Changian

Not heard any gossip about this here. Usually anything juicy is being discussed by the locals pretty quickly. The Tourist Police here seem to have a pretty good reputation too, so as it was 'farang on farang' (no innuendo implied) hard to see them sitting on the case and not doing anything, as they have no reason to do this - it wasn't as though locals were involved.

It'd be good to have a few more details about which bar, which beach, where they were staying etc. If they were in a cheap bungalow with plywood walls was there no way to raise the alarm as easy to hear noise through the walls. If they were in a resort most have a daily maid service, but no one noticed them missing or didn't discover them for a couple of days.

Quite a lot of useful info missing that should have been in the article. Can you print your original article, with the detailed ino, on your site Andrew?

I hate the word Farrang. Shows a lack of respect.

Best not to join any discussion board that disrespect farangs, for example the one who's facebook group is at www.facebook.com/farang

Wonder how long it will be before this story is shown to be just another sad PR stunt by the Foreign Ministry, as they know no Thai journalists will bother to fact check before printing it.

Seeing as the report mentions 'several African countries' having given him a new passport and then lists Nicaragua, Uganda and Montenegro as the countries in question, I have my doubts about it's accuracy.

Frequent as many bars as possible and see if there is a consensus.

The Nation is the official news source for Thaivisa. Please dont post anything factual as that might contradict the official view of Thaksin.

uncertain situation regarding registering land in a nominee (shell) Thai company Ltd

To promote Thai real estate sector it is very likely that the government will continue the reduced transfer fees and property tax structure. It this a positive impact on the Thai real estate market? Is this an indication that the government will come up with more foreigner friendly policies for foreign property buyers as Thailand is heavily dependent, directly or indirectly on foreign investors?

This is unrelated to foreigners 'buying' property, as foreigners cant own land in their own name so why would the govt reduce transfer fees etc to encourage them to do something they cant do anyway. It is to encourage house sales amongst Thais. As you should, as a property 'specialist', realise.

The Nation really do put the 'anal' into analysis.

During the Songkran mayhem, the premier almost lost his life when his car was attacked by red-shirted people at the Interior Ministry.

So aside from the fact Abhisit wasnt in his car or anywhere near it when it was attacked, how did he almost lose his life? But let's not dwell on the little details when there is an excuse for yet another anti-Thaksin rant in The Nation.

Klong Prao is the longest and quietest beach. There are large resorts here but they are spread out with areas of undeveloped beachfront between them. Where I am on Klong Prao there is about 400 - 500 metres of beachfront with no development.

White Sand beach is the busiest and most touristy, if you want to spend the days in a deckchair outside a beach bar it is for you. Kai Bae still has some charm and is popular with older backpackers and families who prefer 2-3 star bungalows to hotel or large resort accommodation. And Lonely beach is good if you want to hang out with the gap year students.

You cant really walk between the beaches - too far to be a comfortable walk. So rent a scooter or rely on the infrequent and expensive songtaews if you want to see other beaches during your stay.

The last speedboat, or any type of boat, back to the mainland is at 1.30pm from Koh Mak Resort. See the schedule attached, photo taken last weekend on Koh Mak.

AceFace - All the details you need are on the developer's website - TheCliffPattaya.com

Edit: deleted - double post

Baan Chaba is pretty good value, nowhere near Klong Prao though - however it is only about 5 minutes walk from Paradise Palms, so it might be a possibility . 100 metres away from it is Buddy Lodge that has cheaper fan & AC rooms. Cant walk to a sandy beach from these places though.

I'm guessing you arent a 20 soemthing backpakcer wanting to drink cocktails in a bucket and sit around commenting on how friendly the locals and talking about your nightmare bus journey in Laos to whoever is within earshot, so I'll skip the real backpacker places.

Not much in the way of cheap accommodation around the north end of Klong Prao where the VJ Plaza gym is. But VJ Apartments (now called Island View) has AC rooms for under 1000/night.

On White Sand beach stay a couple of hundred metres inland at Island Lodge ( http://www.islandlodge-kochang.com ) run by Graham who has lived on the island for getting on for 20 years. Or Paddys Palms - Koh Chang's attempt at an 'Oirish' pub has apartment style rooms for under 1000/night too and a pool, a few minutes walk to the beach but good value. Palm Garden and Arunee also have cheap rooms at the norher end of the beach on the main road.

In Kai Bae you'll find a rooms by the roadside easily enough Laluna Guesthouse for AC rooms in the village centre, or Holiday Cottage - pretty cheap huts on the beach, but just wander around and you can find a place easily.

If you want to get away from it all then head down to Bailan, Bailan Beach Resort, Bailan Bay Resort or Bailan Hut for cheap quiet rooms by the sea - but a 15-20 minute motorbike ride to the gym.

AB: Thai authorities must love you. Hardly anything about nightlife, no controversial politics topics, sometimes Thaivisa reads like an official publication of the governments public relations department. Don’t you need some more zesty content to become a more “credible” source of information? You can find lots of yellow, shall I say: propaganda stuff in Thaivisa. The reds don’t seem to exist.

G: Yellow propaganda stuff? We try to keep a level field and do not believe you will find more of one side or the other here than in any other mainstream source . . .

So what you're saying is that you are no more pro Democrat / anti Thaksin than, say, The Nation for example.

Stephf sometimes send his cartoons directly to me, and we normally publish them.

So where can we find the other cartoons from Stephff that have been published on TV? A search only reveals one thread with his cartoons, or only one where he is credited, and that is this one.

Easy to get a fan room for under 1000 baht/night on any beach. Next to KP is Tiger Huts and down in Lonely Beach you cant move for budget places. But depends on what type of place you want - are you backpacking, whoring, in search of peace and quiet etc

For AC rooms under 1000 baht/night you'll have to stay off the beach but can still find plenty of roadside resorts with rooms available in mid December.

There a re a couple of small gyms here. On the west coast, Paradise Palms on Pearl Beach has one and in VJ Plaza at the northern end of Klong Prao beach you'll find someone has stuck some free weights and machines in a couple of shop units and it is now a gym.

Interesting to see how Thailand got more corrupt once the evil Dr Thaksin was removed from power by people, rather ironically, complaining about how corrupt he was.

Wow. I mentioned yesterday that the same prices for these condos can be got from the developer direct via their own website, so obviously aren't exclusive or special in any way to Mr Benchmark and the post gets deleted. Wonder why?

This offer is simply too good to refuse. From a very reputed developer with an extremely good track record and did few finished projects.

Park Royal 3 Pratumnak 45 Sqm 1 Bed room Condo only 1.29 Million Baht (best offer in the market)

Park Royal Pratumnak 35 Sqm Studio Condo only 1.6 Million Baht

Club Royal in exclusive Wongamat Beach area 33 Sqm Condo only 1.85 Milllion Baht

This is a limited offer and if you contact us you can make a reservation to get this special price. We have an extremely good relationship with the developer so let us know if you want to a make an early reservation before you miss the boat.

Surely anyone who visits the developers website can also get the same 'special offers' & probably cheaper as they wont have to pay commission to an agent.

A few pics of a friend of mine and his mates on their ride down to KL for the MotoGP and onto Singapore last month. They will be putting a website together soon with details of this ride and others that they plan in the future.

Unfortunately TV has linked itself to The Nation who have garnered a reputation for rewriting history and ignoring facts to suit their own agenda. Eg Thaksin working for Cambodian government is bad and he is a traitor, but senior Democrats working for the Laotian government also as advisors in the past is fine. Why not? They help a neighbouring country?

(Nationmultimedia is a struggling organisation with massive debts who's only chance of staying in business is relying on friends in the current government. If (when) the Dems lose the next election it will be payback time.)

Hence, the anti-Thaksin propaganda. But dont worry, you wont notice it once you are brainwashed :-) It's a cunning plan Baldrick . . .

Read Thailand Jumped The Shark or the excellent Bangkok Pundit for more balanced opinions and constructive criticism of both sides.

No blockade on Friday now - any road closure is deferred until nearer Christmas.

Dont forget that Pol Pot died of natural causes in his retirement home in Thailand, they are as bad as each other,.

Correct in so much as it is totally wrong. Pol Pot died in April 1998 whilst being held under house arrest, by a faction of Khmer Rouge, in Cambodia and was cremated in Anlong Veng shortly afterwards.

From a Scandinavian tour agent with an office in Bangkok to their clients planning to come to Koh Chang this weekend:

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As you might have seen from the newspaper there is a threat to blockade the ferry connection by some local land owners and politicians at Koh Chang in the connection with their land dispute with the Thai navy and national park.

From what we can gather from Koh Chang the boycott people is a limited group headed by 4-5 politicians and they do not have backing from the majority of local hotel owners and boat operators. Our general feeling at this time is thus that the connection to the island would be possible even if a temporary boycott of the ferry terminal is made since several boat operators and alternative piers would be available as alternatives to transporting the tourists.

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The Bangkok based English language newspaper that isn't 'The Nation' have a story on the protest and closure today.

The meeting is over and it is now down to just the road being blocked and ferries stopping on Friday the 13th. But people who know more about this than me reckon any stoppage won't be all day.