jacko

Agreed on the old 'Premium Lounge' in Doha. You were taken straight to and from it via the bus. In the new airport you have to walk miles to and from the lounge and it is a big impersonal place up the escalator. As I said I just received a promotional email from Qatar and thought I would look at a ticket to Manchester. The price in Biz was about 77,000 baht which is quite good as others are coming in around 100k. But looking more closely there were few seats available and they were either restricted to the very late (0200) Bangkok departure or/and some serious lay-over in Doha. Flights to Amsterdam start at 25135 THB in Economy (680 Euros).

She sounds like a good sensible one Mr Fiend.

I just made a transfer, so I thought I would give YOU advance warning of a likely significant jump in rates. Rate I got was 53.04, minus the usual 500 baht this end..a recent peak! I requested the transfer at 10am yesterday, and money arrived at 9am today, zero charges at the UK end. It is all so straightforward........ I did have to supply my address here in Thailand, the bank is strengthening its anti-money laundering procedures. Possibly something to do with them having to hand over $300,000,000 to the USA DFS!

Isis is in Syria, for Emirates you have to worry about ISID or ISIUAE. (Didn't Thailand just send a lot of Muslims back to China........)

My connections to Manchester are normally 15.5 to 17.00 hrs total travelling time. Both Etihad and Qatar have delivered on their schedule fine. I can't comment on coach class but for business, well Qatar on the plane are better, the new airport is better, but Etihad offer a limo to/ from Manchester airport. I would go on price, Qatar seem to do better there and I just received a promotional email from them with some good deals. I think they lost a bit of business due to their old airport and are now trying to promote themselves with discounts. Abu Dhabi (Etihad) were starting to do some airport work last year when I flew through and my transit was crap. Take a look at Emirates too! If price is your only concern I thought KLM was good! (Anyone got any updates on Abu Dhabi airport?)

I struggled through a collection of Truman Capote short stories and am now reading a Nelson DeMille book. The latter is better for me! What MM says might be relevant with Mr DeMille, it would have worked better had I read his in order. I really should consider a Kindle, I sometimes wake up at silly times and reading for a short while would help get me back to sleep and not disturb her who can sleep on a clothes line nearby.

Duh....... Back to the original question. Someone suggested Howard Miller at the Expats Club, and I believe the old Pattaya mail TV commentator Paul Stratham ?? also is in the property business.

Didn't Armstrong also make some rather poor taste 'Tweets' deriding Froome and his team? Link Perhaps he is right, but not his place to say, nor is he in a position criticize others. He comes over as a right shit.

I ended up in Dennys a few times having 'breakfast'.

On demand.....

Watch out though, some carriers have exorbitant change charges. I just took a quick look at Qatar and it was US$200.

Not so many these days in Amorn.... and when I went they were out of Samsung ones surprisingly. (My TV and DVD players are old models) There is the option of going to the Samsung service centre on Sukhumvit too, but your time is of no consequence to them. I once saw a guy at my local market selling old remotes, but he was never there when I went back. (I live well out of town on the north side). The other thing with Lazada was the English descriptions were very limited.....

I just ordered and received something I ordered via Ebay, coincidentally a remote. Took about 10 days, came from China and I paid using aUK based Paypal account. Advice..... check your remote controls,for leaking batteries !!! I also use Ali Express frequently. Lazada never seem to have what I am looking for but Ali Express seems to have everything, I don't mind paying over the odds...traipsing around Pattaya looking for things and trying to get across what I am looking for is just too tough!

Something to do with the Tourist Visa exempt stay being for 30 days perhaps.

I put my faith in some wine and an after meal Drambui!

Ron Perlman

Great, I can get stuck behind one of those going up the hills in the National Park. Perhaps we will get the towed caravans too to add to the fun!

Jude Law

The profit margins are generally much better on Biz Class seats and to reduce the size of the cabin makes it less appealing I would expect. LHR is very much a Business airport.

More than likely, there has been continuous construction in that area (soi 15) for a few years now and you see more cement trucks than ice-cream sellers. I always though it to be a good place for a condo, central and just cut through The Avenue and you are practically on the Beach. If it is 4 years since you saw it there has been a lot of construction since.

It is a bit 'busy' out back as there are a couple of condo projects ongoing there. At one time I counted 6 cranes around that area.

Quite a few reviews on Trip Advisor...... Personally I would go for a hotel slightly away like the Areca as I like to get the odd night of sleep and it is just too busy around Soi LK Metro at night.