Tropicalevo

It definitely was not a 747 that briefly touched down, took off again and circled to repeat the process about two more times (it was a while ago - poor memory). Probably a 737 back then. Was the crown prince really flying the plane that we saw? Us mortals will never know. However, it was a Thai Airways plane. I was in the 'blackout' on the road. A minor historic moment here on Samui. People hoped for cheaper flights after that but......the rest is history.

I know and thank you for that. But we are discussing the business, not a flight. Bangkok Airways.

Well spotted and thank you. I had not seen that one. Apart from some biased 'facts' the bigger problem with Dr Ravee Maschamadol's suggestion is that most tourist related businesses and local people that I know, do not want budget travellers. It is currently high season on Samui. It is reported that hotels are 90% - 100% full and at the highest room rates. The main roads are gridlocked at times and where I am, rental motorbikes and rental cars are as rare as hen's teeth. This is a normal high season for Samui. ie pre 2020. And do not start me on the annual water shortage here on the island. Do we really need budget travellers? The island is pretty full already. The big difference was Chinese guests. They do not want to pay high season prices, so they would come in low season. They do not care if it rains as they do not usually sit on beaches. Hotel rates, villa rates and flights are much lower then. Budget travellers will always come by ferry anyway. (300 baht per passenger) Before the Chinese discovered Samui, some hotels and other related businesses would close for 2 - 3 months in low season.

I think that the 'second airport' scenario was back in Thaksin's time as PM. It was a follow on from the "we want to hold a 'roving' cabinet meeting on Koh Samui." fiasco. Bangkok Airways asked him how many planes he needed and the reply was 'government policy, we only fly Thai Airways'. BA are said to have responded with 'Thai Airways will never land on Koh Samui'. Hence the second airport rumour. Strangely enough, a few months later, the Crown Prince (now HM King Rama X) asked for permission to practice take-offs and landings at the airport. He had recently received his commercial pilots licence. BA said 'of course'. He practised them in a Thai Airways plane! (The police stopped all traffic around the airport at the time, and made us all switch our lights off. So as not to distract HM.) A few months later Thai Airways had regular flights to/from Samui. They eventually realised that it was cheaper to code share with BA so now, no more Thai Airways flights. The back story is that a few cabinet members in the day, bought very large plots of land on the island, hoping for the second airport. Most of the plots that I know of are still empty.

Have you tried TOPS supermarket there in Pattaya? The one here does a wide range of tasty breads etc in their bakery. I would have thought that all of the big TOPS supermarkest would be similar.

Someone is working very hard to take BJ down. Just waiting for the Section 112 to be brought in. Slam Dunk.

A good wheeze Mr. Wisanu but 13 pregnant ladies in one truck? You blew it on the follow through.

A good follow up by the police. Let's hope that it actually happens.

Not really. Whilst Bangkok Airways do own the airport, other International airlines have flown here regularly - until Covid. Malaysian Airlines, Silk Air, Nepal Airlines, Firefly, a number of other Chinese Airlines etc etc. The problem is that the landing fees are high to discourage the cheaper airlines like Nok Air, Air Asia and so on. Since Covid, the International airlines are using the serviceable planes on more profitable routes. The current high prices are the old 'supply and demand' algorithm used by airlines for pricing. The less available seats, the higher the price. As aside - 28 flights from Bangkok today.

Come on guys. There must be a few more facetious adjectives that you can throw in there.

Hm. I wonder which people will be helped.

Good advice from bb. The International school where my wife taught had this issue with Russian children. The school just gave the kids extra English lessons. The children learn quickly when they start playing in different languages. (They learn lots of different swear words!) The only issue was that my wife had to learn some Russian phrases like 'do not spit' 'go to the toilet to pee' etc Talk to the schools in the area where you plan to live. They will have had this situation before.

And someone who understands economics and knows what they are doing. Inflation for small businesses is through the roof. We are not getting any relief.

Full steam ahead on LGBTQ rights in Thailand, new gender identity law ordered by PM Seems to be bit of a conflict here.

Thailand does not usually test for drugs at traffic accidents. The police just put it all down to drunk driving. In many areas in the UK drug driving is more common than drunk driving. I think that the numbers here would be higher. From a BBC report - More drug than drink-driving arrests by some forces

Sadly, this yellow-backed, Burmese junta supporting government will send them all back to goodness knows what harm that will befall them.

Good to read. Thank you. It does not help us here in Asia, but for European travel - good stuff.

These hi-so politicians should pay for their own air fare more often. This always happens in high season and when many flights are full. Such as now.

I am not Einstein (sorry) but from what I read..... There are fewer serviceable planes and fewer flight crews available since Covid. Labour shortages in all skill sets in the industry. Maintenance, baggage handlers, airport workers, everywhere. There are less airlines covering long haul routes. Airlines are still recovering from losses during Covid. Pre Covid, here on Koh Samui, we had up to six other International airlines from other countries flying in. Now we only have Bangkok Airways (but they are flying more routes). So - there are less seats available to most destinations. Since Covid, people are desperate to travel again and in the European winter, Thailand is a popular destination. So there is even more demand. Airline pricing has always been based on - empty seats, sell them cheap. Fill up the plane. Now, there are very few empty seats so it is 'normal' high pricing. Nothing to do with a scam. Just the pricing algorithms.

Contraband eggs? I learn something every day here on AN.

That is an old photo of when Thaksin visited Cambodia for Hun Sen's birthday. One should not believe everything that is in the papers as gospel.

That is assuming that Thailand lets them in. Thailand has a brilliant record of naming most of them as 'illegal workers' when in fact many are refugees who just want to work and earn money for their families. These refugees, unlike many others, do not sit and wait for handouts. They do not have the money or documents to apply as those described in the article. Thailand's support of the military and drug lords in Burma is just shameful.

This government is all 'spend, spend' spend'. I guess that taxes will be going up soon. Maybe VAT increase?

You forgot test for ganja and other drugs. (The police usually forget as well.)

But when granddad is rich and owns a famous drinks company, you can get away with killing a policemen whilst driving your car high on cocaine and drunk. Not much of a deterrent there.