Gawd Elpus

Where are they now ? I remember there was a big one on the RHS heading toward Big C, and another near Rungland Village. So where are the others located these days within a few kilometers from the Buakao area ?

Did he find the plastic explosive ?

Me too. I guess its just the luck of the draw and the time of arrival The BA flights now arrive late afternoon at LHR when there are a lot more staff on duty.

No, but as well as explosives, guns, drugs etc, if they need a tug, they can always used the technology. He reckons a lot more people are being stopped at T5 custom exit, and cigs confiscated. They just make stopping people more efficient if they see something that looks like contraband and yet another annoying thing since airports have tightened up security due to terrorism. Although this is luggage coming in and not boarding a plane. They are not on all the belts though apparently, so its pot luck. Talking of luck, I will be using Terminal 5 to fly BKK and back. I will still chance a few boxes of Golden Virginia. If they confiscate 2 boxes it has only set me back £30

I heard something interesting yesterday. Apparently when they built T5 at HTR, they installed a number of belt scanner X Ray machines to observe luggage content. That is from someone who works in the Airport, so probably more risk if coming into Terminal 5 (British Airways/Qantas)

Great pictures, thanks for taking the time.

The Baht to the pound is way down at the moment around 46. I have already lost £100 before I even get there. Oh well, I will have to sit outside 7/11 drinking beer all day

Rather like Lawyers

and another http://www.bangkokpo...eves-in-pattaya British bar owner jumped by bike thieves in Pattaya Published: 10/04/2015 A British bar owner in Pattaya was hurt after being jumped by six young men bent on stealing his expensive motorbike early today. Police found Danny Daniels standing guard over his Honda PCX with his bruised and bleeding face on Khao Noi Road in Nong Prue sub-district of Bang Lamung district around 3am. The Briton said he was attacked by six teenagers who showed up on three motorcycles while he was on his way to his beer bar on Bua Khao Road in the central area of the Chon Buri province city. The group cut him off and he fell. The gang then punched and hit him with crash helmets in a bid to steal his bike. But he said he fought back and held tight to the motorcycle worth more than 60,000 baht. The gang then fled the scene. Bang Lamung police were trying to identify the gang with surveillance-camera footage

Great looking syrups

I guess the Polaroid guys dont have any overheads apart from film. Save up and buy a camera and that's it. I doubt if any of them have any photographic skills They dont have to buy wholesale goods to sell on the streets. The hawkers who seem to do well, are the ones selling make up and sexy underwear to the bar girls, and they hoping that a punter will buy something for them too.

It certainly feels outdated. Especially if you end up with a paper copy of a photo. I am surprised that they still make polaroids, even digital versions. Much cheaper to go and buy a long reach "Selfie Stick" if you want a picture taken with a bar girl, or a holiday rental. Do you still see guys in bars with a wreath around their necks on the last night of their holiday, spending the remains of their holiday cash, ringing the bell and their true love is flashing off her gold trophy trinket ? I reckon these bar vendors must walk miles every night, just for a handful of customers if they are lucky. Especially if they are walking around with a crafted wooden carving that is too heavy and large to get into a suitcase to take take home

Congrats to you both. I have been through it a few years back, Supplied a lot of info (as you noted above) Not easy, but almost certain if all info is supplied. That was just the start of the road ahead. 6 years down the line from there and Mrs Elpus has British Nationality and a British passport. Has cost a few bob, and lots of forms for the consecutive visas but does get easier. Some good info there in your post

Can't say I have ever been there, but great pictures, none the less.

Hi Luc I may be interested in Managing you as Zirko, although you will need to alter your stage name to "The Great Zirko". I have managed many famous circus entertainers in the past, including CoCo the clown, Gladys the trapeze artist, Nelly the elephant and the legendary Charlie Cairoli. Are you a Magician or an illusionist ? Bangkok would be the place, to promote you. In the past I have seen many magic tricks performed in Gogo bars, with goldfish, snakes, frogs and razor blades being mysteriously retrieved from a girls Vagina, and it used to go down very well with the Customers. So if you are able to pull a Rabbit out your arse, that is the kind of entertainment that would go down well. You will find it easy to find a female assistant, should you require one, who does not mind being sawn in half, for the right price and dancers are two a penny. Please PM your CV to me. including all major bookings and shows where you have performed. I can also get you an audition on the next "Thailand's got Talent" show, starting again in September. I can even introduce you to the "Magic Circle" GE Promotions.

I suspect so. In UK, if you buy from another EU country, you can bring a lot of cigarettes or tobacco into UK as long as it is a reasonable amount for personal consumption, and not for resale. However, the problem is bringing them in from non-EU countries, like Thailand. Crazy really but that's the case. Many people go to France/Belgium (is the cheapest) and bring back all manner of goods, and they are not actually considered Duty Free, as the tax has been paid in an EU country. I noticed that at Heathrow, DF, there are two tariffs - one for buying cigarettes to take out to a non-EU country and a much cheaper price for EU countries. Mind you its not worth buying anything at HTR as it is not much cheaper than the shops It brings it home, just how much excise duty there is on Cigarettes, compared to how much they cost to produce. For instance, you can buy a carton of B&H in Dubai, for around £12 or less. That is £1.20 a pkt of 20 cigs. They have imported them, and still making a profit. Yet they are on sale for around £8 a pkt of 20 in UK. It is no wonder that smokers are tempted to bring in as many as possible, The tax is staggering these days. The price of cigarettes only ever goes up each year. As some smokers have gone onto roll ups, so they have increased the price of Rolling tobacco. A 50g pouch is now over £17, where as in BKK Duty free, it works out at about £3 per 50g pouch which comes in boxes of 5. These days, most tailor made cigarettes contain an ingredient which makes them burn very fast, so if you leave one in an ashtray for 2 minutes while you stick the kettle on, its burnt down by the time you get back. At £8 for 20, that is 40p gone up in smoke and about 35p of that has gone to the Treasury. Now of course, we get little sympathy, from non smokers but that aside, regular smokers who buy Cigarettes in UK, contribute a lot of money to the IR. It's that bad, that many people have taken to Vaping, and soon the UK government will endorse the use of e-cigs and vaporizers. So much so, that many cigarette manufacturers are now considering making and selling e-cigarettes and Vapourisers as well as cigarettes/tobacco. Then, it will not be long before the Government hike up the tax on those too. I am going to be looking at the price of Vapourisers and Juices, in Thailand next month when I am in Pattaya. At the moment, I think they are exempt from duty, but I could be wrong. I suspect the street vendors will have started to sell them by now, but I doubt the quality would be very good.

In some countries that is true, but rarely the case in UK, for a UK citizen. At worst, if its a few packets, they might put you on a database, in such a case if you were to get caught again, but not usual. I have seen the Customs TV program about Australian airports and they seem a lot more strict in their actions and usually impose fines, especially on certain prohibited food stuffs entering the country. Perhaps that is also the case in the USA

Yes, that is good advice.

They dont seem to care too much at Swampy, although you have to show boarding pass but you can always go to a couple of different shops Cigs are still a lot cheaper in Thailand, and I used to buy them and put a few in my main luggage to take back. But.......................its the UK end where you take the chance, I have never been pulled, but its best to be prepared to loose them if caught with over 200 cigs or one box of rolling tobacco. The tobacco at BKK duty free is very tempting at the price, and you can always put one carton in a Duty Free bag, and break the others up for hand luggage. Disclaimer It is illegal to bring more than the stated limit of cigarettes and alcohol into the UK. So I would not actively encourage it. The worse that can happen though is that they will take the excess off of you, and tell you that you are a naughty boy. No worth a cavity search for a carton of cigs lol.

Songkran is a pain in the arse. Great for the Thais, and if it were just a couple of days it might be fun, but it goes on and on in Pattaya and can get dangerous. I have seen Westerners even firing water canons at the street vendors. As a chlld, I used to love water fights in the summer, but then I was a child. The thought these days of traveling to Thailand to get wet through for a week, is not at all appealing to me. I will be arriving a few days after its all finished thank God and will avoid the Rambos. If it were Carnival in Rio, it would be a different story. Each to their own, and if you enjoy it, I hope you have fun, but not my idea of pleasure and never has been. Last time I was in town for Songkran, I got a pair of expensive prescription sun shades blown off of my nose, which consequently got crushed under the wheels of a bah bus, and came off of my bike the day before, when I got ice water sprayed in my face whilst driving and went out of control. By the end of the week, I developed "red eye" and was laid up for a few days, not feeling well at all. Songkran is great for the Thais, and part of the culture, but it is one part of the culture I can well do without, personally. 2 days of it could be fun, but a whole week, just gets tedious for me.

F**k It, am going to use Bit Coin Thanks for the replies and info. What I think I will end up doing is taking 50% cash and 50% Nationwide card at ATM. I have never liked leaving cash in wall safes, although I have never had any thefts before, there is always a first time.

Wow, that is a bit steep

I had a load of paintings done at a place, just as you go toward Jomtien from the roundabout/flyover. I dont know about now, but there used to be five or six places all together on the RHS just before the corner.The stuff was good quality and great copies. All acrylic, never had any charcoal drawings done but certainly they will copy from a photo or an internet image. I bet the prices have gone up a bit though

In the past I have always brought TCs with me, and paid a small commission, but got a slightly higher exchange rate. I have never felt comfortable with a large amounts of cash, even with room safes. Someone told me the other day that the exchange booths in Pattaya have hiked their commission rates up, is this true and by how much ? Would I be better of taking my Nationwide card with me and using the hole in the wall, as opposed to bringing cash?

A Few Good Men - Jack Nicholson " Bullshit. I bet you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose"