THAILIBAN

On 01/06/2017 at 3:10 PM, KittenKong said:

 

Ah. The 64,000 dollar question. I've not yet found one that does.

I used an excellent hair stylist in Bangkok for more than 12 years and even followed him when he moved to another shop of the same company at a different location. Unfortunately I now live in the greater Pattaya area and don't fancy the thought of a 2-hrs-Bus-ride one-way every time I need a haircut  -_-

But yes, those skilled hair stylists / barbers DO exit in Thailand.

The trick is how to find them......

On 28/04/2016 at 2:31 PM, MickA said:

First Barber on Pattaya Tai road near the intersection with Thappraya rd /2nd rd about 20m from the traffic lights on the left facing the beach

how much do they charge? Are they using SCISSORS and not those nasty electric shears, finishing the job within 5 minutes and make you look like a Navy guy from Sattahip ?

2 hours ago, ben2talk said:

These 'Uber' drivers are not honest. They are criminals operating outside the law, without proper licencing or insurance cover. Even though we place as much value on a Thai driving permit as toilet paper, it's a fact.

 

Grabtaxi is an alternative - same service, licenced drivers, and no problems about the meter...

the UBER drivers in Thailand are the most honest transport people one can find in the country.

GRAB in Pattaya is controlled by the Mafia too, and charging almost the same prices. yeah no problems about the meter, because GRAB TAXI in Pattaya charges a FLAT rate and do not use the Meter as it is common at any other place in Asia.

And GRAB CAR ? They never show up actually.... which comes to no surprise, at the entire GRAB system in Pattaya is controlled by the Mafia and they have no interest to let people use the slightly cheaper GRAB CAR system. It is all from my own personal experience.

UBER UBER UBER ALLES !!!

On 28/05/2017 at 8:14 PM, wump said:

Agoda fees ARE being added very sneakily when booking via the web. The end price pretends to be the added total of the number of nights booked when it's not. It's only in very small print that it says "includes 10+7% taxes and fees". In fact, the whole thing is sneakier than Airasia.

not true

you can change the settings so the final price is shown on the website too, not only on the app.

booking.com does that a lot more randomly. no options to show final price. so, in some cases, even in the same City such as Kuala Lumpur, sometimes you see the final price, sometimes a 7% VAT is added, and sometimes a 10% service fee plus a 7% VAT is added.

You have to be very careful when booking on booking.com

a lot more easy on agoda, no such silly games there

On 23/05/2017 at 2:20 PM, KhunBENQ said:

Me!

I have reported on another channel (not public).

In the meantime I have completey "reset" FF and installed only three essential add-ons (noscr. being one).

With that it works again.

 

Other sites (more than a dozen started before TV) didn't have a problem.

 

Looks like a change in TV combined with some add-on.

You could send my your list of add-ons that you have installed as a PM.

(don't want to discuss it publicly)

could that be "Big brother is watching you" and implementing some spyware?

the new controversial internet law has come alive, after all.....

23 hours ago, riorobc023 said:

 

Oh good to know about this. I'm going to see a cardiologist so yeah maybe i should make an appointment. I always had success on just walking in and getting to see a doctor anytime.

 

From what i gathered Bumrungrad and Sukhumvit and Samitejv hospital are the most expensive in bkk?

I would say that nowadays BNH is the most expensive hospital, and unfortunately the price does not match the quality of care. Own recent experience. Bumrungrad is always bustling with people at any given hour, whereas some parts of BNH are mostly like a ghost town..... there must be a reason for that. That does not mean BNH has no capable physicians, just do some research before heading there. Yes Bumrungrad is not cheap and can be like a zoo at times, but if you know which Doctor to see it is still hassle-free and certainly not as expensive as in Western countries (my DOCs there charge around 800 Baht per visit - where to you get that in Europe or the US ?

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

For anyone that is interested, you can get to the airport from Pattaya on that train. Leaves Pattaya around 14.20 and stops at Lat Krabang. From there you can catch the City Link into the airport, arriving around 6pm. Not sure of the fare but would guess at around 27 baht, think it is 32 baht into Bangkok, it would be 10 baht on the City Link.

Downside is that it is only once a day.

the problem is that it will probably cost you 10 times the train fare to get to Pattaya train station by Taxi......  and at Lat Krabang, you are still not at the actual airport....

14 minutes ago, phuketrichard said:

EACH hotel can offer a locals only discount, it's NOT set by agoda

so rather than avoid agoda,avoid the hotel that is setting a different pricing policy

 

ONLY a very stupid hotel owner would not respect the contract as most likely 40% or more of their bookings come from agoda, u think there going to risk losing those, to give you u cheap rate   ?

 

You all seem to think Agoda controls the pricing.They don't   EACH HOTEL sets its price.

Ha! you were a few minutes faster  -_- 

yeah indeed many people have no clue of what they are talking about.....

This "local rate/local resident" thing on agoda is an old hat.

It has been implemented and offered to hotels by agoda since almost two years. I experienced that particularly in Indonesia, when suddenly hundreds of hotels applied such local rates. But since then almost all hotels have realized that applying such a racist rate system actually will COST them a lot of money as disgruntled potential guests will avoid booking such hotels, almost all hotels have abandoned such tactics.

But first you need to understand how agoda actually works: ALL prices/ rates and special offers are implemented by the HOTELS THEMSELVES. Hotels can use algos that r offered by agoda, which sometimes means that a room that usually cost 50$ suddenly costs 3800 $ because the hotel admins r too stupid to use those algos properly).

agoda is only offering the PLATFORM to sell the rooms. And yes, the higher the commission a hotel agrees to pay, the higher the position in the list of hotels that show up on each search.

I have more than 260 bookings on agoda, and never had any problems. U just have to understand how the system works.

And yes, at least in Asia agoda is in 80-90% of the cases cheaper than booking.com, at least when you are logged in to your account.

I have never experienced such a gross attempt of cheating at any cashier in 14 years in Thailand, but that does not mean it cannot happen. If it is not bothering you, I would not hesitate to go to the store manager and report the case. Easy to find the store manager at a BigC, usually they even have their name cards available at each cashier. If this thing happened more than once, the store manager certainly will take action and remove the culprit from her/his working place, and right so.

On 26/05/2017 at 5:32 PM, retirementenquiry said:

grabtaxi is going to kill the taxi mafia in pattaya which in part controlled by police more an more visitors i meet are switched on to this app example of the difference can get a car 110b central festival to pratamnak a mafia songtao is looking 300b

it will be harder to break the phunket and samui mafia's

That is nonsense, because GRAB in Pattaya IS the Mafia !!!

The Mafia has partnered with GRAB here, they control the entire GRAB cars and Taxis here.

Good luck getting a Taxi that is going by the Meter like at any other GRAB TAXI destinations all over Asia.

And GRAB CAR ? well, they simply never bother to arrive when you order them. I tried many times. They NEVER arrive.

I like GRAB anywhere in Asia, including BKK, but in Pattaya it is UBER or nothing

On 18/05/2017 at 0:32 PM, AndyOz said:

What are the rates charged by UBER drivers?


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from my Condo to Pattaya North Bus station it was usually 100-110 Baht, that is  - including unavoidable U-Turns - about a 3 KM ride. In many cases, I just paid 25-30 Baht, as there was a PROMO running, where 75 Baht would automatically be deducted from the fare. Such Promos are frequent, just log into your UBER account and they may pop-up immedatiely

On 18/05/2017 at 10:42 PM, MartinBangkok said:

Grab Taxi in Pattaya seems to be controlled by the local taxi mafia. That was my experience last week. They lied about their location and waiting time, and when I finally decided on one (speaking on the phone) he asked me to give the phone to the hotel security guy. The security guy than informed me that the driver wanted 1500 Baht, not the 1200 Baht we had agreed on 20 seconds earlier. I hung up the phone, blocked the guys number, downloaded the Uber app, and within 15 minutes I was safely on my way to Bangkok (1300 Baht).

exactly what I think too.

Astonishing that the GRAB HQ in Singapore is not doing anything about it

2 minutes ago, reenatinnakor said:

Was outside the big Tescos on Sukhumvit the other day where taxi touts wait for unsuspecting Russians and Chinese. Heard one guy, I kid you not, try to charge 1k for a Russian mum and her kid to go to Pratumnak!! That's about a 3km ride... 1000 baht!! <deleted> cheating scumbags deserve everything they get... I hope uber or grab or any other non cheating taxi services make all these cheating scumbags homeless.

The best thing to do in such cases is taking Videos and post the actions of those scam artists online on FB or else. It will get the publicity it deserves, because the Thai people are annoyed as well. That way, eventually the government will accept that there is no way to change the behaviour of those scumbags and that services like UBER are needed and here to stay.....

35 minutes ago, champers said:

I am keen to know if the Uber customer is one of this forum's regular users and how they feel about being surrounded like this.Whether a resident or a tourist, no-one should be in fear of their life for hiring a vehicle. The issue needs prompt and decisive resolution before someone gets seriously hurt. I am ambivalent about Uber and Grab, I deplore violence.

I have been using UBER frequently in the past few weeks to get from my place to Pattaya Bus station. Nothing but good experiences.

I tell the driver to drop my a few meters away from the actual station and they are happy about it, as we both can avoid potential Mafia type crooks. Everyone using UBER in Pattaya should use his common sense to avoid unpleasant scenes. Hire a car away from the main road, walk down the Soi. Do not hire it in front of Central Festival or Walking street - this would be begging for trouble.

Would I use regular cabs if they go by Meter? Of course ! But they won't...... GRAB in Pattaya is CRAP too, as most drivers of GRAB CAR never bother to arrive. I have entirely stopped using them (though I always use GRAB when in Malaysia, Vietnam or the Phils. This is just a specific Thai problem, as the GRAB mgmt in Thailand is completely useless and the drivers can get away with whatever they do.

9 minutes ago, AndyOz said:

With the greatest respect you have not traveled extensively. I think of cities in Eastern Europe and South America. If a taxi driver will not switch his meter on and the price quoted is too high then go to another. The other taxi will have seen this and will offer a better price. You may need to do this 2 or 3 times but the choice is yours if you don't like the price don't get in.


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again, utter nonsense !!!!

Virtually EVERYWHERE in South America you have those Taxi apps, not only UBER, but as well Easytaxi (very popular in Mexico) or TAPPSI (in Colombia). Already in 2014 I had no the smallest problem in using those apps and get great rides in Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador....

Everyone with a common sense will be able to get a proper ride nowadays in South America. It was different ten years ago or so, but this is year 2017. Even in MYANMAR they have UBER now, and the drivers are actually HAPPY about it, because the Burmese are decent people and not lazy and see the value of it and get a lot more rides than before.

Actually, almost everywhere in South East Asia those apps are available, be it Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines - in the Philippines you can even hire a GRAB CAR officially at the Airport. In Bangkok there is even an official GRAB TAXI (metered cabs, not private cars) counter at Makkasan MRT and ARL station. So why not in Pattaya ? I can tell you why - because Mafia still rules . Same applies to Phuket and Samui, of course

1 hour ago, AndyOz said:

I do have some sympathy with the Taxi drivers. Uber has depended on your view either revolutionised or destroyed the taxi industry wherever it plies its trade.
Whatever your opinion the drivers end up much worse off. I think the balance in Pattaya now is pretty good. The number of baht busses has been greatly reduced, routes and prices are clearly defined If you want to hire a taxi the rules are the same as anywhere else in the world, agree a price you are both happy with before you start your journey.
I understand things could be better and the yellow taxis should have meters that are working all the time.
On the whole I think Pattaya does a pretty good job with their taxis. Keep things the same.


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what an utter nonsense !

The law clearly states that the meter has to be used. There is no different law in Pattaya and Bangkok. In Pattaya. It is the law of the MAFIA and some hidden VIP-politicians or BIB who benefit from the system only

1 hour ago, geriatrickid said:

He was engaged in an illegal commercial activity.  Uber is not a legal operation in Thailand.

100% of the Taxi drivers are engaged in illegal commercial activity too as they break the law and overcharge passengers. As well threatening other drivers or passengers is highly illegal, as it is the local authorities job to deal with potential irregularities.

Could it be you are creating your own law and are actually part of the Mafia ?

On 28/04/2017 at 7:00 PM, ammagic said:

Dr Songklot St Louis Hospital - not sure which day. One of the best in BK. I had complicated sinus surgery with him at BH Hospital BK but he is also available at St Louis

 BH Hospital ? you mean BNH ? or what does BH stand for ?

Hi all,

I just wonder if anybody here is insured via GLOBALITY HEALTH ( part of MunichRe Group) and can report his/her experiences ?

Their deals seem to be fair and the price for the essential plan seems affordable, considering they don't kick you out at a specific age or raise the premium according to your history. MunichRe is a highly reputable company.

And are there any agents around who deal with them?

I am using CARDELOC 100mg, a generic version of Metoprolol. 10 Tablets cost 15 Baht here in the pharmacy next to my housing estate

10 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

Go ahead and pay full fare, man.

Vietnam Airlines frequently offers tickets to HAN or SGN ex-BKK for 4.5 - 5 K return, incl luggage, food.

So yes indeed, in that case it is better to go "full fare" (as is the case with many other destinations and budget Airlines)

was never eager to buy GOLD (where's my dividend?) but maybe now is a good time to do so

10 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Sensationalism.

maybe the "Daily Mirror" or "The Sun" visited (yet once again)

On 21/04/2017 at 10:36 AM, geriatrickid said:

I doubt any songtaew driver is complaining.  I don't know what the prices are in CNX, but in Hua Hin its 10 baht a ride before 7 pm and 15 baht after 7 pm.  This is hardly in the same league as Uber.  

The system is different in HH and CM. CM sawngthaews do not follow a specific route, that is why it is 20 Baht as it is basically a shared taxi that will drop you (or not) at your desired destination