Pattaya Consumer Report

[x in pattaya]

Pattaya Consumer Reports тАж a recommendation and a warning.

For those of you who take prescription drugs regularly and/or are frugally inclined, Fascino opened a new branch on South Pattaya Rd across from Wat Chaimongkrol about a month ago. They have another branch I believe on North Pattaya Rd and, I have been told, numerous branches in Bangkok.

They claim to offer things at a 5% discount, but two of the prescriptions I take daily are priced from 10% to 15% cheaper than IтАЩve ever found them in other places in Pattaya and other nonprescription things are cheaper as well.

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IтАЩve never had any problems eating Thai food whatever the source. Food from street carts or tiny тАЬrestaurantsтАЭ or raw fruit from the market тАж no problem. Load on the chili pepper and anything else to make it spicy. Love it.
Recently, however, Friendship started selling pasta salads. Chicken Pesto, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Sesame Chicken etc. They are тАЬfresh,тАЭ presented in closed plastic containers. I sort of wondered about the amount of refrigeration in the display cabinets, but figured тАЬthey must know what theyтАЩre doing.тАЭ

Whoa. A couple of days ago I got the Sesame Chicken for a quick, no-fuss lunch. By evening, тАЬcloudsтАЭ were forming on the horizon and during the night I awoke numerous times to attend to urgent business. The next day I spent mostly in a horizontal position.

Henceforth IтАЩll stick to smoked fish or cooked chicken thatтАЩs been lying in the market all day or even a few chunks of Durian that were handled by several people before being wrapped in cellophane. No problems there.

They claim to offer things at a 5% discount, but two of the prescriptions I take daily are priced from 10% to 15% cheaper ...


So, Immodium is one of them and from your other posts, I presume Viagra is the other?

[x in pattaya]

[quote="x in pattaya":39n9zuco]

They claim to offer things at a 5% discount, but two of the prescriptions I take daily are priced from 10% to 15% cheaper ...


So, Immodium is one of them and from your other posts, I presume Viagra is the other?[/quote:39n9zuco]


I never use Immodium which is simply a chemical cork up the bum. I got Disento to cure the problem, not hide it.

Never have needed Viagra, thank you. Spend a lot of money at the dentist and my eyes & joints are somewhat problematic, but the only truly important bodily function has never faltered ... although I've been with a boy or two who I might have consider offering some.

Thanks for your sincere concern.

....Fascino ... claim to offer things at a 5% discount.....

The 5% discount is a discount off their regular prices, available automatically to "members" on production of their membership card. Membership costs 50 baht per year, or is (was?) given free if you purchase over a certain amount (2,000 baht a year ago, but may be more now)

They are certainly cheaper than most pharmacies in Pattaya (between 15 and 25% of most of the the pharmacy charges made by BHP, for example, and certainly much cheaper than the pharmacy located at Lotus, Pattaya Tai) and stock most "over the counter" drugs, however although D Pharmacy (on Sukhumvit Road between South and Central Pattaya Road) has a much more limited range they do have a licence to sell certain drugs Fascino does not. The cheapest pharmacy I know is fortunately my small local one in Ban Amphur, which has far less stock but is around 20% cheaper than Fascino for what they have, with an excellent owner/pharmacist.


Recently, however, Friendship started selling pasta salads...... I sort of wondered about the amount of refrigeration in the display cabinets, but figured тАЬthey must know what theyтАЩre doing.тАЭ

I am surprised at your naivety! I would trust similar "ready meals" in Carrefour, within reason, but nowhere else.

(Sorry, duplicated post)

[x in pattaya]

[quote="x in pattaya":3e4fk12b]....Fascino ... claim to offer things at a 5% discount.....

The 5% discount is a discount off their regular prices, available automatically to "members" on production of their membership card. Membership costs 50 baht per year, or is (was?) given free if you purchase over a certain amount (2,000 baht a year ago, but may be more now)[/quote:3e4fk12b]

My first visit was during their first week of operation at that location and I did spend B 4000 and the membership card was free ... maybe for everyone or maybe because of the purchase.

Any discounts on A GOOD HARD SHAG??????

[x in pattaya]

Any discounts on A GOOD HARD SHAG??????
http://www.rugsexpress.com/shop/rugs/catalog/shag_01.gif

I spend about 4000TB per month on 2 Rx. I have done price comparisons twice at Fascino, once a couple of years ago and once last week. Neither time were their prices less than what I pay at P&F located in or near the 2 BigCs and on the ground floor of Central (and maybe other places). One Rx was the same price and the other a bit more expensive.

And many other small shops offer the same pricing if you tell the owner that you will buy from his/her shop regularly. But at P&F I didn't need to bargan.

[pennyboy]

[X in Pattaya wrote
Never have needed Viagra, thank you. Spend a lot of money at the dentist and my eyes & joints are somewhat problematic, but the only truly important bodily function has never faltered ... although I've been with a boy or two who I might have consider offering some.

Why did I think that probably all the boys you have been with would need some :thumbleft:

[x in pattaya]

[quote="x in pattaya":21yf6etv]Recently, however, Friendship started selling pasta salads...... I sort of wondered about the amount of refrigeration in the display cabinets, but figured тАЬthey must know what theyтАЩre doing.тАЭ

I am surprised at your naivety! I would trust similar "ready meals" in Carrefour, within reason, but nowhere else.[/quote:21yf6etv]


Actually I regularly eat prepared food from the market across from Wat Chai, the Tues-Fri Market and all the hole-in-the-wall restaurants and people selling things from carts, both in Pattaya and Bangkok. I never have any problem. The only two times I was done in was this time at Friendship (with food prepared by some Italian-farang business) and a couple of years ago with something sold at Tops in the basement of Tukcom.

You miss a lot of great food if you confine yourself to Carrefour and the chrome & plastic restaurants.


[X in Pattaya wrote
Never have needed Viagra, thank you. Spend a lot of money at the dentist and my eyes & joints are somewhat problematic, but the only truly important bodily function has never faltered ... although I've been with a boy or two who I might have consider offering some.

Why did I think that probably all the boys you have been with would need some :thumbleft:


Since you know nothing about me, I would guess it's because you assume your experiences are shared by everyone. Dealing with the "high tech" quote feature on the message board seems to have defeated you again.

[zinzone]

x in pattaya writes:
"Recently, however, Friendship started selling pasta salads. Chicken Pesto, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Sesame Chicken etc. They are тАЬfresh,тАЭ presented in closed plastic containers. I sort of wondered about the amount of refrigeration in the display cabinets, but figured тАЬthey must know what theyтАЩre doing.тАЭ

Whoa. A couple of days ago I got the Sesame Chicken for a quick, no-fuss lunch. By evening, тАЬcloudsтАЭ were forming on the horizon and during the night I awoke numerous times to attend to urgent business. The next day I spent mostly in a horizontal position."


-Had a similar experience to you x. There is either a refrigeration problem and/or they swamp and overdo the salad in all kinds of spices too.
Have to remember for many Thai's food hygiene is something they do not bother about.
Previously gotten roast garlic chicken from Villa supermarket and also had problems. I think what is done is to save rotten and out of date chicken they cook and it and then drench it in garlic to hide the fact the meat is bad and they try to sell it and pass it off as eatable, which it is not.

Any of you who live with Thai boys will appreciate that they sometimes have "interesting" ideas about refrigeration.

For example, they might insist on keeping a bottle of ketchup, or a can of cashews, or a piece of chocolate cake in the refrigerator, while at the same time leaving a grilled chicken breast or bowl of curry out for days at a time before eating it.

Obviously, a supermarket should know better, though.

[Patexpat]

yes Thai boys do have some funny ideas - my bf is a sales/account person at a large stainless steel company who fit out many hotel/restaurant kitchens in and around Pattaya - 'even' he still isn't sure what you use when - so as BB pointed out, things like chicken will be left in the microwave overnight, ice cream in the 'fridge machine' and things like melon or veg in the freezer compartment.

To complicate matters we have a wine cellar cabinet that seems to be an improvised place to keep mangoes (amongst the bottles). :drunken:

Getting it right is a slow and difficult learning process.

[x in pattaya]

Any of you who live with Thai boys will appreciate that they sometimes have "interesting" ideas about refrigeration.

For example, they might insist on keeping a bottle of ketchup, or a can of cashews, or a piece of chocolate cake in the refrigerator, while at the same time leaving a grilled chicken breast or bowl of curry out for days at a time before eating it.



Yeah, you're right about that. With a former friend, anything leftover from a meal either went in the refrigerator so that I might eat it later or stayed on the counter so that he would eat it later. As far as he was concerned, a refrigerator was for things you wanted to consume cold, like beer or Coke.

Now I occasionally have to rescue things like bottles of red wine, peanuts and apples from the refrigerator, but I don't find the remains of last night's meal percolating on the counter in the morning.


Obviously, a supermarket should know better, though.

Yes, Friendship keeps these pasta & meat concoctions and meat sandwiches with cake, cookies and strawberry trifle that are kept only slightly below room temperature. I should have known better as well, but I guess I felt invulnerable since I've never had a problem with the stuff sitting out in the open markets.


I think what is done is to save rotten and out of date chicken they cook and it and then drench it in garlic to hide the fact the meat is bad and they try to sell it and pass it off as eatable, which it is not.


I always thought that was true with Indian food. It's so loaded with spices and chilli your senses are overwhelmed so that meat that's been around too long isn't noticeable.

[pennyboy]

["][X in Pattaya wrote

Since you know nothing about me, I would guess it's because you assume your experiences are shared by everyone. Dealing with the "high tech" quote feature on the message board seems to have defeated you again.[/quote]

Dunno about being defeated by high tech but am certainly defeated in trying to understand your reply. Not sure what experiences I am supposed to assume are shared by everyone. However you are right that I know nothing about you other than reading your posts. I can assure you that that is quite enough for me.

[Beachlover]

I'm going out with this Thai boy who is here in Australia studying cookery. He wants to open a restaurant. He showed me all the good Thai restaurants here "where Thai people eat"... there's a huge taste difference between the authentic and the "Westernised ones".

He says they have a saying in Thailand, "more dirty, more delicious". I said if you run a restaurant with that approach here you will be shut down lol.

[jimnbkk]

[quote="Beach Bunny":31cz8fol].....I always thought that was true with Indian food. It's so loaded with spices and chilli your senses are overwhelmed so that meat that's been around too long isn't noticeable.[/quote:31cz8fol]


I have been told that the origin of curry and chili in tropical countries came about because in earlier times there was no refrigeration. As a result, meat went rancid rather quickly, so chili and curry were used to hide the 'flavor'.

Reading this thread, it sounds as if the original intent is still being employed in a few places around Pattaya!

[quote="Beach Bunny":mck2g46u].....I always thought that was true with Indian food. It's so loaded with spices and chilli your senses are overwhelmed so that meat that's been around too long isn't noticeable.


I have been told that the origin of curry and chili in tropical countries came about because in earlier times there was no refrigeration. As a result, meat went rancid rather quickly, so chili and curry were used to hide the 'flavor'.

Reading this thread, it sounds as if the original intent is still being employed in a few places around Pattaya![/quote:mck2g46u]

Is that why all the old gay guys eat hot dishes at the cheap street stalls to stop the young Thai guys tasting thier old rancid meat?

The next day I spent mostly in a horizontal position.I've always figured you as a bottom.

[thrillbill]

[quote="Beach Bunny":n0hifv6z].....I always thought that was true with Indian food. It's so loaded with spices and chilli your senses are overwhelmed so that meat that's been around too long isn't noticeable.


I have been told that the origin of curry and chili in tropical countries came about because in earlier times there was no refrigeration. As a result, meat went rancid rather quickly, so chili and curry were used to hide the 'flavor'.

Reading this thread, it sounds as if the original intent is still being employed in a few places around Pattaya![/quote:n0hifv6z]
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(since we are off the topic, I'll add to it) I find it interesting that the chilli plant (which is used not only daily in South East Asia but also in central Africa) is indigenous to South America. It was the Portuguese and Spanish who introduced the plant to Africa and Asia. And yes, the curri (many spices) and the chilli pepper were used to hide the rancid taste.