THAILIBAN

before proceeding to AirAsia check-in-desk, check the weight of your luggage at another airline's counter to find out. if its over 15 Kg, u still can try to move something to ur hand-luggage.

did so flying SUB - JHB and KUL - BKK this week, the scale showed 15,2 kg and 15,1 kg at those two airports, and nobody charged me extra.

my handluggage though might be small in volume, but is usually 15-20 Kg when flying AirAsia. never had probloems, cause its sooooooooooo small (business-case and a plastic bag) by size

they want to be cheated, so dont be morally concerned. after more than 100 flights with them, I know how to play the game.... u should do same....

I hate AirAsia, and I love them....

You are not likely to obtain more than a single entry in either location. I believe Penang has stopped the requirement to produce an air ticket out but you could be met by that requirement if not.

Wow. Received double entry from Vientianne both times with no problem. Might have to rethink my travel plans.

but LAYANGLAYANG is lovely indeed !

not a shame to lose against the mighty mighty Schwaben-Bombers from Stuttgart . they - same as last year - come from behind..... see them again in the CL 2008/2009 (hopefully more successful then.... )

Thailand just needs a "LOBIN HOOD".... with a powerful rifle.... thats all.... no NottingHAMMERS in here ?

this sounds good...

can I apply for it at my nearestTRUE office tomorrow ? when does it start in Thailand ? in May or do I have to wait until June ? (2008, that is....)

cause here I have a GRID............LOCK

play, its always fun

it's pure anarchy and 1000 dead on the road speak for itself.....

I do like fun and having a good time, but nowadays thats just a traditional celebration converted into a nationwide madhouse..... (by the way, many Thai people agree with me here).

less than 36 hours b4 my flight leaves to a peaceful place outside the kingdom, where I can celebrate my birthday (which unfortunately is always during Songkhran) in style....

but dont have false hopes: "I shall return"

COFFEE SOCIETY at Silom, just next to Sala Daeng BTS-station.

by far the most comfy and private place for using own laptop in Bangkok that I know of. electricity plugs everywhere, nice coffee and cakes, very good privacy. therefore: most laptop tables (upper floor) full at any time of the day (open 24 hrs !).

not really very near to Saphan Khwai BTS, but easy to reach by Skytrain. Have a look

such requests should always include the BUDGET, otherwise its difficult to give a good recommendation....

Not quite the deep south, but I hope someone in this forum might offer some advice. I had planned to fly to Langkawi at Songkran, but Air Asia cancelled the flight last November.

I'm thinking of flying from BKK to Trang, and then going to Satun and getting the ferry. OR, would it be easier to fly to Had Yai and then go to Satun.

Any advice welcome.

G

hmmmmm..... dont know why u opened this Langkawi thing again in a new topic, but for sure its MUCH QUICKER and CHEAPER to fly To Had Yai.

Trang is only being served by the - nowadays quite expensive - NOKAIR, whereas Hat Yai can be reached by THAI, AirAsia, NOK and 1-2-GO. and competition keeps prices lower. Thai AirAsia often has 399++ deals if u book in advance. 1-2-GO has super-cheapo deals as well at the moment.

from Hat Yai airport, you can take a mini-Bus to downtown (80 Baht if I remember that right). this airport-Mini-Bus will pass the Hat-Yai-Mini-Bus terminal after less than 10 minutes ride, from where there are frequent departures not only to SATUN TOWN, but continuing to Thammalang Pier as well.

Trang is more far away and the Mini-Bus departures are less frequent.

Thanks for the advice Thailiban. Much appreciated.

I opened it anew because the previous thread was in the airport forum, whereas this is basically also asking about land transport. I didn't think the title/location of the other thread would get me the answer I needed.

..... or you could go BKK - Hatyai - Kuala Polis (Malaysia). Kuala Polis is closer to Hatyai than the ferry pier in Satun. From there, ferry ride straight to Langkawi.

that doesnt make much sense, the ferry goes "straight to Langkawi" from Satun as well. And considering the time lost at the land-border, there is nothing saved going to Kuala Perlis (not POLIS, POLIS means "police" in Malay). And I doubt that there is a direct Mini-Bus going from the Hat-Yai MiniBus-station to Kuala Perlis, whereas Busses to Satun and further to Thammalang Pier leave every 30-45 minutes or so and are cheap.

Just make sure u arrive in HatYai early enough to catch the last ferry to Langkawi from Satun.

From TRANG you only have one option, thats the daily NOK flight at 8.30 , which can be quite expensive. right now I checked a weekday-flight and it was 1700++, a total of around 2.600 baht (though at other days, it might be around 1.800 if you are lucky). for that price (2.600) you can already get a discounted online-ticket from THAI INTERNATIONAL to Hat Yai.

oh, and dont change THAI BAHT to RINGGIT at the Satun or Langkawi ferry-stations. they give horrible rates. some moneychangers at the tourism areas give much better rates.

if you dont have ringgit already, change ur Baht to Dollar or Euro at the airport b4 leaving, and then back to Ringgit once u arrived in Malaysia. may save you around 5-10% of your money's value....

From what news source did this story originate? Teens having sex? How awfull. They should wait until they are at least 35 & also married.

welcome to the world of the THAI-LIBAN

Not quite the deep south, but I hope someone in this forum might offer some advice. I had planned to fly to Langkawi at Songkran, but Air Asia cancelled the flight last November.

I'm thinking of flying from BKK to Trang, and then going to Satun and getting the ferry. OR, would it be easier to fly to Had Yai and then go to Satun.

Any advice welcome.

G

hmmmmm..... dont know why u opened this Langkawi thing again in a new topic, but for sure its MUCH QUICKER and CHEAPER to fly To Had Yai.

Trang is only being served by the - nowadays quite expensive - NOKAIR, whereas Hat Yai can be reached by THAI, AirAsia, NOK and 1-2-GO. and competition keeps prices lower. Thai AirAsia often has 399++ deals if u book in advance. 1-2-GO has super-cheapo deals as well at the moment.

from Hat Yai airport, you can take a mini-Bus to downtown (80 Baht if I remember that right). this airport-Mini-Bus will pass the Hat-Yai-Mini-Bus terminal after less than 10 minutes ride, from where there are frequent departures not only to SATUN TOWN, but continuing to Thammalang Pier as well.

Trang is more far away and the Mini-Bus departures are less frequent.

when the LCCT still didnt exist, I always took the speed train to KL SENTRAL. 28 minutes, and a ride smooth as silk......

when the LCCT opened, I was kinda reluctant to use those shuttle busses, but nowadays I must say, I got used to it. its quite okay and very cheap. and faster than the speed-train, because - as Florin already mentioned - it is a hassle and time-consuming to get to the main terminal building from the LCCT.

so u better stick to the cheap 8 or 9 RM-Busses, and u will arrive at KL SENTRAL in usually no more than 75 minutes. departures are frequent, every 10-15 minutes, several companies doing that trip.

the speedtrain costs 35 RM one way, and only saves u time in case ur flight arrives at the main terminal.

oh and a tip: when u arrive at KL SENTRAL, dont deal with any Taxi-driver directly. KL's Taxi-drivers are the biggest shame of Malaysia. Buy an inexpensive fixed-price-voucher (usually 10-12 RM for all downtown hotels) at one of the several desks. there is one too when arriving from the airport by KLIA EXPRESS. just dont go to the LIMOUSINE-counter, its much more expensive than the ECONOMY-TEKSI-counter just next to it....

sorry, this might be a bit off-topic, but could you explain to a DUMMIE what kind of hardware is needed to connect a notebook with EDGE ?

long time ago, I bought a Motorola-mobile-phone with built-in Modem from a shop in Pattaya's TUKCOM to use GPRS, but that was 100% crap (i think the mobile phone was crap as well as the AIS-connection that time, it could easily interrupt 10 times per hour, and slow as a snail.... sometimes less than 1 KB / sec.

so I was annoyed after a while and stopped using it.....

can anybody tell me what would I need to give EDGE a try ?

and any DTAC or AIS-shop in Bangkok where they have skilled english-speaking-staff who would be able and patient enough to explain everything or even initiate the whole thing ?

thank you

but I still wanna see it WITH subtitles somewhere.....

THAILIBAN; Almost EVERY school which teaches the thai language offers ED visa 'assistance'. It is a selling tool to get a year's tuition paid in advance. Just as every school I've looked into has their curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education. Neither are anything new. Given the enforcement of existing visa laws on the books the ED Visa is only now being given the intense scrutiny on this forum.

My suggestion is to visit as many different thai language schools as you can. All of them offer a free lesson; take it, see what school's method 'clicks' for you.

You might be hard pressed to find a language school which only uses thai fonts, and not as you so elegantly put it; "ridiculous transcription". The Callan/Walen School uses ONLY thai written materials, but you pre-ruled them out because they offer visa 'assistance'. Other schools to my knowledge use transcription for several books before making the jump to exclusively thai script in their books. Someone posted in another thread that a school whose name eludes me offers their books either in thai or transliteration.

IF you're not interested in the 'visa assistance' don't take it. Don't rule out a language school simply because it offers that option without seeing if their program and method of teaching will work for you.

This is far from the easiest language to learn to speak or read, although I have found reading easier. I made the comment on another thread that if I wanted an easy to read, user friendly language I'd certainly start with an alphabet which has 6 letters which sound like a 'T' (ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ท, ธ, ถ), 5 letters which sound like a 'K' (ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ), 4 letters which sound like an 'S' (ซ, ศ, ษ, ส), and then throw in inherent vowels, silent letters, as well as letters which start words with one sound yet if they end a word have a different sound altogether. Clearly this is an easy to read, easily learned language used by the diminutive inhabitants here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais".

Where ever you decide to go, good luck. .

it was actually meant ironically

too bad you cannot recall the name of that school which offers both the option of using Thai fonts or transcription in the textbooks. my very unusual case is: I CAN READ THAI, but "phuut Thai mai dai"

The low-cost terminal, because of the layout of the access roads, the terminal transfer bus does indeed travel for 20km.

Via Satun as posted above would be one of the faster ways to get there, I reckon...

well, actually its just across the runway, 1-2 KM from the main terminal. but yes, if you need to get to the main Terminal, then indeed the shuttle-bus has to ride in circles to get there....

but I guess the OP gets a wrong impression.... the LCCT is not 20 km "away from the airport".

and why care about the main terminal, when u find inexpensive shuttle-busses (80-90 Baht) going to KL central, just when u leave LCC-terminal building.

since the LCCT opened, I have used it 10-12 times and never needed to go to the main terminal, as I didnt have any connecting flight on a big carrier....

the only downturn at the LCCT is, its already hopelessly overcrowded, as AirAsia is growing extremely fast. but terminal-extensions and upgrades are already in the pipeline.....

from what you write, Bangkok Inter Place, in Ram 24 should exactly match your requirements. just behind the Rajamangala stadium, less than a stonethrow away from the Uni, and very reasonable-priced for what u get..... I was already thinking of moving there (as the place where I stay now is actually too big for me), but I decided to wait for the opening of Lumpiniville in Ram 44 (which is NOT walking distance to the Uni, though).

may I post this? : www.bangkokinterplace.com

otherwise there are HUNDREDS of apartment-buildings around in the area.... starting at 2.500 BT per unit or so..... just walk around....

its actually called RamKamhaeng, but maibpenrai....

you should tell us if u go by own car, or by public transport.

I did fly in january 2007 durin their first weeks of operation, and already at that time I feared that this (lovely) destination would not survive.....

at that flight, there was a cabin-crew who seemed to be a supervisor (a very cute young lady and very cordial and friendly), when I asked her, she admitted she was a "trainer" for ThaiAirAsia cabin-crew. She said that they hoped it would get a load factor of at least 60%, though there were only 3 flights a week anyway. I had my doubts that this would be possible.

its sad that all those lovely destinations dont see any non-stop flights from BKK anymore.... same goes for Kota Kinabalu.....

but no need for a mess-up of your songkhran plans. you can either fly to Hat Yai, from where its just about 90 minutes (if I remember that right) to satun, and take a ferry to langkawi.

or, you can fly to Penang, and directly hop on a short flight from Penang to langkawi by Fireflyz. those flights can be had for 49 RM icluding taxes at the moment, they do have a promotion which started today (booking period lasts 5 days only, though).

or take the ferry from penang to langkawi, but then u have an expensive transfer by taxi to the ferry in downtown area ahead of u.

if need advice, PM me

Thanks for those ideas - I've been to Penang many times (not for visas - I have a work permit) but just because I like the place, so I was actually trying to avoid it this time I had planned to have a couple of days in KL, and then fly back via Langkawi, but then the KL Low Cost terminal has rather put me off too. 20km from the airport?!?!

what is 20 km from the airport ???

finally we learn about the REAL problems in this lovely country, which was once called "Land of the Free"

Orient Thai is for sure the cheapest, but can you really enjoy a flight sitting in a 30+ year old run-down Jumbo B-747 ? it has a reason why they are so damned cheap at the moment....

I am a bit surprised that nobody mentioned the best and safest budget option on this route, which is undoubtfully HONGKONG EXPRESS. but u have to talk to ur travel agent as they cannot be booked online....

I would have to recommend Cebu. My wife has relatives on Luzon in the Manila metro area and when we visit them we go with armed escorts (crime rate through the ceiling especially if you are Caucasian, not to mention terrorists) and the pollution is God awful. She also has relatives in Mindanao same deal armed escort (the Muslim terrorists the Abu Sayyef Group like to kidnap Westerners for profit). Lucky for me most of her relatives live in Cebu.

Cebu is where I stay as a base there and keep in the Visayans Islands (Central Philippines). Don't expect metered taxis, much government infrastructure, or being secure. Like a previous poster stated, everywhere from the shopping malls, banks, etc. have armed security. It's best to have a close friend or relative with you on your visit to the Philippines.

As for English, most Filipinos have at least a working knowledge of English and the younger are instructed in English in the schools there starting in the 4th grade. It is when you run into older (40+ y/o) Filipinos, especially in the poorer areas, that you can have trouble being understood.

For the cheapest Airfare Cebu Pacific flies into most of the Philippine islands, Mid priced would be Philippine Airlines, and if you have money to burn Cathay Pacific flies direct into Mactan International Airport in Cebu, and into NAIA in Manila.

It costs maybe 20% more, at the most to stay there, and a plus is that you will have access to much more Western entertainment, especially when it comes to TV, and you can find decent Western food. And I have to agree again with others, it is a HUGE step down from Thailand.

I would recommend CEBU as well....

all amenities and facilities of a big city, without being an apocalypse like Manila. and many beaches just a few kilometers away.....

by the way, CEBU PACIFIC does not only fly to Manila, they as well fly nonstop to CEBU

I did fly in january 2007 durin their first weeks of operation, and already at that time I feared that this (lovely) destination would not survive.....

at that flight, there was a cabin-crew who seemed to be a supervisor (a very cute young lady and very cordial and friendly), when I asked her, she admitted she was a "trainer" for ThaiAirAsia cabin-crew. She said that they hoped it would get a load factor of at least 60%, though there were only 3 flights a week anyway. I had my doubts that this would be possible.

its sad that all those lovely destinations dont see any non-stop flights from BKK anymore.... same goes for Kota Kinabalu.....

but no need for a mess-up of your songkhran plans. you can either fly to Hat Yai, from where its just about 90 minutes (if I remember that right) to satun, and take a ferry to langkawi.

or, you can fly to Penang, and directly hop on a short flight from Penang to langkawi by Fireflyz. those flights can be had for 49 RM icluding taxes at the moment, they do have a promotion which started today (booking period lasts 5 days only, though).

or take the ferry from penang to langkawi, but then u have an expensive transfer by taxi to the ferry in downtown area ahead of u.

if need advice, PM me

I would like to hear about a decent Thai-Language school who is NOT offering "assistance" in obtaining non-ED-Visa. (hopefully with materials and teaching-system in THAI FONTS only, no ridiculous transcription)

the astonishing reason for that is: I actually want to learn Thai

stayed at the PIN HOTEL as well about 2 years ago and it was absolulety great value for money ! you cant go wrong if u book a deluxe room there..... and has guarded parking area