Kered

48 minutes ago, kast said:

So is Buonissimo next to the restaurant Enoteca or are these 2 separate places?   

The shop and restaurant are together with a common door.

1 hour ago, Bill97 said:

Bonissomo

Agree, but note it is not easy to find as they are in a relatively new location on 1001 on the opposite side from Ruam Chok Market towards the back of a new development and they have a restaurant there now called Enoteca. 

5 hours ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

What explanation is needed...presumebly you're referring to long-stayers with visa extensions of one type or another. It means stay at the address you put down on your extension application and/or most recent 90-day report. What's so hard to understand about that.

It is hard to understand and further explanation is needed, I am sure that there are many long stayers like myself that have a second property that they visit frequently often for only one or two days. Does it mean that you have to have to submit 2 forms every time you move from one property to the other for a couple of days. It does need clarification.

Tourists - PLEASE NOTE - Do not come to Thailand if you wish to play Bridge or Dominos, you may be arrested!!

We have found BUPA to be very good value and unlike many Thai insurances it provides full cover within the limit of the policy and covers for life. On the one occasion that we have made a claim it was promptly settled in full.

Perhaps this is a wake up call to the San Sai authorities. There has been a high incidence of mosquitos in San Sai Noi and evidence of Dengue mosquitos but the response from the authorities was no action as no one has died in the area.

This have more to do with regulations than anything. If your bag is checked through, and you miss your connection they either have to find you, or pull your bag off.

That is the same whether you have one ticket or two.

I'm not, I cancelled the reservation that they were holding.

I have commented previously on the problem of transferring luggage to Qantas from a Domestic carrier. They insist that you must have a through ticket.

Having just tried to book a business class flight with Qantas to Melbourne the extra cost quoted to add a Thai Airways flight to Chiang Mai is Baht 31,936 so that my baggage would be transferred on the return flight. This an extract from the quote provided by Qantas Bangkok office.

DEAR SIR FARE ONLY BKK ---BKK ON BUSINESS CLASS

THB 104200/TAX 4495 TTL 108695/PERSON
FARE INCLUDE TG BUSINESS CLASS THB 126135 TAX4495
TTL 130630/PERSON

There's no safer or more reliable way than to buy from Apple directly (which in Thailand means online). The website should give you the option to include Applecare when you order.

I am looking at the website now and there is no option to buy the Applecare unfortunately.

Apple care for an iPhone is not available in Thailand and Thailand does not recognise Applecare purchased overseas. I understand that the nearest Apple Centre (not a a authorised service centre) is in Singapore. While Apple provides international warranty it is unlikely that a Thai service centre will honour Apple warranty it unless the product is purchased in Thailand.

You can download a Macbook manual from Apple support which will supply much of the information that you require. In addition you can just ask a question on Safari and you will normally be presented with a number of answers many are Apple support documents.

OP - To get an O-A visa is not easy. When I got mine in China ( where I was resident ) I had to provide many papers concerning income, status, residence etc .... this could have been the China office strictness or it could be similar for all countries.

The most difficult piece of the Jigsaw was the medical ! You will need to have a special medical to prove you don't have several conditions, and this may take some time to organize. If I remember correctly amongst others they tested me for TB, and Elephantitus ( a condition where limbs grow extra large ) I had never even heard of this, but it was stipulated by the medical, and took some time to find a doctor who could perform the tests....

Plan well and make sure you know what is required.

Obtaining an O-A visa in Australia takes about one month. You have to obtain a police report which involves a completing a lengthy form together with copy of passport and 2-3 additional items to prove identity and residential address. The copies have to be certified and sent to Melbourne and you have to allow about 14 days for the response. You also need to obtain the medical certificate and the usual bank statements and confirmation letter from the Bank. They require the originals of the documents plus 2 copies and the 3 sets of documents with 3 photographs have to be bound and certified by a Notary Public or Justice of the Peace. Everything has then to be sent to Canberra where it takes 3-4 working days plus postage time.

Not too difficult but time consuming.

Of course Bangkok Airways flies to/from Suvarnabhumi.

So don't mix that with the much more exhaustive change from DMK to BKK.

What confuses me in the OP:

was it possible in the past to do a transit from international airports like Phuket or Chiang Mai without passing immigration at Suvarnabhumi and so this is ridiculed by the new baggage handling?

In this case it's really a drawback.

It is only recently that Bangkok Air stopped transferring bags to another airline unless you have a through ticket either issued by Bangkok Air or the International carrier. I understand that Thai Airways will transfer baggage but some International carriers such as Qantas will not transfer baggage to Thai Airways. The arrangement appears to apply to some airlines so beware, if your baggage cannot be transferred you have to allow about 2 hours extra to transfer at Swampy.

Consider Sonos which is WiFi based controlled by a phone or tablet with the same or different music on each speaker.

This is a new policy introduced by the airlines particularly Qantas. You cannot transfer luggage unless the entire journey is on one ticket or you are transferring to another One World carrier in the case of Qantas and there is no One World domestic carrier in Australia. It appears to be a money making exercise as the additional fare charged by Qantas for the Bangkok - Chiang Mai sector if you buy a through ticket is around Baht 10,000 on a business class ticket and of course Bangkok Airways who is the Qantas code share partner does not have business class to Chiang Mai. Not sure which airline benefits from the extra income. I do not know what the Thai Airways position is but I do know from personal experience that Qantas will not transfer luggage if you hold a separate Thai Airways domestic ticket or a Bangkok Airways domestic ticket.

I recently obtained a single entry in Melbourne and all that was required was 1 photograph and I picked up the Visa 3 days later. I am not certain but I think that you need some evidence of a travel plan with the double entry. I suggest you call the office they are very helpful.

Cheers mate, will give it a try. Also will try if she can have the same insurance as me from Europe.

She called some company's here and they asked very high prices for a 10 days cover. Much more then i pay for a yearly worldwide travelinsurance (from Europe).

Not many Thai (compared to Europeans) travel abroad and take a travelinsurance i guess. I remember though that when my wife came to Europe she needed one or wouldn't get a visa.

I think a yearly continuous travelinsurance shouldn't cost more then 100 euro=4000 baht. I can easy find much cheaper ones for myself.

I pay US$150 for 1 years cover for multiple trips each not exceeding 60 days but you can extend the time for any trip by paying an additional premium.

Try Columbus Direct a UK based company. You can get a quote on-line for an annual policy and they provide good cover world wide. They are happy to cover a Thai person with a Thai address.

Perhaps the PM has to rethink his attitude towards tourism and relax the regulations as in other tourist destinations.

Nothing new here. This is how interline baggage transfers work. Unless there is a specific agreement between the airlines, or its a codeshare flight, there shouldn't be any through checks. The reason is quite simple. Let's say Bangkok Airways takes a bag from a Qantas pax in HKT and tags it through to SYD. The bag goes missing and isn't loaded onto the Qantas flight. Guess who is responsible for the lost luggage claim? Qantas. Qantas has always had the official policy that there is no interline baggage transfer for non One World airlines unless the journey is on one ticket.

If you are correct this must be one of these rules that has been around for some time and never enforced until as often happens in Thailand someone sees an advantage in enforcing it. There is a code share agreement between Bangkok Airways and Qantas and the PG flight which I was on also showed a Qantas number on the departure monitor.

Having travelled a few million miles with Qantas over the years I have never encountered this problem and have transferred baggage through from many airlines in many parts of the world.

I eventually managed to contact someone in Qantas Frequent Flyer who was unaware of the rule and also did not know that Qantas has a code share agreement with Bangkok Air. At his request I have emailed all the details to Qantas FF dept. and await a response which I will post when received.

I am a bit confused. At one point, the OP says he had a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Australia, then he says he had a Qantas flight.

Perhaps you are confused as there was no mention of Thai in my original post. The problem was between Bangkok Airways and Qantas but according to Bangkok Airways it will apply to other airlines from March.

Worked for me with Emirates in Dec. No through ticket. Will surely check before next time.

According to what Bangkok Airways told me it only applies to Qantas and British Airways and one other, I think it was possibly Lufthansa, at present but will be extended to all airlines in March.

According to Bangkok Airways they are no longer going to transfer baggage from a domestic flight to an international carrier from March 2016 unless the passenger holds a single through ticket issued by an International airline. They state that this is a new law that will apply to all airlines in Thailand.

They have already introduced it for Qantas and British Airways and claim that it has been in force with Qantas for some months now at the request of Qantas. When I checked in at Chiang Mai last week with a Bangkok Airways ticket to Bangkok and an onward business class ticket to Melbourne Bangkok Airways refused to check my baggage through to Melbourne, something that I have done many times in the past. In fact I have a printout from the Bangkok Airways site showing the airlines that they will transfer baggage to and some including Qantas that they will also issue boarding cards for. Apparently the arrangements have been cancelled although no one as far as I am aware has been told and I am a frequent flyer with both Airlines. When I went online to check I found that the Bangkok Airways website is partly under reconstruction and the Through Check In information is not available! I called Qantas in Bangkok who knew nothing about the arrangement and the Qantas representative spoke to the claimed most senior person from Bangkok Airways at Chiang Mai but they would do nothing and just insisted that it was now the law in Thailand and that they could not check in my baggage although I already had boarding cards for the Qantas flight. They insisted that since I had a Bangkok Airways ticket to Bangkok that I had to collect my baggage and check in with Qantas at Bangkok then go through security and immigration which as many know is a painful process in Bangkok made worse by the fact that the Bangkok Airways flight was an hour late departing.

It would be interesting to know if others have had the same experience or are aware of the new arrangements. The crew on board the Qantas flight had never heard of it and I have so far been unable to contact anyone in Qantas who can provide any information.

I see Netflix is now available in Thailand - recommended?

You saw this where, exactly?

Netflix is not available in Thailand.

I received an Email from Netflix today offering their service in Thailand with a 1 month free trial.

Check out Bangkok Furniture next to the Promenada entrance on 121 they have a good range of wooden furniture at reasonable prices.