Japhrodisiac

I rode it yesterday and is only passable by motorbike. A total disgrace for the amount of time it lasted.

No rebar at all spotted in that pic, looks like the soil is still present on either side of the road, just washed out underneath, and 2 inches of concrete (should be 6 inches or more) with no steel rebar. Typical of the filtering out of monies for public works.

There are just so many commercial units available now for rent or sale, unless you have to be on the beach road in Chaweng, I would look elsewhere. I was just back for a month after almost a year away, soi Reggae is half empty, lots of businesses gone under and moved on, possibly hundreds of empty shophouses from Maenam to Chaweng. Those same (Tailor/T-shirt/ Luggage/Copy Painting and repeat) shops all struggling for business. Landlords here seem to have no idea of market driven economies, they just keep their price high and wait years to rent. It never ceases to amaze me. I was looking at a double shophouse unit in Bophut, the guy hasn't rented it in 3 yrs, wants big key money and high rent. TIT.

You can fly as stated, or there are buses going over many times per day, it's about 4 hrs from Phuket to Donsak, which is the ferry terminal for the boat trip over. Boats leave every hour and the trip takes approx 1.5hrs. You can buy through tickets at any local travel shop that will include your fare right through to Samui. If you have a rental car, it's a nice drive too, particularly if you use the older highway that takes you by the Rajjaphraba Dam, which takes a bit longer but is more scenic.

Honda Thailand price list via their website :

<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">Honda Wave

Honda Wave 110iFront-Rear Drum brake, kickstart, 110cc, PGM-FI

Honda Wave 110iFront disc brake, kickstarter, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 110iFront disc brake, electric starter, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 125iFront disc brake, kickstarter, 125cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 125iFront disc brake, electric starter, 125cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 110i ATFront disc brake, electric starter, 110cc, CV-Matic transmission, PGM-FI

Honda PCX

Honda PCXFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda PCXFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection) Honda PCXFront disc brake, alloy wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Air Blade

Honda Air Blade iFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Air Blade iFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Air Blade i B.O ProjectFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click

Honda Click-i Tune UpFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i Tune UpFront disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i Tune Up B.O projectFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i ForwardFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i Forward B.O projectFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda CZ

Honda CZ-iFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Scoopy

Scoopy i 110 CuteFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Scoopy i 110 FunFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Scoopy i 110 PrestigeFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Maxi-Scooters

Honda Forza Z (NSS250)Front - rear (combi-ABS) disc brake, 250cc, PGM-FI, liquid-cooled, A.T.

Honda VTR

Honda VTR250 (mid-2010)Front - rear disc brake, PGM-FI (fuel injection), V-twin 250cc

Sport Cruisers

Honda DN-01Front - rear disc brake, 680cc V-twin, liquid-cooled, Automatic CVT

Honda Cruisers

Honda Goldwing GL1800Front - rear ABS disc brake, 1832cc, liquid-cooled, PGM-FI fuel-injection

Honda Choppers

Honda Fury VTI1300Front - rear disc brake, 1312cc, liquid-cooled, PGM-FI fuel-injection

Honda Fury VTI1300 ABSFront - rear ABS disc brake, 1312cc, liquid-cooled, PGM-FI fuel-injection

Honda CBR

Honda CBR150RiFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, e-start, 150cc DOHC PGM-FI

Honda CBR250RFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, e-start, 250cc DOHC PGM-FI

Honda CBR150R ABSFront - rear C-ABS disc brake, alloy wheels, e-start, 250cc DOHC PGM-FI

Honda CBR 600RRFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 600cc DOHC

Honda CB 1000RFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 1000cc DOHC

Honda CBR 1000RRFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 1000cc DOHC

Older Honda Scooters and Motorcycles Models.

The Honda Scooters and Motorcycles below are out-of-production, they may be still available at the local Honda dealer and Honda will service this models as usual.

Honda Dream

Honda Dream 125Kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Dream 125Electric starter, 125cc

Honda Wave

Honda Wave 100XFront disc brake, kickstarter, 100cc

Honda Wave 100Kickstarter, 100cc

Honda Wave 100Front disc brake, kickstarter, 100cc

Honda Wave 100Front disc brake, electric starter, 100cc

Honda Wave 125XFront disc brake, kickstater, 125cc

Honda Wave 125XFront and rear disc brake, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Wave 125XFront disc brake, electric starter, 125cc

Honda Wave 125Front disc brake, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Wave 125Front disc brake, electric starter, 125cc

Honda ICON

Honda ICON RockFront disc brake, alloy wheels, no combined brake system

Honda ICONFront disc brake, spoked wheels

Honda ICONFront disc brake, alloy wheels, combined brake system

Honda Nova

Honda Nova Sonic RSFront and rear disc brake, spoked wheels, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Nova Sonic RSFront and rear disc brake, spoked wheels, electric starter, 125cc

Honda Nova Sonic RS SuperFront and rear disc brake, alloy wheels, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Touring

Honda Phantom 200 Fire EditionFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, tubeless, electric start, 200cc

Honda CBR

Honda CBR 150R Front - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 150cc DOHC

Honda VFR

Honda VFR800Front - rear disc brake, PGM-FI (fuel injection), catalytic converter

From the OP:

Tourism Authority of Thailand or TAT Governor Surapol Svetserani reports that December 2010, the high season for tourism, saw 1.3 million tourists enter the country, according to statistics from the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

This puts the entire year�s tourism arrivals at 15.6 million baht, exceeding the target of 15.1 million.

12 * 1.3M = 15.6M. Yearly arrivals 15.6M. High season 1.3M. Assuming there is a low season, some months are better than high season?

I know it's not fair to complain, counting with only 10 fingers gets complicated when reaching higher numbers

Bang on

Your post was a life line in a sea of nonsense.

I could not believe the number of posters willing to expound there wisdom on a in your face farce.

This is likely the true method of calculation used by the TAT brigade, sadly. I remember peak tourist numbers of roughly 14 million being announced in the best years, and the place felt swamped, you couldn't move in nightlife areas of Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, Bangkok etc. Chiang Mai night market packed, weekend and night markets in Bangkok packed. 30 plus flights a day to Samui all full both directions. Hard to get a room in many places, even outside of high season. Now save for a high season week or 2, the place is a ghost town.

Reading a lot of the forums regarding the current crisis, it is interesting to see the varying replies and points of view. I thought that it would be informative to put up an informal poll to get a (very) rough idea of the kinds of numbers/percentages with these points of view.

Hello,

My Girlfriend's little dog was bitten by a big dog, he's in rough shape - amongst the issues is that his right hing leg is broken in half. I'm gonna bring him up to BKK and have surgery as Kaset Uni hospital, which most people seem to agree is the only way to go. I need a hotel in BKK that will allow small dogs. Any ideas?

I need to be there tomorrow latest so a quick answer would be much appreciated folks!! :-)

many thanks

One of my cats was fond of killing the odd chicken - I put the word out that I would pay for the bird, just don't kill the cat. Worked a few times, then they poisoned the cat anyway. Of course no one knew who it was...

Who is doing the Ranong/Burma run now? The one where you take the boat over to Victoria Point

Sorry to hear about the dog. My neighbor's dog (chocolate Lab) was killed last week from poison also. It's a very cruel and cowardly act, imo

Problems with different types of hospital :

1) Private (ie expensive by Thai standards) - make you wait until ability to pay or insurance is verified. You could die waiting

2) Small clinic - usually unable to do much for you outside of normal small injuries. have seen people wait for an hour, then get told they don't have the equipment when they could have been informed right away

3) Government Hospital - If they feel that they cannot save the person, they often do nothing, not even try. We had a staff member get hit by a car, head on, hard enough to detach both retanae. He was brought by the meat wagon, where they pronounced him untreatable - he would surely die. nothing was done for 30 minutes. He was moved to private hospital and was saved. He's back at work now after 1 yr rehab. Another case - our friends wife was involved in Car accident, she was breathing and talking for more than an hour afterwards, brought to Gov't hospital, they said nothing she could do (after 2 hrs just lying in a hospital bed) then she passed away. At the accident site, he wallet and mobile phone were stolen and people were taking pictures of the crash, instead of calling the ambulance.

If you do get picked up right away, chances are other drivers will not pull over and let the ambulance go on ahead.

Often, the drivers of the ambulance will take you to the place where they get the most commission, instead of where you ask to be taken to.

Dangerous place, huh?

Don't want to take this thread off topic; but your statements about hospitals in Thailand are awfully generalizing. I have been to many hospitals around Thailand and for sure the service and quality of care differs around Thailand; some places better then others.... When I arrived in a private hospital (Hatyai) with an acute appendix infection, I was right away hospitalized without any questions regarding insurance (didn't even have any at that time); when discussing the needed surgery the next morning; the hospital was well aware of the fact I didn't have any insurance however they did proceed with the surgery.

I am terribly sorry about what happened to the poor guy who died... Contact the embassy and have them deal with the mess...

I'm sorry too. I hate to think that a person died due to lack of care (in the many senses of care).

My post begins with "Problems with..." and is not an overall review of all aspects of the medical system here. Just noting things that have happened to me, friends/loved ones and things I have seen whilst in hospital.

Problems with different types of hospital :

1) Private (ie expensive by Thai standards) - make you wait until ability to pay or insurance is verified. You could die waiting

2) Small clinic - usually unable to do much for you outside of normal small injuries. have seen people wait for an hour, then get told they don't have the equipment when they could have been informed right away

3) Government Hospital - If they feel that they cannot save the person, they often do nothing, not even try. We had a staff member get hit by a car, head on, hard enough to detach both retanae. He was brought by the meat wagon, where they pronounced him untreatable - he would surely die. nothing was done for 30 minutes. He was moved to private hospital and was saved. He's back at work now after 1 yr rehab. Another case - our friends wife was involved in Car accident, she was breathing and talking for more than an hour afterwards, brought to Gov't hospital, they said nothing she could do (after 2 hrs just lying in a hospital bed) then she passed away. At the accident site, he wallet and mobile phone were stolen and people were taking pictures of the crash, instead of calling the ambulance.

If you do get picked up right away, chances are other drivers will not pull over and let the ambulance go on ahead.

Often, the drivers of the ambulance will take you to the place where they get the most commission, instead of where you ask to be taken to.

Dangerous place, huh?

Low 30's is fine. The dealers are the same, I had my new truck delivered with 50psi all around, and every service they bump it back to 45 or 50. They just read the sidewall and put the max pressure in.

Hi

I recently shipped same type of items from West Coast America (Portland, Oregon) to Thailand, and the freight forwarder in Bangkok was:

MAC-NELS Shipping (Thailand) Ltd

729/92 Ratchadapisek Rd

Bangpongpang, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120

(662)295-2071-2

(662)295-4942-3

Maybe they can help you doing reverse process, hope this is useful

mario299

I'll give them a call, thanks very much for your suggestion!

When you find a way let me know. I'm trying to figure out a way to get all my Thai girlfriends over here cheaply, and without marrying them. I'm missing them already and it's only been two weeks.

Bringing them over easy, it's the not marrying them part that's difficult

Hello,

I'm looking to ship my personal effects back to Canada and looking for a cost effective way to do so. I don't mind waiting so ocean shipping is not a problem. I'll move the equivalent of a 1 br condo incl. a few computers, LCD TV, some furniture, clothes etc. I'm sure this has been done many times but I couldn't find anything by searching. Thanks in advance

This monopoly issue goes back to the Air Transport Act which hasn't been renewed since it's inception in the 50's (or so I'm told). I don't think that many governments would allow a monopoly on airport ownership/use for the only airport servicing a major tourist center. There is currently no law preventing this here, so on it goes, and BKK Air is taking advantage of it's position, which is clever business, but not so friendly to the customer and the other service providers who rely upon their customers. A monopoly will always operate in it's own best interest, so it is not surprising that the flights are trimmed to make each flight full and cost effective. Thing is, that 12 full flights per day won't fill 20% of rooms on the island, and here we are.

Long term this will be a real problem for Samui unless something is done about it.

The game will be shown live at the Billabong in Fisherman's Village. A friends just called and let me know they organised this so it's open to all who don't need to get up early for work (or go straight to work after...)

See you there -

Downloading does not install it AFAIK - you still have to make an installation disc. I would take computer to HP service and let them do the job, am sure they have software available. The last time I tried to us Microsoft for download they would not even accept my US address/card (I expect using IP trace to find I was not in US).

Microsoft has a free to download tool whereby you can mount the downloaded version directly onto a USB thumb drive and install from there. That's what I had planned initially. Now it seems that I will have to get a cd original and then beg borrow a portable drive or use another computer to make a bootable USB stick. It also means that I have to find a store (in Samui) that sells an original Microsoft Windows 7 Professional copy in English. Would be nice to simply download and go but it seems that won't be possible.

Thanks for all of your replies.

I am trying to purchase and download a legal upgrade to move my HP 2133 mininote from Vista (which I have always hated on this machine) to 7 professional. Since the netbook doesn't have an optical drive, downloading seems the easiest way to install. However, the Microsoft online store only seems to accept online purchases with a US address and zip code. I tried the Canadian site, but the online store component redirects back to the US site. The Thai site is all in Thai, and I don't want the Thai version anyway (if the defaults are all in Thai language).

Where can I download and pay with CC to purchase an upgrade to Windows 7? Seems like I've fallen through the cracks here.

Cheers -

Why is it that terrorists can threaten people and indeed incite violence against the government, disrupt the public peace and infrastructure (both Red and Yellow) and nothing is done about it? Normal everyday Thais are having a hard go of things, with a higher cost of living and many living on less money these days, and yet terrorists can run free and do whatever they want? Very sad

I have this problem occasionally with Google Chrome and sometimes Firefox. This is due to browser level security. Switch browsers and see if you are still blocked.

Please clarify :

Do you join the new section of wire that leads to the (F) connector to the ecu side or the cut wire side?

Thanks

Actually, these touts provide a very useful service. Rather than lulling people into a false sense of security, they are there to remind you that you will absolutely get ripped off here. May as well start the first second you set foot into the country.

I suppose the closest thing to organised crime here is the police - they expect and collect protection money, are involved in the drug trade, scam and siphon money during their "normal" job. They are probably closely challenged by other government offices here - land dept, tessabaan etc. They are organised, and are involved at various levels in mischeif. After that you have the big families - they occasionally shoot one another over turf and opportunity issues, etc. Then there are the little guys. They just try to get what they can when they can. I don't think that any of these levels of "mafia" has anything to do with one another, and calling them organised might be a stretch but since these levels cover a huge stretch of the population, and come up in some way in everyday life it becomes expediant to simply refer to the "mafia". I suppose that is many people's way of saying here, "on the take" or something like that.