UmpaLumpa

have you tried to do the same visa through the agency in front of the ImmOff? heard they can be very helpful. give it a try!

yes, i'm sure a lot of Isaan people can afford to leave their rice paddies to come to Pukhet (by plane )and spend 4000 baht a night for a room.

come on, who you kidding TAT?

just in time for the coming High Season...

from a guidebook where box jellyfish do occur... the worst time for them, seasonally, are...

"The months of November to May"

thoes this period apply to thailand specifically?

you could try yourself to have a walk inside the roof when it rains with a lamp and see where the leak is, then you have to apply Flinkote (available in homepro) and its done. total cost about 350bht

how many farangs are in there? what are the conditions like?

somebody told me that in nathon it is the nurse that makes the procedure (for natural birth of course)

With the Rain fast approaching, i need to get my House prepared & need Guttering added to it sooner rather than later..Does anyone have any experience of Guttering Companies on the Island, Contact Details & a rough cost on a per m2 price ??

try these guys, samui alluminium guttering:

0878646216

0869545788

can somebody clarify why everytime there is a major negative event in thailand, the

thai baht grows stronger.

after the military coup the baht, compared to the euro, went from 50 to 45.

under military rule the baht was the most growing currency in the world!

now there are major protests in bangkok and political unstability, but the baht still strengthens from 52 (1 month ago) to 49.

i cant get it. i am no economist, but i thought that it should go the other way round.

it might sound selfish, but i wouldnt mind having a couple thousand more to spend at the end of the month, before they all kick us out!

Bangkok Hospital Samui is the only hospital with a brain surgeon and brain scan equipment.

Just make sure that you have insurance, the bill can go to the million quite fast for this kind on treatment.

I hope yout friend will be fine.

looks like the famous 'underwater cable from surat thani' still isnt enough to supply the island. im starting to believe this cable doesnt exist, its a myth. anyways, the network is overloaded. i would guess that due to the high season they are cutting the less populated areas to serve chaweng and all its resorts, reastaurants, shower heaters, etc..

That's fast - much better than people were reporting using the cat CDMA device 1 year ago - samui bill please could you tell me the make and model number of your usb device?

Thanks,

Dan

Hi its a cat cdma CCU-680 CDMA 1XEVDO REV A USB MODEM,forward link up to 3.1 mbps,reverse link up to 1.8 mbps.

....and it looks like that, the "boy's new toy's"

(this one is my one ;-) i use it on KP

How much is it again? I thought I have read 11.000? Does it work all over Thailand?

does this device really ogger 3.1Mbit/sec?

i have an AirCard (CAT CDMA) but i dont go quicker than 516kb.

if yours is really so fast i would upgrade

riding a motorbike with a hat, then the hat flies away - going back to pick it up in the middle of the main road with a big smile

at the gasoiline station, looking inside your car when you pay and ask for a sigarette, then smoke it while refuelling the tank of the next car

why run away if your car is stuck there and police can track you back?

this is what will happen next week or so:

taxis will switch off their meter, go back to the ripoff fares, and add an extra 90 baht because they have a new government sticker

keep an eye on your wallet at all times !

I am the guy who just go robbed.

I have asked 3 security companies for quotes on security systems in my house.

1/ Chubb

2/ Bosch

3/ AVID Security by NESS

As it has turned out, I have several neighbours who want a good security system also.

can i add Option 4:

4/ getting a couple of ugly thai dogs

they bark a lot, cost a little and give you love too!

Guess most of these "successful" burglaries are "targeted", they knew easy access, good loot!

think!

A safe and a safe locker room, closet, alarm system, (infra red) webcam, Bars on the windows, extra iron grid door in front of the door help......!

tell me about it i have been burgles 2 times. i have security cameras now 2 gurads dogs. police doing swoops every few hours at night time. i actually caught some 2 burgles on my camera put it on a cd then gave it to the police they were dressed as builders. so surrounding residents be suspcious if u see builders up late at night in a strange place.

they probably WERE builders !

There was a meeting of the powers to be on Samui yeaterday & the following will be put in place ASAP.

1/ Bars closing times 12 Am.

2/Ring road will be off limit to heavy trucks between 7 AM ........10 AM & 4 PM......8 PM.

3/One way in Nathon will be scrapped allowing 2 way traffic.

4/Ring road through Maenam will be one way, with traffic diverted through Soi 3 & 5.

this is the Land of Smiles, not the Land of Dreams!

i believe its not too far from this place

Half moon partys????? What that all about? Do you have quarter moon partys? No moon partys? When I was lad we danced to the sound of birds singing in the trees and drank dandilion and burdock till we were quite giddy.

we have a party for every day of the moon and some invented ones, what the f is "shiva moon"?

i also agree with the DJs been shot concept, at least the ones that believe that DJing is like been a real musician.

i assume that you drank "dandilion and burdock till we were quite giddy" because it was fermented, right?

steve

The parties are a false economy for the Island and do little more than attract budget backpackers who cram themselves (mainly) into Haad Rin for maybe three or four days max, once a month, and occasionally get hammered on Sang Song buckets for 120 Bht a throw (which they share between six of them). I don't wish to mention any specific nationality, but a large proportion of the temporary party crowd who reside in Haad Rin for the event tend to spend as little money as is humanely possible, slope around bare footed in Thong Sala looking for cheap food and generally anoy the crap out of the local Thai and resident expat population. And yes, they generally contribute bugger all to the island as a whole. And yes, some of them do smell of dog shit.

All the big money is on Samui and I would guess a very large percentage of high spending tourists simply don't bother with Phangan for fear of having their holidays (or future investment) ruined by hedonistic hippies and constantly deafening techno/trance music. Anybody who actually lives on or has bothered vistiting Koh Phangan knows that this is simply not the case, and most usually agree the island is far more tranquil, better value and unbeleiviably more beautiful than other similar island destinations. on a positive note, I guess the low tourist numbers keep the theme of the island pretty trad backpacker and the serious development down enormously compared to other higher profile places.

For those who have invested money on Koh Phangan, we all know that as soon as the parties stop, the big hotels move over, the real estate market gets a serious kick start and the local land owners (of which the vast majority are local Thais incidientally) get the opportunity to make some serious money. Hopefully when this happens, Phangan will be better able to cope with the sudden changes than other rapidly developed tourist destinations have suffered negative impact from similar fast track investment.

The downside to the parties finishing is that a certain social niche (mainly the low end resorts, local touts, taxi drivers etc) will take an unprecidented financial hit, but as I said earlier, the economy of the island will as a whole benefit. And besides, all of the aformentioned can easily realign their 'business interests' to make the most of the up and comming influx of non smelly, short haired folk.

Incidentally, the whole party scene is pretty well set up, the booze is cheap and generally, if you behave yourself and you're into loud 90's techno then you'll probably enjoy yourself. Personally I find attending the full moon party a bit like going to the fair ground, except that there arn't any rides or easy ways to escape when you get bored or lose all your money.

what about having your holiday ruined by speeding cement trucks, or renting a 5000B bungalow and hear the construction going on next door.. or looking at hills being litterally 'chopped off'..

semms to be that you believe 'construction and development' is the best thing that can happen to KPG in the near future..

if so, poor KPG..

thank you all for the useful info.

'Surat Thani Governor denies cityhood to samui' says Samui Express - its not on the website yet but its in the newspaper.. any thoughts?

as a birthday present i was thinking of offering a spa trearment to my visiting sister in law,

i looked at some websites and they all look quite expensive, which isnt a problem but i wonder if they are the usual tourist trap..

any advice on a spa which is really worth the price??

actually if you dont go for the visa you might see the good side of it: really good indian food (the restaurant at the crossing with chulastreet and the big road was amazing), and good shopping (watches, PS2, etc..)..

it is true that as a private company , thay can charge as they want, and it seems like their planes are always full.. on the other side, a lot of people choose other destinations (i.e. phuket) because of the cheaper airfares, affecting samui's tourism. but it seems as they are not the only ones. hotels, taxis, they all do it. so who's fault is it?