jacko

Open one yourself when you get here. Manage your UK accounts over the internet. They employ halfwits in banks in the UK... and anything outside the normal sphere is poorly handled.

Off subject, but only '$75 (£42) in taxes and booking fees'. Boy do we get gouged in the UK...

I think the 'cup' is like the old table number..... she would need to have the cashier zero or clear any bill against that cup, possibly the system keeps account now that there should be 2 bills in the returned cup. I think these modern systems work well and keep the staff in check...the only downside might be a slower processing time....a good place brings the drinks while you wait on the bill to be printed up! Also when it comes to check bin time, your total is there and you can get the cash ready. The old format of a wad of bills going back to the cashier, and she returns with some obscure total was open to abuse.

I have been in all the above quite recently, and similarly evaluation. . . . Beach Club, I had stayed away for a while as I didn't like the pushy '20 baht or I hardly move and keep my knees tight as a ducks bum' approach. But that pressure seems to have gone, girls are fun, service polite... enjoyed it a lot. Mistys... great layout and plenty to watch, pretty good girl attitude, but the smoke and overly loud music make it hard to stay long. Peppermint....same same as always.... well run and an untouched formula. Good service, some real nice girls Club Boesche... this place has lost it's edge, used to be the 'in' spot, but now nothing special. Some reasonable lookers and the entertainment can be good. The toughs hanging around put me on edge, nicotine addicts can do so upstairs. New Living Dolls. Good atmosphere and reasonable prices. A bit smokey. Hootys... it's all on the night, had a couple of fun companions and naughtiness. The stage girls did look listless and there were few customers. Place needs a makeover. Baby Dolls....naughty but fun, definately not good looking girls but then they aren't paid to display their faces. Worth a try if you are keen to explore. Windmill Club...very similar to Baby Dolls, previously same management. Place is small but well patronised by the sniff and lick club, good service. As you wander back from the Windmill, towards Walking street, the touts will assault you. A few of the places on the left, with 'Baby' in the name seem to cater for the Orientals, but some real pretty girls, hard to get their attention apart from waving a fistful of 'pan baht' notes, to get their eyes off the fascinating ceiling. On the right side, the touts have to work real hard, these places have changed little over the years, except in name. They are all coasting until the high season.

Wow, £29 for a room near LHR......last time I stayed at some shithole about 5km away, room the size of an American wardrobe! That was £85 when Noah was a lad...no pub nearby so a fortune in the bar! Absolutely shitty overpriced bus (Hopper service)...dragging my case on and off and walking miles. So bad I got a £15 taxi next day. How about the parking for the car for the weeks you are away?

It is buttons for me to get to Manchester Airport, the frequent train goes right in there, Obviously same same the other way. I wouldn't feel like a long train journey from LHR or LGW after an overnight flight from Bkk. Or doing the M25. Of course a shuttle on BA or British Midland is an option...about £100..or more these days? Most certainly £492 Xmas/New Year is an bargain you got there........but how do you plan to get from Galsgow to LHR..... not a cheap place the smoke. Not fancy PIA Tom?

No, I would be flying from Manchester on another airline.

Well, I don't specifically NOT work because I am over 50.... more because I tried it for a lot of years and didn't like it very much. Obviously I also decided I could afford to do this too. It was just a thought for me, I always considered 50 was a surprising age the government to chose for 'retirement'... and if it is only about money....well it is isn't it? The other reality is I doubt the pavements of Pattaya or Nhok Wok Buri would be suitable for a disabled person. I do from time to time see someone in an electric wheelchair taking on Sukhumvit/ Pattaya Klang junction.... impressive nerve.

I accept your knowledge of the subject but find the reasoning a little odd. Considering a below 50 year old foreigner, disabled and unable to work, who had the retirement requisite income and bank account, etc, might he be a little MORE desirable (wanted) than someone at 51, who didn't want to work? Surely the reason behind granting retirement visas, is just to bring money into the kingdom.

Well there has to be some compensation for all the earthquakes, typhoons, cyclones and volcano erruptions that they get there. .

Well, since we qualify at 50+ years here I guess their concept is different than our Government's. Interesting aside, can a foreigner who is less than 50, but disabled and unable to work, get a retirement visa (extension) for LOS?

Military issue?

I am surprised at the BUPA plans limit to 600,000 baht, which as Joe says is not very much these times. You would need to be taken to Queen Sirikit rather than the Bangkok Pattaya for it to go very far! Anything requiring a bit of surgery and a month's inpatient aftercare might wave off a million baht! As I have said here before, the devil is in the detail. The 'up to 5 million baht' sounds great, but you must compare. One million with few strings and limits, may prove better than 5, where 100,000 max on surgical procedures, 100,000 max on room charges and 4.8 million on kleenex tissues is the reality. Check for a post by 'Gary' who detailed his plan, which sounded good and has been put to the test.

I read it as you...free to change return date within the month. Since the price of fuel is falling, I think Thai might just leave the fuel surcharges where they are.

Great feedback glynbuk...... One quick question.... ...that's a half mile..sounds a long way and a cracking pace you made (7 minutes)..120 yards/ minute... I'd be out of breath! I am still interested to hear how transit works at T5... that was always one of the most infuriating things about LHR.... being forced through repeated security checks...as if Manchester couldn't do the job.

Alternatively you can carry a small 'package' for 'Carlos', a nice polite swarthy gentleman in a white suit and Panama hat and hand it to 'George' at the other end, a very polite West African man and he will give you some money! I certainly wouldn't trust BA though!

Don't worry. Tom should have said 90 days in any 180 as the max on 30 day stamps unless........... A 30 day stamp being what nationals of many countries get when they arrive in Thailand WITHOUT a visa in their passport..

I have just been mooching around the BA website and they are making some serious claims about how wonderful things are working there in T5 and elsewhere in LHR. Anybody confirm or deny? I must admit to being a little confused by the process of moving flights into T5. I was under the impression that T5 would make transfers a dream... I would walk directly from my domestic BA flight onto the Bangkok bound plane carrying a complimentary glass of champagne. And visa versa.... I see my ex Manchester planes indeed now do land at T5 ....? Used to be T1. The Bangkok bound plane still leaves from T4... but many longhauls have moved to T5, and others follow in September and October... not my Bangkok plane though, of course that means Sydney too, Singapore also for some reason. But in January 2009 these remaining ones move. ......, not toT5, but T3? Ah well, if I am crazy enough to go BA, and so utterly mad as to try Heathrow, at least I will land and take off from the same airport... if not the same terminal. For now... So I get off at T3, need to head to T5 for Manchester (or visa versa)... do I still have to go through the dreaded CONNECTIONS CENTRE...aaaaarghhh

My point was biz class tickets are a lot cheaper out of mostly anywhere than the UK. Your first point I disputed was 'Tickets often appear cheaper from abroad, but in reality those are heavily restricted.' Now you say.....'Some tickets appear cheaper from UK to Bkk than from Bkk to the UK, because the UK tickets are generally more heavily restricted. Perhaps you are calling UK abroad? I have a Pattaya agents list of flights before me now, to Europe, in the economy group, they mostly are 3 month tickets, quite a few 6 month, and only the odd 1 year or 1 month validity... Business class tickets are also going through the roof, ('Club' is only British Airways which is in the clouds) I live in Thailand but still buy my business class tickets ex-UK, I wanted to get back here one way then perhaps I could get the bargain Qatar tickets and perhaps the cheaper 'D' and 'Z' classes. But prices are in a state of flux. Perhaps not a good time to call!

Well after a bit of messing about..I am online...some routers are problematic, my Belkin would NOT sync... my D-Link does but I had to make some changes to the default settings. As to Maxnet....I haven't sat around like this since dial-up. It really slows down at peak times, but is better than my old Edge. And so it should be at 3 times the price.This country is in the stone age when it comes to internet connection.

Agreed Tom, Biz Class can show a substantial difference depending on which end you book it from. It became our company policy, where someone was expected to make many round trips from the US HQ, to leave the first ticket return to US open, and buy all other tickets at the other end. (This was Eastern Europe, North Africa, South America)... I think the 78,000 baht Qatar tickets will be scarce soon, I see a lot about 120,000+ taxes for later in the year. They are already that ex UK at about £2050. (http://booking.qatarairways.com ) I am a little unhappy at being forced into a corner and flying China Airlines in October.....

This statement is untrue....ticket prices are set to the market they are sold in. The UK being one of the highest. I have had personal experience of this when I found that the cost of rerouting the ticket I had in my hand, was more expensive than buying a one way from the place I was at, same airline....(ticket Caracas to London, I wanted to get back from Buenos Aeries) I was also amazed how reasonable the fares were in Venezuela on BA.

The concern for the airline is that you will be 'rejected' by immigration, which means they are liable to a substantial fine and be held responsible for taking you off their hands. I believe Thai immigration only require proof of 'flight' or way out of Thailand, when you arrive without a visa (ie 30 day stamp).