Thai Magicians

Wonder how many doormen.....waiters etc etc etc will magically vanish tonight when the England game kicks off?

Have they got big screens around the towns this time for the world cup?

[Aunty]

??? I thought it was Ireland playing the All Blacks tonight?

I was at the Panorama Pub last night for the England game along with several other Farangs. Unfortunately the pub only has access to Thai terrestrial coverage of the world cup and so when the match started we were infact treated to an all channel report on how the celebrations for the King were progressing. As steam shot out of Farang ears and veins in knecks pulsated violently, the Thai waiters either flipped channels frantically or giggled uncontrollably at the farangs losing patience (which didn't go down too well). After 10 minutes all the Farang's (with the exception of myself and an Ozzie bloke) had stormed off looking for a screen showing the match. About five minutes later we had the game on our screens with the Thai waiters settling into the comfy sofa's the farangs had vacated. The game, although less than inspiring, was watched by all until there was a shout in Thai from what I assume was the 'head' waiter. I can only guess at what was shouted from stairway up to the tv lounge area, maybe 'where are all my fucking waiters'?, but young Thai waiting staff darted in all directions, in to the loo's, into a store room, flew down the stairs and one even dived behind the unused upstairs bar, only to reapppear with a fixed shy grin on his face when the head waiter looked behind the bar.

So Oogleman, in answer to your question, I think most Thai waiters and doormen may have skipped off if they could, at least for a little bit.

i remeber last world cup in Icon pattaya............... it was hard to get any service at all lol................ i ended up buying a crate that i could help myself from and got 5 england hats for the staff who were parked in front of the TV.......... lets see if i still have the photo!

http://gaycocklibrary.pimpedhost.com/paul/friends/katelee.jpg

[fountainhall]

Is there any way to access World Cup matches except on the terrestrial channels? Granted the King's celebrations are hugely important, but how come the designated World Cup channels yesterday did not inform viewers in advance that coverage would start 30 minutes in to the match? The English papers yesterday advertised an 8:00 start. Hotels must have suffered a huge barrage of abuse from tens of thousands of guests around the Kingdom - or do they pick up a separate feed?

Posted on Thaivisa forum
(quote)
LIVE BROADCAST

English soundtrack 'only in hotels'
TOR CHITTINAND
The English language soundtrack for the World Cup will only be available at hotels and not in regular households, managing director of Dhospaak, Mr Vorawoot Rojanaparnich said yesterday.
He said that under the license his company had signed, Fifa would only allow the Thai language soundtrack to be aired.
However hotels that sign a contract with Dhospaak would receive the English language soundtrack.
He affirmed all 64 matches will be shown live on six channels of free TV - 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and iTV.
"Thailand is the only country in the world to watch the World Cup live on free TV," he claimed.
He said that in Malaysia and Singapore the live matches are only shown on pay TV or cable TV.
"It is very lucky that we are can watch the matches live on free tv without any commercial interruptions."

Just read this in today's Bkk Post so it seems that you won't get English commentary, no adverts though

Supersports, the South African sports network is showing every game live, so those pubs that have SA Satellite will be able to show the games that are on when the pubs are open (end quote).

I also read something about UBC (I have no idea!) showing the matches live, but again maybe with Thai commentary. I really can't believe that ESPN/Star Sports are not showing the world cup and that the BBC can't even show highlights (the goals) in their news coverage. Maybe some bar somewhere can get satellite broadcasts direct from England (BBC, ITV or SkySports), but I aint got a clue! Just settle in and enjoy the Thai commentary surrounded by Thai guys and throw in your own oooooeee! every now and again.