keestha

OP, be careful. Are you legally registered as being the owner of the house? If not, taking out stuff like doors and wiring might be illegal.

Edit: as pointed out by the poster above, seek legal advice.

Official dates are April 13,14,15. But because 13/14 are Saturday/Sunday, 16/17 are also public holidays (substitution days). Roads will be extremely crowded till at least April 18. Once I drove back from Buriram to Hua Hin on April 16, I'll never do it again. The Buriram-Bangkok leg I made on an average 30 km per hour, saw lots of accidents, difficult to find parking space at gas stations. The Bangkok-Hua Hin leg was better, but still absolutely no normal conditions.

Quote: "They are not allowed to pick up passengers outside of the airport or they risk retribution from whichever taxi/tuk tuk mafia which "owns" the right to passengers in the area they are picking up said passengers. This is one of the reasons why taxi's and tuk tuks are so expensive in Phuket. You are required to pay a round trip fare even when you are just going one way. It is an antiquated village system which doesn't exist pretty much anywhere else in the world, including other parts of Thailand."/end quote

In Khao Lak, the same system though. Khao Lak is spread out, it consists of a number of different villages. Taxi drivers can take customers from village A to village B, but in B they can't pick up customers, their colleagues based in B wouldn't tolerate it.

Registration process, hm. For a long time I was working as a hotel receptionist in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was a reputable 3 star hotel. Guests were required to fill out a form on checking in of course. Occasionally people were clearly hesitating before filling out the form, and I suspected they might have come to Amsterdam for doing something else than buying tulip bulbs. Then I just said "You can fill out whatever you like, I don't check passports", and obviously relieved they went about filling in the form. A registration process only makes sense if the hotel also has to supply a copy of the passport/ID card. Oh well, off topic anyway. I hope the family will soon find Benjamin, who might very well be mentally unstable, as suggested above.

Tough luck I'm afraid. My thinking would be to handle it online, using Skype, the counsellor being in the UK or maybe Hong Kong. Good luck and all the best.

Thai banks are fussy about transferring money abroad. Not long ago I needed to transfer a small amount of money to Australia, because a customer who had prepaid something cancelled. Though I used a bank account which is on my name, I had to give them a copy of my company registration sheet, and i had to fill out a paper stating the reason for the transfer. Stuff like this is best done at a big branch of a leading bank, where they exactly know what is doable. In Phuket, I would go to the main Katsikorn branch in Phuket Town. When transferring money abroad, it is converted automatically.

So no reason for panic buying, stripping Supercheaps shelves off candles and flashlights .

And the Mrs. wont have to exhaust herself, functioning as a human powered fan.

Air Asia surely lost a lot of business because of their lousy online payment system. It is an old problem they seem not to be able to solve. Too many times throughout the years, I helped customers to book Air Asia, everything fine and dandy, till the payment had to be made - credit card refused with no reason. Compare it with Orient Thai - if you come from say Estonia, a drop list with all Estonian banks appears, credit card accepted no problem.

Would they at all be aware of this problem?

Well, if it's true I hope the population of Loei will also profit, driving through this province last May it stroke me as being downright poor.

What makes you think it is an expat? Could as well be a backpacker doing this to pick up cash before continuing his travels, like people teaching English in Bangkok temporarily before moving on.

Hope the event will be successful!. I don't ride, but I always found bikers good company.

At one point when I was still living in the Netherlands, I even employed almost a complete motorcycle gang. They were not willing to admit me as a prospect though. Got the wrong aura I guess, I am not gay but often people who just get to know me tend to think that I am.

Eggs I have purchased from whatever vendor in Khao Lak the last few months have always consistently been old - the yellow part not being in the middle anymore, but at the side. I guess eggs in Phuket will come from the same source(s) as in Khao Lak, the truck coming from Central Thailand will stop in Khao Lak first before continuing to Phuket. How have your eggs been lately?

Sorry, I rarely start threads, and this one is not gonna be too exciting I'm afraid.

The price quoted in the brochure is always hogwash, it is the price they reckon the most expensive agent would take, like the tour counter in a 5 star hotel. Of course you can haggle about the price, they will lower their profit a bit in order to make a sale.

In Khao Lak there is also a O2 bar, looks like they sunk a lot of money into it. Impossible location though, can practically only be reached by helicopter.

Stay at the Trang Hotel, smack in the middle of the downtown area, next to the landmark clock tower. OK rooms, nice restaurant downstairs, no swimming pool though. As a day trip, go to nearby Pak Meng Beach. Or rent a car/motorbike and go and see the many nearby waterfalls. Trang is a charming city with a traditional feeling about it, there are a lot of kopi shops where they serve Malaysian style coffee.

RIP.

Don't mean to say he jumped, but....

Saddest thing is that jumpers who survive (like the 2% of registered cases who survive the plunge from the Golden Gate Bridge) always have the same thing to tell: they changed their minds and regretted their action when halfway down, when it is too late.

If what you mean by "the bigger Phuket area" you mean, "Thailand" - sure - otherwise, like I have been asking for several months, and still yet to get an answer, from anybody - name one positive thing that has been implemented to benefit tourists, and the tourism industry, here on Phuket, in recent times????

Maybe it's not "negativity" - it's fact. By all means, post something to prove this statement wrong, rather than criiicize the "spew of negativity."

With "the bigger Phuket area (should probably have said "the greater Phuket area") I meant Phuket+Phangnga. The population of Phuket originally came from Phangnga, and in both provinces the same dialect is spoken. I live in Khao Lak, which depends on Phuket's infrastructure, it is still more or less a suburb of Phuket.

Point taken, NKM. Difficult to name any positive thing which has been successfully implemented to benefit tourists. But posts written by outsiders which basically just say Phuket is a s'hole don't constitute any constructive contribution to the conversation.

Moving around by car during the high season, I often wondered if it would make sense to introduce a "walking licence" system for tourists. When on foot, they behave like there is no motorized traffic around. Walking with a group, using the full width of the road, crossing the street without looking, standing around on the small parking lot in front of the supermarket not moving when somebody obviously wants to park, and so on.

In neighborhood type of bars in Amsterdam where many regulars run up a tab they pay when payday comes, it used to happen every now and then that a stranger walks in who consumes nicely, and pays cash on leaving. The next evening, he does the same. But the day after that he asks if it is OK if he pays the next day. The bar owner, who is glad to have found a new well spending regular, agrees. But he never comes back; has everything to do with alcoholism.

The only thing that scares me on the roads here are the tourists or new expats that haven't learned the Thai road system, whether they are driving a bike, car, or walking.

Sure....like walking on a road which doesn't have a pavement, instead of walking besides the road like the Thai people do, if they walk at all.

If I would want to buy precious stones, I would go to Chantaburi, the whole town revolves around just one thing, which is jewelry. Anywhere you go in the market area everybody, from 16 year old girls up to old grandfathers, is busy polishing jewelry.Of course as pointed out above repeatedly, you have to know your stones or take somebody with you who does.

Working Thais 'Respect' the boys in brown.

Actually Devlin, I've never met any Thai anywhere, ever, that said they respected the police here. Do an informal poll of sorts amongst your Thai friends and/or acquaintances, I think you'll find the same.

Most likely with 'Respect' Devlin meant "are afraid of".

Vietnamese businesses? What Vietnamese businesses are there in Phuket? Enlighten me.