Momenthai

In terms of retail banking I think Citibank Thailand offer current/savings accounts so that they can have the licence but when I tried to open an account I think the minimum balance was Bt1m and it was a similar story with HSBC.

Regarding getting a credit card, I have a citi one which was fairly easy to get and the lady I spoke to was very helpful (she completed the form and sent a messenger to my office to get me to sign it) but I work in Thailand so have a work permit and regular income. If you don't have a regular income in Thailand I'm not sure how easy it is. There are other threads on here about getting credit cards when you don't work in Thailand, I think you have to deposit the same amount as your credit limit with the bank (which arguably defeats the object of having a cc but it at least means you don't get hit with transaction charges and I beleive you can put the deposit into a savings account).

I bank in Thailand with a local bank and have never had any problems with them. The banking is completely free and there is no minimum balance, some local banks even offer Visa debit cards. I transferred money out of Thailand last week and it cost US30 and arrived in HK the next day with no issues.

The two places where I have to run the gauntlet most are on Silom Road near Soi Convent and on Suk Road near Soi 33 and in both places I've nearly been hit....it doesn't help that I've usually had a few beers so become very righteous about getting the drivers to stop. Incidents like this make me realise that my one man crusade to get the drivers of Bangkok to stop at pedestrian crossings is not just futile but life threatening!!

what a ridiculous response....is it sad to look for Thai or Chinese food when you are in the UK or US!!?

Two tourists run over on zebra crossing

WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM

Two foreign visitors were crushed to death by an excavator as they held aloft road safety flags while crossing a busy road in Bangkok yesterday.

British tourist Gary Thomas Chambers, 28, and his Norwegian girlfriend Hanne Karlsen, 20, were seen waving the flags to alert passing traffic before stepping out onto the pedestrian crossing in front of the Princess Hotel on Lan Luang road in Pomprap Sattruphai district.

A witness said the two were then hit by an eight-wheel backhoe. The heavy vehicle mowed them down in the bus lane, crushing them both to death.

Pol Maj Akarachai Chamchoi, inspector of Nang Loeng station, said each of the tourists was carrying a safety flag. The flags were placed on the roadside so pedestrians could use them to signal oncoming vehicles to stop _ part of a government road safety campaign called ''Safe Crossing With Flags''.

Pol Maj Akarachai said the excavator belonged to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The driver, Saichon Innork, 35, a city employee, was charged with reckless driving.

Mr Saichon said there was a problem with his brakes. He was driving back from a landscaping site and as he approached the hotel he spotted the two tourists but was unable to stop his vehicle. Police said the tyres had almost no tread.

From today's Bangkok Post. This is really sad. I wonder who had the great idea of giving people flags to wave when they want to cross the road!! I drive in Bkk and haven't read about this initiative. The police really need to crack down on this by fining those who are guilty of doing it. I nearly got run over on Sukhmvit Road....the car stopped, drove past and then started reversing to try to hit me again as he was annoyed that I had stepped out in front of him!! He had flashed me which I know in Thailand means "I'm not stopping" but in other countries this is usually a signal to let people go. Anyway that could be another post altogether.....

ps - I tried to post this in the news forum but it wouldn't let me

There are a couple of silver shops on the road that come from the Oriental Hotel up towards the main road. The owners speak good English and the products are good quality, I've bought silver cufflinks in there before and my gf has bought rings, braclets, necklaces and photo frames. They have copies of tifffanys and links jewllery. The price that they show is negotiable, they will usually knock 30-40% off but the price of wholesale silver has gone up a lot over recent months.

I have been told that some hotels do deals for Thai nationals and have also seen offers in the Bkk Post and Nation that state they are for Thai Nationals/Residents only so it could be worth doing both to check the prices before booking

When I stayed at D2 in CM I searched a load of websites on the internet and then decided to phone them to see what price they would offer and the price over the phone was about 15% cheaper (I'm English) but that may have been because the hotel was fairly new at the time.

Well if this has become a Subway bashing post I'm actually going to stick up for them. I go to the one near Nana roughly twice a week and the staff are all pretty good. They're English isn't great but they know enough for me to order my sandwich without any issues, they are polite, the service is pretty quick and the sandwich is fresh.

I was also going to suggest Pro Bike, it's on Sarasin at the bottom of Lang Suan. They also sell bikes in the sports section of Central Chitlom and there's a bike shop on Sukhmvit soi 5 (or 7)

I was told traffic was bad on Friday because there was a 'perfect storm' of it being Friday (the worst evening of the week for traffic), it was pay day for a lot of people (end of the month), it was raining and the world cup was on!!

I'm English and have been to Brick Lane quite a few times also have had a lot of curries at the numerous Indian restaurants in Hong Kong when I lived there and have found two of the best curry houses I have ever been to in Bangkok. Neither of them are balti style but both are very good.

One is Rang Mahal in the Rembrant Hotel on Suk Soi 18 (a previous poster said Red Pepper but I think that is Thai or Chinese)

The other is the Indian Restaurant at Face on Suk 36 (I think) I think the website is www.facebkk.com

Anyway, both of these were excellent but not cheap...you're looking somewhere between Bt1 and 2k per head if you also have a few beers...they even sell Kingfisher in Rang Mahal.

If you go to Rang Mahal I would reccomend the Murgh Tikka and the Lamb (can't remember the name, it's a house speciality, they marinate it in spices and slow cook it for about a day....it is superb)

Rang Mahal is very popular with the local Indian residents of Bkk and they actually do a Sunday Brunch buffet....I've never tried it though as having a ruby for Sunday lunch just does'nt seem right, especially after 10 pints of lager the night before!!

Does anyone have any useful links for flights from Thailand to UK?

Any independant travel agents with search facilities on their sites would be of great help. Ive used a few that I found on here but would like a few more option and quotes befiore I lay out any cash

Cheers

Bangers

I use these guys based in Bangkok

www.chawlatravel.com

Johnb

Cheers fellas, the traveltech site doesnt seem to work tho. I'll google it and see what it comes up with

Try traveltech2000.com

The Shawshank Redemption

Untouchables

Goodfellas

I agree that the standard of refereeing has been appalling but I believe a lot of it is related to FIFA's new directives to try to cut out time wasting, diving, bad tackles etc. They should have issued these directives 2 years ago to all the major leagues so that the referees had a chance to follow them. On top of that they've basically told the Ref's that there's zero tolerance on mistakes. As a referee being at the WC is the highest honour so they must be ridicuoulsy nervous before they even blow the whistle to start the game.

Changing the subject slightly, I think FIFA need to clamp down more on players questioning the ref's decision and/or trying to intimidate him. Once he has blown his whistle he won't change his mind and for a world sport it sets such a bad example to people; if you watch rugby union the players can kick sh1t out of each other for 80 minutes but they never question a decision.

One other thing I think football could take from rugby is the playing the advantage rule, in rugby they play the advantage and if there's no real advantage they then go back to the infringement, last night in the Aussie game on of their players was fouled just outside the box, advantage was played and they got nothing at all from it, a free kick from that position could have been a lot more dangerous

Good choice.....the bar/restaurant in the Sofitel is called V9, I think it's on the 38th Floor...it's a cool bar with great views. They also have a wine connections wine shop next to the bar where you can buy the wine at cost price and drink it in the bar with no corkage, I think their wine starts off at around Bt500 a bottle so this is a really good deal.

Nai Lert Park hotel on Wireless Road looks pretty nice, close to Central Chidlom. I have seen a rate for a twin room including breakfast for about Bt4,500. Sofitel Hotel on Silom Road also looks quite good, has a great bar and restaurant on the top floor.

I have seen good prices on farangs.com but have never used them to book (every time I have tried it has been at short notice so the hotel has been fully booked)

You can get shoes made in Thailand, there are a few shops on the main road behind The Oriental and Shagrila hotels where the Dome is (sorry don't know the name of the road), the prices are reasonable, the quality is quite good and there are a number of different styles. They may even be able to copy a style that you already have

Last time I was in Phuket I got a cab to the airport and the driver stopped at the petrol station to get petrol....he decided to put petrol in the car with the engine still running. I was sitting in the back of the car and was not happy about it so told him so, but as he was only putting in Bt150 worth by the time I told him he'd finished.

Surely that's dangerous isn't it?

Not looking for blood and guts stories (or picture thankyou), I just thought that was a big story, it's actually very sad. I know in Europe that would have been headline news

In today's Bkk Post the front page headlines are a story about a Cabinet Secretary quiting, some monks blessing the king and a few other minor stories.

If you open the main news section on page 5 there is a 40 word article in the 'in brief' section telling us that 7 doctors and nurses were killed and 40 injured when their bus fell into a ravine in Kao Yai!!! How on earth does that not make the front page?

Agree......the first time I was in a cab with him he was mildly amusing...the second time he was actually quite irritating becuase it was exactly the same chat!!

I've just heard that the SET will still be open so it means anyone who works for a bank will have to work.....doh!!

Monochaser - I don't understand why you don't trust Thai Banks, why is that? Is it because you think your money might go 'missing', the language issue, the service standards or something completely different?

I have a bank account with one of the local banks. I haven't tried to transfer cash overseas yet but for all my local banking requirements...ATM, debit card, receiving my salary, direct monthly payment to my Thai credit card they are fine and there are no fees whatsoever.

I've actually had that cab driver....twice!! He is a nutter, he can say hello in about 50 languages and just doesn't shut up the whole...nice to see him being looking straight into the camera when he's talking (as opposed to watching the road!!)

I have a car in Bkk becuase work gave me one. There is no tax on having a company car in Thailand so I would have been mad not to take it. I live quite close to the office but not close enough to walk so I quite often drive to work, I have a car park at my apartment and a space at work so that's not an issue. Other than that I only drive in Bkk when I'm going to do a food shop or on Sunday's when there is very little traffic. The car is very handy to have if you want to get out of Bkk at the weekends to places like Hua Hin, Kao Yai, Kanchanaburi etc and is good if you play golf but if work hadn't given it to me I doubt I would have bought one

Putting to one side the 1% issue it seems to me that the tourist rates offered by Banks in Thailand are a lot more competitive than other countries I have changed money in (well Europe and HK in any case).

In England they have a large spread between buying and selling and then have the cheek to charge you 1.5% commision on top!!