rak sa_ngop

Believe me or not, I still prefer the air in Bangkok to other big cities in Asia I have lived in. In Kuala Lumpur the air was so thick with moisture, rain and smog from forest fires you could eat it. In Hanoi there was so much dust and dirt in the air that when I used to leave my house closed up for a month the house became filthy with accumulated dust. In Yangon the buses belch out so much smoke that the roads reek with the smell of low quality diesel and even walking down Silom Road used to make me feel I was breathing fresh air in comparison. I have now been living in the CBD Bangkok for a year now and have had hardly any of the chest, throat problems (apart from a Songkran cold) which I used to have in other cities. Not sure what this proves except that when people bemoan the air quality in Bangkok they forget that there are, in my experience, many worse places out there. Bangkok is great for me!

7/11 is owned by the CP chicken guy. I've no idea if he pays an international franchise, but if he does, I bet it aint much.

I had heard before that 7-Eleven was Japanese owned but the Japanese fellow students I asked recently knew nothing about this. Anyway these are some extracts from their website.

"7-Eleven pioneered the convenience store concept way back in 1927 at the Southland Ice Company in Dallas, Texas. In addition to selling blocks of ice to refrigerate food, an enterprising ice dock employee began offering milk, bread and eggs on Sundays and evenings when grocery stores were closed. This new business idea produced satisfied customers and increased sales, and convenience retailing was born!"

"Approximately 3,200 of the company's 5,300 stores in the United States are operated by franchisees, and an additional 485 are operated by licensees. 7-Eleven, Inc., its licensees and affiliates operate more than 27,900 7-Eleven and other convenience stores in Japan, Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, the Philippines, Sweden, Denmark, South Korea, Thailand, Norway, Turkey, Malaysia, China and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and Guam.

7-Eleven in Japan IYG Holding Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ito-Yokado Co., Ltd. and Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd., has owned a majority interest in 7-Eleven since 1991. Seven-Eleven Japan operates more than 10,000 7-Eleven stores in Japan and Hawaii under an area license agreement with 7-Eleven, Inc. "

... so it is majority owned by the Japanese. The Thai "CP chicken guy" I suppose must be a licencee?

Don't miss the Soladith night club in Vientiane (if you like that sort of thing).

Hope my avatar goes down well with you guys.

Thought so to until hopped on motorbike with gf and her mate. Dragged me to a certain unnamed soi and well things were blasting away still after I left at 9am and bottle of johnnywalker later.

Three on a motor bike....naughty naughty!!......not to mention the rider probably being over the alcohol limit.

........and blaming the whole thing on Johnny Walker. What a nerve !!!!

If ever you remember where this 'unnamed soi' is, let me know, I might try it myself.

I would be interested also

Any chance to have more info without risking to make it close? (I have read that some people come in here, TV, to pick info about places who are open after closing time, to make them definitely close)

Best to ask around the bar staff in the normal-closing bars and discos. The usually know where the current late-late night places are. Two weeks ago I teamed up with some Thai restaurant bar staff and we ended up in a disco which closed at 5 am. It was located right next to my condo and I never knew it was there!!

The following is an excerpt taken from an e-bulletin from The Fry Group (www.thefrygroup.co.uk) and is partly related to a discussion in an earlier thread this year regarding the UK National Health service

Quote

ISSUE 26 - JUNE 2006

Providing For Your Retirement

The UK Government has announced that it will be introducing many of the recommendations made following Lord Turner’s recent pension review. We look at what the changes mean, and the importance of making adequate plans for retirement.

Reform of the UK state pension has been predicted for some time. The Government commissioned an independent pensions review to assess the current system and propose changes. The recommendations from the review were issued in December 2005, and our E-Bulletin in December 2005 reported on the Commission’s findings.

On 26th May 2006, the Government issued a white paper announcing the following changes:

* The state pension age for men and women will increase to 66 in 2024, 67 in 2034 and 68 in 2044. Each of these changes will be phased in over the two preceding years.

* The state pension will be linked to earnings rather than prices. Further details will be announced at the start of the next Parliament.

* The number of years’ contributions required for people to qualify for a full basic state pension will be cut to 30.

* From 2012, workers will be automatically enrolled into a new, low-cost national savings scheme. There will be the opportunity to opt out of this scheme.

The reforms address the fact that people are living longer and also ensure that women and carers do not lose out if they take time out from working to raise a family or care for a relative.

For British expatriates the announcements mean that 30 years of national insurance contributions will be necessary to guarantee a UK state pension, rather than the current 44 for men and 39 for women. As a result, the state pension does provide a very cost-effective means of saving for retirement.

Unquote

I personally have been advised by my financial advisors (WT Fry) to stop making my Class 3 National Insurance Contributions (7.35 pounds a week) as I have more than 30 years of contributions already (confirmed by a recent pension forecast from the Inland Revenue). As this reforrm is still a White Paper and has not become law yet, in the event that the changes are not made I will make up the missing contributions at a later date. I do not know what would happen to any surplus contributions beyond 30 years if these changes do become law but one can only expect the obvious.

I recommend that members speak to their own advisors before acting on the above information. Hopefully the above info has not been superceded yet and is still valid.

Been a member for a few weeks now but just stumbled on this New Members page. I have been around S.E. Asia for over 15 years so it's great to hear all these diverse comments and opinions, and to put them into an Asian context. There may be a few things wrong with the LOS but it's the greatest place I have come across in my travels, and has therefore become (hopefully) my final resting place of choice. My main personal interests over the last number of years has included trying to "get to know the locals" mainly by studying the language (Burmese. Laos, Vietnamese and now Thai) and trying out all those rude words and expressions that people teach you, generally much to peoples' mutual amusement. Not so much into the HI-SO aspects of Thai life but more of a rice-roots level man. Just a pity that the price of beer is not as low (or as good tasting) as some neighbouring countries!!

Might be a bit off-putting for falangs visiting from Vietnam where the French acronym SIDA is used for AIDS. Had me perplexed for a while.

Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. The sign at the airport says the fine has been increased from the second day onwards. Maybe it is 500 baht. Sorry

AFAIK, the first day of overstay is still 'free' at DM (you still get the stamp though).

There are now clear signs at Don Mueang airport immigration desks stating that the first day of an overstay is not charged, but charges for the second day onwards have been increased to 1000 baht per day

. best seems to be 24k on KU .. with taxes etc , i think it should add up to 29k i guess..

I think you will get a nasty surprise when you find out the real cost for the surcharges for landing fees, insurance and fuel. Not sure what it will be for NY but it is based on the number of sectors you are flying and individual airline. Flying to London is already about 8k in surcharges, NY probably more.

Sight see by day, eat and shop at night.

If you are a sea lover, walk along Pattaya and Jomptien Beach, including the shore line between the two locations, in fact, if you are the energetic type, walk right around the shore line from Pattaya to Jomptien.

There will be plenty of places along the way to stop for food and drink.

Advice: Carry a long thick stick just in case of roaming dogs.

Pattaya Hill is a must for a wide view of Pattaya from up high. Lots of photo opportunities too.

You may not be into the bar scene but you still need to visit Walking Street at night, if for nothing else just to say you've been there. Some nice restaurants too, particularly for sea food.

Good shopping around the Royal Garden Arcade.

This is actually a very pleasant and envigourating walk. If you start by going up Walking Street (at day!) you walk past the boat marina and boat yards along the coast around to the small lighthouse. You can either access the look out points by following the main road or by climbing up the flights of (new?) stone steps. On the hill itself there is a network of paths you can explore reaching up to the memorial to the Thai sea admiral (from what I can remember, I think the first to have been trained in western naval techniques). Well worth the exploration effort.

You are going to find it difficult to travel to London in August. For example Emirates have at least 3 flights a day into Heathrow but due to high demand and lack of slots for expansion, I was told by my agent that they never release extra/empty seats 72 hours before the flight because they never have any. However they also have daily flights to Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow and these may have seats released 72 hrs before. Their 3+ flights into Gatwick are also pretty full. Their cheapest UK return prices are about 34,500 Baht (which includes landing charges, insurance and fuel surcharge of about 8,000 Baht). There are some cheaper (slightly?) carriers if you can get the seats.

I recently had the same 'no onward ticket' situation flying from London to BKK with Emirates, for the first time in 4 years and some 12 trips. However I had already booked another BKK-London-BKK return for 2 months ahead, but had not paid for the ticket yet. Emirates checked this reservation and printed it out on a 'voucher' which proved I had an 'onward reservation'. This obviously covered their position and was at no cost to myself. Not sure if this is a one-off and whether it would work with other airlines.

The road into Vientiane from the Friendship bridge is being upgraded in different stages so some delays are possible. However I travelled back to Nong Khai from Vientiane yesterday lunchtime (Tues 18th) with no delays at all. We did take the new by-pass road (road 13 south) which allows entry into Vientiane avoiding the direct 'river road' into Nam Phu where the Samsenthai road is being completely dug-up!

Hope this helps

I have been listening in Bangkok to a Thai Station on 837 kHz am. From 08.00 am to 08.30 am Mon-Fri (except holidays) they broadcast a BBC-based English learning programme which contains a large content of Thai language. This is followed by VOA news in Thai. I find that both these programmes are very useful for improving Thai listening skills. I think the station is a University radio station and reception can be variable.

Are there any other radio stations or programmes that other members can recommend?

Thanks