Lemondropkid

3 hours ago, Bazle said:

I think it is not particularly good news! 

In relation to Phuket, I understand that they have been allowed to have a stand, but are required to charge the taxi mafia rates. 

I was solely thinking of BKK myself Baz, in terms of places I pass through often.

Never been to Phuket, the cost and transport issues have always put me off. I do hear it's terrific though.

This is good news. Grab officially allowed into both BKK airports, Chiang Mai and Phuket.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2766949/grab-taxi-service-comes-to-suvarnabhumi

22 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

At this rate I'll be lucky to get past the 2000 barrier ...!!! 

Isn't there 8 game weeks left, you will be way by 2000?

Jeez have a look at my score this week if you think things are bad😭

19 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

Also with Billabong the 2-1 only applies to House spirits, the House vodka is the worse I have tasted ... if you order Smirnoff then they charge 130 Baht per drink ... I can get the same in an air conditioned bar or GoGo 🤷‍♂️

I now avoid , unless friends want to meet there ... but I prefer Time Bar myself 

Thanks for the current info. I'd much rather be over the road in air conditioned comfort, and not have to listen to the Billabong's awful house band.

Joy of Patts, something for everyone's tastes.

20 minutes ago, hugh cow said:

Went to the Triangle bar thought I'd try it out. Had a place mat that said All beer and spirits two for one. I asked the waitress (always looking for the scam) does that mean two drinks for the price of one. She said yes. I got the first drink and looked at the bin and the price was for two drinks. When I queried it they said that's right you get the one price for two drinks. Nice scam. First and last time I will go to the Triangle bar. Spoke to a guy on the way out and he got caught with the same thing. Said he was leaving after he finished the drink so two potential regulars that they lost. Not that they will care.

Out of interest how much did each beer work out as then?

The Billabong run the same scheme as I recall, I'd guess the real earner comes from the number of people who never finish there second drink, the probability of that rise with each order!!

The Sunday Times Thriller of the year, 2nd of 2 in series no need to read the first one to follow it. First book is excellent though, this has started very well.

Mozzarella, tomato, basil, touch of black pepper to keep it interesting, on sourdough. Balked a bit on the 240 baht price, but it was terrific.

4 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

wasn't happy with the trail the hares set. So many opportunities to avoid the farm fields and keep us under shade, but instead, for whatever reason they elected to use the unshaded areas. The worst was one section that went 600m on tarmac road. With the heat it felt like twice the distance. All the while I'm trudging along the road I'm looking to the left at beautiful tree canopy that if I were the hare I would have looped the trail through.

I'd have been furious. Its killing heat at the moment why deliberately put people through the worst of it?

Is this a macho thing?

You can get a visa on arrival, in January it only took around 5 minutes from handing my passport over to it being returned with a 1 month stamp. It may have even been $5 cheaper.

Here is the official site if you want to get the visa in advance.

https://www.evisa.gov.kh/

The processing time is a few working days. Simple print of the visa that you will get sent as an attachment.

There's nothing like the choice of accomodation you get in Thailand. If you need a pool then the Sun & Moon, if not a fellow BM gave me a glowing report on the Tao Riverside.

I've done 1000 baht rooms in the past in PP, but ended up with dingy, poorly lit rooms with questionable security. It just isn't worth it.

I tend to bring USD expect to often get your change in KHR. It would probably be most cost efficient to do everything in KHR but I've never gotten around to figuring the best way to do that.

I love Phom Penhn but it isn't cheap anymore, don't expect any bargains.

Have met some very civilised Russians living here, who make the average Brit look a peasant.

If made to pick I find the Indians consistently the rudest.

Just now, boydeste said:

Got to be done. 

Did you get 2 to avoid queuing up again?

Excellent imported IPA at 189, they'll be some + on top but a great live band, all good 

35 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

Yeah, I guess there has to be some reason why you're paying almost 100 Baht for a 330 cl bottle of locally brewed beer. Master brewing craftsmanship, the finest ingredients from across the globe, or pure unadulterated greed.

I enjoyed a Muay Thai Brewery beer recently. They are brewed by the Heart of Darkness brewery in Vietnam, then imported and taxed accordingly, but badged as a "Thai" craft beer. Similar scenario with many of these Thai brewers who won't produce anything like the crazy minimum 10 million litres per annum to be allowed to brew legally in Thailand.

16 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

Probably for the GoGo thread , but just quoted 3000 Baht bf in Windmill... or if I wait until 01:00 1500 Baht ... and LT 5000 apparently.. girl didn't say anything only mamasan involved ( when I asked the girl before , she said she didn't know price .. 🤷‍♂️ ) 

Not been in there for 8 years or so, dreadful place. Has it been taken over by Pin Up😄

3 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

I tried Phuket lager many years ago when it first came out, but didn't see the point of paying over the odds for another bog standard Thai lager. I don't know if this is from the same brewery, or a completely different company, but it's much better. I prefer it to the Carabao Dunkel, which is a decent drop of dark, though as it's around three times as expensive as the Carabao I'd have hoped so.

I agree it's excellent. Far, far better than the majority of Thai craft beers.

Unfortunately I was very reliably informed they have been bought out by Singha. Who being arseholes, brew it in Thailand but sell it at the price of an imported beer( which is of course, heavily taxed).

3 hours ago, boydeste said:

First opportunity to try this in the Brick house last night.

Very impressed at 90b for a large bottle 

A little backstory picked up from Forbes, July 2023. Shows in part just how much money the Tawadeng outlets must have made

"Sathien Sathientham, whose $1.5 billion fortune stems largely from Carabao Dang, an energy drink named after a popular rock band, is getting into large-scale beer brewing. He’s investing 4 billion baht ($115 million) to build a factory in central Thailand with the aim of capturing 3% of the estimated 257-billion-baht domestic beer market in the first year of operations.

The investment is being made through Tawandang Brewery, which Sathien established last year. The first batch of beer is expected by year-end and distribution will be through Bangkok-listed Carabao Group, the energy drink maker Sathien cofounded in 2002 with his pal, singer Yuenyong Opakul, who goes by the stage name of Aed Carabao, and business partner Nutchamai Thanombooncharoen (No. 38).

On 3/16/2024 at 1:10 PM, Toy Boy said:

Here's another Thai craft beer, this one is supposed to be a Helles lager. I admit that I don't have much experience of Helles beers, you don't really see much of them outside Germany, I guess, so credit to them for trying. My best memory of the Helles genre is the Kuchlbauer Helles, which is a really great pint, very clean and rounded and pleasant. This Thai attempt was OK, but it  had a bit of a chemical tang to it. My taste buds may have just been playing up when I drank it, and I'd be willing to try it again, but it was far from cheap at 139 Baht for a half-litre can from Villa, so I'm not rushing out to buy some more.

Read about Crispy Boy winning an international brewing medal was keen to try it.

Really poor, tipped away the last 3rd of a can.

Tasted nothing like a Helles, think you are being polite calling it OK 😁

2 minutes ago, boydeste said:

My company was a BM here. Lol.

You make a very handsome couple 🥰

1 hour ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Of all the expats i know here in Korat i only know one who works out in a gym, guess who ? Some do walks or have some gym equipment at their home but they are very much in the minority.

 

Answer - Our very own Coxyhog 👍

That's impressive, so hot at the moment I'm struggling to find the energy to make it to the condo exercise room.

Maybe if I had a decent large gym with AC I might make the effort- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it

15 hours ago, boydeste said:

Chicken Parmigiana in the Sportsman. 

Have they made you a shareholder?

4 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

No more 49er, Best Bitter or Old Thumper .... to be replaced by Marston's Midlands piss water ...

FFS won't be much left for Real Ale Free Houses to stock soon !!

I think it will be still brewed but Carlsberg will move the production to one of it's own sites.  Standard stuff from the big brewers, buy the brand and shut down the local brewer.

I'm a bit more postive and think the micro pubs(converted small shops) are the ray of hope in the UK. 

2 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

If I was back in UK I'd be searching for a pint of your namesake ... Old Thumper brewed by Ringwood Brewery ... Lush !!!

Carlsberg have closed the original brewery

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23978120.ringwood-brewery-closure-tragedy-town/

10 hours ago, Bazle said:

Maybe this is easier to read:

Much clearer, have seen the top 2 live in London. Willie Nelson only 10 years back, had no clue he was 80 at the time.