stevemcm

It's in the Royal Cliff Complex between the 3 Condos and the Royal Cliff Resort. I'm not sure if it's open yet. You can get there from the police box at the top of Pratamnak hill by following the signs for the Royal Cliff, it's further on to the left, or along the new road from Bali Hi pier round the headland and up the hill when it's on the right. stevoh.

The Thai Consulate in Hull is very efficient I have never had my Passport back later than 3 working days after I sent it. Use those silver plastic special delivery envelopes from the Post Office it costs about £3.50 for each. You can track them on-line apparently, I have never done this. My last application was posted on Friday 2/12/2005 and was back on Tuesday 6/12/2005. stevoh.

Samsonite, The quote you show is itself a quote from an article by Jeremy Clarkson and not my own. Of course I know that seating is the airlines own decision. stevoh.

bob99 Yes the new Boeing 777-300 ER started service on the LHR-BKK-TPE route on the 15th. September 2005. EVA intend to replace all the passenger 747s with this type of aircraft, at present only 2 B777s have been delivered. London has the dubious distinction of being the first to receive the aircraft. Next will be the other European destinations and finally the North American routes. The thought of a long trans pacific flight in one of these fills me with dread. Advantages to the airline of this a/c is range & cost, mainly fuel economy, advantages to pax are NIL. For once I agree with an article by Jeremy Clarkson who was complaining that BA had changed to a B777 on a route to the US which he regularly flies. He called the a/c "sluggish and uncomfortable" saying he would consider changing to Virgin Atlantic who still use 4 engined a/c. stevoh.

I bought a carton of L&M reds duty free when I came through on the 2nd of November - from a small stall before immigration. stevoh.

Unless someone knows different I have not been able to find a low cost carrier flying from BKK into Hong Kong. What you can do is fly BKK to Macau with Air Asia and then get a jetfoil to Hong Kong from Macau. The Jetfoil costs about 8 GBP each way and you will need to get a taxi from the airport to the Jetfoil Terminal. stevoh

Gus, Upgrades are a waste of miles, I only use miles to upgrade if they are about to expire before I have enough for a free ticket. Check the figures below for a LHR - BKK return. Upgrade from Economy to Evergreen/Elite 40,000 miles Upgrade from Evergreen/Elite to Business/Premium Laurel 60,000 miles Free Economy Return Ticket 100,000 miles Free Evergreen/Elite Return Ticket 110,000 miles Free Business/Premium Laurel Return Ticket 135,000 miles As you can see the best value relative to the cash price is to go for a Premium Laurel free ticket. This is why even though I have enough miles for a free Elite ticket, I will pay for my next trip which will give me a free Premium Laurel ticket for the trip after next. stevoh.

Well I'm finally back at home and as promised will expand on my earlier comments on EVA Air's Elite class on the Boeing 777 300ER now used on the LHR-BKK-TPE route. I have flown this route with EVA over 50 times in the past all on the Boeing 747, this report is based on 2 journeys made since the introduction of the Boeing 777 these were on 3rd. November 2005 returning on 30th. November 2005. The new seats are more comfortable than the old ones and I can't say I noticed a decrease in either width or pitch, the aisle is definitely narrower than on the B744. In flight entertainment is better with some sort of AVOD system, I am not interested in the IFE (I rarely open the headphone bag) and only played briefly with the system on the outward journey, it seemed rather flaky and crashed several times. Interestingly the headphones are labelled as "Noise cancelling Headphones" and have a 3 pin connector rendering the 2 pin adaptor provided with my own NC headphones useless. The sound produced by these phones is much better than the old ones but any active noise cancelling was not detectable by me. My own Phillips headphones were far better in this respect and they are nowhere near as good as the now unobtainable "Noisebuster Extremes" or the Magellan "Planequiets" which I have also used. In the Elite cabin there are only 2 toilets, one on each side of the aircraft. It quickly became apparent that this number was insufficient and whenever I looked (when not dozing) there was at least 1 person waiting for each toilet. There is no way of crossing from one aisle to the other within the Elite section; you had to go through the curtain into economy to do this, for people at the front of the Elite section the option of going through the curtain into Premium Laurel to cross was instantly prevented by flight attendants who jealously guarded this barrier. They weren't too keen on people going into economy either but on my return trip the port side toilet was U/S so people on this side had to do this. There is no emergency exit door in the elite cabin, so unless you are sitting in a window seat there is nowhere to look out of the aircraft. There is also no room whatsoever to stand and stretch without blocking the aisle which is too narrow to permit 2 people to pass. The nearest galley is a long way aft in the economy section so wandering down to help yourself to a glass of water or juice is not really on. As a result people were pressing the attendant call buttons when they wanted a drink, the flight attendants were becoming fed up and this was made obvious to the passengers. Maybe Evergreen passengers on the B744 were lucky, after all most airlines reserve the nose section for first class, however Elite on the B777 compares very unfavourably with Evergreen on the B744. While I have not flown economy on the B777, my brother has and tells me that it is much better than before. There is little noticeable difference in comfort apart from narrower seats & if you are lucky and have a vacant seat next to you (he did) you can lift the armrest and get more space. IFE is improved and the food is identical to Elite. Due to Galley locations it is served before Elite, as a result I had no choice of main course, the chicken dish having run out. Also I found that the meal service was rushed, particularly the one towards the end of the flight. The food on EVA in both economy and elite is far inferior to what it used to be in the (fairly recent) past and service is poorer with a noticeable reluctance by the crew to serve alcoholic drinks. Understandable in view of the behaviour of some passengers, however they are usually drunk before boarding & sober passengers who fancy a drink suffer as a result. Before you put me down as an alky, I never drink before or during flight, the previous comment was included due to criticisms made by other passengers. If you really need the extra legroom and are prepared to remain in your seat for all the flight then you may still appreciate Elite class; as for me it is no longer worth the cost. I cannot afford to fly Premium Laurel, nice though it looks, so I will go back to flying economy. I will still use EVA, I like the non-stop flight, LHR is convenient and as I have a silver card (gold card now 1/2/2006) I appreciate the ability to check in at the Business class desk, use the "London Lounge" (The one in BKK is crap) & have the extra weight allowance. It is a close thing though, I have been considering using better airlines such as SQ via SIN, CX via HKG or MH via KUL and then buying a cheap flight with the likes of Air Asia or Tiger Airways as the second leg of a journey to BKK. As for others - Up to you! stevoh.

I flew on the LHR-BKK flight on Wednesday 2nd Nov OK the elite seats are probably better than the old evergreen seats, the entertainment system is also better but of no interest to me. The changes mean (for me anyway) Elite class on the B777 compares bery badly with the old Evergreen class on the B744. I will enlarge on this when back in the UK I don't like wasting time on the enternot while in Thailand. Stevoh.

It can be done even on a 30 day visa on arrival it's easier if you follow the slightly complicated procedure. 1 Get an "Application Form For Residence Certificate in Thailand" from immigration. 2 Fill it in and get it countersigned by Thai national who knows you and your address for example Condo/Hotel Manager. 3 Take form back to Immigration they will stamp it and give you a Certificate. 4 Take this and your passport to the bank and open an account. This worked fine at the Thai Farmers bank on Pattaya Tai in this case minimum deposit was B500 and B300 was charged for an ATM card. It is advisable to get an ATM card when opening the account, apparently it is much more difficult to do later. stevoh.

No. The only Thai aircraft with competitive business class are the new long haul A340s on the BKK - US non-stop routes. stevoh.

I'm flying Elite class on the 2nd Nov I'll report back. My bro has just returned having flown economy on the B777, he said economy was quite comfortable with reasonable seat pitch but the seats were very narrow. He told me Elite was full but he had vacant seats next to him in economy. During the SARS scare I flew, B747 Evergreen, the plane was nearly empty & I would have been better off in economy as I could have lifted the armrests and spread out, you cant do this in Evergreen the armrests are fixed. On aviation boards I've heard that the new B777 elite class seats are much narrower and have less pitch than on the 747. stevoh.

Take a boat trip to "Monkey Island", I don't know it's correct name, but it is a lot further than Koh Larn. When the boat arrives lots of monkeys come running out into the water to meet the boat. The island is very short of drinking water so in addition to bunches of bananas take some bottles of drinking water. Half empty them so they float, put the tops back and throw them towards the monkeys. Some monkeys can open them, others just bite through the plastic to get at the water you can get some great photos. stevoh.

EVA fly from AMS as well as LHR - Unfortunately since British Midland became BMI Baby they no longer have a partner airline to fly the NCL - AMS leg. However I was offered a flight in Premium Laurel @ £1050, Elite@ £720 & Economy @ £530 all including taxes from LHR-BKK. I would guess prices from AMS are similar. If you want to risk it you could fly with a low cost carrier to AMS you would have to collect your luggage go through immigration and check in at the EVA desk. stevoh. PS The AMS - BKK flight is still on the old B747 so business class is not worth the extra and economy does not have PTVs, fly Evergreen.

There is an English owned pub in town (I'm not naming it, it's air con and apart from a barmaid and the cashier, there are no girls there) where they have satellite TV from the middle east, Malaysia as well as UBC. They receive faxed copies of the English racing papers & the Arab channel shows nearly all the big European race meetings. I wonder why they have that????? stevoh.

There is a group not sure if it is a recognised club who hold runs on Sundays out of the Harley Bar. Most are on big bikes but they welcome anyone. I often drive off into the country and apart from 2 punctures have never had a problem except once when the Thai authorities would not let me cross the border into Burma (Myanmar). There had been a border incursion up north somewhere and even though I was near Hua Hin in the south the whole border had been closed. stevoh.

My mate has done this twice when taking his GF back for a holiday this last 2 summers. Both times he used All Seasons Travel on South Pattaya Road opposite Friendship supermarket. I have used them for a trip to Hong Kong they printed out the ticket there & then with no problems. Prices in Pattaya are not the bargains they used to be but are generally a bit cheaper than from the UK. stevoh.

The best curries are to be had in Singapore, Penang or KL. With cheap flights now available combine a visa run with a curry tour. Great. Stevoh

Take Sterling TCs in large denominations thai banks have a charge per TC, due to the higher rate for TCs you will get back the 1% commission paid in the UK. I also carry Debit & Credit cards as backup. Stevoh.

I use BetterVision in the Sukhumvit Tesco/Lotus. In July this year an eyesight test 1 pair of Bifocals and 1 pair of single prescription sunglasses in good quality frames with all the extras (hard, anti reflective coatings etc.) cost 5200 Bt. The sunglasses were ready the same day the bifocals took less than a week to arrive. Stevoh.

In the UK you get them from the RAC, about 8 GBP for a 1 year permit. The RAC website has a printable application form. Stevoh.

One thing to be aware of is that at LHR the airport tax goes up if you travel in any class better than economy. At the moment taxes are ~60 GBP economy and ~90 GBP for Evergreen/Elite or better. Stevoh.

If you type LON as your departure airport search engines will include all London airports. Stevoh.

Doolish - Evergeen Deluxe has always been the class that gets fully booked first, try for the upgrade now. On the 15th September EVA are introducing new B777 a/c on the LHR-BKK-TPE route only 63 of the seats are Evergreen (now called Elite) class, previously on the B747 a/c 86, 104, or 134 of the seats were Evergreen depending on version, demand for these seats will be higher than before. Stevoh.

My brother stayed with me in June & July half way through his stay he went to visit a friend in Hong Kong. He had the devil of a job getting Cathay Pacific to let him board the HKG - BKK flight 'cos he had forgotten to take his return ticket from BKK - LHR and they tried to insist he bought a ticket home, because they (Cathay) would be liable to take him back to HKG if he was refused entry at BKK. He managed it just, but he had to give Cathay his credit card number, in the event he was not asked for his onward ticket at Don Muang. Stevoh.