Mike Teavee

It's actually called/spelt Tukcom OP, if you are going to travel then Fortune Town in Bangkok is a much better place to get replacement parts, as somebody as already posted Tukcom (Pattaya) is a shadow of it's former self & mainly mobile phone/accessories nowadays. Which new laptop did you decide to go with?

It's Tukcom e.g. https://tukcom.com/ - not sure if there's one on Samui.

Assuming you're "Test & Go" & not 7 days Quarantine, the hotel will include Airport pick-up, PCR Test, 1 nights accommodation & they give you the Day 5 ATK test, I stayed at BS Residence close to the Airport (was heading home to Wongamat) cost me 4,200 THB. My mate stayed at the Rembrandt on Suk Soi 20 (was heading home to his condo in Bangkok) cost him 5.600 THB. You could stay in a much more expensive Test & Go hotel but I doubt you'll find anything below 4,000 THB

As I keep most of my winter clothes at my parents house my case had very little in it but what it did have was a pair of Fairtex Muay Thai gloves (one of my mates coaches Muay Thai in the UK and asked me to bring them back) & I'm wondering if this somehow triggered the inspection. Only Electronics I had in there was the charger for my Macbook (which was also the only thing that I missed).

The last tickets I used were bought in October 2019 when I was still working & was "Time Poor" so always flew Business Class as that way I could "Work from Home" in the UK the next day & Qatar tended to come in higher than Finn/Turkish Air, roughly same as Emirates & below Singapore Airlines. Also, it's harder to compare nowadays as Qatar has 4 different Business Class Products (Lite, Comfort, Classic & Elite) https://onemileatatime.com/news/qatar-airways-business-class-fares/#:~:text=Bottom line-,Qatar Airways' four types of business class fares,Classic%2C Comfort%2C and Elite.... Another sign of them "Penny Pinching". E.g. A random search for a trip to the UK shows them as approx 17,000 THB more expensive than FinnAir, in previous years I would have paid this as I think their product was better but nowadays I might not even get lounge access (Not worth it in Bangkok at the moment & never worth it in Manchester) or be able to book my seat until I'm checking in (IIRC this added approx 4,500 THB each way if you took the Comfort product & then added on seat booking). Turkish Air came it at 109K so if I was booking this today I would definately book FinnAir Finnair also seem to be approx 8K cheaper in economy, might be different if you fly into London but unfortunately I fly into Manchester ???? Time will tell whether I keep flying Business Class now I'm retired but it is hard to go back to economy once you're used to it so I'm about 85% sure I will ???? Almost have enough points with Finnair to be able to do a Business Class return (Think it will cost me about 400Euro to buy the points I need) so will use them next time. Edit: Just did a quick check & Finnair is approx 7K cheaper in Business & 9K cheaper in Economy For anybody who's interested I use Matrix.itasoftware.com when searching for flights, e.g. https://matrix.itasoftware.com/calendar?search=eyJ0eXBlIjoicm91bmQtdHJpcCIsInNsaWNlcyI6W3sib3JpZ2luIjpbIkJLSyJdLCJkZXN0IjpbIkxPTiJdLCJyb3V0aW5nIjoiIiwiZXh0IjoiIiwicm91dGluZ1JldCI6IiIsImV4dFJldCI6IiIsImRhdGVzIjp7InNlYXJjaERhdGVUeXBlIjoiY2FsZW5kYXIiLCJkZXBhcnR1cmVEYXRlIjoiMjAyMi0wOS0wMSIsImRlcGFydHVyZURhdGVUeXBlIjoiZGVwYXJ0IiwiZGVwYXJ0dXJlRGF0ZU1vZGlmaWVyIjoiMCIsImR1cmF0aW9uIjoiMTctMjQiLCJyZXR1cm5EYXRlVHlwZSI6ImRlcGFydCIsInJldHVybkRhdGVNb2RpZmllciI6IjAifX1dLCJvcHRpb25zIjp7ImNhYmluIjoiQ09BQ0giLCJzdG9wcyI6IjEiLCJleHRyYVN0b3BzIjoiMSIsImFsbG93QWlycG9ydENoYW5nZXMiOiJ0cnVlIiwic2hvd09ubHlBdmFpbGFibGUiOiJ0cnVlIiwiY3VycmVuY3kiOnsiZGlzcGxheU5hbWUiOiJUaGFpIEJhaHQgKFRIQikiLCJjb2RlIjoiVEhCIn19LCJwYXgiOnsiYWR1bHRzIjoiMSJ9fQ%3D%3D

Not sure when you last flew Qatar but I would put the service at about the same level as KLM, Turkish Airlines etc... on both outbound flights & the 1st inbound one - It was only the final leg where they were anywhere near the service you've come to expect from them. In the past I would book Qatar (& in particular QSuites) if it came in less than £2-300 more than than the likes of Turkish Air / Finnair but after this experience I rank the onboard service the same as Turksih Air & below FinnAir. Oh & the In Flight Entertainment was rubbish also, not a patch on Emirates but then again nobody is.

Not this time, the bag was delayed in either Thailand Or Doha as I got a notification 4 days later that it would be arriving on the same flight the following day. Must have been a security thing as the padlock was removed & they took a hacksaw through one of the struts holding the handle (Needless to say I threw the case away & bought a new one, have put in a separate claim for a new case £89.99) Again, not neccesarily Qatar's fault, but what is their fault is the way they've handled the claim - In fairness their premium support team have been very responsive to emails BUT even they cannot get the people they use at Manchester to even acknowledge my claim... It's < £120 so it's more the principle of the thing than the money.

I flew (Business Class) with them in March and had a couple of minor changes (10 minutes) to flights + 1 change of plane from one with QSuites to one without. Have flown with them a few times in the past but this will be my last trip with them as even worse than the 8 days delay to my luggage, it seems that they're "Penny Pinching" & do not pay Manchester Airport for the Priority Sticker you need to go through the Fast Track lane so we had to argue (twice) with the guys at Manchester airport to let us through (even at 5:30am Manchester airport was absolutely heaving, must have been a 2hr queue to go through security). Still not had a response from them about the out of pocket expenses (which was a measly £24.99 for a charger for my Macbook as I have all the clothes/toiletries I needed already at my Parents house in the UK). Yep... They're not looking in too good a shape at the moment, perhaps the World Cup will save them but I doubt it at the prices they're asking.

Indeed... Spent 3 years living steps away from Mackenzie's which is famous for it's chicken rice... https://www.macrex.com.sg/ Just a shame that I can't stand chicken... ... mai gin gai Edit: if you're in the area you have to try the Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun's from Victor's Kitchen... truly awesome ????

For some reason the images I added to my last post have gone awry so I'll repost here... Information about the vaccinations (I don't read Thai but apparently the bottom of the text says it's available between 8:00 - 15:00, 7th - 9th April)... This is where you pull into the Campus.... This is where the vaccinations are done...

Thanks again @jacko45k, went there this morning & got boosted ???? - 08:10 We arrived & got 106/107 in the queue, they were calling out numbers 40-50 to go through, plenty of seats outside - 08:30 Got through to the next phase, filled in the forms & started the musical chair shuffle - 09:00 We're jabbed & sat in the recovery area. Some observations - According to the internet, this is only available 7th, 8th & 9th April - I would recommend going at around 10am as there seemed a lot less people arriving after 08:30 than there were before - Need Passport, Vaccination Certificate (or Mor Prom on your Phone) & something with your address on it (E.g. 90 day report or TM30). - We were only offered the Pfizer vaccine, this could have been a misunderstanding as my GF didn't have a choice as her ID still has her old Bangkok address & it seems only Chonburi residents could choose. I may have had a choice but Pfizer was fine with me so not a problem - If you don't speak Thai then take somebody with you or at least be familiar with the numbers as everything is announced in Thai - A Bolt Taxi costs 85 THB from Wongamat - If you're driving pull into the Djittabhawan College entrance, follow the signs (in Thai) for vaccination, there seemed to be plenty of parking

Many thanks for posting this will pop over today, would you know what time they open?

My mate had his hip replaced at Samitive Hospital in Bangkok ( https://www.samitivejhospitals.com/about-us/hospital ) who are apparently renowned as being one of the best places to go for sports/bones/joints type medical problems, I seem to recall it cost him approx 500K but he would have gone for the top package (including private room etc...)... He was very pleased with the result & was on his feet within 1-2 days of having the Op (He has had the other hip done in the UK and it took him 1 -2 weeks to recover from it).

Mine stayed Green even when the ATK was due, I was a good boy & did my ATK/uploaded the results on the day I was supposed to so I don't know if it would have gone orange if I hadn't have done so.

I also opened my Bangkok Bank account in Bangkok and have since moved to Wongamat. The last time I went in to the branch at Central to do a Passbook update the book was full so she stuck an extra piece of paper on the back... When I explained that I needed the passbook for immigration purposes she gave me a new passbook there & then. I hadn't realised that I would have to go to Bangkok to get a new ATM card but I was thinking of opening a new account in Pattaya & transferring everything except the 800K for my extension over to it anyway as I've often seen it recommended to keep the 800K in a separate account. + I'll save the 20THB fee on ATM withdrawals ????

I was told at check-in that I would know when my test result was back as my profile would turn green (presumably only if I tested negative) which it did & was how I found out that my result was in as I was constantly checking it so I could check out & go home. 5 minutes later I was in a taxi heading home ???? I know what you mean about the notifications, my (I)phone told me I had a notification from Mor Chana but it took 10-15 minutes for the message to appear in the notifications in the app itself.

If you've linked both Apps to the same Thailand Pass I would expect them to be in sync as your status is directly linked to the status of your Covid Tests. I would try deleting the app where it's showing you as Orange, re-install it & rescan your (latest) Thailand Pass QR Code.

I needed to show the Mor Chana app when checking in for my Test & Go hotel on Sunday 27th March, (NB you probably need to delete the version you have & download the latest version). Once I'd installed the app I scanned the QR code for my Thailand Pass & it showed me as Orange (Medium Risk), once my arrival PCR test came back as negative, it showed me as Green (Low Risk). On Friday 1st April (Which is day 6 in my book but the nurse at the hospital administering the PCR test said it would be Friday) I got a message from the app with a link where I could upload the Day 5 ATK test result. Edit: If you don't get the message/link on Mor Chana for your Day 5 ATK results, you can send the result to your T&G hotel who will update the Mor Chana records for you

Whoops I didn't do one when I got back from the UK last Sunday as I didn't think it was required (Jomtien Immigration) if you're on a long stay visa & returning to your previous address. Can anybody confirm for sure whether Jomtien Immigration expect you to do one. Edit: Looks like the rules changed in June 2020... The Royal Thai Police has issued a notification which relaxes the requirement for property owners or hotel managers in Thailand to notify an immigration office every time a foreign national stays in their property. Titled “The Royal Thai Police Notification on Residence of Heads of Household, House Owners, Landlords, or Managers of Hotels, Who Accommodate Foreign Nationals on a Temporary Basis,” the notification was published in the Government Gazette on June 16, 2020, and will take effect on June 30, 2020. Under the notification, there will still be a duty for landlords or hotel owners to submit a T.M.30 form to an immigration office within 24 hours of a foreign national staying at their premises. However, they are no longer required to resubmit a T.M.30 form every time a foreign national returns to stay at the same place, which was an onerous requirement under the previous version of notification, issued in 1979. https://www.tilleke.com/insights/thailand-relax-rules-tm30-immigration-requirements/

Am sure I've seen Murtabak at a stall in the Pier 21 food court but easy enough to pick up some Roti & make your own... I use the Chinatown ones, 59 THB (often on sale at 49THB) from Tops in Central

Thanks, I'll give them a call...

Thanks I'm actually in Bangkok on 11th & 12th but don't fancy the idea of getting a booster shot before or after getting an inplant! I will keep it in mind though as I visit friends in Bangkok at least once per month so can take a trip out there if I can't get it closer to home.

Flew Qatar to Manchester & whilst you had to wear a mask when getting on the plane, it was only recommended (not enforced) that you wear one throughout the flight. As an aside, coming back & Manchester Airport was heaving with people (must have been a 2hr queue to get through security) & I'd guesstimate < 1 in 1,000 were wearing a mask.

I believe the option of getting a booster at Royal Garden ended at the end of March, does anybody know where I could get a Moderna booster now? I don't mind paying for it, just struggling to find somewhere that's doing them. Thanks MTV

Following with interest as I would also like to get a Moderno booster (Don't mind paying for it but am struggling to find out where I can get it done having missed the Royal Gardens option)