mauiguy90

Check out the Windsor Hotel at Sukhumvit 20. They have a Clark Hatch gym with free weights. I think the day passes go for 200 baht per day.

If you haven't used the services at the present One Stop Center for Visas, it is a great place for 90 day check ins. I just went to the center located at Rasa Tower II, which is located closeby to the MRT at Phahonyotin (the Central Ladprao stop). Took a short motorbike ride to the building, went to the One Stop Center located on the 16th floor and did my 90 day check in within 5 minutes. They also reportedly handle re-entry visas as well. Better than going to Chaengwattana!!!

Presumably, the new One Stop Center location will be just as convenient.

I know others have had bad experiences in Thailand trying to return bad products but I wanted to share this. I don't care what the store policy is, if they sell me junk they're getting it back. That's why I pay with a credit card, not cash.

Wayne Davis

Thanks for sharing this info. Might come in handy. I know this is Thailand but I think in this case, you are right--Mastercard rules!!!

The President Park at Sukhumvit 15 is a nice hotel, conveniently located close to the skytrain. Checked on Expedia and prices going for $45 right now. There are cheaper places in the area available although if you want to be close to the sightseeing areas in Bangkok, you might want to stay closer to the Banglamphu area. Lots of hotels there available at low prices. Check out the Phranakorn Nornlen Hotel, or the Lamphu Tree House.

Best place I know of is at the corner of Sukhumvit 31, in front of a 7-11. They make a great bamii naam giaw(noodle soup with dumplings) with muu groop(roasted pork w/the crusty rind). If you go late, they will have muu dang instead of muu group. A couple thai girls told me that this is the best place to eat noodles. Open everyday except Mondays of course.

Travelling around Thailand and Asia this end of year, I'd like to know where can I buy the weekly international newspaper "Courrier international" (in french) specially in Bangkok silom area or airport - Chiang Mai and Hua Hin ? What are the names of international press point or libraries or where to buy international press...

Thanks

Thierry

Haven't check for French newspapers but there is a store that apparently imports international newspapers, located in the small subsoi between Villa Market and Subway at Sukhumvit 33/1. The newspaper shop is next door to a carpet shop on the right hand side of othe subsoi. Probably has a French newspaper but don't know if it has your specific "Courier International". You might also try the library at AUA Rachadamri.

Carrefour generally speaking has better prepared food, especially in the bakery section. They also have a better organized foreign food department that either of the other places. I've also had good experiences buying appliances at Carrefour but it is limited to Bangkok outlets (esp. Rama IV). The personnel generally fill out the warranty cards for you and send them in vs. other places that simply hand you the card so you can struggle filling them out.

Big C is a nice place but somehow harder to find convenient outlets. I find Lotus conveniently located but think the product quality seems to be lower than either Carrefour or Big C.

I've just spent a few days at a long time Bangkok favourite, Tarit Court, Sukhumvit. Soi 27.

For 700 Baht a night I had a small apartment with a kitchenette, cable TV and free internet in a unique quiet garden atmosphere 100 meters off Sukhumvit and 5 mins from the Asoke/Sukhumvit BTS Skytrain and MRT Subway.

It was clean, comfortable with pleasant capable staff and it retains an excellent reputation with its long term tenants.

I will return and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a reliable, safe, short or long term convenient rental apt.

I've been to Tarit Court to see the units a couple times. They are conveniently located, however, it is an old apartment complex which needs renovation, to put it kindly. Although it has been recently repainted, the rooms are tiny, the walls are very thin and the doors are of the cheap veneer type. However, the staff seemed quite friendly and the place does have a nice garden area, which gives the place a peaceful environment.

Friends of mine who are yoga instructors wanted a place closeby to their workplace, so I escorted them there solely because of the location. The woman there said she could give them a discount if all 4 of them signed up and actually offered me a commission, which I refused. Since Tarit Court is conveniently located, my friends decided that they would sign contracts to stay there. However, strangely the discount that was offered disappeared and the prices were raised from between 7000-7500 baht per month to 10,000 baht per month. They have since reconsidered staying there and I am helping look for a better place.

Even though the place is not well built, I thought the nice staff and the garden made up for it. Now, I would recommend anyone considering staying there long term to think twice before staying there.

Hi, Staying at the Grand Hyatt Erawan for 6 nights in Dec with my parents. Please could anybody inform me whats around the area of the hotel and Chit Lom skytrain station. The hotel is opposite Central shopping centre. Would be really great if we get some nice suggestions of decent bars and restaurants which are not that far away to visit in the evening. The type of food we like is Thai and chinese. The bars that I thought I could take them to would be hard rock and gullivers but wondered what else is around?

Thank you.

From Chidlom, the Lumphini Night Bazaar is just a short taxi ride. Silom is also just one BTS stop away, where you can find many fine restaurants including Anna's Cafe, Baan Khanitha(Sathorn) and Silom Village(Look for the Ruen Thep Restaurant, which has nightly dinner shows at a reasonable price). Molly Malones, is a nice pub with generally reasonably priced food, located in Soi Convent(next to Silom BTS).

Nippon Tei, which is a great Japanese restaurant is located at Rachadamri and also at the President Hotel at Chidlom. Rosabien is a very nice outdoor/indoor restaurant with music(tends towards soft jazz) located in Sukhumvit 11, where you can find an abundance of other fine restaurants as well(just a short walk from the Nana BTS). Of course, Cabbages and Cabbages in Sukhumvit 12 is always a great novelty restaurant, if you have never been there before. If you get lazy, just walk over to the Paragon shopping center.

Have eaten at the Amarin Food House a few times, which is very convenient but generally very empty as well. Nothing wrong with the food but a bit expensive for average thai food.

The bakery at Sukhumvit 39, located about 200 yards from the beginning of the soi. Great bread but pastries a bit expensive.

Current price at Bamrungrad is between THB 20 and 25 thousand.

Went to Bamrungrad recently for a checkup. Inquired about prices for a colonoscopy and was told it was between 20,000-25000 baht. Had to see a doctor prior to the procedure which cost about 1800 baht with meds for the procedure. Then was told that the procedure would cost between 25,000 to 30,000 in addition to the pre-exam fees. Eventually ended up doing the same procedure at BNH for 14,000 baht.

They are however from what I can see tied into Asiarooms.com, Expedia.com, Agoda.com etc.... so they must be getting commissions from these sites but as far as I know you cannot book through TA itself and they say so in their profile //// Or am I wrong???

I use tripadvisor.com quite frequently and find the feedback from members to be quite useful. Just got back from a trip to Chiang Mai and found the reviews to be spot on regarding both the upsides and complaints about the hotel. Some reviewers are apparently quite picky (i.e. arrived at 1 a.m. and expected to get top service; ) but most are well thought out. As previously mentioned, its best to generally filter out the nit picky feedback and look for consistent remarks from consumers with reasonable expectations.

I find the overall ratings to be generally accurate, with places having the most responses being the most accurate. The ratings tend to be from members who had strong reactions to their experiences travelling and consequently tend to be from those who had a great time or a really bad experience.

I agree with Annabel that tripadvisor is linked to numerous travel agency sites including agoda.com but that they don't have their own booking service. Although many of the top rated hotels are expensive, a fair number of them are highly rated less expensive places. It is an excellent service, although some users expect a lot from places which are highly rated even though the prices are very reasonable.

Is it frost free, is it cold only in the freezer? You don't give many details.

Sorry, short on details because I don't know much about freezers. It's frost free, making noise but not working in either freezer or fridge. It's a Samsung and this is the second time it's broken, plus all the plastic shelves are very brittle.

Any recommendations on a good brand?

Call the Sam Sung service center to have them diagnose the problem properly. They will have the OEM parts and you won't have to worry about them jacking up the prices for parts. Installation should be covered by a basic service fee. The service center number should be on the back of the fridge, if not call 1188 and they will give you the local service center number.

If you decide to use a local repairman, you will probably be gouged for second hand parts, overcharged for the diagnosis and installation of the replacement parts and then in case of continued trouble, will charge you again for replacing a bad part they installed.

Electrolux has the best service that I know of. Mitsubishi is also good. If you buy refrigerators from either of these companies, they will take care of your servicing needs until the body of the refrigerator rusts out.

I am a HUGE Vikings fan and have NFL on ASN (All Sports Network) at my house. The problem is I have to fly to Bangkok DURING the Vikings/Packers Monday Night Football game on Tuesday morning (8:30 am). If your familiar with American football, the Vikings and Packers, and at the same time even a remotely empathetic person, you'll realize the tragedy of this situation. One day a year, huh?

The good news is this, the game will be replayed at 8:00 pm the night of the 6th, Tuesday. What I'm hoping for is the location of a bar, restaurant, guest house, hotel, prison, brothel, food cart,etc.(you get my meaning I think) that FOR SURE will be playing that game. The Sukhumvit area would be a real plus, but I'll go where ever it takes. This wouldn't be so urgent since they have more than one replay of that game during the week, but I have to fly to England the next day and won't be able to see any of the later replays. It seems to me there would be a sports bar somewhere that would be playing this but I need to know for sure. Other places in Thailand that I've been say they will play it and then half way through the game the channel gets switched to women's Korean Badminton or Real Madrid football or something equally ridiculous. I need to be sure cause I can't miss a play of this one!!

Come on folks and help me out!! Meet me there and I'll buy you a beer or 10!!

The Sports Bar at Sukhumvit 20 will probably show the replay on Tuesday night. The owner is American so chances are excellent since they show most American football games there. Beer is cheap as well!

i wnt to build tennis court next to my khon ken house but. does nyone hve ny contcts for someone to build it?

sorry my keybord is broken

Here's some listings from the yellow pages:

1) Action Sports Construction 02-914-1270

2) ACMA 02-253-3313

3) Ladprao Tennis Court 02-511-2749

4) Starmit Business 02-951-7002

Tennis pro I know had his court resurfaced recently. Will PM you if and when he gets back to me. Sorry don't know Khon Khaen contacts but maybe some of these guys can help.

what a surprise, i bought tickets early last year as they had 4 or 5 big names supposedly playing and magically most of them pulled out right before the tournament. Im sure theyre aware these guys wont play but just use their names to sell tickets. Pretty boring atmosphere there also, will never go again.

Today's nite session was pretty lively, especially with the match between Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Ernest Gulbis, which went 3 very tight sets. Fortunately Tsonga won 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 in a well played high caliber tennis match. Actually thought that Gulbis played better but he faded in the last two tiebreakers(several close/bum line calls go against him). Wouldn't have been much of a tournament without Tsonga! Gilles Simon, the 2nd seed(a top ten player), won during the day session but nobody really knows who he is.

The prime minister showed up for the opening ceremony, although the highlight was all the Miss Thailand contestants. Even Marat Safin showed up for the presentation, looking very gentlemanly even after his disappointing loss earlier in the day session. Prospects for good tennis on the weekend look good, since enough of the seeded players survived the early rounds.

Also I have noticed that they are now charging for day and night sessions seperately, so just two matches in the day and two at night. The only really draws in the draw are Safin and Tsonga, most of the others are not well known to the general public. If those two don't reach the latter stages of the tournament then attendance will be down. When the tournament first started back in 03 I recall that we had about 5 of the top ten including the then world number one Ferrro and the next two years we had Fed, but the trouble this year is that there is a new Mens' tournament in Malaysia held at the same time, this seems to have attracted some bigger names. Even Mofills who was a finalist last year is playing in that one. I feel that we may be reaching the end of the road re this tournament, though I hope not. I for one will attend a couple of night sessions, if they have Safin or Tsonga, I doubt either of those two will be there in the day, and there is no way that I am going to pay 1000 for some mediocre days mathches and then have to pay the same again to watch some better ones at night.

Safin will be playing the day session today, as will Gilles Simon, the 2nd seed. Paradorn Schrichapan made a showing yesterday in the men's doubles with Danai Udomchoke. I was hoping they might rescue this tournament by making a run to the doubles finals but unfortunately, they lost in a tiebreaker. The quality of tennis will improve as the tournament progresses, especially if the two top seeds win.

FYI tickets for the day or night session during the week days(M-F) start at 500 baht (cheaper if you buy general admission tickets from touts).

Nadal withdraws from Thailand Open

Sadly it seems this tournament is snake bitten. The latest casualty is #3 seed, Sam Querry, who had an untimely accident when he sat on a glass table which shattered and caused an arm injury.

Last night's matches featured Danai Udomchoke and drew relatively big crowds. However, generally speaking, attendance is terrible probably since none of the matches until Thursday will feature a top 30 player.

What ever you choose, make sure they have a full Service Centre, just in case,

not just a local dealer.

I totally agree with Astral! I have used the service center for both Electrolux and Mitsubishi, which are both excellent. Saved me a lot of time, effort and money since the repairmen are knowledgeable about the product, have OEM parts at their cost, and only charge a basic service charge for the repair. Might cost a bit more for these name brands, but well worth it!

Would you buy new budget condo now in Bangkok?

IF so where? and how much is it?

And what type of condo can you get now for £UK25000?

When I bought my condos 6-7 years ago, people kept asking me why I was buying when it was so cheap to rent. Now, everyone tells me how lucky I was that I bought then. Funny how short some people's memories are!!! The same guys who make fun of you today, probably won't be able to afford living here in 5 years from now. Then you will be the one laughing!

Nadal withdraws from Thailand Open

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

BANGKOK — Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week's Thailand Open due to a stomach injury, the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand said Monday.

The Thailand Open will be held from September 26 until October 4 in the suburbs of Bangkok with a top prize of 608,500 dollars.

"Nadal has informed organisers that he has an acute rupture of the right abdominal muscle and would like to withdraw from the Thailand Open," LTAT president Suwat Lipatapanlop told AFP.

continued here

Unfortunately the Thailand Open has a history of withdrawals of top ranked players. Interestingly, according to Tennis Talk, Nadal is vacationing in Samui this week. To see the article, click here: Nadal Recuperating at Samui . Its a bit of a slap in the face.

I somehow research and found this place. Sabai Jai a.k.a Baan Tawan Gai Yang @ Ekkamai soi 1. How do i get there, if i am not wrong there's a Sky Train Station around that area. Is that place within walking distance? Anyone went there recently?

Baan Tawan Gai Yang is an excellent restaurant on soi Ekkamai. For my tastes, the gai yaang is good but not that special, however, they serve terrific seafood dishes at reasonable prices. Its probably not familiar to many on thaivisa since its essentially a thai restaurant. Worth the visit and excellent value, however, it is quite a walk from the BTS Ekkamai, even tho' it is close to Ekkamai Soi 1. Its about a block past Big C, on the opposite side of the street.

Think that JFChandler mentioned Siam Niramit, which has an excellent dinner show and located at the Thai Cultural Center. It costs about 1500 baht and if you want a cheaper alternative, you can check out Silom Village, which has a good dinner show. Altho' its not as elaborate as the Siam Niramit, its a great value at 600 baht including dinner. Call the Ruen Thep restaurant, 02-235-8760, to make reservations and get directions. Or just jump on a cab from BTS Silom. Its a 5 minute ride.

Someone mentioned the Ancient City which is worth a visit. It is in Samut Prakan, and located relatively close to the Crocodile Farm. I think that Safari World is also worth visiting with your girlfriend. Its a bit hot and a little primitive version of other wildlife sanctuaries/shows but its pretty entertaining. The Calypso show at the Asia Hotel is fine but go early to get a good seat, otherwise you will pay a lot of money and get seated in the back of the room. You might consider a day or two at the Thailand Open (tennis) at the Muang Thong Thani Center, by the old airport. PM me if you need more info.

To rekindle an old topic:-

HELP PLEASE! I need a GOOD laundry service that actually cleans clothes - ie removes the dirt and stains, and where they do not wash your clothes together with those of other people. I have tried the one on Soi 8 and tho they say they do not wash with others I caught them out (foreign clothes with mine when picked up). Also the cheapy in Suk rd near Soi 8 - washes with others and does not clean. Also after any tips on good laundry detergent in Bkk.

Don't know if it is too far for you, but a number of friends use the laundry service at Sukhumvit 22, which is in the small subsoi right after Washington Square. Friend of mine gets a package for 80 pieces for 1000 baht. This price might not be available to new customers but they seem to do a very good job.

Hello, I would like to play tennis. Can anyone recommend a tennis court in Bangkok preferably near Chong Nonsi or not too far away.

Would like racket hire at first if that is possible but if not not a problem.

I think it will have to be indoors as its too hot/humid at the moment.

Would rather just pay as you play instead of joining up with a membership.

Hope you can help.

Thanks.

There are courts at AUA, which is located at BTS Rachadamri, which costs about 80 baht an hour. You can also get a court at Asia Hotel for 100 baht an hour, which is right off a skybridge connected to the BTS Ratchathevi. When you call, ask for the Health Club, which is located on the 3rd floor.

I found this by chance and I found it a very good read.

It asks whether learning Thai was a mistake.

In my case, I have one more reason to regret I ever learned Thai - my daughter is reluctant to speak English with me, because I speak Thai with her mother (who denies to speak English).

Good article! It points out that despite all efforts to speak thai, most thais speak English with foreigners. Altho' I don't know that this is entirely true, I do find that those thai proficient in English seem to prefer speaking English.

My general feeling is that learning thai is worth the time, although it has generally shattered my image of thais being really polite people. Walking around and inadvertently listening to thais insult foreigners, who they think don't understand the language, is eye opening. Maybe it is better not to understand the language.