THAILIBAN

for the surroundings and the lifestyle: Chaing Mai and Chiang Rai

for the friendlyness of the people: Udon Thani

biggest disappointment: Koh Chang (okay, maybe cause it was rainy season.....)

"nothing suspicious"...... so actually I wonder why we are being flooded here with such "news" from Pattaya here every day......

Does anybody know what happened to the THAI ELITE CARD - program ? few months earlier (after the COUP, though) I heard there will be changes, and it will be much cheaper in the future. what's the STATUS QUO today ? is it still available ? at 1 Million Baht ?

I GOOGLEd a little but did not find anything useful, and no official information on any "Thai Government websites".

any updates from insiders would be appreciated

I'm visiting from the USA and need rental/hotel for 30-90 days somewhere that is centrally located. If you have a rental or can recommend an extended stay hotel I would appreciate it very much.

I arrive late April.

Thank-you!

as long as u dont feed the members here with details about ur budget and the expected amenities, its not very much likely you will get a helpful reply

In Khaosod .co.th , the story is that his boyfriend killed him…because he found out that the victim was allegedly hiv pos

as what I know he was NOT HIV-pos. they did a testing last night after finding the body..... but this will be certainly confirmed from an official side soon.

I know some more details but can not talk about it here at this stage (but I am VERY sure the murderer will be identified quickly), so we all have to wait until authorities make official statements

many of us knew him in person.

he posted his foto hundreds of times on the numerous gay Thai websites. and probably had a different guy every night.

even he was so young at 25, he always lied about his age, saying he is 20.....

anyway, nobody deserves such thing, may he rest in peace and condolences to his family where they probably dont know anything about his lifestyle....

I am sure, the murderer will be caught quickly....

can book you on return-flights on Malaysian or FinnAir to Frankfurt for about 45.000 - 46.000 Baht. Not really a bargain, but as has been mentioned already, its holiday season. if interested, PM me..... but has to be done in Bangkok, either by cash or credit card (which I would have to see and check with my own eyes).

Hi, I just wanted to know if someone has an ideea of any company to help me move into the new apartment I rented, I just need some small company or something as I don't have too much stuff, just a sofa, a fridge, tv sets, etc...

where in BKK r u located and where is ur future home ?

I will be moving on sunday (first of two runs) and if it was a good experience, maybe you could hire the same guys....

PM me if u want or post here...

SOURCE: Pattaya People: March 14th 2007

Russian Victim of Bag Snatch

A Russian lady was the victim of a bag snatching on Central Pattaya Road in the morning of 13th March.

When she screamed for help, a motorbike taxi, who also turned out to be a police volunteer, helped chase after the crook with other Police patrollers until the man was captured.

Mrs. Natalia Tuznanskaya, aged 37, from Russia stated that she was having breakfast in a local cafe. When she walked out, a man snatched her bag and fled on a red Honda Wave.

The chase led the police and volunteer to Pattaya 3rd Road. When the thief turned into a Soi behind Chern Long BBQ restaurant, his motorbike slipped on the sand and crashed. The man then ran into the bushes but was captured within 30 minutes.

The man was taken back to the station together with the evidence of over 36,000 Baht, 100 US Dollars,......

as long as people are so stupid, this place will always attract criminals.....

but some people never learn..... so no changes to be expected in the near future...

KL-Hotels haven't been a bargain lately. as a very popular destination nowadays, its fully booked most weekends. and prices increased 30-50% during the past 4-5 years. thanks god, things seem to change. AirAsia will open it's first Budget-Hotel under the brand of TUNEHOTELs in April.

rooms starting at 0,99 RM (9,99 Baht) a night, but surcharges apply (u end up paying a horrendous amount of 78 Baht a night)

looks same as the ETAP-Hotels in Europe (ACCOR-group).

u have to bring ur own towels and soaps, Aircon is charged extra in 6 or 12 hour-units, but its still cheap anyway.

just booked myself in there for a 3 night stay on 7th of April, 57 RM incl. all Taxes and surcharges and aircon (the 57 RM is for three nights, not for one!).

luckyly, they dont charge any departure Tax or fuel surcharge

as I will be one of their very first guests there (they start operations THAT day) , I will report about my adventure on this board here....

Or, if you can obtain a sponsor letter from your TEFL provider (IH) and you obtain a police clearance (Subject Access Form in the UK), you can obtain a multi-entry non-imm B or ED before departure. A non-imm is the first step in becoming legal, allows you to open a bank account....

Bank account not anymore ! need a Work permit nowadays.....

now thats one of the most pleasant stories I have learned of here in TV lately....

lets all wish them CHOK DEE and maybe it gives other hilltribe-kids hope for a better future as well, if the Thai government and Thai society only gives them a chance....

your initial post is a bit.....hmmmmm....... "confusing".

but if you mean a transfer Bus from Suwannaphum Arrival area to Suwannaphum Bus-Station: Of course there is such shuttle bus , running every few minutes..... the trip is just 10 minutes and when I used it last time (that was before the official opening of Suwannaphum, though) it was free.....

as far as I remember, thoses busses waited at the arrival level just when u get out of the buidling....

nevertheless, for those less adventurous, the SUNBELT service for sure is the better and less risky option.....

In general most of the Thai lady drivers I see are glued to their mobile phones when driving and dont have too much time to look at whats going on around them

what's the law concerning the use of mobile phones while driving in Thailand ?

As I am a "Computer-Dummie" sometimes, I post the computer-problems I have encountered on some messageboards in my mother tongue.

not in all cases did I get satisfying replies or recommendations or assist within a short time.

would any of the native speakers here be so kind and name some long-established, recommended and busy english-language computer-messageboards ?

where they use words that those members of the "not-so-savvy club", are able to understand of what they are talking about ?

I found some computerboards to be quite discriminating when it comes to posts made by "Dummies".

thanks for any hints or recommendations....

Is there some sort nof holidays in Europe??

looking for a ticket to fly to Europe somewhere between March 19th and 26th to return a week later. Doesnt matter where Brussels, Amsterdam or Frankfurt but nothing available??? how can this be??

limited flights or something?

for sure it will not be a big problem to find a seat for ur flight to Europe, but OF COURSE not for the return-leg. Did you ever here of EASTER HOLIDAY ? for example, the easter school holiday in Germany starts on the 24 th of March or 31st of March this year, depending on the state.

to get a seat to Asia during such peak seasons, it is advisable to book 2-3 months in advance....

so, for sure the CHEAP booking classes are full already.

u can still try to book two one-way-fares, in my reservation-system I still see some one-way seats (Frankfurt to BKK) available during that period..... but the prices are not really a bargain (starting around 450 € incl. Tax)

Hi everyone

Another question hopefully someone will be able to answer.....

How do you book child fares online on the Air Asia website? I have searched all through their website and emailed them but Im still none the wiser. My children are 6 and 11 years

Thanks

Cessnock

did you realize that this is a budget airline? such "children fares" do not exist. from your profile I see that you reside in Scotland. Did u ever try to book a "child fare" at Ryanair or Easyjet ? I doubt you would be successfull.....

there is a an infant fare (infants up to 24 months old), as long as they dont occupy their own seat. the European budget-carriers have that too......

I think thats fair enough......

I've booked a seat at 459 Baht from Bangkok to KL few days ago..... what kind of children-fare would you expect then ? children go for free ? I think it's not realistic to expect such thing...

but, most probably, booking a regular seat for your children with a budget carrier will still save u a lot of money compared to the nowadays exorbitant domestic THAI AIR fares.....

I have lived in Malaysia (KL and Sarawak), Vietnam (Hanoi and Saigon), Myanmar, and Laos.

I now live in Thailand by choice and have no plans on moving on, even if Thailand continues to have the worst beer in the region!

Believe me, if you have problems here you will only find them bigger elsewhere.

Methinks his problem of being a 60 year old w##k#r in need of cheap younger women have little to do with location.

It was a sensible thread. Why the need to come in and start trashing someone?

CDNVIC, u r a gentleman. your comment is actually much too friendly. members who insult others here, should not be welcome in TV

Why don't you move there and give us a report a year or so.

TH

Now now!! No need to get ratty .

Just interested in other people's experiences in this scheme. Is it all it's cracked up to be or is this too good to be true?

Err.With all due respect etc .etc, Malaysia is an Islamic country.Thailand is a Buddhist country. Personally, I would not wish to live in an Islamic society with all it's restrictions etc.

actually WHICH restrictions are u referring to ?

as long as u r not a Muslim, there are NO restrictions whatsoever..... of course there is a LAW as is in every country..... but one thing for sure, they don't hassle foreigners there, as they LOVE to do in Thailand these days.

no, Malaysia is NOT a paradise and government-regulated racism does exist, but for the average foreigner, who does NOT need prostitutes every day and does NOT drink 10 bottles of beer every day (booze is expensive, except in the duty-free areas of Labuan and Langkawi), u will find everything u need (to make it clear, I do NOT think that everyone who lives in thailand needs that.... just wanted to point out that such kind of business does not openly exist in Malaysia).

and on the west-coast, the Malays are not the majority anyway. things are different at the east coast, though..... certainly not 100% the place where I wanted to reside...

still, one thing for sure, Thailand is "more fun" and thats why it is much more successfull in attracting foreigners, both tourists and wannabe-residents. and it will always be like that, no matter which nasty regulations the future Thai governments will invent....

yes, Malaysia DOES give u this 10 year Visa indeed.

I have friends who lived in Thailand for almost a decade. they are both 60+ now and moved to Malaysia (Sabah, Malaysian Borneo) 3 years ago. They are more than happy with their decision and wondered why they didnt do it earlier.....

but then, I don't give a d.a.m.n, choose whatever is suitable for you..... When I decided to move to Asia, I did choose Thailand, due to the fact that it was relatively easy to get those 1-year-multiple-VISA's. With my today's knowledge and the law of the year 2007, I certainly would not make the same decision again....

let's be happy that many of us have the opportunity to CHOOSE where they actually wanna reside..... most locals in Asia, be it Thailand or Malaysia, do NOT have a choice....

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm explaining the reason that used books are so expensive in Thailand because I own a shop and many people don't understand why books are more expensive here in "cheap" Thailand than at home.

i was about to ask u if u r based in Bangkok, but then I was smart enough to check ur profile first and found out what I actually expected - Chiang Mai !

Do you know if there are such reasonable second-hand book-shops in BKK as well ?

though I am not a native speaker, I do have plenty of english-language travel-guidebooks about all South-east-Asian countries, which I have to replace as soon as the next issue is published.

so far, I did bring them back to my home-country as I have to go there about 2 times a year, and did sell them in ebay. but maybe easier to sell it to a second-hand bookshop here in Thailand....

(oh didnt see richb2004v2's post...... but hummmmm..... I really don't like to go to the nasty Khaosan ghetto ~_~ )

AirAsia is usually the cheapest, no matter if u depart from BKK or SIN.

Tiger has a lot of promotion-deals these days as well, but their "added surcharges" are slightly higher than those of AirAsia. and until end of March, the 700 Baht departure Tax is NOT included in their surcharges.

as u already mentioned, just browse their website to check ur desired flight-date.

easy task actually.

Swiss, Garuda, Finnair and all those others are certainly a good bargain as well, and u can earn miles, but they dont offer cheap one-way-fares

my ancient Nissan (yes, could be from Sukhothai period ) has a problem, that is complicated to explain in English for me as a non-native, and a car-techniques-DUMMY.

in the recent 16th edition of the BANGKOK GUIDE by the Australian-Newzealand Women's group (which with no doubt is the one and only "bible" to living in Thailand), they mention two places with english speaking stuff or at least managers, that can be trusted and are not known to cheat Farang.

it is a ) ASOKE CAR ENGINEERING at Suk Soi21 / Asok and b ) Chidlom Garage at Ploenchit / Soi Somkid

did anybody use their services yet and are they reliable indeed ?

or any other recommendations ? I am able to get my car running and go to that particular place, but then there is a need to talk to somebody with a good understanding of English, so they dont replace expensive spare parts of the car that are actually not broken, only because they dont understand what I tell them about the problem....

When I moved out of a single room bungalow into my first house in Samui, I paid to have one of those metal security doors installed inside the front door, so when I went out I would padlock the metal door & then close the front door which had a push button lock.

It was good for hot nights too as I could leave the main door open & get a lot of air in but didn't have to worry about someone wandering in as it was padlocked whilst I was inside. I did come back after one night out & the main door had been forced open but of course, the metal security door was still there so they had given up, so it obviously worked. The padlock I used was also a fairly expensive one brought from the UK too.

I did the windows too, they look nice as well IMO. Total cost for door & 3 windows was about 1500 baht & took the firm 2 weeks to make & install them.

thats sounds interesting as well, my new landlord wanna make the appartement more safe and ordered a company to install an iron door and iron grilles on the windows...... but that costs him about 40.000 baht. how can urs be so sheap ? can u take a foto of that and show it here ?

BKK - CNX is a 50 minute flight, approx return costs between 1600 & 2800 thb depending on airline

No need to book in the UK, just turn up and buy your tickets at the airport itself on the day of your travel or from any agent in BKK

for sure NOT a good idea during the Songkhran holidays...... all flights will be very expensive and fully booked anyway (particularly to Chiang Mai, which seems to be the most popular destination for Songkhran with both Thais and Farang).

same applies for ACCOMODATION in both mentioned places, as leisurely already stated

if u fly before the 10th of April, you will probably not have problems, but after that day it will be difficult. if you arrive in Koh Chang from ur home country and then wanna go to bangkok and CM from there: Flights from Koh Chang (Trat) are EXTREMELY overpriced, its another BANGKOK AIR monopoly. and there are only 2 flights each day in small aircrafts, so if u wanna do this during songkhran, its definitely necessary to book long in advance.

if u go for that option, doing a booking is a smooth affair on BKK-AIR's website, check it out.

if u dont mind that, take the BUS from Trat to BKK, not sure if there are VIP-24-Busses doing the run, but if so, thats as comfortable as a business-class flight...

should be no more than 5 hours to Trat. but if u dont have to count ur Satang, then sure a flight is less hassle...