karazyal

Say you are flying from LA to NYC to BKK.... If your check-in luggage is for some reason delayed or sent to a different location other than NYC, and you are flying to Bangkok, does the domestic American airline deliver your luggage to Bangkok at a later time?

I left Boston and my connecting flight (AA) to JFK was late, I missed my CI flight to Bangkok. My checked in bag was stuck in quarantine. AA put me up in a hotel at the airport. Next day CI re-routed me to LAX or SFO (can't remember) and from there I ended up in BKK via Taiwan. No bag on arrival. CI gave me a voucher of around $50 for underwear, shaving stuff, etc. I stayed one night in Bangkok and the bag did not show up at that hotel. I went on to Pattaya the next morning and called CI, they found the bag and delivered it to my hotel in Pattaya. Nothing missing too!

Another time there was a crash in Taiwan that closed down the runway. CI already had my bag, the re-routed my flight from JFK to California again, paid for an overnight stay in a hotel, instead of remaining in California for another night on CI's dime, I got a swap to a UA flight going to Taiwan (CI paid for it, some kind of mutual emergency help deal) and from there to BKK on a late flight which CI held up for me and gave me a personal guide to the departure gate. No bag on arrival again. CI found the bag the next day and delivered it to me in Pattaya again. Nothing missing from the bag this time either!

Crap happens! If the airline steps up and takes care of problems that's okay with me! Besides I didn't have to lug that extra bag with me on the Skytrain and on the bus to Pattaya! Because of these two incidents I alway pack some extra skivvies with me together with an extra shirt and pants when I fly now!

The above is for arriving in Thailand, I have had bags that were not on the carousel when I arrived in Boston too! All of the times (probably 3 or 4?) the missing bags were because I was able to catch an earlier flight and my bags were still on the later original flight! The bags were delivered to my house the following da for free. When I pass through customs and immigration in Detroit I have to allow extra time for "additional individual bag inspection" because I fly too much, etc. Sometimes I get a wave through and end up with an extra hour or two, this is when I ask for and get a switch to an earlier flight. If they can't locate my bag in time they deliver it to my house. Another bag I don't have to lug on the "T" during the ride home!

US couple arrested in Bangkok Film Festival graft probe: justice

A group photo of 2005 Bangkok International Film Festival private dinner (L-R) Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Juthamas Siriwan, actor Michael Douglas, Patricia Green of Festival Management Inc., Gerald Green the President of Festival Management, Inc., and director Joel Schumacher in Bangkok, in January 2005. Gerald Green and his wife Patricia have been arrested for paying 1.7 million dollars in bribes to a Thailand government official for the right to manage the festival, according to the Justice Department

A Los Angeles-based businessman and his wife have been arrested for paying 1.7 million dollars in bribes to a Thailand government official for the right to manage the Bangkok International Film Festival, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Gerald Green, 75, and his wife Patricia, 52, were arrested after a criminal complaint was filed in Los Angeles on December 7.

Twenty three years older than his wife!!!

Wonder what the attraction was for her - money perhaps???

Do you think she might have ever had any criticisms concerning older Farangs with younger Thai girlfriends??

Hi - looking for some advice!

I've recently bought a MKI Ford Mondeo, and have noticed a strong musty smell in the cabin. I know that this can be normal when first running the engine, but this smell won't go away. I've read that this can be caused my a build up of mould/mildew on the evaporator - is this the only explanation?

If this is the reason, can anyone recommend anywhere in Bangkok to get it cleaned/treated, and how much it is likely to cost?

Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated!

When you park a car under or near a tree debris like leaves and flower petals could get into the fresh air vent and then decay and stink. Clean the fresh air intake from any "substance/junk" and flush some soapy water through it. Rinse the suds out and spray some Lysol or similar disinfectant spray. If this doesn't work you haven't wasted too much money and only a little time.

Take out your floor mats and give them a brief sniff test - your carpeting could have gotten wet and now it stinks.

Good luck.

That's a cool story.

Pattaya can never compete with Kenya in that market.

Statistically speaking Pattaya might come up a little short in the competition!

Or if it is the liberal media making there own agenda.

Yep!

Over the past 10's of millions of years there have been thousands and thousands of "Global Warming Periods!" Why is this one blamed on human beings? I'll tell you, it's all politics! Another way to bring the Western nations to their knees by massive unemployment and reduced output from factories, farms and even families!

The question that is never honestly answered is "would Global Warming" take place if there were no human beings on earth? The answer is yes! With or without humans residing on earth we would still have Global Warming!

Oh yeah, lots of info on the Arctic melting away and polar bears suffering - but little information escapes about the Antarctic expanding and being colder! http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/11/4/211834/644

Even the magnetic north will eventually change, this is normal too, it's happened before. Magnetic north will be magnetic south - in the future! http://www.crystalinks.com/earthsmagneticfield.html

http://www.bautforum.com/archive/index.php/t-11443.html

Guess the liberals will blame this on human beings too!

Thais arrest French man suspected of smuggling in nearly half a kilo (1 pound) of cocaine

BANGKOK, Thailand - Police on a popular south Thailand resort island said Monday they have arrested a French man who allegedly smuggled in 454 grams (1 pound) of cocaine from South America.

Acting on a tip, immigration police at the airport on the island of Samui searched Alain Bellaiche, 40, after he arrived Sunday on a flight from Bangkok, and determined that he was carrying the drug in 65 small packets that he had swallowed in an attempt to avoid detection, said Police Capt. Narongpol Pilmolsiri.

Narongpol said the suspect told police he had swallowed the drug while in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before flying from there to Bangkok and taking a connecting flight to Samui, which is in the Gulf of Thailand about 410 kilometers (290 miles) south of Bangkok.

X-rays showed several capsules in Bellaiche's stomach, and police took him to a hospital where he took a laxative to help him excrete the packets, Narongpol said.

/quote]

I can't wait to read some posts from "bleeding hearts" telling everyone how this "poor innocent man" was "set up" by the mean, nasty Thai police!!

Yeah, sure!

I have no idea how to say it for thai taxi drivers, but it's a french word, so the pronunciation is

ca-reuh-foor

Exactly.

Sort of like "crap on floor???"

Surely it would have been a lot easier and quicker to take the envelope.

Was the bag securely locked.

Did your "friend" report the theft to the airline.

For flights to the U.S. American owned carriers recommend that you do not lock your bags. They say if you put a lock on your bag they may cut it off for inspection. This is not correct, they leave the cheap 20 baht brass lock form China untouched and simply rip your zipper apart! After around 3 times I stopped using locks on bags when I fly to the U.S.

I do use the little plastic electricians ties where I would use a lock. So far so good - nothing missing even without any lock on the bag. And so far the plastic ties have always been intact - SO FAR!

Keep valuables with you at your seat when flying, using a bus or even on a train.

Okeydokey.

The pilots was not blamed for the damage as Mr Apinan said the accident occurred because the jet is so large that it needs more space on the taxiway.

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Isn't it a little late in the game to "suddenly discover" that the wingspan is a little longer?

Is this really "new information" to Thai Air?

Thought they knew they were getting a larger airplane!!!

Hi guys,

I am not that certain this is the right section to start this thread in but nevertheless:

Few days back I received a cheque from an US company paying me comission for few online sales I made for them. I happily danced into the local branch of Kasikornbank where I have my account thinking depositing this will be a breeze.

To may dismay the personnel did not have much ideas about how to cash/deposit a cheque in US$ and after lenghty discussions involving most of the branch's employees they came to conclusion that the cheque will need to be sent to their headquaters in Bangkok and should and money will be than deposit in about two weeks after the cheque is verified as valid. I was ok with that, after all one living here needs to be patient sometimes

Anyway few minutes later I was unfortunately informed that since the cheque is for amount less than US$100 it simply can't be cashed or deposited and advised to try another bank! Now I find this fairly odd as I am bringing money here (sure its not that much for this particular cheque) yet they would not pay it out.

Does anyone have similar experience or advice for me? I must also mentioned that I tried to do this in our provincial centre Kamphaengphet and perhaps I would be luckier in Bangkok. Any suggestions at all?

Thank you, kind regards

jkoll

Can't you just deposit it in your hometown bank account even if you have to mail it back?

I have dollar checks that I deposit in my credit union account at home and then use my debit card from that same CU to take out baht from Thai ATM's.

If these checks are something that will come up again and again - why not have them deposited into your account that has a debit card that you can use in Thai ATM's?

Good luck.

Anyone knowing where in Pattaya I can get money from a machine with my MasterCard?

I don't have a problem using my credit union debit card which is backed by MasterCard. The last ATM I used was near the movie theater at the Royal Garden Mall. If you are facing the ticket booth there are several ATM's just past the theater to the right. (Think it was Kasikorn Bank.)

I had no real problem with the same MasterCard debit card in Manila too!

Look for the little logos on the ATM.

Hi folks, I'm passing through Bangkok on my way from Australia to Ireland and I'm hopeing to get some decent cold weather gear. Basicly I was wondering if anyone would be so kind as to point in the right direction with regards to finding some good leather shops.

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Siam Bootery

Siam Bootery is located at 292-294 Sukhumvit Road right where it meets Sukhumvit Soi 19. Near a Skytrain stop, even numbered side of Sukhumvit.

I never bought anything there, only walked by several times.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help.

The Honey Inn has free wifi in their lobby/cafe area. I think you can still find a room for around 500 baht. Located on Soi Honey Inn of course.

You can also check the Captain's Hotel and Bar on Soi Honey Inn, between Honey Inn Hotel and Soi Boookow. This place is not to old, I think low season price may be close to your 500 baht price.

Sometimes you may be able to find a hotel that is close enough to an internet shop where you can piggyback on their signal.

What have you got to lose by checking these two places out?

Is it ok to bring viagra to thailand with me on holidays???????????????????????

Would like to know as i dont want to get into trouble with the authorites please help ??????????

I have been taking prescription meds with me for over 10 years to Thailand (and the Philippines for that matter) and I have never been asked about them!

I do have the meds in a pharmacy pill container with the doctors name, date, type of prescription, dosage, my name, etc. on the label.

Unless you have loose tablets in a baggie stuffed in your socks you should not have a problem. And - you won't have a problem there unless they find you out!

If you have a prescription for your pills you shouldn't have a problem

The only time I have ever had my pills checked was going back through U.S. customs - no problem there either if they are legit!

On a bus tour from Bangkok...

This may or may not apply to you. Are you traveling alone? If you are traveling with a "companion" or someone you just recently became friendly with I would FIRST suspect them. In particular, if this "friend" is also pushing the idea that "someone else" stole and used your cards when you were on a bus!

If you are alone, then this is just another story of someone getting ripped off on bus rides set up out of Khao San Road. NEVER check in a bag on a bus, train or even a plane that has important or valuable items like cameras, computers, ipods, money, credit cards, passports, jewelry, etc.!! Keep money and valuables (like credit cards) with you on your person or at least with you at your seat within sight!

If you are not traveling alone I would first suspect someone you know and trusted before I would blame an outside source! Secondly I would suspect another Farang traveling on the bus with you! If these are credit cards you may be able to do something with the credit card company but I wouldn't expect much because you didn't safeguard your pin numbers. Pretty dumb to not keep the credit cards with you at your seat!

This is one of the most stupid regulations I've ever came upon.

Thank you, U.S.A.!! For inventing it, and bringing it to the world.

If you want to blame someone blame the frigging Muslim terrorists!

I have been traveling with little bottles of stuff crammed into a tiny plastic bag for the last 6 months and it is doable! Like anything else, you adjust to it and move on! I purchased small sized amounts of "stuff" that I may need during the flight (stuffy nose spray, aftershave, toothpaste, etc.) and don't worry about the restriction. Any "liquid" type stuff that I may want to take with me I put in my check-in bag!

In the U.S. they have been using this system for a while - and you still find women with huge bottles of cologne, perfume, body sprays, lots of expensive stuff that gets thrown in the contraband box! Big signs warn passengers to put their valuable perfumes and whatever that do not conform to the correct size to put the "liquids" in their check-in bag AND this stuff is still found at the security check! I was not too far from a woman who had 2 or 3 huge tubes of hemorrhoid cream thrown out - I don't know what she intended to do on the plane???

The security checks DO find knives, guns, hatchets, lighter fluid, gasoline, grenades and lots of stuff that would make a flight unpleasant!

Thank you Muslim terrorists for adding another dimension to international air travel!

Does the 2nd 6 month period start immediately or once you enter again. The situation:

1st 6 month Period October 22, 2006-April 22, 2007

1. 1st entry October 22, 2006- November 5, 2006 ( 15 days )

2. 2nd entry December 16, 2006-January 9, 2007 ( 25 days )

3. 3rd entry April 1, 2007-April 22, 2007 ( 22 days )

Total days =62 days

I was good for the 1st period!!!!!

Question? Does my 2nd 6 month period start on April 22 07 or when I actually arrive once again in Thailand on July 29, 07?

April 22-September 22, 2007 or

2nd 6 month Period July 29, 2007 August 19, 07

I would think that it starts when I actually arrrive in July since there is discussion about no rolling periods. Any thoughts. Thanks

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I am taking the "6 months rule" as being a fluid time period!

My thinking is that beginning the day I expect to arrive at the immigration booth in Thailand - count back six months.

If I have less than ninety days in Thailand (within the past 6 months) I can get the free visa stamp. (What is not certain is that suppose I have 80 days at that point in time, does this mean I only get the 10 day difference?)

My thinking is that you should be able to get 30 days free every 2 months - in a 6 months period that would still only be 90 days!

Not my problem, since this new rule started I show up at the airport and get a 30 day stamp in my passport about every 1 or 2 months since October without any problem - so far! I can only stay 15 days at a whack now because of "stuff" at home.

So far it has worked for me. I count back and for every 30 day entry stamp I count up the actual days in country (I jot it down in pencil over the stamp) and use that figure for computation. No immigration official has said anything yet - maybe I have been lucky!

Is it so hard for some bars to serve cold beer? I drink in a few and find that about half of them sell beer that isn't quite cold enough and not only that charge almost double the price. Nearly every bar that sells beer for 45 or 50 baht seem to have plenty of customers whilst some others try it on for 75 baht and wonder why they are empty and eventually close down.

I went from a cheap bar in soi 8 to soi 2 the other day. I went from freezing cold 45 baht beers to 75 baht beers that were warm, how can anyone survive if they can't get their prices right and the beer cold? I don't mind paying 75 baht or even 120 baht per beer as long as the band is good and the beer is cold but some bars are good at charging and giving nothing in return.

Why do they do it? Don't they realise they will go broke?

I like cold beer too! When I was stationed in VN 30 years ago a lot of the beer was warm back then, to cool it off you put ice in it.

I have been drinking beer with ice in it ever since.! Every beer I get ends up cold - until the ice melts anyway!

This old geezer want to take out younger, decent Thai flower ( female ) to a place where:

a. don't ridiculously look too much out of place

b. has music so to pass the time when he ran out of things to say, (in thai)

c. not too far from Sukhumvit aria

d. decent food and prices even though she is going to order fried rice anyway,

all Recommendations welcome,

Foodland in store restaurant, Sukhumvit Soi 5, good food, cheap prices - wear his and her walkman for music. You won't look out of place there.!

"they find nothing , except 400,000 dollars."

Typical American, all of us have a spare 400,000 dollars hanging around - in cash!

Yeah, sure we do!

[

"The place next door Canterbury Tales I think it is called seems to be doing well.................I`ve heard a few good reports about the breakfast."

.

I ate there 4 or 5 times for breakfast, the place was okay. Different breakfast specials listed on their signboard and menu. Food was as expected - no offer of 2nds for coffee though - but place gets an "okay" from me.

I'm looking for a cheap hotel on Suk or down one of its Soi's that is under 800 baht and meets the following requirements. I know there are heaps of them, but I need names and locations from people who have stayed there or atleast seen them. Oh, and I'm aware of Suk 11 and The Atlanta.

* A room that is bigger than a cupboard.

* Private bathroom, with occassional hot water.

* A low cockroach count.

* Has a tv that picks up more than 3 perfectly tuned channels that show Thai soaps and gameshows....even though the channels may be blurry.

* Provides towells that you can't see through and are bigger than hand/face cloths.

* Provides soap that is bigger than a box of matches and that don't disintegrate instantly with water or soap that actually creates a lather.

* Air con that is quieter than a freight train and blows cool air.

* Has a window, even though it may look out into an alleyway or airshaft.

* Isn't located above a bar, or requires you to walk through a bar to access the rooms.

* Doesn't have a lobby full of bar girls lurking about.

* Has walls that go all the way to the roof, don't wobble when you close the door, and is soundproof from the room three doors down the hall.

Am I asking too much?

Cheers.

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Check out the Honey Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 19. Next to bottom level might be in your range. Meets most of your requirements and they have a pool too! Not far from the Skytrain stop. They sometimes give discounts for longer stays.

Pattaya will never die a painful death, it may have to re-invent itself at some point in the future although i can't see that happening anytime soon. Pattaya is what it is and you either love it or hate it, and i am sure for every unhappy person here there are 00's are more than content with their lives.

Even though Mr. Thaksin is out of the picture now, I still think that Pattaya will eventually become the center for legalized gambling in Thailand!

There is just too much money being spent in the casinos just over the borders. And, it's not just "Farang" money going over the border, there are a lot of Thai's spending their earnings across the border too!

The new airport is on the Pattaya side of Bangkok, the expressway is being improved and extended, lots of new condos and malls being built - I think it is only a matter of time before a casino comes to Pattaya!

Business Inn 600 for baht and President Inn for 680 baht. Both on Sukhumvit Soi 11/1. These are "no window" rooms, which means you get a lousy view or no window at all. Both hotels have air, hot water, TV and a safe or security storage for valuables. Real close to the Nana Skytrain stop.

Okeydokey.

I travel ecomomy from Bangkok to Libya every five weeks. I use the same airline, Emirates, and am a Gold card holder. I have had one upgrade to Business class in two and a half years. Thats 1 in 60 flights.

Has anyone got any tips on how to get an upgrade without using airmiles or paying?

Who knows.

I often fly to Asia on Northwest from the U.S. Point to point within the U.S. I almost always get free upgrades with my gold card. The long run across the ocean from Detroit to Japan is the flight I want the free upgrades on! Flying to Bangkok - never any free upgrades, without paying or using miles. Detroit to Manila I have received free upgrades more than once, even on the long run from Detroit to Japan.

I do get a lot of bonus miles that I didn't get when I used China Airlines and United.