lounge_lizard

I can pick it up in Starbucks - they must be using a different nanny

I don't know about Heathrow, but security check on arrival for transit passengers has been normal for a few years at Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Mumbai. I'm pretty sure people not in transit were directed straight to immigration and the others to security and on to the departure lounge. I can remember seeing duty-frees from Heathrow being confiscated at Mumbai

Security check on arrival has been standard for a few years at most of the airports where I have transited. Schipol was always the exception with a polite but very professional security check at the departure gate, so they may be falling into line with the rest of the world. Have they done away with the check at the departure gate?

You're very welcome - enjoy your holiday.

I looked in this afternoon. They are open and the reception area looked clean and tidy - a lot better than some places I've seen. This is copied from the hotel's card: T. (66) 0-3842-9716, 038-429133 F. (66) 0-3871-0185 Email: honeylodgehotel@gmail.com www.honey-lodge.com and..... The website is down. Ah.. I see you;ve cracked it already.

True, but the rules seem to change daily, so it's good to have any up to date information.

This last time I noticed the message "saving post" in pale grey, bottom right. The screen eventually refreshed automatically, but displayed corrupt (all there, but one character per line), plus a lot of extraneous characters. An F5 refresh corrected the display problem.

I wonder if the new software might contain a script that takes a very long time to complete on some hardware/software platforms.

It's all about image - telling the world that you can afford that sort of thing

Not quite what happened to me. The last of my occasional posts seemed to hang for about five minutes, then the screen refreshed (without me doing anything) and the post appeared. I assumed it was a Firefox/Windows 8.1 problem, but now it seems no. Could it be a server issue?.

The Agoda link is now working (from the UK at least)

I remember reading some years ago that the sidewalk market on Sukhumvit was "owned" by a senior police officer who employed deaf-mutes to man the stalls.

Congratulations on staying the course, Adam. Sorry I can't be there, but I hope to be back in the Cherry Bar before too long. Here's to the next ten.

Another classic. I always look forward to these.

I've used Qatar from London to Bangkok several times with no delays or other problems. You won't get a direct flight, so you need to check the stopover times in both directions. Sometimes it's only a couple of hours, but sometimes it's more like twelve for the very cheapest tickets, although a few pounds/euros more can put you on a different flight with less of a wait. Bear in mind that you will be put through security again at the stopover airport, so any duty-frees bought at Schipol are likely to be confiscated there. I only use a carry-on bag, but I've also heard a few horror st

Last Tuesday, I flew out on the 10:55 to Istambul. A taxi from Walking Street at 6am got me to Suvarnabhumi at 7:45, just before the check-in desks opened. So a 7am departure might work, but if you get snarled up in rush hour traffic, you would have a problem. It's always wise to have a little spare time in the system.

The last few times I've been through, I've seen airport empoyees patrolling the queue, checking that the forms had been properly completed, and helping where necessary, before anyone got to the immigration desks. That has made a lot of difference.

You might consider the Jasmine hotel - http://www.jasminehotel-pattaya.com - in Soi BJ just off Walking Street. They have some ground floor rooms and an elevator. I have seen guests using wheel-chairs and mobility scooters.

Probaby not. My London-based Russian friend recently told me (in all seriousness) that the USA ordered the Saudis to force down the price of crude oil so that Russia would have to return the Crimea to the Ukraine. If that's the sort of thing they are being told, who knows what they are thinking.

A friend has swanned off on holiday to Egypt, so I've been tasked with feeding the pets. Otherwise just pottering around trying to get things ready for my next trip to Patts in June.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that it should be possible to embed a script in the body of an e-mail. The script might then do some damage unless disabled by the e-mail provider or anti-virus. Paranoid? Who? Me?.

Well, "duty-free" is nor "profit-free", and I'm sure the airport will jack up the shop rents as high as it can. Equally, I was tasked to bring back a specific perfume for a friend last time. King Power priced it at the same level as in the Pattaya Central Mall. I got it for £15 less in the "exit" shop at Heathrow. Seems you can't win

I don't think they fly direct - mostly you have to change at Schipol. Even so,it's still a very good price.

But when? They've been hit from two directions at once. Not only has the fall in the value of the Rouble increased the cost of the trip, but also a sharp increase in food prices has left less money to spare for holidays.

It's a few years since I used U-Tupao, so things may have changed, but... Taxi to the airport booked through the hotel took just over an hour and cost 1100 baht, so not much less than to Suvarnabhumi. On getting back, I found a large number of pre-booked taxis collecting people, but none waiting for customers. There were two taxi desks, both unmanned. I had to hang around the airport for over an hour hoping to grab a taxi delivering a passenger to the airport. Eventually, a minibus turned up, and I shared this with the one other stranded passenger. Cost was 1500 baht between us. It would hav