THAILIBAN

which particular countries are you interested in, and what do you want to pay for that ?

are you only interested in the latest editions, or accept older books (let's say, 2006-2008) as well ?

I might have some you could like here, and I am in RAM

Just because they say they take them does not mean they will work. Credit cards from out of country seldom work here. And then it is usually not more than once. Thai credit cards seem to be more reliable from certain banks only. Kasikorn and Bangkok Bank mostly. But this is not a credit card friendly country.

T

nonsense

I have been using credit cards at at least 100 different petrol stations in Thailand and never had problems (though I always asked upfront before they started to fill my tank). never any of their CC-machines did refuse my cards, be it Visa or Master.

just make sure to cover the 3-digit- number on the backside of the card (using a black tape or a black marker) if you want to avoid ur data being stolen

Every August, the girls in Chiang Mai on Loi Kroh road call me "hunsom man" for a month or two, but this year they started in June.

as they know you are a RICH MAN, being the owner of a gigantic Book-empire, they actually should be more smart and call you a "handsome man" 365 days a year

This is why I have deleted every invite I ever got from facebook and other sites. Worse virus to ever hit the internets.

no big deal, as long as you never provide your REAL personal data

I have had similar problems with this same sub post office. Letters not arriving, I suspected she was pocketing the cash. Don't use it anymore, safer to go up to Mae Jo main office.

as long as nobody reports those problems, it will continue.

so the OP actually did the right thing, even some annoying paperwork was involved.

if everybody would do that, the "beautiful girl" would be kicked out sooner or later......

but one reason for me to stick to the main post offices indeed.....

AVIS usually have great Pre-paid rates.

try to call their head-office in BKK (google for it) and ask for the prepaid rates and tell them how long u want to rent the car.

you should be able to get a deal around 850 baht per day or so.

another ok-option is NORTHWEELS.com

they are based in CM but have a branch in CR (and usually allow one-way-rentals at no extra cost).

sometimes they have very good off-season deals, though their older cars may have the one or other scratch (but that did never bother me much)

Hi

Koh Samed is a great island and well worth a visit not too busy in september, as there are no thai holidays. nice bungalows are located in Ao Phudsa / Ao tubtim. If you want Busy and back to basics try Saikaew Beach- Laem Yai Hut Home. Check out the website http://www.kohsamed.net . it lists all accommodation on samed and their contact details.

have a great trip

Thanks very much for your help.

great website indeed, thanks !

shows me once more that I still do not know all online-resources in Thailand !

even if you do not use this company to make a booking, their accom-list is still extremely useful and the most comprehensive for Samed I found so far

I stayed at a new budget hotel right by the monument about a year ago. Keep thinking it was Tune (AirAsia), but not certain. In any event it was just like a Tune, very clean and with minimal hotel amenities. Had Internet and many food places in immediate vicinity. Location was about 50 m from the monument circle. Well under 1k baht.

TUNEHOTELS does not operate any hotels in Thailand yet

still surprised that nobody mentioned the

CREDIT CARD SCAM

imposed by the Thai banks, e.g: charging you in the currency of your home country instead of Thai Baht.

by agreeing to be charged in your home currency, you will pay a hidden "commission" that can be anything from 3% up to 10% (the Supermarkets at EMPORIUM and PARAGON did that a few years ago!).

ALWAYS insist to be charged in THAI BAHT. if your home currency appears on the credit card slip,do not sign it.

KASIKORN BANK is infamous for that procedure nowadays. when shopping nowadays, I always tell the cashier not to use KASIKORN BANK credit-card-billing, and they usually smile then, as they are well aware of the scam.

the latest culprits are ASIABOOKS. they never did tried to charge me in my home currency until a couple of months ago.

the staff actually KNOWS that they are doing something dodgy, as they will fold the credit-card-slip in a way that you will not see that you actually agree to be charged in Euro/Dollars/Pounds.

that might be neglectable if the amount is 700 Baht, but I had a bill of 750.000 baht to pay at Bumrungrad Hospital a few years ago, and thanks god I learned about that rip-off a few months before my health-incident. that would have cost me 22.500 Baht extra otherwise.

to be fair, Bumrungrad had before asked me if I want to be charged in my home currency or in Baht, when I went there for a minor health problame a year earlier.

Until that day, I wasn't even aware that I have the RIGHT TO REFUSE to be charged in my home currency.

such thing never happened to me in Malaysia, Philippines or Indonesia. but unfortunately, they started this nasty game in mainland China as well as Hong Kong recently..... (and unfortunately I speak ZERO Mandarin or Cantonese)

A way to remove a nuisance to passengers and damage to the reputation of Thailand?

OR

A way to remove competition from the TAT taxi service available as you depart bagage claim which costs considrerably more?

OR

Am I just being cynical?

there are no illegal drivers inside the baggage-claim area, so what's your point actually ?

apart from that, I find it perfectly okay for TAT to offer that service inside the baggage-claim area.

it is YOUR decision to make use of those services or not. if you don't like it, just leave the arrival area and go downstairs to get a metered cab.

after all, the TAT has to EARN MONEY as every other airport in the world has to.

otherwise their managers will get the boot.

so what's all the moaning and whining......

of course I wanted to say AOT, not TAT

My flight to Krabi from Bkk cost 1740 baht with air asia and i dont get those chopped diced formed and reformed crappy chicken sandwiches bkk air insist on serving seems a hefty price bkk air are charging, i wonder if it is because they have too many flights operating out of peak season so you get a decent time slot but it costs you double to get it as the planes are half empty. If they didn't have so many flights though the surat thani option would become much more appealing as it's better to keep moving than sit around in an airport waiting for a flight.

Don Mueang - Phuket on NOK AIR: 789,01 Baht (incl. Taxes and 15 kg luggage)

booked just 10 days ago for departure on 4th of August

now how is THAT ?

New possibility: Nok Air is flying to Nakonsithammarat. From there Lomprayah offers a coach to Suratthani and then the speed boat to Nathon. Suratthani - Nathon only 45 Minutes. From airport to Samui it's only 500 Baht .

this has already been discussed MUCH MUCH earlier in this topic !

wake up !

Cebu Pacific are not very user friendly when it comes to online payment. No probs with the card or issuing bank, just that Ceb Pac does not like many cards, particularly UK ones. Apparantly, Mastercard works, but I dont have one of those.

it is actually not that CEB does not like foreign credit cards, it's rather that those superordinate credit-card-security companies do BLOCK them. in my case, I was told by my home bank, that CEB has been blocked by one of those two security-companies operating in my country (and 70% of the banks use that company for CC-security purposes).

I called that company and I was told that due to frequent online fraud and theft of data-transfer from the CEB-website, their website has been blacklisted for any online transactions, and that there will be no changes anytime soon.

since a few weeks, another airline is blocked for my cards: Tiger Airways :-(

in April, I still could use my card to purchase tickets from their website

if the same thing happens to AirAsia, my traveling-life in Asia comes to an end

Clearly written by Farang for Farang gains only. Thai people, TOT & CAT will loose out.

what a rubbish.

In Manila and Jakarta they are laughing about 3G already, you can already use 3,5G there.

the entire thing is a typical example for the childish and immature attitude of most of most of the Thai society.

but MAI BPEN RAI, I will still stay here nevertheless, cause I outright LOVE childish and immature behaviour

A way to remove a nuisance to passengers and damage to the reputation of Thailand?

OR

A way to remove competition from the TAT taxi service available as you depart bagage claim which costs considrerably more?

OR

Am I just being cynical?

there are no illegal drivers inside the baggage-claim area, so what's your point actually ?

apart from that, I find it perfectly okay for TAT to offer that service inside the baggage-claim area.

it is YOUR decision to make use of those services or not. if you don't like it, just leave the arrival area and go downstairs to get a metered cab.

after all, the TAT has to EARN MONEY as every other airport in the world has to.

otherwise their managers will get the boot.

so what's all the moaning and whining......

I doubt the tour guide was correct. The limit is one litre. You cannot exchange one item on the list for another. I have never heard of this happening in any country. It is more likely that the customs officer ignored the second bottle or incorrectly assumed that one was spirits and one was wine. Perhaps he was just being generous.

nonsense

spirit and wine doesn't make a difference.

One Liter is allowed, and that's it

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Traveller/TravelEng.jsp?menuNme=Travel

"Sorry to cut your post apart, BUT you asked THREE different questions about ‘a person’s particular situation'"

Is there now a limit on the number of questions that can be asked? I must have missed that notification.

OP, Why not check out cheap flights to Malaysia. You can fly there, stay one night and still probably save some money.

Tourist visas are currently free, and will give you 60 days, plus an extension of 30 more from an immigration office for 1900 baht.

Even having to spend one night there every 90 days, it's probably cheaper than going to Laos every 15 days. Even if not cheaper, it should save you some time.

agree.

Lufthansa flies to KUL 4 times a week, with fares BELOW 4.000 Baht inclusive all Taxes (plus you can even earn Star-Alliance Miles). Did that twice already during the past 12 months. check out their Thai website at http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/th and u will immediately see those promo-offers

The live-music scene (and I am talking about non-covers) has been pretty lame in the recent past (except for the BUZZCOCKS late last year).

the only place to see some half-decent non-cover-bands would be ROCK PUB, plus maybe METAL-ZONE or NORIEGAS, if you are lucky.

http://www.bangkokgi...m/gigstoday.php could help. though, you have to scroll down half an hour until u reach the "non-cover" section ;-)

I am usually forced to stick to my 1.500 alternative- / Indie-CDs these days, to the pleasure of my Thai neighbors

NOK AIR has a Combo-Ticket on offer at the moment:

DMK - Surat Thani plus land-/sea-transfer included. 990 Baht per pax one-way.

check their website for that:

http://www.nokair.co...amui990July2010

and be quick as the offer can only be booked until 31st of July.

for your future trips, I recommend you to check transport-options before booking any accom ;-)

Don muang - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Donsak - Ko Samui.

OOOOOPS !

the flight goes to NST ? well, I just checked the website again and there is indeed not the smallest hint where your flight actually touches down.... only the final destination "Samui" or "Koh Phangan" is mentioned. but you are right, flight DD 7804 is indeed the flight to NST...... I am sure not many people are aware of this or would even think about the possibility that the flight goes to NST....

thanks for clarifying this, Poorsucker

.

Not sure is Nok air still in operation.

With the problems you have all ready encountered are you sure you would want to fly with them. Do they take care of there air craft in the same manner.

Must be a long time since I have read such a load of rubbish......

Also a round of TPL matches on this Wednesday 28th

Navy Rayong v Muang Thong Utd

TOT Cat v Sisaket

Bangkok Glass v Samut Songkrahm

Chonburi v Pattaya Utd

BEC Tero v Buriram PEA

Bangkok United v Osotspa Saraburi

Insee Police United v Thai Port

anybody going to see one of these weekday-games in BKK ?

I am really tempted to watch a game, but except for some lowest-league Farang- amateur games (where I was involved as a REF sometimes) I never did.

would need someone to introduce me and "show me around" a little...... I would pay the first 2 beers, BTW

Come and watch Chonburi v Bang Phra. You can be at the stadium in less than an hour from central BKK. I'd be happy to show you around. And drink your beer.

Kick off is at 6:00pm.

thank's a lot for your offer, mate, but going all the way down to Chonburi (and returning late at night with a couple of Pints inside my tummy) is a tad too much of a hassle on a weekday.....

what about u come over when Chonburi plays somewhere in BKK ? unless it is a Buddhist holiday (such as is the case today) we have plenty of beers here in BKK to choose from too....

I am sure Malaysia would like to get hold of unspoiled PALAWAN, as BORNEO is loosing its' appeal more and more due to deforestation and overdevelopment, but for the time being, PALAWAN is still part of the Philippines.....

Take the train a bit further south and jump on a Singapore Airlines flight from Changi to Heathrow. You can have a very comfortable one-way flight in an A380 Suite for just GBP6,201.82 including taxes.

you buy one ticket for a luxury-1st-class suite, and the OP buys 25 one-way-tickets on AirAsiaX between Asia and the UK for the same amount.....

different people, different approach

That amount of pain and hassle makes the price of a first class ticket with BA from BKK to Heathrow actually seem worth it

not if he would have taken the non-stop flight from CNX to KUL on AirAsia, which probably would have been not more expensive than this gruesome and hasslesome 48-hrs train ride.

it's really stunning me why the OP did not fly nonstop to KUL, he would not even have to change the terminal to hop on his Stansted-bound flight

NOK AIR has a Combo-Ticket on offer at the moment:

DMK - Surat Thani plus land-/sea-transfer included. 990 Baht per pax one-way.

check their website for that:

http://www.nokair.com/s1000_obj/contents/html/en-US/samui990July2010.html?utm_source=NokAir_homepage&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=samui990July2010&s_cid=samui990July2010

and be quick as the offer can only be booked until 31st of July.

for your future trips, I recommend you to check transport-options before booking any accom ;-)