stevemcm

I set up a cell phone connection for 2 of my friends, the SIM card was from True Thailand. You need a suitable phone they both used a Nokia (3300 Classic, I think) which connects to a USB port 'cos the SIM card does not come with a PCM card. Unlimited access was available at a reasonable cost. BUT they both had to get a Thai citizen to buy the card. Lastly the software on the CD that was provided by the phone vendor did not work & I had to download it from the Nokia Hong Kong website after which installation & setup was a breeze. Speed seems about the same as a dial up connection in town but 1 friend lives out past Bang Lamung and it was much slower at his house. They are both on the waiting list for landline connections but at least they have some connection while they are waiting. stevoh.

Canterbury Tales Soi Chaiyapoon stevoh.

If it was the Helicopter Bar I know then turn into Soi Chaiyapoon from Soi Buakhao and immediately bear left up Soi Exzite, take the first left go to the end of this Soi and it should be straight ahead of you. You can also turn up this soi from Soi Buakhao but I can't remember it's name. stevoh.

I have been flying with EVA since they started and have a gold Evergreen Card. However in the last year or so EVA have really lost the plot. Mileage awards have been reduced, Elite on the 777 is more expensive and inferior to Evergreen on the 747 but worst of all Special Offer tickets now are limited to 30 days duration which is no good to me as I come for 3, 2, & 2 months each year. Although I regret the loss of the benfits my gold card gave me when flying EVA I have now been flying with Singapore Airlines & having a stopover in Singapore. On one occasion I flew with Cathay Pacific also with stopovers. These 2 airlines are arguably the best in the world and it shows. Their professionalism & efficiency especially in the airports before boarding, where EVA were to put it kindly shambolic, puts EVA to shame. However the real surprise was that I have been paying less than even the 30 day special offer tickets with EVA. NB I have been flying the complete route with SQ not economising by flying the 2nd leg with a budget carrier. I have posted several reports about EVA in the past glowing in the early days and critical of late, but only recently have I put my money on it by flying with SQ - Roll on my SQ Gold Card. Stevoh.

I've never had a claim but above is reassuring. I use them 'cos the were the only insurers who would give me an annual multi-trip policy with a 90 day in any one trip cover. My previous insurer stopped doing 90 days and has a 60 day maximum on any single trip, to give them credit when the renewal was due the agent told me to try InsureandGo. stevoh

In the UK the Royal Thai Consulate in Hull have a website. www.thaiconsul-uk.com. They have a 3rd option for a 90 day visa which is "Visiting friends/relatives or extended stay" in this category you do not need a sponsor's letter but just complete & sign a form to say you have funds to repatriate yourself. I have been issued with such a visa with no problem the forms are available on the website. Check the information on this site. While thes rules might not be accepted in the US (or elsewhere) they could be used in support of a 90 day visa application by showing how the rules are interpreted in the UK. stevoh.

They had a similar promotion a while ago. I got a free seat but you will only get it on one leg never on both. You still have to pay taxes & surcharges which are sometimes more than the fare. It was still a good deal. By the way I have found that when you enter a departure date you often see the fare is cheaper on one or both of the following 2 days. Quit the site and re-enter it. Enter a departure date 2 days before you want to fly and Lo the price on the original date is reduced. Select the date you originally wanted on this screen and you have saved a few Baht. Secondly for the best prices try to book not more than 3 months in advance but more than 1 month. A friend with an internet cafe spent days doing this while sitting around waiting for customers. He said the same applied to Tiger Airways & Jetstar Asia. stevoh.

Midlife crisis - yes it seems to be typical the only airlines I know that have given upgrades or award tickets to myself or friends are Emirates, EVA & KLM. With EVA due to the small number of business class seats your chance of an upgrade at check in are low, better to try for it when buying your ticket. stevoh.

The cheap international calls using 009 & 008 prefixes only work for voice calls. For text messages you need to use the standard +(International Country Code) prefix. I have found problems using 0044 which are not found if I use +44 when texting to the UK. stevoh.

The flyer talk bulletin board has lots of posts complaining about airlines not giving FF upgrades and free tickets, it is very common. All I can say is that I had no problem getting a free ticket in Business Class with EVA I have also had 3 return upgrades to Evergreen from economy 2 at the time of booking with the seat guaranteed and 1 on spec when I checked in. stevoh.

Night food market at the junction of 3rd. road and Soi 17 (also called Theprasit Soi 8 if you turn into it from Theprasit road). It's the road leading to the Lion Bar, Eden Pub & Caddy Shack. stevoh

Only PAX travelling Premium Laurel with EVA get lounge access UNLESS they hold a Silver or higher Evergreen card. In both cases you need an invitation which you should get at check in, if you don't be sure to ask for one. The check in staff are from Air Canada and sometimes forget. Lastly EVA have been steadily downgrading the value of the FF cards and I think it will not be long before Lounge access is only granted to Gold or higher card holders. stevoh.

It's called the "London Lounge" & is directly opposite the entrance to the gates from the duty free area. SAS operate it and it is used by various airlines including EVA Air. Just recently it appears that another airline has started using it: on my trip in June this year it was very crowded with a lot of noisy & ill mannered arabs and their children. stevoh

There is a big water park at Jomtien you can't miss it, it's where the big tower is. You can buy tickets for a meal in the restaurant at the top, buffet is good but get your TG to buy the tickets it's one of these dual price places. Last time I went I think it was ~400 Bt for Thais and ~700 Bt for falangs. stevoh

Braveheart as I said in my earlier post ( http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...ndpost&p=270529 )I like to stand and have a stretch during flight. It is impossible to do this in the elite cabin of a B777 without blocking the aisle. Evergreen on the B744 had two spacious areas to do this. Even with improved seats I cannot spend 12 hours seated without discomfort. stevoh.

Further to my Previous posts regarding seats & comfort on EVA's B777 aircraft: I have now flown economy on this a/c having asked for and been given a seat at the rear of the economy cabin. The seats are much improved compared to the B747 economy seats and the back 3 rows have a wider aisle. Generally an improvement I think and at the prices I won't be flying Elite again. I am a member of various aviation related boards and one common thread is about the redemption of FF miles for free tickets. Many people have commented that they just cannot get an award ticket, the days concerned are blackout days, no seats are available etc. etc. I have just applied for and got a free award ticket to BKK in Premium Laurel with no problems apart from waiting a day to see if a seat became available on my prefferred departure date. EVA reserved a seat on the flight 2 days earlier with a request for a change if a seat was released. They rang and confirmed my booking a day later. I was surprised to find that the bill for taxes etc. (£128) coud not be paid by either credit or debit card and I had to post a cheque to pay this. EVA in London were very efficient & helpful and my e-ticket was sent as soon as the cheque cleared. I notice EVA have just taken delivery of their 3rd B777, it is so new that Boeing exhibited it at Farnborough this year, this a/c is to fly to the US west coast and it is quite obvious that eventually the B744s will be phased out. My condolences to American passengers I certainly wouldn't fancy the trans-Pacific flight in a 777. EVA have devalued the benefits of the FF program the mileage awards are reduced & gold card members no longer get priority baggage unless they are flying PL. Check the website for details. Next year on my return I'll report on Premium Laurel. stevoh.

Poskat - yes providing you are flying with EVA. In London & BKK ( and maybe TPE too ) you need an invitation which they should give you when you check in, if not ask for one. stevoh.

WestEast Travel stevoh.

I have read something about this on the Airliners Net board it is apparently true. Might not last long though some countries claim it is illegal. This said however the reductions are small compared to the difference in prices between different airlines and come to that whether the ticket is bought in Thailand or the UK. A friend returned to the UK after 5 years in Thailand he bought a return ticket BKK - BHX (Birmingham UK) with Emirates, it was 200 GBP cheaper than flying BHX - BKK on the same dates both prices were on Emirates own website. Shop around. stevoh.

You will already have missed any cheap deals if you want to depart after ~10th December. Sometimes cheap flights come up at the last minute ~72 hours before the flight when holiday firms have to return any unsold bookings to the airlines but it's risky. If you depart the last week of November you will still get some good deals and the return date doesn't matter. The airlines that operate non-stop flights (BA/Qantas, EVA, Thai) charge very high premiums for travel during this peak season but try Swiss, Etihad, Qatar, Gulf or Emirates. You might be lucky. stevoh

I might be adding the obvious but all the posts above only apply if you have a Thai SIM card. If you are using a UK SIM card on roaming they don't work. stevoh.

I agree with growler, also prices for Elite from the UK have risen tremendously my last trip 1/1/06 - 1/4/06 the ticket cost 606 GBP inc taxes from ourstravel now it is 635 + taxes. Not as bad as I thought I've just checked the website. They had obviously made a mistake 'cos last week it said 785 + taxes which is the "Shoulder Season" price on the web page now. stevoh.

I have had problems with the various low cost dialling numbers both when ringing from the UK and even more so when I am in Thailand receiving calls from these services. I discovered that my Tesco Pay & Go mobile (Operated by O2) only charges 20p/minute with direct dialling, reception is superb. As a result I use this when making important calls like booking taxis and hotel rooms. NB there are 2 Tesco SIMs available, the cheaper "Value SIM" does not offer roaming abroad but calls to Thailand are still 20p and as I have a Thai SIM this lack of roaming doesn't matter. stevoh.

I've just bought my return ticket online from Air Asia for the 1st March got it for 2,524 Bt all inclusive. The website Air Asia is very slow at the moment they have a lot of traffic due to a free ticket offer. You can get through to the home page OK but once you have entered your dates and pressed "Search" it times out. Took me a week trying 2 or 3 times a day before I got through. I even got one leg free not as good as it sounds the main cost is taxes and surcharges but it is still a bargain. For best fares apply at least 2 months in advance. stevoh.

I've flown both there is little between them, if the price is right go BA if flying from LHR, otherwise look at the shuttle timings to see which suits best. stevoh Sorry I see you are from Spain so obviously will have to fly to London or Frankfurt choose the one with the best timing. I don't know Frankfurt but at Heathrow you will arrive at Terminal 1 or 2 & have to change to Terminal 4 for the BKK flight. This takes a while. stevoh.