Razzler1973

It's Royal City Avenue, as mentioned

I didn't realise they duplicated it in other cities but it doesn't particularly surprise me. It's easy marketing, everyone knows about RCA in BKK so mention RCA somewhere else and you'd assume it's bars/clubs

I love these sweeping statement

Hey, how comes EVERYONE's breasts are huge now!!?

I think authorities and media need to be careful with 'suspects' rather than 'someone who was there' they'd like to speak with

It's like that Boston bombing where they'd identified a couple of guys with backpacks and everyone on Twitter found out who they were ... turned out it was nothing to do with them and I think they even got a payout from the city for all the grief they got

I didn't get past those poor 'non-western' girls that aren't at the same emotional level of their farang counterparts

Those 17 and 18 year old farang girls are very clever and mature but those Thais ones ... they need super extra protection cause cause cause ... well, reasons!

I am sure the OP has loads of experience of Thai 17 and 18 year olds that he can explain why they need special protective treatment compared to other girls the same age around the world and how exactly it's different

1994 is when I first came and spent quite a lot of time there for a couple of years hanging out in Asia, working in Hong Kong

It was great.

I do look at this backpacker generation, if that even exists anymore, taken over by middle class gap year kids and people on 2 month 'holidays'. In those times people were going somewhere, backpacking to Australia or back again. Maybe 'The Beach' changed all that

Bangkok was maybe a little more difficult to get around. Biggest change obviously places like the islands, Koh Pha Ngan, still beautiful but was amazing. The fact you could go to near enough any island and 100 or 200 baht be staying right on the beach, open the doors to your bungalow and the sea is there. None of this online booking kids booking places up, turn up, check all the rooms in the area and pick one

Full Moon was chilled out party and good times rather than this monster dance 'event' with international DJs. I think travel has simultaneously become a lot easier and waaaaay more of a pain in the arse. Previously, the bus/ferry, etc left at a particular time. You missed it, you missed it ... now all the ferry and buses are owned by travel companies or the ferry company and it's all coordinated and it's all wait, wait, wait, wait ... seems to take ages to get from mainland to island now whereas before you'd wake up, go to pier and get on boat, you know

Also, communication. People remember 'poste restante'? No internet, no credit cards, no ATMs ... you carried your money with you. You felt more cut off, especially on islands (couldn't just change money everywhere) and I do miss those days sometimes but it is still beautiful and Bangkok is still one of Asia's great cities and the worlds, for me

20-odd years ago people said 'it's ruined' and they say it every year. However, no one can ever see it how it was back then, it's just how you remember it and no one can see it like again

I was never one for pictures but all my memories of Asia back then are just that, memories. Stil love it today, mind

Ah right, so this is one of those stories you just made up? I see, I see ...

People think Bangkok has too many Malls? Try Dubai. Can't walk 10 feet without tripping over a Mall!

Haha, you think the price of rooms is expensive in Khao San? For what you want, fan, etc you're looking at 300 bucks

Banglumpoo is hardly 'away from tourists' seeing it's pretty much the doorstep of Khao San, ditto Rambuttri which runs nearby and is mega busy and not away from anything

I assume he meant away from Khao San when he said away from it all and the tourists so the next street over and around the corner is unlikely to be the answer. Jeez, if he can't walk around the corner to find a room on his own there's no help!

Samsen is still in the area, walking distance but quieter but even around there they're getting their own backpacker type 'restaurants' and small bars

You can try Soi Kasemson near MBK, always had a fair few places around there or Soi Ngam Dupli not far from Lumpini/Sathorn

Problem is, those places are likely to be more expensive than Khao San, Khao San has loads of rooms and therefore more competitive and chance of cheaper place. Also, not sure about fan room in those kind of places.

Other place to check is along the river. Check on Agoda and filter by riverside but again, not sure they'll be cheaper than Khao San

Also, you want wifi, computer table and all that, which is quite 'modern' but then you want a fan. If they're putting rooms together with those nicer, modern things then they're more likely to have air con too to go along with the conveniences and comfort of the nice stuff in the room

There is no bad month to visit Thailand.

what this man said

I think Mr Jake's entire opinion on ladyboys and their acceptance revolves around the prostitution business. Goodness me

Are you sure you're 99% certain? Either way, as said above, the 1% will kill you and it's clear it is. You expect absolute trust and you haven't go it. I imagine you're living your life all happy and this is a bolt out the blue, an off-hand comment that has led to this reveal

The naivity of thinking all non working girls are 'good'. That's not true anywhere in the world, sometimes Thai chicks get held to a different standard cause they're not bar girls. I have known Thai girls with 3 boyfriends at once, all Thai guys too, no bar girl stuff

Your GF at the worst is either banging these guys or making contact with them for future fun and games or at the very least looking around at options. She hasn't mentioned this, why? It's so utterly normal behaviour it's barely worth mentioning? Of course not ... you know that

You can either right this in your mind and believe nothing untoward happened at these parties but I think you can't. You're asking yourself why she regularly goes to these (even when living with you 6 nights a week!) and has mentioned nothing. What about other nights out with her friends? Does she always come home? You can get up to a lot of fun and still come home at 2 or 3am

... I have known groups of Thai chicks to share a room in a hotel near where they drink. Some of the 'good girls' like to go out from studies or work cause they live with family and don't want to answer questions. They use the room to change and get ready but of course the room is there

Don't want to scaremonger, dude but just realise things are not all they seem. Without knowing how often she goes out with friends I'd say at the very least you can't accept the version of events she has relayed to you so what chance you accepting it if you found out more

You can question and question but you won't be happy with the answers. Time to move on and lesson learned for the future. Do the 'stay friends' thing if it's easier and then slowly knock that on the head in a month or two or 'some time apart' thing

5 years ago it was the 2nd last unspoilt part of thailand apart from the surins which is on the norhtern border of the andamans.

it had one concrete road and a handfull of motorbikes. no atm,7/11 etc.

now has roads everywhere, cars, 7/11 with prices 3 times on the mainland.

take plenty of baht, no cow pad under 150 baht !!

another real shame in thailand

Again, largely hyperbolic rubbish

Of course islands will pave roads, for starters. I remember Koh Pha Ngan before the roads were paved. Is it 'ruined' now? Nope, it's a lot better, thanks. There aren't 'roads everywhere' as there isn't the space!

It was the paved 'Walking Street' which is coloured blue. It extends a bit around some corners. I saw maybe 2 or 3 actual cars the whole time I was there. Delivering stuff to restaurants/bars. It wasn't in the way or represent 'traffic' at all. It was all motorbike transport and those bikes with sidecars for luggage. If you're thinking this has changed and is full of cars now you couldn't be more wrong ... again, this is low season, no idea about high season but I'd struggle to believe it's full of cars cause there's not many roads to actually drive on!

There is one 7/11 ... yep, one. The prices are slightly higher than mainland. You can go to the several mini-marts on Walking Street and buy from them and they're cheaper than 7/11. You work this out in 5 minutes of being there. Advantage being 7/11 is open late, of course. Example, can of Singha is 57 baht in 7/11, if I recall and in mini-mart it's 50

It may be 37 or so mainland? Everything is transported over though so it's gonna be higher. The few bars open were selling small bottles of Chang for 60, Leo 70. Beach place looking at sea was about the same, maybe 10 baht more.

I pay that near the beach on Koh Pha Ngan a lot of the time, no issue with it

As for 'no khao pad under 150 baht' ... not true. Some of the sea facing resorts, perhaps. A few others on the beach maybe 100 but I'd say the 'normal' price for Khao Pad, Pad See Ew, Grapao, Noodle Soup is 70 baht, maybe 80. This is average. Som Tum 70 baht but found a place that did it for 50 and Num Dtok for 100, Laap for 80, sticky rice 10 baht ... nothing unusual really

Simple western food was 100 upwards, things like spring rolls at 100, baguettes were 80 baht to 100 baht. Other curries 100 or 120 maybe. Slightly higher but nothing alarming. Pancakes were 60, 70, 80 baht depending what's in them

Didn't see a lot of money changers in low season but were ATMs around. Wifi is everywhere and pretty decent. Very, very nice island and would go again and I'd definitely go again in low season

I wouldn't say I really burned through a lot of money either. Great place

Polluted, trash everywhere. Rotting matrasses, plastic molded and mutated food in the bushes, floating in the sea. Quite unbelievable but real.

This is nonsense, didn't see anything like this at all. Beautiful island

See a lot more garbage and smell sewage, for instance, on other, more well known islands

Lipe is dead and actually you might not be able to cross during this season, the sea is rough and not enough passengers.

This isn't true either. There is a boat every day around 11am-12am, maybe even two boats but they go. I heard some horror stories of crossing in a speedboat this time of year and it being very rough but for me it was fine. One guy said they cancelled his boat and went in the morning (better weather) but that seemed extreme

Generally, there's a scheduled boat and it's no problem. Even in poor weather they still go, people talked of getting wet (wasn't my experience) but they only don't go in mega extreme situations. Everything on the island is being brought over too so if you're planning to go don't sweat the schedules

Can't go to Langkawi though although Pak Bara boats were still off to Koh Lanta/Krabi, pier was still pretty busy

So, I went to Koh Lipe for 6 days middle of July and it was fantastic

Any talk of it being 'ruined' are nonsense. I don't know what it used to be like in the past but I guess it's definitely changed a lot, like all other islands in Thailand. I also can't speak to how it is in high season either

How it was in low season though was great. Firstly, yes, a lot of stuff was closed for low season, no idea why though as still a reasonable amount of people around although would class it as quiet. A lot of Malaysian tourists for end of Ramadan and Chinese tourists too for the resorts there

Few bars still open, good places to hang out. Off Walking Street but close around midnight-ish but place on beach open until 3am or later

Weather was amazing for 2 days, bright sunshine. 3 days of bit cloudy but hot and humid, no problem for swimming and being out. 1 day it sort of drizzled most of the day. Had some early morning rain a couple of times but had cleared by late morning. Had some rain after 5pm or 6pm for an hour as well but all in all no problems with the weather at all

Water was as clear as I have seen water in Thailand for years. Can see fish swimming around. I think you don't get as much for your money in terms of rooms but electric is expensive. Can get good price fan rooms but that's not for me. A wise choice as mossies were brutal there! Fan stuff on the beach is still 1000-ish

Air con stuff near the beach is 1400 and upwards and probably better value in places like Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Chang, etc. Bit of a gap in air con rooms from 800-1200, I reckon, no idea how much in high season

Very small place, can stroll around, no need for bikes at all. Beaches are lovely, swimming is great. Pattaya Beach side is nicer, for me. Sunrise is also good but down the end away from where longtail boats arrive. There are also longtails 'parked' there although you can swim I prefered Pattaya Beach, which is where I was anyway

Sunset Beach was pretty much closed. Resorts and shops, food, bars closed for the season. Nice beach though, sand a little more coarse but nice sea. Some rocks nearer the surface

A lot of places seem further away than they are. You drive for a bit but when you arrive realise you can walk 3 or 4 minutes down the beach and be at one end of Walking Street and it's all very close. Deceptive from some places but more or less easy to get to Walking Street (central point)

I think Malaysia is cheaper than a lot of people think it is but it's not quite Thailand cheap

You can get 3 pints for 45 RM still, about 150 baht a pint ... that's the price in some pubs in BKK, I guess

Street food isn't too far away from BKK, I wouldn't call Malaysia 'expensive' but Thailand is cheaper though but for people not been in Malaysia recently it may well be cheaper than you think or remember even

Another comparison for you Bikey...

image.jpg

Orimage.jpg

Both average women of each country...get my point..

Hahaha, what is this madness

All Uber rides to and from the airport are a set 1000 Baht fee. It has always been this way. I always grab an Uber; I mean come on, 18 quid for a safe ride to the airport in a brand new sedan with a decent driver whose taxi doesn't stink, is serviced and MOT'd and has a driving licence. A no brainer, as they say.

I just recently have got a taxi to Don Muang and also Swampy a couple of weeks apart

Hailed them in the street. No problems, meter on, early-ish in morning, tad before traffic hits but both drivers were fine, taxis were clean, no mental driving

On no planet is a trip the airport worth 1000 baht, no matter how bleak a picture you want to paint of regular, metered taxis

Both were under 300 baht, no tolls

Hi

Go to manage my booking on the webpage .Change your fight for a surcharge.Airport tax etc transferred to new ticket,Don't worry all is not lost

I could change my flight for another day, even next year, I believe but I am paying for that and I also have no idea whether I will be in that place on whichever date next year either. You can't change the destination or origin

I will damn well be checking in for that flight and making sure it's an empty seat ... I damn well paid for it!

OP, you mentioned the "Vendor" Did you book directly with Air Asia or use a booking company?

The reason I ask this is that I actually had 10,000 baht taken through a very BIG online booking company with an office in Thailand.......they took my money but failed to deliver blaming the airline blah blah blah. In the end they just kept my money. In this case there was no error just their greed !!!

I booked directly with Air Asia on a credit card

'The Vendor' is usually how the bank refers to the entity you paid, in this case Air Asia themselves. There's usually a lapse between authorising the payment and the vendor taking the money. In the past it's been 2 days even. Doesn't matter though, once authorised you can't recall

They didn't do anything, it's my error it's the lack of flexibility that is annoying even if it's within their rules. It's not a 'waa waa I changed my mind' situation it's literally a wrong thing pressed and instant realisation! That's damn harsh!

So you made a mistake and it's their fault? Lesson learned. I love air Asia.

Erm, no ... you haven't been reading, have you?

It's my fault. I am well aware of that ... what I am asking for is if anyone has had experiences of actually getting something rectified (for a fee) or if they stick with their 'terms and conditions'

I think when you call them within 5 or 10 minutes of the booking there should be some flexibility. I understand them not wanting passengers chopping and changing plans after booking but this is hardly that

What's annoying I am usually soooooo careful with this kind of stuff that it wouldn't even be an issue so kicking myself.

I have resigned myself to booking a new flight (Nok Air) and then maybe still attempting a refund, anything I get back is a bonus. If I nearby their offices in BKK I may pop in

Not sure there is anything of note near Surat airport, mate, it's kind of out of the way but there are tons of transport places that will take you to the airport. That's if you don't fancy going to the bus station

I stayed at The One Hotel before (http://www.theonesurat.com/) and it was quite smart, down a bit of a side street but close to the/a bus station. I had a flight following morning and it was fine from here. Think I booked transport at the hotel, maybe got a transfer, can't remember

Air Asia senior management is sleazy and deceptive. They advertise their prices NOT INCLUSIVE OF AIRPORT TAX with the intention of appearing more competitive with

I have been noticing more with Agoda that it's expensive compared to before

There are some rooms where I know the place well and I know how much they cost. Agoga shows it cheaper and then add the tax and *bam* the rate is suddenly back up to the walk-in rate I am familiar with, no problem

Others take the walk-in rate or similar and then bung the 17% on, which obviously makes a huge difference

I'd always prefer to rock up and get a place but the kids are on the 'ol internet these days and you run the risk of places booking up, even in BKK sometimes

I'm glad it not just me thinking that they are getting expensive - I thought I was turning into a Cheap Charlie. If we are staying at mid-range places (but not national or international chains) in Asia, we now look at Agoda's prices to give us a guide for turning up at the hotel and negotiating. One thing I've never liked about them is that they don't add the taxes, which can be up to 20% in some places, in the headline price; I know that it's there and it will be added on when I get to the next page, but I like everything to be upfront. I think Agoda is the same company as booking.com, same reviews anyway, but booking.com was always a dollar or 2 more. Before booking, I always send an email to the hotel and get their best price, occasionally you get a better rate but not often. I believe that hotels have to agree not to undercut them, so only very small places where it is an owner/manager or family operated hotel will undercut, and it's unlikely that these will put it in writing rather than you walking in off the street.

The best thing with Agoda is, in my opinion, the reviews. Unlike TripAdvisor or other such sites, you actually have to book through them to be able to do a review. This doesn't make it a perfect, no planted reviews site, but it makes it better. A lot of reviews anywhere on the web are a complete waste of time, with differing cultural backgrounds, differing standards and some people who just whine like children over the slightest thing, but you can use their reviews and rating system to get an overview from people who we know have actually been there recently.

EDIT: - Ijust pressed backspace twice and this posted for some reason, I thought I'd lost it.

I used to find Agoda cheaper than Booking.com but now their prices are more or less the same. I am not sure these 'taxes' were 17% before? I am sure I had loads that were 'includes tax' in the past. Looking at my past bookings prices seem more reasonable

There are places with 1000 baht rooms on their site but booking on their site takes you to Agoda ... a different set of prices than if you looked them up on Agoda, mind but still turns 1000 into just under 1200 and 6 or 7 nights that adds up, especially when you know you can walk in and get 1000 a night price :/

These online bookings things are taking over the world though. I was hummung and harring about a place down south and the next day all their rooms were booked. Went on their site and all their rooms are booked on there. Went on Booking.com and got 'our last 2 rooms' (which I never really believe anyway but ... filled up)

This is low season too, there's generally a lot of wiggle room but if the kids are booking up places I don't want to risk not getting a decent place on a walk-in, especially when I'm taking a break, not embarking on some traveling (done all that )

I booked one place in BKK I know the Agoda rate was the same as walk in so booked it but other BKK bookings I think I will just walk in to be honest, don't think it can be much worse!

I am rarely in Thailand during high season these days but I can imagine it's carnage with the bookings!!

If you live in Bangkok can possibly try to go to Air Asia ticketing office in Don Muang and ask directly the staff there

I don't but will be there in a couple of days or so. I asked if they had an office there thinking I can go down and smooze it, play it cool but they said no office just these 'desks' and they won't be able to help

"well who deals with this then" ... "we don't know"

As soon as you make a booking error with Air Asia get on the phone to them or visit their office at the airport. They can fix things up. It depends on the person you deal with but i know someone who ending up booking twice on the same flight (he had computer problems). Air Asia cancelled the dupe booking and gave him the ticket cost as credit for future flights. Depends on the person but can vary between free of charge to no help at all.

I literally called them after 5 minutes. I realised instantly but ... nada

I understand it's my fault and the stupid, idiotic error annoys me more than 2 1/2 grand but it's not that I changed my mind or wanted to be awkward, it was a legit error, spotted instantly. I know it's in their terms and conditions, I mentioned that in the OP so I don't need a link to that I am asking if anyone did anything against the norm for T&Cs, as an example (looking like a resounding, NO!) - appreciate the efforts anyway

You'd think they'd be some window for correcting this, cancel and do it again. They can still have my money! Seems like nope. I know they're a 'cheap' airline but Nok are slightly more flexible and also cheap. Even other cheap airlines around the world have various fees for this sort of thing but ... money gone. That's the frustrating bit. You'd think there may be a case-by-case thing especially when you call them instantly, honestly within 5 minutes "we don't usually do this but ..."

Looks like it's not to be but just want to make sure I'd covered as many angles and there's no secret method I am missing out on

It's a one way. I am flying down from BKK and connecting to an island but will be going across to the other coast myself so intention was to fly back from another island connecting thingy. I go to book and for some reason I mark the second one way flight as flying out of the island/connection I will have left a week before

One of the Air Asia guys did suggest using the Hat Yai portion of the flight but seeing as I will be on Koh Pha Ngan I think it's next to impossible to make a 2pm flight from Hat Yai. I could change my plans, leave the day before, blah blah but cost of ferry, buses, taxi and accommodation in Hat Yai ... not worth it. If getting to Hat Yai was doable then I'd do it but pointless breaking my neck to rush around

I will book another flight ... Nok Air this time

Some countries are adopting a 24 hour window from booking where you can cancel/amend your due to booking error. Sorry i can't remember the exact details but its to address the problems you and everybody has when you make an error booking online. Seems like a good idea to me.

Seeing as the money is gone I may just persue this with Air Asia anyway, make a bit of a fuss, no flexible, 5 minute window even (not even exgerrating about it being 5 minutes from booking to realising to phoning them) and all that ... probably get nowhere but shot to nothing