jeffer

Fortunately Sondhi is lucky he is not living in the dark ages of jolly old England where as recently as 1637, an English writer named William Prynn made the unfortunate mistake of writing a book that criticized the queen. Brought before a panel of judges, Prynn was found guilty of libel and ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison. As an added punishment, he had his ears lopped off before he was hauled off to jail.

It's modern day Thailand so I guess Sondhi is lucky to still have his ears !

Don't give them any ideas or before you know it they'll be trying to get this brought into law as well.

What gift can you get for Xmas for the man who has more money than he knows what to do with (even after freezing a few lazy billion held in Thai banks).

Three years

someone remind me, how many years did that hi-so rich kid get for running over and killing the bmta lady with his Mercedes...

Just use Wotif, Passion Asia, Rates To Go, Asia Rooms, Latestays, Direct Rooms, etc. etc. Plenty to choose from if you have booking problems, just take your business elsewhere, problem solved, no censorship required

Anyway I can't believe it would be in the best interests of Thai Visa to censor customer feedback. If it really is Thai Visa's way of responding to such a question then I think people will easily form their own opinion where to book in future.

I almost dread standing at the front of a plane heading into BKK, and looking at rows of 50's sweaty, balding, tatooed in singlet and shorts tourists, and asking, is this what Thailand deserves?

Next time pay a bit extra for a seat and maybe you won't feel so bad.

Anyone know if the American fellow with a Thai wife who paid 136 million baht for a Sathorn penthouse condo recently posts here?

Don't most people use the hosts file to block sites from your computer?

While it's no big deal on the shorter routes, I wouldn't want to be 190cm tall and be travelling on the long haul JetStar flights.

Driving a Thai rental car across the border into Cambodia?

Doubt it's going to happen.

Flew on this route recently and I think it is here to stay. Each way there would have been no more than 5 empty seats so word is out, passengers would have been 80% Indonesian, some Thais and a few westerners.

As usual for Air Asia both my flights departed about half an hour late.

Arriving in Jakarta after midnight everyone got off the plane but not enough room for everyone on the bus (or people didn't move up enough) so had to wait on the tarmac for 10 minutes for another bus.

As Thaliban says there are no money changers open so make sure you have an ATM card, there are machines located in the luggage area.

Meter taxis downtown (bluebird) are 80,000 upwards (+tolls) but beware of the 'limo' options as they want triple this amount.

One tip, if you want to buy a coffee like me, they start serving from the rear of the plane and even though l was only four rows from the back it still took 45 minutes after takeoff before l could get served. If you're seated towards the front then they might never make it that far.

Two of the best looking flight attendants (Indonesian) I have ever seen

I keep finding lately that if I get through immigration quickly I then have to wait a half hour or more to get my luggage. If it takes an hour to get through immigration as it has done twice this month then my bags have been removed from the carousel and I have to walk around trying to find where they have ended up.

Coming back the other night I was only approached once inside the airport for a taxi but as soon as l walked outside there must have been 20 people descend on me wanting me to go in their "official taxi" I kept walking and they didn't follow but in the 100 meters to the taxi desk 4 other people approached me offering "official taxi" What's that all about? Did all the touts inside get kicked out so now they carry on the same but outside?

Maybe it's time for some glasses but I didn't see any directions for where to get a taxi. I know where to go myself but it must be confusing if you don't.

At the taxi desk I got a taxi without any problems, used the meter without prompting so at least that part of things is working.

some of you do not read carefully enough

Bottom line: since you do not know from whence fennielyn comes, resist negative comment. You speak from ignorance

Honestly, I don't see how my nationality comes into play here) that I'm Singaporean

Never have, and very unlikely to try one because my most common route is SIN-BKK-SIN and on that route the "budget" carriers are no cheaper than the "full service" ones. Supply & demand I guess...

... the thought of no pre-assigned seat also really puts me off!

Interesting. I pay return 3500 Baht on that route (including all taxes). Can you please tell which "full service" airlines ofer a return seat (including all taxes) for less?

Thanks

The question has been asked before but the "full service" fanboi's never seem able to supply a link to illustrate this. I keep seeing similar statements on other message boards but when asked to give an example they never do. If Thai, Malaysian, Singapore and Cathay were as cheap as Tiger, Air Asia and Jetstar then the latter wouldn't have come into existence. You pay your money and you make your choice, it's that simple.

I agree that all viewpoints should be expressed and as long as it complies with the forum rules on inflammatory posting, they shouldn't encounter any problem.

why does anyone even care unless you're muslim yourself

next!

Using the budget airlines on a regular basis even if you were to miss the odd flight you're usually still a long way in front with all the money saved before.

Here's to all the punters out there too lazy to read the terms and conditions and in doing so helping keep prices low for those of us who can read.

I shall be flying that route soon 3,430 baht return is a great deal. Flight arrives into Jakarta close to midnight but for the price l can live with that.

The route vanished from the Air Asia site for a couple of weeks, l heard there was a problem with the landing rights but all solved now and booked online as usual.

Are these factory outlet Acer's all brand new or are some refurbished or customer returns?

Find a cable service that has Astro Supersport. Atlanta versus New York is showing now on my cable tv, apparently live.

Wow, finally got my dream desktop built to my spec:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2.4 GHz 6,900 Baht

This is a real monster built at home with help of the local computer guy. I am sooo happy with it!

Typo? If not where can l buy one at this price?

Was in a Tesco last month. Paid for my groceries at 1.48pm according to the register receipt, walked the 10 meters over to the liquor shop where the clock outside above the entrance read 1.50pm. Went straight to the shelf and picked up a bottle of whisky but before l could even place it on the counter was told they couldn't sell it to me.

Called for the supervisor who was there in 2 minutes but even with pointing out that their very own clock said it was still at least 5 minutes before 2 o'clock l still wasn't allowed to buy it even without another customer in the department. She told me the register locks automatically 10 minutes before 2pm so they can't accidentally sell when they're not allowed to. Unbelievable

I've had GPRS issues too with AIS recently with my wifes account.

On her last statement there were 900 baht of GPRS charges. Not a lot maybe but she never uses GPRS, wouldn't know how. The girl in the AIS office checked the phone and could see it wasn't set up for GPRS.

According to the bill she had been using GPRS for hours every night for a week including long after we had gone to bed. Raised it with AIS who investigated but said we had to pay up. Had to threaten to close down the account which is over 5 years old before we could get them to reconsider. Ended up paying 100 baht to settle the issue as l knew it wasn't worth the trouble to start up a new account with another company and have to then notify everyone we had changed a long standing number.

You don't need to book anything like half year in advance to get cheap tickets. Usually 1-5 weeks before is okay in my experience.

Just a quick look at Tiger for next week, dep. BKK 11 Oct. ret. 17 Oct. for 4400 baht total and that was only my first search.

If you haven't heard of them before, Save Flights are one of the best online travel agents for booking tickets out of Bangkok. They usually have some of the best prices you will find anywhere, good service too.

From their current price list return trips (all taxes included) to Singapore are priced as follows (different ticket types):

Cathay Pacific @7700 and 10200 bt

Singapore Airlines @11300 and 14300bt

Swiss @ 7500bt

Thai Airways @ 9100,9700,10200,12000 etc.

They have a promotion for Cathay running at 5500 baht but l wouldn't be surprised if that is limited to a few flights like SIA do with their specials. Generally though, even Save Flights is almost double the price of what you can find by spending a little time searching the Air Asia etc. websites.

I haven't used my frequent flyer points for a while but when l have l still had to pay taxes which has made using them for short trips a waste of time, better to save them up for long haul flights these days.

I always admire how BLIND all this budget defenders are (or how little respect they may have for themselves)

In case anyone is interested l just looked up what l paid for some of my flights between Bangkok and Singapore this year.

Please note: THESE ARE TOTAL PRICES including ALL TAXES + CHARGES.

Air Asia

BKK-Sing @ 2209 baht

JetStar

BKK-Sing 2600 baht

Tiger

BKK-Sing Return @2535 baht (might have had to pay 500 baht departure tax as that was early this year but can't remember for sure)

Bkk-Sing @SD$70.24

Sing-BKK @SD$84.50

The most l have paid either way on any of the above airlines was 3100 baht one way when booked very close to departure date.

If someone can show me total fares for any of the above prices flying Thai, Singapore etc. then let me know. Whenever l've tried to find low price flights with other airlines l cannot but if anyone here can direct me to where l can purchase similar prices to what Air Asia, Tiger and JetStar have on offer then please let me know and l will check it out.

I can't see how flying low cost airlines translates into not having any respect for one's self. I would have thought it indicated one was a savvy traveller and not someone who just blindly paid what was asked without doing a little research first. Having said that l don't understand why people who decide to pay more on other airlines get upset at those of us who prefer to save some money. I don't have a problem with people choosing to pay more as it only means the low cost carriers have more promotions if they're not selling enough tickets.

I think what this thread shows is the different (unrealistic?) expectation levels we all have.

When l use a budget airline my priorities are safety and punctuality. For flights of less than 3 hours duration food and drink aren't a major concern for me. I would rather fly at a lower price and not eat, then use the money saved for shopping or a meal at my destination.

If l want really good service in Asia then l use MAS, Cathay or Singapore Airlines but most of the time the budget airlines get me to where l'm going with a minimum of fuss. I simply can't recall any budget airline member of staff being rude to me either on the ground or in the air but then l'm not trying to get away with extra baggage or anything else outside the conditions of travel. If you need to travel with a lot of baggage and expect staff to bow and scrape while they serve you cocktails and proffer a large selection of food then perhaps you need to rethink your choice of airline so you can find one that meets your expectations. Only thing is you usually pay extra for the increased service level but up to you of course.

Some of the attitudes in this thread remind me of reading the customer comments about budget hotels at some online hotel booking sites. Half the comments e.g. regarding a $50 a night hotel in Singapore will be along the lines of "not a great location, smallish room but okay for the price if you are only staying a couple of nights" while others will complain that "the room was so tiny, there was no room service and the breakfast buffet choices were limited so l will never stay in that hotel ever". Again it's people expecting 5 star accomodation and service at a 1 star price and the reality is you will not find that combination very often.

I voted Singapore as best like many others did but KL is also excellent. I often think KL is the airport that Thailand should have copied for Bangkok. It's well laid out, hassle free and the air-con works.

I voted Bangkok as worst only because they had the chance to build a really great airport and with all the money available didn't. It's not that bad an airport compared to many but every time l go there l'm never sure if l will be hassled by taxi touts, have to wait an hour for immigration or who knows how long at the baggage carousel. A train service like you have at Singapore or KL would make a big difference too.

Singapore and KL win everytime because they are well run and you rarely have to wait very long for anything.

Having been through Jakarta a bit recently l found it much better than l expected. Maybe l was lucky but everything ran smoothly and quickly.

Do I smell a Tiger employee/supplier here?

I have no connection with Tiger except as a paying customer. With all the mis-information you posted perhaps you're an employee/supplier of some full price airline.

Fennielyn, l think the problem is some expect the exact same level of service from a budget airline you get from a full fare carrier. For the price paid l think all of the big three budget carriers discussed here provide a decent service overall. Complaining about weight limits, food prices, seating etc. as some have is silly when all the conditions can easily be found when booking on the web. Even with full priced airlines you can have a low level of service. I've flown on American domestic and international flights with terrible treatment of passengers compared to anything l've experienced with Asian budget carriers.

Air stewardess did not show me to my seat nor indicate in any direction but merely asked,"Seat number please?"

"You know you're not supposed to switch on your handphone on the plane? Can you switch it off now?"

So yea, all in all not that bad a flight.