briley

I've live in a couple of places near the border and it is quite easy to cross a border illegally. I've done it many times both accidentally and deliberately.

The normal recomendation is to go as soon as possible to the nearest immigration office, or police station, and report in.

It is not an unusual occurrance but just going to the airport is probably a poor idea as it takes some time to sort out and you do not want to miss a flight. In addition the airport immigration do not understand how it can happen as well as the up country immigration office.

Now whether this advice applies in Thailand? That I do not know.

TOT have a special on 008 - think it is 3 baht a min to all countries.

Think that using 008 on a TOT line gives you international calls at 3 baht per minute until mid February.

Don't forget if you have a UK sim card you can put it into an unlocked phone to get the code from Halifax, it is free to receive an SMS.

I have put my Thai land line number into Halifax, put it as my work number so my UK land line. It shows up as my number but I haven't asked them to call me on it yet. And no, my address is not Thailand but the UK. Agreed the 7 day wait is a pain. But easier to cope with than trying to find nationwide gizmo and the card - I'm always forgetting where they both are hidden.

Nationwide charge 2.5% plus £1 so £300 costs 2.8% to transfer or £8.50.

The concert tonight is rather good, opened up all the windows and enjoying my own beer at home prices.

'Tis loud!

No reduction for Chiang Mai ID (whatever that is).

Half price for little people and those over 60.

OK, went out today and got the following information

Fountain's Miracle of greentitude everyday 7pm-7.30 (in 5D??)

Electric parade, everyday 7pm to 8.30pm

Shows in the grand amphitheatre everyday, from different countries. Korea today. Don't know the time but things were happening at 5.30pm

Celebrate below the Wat, 21-25 Dec, also 3-5 Feb and 25-26 Feb, 7pm to 8.30pm. Don't know if they are different shows or what.

Special days at the big roundabout area, 1st Jan, 1th Jan and 14th Feb (valentine day) 3pm to (or and??) 7pm

Exhibition Halls 2 and 3 have a series of events, flower competition until the 20th.

Exhibition hall 1 seems to have a King's special at around 5pm and maybe other times for 20 minutes.

Ah, SAL seems slow. Normal and small package to the UK takes 5 - 7 days. 30 days for SAL is probably not acceptable.

The post office has many rates I can use for mail from Chiang Mai to the UK, eg for a 250gm package you can:

1. Letter air mail B185 - can be sealed and contain a letter
   
2. Small package air B136 - can not be sealed, string or staples only, no letter and must have customs form
   
3. SAL (letter, small package or printed paper) B97 - goes surface to Bangkok, air to London and surface to Manchester, just the same as normally happens.
   

I used to use letter rate but have now moved to small package rate. I've found that the delivery time is exactly the same as a letter.

I'm now considering the SAL rate - has anyone tried the SAL rates? Is the delivery time similar to a letter?

They have SAL letter, small package and printed paper and all SAL rates are the same, a good half the letter rate. If I use SAL letter can I include a letter and seal the package????

I like the store near payap university on the middle ring road, S ... something Sukapan?

Good selection of tiles.

Find the pattern you like but go for the higher grade of that tile. Lower grades do scratch more easily and are not much cheaper.

Big tiles in a reasonable sized room make it look more spacious, small tiles make it look 'bitty'.

The tiles with the squared off edges mean the tiles are laid touching and do not have the grout line that gets dirty. But make sure your expert lays them correctly.

Buying in the Gulf is cheaper than Bangkok, if you happen to be going that way.

But the advantage of buying for friends from 7-11 --- you can put them in your hold baggage and not have to hump them on and off planes.

THaiPauly

Yes, but they are half price if bought before the event, got mine in Carrefour (well Big C now)

Royal Flora opens on Wednesday - according to my tickets.

Does anyone have a programme of events, especially for the first day? The website is sadly lacking in information.

The 17.55 from chiang mai does have a couple (2) of sockets above the lower bunk in the middle of the carriage, but you will have to fight with the mobile phones.

But if you take one of those small, 3 way adaptors you can unplug someone else, plug yourself and them back in and still leave a space for another person.

Just a few comments,

If you present a Thai licence when speeding etc you can not get a fixed penalty nor points, instead you go to court and pay a bit more. But often the police can't be bothered with the hassle of prosecuting 'foreign' drivers.

The old, one part licence is valid, but if you change anything, address, entitlement etc you have to get a 2 part licence and renew the photo bit every 10 years.

If not resident you can use any address in the UK through which you can be contacted, c/o addresses are OK.

Never had a problem hiring a car on a Thai licence, even when only in Thai! And no check was made with DVLA.

To the UK - don't bother trying to hide it. BT will show it as 'international' whatever you do as it is from overseas.

But then they often show calls using UK's redirect services like 18185 etc as international as well.

Just been to the Chiang Mai immigration site and found "queue online" at this link

http://chiangmaiimm.com/Marea/quer/quer_online.php

Not sure if this is the precursor of an online booking system?

Skype works fine to all free phone numbers (including UK and US number).

No need for credit - they are still free.

Works like a dream every time.

I find it amusing to talk to India from Thailand about a phone in the UK, all for no charge.

Tune hotel, part of air asia.

Prices vary depending on something, cheap bus ride from the ferry with cases and walking distance to the centre of the town

CNX to BKK is 1 hr 20 min flying time, but add on 45 min check in and 30 min to collect baggage etc then 40 minutes into central BKK and you get to 3 h 15 min.

If you could compare that to a 4 hour train journey city centre to city centre then the train is as fast and less fiddly?

Yeast survives just about up to 43C so it is unlikely your liquid will get that hot in Chiang Mai unless you leave it in the sunshine.

The area is the amount of space that is yours and not usable by other, not common area. If you have a private car parking space then that is included in the area. Along with any private balconies, small bits entering your unit, even the thickness of the walls and the services shaft as it goes past your unit.

There is a point in arriving at a local airport in the UK- train fares can be ridiculously high.

I was quoted £180 LHR to North Wales, so paying £100 extra to fly to Manchester is well worth the price. Oh yes and the journey included a 4 hour 'connection' in Birmingham from about 1am to 5am.

Roel,

Yes that is the shop. Opens about 6pm to 7pm to later.

Small stock but he will order for you and you only buy if you like what you see. He does phone you when the stock arrives - and his English is OK.

Forgot to say thanks, got two sets of Liverpool shirts at CMFutsol, one absolutely genuine, all the bits a pieces at 400 Baht for a small adults shirt, one shirt and shorts for a child at 400 Baht but did not have the Adidas sticker but all the rest looked perfect.

Far beats the price for the same stuff at Robinson's and Central.