kasi

Dang that's a rough story!

Made me be a little extra careful out on the road today!

I had a little road rage incident with some young Thai yahoos, which after all was said and done cost me 70K. That hurt too I got beat up by those fockers and had to go to the hospital(minor stitches) but you know who had to pay!

The drivers in Anchorage aren't any better, btw

There are some really focked up drivers here! ever notice how many white accident outlines are around. On average one person dies everyday in a motorbike accident in Phuket!. Shocking. Got to keep on your toes and eyes wide open while you try to relax!

I avoid driving for days sometimes. But that's the way it is. Try to change them! fogetaboutit

The way to live here in my limited experience is to practice acceptance. Criticizing the way Thai people things doesn't get much mileage. You might even get them to agree with you. But chances are the will do so to avoid confrontation.

People here generally avoid confrontation. While we westerners tend to view the world from a confrontational standpoint.

Especially those of us who have professions where we were responsible for lives and expensive complicated equipment. We learned to take the bull by the horns or die.

(That's one reason we see so many westerners flying airplanes for asian airlines.)

Not so here. Things are more subtle and under the surface.

While many of the Thai people around the farang "industry" just look for ways to take advantage. There are many who aren't.

This is a place where you try not to get excited, you don't honk your horn (unless it's for Budha) and generally let things take their course.

Anyway I think life here is a process of acceptance and balance which I don't really expect to perfect it. Any that was my 4 bahts worth

So I'll bring back to a Phuket related aviation topic. There is a group here trying to get a flying club together

That's thailand related.

Too bad we can't roll back the clock and get that P-51. I'm tempted to go to florida and drop the big buck to fly the crazy horse.

The old Piper, build like a truck Navajo. I never heard of one coming apart in severe turbulance, was known to us North Easteners as "Nava-Joe".

The navajo is a good tough bird, they work well up north. The ones I flew had fancy GPS' coupled to and auto-pilot along with radar altimeters.(essential for getting into places like Point Lay!)(some of the ugliest weather I've seen was up there). You set your altimeter for 50 feet! come in over the water on an OBS set in the GPS, if you see the runway land if not bug out! We're talking weather less than 100feet and a 1/2 mile. That was routine!

I don't have time to get into the exiting stuff with single engines and ice over the Norton sound.

The all time classic story happened to an acquaintance who had both engines on an MU2 stop at night over a cloud deck over the norton sound. He glided in and managed to put it on an ice floe. (barely! the nose of the plane was hanging over the water) Everyone was rescued except the airplane. The salvage helicopter dropped the plane into the water never to be seen again!

No you can’t. I too, spent 3000 hours in a Navajo (it’s spelled with a “ J” you know)

I rest my case you know it all! (remember the attitude thing?)

But for your information in AK we call PA-31-350's "Ho's" for short. My mistake!

Your aviation experience far exceeds mine.

I had to cut my career short (10 years and just under 10000 hours, 8000 hours in AK and 6000 hours in C-207's aka the "sled") because of 9/11 which hosed the whole industry(as you know).

I came up the hard way too, flight instructing glider towing. So I know little, still not much really. I got a few eye opening and hair raising stories too.

Anyway you should write a book sounds like it could rival some of Ernest K. Ganns' stuff.

Your writing is entertaining.( "junior", "sunshine", truly pleasant little pejoratives!)

But my point about the practice of living in Thailand remains.

I have a friend(about your age)in Barrow who had a similar misfortune of loosing his life savings hoping to retire in asia. But too old for the airlines now he is hauling frozen pizzas, whale meat, seal oil, pepsi and drunk natives around the grimmest and grimiest places in the Arctic. I doubt you'd want to do that.

Oh yea Im 50 years old now and have lived in Phuket for just over 2.

I have found it necessary to relinquish much of my old way of thinking. I've made a few mistakes but generally living here beats the "H" out of anywhere in the USA.

I miss my guns and hunting caribou, moose and grizzly bear. And flying off airport.

I share your doctor phobia. Actually it's more of a loathing for me.

Bangkok Phuket hostital is a very nice facility.

I have friends go there with good results for eye, heart and blood issues.

I've had less than adequate results with a misdiagnosed skin problem with the dermatology dept.

Whether or not the ear, nose, throat specialists are good I can't say.

Prices are reasonable. 500bht for doctor. Testing costs vary but they are in line with the prices at Bumrumgrad.

Where they nail you sometimes is with expensive medicines.

good luck.

Not really knowing what is wrong with you, dietary and or allergy issues might be in play in which case you might be able to control the condition on your own. There are numerous ways to boost the body's natural immune system.

You mentioned taking a lot of anti-biotics. They can depress your immune system significantly.

I want to arrange an advertising placement.

Sent two e-mails to the sales address but no response.

Could the person who handles it contact me?

Aviador seems like your attitude may be a source for many of your difficulties. You ooze negativity. This post in particular is arrogant, ignorant, demanding and demeaning.

If your POS truck was in an accident and have been running around out of alignment there certainly is a possibility you needed some parts replacement prior to an alignment. If you knew anything you would know that.

Quite possibly you encountered your first competent technician and you missed it because you think you know it all and assume everyone is out to rip you off. Note the first three letters of the word "ASSUME". People probably spot you a mile away.

Americans with attitudes like yours just make the rest of us look bad.

I'm an airline pilot too and can spot the "I'm better than you" big turbine driver attitude. I have to contain my own arrogant tendencies.(it takes one to know one)(though I'm just a lowly sled and navaho driver out of bush AK)(I could tell you a thing or two about bootleg IFR!)

Loose the attitude it really didn't work in the "industry" and it certainly doesn't work here!

Thankfully most thai people are descent, resilient and take people like you(and me) in stride. I'd say you have much to learn about living here.

And loose the POS mitsubishi and buy a toyota hilux!

July is a great time to go to Phuket.

Cooler weather some rain some sun, some beaches the surf might be a bit strong at times, not many crowds and many good deals around. And the locals are truly gracious and appreciative of your business.

Enjoy!

Best option would be to go to the computer guys next to the DVD stall underneath Big C, They sell some parts but the rest you can get from Bus etc...

They will build it all up for you, install windows etc... They are very good, I have most of our computers built there (probably 2 to 3 a month) including some quite high end gaming/video rigs.

Best thing is if it ever goes wrong, take it back there and they will quite happily liase with the other shops to get your product warranties etc...

very good IMO, I have been using them for nearly two years now and have never been dissapointed.

One word of warning, Cheapy free PSU's that come with budget computers or computer cases are pretty crap, spend a bit of extra money on a coolermaster or other brand name PSU.

I agree these guys on the ground floor of bigC are ok.

But PCs really suck in reality. There is a great promotion on apple Ibooks at the apple store in central.

Oops wrong forum!

High end sports cars are often higher quality cars too and can make great used car buys if the car has been taken care of. Often the type of person who can afford a new Porsche can afford to take good care of it too. But not always! Checking maintenance records and vehicle condition are key.

Porsches in particular are very well put together cars in general and the suspensions are robust from racing technical overlap into the production cars. Service is another issue which might be problematic though I've noticed some very capable mechanics out there who are superior to some of their counterparts in the west. Being a mechanic myself I can spot a good mechanic from a lame one. Language and communication is the challenging aspect much of the time for me.

Back to the MX5. It's a good nice handle car, but small. Good for a single person touring trips.

It's probably me and agreed I see other types of SUV's being driven stupidly but I'd swear the preponderance of crappy drive is perpetrated by black ones. The big 4door 4x4's by toyota and isuzu seems to be culprits as well.

But the Fortuner since it handles better may lend itself to more Mario Andretti wanabees.

I'd like to stick that Toyota D4D engine in my 109 land rover!

Those diesel powered toyotas go like bats out of "hail".

For a sportscar, you should definitely go manual. At the Siam Paragon mall here in Bangkok I saw an automatic Porsche 911...my dad and I just laughed. An automatic is simply out of place on those cars. The only advantage of an automatic transmission is the ease of driving in bumper to bumper traffic. Once you've driven a manual for a while you get used to it and you'll find that you don't have to shift ALL the time. Manuals are cheaper to run, longer lasting and cheaper to fix if something goes bad. It also feels like real driving with a manual.

Actually the automatic in the Porsche is called a tiptronic transmission. It's a very slick piece of engineering. Not really a boring old automatic.

I'd prefer a manual myself but there are people who only have one leg and would make driving a manual impossible.

BTW all the formula 1 race cars now have some version of an automatic transmission.

Technology has really come a long way!

In the near future, automatic transmissions still have an edge in handling high torque for high-end luxurious cars. Continuous improvement to performance, cost and weight may extend its life span into the next decade. German transmission expert ZF has developed the world’s first 6-speed automatic gearbox for production cars. It will be adopted by the new BMW 7-series. Not only offering 5-7% reduction of fuel consumption and improvement to performance, most impressive is that it uses 30% less components and weighs 13% less than the existing five-speeder.

Is it just me but I've been noticing more and more of these things on the road around Phuket?

Big shiny black things usually without a trace of mud.

They are often being driven in a very unfriendly aggressive and stupid manner.

Seems to me they are a show off vehicle and the drivers display their ignorance by driving like a-holes.

Fortuner owners here have mentioned they drive like a sports car but I swear some of these idiots must think they are driving a Porsche oblivious to the fact that they have the same tyres and brakes as a pickup truck.

Black also is the worst colour for a vehicle. Black shows scratches and dirt much more readily.

It would be interesting to ask the insurers what the accident rates are for these vehicles!

For the money a new disc brake wave100 would be the best buy around for basic transport. Fairly cheap at about 31000. They are quite smooth and pleasant to ride. Not a long distance highway machine though. But I've known thai people who have ridden from Phuket to Udon Thani on them. Give me a BMW GS1200 for that!

is it just me that goes to patong then????

yeah ive seen the link at the top of the phuket forum - but i was after some opinions of hotels that you or your friends / family may have stayed in

Probably not many people come to Patong with 4 kids in tow.

Patong is more of an adult disneyland.

I would give [the patong resort a look. They have a nice pool and a very central location.

Given the choice which beach would you choose to live near to, which beach would you avoid and the reasons why.

Is there an online map showing the different Phuket beach locations.

Thanks in advance.

I don't see three questions! Perhaps if you narrowed down what you are looking for and why we could be more helpful.

What season are you considering? (some beaches aren't very safe during low season)

What activities do you like?(some beaches don't have jet skis and para-sailling.)

Are you moving here or just planning a visit? (if you are moving here there are numerous other considerations as to access to other services)

Many of your posts on TV appear designed to antagonise? Your post above is a typical example. If you are unable to make a constructive contribution, to this or any other topic, then please do not bother.

<deleted> is the point to this criticism? Seems to me you're the antagonist or troller here.

You will get another 30 day stamp upon returning to Thailand.

I noticed Malaysia airlines flights to KL from Phuket were running pretty full as well.

Now all we need is for the local officials to get serious about fixing the water and sewer issues.

You need to obtain a visa prior to entry to stay 60 days. There is no such thing as a 30 day extension of a 30 entry without visa.

Or you take a trip to another country and return. But better to have the visa in the first place as many airlines will not allow you to fly without a ticket out of Thailand within 30 days if you do not have a visa in your passport.

Is some of this noise about return tickets coming out of Bangkok?

I had my very first run in re. the return ticket while checking in for a flight to Phuket from KL.

My r/t ticket originated in Phuket. Anyway the malaysia airlines check-in agent began to question my ticket being one way. I countered by asking where was this coming from as I have made this trip on multiple occasions the same way. She intimated Bangkok was asking them to ask for return tickets.

I countered with an offense and pointed out that my ticket originated in Thailand and that if she had taken the time to "look" at my passport she might have seen the one year no-immB visa in my passport and if she wanted to continue this "conversation" she needed to call a supervisor.(she got "small" very quickly and wisely kept her mouth shut)

Hi,

Where can i buy Budweiser beer in Bangkok? I have not seen Budweiser beer for sale at Lotus, Tops, Carrefour stores in my local area.

I would also like to know if there are any good mexican food restaurants in Bangkok. I don't think there are any Taco Bells in Thailand that i am aware of.

Why would anyone wish to drink Buttwiper beer ,when you have beer Chang :D

My thoughts as well, Chang watered down over ice is far more appealing.

And since when was "taco hel_l" considered "good" mexican food?

Kasi,

If your living in Thailand and bought a very clean used car you are lucky, as most Thais do not take care of their cars.

Barry

A bit of luck too but those older model corollas are pretty solid cars in general. And they are really cheap to fix when someone whacks it. Invariably someone hits you at some point. I've been hit by a motorbike and sideswiped by a truck. Both inexpensive fixes.