phuketsub

Thanks to all...I'll take the VIP bus, bring a bottle and listen to Adam Carolla the whole way.

My turn for a trip to Bangkok, so I have resurrected this interesting old thread. I need to get various things done there, and am wondering if it would just be easier to take a bus up and use public transport -- or drive it. I will stay four nights in the Muang Thong Thani area.

Back when I lived there (for a decade ending in 1997) the BTS was under construction and I went everywhere by bus, so I find the idea of driving there challenging and daunting at the same time. I wonder what others who have been through this would recommend.

The info in the above thread will indeed be helpful if I drive, but the highway map I have is very old and quite useless....Can anyone recommend a good one? It can be in Thai or English.

Sadly, my co-pilot is map illiterate, which has been the source of numerous 'blowouts' in the past...

Also, have there been any improvements to the roads mentioned in the above threads?

Money is a factor here as well. I need to do all of this as cheaply as possible.

As always, any and all advice much appreciated.

I would not drive in Bangkok myself, public transport there is excellent and can be cheap and/or fast.

With bustickets for a comfortable bus about 1,000 Baht one way and the drive up there probably more expensive in petrol/diesel alone I would consider the bus.

Yes, I am leaning that way. The problem is that I have been on Mafia Isle for so long I forget that good public transport exists in the rest of the country...it will also save me a good deal of stress

My turn for a trip to Bangkok, so I have resurrected this interesting old thread. I need to get various things done there, and am wondering if it would just be easier to take a bus up and use public transport -- or drive it. I will stay four nights in the Muang Thong Thani area.

Back when I lived there (for a decade ending in 1997) the BTS was under construction and I went everywhere by bus, so I find the idea of driving there challenging and daunting at the same time. I wonder what others who have been through this would recommend.

The info in the above thread will indeed be helpful if I drive, but the highway map I have is very old and quite useless....Can anyone recommend a good one? It can be in Thai or English.

Sadly, my co-pilot is map illiterate, which has been the source of numerous 'blowouts' in the past...

Also, have there been any improvements to the roads mentioned in the above threads?

Money is a factor here as well. I need to do all of this as cheaply as possible.

As always, any and all advice much appreciated.

many thanks...there is definitely a learning curve on these, but once you get used to it you can never go back...(I have size 15 feet and commensurately sized hands, so I can't fit into a regular keyboard..)

Other recommendations much appreciated

Give Mr Com a try. He has everything.

They have a big store in town near slaughterhouse intersection.

Will do, tx.

The local method is to cover it with a wet burlap bag. These can be bought at Supercheap. I often fear this is gonna lead to a methane explosion in Patong, in addition to worsening the flooding problem there.

I am desperate to find a Microsoft 4000 Ergonomic Keyboard and they seem out of supply all over Phuket, where I live. As I will be coming to Bangkok next week I wonder if anyone on the tech side knows where they might be available in the city...or if they are even still making them. see attached pix. any help appreciated.

That's quite a collection and some seem to have some ergonomic features, but I really need the one specified...I am starting to fear it is no longer available in Thailand

Below is a pic of the same model reassembled...this was the top Ergo Keyboard for a long time...where did they go?

I have the same keyboard. I ordered it in Phuket Town a few years ago from a freind of a freind of a freind, who is not around anymore. I am also in need of a new one, I have worn mine out. Let me know what you find..please. I will do some checking on my end too.

It's a deal...if necessary maybe I can get one for each of us in Bangkok...if my hands don't fall off at the wrists by then

http://www.invadeit....gory/keyboards/

any of these do the job?

have a talk with them...they have online chat ...they can probably order one in for you.

will try, tx

That's quite a collection and some seem to have some ergonomic features, but I really need the one specified...I am starting to fear it is no longer available in Thailand

Below is a pic of the same model reassembled...this was the top Ergo Keyboard for a long time...where did they go?

I tried in vain to clean and repair my Microsoft 4000 Ergonomic Keyboard (see pic) then yesterday hit Central and all the shops at BigC seeking a replacement. None had any in stock and the few staff that went to the trouble to see if it could be ordered all said "no have" (eg in Bangkok)...if anyone knows where to buy in Phuket I would be much obliged...my wrists are hurting me already just by typing this.

I bought it here at IT City, but that has since closed down and the building now houses a bank.

I will go to Bangkok soon and understand that Pantip would be the best place to look, but I would really get one in Phuket asap...any help much appreciated.

honoluabay

Posted 9 minutes ago

Last week Monday my thai gf and I went out for a drink and 2 days later we are sick as can be. Sore all over, swollen glans, stomach ache, can't eat much. Was wanting seeing if any other TV peeps are not felling well or is it a bug going around. Thanks

truly unfortunate. I hope both your and your 'girlfriends' glans recover soon.

If your girlfriend has swollen glans you might have a bigger and more embarrassing problem on your hands than you think. 'Glans' typically refers to the head of the penis, whereas glands are internal structures...Anyway, I don't want to play language police to someone who isn't feeling well...get well soon.

I got something too...just weakness, maybe a slight temperature and a definite lack of appetite. Several days now. I believe Mr Oilinki had a thread not long ago complaining of the same thing. Too bad you can't get 'medical marijuana'' here to induce the munchies...Anyway, I don't think it is anything serious and I expect to be over it soon.

I had the same feeling after watching Samsara..too bad I will probably never get to see it on a big screen...I have yet to watch Life Of Pi, but it's trickling in now:

Whether or not the drivers allow this "hopping on/hopping off" outside the three designated stops will be a key to the success of this service...The existing Airport Bus, which seems to be overlooked in all this discussion, allows this to a certain degree. With the increasing traffic one expects there would be plenty of time to let people who didn't have much luggage to get on or off

.

The days of sitting by the beachside with a foam box full of ice, waiting to sell a can of coke for 35 or 40THB to a fat, lazy, but cashed up Australian, are numbered...

And so too are the businesses of thousands of Thais who have nothing to do with the tuk tuks...

So what? These are the people who look the other way and tolerate the Mafias in their back yards. Maybe if these people would speak up and point out to the governor of Phuket that all the kickbacks he gets from the Mafias are worthless if tourists stop coming, maybe then he will listen. There are no innocent victims in this scam. Complacency and willful ignorace may very well be the Thai way, and then they have to live with the consequences. I have said it many times. Speak with our dollars. Let the Russians and Iranians have Phuket. It's too far gone to save.

I do not think it is fair to allege the governor of Phuket is getting kickbacks from the tuk-tuk groups and shows a lack of understanding about how institutionalized corruption works here. The current governor has only been in office for a few months, I believe; the tuk-tuks have been entrenched for decades.

Yes, there is institutionalized corruption afoot, but these governors are only short-term apparatchiks who can only benefit from projects they need to initiate and/or sign off on. The real corruption of the type discussed in this thread lies in law enforcement (including prosecutors), local administration offices (tessaban, OrBorTor), etc.

Even though this is a masquerade party where everyone can say whatever they want with no fear of reprisal, libel is still unacceptable.

Soi crocodile. She will leave with the fondest of memories.

I had the same conundrum with both of my parents about ten years ago -- after a 15 year wait. I put them up in Cherng Talay and they quickly got bored, in part because they live in a beachfront condo in Florida. Then I took them to Karon, which they liked. I decided they had to see Bangla and, to my surprise, they loved Soi Crocodile. It was the highlight of their trip and they still talk about it to this day. Go figure.

This is probably just a coincidence, but there were cops on the main highway intersections around 8:00pm last night, and the turnoff to the airport was blocked off for awhile. My wife and I were trying to get to Nai Yang beach to meet another couple for dinner and a New Year's Eve party. When we got to Nai Yang Seafood restaurant, the beach to the north was cordoned off for a private party for 25 russians. They had a very elaborate Chinese dragon dance, fire dancers, an excellent live band, great fireworks, and body guards all around the perimeter of the party are to keep rubber-neckers at a distance. Our waiters said that the party cost in excess of three million baht. Looks like they had a great party (as did we), and who knows, maybe Putin was one of the 25 guests.

I had dinner at Nai Yang beach last night with one of the business owners there. She mentioned that the Russian New Year's party was organized for Putin who stayed for a couple of days at the Indigo Pearl. I guess that explains the extravagant production, and all the Russian plain clothes security men around the parameter of the party.

I thought I saw a "Pussy Riot" on Bangla Road last night - but aren't they in gaol?

nice one...when they are released we should book them for the next Phuket Carnival.

Just get a non-venemous snake, then fit your dog with one of those electroshock collars. When he goes after the snake, zap him. Lather, rinse, repeat. Pavlov would approve.

Those are unsolved issues which therefore keep on the top of the list. For newspapers and other media those stories increase the sales.

The change on the forum starts from you. Write about something else. Do it until few others start to do the same and you'll get the snowball rolling.

Good advice...let's get creative people.

Here's the latest installment, in sticker form at the main entrance to SuperCheap.

Very cute. I don't see that as graffiti

I'll bet you would if you found one on the side of your house!

Perhaps we need a new word like 'stickerfitti' to describe it.

Here's the latest installment, in sticker form at the main entrance to SuperCheap.

I heard from a reliable source that Vladimir Putin is in Phuket now. I wonder if this why there are so many 'special' cops on the streets of Phuket Town today. Does anyone know anything about this or what resort he is at? I would like to try and get some pix.

Is this part of a 70s revival or what?

I went to Paknam Seafood (in Rassada) and Laemhin Seafood on consecutive days recently. I would say Paknam has better food and more professional service.