ashacat

georgey, on 2012-04-29 19:50:43, said:

Leaving the UK out of the equation for a change, I am not sure that you can compare what is happening in other countries to Thailand.

All countries have their issues, but apart from the tedious insurgence in the south east, essentially most Thais accept what they have. They do not struggle to find food, housing is available at affordable levels, they do not expect much from the state, laws are not strictly enforced particularly those designed to control social behaviour such as drinking and prostitution, setting up a small business is extremely easy for anyone wanting to try, no health inspector comes around shutting the place down.

There is not the constant undercurrent of "violence" that is evident in those countries you mentioned, there is respect for property, age and wealth.

Hmm, I can see that this theme is going to take some time to develop. Which I don't have.

But as long as the average Thai does not feel restricted in what he/she does, has a roof, food, mobile telephone, TV and cheap beer 24 hours/day, and is not made to feel a second class person, I do not fear some massive uprising.

It would make life unpleasant for the rich and poor alike. And both of those groups do not want that sort of situation.

ashacat, on 2012-04-23 10:32:31, said:

Thanks for your comment.
They're all good. But they're all different !
Narai and Swissôtel are more "classy" (but still very affordable). Try them !
Café G at the Holiday Inn is classy too but food more on the Thai side. Try it !
Check prices because my info dates back to September ...

Normally I live in Pattaya but I'm now in BKK for some time.
Every noon if I don't have anything else to do I go have buffet lunch at the Ibis Hotel. See my previous post about it.
Food is varied, delicious, changes everyday and at 200b can't be beat ! (the chalkboard outside says it's a promotion)
And I can drop by at a Soi 4 beerbar and the Soi 7 Beer Garden for a cold beer after that !!

In September last year I had buffet lunch at these hotels :
(I kept the info)

# Narai Hotel on Silom
   450 nett

# S31 Hotel  the S31 Café on Suk Soi 31
   240 nett (with a 31% discount)

# Swissôtel at Nai Lert Park on Wireless Road
   352 nett

# Arnoma Hotel the Buttercup (across from Central World)
   340 nett

# Majestic Grande at Dine@7 on Suk Soi 2
   300 nett

# Tai-Pan on Suk Soi 23 (close to Soi Cowboy)
   250 nett

# Holiday Inn at Café G on Sukhumvit
   269 nett


Tai-Pan, Majestic and S31 have rather small dining rooms. Maybe not very suited for a big group.
They all give fre water and coffee/tea. Café G has free flow of soft drinks (Coke, Fanta, ...) - great if you have kids.
They get very crowded on weekends.
For a group it's mandatory to make a resevation.

All these listed here are excellent. I've tried them !!
In particular I highly recommend the Narai and the Holiday Inn.