theseahorse

I noticed today that they had an Australian brand of Lactose free milk in Carrefour on Rama 4, sorry I can't remember the brand name.

It's in the 'farang food' isle with the organic items. I think it was about 80 baht a litre.

Gourmet Market do a good range of Soy, Oat and Rice milks that are all Lactose free but I'm not sure if they do an actual Lactose free milk, but it would be worth a look.

To those who are confused - Lactose free milk is real milk with lactase (an enzyme) added to it to convert the lactose in the milk to glucose, it tastes very similar to normal milk (just slightly sweeter) whereas Soy milk etc tastes very different.

Hi AyG...

just use the alternative port 587 and the problem is gone... and yes, most of the ISP's in Thailand are blocking port 25!

How to change TOT SMTP outgoing port from 25 to 587? Thanks - JD

To change the port, go onto Outlook and click on 'Tools', then 'Account Settings' you should now have a list of your email accounts. Double click on the account you want to sort out and then click 'More Settings', click on the 'Advanced' tab, delete where it says 25 and type in 587. Press 'OK' and click on 'Test Account Settings' to see if it now works.

I still had issues until I deleted and re entered my server information and password. So maybe try that if it still seems to be blocked.

I finally have Outlook working again, Thanks Fezzi

I picked up a WD HD Live a couple of weeks ago in Singapore and I'm very happy with it (best 4,500 baht I've spent in along time!)

There's a discussion about them here on TV (do a search), some people are saying you can get them in certain places in Thailand now.

If you're already happy with your old WD HD, then I think you'd like the new one!

I've always had this issue since moving house and started with TOT. I keep asking them about it, but they're not overly helpful and no one really seems to know what I'm talking about.

I just tried changing the Outgoing SMTP to port 587 and although the test message goes through fine I get the 0x0042109 message come up and my emails still fail to send.

Anyone got any ideas? This is driving me crazy at the moment!

Colombian. Never heard of Columbian.

Ever heard of pedantic?

There's a good little Columbian/ Latino restaurant just off Sathon Soi 1, called La Cuchara. Its just past the Ibis hotel, down a back street. Good rustic Columbian food. I think they may have had a Chevice on the menu, but if not it's still well worth a visit. Just don't go in a large group, the place is tiny, its a bit like eating in someones front room and like most non thai food places here in BKK they have difficulty when it comes to tables over 4!

I've had a good Escabeche here somewhere (Escabeche/ Chevice. same, same!), just can't remember where. May have been Tapas Cafe?

Although I never been in, I'm sure there's a Je Ngor down sukhumvit 18 or 20 aswell?

Thought I'd have look for you. They don't have the two books you're after only these two -

- Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day : Fast and Easy Recipes for World-class Breads

- Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads : New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor

I'm sure you can order the ones you're after though. I've ordered a few books through Kinokuniya and its normally quite fast and saves paying amazons huge postage charges.

Take a look at the Kinokuniya Thailand website, it will tell you whats in stock in all three Bangkok stores.

I've definatly seen a couple of Peter Reinhart's books in the Siam Paragon store, not sure if they're the ones you're after though, I think you can order books through the website aswell?

Thank you for the helpful reply. All that does seem right to me. When you search for 2500 sq. ft+ houses on-line, though, it seems like the prices I'm coming up with for a community (or building) with gym, pool, playgrounds, etc. in Bang Na or Bangpaki (places near airport) or the expat-ish areas closer in are 120,000-240,000. Are prices higher on-line b/c you have people like me surfing?

Thanks again.

Sorry, can't help with comparing Bangkok to Singapore.

But, I'm not sure where you got these prices but they are very high for area you mentioned! In the city centre then they sound about right, but not in Bangna/ Bangkapi!

There are plenty of places in the Bangna/ Bangkapi area that would suit your needs but at a fraction of the prices you've seen. Bangna and Bangkapi are becoming more and more 'farang' friendly, partly due to the BTS opening up (eventually) and also as there's one of Bangkoks best international schools in Bangna. There is also a large mall (Central Bangna) that has a Fitness First and various baby groups such as Little gym and Gymboree for your kids, aswell as lots of farang friendly shops and restaurants.

Realistic prices in the area are-

40,000 Will get you a standard four bedroom house in an Moobaan (Village/ Housing estate) with security, with a small garden for your kids to play in.

50 -60,000 Will get you a large (US size) 4/5 bedroom house in a good enclosed Moobaan with a communial pool and kids play area.

75 - 100,000 Will get you a huge house with private pool and a large (by any cities standards) garden.

For my job I've been into alot of the different housing estates in the area and there are some amazing places, but I don't think I've ever seen anything that would go for 240,000 in this area!

If you want some names of estates PM.

There's a few secondhand record shops in China Town that would be worthy you taking a look at. They're on Charoen Krung, near the Thieves market.

I was an avid collector back in the UK but left all my vinyl behind as I was conserned about the heat here (and the shipping cost). I don't even have a turntable here (

Any collectors here in Thailand had any issues with the Thai climate? I'd love to one day get them sent over.

True it is very different when booking a hotel in Bangkok (or Chaing Mai and Hua Hin), but the OP was about using smaller companies to book places in Koh Samet. I've had some amazing deals using companies like latestays when staying in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai. But it's always through companies that have a proper online booking facility. Although I've never used Agoda, they seem to have instant confirmation aswell and I'm sure they are very good when it comes to cities or larger resort islands.

The problem is , when it comes to smaller islands like Samet the larger booking companies have such a small selection. There's alway the posh resorts on Ao Prao and then a couple of mid priced resorts that are still 2500 baht a night. Then when you arrive you realise you could have got somewhere much nicer for 1500 baht. Maybe its the resorts way of cheaping it cheaper for regular visitors to the island, but making some money off the tourists?

I agree that with some places you don't always get an answer from emails, thats why I suggest phoning (there will always be someone who speaks English if your Thai isn't up to it). But, unsecure credit card details is never an issue as they always ask you to transter a deposit into their bank account, which takes about 30 seconds at an ATM ,not so easy if you're not in Thailand though.

The other advantage is you don't pay the full amount upfront, so if there is a problem with your room or you realise next door is nicer and cheaper you can do something about it. Some friends recently booked a place on Vong Duan beach only to be greeted by a tout when they got off the boat saying that rooms were 1000 baht for the same place they'd prebooked at nearly 2000 a night, but of course there was nothing they could do as they'd paid upfront.

Try not to use these companies if you can avoid it, they are just middlemen and charge alot for it. If you can get a phone number call directly, most places on Samet you'll be able to find their number by a quick internet search. All these companies do is ring around for you and add there fee (once I discovered it was 80% extra). I've had numerous problems and have mentioned it on TV before -

Careful of alot of the smaller Thai sites, such as hotel thailand dot com You have to give all your creditcard details and then they try and get you your room, then you get an email saying 'sorry your 1000 baht room isn't available how about a 5,000 baht room in a completely different area'. Complete con! If you can find the number, just ring up yourself, suddenly theses places aren't full and they're half the websites price!

Also beware of 247 Siam, after booking through them I noticed they'd added an extra 500 baht to my bill without my consent, I'd already paid booking fee so it wasn't that. After having 3 emails ignored I tried phoning but as soon as I mentioned what had happened they suddenly forgot how to speak English and claimed they couldn't understand my Thai.

I now only use companies that do real online booking or just call the place myself!

If they don't do instant confirmation and just say they'll get back to you within 24 hours don't use them!

Little Siam/ Ancient City/ Muang Boran (or what ever it is called) is a great day out, especially if you've got kids with you. You can hire bikes to get around or even get a golf buggy if you prefer, don't even think about trying to walk round its massive. There's not huge amount of shade, so it can get a little hot at times, but just head to the (little) floating market over lunchtime, the kids will love feeding the huge catfish there! There's also various animals up in (little) Issan for kids to play with.

Impact is way up in north Bangkok near Don Muang. If you really want to get public transport you can get the BTS to Mo Chit. From there you need to get into one of the Impact mini buses, this takes about half hour and takes you to the huge Impact complex. But annoyingly to the opposite side of the Impact complex to the arena. From there it's about a 15 minute walk back to the Arena, but of course there are plenty of motorbike taxi's. I done this once and it took alot longer than I thought to get there, pleased I wasn't bothered about seeing the support. Next time I'd pay a few extra baht to get a taxi straight there. As it's alot of hassle.

I think all Central stores have a Thai ticket major in them?

I've bought numerous books in the past through Amazon and never had a problem, although the postage can be a bit pricey at times to Thailand.

Now I just order them through Kinokuniya, normally the same price as Amazon but without the postage, just need to pop into my nearset store to pick them up. They have most of what Amazon offer aswell.

I've never been a fan of Asia Books either, a nightmare to order anything through them. I just gave up when I last tried. Whereas Kinokuniya, it couldn't be easier.

Do try Dasa/ Shaman/ Aphoria first though!

To the people who have said they've been here twenty years and they know its much worse here than back west.

Don't forget this means you've been out of Europe/ US for twenty years. ALOT has changed in your absence!!!

London press also don't report the violent crime unless it's a particually gruesome murder or it's yet another high school kid been stabbed over a classroom fallout.

When you get 'happy slapped' by a bunch of 14 year olds on your way to work one morning or get stabbed for telling a kid to stop throwing chips at your girlfriend, you may change your mind.

I'm not saying it's all sweetness and roses here, but there is alot less incidents involving pointless violence here than in a city like London. If you don't agree have stroll around New Cross at midnight next time your in London and compare it to any of the soi's mentioned on this report.

I live in La Salle (Lasarn, Suk 105), have done for two years, the Bangkok Pattana International school is in the same Soi, I am sure all the embassy personnel will be pleased to hear that their children go to supposedly the best school in Bangkok in the third riskiest Soi in Bangkok!! Seriously, I walk alone, at night in this area, often and have never felt threatened or at risk. I love the Soi, to me it encapsulates the rich variety that is Bangkok. About the only thing it doesn't have is the girly bars.

I couldn't agree more!

Having lived on La Salle for 2 1/2 years myself, I've never felt at risk and I also walk around a night to the local markets and noodlebars, not once have I felt threatened. I was living in SE London before here and there would be more problems in a week, than I've known of in 2 1/2 years on La Salle.

I'm sure there's alot going on that an average farang doesn't see or hear about, but I'd be happier wandering around most of Bangkok late at night than I would most of SE London.

There is also Thomson Residence on Bangna Trat 4 ( www . thomsonresidence . com).

I think it's a bit more expensive than what you're wanting, but if there's nothing major going on at BITEC then you could probably get a good deal.

I'm sure the official price is 1500 baht.

You can get it for less if you bargain hard in town, but I can't see them excepting less than this at the airport!

Normally the larger new years eve 'parties' are on the islands, but if you do want to be in Bangkok your best bet would be to look into the club scene. Most of the larger clubs normally get in international DJs to headline the night, as well as having the best of the local talent. Although you'll probably need to wait a few weeks until they start to release who's on where, most places seem to release who's on month by month, even for new years eve.

In what area are you looking for daycare?

There is a 'Farang friendly' English speaking nursery called Fullakids (.com) that was recommended to me when I was looking last year, they have 3 different branches across Bangkok and take kids from 12 months. You can go long for the day and see what they do.

I moved out of central Bangkok so never followed it up. If you're not wanting a strictly English speaking nursery, there are plenty of Thai nurserys around that will except very young babies, as working Thai mums get very little maternity leave. I send my daughter to a Thai nursery and she loves it, the staff speak enough English to tell me how shes doing, but apart from that it's all Thai. Hopefully she'll grow up Bi-lingual, which is an amazing start for any kid.

As someone else mentioned, there are various Baby Gyms and Gymboree's around town that are very good (but, also quite pricey!) But with these they are only for an hour and you need to be there with your kid, so not an alternative to a nursery/ daycare.

I had to do the same thing a few months back.

As everyone is saying, open returns are very expensive the best way is to book a return ticket that you can change the date of your return flight. You will have to say a date that you will be returning and then change it when you know when you can return. Giving a return date is stndard procedure and although one poster advised against this, it is the only way not to pay the price of an open return.

You normally have a time limit until you can't change your ticket again, I think I had the choice of 3, 6 or 12 months, the longer it is the more it costs. I flew back with Etihad and it cost 600 baht each time I changed the date, I done it twice and had no problem, just a two minute phone call each time. Although not a direct flight, I only had 20 minutes in Abu Dhabi and it was nice to get up and streach my legs.

Hope this helps.

There is one on Sukhumvit 22 that I've used in the past.

I can't remember the name, but its on Soi Sai Nahm Thip 2 (Suk 22, soi 2). If coming from Suk 22 turn into Sai Nahm Thip 2 then take the first right (same sub soi as House on the Pond Residence), it's at the end of the soi. It's a bit strange looks more like a trendy club, but it is a clinic.

Think it was around 100 baht.