South

Let's see:

So far this fiscal year, over 100 million yaba pills and more than 4,000 kilograms of “ice” worth Bt7.6 billion has been confiscated (up nearly 3 fold on the previous year) along with some suppliers/mules.

I'd say that is pretty good going by those involved. Keep it up.

Emirates has a sale on now, 5 days remaining for travel between now and March 18th 2018.

LHR rtn 21,710 Biz 88,025

MAN rtn 26,685

AMS rtn 20,205

On 9/11/2017 at 3:42 PM, Bigdogfarang said:

The easiest way although probably not the cheapest - but still very reasonable is just book a return with air Asia from samui to KL  for visa run

 

its a single booking with air Asia and includes ferry from lipa noi in samui to don Sak - bus to surat thani or Nakhon si tammarat then return flights to KL from there - I've done that route three times - could do it all in a day but I usually overnight in a cheap KL airport hotel 

All flights from NST go to Don Muang, no flights to KL from NST unless you go via Bangkok.

..... and herein is where the problems begin

Genuine Southern Thai is a diverse mixture of bastardized Thai, slang Thai, Northern Malay, and local regional dialect. Mix in a little bit of Indian as well and you are on your way to learning. There are also differing versions of Southern Thai, Ligor and Chayai being two. I think there are 4 or 5 in total. For example some eastern provinces, NST, Trang and Phattalung have slightly different vocabulary than say Phangnga or Ranong. Same again once you get down to the very deep south of Thailand and the northern Malayan states. Then there are the tones to think about, the situations and then to the age of the person you are talking to and then ................................... I tried and tried and tried to learn but failed miserably. Gave up in the end.

Had a work permit, actually three different work permits (three different jobs, two 'self employed if you can call it that') all on Non 'O's' covering nearly 25years. Never had or been asked for a Non B and never a problem. In three different provinces I may add. All have been on extensions.

As you say in you post, they are talking complete nonsense.

I have had multiple work permits on a Non 'O' for over 20 years. Not once have I had a Non 'B' although a few times I have been told I needed one, never did.

As far as I know, (correct me if I am wrong) you can get a work permit on any Non Imm visa apart from a Non 'OA' which is the retirement visa. A friend of mine had a Non Imm 'F' visa with WP which at the time I had never heard of. Apparently with one of those, no tax is payable.

Non 'B's are linked to your WP. You have young kids, go the Non 'O' way if you can which you should be able to do given your situation. That way, should you finish employment, you are still allowed to stay in the country even if you are not working whist the visa is valid.

Manual workers have a set (by the Government) minimum wage depending on the Changwat or Province they work in. Going up the scale to semi-skilled, skilled, management, senior management etc and the figures change drastically, a lot depending on job/location. Company/business owners and it is a totally different ball game altogether. So, in answer to the OP's question, there is no answer unless you are more specific in area.

On 7/7/2017 at 7:36 AM, IMA_FARANG said:

Being a Thai musician is not a automatic good thing

I know for a fact as my Thai girlfriends son was a drummer and a good guitar player besides.

He appeared in the past with certain Thai groups, some of which were quite successful.

However when he reached his forties he was to old to appeal to the young Thai girls that follow Thai pop music.

He had some gigs with well known Thai pop groups but by his 45th year he was told that he was just to old to be popular with the young Thai female fans.

iI I told you the name of some of the groups he played with, and you knew Thai pop music you would be amazed.

The Thai music scene and groups even if successful are a young man's game and by your 40's you are getting to "old".

And it is worse for females, even a good and successful female singer can often not  hold on to her fans in her 40's.

It is definitely a young man "s or woman's game.

Been there, seen it, and collected the T-shirt as the saying goes.

 

 

 

 

As my Thai girlfriends son says .... same as, someone I knew, or my friends friend, or my uncles nephew .......

I have read a lot of Krap on this site, but this has to be some of the biggest! Please understand what you are 'writing' about before you touch a keyboard. A little edit .... Caraboa, Ekkachai, Hammer, Job2Do et al are all as old as I am (one has since died) and I ain't no spring chicken and they are all still as popular as they were in their heyday..

Time to get another T-shirt.

Simon, why not charter a taxi for the day. Not expensive and he will probably appreciate a run out of the city. You've been here long enough to know that ..... Failing that, there used to be a car hire place around Suk 33/1 near the old 13 Coins, don't know if it is still there though.

I remember when you could fly that route for 500Baht ...... 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Real ten pound notes would be worth around 840 baht at the current exchange rate.

Really?  Would make a lot of people very happy I'm sure.

Genuine piracy is very real and in that region has been a plague for centuries and more so in the last few decades. Even now large fast ships have 'Pirate watches/lookouts' as well as other safety measures in place. Add to the equation a slow, aging and low free-boarded tanker and that becomes a very easy target, especially under the darkness of night. 

From the top end of the Malacca Straits down and around to the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand is a piracy hot spot, maybe even 'hotter' the Somali coast/Gulf of Aden was 10-20 years ago.

Clever and forward thinking parents. Youngsters have a much greater ability to pick up languages than older people and what a good way to do it. Confidence building now for Panapat and Palapat will hopefully lead to much greater things in the future. Way to go parents.

11 hours ago, Madgee said:

Most hotels/resorts charge more on their websites than online booking companies. Fact. 

Example: I recently went to Koh Lanta for a few days. Checked resort websites, some my wife phoned and ALL were more expensive going direct than using an online booking company. Some were nearly double the price if booking direct.

Part of the deal online companies insist on is that THEY are cheaper than the hotel/resort direct. If the hotel/resort breaks this contract they are no longer listed online by the companies involved. Hard but good business sense for both parties concerned. The hotels/resorts are represented online in a busy marketplace and save on admin costs, a huge advantage over an independent who has to do his own marketing. 

 

I was in a related industry for over 30 years and was slightly involved in the initial beginnings of online marketing.

This has been an ongoing argument for a long time now. If a business can save money, it will. I think you will find that 'advertised' prices will be the same or more because of the OTA policies. Call them/go direct, and you will find that they can be quite 'flexible'.

Why give money to 'X' when you are paying 'Y'?

Why give 15+% of your booking to an online booking company? For what, one email?

Contact/book the hotel directly, possibly save some money and get your questions answered directly.

Easy.

Give the guys a break! Who reading this can honestly say they never did anything stupid when they were young and pi#sed up? I for one did plenty of stupid things, some I am not proud of, but to me (looking back), it was all part of growing up. Come to think of it, I sometimes do stupid things even now!  

Maybe their choice of location wasn't the best but .....

On 5/12/2017 at 11:54 PM, JamJar said:

 

How is any of that relevant to the OP's question?

He didn't request a regional airport, lounge access would depend on FF level or Business Class and up booking. Modern fleet is  no argument, as I flew upstairs on a THAI A380 too and fro BKK.....and their service was excellent.

 

We aren't referring to the overall fleet, but London to Bangkok. Emirates and Qatar have no advantage over THAI when it comes to that route.

 

I too have flown with all of the premium airlines in both Economy and Club/Business and for this particular combo, neither Qatar or Emirates offer any advantage to the OP, unless you want to have a break in the journey.

Since the OP did not, Qatar and Emirates offer a distinct disadvantage.

 

In addition, you cannot select your seats at the time of booking with Emirates, another distinct disadvantage in comparison with THAI.

 

 

 

So unless you have Emirates Silver, you'll need to wait until you check in in order to select a seat.

 

 

With Qatar, you have to de-plane in Doha and have to go through the usual rigmarole in order to get on your second flight. 

All this may be fine if you have lounge access/flying Business Class and above as you can take advantage of the facilities, have a massage etc. But you can do the same in the BA/THAI business Class lounges.

 

So...Emirates/Qatar are really not better on this particular route and it was to this route we were referring.

 

I would only chose them when they are substantially cheaper.

 

 

 

There's always one, isn't there? 

Have a good flight mrblonde and enjoy your holiday.

19 hours ago, JamJar said:

 

I don't agree. What makes them better than THAI or EVA?

I think only better if one likes to stretch their legs halfway through the flight and if there is a substantial saving.

Because they are, simple. I've flown pretty much all the airlines that serve Europe and those two that I mentioned just stand out.

Why? A combination of different reasons. Punctuality, airport lounges, menus, modern fleets, service, regional destinations in UK, IFE etc etc. Just my opinion. You, of course are entitled to yours.

If you don't mind a stop, Emirates or Qatar might be worth thinking about. IMO better than BA, TH and Eva.

11 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

It seems as if this guy was having sex by himself since there is no sign of any woman being involved, according to the police. and their "apology" picture.   Could it be that she was a Thai lady?

She was Russian.

Who was the farang idiot who caused a bomb scare on PG145 today? Result was a 6 hour delay to 140+ people.

Any more updates on this character?

He's been here for 5 years and doesn't know the consequences .... not having that. Anybody on overstay should know that. Pay the fee for leaving but big problems for him if he comes back on the same pasport.

You coiuld try here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/samuibuysell/

NST zoo is one of the saddest places I have been to. Big cats in cages far too small, herbivores with no grass, primates in confined spaces, birds that have no space to fly and crocs in crowded small pools. She saw her chance and 'legged it'' (same as last year if I remember correctly). Go Nadia ................................... and keep well away from the human race.