SamuiRes

I presume you mean reception quality rather than content, in which case I agree with you. We frequently get stutters and pauses in sound and vision which we do not get on other channels. Doubt Prime care much but perhaps BBC might. I can feel an email coming on!

If you are in Koh Samui - the Billabong Surf Club in Fisherman's Village, Bophut without a doubt. Fresh fish, crispy batter, mushy peas and thick white bread coated with butter - lemon on the side if you want it, lashings of malt vinegar. I feel a visit coming on...................

In any society there will be good lawyers and bad lawyers. My experience in Thailand is, with one exception, not that they are dishonest, but that the law as written often contradicts itself between different statutes and rather than explain this, they will chose the interpretation they find easiest to support. Basically I would say they are lazy. If I have one major criticism it is that they do what they are asked to do and nothing more. They will not look beyond the matter in hand and advise that a certain course of action might be preferable or cheaper or less risky. Theu will simply plod on from A to B with no thought for the consequences.

In the instance of the one dishonest lawyer I had dealings with I made a formal complaint to the Thai Law Society who completed ignored the issue and refused to even discuss it. It was a very simple matter, the lawyer owed me Baht 16,000 and had acknowledged this in writing but consistently failed to pay. Sueing him through the courts was obviously not cost effective and that lawyer is now today part of a Bangkok firm offering their services to foreigners.

Having lived on Samui for a few years now I can say that my perception of crime here has only increased since the statistics started being published. Prior to that I was only aware of what I was told in conversation. Whilst I do not disagree that an increased population is likely to lead to increased crime, I would suggest that our perception of this increase is a consequence of published figures.

I would also state that I have not personally found the Police here corrupt, lazy and inefficient without a doubt, but none have ever demanded money from me and even recently rather than issue me a ticket a traffic policemen very politely explained my error and sent me on my way.

I would have thought that waiting until you arrived here with the family might be a little uncomfortable and in the long run more expensive if you end up having to stay in a hotel at walk in rates for a couple of days until you find something.

Google will bring you up a long list of agents offering villa rentals on Samui so you can have look at what you are likely to get for your money and have a good idea before you come. Any professional agent will give you full details and a contract which will tell you what is and what is not included in the rent. If they do not - you are talking to the wrong people.

Certainly you can expect to pay extra for electricity but with fixed costs such as UBC that may be included - but do check.

I thought the airport on samui was just for bangkok Airways?

The airport is owned by Bangkok Airways. They have just made it economically unrealistic for other arilines to fly in in the past. Thai nearly started a service recently but got cold feet at the last minute "due to the high landing charges" or so they said. I suspect, but do not know for certain, that Bangkok Airways may have done a deal with these other airlines which are not on competing routes.

Will be interesting to see what the real fare will be, considering landing fees on USM (that is, IF it happens at all)

Maybe as the route does not compete with any Bangkok Airways routes and could serve as a feeder service to their other routes they have been a bit more realistic in what they have asked for.

Time will tell of course and we all knew that Thai were flying in here until they changed their minds at the last minute.

"Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) will launch a new airline, Firefly, which will begin operation in early April, its managing director and chief executive officer Idris Jala said today. For a start, Firefly will operate with two Fokker F50 aircraft and provide twice daily services out of Penang International Airport to Kota Bahru, Langkawi, Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu, plus daily services to Phuket and Koh Samui in southern Thailand with one-way ticket price starting from RM9, he said.

These routes are currently not served by MAS or other airlines, he told a press conference at the Transport Ministry here. Firefly's routes will complement MAS' network connectivity and broaden its reach. The venture is also expected to boost MAS' revenue and targets, he added. Asked whether it is a low cost carrier, Jala said: "We would like to call it a community airline with a low cost base. It will be a profitable venture."

He expects Firely to break even in its first year of operation and start making a profit from next year. And there is no subsidy from the government, he said."

Firefly Web Site – http://www.fireflyz.com.my/deals/weekly

Daily Flight from Penang at 11.30 arriving Koh Samui 12.00 and departing 12.20 arriving Penang 14.50 starting 15th April.

The promotional flight to Koh Samui is quoted at “from MYR 39” presumably one way but then you have to add MYR 173.40 in various taxes and surcharges so the actual cost equates to Baht 1,984. It is not clear from the web site what the fare Koh Samui – Penang – Koh Samui would be and on line booking is not possible until the middle of May.

The arrogance in which they throw the CoCo logo around at any given opportunity, coupled with the confidence that they believe the CoCo brand is enough to initiate immediate business is kinda sad. One example of this is setting up a crap Chinese restraunt with a fixed menu aimed at raping you for every last penny, with a bloody huge, cocky CoCo branded sign above the joint – opposite a CoCo Car park with an equally as big sign threatening to wheel clamp you should you dare park there (unless you have a drink in there bar, is the disclaimer). Arrogant f_ckers. Again, refer to my comments on branding. No clue.

How arrogant can you be to proudly display a 20 x 20 foot sign of CoCo Group Of Companies with the sole theme of this sign to advise you that you will be clamped and fined for parking on a seemingly humble spot of wasteland? It’s almost like they believe the brand will appease them for any ill feeling! Kinda like “all will be forgiven, it is us – CoCo after all”

And no, I have never been clamped.

Alan Sadd apparently made his money initially in China, didn’t he? Running factories producing clothes, exporting back to the west. We all know what these factories are like.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am not going to get into an argument at that level but at least get your facts right.

Coco do not own or control the car park opposite the Chinahouse - it belongs to a Thai family who I know, the sign on the car park is not theirs (it is for Celadon Land).

I know Alan Sadd and he has no history in China nor in producing clothes as you state.

Comment and opinion are acceptable - but please get the facts right.

looks like this thread got stuck in one of the potholes.....

OK - well let's try and pull it back out.......

We all know that cost is the big factor so all of this will not happen soon if at all - but on a wish list

Roads - ideally correctly laid tarmac - not this cheap poorly laid concrete.

Electric - getting better now the new cable is in, but still getting fluctuating voltage and the occassional power cut - but I have to say a lot fewer than five years ago. Steady supply would be nice though. Also if we could get rid of the above ground cables, not only would it improve the visual aspect of the island but reduce power cuts due to vehicles hitting supply poles and trees falling across lines.

Water - going to be a problem even with the new de-salination plant if we do not g et enough rain each year.

Airport - we all have different opinions on this. As I have said before, I do not see the need for a second airport but it would be useful if Bangkok Airways were more user friendly.

Internet - good quality Broadband. ADSL is OK but so inconsistent in speed.

So what do the rest of you think?

Hi does any one please know what is the best company + cheapest way of sending good's from Samui to UK

Cheers

I sent two boxes of personal stuff from the UK to Samui last year and used Translink as the Thai end. They gave me the names of their UK agents who then quoted in Sterling for the whole delivery, door to door. All I had to pay at this end was the customs clearance charge which was not excessive. Their staff speak good English.

http://www.translink.co.th/

I did check a return flight from Surat Thani to Bangkok and the total price was Baht 7,390. An equivalent fare with Bangkok Airways was Baht 8,030 so the additional Baht 640 saves a bus, ferry and bus trip to Surat. The Bangkok Airways promotional fare is only Baht 5,265. A flight from Bangkok to Phuket return was Baht 8,160 and to Krabi was Baht 7,830 so it seems that Bangkok Airways are once again being made the whipping boy for Koh Samui's problems in not attracting tourists over the recent high season when the bad publicity last year and hotel prices probably had as much to do with that as did the much cheaper general packages to the Andaman Resort areas working hard to regain custom after the tsunami. So once again we are seeing calls for a second airport but there seems to be no evidence that this would produce cheaper fares and unless the hotels are prepared to compete on price with the Andaman

Just some food for thought

Have a great weekend

Agree with you regarding the garbage but not too sure where you did your research on air ticket prices.

I have just gone onto Bangkok airways website and selected a flight to BK from Samui on the 12th March returning on the 14th March mid morning. A class Y ticket is 8223 THB including taxes fuel surcharges etc.

I repeated the same exercise Surat Thani - BK return the fare was 2940 THB including taxes surcharges etc. I also did the same for Phuket and the fare was 3207 THB return inclusive.

www.airasia.com if anyone wishes to check.

The reason Bangkok Airways became the 'whipping boys' was for their proposed fare hike which would have resulted in a class Y BK return being over 10,000 THB.

I think the fare of Baht 7,390 is a comparison with Thai Airways who were going to fly into Samui and would therefore have been the only competition to Bangkok Airways. The point being made I suspect is that allowing a second airline into Samui will not necessarily produce cheaper flights. Why should Bangkok Airways pay for the construction and maintenance of the airport and then allow other carriers to fly in, charge lower fares and take away their revenue.

I personally am not convinced we need a second airport and even if it can be shown that we do, where will it go? It was previously planned just west of Hua Thanon with the runway parallel to the road to Nathon. However I am now hearing that they have identified wind shear problems in that area and the location may not be viable after all. Even if it is, the process will be incredibly lengthy as they will almost certainly have to carry out another Environmental Impact Study, then they must acquire the land by either negotiation or compulsory purchase which will have to go through the courts and could take years, find the money and hope during this lengthy process that here have not been too many changes of government with different agendas and priorities. If the Bangkok Airport fiasco is anything to go by it will be at least 45 years before Samui gets a second airport!

There's plenty of threads on this topic, please search the forum, its been explained several times. In partial answer however it is where the land owner grants the right to a 3rd party to register ownership of structures on the land.

Its hardly ideal but its still better than nothing.

Im starting to think that it might be a good idea to clean up a few threads on this and similar topics and sticky them..,

I did actually try that which brought up two results which effectively told me nothing.

Superfices must be defined somewhere - as I said it is not in any Law Dictionary I have searched so where does it stem from and under which Thai Law does it achieve its validity.

http://www.bangkokpost.net/

Because of this article, a number of people have asked today, what is the 'Real Rights Act"? It is the Land owner granting servitude of a usufruct or superficies.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Thank you Sunbelt but can you explain Superfices please as I can find no reference to it in any on line Law Dictionary.

Condominium Act of 1999

Section 19 (1): Aliens and Juristic persons which the law treats as aliens may own a condominium unit if they qualify as one of the following types of aliens or juristic persons:

1. An alien who has been permitted to stay in the kingdom as a resident under the laws of immigration.

2. An alien who has been permitted to enter the Kingdom under the laws on promotion of investment.

3. A juristic person as prescribed under Sections 97 and 98 of the land code which has been registered as a juristic person under Thai law.

4. A Juristic person who is an alien under Announcement of the National Executive Council No. 281, dated 24 November B.E. 2515, and which has received a promotion certificate under the laws on promotion of investment.

5. An alien or a juristic person which the law treats as an alien which imports foreign currency into the Kingdom or withdraws money from a deposit account of Thai Baht of a person having residence abroad or withdraws money from a deposit account of foreign currency

Land Code

Section 97.- The following juristic persons shall be deemed foreigners for possession of land :-

1) Limited company or public limited company having shares, which are, registered capital held by foreigner for more than 49% of the registered capital, or more than half of the shareholders are foreigners as the case may be.

For the purpose of this Section, if any limited company issues bearer share certificates, it shall be deemed that aforesaid share certificates are held by foreigners.

2) Limited company or registered ordinary partnership with more than 49% of

shares of the total capital held by foreigners or more than half the partners being foreigners as the case may be.

3) Association or cooperative with half of the members being foreigners, or whose activity is exclusively or mainly for benefit of foreigners.

4) Foundation with objectives exclusively or mainly for benefits of foreigners.

Section 98.- In case the juristic person in Section 97.- holds shares or invest as the case may be in other juristic person mentioned in Section 97.- in the manner in Section 97.-, the said other juristic person shall be deemed alien.

Check this very good artcle from Tilleke & Gibbons

Thailand Legal Basics

Land Systems, Rules and Regulations

Page 41 has a section on ownership by minors born of an Alien

http://www.tillekeandgibbins.com/Publicati...sics/index.html

Direct from the True Vision Web Site

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26-Feb-2007 00:00

You are buying the business not the property presumably from what you say.

How long is the lease?

Rule of thumb - not accurate but a guide - you need to get your investment back in half the remaining term of the lease.

Maybe not quite in the vein you are looking for, but this was an old military toast dating back I think to the Napoleonic wars -

"To Bloody Battles and Quick Promotion"

in the days when advancement was either bought or obtained in the field.

I think that one basic fact has been over looked by everyone posting on this board.

Does she actually want any help? Many may think she needs it - but does she want it?

I have seen here around for a long time. Sometimes she looks a real mess sometimes not.

She obviously has somewhere to live because she dresses differently every day and in a wide range of clothes, some of them pretty decent, which must be kept somewhere.

Whilst her lifestyle does not fit our own perceived ideals, maybe she is just happy being who she is.

We have no right to judge her.

Sad though the outward appearance may be what right do we have to criticise her life choices.

She was in Green Mango Soi on Saturday night, actually quite well dressed which is unusual, spaced out as usual though and handing out flyers for Solo Bar.

I still wonder how much of that was down to extremely heavy downpour and how much of it due to overbuilding, blockage of drainage canals and deforestation.)

Probably a bit of both. But it was pretty scarey. When you see the power that water has, washed away

roads , houses and restaurants all in a few hours. Don`t get that in England.

We can only hope that people learned from it , but I doubt it. In this part of the world it seems short term profit takes priority over everything.

***edited by sbk--fixed the quote for you, easier to read that way )***

Not quite true - 17th August 2004 - Cornwall

Dozens rescued from flash floods

People were left trapped in cars, homes and trees

A major rescue operation is continuing in north Cornwall, where flash floods have devastated a coastal village. Heavy storms on Monday afternoon caused 6cm (2ins) of rain to fall in two hours in the Boscastle area. Seven rescue helicopters were scrambled to winch people stranded on rooftops and in cars to safety. Rescue workers described the situation as "horrendous" as buildings and cars were washed into the sea, and up to 1,000 people may have to be evacuated.

Full story here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...all/3570940.stm

Check the link below from the Phuket Gazette which has the following content:

"In addition to the power cable, a fiber-optic cable was also installed, enhancing the island’s communications capabilities"

http://www.phuketgazette.com/forthweek/aroundtheregion.asp

Want to see what the weather is doing on an hourly basis - follow this link

http://www.tmd.go.th/linkframe/radar_en.html

You can also have a look at Phuket there as well.

We are getting fairly regular heavy showers at the present time, but not continuous rain - as yet!

I love animals, they taste great.

"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes."

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.

A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.