islandguy

A policeman said it was for a member of the royal family when asked by a Thai friend last night. Notice the blue flags along with the yellow ones.

Think you would like Mae Hong Son. Very peaceful, nice people. Sure to be cheaper.

Also, while not perfect, the kind of seat where the bottom slides forward instead of the seat back reclining takes away the me against them aspects of these situations. Your action doesn't affect the other person. It really makes no difference in the people next to you getting past into the aisle, they can't do that without you standing anyway.

My request to the flight attendants to ask the person in front of me to raise their seats during meal services has always been effective. I have very long legs, and often just position my knees so the seat in front cannot recline fully. This prevents a sudden blow to my knees when the person does recline their seat. After a few fruitless attempts to push it back further, they usually give up the attempt. Still, I wouldn't use knee defenders, as it is not my airplane. Lately, in the maneuverings to secure armrest space, I will sometimes take the flight magazine and position it on my side of the arm rest sticking up. This gets me some dirty looks, but nobody has yet claimed a right to put their elbow past the actual (entire) arm rest into my seat space. My usual seat choice is a window seat, and I move over into the curved side of the cabin wall and let the person in the middle use the arm rest. While many people prefer the aisle seat, if you have long legs and arms, you will often overlap the seat into the aisle. Getting clipped by the passing food cart is really painful!

Just had my clutch replaced in my Toyota Tiger truck. Left the dealer and charged up a nearby hill to check the feel, changing gears rapidly. Each time there was a big clunk as I released the pedal. This sound (and feel through the steering wheel) is a little less after a few days. When I carefully and smoothly shift, no sound or clunk. Should I ask the dealer to adjust the clutch? I don't have a lot of confidence in them, maybe it is better to leave it alone since they could make it worse? Appreciate your advice as I am not very familiar with the fine points of this situation.

Mainly interested in Almond Milk but also Hazelnut milk or lactose free cow's milk.

Has anybody spotted any of these anywhere? If so please share the location in what store and where exactly in the store

I've already looked in Makro, Tesco and Tops Market in Central with no luck. I know I could also easily make my own Almond Milk but I haven't been able to find any large quantities of plain almonds either! (they are either salted, roasted or coated with something) and I would also need a cheese cloth for straining.

Thank you for any tips!

My wife has been enjoying making almond milk this month. Schmidt's bakery supply in Lamai has good quality almonds in bulk. You don't need a cheesecloth, most other sorts will do. Wifey is using some white polyester cloth and a sieve with a handle underneath.

Pleasant place, not cheap. Has a Thai owner this go round, has not had any problems (publicly) with officialdom. Everything goes there by boat, of course, including staff and water. A mix of wooden structures ('villas') and fancy fabric sided structures on wooden platforms.

Talked to the manager at DHL soon after they moved to their present location. Told me had worked for DHL for many (10?15?) years and now had the contract for this station. Prior to his take over tracking sent items with the DHL in line system took items as far as Bangkok and then no farther, as they sent it from Bangkok to Samui by post as stated earlier on this thread. The manager told me that he wouldn't be getting the full tracking system anytime soon as it would cost him a lot (was a while ago, but remember it as multiple millions of baht). However, he said their new procedure was to put all the Samui packages one evening PG flight every day. Sounded like a big improvement to me then, but haven't used any such services since that conversation. While I like the post, I have once had an unactivated credit card not arrive here.

It is possible to grow hydroponically heat sensitive plants when it is hot if you have cool water, possibly from a well? Otherwise lettuce does not do well in the hottest parts of the year. The shade tree suggestion is good, and some trees will enrich the soil at the same time. The specialty forums on Thaivisa are full of good information and are much friendlier than the general forums.

Dell service has worked very well for me. Tech is based in Suratanee but comes over here for service calls, seems to be on demand. The computer shop in Nathon (beach road is a restaurant but turns into a computer shop opening onto the middle road) has handled this for me with very good service. They have handled most of the minor problems themselves, and even replaced parts under warranty without calling in the tech. Smart guys and easy to work with. I have had problems with chargers and batteries, but this is over a four year period and I attribute it to the crap electricity. Keep thinking it's time to replace the laptop but turns out to minor and easily fixed. Yes, get the official Windows, well worth it for the updates and lack of every cheap download the shop has on hand.

I have never seen anyone use the coins for less than one baht except for Tesco. No idea this petty scan was so rampant.

Recent pics from Conrad.

Again, the security guard kept an eye on me and followed me like a shadow. He didn't speak to me though.

The tides are nearly at its lowest for this year. It's obviously much lower than when I was there last year.

Those stilt bungalows makes me think of the Martian machines in H. G. Wells, War of the Worlds.

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I kayak by the Conrad occasionally. While they were building it there was no sand at all in front of the hotel. I was surprised when they finished it to see the small beach. One time I asked one of the staff as I paddled by a few feet from the shore, and he said yes, they had brought in all that sand and placed it there. Was very surprised when he replied to my question to say that they had not had to completely replace it after their first rainy season open. And yes, the war machines in H.G. Wells 'War of the Worlds' is exactly the image that always comes to my mind when I see this place. One thing no one on this thread has mentioned about the Conrad that was discussed in a previous thread a few years ago was how really terrible this looks as you approach Samui on the ferry. You can see it from quite a long distance away, and it disfigures what is otherwise a very pretty view approaching the island from the mainland. As far as the durability of the construction, they supposedly had the best engineering subcontractors on the job, but watching it go up there were rust stains and sloppy pours that the engineers were probably not too thrilled with.

Have just been reading on another Thai Visa forum about a safety product to prevent electrical shocks. The lack of such devices on the usual home and commercial buildings has always seemed dangerous to me. Not dangerous like maybe a tree will fall on me but dangerous like one of the bad things about living in Thailand. The article about the product seemed to be saying that the people selling it did the installation onto existing systems. Finding a qualified electrician has been part of why I haven't put in a grounded/earthed system in any of the houses I have rented while living on Samui. Anybody know where this is available locally, or could recommend an electrician with the right skills and Western outlook on this problem? It seems ironic to me that my last rental was owned in part by a Thai electrician but even more surprising that my current one is owned and was built by a European.

At least the toilets make them feel right at home.

Your post suggests that the photo is of a Thai public toilet which it isn't, it's not even a Chinese one. It would be interesting if you could come up with a photo of a real toilet in Thailand that looked anything like the one you maliciously posted, my money's on your not being able to do so.

This is why my wife insists (and I agree) to always gas up at PTT stations when traveling in Thailand. Very clean toilets chain wide. And while I can't remember any this bad in Thailand, I have seen plenty of dirty ones.

You can leave your main bag with left luggage and just take off with a small bag with a change of clothes and such. Will make being flexible and taking the airport link quite easy.

The market on the ring road south of Nathon (not the first one at the edge of town, but just before the turn off to Baan Taling Ngam) is at Saket. In the back corner of the fish area there is a stall which also does wholesale, they have coolers full of all grades of prawns in a little shack just behind them outside of the main area. Nice people. Hua Thanon has a lot of fish, often good quality and variety. Better in the morning than later. Both of those markets have a fair selection of vegetables. The main fresh market in Nathon inside the town (on the street Lotus is on, but the other end of the street) is a morning market, it is the closest to Lipa Noi.

Quote: I guess I will never know why the camera car never swerved or braked. If he went left he was screwed. If he went right he could have involved oncoming traffic in the incident....maybe. End quote

Looking at the video it looks like the two trucks involved in the initial impact first go to the car cam driver's left and then back directly into his lane. It was a very short window of time to decide on an evasive maneuver, but what would, in your respective opinions, been the best thing to do upon seeing this happen ahead? Going into the lane to the right could have involved an oncoming car and a certainly fatal head on crash (although I didn't see any) and would have involved swerving back into the original lane or going all the way across the road onto the far shoulder. Turning the car left to take the hit on the passenger side as on poster suggested would have left any passenger, probably, in worse shape than the head on would have.

Also, do agree that he didn't brake?

I ask partly because I think if you mentally rehearse possible choices in these situations you speed up your response in the actual event.

Grew up in America but in a Hispanic neighborhood, so futbol was something I enjoyed. In 1974 I was in Latin America and because of that I got to see some of the world cup on television there. The final between the Dutch and the Germans (West Germany then) promised a dream matchup between free flowing and disciplined styles. At the start of the match the Dutch held the ball with wonderful passing until the great Cruyff made a fantastic run through the defense to score their first (and only) goal. While the Germans went on to win, that was a mesmerizing moment.

I am forever hearing yee cip as cii cip at the market and handing over more money than needful. I couldn't say it is never taken, but have been handed back the over amount many many times. When not dealing with tourist transport my impression is of mostly honest Thais. I once had a taxi driver in Bangkok leave the hotel and then return in 5 minutes (when some new 100 baht bills had stuck together) to return the overage.

The OP's point is a good one, although rather sanctimoniously phrased, IMO. I have certainly learned more by paying attention to the Thai point of view than they have learned from me. However, the high number of people crippled and the many people killed by preventable 'accidents' is a good reason to think that some Thai ways would be better changed. I think having compassion for others' suffering is a good reason for Buddhists to be open to change some culturally specific practices and ways of thinking here in Thailand, as in so many other countries. Does every group have to learn by suffering or can some things change because of the mistakes other cultures have already made that caused those cultures to make changes?

Check the car ferry schedule, you may have to go back to Donsak each time and not sure about how often a car ferry goes to Koh Tao.

Hi Carlos. Weather report shows high winds this week, Seatrans has larger and less old boats, something to keep in mind. I was at the Raja ferry port a couple of times in the last two months to pick up friends and there was a sign for a van that said 200 baht to anywhere on Samui both times. Have heard a tout on the boat tries to sign you up for a much more expensive van ticket. If this is actually the case it is a big improvement from before. Mole, when did you have the experience you detail here at the Raja port?

Depending on what months you plan to be in Thailand you might want to think about rainy season weather. Phuket has a long rainy season (March to October, not heavy for the entire time) and Samui a shorter rainy season (October to early January). Some years not quite those months, but that is the historical pattern. Both are pretty developed and expensive for Thailand, but lots to do and easy to find Western comforts compared to some of the sleepy but cheaper places.

You can look at a tide chart to see how high the highest tides of the year will be. What the tide chart won't show you is what else will be happening during those hours. Year to year erosion varies greatly because the damage from the sea is a combination of factors. We get these higher tides during the stormiest and rainiest times of the year here on Samui. Tide level + wave height created by high winds + flood rains flowing from the land and rivers into the sea will create greater erosion and damage to seawalls and buildings than the same high tide on a calm day. Last rainy season it was mostly calm during those high tide periods. You can build walls, build on columns, and put tons of rock in front, but the sea tends to win those battles eventually. Best strategy, IMHO, is to build back from the shore line and plant lots of trees and bushes (some lovely mangroves, anyone?). Not most peoples' fantasy of the dream beach house. Also good to remember that if your neighbors put in a really impressive wall next to your property it will transmit the force of the water right at that corner of your property - sort of like the annual dumping of fill dirt around houses here to transfer flooding from inland to one's neighbor's house!