onzestan

Thaksin has been the best Prime Minister these peoples have ever had and will ever have

Can you be more precise which people?

Probably Thaksin's lawyers!!!!

onzestan

What many people here fail to understand, is that there are some persons that don't care to pay a little bit more just to have a smooth comfortable and hassle free ride to any destination.

Not everything is a scam certainly not the taxi's in Bangkok (most of the time). I can tell some real horror stories though about taxi's in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and many other places.

my 2 cents

onzestan

Did you ever posted something that you'd regret doing so afterwards?

For reasons like:

1-You would think that you had either caused harm to yourself by enclosing information that should not publicly exposed in the cyber world .

2- Causing embarrassment or casting undeliberate blunt remarks to others by posting an anti-opinion or a different personal view;that they might take it seriously as a personal insults or offends, to a limit they would consider you as an "enemy".

That's all I could remember for now;I hope you'd add up more to this unfavorable "posts" that you had noticed during being a member in TV forum.

The only thing I regret is starting to like some members on the basis of their posting and then later being disappointed big time on a new topic that showed their real way of thinking.

cheers

onzestan

I looked up a uk site which advised to give food and water until the bird can fly again, then let it find it's own way home -so that's what we will do.

Correct, but you might give the bird a little more than just rice (and no cooked rice plse).

I'm sure you'll find the right grains at any pet shop, and this should not be expensive.

Anyway congrats for doing the right thing.

onzestan

I have to take issue with this, I thought the second most asked question was 'how do I get to/from the airport'

No not so!

It has to be : What's the cheapest way to get to/from the airport.

cheers

onzestan

Your best bet is to go back to UK on Emirates or Etihad and stop off at the Diamond Market in Dubai and buy your diamond there.

It'll be 1/4 of the price you can get it in Thailand or UK. The one for my missus was and you get an authentication certificate also.

Or when in the UK take a trip to Antwerp's diamond quarter (Vestingstraat).

cheers

onzestan

Dear libya115.

You asked a question and I replied.

If you cannot help yourself from interpreting this as unhelpfull missives then that's your problem.

Anyway this is the second time that you try to insult me about being a Flemish extremist, which in both cases have no bearing on the topic involved.

I do not accept that.

onzestan

Regarding the meters. They will never be used until the metered fares are fixed at a level that the drivers believe can make them a profit and pay for those brand new and expensive cars. They are just trying to make a living. They don't have a duty to make losses to make a few expat farangs happy.

Exactly !!!!

onzestan

I flew Qatar Airways a few days ago LONDON-DOHA . The journey time was 6 h 22 mins

I flew Qatar Airways DOHA-BANGKOK on the same journey, time 7 hours 13 minutes

I have travelled on numerous occassions from DOHÁ/DUBAI to Bangkok and the journey time has ALWAYS been 5.5 hours or 6.0 hours.

Plus: Onboard the aircraft, no journey time was mentioned by the pilots AND the display journey map was not functioning. (Showing flight times)

Am I paranoid

Yes !!!

onzestan

A lot of small things, but generally more happiness and contentment.

onzestan

Hi@all,

in February we would like to see other parts of Thailand and thought Krabi or Kao Lak/Phang Na may be nice. I Have looked at this site here to a few hotels but nothing seemed to be what I am looking for. So what do we like:

-small resort with huts rather then a living complex

-seaside

-restaurant e.g. on the beach in walking distance

-hot shower and private bath, A/C appreciated

-3 to 4 star

If somebody has some feedback and websites I would apprciated that.

Thanks

Look no further : Tropical Herbal Spa & Resort.

Only 9 bungalows. Book bungalow 9 it's the most spacious.

Very romantic setting and fantastic gardens.

Stayed there 3 times. Wouldn't book anywhere else in Ao Nang.

cheers

onzestan

i have heard that most beggars in thailand are controlled by gangs and that you should not give to them or you perpetuate a bad situation in which they have all their money snatched away from them by some gang leader and are beaten if they have not gotten enough... on the other hand, if you give them money they don't get beaten! or you could give them food! it can't be nice crawling around on a city street with your baby begging from people, or being a 5 year old kid selling roses to sex tourists at 1am.... what do you think?

Had to fit the X word in didn't you. How revealing.

onzestan

Again, why did she not make a stand as most any other passenger would do.

Notwithstanding possible misunderstandings, there is not ONE argument that can justify an airline bumping a passenger of a flight when having a confirmed ticket.

The passenger should get what he/she paid for no matter what the circumstances, or at the very least being offered a viable alternative.

I have posted time and again that the airline industry is getting away with far to much malpractice.

My 2 cents

onzestan

Yes, I understand the business need for corkage fees, reasonable ones anyway, but now I am wondering about something. I recall in Australia there are many many BYOB restaurants with no corkage fee, plus tipping isn't a big part of the culture there, plus the food prices aren't bad, how do they do it?

Maybe because they don't have to invest in expensive wines that they have to buy years upfront and then maybe get sold or not. (the wines that is), or maybe because there's not much profit to be made on cheaper australian wines in Australia.

I don't know for sure just speculating.

cheers

onzestan

with these unmetered cabs, even if you are completely fluent in reading/speaking thai or even better, a thai national, know the roads/sois/expressways/shortcuts/oneways/traffic peak hr vs non peak hr etc... better than the collaborative knowledge of the entire taxi driver force....they'll still invariably try it on, thats their game.And when you out them, they have nothing but violence to fall back on.

the taxi game here is run by muscle(i'm led to believe), its unfortunate really, because as far as I am concerned, there really is niche market for a higher quality taxi experience(cabs like in japan with gps map tracking etc.., very professional/courteous drivers, guaranteed service levels(meter no questions asked, no dicking around on the route etc...), clean comfortable nice smelling cabs, electronic-payment options with receipts etc...)

If you notice that people are willing to take huge risks to save a few baht on taxi fares, imagine the reaction if confronted with the price of a Tokio taxi.

There is no viable market for this kind of service in Bangkok.

cheers

onzestan

Who cares, I'm not watching in protest to China and their policies .

Wow, that will make a real dent in world politics

cheers

onzestan

Except for all the above, why don't you ask the wordwide leader in sports (or so they claim) ESPNSTAR.

Their programs are in English.

cheers

onzestan

Hi BambinA

Maybe you are just having a bad day but you have completely misinterpreted the article you refer to.

Edit: It appears that no other respondent here has bothered to read the article.

Hi Bambina,

The above from Khonwan is the only sensible reply so far on your topic. You are indeed overreacting.

It's not about not wanting foreigners, it's about fear that the atmosphere of the whole community might change if to many

short stayers would be allowed to move into their perceived cocoon.

Don't worry about it the Dutch are very welcoming as long as you don't make an a$$ of yourself, but I guess that's the same all over the world.

Good luck (and keep your claws under control).

onzestan

I would look into Dental Hospital Bangkok on Suk 49...not cheap but it is the best I have seen. If you look at the health section on this board you will find that it is considered by far the highest quality dental clinic by the expat community here.

Thanks, will look in to it.

drive safely

onzestan

Does anyone have an idea what the going rate is for dental implants.

I will probably need 2 in the near future.

drive safely

onzestan

\

I dont mess with dental work, had problems in the past. I recently had 3 implants done at BPH, waiting for the caps. already had a cap on another. expensive for thai but cheap for the west, but outstanding work, I am claustrophobic and cant be laid back in the chair. dentists spoke perfect English, equipment the latest and service excellent. cant remember the exact price but if you go or call they will give you a complete breakdown and stick with it. My general dentist there is Dr Threpprasit sp] he practiced 20 years in the states and speaks better english than i do. best dental experience i ever had

Dear Jimmy,

Thanks for the info, but for reasons I don't want to go into BPH is out of the question.

Let's just say I had a number of very bad experiences, both me personally and friends, in said commercial enterprise.

drive safely

onzestan

onzestan,

dunno the the proces, but I had very unsatisfactory service in one of the Pattaya dentists shop in Pattaya Klang(across from Soi Bukhao) and was advised to go to the hospital in Sri Racha, the one next to Robinsons. Excellent service and they appear to have a lot of people coming from overseas for treatment. I walked in, was seen to right away, had 2 old fillings removed and refilled, and another temporary one done(cos I had left things too late and was going somewhere that afternoon)

Anyway, came to 2800 baht and was very satisfied with the work done. And no pain, main thing for me

Yes, must be the Piyathai Hospital.

That's where I was intending to have it done. Was quoted 40.000 Baht each, just wanted to have some price comparison, because it is my experience that in the private hospitals you can negotiate up to a certain point. Also have a lot of dental work done there to my entire satisfaction by Dr. Katiya Pola, who has very soft hands.

OK thanks for the info.

drive safely

onzestan

Does anyone have an idea what the going rate is for dental implants.

I will probably need 2 in the near future.

drive safely

onzestan

Qantas has 2nd safety scare just days after the Manilla incident.

Full details here :http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-07-28-qantas-scare_N.htm?csp=34

Hardly a "safety scare." More like yet another USA Today sensationalizing headline with very little "meat" in the actual incident or story.

Now if I was a passenger on a Qantas aircraft that had to return to airport for technical reasons, just days after another incident

you can bet I'd be scared, as a lot of the passengers seem to have been, and no I'm not American.

I don't understand why people feel the need to minimize actual incidents just because it's an airline with an exceptional safety reputation. Because something hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it never will.

Oh and BTW it wasn't only in US newspapers, but in newspapers all over the world, but I didn't think Dutch language (my mother tongue) articles were appropriate for an English language forum.

Drive safely

onzestan

whatever is said there, the main issue is not age....it is maintenance

Exactly!

Maybe I'm not so knowledgeable about airplanes as some of the other posters seem to be, but the fact is that a size-able portion of the oxygen masks did not deploy, and that many of them that did were faulty, that indicates to me that somewhere, something was neglected.

If that should happen to me, 3 minutes without oxygen, with my frail health, I'd be dead.

Drive safely

onzestan

I'd travel Qantas any day over some dodgy budget airline that is maintained and staffed by clueless relatives of the management. Qantas maintenance/engineers are good and so are their pilots and crew.

Qantas is also a lot more transparent about reporting problems than some of the 'regionals', who typically report safety problems after they've had a 'hard landing' that nobody walked away from (ie. that they couldn't cover up).

Hard to cover up these 2 incidents isn't it.

Maybe it's time to give the oldest 747's a well deserved retirement?

drive safely

onzestan