keestha

?? Only opened the thread because I didn't know what to think. Guess you would get interesting replies, approaching random people on the street with the question: "What do you think an easy out kit is?" I figure somewhere in the English speaking realm (where the OP is from?) it is a thing that everybody knows.

Between Chumporn and Hua Hin there is a string of small beach resorts, going from South to North: Ban Krut, Bang Sapan Noi, Bang Saphan Yai, Thap Sakae, Sam Roi Yot. Also check out Khanom and Sichon in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. You might also like the coastal strip in between Trat and the Cambodian border. Songkhla province has a lovely coastline all the way from the Malaysian border up to Nakhon Sri Thammarat, check out for instance Sating Phra.

Trang province, South of Krabi. Phangnga and Ranong, you might like Khao Lak (Phangnga) or the islands of Koh Phayam and Koh Chang further up North in Ranong.

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I am not a regular visitor to this sub forum, and my experiences with the search function have usually been not so encouraging.

Is it possible to change from DTAC to for instance AIS whilst keeping the same number? And which network would in your opinion give the widest coverage?

Thanks in advance for replies.

Khao Lak in its turn, is already losing customers to the island of Koh Phayam in Ranong, which is quieter and less developed. Thai beach resorts are always the same, only the phase of development varies. For those looking for a quieter less commercialized beach, or the real backpacker atmosphere if you like, it's always there, a bit further up/down the road.

Tourist arrivals at HKT are skyrocketing continuously, but many of these arrivals are turning left when arriving at the highway, heading towards Krabi or Khao Lak. Tourists who first spend time in Phuket and then go to Khao Lak, are usually not so positive about the island. All I can do then, is agree and tell them Phuket is mainly interesting for those who are only into nightlife and/or shopping. But to be honest, if a real nightlife/shopping tourist would ask me advice about where to go, I would more likely tell him to head for Pattaya. Last thing I want to be is a Phuket basher, but disadvantages of the island are well known here.

The Provincial Land Department has a list of prices, but they are often outdated. People will use these prices as official selling prices on which taxes are based.

Edit: It is probably not the Provincial, but the Municipal Land Department

So what if the mom and pop shops bleed a few extra?. They are slowly dying out will be a thing of the past within a decade. Inconvenience stores get replaced with convenient ones.

Your prediction is probably right. Even in villages, 7/11 and Tesco Lotus Express stores are popping up all over the place.

The guy is lucky his last name did not appear in the media (as far as I can see), otherwise this drunk action to get a point through to his girlfriend would have followed him around for the rest of his life. Like being turned down at a job application because a simple Google search would turn up this story.

Like the right to live and work here if you fulfill the requirements. What extra rights does a French person living in Australia have?

Why should NKM do anything to improve Phuket. He is here strictly on a user pay basis. So is every other Farang in Phuket and all of Thailand for that matter.

When the Thai authorities actually give us expats some enforceable rights, maybe then we can reciprocate with some input back into our host community.

You have pretty much the same enforceable rights that you normally have when living in a foreign country, an exception being the right to purchase land. Please specify what more enforceable rights they should give you in your opinion.

The tourists visiting Phuket have changed because tourists from a lot of countries who did come here for there holidays can no longer afford to

Its nothing to do with the cost of living or holidays here, Phuket and Bali are still the cheapest holiday destinations with decent services and facilitys

Phuket wins easily

Good observation. The purchasing power of Europeans and British went down. I also saw people who used to travel independently book cheap off season plane&hotel packages now.

Thanks guys. The problem turned out to be the (new and hardly used) USB cable after all, it could still charge but not transfer data. Always feel like a bit of a fool tricking around with software, downloading programs, only to discover in the end it was a hardware thing. The thread is giving a lot of info though which I hope will be useful for others.

Phone is a Samsung GT-S5300B. PC and laptop are running on Win XP, am using Chrome as a browser.

Used to be able to connect the phone with the laptop using Samsung Kies, but it doesn't work anymore. Deleted and re installed Samsung Kies, no luck. Used the computer restore option to go back to a point where it still functioned, still unable to connect. Downloaded Samsung pc Studio 7 as an alternative, still no connection.

Also tried both Samsung Kies and Samsung PC Studio 7 on my best PC, still no luck.

Bought the phone last June, so I don't think the USB cable can be the problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

All in all, the tourism scene is going through rapid changes. The last 3 months I had to go to Phuket airport a number of times, and the majority of the arrivals seemed to be Chinese, being quickly herded into tour buses after leaving the terminal. End of June I spent 1,5 days in Pattaya, and almost all you hear being spoken by tourists on the streets is Russian. In Ao Nang, Krabi, the scene is heavily dominated by Chinese, and Indians to a lesser extend.

Being taken advantage of the most I think are Chinese and Russians, who hardly speak English and are fully dependent on the tour guide. Indians to a far lesser extend I would reckon, they speak English and are used to haggle about prices, having grown up in an everybody tries to cheat you free market economy.

Everything changed amazingly quickly, and the old days when the whole tourism game was about Germans/British/Scandinavians/French wont come back.

Posting this because I know there are people in here who have a tour counter as a secondary or maybe even primary business.

Going about the umptieth extension of the TAT licence for the tour counter which is attached to my business, I was dismayed to find out they need a lot more documents now than they used to require. Exception to the rule that generally extending a licence is easy in Thailand. There is also new stuff like the name of the tour counter has to be displayed in Thai script in letters at least as big as in the foreign script (English, they still call it ). On previous occasions, I just walked into their office and could talk to them straight away, but now their waiting room was full of Thai colleagues coping with the same problem, and I had to wait way over one hour.

The TAT is doing such a wonderful job supplying reliable tourism statistics, and coming up with predictions which are often surprisingly accurate. Also their highly successful campaigns to attract even more quality tourists deserve all possible praise. So it is disappointing they are putting up bureaucratic hurdles about as high as Mount Everest.

If i was you i would inspect the Badge a little bit closer as immigration officers don't wear normally badges but laminated ID cards.

Right, it was not a badge really, but as you say a laminated ID card with picture. Could have been his swimming pool membership as far as I am concerned, as said he let me go after a short chat, I ended up not showing him any ID, but if he really would have made a problem I would have asked him to let me closely inspect his ID card.

Yesterday afternoon I walked down Phuket Road in Phuket Town, towards my car which I had parked close to the immigration office. A car stopped next to me, and the driver rolled down the window and called me. Assuming he wanted to offer a service like a taxi ride, I dismissed him politely. But then he pulled out a badge, stating he was an immigration officer. He asked for my passport, and I told him I had a copy in my car, parked near by. Subsequently I offered him to show my drivers licence, and he seemed slightly surprised when I told him it was a Thai DL. Then he asked me where I stayed, and i told him I stay in Khao Lak/Phangnga, and also what I do for a living there, after which he told me I could go on my way.

In this case it might have helped that I speak Thai semi fluently, could also have worked the other way around. The guy didn't even try to speak English with me.

Living in Thailand since 1992, a lot of traveling, and only the second time I was asked for an ID somewhere on the street.

Anyway for those living in Phuket I think for the time being it is wise always to carry at least a copy of your passport+visa. An earlier thread here already made me decide always to keep a copy in the car, because I have to go to Phuket frequently.

Remember there were mainly people from the Middle East staying in the Grace Hotel, they also had a nightclub catering for them.

OP, I don't know which standard of luxury is the bottom line for you, but Sukhumwit is packed with hotels, priced from 800 Baht upwards. Of course a hotel with all the frills will cost more in Bangkok than in Chumporn or Nongkhai.

Small shops in tourist areas tend to be a bit more expensive, oh well, they also pay a higher rent. The savvy tourist finds out quickly enough he is better off going to the 7/11.

Also noticed more police activity at the island in the way of checkpoints. Walking down Nanai Road/Patong last Saturday, I saw them checking a Thai guy very thoroughly, even going through the inside of his wallet.

Have a look at land-house-pool.com and khaolak.de, click on the Union Jack to get it in English. Oh by the way I have nothing to do with those websites myself.

Both in Petchaburi and in Prachuabkhirikhan I slept in hotels right beside a forested hill, where monkeys were a major problem. Staff warning to keep the door closed at all times, and being woken up by a monkey trying to open a window. Monkeys can get aggressive, and their bite leaves a nasty wound which has to be disinfected thoroughly.

Would be highly intriguing to see some more photos, showing his daily life as an expat in Thalang around 1870.

Dutch sailors going on shore in Pattani in the 17th century were offered women, they didn't have to go looking for a bar, kinda easy.

Losing face makes for nice memories later on!

When still in secondary school, deeply in thought I walked down the road with a bicycle which had a flat tire, and with the bicycle I bumped into a car which was parked at the side of the road. There was a guy sitting in the car, and he turned around and pointed at his forehead.

I'll bite, though i am not exactly a fish expert. Only fish recipe i can stomach is fish&chips, and in Thailand ordering this often leads to a disappointment, even if the place is run by some British type of person.

As far as your question is concerned, I reckon your best bet would be walking down Beach Road in Patong. At the many seafood restaurants, fish they (hopefully) purchased that day will be displayed outside, and you know what a Wahoo looks like.

Bon appetit.