duan

There is a very large temple complex on top of a hill at Tha Muang, excellent photo op! If you are renting a van you may want to consider getting dropped off at Saiyok and getting the train back to Kan, fantastic scenery along the river.

Many thanks for the replies so far. From the research I have done Erawan looks a must but am concerned about the Thai girls ability to walk up to the various waterfalls. To which of the 7 levels would the average thai girl reach and what footwear would you recommend for both the girls and the farangs?

With regard to the post immediately above is Tha Muang on the way to Saiyok and if not how long would it take to drive to each of these places and approx how long is the train ride from Saiyok, which sounds fantastic, and what is the frequency of the trains back to Kan?

I live in Hua Hin and am making my 1st trip to Kan next week staying at the Phong Phen on the advice of this forum. We are a party of 6 people comprising 3 farangs with 3 Thai partners and would be most grateful for recommendations for the best way to spend 2 full afternoons sightseeing. We are happy to hire a minivan for any longer trips you may recommend.

We would also be very grateful for your views of the best restaurants and bars within walking distance of the Phong Phen.

Many thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Does anyone know if the Basle game tomorrow night is on Channel 3? The channel 7 online schedule confirms they are showing City but the Channel 3 online schedule does not seem to state which game?

Many thanks

To my surprise True have replied to an e-mail within an hour informing me that channel 11 is their NBT channel being True channel 5.

Sorry to have bothered you

I see from the earlier World Cup thread that some of the games will be shown on Thai Channel 11. My problem is that I only have a True box and do not have cable TV but cannot find Thai channel 11 in the True programme schedule. I have tried unsuccessfully to contact True by phone today and would be very grateful if someone could please help me.

Thanks very much for all the advice so far. A decent size pool is essential as my mate needs to swim for 45 minutes each day for health reasons and he will also want secure safe deposits available whereever he stays. He will not take a motorbike taxi so are there any normal taxis/tuk tuks around the River Kwai hotel or is walking around the cemetry the only option?

I live in Hua Hin and have never been to Kan. A mate who is visiting LOS later this year and who stayed at the Felix Hotel on his only previous trip to Kan wants me to meet him there. He found the Felix to be too far from the strip and has asked me to research hotels with swimming pools within walking distance of the strip at around 2000 baht per night. From my initial online research the River Kwai Hotel seems a possibility and I would be very grateful if someone could advise how long it would take to walk to the strip from there and on its general suitability based on his criterion.

All help greatly appreciated.

Can anyone please recommend somewhere in Bangkok other than home to watch the EPL games on TV on the King's Birthday with beer?

Alyx,

PM me your e-mail address and I will forward to you all the e-mails I have received from the other group

I see that channel 7 is showing the Liverpool game on Tuesday and Ac Milan on Wednesday .

Can anyone please confirm which games channel 3 is showing those nights?

Alyx,

The second site I visited is the one to which you have contributed several posts and from whom I have not received any e-mail contact. The people behind the other site held a well attended meeting in Bangkok in September and seem well connected with a number of TEM.

I am a TEM and received an e-mail in August inviting me to a first meeting of TEM in Bangkok in September which was I believe sent to all TEM's current e-mail address. I have not received any e-mail to my current e-mail address from the second website which I have now visited.

They must have run out of stock on the day of the Bolton home game/Sunderland beach ball goal when I was there at soi 11

before kick off and had to make a dash to soi 8 for Heiniken.

What time does the soi 8 pub close on Saturdays?

The problem with the Man U bar on soi 11 is that they only sell Singa and one other thai beer but no premium brands

I'm in Bangkok at the weekend and want to watch the Everton game which kicks off at 12.30 and won't end until around 02.25. Bearing in mind the current early closures can someone please recommend somehere preferably a pub in lower Sukhumvit where I can be guaranteed to see the whole match.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Having read some of the earlier e-mails on this thread I have checked again with the UK help desk today who referred my query to a manager who confirmed that ATM withdrawals abroad using the cash card as opposed to a visa credit/debit card would remain charge free because Maestro does not charge Nationwide whereas Visa do

I also spoke to the UK Nationwide help desk last night and they informed me that all ATM withdrawals in Thailand ie.both visa debit and cash cards would be subject to the 1% charge. I hope this info is incorrect but if not I guess opening a Thai bank account will be the cheapest way to transfer large sums from the UK but I would be grateful if someone could confirm what commission the Thai banks charge for cash withdrawals by ATM or over the counter.

Many thanks

Thanks for the info on the Petchaburi hospital.

For those interested I have had some additional bill information from BUPA adding £1500 to the cost of the angioplasty making a total of £7724.

For those interested I have just been advised of the costs of my UK treatment paid fortunately by BUPA as follows:-

£1364 for exercise ECG angiogram and two consultations

£6254 for wire pressure measurement test which ascertained that a stent was necessary in my case followed by angioplasty with drug alluding stent and overnight intensive care

Sheryl- I still have not worked out how I can identify the nearest provincial hospital to central Hua Hin and would be very grateful for any help you can give me on that one,

Thank you all for all your kind help.

Chiang Mai- I will post costs once I receive the BUPA paperwork. I used Dr H S Lee at Alexandra Hospital Cheadle Cheshire an English Chinese doctor recommended by my GP several years ago and endorsed by a my general surgeon who has been treating my Crohns Disease for years.

Sheryl- Thanks for all the practical advice which I have carefully noted but I would be very grateful if you could advise how I can identify the provincial hospital nearest to Hua Hin.

Irene- I shall file the names you gave me for when I make the move but is there a reason why neither of you used Dr Visuit or was he simply not available at the time?

Many thanks

I had a stent put in my circumflex heart artery last week in the UK fortunately under my private BUPA policy. I was previously planning on retiring next year and spending three separate three month periods each year primarily in Hua Hin. Subject to advice from my UK cardiologist I hope to continue with this plan hot footing it back to bkk/UK at the first sign of trouble in the future. I have done searches on this site and have noted Sheryl's advice on living no more than 2/3 hours travel time from bkk which is just about within the time it would take from Hua Hin to Bumrungrad on a good day and I have seen several references to Dr Visuit at Bumrungrad as a good cardiologist.

I would very much welcome any endorsements of Dr Visuit or recommendations for any other top cardiologists/surgeons in Bangkok hospitals fully equipped for dealing with angioplasty/bypasses.

Do people think I am mad to be considering Hua Hin as my base and that I would be safer in bkk or would that be taking unneccesary over the top precautions?

I will post for the benefit of the OP of the recent cost of stent thread the cost of my angioplasty with stent in the UK as soon as I am advised of it by BUPA.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Having experienced a 7 hour trip from Hua Hin to Bangkok on 1/1/2007 I am anxious to avoid a repeat next New Year. Could anyone tell me please what will be the last day of the 2007/8 New Year holiday? Will it be 1 2 or 3 January? In 2007 it was 3 January but the traffic was still awful on 1 Jan but fine on 3 Jan.

I appreciate this is far in advance but I need to book my flight back to Farangland and it is very busy at that time of year.

Many thanks

That's fantastic Taxexile thanks very much

Thanks Taxexile I shall walk down there the previous day to check it out. I would be extremely grateful if you could help me with the directions on the return trip to the Landmark from the start of the expressway at the end of highway 35.

Thans very much

She paid about 17000 baht for the current year but I shall still try and get a letter from the insurance company rather than take the risk. I have tried without success to get a UK insurance company to cover me and I am surprised that this appears to be impossible.