SunnyValentine

Ok, small US bills, and: Don't even think of exchanging money into riels at all! While in the USA the national currency is the US$ (1 Dollar = 100 cents), in Cambodia it is the US-$ (1US-$ = 4000 Riel). As long as you have some One and 5 Dollar bills, you will probably get change back in Riels, that should be enough to cover the small expenses like a Motodop within PP (1500 - 3000 Riel) or Water or a Coke or a leaf of french baguette on tthe street; you pay with Dollar everywhere, and get change back in Dollars, or Riels. Only Motodups have the tendency to "no have" ANY change, so you might

Sullo, try River Star Hotel or Bougainvillier Hotel, the latter more upscale than the first one. Also heard from others that the California Guesthouse is very good, but make sure you reserve a River view room, some of the other rooms are rather dumps. Oh, and a return flight is around 6000 - 7000 Bt; book anywhere. Bangkok Airways and their Cambodian Daughter/Partner (forgot the name) have a monopoly on this track, so not much choice ...... hope this helps, and have a great time! Sunny

In case you forgot the photos, you have 2 options at Pnom Penh Airport: a) pay 4 Dollars to have Passport photos made. Pay 2 Dollars tip, and they will forget to ask you for Photos. I agree, flying is the way to go, especially when you don't have much time. Sunny

Great site with information on Cambodia as well as updated overland travel info is Tales Of Asia Sunny

You should be able to get broadband in View Talay 1 or 2, but only in case you have a TTT line in your room. (They start with 3 in Jomtien). But I heard that they have a long waiting list for TTT lines, so that might cause problems when you have none. Sunny

Popped in the bar Yesterday to give my donation into the box. Originally wanted to stay for a drink or so, but couldn't. The atmosphere (for me) was one of sadness. Hope the girls, managers, and me get over this feeling quickly; life must go on, also for Om's family, my thoughts are with them! Sunny

I heard the sad news earlier from one of her friends today. I am really sorry, she was such a kind, warm-hearted and charming person! I feel sad. Sunny

Bill, while WiFi is nominal 11 Mbit, it transfers data at about 2-3 MBit at optimal conditions. (The rest is protocol overhead and the likes ...) If the Telephone needs a steady 90 KByte (aka 0,8 MBit) Connection, you might run into bandwith problems, as you usually don't have these optimal conditions (distance to sender, Walls, other interference .....) This is usually no big Problem when surfing the net, but it might limit the Quality and reliability of the Phone connection. But yes, it might just work! Sunny

Condo, abbrev. for Condominium, Appartment you can buy. Sunny

Looking forward to your report, Tom! 2500 is still more than I usually want to pay, but not totally out of my budget for a special occasion, so I hold my breath and wait for your review! Please son't forget to mention on (Multiple?)Guestfriendlyness! Sunny

Depends on the business he is going to acquire .... Most beer bars here are sold kinda "under the blanket", especially the small open ones. In case your friend is happy with that (no wp, and all that ...) i guess noone asks where the money comes from. If your friend plans to do it the legal way incorporating a Thai-Majority owned company with nominee shareholders, and all that red tape, it probably makes only sense once over a certain size as well as financial investment. In this case he should find a good and experienced lawyer to set up everything for him. This lawyer will also answer the

Went to Carrefour Today. They had large signs at the cashiers telling you that sale of Acohol is only allowed from 11-2 and 5-12. I had a Bottle of Brandy and a case of Beer (they have heineken now for 28 Bt a can!). Lady at the teller first moaned, but when I told her that I consider one case of Beer as wholesale, she happily agreed ..... TIT Sunny I honestly beleieve that downright stupid laws should be ignored!

Majestic Grande looks like outside my price range ..... they don't even publish their prices on the net!!!! Sunny

For all of I always stay there now when in Bangers .... Sunny

So far I have had good experience with both aisatravel and sawasdee, the prices and conditions vary from Hotel to Hotel, but both Companies did well in delivering what I had ordered. Sunny

Sounds great, Gabor! Where exactly is this located? (Soi Buakao is pretty long .... and boring). Bigmike, there is a feature called "scrolling" available on your computer .... but you're right, Gabor could have resized the Fotos ...... Sunny

Udon Thani is best visited with your Long Term GF in tow. There are some bars and naughty massages, but to go there without a lady could be just the wrong concept. Most expat bars are situated around the city center, where the Charoensri Hotel is situated. Great, big truely 4 star Hotel at about 1200 - 1300 Bt, better reserve in advance as they are booked out very often. Other ok Hotels (in the 1000 Bt range) are the Charoen and the Ban Chiang. The town is quite nice, once you get to know it, but probably only for the initiated. Getting there from Pattaya by BG express (Bus, 10+ hours, ab

I stayed there for 2 weeks in the summer of 2003, and have to agree it is great, but nowadays just a little (?) too pricey for me. I stay at the Swiss Grottino now; no pool, no chamber of martyrs, smaller room, smaller (regular) TV, but all in all great for (still high) 1700 Bt. I posted a review in the Hotel reviews Section with Details. Sunny

Thaiflyer, you're spot on on the differences, but the problem is that sometimes the foreign Embassies / Consulates try to add some more rules or hinderances. If your Embassy is cool about everything, and you have had no problem with the police lately, go there, it will save you some hours in Thailand much better spent otherwise. If they seem to make problems in the Embassy back home, just ask for a Tourist Visa instead and do the paperwork in Thailand. About Business Visas: You can quite easily get a one-time B-Visa abroad for "research for investment", but a second one on the same grounds

Or try Residence Garden, they have 2BR suites. Sunny

Yes, the Visa situation looks a little bit complicated at first sight. But the main problem is that most of the Thai Embassies and Consulates abroad have their own politics about issuing Visas. So, you can easily get the desired 1Y Multi-O Visa at one spot, but not at the other one. In general, it can be said that Consulates, especially smaller ones, in Europe and USA are much easier to deal with than Embassies. A 1 entry Tourist Visa is available everywhere without any problem without any documentation. A double or triple entry Tourist Visa maybe, maybe not. Business Visas allowing you to

No need at all to apply for a retirement Visa in your home Country. The process can be easy handled while in Thailand on any kind of Visa (Tourist, Business, O Visa). You have to have either 800000 Bt in a Thai Bank or the same amount as pension (need to be verified through your Embassy), a Medical Certificate (from a Thai Clinic, costs 300 Bt or so, usually no Questions asked), and have to be over 50 Years of age. Sunny

Good Hotel, but (as said before) the Joiner Fee policy disqualifies them in my eyes. For similar Quality at much lower prices take a look at the bigger rooms in the new Wing at Sunshine Hotel just opposite to it! I loved it! Sunny

The Le Katai Guesthouse (see other thread), or soon the Residence Garden. Sunny

An unlocked Siemens should work with any card on the market. You need to buy the SIM card (number), you can get at phoneshops, for instance in Big C North Pattaya (upper floor) or the new Tuk.com center (2nd floor). Expect to pay around 300 Bt including 50 Baht value for airtime. To top up the card you can go practically anywhere, like family mart, 7/11, .... Cheapest minutes are with an Orange Co. Sim Card, but the quality and net availability might be a problem sometimes. In Bangkok or Pattaya they are ok, but in more remote areas they very often don't work whereas others (AIS, DTAC) do.