Marky

I strongly recommend yopu do not use VONAGE. I had a trial service in the UK and the system just doesn't work , ie you frequently get "a lines are busy" message. When I rang up to cancel the service on their 30 day money back guarantee the every rude operative told me he was debiting £23.99 from my account as a cancelletaion charge. When I pointed out this was against our agreement he said he was going top do it anyway and they did. At the moment they have taken/stolen approximately £50 for a worthless service which I am trying to get back. DON'T USE VONAGE - THE SERVICE AND CUSTOMER S

I brought my TG to England Oct 2003 on a fiancee visa. This was difficult and time consuming. I am not an expert and things change but I believe obtaining tourist visas is exceedingly difficult. Research well before submitting an application as a first refusal may prejudice subsequent attempts. If you want some chance of success the fiancee is probably the way to go, but be warned these things are not easy. Good luck.

My point exactly.

Laterally............ Anyone remember The Champions the TV show with Alexandra Bastedo. What a name. What a chick. That big waterfall at the beginning. Saw her in recent times and now a tired old dog. Even the cute ones go bad but we (guys) will have the Money (no 1) until we die. So live every day like it's your last! Keep on truckin!

Tom how is the matchmaking going?

Tom - re EVA - its the inbound that is a problem - can you do that via AMS? Still not sure I would want to do that what with the luggage problems and the potential 10 hour waits for onward travel advice etc (which I experienced when China Air was delayed a few months ago). Think I'll stick to the airline of the year from now on - Emirates! I'll save the £250 and sit in their fairly high seat pitch economy for 10 hours. I see 3 other advantages of Emirates - 1 Less chance of terrorist attack by Muslimists as it is a Muslim country's airline 2 More availability to change retur

Just a word of caution - Ebookers can be shit at times. Website crashes all the time, you ring a cal centre in India - may have difficulty understanding/being understood. Also I am still fighting for a refund from a debacle with them a few months ago. They fucked up. NOT recommended. Trailfinders are pretty good and usually the same price. Ebookers are useful only for flight availability checks in my opinion on their website when it works.

Tom I was on the verge of booking Eva via Trailfinders Manchester until I found out about the overnighter. Their policy is definitely no hotel room supplied. Incidentally I still wouldn't do it with the room - too much hassle. Re the Crowne Plaza chick - any chance of setting me up as I believe you have a little influence there? I could make it worth your while! (Seriously.) Think of the money I could save by getting my Thai Sanuk in the UK. Please speak to your contact at the earliest opportunity! The rewards (for you) will be handsome!

As far as I know Steve and Fat this is the new permanent schedule and no hotel room is supplied. maybe Cheshire TomCat can advise us

Firstly, great column Nightmarch, really love it. However re the Baht Bus thing - I just pay the 10 Baht and if travelling with a TG give her 20 Baht to hand over. These are miniscule amounts and it is an accepted practice. Note that your TG will not generally attempt to pay 10 or 15 Baht. All Thai people are "brothers" or "sisters" and she is helping her brother by getting him a few Baht more - c'mon this is nothing to us. Just a shame that farang people don't stick together a little more like the Thais do. Just my take on it. Mai pen rai!

Thanks Gabor seems to work now but I am sure I clicked on that before - but maybe not. Anyway ta muchly and stop talking about the war man!

But Pete when I access the gallery and go to members photos it shows zero photos and NO user names at all??????

How can I access members photos please Pete? I can get into photo section but there are no members photos there apparently. I want to amend my avatar. Thanks.

Anyone flying Manchester - London - BKK on Eva please note - on the return leg there is an approx 11 hour overnight gap at London. This is why I don't fly Eva anymore. Even Evergreen Deluxe passengers don't get a hotel room. Killed it for me. I'm doing my frequent flyer miles with Emirates from now on.

You guys are what we the UK call anoraks (or train spotters)!!!!!!!!!!! Only joking and keep the info coming! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

No worries, ILP and for the record I do indulge in BBBJs - probably my favourite thing BUT I am very selective about who I let do it.

Hey i-like, chill out man! I respect your motives in doing this and increasing knowledge but I was just saying that people probably would not do it for the reason I said. It was a tongue in cheek comment and not intended to cause offence. I should have put some smilies in. Sorry (PS - the spelling error that you parodied was on purpose and its colloquiall nature was partially designed to reflect this light hearted-ness - maybe I am too subtle). I know you put a lot of effort into your research and you were trying to be scientific about it but sad fact is people probably won't acommo

My take 1 - no ones gonna fuckin answer this cos the requested info is too private/confidential to be given if the person is identified via his PM. 2 - no condom blowjobs will frequently yield Chlamydia/ Gonhorrea if practiced frequently in Pattaya and occasionally another STI. My guess is that if you have say 6 different partners and have no condom blowjobs from them all at least twice in a visit you will get Chlam/Gon in 1 visit in 3 and Herp/Hep/Syph 1 visit in 50. This is deeply unscientific I grant you but my main point is that getting Chlam/Gon is much more frequent than imagin

This is a windup in my opinion. He's going to Pattaya with his daughter to do a thesis on Katoeys. Yeah right. I'm going to Pattaya to do a thesis on the lifecycle of a Danish Hamburgers bun. (Apologies if it is genuine).

When I tried to call a Pattaya mobile via telediscount last night it would not connect me saying the phone was not responding but a direct BT call got through. Alpha are advertising on TV and quoted me 30p on the phone but their website says 19p. I was obviously calling an Indian call centre but the guy told me he was in UK - yeah right (accent, delays). You have to prepay £15 on a debit card with this firm. A UK company called QXL I think offers lower rates - around 15p. And I believe onetel offers about 35p. Any recommendations? HELP. I need to know what to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can Pattaya Pete advise what phone to buy in Thai, how much to pay, should you get one for UK, one for Thai etc. I want a phone to use in UK to call UK and in Thai to call UK and Thai. Thanks Pete in advance

As someone who has had the pleasure of meeting Cheshire Tom I can vouch he is a sound guy and the least likely to be labelled a know-it-all or condescending. I really don't see where you are coming from on this one John (LTGTR) - why have fallings-out with people you are maybe sharing a hotel with? As I always say. let's play nice and we can all get the best out of here. I think that the original flashpoint was a discussion of UK-US-rest of world politics where there was a slight disagreement and LTGTR put Tom on a list of people he was ignoring. I don' t think that's a very free-speech ap

Sved - I actually am not in any way a fan of religion and am a complete non-believer. Yep I agree Buddhism has some down fallings but as you implied it does seem to produce better devotees than Islam. Sprinter - as an Australian it is undertandable that you are feeling particularly aggrieved at the moment at the apparent belligerant stance of some self styled religious leaders. However do bear in mind that the majority of religious devotees are actually very peaceful and condemn any violence. It is only the relatively few who have perverted their religion to justify the outrages we are

Sprinter - think your post was extremely harsh. Do you have a personal issue with Anic? It was a thoughtful piece by Anic and he's entitled to his views. Lets play nice and be polite even if you disagree. For the record I certainly agree religion is at the heart of many conflicts. Having said that if I had a choice it would be Buddhism all round. It's approach certainly seems better than some other religions I could name. And Sved you take issue with Buddhism's "silent approval of inequality". Better I think than detonating car bombs.

Always amazes me people skimp on holiday insurance - cheap can be dear. Read small print very carefully. Are you covered for all medical bills, air ambulance, what if you have an accident on a motorbike or scuba diving, maximum length of trip, trips per year etc etc. All policies differ, read carefully. Saving £10 now could cost you £1000s later or even your life. I paid £99 for Trailfinders Insurance and it seems very good to me (unlimited number of 60 day max trips, covered for Scuba diving etc). It will come in handy when I have my first heart attack or get run over on Second Rd!!!