Robbie Dye

oanda says 35.15

Now showing GBP 65.41 and USD 33.38

This is getting VERY dangerous

Where's the vote for "Who Cares"?

To be found close to the section about who cares who wins the Premiership football and also adjacent to the huge numbers of voters who think England might win the Six Nations!

Seems really difficult to find rugby enthusiasts in Pattaya, and even more difficult to see enough matches on the box. This weekend sees ths start of the Six Nations and some of us in East Pattaya are planning a get together at the Lake Mabprachan resort, sponsors also of this forum, for the England Scotland match on BIG SCREEN k/off 23.00 Saturday 3 Feb. Kilts may of course be worn, although certain hazards are caused by the current windy conditions! It would be great to get a crowd together and sink a few beers, hope to see you there.

A month ago, an AoT official claimed he had a report that was due in 2 weeks. He was going to name names, he was going to file lawsuits, he was going to fire employees, he was going to.... What happened to that report? It is nowhere to be found. Another poster commented that this was a witch hunt. It's beginning to feel like Senator McCarthy ("I have a list of 105 Communists that work in the State Department"). He lied, and it's apparent that others have followed in his footsteps. Now someone has threatened bureaucrats of - not getting fired, sued, or put into jail - getting new jobs within the government. How bad is the situation with the runways? The official inspection will begin NEXT month.

Well today in the BKK Post we start to see some answers, TOP AIRPORT MANAGERS FACE THE CHOP!! I did have to laught though at the suggestion that due to the widening cracks at the northern end of the eastern runway, pilots hsould be asked to avoid the cracked areas! Could this be the FIRST airport in the world with a chicane ? Will there be a Thailand F1 Grand Prix coming our way soon?

Try this

Autohire KhonKaen

Many thanks, much appreciated

Anyone out there can recommend a cheap local car hire company for this weekend? Need car from airport Fri 2 pm til Sun night. Any contacts much appreciated

Sorry folks but I havent read all the posts on this thread, but when I want to go from Phuket to Udon Thani, is that to Suvarnapum, shuttle bus to Don Muang and then onwards to Udon ...... eerr I don't think so; bye-bye Thai Airways? ANyone know

I reckon you will have to use Air Asia via an airport (probably Don M). Air Asia are NOT I think happy about this because if I understand right Don M will be ONLY for the domestic low cost boys, thus if they wanted to get a plane to go BKK Udon in the early morning but then once back in BKK it was to head to Singapore the plane would be at the wrong airport! Luckily I am in the trade so I hope I can get some more info for people soon>

So what name will be used for DM?

Bangkok National Airport

Bangkok Occasional Airport

BKK Classic

I can't believe it's still an Airport

New Bangkok International Old Domestic ...er... I give up.

What will they dream of next.One has to live here to beleive all of this BS.No one else would beleive it.

This whole nonsense is going to cause havoc for poor visitors from overseas, never mind us ! The airport code is BKK which as we all know was moved from Don Mueang to Suvarnaswamp. They will have to create a new three letter code and implement this in worldwide reservations systems and online, and make sure everyone knows what they are doijg, and if anyone thinks they can do this by 15th March they have to be joking. There can be no doubt that chaos will prevail very soon!! I wish them luck.

At last we do not have to scrabble around for last minute cash at Suvarnabhumi to pay the departure tax. From 1st Feb we all know that the THB 500 goes up to THB 700 BUT the good news is that for departures from 1st Feb the departure tax will be INCLUDED in your ticket with all the other taxes, security charges, fuel surcharges. This I think means that those booths where you pay for the little departure tax ticket which you then present as you enter the departures area will disappear in due course,and just speed up things a bit. IF though your ticket is a return from somewhere issued prior to this chnage then you will still have to pay that has been For unsuspecting tourists and others this will make life so much easier. Quite how they will know who has paid the THB 700 in their ticket price and who has not does of course remain to be seen

Jaffa Cakes....

Carrefour sell delicious jaffa cakes and another one they call fruit cakes which are Jaffas with jam not orange, 137 Baht!!

The price variance from EVA for the upgraded ticket is pretty wide though. I remember checking 6 months ago and I could get a RT for about $900 and I just checked again recently and the cheapest I found was $1500. Could some of you relay the price you have paid for the economy plus tickets on EVA so we can get a ballpark figure?

Morning, as far as I know the enhanced service is now called Elite Class and there is a limited promo fare of about 34500 Baht plus taxes etc, which is I reckon 950 US. Hope this helps, it is my trade too so shout anytime

It would be a heck of a shame if next years concert is scrapped, over something so pathetic as alcohol advertising. This year's 2 day concert was excellent, and it was great to see top bands and talent in the capital again. This year's show was superbly organised and a real credit to Thailand.

Maybe next year we can have "likay" and traditional Thai puppet shows?

It is a good bet that it will be postponed. Problem was that alcohol sponsorship as at any festival is a huge part of revenues, and big companies set their budgets way up front for these things. Banning of alcohol adverts announced in October-ish for an event in early February just created a massive lead time problem.

I think that putting these articles together has misled a few people. The cancellation or hopefully postponement of the Rock Festival which this year featured amongst others Ian Brown and Oasis affects hotel revenues, takes jobs away from production and venue staff, and removes an opportunity for Thai youngsters to see some of the best known European and British bands live, which combined with UBC cutting MTV and VH1 must surely have a negative impact on the Kingdom. This year there were also probably 35% Farangs there, some having come from Hong Kong and KL as well as those on holiday and local Expats, so it it not good for TAT either. I really hope things will change fast, but apart from Mobile Phone companies, Banks and major soft drinks companies I cannot see any big sponsors out there. But then Singha sell water as well! The Leo calendar issue has nothing to do with the Rock festival, but I am going to blank out the logo on mine!

may I suggest to re-open Don Muang which should not have been closed

Agree 100%. Why thyey didn't use DM for domestic flights as first suggested is beyond me. DM was (is) a great airport and everything is there for domestic use. Bangkok is one of the world's major travel hubs and no major city can survive with only one airport.

London has FIVE airports, NY has 2, Paris has 2 etc. etc.

Crazy!

I heard before lunch today that certain low cost carriers are about to announce a pull out from Suvarnabhumi back to DM, which will surely set the cat amongst the pigeons. As yet unsubstantiated but from a reliable source as we would say!

I understand the intention of the law but believe it will not truly result in a reduction in underage drinking as with many laws in Thailand the issue is not the law itself but the enforcement of the law. People are supposed to have licenses to drive motorbikes but many in the rural ares do not (and would not be old enough to have them), bars are supposed to stop serving alcohol on Buddha days and election days but there are always many well known (and connected) locations where it is possible to drink openly on those days.... etc etc

Unfortunately I believe it will just be another opportunoity for the lower level enforcers to make more money in on the spot fines and for the well connected (i.e. "service charge" paying) locations to continue to sell to whoever they see fit.

Early on in Thakins regime they appeared to understand this issue and try to get the existing laws enforced (for example- with the closing hours), but it caused so much backlash that the process stopped.

It is an extremely complex and broad issue to deal with as it requires a total revamp at all levels of government - employ the right people, pay them well, hold out against the protests, threats etc and then we would end up having the ability to enforce the laws. Also, there needs to be a better education system in the schools in general so that the youth have a better chance of good jobs and they need to be educated about the problems of alcohol and other substance abuse.

Maybe then theywould not have to be so drastic (25 is not really the youth they are talking about) and perhaps there would be a chance to achieve the intention of the law.

I agree that it is something that needs to be tackled, but just do not hold out much hope that it will be done so very quickly as writing a law takes very little money, but educting the youth and having the right administrators and enforcers takes a huge amount of money.

Maybe they will move the goal posts again and exclude tourists with visas valid for 60 days upon production of a passport, birth certificate, drivers licence and a copy of the Bangkok Post and not least sporting an England football top!

It's the missus' birthday this Friday, and I'd like to take her somewhere special for dinner.

You know... a romantic dinner for two... top notch service and food... extensive wine list... preferably with a view (but not of garish neon signs)...

Any suggestions?

Mantra at the top of Beach Road has had rave reviews, or try Casa Pascal in 2nd Rd opp Marriott next to Ruen Thai if money no object. I rate this highers than Brunos, but that's my personal opinion

Myself and three friends are heading over to Phuket in early Feb 2007, we were origonally going to stay at the Front Village in Karon Beach, but that was overbooked, I am now thinking it might be better to stay in Patong anyways to be closer to the action.

I've heard that the Patong hotels/resorts aren't as nice, can anyone reccommend somewhere good?? We were looking at paying roughly $125 AUS per night, per room max.

Any suggestions and advice would be great!!

Amanda

Could try the Summer Breeze in Patong, www.summerbreezehotel.com, should do the trick

This is all very <deleted> well isn't it.

I mean you book a flight to the big mango and you wouldn't have f^&%$#g clue where yor gonna land.

Nice if you want people to meet you.

They should do it on one day but I guess this is a bit too much to expect from the Thai techno mentality.

Another case of "TIT"

Quite interesting to note that most Brits I know coming over here after 28 September have NO CLUE that they are flying to the new airport, and their travel agents/tour operators in the UK don't know either ! Should make for big fun.

My view is that the Royal Princess is a bit tired, and I would never use a Novotel given the choice. The D2 is absolutely great, I can help with rates if you are interested, currently 5500 THB b and b

Guy

Does anyone have actual experience with the following Chiang Mai hotels? We have seen mixed reviews (some excellent, some fair) about each of the hotels and would appreciate your help. We like well maintained hotels with a private bath, good beds, and a convenient location for touring the city. We would like to keep our cost below $100/night, which seems easy, but we don't want to stay at a tired hotel, either.

1. Dusit Royal Princess Hotel

2. Central Duangtawan Hotel

3. Novotel Chiang Mai

4. D2Hotel

5. The Yaang Come Village looks wonderful, but is it worth $135/night if we are not planning to lounge around the hotel. We are visiting for sightseeing.

Thanks,

TravelerEd