rogero

Hi EnglishIS On your recommendation I registered with WWC today & after scanning and emailing my PP picture page I was up & going. Then I emailed the OPI to them and shortly after went online with Santander to facilitate the transfer to WWC. Is it normal in this day & age for a UK bank to take 4 working days to send money to another UK bank ? Do WWC take as long in transferring the money to my Kasikorn acc ? I have usually used FairFX prepaid credit card before & have funds available in Patta within 1 hour after transferring from Santander cheers rogero :beer

Hi Dave There is no contest about the value & quality of your breakfast but can you please send the resident Arsehole aka Del boy on a message away from your place so that other people can enjoy a nice meal without his questionable humour & repartee. He really doesn't do your business any good. Only my opinion ! Cheers rogero :chogdee

Belfast International Airport today announced they now have a smoking area inside (at a cost of £1!! to gain admission). This follows £1 charge imposed last year for pick-ups & drop offs !! Been taking lessons from Easy Jet I think. They stated when questioned, when the smoking room is paid for they would review the charges, (don't hold your breath !) cheers rogero

I agree Alex I fly with Qatar & have never had a problem arriving in BK with a few B&H ciggies & some aftershaves after a Doha transit ! Some of the cheapest prices around. If you have access to the Silver lounge at Doha & their facilities you will appreciate the extra comfort (private showers etc) hope to experience it again very soon ! cheers Rogero :banghead

Yes you're right Jacko, I used to have Pattaya People TV on while I was messing about on the PC & half listening to the ADs when they ran that dog deterrent thingy & mentioning Soi Day night and I got confused with the hotel. Some of the ADs aired on PPTV used to really grate on me, especially Howard Miller in the space of 10 minutes recommending 3 different chip shops as "The Best In Pattaya". Cheers rogero :beer

If you're talking about Pattaya I've seen the TV ad & I think it can be bought at the Day Night Hotel in Soi Day Night 1. Cheers rogero

When I arrived in Pattaya last September I was being eaten alive by the little feckers, I used everything I could find, heated tablets/liquid etc, also sprays & creams but was still being attacked. A mate (long term resident) told me they would eventually go away. I couldn't work out the logic/reason for this, but he was right ! I got home a few days ago but the last few months I was in Pattaya I had no mozzie bites & had stopped using any repellant at all ! When I get back to Pattaya it will be interesting to see if that continues or will I have to acclimatise for a while. cheers rogero :thumbup

Spot on with this prediction ! It will give him great experience for the future. Only a matter of time before he wins again, hopefully a major ! cheers rogero

I remember years ago I went ashore in Amsterdam whilst still very naive & called into the first bar in the red light district (Golden Key Bar) It was Xmas night & the place was packed. I thought the bell was used to attract the barman's attention so I rang it ! There was a slight pause & then a huge cheer went up. Cost me my entire sub money in 5 minutes ! I had no money left so I had no choice but to stay the rest of the night there hoping someone would return the favour. Luckily most did and I left at 3am in a wheelbarrow, my tour of Amsterdam limited to the 1st bar. cheers rogero

I think its called the Family Bar & very friendly staff. Good for footy at the weekends. I slept in & missed the bus for my visa run & went there to console myself. Will try again on Wednesday ! cheers rogero

I walked up to Big C south the other day & was surprised to see about 15 tour buses discharging dozens of Russian tourists in the area just before you reached Big C. They were being herded like sheep by the bus drivers who were obviously getting a commission for the number of customers they were bringing through the doors. It was a place called Vitawax but how they could cope with hundreds of people at the same time I don't know. There was one couple who made a break for it despite the whistle blowing & pointing from the bus drivers. Unfortunately they settled on a little table/chair setup & patiently waited on a waitress to serve them. I should/could have mentioned to them they were sitting in an open air furniture shop ! cheers rogero :beer

Keep this thread going please. I usually used the TT exchange place around the corner of Pattaya Tai & 2nd road about 100M up the road (there's another TT on the other side of 2nd road further up. I was wandering back one time from TT (2nd road) feeling smug at getting a better rate than Kasikorn when I turned the corner onto Pattaya Tai heading for Tukcom when I noticed a little gold/gem place with a little cardboard sign advertising an even better exchange rate ! You can easily walk past without noticing as the sign is quite small. For larger amounts you can haggle for a better rate. Hope this helps a little. cheers rogero

Tremendous result & I had no faith in them doing the biz at those odds Almost equals the famous Irish victory over the Windies on their tour match in Sion Mills in 1989, bowled out for 25 on a damp wicket. The original schedule was a one innings match & was quickly changed to a two innings match as otherwise it would be a non-event ! I surfaced in the morning of the match after a heavy night of poaching salmon on the river Foyle to find the cricket was sensational . BTW In case you,re not aware Sion Mills (Ulster) cricket ground has the highest capacity of spectators in the world. I base this on the numerous people who swear blind they were at this match, at last count about 2 million. To justify certain rumours Irish Wicket Keeper Ossie Cahoon had a bar very close to Sion Mills where the Windies were entertained cheers rogero

Dr Mick, Many thanks for that great OP, I've been researching for weeks on this very subject, Thaivisa etc. but you have set it out perfectly I've saved this OP for future reference & hopefully I,ll learn from your minor setbacks ! cheers rogero

I check daily that exchange rate site someone quoted earlier & try to time my transactions accordingly but today (25th) was only quoting 4 banks figures. (average 49.25B). I topped up my pre-paid credit card (fair-ex) by £1000 & scurried round to KBank (beside tuk.com) to get the good rate while it lasted. Found it in chaos, no exchange rate displayed inside or out and all ATMs out of action ! I went inside and asked one of the usually efficient girls what the rate was. She was quite flustered & said she thought it was 48something! I wonder what had happened with KBank today. Hopefully back to normal tomorrow. cheers rogero

Last year some of the military guys were around for quite a while after cobra gold officially ended. They were all well behaved & respectful to anyone they encountered. They may well have been briefed in PR before they did the rounds of the usual places. I ran into a few in Hammers bar where they took a lot of photos & a had a quick drink before continuing with their crawl. There was a sober looking guy who may have been "the driver". They left a good impression unlike some squadies from other countries I could mention who seem to delight in in letting their country down with their antics. As someone mentioned, a lot of the bars had banners welcoming the cobra gold guys as they knew from previous times they were going to be hassle free. cheers rogero

This is a great post & I can identify with all of it. My folks (both born 1921) had a family history of longevity but both fell ill with cancer, first my dad which involved a long series of hospital visits/tests/xrays etc. which obviously were taxing & emotionally stressful. I was the only son on the spot although my 2 brothers working in other countries, occasionally came across for brief visits. Basically I felt trapped & unable to miss a single hospital visit as I had a stream of phone calls every night with family friends wanting the latest update. Imagine saying I didn't make it today ! When my dad passed on, it was only a month or so later when my mum also contracted cancer & the same painful procedure played out its vicious cycle. You feel so helpless. After a period of time and everything was resolved a friend of mine said you're now free. I thought it was quite callous but on reflection he was right. Since then I am spending more & more time in LOS & getting back whats left of my life. Sorry if I seem selfish but I have to be realistic. cheers rogero :whistling:

hi Emil I'm thinking of long term rental in Yensabai Condos where they quote 1000B / month for wired internet (in house) Does your post mean I can get internet access direct from those providers at a more competitive rate (cheaper than Yensabai Condos) ? Thanks for your comments cheers rogero

Doesn't everyone ? Actually I had a very rough weekend & needed a livener. I'm almost fixed now apart from my camera being stolen ! cheers rogero

The little bit of rain was welcome as it freshened the atmosphere. Its now sunny as I guzzle a large Leo at coffee/beer bar in pattaya Tai. Extortionate prices. Just had a full English breakfast with 2 large Leos & yet to break 200B ! cheers rogero

Where I spend most of my time, in other words right here ! This is where I feel comfortable & settled Thanks for your good advice & I'll be back with more stupid questions later. cheers rogero :beer

cheers rogero :rolleyes:

I had booked a return flight with Qatar on their web-site for a 3 month trip but realised after a week here I couldn't face going back home in the depth of winter. I went back on their web-site to cancel & request a refund but as my booking was the cheapest going and very restricted all they refunded was the taxes etc. Now I have to decide whether some time next year to book a one-way flight to UK & then book a a return for next sept or book a return from BKK. Seem to recall a BM posting about it being more expensive this way ? cheers rogero :D

I forgot about them ! Even though Dennis is a heavy smoker himself he enforces the no-smoking inside. Also the girls are quite fierce at protecting their own healthy area. A civilized solution. Also thanks to Jacko for suggesting the caddy shack . Their website location map is taking forever to load but I found it on my street map Sorry to the OP for the TF. cheers rogero :beer