josephbloggs

16 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I usually compare prices and find booking directly with the hotel is usually my best option. 

Always for me too.

6 minutes ago, WhatMeWorry said:

"My cars" Wow, you must be living a life of luxury up in Issan.

One of them is a Celeriac.

46 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Have you ever seen a black car when the driver forgot to turn their lights on at night and then started driving, as opposed to a white car ?

No. 

On 10/13/2023 at 6:41 PM, SingAPorn said:

Buy a cheap PC if you have a Mac. As they can apparently see if it's a Mac and automatically it increases the price.

Nonsense.

On 10/15/2023 at 11:42 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I think a lot of the pollution back in the pre-Skytrain days in Bangkok had to do with diesel vehicle pollution, whereas these days it's more of a seasonal thing related to agricultural burning.

 

I well remember lots of originally white exterior buildings around BKK having their surfaces turned black by the pollution at the time.

 

I agree, but I also think the banning of 2-stroke motorcycles is the early 2000's (Late 1990's?) had a major impact. Those things used to spew out horrible white smoke.

Bangkok is so much better now than it was then, although the seasonal burning months are pretty bad and I don't seem to remember that being a thing back then.

I haven't been to Bang Saen for years as I found it a packed and filthy turdhole. Definitely would not ever use the words "crystal clear" in the same sentence as Bang Saen unless it has been considerably cleaned up; I'm not going to go there myself to find out. Has anyone been there in the last couple of years?

I just got back from Samet which really did have clean beaches and crystal clear water and wasn't half as packed.

20 hours ago, retarius said:

British people though are filthy, and I didn't even notice it when I lived there. All those horrible old dirty carpets collecting god knows what vile bacteria, dog hair, dog ear wax, anal wipings and Christ know's what? I wouldn't walk on a carpet in a British home now in bare feet. I'd want a pair of stout boots or I'd have cooties on my beautiful feet in no time. Same in America. Yuck.

And everyone walks around in their house with their shoes on - shoes that have trodden through so much filth on the streets. It was completely normal when I lived there but having lived here for so long when I go back to the UK and people are sat on the sofa watching TV with their shoes on - it's just weird. (Same goes for seeing blokes walk around in the streets with no shirts on in the summer but that's for another thread).

8 hours ago, xylophone said:

Excellent idea and I have thought along similar lines to you...........but being Thailand, good ideas and common sense gain little traction here.

Nothing to do with it being Thailand. Which other country spends military budgets on general good? Which country takes money from the military and spends it on farmers? Let me know and then you can have your "being Thailand" comment.

The UK has cancelled the second leg of HS2. Will they spend the money saved on farmers? Building houses for the poor? Feeding kids at school?

I think the sub and HS2 were colossal wastes of money by the way, but saying it is a Thailand thing is ridiculous.

 

39 minutes ago, Sametboy2019 said:

Avatara isnt on Saikaew beach

Splitting hairs. Technically it is Ao Hin Khok but no-one ever refers to it as that. It is for all intents and purposes the tail end of Sai Kaew beach.

17 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Can recommend; 'Avatara Resort'. Stayed there with Mrs 12 months ago. Very spacious rooms. Excellent breakfast choices and bar on the delightful Sai Kaew beach. 

I'll back that up, stayed there a few months ago. Great location.

I always used to like Samet Villa (even going back 25 years) but my main problem is the black cesspit that empties in to the sea next door. Nice resort but I would be walking up to Sai Kaew to swim.

1 hour ago, Pib said:

I didn't say such...maybe you meant to reply to SingAPorn's post?

Sorry, correct, my mistake.

6 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yea...I drive daily in the greater Bangkok area/surrounding provinces.  Up to about 6-8 years ago I frequently come upon traffic police check points where you had to drive thru slowly so the police could look for your annual regristration sticker which is suppose to be on your windshield  and/or glance in the vehicle.  But now the checkpoints are much, much less and focus on commercial trucks & vehicles that standout like a sore thumb in terms of a traffic violation.

 

And here in the Bangkok area it use to be very common to be ambushed by a traffic cop after making a turn at an intersection who then wanted to give a ticket for supposedly not making the turn properly, being in a wrong lane, etc.  But once again the great majority of that disappeared a half dozen or so years ago.

 

I attribute this change to police leadership now relying on traffic cameras to send you tickets in the mail and the Thai public complaining about bad traffic being made worst by way too many checkpoints.  And maybe just a dash--just a small amount--of wanting to reduce some traffic police corruption that was getting out of control in many locations.

 

Heck, here in the Bangkok area it's got much harder than years back to see any traffic cops on the roads...you still see them but much fewer and much less frequently.

And how were they "targetting farangs" exactly? Just typical AN paranoid nonsense.

14 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

If you think that’s expensive the Robin Hood advertising £90 a head for Christmas Day not including drinks, under 12s half price, need to eat a lot to get £90s worth of food down your neck. It’s not as if they have additional staff costs like they do in the U.K.

Why are they advertising their prices in pounds sterling?

Just now, josephbloggs said:

Ok, HCMC is littered with exchange places but always good to get some in the airport for your taxi and immediate needs - just after immigration before you go down for baggage claim, but also plenty downstairs before you leave the airport.

Have a good trip.

If you haven't been there before there are a few scammy taxis at the airport who will rip you off. When you come out turn left and walk to the end for the Vinasun taxi queue. Proper meters and decent cabs, don't take any others, just look for Vinasun - they have staff with shirts and ties. "No thank you, Vinasun" if anyone tries to intercept you.

2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

Thanks, we fly out there tomorrow 

Ok, HCMC is littered with exchange places but always good to get some in the airport for your taxi and immediate needs - just after immigration before you go down for baggage claim, but also plenty downstairs before you leave the airport.

Have a good trip.

On 10/7/2023 at 11:10 AM, 2long said:

This is a convenient excuse to give up on a show which was loved by millions only when the three PROPER guys were on. Then getting Chris Evans was awful. I liked Matt Le Blanc and I still like Rory's Auto Trader YouTubes. Chris Harris is ok, and a great driver... but these two not-funny northerners ruin it! I can't sit through 20 seconds of either of them, and NEITHER has prior experience in motor journalism, so why on earth were they employed!?

The first few series of the "new" TG format with Clarkson Hammond and May were funny. Then they just became cliches of themselves and it became really dull.  Oh look, they blew a caravan up, oh no something caught fire, they hilariously tamper with each other's cars while they sleep, they crash into each other ("Hammond you blithering idiot!"), let's modify our cars in to something ridiculous - oh no it fell apart/sank/caught fire. Yawn. By the time the BBC ended it it is was tired and very boring unless you were an 11 year old child.

Then they did The Grand Tour which was more of the same. The last two seasons of GT were just awful, mostly redoing things they had done before (blowing up caravans, tampering with each others cars hilariously, overly scripted rubbish, crashing into each other, "Hammond you blithering idiot").

Top Gear also went through some bad times with Evans, LeBlanc etc because they were trying to copy the same matey format doing stupid challenges, stupid gimmicks and lame scripted gags and it was too forced.

However the last two series found their feet as they stopped trying to copy and instead found their own format, concentrating more on cars which is infinitely more entertaining than stupid forced and scripted road trips. I found the last two series far more enjoyable than the GT. Flintoff was likeable, Matt Harris was the proper car guy, and the other one was OK too. It'll be a shame if it ends, but they should just focus on cars, not stunts.

On 10/7/2023 at 11:48 AM, BritManToo said:

They went woke, and now they've gone broke!

How did they go "woke"?

Ridiculously overused phrase.

On 9/29/2023 at 10:38 AM, JBChiangRai said:

Is it better to change money to VND in SVB or Vietnam?

 

Or is Thai baht or US$ worth taking?

I always do it in Vietnam. Easy to change USD or THB at the airport and loads of places throughout HCMC. Or just take money out of ATMs there.

I must admit I have never checked which rate is better, I don't think it's worth bothering about - I just go for the most convenient rather than worrying if I am losing 100 baht here or there.

2 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

The photo of the gold-helmeted policeman crouching over the alleged shooter does not appear to be one of the three commissioned officers awarded 'hero' certificates. ????

And how on Earth do you determine that? You can't even see his face.