bkkrox

I just withdrew 20 000b from AEON in Siam Paragon. No mention of a fee on the screen and the slip indicated 20 000b withdrawn and no fee...so far so good....

Hi...is it your sons' first birthday (as in is he turning one) or is it his first party? Anyhow ,if he is turning one then I think Dreamworld is a little too grown up. When my son was very young we had parties for him at Little Gym or Gymboree. They have great party planners and tailor the party to the age of the child/number of guests. Neither provided any catering (other than drinks) but it was no problem getting au bon pain or similar to cater,and they were surprisingly inexpensive. Good luck!

Think most here agree that the top schools in Bangkok are NIST,Shrewsbury,ISB,Patana,Harrow and Ruamrudee..the schools with the highest amount of non-Thai children are Patana,ISB and NIST however,all of the schools have started to accept more Thais now as there are less expats to spread around. I dont think you can go wrong with any of these provided you can afford the very expensive fees. Most of the schools provide details on their websites as to their school-leavers results, Patana and Shrewsbury seem to have done very well.

Let us know which you have chosen when it comes time.

Cheers.

Yes,seems UOB has jumped onboard. Yesterday I made a withdrawal from UOB at All Seasons with no fee. Today,at the same ATM, a screen appeared advising that a 150b fee would be applied. Continue or cancel option was offered.

I hate to be amongst the noise in this thread with some good signals and lots of noise, but:

BF1 Floor Central Chidlom

Aeon's website lists this as a location for one of its ATMs. It's right near my home, but I've been using the ones at Siam Paragorn and BigC Rathchadamri, because I can't find this fr*kin' ATM's location.

So, I'll 'fess up and admit, I have no clue <deleted> the acronym "BF" means... I've searched the basement and 1st floor of Central Chitlom, and the foyer entries too.

Can somebody tell me what BF means, or even better, specifically where this ATM is located?

1,145 postings, more than 42,000 hits because of an ATM fee which is peanuts in comparison what losses people incurred due to the financial crisis (and their lack of action) and much more important peanuts in comparison what losses people could avoid and in fact GAIN due to the financial crisis.

there is raving, ranting and good advice how to be penny-wise but nobody seems to be interested how to compensate. i call that pound-foolish!

Naam, while you're quite right about the penny-wise dollar-foolish sentiment (cliche adjusted for my country of origin), you need to account for the rational hatred that many irrational humans have towards banks and other financial institutions: I don't want to give them 1 <deleted>*n' penny!

I want to see them as bankrupt as their insolvency would leave them had they not been buying politicians to steal our tax dollars. I'd rather use 45 minutes of my time and spend 40 baht on the BTS to go to an AEON location than pay the 150B fee in the ATMs near my home.

So I'll do my dam_n'dest not to pay this fee, even if it means getting a little extra exercise.

Meanwhile, fear not about my dollar-foolishness -- I had a happy last year shorting the financials... then unloaded all my shorts (a little early, but no worries) and held cash until May, when I starting fading into more shorts on the financials. One day, the banks and financial institutions will actually rally off a true bottom, but I promise you that until that day comes, I'll be looking like a financial wiz, not dollar-foolish.

Hi ajc....I too spent a while searching for the Aeon ATM at Central Chidlom (thinking BF was Basement Floor??) and alas didnt find a thing. Where is the Aeon ATM in Paragon? Cheers

Before visiting the various language schools around Bangkok I thought I should post here to see if there are any qualified Mandarin teachers (teaching in English) looking to teach for a few hours on Saturday mornings. If so, please p.m me.

Cheers,br

where can I perchase wheat bran(not bran cerial)?

I'm in bangkok and Pattaya and finding wheat bran flakes is impossible

Doesn't anyone make bran muffins???

Yeah I make bran muffins but have to use Kelloggs bran flakes....tried it with wheatgerm once (from Villa market) and it was not good...at all.

I flew LA to Bangkok direct 4 weeks ago on United

I doubt that.

A "direct" flight is one that continues as the same flight number. So UA can sell/promote a flight from LAX to BKK via NRT as a "direct" flight provided that the flight number does not change.

A "non-stop" flight is,well,non-stop.

I avoid UA like the plague. I fly BKK to Tokyo monthly and will usually pay up to twice the fare to fly someone else. Exception being the last few months where they were offering double elite qualifying miles. The entertainment options are pretty bad. Even if you do have the seatback TV's on the 777, it is not an on demand system. The movies just run on a repeating cycle.

The service on UA is either really good, or really bad. In my experience, it us usually pretty bad with the occasional exception. There are no more Asian based flight attendants. Your NRT-BKK leg will be flown using senior US based flight attendants. The BKK and HKG bases were closed a few months ago due to union requirements and staffing reductions.

On the plus side, if you can get into the economy plus part of the airplane, the extra legroom helps offset the crappy service

Agree that the service can range from really good to really awful,just luck of the day,whereas TG , SQ and most other Asian airlines offer a more consistent service.

UA have a base in Tokyo and they staff the NRT-BKK-NRT flight,not senior US based crew. UA also have a base in HKG. The two regional bases in Asia that were closed due to staffing reductions in the U.S were at BKK and SIN. These bases may re-open once the U.S based crew that are on furlough are called back.

Withdrew 10 000b from Bank of Ayuthaya (yellow one) at Centralworld BKK this morning, using visa/cirrus debit card.

Screen advised thatr I 'may' be charged a 150b fee...and asked if I wished to continue. Cicked yes and new screen said '0 baht fee'.

Checked my account balance...got a rate (against USD) of 34.364 and no fee charged.

The yellow one - Ayuthaya - was no charge up until today. Now they have joined the others.

Withdrew from Ayuthaya this morning and the screen said "you may be charged a 150b fee for this transaction-do you wish to continue?"..clicked 'yes' and then the new screen said 'fee 0 baht'

my statement shows a rate of 34.364 (to USD) and no fee.

central foodhalls at both chidlom and central world and paragon and emporium supermarkets carry them. I am pretty sure the villa markets will have them too but probably v expensive there.

Are there any airlines besides Thai Airways that fly direct from USA (anywhere) to Thailand? Thanks!

mp413

Do you mean direct or non-stop? Airlines can legally describe a flight as direct even if it makes a scheduled stop along the way (think it has to have the same flight number the whole way).

Non-stop is literally from point a to point b with no scheduled stop.

I think TG is the only airline that operates non-stop to/from USA and thats why DL and NW websites are showing stops along the way.

Good luck

Hi!

I would like to hear Your comments:

Yesterday I went to a movies with my children, 7-and 9-years old. We went to see Walt Disney's Bed time stories.

Before the movie started, they showed trailers from 3 or 4 different horror or VERY violent movies were people vere killing eachothers and there were a lots of blood.

My kids were ofcourse scared and didn't know where to look!

In Europe this would never happen in a family movies, it is not overprotecting that kids are not allowed to look movies like that.

Next time we better stay outside before the movie starts as I saw some other Western familie doing!

Yes, this would never happen in Europe. I have complained so many times but just get shy giggles in return. In one particular instance,whilst waiting for an animation movie to begin with my 7 year old son, they showed a trailer for a Thai horror movie where a toddler literally put his arm in a blender and the blender was then turned on! My kid was freaking out hiding behind me...I did happen to notice the little Thai boy and girl sitting next to us (approx same age as mine) who were calmly munching on popcorn,not at all fazed by the extreme violence on the screen. It really is best to wait outside until the movie begins....

My daughter is currently at Patana in Bang Na .... it is generally thought to be one of the top four; Patana, Shrewsbury, NIST (IB) and Harrow. They are all pretty good, but not cheap. Teachers at all these schools seemed very good when I did the tour.

My concern about all these schools is the class sizes. At over 25 per class Patana is one of the worst for this, and the overall feel of the school is like an 80's inner city comprehensive with mass education and one size fits all approach to the children. The teachers have no time to adjust to the needs of individual children, especially as Patana does not even have teaching assistants.

Our previous school in India had class sizes of 12-14 and each class had an assistant as well as the teacher.

For this reason I'm going to look at the KIS school, which has a more community feel, though it's IB rather than English curriculum, and has a lower percent of ex-pat kids.

Good luck with your search.

I think the problems with Patana started when they decided to grow the school at each year group. I have heard that they now have 7 or 8 classes in each year group with up to 26 children in each class. For some reason they also decided to get rid of the Teachers' Assistant assigned to each class.

Seems that the international schools are just getting greedy.

Boots chemists have loads of ladyboys working in their stores in Phuket and Bangkok.

is the one-year multiple-entry visa really the longest-term visa a foreigner can get?

No,

you can get 5 years visa with thailandelite.com program.

Thailand Elite visa is a lifetime visa. You get a five year multiple entry visa that is replaced when it expires or when you get a new passport .

You should search this forum for the many varied opinions on the Elite programme.

Thai Airways seems to be pulling through at the last minute folks. After spending the entire day in communication with my agent, Thai Airways says someone will be waiting at the gate for my daughter and I and they will try and get us on TG 629 and worse case scenario on Cathay CX 703.

Fingers crossed! Will be arriving in BKK on lucky 13.

TG has to take care of you because it is the return leg of your journey...believe TG629 leaves approx 7pm. If you dont make it then push for Royal Jordanian...it leaves at 2030 ...as opposed to CX703 at 10pm ish (a long wait with a one year old!!)

Have a safe journey and glad its all working out...

Flight cancellation? Is this possible? AOT claim that all flights in and out of Swampy have returned to normal last week.

My agent told me that my December 13th Thai Airways TG 607 HKK-BKK flight 20:45 has been cancelled so now I am stuck in HKK with baby for one night and flying the next day on TG 0601 HKK-BKK 12:45.

So...who should pay for the hotel??

Is this the return leg of you ticket? In other words did you fly out of BKK on TG and now returning ? If so then TG should pay for the hotel as your trip has already started.

If you are beginning the trip in Canada then TG will probably not pay for your hotel as they should be offering you a flight 2 days later when TG607 starts operation. If you still want to leave on the 13th you should ask TG to endorse your ticket to Royal Jordanian or Cathay or Emirates or Ethiopian who all have flights leaving HKG from 2030 onwards on the 13th. Should not be a problem...good luck anyway.

5 days after cancelling some Hong Kong flights and Paris flights, TG now has put them back on schedule

My agent tells me that my evening flight from Hong Kong to BKK has been cancelled on the 13th and that all evening flights HKK-BKK on Thai Airways have been cancelled. Is there still a possibility that this could change again? Lord.....this isn't fun for my husband knowing when to pick us up!

TG 607 HKG-BKK is reinstated from December 15th onwards. Leaves HKG at 2045. TG 630 and TG 606 BKK-HKG(afternoon flights) are also re-instated as of 15th Dec.

Ahh well..... you could all have bought at The Park 'the perfect spot' Ohh god I'm going to regret saying that

HAHA...yeah i tossed up between the two projects...both have major pluses and a few minuses. Altogether though I am happy with my decision to buy at Athenee and seems there are a few of us here at TV that have bought there..we should have a TV party when it opens up!!

"I like the building too but am a bit disappointed with the layout and the size of my unit on the south side...and all except the master are too small."

Then, for heaven's sakes, why did you buy the condo. Absolutely incredible.

Backflip, when you see a layout on paper (yes even with a scale showing the size of each room/area on the paper) it is possible to be " a bit disappointed" when seeing the finished product.

Your "absolutely incredible" comment is just snooty.

Gloves make no difference. It is 99.9% impossible to transmit the HIV virus through handling food. In fact its actually a very difficult virus to transmit full stop. Apart from unprotected sex and sharing injecting equipment.

The HIV virus is fragile. It needs 3 things to be passed on. In the trade its called QQR. That is:

Quality: The virus needs to be fresh. It will not live outside the body for more than 30 minutes.

Quantity: There needs to be enough of it. So a tiny bit of contaminated blood will not do.

Route: It needs to get into the bloodstream. If ingested it will die before making it to the bloodstream and even if by some unlucky fluke a bleeding HIV+ sufferer were to bleed on you whilst you are cut it is still highly unlikely as you bleed out not in. So the body will not take in anyone elses blood except for injecting or sex.

So relax get out there and eat .

On the subject of gloves isn't it ironic that you go to a sandwich shop, they make your sandwich whilst wearing hygenic gloves then take your money in the same gloves and hand you back the change. And they do not change the gloves for the next client!

Hi sgunn65...just a few questiond regarding your post.

Quality: At the beginning of the AIDS crisis it was reported that many haemophiliacs worldwide were infectied with HIV by Factor

8 which is,as I am sure you know,freeze dried before being turned into liquid form again when its ready to be transfused. This procedure,disregarding the freeze drying etc,is likely to take longer than 30mins. So what was it causing them to screen HIV+?

Quantity: There have been a number of healthcare professionals claiming to have been infected through needlejabs as well as a few dental patients through being treated by an HIV+ dentist....do you think these cases satisfied the Quantity rule? Would seem the amount of blood involved would be minimal,particularly from the dentist.

Route: This one suggests that the sexual encounter must meet certain criteria in order to seroconvert,ie that you be the receptive patner and that you have an abrasion suffcient enough to allow passage of HIV infected material to pass into your body. The percentage of insertive partners with an abrasion significant enough to satisfy the Quantity rule aswell must be tiny. That being said it must be very difficult for a heterosexual male to catch HIV. But in Africa the disease is equally prevalent between the sexes...whos infecting all the women?

Dont get me wrong,I am highly scepticle of the HIV/AIDS business ,you only need to do a little research to see just how questionable the science on this is. Just wondering how "the trade" answers the questions that its science raises.Cheers

I already inspected my unit at Athenee on the 16 Nov. but they set the transfer date sometime in Jan. 2008.

It looked very good and am very happy with it.

Athenee mailed the plan layout but I have not yet been given an inspection date. Have you received any more news?

hi corkscrew, if you havent already, you might consider calling and setting up the inspection. i called tcc capitaland and they just gave me a range of dates so i could do it at my convenience.

I spoke with TCC and they said we could have the first inspection in about a week. And second one in February. They said the delay was due to a hold up at the Land Office. They said we could even start decorating before we made the final 70% payment.

ok that's good news. i'll see my condo for its first inspection next week and let you know how that goes. i really hope there will be few if any adjustments that need to be made.

Yes,I meant to add that at my first inspection the entire property looked as though it was getting its finishing touches (and that was a couple of weeks ago!). So in this case at least, it seems the holdup is not with the developer. Oh and they told me I could start decorating before transfer aswell which would be great.

GO FOR IT Jockstar !

I quit 2 months ago 'cold turkey' with the help of Acupuncture. One week later I had one more treatment with the needles, just to be sure and try to stop 'snacking' and eating sweets & candy stuff. Gained a bit nevertheless, but that will fade away.

Never touched a cigarette again.

Good Luck !

LaoPo

Thing is i was a pack a day man up until a couple of years ago. Then i just cut down to a few a day, then a few a week. But now. None. It took a few years and several attempts. But i believe i have finally arrived at that point where i dont want to smoke again. This year is going to be a good year, i can feel it.

Well done Jockstar!! You have done an amazing thing for your health...the hardest part is now behind you!! When I first quit (for a couple of weeks) when I had a full-on craving I would search out scary smoking related photos on the internet...helped push me through and now its over a year...well done again!