ttk

I did this trip around Nov 2000 so my experience could be outdated but my two cents worth. The first class sleeper train had only one coach and there were 5 of us. We were able to get tickets about a week in advance but our first choice of dates were sold out. We took the train leaving around dusk from Bangkok so didn't get to see much in the way of scenery. We got to Chiang Mai in the morning so we did save a nights lodging on the deal. I was able to sleep a good part of the trip but do recall numerous stops along the way. The setup was an upper bunk and a lower bunk per cabin with a small bathroom between every two cabins so you got a good amount of privacy. The trip I just took from Hua Hin to Bangkok was a second class sleeper with just curtains to separate you from the crowd and two bathrooms at the end of the car. They sold tickets for upper bunk and lower bunks with a slightly lower price for the upper and I suspect that was the case to Chiang Mai but I am not sure since we just asked for 5 tickets, Unless you are traveling with someone, or pay for both bunks, you will most likely have a cabin mate. The unattached 5th person in our group had another Western passenger, ex military, and they spent all night drinking in the train. He had a great time but was not ready for the day when we arrived lol. Going back, we all flew and I recall the tickets for the plane were just slightly more then the train (a few hundred baht). All things considered, the trip to Chiang Mai was nice and was on time, the trip from Hua Hin was a never to repeat adventure. It could be the 13 year difference in trips gave the system enough time to degrade to the point I would never do it again.

Wow lots of arguments for just pointing out something to be aware of when buying electronics. Since CheshireTom has actually bought a Mac in Thailand and was able to get service in the U.K. that is the definitive answer on my concern, although I would still buy mine in the region I live. I did look at the Asia Pacific region version of the warranty on the Apple site and specifically the version that described how to get service….but it was in Thai so I could not determine what and where the coverage was. The only thing I could verify was that if the product was purchased in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico region or the Latin America and Caribbean regions it had to be returned to those regions for service. Nice to Know that the items purchased in Thailand do not have that restriction. As for the original question on the fixing the ASUS, it might just be a corrupt hard drive. Any chance that you have the original installation CD's /DVD's? You could try to boot from the installation disk and see if that works. There may even be a recovery option that could fix the hard drive….if you are lucky.

Limited Warranty with service where? Thailand or U.K. ? Like I said the "Gray Market" products are 100% legit. Just that they are sold in different regions. Sure would suck to buy a product in Thailand and find it is an "Asia Pacific" warranty that requires it to be returned to that region for warranty repair. From applies own website, they sell MacBook Air products in 5 distinct Regions. Choose Region The United States, Canada, & Puerto Rico Asia Pacific Latin America & the Caribbean Europe Also looking at US warranty information, you get this tidbit "OBTAINING WARRANTY SERVICE If you purchased the product in the U.S. and Canada, deliver the product, at your expense, to any Apple Authorized Service Provider located in U.S. and Canada. If you purchased the product in Latin America or the Caribbean, deliver the product to any Apple Authorized Service Provider in the country where you purchased the product." Sure looks like service has to be in the region it was purchased…. Unless you are living in Thailand, it would be much harder to obtain service for a product purchased in Thailand. in the very unlikely event you would need it.

Has anyone ever bought a Mac in Thailand and brought it back home? I would worry about the warranty coverage outside of Thailand. Years ago when I was buying camera equipment there was a "gray market" product available in the US that was always cheaper then the US version. It was a legally manufactured product by the company , i.e. not "fake", but for a different region. If you had any problems with the item, the warranty was not valid in the US. The lack of a warranty could account for a difference in price and bite you on the ass if there are problems with the item.

Their is a baht bus system there that uses green pickups. 10 baht per ride. I caught one from Wat Khao Takiap (also know as Monkey Mountain) back to town. Easy way to get up and down the main road but I wasn't there long enough to figure out timings and where to catch them.

Songkran in Pattaya will go on past the "official" dates listed. Plan on Being soaked at least during April 13th-19th.

The bar area is only a few blocks. I stayed at the Jed Pee Nong hotel. 2 blocks to the beach and across the street form the bar area. There is a several post long trip report by Barrief that covers a lot of what happens there---if you can access the members area.. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/60739-the-hua-hin-experience-part-5-of-6/?hl=huahin&do=findComment&comment=1017465 http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/60739-the-hua-hin-experience-part-5-of-6/?hl=huahin&do=findComment&comment=1017465

The bus from the airport is 345 baht ( i think) and starts at 7:30 am and leaves about every 2 hours.I did that last trip and it was a quick and comfortable ride. Depending on how you get to Thailand, there are buses from Bangkok also so you do not need to go to the airport just to catch a bus. There is a train from Bangkok. Hua Hin to Bangkok took 5 hours and I won't be doing that again. Both areas have beaches but Pattaya is much dirtier and not good for swimming. Ferries to Koh Larn are fast and easy to catch. Hua Hin has nicer beaches. It also is a tourist destination for Thais.

I have a friend that works there and I drove out to see her. We met at the MC parking area at the south end and near the gated entry. She then had me drive a bit more south and then down one of the small alleys down a back road. The back entrance was not guarded and we just walked in….

Nong Nooch is also south of Pattaya on the main road that the floating market is on. I would guess about 5-10 kilometers past the floating market. There is an admission charge of 500 THB per adult that includes both the park and a cultural/elephant show. There are 4 shows per day and the times are 9:45am,10:45am,3:00pm and 4:00pm. Not sure how full the morning shows are since I never seem to wake up early enough but the afternoon ones are usually packed. Nice place to spend a day if you are into flowers and gardens. Not sure what you mean by "remarkable action" but it is a family/tourist place only. http://www.nongnoochgarden.com/shows.html

Foreign quota? Pictures of the unit and views always help.

The floating market is on Suhkumvit south of Pattaya. This map should help.

I did a google search for "AIS cell tower ID" and found this page http://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=520&MNC=1 Not sure what it is telling me though

Ate there last night. Not sure why I expected good mexican food here but was very disappointed. I had eaten at the Blue Parrot previously and would say they were equally poor. My combo plate of beef enchiladas had a good portion, the plate was HOT..... but the food was still cool inside...

I just got back fom Koh Larn andI saw that the ferries have two important changes 1. Schedules seem to be out the window. The 10 am boat left at 9:50. The next one they queued us to , going to Tien Beach , had a posted schedule of 9 am and 11 am. It left at 10:20. Coming back from Tien Beach the boat were scheduled every hour, the 4 pm which I caught actually left at 3:40. Not sure if they are counting and leaving when they reach capaity, but neither boat I was on seemed "full". Maybe its just that I am so used to crammed full that they now seem empty. 2. Everyone getting on is given a life jacket. No requirement to put them on, but I would guess over 90% did wear them. They ALL looked to be new since the accident.

The special session just completed extended the existing breaks until 2040 and will cost 9,000,000,000 in tax revenue over the 27 years of the agreements. This is to TRY and keep the 777x assembly work in the unionized plants in Washington. However, the second part of the big picture requires the Manchinits Union to accept a new contract that they are already rallying against. They are being asked to accept smaller (NOT NO) pay raises, a switch to a 401k plan from the Boeing plan, higher portion of the medical costs and probably a few other examples designed to save Boeing money in order to be competitive with Airbus. All of which boeing has in the new Non-union South Carolina plant.

How about work permits? A Minor detail that is not mentioned

1. Yes. But there is a family mart right across the road. Smaller selction but not much higher prices 2. Ther are a few restarants near but not much choices. Hitel doe have a breakfast that isnt too bad. Baht bus route to town is easy. But hRder to get back since you usally have to catc at south pattya road. Walking , especially during peak trafiic at 4- 19 om is fast. 3. Not much near. Baht bus to Jomtien or town is best option 4. Pattaya park is walkable but uphill so maybe not the best for a family. Baht bus up the hill and then walk is doable. Not too hot now.

Fortunatly none during the short time i was thete, they were too busy with the pileup in jomtien.

Surprising how fast the 80% claim and this thread dried up once I posted a " boots on the ground" repory. LOL....

http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/108437/1-dead-14-injured-german-arrested-jomtien-beach-road-crash/ "1 dead, 14 injured, German arrested, following Jomtien Beach Road Crash Posted on November 9, 2013 at 4:12 am A 72 Year Old German man was arrested following a serious road crash which occurred on Jomtien Beach Road on Friday Night which left 1 dead, 14 injured and 13 vehicles damaged. The crash occurred in front of the Somprasong Plaza on Jomtien Beach Road just after 8pm and led to the arrest of Mr. Juergen Heinze aged 72. He had been assaulted by others involved in the crash and was in a dazed state. The suspect was subjected to a breathalyzer test but it came back negative for alcohol in his system. Inside his damaged Mitsubishi Pajero prescription medication was found which led Police to believe he may have become impaired due to the drugs. Witnesses saw the car being driven at speed and erratically and after hitting 10 parked motorbikes it then hit two other cars and a Baht Bus full of Thai and foreign customers. The deceased victim was described as female, aged around 35 and of Russian decent. 7 Thai’s and 7 Russians were injured and taken to various Hospitals around Pattaya for emergency treatment. At the Police Station communication with the suspect was difficult so it was decided to continue the interview on Saturday after the effects of any medication he may have taken have a chance to wear-off. - See more at: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/108437/1-dead-14-injured-german-arrested-jomtien-beach-road-crash/#sthash.aMri94D8.dpuf"

It was you who posted about spending hours discusiing merits. Not me. For most normal people, pay the fine and get on with your life. Howeve, I really don' t give a shit what you do with your half vast knowkedge....

Ok to prove Papillon wrong once and for all. This afternoon, I stood on the corner for 15 minutes and counted buses as he suggested. 28 total 20 turned right (71%) all but one had passengers 8 turned left (a whopping 29% but no where near 80% or 95%) of those 8, 5 were empty 3 had passengers 4 of those that were empty stopped at the school to queue up so DID NOT continue to Jomitien leaving about 15% going on 2 or possible all 3 that had passengers looked too be slavic families ( Adult male, adult female and 2 or 3 kids) and most likely a private hire to their hotel. This leaves a grand total of 1 or 2 that MIGHT have been regular busses and MIGHT have come from LK Metro and MIGHT have been going to Jomtien 2 out of 28 is 7% AT BEST.. MYTH BUSTED for those of you familiar with the TV show Myth Busters. Goes too show just how crucial it is to post CURRENT information. However, I doubt that the number going on to Jomiten was ever even 25% let alone the 80-95 claimed..

I have done that route 6 times since I have been here this trip. IF 80% ( and the claim is now upped to 95%) turn left, it would mean that I had to change once or maybe twice. So far it has been 100% of the time that I have had to change buses. I never did that route prior to LK Metro reaching "critical mass" but have no reason other then papillons claim that they did18 MONTHS ago to think that there were more then a few that ever did that. With the Russiafication of Jomtien and the few Russians visiting LK Metro / Soi Buhkow, I see no reason for busses to goto directly to Jomitien. This board is meant to convey current information to people, 1 1/2 years is a LONG time in Pattaya. Ancient history should be in the archive section.

Not sure where the "hours" would come from unless you continue the discussion yourself. Very simple and short when I have been stopped..... The cop gives you a ticket you pay it and move on. The times I got stopped it was already filled out ahead of time and all ready for me to pay at the police station. I was very fortunate, since the police station was not near, that there was a motorcyclle taxi nearby. He was willing to take the ticket and fine to the station for me (100 baht tip) and pay the fine while I waited near my bike. A few minutes later, he comes back, I get my keys back and off I go.