Bangkok Barry

I've used them in the past. Never again. I only book rooms at a hotel where I am not charged until 24 hours before I stay. Sometimes that can be a slightly higher price, but usually not. I've stayed in countless hotels over the years and am careful when booking, but Hotelsdotcom very cleverly hid that full payment was instant when the booking was made. One reason to make last minute payment is that if you check back on the site between booking and staying you might find it's now cheaper. I've done that with a hotel I'm using in May - twice!

I've read they have the same ownership. To add to the discussion, Trivago is a good place to compare prices of different booking services. Agoda usually comes out as the cheapest though.

Agreed. I think I'm condemned to many hours of boredom as a result.

Last time I left I didn't use even the Express Old Farts/Business Class line as it was so backed up. They'd diverted people from one of the two exit routes as the other one was already overflowing. Total shambles.

My wife can administer the drops and does the driving, so,,,, we'll see what unfolds. See my post above.

Interesting. Thai healthcare insurance doesn't apply to me which might be my escape clause. I might just play it by ear once I'm there, seeing how insistent the doctor is. Boredom is a factor. I have no burning desire to sit in a hospital room with nothing to do from late afternoon to the following morning.

Got the two countries the wrong way around. Careless.

I'm not having a good day, am I!

Thanks. Corrected.

I agree.

The UK has 10x the number of road deaths that Thailand has, with the same population numbers. So the comparison isn't valid. I have a long straight road outside my house, and in the 10 years I've been there I've lost count of the number of accidents. It's 20+, involving death, amputations, a car actually flying through the top of a tree, involving cars, pickups, motorcycles, vans, 10-wheelers, 18-wheelers. Many Thais do not have the skill or mental ability or attention span to drive safely.

In the real world teachers and the police set an example. In Thailand they so often do the opposite. We read reports of inappropriate action from both professions at least on a weekly basis.

That's because you come from a civilised part of the world where people do the work they are paid to do, and usually do it well, with no extras added on. Different culture. We all have to live with the Thai version.

The airport that has left the most lasting impression on me is LAX, where twice in a row I spent two hours getting through immigration, One of those times they couldn't even get the airbridge to the plane for 30 minutes, even though we arrived on time.

This will probably go quiet after a few days, until the next time. Normal practise here with any 'crackdown'. I think most who have 'bent' the law will not get a knock on the door unless they are very unlucky. Not this time, anyway.

Yeh wtf. Raping animals is apparently pretty funny? Yeh. Many seem to think so. I'm glad I don't know them personally. I don't mix with adult children.

Some grew out of this kind of humour by their early teens. Some clearly haven't. The comments really aren't very clever or imaginative and add nothing to the thread. The fact that there are those who still like infantile humour when adults says a lot about them. Sometimes, often, these 'jokes' are made after someone dies. In this case there is nothing at all funny about what this idiot did, but still people think it's something to make fun about. If it wasn't disgusting behaviour he wouldn't be in trouble with the law.

Try reading the report again. Additionally, they were provided with accommodation, transportation, and meal vouchers.

When I read many of the comments here I begin to understand why AN uses so many reports from The Thaiger, whose journalists - and I use the term loosely - have the same juvenile sense of humour. It's a perfect example of dumbing down. Clearly, that appeals to many.

Thanks. I think that was mentioned. I'll get the cataracts done comparatively locally first as the glaucoma is, as I've mentioned earlier, something of a 'slow burner'.

My wife's only comment was that if you go to Laos or Vietnam then it's worse. Sums up things rather nicely - Thais just don't care. It's all they know. Until those who go overseas experience the real world, and then decide Thailand isn't worth coming back to. I've know several who have not wanted to return, including family, after they discover that their country is a cesspit by comparison. And they can't even vote in a party that wants to change things, as their vote doesn't count if it's for the 'wrong' party - as it has been for decades now. Yet so many are so proud of their country and really believe there is nowhere better.

I was recommended to KK to check my alleged glaucoma (one doctor in Kalasin says I have, then one said I haven't), but I'll have to check again which hospital when I see her again for the cataract surgery.

This might be the best exposure of Thai culture that has ever been printed. Widespread corruption all the way down from the very top. Not that there's anything in it that we didn't know already.

One importer revealed to db that the Thai excise website crashed two hours after the registration opened. As recently as 10 March, businesses were still unable to pay duties on any bottles of wine since the changes came into force at the beginning of the month. Well, there's a surprise. A government website not working.

It depends. I managed a record store in the UK and tax was paid after sales. It really pi**ed customers off when I had to put prices up on existing stock the day after the budget. I don't know what system they use in Thailand.