doubleduh

I had a Ciaz as a rental car lately and was not impressed at all. The engine is really under-powered, sure it will get you there, but it's not at all fun to drive. And the interior feels so cheap, I'd much rather have a 10 year old decent car.

I've eventually found one for 20000 in Hang Dong through a friend, thanks for the replies!

I'm looking for a short term furnished house for rent in the Hang Dong area, for a period of about 2 months, possibly longer. There's a number of websites with houses, but most seem outdated or long term rentals only. I've contacted a few agents, but short term house rentals seem in very short supply. Also, I won't be in the area until we actually arrive so can't go to look for places myself... Does anyone have any tips?

Haha, it was an excellent episode, funny to see that some important desk-people there apparently have no humor and bite on this.

Have you tried an iPad loaded with some good movies and noise cancelling headphones? Works wonders for me on any long flight. Even better if you can get a seat with some legroom.

We're planning to go there next weekend, is the road from Doi Inthanon to Mae hong son doable in, say, a Vios? I'm talking about this road:

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Chiang+Mai+International+Airport+Chiang+Mai+Thailand&daddr=Route+108&hl=en&ll=18.841314,98.473206&spn=1.375049,2.120361&sll=18.971234,98.525391&sspn=1.373981,2.120361&geocode=FQ5jHgEddhrmBSGXRZP943QkoA%3BFT73IwEdYErXBQ&vpsrc=6&mra=pr&t=h&z=9

If it's possible, about how long would it take? Google thinks about 4,5 hours, normally anywhere else in Thailand I've found it takes about 2/3 of the time that Google states, but I'm not sure in this case...

I like it, works all the time for me, even with tinted windows. Has anyone tried what is the maximum speed you can drive through? I didn't dare any faster than 40 so far. Only too bad the statement cannot be viewed online and indeed the outer ringroad and the booths at the Don Muang airport should be added to the system. But I guess the local police won't allow it there for some reason...

Using a separate serving spoon in all collective dishes is an excellent way of preventing desease transmition from an infected person to all of the other diners , I passed this information along to my extended family . The other thing of course is to ensure hand washing before eating , especially with children , one more thing , washing flip-flops is VERY important as they are recorded as carrying the most bacteria of all , look where people walk with them . When they are 'Flipped off at the entrance' other footwear should be provided if you have small children , the bacteria they carry is transmitted to the foot , deposited across the floor and thence to a small childs mouth playing on the contaminated floor . Walls and floors should be washed with clorinated , soapy water on a regular basis also to kill off even more possible bacteria , pay attention to door handles , the PC key-board is also notorious for the germs it carries .

Better yet, never leave the house, put on a space suit, avoid contact with any people or animals and grow your own food in a closed environment. Or am I overreacting a little bit?

On the HTC HD Mini still seeing the normal version, what's the url for the mobile version?

I've stayed there a couple of times, I think it's ok for 1 night, good fun with deer walking around all night, and you can do the night safari tour. But it's very basic. The food in the restaurant is crap, better to bring your own, in the bigger bungalows there is a (sort of) kitchen.

Best that I can remember: Thai on a flight to Vientiane, had 'pad krapauw moo kai dao', tasted like the real thing.

Worst: Flying CSA to Skopje, when booking didn't realize they had become a low-service airline (definitely not low cost!). Couldn't get a free Coke, only water and apple juice (which is probably more expensive, didn't see the logic).

What I never understood, why do you have to give your seat up to dwarfs (2nd picture) and americans (3rd picture)?

If you like going out you can go to the powerhouse (or something like that), many clubs in there and I think open till late in the weekends, only went there once on a saturday.

Otherwise, rent a taxi and drive around the famous places, but that's not gonna last 8 hours I guess as by daytime you can see everything worth seeing in a few hours...

I think that two big causes are traffic lights being red for way too long, if they decrease the intervals a little you wouldn't have such a big pileup of cars that it causes problems at the next intersections. Secondly, people driving very slow (even when the road ahead is clear) and pulling up slow at traffic lights and people hesitating at u-turns for a few minutes before eventually going is I think a major cause as well.

Just move to the left lanes so I don't have to swirl around you. If you're overtaking with a difference in speed of a few km and someone's coming with 160+ no wonder you will be tailgated (if there are no lanes with a free hole on the left at least, that's usually faster although you have to anticipate and watch out a bit more)... But tailgating when there's no alternatives to move or speed up for the car in front is pretty useless I agree.

I am still worrying about this issue, is there anyone who knows anything about this?

I can say that the Swiss embassy staff is not very friendly, and they have a whole list of extra documents required such as a rental contract from the host in Switzerland. It's all no problem, but why don't these lazy motherfuc_kers post that on the internet, which would save another few days? But then again, it's probably the same in all embassies...

We are planning a trip from Bangkok into the Schengen area (visa arranged already). Then planning to drive by car to Macedonia and back. This involves crossing through Serbia (and Croatia but that can be avoided if necessary). I can't find however if my Thai gf needs a separate transit visa for Serbia. On the website (http://www.mfa.gov.yu/Visas/VisasR.htm) I conclude it is needed but it's not really clear if it's also needed for an overland one day transit visa. I know that for Macedonia it's no problem to enter with a Schengen visa but for Serbia? The nearest embassy is in Jakarta, emailed them already but so far no response. Don't have the time to travel there just to get a stupid visa... Does anyone have some useful info about this or knows a company which can arrange a visa if needed?

They usually sit in the front of the aircraft, that's why I always take a seat in the back, a bit more quiet...

Does anyone have some accurate information on the release date of the new HTC Touch Diamond? I see on some websites dates that range from 6th to 9th of June, but I wonder if that also applies for bkk...

Also, what will be the retail price? The price posted on the HTC Singapore website is about 25000 baht, but it doesn't say if that includes any GPS software such as Garmin. Who knows more on this?

Is the seller also allowed to arrange all this? I hear from everbody that the dealer usually takes care of these things, but I would like to understand the process anyway. I am also in the process of buying a car and would like to avoid a (possible) daytrip to the Department of Transport if possible.

I just bought (well put down the deposit for) my first car in Thailand at a car tent. The car is second hand but still quite new and has the red plates still on it, they say they will have to convert it to white plates within a week. As my Thai and the seller's English does not match perfectly I have some questions about the process of getting insurance.

When I go to pick up the car I would like to have everything (insurance) arranged as I would not like to drive it around uninsured. The dealer says he will arrange the registration and get the white plates, but for the insurance it's not so clear. I want 1st class insurance, how can I arrange that (or can I have it arranged)? I do work so I would like to avoid trips to any governmental agencies. Does the car have to be put in my name first? Is the dealer allowed to arrange everything and does he need any copies of passport/workpermit/proof of address etc? How can I pay for it, straight to the dealer?

Sorry if I'm asking dumb questions but the whole procedure of buying/insuring a car here is a bit unclear to me...