BarryM

I was about to write this thing off until I started combing over their website and found:

Purchase a full fare THAI Royal First Class ticket on international routes,

receive a same class complimentary companion ticket

http://www.thailande.../membership.php

Even still, an initial membershit fee of US$65,000 and yearly fees of US$650. This might just benefit someone who stands to make millions or someone who enjoys throwing their money down the tubes.

A full fare first class ticket to London costs considerably more than the standard on line promotion fare of circa 195k baht. The savings there are very marginal.

An Amex centurion card in the UK costs 1800 quid a year. You get the same benefits 2 for 1 with several partner airlines, plus automatic gold status on some of them, gold Hilton Hons, gold SPG, worldwide Priority Pass airport lounge access, very comprehensive travel insurance for yourself and all supplementary card holders (my dad aged 72 saves a fortune in travel insurance), a 24 hour concierge Brighton based (ie they actually speak English) service who will sort everything from VIP passes at Ibiza clubs to flowers for mum, with a quick phone call, room priveleges at hotels (like stay 2 nts pay1, room upgrade, free wifi and breakfast, comp dinner or afternoon tea), plus it impresses and teases the knickers off vulnerable 18 year olds back home .

Even a Tescos Club Card seems more valuable than the Thai Elite card

I hope Yingluck won't bring up the subject of succession in the UK. The Brits are quite touchy about it apparently.

^ Soi 6.

Well done. Creating machines inacpabale of independant thought that respond only to command inputs. You are role models for the entire country.

Maybe a few members (not living in Thailand if you value your security here) should post the video where it matters:

http://www.facebook....rwaysuk?fref=ts

http://www.facebook....ref=ts#!/tat.sg

http://www.facebook....#!/TAT.HongKong

http://www.facebook....52573#!/TAT.USA

http://www.facebook....?ref=ts&fref=ts

Yes, because rape doesn't occur in their home countries and foreigners leaving bars with strangers is safe in their country. And that is in no way blaming a rape victim because even if a girl is drunk running around topless doesn't give any man the right to force themselves on her but I also think in every country you need to takes steps to not putting yourself in a position to be a victim being it going to the wrong side of town alone at night or leaving your valuables unattended ... doesn't make it right if you are mugged or stolen from but the fact is there are bad people everywhere and we all need to take do caution to help us not fall victim to them and this applies just about everywhere but more especially for foreigners in a less developed nation.

Back in their home countries, rape victims don't expect to see the accused released after confessing to violent rape.

Nor are they used to government ministers dismissing the rape because the victim had eaten with the rapits.

Tourists normally expect that local law enforcement is there for their protection. Not to cover up and distort crimes against tourists in case it hurts their patrons wallets.

Maybe a few members (not living in Thailand if you value your security here) should post the video where it matters:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/thaiairwaysuk?fref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/thaiairwaysuk?fref=ts#!/tat.sg

http://www.facebook.com/thaiairwaysuk?fref=ts#!/TAT.HongKong

http://www.facebook.com/search/results.php?q=Tourism%20Authority%20of%20Thailand&init=quick&tas=0.6925506082652573#!/TAT.USA

http://www.facebook.com/Thailand.Tourist.Info?ref=ts&fref=ts

My TG platinum means Thai Air give me a girl, or sometimes an effeminate Thai boy, to carry my passport to immigration on departure, before putting me on a buggy to the lounge. Seldom more than 5 minutes from check in to first drink.

Arriving rarely longer than 10 minutes.

That said, for me it's always a pleasure to depart Thailand, never arrive. Swampy with is general superficiality, myriad corruption, accepted scams and the warmth of "welcome" from the immigration staff is merely a snapshot of the country as a whole.

Arriving in KL with the MM2H and being greeted with a smile and "welcome home" is a breath of fresh air in contrast to Thailand.

^ 6500 in four days - mostly Americans.

This is true, so not sure if it belongs in this section.

I'm just starting to let some apartments that we built in Pattaya so have set up a website plus a couple of blogs to feed links etc and to promote the site.

Checking the stats earlier today I was delighetd but someho baffled. One blog post - that we'd installed a television in the bar - has generated around 1000 page views in the last couple of days. Every other post fewer than 50.

My only explanation is there must be literally thousands of people a day googling "Pattaya TV bars". Pattaya in a nutshell?

(Link deleted according to forum rule #10)

The majority of Thais believe in ghosts and magic amulets too, not to mention a whole load of other nonsense they are brainwashed with

I don't put too much store by what Thai people think

I realized there really is little hope for this country when the pickup in front swerved into a motorcycle with the rider going under the rear wheel. The pickup sped off

An everyday occurrence, save the fact the pickup was an official police vehicle.

A friend just installed TMN Cable link to channel list hereat his serviced apartments building in Pattaya - so far great service including coming out at 9pm in the evening to repair a line that had been damaged by some construction down the road. I believe they are cheaper than Sophon too.

Thais rarely adapt well overseas the culture shock of an australian prison will hopefully drive him mad the opportunity of a smooth skinned thai boy should also provide some comfort for his fellow inmates

Sounds like a middle class thai brat who never heard the word no before in his sheltered bubble

Almost worth a week inside just to watch!

More choice in kl, betterquality and fresher, im there once a month, as the ma.n said never problem with customs

Cheating and cutting corners are a way of life for many businesses here, its simply less hassle to shop at mercato than having to scrutinise every item on my trolley in thailand

Buy off plan and take the chance that it may never be built or may have defects that you will have little chance of rectifying unless you pay to do so yourself. Buying an established building can also have it's pitfalls - lack of maintenance, connected hiso locals who refuse to pay service charges (do you know who I am types), developers that decide the swimming pool would look nicer filled in and turned into 10 more shophouses......

If you can't afford the whole building - buy in a proper country - KL/Singapore/HK - and us the rental income to pay rent in Thailand.

I stopped shopping at all the foreign orientated supermarkets in Pattaya, except Foodland, after seeing staff in two of them using acetone to clean off "use by" dates on deli produce and applying their own sticky label "use by" labels for dates up to three weeks ahead.

There are some real hooror stories lurking on the fresh meat counters too.

When I want a choice of cheeses and cold meats I now pop into Mercato whilst in KL and carry back home to thailand.

In the EU a boat of that size and hull design would be unlikely to get a coding for more than 6-8 people. The flat hull design and listing angle are major determinents of what constitutes a "safe" boat.

Of course the waters around Thailand are warmer, so the risks are minimised if passengers are wearing life jackets. That said Pattaya passenger vessles never carry lifejackets, merely flotation jackets.

That the boat was traveling at a speed close to shore to hole the boat after an impact is indicative of the general helmsmanship of the Thai.

Nothing will change of course. There's money to be made.

I had the pleasure of a former Democrat Deputy PM staying at an apartment I owned as a favour to him in the UK. I asked him about buying land in Thailand to build and he confirmed that setting up a Thai company was the normal route.

The powers here are fully aware of the "loophole" and have accepted it for decades. To renege on it now would be a Zimbabwean type mistake.

Unfortunately, I can easily forsee things moving that way in a few years as the elites clutch at straws to retain their monopolies and power bases. The Pol Pot power grab in Cambodia took place in a country schooled in western ideas of "rule of law". There may be trouble ahead if the Thais lose an umpire that most of the populace have respect for.

I have a flat concrete plate roof. It's tiled.

It leaks a bit. Just enough to cause problems.

Some of the leaks relate to the area around the roof drains. We are removing tiles and sorting these.

It seems there's another source though. The roof slab is oviously not watertight where the steel I beams are located. I guess this is due to movement or heat contraction in the beams causing cracking.

I am regrouting the roof area with high grade waterproof grout.

To make this a semi permanent fix without pulling up the entire roof i want to seal the tiles with a high grade silicone waterproofing. Ideally non glossy.

I know this solution works in the UK if repeated every 12-18 months, but does anyone know which product would be best in Thailand?

Thanks for any help!

In a country thats incapable of even organising pedestrian crossings is anyone really surprised?

My experience of sailing on both the east and west coasts here is that these speedboats are clumsily built, difficult to manoeuvre, overpowered and driven by idiots.

A recipe for disaster rhat willnot change whilst theres money to be made.

I recently had an entire junction box literally explode in a condo unit i own here. That, despite it having been installed by an allegedly reputable cOntractor recommended bu tv posters

Likely cause was a power surge, a snake climbing to the transformer or lightning Take your pick.

Bottom line is it was a puss pior installation, the type that exists everywhere in the country