KED

I definitely agree better to avoid the Thai postal service all together and use DHL or FEDEX. Over the last few years, I have had 5 items mailed to me of no value...only 2 reached me.

If the items sent to you have any importance....use DHL / FEDEX.

really thorough report - thanks for the detail.

I'm with you. Everytime I see the family sitting on the floor using their ( unwashed ) hands in the common food dishes I'm glad my wife makes me a seperate meal, though I did have to stop her using an old piece of tree to cut up my food on ( I bought her a very nice plastic cutting board that she used in Pattaya- just went back to village ways at home ).

Actually, bacteria can live longer on plastic cutting boards than wooden boards.

I have had my Bangkok Bank passbook savings account for 4 years now and last year I made several ACH transfers from my U.S. Bank to Bangkok Bank's NY branch without any problems. However, on my most recent attempt two weeks ago the funds did leave my U.S. bank but then a week later they were re-deposited with my U.S. bank saying that the Bangkok Bank account number was invalid.

I checked with Bangkok Bank and their records show that the funds did reach my Thailand account but they were then declined because the name was not an exact match.

Nothing has changed since I did the successful transfers last year and each bank is saying that it is not their fault -

any experience with this? any ideas?

I have two friends who recently moved up north to Chiang Mai, so I have been visiting up there regularly. I realize that CM is much smaller than Bangkok, but I am surprised there aren't more gay venues (pub / bar). I'm not looking for GoGo bars like Circle or Adam4Adam and not looking for a huge weekend disco like Mandalay Bay. I like the vibe at the Glass Onion and SoHo but even on the weekends there are usually less than 10 people and mostly farangs. Many years back, I went to the Night Market area near the climbing wall..but those clubs are all gone.

Any other insight into Chiang Mai gaylife??

Thanks

I have flown Air Asia many times and over the years, I have seen them add more and more hidden expenses (e.g. seat fee, booking "convenience" fee, etc.) My rule of thumb is if I can get any other carrier which is within 300-400 baht of the same fare, I will book Bangkok Airways or Thai or Nok Air; however, with the exception of recent changes in Bangkok Air Chiang Mai - Bangkok fares which are the same as Air Asia, I rarely find Thai or Singapore or any other carrier to be competitive.

I fly often Bangkok to Indonesia for work and holiday and AIr Asia is always 30 percent cheaper.

I don't hate Air Asia but I am bothered by their continued incremental charges for every aspect of air travel.

....I hope they give the commuters something in return. Like televisions that work, and aren't out 30% of the time....

I prefer travelling in carriages whose televisions don't work - and I suspect that I'm not the only person who does.

nope, you are not the only one - here is another vote for tv-less trains.

It certainly looks nice, I wonder which route it will be used on.

Like you, William, I was a tad disappointed with the 32 inch seat pitich, I recently flew on the Emirates A380 and was impressed with their economy seats, on checking I note that they are also 32 inch, so maybe it will be ok. Could always use a couple of extra inches though.

I read somewhere, that London LHR- Bangkok will be one of the inaugural routes.

The steerage class screens, would appear to be much smaller than those installed on Emirate's 380s.

If they use the A380 on the LHR-BKK route, they better get some better marketing. I flew that route last month on their 747-400 and total passengers was around 100.

I just flew Thai from London to Bangkok on 27March11 and was shocked at the condition of the 747-400. The plane interior was ragged and dated, and as mentioned before, only the antique IFE of a single screen in the cabin with a few smaller tvs above. I cannot imagine how they can stay competitive with the same or higher fares of other carriers.

Pretty good, mst. I've got quite a few friends in Thailand, and I can honestly say that I've never seen any of their bedsheets. Perhaps we haven't properly bonded...

Or perhaps, the next time you visit, just leave a light on. :-)

I agree that the add-ons with Air Asia is a pain - and whenever there is another alternate airline with a similar fare, I will not book Air Asia. However, I often find that Air Asia runs substantially lower fares than mainline airlines like Thai. I just did a search from Bangkok to Bali 5 months from now in October, off season. Air Asia came up with a USD 235.00 fare (before baggage, seats, food, convenience fee) and Malaysia was USD 551 and Thai USD 659. I don't understand why Thai and Malaysian aren't even trying to be competitive - until they do - I will book Air Asia.

I cannot think of any daytime bar or pub. During the day, I think your best bet would be Bablyon on Sathorn Soi 1 - if you aren't into the dark room scene then there is also a cafe. There are also many massage places open during the day if that is your thing, at Suk Soi 11 (I believe) is Hero massage -

good luck

Since the original poster has already found his hotel in Vientiane, I just want to comment that I was there last month and was really amazed at the completed river park project. I was there over the weekend and it was really fantastic to stroll along the river without vendors or tuk tuk dirvers and see so many people enjoying the park. Great job, especially for a communist regime !

One more time , a bus with people inside ..... everything have been said about rules , drivers knowledge in people transport etc maybe excessive speed also ...... Now it seems that everyday accidents happen . a real shame .... and of course nothing will be done to avoid this.

Yes, as sad as the accident is, the saddest part is that Thailand will not learn from the accident about safety regulations about training bus drivers and limiting the time they can drive without a required rest period.

Dean,

Not sure I understand, do you need info on getting a Thai visa or a Laos visa? What country is your passport issued? Where are you now?

I agree that the Holiday Inn at Phloen Chit is nicer, but I like the Holiday Inn on Silom also. It gets a lot of flight crews and package tours but the location is good and far enough from the Patpong crowd. Surasek skytrain is not far. Facilities are nice and the breakfast buffet has a good variety. I would recommend this hotel to others.

I moved to ThonBuri a few months back and am having terrible problems with dropped calls and failed calls from my new home. It is a new condo complex, any ideas or suggestions about what is going on?? My phone provider is AIS.

thanks

Many thanks for the information.

I have to mail a financial disclosure form to the United States. It is not due until June, so I have plenty of time and don't need to express mail it; however, I do want to register it. Does the Thailand Postal Service send registered mail to another country, or should I use DHL or another service? any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

I think if you went to the airport a week before you were scheduled to leave or to the airline's ticket office and explained that you had no desire to connect in a country during an uprising that they would reroute you. I can't imagine they will force you to fly via Cairo with all the political problems.

The bus company requires that you have a Laos visa BEFORE you can buy a bus ticket for Udon Thani to Vientiane. If you are planning to take the bus from Thailand to Laos you must get your Laos visa in advance.

The bus will drop everyone off at the Thailand border and wait until everyone has exited Thailand Immigration. It will then drop everyone off at the Laos immigration and wait for everyone to clear. That is why they require the Laos visa for expatriates since the visa process might delay the bus more than just clearing with a visa.

I just received my fourth double entry tourist visa all from Vientiane just before the Songkran holiday. I have a U.S. passport and have been living but not working in Thailand for 3 1/2 years now. I was worried about all the reports about red stamps and possible denial; however, I did not have a problem and was not questioned. I did go back to the U.S. for two months prior so this application was not a back-to-back. As mentioned before, no free visa. THB 2,000 for the double entry.

Considering Thailand's political instability perhaps "coup"

This definitely has to be one of the worst decisions NW has ever made (and there's a long history of this). I cannot imagine anyone choosing to fly NW with their inferior service along with an inferior aircraft when there are so many other choices (Eva, Cathay, Thai, Singapore, China Airways, even United) who fly 767/777 or 747.

In the immediate region: Burma=pay, Laos=pay, Cambodia=pay, Malaysia perhaps not

but it's been years since I've been that far South. Just trying to make a rough point.

Well, I've traveled that far south and can verify that Malaysia does not require a paid visa, nor does Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan or Korea.