A few notes from a recent trip to Pattaya. OCT '11

[newalaan]

Just some updates and notes from a recent trip.

TAXI-Used P.T.taxi (http://www.pttaxiservice.com) from silom to Pattaya cost Bt1100 inc tolls. (their Pattaya to Airport is Bt900 inc tolls/Airport to Pattaya Bt1000 inc tolls). Vehicle was large modern MPV, very comfortable and quick but well driven. Without doubt this is the best taxi service since I started coming to Thailand years ago. Booking/price agreed by email. I used them twice on my previous visit also and service as good on this trip. I would definitely recommend them. Driver was there waiting for me 15 mins before scheduled time on all occassions I have used them, VERY efficient.

ACCOMODATION-I'm always banging the drum for Mosaik, but i've yet to be let down or disappointed by the place. Our 50sqm Prestige studio with balcony, kitchen area/with microwave, bed area with wardrobe and big lounge area with tv/video player two large comfy seats and huge sofa as well as table/chairs for taking meals worked out at Bt820 per night over 10 days inc water and electric. Secure parking for the car right outside, as the security are great at keeping an eye. So despite many hints a while back of Mosaik being sold or going downhill, it's just as good as it was years ago when we first started using it. Note: Cleaning/towel & sheets change and laundry extra.

Also i have to put in a word for the accomodation on my first 3 nights in Thailand. I went to pattaya first to meet up with friends and collect my vehicle before heading around thailand. I stayed at Baan Dok Mai, and were Mosaik not so convenient for us and so favoured by my bf as he likes cooking his own food and having plenty of room for visiting friends and nights in, i would definitely stay at Baan Dok Mai for the whole time i spend in Pattaya.Large well kitted out rooms and reasonable cost, huge top floor room with balconies great tv and video, tea/coffee, room safe, etc. My room had a small sofa at the foot of the bed which was great for lounging around watching dvd's ... at Bt850 per night, with a very helpful owner in Warwick and its position in Day/night 3 being a great asset. Near to everything a holidaymaker could need. 5 mins to sunee/boyztown, Tuk-com/massage/internet/supermarket/restaurants/food stalls right on the doorstep, baht buses at the end of the road. Unlike Mosaik there is daily cleaning and towel changes included. Also handy for gayromeo as there are so many interent shops around and all the boys know tuk-com for meet-ups. I would say an ideal place for newbies as well as returning visitors to Pattaya.

I stayed at Tarntawan in Bkk, i'll add my comments to the Tarntawan thread.

GETTING AROUND PATTAYA- As discussed in my motorcycle thread Songtaews can be hired as a taxi door-to-door at any time of evening/night/early morning for Bt100-Bt120 from south pattaya near Day/Night or Boyztown to north pattaya/3rd Rd etc... If two travelling thats about the same or cheaper than a motocy but if 4 or more its a bargain. Just flag down empty songtaew tell the driver you will give Bt100 to go to where-ever, if he says no, try Bt120, if no...pass on him and flag another, easy and quick if you don't mess about.

FOOD-Ate Thai food 90% of the time, the few occassions I ate western I used the restaurants on Day/Night soi 2. Had a late breakfast couple times at Palmers Bar Pattayland 2 accross from Happy Place, excellent food, breakfast inc tea/coffee/toast Bt100. Recommended!

DRIVING- Drove around quite a bit but from Khon Kaen area to Bkk, within a stretch of motorway 50km each side of Korat we met with 6 police checkpoints! my bf said only one was a genuine document checkpoint, fortunately we were not pulled to one side at any of them, twice i know was because they saw i was a farang and the rest pure luck as they were engaged with other vehicles including once when i kept very close behind a bus.

CLUBS- I did give some info on the clubs thread and visited- NAB...very good! but not packed. HOLLYWOOD...very packed! and ok. GRA-NAM...empty and ok. STARDICE....a bit like XYTE..it was very busy here with Asians till 1am then very quiet! HARDROCK CAFE...to see a concert, small but good fun with great house band but expensive and rather 'hiso'! Best fun was TAM NAN CHON without a shadow of doubt! Didn't make it to.....The Club, City Man Club, Dave Man Club, IDOL(not yet open)

AIRPORT- Very busy both arriving and departing. On Arrival at mid-day the first immigration hall was jam packed, as usual I headed on to the second immigration hall where i found very small que only about 5 mins waiting. Nobody at customs on my way to the taxi rank.

[newalaan]

Note: Cleaning/towel & sheets change and laundry extra. Have had couple of PMs regarding some details about Mosaik so I'll post some more info for all. There is a fixed Bt300 charge for cleaning the room at the end of your stay at Mosaik no matter which room you have large or small. If you want the room cleaned during your stay it is Bt300 each time. You can have a set of towels and bed linen changed for Bt115.

With regard to electricity and water, there is a meter room on each floor and you can go with a Mosaik employee and check the readings for your room with him, they are on computer also, but if you want to see them for yourself you will need to ask as they dont generally offer.

They normally allow a check out time of 6pm as they seem to leave a day between check-outs and check-ins unlike hotels. Your room key also works the main entrance door too, so you only need to carry one small key for both. On top of the advance room rental amount you have to pay a deposit, usually around Bt2000 for short stay, the electric, water and any other charges during your stay are subtracted and you get back the difference on check-out.

Hope this helps.

[anonone]

Newalaan.
Thank you for all the info on these great posts. I appreciate the chance to learn about other hotels, activities, clubs and such.
I have wondered a bit about mosaik. Sounds like a pretty good deal. I usually stay at Howards, but might be nice to have a kitchen available.

[colmx]

Newalaan.
Thank you for all the info on these great posts. I appreciate the chance to learn about other hotels, activities, clubs and such.

I have wondered a bit about mosaik. Sounds like a pretty good deal. I usually stay at Howards, but might be nice to have a kitchen available.

Ditto frrom me... thanks NewAlaan for taking the effort to post some great new info on Pattaya and environs...

Such a pity that the board seems to have died at the same time as High Season starts... hopefully the regular posters are only hibernating or actually or away i Thailand so they may contribute with something meaningful on their return...

Seems like we were in pattaya at the same time... so our paths probably crossed in TumnanChon :occasion5: :occasion5: :occasion5:

[anonone]

Ok. Now I have to ask...
Can you provide some details on TAM NAN CHON? Location, best time to visit, etc.
BF and I used to hit T&T occasionally, and I miss it quite a bit. NAB and Dave Man just not the same. We tried a newly opened place in September (can not remember the name), and was not impressed with it either.
Is TAM NAN CHON a better alternative for a T&T substitute? Late night club?
Loved leaving T&T in the early morning and having the sunlight sear my retinas.

Wait a minute! There are clubs, real nightclubs, in Pattaya? What and where is this Tan Nam Chon? Is it a real club, with a real dance floor, or is it Thai-Style, with the floor covered with tall tables and stools? What's the crowd like? Perhaps it's time to give Pattaya another try.

[newalaan]

Wait a minute! There are clubs, real nightclubs, in Pattaya? What and where is this Tan Nam Chon? Is it a real club, with a real dance floor, or is it Thai-Style, with the floor covered with tall tables and stools? What's the crowd like? Perhaps it's time to give Pattaya another try.My apologies MOTEL69 and anonone, I lumped all our 'late night/early morning' venues under 'clubs'. I should he have made clear they are not all clubs. Tam Nan Chon is indeed 'Thai-style' with floor covered with tabes and chairs rather than tall tables and stools. It is more like Tawan Daeng style venue with two bands each night and DJ playing inbetween and DJ from about 3 until closing 4am? 5am?-ish. The difference from the normal Tawan Daeng style places is that there are alot more young Thais there, and quite a number of gay boys going together. But it is Thai-style in as much that the gay guys and other Thais go in groups and share whisky bottles, its not really like a disco/club where guys are going specifically to hook up.

You would really have to go with company and be sharing whisky to enjoy the place. The bands also play modern pop/rock more than folk/country as is usual in Tawan Daeng and other country/music-for-life pubs, and so virtually all the songs by bands and DJ are for encouraging dancing. If you are in company of 4 or 5 gay guys together other gays will approach for 'glass chinking' or approaching specific guys in your group. If you have a table directly beside or very close to other tables of gay boys there is lots of dancing together and having a great time just as you would in NAB or similar. Also whereas in Tawang Daeng early in the evening many customers are seated, in Tam Nan Chon you are mostly dancing from the minute you go in. 11.30pm-12.30am is a good time to go and get a good table. We often leave at about 3.30am having had a great night and are quite happy to be heading home, but sometimes we head to a club or karaoke somewhere if still in the mood.

It's just that Tam Nan Chon is a bit different from the 'boom booming' DJ music you get in the clubs all night from start to finish, the bands give you a break from that and play stuff that the DJ's tend not to. The bands and DJ mix give a more varied evening and good mix of music types. After 3am however the music is similar to clubs like NAB/Dave Man/DJ station. However Tam Nan Chon would not be a replacement for T&T.

I dont know if some of the guys who frequent the clubs can advise, but I dont think I've ever come across a club in Pattaya like DJ Station/GOD in Bkk where there are virtually no tables, only dance space.

[anonone]

Wait a minute! There are clubs, real nightclubs, in Pattaya? What and where is this Tan Nam Chon? Is it a real club, with a real dance floor, or is it Thai-Style, with the floor covered with tall tables and stools? What's the crowd like? Perhaps it's time to give Pattaya another try.My apologies MOTEL69 and anonone, I lumped all our 'late night/early morning' venues under 'clubs'. I should he have made clear they are not all clubs. Tam Nan Chon is indeed 'Thai-style' with floor covered with tabes and chairs rather than tall tables and stools. It is more like Tawan Daeng style venue with two bands each night and DJ playing inbetween and DJ from about 3 until closing 4am? 5am?-ish. The difference from the normal Tawan Daeng style places is that there are alot more young Thais there, and quite a number of gay boys going together. But it is Thai-style in as much that the gay guys and other Thais go in groups and share whisky bottles, its not really like a disco/club where guys are going specifically to hook up.

You would really have to go with company and be sharing whisky to enjoy the place. The bands also play modern pop/rock more than folk/country as is usual in Tawan Daeng and other country/music-for-life pubs, and so virtually all the songs by bands and DJ are for encouraging dancing. If you are in company of 4 or 5 gay guys together other gays will approach for 'glass chinking' or approaching specific guys in your group. If you have a table directly beside or very close to other tables of gay boys there is lots of dancing together and having a great time just as you would in NAB or similar. Also whereas in Tawang Daeng early in the evening many customers are seated, in Tam Nan Chon you are mostly dancing from the minute you go in. 11.30pm-12.30am is a good time to go and get a good table. We often leave at about 3.30am having had a great night and are quite happy to be heading home, but sometimes we head to a club or karaoke somewhere if still in the mood.

It's just that Tam Nan Chon is a bit different from the 'boom booming' DJ music you get in the clubs all night from start to finish, the bands give you a break from that and play stuff that the DJ's tend not to. The bands and DJ mix give a more varied evening and good mix of music types. After 3am however the music is similar to clubs like NAB/Dave Man/DJ station. However Tam Nan Chon would not be a replacement for T&T.

I dont know if some of the guys who frequent the clubs can advise, but I dont think I've ever come across a club in Pattaya like DJ Station/GOD in Bkk where there are virtually no tables, only dance space.

Thanks newalaan for the additional details. Sounds very much like a place we should check out. BF and I usually round up a couple more friends for these outings, so really out for more of a fun night than looking for hookup. And I rather like the Thai-style layout with tables and chairs all over. Provides less of a chance to embarrass myself with falang dance skills. :tongue3:

One last very important question....where is Tam Nan Chon?

[newalaan]

One last very important question....where is Tam Nan Chon?Yes that IS the important question, but I kinda body-swerved it in my reply because I dont really know exactly where it is! Been there half a dozen times but i cant remember for certain which route we take to get there. I first came across it by chance driving from day/night area to the Rayong road one afternoon as we were heading to the beach there, i think it's on 3rd road somewhere but not certain. I noticed it because there was a poster advertising a Carabao concert a couple of nights later and as i hadn't seen them for ages and just fancied a change to the usual club nights on that trip i decided to go. I didn't even know it's name at the time. But I did comment after noticing a larger than normal amount of gay, femme boys dancing around whereas the normal Carabao concert attracts tattoo'd manly-men and farangs with thai girls on tow. Colmx and others advised that it had become the new 'in place' for groups of gay guys to enjoy a night out.

What a surreal cross-over of customers it was that night! A bunch of macho guys and bikers in denim, black shirts, face hair and tattoos with scantily clad females half their size and age attached to them mixed-in with skin-tight varied colour jeans, lemon, pink and orange tee-shirts with the shouts of "mot-gaew kaaa! giggle. giggle" it was wierdly brilliant!

Any time I go to Tam Nan Chon there are a few of us together, we flag down a songtaew taxi, bf negotiates and off we go, I spend the whole trip chatting, laughing etc.. and i never notice where we are going, the next thing I know is 'we're here!' jump off, bf sees to the fare and i'm heading in the door. On leaving likewise but also add in the effects of whisky, someone flags down a songteaw, i jump on we pass heaps of familiar places but don't really notice whats going on outside the songtaew until we get to Wat Chai....well that's my excuse!

So HELP colmx! I know you will be able to advise exactly where Tam Nan Chon is with directions.....hell, i would like to know!

[colmx]

I usually just jump on a motorbike take and ask for Tum nan chon!

Its located Slightly north of the Field that holds the twice monthly Morlam concerts on 3rd road...
For some reason all the maps list the Morlam site as being "Pattaya City Golf" - but it is certainly not a golf course!

I would say best way to get there from south Pattaya...is to drive along 2nd or 3rd road in a northerly direction.
Cross to Pattaya Klang and keep going north along 3rd rd...
The left side of the road has buildings all the way as far as the Morlam site - where it turns into an open field on your left side
Once the buildings start again TumNanChon is the 2nd building

The signage outside is Thai only (i.e. No english!)

http://colmx.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/tumnanchon1.jpg

If you get to Lun La on your right side you have gone too far:
http://www.pattayapreview.com/photo/?p=292

Found these 2 links on youtube for anyone that wants a preview!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3fq4NFcLqE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhw7nrGGO0M

Hope you make it there someday!

[colmx]

Duplicate post - ignore

[martin911]

Duplicate post - ignore

Ok time for me so to check this place out !!!
Your guy Tam cert seems to like it !!! --but none of my little gang has ever mentioned it that they want to go there ---

Was in Nab last nite --good crowd for a sunday ,was busy right up to 5 am --then we left and dropped into Jupitor ,busy again -- then to the Club (again boring ,) and finished off in Sure karakoe - or Car cun sounds like !!(where u ended up that night with me G )--- cute waiter in there called Mac(semi poochai ) that T and i wanted to see lol !!

Nab is making the place even bigger as of late --first they took away the bar area on the LHS side ,now they have taken away the RHS wall that streched from dj end up to Toilet side (the corridor that the coyotes go down to the dressing rooms )---
It will make the place even harder to seem to be busy if and when the new club opens in my opinion

[colmx]

Ok time for me so to check this place out !!!
Your guy Tam cert seems to like it !!! --but none of my little gang has ever mentioned it that they want to go there ---


I definately don't think its your style of place Martin... Did you check the clips?
Way too country for your guys from Bkk, CM and Chonburi!

M was there before with us (first time i met him) and he was unimpressed
Tam stayed in Tumnan with his Buriram boy Tong... whilst M and I headed off to Dave (and T&T)
So I don't think you will ever get M dragging you there

By the way Tum Nan Khon Issan is also not too far from TumNanChon... That gets a much gay-er crowd than TumNanChon all the country Toot boys go there... and it is going to be right next to Idol club....

Between the 2 x Tum Nans, Idol and Hollywood - there is going to be a huge draw of gay people to that area

[anonone]

Ok time for me so to check this place out !!!
Your guy Tam cert seems to like it !!! --but none of my little gang has ever mentioned it that they want to go there ---


By the way Tum Nan Khon Issan is also not too far from TumNanChon... That gets a much gay-er crowd than TumNanChon all the country Toot boys go there... and it is going to be right next to Idol club....

Between the 2 x Tum Nans, Idol and Hollywood - there is going to be a huge draw of gay people to that area

colmx. Thanks much for providing the location. I wondered why Mor Lam gets translated to golf course :)
And thanks even more for providing the clips. Not really what I had pictured in my mind, so I am glad to have the preview. Might still check it out if the mood strikes, but not really what I was hoping for....

Aside from mor lam, I have not hung out in this area. Based on your report, that may have to change.