Chalard

www.agsfourwinds.com

AirAsia is great. They have good promotions with lots of avalability at the advertised prices for people who can understand their website.

A quick check is showing avalability at the advertised price for the route you want on June 4,5,7,8,9,10,11.........

The deals are there, you just need to read carefully.

AA is great for booking way ahead if you know your dates & if you virtually have no baggage.

Otherwise they are just a rip off & you are better off flying other airlines.

I avoid AA like the plague.

There false advertizing is just normal like everybody else nowadays.

do you honestly believe the plane will take off without so many still stuck at immigration/customs?

Yes, I do. And they'll probably smile at you while they sell you a full fare ticket to replace the one in your hand that's no longer valid.

There is a slight problem facing the airlines as security protocol tends to frown upon carrying checked-in luggage without the associated passenger also on board. In many cases the planes will be held back for depature.

Good point.

If your late getting to the gate in Hong Kong, they will unload your baggage & leave you behind. Been there done that.

Don't give a tip then & look for another place that's more time concious for you.

I would guess that Thaksin has the inside dope on most events in Thailand, I think the main reason he is keeping quiet is out of a real respect for someone he admires. I know this will make the Thaksin haters laugh, but this is how I read him.

I hope your not refering to his younger sister?????

First of all ... sad that this incident has taken 6 lives.

BUT, how can the police confirm that the driver was asleep?

With everyone involved in the accident unable to supply evidence how can they reach this conclusion?

Drunk ... maybe

Drugs ... maybe

Asleep ... maybe

A post mortem will determine the first two ... but to confirm 100% that the driver was asleep ... maybe it's ben lost in the translation.

If the driver was awake, there would probably be brake marks of some kind on the road or wherever before it hit the tree.

Having fallen asleep myself behind the wheel here in Thailand, i know there weren't any brake marks before i hit the electric pole.

Look at the good side.

Better to have huge stockpile than Thai people have no rice to eat.

3 cheers for the govt.

Can the poor Thai's afford it?

Of course they can.

You pay between 30 - 40 baht per kg now which is B30 - 40,000/ton.

Someone is making a lot of money on it!!!!!

Here's a little "conspiracy theory" to consider......Tak is a strong democratic province (Yellow) and was

under scrutiny during the flood crisis for why the water was being held up at the dam for so long and

then suddenly drained in massive amounts, hence the floods.

So, how convenient for this psychic's predicted catastrophe to cause Tak millions in tourist revenue this

holiday season. Revenge? Also, the Shinawatra's own and control an extensive amount of Thai media.

The Tak governer is outraged by this "old man" psychic and the financial damage he caused Tak,

and from what I heard while in Tak, he is behind the investigation. I also heard that many poor people

in Tak sold their land to a wealthy investor at fire sale prices for fear of being flooded and killed.

That wreaks of a conspiracy to me....if true. This is what I've heard from credible sources while there last weekend.

No, I didn't hear it from an old lady at the beauty parlor, I am talking about educated adults, some who work in the municipal government.

Congratulations, templedog. You win today's TV prize for working Taksin Shinawatra into a totally irrelavent post. A potatao chip is on it's way to you as we speak.

Templedog only mentioned a surname. For you adding T's name into it NCFC, you can finish off the bag of chips!!!

By the way, potato has only 1 a.

sorry, but sounds pretty spot on. There was massive flooding in BKK recently as a concequence of the dam not being able to hold water as we all know.

Was not exactly 31st December........ but not far off if ti was predicted 37 yrs back

+ 1

He was a couple of months late predicting disaster from this dam!!!!!

It's okay to ride a motorcycle without a helmet.

It's okay to ride with three, four or even five on a motorcycle built for two.

It's okay if the person at the front is probably not the one in control.

It's okay to ride against the flow of traffic.

It's okay to fly out of a side road and turn left without stopping or looking.

It's okay to drive a motorcycle while holding an umbrella or a phone or both.

It's okay to sit side-saddle on a motorcycle.

It's okay to ride at night with defective lights.

It's okay to cram six people into a pick-up and another fifteen in the bed.

It's okay to cram a songthaew full of schoolkids, then six more on the home-made extension at the rear.

It's okay to pack a mini-bus full of people and drive as fast as you can five metres behind the bus in front.

It's okay to drive at 25kms an hour in the outside lane in a decrepit old pickup stacked 5m high with pineapples.

It's okay to fill old buses with obviously twisted chassis' full of people from one end of the country to another.

All of which can be done without a licence or insurance.

Mai pen rai.

True but u cant change them. Its up to them to learn.

Spot on. But will take a long time to change their bad habits.

The guys were Border Patrol Police which is not your regular BiB.

Well there's one thing for sure, she won't do it again.

Hope the injured recover quickly from the greedy, impatient attitude of the deceased driver.

Will it be a wake up call for other thai's? I doubt it.

Why would a 47 yr old tourists confide in an 18 yr old Thai child about his congenital disease? Seems a little odd but hey. I am sure the Thai authorities will make inquiries with his immeadiate family and his treating doctor back home to support the autopsy findings, very straight forward normal proceedure that any police force will carry out, as it is Step 1 in this type of investigation.

Maybe he was under the influence of alcohol???!!!???

Anyway as a 47 year old he can do what he likes.

As long as he died happy, who really cares.

RIP Mr Saurkraut

His family will have to deal with any investigation irregularities???

The wife just phoned from Future Park, said it took her 1.5 hrs to get there via: Klong 10 down 305 to the Eastern Ring Road at Klong 5, north to the Klong Luang road, west to Phaholyothin, and south to FP. Said most of the traffic was on the Klong Luang road.

She wanted to hit the Rangsit Market, too, no dice, still flooded.

FP? Lots of the businesses still not open, no staff for one reason, and lack of customers for another, I reckon.

Saves me an exploratory trip on Friday. She phoned this morning that it's OK to come home now, the van can get to our door. On the road tomorrow.

Mac

Another way to miss the traffic jam at the Thanyaburi toll gate is -

Turn left off the Ring Road (if you're heading towards Swampy) onto # 305 (Nakhon Nayok Rd) & go up to Klong 7 (1st set of lights after Big C). Turn right & head towards the Lam Lukka Rd. At the T intersection turn left & go 200 metres & then turn right at the traffic lights into Nimitmai Rd. Go till this road meets Suwintawong & turn right (there's maybe 300 metres of water about 30cm deep to drive through) & then its okay after that. You can follow the Airport Signs towards Ram Intra Rd & then turn back onto the Ring Road. Very little traffic on this route. Came back from Bkk this way yesterday.

Not sure on Lat Lum Kaew on 346, Rangsit - Nakon Nayok road is ok and on to motorway to swampy is ok too.

Might be best to check about turning left & heading towards the Eastern Outer Ring Road at Lat Lum Kaew. Lot of water around the Sam Khok / Pathumthani area still.

Thanks for the info Shopboy much appreciated.

"My usual route is through Lat Lum Kaew on the 346, over the Pathum Thani Bridge, ...

Let us know how you get on. In a couple weeks I need to get down to Ratchaburi. My normal route from Klong 10 on 305 is west through Lat Lum Kaew on 346, through Bang Len, then a left at Khamphaengsaen and down on 321 to Nakhon Phathom, right on 4 and motor on.

Works fine for me, but how's the water out west of Lat Lum Kaew these days.

Mac

Better to go from Klong 10 down to the Outer Ring Road & follow it all the way down to Rama 2, turn left & head to Pak Tor (Petchkasem Rd) & then right to Ratchaburi. No flooding here at all.

All she need to do is to tell the truth "I know nothing, I do nothing"

Spot on.

Why attack Yingluck? She hasn't done anything......oops answered my own question there.

Here, Here.

I fear that another military coup will be on the near horizon again. A deep division will come between both factions, one that will not be able to be repaired.

Coup is not easy this time. Because police can counter-army coup. Police have guns too. And who runs Police?

Don't you mean the Police can run to

Police V's Army

you have to be joking

The Police doen't have any tanks or big firepower like the army. Will be interesting to watch!!!

The timing and secretive style seems to reflect a payback for favors, maybe even against Yingluck's will as PM...quite possible that her brother is upping the profile for his return irregardless of the cost to her....I'm sure he fully intends on returning most probably in December, so waiting for a 'good time' may not be an option for him....for the sake of stability of a fragile government with a monumental tasks ahead restoring confidence in future flood control, the issue of one man's return and avoiding jail may have to be decided publicity by a higher authority and let both sides fold their hands and accept wise consul on this....

Spot on 62strat. Will be interesting what the higher authority's decision is??

Can someone please explain the huge 250 miles (400 Km) of water that is sitting above Bangkok (on the Google Flood Map):

Click here for Google Flood Map

(its a bit slow to load)

or is the Google Flood Map of Thailand not correct?

do you know if they actually DELETE the water that has receded?

from looking at the Google Flood map (link above) it still looks like this flooding is nowhere near over. it looks like its just about to start!!

- so, please can somebody shed some light on this.

Flew in over the north this morning. Water as far as the eye could see. Like an inland ocean. Certainly no where near over yet.

The things we don't know are -

1. How deep is that water?

2. Is that water in fields where it will be slow to get out?

3. The closer it gets to Bkk the slower it moves due to the flatness of the land.

I'm out at Klong 10 at Nong Sua on the Nakhon Nayok Rd & the water level has gone down 40cm the past week. If a large volume is still coming like the last one, all it did was fill up the fields between Wang Noi & Nong Khae.

I commented a long time ago, that some of the rice fields that would have been affected belonged to a certain Mr Thaksin, as I heard it from some Thai friends, seems pressure was put on this Minister to wait so Mr. Thaksin and his friends could get their crops harvested.

Correct Beano2274. That's why the water wasn't diverted to Suphanburi. Amazing what people will do to keep their Saudi friends happy even though they can't own the land???

The 20 baht an hour is to discourage people coming & using it as a parking lot whilst the floods are on. Best thing to do is like some places if you spend more than x amount of baht your parking is free on the same day.

... has anyone a source identifying routes still open for driving upcountry? ... specifically Lopburi.

If you come up the ring road to the lam lukka turn off, turn right onto rd 3312, when you come to the 1st T interesection turn left into # 352. This road brings you up to the Rangsit - Nakhon Nayok rd # 305. Turn right, you have 2 choices then. Go to Klong 10 & turn left to Nong Sua # 3261 & follow that all the way & it comes out at Nong Khae beside Phahonyothin Rd. Otherwise keep going up the # 305 until they direct you back towards Highway # 1 along rd # 33. Hope this helps.