Filer

Try the Eastin Grand Sathorn hotel, on the south side of Sathorn (same side as the UK Embassy and a few minutes walk away from the Embassy). The hotel connects directly into Surasak Skytrain station, which makes it very convenient. Have stayed there a number of times. You may under current conditions be able to get a rate close to what you indicate. It's a modern hotel  and I've always found it very efficient and pleasant with good breakfast.

I also regularly buy at the Green Cotton Co shops in Bangkok and the socks are durable and work well for me. 120 bht a pair last time. Several convenient locations in central Bangkok.

General entry for foreigners remains suspended at present and is widely expected to remain suspended until the final phase of Malaysia's lockdown ends on 31 August. It is possible that local 'bubble' travel agreements may start to allow limited foreigner entry sooner than that -- the hospitality industry is in favour of that. On the other hand, imported infection via foreigners remains a key worry for Malaysian authorities and so there could well be some spill-over of the ban on foreign visitors beyond the end of August.

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10 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I ask because I see that Central are talking about opening an outlet store in Bangkok.

 

Central Group already has (for several years) an 'outlet' in Bangkok -- in this case a mini-shopping mall -- on the ground floor of the Jewelry Trade Center tower in Silom (near crossing with Surasak). It's called Bangkok Fashion Outlet. It's not openly promoted as part of Central, but most locals know that it is. It seems to serve both Centtral's own lines and a number of their in-store concessionaires, such as Marks and Spencer. Prices can be very good, but merchandise selection is constantly changing. It's clearly a place where slow moving or redundant merchandise is sold off. It has recently become a Bangkok 'attraction' for Chinese tourists who are dropped here by their tour buses.

The best example in Bangkok of a classic outlet store that I know is the Jim Thompson 'Factory Outlet' large store in Suk 93 (near BTS Bang Chak), where you can get genuine Jim Thompson quality (especially fabrics by the meter) at prices somewhat lower that the main JT shops.

Glad your son will be OK. (I just refreshed my self on the Web about all the terrible things that can follow from picking up some of the bat-related infections -- not pleasant.) I hope you're successful in making the bats unwelcome in future.

Looks similar to bat's 'droppings' -- splashes of something quite liquid

Are the marks below a place where the bat or bats could be perching (at night)? Look for the bats early in the morning, at daybreak. If you see them, make them unwelcome by dislodging them with a long stick. If they persist, there are other remedies. Bats can become a real pest around buildings that they take a fancy to. Depending on the type of bat, they can carry infections that are risky for humans and especially children.

Look also below the possible perching places for debris such fruits or nuts that they may discard and let drop after sucking it. If there's such debris it will help to confirm that the problem is bats. (The almond-like fruits of the 'sea almond' tree are one of their typical foods in this region, mangos also).

In any encounter with snakes, a good defensive measure (if you happen to have the material close by in the home or in the car) is to spray it liberally with an anti-flying-insect aerosol spray. This may kill it, but it should certainly make the snake uncomfortable enough that it goes away. Almost all commercially available mosquito/fly sprays are based on an active ingredfient that is called pyrethrin, either natural (from the Chrysthanthemum flower) or synthesised in which case it is called pyrethroid, and this is lethal/irritating (depending on the dosage and concentration) to all cold-blooded things (reptiles, fish etc), while being relatively harmless to warm blooded mammals including humans. Look at the list of active ingredients shown on any spray can that you have. You will probably see one or two main ingredients with names ending in '...ethrin', '...ithrin', or '...othrin'. These are synthetic pyrethroids and have the necessary effect. I used to work in the insecticides industry and this side-benefit of aerosol insecticides is not widely known.

So if there's a can of mosquito/fly spray at hand, its a good first thing to try, while allowing you to keep a distance from the danger.

Fully agree with previous post (and the prices -- which are clearly listed). I always use the AOT service at the mentioned desk location. The cars themselves are just a short walk away on the same level after you exit customs.

Any recommendations for a good alterations service in Bangkok in the Silom area?

For several years I've taken a variety of alterations jobs to the two ladies who ran an alterations service in a small shop located in Sala Daeng BTS station - one of the last few shops on the left as you leave Sala Daeng BTS and join the overhead walkway connecting to Silom MRT station by the Dusit Thani Hotel.

I went there today with several jobs, but the shop is empty and the people have left -- maybe the result of falling business dunig the recent troubles, although the shop always seemed to be overloaded with work. Any suggestions for alternative aterations services in the general Silom area?

You might try Chawla Travel at 22 Patpong 1 (near Surawong end). You can easily find their Web site and email address/phones via Google. I used them for several years and they seemed to have all the best discount long distance/RTW deals. I just glanced briefly at their latest Web site - mentions RTW and all that -- although I get the impression that they're concenrating more now on the business class market. They/ve been around for a long time and are reliable. If you visit/phone, ask for Rani, who's the lady that oversees the business.

I agree with post #7: Art's Tailor in Thaniya was for many years acknowledged as one of the very best for quality of workmanship and first rate materials. I first bought from them about 1980. I am still wearing some trousers and shirts of theirs that date from 1994/96.

However, I found more recently that they were becoming very expensive -- although the quality was tops -- probably due to their increasingly Japanese business clientele looking for the very best that can be bought in Bangkok and willing to pay top rates for it. So recently I went more down-market and finally found good value for all my requirements, including tuxedo, in one of the Indian (Sikh) tailors in the Sukhumvit area near Nana, where I have been well served. This was Siam Emporium Tailors, originally based in Siam Center but now in two locations in Sukhumvit: (i) Corner of Sukh and Soi 8, close to Nana BTS exit (ii) 2 shops beyond Exchange Tower in Sukh at the Asoke intersection.

Like many other tailors Siam Emporium have been hit by the uncertainties in the visitor market this year and I now see that thy are making a big push to do business by mail order (you measure yourself) on-line from their Web site. It seems as though this is their main focus now. This could mean that they are going to be less and less geared to satisfying the special demands of personal customers and so I probably need to start looking for another change and following up some of the very interesting suggestions in this thread. This has come just at the right time for me!

Not staying there, but have a few thoughts that may be useful.

Looked at this place a few times over the past 2-3 yrs or so with view to buy (or rent). Inspected all the facilities and several specific units and eventually decided definitely against it end of 2013.

Leaving aside the high buying price/rent levels being asked, which are arguably justified for this premier, very convenient location and high quality spec, three things contributed to making it negative for me.

1. The units are generally very hot and the windows/walls are not very well insulated against solar heat (unless you want to spend a lot on pwer for air conditioning. This is especially so on the south side (downstream side) which gets sun from dawn to sunset.

2. The large site between the two towers of The River and the Taksin bridge (currently a drinks bottling plant/depot) looks a prime spot for development and another high-rise complex which would overshadow The River complex and block views southward.

3. There seem to be a lot of 'distressed sales' by speculators who had bought the units at launch with a quick capital gain in mind upon re-sale, who now seem increasingly to be opting to rent out (because they can's sell at anywhere near their target prices right now) -- and renting out on short term basis (even by the day) for holiday rentals. You can find many adverts for this on the Web. This seems to have been accepted as OK by the condo owners/management, although to me it seems to defeat the whole purpose of an upmarket, select condo development. This for me was the real killer. I just would not accept to pay good money to be surrounded by lots of short term holiday tourists, probably with a highlevel of kids, plus the obvious issues of security resulting from lots of short-term, unknown people having security access around the site.

The problems above probably apply to other prime Bangkok condo sites too, but in the case of The River they played a major role in turning me off.

I hope this helps.

There is a model railway hobby shop in Bangkok in 2nd or 3rd floor of JJ Mall (the aircond mall at the edge of the Chatuchak market complex that is open every day). They seem to stock a variety of gauges and international brands (although I haven't noticed G gauge there). It's called Scent of Scale and you can find references to it if you do a Web search. People there may well know about the availability of G gauge in Thailand. Hope this helps.

Currently in the South at Hat Yai. Town centre massage prices here, with most customers being the considerable numbers of Thai and other Asian visitors, seem to have held steady for some time at 200 Bht/hr (in some cases, such as in the hotels, maybe 250 Bht/hr). Very few western visitors here and lots of massage places jostling for business, all of which keeps the lid on prices. I don't have the answer to the OP's question about Phuket, but I suspect that the western expats who must make up the bulk of the customers in Phuket just represent a soft target if the massage parlour operators want to collude in moving prices up.

Many thanks for this, Puschl.

I've looked at the table of South Indian scripts and have to agree that there are definitely plenty of similarities here. I'll follow up with friends who have links with those cultures.

I'm not sure whether this is the right forum for my question, but it does relate to Thai language.

The pottery shard shown in the image was found on a beach in Malaysia. The letters look Thai, but I'm not sure. There is however something which could also be an elephant symbol -- which maybe supports it being Thai. It's just a flat piece of white pottery, maybe a fragment of dinner plate, but I'm curious since Malaysian beaches rarely yield bits of Thai pottery (plenty of Chinese, Vietnamese, European, etc, of all ages). If the thing is Thai, can anyone tell me what it says?

I have a Huawei E220 USB modem (labelled 3G Broadband/HSDPA/UMTS/GPR), which I bought and used successfully from a mobile phone co in another country. If I unlock the modem, which I can easily do with one of the on-line services, and put in a Thai Sim, from DTAC for example, and buy an airtime plan paid up-front, what sort of performance can I expect to get these days in central Bangkok? Is it worth the effort?

I’m looking at this as an alternative to taking the laptop to an internet cafe or paying costly hotel charges when I’m staying in Bangkok.

I see some oldish posts on this topic in the forum but I wondered what the situation is today.

Hi ladies,

My wife is looking for a good source of natural cosmetic creams (‘body butter’ creams, for example) in Bangkok. Any specific suggestions? The products must be free of any of the usual harmful or doubtful chemical ingredients. There are one or two old threads on this in the forums, including one moved to the health forum which mentions Lemongrass House, a Phuket producer of natural beauty and spa products, which used to have some outlets in Bangkok (Chatuchak). Are they still around?

We are happy to receive any up-to-date comments or suggestions on producers or retailers (by PM as well as by postings).

Hi ladies,

My wife is planning some face-lift surgery and intends to go for an initial consultation at Bungrumrad Hospital, Bangkok, in view of their substantial cosmetic surgery department and an apparently good reputation. Has any Thaivisa member undertaken any cosmetic surgery of this type at Bungrumrad and have any useful comments on any of the individual cosmetic surgery specialists there? Dr Amorn Poomee clearly seems to be well regarded among posters to this thread, but are there any other specific suggestions?

My wife wants to minimise the need to consult ‘cold’ with one of the 25 or so specialists in this field at the hospital

She had some very successful treatment of this type in London some years back, but wants an ‘update’ now and is ideally looking for someone who is comfortable working on a European face.

We are happy to receive any comments or suggestions by PM as well as by postings.

Hi ladies,

My wife has reviewed with interest the various postings on this subject in various threads on the Thaivisa forums and has decided, for her specific needs, to check out the following four names:

- Cotton House - Oriental Plaza

- I.F. Tailor - Surawong nr J Thompson

- Dino - by Robinsons, (Sukhumvit, presumably)

- Siam Emporium - Siam Center

She’s looking for a tailor experienced in making fitted office-type clothes for women, ie not just a good dressmaker. This includes fitted jackets and fitted shirts (for which they will need to have a good selection of proper quality cotton shirting material). At one time in the past she used a tailor in one of the Pramot/Pradit/Prachum sois near the British Club/Neilson Hays Library, who made all the female attendants’ uniforms for Thai Airways, but that business has disappeared now. The tailor needs to speak reasonable English.

Before she starts her visits to these places, does anyone have and more up-to-date or additional suggestions? My wife will in any case post the results of her visits here in this forum.

You can PM to us as well as post, if you prefer.

budget cuts and ejection seat not working. Some planes in the RTAF are like 20-25 years old? I read somewhere that a pilot flew in a jet that his father used to fly with

And a couple of the R1 Nimrods of 51 Squadron at RAF Waddington have been in service since 1974.

Departing from the original topic, but possibly worth a mention too re old serviceable aircraft........Recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of my very first flight (1959 as Royal Air Force cadet in UK in 2 seat Chipmunk trainer). Have been delighted to find that the exact plane is still in full working order and flying at a flying school in New Zealand -- verified by my flight log, aircraft serial no, photos and video.

How could these two foreigners (if the Daily Mail report is correct in its details) have bought these 48 acres of land legitimately under Thai land ownership rules?

Last year I had good quality and prices from the specialist place on ground floor of Robinson's main dept store in Phuket Town, which seems to have a lot of business. It's in one corner of the floor. Can't remember the name of the place or the actual prices, but they reproduced some color images of mine onto a card very well. Plenty of examples to view if you go there. Negatives -- possibly the choice of papers/cards is not as great as in a good print shop. They also cut out the cards from the printed page with a ruler and knife, not a guillotine, so somewhat basic.