easyas

Ridiculous speed claim - 225 km in an hour with 3 stops before Hua Hin.

Totally impossible!

Last I looked, km was for indicating distance, not speed.

And I quote:

"One of the gateways to the South is the Bangkok - Hua Hin line that will only take 1 hour.

One of the high-speed rail lines planned to be constructed is the Bangkok - Hua Hin line, which totals 225 km. and consists of 4 stops: Nakhon Pathom, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, and Hua Hin."

Seems llke 225 km in 1 hour to me!

If you go to the CTH website the schedule on there now appears to be working. You can select a channel and it gives you a listing for today with the option to search future dates as well. When I tried it last week it wasn't working so they are progressing albeit slowly.

Not working now!

What a stoopid iggerent Russki he is! Some 3 or 4 years ago I bought a rose gold Patek Philippe from the (concealed) back of a shop in Phuket. i paid 2000 baht for it. I still have it . it works well, keeps good time and while its rose gold is perhaps a little faded it's still gold. I never once thought it was genuine. At the time I thought if it lasted 2 years that'd be good, but so far it's still AOK. I know someone who is a (genuine) watch collector and he was (and still is) amazed by its quality, particularly the accuracy of its detailing.

By the way those people with genuine Tags shold be aware the movement is Seiko !!!

At least he don't suffer much not others cheated but their Thai wife lost whole life saving chase out from the house ,sleep under bridge, looking for food on dump site that more suffer then death, used alcohol to reduce the pain but thing get worst .

Cannot sue the wife as laws protected her, we have to put a sign for new comer like cigarette box to warned those innocent farang to be happen in future as not only help but reduce such cases.

?? Would you like to have another go at expressing your view in a way that can be understood?

Totally agree - no idea what side you are on - why don't you learn decent understandable English and log back on again?

Just an other example where the foreigner is only seen as a cash cow while she takes a Thai lover to satisfy her needs. Not so strange actually probably a high age difference between wife an the foreigner. Poor was probably worth more dead then alive. Hope they punish them all harsh.. but I won't hold my breath.

I knew Ray and I knew his wife. The photos flatter her.

A friend called me last week and told me Fon had been given the death sentence and her BF 30 years.

I'm thinking now that her brother's timely reappearance may be part of a bargain to reduce her punishment to a long prison sentence.

At the time of his murder Ray had cancer of the throat. She couldn't wait..........

Poor bugger - what a bitch! Should be given 30 years followed by the death penalty.

Na. Death penalty straight away. Frees up space in the over crowded prisons.

I knew Ray as well. He lived not far from me in the UK. It's true he was very ill and dying and not long before he was killed, he was attacked and had his arm broken. On the day he died, his wife phoned a mate of me and Ray FROM THE MARKET to say that she thought there was a problem at her house. So my mate went round to the house and found the door open and his body on the floor. My question is this. If she's at the market, how the hell ( best place for her) does she know there's a problem at home?

Weeelll. The next door neighbour could have phoned her???

The next door neighbour has blood on his/her phone?

Just an other example where the foreigner is only seen as a cash cow while she takes a Thai lover to satisfy her needs. Not so strange actually probably a high age difference between wife an the foreigner. Poor was probably worth more dead then alive. Hope they punish them all harsh.. but I won't hold my breath.

I knew Ray and I knew his wife. The photos flatter her.

A friend called me last week and told me Fon had been given the death sentence and her BF 30 years.

I'm thinking now that her brother's timely reappearance may be part of a bargain to reduce her punishment to a long prison sentence.

At the time of his murder Ray had cancer of the throat. She couldn't wait..........

Poor bugger - what a bitch! Should be given 30 years followed by the death penalty.

"Resigned to it"? Resigned to what? Being murdered? None I would hope! If you are still in control of your faculties you would take control of the situation in some way - find somebody to murder the wife perhaps?

Man Ure are very heavily in debt as a result of their American owners finagling!

Serve them right!

If I'm not getting too personal .... what has this all cost you so far?

No problem I don't mind. It has in fact cost me not one Baht inclusive of medication. I have a yellow book and get treatment in the public hospital for free. However you have to arrange it before hand

I've heard about the benefit of having a yellow book before (just the once!). When you say you have to arrange it before hand what do you mean? How difficult is it? The yellow book is of no use in the case of an accident? Does the yellow book benefit only apply to the person named in the book? What about other family members at the same address? Sorry for so many questions!

I have not traveled by train in Vietnam, I remeber suggesting to my Vietnamese wife once that we take a train trip from Saigon to I think it was Da Nang. Her reply was along the lines of 'I would rather walk'.

I have not been to the north of Vietnam but can certainly vouch for the south. Saigon, Vungtau, Dalat, Nha Trang are all worth a visit. If you do go to Da Nang - Hoi An make sure you visit 'Marble Mountain' which is roughly mid way between the two. There is a whole village there devoted to marble statue carving and the trail up to and through the mountain caves is well worth it.

As previous posters have mentioned scams and rip offs abound in the tourist areas. I have been going to Vietnam since the early 90's and a lot has changed. The days of girls with ram rod straight perfect posture backs, riding a push bike while wearing an impossibly white, long flowing Ao Dai have passed and been surplanted by millions of motor bikes and face masks.

I have friends who still live in the south by choice and claim to love it there although there is not one who has not had his home broken into more then once. Every time I go back I enjoy the place less and less, the infrastructure which was inadequate 20 years ago is getting worse all the time under the pressure of a growing middle class. The taxi trip from the airport to the center of Saigon used to be about 15 minutes, it can be as long as 40 minutes now depending on the time of day.

There are some wonderful places to see and some great people but you will need to keep your wits about you as the Vietnamese make the Thais look like amateurs when it comes to parting you from your money.

Totally disagree with you when you compare Vietnamese to Thai honesty - I go regularly and while I am perhaps a little more careful in the South there is no question that the Vietnamese you meet particularly in the North are honest (much more so than Thais!)

"Guest" infers "Hospitality".

Therefore I'm not a guest.

It's true that SAPA is only good for a few days or so, but the mountain scenery is beautiful, especially when it's misty. We went on one of the day walks with a Hill Tribe guide (in places steep downhill walk, car back up to the town) to some of the villages & that's interesting, you do get hassled a bit to buy stuff - keep a smile & it's fine. Otherwise you can hire a driver to go further into the mountains or as said a 2/3 day trekking trip.

Just a very personnel observation, I think Hue is overrated, unless you like visiting yet another temple or ruins. Hoi An is good and you can bicycle for about 30 minutes (usually provided free of charge by the guest house) from the town to the great clean beaches and sea There is also a day bicycle tour in Hoi An run by a French guy with Vietnamese guides that takes you to some of the local villages where they have brick works, by hand boat building etc Good restaurants to try at night with all the street lights making it attractive, many old traditional building as one of the towns not destroyed by bombing/combat during the war.

Fully agree with you about Hue and Hoi An. The only thing about Hue that sets it apart from Hoi An is that there are in Hue very good shops selling good quality paintings, whereas similar shops in Hoi An only have diabolical daubs aimed at the non-discerning tourist!

Wow...another great post! If I remember correctly, there's a train that goes along that coast from Hoi An to Hue? I remember taking one and the scenery was quite nice. Right along the coast.

Not sure about that. I don't remember whether Hoi An is on the rail network. The rail link to Hue would probably be from Danang. And I doubt whether the scenic route still exists - the route would probably now be through the tunnel? In any event, as said before trains are dirty and very, very slow AND you can't get off to take in the views, chug down a tinny or two and hop back on again at will as you could do if you hired a car and driver!

Never travel by train! Dirty and very very slow. Travel by air instead, up to date aircraft, loads of flights between the major cities/towns and cheap. Note that there are officially two prices for the same seat. Vietnamese travel more cheaply than foreigners, but even for foreigners the seat price is still cheap. I would give Saigon a miss altogether, Hanoi's much more interesting. I'd give Sapa a miss too unless you're into trekking, much more interesting (and NOT to be missed!) is Halong Bay. Organise a 2/3 day visit out of Hanoi. Another essential for women is to visit Hoi An (Danang and its airport is just 30 minutes away by taxi - also cheap) as it is reputed to have over 1000 tailors - take a couple of Vogues or what have you with you - point to the picture and pick it up the next day! Savile Row tailoring for men also!

Foreigners are not allowed to drive cars (motorbikes OK) but it is very easy to find a driver and up to date car. If you do end up in Hoi An there's a spectacular coastal road over the Hoi Van pass to Hue (another airport town) - just tell your driver you want to go OVER the pass, not UNDER it as nowadays you can. Hue used to be Vietnam's capital many moons ago and it has some spectacular buildings, including the Citadel which the US Navy used for target practice from the safety of the ocean some 60 miles out. The Vietnamese Government has not rebuilt it (other than making it safe to walk through), preferring to leave it as a momento of the American War.

And what a load of rubbish the match was!

Boston now.

Total gun law idiocy.

What next?

Ill call it as 'bad' FunFon

US companies used to put back into their communities; small towns across America relied on them. LBOs changed that landscape dramatically with tens of thousands of companies being bought out, stripped of assets, loaded with debt and left to die. Communities suffered, jobs were lost.

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Yes but that's just the way the world is these days isn't it?

On the other side, lower prices do help poor families survive in the States - 8 cents of every dollar spent there is spent at Wal-mart.

And it's helped increase the standard of living of millions of Chinese, and surely that's a good thing?

Helped ncrease the standard of living of millions of Chinese, maybe.

But at the expense of tens of millions in the Western world?

How much does USA owe China these days?

Fresh and Easy are small grocery stores , not like Tesco Lotus, more like the size of Foodland ,

they have not done well, the one by my friends house in Santa Ana , California closed a year ago ,

I have only been to them a few times as they are not close to me, but prices were just OK and selection was low compared to the full size grocery markets.

No great lose and nothing to do with Tesco Lotus

Nothing to do with Tesco Lotus? Same owners not enough for you?

There are also plenty of Tesco Lotus Express stores which are about the size of Foodland outlets and many of these offer only a limited range of products and services.

Tesco has announced that following a disastrous foray into USA it is divesting itself of Its Free & Easy chain at a loss of some 1.2 billion pounds. In addition to its U.S. retail flop, Tesco has struggled with Eurozone stability and a scandal surrounding horse meat-tainted beef. The company said last year that it would pull out of Japan and is dealing with unfavorable regulations in South Korea. It has also said that other markets would be critically examined. Thailand next for the chop?

"Who you gonna call"? Preferably someone with a better knowledge of English!

I realise this is a Yank speaking - but for God's sake can't you learn English?

From what I can determine, the road deaths over Songkran are no different to any other day of the year, in fact they may even prove to be less if you analyse the correct data...correctly. The only difference with the roads deaths at Songkran is that the authorities report them and publicise them.

This is not about Songkran, this is about problems that are endemic in Thai society, problems that are easy to fix.

It is about no adequate driving tests and standards.

It is about no adequate driving laws.

It is about the Police force failing to ensure that people adhere to what road laws there are.

It is about the judiciary failing to properly punish those guilty of serious road crimes, drink driving, wreckless driving, fleeing the scene of an accident, and as a result, failing to establish a credible and serious deterrent.

It is about failing to seriously punish those who drive without a licence or insurance, or who are underage.

It is the fact that Thailand probably has the same attitude to drink driving as most western countries did 50-60 years ago, the problem being that 50-60 yrs ago not many people/families had cars or bikes in the west, but in 2013 in Thailand, lots of them do...almost everybody, hell the government even help them by introducing irresponsible populist schemes that have only one objective...to get the government re-elected.

Where there is a will there is a way, where there is no will there is no way!

"Wreckless driving"? That makes me guilty, and I thought I was doing OK!

No point in just taxing higher - just ban these drinks altogether!

There are so many Thai fatties around me I could be in the USA!