techno

I flew with Air Asia in March to Bali.It was an excellent flight although did not like the 6.15am take off time. Had to stay in a hotel close to the airport as had to be there at 4.15am. Arrived in Bali 11.15am so had the rest of the day to recover. Enjoy your trip and yes Air Asia are good for a budget airline

As luck would have it, the gas sytem feeding our baking ovens failed today. So only a trickle of baked goods are coming out of our one electric oven.. It's just the baked goods that are affected. Everything else is per usual

Where are you on Chang Klan Road. Is it the old Bake'n'Bite restaurant? Will try next week

I flew airasia CNX-HKT too just last month - I think I paid approx 1500THB including extra baggage which I thought was superb considering thai air are charging 5000THB+ on that route (it was actually closer to 7000THB when I booked).

flight was on time and cut out a whole lot of crap involved with going to HKT via BKK.

re hotel - you'll need to provide more info:

budget?

area? (patong, kata, karon etc?)

interests? (nightlife or relaxation?)

Looking at a hotel inPatong close to shops for the wife,restaurants and nightlife. Must be clean and not to noisy at night as at my age looking for relaxation as well as a swimming pool,bars close by. Willing to pay up to a max of 1500baht a night

Thanks for your help

try 'seasunsand'. seasunsand

I've stayed there about 5 times. it's on the second road approx 5 min walk from bangla road, jungceylon mall and the beach (in a different direction).

pool and sauna available and I got it for 900THB a night recently - I think the normal low season price is between 1000-1500THB including breakfast but I went without breakfast and haggled them down as a returning customer. high season is usually 2000-2500THB but you should be ok for the lower price in march.

although it's close to bangla road, it is very quiet as the rooms are tucked away off the road.

rooms are big and clean and I found the staff friendly.

there was a problem at the hotel with safety deposit box theft by staff a few years back but I've never had any problems and I'd imagine the culprits have already been dealt with as it created some bad press.

if seasunsand doesnt float your boat then try asiarooms.com or if you leave it to last minute try ratestogo.com.

Many thanks for your help

I flew airasia CNX-HKT too just last month - I think I paid approx 1500THB including extra baggage which I thought was superb considering thai air are charging 5000THB+ on that route (it was actually closer to 7000THB when I booked).

flight was on time and cut out a whole lot of crap involved with going to HKT via BKK.

re hotel - you'll need to provide more info:

budget?

area? (patong, kata, karon etc?)

interests? (nightlife or relaxation?)

Off course they can be cheap. Last time I flew with Thai Air Asia I observe that the safety briefing was very poor and short. In addition I observed that they did not have any safety card/ brochure in the seat pockets.

This tells me that the low fares is possible at the sacrifice of safety concerns. Afterwords I did a check of the registration numbers on the plane, and found the plane was an 25 year old museum piece 737-300 which they operate 8 off.

Six off them had their first flights in 1984/ 85 and the two newest had their first flight in 1986. Old scrap I think if you ask me.

NO MORE THAI AIR ASIA FOR ME!!!

Budget a max of 1500 a night with breakfast. Close to shops,beach and nice relaxing place to stay. l may split my 9 day holiday into 2 staying at Patong and Kata

PS Some of Thai Airways and Nok planes are old as well especially the 747/400s and 737s. Most of Air Asia's jets are Airbus A319/320 and fairly new

Any advice on hotels in Phuket much appreciated

I flew airasia CNX-HKT too just last month - I think I paid approx 1500THB including extra baggage which I thought was superb considering thai air are charging 5000THB+ on that route (it was actually closer to 7000THB when I booked).

flight was on time and cut out a whole lot of crap involved with going to HKT via BKK.

re hotel - you'll need to provide more info:

budget?

area? (patong, kata, karon etc?)

interests? (nightlife or relaxation?)

Looking at a hotel inPatong close to shops for the wife,restaurants and nightlife. Must be clean and not to noisy at night as at my age looking for relaxation as well as a swimming pool,bars close by. Willing to pay up to a max of 1500baht a night

Thanks for your help

I got Sugar Palm Karon for 700 baht last september through Agoda, nice hotel, good pool, near the beach, short walk to decent restaurants etc. Kanjana Tours located in the same soi as the hotel got good deals on car/motorbike hire, laundry and a trip to Koh Phi Phi

Going to Phuket in March next year. Does the Suger Palm Karon have a web site so l can look at the facilities and check the prices for next year

Thank you

I was going to suggest a hotel until I read that you would prefer to avoid patong.

in that case, try www.ratestogo.com. excellent for last minute bookings.

I am going to Phuket in March next year. Do you know a hotel close to the beach and shops. Budget is max of 1500 a night but expect good clean hotel with air con and breakfast. Been in Thailand 10 years but never had a holiday in Phuket. Would you advise to leave any hotel booking until the last minute as it is apparently peak time

Many thanks

Went to Hua Hin last year and stayed at the Holiday Inn. Lovely hotel right on the beach with great western beakfast and local shops and restaurants within walking distance. I paid about 1400 baht a night inclusive of breakfast. Check with Thai Visa Hotels as they seem to be cheaper than Agoda. Good luck and enjoy

Dont feel too bad OP, airfares for me from Atlanta to BKK have risen almost 80% in the past 6 months from around $800 - $1000 to now around $1600 - $1800. Crazy stuff! I have looked all the way until next year, and it does not look like prices are dropping.

My thoughts are that the Delta-Northwest merger was a nightmare for travelers, and they have raised prices as a result of their near stranglehold on the USA-Asian traveler. With these high prices, I really do have to think twice about going to Asia. When prices were less than $1000, it was alot to think about. But now with the prices getting extortionately high, I will only travel to asia 2 times a year and stay much longer than I used to.

Also, the airlines have raised the mileage prices for trips to asia. I used to be able to get a free ticket to BKK for 65,000 miles. Now they can only get me as far as Shanghai and that costs 120,000 miles. I hate Delta and Northwest, but a deal can still be had on Korean Air from time to time.

Sad days for the formerly fun trip to Thailand.

The Delta-Northwest merger has not helped, but it would be insane to fly here on a USA carrier anyway. The treatment you receive on the Asian airlines is as black and white different from the USA carriers as comparing Thai women to American Women. The old flight hags and the US carrriers are exactly what you come here to get away from, and Northwest is about the worst of the worst. They are rude, threatening and arrogant, especially since they seem to prefer playing cop to providing customer service.

My suggestion is to find a flight on an Asian airline (Eva-JAL-China-ANA etc) from Los Angeles or San Francisco. Thai is good but they tend to be expensive You can fly from Chicago to California on Southwest or one of the low cost USA airlines. Not only is this cheaper, but you will have a much better flight.

Also, use Orbitz to see what is available, then go to each airlines website to see if you can get a better price by booking directly with the airline.

Very well said. All my friends returning to USA or Canada use China Airlines,Korean or Asiana

Just booked a return flight for 4 persons with AIr Asia from CNX to Phuket in March 2011 for 7792baht inc airport tax and vat. Special offer l think until 24 July 2010 but they may extend it as it is a new route for them from CNX and they are competing with Thai but that should not be difficult. Flew with Air Asia from BKK to Bali last March and it was really good service and on time even though the flight left BKK at 6.15am so involved an overnight stay in BKK. Now looking for a hotel in Phuket. Any ideas?

Can any TV members recommend a good standard hotel near Patong beach and shopping centre. It has to be a clean room with air con and hot/cold showers,TV etc. Bar,complimentry western breakfast and swimming pool. I am going at the end of March 2011 for 9 days and am willng to pay a max of 1500 baht a night

Many thanks

I realize that most folk have their own preference for music and their own chosen medium to listen at home - be it CD, vynal, MP3 or Internet streaming. Still this may be of interest to some.

Modern Chiang Mai Radio - 100.75 MHZ play a wide selection and variery of English language music and songs throughout the day. It seems to be more 50's/60's orientated after 0800. In the afternoon, depending on the day, it becomes more modern. Its good enjoyable background music.

i listen to Modern Radio most days whilst on the computer. Its relaxing and enjoyable and even some of the Thai music is not bad

I was not sure, but I had only heard that long term prices had gone up. I can not find any daily prices on the website (other than long term 800 baht per night - I was paying 333 a couple of years ago.)

The daily rate is probably there somewhere, but I can't be bothered to search the whole site further.

The New place next to McDonlads opposite the gate is a real nice place stayed there a night when my bro was in town brand new and it was 900 baht including a nice buffet breakfast which I though was excellent value for the quality

Cant remember the name of it

The hotel next to McDonalds is the Imm Hotel and is very nice according to my friends who have stayed there several times

Just had a Phillips electric razor repaired under warranty and it was sent to Phillips in BKK. Not a Phillips service centre in CNX

i have through the grapevine that you can get a retirement visa here in Chiang Mai for a fee of 21000baht although Immigration are likely to deny this. I know somebody who has done it this way

Whats wrong with beautiful young students wearing short skirts. Most of them are probably over 17 and looking boyfriends. Keep them the same

Can barely get it to work at all via my "high speed internet"

Using dial up now which is taking 3-4 minutes to load a page. Anybody else with the same problem?

Its OK at the moment in San Sai although yesterday my satelitte which is linked to the internet kept losing its picture. OK this morning

Thanks very much everyone. Definetly a big challenge for me.

I want to clarify a few points.

1. I begin on 1st August

2. I am quitting the Tourist Police with effect from 31st July

3. I apologize to anyone who comments on this thread as I am not able to join in any detailed discussions regarding the post.

4. I hope to see some of you in the Consulate Office next to Immigration in Jomtien in the near future.

Howard

Congratulations Howard on your appointment, The Tourist Police in Pattaya will miss you.

not sure which place you're talking about on ratwithi but it's probably the new delhi restaurant (i think that's the name)? you might not know, but there's another indian just a few doors down - just next to cafe del sol, and it's an offshoot of the royal india. it is fantastic value and very cheap. nothing cheaper in chiang mai i believe for indian. their masala dosa is to pass into nirvana for (with coconut chutney). nice veggie wraps (basically a samosa burrito with amazing sweet and spicy indian sauce) too. everything i've tried is really good.

if you've got a kitchen get a jar of curry paste and a pack of frozen roti at rimping (comes in a box in the frozen food section). then make your own curries with chicken and vegetables (okra is a nice touch). add yogurt or sour cream to make it korma-like. cheaper, better and healthier than most of the low end indian places in town. super easy to make.

Where can you buy a decent Indian Curry paste in Chiang Mai as l like maling my own curries at home. Tried Rimping,Tesco etc but no luck. Maybe Kasims sell it

This morning, I orderd 18 items from Butter is Better to be delivered to my house by MOW4U, and everything was perfect. Perfect looking, perfect tasting too !

20% discount on a Wednesday at Meechok branch

This morning, I orderd 18 items from Butter is Better to be delivered to my house by MOW4U, and everything was perfect. Perfect looking, perfect tasting too !

20% discount on a Wednesday at Mee Chok branch at Rimping

Sounds like the OP has his connection set incorrectly. You need to go to your Control Panel, Network and Internet connections and make sure you are connecting via the Local area connection or wireless and not dial up. It sounds to me as tho you are still using the dial up instead of the broadband.

Many thanks sbk for the info and now my problems seem to have been resolved. It was easy to rectify even with my knowledge of computers

Are there any TV members that can give me some advice. When l log into Thai Visa formum l get a message connect or stay offline. Unless l use the connect system l am unable to review each topic and cannot exit an existing page unless connect is used. I noticed that last month my TOT telephone bill had doubled as it looks as if l am charged 3 baht to connect in the same way as a telephone call and this can be many times when using Thai Visa Forum. I use Triple T internet premium. Would appreciate any help as l am not very good with computers and l had no problem and was accessing Thai Visa forums without the need to keep using the connect sign until Thai visa changed its format recently

Thanks

I live in San Sai and at the beginning of June lost the use of the internet for 1 week despite phone calls twice a day everyday to 3B's. The said it was the problem of TT@T. It was okay for a while and then went missing for a day again. When l said that l would deduct 1 weeks subscription for the loss of service to my premier internet account l was told it was not possible and thet if the bill was not paid in full l would be disconnected. Its working now but still slow.

Ken Taylor was cremated yesterday but a memorial service for all his friends will be held on Tuesday at a location still to be arranged