Stocky

I take Anaprel and at my local public hospital pay 1/2 a baht a pill, this is cheaper than in the local pharmacies or the same price. I think you will find that if you buy your medicine from public hospitals you will pay a fair price.

You've a greater chance of being given a dodgy generic manufactured in Timbuktu at a public hospital. My wife is asthmatic and tried getting her inhaler from the local public hospital under the 30Bht scheme. But she found that the inhaler didn't give her the same relief as one bought from the local pharmacy, they were both generic versions but one was manufactured in Germany the other India.

So beware.

those blue bins are emptied nightly, we need double the number of bins for the residents alone

At least you've got a blue bin, all the ones on our soi in Hat Yai Nai have been pinched years ago, so people just pile stuff up around the nearest lamp post, thankfully we do get daily collections - could you imagine if it were only once a week!

I'm taking losartan potassium 50mg for hypertension and buy through the local pharmacy at about half the price the hospital charge. I would suggest your savings would be similar.

Be careful though with checking expiry dates and place of manufacture; you don't want to buy three months stock that expire this month, and you don't want the version manufactured in Mumbai.

The cheapy charlie is worried he'll need to wait another hour to save Bht600.

Thai Smile would be my vote.

You don't need to change airports, and the promo fare is around Bht1,500 each way including 20kg of luggage.

Indeed, that's my thinking too, the precautionary principle.

If there was a sound economic reason the money would have been found for it years ago! The Panama and Suez canals shave off thousands of miles, and are therefore worthwhile economically. Can the same be said of this canal?

Possibly there is an economic argument.,

Large volumes of traffic pass throught the straights between Malasia and Indonesia...some of the worst piracy areas in the world. Even 20% of this traffic would be a lot. Probably 200 miles off on a trip to Japan or China too.

It cuts about 1,200 miles of the trip and saves travelling through narrow, crowded and sometimes dangerous shipping lanes.

The MP's and other VIP's who bought land near the

proposed canal site,many years ago have been hoping

the canal will one day be built,so they can make a lot of

money.which is why it keeps getting brought up.

regards Worgeordie

I think they got a nice compensation from Singapore.

Got it in one. Singapore will never let this canal to be built.

A Singaporean once told me over a few beers in Hat Yai, that Singapore gave funds to the separatists in Southern Thailand in order to destabilise the region to deter investors and banks from funding the Kra Isthmus Canal. That would have been in 2006 a few years after the insurgency had kicked off again.

He was no doubt raving, but it does make you think!

My wife and I plan to visit friends in Malaysia and take our five year old granddaughter with us. We have a letter from the parents sworn at the Ampur for us to take the child with us, so leaving Thailand isn't an issue. However does anyone know if we need a translation of the letter for Malaysian immigration?

Yes, a couple of days ago. No problem, just asked to see my return ticket to show I was going to be here less than 15 days. They've done away with landing cards too, so it was all rather quick and painless. I flew in with Air Asia and was worried they'd still be looking for my visa before checking me in, but there were no problems at check-in.

As for repeat visits of less than 15 days, I believe you need to be out of Vietnam for at least 30 days before returning on visa waiver.

Came through HCMC today on a UK passport, all they asked was to see my return ticket confirming I'd be there less than 15 days. No problems with Air Asia check-in in Hat Yai for the Fly-Thru nor at Don Mueang switching through Domestic to International.

I've still to go, I'm a terrible procrastinator.

However as it happens I've a good stint of home leave coming up, so will get my eyes tested again and some new glasses sometime this month and will let you know how we get on at the HadYai Eye Center.

No idea what happened to Doc P-P

The Bear Pit became a standalone website but has since disappeared up its own backside.

Readers need to be aware that whilst this is good news saving $25 (US) on arrival (I think that was the price) there are still hefty exit fees (Passenger service charge) often higher than the cost of the entry visa (charges vary according to point of departure).

Visa on arrival cost is now USD35, the departure tax for international flights is IDR150,000 or about USD12. Note that this is often included in the ticket price these days, certainly Garuda have incorporated departure taxes for both international and domestic flights into the ticket price.

The Indonesian departure tax is totally insignificant compared to the mugging I recently had on a trip to the UK, that was £170 each way on a business class fare.

Indonesian departure tax varies according to the airport. Medan is 200,000 Rupiah.

OK so to be precise taxes vary as follows:

Airport Embarkation Tax

Airport Tax is levied on passengers as follows:

a. International flights departing from:

- DPS, BPN, SUB: IDR 200,000.-;

- CGK, LOP, UPG: IDR 150,000.-;

- BTJ: IDR 115,000.-;

- HLP: IDR 80.000.-;

- AMQ, BIK, BTH, JOG, KNO, MDC, SOC, TIM: IDR 75,000.-;

- BDO, PDG, PKU, PLM, PNK: IDR 60,000.-;

- KOE, TNJ: IDR 50,000.-;

b. Domestic flights departing from:

- DPS, BPN, SUB: IDR 75,000.-;

- UPG: IDR 50,000.-;

- LOP: IDR 45,000.-;

- CGK: IDR 40,000.-;

- all other airports vary from IDR 13,000.- to IDR to 30,000.-.

But they're not going to break the bank are they!

Readers need to be aware that whilst this is good news saving $25 (US) on arrival (I think that was the price) there are still hefty exit fees (Passenger service charge) often higher than the cost of the entry visa (charges vary according to point of departure).

Visa on arrival cost is now USD35, the departure tax for international flights is IDR150,000 or about USD12. Note that this is often included in the ticket price these days, certainly Garuda have incorporated departure taxes for both international and domestic flights into the ticket price.

The Indonesian departure tax is totally insignificant compared to the mugging I recently had on a trip to the UK, that was £170 each way on a business class fare.

And what is the relevance of stating that he had Bt 325 in his wallet ?

Well, as we are expected to solve the mystery here on TV, it helps us by suggesting that he wasn't robbed! Come on steve, I know you Aussies are a bit slow but this is pretty elementary!

Not really. What's to say they didn't just take all the $100 bills and leave the few Baht for the ferryman?

That's what I said.

The Songkhla Tinsulanonda Stadium is located at:

7.2072° N, 100.5986° E

Someone's got to pay for the Pimm's

and demand will shrink further, now that Indonesia will prohibit the consumption of alcohol in the entire country, except Bali, and treat it like drug abuse, no matter if you are a Muslim or not.

That's not going to happen. The strict Islamic parties (a minority) in parliament regularly propose the law, but parliament never finds time to debate it. The only recent change has been the banning of alcohol sales from mini markets and roadside stalls. Indonesia is trying to grow its tourism industry not shrink it.

But Thai-Lion have cut back on many of their routes, the Hat Yai flights to Surat Thani, Kuala Lumpur and Medan were started but discontinued.

I just noticed that's my 1000th post.

you are wrong.

it already HAS happened. I still have the copy of the JAKARTA POST here at my home, as I really could not believe such thing would going to happen. The headline on page one reads "Jail awaits all drinkers"

then just two days later it was reported that ALL parties have backed this proposal, not only the islamist extremist parties.

the only recent positive news was that the sales of alcoholic drinks in Minimarts and by street- or beach-vendors are now legal again at least in BALI, after ferocious protests that ended almost in fist-fighting, when the Indonesian minister for economics visited Bali in late April and had agreed to attend a public hearing with local people, during that he but as well the local people got very angry and shouted at each other in a rather unfriendly way.

But for the entire rest of the country, there will be a complete ban of any alcohol soon. politicians said that the only areas which could be exempt would be Bali and maybe Sulawesi Utara (95% non-Muslim), plus registered 5-star-hotels at other parts of the country

No I'm not, it would be the only subject of conversation in the bar at the Eastern Promise if it was, and it isn't.

It won't happen.

All sounds terribly so-so to me, I'd strongly recommend your son do a runner.

Bumping this thread.

Does anyone know how the newly re-opened Terminal 2 will be used? Will they split airlines between the two terminals, or say have international in one and domestic in the other?

Curious to know how it will be set up

Thanks

The article said:

Terminal 2 will be a modern-day passenger terminal with amenities that today's passengers have come to expect.

It will be used for domestic passengers, while Terminal 1 will serve international travellers.

Terminal 1 will subsequently get a multi-billion-baht improvement.

I'm a geologist and I certainly wouldn't say something like "seismic activity of this fault will not cause earthquakes measuring beyond 5 magnitude on the Richter scale", it's no doubt highly unlikely given its tectonic setting, but there must always remain an outside possibility that it could exceed magnitude 5. Director-General Supot Jermsawatdipong is unlikely to be proven wrong, but he's certainly made himself a hostage to fortune.

This is a little premature considering 99% of British business hasn't planned on leaving yet

It's not up to British business. If the referendum goes ahead, it will be the people that decide.......

...talk about the blind leading the blind.