tom yum goong

suremotors does have the best reputation in Phuket, which is mainly due to the fact that they honour their short warranty period (whereas most others don't), but their prices are even crazier than the other dealers.

However, I totally agree with what baabaa said about buying new. I spent ages looking all over Phuket for a good deal on a 2nd hand car and in the end decided to buy new. Couldn't bring myself to spend 350,000 on a 6-7 yr old car when a new one could be had for 600,000 - including 3 years or 100,000 km warranty, 1 year free insurance, lower interest rates (if financing)

forgot to mention that you don't have to change the plates if you bought a car in BKK. Its perfectly fine to carry on using the Bangkok plates here in Phuket - more than half the cars in Phuket have bkk plates, partly due to many locals buying their cars in BKK where they can get much better deals, for new and 2nd hand.

PS :Whats the story about Hartlepool and the Monkey?

A bit "off topic" but its worth re-counting

TP

what happens on Sunday / Monday?

Wow, seems like you have too much time on your hands, but your efforts are very much appreciated. :

I would be up for this. Would spice things up a bit for the new season.

I have a paypal account so that would be fine too.

its a shame both teams have already qualified. I know they still have to play for 1st place, but it would be a more mouthwatering game if both teams were still playing for qualification.

not sure if i can afford to stay up til 4am 2 nights in a row.

i think the strange thing was how Sweden managed to put nearly all their deliveries from corners in dangerous areas whereas England would just hit the first defender.

surely then England would have won the world cup in 1998?

3964 - 1966 = 1998

maybe i missed it?

On sunday there are some serious options to look at. We are now down to 3 strikers, if anything happens (red card, injury etc.) we are knackered. I'd start Walcott (otherwise what was the point of taking him) with Rooney. I'd drop Lampard and move Becks a bit more central and put Lennon on the right.

Madrid played him there in his first season and it didn't work. After he went back to RM he has been one of their best players. However, I think its a real dilemma as Beckham has not been on form for England this tournament. He can't beat anyone with pace, can't stay in position and always drifts infield, and can't hit a rolling ball.

Sure, he has contributed to a couple of England goals, but those were the only times he put in good deliveries. 95% of the time his corners and free kicks go to waste. By waste i don't mean they don't lead to attempts on goal, i mean they fly over for goal kicks or go straight to the first defender, giving the ball back to the opposition. Other than that i don't think he contributes anything else to the team. (shirt sales perhaps?)

What about his amazing freekicks? He hasn't scored one for England in 3 years.

But you can't drop your captain in the middle of the WC.

no england-germany game for another 4 years at least. and surely neither of these teams will make it to the finals for a meet..so..

I wouldn't put it past the Germans to somehow get through to the final.

I mean, no one dreamt they would do it in Japan/Korea. This time around they have home advantage.

by some perhaps, but i think the pandemonium that was England's defence facing set pieces would have come under heavy criticism no matter what.

don't get me wrong, i support England no matter how badly they're playing, but i just wish they would play to the level they are well capable of.

Yes, I admit they were missing thier star striker...................................but hang on a mo, wern't we missing ours as well?

You could say that but England "should" have players that can come in to take his place. Of course when Sven decides to only take 4 strikers, 1 of whom he is not going to play, then you have to question his selection policy (or even his sanity).

England (as opposed to the UK) has a population of around 50 million. Football is the most popular sport in the country and the professional football league has much more depth and is better supported compared to any country in Europe.

I'm not saying that England should thrash Sweden every time, but beating them once in 38 years is surely not too much to ask?

just wanted to add that i thought Owen Hargreaves had a blinder. He protected the back four from attacks through the middle and distributed with ball well after he won it.

Of course there were a couple of stray passes but all the best DMs are prone to this from time to time (look at Makalele).

I hope England fans will start to appreciate him more but somehow i think they would slate him even if he scored a hat-trick and set up 3 more.

Got someting against lampard have we? the last few things hes writte you have cut him down. I for one agree with him. We are not in it, finland that is, but can you imagine an australian supporter talking like some of the english. They would not be allowed back in their country. Or course he lift hopes. You have said it in one.

an Australian supporter should be thanking their lucky stars they are in the world cup.

the situation for English supporters is quite different. England have a team of world stars (albeit overhyped and overpaid IMO), but very rarely play at the level we all know they can. This is why England supporters are always quick to criticise their team.

England should not be content with scraping a draw against an average Swedish team (who were missing their star player). They have the players but don't seem to be able to play decent football for more than 20 mins at a time.

IMO 2nd hand car prices are hugely inflated in Thailand in general.

However, if you are buying from a dealer, you could probably save about 20% by buying in Bangkok compared to buying in Phuket.

prices are higher in Phuket because there is less supply, less competition for the dealers, and also because Phuket is one of the most affluent provinces outside of Bangkok.

Also, if i had to buy a used car, i wouldn't buy it from a dealer. The markup is crazy. Buy it from a private seller. And whatever you do, make sure you get the car inspected by someone who knows what they are looking at before you buy.

i know you got to beat the best to win it, but surely both teams would really want to avoid Germany in the next round.

I hope both teams play to win and we see a more open game than the previous England matches.

a couple of websites i've come across

http://www.phukethomestay.com/

http://www.koh-yao-noi-eco-tourism-club.com/

If Chelsea shelled out 45 mill Eros for Schevgenko, then wot would Torres be worth ???

A load of old bull.

i know he's only played as a sub but Lionel Messi looked frightening when he came on against Serbia.

hmmm, i don't think there's much profit margin on these so it will be difficult to haggle the price down.

I know some places may give a small discount if you pay cash, but we're talking around 3%.

You can also try cajoling them into giving you extras, laptop bag, thumb drive, usb mouse etc.

It could only have been a couple of Three Points Lane supporters who would rate Jenas.

And no i don't support Bayern either.

I had two Acers prior to my current Dell laptop. Both Acers gave me around 2 to 3 years good service with only minor faults and were replaced when they became out of date.

My current laptop, the Dell, is a pile of crap and has broken down more times than i can remember. I dont take it out of the house or move it around very much but in 2 years i have had to replace the screen, the cd drive and the keyboard (twice). To top it off, there is no service centre in Thailand and all parts have to be sent from malaysia, with an extortionate shipping fee.

My vote is go for Acer. At least if something goes wrong parts and service will be straightforward.

Agreed about needing another striker. Not convinced about Defoe after the last season. If he's not good enough to start for Spurs, he sure isn't good enough for England. Bent had a great season and should be in the squad.

England may need a defensive midfielder if they come up against an attacking team like Brazil or the Argies. I actually believe they should play with one anyway. Gerrard and Lampard both play in front of a DM for their club and are much more effective when they don't have to defend so much. Sacrifice either Gerrard or Lampard and play Hargreaves. Better yet, drop Beckham and play Gerrard on the right.

Never gonna happen with Sven in charge though

Owen's been out for a while and while I agree with you that there should be another striker it should be at the expense of Hargreaves.

Hargreaves is England's only decent defensive midfielder and if England played him behind either Gerrard of Lampard, England would be much more effective.

The fact that he plays in that position for one of the best teams in Europe speaks volumes. When Bayern won the champions league he was voted best young player of the tournament. Its a disgrace he gets so much stick as he's never been given a chance to prove himself, only 10 minute cameos at the end of matches.

Now Jenas is another matter entirely. Why is he in the squad? How many players would have to get injured before he got a game.

From the evidence so far, i think Ecuador could beat the Germans. Ecuador keep possession really well and look quite useful in attack. I wouldn't be surprised if they top their group and England end up facing Germany in the 2nd round.

A nightmare scenario as we will probably go out on penalties again.

But as Lamps rightly points out, if you are going to win it you have to be prepared to beat whoever.

nice one

boric acid chalk is great. you can buy it in most supermarkets.

drawing lines/circles around where the ants appear from works a treat.

Of course you need to combine this with making sure there are no crumbs or other food lying around.