jacko

Never mind, although he did start a sentence with a lower case letter!

When did you last go shopping for a motorcycle helmet in Pattaya? Yes, no need to bandy insults around, by the way my posterior is not particularly large.

Sure???? Which film, credited?

Does he have a Thai wife (Panida)..... Google it, you will get a few hits.

You can rent cars for about 1000 baht/day-2000, with a driver I would expect that to add 500 baht. I would hope the company you are working for would help you arrange that, particularly for the first few weeks until you find your feet and then consider driving yourself. You would need an International Driving Permit, although some renters will accept just your home licence... ......

They were previously too expensive for Somalians I guess!

Very little actually... as Gary confirmed. I have a little cylinder in my house for some gas rings! Tucked away in a cupboard under the stove. But really, what goes on in other countries, for now, does not necessarily have any refection on life in Thailand, and thank heavens for that. Particularly California......

As an old person I recall early mobile packages were expensive for voice calls, but they offered pretty cheap text messages (SMS) service, and that became a popular way of getting in touch.. to the point where now I find that is what most people do, rather than disturb! The phone networks seemed quick to pick up on this and now we have relatively expensive text messages, after all, it is just using a smidgin of free bandwidth... As I said, it came as a surprise to me that I could have a 3/4minute call for the price of a text! Excuse me in that not knowing the type of job you did I hadn't realised why a quick call was not easy. The Thai mobile market is geared towards, well Thais surprisingly, I can make International calls quite reasonably from here (Skype or True Inter card), but an SMS seems overpriced. But what a market eh, all those little love ditties going back and forth all day long, easy to get into a string of 5 or 6 each way over some little subject. Nice little earner. I hope someone more technically evolved than me can suggest something else. I can check short emails and type a quick reply as easily as sending a text on my smart phone though..(Android). Or maybe using Blackberry makes it restrictive. Have a good day.

Wac that Tube clip is really off topic and silly. Not just nut-cases but dull as dishwater... Let us stay on the topic of the missing aircraft, and breaking news.

Not me.... this aircraft/model (777) has been flying a long time without incident. Recent reports are suggesting the Indian Ocean is to be included in the search. The fact that an aircraft could maybe fly so far west without transponders or being picked up/detected is disconcerting, as it would need to fly over land, possibly Thailand! Even if it didn't, the possibility should not be there.

Too hot there to be wandering around outside!

Of course they drive on the left here, so if you haven't done that before some practice is recommended. My first experience of driving on the right in a busy city scared me to death and I parked up and walked some distance back to the flat. Bang Saen that Local Yokel talks of is quite nice and has some hotels, and further along the coast, towards Ang Sila is too.

Well we got quite a good guy who drove reasonably. The car was shared by a few guys and to be honest I preferred someone else doing the driving, particularly in the morning. He used to pick some guys up after they had been on the razz. Pretty sure either someone in accounting or the Project manager were getting kickbacks for the supply of vehicles and cars, TIT!

I think you talk balderdash too but nevermind. My package is calls 1b/min, SMS 4 baht, for local of course, so I make short calls. Even your price list above shows calls 1/3 the price as a SMS, presuming you mean per SMS not minute! Spend her money how you like of course. I cannot text on the go, it is easier to make a call than send an SMS, but I do neither when driving. Perhaps you could explain Skype messages to her? My email gives me an audible alert on a smart phone. My TGF complains too of 9baht international SMS charge when I am in the UK, but she gets calls for 1b/minute or sends an SMS saying 'Skype now?' I think it is nicer to talk face to face. I couldn't find any special packages for Blackberry or SMS International 3G with AIS on their website.

I was driven to and from work when working in Laem Chabang but the car and driver were supplied by the 'office'. Possibly cheaper than letting me rent a car on expenses.

Did I say they were all made in Thailand and did I mention anything other than motorcycle helmets? But that was what I saw in BigC-X. I was in the 'general stores' only weeks ago hunting for a new one (strap broke suddenly) and they had little variety... perhaps my head is large but most were too tight. Very limited selection and some very poor ones. I ended up at Miton across from Big-C-X where they had a better selection. They really seemed to be more about look than safety standard. The expensive ones get stolen as quick as you can do your shopping.

I think they had a spell of parking the aircraft on the tarmac, again a couple of years back, it happened to me with Qatar too. I was pissed of paying Biz Class and crammed into an over packed shuttle to the aircraft and having to stand. Couldn't really blame the airline as I thought it was a Manchester Airport issue.

It is a bit difficult getting through Chonburi and onto a main highway from the 'beach areas' of Chonburi city area isn't it? I always seem to get tangled up in a market area.

What has LA got to do with it?

Look on the bright side, that will deter young car thieves and joy-riders! (1min 30 sec in)

James Stewart.

Lee Marvin.

I kept the same package for donkeys years before it suddenly clicked that my calls were 8 baht/minute. Now I pay 1 b/m and accept the shorter validity. Many people SMS continuously, unless you get a large number free (inclusive), that is dumb, I can talk for a few minutes for what a text message costs me. The phone companies snuck that up on us..... Modern-day smart phones keep pulling data and that is where most people get beaten up...especially when they switch from an old style phone. PS....My phone costs me about 200 baht a month!

To get into Europe. With Iranian passport they would not be allowed to board and fly to China without visas.