richard_smith237

One2car.com - then go and see the ones you like.

Wasn't there another Fireworks explosion in Thailand around June of last year... And another in November of last year ??.... Same area... Same factory ??? What happened... the same people who make all the Truck brakes ?

About 5 years ago or so Wife, Son and I had enough Air-miles to fly to the BKK-UK-BKK in business class (Awards flight). The tax was higher than Economy Class tickets with Emirates and a UAE stopover !!!..

Ok.. that answers my above question... you used Wise - your response makes more sense now. Question: Is it possible to transfer to a 3rd Party using Wise ??? i.e. Could you transfer xxx to me using Wise to get better exchange rates ?.... ... and if so, could you also transfer to Thai Elite with Wise (thus securing better exchange rates ?)

I'm confused - where did you transfer to ??? If you transfer to yourself 'Bank to Bank' you are still paying bank fee's so I'm not sure how an agent helped here. Or.. Did you open an bank account (with the help of an agent costing 4000 baht)... and then used something like Wise with better exchange rates to transfer the money ? (for Thai Elite - 600,000 baht ?)

What you have selected is a return Award Ticket using 85,000 Air-miles (42,500 each way). You will pay £409.79 on top of this in fee's and taxes. Booking the exact same flights directly (without Air-miles) is £860 - meaning TG are charing 47% in taxes and fees !!!

Ah fair enough... You raise the point about using the miles for upgrades... of the many numerous phones we (wife) have made to Thai Airways, many options have been investigated.... Our miles were going to expire, so we had to use them... We looked at holidays, weekend trips to HK, Korea etc, flights, hotels etc... Options we also covered were purchasing Eco Tickets and upgrading to Business with miles... This was only possible if there were an 'Award-Seat' available on that flight & Thai Airways only allocated very limited numbers of 'Award-Seats' per flight so they were never available, or the upgrades (probably also due to the fact we were travelling at Peak Travel periods (UK Summer & Christmas and Japan in Feb School Holidays - outside of this time I imagine its easier). Fortunately, because of the issues with being unable to use the Air-miles Thai Airways extended the expiry date of the remaining Air-miles we were holding (and have since added to - credit card use).

Why ?... Money needs to be transfered into Thailand anyway (to Pay for Thai Elite)... so, it can be transfered direct to Thai Elite. Thats one single transfer... You are suggesting that it would be easier if he already had his own bank account so he could make two transfers ? one to himself, then a second to Thai Elite from his domestic account... How is making two transfers easier than one ? ???... you were taken for a ride... do you always need an agent for an international transfer?... so why this time ?

It took us nearly that long to be able to 'use' the air-miles because every time we wanted to we couldn't... We know have another load of Air-miles... and its going to be a PITA to use them again because we have to book so far in advance to get use out of them - Perhaps Air-miles seats are more readily available at non-peak times (but we don't travel at non-peak times so thats useless for us). Another issue we have had - Because they 'sell out' so quickly, we had to book Air-miles tickets 330 days in advance... fine at that point... but we are then locked in to those flights - our timing has changed slightly and we wanted to shift the return date (delaying by 3,4 or 5 days)... No can do - there are no 'Air-miles seats' available on those return flights to switch to (even though there are plenty of Eco Class seats on the flights), so its either throw away the Air-miles tickets and just purchase a new Eco ticket, or limit our trip to the original dates. On any other Airline (Emirates for example) we'd just pay the fee's to change the flight date and the Award ticket would transfer across if there were seats available.

.... a night or two in prison ?? ........ When are you returning to Afghanistan or Saudi ??? Talking of 'dumb' people... well done !!!

Tablets then ? Do you have a price range in mind ? The best selection of pretty much 'anything IT' is at Fortune Town, which is dedicated IT mall (at the beginning of Ratchada Rd, Rama IX end).

Its on Thai Elite webpage https://www.thailandprivilege.co.th/privileges/wealth Thai Elite will assits with opening a Bank Account. The 5 year P.E. Visa is really yearly 12 month Visas / extensions up to 5 years, and with a further purchase of 5 year membership, those yearly 12 month extensions continue for a further 5 years. (so yes - its possible to stay for 10 years without leaving).

If on the other hand I am mistaken and the Op wants the 'kid to pay'... Does the kid have the Por-ror-bor (3rd party insurance) for his bike ? If not... then its going to be difficult to get any money without police involved. If so, then the insurance should chase it up.

Careful... its slippery up there on that soap box... He didn't say he was on a 'through road'... (which implies a non-stopping zone etc) He'd parked at the side of the road to pop into a shop... which is perfectly legal, something that occurs in every town and city throughout Thailand. Many town roads have multiple lanes and there are street vendors, parked bikes, cars etc on the inside lane. Then you absolve a motorcyclist of any fault for not looking where they are going and making an assumption that the road would be clear. And no, in a Western Country (UK for example), it not illegal to stop at the side of the road in a town, unless there are double yellow or single yellow lines which indicate such. Finally - it doesn't appear that the Op is 'making the kid' pay anything, the Op says he felt sorry for the kid, the impression I get is that he's asking how to negotiate with the garage to get the repairs done (and also tell a story of an unlucky week). As others have pointed out (get rid of the Wife for not having 1st class insurance) the car is 20 years old - I think its extremely difficult to get first class insurance on a car that old in Thailand. ----------- In response to the Op... Go to the garage recommended by the second party's father (if its not too far) If it is too far, go to a garage nearby and just ask them how much for repairs - ask them to separate individual repairs. Regarding new panels, if the dent will 'pop out' then there is no need. Its amazing how 'new' they can make things look - they maybe able to touch up the rest of your car too - also any interior bits that need sprucing...

I'm not sure which is better... But given forum history - Avoiding Don Muang and Phuket would be sensible if you suspect you have frequency of visa exempt / and tourist visa visits which may be considered excessive by a fussy Immigration officer.

I wasn't there for my Son's last replacement Thai Passport. But, as you mention, different Passport Offices may have different rules (which is an common cause of debate on these fora). My Son's Thai Passport is due a replacement soon - so I'll see if the Wife can get it done on her own or not (its not an issue for us if we have to got back together and get it).

Erm... Is this a serious question ? Any IT shop in any of Bangkok's shopping malls - loads of choice. Or, Fortune town may have more choice. It may perhaps be better for you to help others help you and offer what type of Laptop Computer you are looking for... Brand, Model, OS, Speks etc... Or suggest what use you want to get out of a Laptop and perhaps others can advise you on a reasonably priced well functioning model etc.

All licensing and ergo all vehicular training in Thailand is a joke.. the license is just a card that shows someone has gone though the require training - the issue of course is the absence of any decent training (and of course underlying culture of a lack of respect for safety). The size of the bike is somewhat irrelevant in accidents such as this (IMO) anyone on any bike can fail to navigate a corner at 120 kmh on a Honda-click if they ride at such speeds and pretty much any 'small bike' on Thailands roads is capable of that.

Western guy had a helmet - probably had a big influence on his lack of severe injuries. Thai guy was not wearing a helmet (or so it appeared in the video when zooming) - which likely had a big impact on his demise.

Firstly - I'm not so sure thats a 'big bike' (as they are called) - looks like anything from a 150 to 400cc machine... (I could be wrong of course). Additionally, engine size does not determine noise - there are very quiet bigger bikes and extremely loud scooters, it depends what's done to them (and how they are ridden). I agree with you on the noise part, and there are already existing laws about that (which of course are sparsely enforced). In our Moobaan - someone has a Triumph Speed Twin... It would be very loud if he ragged it through the moobaan, but the owner doesn't he's clearly very respectful of everyone, its only loud as the delivery pickup trucks that come through.

Please explain where and how... Wife and I had nearly 300,000 miles that we found extremely difficult to use. Feb 2023 - Bangkok to Japan - No Airmiles Eco or Business Seats Available (at any time that month) - attempting to book about 6 months in advance. June / July 2023 - Bangkok - UK (return) - No Airmiles Eco or Business Seats Available (at any time that month) - attempting to book about 6 months in advance. Feb 2024 - Bangkok to Japan - Only Business Available outgoing / Eco return (availability only on specific days / specific flights) - when booking the maximum 330 days before travel date (thus had to make two separate bookings). Conversely - with BA / Qatar / Emirates - its simply a matter of logging on a booking. The reason - Thai Airways limit the amount of reward seats per flight, whereas other airlines (listed above at least) allow you to book any seat if you have the the miles to use.

Using ROP Airmiles is a nightmare... they make it as difficult as possible. We tried to use them last year and in the Summer (booking 6 months in advance)... nothing available. We managed to use 'get ahead of the game' and use them this year... They can be used up to 330 days in advance of the intended travel date. Wife called up TG at 8am exactly 330 days before intended travel - All eco reward seats taken, only business left (which we took), not on the flights we wanted either, but at least the same travel day... We then had to wait a few days to do the same for our return flights, which we managed to secure in Economy Class. It took numerous calls and most of the reward seats had gone from the very moment they became available - I suspect insider 'favoritism' of course...

I think you're missing the issue... Its not 100 years ago and and society has evolved. Your argument suggest that because "Ancient" Siam it was not abnoraml for females to be bare chested it would be ok to walk around Siam Paragon in the same lack of attire... while I get your point, the idea is still flawed. Culture and religion go hand in hand... I think this issue is related to both, although I also believe there is an element of 'foreigner' to it too... perhaps because of the sunbathing aspect which is also a very 'non-Thai' activity. If they were sat there eating Som-Tam... in shorts and a Tank-Top... nothing would have been done.

To be fair, while we are 'outraged' that this is in the news in the first place (for various reasons) and have entered a debate which may last a few days.... .. The reality is that the very few Thai's who have observed this (in the news etc) either ignored, or have already moved on because it is such a non-event. This idea portrayed by some that 'the whole of Thai society is offended' when such issues present themselves is flawed, they are not... very few people even pay attention... That said, there are those who 'look for outrage' just because something foreign is involved... ... I recall an 'ex' getting offended because there were Buddha statues in a nightclub in the UK... I had to remind her that I hadn't seen her in a temping or praying etc at all !!!... She was just offended because she wanted to be - thats the case here... Sunbathing in the park (Sanam Luang) isn't really offensive... but its very noticeable and it is this behavior which draws attention so someone thinks they need to do something about it.

I think its because Thailand is a very conformist society in which there is an 'expected standard of behavior'... when they see a foreigner step outside of this 'expected standard of behavior' I'm guessing there is some form of need to bring them back 'into line'... This is not just a Thai trait... but a human trait... its just that 'expected standards of behavior' have become a lot more relaxed in the west (but we also have Karens !!)... This of course is juxtaposed with a lot of other things which occur in Thailand from endemic corruption, drink driving, prostitution etc which is an extreme contradiction to the image society wants to portray... this contradiction is a complete enigma for many Westerners. It seems madness that in Thailand the Police will deal with two girls sunbathing in the city, but ignore the open scams and prostitution that goes on a stones throw away. Thailand is very odd in the manner in which it over reacts and picks off the low-hanging fruit while at the same time ignoring significant issues may of us consider should be taking the attention. - it is of course the apparent hypocrisy that an insignificant issue such as this actually becomes news that draws many of us in.