KhunDave

Don't want to sound too negative here....but,

Do some research on this forum about the March smoke problem in Chiang Mai. It certainly bothers some (myself included), whilst others tolerate it without complaint. A visit to CM at the moment when things are beautiful will give a very different impression to what you would find here in March.

Dream Fares

Less than £500 to Bangkok. Maximum stay one month. Book by 5th October. Might be of use to someone.

I use them a lot for years now and agree with most peoples comments, they are a good airline.

BUT on their 777's which they use BKK/DUB and onto the EU they stick an extra seat in each row which makes it a bit more uncomfortable. They run 3/4/3 when normally it is 3/3/3. Leg room isn't much to sing about either. They also have a set up where when you recline the seat the front lifts up cutting off your circulation. Google it if you don't believe me and check seat guru. There is a reason they are a cheap airline with good service!

Agree 100% with this. Avoid the 777ER if you possibly can - the 10 abreast seating is hideous. Quite the opposite on the 380 though.

I just saw a report about this on Channel 3 News. Now my Thai isn't great, so I could only get the basics of the story. It is indeed in Sukhothai province, and it is a Royal Project. His Majesty identified an area of low-lying land to be used as a flood-alleviation water collection point, the idea being to retain more water in the North for the dry season whilst also reducing flooding further south along the Chao Phrya. The report said it is full right now, and warned points south of Nakhon Sawan to expect a water surge in the next 50 hours.

The A**hole who gets up every fifteen minutes to get something from his backpack/bag in the overhead compartment three rows back from his seat...

...and then slams the hatch closed despite the fact that everyone is sleeping, totally unaware that simply by lifting the latch it can be closed silently.

I think the original article is far too harsh - in fact it's complete rubbish in parts - "not connected to any airport". I don't know how much more connected to Suvarnabhumi it could get, and that's an airport as far as I know. I took a ride on the City Line out of interest yesterday and I didn't see any kind of mess. In fact I thought it was well organised, punctual and extremely good value. Admittedly the 15baht fare is an introductory offer though. The transfer onto BTS at Phya Thai is simple and quick.

The Makkasan interchange, and the whole idea of travelling with lots of baggage would be of no interest to me personally. If you are travelling light however - and many do in these days of low cost carriers and chargeable bags - I think the City Line and BTS into the central area is a whole lot better than the licenced bandits in the taxis.

In England I always used the firm of Gimme Gimme & Gimme More Ltd.

They have branches worldwide.

In England I always used the firm of Gimme Gimme & Gimme More Ltd.

They have branches worldwide.

Affiliated, if I am not mistaken, with Dewey, Schrewem & Howe.

My own preference is for Sioux, Grabbitt and Runn. Brilliant firm.

So, this whole air pollution thing lasts for around a month, and is worse for some people. Is the pollution a real health threat and people are staying indoors when possible or is it just a constant smell, which is uncomfortable but not dangerous.

I'd recommend having a read back through some of the threads that occur on this forum every year during the smoke season. Opinions vary widely - some people seem hardly to notice it, others actively plan to leave the area every March. The air quality starts to go down hill from late January, and the real smoke episodes - when the sky is brown in the daytime and the stars invisible at night - usually start to occur from mid-February onwards. When arriving at Chiang Mai airport any time between January and March the first thing I notice on leaving the building is the smell of smoke in the air. Some years are worse than others, but there are generally at least two or three episodes where the readings get into the dangerous category. As you are starting a family you will want to consider that the young are more vulnerable to pollution. The problem goes away when the first rains start to fall, meaning that it can stretch into April some years.

I wish that I'd done more research into the smoke problem before settling in CM, as personally I find it really unpleasant on the worst days. Having said that, for the other ten and a half months of the year I would say the climate and general quality of life here are wonderful.

If you have any tall people in your party bear in mind that BA and Qantas have a relatively tight 31 inch seat pitch. On the Middle Eastern carriers you typically get two to three inches more, and that can make a real difference on a long haul.

I'd say you will most likely make it. The CNX flight is very rarely delayed as it is the aircraft's first working of the day. Whether you want the stress of the chance of something going wrong on such a long trip is another matter though. Personally I'd have a night in the Tune.

The system "upgrade" does seem to have been very badly handled. I find the site very buggy now, and some features - such as the previously useful flight status page on the mobile site - have not worked since the shutdown. Air Asia need to get new IT specialists for sure.

Just re-read my post (2) in this thread from 2007 - Novotel 3000Bt per night. Stayed there last week for 1200Bt. How times have changed.

I haven't used Jet myself but did some online research after seeing their prices ex-UK. There are a lot of horror stories about the transfer in India - easy to find if you dig around a bit. It put me off trying them. Etihad on the other hand has always been fine for me, and no problems with the transfer in AUH - except the price of a pint there!

A few of weeks ago whilst visiting Pai I took a drive down to the Muang Paeng Hot Springs. The road branches off the main 1095 highway just outside of Pai town and then runs about 35km south to the hot springs.

A couple of Kms down this road I noticed that there was no vegetation anywhere and everything was covered in ash. After a while it dawned on me that the entire area had been burned during the smoke season. This devastatation went on the whole way down to the hot springs - mile after mile after mile of totally dead and devastated forest. In some parts tree trunks were still smouldering even then, so one can only wonder what a hel_l-hole this area was in March.

Remember the Mae Hong Son 500+ PM10 reading? This is where it came from. A few pics:

Will follow shortly - having a bit of trouble with my uploads...

The newspaper that we don't quote is reporting that the full opening of the SARL is confirmed as 23 August. Let's hope so...

I noticed that Eva are running a promotion for June and July - must ticket by the end of June:

Eva Air

I always fly SilkAir Singapore to/from Chiang Mai as a stopover between Australia. I'm not sure what is regarded as a good deal, but I always thought the deal was ok. I just checked it now, 9740bht-12340bht return inclusive of taxes, 25kg luggage, food, alcohol.

Silk Air as a connection to CNX from a Singapore Airlines long haul flight is very reasonably priced. For some reason though the stand-alone product between CNX and SIN is very expensive.

Silk Air to SIN is Tue/Wed/Fri/Sun, but good deals are few and far between. Usually better to go Air Asia as anonymouse suggests. If you can get a decent price for the CNX-KUL leg, the flights onward to SIN are cheap and frequent.

I can remember when I came to live here full time I telephoned DVLA about this and they informed me, that they do not put foreign address's on UK licence's!!, but my licence would still remain valid, despite having my previous house address on it, which I sold!.

Anyway I did a change of address to my Mothers house instead.

I have just renewed the licence, a few weeks ago, as the photo was getting to be 10 years old (it tells you date of expiry on the front of the plastic part), this involved having an up to date photo done here and then posting on to my Mothers house! for her to post the paperwork onto Swansea.

At age 55 my LGV (CE & C) medical is due, I do'nt think I will bother. Any ex truckers out there will tell you what a hassle that can be & (expensive).

The medical is pretty rigorous now, and GP's typically charge £100+ to do it. Even if you let it lapse though you still retain the entitlement. So if you want to bring it back to life at a later date you just need to fill in the forms and have the medical.

If you book the whole trip US-LHR-BKK on a single ticket then the airline(s) is responsible for looking after you if something goes wrong - say you missed your connection at LHR due to a late incoming flight. If you are on separate tickets then in theory you are on your own, although the airlines may take pity on you. The point is though that they don't have to. You may find it comes down to a trade-off decision between risk and cost.

SKK - don't worry you have done exactly the right thing in getting her back to Thailand. This is a European Union curse. It has the right of abode in any EU country, it needn't worry about visa restrictions there and it can work freely without a work permit. Thank your lucky stars that you didn't send her to Torremolinos.

Now that she is back in LOS, the curse will have all sorts of problems to deal with. Did it get a Non-O before arriving at Suvarnabhumi? If not it will soon be heading for Cambodia. Don't forget that it will be working without a valid work permit and can soon expect more problems in this regard. If you give it time, the curse will probably register as a TV member and tell us all about its problems. Before you know it, the curse will have decided that Thailand is too much hassle and it will be paying its' overstay fee. Your troubles will then be over.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable Chiang Mai company for air conditioner service?

I've had the same issue several times. Seems to be that some trollies have defective wheels and can't lock up properly, whereas some are ok. My strategy is to assume the worst every time, grip the trolley and lean back to brace myself against the downward pull.

The 600 to 700 pounds range is probably as good as it's going to get out of BKK at the moment. Travel starting in the UK is considerably cheaper than travel starting in Thailand now. If it suits your circumstances, it would make more sense in the longer term to take a one way ticket to UK and then book future flights starting at that end.