Pi Moo

Thought  the bald headed farang who went up to the stage from the audience was a bit of a kn*b.

watched this while I was doing somthing else ( browsing thaivisa :-) ) , but the thais that were waching it thought the falang was hilarious... and I thought he aquitted himself well , and his robbie williams line at the end was well timed and executed

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I think he was a plant.

There's a recently issued VCD called Pong Larng Sa-orn 'Live in Bangkok' . It is very enjoyable even for a farang who doesn't understand much Thai language. The music is good, mixing moorlam, luk tung and pop and the comedy routines are great. It's a long way from traditional luk tung and the band are all dressed in kilts!

Does anyone out there know more about the performers?

We're staying at Amari Boulevard Hotel in October and want to find a decent beer garden/open air bar to go to in the evening within walking distance (up to half a mile). My wife and I were ripped off at the beer garden adjoining the hotel last year - so that's out.

Any suggestions (and directions) would be welcome - preferably places that have live music.

The latest Royal Orchid Plus newsletter announced 'improved' upgrade awards. We have just purchased W class Economy tickets and now they cannot be used with the miles that we have accumulated to upgrade to Business class - some improvement! Not only that, W class now only accrues 50% of miles travelled so that we will no longer gain Silver status from our annual trip to Thailand. I'm not going to pay another £200 or so for a return ticket just to gain the meagre benefits of ROP.

In the old days discounted bucket shop tickets were Y,M or B class - now TG is de-grading its disocunted tickets to the nether regions. Perhaps they will also introduce a new sub-economy cabin with reduced seat sizes for V and W ticket holders.

ROP membership is the main reason why we have stuck with TG over the years. There must be many members in Europe who only fly to Thailand once a year and no doubt they will be reconsidering flying with TG.

When it started, ROP rules were a model of simplicity - unlike ticketing rules. The airline business has always been murky when it comes to ticketing and over the years I'm sure the complexity of ticketing has not benefited the customers. Judging by the poor profitability of most airlines it hasn't benefited them either. Hopefully one day Ryanair will fly to Bangkok - it might not be luxurious but at least you will know what you are paying for.

Royal Orchid has gone from Plus to Minus.

I've just booked TG LHR-BKK-LHR for £465 all inclusive which I think is good value for an October flight. We first travelled on TG over 15 years ago and it cost over £600 and that was good value at the time.

My gripe is with ROP. Their latest newsletter annonced 'improved' upgrade awards when for us it means that because our tickets are W class Economy we cannot use our miles to upgrade - some improvement! Not only that, W class now only accrues 50% of miles travelled so that we will no longer gain Silver status from our annual trip to Thailand.

In the old days the discounted bucket shop tickets were Y,M or B class - now TG is de-grading all its disocunted tickets to the nether regions. Perhaps they will also introduce a new sub-economy cabin with reduced seat sizes for V and W ticket holders.

ROP membership is the main reason why we stick with TG over the years. There must be many members in Europe who only fly to Thailand once a year and no doubt they will all be reconsidering flying with TG.

Can anyone recommend any good opticians they've used in Khon Kaen, and their address/location? 

I don't just mean ones with tempting pink-suited eye candy hanging around the doors either, but ones with a qualified optician who is not just interested in selling you the most expensive frames in the shop.

Remember a while ago, someone saying that Top Charoen in Udon is one to avoid, but maybe they vary province by province?

Cheers for any advice, before I trust my eyes to a pro/amateur.

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We now go to the Ram Hospital at the junction of Srichan and Mittraphap when visiting - it was a much better and less costly experience than using an optician in the city centre. They have a good range of frames as well.

This is not really a joke. There was a news item a few days ago on BBC about a longstanding law in Oklahoma that allows householders to kill burglars entering their homes without fear of prosecution. The law is known as the 'Make my day' law. Apparently, there was a concern after the law was passed that some people might use the law by inviting their enemies around for a drink at their house and then killing them. Only in America.