Eneukman

Just what is the baby elephant doing with its trunk? Looks happy about something. Alan

Ib's hotel in Jomtien is the Jomtien Boathouse (close Winston ). The only downside to it from my point of view is that it doesn't have a pool. However, if that isn't important to you not a problem. The beach itself is directly across the road, which is easier to cross than either Beach Road or 2nd Road . Alan

As far as I can recall, there is a weekly charge of 600 baht for broadband or if you're staying longer 1,500 baht per month. When I was last there (mid June to mid July) I could only use broiadband initially from the balcony of my 5th floor room. However, by the time I checked out, I was able to use it in my room. for_ard is right about the guy who now owns the internet cafe next door. He is one hell of a drama queen. Alan

Sailfast, I hope you're going to be flying the flag and flying BA on this coming trip. They surely couldn't mess you about much more than they did last time. It should be easy enough to get the message you want printed on a t0shirt. Watch you don't get too good a tan though - October in the UK can be pretty bleak. Alan

When I stayed at the RG, I only paid 10 baht to get to North Pattaya. Now, I still only pay 10 baht from View Talay 2 to Soi 6. I once even got 10 baht change from a driver when I offered him a 20 baht note at Soi 6 so not all drivers will try to rip you off. Alan

Regarding malaria, there is no risk in Pattaya and other major cities. There is a higher risk in the border areas and appropriate precautions should be taken if visiting these areas. Interestingly, the island of Ko Chang, at least according to the NHS Scotland IS a high risk area and precautions should be taken if visiting there. http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/ Alan

Got to disagree - it's not THAT long a walk to the FLB from the RG. Just a short trip on a baht bus as well. Alan

Just a comment on dress code. The mini market outside View Talay 1 has a notice on the door stating that "in accordance with the law", you will not be allowed inside unless you are wearing shoes (sandals are OK) and a shirt (t shirt OK). The bit about wearing shoes is a bit strange as you will greatly offend Thais if you do NOT take off your shoes before entering their house. Any Thais coming into my condo remove their shoes immediately. I follow their example when at home now and only put my shoes on just before I go out. Alan

It took me about 5 minutes to cross 2nd Road this afternoon so I could pay the rent on my condo . Crossing the other way, I got straight across almost immediately. As always, look in ALL directions when crossing any road in Pattaya, especially 2nd Road Alan

I've stayed there 4 times and can highly recommend the RG. Some people prefer staying closer to the action but that's their choice. I'm happy to be a short distance away during the day. Also, it doesn't take that long to get to Walking Street at night. Alan

I prefer wearing long trousers in the evening along with a Hawaii shirt. I therefore need a spare pair of two. Agree about Immigration though - I have a couple of short sleeved white shirts (and even a tie ,) for my visit to Immigration next month to apply for my retirement visa. Alan

Nothing to do with caddies, but similar kinds of shots from the days when I played golf. Driving off from the par 3 7th (170 or so yards all uphill from the front tee), I hit a low slice onto the beach where my ball bounced a few times before ending up back on the fairway 50 yards from the tee. A short par 3 on the Eden at St. Andrews. A lovely hook Henry Cooper would have been proud off Playing the Jubilee at St. Andrews. There was a very strong left to right wind. Gorse bushes and plenty of rough down the right hand side. So confident was I of my ability to hook the ball that I was aiming right down the edge of the gorse and even with the left to right wind I was still able to put the ball out of bounds on the left. And these were the good shots. Alan

I've bought a few shirts for wearing in the evening from some of the shops on Jomtien Beach Road. In the UK, I buy medium size but here I go for XL, which are a nice, comfortable, lose fit. At 150 baht each, I don't bother bargaining though if I were buying a dozen, I might try to get a discount for bulk buying. As for trousers, I get them made to measure but here I will do some bartering. I'll need to think about trying to get a couple of pairs made next month. Alan

I can't comment on the scene in Bangkok, but I'd suggest looking into the FLB in Pattaya. Ask for Ben or Martin either of whom wll be able to give you pointers and perhaps introduce you to other members. Whatever else you do, don't make plans as you won't be able to keep to them As for these so called dictionaries. They are really of limited use. You have to recognise the vowel sounds, differentiate between short and long vowels as well as getting the tone right. As an example, glay spoken with a mid tone means "far" and glay with a falling tone means "near" Alan

No problems so far, though I really must organise some contents insurance for the condo. I only have a small safe in my room, so I can't put my laptop into the safe. The safe at the RG though was big enough to take my laptop. I have a phone line in my condo so I don't need to go to internet cafes. At present, I'm using dial up with CS Loxinfo though I am looking at one of the ADSL pakages being offered by ToT. I'll probably leave it for a few months until I decide whether I'm going to renew the lease on this condo or look for one on a higher floor. Alan

Tangent, get in touch before you come over and we can maybe meet up for a few beers. The arrival time in Bangkok is great and last month I was back in my condo by 6.00 pm I've flown many times with BA and never had a problem. I've also flown 1st Class with them and found the service very good. When checking in for my return flight in Bangkok, a QANTAS employee escorted me through Passport Control and took me straight to the QANTAS lounge. This is apparently a new service they have started offering and I for one would be more than happy to see it continued. Free self service to wine and champagne And more champagne when you board the flight. Incidentally, after my last minute free upgrade to Business Class on QANTAS, a Thai stewardess came up to me once I had settled in my seat and addressed me by NAME and offered me a glass of champagne. Despite their other shortcomings on the flight, that DID impress me. Alan

Agreed, Tom. It should also serve as a warning to anyone who has a connecting flight to build in SOME allowance for delays. An hour is simply far too short for a connecting international flight. On my outward journey from Edinburgh, I allow at least 3 hours between arrival and departure especially as it takes around 40 minutes or more to get to the gate in Terminal 4 from Terminal 1. Weather conditions (severe gales) have caused my flight down to London to be an hour late. Also, there are frequent traffic control delays at 5.00 pm at Edinburgh. Once when I arrived in Terminal 1, we couldn't go follow the Flight Conection signs because a fire alarm had gone off in the International area of Terminal 1. The least relaible airline I've flown with has to be internal flights with Air Zimbabwe back in 1997 - before Mugabe really fucked up the country. That is, however, another story. The only airline to piss me about was QANTAS but I got a free upgrade to Business Class on the flight so the problem was solved to my satsifaction - apart from 2 hour delay in departure. I trust that the person responsible for this (at Heathrow) got his arse well and truly kicked. One point to bear in mind, if you need to make an insurance claim the insurance company will want proof of the length of your visit - i.e the print out from the airline or whoever showing details of your flights etc. I didn't keep that as I was having a major clear out prior to moving here for good, so I sent them a copy of my passport pages showing my entry and departure stamps. The claim has still to be settled but so far, they haven't said they WON'T be paying up. A stern reminder is about due, I think. Alan

Same here. I'm coming to the end of my first full calendar month of living in my condo and my costs for the month look like being a tad under 70,000 baht. That includes taking a girl home on average once every 3 nights. Alan

OK Sailfast, I accept that you had a very bad experience with BA and I'm not going to attempt to defend what happened. The flight was delayed. You were staying at a hotel. Did they know how to contact you? When my flight was delayed, had they phoned 15 minutes later I'd have been on my way to Edinburgh Airport for my connecting flight so wouldn't have found out about any delays until I got to check in. You say that there was only a one hour wait between flights at Heathrow. Sorry, but I would NEVER allow so little time between flights as it would take very little for me to miss my onward flight. Allow yourself more time next time. As for booking flights on different airlines, you could have booked the flights separately, though if your first flight had been delayed it would have been up to YOU to sort out a new onward flight. If you are booked on flights using airlines that are part of the same alliance and you miss your onward flight because your incoming flight was delayed, it will be up to the airline to get you a new flight - so long as both flights are on the same ticket. Technically speaking, I doubt whether you were entitled to a refund BUT I would have thought that it would have thought that granting you one would have been a simple matter of good customer service. Keep the customer (reasonably) satisfied and they may come back. Piss them off and they won't. I understand why you won't be using BA again as a matter of choice. Failing to give the other airline your details as well as details of your dietary requirements was inexcusable. On all my return flights from Bangkok to London BA have been very conscious that many passengers want to go to sleep straight away, particularly as the flight leaves around midnight. I have NEVER known them to babble incessantly and the only announcements made during the night are essential ones such as telling passengers to return to their seats when the seat belt signs come on. Are you sure it was a BA flight and not a QANTAS one? BA and QANTAS code share on many routes and a BA flight will have both a BA no AND a QANTAS flight no and vice versa. As for us Brits being paranoid, that really takes the fucking biscuit. How many times has someone criticised Bush etc and then been verbally assaulted because they're attacking the US as a whole. A lot more often than the other way round. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black By the way, an American friend of a friend is a steward on an American airline (I can't remember which one). Any one care to guess which nation's passengers are the rudest? Yes, his fellow countrymen. Now, I'm sure he's not referring to any of you guys. Alan

Sailfast. If you had a bad time with BA, give us the details. You say you have special dietary needs. Did you tell them in advance? If your flight was diverted for some reason, they would need to get extra food in from wherever they diverted to. I've flown BA several times and they have NEVER fucked me about. I did once have an overnight delay but I was put up in an hotel overnight and they actually telephoned me before I left for the airport to warn me in advance. (I had a conecting flight from Edinburgh). I've never had any BA staff lie to me either. Your comments verge on being defamatory so either back up your comments or withdraw them. Alan

Useful to know that Redwood. I should therefore be covered for life though my insurance doesn't cover me if I have a stroke because of my blood pressure problems though it's well unnder control at the moment. According to my wrist montor it is 106/73 with a pulse rate of 64. Not bad considering 4 years ago it was 200/150! Swimming (non-stop!) for an hour per day must also help keep my blood pressure down as well as improving my fitness levels. Alan

I'm presently in the country on a multiple entry non-Immigrant O visa, but I will be applying towards the end of next month for a retirement visa at a cost of 1,900 baht. Once the visa has been issued, I can then apply for a multiple re-entry permit at a cost of 3,800 baht. This will allow me to leave and re-enter Thailand as often as I want during the validity of my retirement visa so no need to reapply every time I want to leave the country. So no need to reapply every time you want to take a side trip to PI or wherever. Alan

Something similar happened to me 2 or 3 years ago though I hadn't gone near as far. The driver stopped and looked round at me to see what I wanted to do. As I was heading back to the RG, I jumped off and got another bus a minute later. 2 weeks or so ago, I was heading up to my language lesson. The schools is on Central Road, 300 or so yards past 3rd road (almost next to Carrefour). Most days I have to change buses at Central Road, but this day the driver turns right so I stay on. He had actually been chartered to go to a soi off Central Road and when he turned into the soi, I pressed the bell to get off. He asked where I was going and said he would take me there once he had dropped the other 2 passengers off. No extra charge. Most drivers are decent, honest, people but it's just unfortunate that there is a small minority who give the rest a bad name. Alan

Regarding the retirement visa, the minimum age is 50 (I qualify by 3 1/2 months ). You need to qualify certain (not too stringent) health requirements plus be able to show proof of having pension income equivalent to 65,000 baht per month. As an alternative to the income requirement, you can show that you have a minimum deposit of 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account. The funds in this account must have been remitted from outwith Thailand. If you are married to a Thai national, the income and bank deposit requirements are halved. The rules state that a mixture of pension income and bank deposit can be used, though this being Thailand, it seems that this is not recommended. You can use the funds in the bank account for day to day living - Immigration will, I beleive, want to see your bank book when you apply for your visa in any case, though it will of course be necessary to top up the balance from overseas when you apply for a renewal in a years time. Also, don't forget that in addition to the retirement visa, you will need a re-entry permit if you intend to leave the country at any time. On top of this, you need to report your address to Immigration every 90 days. Alan

Are you investing in Index Linked stocks? One point to bear in mind if investing in fixed interest stocks (or leaving the money in a high interest bank account) is that the value of your capital will have depreciated in real terms over a 30 year period. I'm going to be investing in the UK equity market and without investing in any risky shares, my after tax yield is looking to be in the region of 4.6%. I will be able to monitor how the shares are doing over the internet and can instruct sales or purchases by simply phoning my broker in the UK. It goes without saying that you DO NOT invest funds you may require at short notice on the stock market. You could lose a lot of money if forced to sell when the market is at a low point, though this isn't a major problem if you're just reinvesting the sale proceeds. Alan