planr

According to a staff member just prior to closing, I was told it would be open in 4-5 months somewhere in Soi Pipat, which I guess can be construed as "further down Convent" by some. That said, no idea on the actual location (nor did the staff know)

El Osito (next to La Monita) in Mahatun Plaza next to BTS Ploenchit

When you say the credit is used after 8 trips, do you mean 8 one-way trips? Or 8 round round trips between Asoke and Bangna? The 15 "trips" for THB 465 would be for one-way only...

41 minutes ago, Lakegeneve said:

I mentioned in the previous update that I would post a summary of new rolling stock orders;

 

A) BEM Blue Line (MRT) -

BEM finally placed an order with Siemens a few weeks ago for new rolling stock!!! Originally, they were going to order more stock in 2008 but had to defer due to debt restructuring issues so it has been a long wait! BEM has ordered 35 new 3 car sets which will be delivered in 3 stages ; 

1) 3 sets in late 2018,
2) 15 sets in early 2019,
3) 17 sets in late 2019.
(Note: BEM should be moving to 4 or 5 cars sets by now as expected pax after the extension are 750k-800k rising to 1m by 2022)

 

Thanks LG - If I understand you correctly, BEM is not planning any capacity expansion, only enough to maintain existing frequencies once the extensions open?

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I wish I could say I've been back as a return customer to the Paragon IHOP, but I haven't, and the reason is one example of why this is a Thai business -- despite having an American menu.

 

The first time I ate there was the day after their soft opening, I tried to pay with my VISA or MC debit card, and was informed by the wait staff that they didn't have their card machine yet, but would soon. So, no problem, I paid cash, and asked the manager how soon before they'd have a working card machine. He said the next day, which I clearly doubted at the time, so I gave it another week and went back to check.

 

A week later, nope, no card machine. Sorry, next week. A second week later, nope no card machine. A month after opening, nope no card machine. So the last time was about a week ago when I was in Paragon and popped by, nope, no card machine. So at that point, now five weeks after their opening, I basically gave up. If and when the IHOP BKK branch manages to join the modern world and accept bank card payments, I'll be back as a customer. Until then, Nope!!!

If you need pancakes (or waffles!) make your way past IHOP to Clinton Street Bakery (close to the exit leading to the Kempinski)... great food and good service; used my Visa their yesterday.

12 hours ago, shanesox said:

Refurbishment? Umm nope!


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Here's a neat list of refurbished centres and existing centres with new expansions in the last four years. 

• Siam Center (centre-wide renovation) - 2013
• Groove at CentralWorld (expansion) - 2013 
• HaHa Market at Paradise Park (expansion) - 2014
• CentralPlaza Bangna (expansion) - 2014
• Emporium (renovation) - 2014/2015
• Zpell at Future Park Rangsit (expansion) - 2015
• CentralPlaza Pinklao (renovation) - 2015/2016 
• Siam Discovery (centre-wide renovation) - 2015/2016
• CentralPlaza Bangna (renovation) - 2016
• Seacon Square Srinakarin (expansion) - 2016
• CentralPlaza Rama III (renovation) - ongoing 
• CentralWorld (renovation) - ongoing
• Siam Paragon (renovation) - ongoing

MBK is also undergoing renovation bit by bit, though no doubt some of the vacancies mentioned earlier are a result of the crackdown on illicit merchandise.

They are undertaking a massive centre-wide renovation over the next year or so, bit by bit. See slide 21 here  -http://cpn.listedcompany.com/misc/presentation/20170309-cpn-oppday-4q2016.pdf

The Fitness First branch at Landmark is still going strong. Not quite as flashy as newer branches like Terminal 21 (I guess that's another option?), but likely has most, if not all of the equipment you're after. 

This thread is hilarious. The embassy land is indeed for sale but it has not yet been sold. 

On 2/3/2017 at 6:27 PM, Crossy said:

A little competition for those advocating adding extra trains / reducing the headway.

 

No prizes other than the satisfaction but please answer the following questions:-

1. How much would it cost to reduce the peak-hour headway from the current 4 minutes (actually slightly better) to, say, 3 minutes?
2. How about 2 minutes?
3. What about increasing the trains to 5 cars?
4. Where would the budget come from?
5. If you let a contract 1st March 2017, when would you expect to see the fruits?

No exact answers, correct number of zeros would be close enough, oh, and justification for those numbers of course.

 

And, of course, I know those members who are in the industry, as they know me, so guys, you are excluded :)

 

How about another angle from someone familiar with, but not in the industry ;-) 

BTS and BEM are listed, BTSGIF gets most of the farebox revenue - they have little incentive from a shareholders point of view to invest heavily in service expansion to provide half empty trains. I hate rush-hour full trains at 2pm on a Sunday as much as the next guy, but the current operating model leaves little room for anything (or anyone!) else, no? 

6 hours ago, Sure said:

For delivery, Pizzamania.

Will second this. If after 11pm when Pizzamania closes, Gallery Pizza is my go to (great Neopolitan style, delivers until 4am)

On 1/19/2017 at 5:48 PM, BsBs said:

 

 

You friends are liars. It's clearly impossible.

 

 

22 hours ago, ericthai said:

Dont believe this. Please tell me where my wife will take a job.  I have a chemist and an Engineer working for us and they are only getting paid between 20K -30K a month. 

10 hours ago, sirmud63 said:

absolute B S.

The flagship restaurant has been in business for nearly 10 years and there are now multiple branches. The partners are also involved in the hospitality business and have a number successful properties in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand. Whether you choose to believe this is what they deem necessary to thrive is up to you - I only see a successful group of businesses doing what they need to do. 

A few friends with restaurants targeting both expats / white collar thais in central Bangkok are willing to pay up to THB 25,000 - 30,000 for Thai staff that can effectively communicate in English (not fluent mind you, but enough to make life easy for non-Thai speaking clientele). 

On 12/29/2016 at 0:39 PM, Lakegeneve said:

Agree with you that they will not want to delay the start of the two monorail lines especially given company related condo developments. However, there appears to be a number of technical & final design issues that need to be resolved and that will impact on the final cost. Let's see if we can be surprised........

Do you find it surprising that BTS/BSR will acquiesce to building monorail? I would think heavy rail should open up more opportunities for real estate development in the long run. That said, at least the Yellow Line will be single gauge / system unlike previous proposals calling for a mix of heavy rail and light rail / monorail -- what a disaster that would have been.

2 hours ago, Estrada said:

You totally miss the point, the Blue line was originally proposed to run northwards as shown on my map. The MRTA changed the Northwards extension to the Purple Line without ensuring that the Blue line finished at Tao Pun, allowing connection. I first served on the MRTA planning Committee in 1994 and a number of my colleagues have been supervising the Construction of the Blue Line, BTS, Red Line and Purple Line. The missing link has been in the process of completion even prior to Article 44 being issued as the Main Contractor decided to complete it at his own risk due to his perceived problem if a missing connection He was also ordered to open the Purple Line when his aim was for August this year when the Blue Line opened to Tao Pun. However the Government ordered it open ahead of schedule even though ancillary work was incomplete. The Blue Line is still under construction and the Purple Line Phase II will start this coming year (2017)

Thanks for sharing a bit of real insight. Though in fairness, much has changed since the early 1990s... the depot was in fact not built under Lumpini Park after all ;-) 

9 hours ago, Lakegeneve said:

2) MRTA Pink and Yellow monorail lines - bids awarded

Contracts bids have been awarded but negotiations over the final price will continue for a few months. Then contracts will be signed

I would't expect to see work start until the last quarter of 2017 assuming that all of the above goes smoothly - remember the Dark Red line had 2 yrs of negotiations between the bid being awarded and work finally starting. 

 

Pretty sure the Red Line negotiations dragged on because of Japanese involvement in the funding, no? Doubt K. Keeree wants to wait two years and since BTS is sitting on a pile of cash I would expect things to move swiftly. 

There is a Fitness First Platinum at the Landmark hotel. It has a good balance of machines, free weights, and body weight exercise gear. I've been a member for several years. Whether it is affordable or not is an individual matter. 

Depending on the size of the school, one of the "hidden" requirements that go beyond business registration (e.g., mix of thai / foreign employees, registered capital etc) is that larger schools will need to be located in a building that has a special permit for educational use. For example, where you see the big chains like Wall Street, Kumon, etc -- those buildings will have the permit (comes from the Education Ministry I believe as opposed to BMA). 

6 minutes ago, blackcab said:

I have a property in mind - it's the Diplomat Sathorn. It's located right next to the BTS.

As one of the previous posters mentioned, there are no supermarkets within walking distance, however if you'll be at the Diplomat, Silom Complex (with a Tops) will be two stations away. There is also a small Tops in the basement of Empire Tower, which has a direct connection to Chong Nonsi BTS which can be useful for weekday shopping, but weekend hours may be limited. 

In terms of restaurants, there are some decent local places, but for quality western/asian fare you'll need to walk to Sathorn sois 10 and 12 (a new BTS station will be built in front of these sois within the next year or two). Also a couple of good restaurants at Empire Tower (e.g., The Capital, Savoey, Muteki, etc.) as well as at the CUBE (retail modium of the Mahanakhon tower next to Chong Nonsi BTS). There's a Chef Man inside the Eastin hotel across from the Diplomat for top shelf Chinese fare. Not much in the way of entertainment though, regardless of if you mean a typical western sports bar or night clubs. 

The major downside is that if you plan to drive or use taxis / uber / etc, traffic is horrendous during the week. 

4 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

 

As usual, this government is blowing smoke out of their a**.

 

According to the "other" paper:

 

Thailand ranks 46th in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business report, up three spots from last year because of changes in the methodology, adding factors related to gender equality, protecting minority investors and paying taxes.

 

If the revised methods had been used last year, Thailand would have been ranked 46th, with no change this year.

 

So this is basically an accounting change, and Thailand is no better or worse than last year. It's worrisome that the economy czar can't seem to grasp this, or is simply telling lies.

 

Also, if they look back a few years, they should not be talking about this at all. What could have happened in 2014 to make them drop from 18th to 46th place?

 

If you dig into the raw scores, it isn't that Thailand is performing "worse" on any particular metric, it's that many other countries have improved whereas Thailand has stagnated / made no forward progress. 

Considering that it is  Monday, yes there will be no street vendors... as it is every Monday. Tomorrow will be the real bellwether

3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

No transparency on the loan terms.

Thank you Prayut for your new reforms.

The loan terms are stated in the press release and are also searchable on the JICA website - https://www2.jica.go.jp/en/yen_loan/index.php/module/search?anken_name=&area1=0&area2=0&area3=0&country1=49&country2=0&country3=0&section1=0&section2=0&section3=0&industry1=0&industry2=0&industry3=0&anken_kubun=0&chotatsu_kubun=0&from_year=&to_year=&submit=Search

1 hour ago, Thian said:

 

Well i would prefer to talk to mr Prayuth and explain him the need of good public transport in a city like BKK, i would ask him to use article 44 and make me the one who supervises the whole constructionproces of a decent connection to the green lines.

 

I think i would plan it above the new hub for all trains at chatuchak, on poles....if not possible it will go direct to Siam or another station at the green line.

If you really think this connection by metro and back to skytrain is a good solution than i don't understand why they hired you...you must be living close to another line i guess....I haven't tried the purple line yet and guess i never will..maybe untill the river when they have a new pier there or it's not gonna happen at all...My motocy to saphan kwai is much faster and even the car to morchit parkinglot or saphan kwai might be...it much more comfortable though that's for sure.

 

A pendlebus is my translation from dutch to english i guess, it's a bus which pendles between A and B all day long like they use now between bang sue and tao poon.

 

So because you worked at the skytrains i am not allowed to complain about the crappy connection? That's quite funny...

Never a dull moment on the ole TV. Here's an OTP plan from 2012 illustrating a monorail (the fluorescent white line) connecting Bang Sue and Mo Chit. Because this would technically fall under SRT for implementation playing by today's rules, we'll all be dead before it gets built... but hey, one more for LG's list!

Great to see some green space being added. Amazing that they didn't decide to sell to developers for more shopping malls and condos!

Would be even nicer if they could somehow come up with 'green space' and at the same time add some roadways or access roads to alleviate some of the horrible traffic on Sukhumvit and Asoke.

There is (was?) a plan make Sarasin road extend from Wireless (current endpoint) all the way to Ratchada (going over the expressway and through the Tobacco Monopoly), popping out near QSNCC.

Thanks for sharing the photos. Perhaps the "park" will be off limits to the public for awhile to allow the new landscaping (trees / plants) to take hold...