craigt3365

I only met this lady one time, but was impressed by what she said. Might be worth a check. Rena at Thai Euro Law. Right opposite Big C South Pattaya, as you head out the door on the North side.

I think accommodation will be a bit tough?? I was on Samet several years ago duing Songkran. Had to sleep in a tent for 2 nights until a room opened up! Horrible.

Anything near the beach will be packed. We were in Chantaburi recently and on the weekends, even then, the hotels were pretty much fully booked.

Can't say about all these cities, but where I live, in Ban Amphur, Songkran is only on one day, and really only in the main part of "town". We went through it by accident a few years ago. Only 50 people or so out in the street dancing and getting drunk. No hassles at all. Even got handed a beer through the window as we passed by! 55555

Will you have a car???

Though their website is still offline, I know the lady who runs this place and it's OK. It's in Bang Saray, on the left side of Sukhumvit as you are headed down. If you need directions, let me know. She says the website should be up soon....but who knows. It is still open though....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/730752-new-assisted-living-facility-bang-saray/

I just remembered, we bought a very nice feather pillow at the new Index store. Seemed to have a pretty good selection, but didn't check prices. Seems cheaper now than at the old store???

eBay...interesting. I've been ordering some music stuff from them recently and it's working out really good. Free shipping from HK!! No issues with customs, luudee???

Actually if you go to the bedding dept in Central on the 5th floor they have a box saying 80% off and it is true! I just bought an Egyptian cotton set for 1600b that should have been nearer to 10k baht :)I did spy some duvet covers in there too last week

What was the thread count? We just got 2 sets of king sheets. One 400 and the other 2000. Huge difference in price. Orders of magnitude. And an amazing difference in weight. I was actually a bit shocked in the difference!!

I don't know the location exactly, but as you are headed from South Pattaya to North Pattaya, going north, about 200-300m up (I'm guessing), on the other side of the road, is a shop that supplies hotels and has a lot of bedding shown in their window. Not too hard to find, but I can't tell you exactly where it is.

If you do go, please let us know what it's like! For me and many of my friends, we bring our linen in from our trips back home. Way cheaper. Unfortunately.

Can't help you with much, but will look forward to replies by others. It's a town I'm interested in checking out. Just got back from Chantaburi, specificially Chao Lao beach. Chantaburi is an OK town. Has a relatively big mall. Traffic is pretty bad. But there is a nice "old" town section that was fun to explore, right on the "river". IMHO, definitely worth visiting, having a drink in one of the many hip places on the water.

I can't imagine Trat is much different. Local transport was of the scooter taxi and baht bus variety. But not all over, and didn't seem to be on a regular basis.

From Trat is a bus that operates on a regular basis. Pretty easy to get from Pattaya to there.

Let us know what you find out if you visit there!

I'd say some numbers were definitely messed up!

The guy who use to work at Pattaya International Hospital, Dr. Sonram, has his own office now. He's super. We checked around a fair bit, even doing an eval and getting price quotes at 3-4 places. My wife was happiest with him.

Several we talked with were the same as you mention....booked for weeks in advance. And when you visited, the waiting room was packed. Dr. Sonram's is not like that.

He's on North Pattaya road and almost across the street from city hall...towards the beach a bit. Prices were right in line with what others were charging. He's also great for cleaning, implants, etc.

08 2255 9950

Perfect English.

I also like Phyathai, but it's a long drive. Of course, with all the new construction, even getting to North Pattaya Road is tough! 5555

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I didn't pay anywhere near that amount. But that was 5 years ago. I negotiated a discount and it included zero excess insurance. It was a vios. I think it was around 600B/day...or something like that.

The owner was great to work with, even switching out the car after a few weeks with a better one. Came to my apartment to do so. And sent a young lad out to the boonies when I locked the keys in the trunk...with the doors locked also.

Best to shop around. Not easy to do if you are not here though.

I've used these guys before and they were OK with good rates.

http://www.pattayacar.rentals/

Thailand is no longer a budget destination, IMHO. Might be best to move this over to the Pattaya forum for more help. Let me know if you want to do that.

Best of luck!

I've used one that's just south of Tesco on Thepprasit. It's Muang Ake Central Vet Hospital. About 50M before the Texaco gas station on the left as you are headed north on Sukhumvit. Rather large facility and we really like the vet.

Not sure if they can help you, but might be worth a try if you are in the area. They seem quite professional.

I'm sure any of the big money changers will be able to help you. How much are you looking at? Might be better to just use your ATM on arrival? Unless your bank charges big fees for this.

Definitely compare prices with Fascino and Lazada. I just bought a product and it was 15% cheaper online than any store here in Pattaya. Saved me close to 4k Baht.

If you haven't started your travel yet you are still in the hands of the agent. Once you begin your travel changes like on the return sector can done with the airline. You might not have heard from the online agent because it's just been the weekend and a lot of travel firms and even airline offices shut after 12 noon on Saturday. Quite often especially with the lowest fares you might find the outbound date is fixed, it can't be changed.

I was actually in Beijing in the middle of a trip when we arrived late and our connecting flight had already left. The airline first went to all their direct passengers and helped them out. A few of us had purchased tickets via a 3rd party. We were told to contact our travel agent...and then they left. We were stuck.

Luckily, they came back after about an hour and started to help us. But it was strange for an hour or so.

Still happening and the news team is on it!

I've had terrible luck dealing with 3rd party ticket suppliers. Call the airline and many times they'll say there's nothing they can do as you booked via another agency. Call that agency and they are either unresponsive or charge a silly price to make the changes.

And if a problem occurs, the airline tends to take care of those who booked directly with them, leaving you to figure out how to contact your travel agency while you are stranded in some foreign airport. For the small price difference, I always go direct with the airline. I know that doesn't help you...hope you get it worked out.

Here's a review of that site. It isn't very good:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/flights24.com

I'd call them. They seem to be based in Athens and you'll need to call when they are open during local hours.

For the small difference in price, I go to the dealer. I get an espresso and a cake, sit in a nice lounge for a few hours, surf the internet on their computers. Car gets washed and I'm on my way.

I signed up for a 2 year package that gives me a pretty good discount on future services.

Glad it worked out for you! A drivers license should be fine. I am a bit amazed they accepted a copy of your passport as the only form of ID. Did you also have to show a credit card?

I'd never travel far from home without my passport. Especially to Bangkok where there's been lots of scams by various officials lately. And if something goes wrong and you're involved in a difficult situation, lack of a passport could be very problematic. It's rare, but does happen.

Signed up last week. I've met quite a few travel bloggers lately. Several will be at the show. I'm looking forward to the conference.

I've used Mr. T's taxi service many times. Just tell him you want a large vehicle. It will cost a bit more, but not much. Others will have suggestions also. Here's his contact:

[email protected]

Let's move this over to the Pattaya forum. Topic Moved.

Childrens' holidays. Families pai theeow in advance of Songkran. Same reason why others are reporting roads are full!

We just got back from Chao Lao beach in Chantaburi. Hotels were packed with few rooms available. Parking lots were full of big tour buses. And resorts were full of school children.

We travel to/from BKK from Pattaya several times a month. Mostly on weekends. Luckily, we're going TO BKK, so see the traffic mess on the other side of the road. My friend who comes here about once a month on Saturdays, says it can be a 4 hour drive if he's not on the road by 8am at the latest. Around 7am, he's here in 2 hours. I've seen 4km backups at those toll booths. Ugh.