Archdeacon

There is a free minibus service provided by AirAsia (if you have a ticket - I checked this at an agent today) from the Beach Rd end of Central Plaza (opposite the police station). This is clearly marked at the stop Pattaya - UTapao, Mr Somruk 086 112 6019.

The first thing that normally happens here, after very heavy rain, is that, due to either blocked or full pipes, the areas of least pressure are the drain covers which can then be seen atop a column of water. So unless those same covers are sealed tight on Beach Rd one can assume a similar performance there.

Could some expert please explain how any flood water can drain into a pipe that ends under the sea, however long the pipe is? Surely the pressure of the sea water filling the pipe will just block the flow; and what happens when the pipe is full of sand? So far I have seen no sign of the necessary high pressure pumps needed to achieve the desired result.

I was there a few days ago. The beautiful large trees at the start of beach rd, Jomtien, have been destroyed. This is nothiung short of vandalism and the result will be worse that the mess that happened to Beach Rd in Pattaya.

Panic over! After about 3 hours the system recovered (although the computer was not restarted) and the DTAC panel disappeared behind other applications as normal - I can only assume it was due to system overload or something similar..

Does anyone know what this TH05 is though?

This week I had a bunch of SMS messages (mostly in Thai) whilst using the standard PC Aircard and something has changed: there is now TH05 in the bottom LH corner; but the display panel now forces itself always to be the top window which is inconvenient. Just hitting the minimise bar moves it to the (hidden) Windows 7 icon collection in the taskbar.

My question is this: does anyone know of some hidden switch to restore the previous behaviour, ie clicking any other window and forcing it into the background? There should be an option in Settings somewhere.

Does anyone know where they have gone? The website www.Thais4life.com is now unavailable.

Ever since the latest "upgrade" when the English language pages were replaced by Thai ones, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain the balance, Baht and hours, remaining in ones account (without phoning *101* or whatever)..

Just by accident I discovered this link eservice.dtac.co.th/InternetSIM/profile.html?lang=eng which works after login and requires no other input. The result is a clear table, all in English, listing the money remaining in the account and the time.

Many thanks - I'll contact them directly in that case.

About 4 months ago it was possible to logon to the DTAC website, all in English, and check the remaining SIM (internet) balance, both time and credit remaining. Now only the Home page is in English! Does anyone know which boxes to click (I cant read any Thai) in order to arrive at the relevant page?

About 4 months ago it was possible to logon to the DTAC website, all in English, and check the remaining SIM (internet) balance, both time and credit remaining. Now only the Home page is in English! Does anyyone know which boxes to click (I cant read any Thai) in order to arrive at the relevant page?

While the current disastrous Beach Rd widening project is underway why do the authorities not install groynes (as they are called in the UK), ie wooden barricades at intervals along the beach out to sea, in order to prevent further coastal erosion? The proposal to import sand from Rayong is a complete waste of time as it will only end up miles out to sea or along the coast after the first high tide/full moon.

Maybe it is because the Jet-Ski mafia could not possibly allow this as it would finish their business instantly?

And don't make the mistake of thinking that new seats will be installed on the promenade (I have seen none anywhere so far), as in the pictures, as there is no money in this and tourists must pay their B50 and rent a deckchair!

Many thanks for that. Seems unnecessary to go all the way to Buriram and then back to Lahansai; Prachonchai seems the best bet. Thanks again.

Does anyone know which bus to take to get to LahanSai south of Buriram please, and where to change if necessary?

The DTAC model is new wave 153 and I know the data cap is supposed to be 384 kbps but this often fluctuates between zero (when on EDGE now) and 1500 kbps, although it hovers around the 380 mark most, but not all of the time.

The comment about Laos being ready for 4G is extremely relevant as it indicates how far behind we are here, as Thailand is supposed to be ahead in this kind of technology.

Here in Pattaya, about 6 months ago DTAC must have changed something as I was always getting the green light (EDGE) on the Aircard previously which then suddenly changed to the blue indicator (3G). With this, on my B200 for 70 hours package, I understand that the data rate is capped at 500kbps (ie 1/2 Mbps) which was usable, albeit still on the slow side.

However recently the green indicator, ie EDGE is on most of the time now and is almost unusable, taking ages just to view a web page. The so-called 3G very seldom appears so we are back to EDGE again; and Laos are already on 4G?

As I said I am receiving 3G because the blue light is on. I am paying the regular fee for 70hrs per month and there is no data cap as far as I know; but even if there is, surely I should not be stuck at a 1/2 Mbps on day 1?

According to the instruction book, when the blue light is constantly on (which it is quite often now) then it is connected to a 3G network. So why is the speed seldom more that 500 Kbps (ie 1/2 a Mbps) when the advertised speed should be around 30 Mbps, ie 60 times faster. Very often the green light is on, indicating EDGE, when one might just as well go and read a book!

Also, according to the DTAC book, a cyan light will indicate 3G+; but this has yet to appear.

I was at the Pattaya Jomtien Immigration today (19th) to renew my yearly visa and they were open with no obvious notices indicating any future unscheduled closing.

<br />Give them a call..<br /><br />Thomas Cook 12th Fl, Sathorn City Tower, 175 Sathorn Tai (South) Rd. Tel: 0-2679-5521 -3.<br />

Many thanks for the address - I will call in when I am next in Bangkok and hope they will not start waving their arms about, shouting "Try other bank..."!

I have some Thomas Cook (MasterCard) UK Sterling denomination Travellers' Cheques and have been to almost every bank here in Pattaya in an attempt to cash them. On each occasion I was greeted with "Very sorry, cannot change. We take AmEx only. Try other bank".

So do I have to go to the Thomas Cook office in Bangkok to cash them? I will certainly NEVER use this company again as I have wasted a whole day on this. Any ideas please?

I have a link available to an alternative USB date calculator with log file, reminder prompt, etc, if I am allowed to post it here. When I last tried this in another section I was severely reprimanded!

AVAST first and last.

If anybody is interested I have written a USB Firewall application that will monitor ANY connected device, even camera cards inserted via card readers, and warn of arriving hidden virus files, usually Autorun.inf + a bunch of other deadly things. You can download this FREE from ; and there is also a travelling Reminder & Date calculator (ie What is the date 90 days from now, for flights, visas, etc) with an optional printed file.

Good luck.