KhaoYai

Western propaganda? Is it a lie that Russia invaded Ukraine then? A lie that they also invaded Crimea in 2014? It may interest you to know that most of the West's news outlet's and media services are free to report whatever they wish. Unlike Russia's which is completely managed and controlled. Putin and the majority (it seems) of his citizens live in their own, totally paranoid, parallel reality. Its not so long ago that Russia was welcomed back into the fold of nations and it seemed that peace was finally in sight for most of the world. Putin is a thug and a murderer who aligns himself with other's similar to himself - look what he's done is Syria, supporting that tyrant Assad. Now name one Western country that is currently waging war against another, killing thousands, if not millions of people. The West may not be perfect but its not on a bloodthirsty power crusade.

Well of course, Russia is looking for new customers for its oil and Thailand wouldn't say no to securing some at a reasonable price. Still, disgraceful behaviour - how can anyone justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Anyone who believes Putin's claims that Ukraine was a threat is as daft as the millions of Russian citizens that believe the rubbish they are fed by their strictly controlled media and news services. Ukraine was never a threat to that lunatic Putin or his country - even if they had joined NATO. NATO exists to defend its members, not to threaten them. That one man is responsible for thousands of deaths (again) is beyond me. What Putin really wants is the whole of Ukraine back under his control - either directly or throuh a puppet, as he has with that other thug in Belarus. Why he wants more power, more land is beyond reason - I thought Imperialism was dead. Thailand's position on this, given the nature of its current government is wholly in keeping.

Prices from Europe are very high at the moment. They will drop a little now the school holidays are ending but Christmas, a time when they are always higher, is crazy at the moment.

Its hardly surprising that tourists are spending less - have you seen the price of flights??

Whoa............whilst it used to be that the policy covered the car, not the driver, that is not always the case now. Most policies still cover the car not the driver but some have started to ask for a list of named drivers and limit that list to a set number of drivers. Check the policy and ask for an English version.

But they don't and they won't - that's the sad fact of it. Look at what happens after every Songkran - hundreds die, some minister or other makes a statement that new laws will be brought in to end the carnage and nothing actually happens. Remember a few years ago - a pick up truck full of people in the back and a Minibus were involved in a horrific crash in Chantaburi I believe? There were many deaths in both vehicles. It was then announced that people would no longer be allowed to travel in the back of pick ups and inter-province minbuses would be banned. Has either of those things actually happened? I completely agree with you that the police are the main culprits due to almost total non-enforcement of the law and I also wish things would change - but in my 21 years of involvement with Thailand, they haven't. Lots of talk and no action, year after year. Go into central Korat every morning at schooltime - you'll see loads of motorbikes being driven on the main road through the city - Mitraphap. The bikes are ridden by very young kids - many with 3 people on board - all with no helmets and right in front of the police directing the traffic, they are also on CCTV.

Yep, and on it goes.

Not the parents who knew very well she had a motorbike and at 14 years old, should have made sure she had training and drilled it into her that she should use the phone on a bike or maybe even be on a bike at her age??? Its all very well blaming the system - and it is very poor and laws not enforced but to my mind, parents should be taking responsibility for all aspects of a 14 year old's life.

Yes I did but we are still a way off and I'm still going to wait a while. Before Covid I travelled to Thailand roughly every 8 weeks and never booked early - simply because I couldn't. I did that for over 5 years. I wasn't booking for a once a year holiday where I had the luxury of knowing my exact dates - I only knew my dates a couple of weeks beforehand. Pre-covid I'd say the average price I paid was £550 so I'd say I did OK with late booking. I don't expect to get anywhere near that price now due to fuel prices - I'm just illustrating that booking late can mean cheaper prices - there's always been an argument over booking early or late - late's always worked for me. I know how airline pricing works, I used to watch them very closely. Granted, times have changed but the bonanza the airlines have had since countries opened up won't last forever. I suspect that many people who would normally travel at Christmas won't be doing this year due to the massive cost of living increases. I know people that usually have a summer and a winter holiday and some are already saying they're staying home this Christmas. Many people have been prepared to pay excessive prices because they haven't been able to travel for 2 years but that must end. Knowing when it will end is the gamble and its one I'm prepared to take. I'll keep my eye on the prices and if they don't seem to be dropping in 4 to 6 weeks time, I'll just book (if I haven't done so already). If I have to take it on the chin as a result, then so be it.

Well I'm going to take a little gamble - I'm going to leave it a bit longer. Not as big a gamble as I normally take and usually win through. I have a court date and must be there otherwise I would leave it longer. My gamble is that people will be put off by the current prices - the airlines may have been lucky with high demand recently but that's bound to fade before too long. Allowing for fuel price increases I'd guess that if it wasn't for Covid, Christmas prices should be around £900. The airlines adjust prices according to how sales are going. I'm hoping they're still bouyed by the recent high demand and think that will continue. Christmas is a time when families take their holidays because everyone is off at the same time. I can't imagine too many familes with say 2 kids over 12 will be prepared to lay out £6000 ish just for their flights. Nobody really knows what demand will be by Christmass but I'm prepared to wait a little while longer. A couple of samples from today's prices (MAN 15 Dec - BKK 2Jan): With acceptable durations and including luggage: Qatar £1481 Etihad £1411 With longer durtations: Swiss £1242 (18h 55min outbound/25h 45min inbound) Not so long ago, those prices were someone's telephone number! www.travelsupermarket.com

My apologies, its not visible at normal resolution on my phone.

Did those prices include luggage? Many advertised prices now do not include cabin or checked baggage - even though it must be extremely rare for people travelling long-haul to fly without any luggage. I actually found some fares even cheaper than the above but the were code shares - I believe then can be risky and I steer clear of them. The Thai flight must surely be a code share as they don't fly in to Manchester. Are those flights on my dates?

Well it seems that high flight prices are set to continue. There is clearly more than one reason for the current pricing being so expensive but I suspect demand is the biggest contributor. Many people in the West haven't travelled for 2 years or so and are keen to start taking holidays again. Of course fuel prices have an effect as does the fact that the airlines have lost huge amounts during the Covid 19 pandemic - but so have many of us. I suspect (hope) that once people have satisfied their travel lust again and spent the money they saved through not being able to travel without restrictions that we may see, not a return to 2019 prices but considerable reductions. At the moment, airlines are pricing high and getting it - all my recent flights have been full. My last flight - MAN-DOH-BKK and back cost over 72,000 baht. That's the highest price I've ever paid and it hurt. I wasn't able to be flexible and of course it was school holiday time in the UK so a little of what I paid was down to that but there's no getting away from the fact that it was bloody expensive. I saw cheaper prices advertised but every one of them was not actually available, was on multiple airlines or had very long total durations. It seems that Christmas this year is also going to be the same - again, I can't be flexible, well not much anyway and at the moment for MAN-BKK-MAN, 14 December to 2 January I'm getting prices around 56,000 baht. Its tempting to hang on as there is a strong possibility that those prices will drop but I have a court case to attend before Christmas so I really need to book something soon. The last time I flew at Christmas - I got a good deal by arriving on New Year's Eve and I've also obtained sub 30,000 prices by flying on Christmas day - not possible this time. I just can't see this continuing - it will surely hit the recovery of Thailand's tourist trade. Imagine you're a family with - 2 adults and couple of kids over 12, your total flight bill is going to be around 225,000 - Western families will just book Spain or Greece instead. I use Travelsupermarket - if anyone knows a site that's finds cheaper prices that actually exist, please post details. Please don't post anything from theflightsguru - set of con artists - flights either not available, don't include luggage or both. Whoops, today the price has gone up to 64,500!!

You shouldn't have a problem - just keep a list of place names in your head. The signage is mainly on the frontage roads (Thai styli) so you might think you're on the wrong road. most of the signs will also only have the next destination one on them - unlike in other countries where the major destinations are also mentioned. If I'd been seeing Petchaburi or Samut Songkram all the time, I wouldn't have had to stop and ask - and yes, you can go wrong with that, there appear to be several Highway 9's ????. Shame I was too lazy to fit my phone bracket before I left, I could have followed Google - its on now.

Well I did the trip without a hitch - apart from the complete mess that is Highway 9 when it reaches the outskirts of Bangkok. Thank god I was on a bike and didn't have to sit for hours in that traffic with all the cars. I just hope all the cameras are front facing ????

Yes but its not always up to date and there are changes going on in that location right now.

Up to now, just about all of my touring has been in Northern Thailand - I've never even been to Bangkok on my bike. However, in a couple of weeks time I'm travelling South to Hua Hin. I'll be coming South down Highway 1 and hoping to basically hang a right at Bang Pa-in onto Highway 9 West - thus avoiding Bangkok. I've travelled on the Western section of Highway 9 by car before and as far as I can remember, its a normal highway and bikes are allowed (I know the Eastern section that goes down to Suvarnabhumi is a Toll/Motorway). However, I'm aware that there have been some major changes to the road configurations in that area recently connected to the new M6 motorway. The new intersection where Highway 9 meets Highway 1 looks pretty complicated (spaghetti junction) but I can't see any point where the regulations might change. So I have 2 questions if anyone knows that area and the changes well: 1. Is my memory correct - Highway 9 West is a normal highway where bikes are allowed? 2. If the above is correct, can I actually traverse across from Highway 1 to Highway 9 without encountering any Toll/Motorway regulations on or around Spaghetti junction? I've done the above moving the little man on Google maps (dated 2022) and it all seemed OK.

Before concentrating on the High Speed Train, they might want to consider focusing their attention on actually finishing something - namely the M6 Motorway. Although in some places it seems almost complete, there are other sections (mainly out of sight) that have large gaps yet to be started and at least one service area where construction hasn't begun - illustrated by Google Maps. Bizarrely, the street lights have been on for almost 2 years up by Lamtakhong Resrvoir - presumably to assist in growing the abundance of weeds. In September that project will be 3 years late and I think 4 years is a distinct possibility - maybe more.

Yes, you have to be very careful with luggage allowances and total durations.

We are talking about Boris's promises. I know what I heard him say but I'm not prepared to spend hours searching for footage. If you choose to disagree that's up to you. I also heard him say there were no parties and no rules were broken. Then there's the one about him not knowing a minister he promoted had groped other ministers when he promoted him. That's just 2 lies - he's made a career of lying since way before he was prime minister. When you're Googling for information to come back at me with - take a little time to also do a search for 'Boris Johnson, Lies'.

Have you checked how many of those were in the 40 new projects he promised, how many were already underway and how many of the ones you refer to are actually underway - not just at the planning stage? Believe me, he is not delivering on his promises.

Its dependent of your ticket cost now. I've got 35kg outbound and 30kg inbound.

Expect even higher prices at UK regional airports with the latest press release from Heathrow - airlines have been told to stop selling tickets for the summer as they can't cope. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62136022

I don't use Heathrow - unless there's a hell of a price advantage as it would add a lot of time and considerable addtional expense. Mondays and Tuesdays are also out for me if I'm going to make the best use of my time off. Hopefully there will be some better prices around a little later in the year. At the moment they are crazy and if you can't be flexible, they're super crazy.

As I've explained in a previous post. On more than one occasion, when questioned on the effect of the Pandemic, Johnson said it was business as usual and his projects would continue. If he'd said things would have to be re-visited, I'm sure most people would have understood but Boris being Boris, he lied again. The Northern section of HS2 has already been postponed, as has the upgrading of rail links between several major Northern cities. More relevantly, there's about as much chance of 40 new hospitals being built before 2030 as there is of the sky falling in. Given that these matters were manifesto pledges - the reasons many voted Conservative, I expect them to be fulfilled. I think that all politicians, regardless of their flavour should be hauled over the coals for reneging on election promises - its a form of deception. Johson seem to think that if he says something, its done and he can move on. The fact that it never gets done is irrelevant to him - we're all expected to believe its so. So in answer to your question - I expect him, and any other politician to abide by what they say.