Emil

If they're not marked then there shouldn't be any problem with them parking in the garage and meeting their fare in the arrival area. The Skytop limo operates when BigD is in town as he doubles as a chauffeur, its a 1950's junker that he calls a classic.

She has been my regular dentist for the past 4 years, just saw her last month for a check up and cleaning.

I think you should incorporate the photoshoot of the SkyTop Resort with one of Hammer's bar crawls. That way a large group could stop for a beer compliments of BigD.

They are also extending the line from Oh Nut along Sukhumvit towards the elevated toll road. I'm home in California and just finished calculating my taxes and writing the Feds and the state of California big checks. However wheels up in 64 hours and will be in Pattaya till the 18th of Apr. It will be my first time in Pattaya during Songkran. I'll be packing heat as I plan to go to Carrefour and buy a couple of Calahan magnum 44's water pistols. I'll put them in the freezer prior to going out for my afternoon walk and if any BG gets me wet I'll be aiming for their chest and they will "Make my day" I just realized that I hadn't arranged for my pickup at the airport while reading this thread about 30 minutes ago and had to fire of an email. I came close to using the airport taxi service.

I flew on Singapore from either SFO or LAX in Jun 06 using my United airmiles and we made a stop in Taipai, it was only about an hour. They let a few paxs off and a few more were loaded on, I think you had the option of staying on board if you wished.

Tom if the official taxi drivers are upset about the competition from the black taxis just think how happy they will be when the skytrain line connecting to Bangkok opens. Is it still on schedule to open at the end of this year?

I'm glad you were satisfied with the car service and thanks for the drink offer. It looks like you will be arriving shortly after I depart on the 18th of April. Just a warning on the service, they are a travel service and have a number of different drivers so the next time you'll probably have a different driver.

Are the drivers that Toom is sending driving a marked taxi?

Yes, don't panic. Your not arriving until June so you have some time. If you don't hear anything from the Jasmine in the next week send me a PM and I'll stop by and see what's up. I'll be back over in LOS on the 13th.

I use another Pattaya based car service which cost between Mr T and Mr Toom. My service parks in the airport parking garage and the driver meets me as soon as I pass customs and enter the arrival area. I don't know why Toom's drivers don't do the same thing unless they don't want to pay the 30 baht.

I say plug this guy. The more punters using him the more he makes. Sounds like he's the Bobby or Shane of the car service guys where he relies on volume. If he gets plenty of business then his drivers will be happy to use him as their dispatcher. The more business that the drivers receive and if they can get return fares from the airport then they will be happy. Plug this guy like BigD plugs you know what, just be careful that you don't get a warning from the moderator.

United has the saver and standard economy seats. The saver only requires 60K miles while the standard economy is I believe 90K miles. They only dedicate a couple of the saver seats on each flight so they are more difficult to get. I've always gotten them but I know that the load factor is best if you go for dates that are during the week and not weekends. Also I always pay the additional $15 and talk to an agent. If you try to book online you only have access to the United flights while talking with an agent and they have access to all the Star Alliance carriers. Only once have I traveled from my home to BKK strictly on United, the others have been a mixture of Singapore/Thai and United flights.

Like Monkeyman I also don't like queues as I had my fill of waiting in lines during my 2 years in the Army when it was "hurry up and wait". For those that don't like pre booking a ride when arriving at BKK I'm curious as to why, afterall its the same price or even cheaper. Also don't you pre book a ride when your leaving Pattaya and heading to BKK?

I like walking past customs into the arrival area and seeing my driver holding a sign with my name, makes me feel like a VIP. Then have him take the luggage cart and off we head to his car in the carpark. If your not familiar with the location of your hotel and you use a service from Pattaya they should have no trouble finding where you are staying. The service I use costs 1000 baht+parking (30) + tolls (60) which is about the same as the airports taxis I believe. Now if United routes me on Singapore and I arrive during the day I'll use the Bell Travel bus service for 150 baht from airport to my room and the hell with feeling like a VIP.

I haven't but am considering it next time. I haven't read too many reports on Mr T and none negative. Are you sure that your not confussing Mr T with Mr Toom who has had both favorable and non favorable reports?

A new place opened around last fall in the soi LK Metro area. It called the Pasadena and there best room cost 1200 a night.

I haven't seen any good summer fares since the SARS and Birdflu problems. This is the time of the year that I use my miles for a free flight.

True, but some of these safes are so large and heavy that no one or two people will move them. Also they have an internal alarm system that goes off if the safe is moved without first opening the safe. Another saying is that crocks like soft targets compared to hard targets.

No, but I've read some reviews of the place on another board that said it was one of Pattaya best kept secrets if thats of any confort.

You must have looked during the time that they were moving all the stock around in the store. It took them over 2 weeks to rearange where the items were located as they had some stock still in the old location and the rest in the new location. Shopping there was a bit of a challange during that time. They have safes there starting at around 800 baht. These are like the small ones you see in most hotels, they also had some more that where between the 5000 and those small ones.

The Feds are either in the CSRS (prior 84) or FERS and those that were hired prior 84 and in CSRS were given the opportunity twice to convert. The amount that they pay into the TSP can be up to 10% of their salary with the Feds immediately kicking in a matching amount up to 5%. Also the amount that the employee puts in is deferred from your current tax year, only pay taes when you withdraw the funds no earlier than 59 1/2. This amount is not in any danger as its yours which you can move around in various types of investment programs. Take that back the only danger is if your in a program that doesn't perform well, but there are programs that invest in only T-Bills where you get a set rate of return. The military is a different story as its an unfunded program as the GI nor the military pays into a retirement fund. The GI only pay into SS along with the matching amount by the military. The money that pays for military retirees is funded by the US taxpayer each year as its part of the annual DOD budget. They tried to reduce the military pension back in the early 90's where the new recruits would only get 40% of their pay after 20 years instead of 50%. They went back to the old system after a few years. Right now there is a push to make the military pay and benefits even more attractive to attract more recruits so that each branch of the service can meet their recruiting goals.

Alan my last few experiences at BKK on departures they scanned my carry on as I enterd the gate area and then when I reach my specific gate they did another search where they scanned me and then searched my bag.

As already mentioned Carrefour has a small selection of safes and they also offer free delivery. Between Carrefour and Foodland and on the same side of the street is a furniture store that had a wide selection of safes, some so big that you would need a forklift to move, they also provide free delivery. In the same area but on the oppoiste side of the street is a small shop that only sells safes. If your not in a hurry you might want to check out some of the 2nd hand shops if your trying to save some baht.

Tom, Took the TGF and met up with the Soi dog, his wife and her son and another couple last week. My GF liked it so much ( I did too) that just the 2 of us went back the night before I retuned back home. The prepared dishes changed some the 2nd time so it appears they might rotate those by the day of the week. My only suggestion would be to label those different meat items.

Alan I got the size from the friend of the owner so probably wrong. As you enter there is a small bathroom on the right, a door straight ahead that leads into the bedroom and to the left is the kitchen and living area. Could be 74 sq meters. Was told that the guy paid 3+ M a few years back but with little time left wants to sell fast. Don't know if its in a company name or not. I'm heading back to the states now but if your interested let me know and I'll give you the cell number of the friend that lives in my apartment as she has a key and phone number of the English guy who is still in the hospital.