Searching for Dolf Riks

North Pattaya

After many years running his wonderful restaurant and painting his terrific pictures Dolf Riks passed on in 2004 but I was keen to discover whether anyone was carrying on the good work.

I still have my Dolf Riks painting hanging in my boudoir after all these years. The old fella passed on a few years ago but I was keen to see what had happened to out old haunts. Where was Dolf Riks? Where is anything in North Pattaya? Rampant development and the third wave of swish hotels and air conditioned shopping malls have yet to arrive but they are advancing down Second Road.

Sweating like a tap, bought some flip-flops to limp home.

I actually managed to go out in the afternoon! I went over to the Handicraft Market on Second Rd, as I got there the most impressive rain storm hit Pattaya. Great to watch from under cover, but didn’t provide any respite from the heat. Actually the effect was more like throwing water on the coals of a sauna. Have I mentioned the heat? The temperature hits you like a hammer and during the day any normal activity is way more tiring than you would ever believe because of it. This was another reason for the nocturnal approach.







and rampant over-development has long since destroyed any natural charms it once had, but its plethora of hotels and guest houses and convenient location with quick and easy access from the capital make it a popular weekend getaway.


A view overlooking the garden, with the Ocean Tower on the left and the Garden Wing on the right
Tiffany's Show [80] on Second Road near signless Soi Srinakhom (one soi north of Soi 1) has performances at 19:00, 20:30 and 22:00 (plus 17:30 high season) and in May hosts the annual Miss Tiffany's Universe Pageant [81] beauty queen competition, for contestants born as men. If you're got testosterone left over, visit the Shooting Range in the basement!

















Orchid Lodge Hotel

The other survivor from twenty years ago was the dear old Orchid Lodge Hotel. Just. It's not the comfy, shambling old place surrounded by gardens that it used to be but has joined the swish hotel category and the elephant has long since retired.

It is now merely the Garden Wing of the Amari Orchid Resort.












Diarmuid Gavin

The hotel that was a resort has become yet another soulless hotel and now it is called a resort. Why bother. What a throughly disappointing journey. Let this be a lesson to me; never go back. Nostalgia is a comfort blanket, no more. Learn from yesterday, live for today and look forward to tomorrow. Never give up; never surrender.

Pattaya

Beach Road
Beautiful downtown Pattaya is populated by buzz bikes, baht buses and tattooed beer monsters. Ain't it luverly; Southend on the Gulf of Siam.

The city has boomed since my last visit in 1989, then the North Pattaya was still tracks and gardens and 2nd Road was mostly a track. Thai life and low life.




















Soi 8
Of course, only the best for the fat blokes, we stayed on the fashionable Soi 8.





View from the 11th floor of the Sunshine Apartments; you really would'nt want to see a view of the Sunshine.










The Pig and Whistle





OLD school ties, wooden tennis rackets, and photos of the 1939 West Bromwich Albion team – the Pig and Whistle knows a bit about atmosphere.

The P&W could have been picked up from a secluded rural spot in England and dropped into Soi 7, it’s that convincing. The entire place is decked out with authentic memories from the past, from the black –and-white pictures of 1930s boxer Tommy Farr to the brass candlesticks.

The main area is made up of seating with a large bar, replete with draught beer. Farther into the bar there are more secluded booths, smartly fitted out with mock-marble tops and wooden panelling all around.

Our first ten minutes were spent craning our necks around to try and take it in. Once we’d finished gawping, a waitress speaking pretty good English took our orders.

Food here is just as traditional as the wicker wine holder which sat on a shelf above us. There are lamb chops, beef stew, fish and chips, or if you want something continental, go for spag bol or chicken kiev. In addition the English Breakfast sounds gargantuan, and you can add extras such as black pudding or toast for a few baht more.

pig and whistle restaurant in pattaya thailand - restaurant reviews I ordered the roast pork (195 baht) while my partner chose the roast chicken (195 baht).

Despite being busy, the food arrived within 10 minutes. Layers of gravy-laced pork filled my dish, while carrots and cabbage struggled for room on the plate. Roast potatoes, stuffing, and a perfect Yorkshire pudding sat next to the pork. The Yorkshire pudding was light and airy, while the pork was almost fat-free and the accompanying apple sauce went well.

The roast chicken was huge and came with chips (not fries) and more veg.

It took some effort, but the whole lot soon disappeared. Which left us with dessert. Ordinarily I’d bow out gracefully and admit that I’m ‘ihm’ but the apple pie and custard (100 baht) did look good.

It turned out to be even better than it looked. A bowl appeared full to the brim with hot custard, and a home-made pie sat in the middle, barely breaking the surface.

The Pig and Whistle is certainly one of Central Pattaya’s – if not the city’s – best choices for traditional Western food. And its attention to detail means ex-pats regularly fill the place for the one ingredient so often missing – nostalgia.


Zen Dining
It was'nt all beer and chip butties.














Walking Street

The famous Pattaya "Strip" in South Pattaya is known as Walking Street.





















More cosy than sleazy.

Great to see Abbe's Bar still in business, this one was a great favourite back in 1989. I was standing at the bar here and nearly got blown to bits by some nutter's firecracker on New Year's eve.

Heineken beer delivery.

Nong Nooch
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, 163 Sukhumvit Road (15 minutes east of town centre); tel. +66-38429321 [20]. Beautiful gardens with waterfalls, elephant shows, "Cultural Extravaganza" performances 4 times a day, restaurants etc. - enough to fill an entire day. In Feb 2007 they had major construction ongoing. We did the whole place in 90 minutes. Disappointing. Yet another place in Pattaya that thinks it is acceptable to charge foreigners more than Thais .200 baht for locals, 400 baht for foreigners. This practice is illegal in Thailand but strangely nobody in authority is prepared to do something about it.


Easy Rider, Thai style.


Pattaya Highway Patrol




























Get yer head down!

























































































Seaside Special.









































A Happy Gardener.



Happy Campers.