stevemcm

I agree it's a different scene altogether but the beach bars (literally on the beach and no girls) are good for a drink and crack till the early hours with other holidaymakers. It is very popular with scandinavians especially Finns. Walk north from the Regent past the Beach Garden Hotel to the Family Shop Bar good food here and a good crack. Cha Am at weekends is like Jomtien on steroids lots of Thais from Bangkok and a good disco and karaoke scene, if you can cope with the din you should have a good time. I like it for a relaxing time. stevoh.

More expensive but better quality is to have the text embroidered, a friend had personalised shirts made for his ten pin bowling team at Henry's Tailors in the narrow part of Soi Diamond. They looked excellent. stevoh.

Dave, I had no problem my form was 18 months old. stevoh.

If staying in Jomtien there is a good one next door to the KR bar just before the Police Box turn at the start of Jomtien Beach Road. stevoh.

When the stewardesses are handing round the TM6 arrival/departure forms, get a spare and keep it for the future. This recently paid off for me when they ran out of forms on the plane, I saved lots of time at Don Muang. stevoh.

Attached is a screen dump of the Latest Thai Airways Teletext Offer. I would ignore the BA/QF one. Stevoh

Raylene, that thought has occurred to me I would be interested in what special meals are like. stevoh.

Paul C I flew back on 1st April with a friend from Belfast he got a free hotel room although he didn't know which hotel until he got to the arrivals hall, it was the Marriott. He booked it with Trailfinders. Mind you everyone on the flight who had a connection got a hotel room 'cos the flight was 4 hours late but that's another story. stevoh

You mention you can have a flight to Singapore, it is cheaper to fly BKK-SIN than BKK-KUL. On a recent visa run I paid 8400 Bt with SQ for a 3day/2night excursion including ticket and transfer to Hotel in Singapore. I admit I did it in the reverse direction to what you want but I'm sure you would be able to get something similar . Buy the ticket locally you'll get a better deal. stevoh.

I just used 3 of my last 4 award cheques on the 1st April to upgrade to Evergreen they were readily accepted. The remaining cheque has been returned to the club office and they have credited me with 5100 miles there is a 100 mile bonus for doing this. stevoh.

Amazingly I have found Going Places to be remarkably competitive. My ticket was booked on Tuesday 8/4 and it was ready for collection the next day it was 11 pounds more than the cheapest price on the net. I am happy to pay this for the convenience of dealing with a local shop. stevoh.

I don't know which aircraft will be used on your route but on the B747 Combi used on LHR-BKK the best seats are:- 27 A,C,H & K can't be booked as they are exit seats and are issued at check in, you have to be physically fit to get one. 20 A,C,H & K right at the front but be warned this is were pax with infants are seated. 24 D &G, 26 D & G, 27 D & G are all bookable and have excellent legroom. Worst seats are rows at the back 31, 32 & 33 because these are served meals last and your choice may have run out. If you search this section there is a link to a seating plan posted by Cheshire Tom I think. Best of luck. stevoh

If I remember correctly my last Evergreen ticket was Class V. stevoh.

I have just used SQ for a visa run 3days/2 nights hotel & transfers in Singapore from BKK at 7800 Baht. Excellent. Singapore is the cheapest air fare for any foreign destination from BKK this includes PP PEN and KUL makes a nice change from buses to Cambodia. stevoh.

Tom, I deal with Going Places they deal with consolidators for BR & CI etc. unlike Lunn Poly, Co-op Travel care etc. I have bought each of the last 3 tickets from them the last was eight pounds more than the cheapest internet price I saw and you get the ticket within a fortnight even, as in my case, the departure date is 6 months away. Regards, stevoh.

Captain C, The problem with EVA's Evergreen is that it is becoming too popular and is always the class which gets fully booked first, usually months in advance. I booked my flight (on 2nd. Jan) last July and the earliest vacant Evergreen seat was on a flight on the 14th Jan, so rather than waste nearly half a month in Pattaya I decided to fly economy. We need to keep quiet about EVA Joking aside it is getting very difficult to get seats with any airline's flights to BKK these days demand seems to exceed supply. stevoh.

For UK residents under the age of 65, and therefore not entitled to free prescriptions, Doctors are not permitted to prescribe more than 28 days supply of drugs. However if you buy an annual prescription prepayment certificate, Doctors are permitted to supply drugs in 28 day batches up till the expiry date on the certificate. If you are worried about carrying a lot of prescription drugs ask your GP to give you an open letter justifying your need for them. Some GPs will charge for this, mine didn't. stevoh.

According to the BBC this morning (11/12/2002) the BAA unions have called off their proposed strikes and accepted the pay offer made by the management. stevoh.

Latest Info 29/11/2002 [glow=red,2,300]Strikes called off as unions ballot on improved pay offer by BAA 29 November 2002 Please note, you may need to refresh the page to ensure you see the latest information. TGWU AND Amicus are balloting on the new, improved pay offer of an average of 7% increase over two years. During the ballot, both unions are suspending strike action for the first three dates: Nov 28, 2 December & 10 December 2002. Strike dates which are not yet suspended are 15 December, 23 December 2002 and 2 January 2003. We will post more information on this website as soon as it becomes available. [/glow]

The BAA announcement above is a simplification according to last night's BBC news. The unions have cancelled the first four strike days pending discussions. If no settlement the 5th & 6th days strikes will go ahead. stevoh.

Forgot to give the URL it is http://www.baa.co.uk/doc/5398503fa16f69a58...0fb5_frame.html stevoh.

A friend has gleefully told me that the BAA Fire Brigade have nominated a number of days around Christmas and New Year for one day strikes, one of which (2/1/2003), is my departure date. Has anyone any further information? This is seperate from the current Fire brigade union dispute and only affects BAA airports. 25/11/2002 After much searching I eventually found this: [glow=red,2,300]Notice to passengers regarding possible strike action at BAA airports 23 November 2002 This information will be updated with any new information. Please note, you may need to refresh the page to ensure you see the latest information. We understand the concerns of passengers regarding the threatened action by the TGWU and AMICUS. BAA is doing all it can to resolve this situation before any strike action takes place. Talks between the TGWU, Amicus and BAA which have been taking place since Wednesday 20 November are still ongoing and are at a critical stage. BAA will continue to refine the contingency plans and will be able to confirm more on Monday. If strikes go ahead, we cannot guarantee there will be no disruption on the dates selected by unions. However, we are developing specific arrangements aimed at operating services to our customers on strike days. It is difficult to provide definitive advice to passengers at this stage except to ask you to monitor the situation through the media and this website. The dates selected by unions for strike action are: 28 November 2002 2 December 2002 10 December 2002 15 December 2002 23 December 2002 2 January 2003 Action is due to start from 0600 hours on each of these days for 24 hours.[/glow] stevoh.

Don't know about the rooms but the foods good try the liver & onions. It beats Greg's kitchen into a cocked hat. stevoh.

Steveuk - if you've got time insist on having the ticket changed. I once had the same thing happen but didn't notice the mistake and had trouble at Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific luckily issued me a new ticket. I was not allowed past immigration until the ticket was produced. stevoh.

Paul C It amuses me too. The pharmacy opposite the pier on Beach Road also sells a massive range of cigars. stevoh.