zink

Thanks for the tip, however Hongkong Express departs way too early (I would have to spend extra night in Hong Kong). I checked schedules from Amadeus and it seems that only suitable choices for me are:

- China Airlines (best schedule, but where I can book the flight for the next year??)

- Thai Airways

- Cathay Pacific (which is even more expensive than Thai Airways)

Of course there is also a possibility to travel thought Macao with AirAsia, but it would take much more time.

JAS Gripen in action:

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In the air show: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0LBj_8xs_w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0LBj_8xs_w</a>

As you can see, this was a great deal for Sweden...

The Gripen is a great fighter, what do you have against it? Air-show crashes are very common, even with Sukhoi planes...or are those crap in your view as well?

Sukhoi crash during the air show in Ukraine occured because of the pilot's error. However, both of those JAS Gripen crashes occured because of the error in the plane.

JAS Gripen in action:

In the air show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0LBj_8xs_w

As you can see, this was a great deal for Sweden...

What exactly is a "Premier Football"? Does it refer to some kind of league that is played in 1/200 of worlds countries?

how do poor people who cant afford the huge payments for true watch football games? in the west, these games are run on free television programs

Also in Thailand football games are shown on a free televison channels. But I doubt that there exist a single country that shows games from all possible leagues on free channels. Should I complain that my home country doesn't show Uruguay or Thai league games on free channels?

Maybe it's time to wake up and realise that US/UK/[insert your country here] isn't the centre of the universe...

Here is the Bangkok new airport after:

1 meter rise: http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=13.6920,100....amp;m=1&t=2

2 meter rise: http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=13.6920,100....amp;m=2&t=2

3 meter rise: http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=13.6920,100....amp;m=3&t=2

Actually putting a big lock on the bag is asking for trouble. Airlines don't recommend locking the baggage with special locks, because security personel has a right to open it at the airport. If your lock is forced open, you can't claim any compensation from the airline.

I have travelled several times to Thailand and never had anything stolen, even thought I packed valuable things sometimes in my luggage. I used just a standard built-in lock.

However, next month is November, not February

I find it very strange that China Airlines still haven't published their fares for the next year.

China Airlines quotes HKG$ 3.445,- all-in.

cheers

onzestan

Can you tell from which site did you get that price? Their webpage just says "no fare is available for your booking" when I try to check February fares...

i came through yesterday...

Why are we hateing the taxi's looking to pick up at departures??? Is it because then you can't get to the curb at departures to fly out???

I always used to go up one level to departures for a cab, save the 50 baht 'fee', no queue, and always found that the drivers would use the meter... "falang is smart enough to get a cab at departures, he must know the fare"

Aside from the reason not to above, is there a reason for me not to get a cab at departures????

There are at least 2 reasons not to pick a taxi at Departures:

- Taxis are not allowed to pick passengers from there. If they did, no taxi would wait 1-2 hours in the queue at the arrivals (that 50 baht extra fee is to reimburse them for waiting on you rather than storming off or pick somebody from departures) and that would break the system.

Actually, that's a reason to pick a taxi from departures. Since it isn't allowed, taxi drivers will be very happy to get a customer as quickly as possible and thus there will not be any problems about using a meter.

- Taxis coming to departures are not registered (their numbers noted down by security) and they can skin you alive if they want, nobody knows they have ever been at the airport.

The cabbies may think a farang doing that is rather stupid.

This also applies to taxis that you pick from the street... They aren't "registered" anywhere, and they could skin you alive.

I did the Bkk - HK - Bkk on China Airways and was upgraded to business class (no extra charge!) for a return price of 7,500 BHT. My company did the booking for me but was very impressed with the service. Also for about 500 BHT more at that time was Gulf Air who had a similar departure time from & to Bkk.

7500B would be a great a price, although I fear that HK-BKK-HK will be more expensive, especially in the winter. Do you know any online agents selling tickets for China Airlines?

Gulf Air doesn't fly anymore to Hong Kong.

I'm looking for a Hong Kong - Bangkok - Hong Kong flights for February/March next year (after Chinese new year).

Does anybody know an agent that offers China Airlines flights? Their own webpage is slow and doesn't show fares for the next year.

I already checked: http://zuji.com.hk and http://www.internet.travel.com.hk/ and they offer Thai Airways flights for about 2500HKG, can I get these flights cheaper from somewhere else? Emirates/Keyna/Sri Lankan airways are out of the question since they depart from Hong Kong very late.

When Air Asia will release schedules and prices for their new Hong Kong - Bangkok route?

....

"I am accepting this burden to help the government oversee our country. I am not getting into politics."

....

Only in Thailand one can be a deputy PM without "getting into politics".

To be honest ,what is the point of European tour operators launching their brochures a year in advance ,if the shambles that was this year, is to replayed next year by tourists have reschedules ,transfers between airports and long waiting times.Have anyone canvassed passengers as to what they want ?

Statistics show that European holidaymakers are voting with their feet and choosing other destinations.

Which European tour operators use Air Asia or other airline flying from the old airport to fly their package tourists from Bangkok??? Those who organize tours to Phuket, fly charter flights directly there. For Samui, they use Bangkok Airways that will still use new airport. For Chiang Mai, they are probably using Bangkok Airways/Thai Airways, once again these flights take off from the new airport.

Reopening Don Muang for international traffic is a very good thing. It give new airport more capacity and makes it easier for Air Asia and other low cost operators to expand.

EDIT: Also 'Non connecting internatioinal flights'... Please. That's utter claptrap, how would anyone know that passengers on ANY flight are only going to Bangkok and not connecting to, say, Samui.

Flights are connecting IF and only IF they are written on the same ticket. Low cost carriers like Air Asia, offer only point-to-point flights. If you have two separate tickets, you have two separate flights, and you are already taking a huge risk if you plan to change between them in just a couple of hours.

If your Air Asia flight is few hours late, and you miss your flight back to your home country, nobody will compensate you anything...

This is sligthly offtopic, but Russian Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich that has been mentioned here before, has now bought a A380 superjumbo plane for $300M for a private use: http://newsfromrussia.com/russia/history/0...ramovich_A380-0

Maybe Thaksin should do something similar? That would be a great way to return back to Thailand (as long as the plane doesn't collide with the airport).

Is there a place to change money after you arrive before you go through immigration?

Yes

onzestan

Really? I recall that money exchange booths are AFTER immigration in the baggage claim area, I don't remember seeing them before immigration.

Nice timing here, airport link was supposed to open in 2007 under previous deadline and just now they started thinking how to build a tunnel

Even 2009 opening date starts to look unrealistic.

Scams are easy to avoid, as long you know what to do:

- if you are coming from Thailand, tell every tout on Thai side that you already have a visa + hotel reservation to Cambodia, then touts will leave you alone

- at the border, Cambodian official will first ask 1000B, then $20 + 100B before settling for the official rate of $20 for the visa. Just smile and tell him that you will pay only $20

- after border, there will be a free shuttle buses to the bus station nearby, touts might approach you and say that free buses will not leave soon and they will offer you motorcycle/tuk-tuk for a cost. Just say no and get in the free bus, it will leave immideately.

- don't exchange money at the border, rate is very bad and you can use dollars in Cambodia

- you will be approached by taxi touts at some stage, just say to them that you have done this trip several times before and that you have paid $40 for the whole taxi to Siem Reap. You shouldn't pay more than $40-$50 for a whole taxi to Siem Reap.

- print a map (or a list of hotels) of Siem Reap in advance. If you have made already a hotel reservation, taxi driver might pretend that he doesn't know your hotel (he wants you to go to hotels from which he will get commission), thus you will have to guide him to your hotel (or you can just leave and take $1-$2 tuk-tuk to the hotel).

In my experience overland trip is definitely worth it. In early 2007, I paid for the trip about:

~100B for taxi to the bus station in Bangkok

~200B for the bus ticket to Aranayaprathet

70B for the tuk-tuk ride to the border

~500B ($15) for the taxi drive to Siem Reap (I shared the car with two other people)

=> under 900B in total, trip took about 10 hours from hotel to hotel.

Total cost of trip by plane would have been at least 8000B IIRC and it would have taken at least 4-5 hours.

previous reports on TV has alluded to the fact that bording passes have been asked for due to the fact that people have been doing 'visa runs' in the airport. ie. checking in, not boarding the plane, and then somehow making it to the arrivals hall and re-entering Thailand, probably with a little help from a dodgy airport employee. ie. the person never went anywhere.

How does this work?

Surely if the immigration officer checks your passport they will see that you have an outward stamp from a short time previously (unless of course you were Tom Hanks )

Thai stamp contains the just date, not time. How does immigration officer knows that the stamp was given e.g. 10 hours ago instead of just 1 hour ago just by looking at stamps?

previous reports on TV has alluded to the fact that bording passes have been asked for due to the fact that people have been doing 'visa runs' in the airport. ie. checking in, not boarding the plane, and then somehow making it to the arrivals hall and re-entering Thailand, probably with a little help from a dodgy airport employee. ie. the person never went anywhere.

Aircrafts are loaded and emptied using the same bridges, people entering and exiting the aircraft are using the same space in the airport. After you pass immigration on departure, you usually don't need any special assistance to go back to the arrival immigration.

I have one qustion. You said that you registered your marriage in US embassy. Did you also register your divorce in US embassy? Or is that necessary at all?

Also Burma is planning to build a nuclear reactor: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7738

Assurances of peaceful intentions arouse only skepticism

Burma’s confirmation of plans to build a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor with the help of Russia’s federal atomic energy agency Rosatom has created nervousness and anxiety among Burma observers.

Maybe two great military juntas could collaborate on this issue?

Here is the real reason for dollar collapse, Thai exporters have nothing to do with it: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=37788

...

When DR Horton announced in the US that it was reporting earnings 40% lower than last year all Markets went on alert, but that paled into insignificance when news crossed the wires at 9am that the S&P were looking to downgrade $12b of US Sub-Prime Bonds. But wait there’s more; at 4pm EDT $5bn of Bond downgrades came from Moody’s, just to add fuel to the fire.

The affect of that move, if it were to happen, would be to force Institutions to have to liquidate positions in these Bonds, as they would no longer meet the rating criteria that are set for most Hedge Funds and Insurers to be able to hold. That would lead to a rapid liquidation of an already unstable Market, and any positive outlook for the housing sector would go straight down the drain.

The Yield on the 10 year Treasury note dropped to the lowest since February, falling 11 basis points, that in turn rocked the US $ as a lower Yield leads to a lower currency; it’s a bit like having an interest rate cut from the Fed.

Both rating agencies confirmed that they do not see the lending situation getting any better and until it does this kind of sub-prime, or ‘no credit qualification’, debt will just keep getting downgrades. A bleak picture for the housing sector and very little that can be done to resolve it, and a very uncomfortable picture for the $.

...

Dollar is sinking against everything, Euro reached all time high yesterday after breaking previous record of 1.3680. Now EURUSD is trading at 1.3750. We are heading to USDTHB = ~30 and EURTHB = ~45

This sort of brings us full circle back to Don Muang. How we all used to race upstairs to departures and grab one without the queues and hassles. Someone mentioned earlier that they had been doing this at the new airport.

Anybody else doing this? I might return to this practice if things get squirrely.

Try going down to the lower level.

Recently when i came through the area was loaded with available taxis. ( early morning )

No apparent hastle then.

Perhaps others who use later incoming flights may have different observations on this.

marshbags

I believe that you have to pay airport surcharge at the lower level. That's why the departure level is better

Duh, that policy is understandable. They simply don't want newbie tourists to pick up a wrong kind of "lady" from their expensive disco. I believe also Nana disco has the same policy for the same reason.