trainman34014

Hmmm; one suspects that other budget airlines are being re-located to DM to make room for Thai Smile operations.

I thought Fuel hedging was used by all International Airlines. Have Thai only just found out about it?

Security should be equipped with Stun Guns; that would be fun !

Good article and valuable info' if you are living Stateside but maybe not so valuable to those of us living in Thailand. I've grown frustrated with Thai travel agents who in most cases don't seem to be able to beat online prices and want extra dosh for booking with Cards etc. I find Matrix very good though and would recommend anyone to try them.

Coincidently, i was sitting in a restaurant today when the recycle man came, dumped his scales on the footpath and then the staff brought out the weeks collection:

48 empty bottles of chang-boxed

12 empty leo boxed

2 bin liners full of plastic bottles, water, milk, juice etc

an arbitrary pile of cardboard.....

at this point all the tourists were now having to weave on the road around motorbikes!!

The restaurant was paid 61baht..i thought what a big pile of effort for that..

then the girl from the shop next door brought a bag of aluminium cans, cokes etc and she got 23bt.

i asked on the rates, and plastic was paid at 3bt a kilo, the empty bottles were 8bt for 12boxed but the ally cans, big money 20bt a kilo.

so the worthwhile collectable are the ally cans.

as for my collection i am still a long way off being able to take the lady out for a slap up at the food cart

They were way underpaid. Each Beer box will get you 10 Baht...and that's empty, These people who pick up stuff from the door don't pay as much as the ones you can deliver it to because they have the cost of running whatever machine they use etc. Plastic needs to be sorted to get the best price, clear getting the higher price.

I had mine done when it was new three years ago and we paid 20,000 Baht. That was a 3 bedroom Bungalow with 11 windows, a large front door area and a routine back door. There are many designs to choose from and they are all different prices so some of the cost depends on your choices. I shopped around for a couple of weeks before I chose and I was quoted between 18,000 and 38,000 Baht, so there is plenty of choice.

Why do you think he was fake? Little paranoid are we?

"A guy dressed in a black uniform with gold epaulettes" sound more like a hotel Doorman or limousine tout, than an official in "Thai Official Brown", hence we call them lovingly BiB.

If he was wearing a "Uniform" why did he not have a name tag like everyone in the airport, from Immigration, Customs, Shop assistants right down the ranks to Toilet Cleaners.

If you ask for ID they open their jacket and show you their name tag on their shirt. They are plain clothed Excise Officers and I've never met one wearing Epaulettes.

The most sensible idea would be to demolish DM and build a new Airport on the same site up to international standards (better than Swampy) and use it for International and Domestic. In my opinion all Airports should be able to cope with all routes and Bangkok needs two Airports doing this if one cannot cope. Of course; this should have all been thought of in the planning of Swampy, which should be twice the size it is now !

I've always loathed Heathrow and prefer Gatwick but hey; seems you missed the fact that there is an underground train runs between Terminal's 3&4. You probably missed the signs because it isn't signed particularly well but I've never heard of anyone having to leg it before. Better luck next time if you have to use this Godforsaken Cattle Station they call an Airport.

What I read in the paper today stated that the Chiang Mai - Singapore route would be replaced with a Chiang Mai - Macau route.

That will be two for Macau starting this year. The new 'Thai Smile' budget airline starts this route on June 1st.

I've found out of date foods in BigC and Tesco over a period of several months and I always draw their attention to it and they remove it right away. Always seems strange that they reduce certain items on a daily basis but seem to ignore large area's of dated produce. In house education problems me thinks.

Wifey insists we do it and I now know how they want it sorted before we go. We usually get around 300 baht every three months. Loads of places to sell it all over the whole area.

Welcome to the World of plastic ! Great idea and will hopefully mean bigger orders for those who want to freeze.

A trip of interest. Went to Maesai on Friday and it was quite a clear day, even up there. However, woke up Saturday morning and there had obviously been fires during the night over the border as a heavy and dirty air scene greeted us. On the way back Saturday afternoon by the usual main road route I noted three area's where brush fires had been lit to clear undergrowth, and they were all producing a lot of smoke, particularly one large area on a Mountainside. Also noted the usual small fires in backyards that people start to light early evening. Unless the Authorities start dealing out really tough penalties to these people I can't believe it will ever change. Seems to me that Farmers who live way out in the sticks are most probably completely unaware of any problems caused by burning. The only thing that concerns them is doing what they have always done,and, in their minds, doing what needs to be done.

Found this bloke hiding in the louvered door under our kitchen sink. I opened the door and he jumped out onto the floor and slithered off under the back door.

OOps; can't upload photo' for some reason !

I think it's reasonable to be dubious of anyone who stops you once you are in the public area.. They have plenty of opportunities to check your stuff while you are airside and haven't had a chance to mingle with the public. Once you are outside, anything in your possession could have been given to you by someone outside and they would have a difficult job proving it wasn't in court.

"Proving it in court" doesn't come into it. This isn't the good ole USA.

I don't see the relevance of the USA, but at some point the customs man would have to know he was on shakey ground. It doesn't make sense for a legitimate customs officer to operate like that unless it was as part of a scam.

You're not concentrating. The men in the little black box in the public area are 'Excise' men, not 'Customs' men. They operate as two separate departments in Thailand and they don't get on with each other well. By the way; this is Thailand and rules used in other countries don't apply. Anyway; in Britain for instance, Customs and Excise have more search powers than the Police do and can pursue you into any public area in the land, including your home. Would imagine they would have similar powers in the US as well.

So much for 'The Party Of The Poor People' !

Does anybody know the name of the resort? I am getting married in Prachuap Khiri Khan in May, and frankly, will want to avoid this hotel.

Why, would you anticipate that the perpetrators will strike again at the same resort. You might be safer there than another resort. Also, would you refuse to drive on a highway that had bus crashes? Nothing suggests that the selection of venue has anything to do with the crime.

You are right of course, but even so, I for one would not be giving any money to a Resort owner that has the kind of staff that would do this kind of thing on a whim. Ok; I know it could happen anywhere but lightning can, and does, strike in the same place twice !

Approaching 35 (continuous) years here in Thailand and I have yet to hear 'I'm sorry' ('sia jai') come out of one of their mouths...not once...no joke...live with it...

I've had a girl bump into me in the market and said 'Solly' a few weeks ago. Well; it's a start isn't it?

When I was a child, you could buy plastic model submarines that were propelled by baking soda or some such goop, when immersed in water. Endless fun in the kiddy bathtub... about Matchbox Toy size. Cheaper and just as useful, maybe more so. A suggested alternative.

I remember those toy ones. We didn't buy them, they came free with packets of cereals, as did Kitmaster Kits later from Nabisco. Reckon this sort of stuff would keep the Thai Navy busy with something they couldn't do any damage with and would provide hours of harmless fun.

The thought of Thai sailors running around under water in deep sea Submarines doesn't bear thinking about. Wouldn't be long before there was a catastrophic accident or a major diplomatic incident. Best for them to order a few more rowing boats for the next floods.

Lets face it; this country is run by a whole bunch of Disney characters !

They will let you get away with 10 * 50g pouches.

Be polite if they ask to look in your bags and admit as soon as they do ask how many you have. Mainly they are looking for drugs and weapons.

You are spot on, admit it as soon as they pull you over-and tell them it is for your own consumption or gifts, they get very upset if you don't admit it and make them work.

just to clarify going into the uk? and this will be ok via india (connecting flight)?

No problem unless you and your luggage are clearing customs in India. Presuming you are in transit, your luggage is checked through to the UK.

Excise department and Customs department are two different departments that have their own stations and their own officers. One or both of them use plain clothed spotters to identify possible suspects for the uniformed guys to pick up in the arrivals hall. The guy which stopped you could have been one of those. While there could potentially be "fake: officers it is hard to tell as you didn't ask him for his ID. You would think official procedure should be for them to identify themselves first, but this being Thailand we can't expect that is going to happen even if it was procedure.

this is highly possible about the excise department. I forgot to mention on my earlier thread reply; the guy peered into your duty free bag -

you had 2 bottles & your partner closed in to check whats going on. He may have acknowledged the fact you were traveling in a pair

with 2 bottles - just random checking. They will fine you for any thing they find excessive or non duty paid over limits once exited from

the airport door exit.

And that's what it's all about....waiting for you to exit before checking you out. The majority of people think that once they have 'exited' the customs area they are out of trouble if they are carrying anything over the limits. Not so; if you look to your right as you exit customs at Swampy you will see a small,black, blanked off area tucked away almost unnoticed and this is where the plain clothed Excise Officers work from nabbing people at random. I've been 'Invited' into their little world twice in the last three years and had everything checked out that I was carrying. I wasn't overloaded either time and they were very polite but beware because they are always on the prowl.

I'm still trying to get my head around why the Goons in charge of this rabble would allow 387 Non-Commissioned Officers to all take leave on THE SAME DAY to take an exam? Are the people who are at the top of this mess recruited through Walt Disney or what?

Meanwhile back at HQ, the brains behind this 'crackdown' are already planning the next one because there is nothing else to do, apart from perhaps thinking up how Thailand can become yet another 'Hub' for something. I think it's time for a 'Crackdown on Hubs' !