jdean

This whole thread may be obslete as you can hardly find Montclair, only a few 750 ml. bottles still around. Boxes gone, 2 liter bottles gone.

I am personally a big fan of Phuket Town. Lots of choices for hotels, guesthouses, bars, live music, shops and places to see. It is also easy to get everywhere else on the island for day trips. If you want, you can take the local buses for 30-40 Baht, just remember they stop running in the late afternoon. You can choose your price points, on the cheap or expensive!

There have been 3 basic recommendations:

1. I do something to myself such as use ear plugs or fill my ears with "white" noise. I am one of those who can only use ear plugs for swimming. Even on an airplane, they just keep me awake. Maybe white noise could be interesting.

2. Put some sort of insulation or sound reducing fibers above the ceiling in the attic. This will not be easy. The only ceiling access is a small opening in a bathroom. This opening is maybe 10 meters from the exterior wall. I am not clear whether it was recommended to cover the entire ceiling or just near the front wall where the noise comes in.

3 Do something to the walls. The most important thing being to block any openings. Hopefully some of this will happen with the double glazing installation.

The suggestions for adding a layer to the exterior wall will take some work, even though one person suggests they can do it for me but I did not PM them yet.

This leaves the option of doing something on the interior side of the wall. The "comfort bricks" would take up too much space. There are several suggestions for a dry wall type addition. With some it is suggested that a gap needs to be created, one person even suggested that the European style is to have the second wall suspended from the ceiling to dampen the noise. Others suggested the wall could just be put over the existing wall, using things like "Microtone" made by the Samut Prakan firm, Microfiber. Another was called Aoustiblock, made in the USA. These last two seem by far the easeist, if they are available locally.

The last idea was to use egg cartons I too have some fond memories of their use but do not plan to re-live that experience. I have seen the cardboard ones available but mostly these days I see the plastic ones.

Thanks for all of the suggestions and now which option should I use?

My house is about 10 years old, so all of the walls are made out of those small reddish color bricks and the windows are all wooden. I'm tired of the traffic noise waking me up. I have already decided to try the double glazed windows but what more can I do. It would be too much work to knock the whole wall out and replace it with the white bricks. Any suggestions will be welcome.

I went today Friday Feb. 7 for 90 day report about 11AM. It was busy but it only took me 15 minutes. Part of that time was paying 6 Baht downstairs for copies of my front page, my visa page and my departure card.

Why do I see so many from "Barnetts" "El Paso"?

Does anyone know where you can buy En Dex 4000 in Phuket

We have tried other things Frontline, injections and collars and nothing gets rid of the ticks

Currently treating her for tick fever

There is a vet on the top of a hill on Nanai Road. They are in a small group of shops just opposite the huge new condo project being built. They sell a pack of Ivermec powder that I use with my dogs. I just mix it in with some wet dog food and they love it.

The manual says if I forget a normal manual hard disc or supervisor password then I may have to "replace your system board or hard disk drive". Veriface is not mentioned at all in the manual.

Yesterday day I decided to have a look at the Veriface button on my desktop. It asked me if I wanted to start the Veriface Wizard and I said yes. It then started to take pictures of my face but it was taking forever so I just clicked on the close button. Now when I try to start up, after Windows loads it asks for a password. I have never used a password. Just in case, I tried all of my usual passwords but they were all declined. The only other option available is a small shutdown, hibernate or restart button. I have tried reopening and hitting F2, F8 or F12 but it seems the number lock is also off so when I do that Windows just keeps loading. I am then back at the password request and have to shut down again. Any ideas?

Some Thai dishes are very spicy with almost no chili in them, just other leaves and roots that pack a kick!

The parades with piercing are early in the morning through Phuket town. They are organized temple by temple. Each temple parades once and each of them have their own parade route. They usually start around the 3rd day, usually 7:30AM. The biggest is by Jui Tui, the main Chinese temple in Phuket Town. The last day of the festival there are no morning parades but an evening parade in which each temple parades their god through the streets of Phuket town. If you want to worship the god, you will throw fire crackers at it. The finale is before midnight with the closing ceremony for the festival. The festival is over at midnight, at which time many people have a party in Phuket town. Traffic in town is almost paralyzed during any of the parades and parking is very limited.

I tried one of these in Haad Yai and found it to be mostly bone shaking. The seat rattled around the whole time, a few mists of

water and the 3D goggles, which did not seems nearly as 3D a I thought they should be. I disliked the spine rattling enough to vow to never go again.

Are you sure that the service charge does not go to the staff? I never tipped because I assumed that the staff got it.

I tried WC Central recently and found it fine. I too enjoy the chance to buy a bottle of wine there to have with dinner, without having to pay the inflated price most restaurants charge. I had the spicy seafood black fettuccine and it was good, also filling. I also had the bread basket, which was fresh. I enjoyed it because I seldom eat bread otherwise..

I recently moved over the hill from Patong to Kathu. At one end of the fresh market area there is a building with Kathu Fitness Center on the window. There also used to be a sign hanging there that said "Opening Soon". This sign is now gone and a phone call to the number on the window gets a "no such number" message. There is lots of equipment inside when I look through the window. Does anyone know the story about this place?

The Montclair post got good mileage so let us see what you think of the 3 liter boxes from Berri Estates. I bought the red and white boxes at Jungceylon Big C recently for 659 Baht. The box says the wines are from Australia and that the white is Chardonnay style while the red is Cabernet Sauvingnon style. They are bottled/packaged by Siam Winery in Samut Sakon. They are competitive with the Bodega boxes from Chile, however these are not always available any more (at least when I look).

I sopped into Fantasia once and had my most expensive Heineken beer ever, 225 Baht. I don't think it will be open again any time soon, once they start putting up plastic sheeting around the outside it usually means closed. I used to go there when it was the only movie theater on the island, Pearl Cinema. They had a special room up on the balcony to the left of the projection booth, the ""Soundtrack Room", where you could hear the original sound from the movie before it was dubbed into Thai. Unfortunately it never synchronized with the action on the screen, always off a few seconds.

In my opinion it will be more difficult and more expensive. Those 2 months change a landlord's mind set.

Try Keehin. I used them for my water pump and they were quick and efficient. When you call ask for someone who speaks English as they have one llady who has the basics. Tel: 076-261-460

Patong Villa Market:-

Went into the new Villa Market store in Patong (on the beach Road in new building next to "Banana Walk") to check it out.

Nowhere near the size of the one at Chalong, however seems to have some goodies in there, so I checked out the wine and was sorry to say that it was somewhat more expensive so I got some prices as follows...........

The French wine I recommended before "Belleville" is at 325 baht (295 baht in Chalong); the Grant Burge range were all priced at 555 baht (they can be purchased elsewhere for around 450 baht); the Australian wine, "Bushman's Gully" Cab/Shiraz was 373 baht and my favourite box wine of the moment, "Bodegas Centenarias" Cab/Merlot was 839 baht (749 baht in Makro). Unfortunately they were also selling the mock Chilean Chardonnay wine, "Monte Chilena" (originating in Spain, marketed as if it was from Chile and imported by a Danish company before finding its way to Thailand) and if it is anything like the red Shiraz, it will be disgusting.

I also saw a box wine that has been recommended on this thread, "Bota Box" Merlot, however at 1418 baht for 3 L, it seems relatively expensive to me. Haven't tried it, so may have to do that.

And for the folks here who have expressed a liking for New Zealand wines, a few I thought were reasonably priced were the New Zealand Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris from Tahuna, at around 790 baht may be okay for the occasional special occasion?

I also noticed that a "Bodegas Centenarias" Sauvignon Blanc was available in a 3 L box for the same price as the red above and I wondered if anybody had tried it?

After doing the rounds of this new store, I popped into the new Wine Connection shop up on the next level, only to find that it was predominantly a restaurant with seating inside and out, with just a small selection of wines available, so the one next to Jungceylon is the best bet for wine selection.

I have tried the "Bodegas Centenarias" Sauv. Blanc and it is very good. In fact we used to drink it as an everyday wine. One of my favourite wines is sauv blanc and I had tried many of the boxed whites over the years we have been here. This is by far the best. As I said in an earler post, I try to stay clear of the boxes but we still have one of these in the fridge for "emergencies" as it is as close to bottle quality that I think you could get in a box. Also I don't remember any headaches with this wine.

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I think the Bodegas Sauv. Blanc is not bad for a box white, but be careful! I have had 2 boxes spring a leak on me. Quite disturbing to open the fridge in the morning and find your wine is dripping everywhere!

I refuse to ride in a mini-van no matter who the driver is. For my last visa run to Ranong at New Year, I took a bus from the new bus station. When you get to Ranong a motorcycle taxi will take you to your hotel of choice. The next day I took a song-taew to the Andaman Club pier. I paid 800 Baht for the round trip ferry plus visa service. I bought some chocolate at duty free while waiting for my passport and the ferry back. I chose to stay another night in Ranong and soaked myself in the hot springs. I took the bus back to Phuket the next day. This is what I consider the safest and most civilized option to be, but it does consume more time.

It is always based on the lunar calendar so check that for the dates.

As the person who was tasked with selecting wine for a Patong bar for some years, I was thankful for the appearance of Montclair. Until then I has to choose from 2 Liter bottles, usually Italian. I would find a good one that wasn't to expensive, only soon to discover it to be out of stock, never to be seen again. Montclair solved the consistency and supply problem for me. Whatever you might think of the quality it was a relief to stop my perpetual search.

At many of the bars in Patong you will not find customers looking for a good glass of wine, just a glass of wine, seemingly any glass will do.

It also solved the storage problem. Once you opened a 2 liter bottle, even stored with the beer, the days were numbered before you had it start to vinegar on you.often in just 3 days. With the cost of wine being so expensive in Thailand, bars usually can not afford to throw it away. Thus the horrible glass of wine being served to the unwary. The Montclair Box, because the nozzle stops the air from entering the wine bladder, could be opened and then stored in with the beer for a much much longer time, though there still were problems if it sat too long.

So thanks to Montclair for: Availabiliity, Affordability, Storability, Consistency and Drinkability - this last being often disputed in this thread.

I have also tried the Bodega and agree the quality is a step above Montclair. , However, they are too expensive for the usual bar wine, Be warned, I carried some boxes in my backpack and walked home. I have had 2 boxes develop leaks from doing this. I Have done the same with Montclair but have never had a similar leak with their boxes.

There is a lab in Phuket Town that charges me about half what my blood work costs at Phuket International. They have a long list of tests you can have done. They are on the road to Saphan Hin, left side, just before you get to the red light intersection where if you go left you go to Robinsons. Results in about an hour, depending on the tests you have done. Very professional.

Phuket town is not on the ocean.

I just came through the Pedang Besar Train Border Crossing a few days ago. They are set up with minimal staff for exit and entry stamp in and out only.