Governor

I made a reservation in the Shangrila in Bk and when Mr and Mrs Griffiths arrived we were told they had overbooked and didn't have a room.

I believe this was blatant racism to wards my Thai wife,after some arguing my wife contacted her Aunt who's father works in a big organization in Lopburi.

With in 10 minutes the manager received a phone call and was waing me and my wife,we ended up with a suite in the executive floor for the same price as a standard room:D

They seem to assume that any Thai lady married to a foreigner must be a prostitute.

My wife is currently completing her doctorate degree at Thammasat University

I have also had a similar problem in the Conrad Bangkok.

My girlfriend and I have never had a problem at the Conrad, in fact she is welcomed by name.

However, on a recent visit to The Hard Rock Hotel in Pattaya the check in girl, who had seen us arrive together in my car with one small case, said to her in Thai "do you want a double bed so you can sleep with your customer"? I think she realised the error of her ways when she checked that we were regular customers and had booked an executive room, but the damage was done. My girlfriend was reduced to tears, the manager and the rest of his staff did their best to make amends,and we never saw that woman again.

I suppose I should ask the question, if I did choose to go to a hotel with a bargirl, should she be treated any differently?

Having just taken my life in my hands and used a canal boat from Ekkamai to Central World, I would like to learn the other routes and stops, is there a map published anywhere?

The trip itself wasn't too bad, though the boat only slows down to allow you to board and disembark.

OK, I should have read it properly.

I presume that if you cannot fly to the UK you will not be able to fly to Europe or South Africa, so you are restricted to somewhere within easy travelling distance, such as Malaysia. In the event that the problems are still going on when you hope to travel, I imagine all the flights from regional airports will have been booked up, as will buses and trains.

Lets all pray that it will be resolved soon.

When the current problems end, give it a little while then have a look at The Thai Airways site and check out their Supersavers, last week they were advertising one way flights to London at 7,900 Baht plus taxes and surcharges. They were advertising specific flights on specific dates and can only be booked online.

Most Bangkok travel agents will accept a cash transfer directly int their bank accounts.

I think it depends where your friend married her British husband, if they married in Thailand and if, as you say, he has deserted her for more than one year then she can enter a claim to Thai court for a divorce.

There are various other ways she can divorce in Thailand without an unnecessary trip to the UK, and UK Visas will know this. It might be difficult for her to get a settlement visa whilst she is trying to get a divorce from her UK husband, if she is living in Thailand.

She needs to see a Thai lawyer, is she trying to sue for maintenance for their child?

Check out the "Superdeals" on the Thai Airways website. they offer last minute deals. They are restricted to specific flights on specific days and they cannot be guaranteed to be on offer, but I imagine that mid-January would be pretty quiet so they may be available, if the availability fits in with your plans then a pretty good deal.

They are currently offering one way trips to London at a tad under 14,000 Baht, all in.

Hard Rock Hotel are charging residents in the region of 7,000 Baht per person for their compulsory New Years Eve Party, is this a record high? would have thought it would drive prospective customers away.

Not first but business a few months ago, I would probably use them again on price alone.

Check in and lounge facilities were fine and the flight to The Gulf was in a nice aircraft new or recently refurbished. As the plane left Bangkok late and didn't makeup any time it was a bit of a rush to make the connection as there was no fast track through security for those in premium cabins or for those with imminent departures, but the terminal was not busy so made the connection as did my luggage.

My flight to London was in an old bone shaker and not as comfortable as the previous plane but it got me there, I did notice that first class was not much better.

Flight back was in the same or similar bone shaker, it again left an arrived late and was a bit concerned about the connection, this time the terminal for the connection was very busy,and my pleas to jump the queue due to my flight leaving shortly fell on deaf ears. Only when I cleared security did I ascertain that my flight had been delayed for five hours, which turned into six, and whilst the lounge was fine it's not designed for a six hour wait, especially with a flat ipod battery. Another old bone shaker, but it got me home.

I suppose it's the old adage of you get what you pay for, I paid cheap and got cheap, though I would probably use them again.

MBK 4th floor, there is a shop that sells all manner of ski clothes.

Not sure why I didn't look there first, you can usually buy anything you need in MBK.

Thank a lot, much appreciated.

I realise that there is not a lot of call for ski jackets in Bangkok, but we are going skiing in South Korea in January and cannot find any ski jackets for sale.

I suppose Thai people must ski, anybody seen them on sale anywhere?

Cheers

I flew into the international airport, arriving at the Immigration desk a little after 05.45, very pleased to see little or no queue.

Presented my documents with a cheery good morning to the officer only to notice that he was plugged into a set of headphones, he completed the procedure very quickly though he barely looked at me, placing my passport back on the desk without a word and without looking at me, his head continuing to rock.

Now I can only assume that they are trialing some big brother procedure with the passport and documents being remotely checked and the officer being advised accordingly. I presume that in time this will be a totally automated procedure.

I suppose that he could have been more interested in the music on his MP3 player, surely not, a Thai Immigration official wouldn't be this unprofessional.

You can register online here http://www.kingpower.com/register_member.asp

The form needs a 'name in thai' and 'id card number' required fields or it won't continue, I put 'not applicable' in both, seemed happy, we'll see in 30 days if I get a card.

I signed up on-line about six weeks ago, still waiting for my card.

He was asking about a massage not a message.

I went there to see for myself and not to take photographs, though I did try.

As I indicated earlier, the "fireballs" seemed to come out the river, from different locations and intermittently, they were so fast it was difficult, no it was impossible, to photograph them, well it was for me anyway. also left my video camera running, but again in the wrong place, so I put my cameras in the car and enjoyed the rest of the party.

It may be a tourist trap, but it was free and all the food outlets were at local prices so I do not really think that TAT is trying to encourage foreign tourists.

Well I went this year, on 14th, and whatever the explanation it was a most enjoyable experience.

Arrived mid afternoon and parked up, sat by the river with the gf and her parents and pretty soon is was pretty packed with locals and one or two farrangs, soaking up the atmosphere, plently of food and activities, but certainly not a tourist trap.

After it was dark local lads were letting off their fireworks, later on the fireballs started flying out of the river, accompanied by the oohs and ahhs from the locals. I missed the first one, because I didn't know what I was looking for, but I saw the rest.

I saw about 15 though the tv news said there were about 300. Difficult to judge the size as they just appeared infrequently from different parts of the river, looked to be the size of tennis balls and rather like meteorites flying upwards.

Tens of thousands of people there, but all credit to the BIB for ensuring the flow of traffic.

Was it natural or man made, difficult to say, but the timing and change of location lead me to think it was natural.

Will certainly go again, but not every year.

A Thai person will live on a lot less. You can get "Thai type" accommodation for under 3000 Baht per month but you are not going to live in luxury, and you might not have to be too fussy about location, but you will get by if you cut your cloth accordingly.

Flew back from Singapore last night, 18.00 hrs, and the customs staff were putting all cases through the x-ray scanner, causing quite a queue.

I was a bit over the top on booze, two bottles in my flight bag and two an a King Power duty free bag, so I didn't put them through the machine and no one asked me to.

Not sure what it was all about, or what the point was.

Govenor. I look for those flashing yellow lights. I know what they mean. I slow down & look to see if anyone is in the zebra cross.

I really believe the law of the land is that vehicles have to give way to peds using those crosswalks.

Thanks dotcom, I think you are probably correct and that is my approach, but as usual the rules of the road and common courtesy do not apply if it means a driver needs to slow down for a fraction of a second, and heaven forbid that a traffic delay should occur because someone had the tenacity to want to cross the road at a designated pedestrian crossing.

A bit more about what I observed, the crossing I saw had no skywalk anywhere on the road, all the cars and a bus were driving a full speed though they could clearly see the elderly lady and the kids stuck half-way on the crossing, they would have also seen that a few meters further on that they would have needed to stop a line of traffic waiting a red light. I have seen some sights on the roads in Thailand, but this really amazed me.

I suppose to get to be elderly lady she must have survived many such crossings of the road, but she was clearly confused, she eventually got accross when a young Thai guy went onto the crossing and helped her.

Having just seen an elderly Thai lady trying cross a road with two young children on what looked like I would call a pedestrian crossing, complete with a pictorial sign of person crossing a road and a flashing light, I wondered what the actual law is regarding these, I accept there is no courtesy.

I realise that the laws in Thailand are only obeyed at peoples whim, but this woman looked genuinely scared, cars, buses and trucks did not attempt to even slow down, whilst some were sounding their horns an apparent anger that she should be so stupid to attempt to cross the road.

No smart answers please, or suggestions that I should leave the country, but I would like to know what the rules actually are.

I Googled it and came came up with these details, it seems that the festival is November 24 - December 5, though I could not find any details about advance bookings, hence the question.

I am grateful for the replies and we will be coming this year, mid-week of course.

http://www.kanchanaburi-info.com/en/festiv...#bridgefestival

http://www.asiativ.com/TravelGuide/Thailan...ridge-Week.aspx

Or if you're not a total cheapskate, you could probably get an official airport taxi for 2500 or haggle

That's about the same as the plane and twice as scarey!

Don't forget to add the extras to the air fare which brings the cost to 3700 per person, then you have to get from the airport to your destination, my experience has been there has not been a line of taxis meeting the flight - but I might have been unlucky.

I have to say I agree with bendix, if you are starting your holiday why not pick up a taxi and travel directly to your destination. I have never had a scary drive, but I accept there might be scary drivers, a direct drive to Hua Hin, with holiday luggage, is far better after a long flight. Putting the cost of a taxi into perspective, 2000/2500, per taxi not per person, isn't at all bad for the convenience.

Yes you can go downtown and get a minibus, now they are scary, or get a taxi to the Southern Bus Station then get a bus, but you are not going to save a fortune, and considerably increase your journey time. Oh, I nearly forgot, on the minibus you are packed in and will need to purchase another ticket for your luggage.

In other point of view, people buy houses or cars at different location and price

Sometime it is worth to pay more for sothing~

Absolutely right, you get what you pay for and you cannot beat the convenience of the location.

Very nice, you have done a really good job.

I think whilst this development is fantastic and in a good location it is rather expensive. Clearly you have to pitch a rent to reflect the cost of the unit and the high standard of equipment, but I am in a nice one bedroom condo in a nice, but older, block a ten minute walk from Ekkamai BTS and only pay 23,000 per month, and it has an oven, much as I would like to, it would be difficult for me to justify the extra 432k per year to rent your unit.

One again a great condo, I hope you find a good tenant pretty soon.