Kaoboi Bebobp

Foodland is definitely one of the worst for pricing in satangs. I don't think there's a bill that goes by without 25 or 50 satang on the end of the total. I toss them into the charity boxes.

As for clerks and math. I'm hardly accomplished but to watch, time and again, a clerk laboriously count out 2 or 3 1-baht coins plus a five baht coin is not confidence inspiring, when a glance should suffice.

However, I've never noticed 7-11 pricing in satang. I should maybe be more observant.

Well, I think cash over the counter is always welcome and your rate would probably be no better or worse than from a booking site. The exception would be when there are some online bonus discounts on offer. If it turns out worse, step aside, sit down and book over your smartphone right in front of them.

I disagree with the characterization that OAT is the worst. IMHO, Pegas has that honor, followed by Sayama

Ahh, this reminds me I've hardly seen any Pegas buses in months. They used to clog the roads around Big C Extra. I see many OA buses, though, usually trying to crawl up my tailpipe on 3rd Rd. But Buakhao is pretty much my boundary, coming from the Darkside so I don't know what happens on 2nd or Beach.

If the ICAO downgrades the airline and airport control systems, then that means ICAO nations will likely ban ALL Thai airlines from much of western airspace. Hence Japan's ban. It's serious.

Don't suppose there was a reason THAI was shedding aircraft with undue haste? Just asking.

Third Road is like a train track for tour buses in the evenings, especially. Remove the tour buses and park them outside, is a great idea. This gives the hundreds of wandering song taews something to do all day.

There's long been rumours of a casino for Pattaya, should certain things happen. If this comes to pass, today's road mayhem will look like paradise when the gamblers come to town from China, Vietnam and elsewhere. For this reason and the recent road closure shambles, this Darkside kid is out of here sometime this year.

For comparison's sakes. I live 1/2 a km east of the railway road off Nern Pub Wan. Yes, the Darkside where tourists don't go and therefore life is a little more like the rest of non-tourist Thailand.

When I take a motocy taxi to the North Road bus station, the fare is 60 baht -- before the recent Big Block traffic screwup. When I lived 1.5 km closer to the bus station, off Soi Yume/Big C Extra, the fare was 60 baht, to or from the bus station. It was impossible to negotiate a lower fare. In fact, a couple of times the station taxi drivers wanted 80 baht to Big C Extra but I insisted, politely, it was 60 and they agreed.

So on the tourist side of Sukhumvit, you're paying quite a bit more to get around.

Vietnam has become fairly tough on visas. Companies can only employ a certain number of foreigners, I believe it is 3 foreigners for as 100 local staff. At the moment I can only get a 3-month multiple entry visa though I do not know if this only applies to Cambodia.

How much is the 3-month multiple?

I believe you also have to deposit a good hunk of money in your TH mobile account to cover any roaming charges. You will need a 1000 or more. Very expensive.

Best thing, as noted, is to pick up a Cambodian SIM at the airport.

I live in Siem Reap. You can spend Baht here but the exchange rates are normally pretty bad in most venues - I have friends who run restaurants, etc. here and they'd rather not deal in Baht unless they have to - so they charge a premium to do so. Go to the Old Market and change your Baht at one of the money changers on the road down the side... shop around and one of them will change at the interbank rate (seriously) so you simply cannot change Baht more cheaply anywhere on earth (including Thailand). I change up with them when I leave for Thailand and change back as soon as I arrive back. US Dollars are accepted everywhere - I have never, ever been anywhere in Cambodia that gives you a lower price for using Riel (though the accepted informal exchange rate is 4,000 Riel to the Dollar - except in the supermarkets where they use 4,100 Riel to the Dollar - so you can squeeze a small amount of benefit from changing dollars to Riel - as the actual rate is about 4,080 Riel to the dollar - as long as you don't spend too much in the supermarkets here).

It's exactly what I do, only the reverse, since I live in Thailand at the moment. I always buy US dollars at the Cambodian money changers. I only use the currencies Cambodians are happy with and the ones I can deal with easily without introducing an extra currency step such as with euros, pounds etc. I haven't been to a border town in a long time.

My only guideline is I look at the price sticker, usually in riel or US. I count it out in US dollars/riel and I know that's exactly what I'm handing out to match the price and know to within a couple hundred riel what I'm getting back. Handing over baht or pounds or euros introduces the fudge factor, which is always in favour of the house. Simple.

I trust those money changers in the markets who post their rates. Step back, do your calculations. Don't do the deal without knowing in advance what you should get in exchange.

I don't understand the point of shrink-wrapping your suitcase. But if you have to do so, buy some ratchet type straps, if you're worried about the contents spilling out.

I simply don't do any business anywhere near Beach Road, whether optical shops, shoe stores or banks. The farther you are away from Beach (tourist zone), the better the service, in my experience.

I've had accounts with KBank in Bangkok and Pattaya for 8 years now. Never had a problem, except when they tried to sell me the expensive debit card with insurance/free replacement card etc. 800 baht? Naw. I waited for the cheap card, 150 baht, to come back in stock.

Guzzi: Eight thousand, five hundred baht for insurance? That's absurd, since KBank offers one-year personal accident insurance for 2500 baht. I think SCB staff were trying to fund their weekend party.

I wonder if it's the same guy who attacked a neighbour friend on his motorcycle on Beach soi 9 a few days ago and knocked him off his motorcycle in order to steal it. My friend somehow managed to grab the keys out of the assailant's grasp and throw them away.

My friend is in his 60s and has a 10+ year old bike that shows its age. Hardly worth stealing. My friend sustained a broken collar bone and serious abrasions and bruises. The incident was near the police station so the coppers nabbed the perp. Apparently the Thai guy has done this before.

Additionally, my friend, a very cautious individual in many ways, had his small bag with valuables stolen by one of those tribal vendors while sitting on the beach side near soi 6. This event, which was caught on the city's CCTV cameras, happened a couple of months ago. He spotted her again last week near the same location and he called police. But they seemed wholly uninterested and put in a 10th-hearted effort to apprehend her.

Long story short, my friend gave up on this quest. He's had a pretty bad holiday overall.

I've done the Mekong Express bus from PP to HCMC many times. Take Mekong Express from Orussey Market. Leaves 3-4 times a day. It's six hours, with ferry, lunch, border stops. You arrive in HCMC on the park side of Pham Ngu Lao (backpacker area). Leaves HCMC for PP 3-4 times a day. Go to address 275M for bus ticket. Mekong Express written large on the shop sign. Fare was something like $12, I think, but that was 3 years ago.

The bus goes through Svey Rieng, Cambodia and crosses at Moc Bai, VN, a major border point. Viet immigration is a pain and takes half hour to 1 hour.

Only travel to Phnom Penh if you want to be in Phnom Penh for visas. You can arrange pretty much any ASEAN visa (and a few non-ASEAN too) from Siem Reap and while there are going to be some complaints from the PP crowd; Siem Reap is nicer than PP by a factor of about 50. Part of the reason for this is that we only have a single girly bar in town...

Hey, I'm OK with that.

I am visiting next week for the first time in 10 years. In reading many forums, it seems SR has come a long way as a place to live. Do you live there, SiemReaper? FYI: I'm an ex Phnom Penh resident, forced to live in Thailand due to medical situation, which is almost resolved. Am thinking of moving to SR.

I do I've lived in PP before for about 6 months and SR now for about 3 years. Didn't much like PP - too dirty, too crappy and too full of lunatics. Love SR and have no intentions of making my home anywhere else in the world unless I absolutely have to.

Thanks for your input. PP is my fallback (with a distant VN) option. But I agree on PP's dirt and squalor, and the lunatic fringe. Plus PP is drawing quite a few ex-Pattaya-type escapees. I want to live in a place with everyday life activities and a place that doesn't have a concentration of the Pattaya-style nightlife. (Ha! even though that's where I live right now, outside the city).

Only travel to Phnom Penh if you want to be in Phnom Penh for visas. You can arrange pretty much any ASEAN visa (and a few non-ASEAN too) from Siem Reap and while there are going to be some complaints from the PP crowd; Siem Reap is nicer than PP by a factor of about 50. Part of the reason for this is that we only have a single girly bar in town...

Hey, I'm OK with that.

I am visiting next week for the first time in 10 years. In reading many forums, it seems SR has come a long way as a place to live. Do you live there, SiemReaper? FYI: I'm an ex Phnom Penh resident, forced to live in Thailand due to medical situation, which is almost resolved. Am thinking of moving to SR.

No, what is that? Is that a gogo bar?

Oh my. You're either a troll or, really, are you this vacant? FWIW, there are no go go bars in Cambodia. Period.

I have not lived in HCMC but go there a lot. Lots of great bars and restaurants, especially in District 1 ("downtown"). Staff in shops and restaurants often speak English very well. Many cab drivers also speak some English, way better than Thai drivers.

Overall, it's a Vietnamese city with a heavy western look and feel. Lots of parks and shade trees downtown. I love it. But, sadly, rents are high.

Also note, HCMC's first subway is under construction for the downtown route through D1.

The law, now four years old, was aimed at stopping human trafficking and sham marriages. Early news stories mentioned the horrible experiences of Khmer girls marrying Koreans. They were abused or treated like slaves. But a law had to be aimed at all nationalities, and was especially aimed at older men. Read this link for an AFP report.

Amazing, high voltage wires below the telecom cables. When I see telecom repairmen start to work anywhere, I have to turn my head and walk away.

Update on Pattaya-Bangkok buses. Because I take that route a lot, I was worried about the lengthy diversion to get into the station on Pattaya Nua. Well, the buses now do a u-turn just before Nua and then turn left into Potisarn. They immediately turn left into a small subsoi off Potisarn and right into the back of the bus station. Yippee!

That's a very narrow u-turn so the buses will be taking up two lanes in order to make that turn. The crossroads on Potisan is also very narrow so imagine the buses once again are swinging wide into the oncoming traffic lane in order to make that left turn up the back alley. Makes for a faster bus turnaround but buggers up about 20 cars-worth of turning traffic/bus.

Yup. Traffic has to wait/stop for the bus entering Potisarn and wait for it to turn into the subsoi, using up the whole road to turn left. Then it uses up the whole subsoi to turn right uphill into the station.

Have to say Klang from 3rd to Sukhumvit was pretty busy today, as was overall traffic. Suk was heavy from North down to NPW and beyond. Don't know what was going on that made everywhere busy. From a motorcycle point of view, that is.

Until today though, it seemed like Suk traffic had been considerably lighter overall.

Today's announcement of certification for skilled trades would have meaning in a country with a trades college and apprenticeship system. But Thailand does not. Even if you can prove the kingdom does have something like it, it's so corrupt, like everything else, that nothing will be accomplished -- except a tool for protectionism.

Today, Sukhumvit jammed from North Road southbound. Beach-bound North Road itself was jammed the whole length.

Nern Pub Wan west-bound was very busy, unlike the last few days. Interestingly, the southbound railway bypass road from NPW was almost empty.

At night, after 9 pm, Suk is not at all busy southbound from NPW. Pretty much every night I've been out.

Update on Pattaya-Bangkok buses. Because I take that route a lot, I was worried about the lengthy diversion to get into the station on Pattaya Nua. Well, the buses now do a u-turn just before Nua and then turn left into Potisarn. They immediately turn left into a small subsoi off Potisarn and right into the back of the bus station. Yippee!