josephbloggs

Travelers do not need fastest Wi- Fi but better service and more smiles To the tourist and not being hostile!

What are you talking about? Who is hostile to you in the airport? I fly very frequently and the check in people are not hostile, the security people are fine, the immigration people are fine, then when I get through and maybe get something to eat nobody is hostile to me there either. I even used an exchange booth and they just changed my money with no hostility.

Who is hostile? And where does this hostility come from? I'd love to hear your story.

Why was he illegally double-parked ? Lazyness !!

If the driver had unloaded, why was he going to park ??

Probably thinks with his longwinded nonsense story he will confuse the police into letting him get away with it.

So you think he should have gone and found a nice parking spot somewhere and then carried all the air-conditioning units and compressors to the customer??

And if he had unloaded why shouldn't he go and find somewhere to park? What do you want him to do - dive round all day?

What a nonsense post.

Who Built Those Runways ?

Thai construction workers under the supervision and guidance of USAF contractors and engineers.

".....under the supervision and guidance of USAF contractors and engineers."

And that is why it is still as good as it was 50 years ago.

I think that's more to do with the fact it has been maintained over 50 years and has extremely minimal traffic using it.

But go USA! if it makes you feel better.

They also recently stopped that in Manila.

Wow, thailand is really a rich country now.....no need to worry about the economy, no such thing as poor people, no need to worry about the aviation industry problems, the fishing industry problems, the issues of sanctions because of IP violations, new issues coming up about the Sugar Industry, the mess in the agricultural industry, the rising household debts, the potential bubble in real estate market, tourism slowdowns, issues of more SMEs going bust or relocating, the dangers of the Japanes companies gradually moving manufacturing bases to Vietnam,competition coming from Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, the Chinese potential economic slowdown, other global economic issues, etc, etc etc

Nope, everything is fine in Thailand, even the political, social and economic arenas, everthing is doing so well and we should be building more parks and cycling lanes.

Incredible. People on her moan that there aren't enough parks, moan they want to build roads along the side of the river, then people on here moan when they decide to build more public parks instead of roads.

Departing swampy around 0900 Tuesday. How much time do I need to plan on getting thru immigration etc at that time of the day. The last time I did it ( a few years ago admittedly) it took ages.

Maybe a better question is what time do I need to leave SILOM area to catch a 0900 Emirates A380 flight where I MUST check-in at the desk, even though it is hand luggage only. ?

Helpful comments would be most welcome.

Thanks in anticipation!

PS I cannot do an online boarding card etc. for lots of reasons which do not concern us at this time.

Unless you are in Business class + the line for counter checkin will be hideous, at least an hour just for that unless you arrive early. I would plan on being at the airport at 06:15.

Have you done it recently? I have a few times and the Thai check-in counters have been empty. Sometimes noone in front of me, sometimes a couple of people. I was really surprised the first time as I usually expect a nightmare at Thai check-in (I usually avoid flying Thai at all costs) but it has been that way every time I've been through recently.

For me busines class is fully lie flat (not the "reclining lie flat type) with all seats aisle access.

Anything less doen not get my biz. I think that excludes BA, LH and some others for the time being.

Flying mostly BKK-BRU I usually find a good deal around 2000 euro/80k baht with EY.

For 2015 bought 2 tickets with QR because wanted to fly A380 and B787 for 2200 euros.

This pricing excludes Thai, asking 135kB.

Thus I don't see 3000usd on mileage tickets as a goood deal.

What do you say to this?

BA do have flat bed seats in C class, and I flew in one nonstop from BKK-LHR last month.

See:

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travel-classes/business/club-world

Current BKK-LHR-BKK R/T fare is about US$3000

Can you please tell me where you are sourcing this $3000 deal from?

I'd imagine he's getting it from their website - not too difficult to track down. Business class return at the moment for around 100,000 baht.

A friend of mine recently applied for a UK General Visit visa for his long time Thai girlfriend. Documents submitted, all boxes ticked, plenty of reasons to return, application seemed solid, wait and see.

They got a rejection letter saying that her travel history was suspicious, especially her time spent in Indonesia. The thing is she has never been to Indonesia, never even left Thailand before, so they had obviously the application mixed up with someone else. My friend complained but there was no recourse, they insisted the rejection stood. So if they reapply in future they will have to tick the box that asks if you have ever had an application rejected before, and why.

It really is sloppy and outrageous in the extreme. I thought that story was bad enough, but being given someone else's visa!!??

Shocking.

Ferries will capsize here for sure. They will not stop just because of rough seas. They are greedy and only care about money and not safety.

You're absolutely right!! We can use the examples of other ferries here to see just how correct you are. On the Surat Thani (Donsak) - Koh Samui route there is at least one sinking per WEEK!!! The Trat to Koh Chang car ferry sinks every time there is a rough sea because THEY DON'T STOP!! This is due to GREED. The annual cancellations due to rough seas are a figment of your imagination if you think they occur - they don't. Thais are greedy.

Hundreds of thousands of people drown every year on these two routes alone, but it doesn't make the press. So you can rest assured that any ferry service between Pattaya and Hua Hin will capsize regularly too.

Thank you Diehard, thank you. You might just have saved a few lives, what a hero!

Maybe someone in the know can help me out.

Is the Skytrain/BTS a monorail system?

if not, why has a monorail system been chosen?

Skytrain is powered by a 3rd rail, and has standard gauge track.... so it cannot be monorail

Monorail can be chosen for lower volume routes and is cheaper (and likely a smaller footprint).

Don't forget to mention the massive pain in the ass when they break down between stations

I have fond memories of the one in Sydney

Streets closed as the fire dept. used cradles to lower all the passengers

The one in Sydney was maintained on a regular basis

What about the one here??

So which genius in the BMA believes that this route will be a low volume route by the time (if ever) it actually gets open?

Why don't you tell me which genius can get a full scale heavy rail system from Ram Intra all the way down Thonglor (with three stops down soi Thonglor itself and regular stops along the route), then up soi 38, along Rama IV etc etc. Please tell me how you would do this and then I'll tell you why it's a monorail, and why a genius thinks it should be so.

And to the sneering racist who says even the one in Sydney broke down when it was regularly maintained (and implying that of course the one in Bangkok will break down more because it will be maintained by Thais), have a read of this:

"On 27 February 2010 at approximately 16:00, two monorail trains collided at the Darling Park station resulting in hospitalisation of four people.

On 24 September 2012 just before 14:00, an Ausgrid failure in a local underground cable led to a complete shutdown of the system resulting in the need for cherry-pickers to come to rescue approximately 100 stranded passengers, a process which took several hours."

Ever remember something like that happening on Thailand's poorly maintained BTS system? There was an accident I remember when the MRT first opened but nothing since then and it is a superbly maintained system. So please explain your racist idea of maintenance inferiority here when it seems the Bangkok systems have far better records than the Australian one which was "maintained on a regular basis".

Is there a chance the track could bend..?

I think it has to when it goes round corners.

From clearing the hearing process to implementing the project.......I doubt I will be alive to see it.

In Thailand there are 2 major culture concepts.

Cha Cha (go slow)

And Mai Ben Rai (Doesn't matter)

Didn't take long for the first TV Naysayer to pop up with their negativity...

I took the ARL today from Makkahsan to Romkamheng.

I see what other posters are talking about. The waiting area at Makkasan was seemingly designed to avoid airflow and there are no fans. It was 37 or so I guess and I was sweating by the time the train came. Wonder what the designers where thinking?

Ramkamheng was worse but there were fans. Which were all turned off. Hard to understand management's thinking there........

I never understood that either. The stations have open ventilation along one side, but are completely closed on the other so there is no through breeze. If they'd have had the same ventilations slots on both sides it would have been ok.

Now my local station is Hua Mark which is thankfully completely open and not so sweaty.

......and the angled beds in business ? Worse than no recline at all !

Hysterical, much? I am a very regular flyer both in economy and business depending on destination, and I usually look for other airlines. Thai is very poor compared to many other carriers and they are often horribly overpriced, and I agree the lounge is dreadful and the food is often poor. So I'm no rose spectacled lover, but come on, angled beds worse than no recline at all? Really???

You know you have the choice of not reclining your angled bed at all? You'll be happier that way - just don't press the button and you'll be fine.

Merc diesel engines are one of the best in the world.

In many ways they are very good, but they are also very noisy compared to their competitors. I test drove the same new engine in the E300 BlueTec Hybrid and didn't like it - found it clattery - hence cancelling my order.

In the case of cars like the C200 AMG (< 2000cc, <220HP, <150gm/KM, E20 compat) Excise taxes will actually be going up next year (from 25% to 30%).

The only potential winners under the new tax are cars with engines < 3000cc, and > 220HP, and which emit low CO2. For these, excise tax will reduce from 50% to 25% to 40% depending on CO2 emissions and what fuel types they support.

Thanks IMHO. Not the answer I was hoping for, but makes sense.

Cheers.

Hi peeps,

I have been on the verge of buying a new car for a few weeks with the new Merc C class my preferred choice (actually I paid a deposit on a C250 in January but then cancelled it when they called me to say they had changed their policy and were not going to offer the C250 anymore but had replaced it with the C300 BlueTec Hybrid - I don't like Merc's diesel engines). Now they say they will release a new C200 AMG at the motorshow so I am tempted again.

But, I am also aware that from the 1st January 2016 Thailand will be restructuring the tax rates on cars to be based on CO2 emissions and scrapping the 220HP and other barriers. So, is it stupid to be buying a new car now? Should I wait? I just don't know what the new tax rates will mean in the real world - will most (efficient) cars become significantly cheaper? Can anyone give a real world example?

Cheers,

JB.

It's basically a queue and you get in a taxi at the end - nothing special. Last time I was in Singapore the queue was massive and it took about 30 minutes. But it's a busy airport and there are a lot of people. Same as Bangkok.

Of course all the Thai Visa members have massive organs, so let's all laugh at the Thais and feel smug (favourite past time for most of you).

My God some of you people are truly pathetic.

Hmm, sounds as if you are not part of the group with the massive organs.

Nope. It just means I don't need to belittle (sorry) other people/nationalities/races to make myself feel superior which is exactly what those posters are doing and it really is quite sad. And my bet is that most of those people have rather meagre offerings in the trouser department otherwise they wouldn't feel the need to make fun of others.

I renewed my passport in person at the Liverpool office.

It was well worth paying the extra. I went for the one week service and it arrived by courier 2 days after I had handed in my documents in Liverpool.

I did the same but went for the same day service. The only 'scam' they pulled was I paid a fiver for photos in their booth. They were rejected as unsatisfactory as there was glare reflected from my specs. Another fiver, no specs & all OK - I think 4 hours all told.

I just read that you have to book your interview up to 3 weeks in advance, did you book well in advance?

I think it all depends how busy they are. I just did mine (it took four hours). I was only going to be in the UK for three days and I called for the appointment a week before I went but they had plenty of available slots for me. This was in the London office. The service was excellent.

I can't help you on the ticketing but you can take the airport link from Suvarnabhumi airport from the basement level to Makkasan. Then the MRT (underground) to Hualamphong. The journey would be about an hour. There's a bit of a walk from Makkasan to the MRT station but it is not too taxing as there is an elevated walkway and escalators at the end - no more than 5 minutes to interchange. They will probably make you open your luggage when you go into the MRT though as part of their "security checks" and this will be a pain.

Personally this is the only way I would consider making the journey unless you have a ton of luggage. If you have wheely cases then this is by far the best option as you are guaranteed to know how long it will take you. But I am sure there will be naysayers along who say this is a ridiculous option and you should take a taxi. But the information is yours to digest and choose what suits you.

On the face of it it does seem rather insane that some would pay so much extra for 12 hrs of 'relative' comfort.

But the same could be said of eating in a nice restaurant, owning a more luxurious car, owning a larger house etc... we don't need these additional luxuries, some may call them 'trappings'..... its a 'trapping' if you can't afford it, its a 'luxury' if you can....

But....... wait until you have tried it... I've sat in economy in the past and thought whatever the cost, I want to lie flat - business just takes the majority of the stress and discomfort out of travel.

I'm healthy, still play sports etc, but I had a DVT in my 30's... I have no wish to sit for 12 hours in a cramped space and risk another.

My question is: If someone has the money, how could they tolerate sitting in Economy Class for so long?... This is just another opinion from a different side of the fence - every single one of us has different tolerances, different opinions and different financial conditions on travel...

I don't mind economy on a short flight, but an overnighter is a different matter - I don't care for the better service, faster check in etc... Its simply the lie flat seat that I'm after..

I do get it, but when I look at the prices I just cannot see why you would pay that much for comfort, I mean 100K+? sure if it was an extra 10-20k I may consider it, but that is an insane amount of money to be able to lay down for me... I do have that money but I would sooner spend it on other things such as my son or my mother etc, it just doesn't make sense for that... I guess its similar to hotels where some will pay 20k for a nights stay in a hotel, when you can get a perfectly nice hotel for 2k..., but I always come back to the 80k extra could be spent on so much more than that x amount of hours you feel slightly cramped, its alot of money really

I mean some of the business class flights I have seen have been 150k+ as-well, that's just mad to me, Ive flown economy for 15000 direct and it was fine, I guess some people just have alot more money to burn, but even if I was a millionaire I don't think I would pay it!

I don't think you can compare it to a car or a larger house as these will return more if you sell them and hold more value, plus they are objects which you own but I do kind of get your comparison.

I fly to the uk and back to Thailand a good 5-10 times a year, if I was to go business class that would be a serious amount of money, a friend of mine was saying how most business class customers are having it paid for by the company they work for which makes sense a little more when you need to be fresh the next day for a meeting

Each to there own I guess, I do not want to mock anyone spending that as its your own choice but I personally cannot get my head around it

Cheers

+100 and even more..........

80k to spend on entertainment extra is a no brainer..........I'm 6' 3" and quite happily sit in Economy not the slightest problem at all.......

Ridiculous waste of money even if money is not important to you

Why does it actually matter to people? It seems some people are openly hostile towards posters who choose business class. If an individual considers the extra cost worth it then it is justified. If they don't then it isn't - it's that simple. But what anybody else chooses to do should not matter to anyone and it should not be called a ridiculous waste of money because to that person it clearly isn't.

I am over 6 foot too and of course I can sit in an economy class seat, but I choose not to unless I'm travelling with the whole family when the cost does become prohibitive. The extra comfort is worth it to me, especially being able to sleep on a properly flat bed. Not having to queue at check in, security or immigration, not having to fight for a taxi at the end of a long flight (Emirates, Qatar, Etihad will pick you up from home and drop you off at the other end), relaxing and being able to work in the lounge pre-flight. Then of course there is the service on board, and the amazing Emirates bar on the A380 makes a massive difference to the journey - the journey actually becomes pleasant rather than something to be endured. In my opinion once you've flown long haul business class on a decent airline it's almost impossible to go back to economy.

So for me it is absolutely worth the extra which I why I choose to pay it. Many people disagree, that's fine, it is their choice entirely and it doesn't upset me.

Have flown Etihad twice and they were fine, no major drama at the change over point which was very short.

But now, get on - eat - watch a couple of movies - sleep - get off LHR is the only way to go, with British Airways or EVA whichever has the better deal......you can keep Thai and their prices!

Thai's prices are hideous... its hardly surprising they are having trouble... Their Business Class seat to the UK is THB 160,000 the same BA seat is about THB 102,000...

However, for many of us LHR is not an ideal UK destination, thus a long onward car or train journey in the UK or a connecting flight is required. Thus: for many the Middle Eastern Airlines remain a highly viable option.

I'd love to see an airline offer direct flights to Birmingham or Manchester.

Thai's prices are hideous... its hardly surprising they are having trouble... Their Business Class seat to the UK is THB 160,000 the same BA seat is about THB 102,000.

i think you are "slightly" off the mark. i am presently in Germany (flew last sunday) wife checked all prices with our regular travel agency and came up with Thai first class for THB 188,000 but on old equipment (747) without "cabins". that does not tally with your info "business 160,000".

Gotta love the TV detectives determined to point of flaws in an argument that nobody would have any reason to lie about in the first place. TG business to the UK IS around 160,000 baht. To put your super sleuth's mind at rest I just picked two random dates in March. The price is 156,185 baht, or - to put it another way - around 160,000 (and that's the cheapest business fare).

But keep up the good work!

Yeah - gate access is pretty cool.