MickeyM

Try 'Beirut' at Ploenchit Center (Suk. near Nana). Great Mediterranean cuisine.

Disney Parks in the US have reduced prices for those showing a local driver's license (in off-season).

There is also now a DELL operated showroom at Pantip - along East wall, 2nd or 3rd(??) floor. Other independent shops at Pantip also have some DELL units.

This Switch is how the Silom trains are able to return to the BTS MoChit maintenance/storage facility. Usually happens in the evening when service intervals are reduced.

There's a Japanese restaurant on Petchburi somewhere. I forgot excactly where. Was there only once but they had a good and relatively cheap Kobe steak. If only I could remember the name?

Name is 'Kobe Steak House' (Petchburi near Bantathong - Opp. Soi 5). Except for Kobe Beef, prices are in range of Zen/Fuji but quality is superior. (Formerly at Siam Square, but relocated to Petchburi over a year ago).

3 hotels on Petchburi / Soi 11 all at 1000b or less. (Opera / Lemonseed / Dream)

Following are two links to a simple program that will test the validity of a USB Flash Drive; It tests with a complete write/read w/verification process and also gives you a speed indication.

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/mess...thread.id=26372

http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/report-a...comment-page-2/

See Topic:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Fake-Kingsto...es-t282855.html

The Thailand IT community should be aware that there are a large quantity of defective USB flash drives currently being offered for sale in Thailand.

These drives are branded as being Kingston, but are fake. Many also are also deceptive by design and only contain a fraction of the quoted storage.

The chips are modified to report to Windows (or other OS's) as being full capacity, and Windows will appear to write at full capacity; however, when files are retrieved, most are unreadable.

(i.e a reported 2GB drive will contain only .5GB of valid storage.)

What is more deplorable is that these deceptive drives were sold by several vendors at the recent ComMart (where one might expect a screening for reputable dealers).

Some (of many)Internet references to this:

In English:

http://www.thefake32gbs.blogspot.com/

http://reviews.ebay.com/FAKE-KINGSTON-USB-8GB-DRIVES-amp-HOW-TO-TEST_W0QQugidZ10000000007729876

In Thai:

http://www.magmareport.com/content/4877?PHPSESSID=96bbcfcb0ef6025da7afc4292b503b34

Buyer Beware.

BTS: Card expires after 5 years (but can be replaced); stored value expires 2 years after last top-up or last use.

Another cost cutting opportunity: Eliminate over-night hotel costs for crew after a one hour Domestic flight. I recently flew BKK-Surat Thani on a morning flight; found that the crew had checked into my same hotel and were not scheduled to return to BKK until the next afternoon.

Another opportunity for Thai to cut costs: Stop over-night stays for flight crews after a one-hour domestic flight.

Thai Airways deserves to be bashed.

They operate at a massive loss and cost the taxpayer billions. In fact they are more than likely bankrupt in real terms.

They have their handout for a further $1billion from the Thai government while their directors get massive bonuses. The shareholders have a court injunction preventing those bonuses IIRC.

They may not even be in existence this time next year.

In regards to cost overhead, anyone ever notice that the Thai Crews regularly 'overnight' at their destination on a Domestic flight lasting no more than 1-2 hours. I was on an AM flight (Bkk-Surat Thani); the crew stayed at my hotel and returned to Bkk the following afternoon. Is this a union arrangement?

Another myth is that a visa renewal/extension renews the 90 day clock; It does not - even though you are clearly reporting your address on such application.

They are getting hard to find - Kinokuniya formerly had a good selection as did Book Chest, but they both seemed to have discontinued stocking them. Branches of Sce-Ed have a few. I also find Amazon.com to be the best source - shipping charges are almost offset by their discounts.

"If I went to Disneyland I might not get the local Florida resident price, but I would get the American price. They wouldn't be charging me more just because I'm black and I come from Uganda. "

The subject of this thread is double-pricing and Disneyland Orlando has double-pricing. Either you're a Floridian, or you are not. In Thailand, you're either Thai, or you're not. It's pretty simple; we're not cracking atoms here.

From: http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/cadisneyl...ounttickets.htm

Disneyland Discount Tickets for California Residents

• Southern Californians: If you live in zip codes 90000-93599, Disney offers frequent special deals and discounts for online purchases along with special discounts on annual passes. If you have out-of-town visitors and own an annual pass, you may also be able to get Disneyland discount tickets for your visitors.
  
• California Teachers: Members of ACSA, CTA, CRTA and First Financial Credit Union can get Disneyland discount tickets through TSA Special Services by phone or mail. They were offering excellent discounts on one-day tickets in late 2008, but their other offers were less impressive and you have to order far enough in advance to allow for mail delivery.
  
• Southern California University Students: Some area universities offer discounted, one-park, one-day Disneyland discount tickets for their students. Check with your Student Union.
  

Saw a coffee shop at Guangzhou (China) International Airport last month selling coffee at 78Y per cup (over $!! US)

Thanks guys for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions.

You might also try Coffee Society and Bug & Bee (both near Saladaeng BTS); mixed crowds, but generally friendly staff and customers.

Complete article attached.

ThailandPast.pdf

No, not really.

There is a new internet book site in Thailand - something like a small Amazon.com - but, other then a few decent older titles to act as bait, most of the books are not discounted a lot and postage prices push the price up to about what you would pay in a normal book store. Also, they probably don't have a lot of discounted business titles.

Your best bet is to go to Kinokuniya Books in the Siam Paragon Center or Emporium Shopping Center and get a great choice of books, but at a premium price.

Referenced site is probably: http://megabooksthailand.com/

- Global Solutions room 417 (4th floor - West side); Always done a good job for me.

Mikes' Silom shut down about 2+ months ago.

There is an outdoor restaurant on Rama III about 1 block East of Narithiwat that is very good.