Emil

I know of a few hotels that charge around 9000 for a monthly rate. Are you looking for a place that has a kitchen, living room and bedroom? Emil

Mick, I used Khrongfa this past February and have a scheduled pickup this coming Tuesday. Ting Tong posted that he had a problem with them, but so far I've been very satisfied. Cost is 1000 baht + airport parking and tolls. If you want their contact info its posted within BigDUSA "Reliable Car and Driver" topic. If you really want to save some baht and its not late at night, take a taxi (100 baht) to the MoChit bus terminal and take the express bus to Pattaya (95 baht), then jump on a baht bus (60 baht) to your hotel. Emil

I believe this is the hotel that was under construction on my last trip. If it is, its located between the Opey de Place and the J & P Court. Emil

Crackpot, The big difference is, many families are driving those large SUV's that get about 15 miles to a gallon and will drive a much greater distance for their holiday. Emil

If these gasoline prices continue to rise you'll probably see even more people flying within the US this summer. Emil

Greg, What many travelers do to avoid the excess weight charge is they put all the heavy objects in their carry on and the light items in their checked luggage. Emil

Cathay for $1001, if you purchased their All Asia fare for $999 you would also get the flight from SFO to BKK included for the same cost. Emil

Making these seats larger sound great, but remember the cabin is a fixed size. If you make any seats larger your going to have to reduce the number of total seats in economy. The airlines aren't swimming in excess profits, so with fewer seats the price will increase for everyone. Now if you only make a few of the seats larger, which would be 50% larger for those seats that are in groups of 3 on the 747 or 33% larger for those seats that are in groups of 4 and increased the fare by a corresponding amount then the revenue would be the same as long as you had enough of the large paxs filling them or smaller paxs willing to pay extra for those seats. Emil

With 2 different TG's I've experienced the same problem with the sheets. On both occasions the TG's felt bad and took the sheet into the bathroom and washed it with soap in the tub and hung it out to dry on the balcony. No stains and no charge. Emil

Larry, If I understand you, those 2 airlines are charging $739 US to fly the relatively short distance from Bangkok to Manila. I usually get a fare from Sacramento to Bangkok for less. Emil

Arriving 18 May @ 10:50 PM (2250) on United Airlines, anyone want to share the cost of a ride to Pattaya? Emil

Greg I'm not sure your getting the point. Assuming that these taxis do pay an annual fee to take us to the airport, then anyone who uses them even if they don't travel to the airport is helping to pay this fee as it would be built into the metered rate. These taxis don't have 2 metered rates, one for going to the airport and one for everyplace else. Also this fee cannot be too large, the lowest fare I've seen from Pattaya to the airport is 750 baht, their costs for fuel, depreciation, maintenance, driver and other overhead would mean this fee is very small to still provide a profit for this business. Emil

Greg, I still don't believe that the taxis are paying anything to the airport unless they are not passing the cost onto us. If you take a metered taxi and its 200 baht when you arrive, they've never asked me for anything above what shows on the meter. Emil

Greg, I've never seen my taxi driver ever pay when he dropped me off at the terminal and this current service that I use to take me to Pattaya only made me pay for his parking while waiting for my arrival. Maybe if you use a service that is located at the airport their fees may increase which would be passed onto us. In addition to the new airport being about 55 Ks closer to Pattaya, the amount we pay for tolls will also be reduced. Emil

I'm not worried if they raise the departure tax to 700 as the 200 baht increase should be offset by lower prices to and from the airport and Pattaya. Emil

Hub, I think Larry would be willing to do just that if she was attractive, had a great figure and was a top performer Emil

I'm sure eltib's list will have some names that aren't on your. Emil

First go to their website and register to be a cyber traveler to qualify for the discount. If your not already aware, this promotion doesn't allow you to earn frequent flyer miles. I'm not positive, but I think that you'll have to be flying through Hong Kong on each of these trips. Emil

BigD, You might also want to tell him that khrongfa has him beat price wise by almost 400 baht. Emil

I wonder if Pete is aware of this change from the old board. Many times there is useful information in the replies. Emil

KJ, I stayed there 3 time in 2002 and liked it very much. They do charge a fee if your bringing more than 1 TG back to your room. All rooms have a small balcony. If you can, ask for a room on one of the upper floors. Good size pool, if you like to swim laps. There are plenty of reviews in the hotel section. Emil

If your planning to spend the afternoon on the beach I think you'll enjoy the trip over to Koh Larn. I go to Samae Beach where your not pestered by the hawkers trying to sell you stuff as you relax, in addition they have the full length adjustable loungers with padding. Emil

I don't know what they cost, but I was told you can buy a small portable DVD player and hook it up to the TV. I would expect you could buy the XXX rated DVD's dirt cheap in Pattaya. Emil

Ken, I used the link you provided to find out more detail on what they rated and the formula used. All I could find was that the rating pertained to frontline airport and onboard product and service standards (fares and frequent flyer programs not included) and that if you wanted details you had to belong to one of the airlines. The things that I care about are not even included in their rating system such as: 1. Their maintenance program and skill of their mechanics 2. Their pilots 3. Fares 4. Frequent flyer program 5. Legroom I've flown on both Cathay and Singapore and they both have much bettter looking flight attendants than United, but unless they have a S/T room onboard, I don't care. Concerning the food, I eat before I leave the house and again shortly after I arrive. If the food served to me during this time is crap I can survive on stored fat. Now if I was flying and the company was footing the bill, it would be a different story. Emil

Dave, Its true that the 20 baht ferry lands at the village, however there are motorbike taxis and baht buses waiting upon your arrival to take you to the beach of your choice. Emil