stevemcm

I like to arrange for a taxi from Pattaya to meet me for the simple reason that when I arrive from London with Eva there is a Thai 747 and a BA/Quantas 747 also arriving within minutes of my Eva 747. This is a hell of a lot of Pattaya bound punters and can mean you might have to wait an hour or so before a car is available. Booking a car from Pattaya means the driver will be waiting for you. If it's your first visit spend a couple of hours looking for taxi firms you can book by email for your next visit. I have used Mr. Boon & Fiends (sic) in Soi Buakhao and another in Soi Chaiyapoon opposite the Seaside cafe, there are many others. The only problem for me is that most of them are non-smoking nowadays. Stevoh.

Try Henry's in the narrow part of Soi Diamond. Stevoh.

Thanks for the tips gentlemen. I have dowloaded & installed autosizer it works a treat. Stevoh.

Since visting the Cheap Flights web site yesterday whenever I use the "Open in new window" function, the window that opens is small about a quarter of the screen size. It used to be almost full screen size, I don't wamt to resize or maximise each new window. Is there any way I can get Internet Explorer to default to a large new window like it was before? Thanks in advance to any computer wizards who can help. Stevoh.

H, I recently was quoted a good price with Airline Network, however when I asked them to book the ticket using my Evergreen Club number the clerk told me it was a special deal ticket which would not accrue FF miles and it would not be possible to get a frequent flyer miles upgrade. I went to Ourstravel instead. Later in Thailand I changed my return date at no cost just by ringing EVA in BKK. I was worried at first when I was told I wouldn't have to go to the office for a new ticket, the lady said it would all be handled automatically. It was with no problems whatsoever. stevoh.

I rented a nearly new Honda Wave S from Maipang at the Jomtien complex for 3000 Bt/month. They have 3 rental and 2 repair shops. The rental shops are at the Jomtien Complex, Behind Big C in North Pattaya & Sunny Plaza Soi 17 South Pattaya. If you look on the notice boards at Friendship Supermarket you will find his business cards. stevoh. PS they don't rent big bikes not even the Kawasaki Boss. 2 strokes are cheaper but you are always looking for petrol, of the bikes they rent the biggest tank is on a Yamaha Nouvo Automatic at 5.5 litres. The Wave only held 3 and was a pain you had to run it almost dry before you could get 50 Bts worth in.

You won't get a cheap flight in July or August, if you can move your departure forward by just a few days to 29 or 30 June you may do better. High season rate starts on 1st July and whether you pay the higher fare or not is governed by your departure date, your return date doesn't matter. stevoh

If you want the Pig & Whistle you'll have to book they don't have many rooms and are nearly always full regardless of season. stevoh.

I got my last pair at Bettervision in Tesco Lotus on the Sukhumvit Highway just after Thepprasit Rd, good service and good value. Stevoh.

You can get a 4 socket extension lead in the Pattaya supermarkets which will take both local and UK type plugs cheaper than an adaptor in the UK. stevoh

Dave, as you say EVA have 3 different seating arrangements on the 747s, plans of each can be found here:' http://www.evaair.com/image/global/chinese...747-400-368.jpg http://www.evaair.com/image/global/chinese...747-400-386.jpg http://www.frequentflyer.oag.com/airlines_...airline=Eva+Air I flew on Sat 3/1/2004 it was a 368 seater and on Wed 31/3/2004 it was a Combi the booking clerk told me Combis are only used on Wed flights to & from LHR. It is a pain if they mix the 368 & 386 seaters cos the booking clerks dont know which version is used on any particular day all they can say is whether it is a 744 or 74E. Stevoh.

Don't bother if it's a hotel or condo with a switchboard and extensions in the rooms most don't have enough lines to allow residents to tie one up for long periods. At my condo for example all calls both incoming and outgoing are cut off after 10 minutes. If your room has it's own line then OK buy a loxinfo card for 60 hours at about 700 or 750 Bt, can get cheaper if you shop around, and you are in business, don't buy the cheaper internet cards. Do you need to bring your own PC? They are a pain to cart around airports, likely to be stolen & likely to be examined by customs. There are plenty of internet cafes around at 1 Bt/min or less. Mains power in Thailand is unreliable, 2 friends have had their laptops damaged by electrical spikes. Lastly I doubt if you will be staying in your room long enough to benefit from bringing your PC, there is too much to do elsewhere. stevoh.

GREAT!!! I've just had a look at my mileage page on EVA Air's website and they have given me the upgrades both ways for 15,000 miles each. The mileage record you need is as follows. - Mileage Deduct (include return) Mileage Redeem/Mileage Returned for Redemption Description In-Date E-Mileage Upgrade / 2004/06/01 BR0068 O LONBKK -15000 2004/06/01 Upgrade / 2004/07/29 BR0067 O BKKLON -15000 2004/07/29 If you have any further question about your mileage accumulation, please feel free to contact Evergreen Club Service Center. I booked on the 6th April so it looks like if you get in quick you might still get the upgrade at the old rates. stevoh.

:crying Yes I just got the enews letter today. As I have 5000 miles expiring at the end of the year I decided to book economy and have an upgrade to avoid wasting miles. It appears that miles accrued under the old voucher system even when transferred to the new electronic scheme still retain their 3 year expiry. Pity I was hoping for a free flight next year. When I booked the flight they confirmed the upgrade for the outward bound flight on 1st June but said they would get back to me about the return on the 29th July. Now I know why. stevoh. PS Don't waste miles upgrading to Business from Evergreen, I did it once & it just isn't worth it! PPS The LHR - BKK flights with the exception of Wednesday flights are not on Combi aircraft anymore so the best Evergreen seats which were right in the nose are no longer as it is now first class.

Had an amusing experience talking with English friends in the company of an American, I was surprised at the number of phrases he queried, talk about 2 countries devided by a common language. He queried pissed, piss head, bloke, fag, fanny & several others. BTW the common English phrase "Cheeky monkey" is not well received by TGs as I found out at the cost of a wasted BF. stevoh.

I don't consider the current cost of a visa extensions as "a small fee" it is 1900 Bt nowadays. Bear in mind that a visa run to Kampuchea costs about 2400 Bt all in and you get another 30 days (Unless you have a multiple entry visa of course)stevoh

There used to be a Thai Airways Office in the Royal Cliff Hotel, it is no longer there. A lot of maps still on sale and on the web show that it is still there - it isn't. stevoh.

Try ourstravel.com, website for prices, phone for availability. stevoh.

Same thing happened to me early this year,the earliest available ED seat was on 14th. Jan. Rather than lose a fortnight I booked an economy seat flying on the 2nd. Jan. On booking in I asked for an upgrade to Evergreen using my FF miles, I got it!. On the plane there were 3 other empty ED seats 33 E, D & F, I had 33 G. apparently Eva hold these 4 unpopular seats (middle 4 at the back of the evergreen cabin) till the last minute for standby, non-rev & other special case pax. This was on a B74E as used on the LHR route on the transpacific routes Eva uses B744 aircraft in 2 different seat configurations of either 368 or 386 seats. Thus these seats will be row 32 and 41 or 33 and 41 respectively. On the return flight in April I also got an upgrade, on this occasion the plane was half empty due to the SARS scare. I would have been better off in economy were I could have had the choice of all 4 middle seats anywhere in the cabin as none were occupied & I could have lifted the armrests and had a lie down. You can't do this in ED the armrests are fixed. stevoh.

Chinese New Year is the 22nd January 2004 the crowds will have gone by February which is one of my favorite months to be in town. stevoh.

Roguetrader I used to get the 60 hour dialup cards for a friend who had an internet cafe for only 500Bt from an Indian run travel agent halfway down either Soi 2 or Soi 3. This was in July and was cheaper than anywhere else in town. I think it is called Sunshine Travel. Sorry to be a bit vague but I'm losing my marbles these days & can't check with friend as I've lost contact since he went to live in Cambodia. stevoh.

Tom - Ours Travel booked me a class L ticket when I booked in August for a flight in January. I paid up front because I will not be at my home address 2 weeks before the flight, I will be having Christmas with relatives but as yet we haven't decided who is going to be host so I don't know what address I will be at. They were most surprised that I wanted to do this, but they complied and the ticket arrived the following day. stevoh.

Songkran is awful in Pattaya although the water and talc throwing is supposed to last 1 day only, it lasts all week in Pattaya, with drunken farangs being among the worst offenders. My mate got knocked off his motor bike by some of these idiots using a water cannon from the back of a baht bus, result broken wrist and 1500 bahts worth of damage to the bike. Elsewhere Songkran can be fun but beware the suicidal driving, many people visit their families up country and want to get there soonest. We always bugger off to Koh Samui, Koh Chang or Sihanoukville. From the beginning of May through June & July many hotels start doing maintenance work which can be noisy. Friends have conplained a lot about this. Although work rarely starts before 9:00 AM holidaymakers who have been up partying till 4:30 AM become manic about it. stevoh.

Trvlr, Try - http://www.airlinequality.com./ stevoh.

If this is the one, it is certainly not recently built, but is at the north end of Beach Rd. and is called the A-One Royal Cruise Hotel. stevoh.