jackspratt

it's ok Jack, actually i'm a bit surprised to see that, because last time i've checked short distance one way fuel& ins. surcharge on thai was around 5-600 baht versus 8-900 baht on air asia, but again, we all know what would happen to us if one day by any accident, we'd miss air asia flight .. And if anyone travels on any sort of business & flight get delayed..

That IS what i meant by talking about self respect !! Not to insult anyone, i've flown with Air Asia few times before, when i 'desperate enough' he he .. Actually, they are ok on Phnom Pehn & Macau routes, no decent competition i guess.. but whenever i compare, what savings there could be versus any inconveniences it may bring , it is so little..

And how many gullibles get hooked on their thieving price adverts , maybe NOT you and me, but sure unfair way to solicit customers !

Horses for courses Asia.

Anyone silly enough to believe a $1 fare really exists is going to struggle getting through life

well, thats good if you always travel ONE WAY only, and than FIX your dates half a year in advance !! isn't it..

I will put the kindest interpretation on your response Asia, and assume you misplaced your glasses.

I clearly state the search was for a return journey ie 17/20 October.

Today is the 4th of October - hardly 6 months in advance of the 17th.

If you bothered to do some research, instead of making unsupportable claims, you would probably find that the fare on LCCs increase the closer to get to departure date, not the taxes and surcharges.

Bargain basement "PRICES" ?!?

I always admire how BLIND all this budget defenders are (or how little respect they may have for themselves)

Ok, all LCC(low cost) advertise CHEAP prices right, but then what you don't mention are taxes & "surcharges" which are at least double, than of any 'normal' carrier' so in the end pricing how much CAN we ever Save?!? even on a "free" ticket , maybe not more than a FEW Hundred baht ( and i am not exagerating ) call any travel agent to compare.. That already can be offset by the 2 meals, that you'll get with 'normal' airline (+mileage) ! Unless u hate their food soo much.

But than WHAT happends IF anything happends to your flight?.. Delay/OR if somehow (traffic whatever) you fail to show up..

Can you change date,or all you can do is to throw your paperless tkt into the nearest bin.. When it happends to me on any normal ticket(thai/indian/swiss etc.) i can always fly another day for free (or most nominal surcharge).. And Don't even get me started about the baggage ...

Think cheap... Think again...

PS; i posted,because i fly so often myself, & i'm so disgusted to see what those LCC did to LOWER the general standarts of the industry, they take the passengers from decent airlines (charge them almost the same,and give VERY little in return!) that made a lot of airlines to lower their standards as well.. Price.. i am Very budget consious as well (and if LCC could be REALLY noticeably cheaper i'd use them) did in Europe a few times,but there now they are forced to Advertise FINAL price!! So leaves very small room for SWINDLING passengers, Can't wait till asia will wake up to it.

Not only are you pompous and self-righteous (little respect for yourself indeed) - but you are plain wrong.

Try doing an on-line price check for Bangkok - Sing return on 17/20 October.

Taxes and surcharges:

Singapore Airlines TBH3065

Thai TBH2995

Tiger TBH3330

Air Asia TBH3245

Jet Star TBH3125

Need I say any more!

Thanks. I'm not filled with undiluted joy about the prospect of travelling on TG Business Class to London. .............. Also there is a heckava lot of inconvenience if you have to travel on, or connect with a BA domestic, as I am doing, as there is no through check luggage, (from BA), so you have to offload in London, get on the terminal bus with your suitcase and check in again.

I would be interested to know where in the world you can move from an international flight on 1 airline to a domestic flight on a different airline, and have your baggage checked through.

As I am sure would the majority of the world's drug smugglers.

Guilty people go free as I am sure innocent are in jail w/death penalty being carried out. The equation balances itself. It may not be fair but this how life works for better or worse.

A whole lot worse for the innocent, I guess.

What a joke!

"Thailand Is Fourth Favorite Country To Unnaturally Die Abroad"

Is "favorite" the best terminology for places to die?

Was thinking the same thing OC

I had a picture in my mind of Americans thinking before they booked their overseas ticket:

"Now where would I like to be if I am going to die unnaturally while I am away.

Mexico - yeah, it's my favorite, but I was there last year.

Iraq - boy I haven't been there, but I might wait for a bit longer.

Costa Rico - a bit hot around this time of the year, wait till late spring.

Now where else is there?

Thailand - sounds perfect. Good food, great weather, friendly natives, Buddhist cremations available".

Seize the phone - that would get people thinking. Remove the SIM, give it back to the driver, and tell them "on your way son".

An added incentive for the BiB - they can sell the phone.

No wonder -- the founder of Ryanair owns 16% of Tiger.

And Singapore Air owns 49%.

According to Wikipedia:

"Singapore Airlines have received numerous awards and accolades for the standard of service it provides. The airline has won Airline of the Year 2007 in the World Airline Awards by Skytrax".

So what is your conclusion?

....In which folks can't tell the difference between a whine, a complaint and an account of sorts.

Uhm, I was in no way complaining but if you choose to misinterpret, you may take it as such. I will just giggle.

End.

You're perfectly correct fennielyn - it was an account of sorts.

A whining, complaining sort of account.

The WORST are people like Fedex and UPS. Not only do they apply the duty to the goods, they charge it on the postal element as well.

Thailand (along with many other countries) assesses customs duty on a CIF basis ie cost + insurance + freight (which includes international postage). So it appears they have done things by the book in applying duty to the postal element.

I've got a few mates nearing the end of their non imm visas and they don't want the hassle of flying back to the UK to get another one.

Can they get one in OZ nowadays (multi entry) and if so, what "reasons" do they have to give. we know the story with Hull and the like in the UK but what about OZ.

They specifically want to get sorted out before the election which I think is a good idea.

Why not go straight to the horse, and ask. Numbers for all Thai consulates in Oz are here:

http://www.thaiembassy.org.au/address.asp

Additionally I was the victim of unwarranted intimidation and harrassment from 'Excise officials' in the Arrivals area as highlighted in another thread on this sub-forum.

I will continue to level criticism and complaints at this new Airport until changes are made and until I receive both an explaination and an apology for the harrassment, intimidation and treatment I was subjected to.

Quick reference to the aforementioned thread indicates that you have received a likely explanation. The apology, alas, is probably still some time away!

Another self-conscious, touchy-feely, "what do they really think of us" introspection thread then? Great.

Does anyone really care what they think???

Precisely!

What sort of genius does it take to sit around and post such inane, meaningless and puerile questions?

You will generally get much better resolution for Thailand by using a program called PointAsia.

Try googling it.

Tiger is the lowest of the low. You get what you paid for. The nice cheerful but underpaid staff make up for it. And assigned seating helps. I swore off Tiger when I was almost hit by a flying water bottle hurled by this passenger behind me to "book her seat".

The downsight of Tiger is that they use the Budget Terminal (the winning name chosen in a $250,000 contest). That place is the cesspot of Changi Airport. None of your usual Singapore efficency. The baggage takes years to arrive when even in T1, your bags are waiting for you 10min max after landing. The immigration idiots make it a point to check EVERYONE so forget about sneaking cigarettes, porn or sex toys through your check in luggage. This causes very very long lines esp around peak hours. And the taxi queues makes the ones in Suvarnabhumi look like express lanes.

I'm with Loom.... Jetstar serves wine (by the can), black leather seats and I get to enjoy the better facilities in T1. They have my money if I ever fly budget to BKK.

Hmmm!..........certainly not my experience. In fact the Budget terminal is brand new, so "cesspot" (sic) is not my memory of it.

As Tiger and Cebu Pacific are the only airlines currently using the terminal, I am not quite sure what happens at peak hours. My experience was an average wait of about 10 minutes for my bags. This was after passing through Immigration in under 5 minutes - well within normal international airport standards in my extensive travels.

The efficient Customs officers, who are paid to check baggage, in contrast to Immigration who check passports, X-rayed my baggage on 1 out of 3 trips. Disappointingly for them no doubt, I had neither cigarettes, porn nor sex toys, so passed through quickly. I also noted that no more than 50% of passengers were also subject to similar screening.

You can also get (canned) wine on Tiger. However my preference is for the bottled variety, and as I was traveling very cheaply on a budget airline, I was able to forgive them for that.

As the old saying goes - your mileage may vary!

And how would you identify whether the man buying tobacco at the corner shop was a C&E man?

Do they stay in uniform when completing mundane domestic chores?

They are fine. Low cost, but no problems. I have flown Perth - Sing - Udon, and then Udon - Sing - Perth return.

A few things to remember however:

- if you are tall I would suggest paying the Sing$25 fee to guarantee your own (emergency exit) seat. Rows 12 and 13.

- they are a point to point airline. If you are flying to Sing from somewhere, and then onto somewhere else, you will need to collect your baggage and go through Sing immigration and customs, and then check-in again for the next flight. The inward and outward Budget Terminals in Sing are in different buildings, so there is a short walk (with your baggage) of about 100m. Facilities in the Outward Terminal are fine, with a good and relatively cheap restaurant in the terminal prior to check-in, and then plenty of shopping once inside the departure area after check-in.

- they do not include the Thai departure tax in their ticket cost - you need to pay this when you check-in at your Thai departure point.

- they are generally pretty strict on baggage allowances (15kg check-in, 7kg carry-on + laptop if you have one)

And a bonus - the trolley dollies are generally verrry easy on the eye.

The only way Ikea could hope to compete would be to manufacture ......... in China ..............

They already do - they have a huge manufacturing operations in China.

It's astonishing that no one is connecting the dots...

We don't care if X or Y should resign. And now or in one month.

Again, the core of the problem is the... calendar.

The press keeps repeating "the NCCC has discovered...". When ?

We need to repeat that the NCCC has published begining of december 2006, the total amount (not the details) of the assets declarations of all the ministers, their spouses and their children ! Look by yourself, it's here (Nation).

Shares are assets.

Therefore, we have 3 solutions And ONLY 3. NONSENSE

-1- it took 10 month to the NCCC to read the assets declarations of the ministers. This is why they "just discovered" the shareholdings problems. Therefore, they are incompetent.

Consequence : that's bad because NCCC is suppose to hunt down Thaksin....

-2- the NCCC has deliberately covered up this issue, for 10 months. Why ?

Consequence : scary.

-3-The ministers have... lied on their assets declarations that they gave last year to the NCCC. They haven't listed their shareholdings.

Consequence : scary too. They have to resign. And it's a serious blow to the whole Surayud's and its clean image...

4. A scenario equally as valid the the self-described definitive 3 above - perhaps the NCCC was focusing on bigger fish ie the Plunderer-in-Chief. It would seem there is enough there to keep them occupied for a long time into the future.

Don't forget that information available publicly might not tell everything that happened. Suttichai might have been caught with his pants off, but getting him prosecuted and convicted might not be possible, or even desireable, politically speaking. Oranuj and Ariya might be clean, but they way it has been presented, they should step down, too.

Gee, nothing like a bit of speculation to raise the level of interest.

While I agree these people should resign, I can also see a large distinction between what they have done, and the actions of the Plunderer-in-Chief.

Before people get to excited about the 3 being prosecuted, does the relevant statute create an offence for what they have done, or does it only require that they must step down?

And the distinction that I refer to, is that we have seen no evidence thus far that the 3 took any steps to conceal their shareholdings/company positions, whereas the P-i-C took very active steps to do so right from the beginning of his tenure, perverted the system along the way to maintain the concealment, and continued his corrupt conduct right up to the time he was booted out.

I am off to Beijing in a few days on route to the DPRK. Can anyone advise on tipping, spoken english dos and donts etc? Cheers!

Do visit Maggies Bar across from the Lufthansa Center, go after 9:0pm (near the Hard Rock Cafe)

You will spend a while looking for Maggies if you go to the Hard Rock area. Maggies is actually in Guang Hua Lu, near Ritan Park. Well worth a visit if you are so inclined, but leave it till after 11.00pm at the earliest. It is well known in Beijing as the unofficial Mongolian Embassy, for the number of Mongolian beauties who gather there for purposes of commerce.

Do not tip more in Beijing any more or less than you would anywhere else for the same reasons.

Tipping is the exception rather than the rule in Beijing. In fact, some will be offended if you try to tip.

Do go see the Summer Palace.

Do take a one day trip to see the Great Wall, not far.

Do go down to the Diplomatic District and explore the restaurants and bars.

Do not get ripped off by sweet Chinese girls - keep your mindset similar to when in Thailand.

Do buy a down jacket - they are cheap and reasonable quality. Hey, they have to do something with the stuff given all the ducks they eat.

Do go to Tianamen Square of a Sunday morning and watch the kites.

Generally less English than you would find in Bangkok. If you know what hotel you are staying at, before you go, print out the name and address in Chinese for the taxi driver.

Don't

- go with girls who ask you (in good english, and generally in the main streets) to come a look at art, or go to tea houses with them. Both big scams.

- go with street touts who want to take you to "girly bars" or karaoke joints. Potentially big, big trouble

My experience of 3+ years living there is too go to the historical sites in this order:

1. The Wall

2. Forbidden City - Tianamen Square is adjacent

3. Temple of Heaven - not far from Tianamen

4. Summer Palace - a fair bit out of the way, and once you have seen the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace can feel a bit same, same (but different)

Other attractions are Hou Hai in the evening, and the markets for shopping Ya Show, Pearl Market (next door to the Temple of Heaven), Xidan.

Good online map here

http://www.cityofnanaimo.com/asia/China/Beijing.pdf

Enjoy

Thailand seeks to block YouTube videos again

From correspondents in Bangkok | September 21, 2007

THAILAND is seeking to block clips on video-sharing website YouTube, accusing the chief royal adviser of being the mastermind of the bloodless coup last year, a top Justic Ministry official said today.

The Government, which lifted a five-month ban on YouTube in August after the website agreed to block clips deemed offensive to revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was seeking a court order to block two video clips posted recently.

"In the next couple of days, we will seek a court order to block those links deemed to cause public confusion and threaten national security," Yanaphon Youngyuen, head of the Justice Ministry's Internet crimes unit, said.

"While awaiting the court order, we are seeking co-operation from internet service providers to block those links," he said.

The two-part postings, entitled "The Crisis of Siam," and running 10:42 minutes and 6:06 minutes, accuse former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of plotting the September 2006 coup, not the generals who took credit.

900 scammers were recently picked up at the new airport then let go to do it again. Yes,900!.... and that is just at the airport.

Were any of them wearing blue uniform jackets, with a badge on the inside

The relevance of nationality is that when something horrible like this happens, people like to know as many details as possible, myself included.

Morbid curiosity?

Self defence?

Taking sides and venting repressed feelings towards various nationalities?