sammo

"I was being sarcastic" Doesnt sound like sarcasm to me.

Agreed, nothing sarcastic about what he said. If the reds had achieved their ultimate goal, he would be spouting off to everyone about how he played a part in it. Now that the protest ended with a whimper, it's not good enough to simply try and brush off what was a clear, serious threat by someone associated with a violent mob. Especially a group of mindless thugs who carried out such threats to such a degree.

I too am English and like many on this thread, ashamed of this idiots actions. I have had a business here for six years, paid all due taxes and fees and have been a contant employer of the locals. At least I can sleep soundly knowing that I am putting something back into the country I love - this fool doesn't belong here. We can't vote here so we have no right getting involved in political uprising, even if the missus is from Isaan!

My advice..........Never shit on your own doorstep.

Oh, and seeing as Thaksin likes comparisons.........How many people people died as a result of Hitlers policies, how many from Thaksins policies and how many from Abhisit. Maybe he can use it in his next brodcast, just twist the figures a little bit...........

Finally, the true colours of this sad little man are beginning to emerge for all to see......... Personal attacks intertwined with lies, purely because the big push of the weekend never materialised. Just 10% of the claimed 1,000,000 bothered to turn up, whom are now beginning to head home, whilst the remainder lurch from day to day without a clue. As for pooring blood down drains (where it eventually ends up), this must have Abhisit shaking in his boots. Or chuckling with laughter more like. Thaksin has had it - reds, just forget about him and choose someone else to represent you in the same way but without all the baggage of a desparate little man on the run.

Can't help with what you are looking for in Pattaya, but my Filipina girlfriend knows a place in Bangkok which you may or may not be aware of. It is actually a Filipino restaurant (called 'Mabuhay') but stocks ingredients and other Filipino treats. It is on the Petchburi road near Pantip plaza. Go into Soi 19 and look for the 'Four Seasons International hotel' on the right hand side, then immediatley look for a very small soi opposite the hotel on the left hand side. About 10 metres inside this small soi, on the left is Mabuhay restaurant. By the way, there are quite a few Filipinos working around this area who might be able to give you other pointers.

I have the equivalent card issued from the Bank of Ayudhya. I have used it successfully for ATM withdrawals in Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Also Spain, but the ATM machines in Germany and the UK simply rejected the card everytime!

RIP---<deleted>---this guy has just been convicted of a vicious assault on a 67 year old pensioner [ who he thought was a skinhead!!!!!]--why say RIP--good riddance, more like--foul play or not, who gives a .....!

Quite right.

What good will a police investigation do? Bring hm back from the dead perhaps?

Why waste resources on scum like this?

YOU KNOW NOT ONE OF U PEOPLE ON HEAR NEW STEVE NOT ONE! AND YET U MAKE ALL THESE SICK STATEMENTS ABOUT HIM!! HE WAS THE KINDA GUY WHO WOULD HAVE GAVE U HIS LAST TENNER TO HELP U!! SURE HE MADE MISSTAKES BUT HAVENT WE ALL? ? HE WAS DRUNK AND HAD A ROW WITH OLD ALEC IN THE BOOZER TOILET WHO WAS ALSO DRUNK (AND A CHEEKY OLD BUGGER) NOT SAYING HE DESERVED IT BUT PEOPLE ROW AND SOMETIMES ONE OF THEM GET HURT!!! THINK ABOUT HIS LITTLE BOY AND HIS GIRLFRIEND AND FAMILY BACK HOME MAN!!! HAVE A fuc_kING HEART!!!! RIP SADLY MISSED BY LOTS OF FRIENDS

Don't know about anyone else on this thread. But I was just wondering how the pensioner guy is doing. Hope he recovered okay and can enjoy his retirement once again, maybe even go out for a social drink without the worry of being beaten up for no reason by some 'kinda guy who would give u his last tenner'.

-We can't eat spicy food

-We think Thai women are the most beautiful

-We are hot tempered

-We cause every accident we are involved in

-We can't pick out an item from the store shelf and need three people to randomly pick items and hold them in front of our face.

-We are ready to order food the minute we have a menu in our hands

Also, along these lines;

- My Thai missus thinks i am incapable of walking 100 metres to 7-Eleven, and should use the motorbike instead

- That Farangs who visit tourist areas don't know how to stop a taxi/tuk-tuk etc when we need one, and so every taxi driver has to sound their horn as they pass you

- That we really did not just order that food 'a little bit spicy', we must have said 'very, very spicy'

- We shouldn't be allowed to enter a furniture store alone. A member of staff must follow our every move, talking incessantly about promotion this and promtion that

- That we all have such successful lives back home, where our nice government takes good care of us, that we must be crazy to come here in the first place

-

Ummm AirAsia is still in the running for the time being

True......but i think Air Asia are a more serious player than Nok or 1-2-Gone. When fuel prices started rising, Air Asia looked at ways to offset this without putting the basic cost of the flight up. Sure, they increased the fuel surcharge along with all other airlines, but they also introduced 'extras' such as paying more to board first, insurance (provided by AIG but with a share going to Air Asia) and baggage charge. It all adds up and goes some way to off-setting the huge increase in fuel costs. Air Asia will still be around after the others have fallen because it is run by smart people.

So now it's Thai Air or a long bus trip

Depends where you are going................if it's Phuket then there are still seven flights daily with Air Asia between there and the capital.

They could change the name to One Thats Gone

How about one-two-gone

Personally i always avoided this airline. I just felt a bit put - off by the fact that a Thai airline chose to employ Indonesian (rather than Thai) pilots as a cost cutting measure..........

Nobody know? In Thailand, Kerosen for plane is made with rice, farmers use petrol to do the rice. Petrol more expensive = rice more expensive = kerosen more expensive = etc... Lol...

Utter Rubbish.....or a poor attempt at a joke! ......Kerosene (otherwise known as Jet A1 when used to power aircraft) is derived from crude oil after refining and a fairly intense distillation process.

White Cloud (former New Horizon L); it's length was extended.

It is still in Bangrak Bay, behind the small island next to Koh Som......in shelter. Will be leaving today after provisions are secured.

.....After the Captain has sent the boys down the road to Tesco !

I don't think BHT 4000 is all that overpriced - if you don't like it you could fly to the mainland and take the ferry.

I don't like that there are no Nok Air or AirAsia flights for 1000 Baht to Samui either -

Kind of says it all really...........! Blatant contradiction!

The new route is expected to be popular among foreign tourists as they will be able to travel by a direct flight from Suvarnbhumi to Samui's tourist destinations in the southern province of Surat Thani.

This is nonsense. All Bangkok Airways flights from Bangkok to Samui operate out of Suvarnbhumi - direct, so what is new here?

What's new is that tourists can book flights from Europe or the USA direct to Samui, stopover in BKK. Luggage checked through, one ticket purchased instead of two, deals with delays, etc. Major added convenience. But only for the "national flag carrier".

Well, sorry but i have to correct you there.....Bangkok Airways has agreements with most major national carriers allowing checked through baggage in both directions, and they have had such agreements in place for a long time.

Secondly, buying two tickets is no major deal these days - it is just a reference number. Thirdly, how many of the incoming long haul flights will actually connect time wise to the two thai airways flights to samui, and also the return leg? If a thai air flight from London arrives in bangkok in the afternoon but the thai air flight to samui leaves 9PM, i have to say that would be seen as a convenience to some!

The new route is expected to be popular among foreign tourists as they will be able to travel by a direct flight from Suvarnbhumi to Samui's tourist destinations in the southern province of Surat Thani.

This is nonsense. All Bangkok Airways flights from Bangkok to Samui operate out of Suvarnbhumi - direct, so what is new here? Bangkok Airways make a fortune on this route - check out the daytime rate of over THB 4200 per person one way for a one hour flight. (Oh, and add 300 baht more if you are flying from Samui for their airport tax).

For some years now the government has leaned on Bangkok Air to open up their airport to other carriers, but their view is that they built it in the first place therefore why should they. The government then talks of building a second, public airport and so Bangkok Air gives way a little bit and allows Thai Air to operate two flight a day. But Bangkok Air, being owners of the airport set the landing fees for Thai Air at a premium, thus forcing Thai Air to charge a similar rate to Bangkok Air in order to make a profit! So who benefits here? certainly not the passenger unless they are fussy who they fly with!

Bangkok Air currently allows Berjaya Air to run two flight per week to KL from Samui, and Fireflyz to Penang more frequently. But don't expect Bangkok Air to give way too much on the very lucrative BKK - USM route anytime soon or in the long run.

By the way, for a family of four coming to Samui for a holiday and flying Bangkok to Samui return, the total cost is 35,200 baht (including departure tax) !!

Small wonder everyone is going to Phuket instead......

the damage it is causing is unbelievable ..........

This is normal so what is the big story?

Ah, ignorance is bliss eh? Considering this happened (in this severity) previously two years ago and prior to that around twenty years ago is hardly what i would call 'Normal' Two years ago the damage was caused was over 300 million baht and the currents floods are considered worse. Given that Ko samui is a small part of Suratthani province and receives very little in funding in proportion to the amount of money samui brings in, maybe that is the big story. Or the fact that thousands of tourists are stranded and hundreds of shops and homes are flooded.

Normal?

More pics.........from south chaweng beach, in front of the 72 villa, four star resort Banana Fan Sea. Enjoy your holiday, please come back to Samui next year and don't forget to tell all your friends back home.....................

What happened to the the money the goverment promised to sort this out two years ago ? Most probably went to the mercedes dealership.

Over the past two years the lake near bophut traffic lights has filled with earth as locals reclaim the land no one cares as long as the people at the top are making money,

I think the problem will only get worse year after year as devlopment continues in the mountains and more water ways are blocked.

Exactly! Where did it go? Well to be fair, it never really arrived. Two years ago heavy rains fell, the lake in chaweng overflowed and surrounding areas flooded rapidly. I think the worst area was around Banana fan sea resort where during the evening the road was chest deep in water......i know, because a few of us had no choice but to wade through it in order to reach our hotel. From what i hear, the lake has again overflowed and it's a case of here we go again.

Two years ago Thaksin sent his minister down on a glorified publicity stunt where he promised 2 billion baht to rectify the problem. In reality 110 million baht was allocated and spent mostly on drains in Lamai and Bophut. The chaweng lake has to try and retain a massive amount of rain water from the surrounding mountains, but if anyone takes a look at the drainage channel which runs out to the sea, in places it is just two metres wide!! It is impossible for the lake to discharge the water quickly and easily out to sea, and then the lake just backs up and overflows.

The picture attached was taken today, and shows the lake three metres higher than normal.

The Tourist Authority and in particular the Samui branch detests (naturally) bad publicity. In the current edition of local newspaper (Samui Express) there is a huge headline which cites a certain Samui bigwig criticising a recent CNN report which during recent (but less severe) flooding had said that samui was closed to tourists. Considering that the floods have closed samui's only airport today and most of yesterday, is it safe to assume CNN is wrong?. Maybe instead of shouting from the rooftops whenever someone criticises all the things wrong with this island, they should take a step back and see for themselves what all the fuss is about. Even better, if they are not too busy tonight, try taking a stroll down the 'very touristy' south chaweng beach road. (Better take a boat - you will need it!)

am i the only one to wonder why it will take then 10 years to build and rent out? Airports and skyscrapers take just 2 or 3 years these days.............

And when it is finally built and the shops are available, can i be the first to say to the rental management ofice; "ohhhh, thees rent verrrrry expensive! I can buy over there only 200 baht!"

I was planning to go to Bangkok later this week to rent a Hire car on a dodgy credit card and then 'not remember' to return the car.

I have searched through Thai Visa but can not find any forums or posts about this kind of action. Nor could i find anything in the Lonely Planet, so i guess it must be acceptable to do it. Unless anyone can advise me otherwise as i am completely unable to decide whether this is right or wrong. I plan not to be drunk at the time if this is of help.

Thanks.

Somchai was charged with raping a woman not his wife.

.....Is that how it is defined? So it must be okay to rape his wife...............?

Strange. But the victim had a lot of courage to report it and at tleast the police were quick to deal with it.

When will it end? Just pray for best, look out for the worse. What can the government do to stop these attacks?? It goes without saying, It will hurt tourism for sure this time around. Maybe the power that be will listen to the people and comeup with some ideals to bring peace back to the south. Lots of wackos out there.

ohhhhh, the voice of doom! It's the end of the world as we know it. We had better all go and commit suicide. The bad guys have won. etc etc

Lets stop the flaming and abuse of other members that has been going on in this thread.

Well Said..................

The use of the term 'Bomb' to head this news story is the reason why this board is so active. I suppose 'Incendiary device set off in Bangkok' would hardly have gotten our attention as it is less of a headline grabber.

In my view, we should keep this very much in perspective. Last time i looked, 425 people died in Thailand during the Songkran holiday, a sorry waste of life. One guy gets hurt in a small explosion, and suddenly we are declaring war on each other!

If you are on Samui, the most convenient place to get your basic visa needs are at the Bangkok Samui Hospital. (No, Really!!). It is on the ring road in Chaweng, and in the reception area you will find an immigration counter. Open Mon to Fri 10am to 3.30PM, they can process your requirements in very informal surroundings. Last week i got my re-entry visa there, on the spot. Prices are the same as elsewhere, but bring one photo or they will sting you 200 baht extra. It is a great service, and saves having to go all the way to Nathon main immigration office (in the middle of nowhere).

Thanks for the info. Its suprising to hear that bangkok hospital there has such service. really do save a lot of trouble. one last question, are they able to extend the tv there after 60 days?

thanks

Sure......they can provide the basic visa requirements.......extensions, re-entry etc. It rarely gets busy there (though it may do once word gets out) but you can always wait for your turn watching the lovely Thai nurses stroll around in their cute white uniforms