stevenl

In addition to Simon: every taxi driver will know where to drop you of.

Always plenty of people around to let you know when (more or less) the next bus to Khao Lak will arrive.

Well going back to the original problem,our friends were told certainly, by the taxi driver who refused the job because he was scared of going to pick them up.

So who scared him?

He says he was scared, but there could be other reasons, and he simply sued the hotel as an excuse.

When you get to the airport, go to the metered taxi stand down on the right. Tell them you need to get to the Phuket Town bus station to catch the bus to Khao Lak.

Just take a meter taxi to the bus stop on the main road in stead of going to Phuket Town Busstation. The bus from Phuket Towmn to Khao Lak passes that road, and it saves you 45 minutes each way.

Could be Kata Delight.

The point of this post, however, was that some areas that have long been considered by many to be free from police checks may no longer be so, as the police seem to be casting their net a bit wider.

Sorry, I did not read it that way. And I do agree with you there.

Probably it is not the hotel but the taxi drivers not allowing him in.

No point in letting people know where a particular checkpoint is being set up?

I disagree.

By the time it is posted, let alone read by people, the checkpoint is long gone.

Also here in Kata we had no water for around 4-5 days, but today there it was again. Low pressure, but enough to fill the tanks again.

These check point happen all over the island, a few hours and they're gone again.

IMO really no point in a post like this.

As for StevenL

"Yes, and that seems to be the main aim in stead of giving facts.

See post # 20, the heading not just may mislead but will mislead"

The complete facts were given at the time of writing. How you personally interpret the headline is indeed up to you.

If you would have read the post I mentioned, you would have noticed that this poster presumed a farang was shot dead. Nothing to do with my personal interpretation, I am just pointing out that your header not may mislead but does mislead.

Whilst the original heading may mislead it was written to maximise exposure.

Yes, and that seems to be the main aim in stead of giving facts.

See post # 20, the heading not just may mislead but will mislead.

Very good point,49.7 baht to the gbp is reducing tourists coming to Thailand

Nothing to do with the Thai Baht, has more to do with the steady decline of the GBP ever since WWII compared to all other major currencies (although accelerated the last few months).

OK so to sum up..

They are illegal.. They cannot be registered, plated or insured..

but the police does nothing to stop them.

So your (or your wife's) choice.

I also drive a sidecar on occasion and never get pulled over or fined. Also the yearly renewal is never a problem.

But to anyone having problems driving a motorbike, I would not recommend driving a sidecar. They really are quite difficult to drive.

Obviously my memory was not correct.

Funny though, this quotation from November 2005:

I was not aware that people were driving ATVs on the roads or on the beach.

The OrBorTor will order them not to do so. We will warn them first not to drive on the beach and, if they persist in doing it, we will find a more suitable place for them to go

Maybe the OrBorTor did not tell them?

Yes .... I have been caught behind that group a few times. I wonder if the drivers are aware that their tour guide is leading them into an illegal activity.

If I recall an answer to a question in the Phuket Gazette correctly, it is allowed to drive them on the public road if you have to drive that way to reach the track (or something like that), so it would not surprise me if those guys actually are allowed to drive there.

There are a couple of dive boats that do Andaman Islands trips.

Yes, but due to the regulations the guests board from India, not from Thailand.

Countersignature or not, your Brits are lucky.

The only way to apply for a passport for a Dutch national (whether new application or renewal/lost) is by going to the embassy in Bangkok.

Check the website for the requirements, and after that go to Fuji at Chalong Circle. I had the same problem (Dutch passport, can not be done by post BTW), and we simply set by the computer together and made the picture exactly to requirements.

There is something strange about this story.

A farang is violent towards other farang and pisses Thai off? And he has no problems because he has a friend in the police department?

There must be more to it.

So im not the only one who thinks that the phuketwan are a little over the top with their doom and gloom reporting ?

No, you are not. There have been some discussions with them about their way of reporting here on the site, have a look at these.

Totally agree with you (except for the dentist part).

Walked along Chalong pier on Saturday & Sunday about 17.00 and I was amazed at the big number of people coming off dive boats and day boats. Although Monday was much quieter.

At the pier at the moment (I am there nearly every morning) it looks like a normal high season, not any of the peak season days like it should be right now. I am expecting that next week things will look like any March/April day, and soon afterwards like any July/August day.

Hope I'm wrong though.

Do you listen ?

No, never.

Phuketrex is right,

About what? Many things were said on this thread, so your statement needs to be more specific.