jacko

Where were the kids when she was stealing things and abusing the police in Phuket?

That's a coincidence, I was talking to an American last night who was also telling me of a great deal he got to fly from West Coast (LA or SFO, I forget) on SQ. He mentioned about $850 which I thought was really cheap (maybe included the hop to SFO). Your $679 (£414) on a great airline for quite a distance is some special.

MM chose to remove his comment after due consideration.And how do YOU know, that Barrington talked to a National....? At Dubai Airport? I have not flown through there for 2 years, but even then there seemed to be a good proportion of Expat Employees. PS Africa is a continent not a country numb nuts!

I have only second hand knowledge of a friend who had such surgery done at BPH. He was very pleased with the result. He is a very wealthy guy for whom the cost was not very important. I also have an acquaintance who used the Pattaya Eye Centre, and was similarly positive for a lesser cost. As to BPH, for me, I found their aspirin to be 5 times the price of elsewhere!

Errr....Emirates is a country, as in United Arab Emirates, as well as an airline.My point was, I doubted that the guy answering the phone, in Dubai (one of the UAE's 7 emirates), at the service desk, at the airport, happened to be a National, hence subject to your references. That was how it was when I lived there. And what did you mean???

You think the guy answering the phone in Dubai is an Emirates national?

I would be on the other side of that group..... unlucky.Gulf Air used to be like a bus service in the Middle East.....land at Doha, over to Qatar, back to Dammam, Bahrain next!

I seem to recall this tale about hotel keycards holding your CC details years ago.Glad to hear it's a myth. There is a certain hotel promoted on this site that write the CC details on your check-in card though! And many take a slider copy in advance.......... I think some sarcastic sods are being hard on a BM who had good intentions if poor research.

Surprising he took a flight via the Middle East. They like kids, and overindulge them, perhaps the daughter is especially cute, blonde and blue eyed? I prefer to route via Europe.

If you want to keep your business private from other members of the household, set up different users for your computer. This protects many things.

Yeah I did 200 little truckloads last year.... time to do another load soon as the rain stops!

Wow... that moved!

I was in there last night...... Wednesday. Rather subdued, but I guess the police sat there taking photographs like they owned the place was something to do with that. I saw them at another place (different guys) but they just sat and had a beer. Oh no, it's raid season coming up????

That too...... I also like the Thai style where the house is up on stilts and there is a shaded open area below to gather when it is hot, sling a hammock, snooze and swing.

Yeah mine seems to be stuck on the single storey idea. They are most certainly cheaper to build but I always liked the idea of sleeping upstairs. There is more land left available, and an upper terrace/balcony would overlook any surrounding walls and provide a good view/ sitting/ beer chugging/ chill out area.

That is correct, in fact one girl seemed particularly grateful and I had to rub my eyes at the scene before me partially obscured by many mobile legs. Is Ricky on an exercise routine, he got up and walked around at least twice while I was there? :

Rick, a BM posted this while back and I kept the link. Take a look!Thai House Plans

I was in there Sat, lots of fun as usual.... quite a few new 'faces'..... some of them still a bit shy and seemed to vanish when off the stage. But might have been a particular big spender getting all their attention......... Congrats on 1 year of being up there in the top 'few'!

Just used a UOB ATM and there didn't appear to be a charge. There is one in TOPS.

I have done quite a few long haul train trips in Thailand. As you say the freedom to move around is great, although they can seem very slow at times. Perhaps okay for the 2-3 hour trips.... I did Bangkok to Nong Kai and it seemed to take forever. Then there was the off dute policeman who had drunk himself incoherent waving his gun about and scaring everybody on one trip.

No I don't think you are seeing this right. Joekicker's view makes a lot more sense.They don't like farangs living in LOS without a visa. Boosting visa fees seems like small potatoes in the scheme of things... having a bit of control over who resides in Thailand is likely more important. They still want tourists, Mr and Mrs Smith from Farangland spending 2 weeks on a Phuket beach, Mr Chin and his 200 friends being herded through Mike's, and Joe who works on the rigs spending his 30 day vacation with his chin on a GO-Go bar! But if you live here, you should have a visa, then you are on record, documented and have paid money! The border runner's $$$ is quite minimal, and hardly likely to screw the Thai economy up if lost. Let's face it, they want to do a cheapo bus trip to Poipet..... if they had any $$$ they'd fly down to Singapore and get 30 days rather than 15, or get a visa.

As a farang of course, you are allowed to own a houseboat, but need a 30 year lease on the water.

Tom, I am in fear of belabouring this and boring all the BMs to death. But I like to understand these 'rules'. Let's forget the Malaysian visa you have, it's irrelevant for coming into Thailand. OK you can come and go freely for Malaysia. Let's forget Malaysians.... you aren't one, most readers here probably aren't also. When you come into LOS at Dannok you get a 15 day stamp..... You can now only do this 4 times can't you? Even if you are just nipping into Thailand for a few days each trip. The rule change is obviously aimed to restrict those persisting in LOS without a visa, who just pop over a land border every 15 days. You, living on the other side, would get caught up in these new restrictions.

Google is your friend.. Widescreen 16:9 is great for watching DVDs.....

Yes, some things whiz by!