jamesbrock

Do you specifically want a shot-time room? I know of some 2br bungalows that are cheaper than 250 baht per night (they're 7000 baht per month).

I'm not being callous but just another statistic. Why would they arrest the truck driver it appears he did nothing wrong, then they take the body for a autopsy I would think it would be obvious why the Aussie died.

Perhaps they wanted to see if he had any alcohol or drugs in his system? If neither is the case, and the truck driver is to be believed, it could very well have been a suicide.

As far as I remember, there aren't any hills on the road to Conrad. I haven't been there for over 1 year but last time parts of the road leading to their construction wasn't paved yet. But it's only about the last 2 km or so where the road turns out from the main road towards Conrad. The roads to Thong Tanot and Phang Ka are all concrete and good.

You're right, apart from the last 2-300 meters or so. I've done it on a pushbike, and it's insanely steep! When I first read this I assumed the OP was referring to some off road destination that only those with 4WD's have heard of.

A lot of directions nowadays are given by a link; having street view enables one to get a feel for where you're heading.

Having streets whose names don't appear on maps makes giving the directions as a link (even if only approximate) even more useful, as opposed to some vague directions... eg. the really good noodle soup place is near here...

There is not even real 3G in Thailand. What AIS, True, DTac are offering is a 2G technology. The speed is in below 1Mbps.

Wrong.

For the OP, there will likely not be any consensus re: the best 3G provider as there are so many variables, not the least of which is location. I would experiment with some SIMs, they can usually be found for 49 - 99 baht, and daily plans which are ~ 49 baht. Once you find a service provider you are satisifed with you can enter into a longer term arrangement, Very generally speaking, and based on purely anecdotal information, TrueMove H(/CAT My) have the most national coverage, and the fewest customers, and the best performance in all but the most dense areas of Bangkok, DTAC/Happy have decent coverage in metro-Bangkok and many other metropolitan areas, along with decent performance. AIS/One-2-Call have the second most national coverage but their performance is severely lacking owing perhaps to to crappy equipment (a hodge-podge of free trial stuff they've pried from eager/greedy vendors) and poor frequency allocation.

Listen to this guy.

Anyone understand what the difference is between "TrueMove H | 3G+" and "TrueMove" as shown below?

Too complex to address but suffice to say that you should be looking at TrueMove H rather than TrueMove.

Not sure what dominique355 is prattling on about as we've had 3G here since what, 2009? I've used TOT, TrueMove, TrueMove H, AIS/One-2-Call and DTAC/Happy 3G; all are 'real' 3G offering multi-megabit service.

I am currently using DTAC/Happy 3G, here is a recent result: (note my HW is limits to 7.2 Mbps)

As far as I'm aware, TrueMove H is what is loosely described as 3.5G. Where their 3G network had a theoretical network maximum of 21Mbps, their H network's theoretical network maximum is 42Mbps.

In the real world, this does not mean your data is twice as fast as 3G, but it is significantly faster, even with lower signals.

I've been using it since December, and the only place I've had service issues is on the road between Surat Thani and Krabi.

My speeds are consistently above 5Mbps.

Most days we have hot fresh pies just out of the oven.Maybe we should have a pie day every Saturday,Pie of the week ?

Is there a usual time?

I wouldn't mind spending 10k or 15k, as I had to drive to the station today AGAIN driving about 6 Km for nothing!

Which is why I included the higher price points! As westerners are a funny bunch, and what one person considers 'good value', e.g. a 24,500 baht mobile phone, most others would baulk at. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have to travel some distances, like you, to refuel, so $300 over the lifespan of your bike might not be too much to ask for being able to last up to three times longer.

i am all for the 500-600km range scooter but if its a modification that costs 10-20% of the cost of the actual bike then i would not be so keen

there should be an option in the price category for

(i would like larger tank optional included with purchase price of vehicle )

Yep, I agree that over 10% of the cost of the bike the costs begin to outweigh the benefits, but everyone is different and values their money accordingly. Just trying to get all the brackets.

i lived Samui 8 years, know every beach, i live in Banglamung, of which Pattaya is a small part. Few places!!! 15 years ago as tourist for 5 years and live full time 8 years, my judement was made on a return visit. Travelled outside of Chaweng!!! in 8 years give me a break. Navy beaches have zero devlopment just outside Pattaya. Seemed not to have travelled outside of Chaweng, know it like the back of my hand, the island that is. So where are the beach roads, as in road and see beach. hope business is still good.

Hmmm...from what little i can actually comprehend from your post it still seems like complete utter nonsense! Your original post was quite rightly vilified for all you mention is the really "important" (NOT) things like Burger King, dredging Chaweng Lake, Soi Reggae blah blah...all of which are Chaweng.

Anyway, in your latest "offering" you seem to be saying you have been all over the Island, you know it like the back of your hand.....then you seem to be saying there are no roads anywhere around the whole Island that you can see the beach??...ha ha ha sorry to chuckle somewhat but, dear oh dear!!

Remember that driving along the 1 way road then turning and coming back along by the lake road does not constitute driving round the whole Island, lol.

Maybe i'm just wrong and all the times i've driven around the Island i must have been imagining things or hallucinating as i was sure on occasions i could see lots of water that i could swear looked like the sea and also golden type of stuff that again i could've swore would have been sand but hey...what do i know, since i was a kid i was told this would be called a beach but obviously you have a complete different definition of what constitutes a beach....ho hum, each to their own i guess...and why someone who obviously detests it so much here lurks around this forum waiting to pounce and vilify the place at any given opportunity is also beyond me....anyway, it's beer o clock

+1 - I just assumed due the the posting time, that the incoherence was due to either drunkenness or caffeine deprivation!

Your poll is flawed. If you answer no to question 1 and 2 then the options for question 3 makes no sense.

Sophon

Yes, I saw that all too late! I can not edit it now.

If any mods or admins are looking, could you possible add a 'Not Applicable' choice to the third question?

Poll posted.

Prepare to be ridiculed and told every one of the reasons it can't be done!

One of the common complaints from riders of scooters and stepthroughs is the lack of range, and necessity to refuel every 150 - 200 km or so. A few of us over in the New Yamaha Nouvo Injected thread, have been discussing the possibly silly idea of additional fuel storage (for example something like this).

Ideally, this bladder would be permanently connected to the fuel system and/or existing fuel tank (thus would be filled and emptied with the existing tank). Possible fitting locations include under the seat for scooters (Mio, Fino, Click, Scoopy, etc.), or, for stepthroughs (Airblade, PCX, Hayate, Nouvo, etc.) - space permitting - in the void below the frame between the feet.

If the procurement, design, and compliance with any applicable regulations could be handled, imagine getting 500-600 km between fills!

It's not a completely silly idea, and presumably others have tried this and failed due to one of the bazillion potential issues, but a poll was suggested, so here it is...

yes, kevlar, yes

Too true, but thinking of keeping the price point down. Nothing wrong with offering an additional 'premium' product though...

Sounds good, but when does the siphoning of funds happen??

I don't think it is necessary to sacrifice the underseat storage for 3 or 4 extra liters of fuel.

Hence the idea of sticking it where vel_tins, quite rightly, calls a waste of space.

Looking at the Nouvo, there also is void, for exampe on both upper sides of the back wheel.

I reckon relying on gravity, as opposed to having to attach it onto the underside would be the most cost-effective method. Besides, you wouldn't want to risk punctures from road debris.

I'm sure there are other spots under the plastic coating. It will make an interesting tank form for sure, but the space is there.

Hence the bladder idea, as they can theoretically be made into, and conform with, any shape.

The next issue would be connecting it to the fuel system, and/or existing fuel tank (and, obviously, complying with any regulations the Thai govt might have...), it would be nice if it filled while filling the main tank, and not separately.

I think the problem is, you have to build them for all major model variants, like Click, Scoopy, Mio, Fino, etc.pp.

Not necessarily. One could start with one bladder - custom made so that it would fit under the underbone of all stepthroughs - and move to undersea storage bladders for the scooters if the demand is there...

The mob I linked to earlier produces several fuel bladders, and can even custom make them if you have the cash; it's not an entirely stupid idea!

And because the average Thai usually refuels only 1 liter, or 1 Bottle for 30 Bt, the customers have to be "non-Thai".

That would most probably be the target anyway.

Time for a poll....

Waiting...

its a standard document that confirms you reside in thailand

the embassy will confirm it (usually without bothering to check ) if you show them a rent statemnet ,utility bill or a lease for a condo

I had to get one of these from the Oz embassy in Bangkok. They had an example above the blank Stat Dec forms, so I completed one with the relevant information, and the girl behind the counter signed and stamped it, with no further evidence required.

or you could mount a very small saleng/sidecar to your bike, which carries a 20-50 l tank.

Put a t-connector into the original fuel line and you got it.

But seriously, a second tank in the underseat storage/underbone is not too difficult to realize, but not worth the hassle, if you only build one or two.

How about one or two thousand? Do you think one could get that number of sales across Thailand, or, indeed, Asia?

BUT I think, most people like me, would prefer storage over range.

Unless, of course, one rides a stepthrough - you can potentially have both!

Sitting here looking at my Hayate, there's an exceptional amount of void under that frame; but the question is - what would people be prepared to pay for double, or triple, the range?

Time for a poll, methinks...

Get on it then!

very interesting if someone with technical know how could put it together

Here's a start!

http://liquidcontainment.com.au/fuel_bladders.html

Public or private; free, cheap, or pricey; going to the hospital in Thailand is a crapshoot.

Too true, as are most things.

I had a motorcycle accident five weeks ago today, and was rushed to a Govt hospital in an ambulance. I waited in the not-busy emergency room, bloodied and broken, for about 40 minutes before anyone came to look at me, and then a nurse came and began cleaning and dressing my wounds. About 20 minutes later, while the nurse was dressing my knees, a doctor came up and asked how I felt. This was around 90 minutes after the accident, and by this stage I was a in pretty decent amount of pain.

After pointing to my left big toe, left ankle, left upper-shin, right lower-calf, and left arm saying I thought they were all broken, she says to me, "No, you've just got a lot of grazing." I pointed to my (already dressed) big toe and said, "No, I know that's broken for sure, as it's pointing in the wrong direction!" to which she reiterated that it was "only grazing". At no time did she touch any part of me. We 'discussed' my injuries some more before she acquiesced and sent me around to have some X-rays; except, the radiologist X-rayed both my knees (which I never complained about) and both my wrists...

After being wheeled back around the the emergency department, and waiting 20 minutes, during which time I was administered my first and only painkillers, the doctor came to say they'd found no breaks. It was as I again pointed to my toe, ankle, legs, and arm, telling her that they didn't X-ray them, I decided that I just wanted to be discharged so I could go to a real hospital. They wheeled me back around and X-rayed my foot (but not my toe) and my arm, and again found no breaks. After another ten minutes or so, less than two hours after arriving, they told me I was right to go... I looked at my friend, who had turned up, and we both looked back at the nurse and said, "What?!?" She, repeated that I was ok to leave, and walked away. My friend was about to complain, but I called him back and told him I just wanted to go to another hospital. With no hospital assistance offered, I tried to get up, but couldn't put any weight on either leg; my girlfriend (who had been injured herself) went outside and grabbed a wheelchair - after which an argument ensued as to what we were doing!

The whole experience was a complete farce and a nightmare, and I will never voluntarily set foot in that hospital again. If it was a normal country, where even guests have rights, I would consider complaining about the maltreatment, but as it is here, there is absolutely no point whatsoever.

It turned out, that while I was being maltreated, my gf received several calls from the local police (who had gotten her details at the accident scene) demanding that we present ourselves at the station the moment we got out of hospital, as they and the other parties were waiting to extort me. It has been suggested that this was the reason the hospital basically pushed me out into the street unable to stand... (Five weeks later and I'm only now beginning to hobble around.)

Anyway, after being extorted, I went to a private hospital where the treatment was better than anything I'd received back in Australia! The doctor actually cared and listened, visually and physically inspecting every part of me (he even diagnosed a 24 year old dislocated knee by how loose the ligaments were!); he X-rayed every part I wanted, and found my big toe was shattered, my right fibula had snapped cleanly, and my left elbow was broken. I saw the X-rays, these weren't some hard to define breaks - they were pretty obvious breaks! Even the re-cleaning and dressing of my wounds was substantially better than at the Govt hospital!

In the end I paid 2400 baht for either utter incompetence or police requested maltreatment, and 10,300 baht to be treated by professional caring staff at a well equipped hospital (not including aftercare and treatment of complications) - I know which I'd choose again if I had to.

A BSOD is a uniquely Windows problem, so getting one on a machine that doesn't already have Windows on it can only mean the XP disc (by most likely any XP install) has serious issues with one or more of the components in your box. As most everyone has said, you're going to have a hard time finding XP compatible drivers for some of the newer components - which are most likely the ones causing the BSOD in the first place...

As for getting the product key, it seems a fairly moot point since XP doesn't appear to want to play with your new hardware; however, a simple phone call to Microsoft...

While searching for the number for you, I discovered that they no longer take support calls for XP (as it's now in the 'Extended Support Phase' and no longer free outside the US & Canada).

Wish you the best of luck.

I bought a hybrid about five months ago as the roads here in Samui are shocking; I'll be moving to CM in a few months and can't wait to tackle the mountain! I'm sure when I was there I saw people doing it on all types of bikes?

Edit: just saw your post jollyrog - good to hear!

Nice camera work with the plane!

Rainy season in the north (Chiang Mai) should have started now, but as samuijimmy says, the seasons seem a bit off.

If you go the the Thai Meteorological Department website, and click the 'Normal 30 Years' link just above the 7 Day Forecast in any region, you will see when rainy season is.