tuktukmike

Remember there is a big villa market opening at the venician development cha am side of the airport, my understanding is that it will be double the floorspace of the current one in hua hin.

Ttm

We brought our 3 cats from the UK in 2004 and what a game.

Emirates promised the best of care from Heathrow and delivered nothing, we were assured that the cats would be cleaned out and checked on arrival in dubai.

For this reason we chose a longer stopover in dubai (6 hours) so they could be cleaned out and allowed some time in a pen which is what we were promised, in reality they did nothing and they were left in the transit carrier's.

When we arrived in Bangkok we had to go to the freight warehouse and were shocked to find our cats in a terrible state, the cages had not been cleaned and they were soaking in urine.

Now the customs part, they told us that there was nobody to do the clearence and to come back the next day.

As some can imagine I was not going to leave them there in that condition, I eventually found an agent and to be honest he was very good and seemed as concerned as I was about the conditions the cats were in.

Eventually we managed to find a customs officer to do the clearence but he wanted a pay off.

In the end after nearly losing it many times I paid 1500bht and got them out of that hell hole.

Never again.

Ttm

So effectively khun jean what you are saying it that in reality its 30 years rent paid up front.

I doubt many of us will be around in 30 years to see the result of this debacle but will surely be interesting times.

I for one would feel extremely angry to find out that after paying full price on a house the developer then took out what is in effect a second mortgage on my property.

Ttm

I asked the question about 30 year leases and developers taking out loans on the house and land.

The reason I asked is that it would seem that a developer down here in sweet little hua hin has done just that according to a local forum.

A poster has said that on their development of 12 houses the developer has taken out loans with a bank using the property's or land as collateral, the developer has failed to keep up payments to the bank and it seems the residents are going to lose their homes. Crazy.

Why are people so stupid to pay 100% for a 30 year lease (rent), in the uk you would expect a 99 year lease.

Ttm

Yeah nyk I know what your saying but on on another forum shall we say it seems the developer has raised bank loans through homes he sold on a development.

For me this sort of raises a red flag with the so called 30 year lease (rent), as the land owner am I right in thinking that any holder of the land title can raise loans on security of the land.

If so then they are sort of getting double their money and leaving the house owner in a perilous position.

I get the feeling that this may be the next big scam to hit.

Ttm.

I am also curious as to the developers role in these lease or glorified rent up front agreements, it seems for some that a developer can as holder of the land go out and gain loans from thai banks using the land as collateral.

If this is the case we could be seeing the next big scam here.

Any thoughts anyone.

I have heard that villa are to open a new store very soon, any heads up on this.

Ttm

No its not open and I doubt will be for some time, there is as always talk of it opening but give it a year or two.

Ttm

Hi all, not sure if anyone can help but I am trying to find a pet friendly hotel between chumphon and ranong.

Found one that says pet friendly but only accepts toy dogs, ours is small to mid size.

Ranong town or chumphon town would be fine but was wandering if there are any hotels on the road to ranong.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Ttm

Well I dont fit into the pot bellief bald headed type referred to.

So anyway if as said they are there to check people who have come through the green channel then what is the job of the uniformed customs officials that were present in the said channel.

As I have said I have never heard of a sort of double customs check before.

Ttm

Also no dark jackets just shirt and trousers, like I said if you keep an eye out in baggage reclaim you will see them milling around.

Not the best at undercover work

Ttm

Does that mean that unlike other countries they are a separate entity.

Most countries customs and excise are one and the same.

Cant remember seeing any id worn by them but must be legit or how else would they have their own little desk there.

Ttm

I came in through swampy in feb and while in baggage claim I had an idea I was being watched, there seemed to be quite a lot of thai guys walking around the baggage area in casual dress.

Sure enough I got a tug but not at the customs we all walk through but outside in the arrivals hall, the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago at swampy.

I am sure I have seen this topic before on thaivisa but thought it deserves an update, so the question is just who are these people.

When they stop you they take you behind a sort of wooden screen where a chap is sat at a desk, they of course found nothing and was allowed to continue.

The thing is that I have never experienced anything like this at any other airport, normally once you have cleared the customs channel that is it.

If they suspected me of carring anything I should not then why did they not stop me at customs.

Strange.

Ttm

There is already massive oversupply of all types of accommodation in hua hin with current owners unable to sell the dream (nightmare) they bought a few years ago.

Hua hin is a small town with a main road running through the middle, add to that the water shortages and filthy beaches and what have you got?

A low class benidorm.

Enjoy.

One of the first ways to improve parking would be to clear out the rows upon rows of rental bikes that line all the streets beach side of hua hin.

For me there is always the temple to park in.

Ttm

Majhiggins,

Where on earth did you hear that nonsense.

You as a forigner cannot bring 1 car into Thailand duty free, no way not ever.

You can apply to Thai commercial affairs dept and gain an import permit but it will cost you more than 5-10 times the value of the car in duty.

TTM

Protectionism pure and simple nothing more.

Thailand have an agreement with the EU where Thai exports get a General preference certificate which lowers the duty on their goods, this was put in place many years ago as Thailand was considered a third world country.

The time has come for the EU to scrap this nonsense and let Thailand compete with others on a level basis.

The banning of second hand cars will make little difference to us as it was just a cartel run by Hi-sos and the crooks in the customs department.

How many of you remember Thailand's big show about signing up to the Gatt agreement which should have ensured fair tariffs on all imported goods, as always they might as well have burned the agreement as soon as they signed it.

Anyway on the news yesterday they announced that (yingluck) Thailand was hoping to become the commercial hub for China so we can see the path they are heading, China loves to export but does not want large scale imports.

While companies around the world fail due to cheap imports and millions of workers lose their jobs our politicians allow this to continue without putting import tariffs on these goods.

TTM

Nonsense, what you have posted is as clear as mud.

Regardless of wheather or not I should have read the fine print which of course in most cases you would need a legal team to decipher the re-booking cost is absurd and of course you know it.

Oh by the way this is not an outbound departure but a return so can not be classed as a first fare component. It is in fact the 3rd section.

I have over the last 12 years travelled First and Business class as well as economy and now wonder if there are differing tiers in these classes, anyone know if this is the case?.

TTM

Chivas,If seats had been available in the same class that you already held then it would no doubt have been Oman's standard fee change of £50.

No seats in that class then you wait until there is, or pay the difference as others have stated for a higher fare ticket. Makes no difference that you will be sat in exactly the same economy seat.

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Im sorry am I missing something here, So exactly the same seat carries a charge of over 17 thousand baht. Just maybe its me and somehow i have lost the plot.

But this sort of charge when they admit they have empty seats in economy just does not make sense,

Why when I have as always booked direct with Emirates/Etihad/BA/Eva/Sri Lanka/Thai have I never encountered this problem.

I will now book a new flight with another airline and Oman can stick their airline where the sun dont shine.

TTM.

Sure I sort of understand what others have said regarding differing economy class, but when you book direct with them on their own web site you sure as help dont expect to be sold some cheap seat. Remember this way they do not incur any agents fees. Why have I never had this problem with emirates or etihad. Lets be honest here 17825thb is little more than extortion, we all know the price we can get one way. As for the terminal in muscat only one word. Dump. Ttm.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

To be honest im not sure if I did or not, I have booked so many flights from the uk to Thailand over the past 12 years yet never encountered this before.

Up until very recent I was a Gold member for years with Skywards (emirates) and dont recall ever buying some sort of low class economy, In fact I always assumed if you booked direct with the airline (online with no travel agent involved) this could not be the case.

And regardless 17825thb, are they mad.

TTM

Got a return flight with Oman Air for the 9th june but wanted to fly back earlier, so as I have done many times with Emirates and Etihad I called the Bangkok call centre.

When I told them the date I wanted to change to they said they were full in that class (economy) but if I paid 17,825 baht I could upgrade, I dont want to waste money so I turned it down said thanks and ended the call.

I then went to their web site and found seats in economy available for the day I asked for, so I called them back and told them that they had seats available in economy on the day I wanted so would not need to upgrade.

Shock horror the 17,825 was not in fact really an upgrade but a charge from Economy to economy, my ticket they say is class L (must mean low class) and I needed to upgrade to K economy. For this they even give me the exact same seat Im already booked on.

The ticket was originally bought through their own online booking system and at no time was there anything to suggest that I was booking some sort of low grade economy ticket, christ I can book a new return with other airlines for 18525 thb.

Also their Muscat call centre are as much use as a chocolate tea pot, send an e mail and the response is sort of robotic. I have sadly seen since on Skytrak posters with the same experiance.

Well you could say I have learned my lesson the hard way but I fancied a change of airline for once, Never again.

In future Emirates or Etihad everytime.

TTM

It does sound really odd and never heard of this before, we have lived here for more than 7 years and not had a visit.

ttm

Depends of course which way the wind is blowing, stink like that can travel some way.

Funny though as our local real estate expert was only saying today on the local forum how wonderfull soi 102 was.

Glad i am nowhere near.

ttm

Hi Moonriveroasis

You are of course correct that the cars are sent to auction, but not all.

If certain individuals within the customs department take a shine to your pride and joy they can when you have walked away from the extortion make an offer themselves for the car. possibly through a proxy.

This is why not all the cars end up at auction, mine being a case in point.

TTM