The town looked like a war zone with sandbags, debris and water damage to almost every property in the centre. This time the Mekong River is extremely high, and much higher than two weeks ago. The Governor has alerted the town to the possibility that it might break its banks, which would cause unthinkable misery and damage to Nong Khai’s residents. But you can see from my photos how dramatically high the river is compared to earlier this year and even compared to two weeks ago. This was the view along the Mekong in March (Pictured above). Note the band of concrete running well above the line of the terraces on the right, and how far down
the rum, mixed with pomegranate juice, in the evening, which tasted delicious. When I visit my Omani friends, I end up taking a huge rucksack with me, packed with Thai food, which they love. I clear out all nearby 7:11s in Pattaya of their stocks of tamarinds in salt and chilli, and buy various spicy chilli pastes from the
markets, dried spicy fish, dry Tom Yam Kung mixes, about 50 packets of different varieties of Thai curry mixes, and anything else I think they will like. Tonight, after we had finished our meetings, we strolled around the old town of Muscat, through the huge, old market, along the seafront as the sun sank behind the mountains and ended up eating at a pavement food outlet, which sold delicious somosas and shwarmas, sitting on rickety chairs at an old table as we ate them. This was in marked contrast to the night before when we paid the equivalent of 3,000 Baht for an indifferent buffet dinner in an international hotel - I would rather have had the mama noodles for free in my room. Tonight however, our pavement café was excellent, as we sat and watched the city burst into postfasting life, enjoying the evening light show, as multicoloured pastel shades streaked the sky over the harbour. Cheap Charlie? Definitely. And much happier for it.
below the boats are. This is from exactly the same spot in late August (pictured below). You can just see the top of the same band of concrete, and look where the boats are now. >
Contact me at : pattayaonepete@gmail.com
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR If you would like to voice your opinion in print, please send us your thoughts and ideas by email to: editor@pattayaone.net Letters may be edited to improve clarity and spelling.
POLICE SHAKEDOWNS Sir, Today I saw a bunch of policemen at Ekkamai station, when I got off the bus from Pattaya. They didn’t do anything to me I read later they scam money from victims coming from Pattaya by getting them to open their bags and if they find, like, Viagra, or other harmless stuff, they will take a lot of money from the guy who has it, in another highway robbery scam they have invented. Can you tell us, in your great wisdom: 1. Do the Thai police need a warrant to search your personal stuff, like when they want to search your home?
2. How would you folks at P1 handle it if a policeman wanted to search your bags in a bus station? Would you let him or not, given he may even plant something on you? Regards, Jack By email Viagra is not a medication for which a genuine police officer could make a case for arrest, unless you had about 500 tablets on you. As with anything in the Land of Scams as well as occasionally smiles you must remember that what you hear across a bar stool or read in some on-line forum
from a person who is hiding behind a name other than their real one, is usually rubbish mixed with a modicum of truth. The police must have a reason to stop you in the first place, and must equally have a reason to want to rifle through your belongings. They do not need a warrant per se to search you and your goods but they must give some reason for their interest in you. About a decade ago there was a period where police were indeed regularly pulling foreigners up at Ekamai station as they alighted from the Pattaya bus. After a lot of negative publicity, much of it warranted (if you’ll pardon the use of the word), they ceased to
engage in what were clearly acts of intimidation. Not sure if this was because of the adverse publicity or someone higher up the food chain sensibly put the idea on the skids. If you do happen to have a person in a uniform try something that you feel is unwarranted, pull out your mobile phone or camera and start taking the odd photo, or activate the recording device, or video the incident. Naturally, this probably won’t make the uniformed person too happy, but as long as you maintain your own equilibrium you will at least have some evidence of your own as a backup in case of a problem or allegation arising out of the police interest.
THE LIGHTS MAY AS WELL BE IN A TUNNEL Sir, I took the attached pic on South Pattaya Road when emergency services were called to attend to a (I think Russian) tourist who had been run over crossing the road at the pedestrian crossing with a broken traffic lights, near Wat Chaimongkol. Assuming she was safe on a crossing, even with broken lights, the Russian crossed the road with her friends, and was smacked into by a motorbike carrying three very young schoolkids from the school opposite, who were aged around 14 years old, and none of them were wearing a helmet. They were uninjured, but the tourist was taken to hospital with what looked like a broken foot.
I didn’t hang around to see if the kids got fined for not wearing helmets, but I doubt it. I wonder, out of all the traffic lights in the city, how many actually work, and what the city is doing about the ones that don’t? Why don’t they get the installers or manufacturers come and ensure that each one is working properly, before somebody is killed. In Pattaya these crossings don’t even amount to “pedestrian” in the sense of ordinary or undistinguished. They are much more dangerous and defective than that. They are rubbish - and a disgrace to the city. Name and address supplied.
trian lights has indeed proven to be haphazard. As we’ve noted before, a ‘pedestrian’ is viewed as some
kind of pond life by the average local and no set of coloured lights is going to change that perception.
Sadly, the idea was good, but the overall maintenance of the pedes-
Foreign Tourist Police Assistants Needed The Tourist Police are a special division of the Royal Thai Police. The FTPA assist with carrying out the functions of the Tourist Police including assistance to tourists and local community members, helping to resolve misunderstandings and disputes, offering general advice to tourists and providing services for international events from time to time. We operate primarily in the Walking Street/Beach Road entertainment area, nightly from 9.00 pm to 2.30 am. We are currently inviting qualified male and female foreigners living in Pattaya to join the group. It’s important for members to have a friendly and relaxed attitude, to enjoy helping others and to be able to spare one or more evenings a week. A probationary period, including initial training, is part of the program.
Our initial requirements are: • You live in Pattaya most of the time • You have a current and renewable one year visa • You have language skills or relevant backgroud experience • You have a verifiable clean police record in your home country and Thailand Applicants should send a short email telling us about yourself to ftpapattaya@gmail.com We will send you an application form and try to answer any questions you have. Feel free to visit us on Walking Street any night and don’t hesitate to see us if you need any assistance.
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THE A reader requested that I review some fish and ‘chipperys’. Always eager to please, I recently tried a few of the British favourites. For the uninitiated, the fish, usually cod or flake, is dipped in batter or bread crumbs and deep fried. It’s usually accompanied by hand cut chips (French Fries, if you’re American—huh?). A deservedly popular establishment is Goose’s Fish and Chips, located on Pattaya Second Road between Sois Seven and Eight. Goose’s is open daily from noon until 10 pm (Tel: 087 133 4240). The traditionally-styled, blue and white shop provides a touch of home for its expat customers. Goose’s has an extensive menu which includes filled pies, burgers and Thai food; but, my friend and I stuck to their trademark fish and chips. They offer five kinds of fish: Pacific Dory, Halibut, Cod loin, Cod fillet and Haddock. My dining companion went with the Dory (195 baht for a large portion) and I tried the Halibut (245). The fish itself was very tasty and tender and seemed quite fresh, indeed. The beer batter was light and crunchy; and was accompanied by real tartar sauce. In addition to the delicious, traditional chips, sides are included, such as
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FRUGAL GOURMAND
Halibut at Goose’s garden or mushy peas (another British favourite), beans and salad. We ordered two sides of coleslaw, which were perfectly prepared. The meal is also accompanied by bread and butter. There’s a big selection of ‘extras’, including gherkins, pickled egg and onion rings. You shouldn’t leave hungry. Another ‘can’t miss’ choice is the Jolly Friar, on Soi Lengkee, between Third Road and Soi Buakhow (Web site: www.jollyfriarpattaya.com). They’re open daily from noon to 2 am. They also offer five types of fish, fried in beer batter or breadcrumbs. I tried the cod in breadcrumbs (large size for 200 baht). Everything is a la carte; so, I ordered a ‘small’ portion of chips to
accompany my fish. Based on the size of the serving, I’d have to have been starving for a week to handle the medium or large size chips. I must say the fish was perfectly done, tender and moist and the coating was nice and crunchy. The homemade chunky chips were out of this world. This time, my companion was Thai and he ordered spicy seafood, which he said was, indeed, phet mahk and very arroy. The café is also done up in the traditional blue and white motif. Jolly Friar has a loyalty program: after you buy ten meals, your next one is free. For the last stop on my fish and chips odyssey, I visited The Village Chippy, located just inside The
Village housing estate, off Third Road (opposite the Pattaya Fire Station). Their sign, at the entrance to The Village, wasn’t lit on the night I visited. So it was easy to miss; but, fortunately I did find it. They’re open daily from 11am to 11:30pm. Although decidedly not a fancy joint, consisting of a couple of outside tables and a small inside section, primarily for ordering takeout, The Village Chippy makes up for its lack of ambiance with the quality and selection of its food. As with the Jolly Friar, everything is a la carte. I ordered the medium size cod at 130 baht (Portions come in ‘medium’ and ‘large’ sizes.) and medium chips (40 baht). I washed it all down with a pint of Asahi beer for 90 baht. The cod was light, moist, tasty and perfectly coated in crispy batter. The chunky chips passed muster with flying colours. They also offer dory and shark [let’s hope they discontinue that ASAP. Ed.], as well as other traditional British fare, such as steak and kidney pie. You can check out their menu at: www.thevillagechippypattaya.com. I was glad to know that there’s an abundance of fish and chips places here in Fun Town. Now, how about a nice, juicy steak?
If you have any favorite restaurants you’d like included; or like your restaurant reviewed, email: FrugalGourmand@Pattayaone.net
Dine and Fly beats dine and dash
The Hilton Hotel in Pattaya has been running a promotional campaign it terms ‘Dine ‘n’ Fly with Hilton Pattaya’ and the first winner was announced in the first week of August. Khun Suwisa Ridphu (second from left) won return airfares
for two, two nights’ accommodation and daily breakfast at Conrad Koh Samui. Two more holidays are to be won and for customers who dine at the Hilton Pattaya. The campaign continues until 30 September 2011.
Pattaya’s Dangerous Jobs Every few weeks we read of another electrocuted electrician in Pattaya, or of a utilities worker who grabbed hold of the wrong cable, resulting in an untimely death, so spare a thought for this brave man, who recently voluntarily entangled himself in the city’s spaghetti-like telephone cabling on South Pattaya Road. Not content with the safety of the bamboo ladder, he gingerly hoisted himself onto the cables, and shifted himself along like a trapeze artist, until he was where he needed to be, with no thought for what an unexpected power surge might do to his family inheritance. Nor of what might happen if the cables simply
snapped beneath him. Whether many Pattayans experienced outages and disconnected calls as his backside flattened their land lines, is anybody’s guess.
12 Pattaya One
Fun Town’s most vibrant
1 - 15 September 2011 Issue 23
ABOVE BAWD IN PATTAYA By JOHN THOMAS our Internet Forum Snoop
All comments or Web Board tipoffs gratefully received at jt@pattayaone.net ed lish mo de i 6-1 being Beer Bar complex in So y for Tropical Bert’s. wa ke Many found all three...and many stayed on ing a parking place has become even a bigger in 2006 to ma
Pattaya in Low Season (Part 1)
This being low season, I thought an examination of a current “low season/Pattaya is changing” thread might be useful to test the city’s temperature better than a rectally inserted thermometer. So I read a thread on Thai Visa called “Disappearing Farang. What is happening?” which started out as a low season thread but turned into a Pattaya is Changing one, as both issues are closely linked. Chops kicked us off with a post hitting many relevant points: Are Farang becoming an extinct species? I was just in Central Festival and there are only Indians and Russians in there these days. And the bar scene? Seems like every bar is closing down and half deserted. I know it’s low season, but this is simply awful. What happened? Are the western economies that bad? I’ve been coming here since 2006 and in the last 2 years this place has gone straight downhill. Endure immediately picked up on what many posters saw as the subtext of this topic (namely, where have all the Farang gone who used to flock here for something other than sun, sea and sand?): What are Russians if not farang? Hotandhumind said: Give me a Russian over a tattooed UK chav any day. CHdiver suggested: You could visit Soi Buakaow, I guess there you will find what you are looking for. FarangBuddha righty pointed out that Pattaya is IMPROVING, not just changing. “going straight downhill”...not so sure. The Central Beach Mall is a big improvement on the tacky rows of beer-bars it replaced. The same goes for lots of other hotels, condos, and restos/stores that have displaced other sex-related businesses around town. JSixpack put the topic in a historical context: Sigh. Well, it’s time for the annual “Dying Pattaya” thread that rolls around in the low season as inevitably as the annual “Hate Songkran” thread in March. Every low season is the worst ever seen. I don’t see any need for this thread as it is totally redundant. Lonewolf99 replied on a broad canvas Between 3 and 15 years ago lots of Europeans came here for cheap holidays sunshine and sex.
with a Thai girlfriend / wife and bought into the dream…settling down in gated villages on the dark side or they live up country so you will never see them trawling around Beach Road. Also add the crumbling Euro economy, and a Tourist Board offering cheap package holidays to Indians, Chinese and Soviet Bloc nations. Empty Bars....sure and more and more being built and always a mug to try and take over where someone else has failed. Tolley stuck up for the new Pattaya, which he saw as emerging from the rubble of the old one:
Sorry I think Pattaya is getting better. I don’t mourn the absence of large groups of tatooed, head shaven lager louts trawling the sois of Pattaya. A few skanky beer bars being knocked down is no biggie either it is not as if there is any shortage of bars in Pattaya. There are a lot more amenities in Pattaya than there ever were 5 or 10 years ago and all the better Pattaya is for it.
problem than last year.
Lots of places have closed. But even more have opened, and those that have closed have been or are being renovated. The development around Soi Buakaow has been incredible. And there’s north Pattaya on 2nd Rd. It’s the dynamic nature of a free market. Consider the vast number of shops that opened in Central and Tukcom, and they’re doing well despite predictions of DOOM. But many posters ONLY consider beer bars as “real” businesses. And for the bars, as Nightmarch notes, many that close are renovated, and new go gos open all the time. The fact is that business is so good in Pattaya that there is plenty of money around to invest in new go-gos and renovations. The U-too Bar and its neighbors have been demolished! This is all you’ve noticed. BUT a new “entertainment complex” is being built to replace it. This has happened in the last year at several locations around Pattaya.
JSixpack agreed, and made an extremely erudite contribution, doing his own demolition job on points made by other posters:
Meanwhile, McDonalds just opened up a kiosk on Walking Street. The Made In Thailand market is getting a facelift. A new high-rise condo just broke ground at Wong Amart. A Russian channel advertises condos non-stop on Pattaya cable.
Off season is getting longer and high season shorter.
Finally, talk is of a high-speed train link to Pattaya. The airport highway just opened last year.
This is common to all “Dying Pattaya” threads every year. But it isn’t true, as Russians, Chinese, Thais, Arabs, and Indians have more than taken up any slack.
Many farangs have left for better places (ten year trend).
Walking Street remains crowded even beyond the old high season, better hotels are doing well (last year saw the opening of the Hilton), and Central has been doing extremely well and is a source of daily traffic jams. Couldn’t even find a seat in the Central food court the other day.
The place is losing much of its former sanook factor.
For Thais, a few hundred jobs have opened up in Pattaya this year. I and many others here LIKE the new development, like Central, Tukcom, the Hilton buffet, Walking Street, and the numerous new restaurants and bars. And we like it that many poor Thais who would have no jobs and possibly careers are now able to have them. Finally, it’s nice that other ethnic groups can enjoy Pattaya as well. Love all those beautiful Russian women walking around now. The traffic situation could be improved (think London or NY without subways) and possibly may be when a crisis point is reached. It’s not yet a crisis, merely unpleasant--a tradeoff most of us are willing to live with. Also, I note that find-
But many more have arrived, you see.
No. I and many others can attest that there’s an overflowing abundance of sanook here. More than ever, in fact. Some of the newest bars, like Airport, right on Walking Street are even more sanook than the bars of old (by one definition of sanook). In many go-gos, beer is a lot cheaper than it used to be owing to draft beer and happy hours. In general Walking Street is better than it was 10 years ago. So nice to walk on it now without dodging crazy steroid heads posing on their rented Honda Steeds. Pattaya has evolved to accommodate more upscale tourists and other ethnic groups even as it has expanded facilities (new go-gos, Soi Buakaow, new cheap restaurants) for the old traditional mongers. And with that strong rebuttal of the Pattaya is going to the dogs argument, we’ll leave this topic until the next edition.
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Fun Town’s most vibrant
Pattaya One 13
Travel Thailand & beyond
Manila: the Ins and Outs By Duncan Stearn Prior to my first trip to Manila, the Philippines capital, I was given a few pre-arrival warnings, especially as they related to the international airport. The first came from my friend and fellow writer Neil Hutchison. Neil lived for a period of time in the Philippines before moving to Thailand, and was almost apoplectic in his derision of the former Spanish, later United States, colony. His description of the international airport as the Ninoy Aquino ‘national disgrace’ proved pretty accurate. The second warning came from a newspaper article from 19 May 2011 which noted, ‘Two people were hurt as a plaster ceiling collapsed at the…international airport…’ The report stated two bits of the ceiling in the 29-year-old Terminal 1 at the airport had fallen onto a couple of staff members. The terminal manager, whose first name of Dante might well have been appropriate (think Dante’s The Inferno), stated the fairly obvious when referring to Terminal 1: “It is showing signs of old age.” The article noted Ninoy Aquino, ‘has made it into several online lists of the world’s worst...’ From sundry descriptions I expected Manila to resemble some kind of failed metropolis full of characters who could pass for extras in the Mad Max series of films. I knew Manila is regarded as the second-most destroyed city of the Second World War, after Warsaw. I figured about seven decades should have been enough time to rebuild the joint. Due to these warnings I packed two gas masks, a bio-hazard suit, a dozen worming tablets, and a cyanide pill, in case suicide looked to be the better option. As with most Asian cities there’s a surfeit of transport options for the vehicularly challenged. The wellknown jeepneys look like they were designed by dwarves for the comfort of midgets. Some are extremely colourful and appear to be lovingly maintained, possibly even doubling as a home on wheels, after hours. Others have the battered and tattered look of a road warrior past its prime. All of them spew more than enough carbon monoxide than is good for human health. There are pedalcabs that look like a pup tent on wheels and designed
Saint Anthony of Padua bus, a jeepney, a travelling vendor all near the overhead rail link for lighter and shorter bodies than the average Western tourist. The public buses reflect the Catholicism of much of the island of Luzon: the ‘Blessed Grace Express’ and ‘Saint Anthony of Padua’ being just two examples. Taking a pre-arranged taxi to my hotel, almost every public transport vehicle from buses to jeepneys to taxis to horse-drawn buggies had the question ‘How’s my driving?’ stencilled onto its frame. There’s a number to call or text to answer that question, should you so desire. I have no idea whether making a phone call to complain about a specific vehicle makes any difference. Getting onto a train (the LRT as it is called) requires some patience: a security guard performs what can only be described as a perfunctory check at the top of the stairs. A queue forms and can stretch back to the pavement below. Like Thailand, the national flag flies from almost anywhere and everywhere. My hotel was one recommended to me and situated centrally, off Roxas Boulevard, the thoroughfare that runs alongside Manila Bay. Winkel Dee, it sounds like the kind of name someone would assign to a children’s toy, but in fact it belongs to the desk clerk at the hotel. Imagine what a winkel dee might look like, and you won’t be too far away from the one who works in this place.
Exit
Leaving proved to be an interesting exercise in itself. I jumped into a taxi but when I asked the driver
to take me to the airport he didn’t want to use the meter. “It’s Friday night, a lot of traffic. You pay 200 pesos OK?” I had previously asked hotel reception how much a taxi should cost, and the lady told me, “Not much traffic, about 200 pesos; a lot of traffic, 300 pesos.” Based on this assessment, I agreed to pay the driver the 200 pesos. It proved a good deal. The traffic was horrendously slow and the eight-kilometre trip took more than an hour. I was amazed when the driver didn’t bat an eyelid or plead financial insanity when giving me his first quote. He meekly took the 200 pesos and I wandered into the maelstrom of the crowded terminal building, keeping a wary eye on the ceiling and possible gravitationally-challenged plaster. To be fair, the entire exiting process was no worse than many other places. Once a ticket has been
issued and passengers head towards Customs and Immigration, the silliness starts. The baggage x-ray lines are divided along gender lines: males in one line, females the other. You have to take your shoes off, even if, like me, you happen to be wearing open-soled sandals (without socks). The weirdest episode came at the terminal gate. I was flying Kuwait Airways, and once again was subjected to a check of my belongings. Rifling through my toiletries bag, the security man pulled out my shaving razor and removed the blade (length: slightly less than four centimetres). “You cannot take this on the plane,” he stated officiously. I was going to argue about the stupidity of impounding a used razor blade, but then realised he might have profiled me as the type to attempt suicide in mid-flight by whipping out the razor blade and running it across my throat a dozen or more times in an attempt to open up a vein. What made the action even more stupid was the economy-class meals came complete with stainless steel knives, forks and spoons: potentially far more lethal than a simple razor blade. If I wanted to hijack the plane I don’t think threatening a stewardess with a four-centimetre used disposable razor blade quite approaches a 15-centimetre long stainless steel knife. Maybe there’s a black market in used razor blades.
Are these anything like bed warmers?
14 Pattaya One
A Fool in
Paradise
Bar Tip - Rule 257
Part One
Owning, managing or running a bar in Pattaya is a serious business and not for the novice or faint-hearted. I know quite a few bar owners around town and can state categorically that I envy none of them. Whether you are Thai or farang, running a bar is a 24/7 business and you can’t take your eyes off it for a second. If you do, you might as well take your money outside and burn it. I couldn’t and wouldn’t run a bar no matter how much money I was offered, much preferring the life of a valued customer rather than a financial stakeholder. Nevertheless, I do enjoy talking with bar owners and hearing their side of the story. All are at different stages of the sometimes painful learning process and a couple are even successful. Several volumes could be written about becoming a successful bar owner and they would still not tell
Half a decade in a tough market: The balloons will be out in force, the free buffet will be well and truly raided, and the party in full swing by the time most people read this, but it’s still worthy of note that the Secrets lounge lizard libation room and coyote dancing bar (Soi 14, off Walking Street) will be celebrating its fifth birthday on Thursday night 1 September. Secrets was a concept that five years ago certainly raised the bar in terms of quality bar, in both metaphorical and figurative terms. There’s no truth in the rumour that the London Clock, the main man behind the bar and the concept, had somehow decided upon the name Secrets after discovering the Thai military’s plans to oust the government of Fearless Leader in a coup just over a week later. Think about the implications: five years ago Thailand’s political turmoil boiled over and since then the place has resembled a basket case to many outsiders and potential newcomers. To have been running a successful business during that time cannot have been easy, yet Secrets proved an instant winner from day one. As I wrote at the time, ‘The bar stools are comfortable, the big screen TVs will be a drawcard for watching any and all sports, the
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the full story. Experience, be it bitter or sweet, is the key to success. With that in mind, I can pass on small pieces of advice which have been learned from experience. It may be obvious to some and trivial to others, but it is still worth bearing in mind if you’re new to the business. Simple fact: bars make most of their money from selling booze. In places like Pattaya, they also derive a smaller income from the bar fines paid by customers for the privilege of taking a staff-member out to the movies. That being the case, the female staff have a significant impact on how successful or otherwise a bar will be. They are your ‘front line’ and a lot depends on the first impression they give potential customers. A novice may think it is simply a matter of hiring a bunch of pretty girls and letting them bring in the punters, but it is a little more complicated than that.
For a start, hiring the girls is not that easy and I can’t think of one bar owner in Pattaya who is not constantly on the lookout for extra staff. The market is in the girl’s favour and they are fickle about where they are willing to work. But let’s say you are lucky with your new beer bar venture and have plenty of girls to choose from. Logic dictates you are going to pick the prettiest ones because they are likely to attract the most male customers to your bar. And that is your first mistake. What happens if all your beautiful employees are bar fined on the first day? Who is going to serve the drinks? The cashier and mamasan are going to quickly tire of the added workload and you certainly can’t do it. In any case, without the pretty smiling faces, just how many customers are going to be enticed to sit down? Then what do you do when none of the girls turn up for work the next day? In the fictitious book of ‘How to be a Successful Bar Owner’, this would probably be Rule 257: The prettier the girl, the less chance of her staying. It is a jungle out there, with cruising lions in the shape of foreign men and other bar owners who would not give a second thought to enticing the beautiful lady away from you. You may start with six stunners working for you but I guarantee there would be no
more than one left by the end of the month. Most likely, all six will be gone in less than two weeks. My mate used to own a beer bar in Soi Diana and he was renowned for employing the ‘homeliest’ girls in Pattaya. One politically incorrect mutual friend used to accuse him of sneaking up to an ‘ugly village’ every month to get his new recruits. On the rare occasion he did get a beautiful employee, she stood out like Halle Berry in a bingo hall. We would take bets on how long she would last and nobody ever bet on anything longer than a week. The average was two days. So, if it is impractical to hire all beautiful women, who do you hire? The simple answer in these current employment conditions is you take whoever you can get. Under the best of conditions you should hire a mixture; some pretty, some not so pretty, some young, some older, some thin and some plump; but there is no set formula. Next issue I will continue with advice on managing female employees in a beer bar. Newton’s Third Law of Motion states: “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Similarly, in the Pattaya beer bar world, Rule 258 says that “For every obvious positive there is a hidden negative just waiting to bite you on the bum.” … to be continued
N ghtmarch By Duncan Stearn
food from the large kitchen I was told by those who sampled the buffet was first-class, and liver wasters come in ham-fist sized glasses…’ Nothing has changed in Secrets, but what it has done is forced a lot of new businesses in the nightlife arena to raise their own levels in order to compete. Get on this cloud: A couple of issues ago I mentioned a few interesting go-go bar websites. One I missed was www.heavenabovepattaya.com which is a real cracker. OK, I happen to know the bloke who designed it, but to me it reflects a simple but sexy style which should make most people who land on it want to dig deeper. Heaven Above go-go (Soi Diamond) has succeeded despite its upstairs location because the people behind the den make a real, concerted effort at marketing their establishment. This new website and the regular newsletter (which, I’m told but cannot confirm, has about 10,000
email: duncan@pattayaone.net
subscribers) means Heaven Above has very effectively utilised the Internet as a marketing tool in an effort to keep itself relevant and on the radar as far as potential new custom is concerned. More horn than an African poacher could handle: I have to confess to being pleasantly surprised by the fairly new Rhino go-go (southern end of Walking Street). Although there’s nothing radically different about this den compared to almost anywhere else -apart from its somewhat incongruous name- it had about 30 dancing damsels of varying attractiveness who were clearly not too worried about standard dress regulations. There’s a front entrance which leads to another door through which you gain entrance to the dancing area. In this front section is a sofa upon which were sat about six dancers who squealed as I walked past; and I didn’t lay a hand on any of them, honest. It was a change from the
usual disinterested stares you get in so many dens these days. Inside it was also friendly enough, and with draft amber at 60 baht it makes the place worthy of at least a second visit. Random thoughts: I think I know the answer, so the following question is more rhetorical than a serious probe: just how is it possible for so many women from East of the Ural mountain range to work out in the open on Walking Street spruiking for business? I was always under the impression a work permit could only be obtained by someone doing something a Thai national could not. Handing out flyers to passers-by is hardly rocket science. There are certainly no takers for the long-closed shophouses along Walking Street which used to house such dens of the chrome pole as Cosy, Powers, and Hootys. Meanwhile, in Soi 15 the former Fun Room also remains closed, even though it had apparently been
1 - 15 September 2011 Issue 23 sold and renovated. As at the time of writing the former Mirage gogo (Soi Diamond) is still that…a mirage, even though the work on the joint is just about finished. Finally, the long-running Abbe’s beer and street watching boozer (Walking Street) appears to have gone in for aural assault in an effort of expand its customer base. I walked past the other night and the volume wasn’t on loud, it was past the bit on the amplifier that reads ‘makes your ears bleed’. It’s getting closer: As readers of this publication in print may well have noticed, the newspaper is about to undergo a major change in the sense that it will be transformed into a purely on-line operation. As an old print journalist and lover of books, magazines and newspapers in tactile format (i.e. once was a tree) I will be a little disappointed to see it go. Yet, like pretty much everyone else who doesn’t live in a dwelling resembling a shrub or a clump of denuded sticks, I have found myself spending more time looking at almost everything online. You name it, somewhere out there in the ether there’s a dozen websites of varying quality where you’ll find whatever it is you happen to want. So, as far as this column is concerned, its days in print are now numbered, but the opportunities to provide an even better ‘service’ are
Pattaya One 15
Fun Town’s most vibrant enhanced. Let me give a very real example. In past years, whenever the management of the Diamond go-go (Soi Diamond) were going to hold one of their popular in-house dance contests, the owner would usually inform me in plenty of time for it to be publicised in print. In recent times this has changed because the contests are not as regular as in the past, so being able to provide pre-publicity has been all-but impossible. With the move to a regularly updated website it means I can be apprised of an event in the morning that’s going to take place the evening, and be able to publicise it on-line almost immediately. So many times in the past I’ve had to disappoint the occasional bar owner or manager by telling them they had just missed the deadline for copy for print. Now, a simple phone call, SMS or email imparting the information means I can post that news on-line. It’s not been decided whether this column will become a series of small-bites uploaded over the course of a two-week period, or become a regular weekly or fortnightly newspaper-style piece as it has been for the past 11 years. The first few months I guess will sort that out with the response the website receives from readers. Piece of Pith: Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
s a t i l o L www.lolitapattaya.com
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• Coyote Dancing Nightly Sat-Thurs • Extensive Music & Video Library • Live Music Friday Nights • Complimentary Pool & Wi-Fi
Ask the staff about our VIP Card! Soi LK Metro, Pattaya. Tel: 038 720 689 Open 10am-2am
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16 Pattaya One
Fun Town’s most vibrant
Toyota rolls out the Champ, but not at chump change When Toyota launches a new model everyone takes notice, but when it upgrades Thailand’s best-selling vehicles the benchmark is reset, and that is just the case with the new Hilux and Fortunner, makeovers that aim to keep them at the top of their respective trees. Both are now in Toyota’s Pattaya dealerships. The Hilux sits astride the new car market here: 165,000 were sold last year, and significantly, 45 percent were bought as private cars. That meant the first focus was to improve ride and comfort, as Toyota
1 - 15 September 2011 Issue 23
is a great way to promote your business or your next event. Perfect for restaurants and bars. Our Drink and Beverage Coasters can be custom imprinted with your logo or promotional message.
To order yours call: 0854 30 38 36 email: coastercandy@gmail.com looked to tailor this global workhorse to the demands of individual markets. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it – applies here, so the new Hilux is all about evolution. Visually, the reworked front gives this workhorse a tougher, more aggressive stance, while the new headlights hint at sportiness. Inside, a new instrument panel offers more refinement. Under the skin the engine and transmission line-up remains unchanged but the former now benefits from Toyota’s “Diamond Tech”:
new injectors with a special carbon coating improve combustion cycle efficiency, reduce soot build-up and extend the life cycle of components. There is a small premium for the new Hilux; starting at 487,000 baht it rises through the usual three specifications – single, extended and dual cabin – to 981,000 baht. For football-mad Thailand, Toyota has drafted in superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to be the face of the marketing campaign; so the new model is now known as the Hilux Vigo Champ. The new Fortuner meanwhile improves its ‘luxury’ credentials, Toyota has seen its owners growing
in affluence since it was launched in 2004 and it want to keep them hooked into this SUV, turning it into a symbol of status. So the Fortuner gets a new front end treatment, with a shiny-chrome finished grille, bigger wheel arch covers and shiny new rear lights. Inside there are new trims to try to distinguish it from its Hilux origins. The new model pricing runs from 1,059,000 baht for the 2.5 2WD, rising to 1,489,000 for the 3.0 4WD.
By Edd Ellison e: edd@interfuture-media.com ph: 083 8005800)