Goldpanner

Having been stuck in the immigration queue at swampy for over half an hour on a previous trip my friend and I decided to try the VIP service offered by BFS. It was worth it! We arived around 6.00AM and the arrivals was already heaving. Just off the walkway was our man with my name up and the electric cart. We whisked through Immigration so fast it was amazing, On the cart on the way to the VIP Immigrtation it was obvious the airport was packed as the walkways were full and and on the way to the baggage reclaim could see the immigration queues backed way up. The rudeness and ignorance at the VIP immigration counter by the two female Immigration officers had to be seen to be believed. They never ever looked at my face or acknowledged me or even stopped chatting to each other as they did the visa. The officer then threw my passport onto the counter so hard it nearly fell off, not that she cared. But was it worth the money? YES. Would I pay for it again? YES. From getting off the plane to getting to the baggage reclaim was no more than 10 minutes. and even the baggage arrived quite quickly for once. We then jumped on the Bell Bus coach down to Pattaya. Nice clean coach but with the air brake warning whistle screaming out every few minutes. Transfer to Minibus at the Bell Bus depot and that took us to the door of the hotel. No sodding about on Songthaews or anything. Worth the 100Baht exta for door to door? Yep

Indeed so. My flight to BKK with Thai in early October on their A380, was near full on both the outbound and inbound.

We'll be back for Songkran, Ive been nagged into it, maybe with some other guys

I rated them as very good. I use a walking stick to walk and was constantly asked if I wanted a wheelchair then put up to the front of the queue when loading. Food was very good as was the service. Im getting a bit dismayed though about the seats in all long haul flights. The base material or foam seems to be getting thinner or my bum is getting softer but after an hour or so I find the seats very hard and painfull. I'm told Qatar airlines seats are better so maybe I shall try them should I ever go to the Far East again.

Gotta recommend Kevin here. Delivered the bikes as requested and collected as requested with no problems at all. Bikes fine each with 2 skid lids. Cheers

We came back on Sunday on a Thai A380 that was pretty much full to the brim with no Business class. Humungous amounts of people but no queues for the bogs

Tripadvisor dont publish all the reviews they get. Ive posted 3 reviews in the last 3 yearsand only 1 has appeared

But dont forget to make sure you ask for a ticket that is changeble, and dont be surprised if you are asked to pay more.

Im a Cheap Charlie. I always fly economy. Get on plane, eat food, take sleeping pill, wake up for breakfast. Always worked for me. I can eaily afford Business class but just wont pay it

If you buy bargain basement tickets, most of them will be non-changeable, non refundable. As stated, before you pay up, check the conditions

Many thanks all. BTW Real Liquor is made from the juice when they boil the eels then they simply add Parsley and a little flour. My mum used to work at the Pie & Mash shop in Barking, in the early 60's. Saturday morning it was always down to the Indoor swimming pool then round to the P&M shop for double Pie & mash. OOOOOHHH memories. There also used to be a little cafe in the market next to the indoor pool that did a cup of Oxo and a big wedge of buttered toast for sixpence.

There used to be a great Pie & Mash place near Walking street that I suspect is closed now. Anyone know if theres anywhere in Patts still doing this wonderfull London Delicacy???

Air China, nothing new unfortunately. You can get similar Fares on Turkish Airlines.

I dont find any problems with Heathrow, I quite like it, good shops, some nice cheap food now too. I particularly like the place that did Bacon & Egg sandwiches and a decent cup of tea, freshly cooked. Lots of those powered walkways, good signage and Free Wifi. The long term parking is quite cheap too at around £107 for 16 days at the T2 Longstay. We usually book the Overnight Hotel and Parking combined, but only those Hotels that use the proper Heathrow Parking where you get to keep your keys. I wont use the Hotels where you park your car at the hotel for the long stay, as they then want you to pay £5 each way for the extortionate Heathrow Hoppa and their car parks arent secure. As for Manchester? I used to live up in Saddleworth which was fine untill it got touristy, then to make it worse all the ethnics moved into Oldham, taking over Oldham Park some days and chasing off any men who dared walk their dog or just go for a walk. I was also in manchester when it was bombed, though fortunatley up the other end of the city. I found most annoyingly, that as a Southerner that Manchester and the surrounding areas were amazingly racist towards me. I was always "the fookin sootherner". And strangely I never ever felt safe in Manchester or the surrounding areas. Such is life. I was born and bred in the East end of London, Im yer actual Cockney.

Personally I think I'd rather suffer the Heathrow Hoppas than live in or around Manchester again :)

No, the Hotel Courtesy services were banned by the Owners of Heathrow as they werent making any money out of it. I too remember the Courtesy buses but they dont run any more. When Heathrow banned the Hotels free transfers they did a Deal with the National Bus people for the Heathrow Hoppa which charges a bloody extortionat £5 each way. However, Heathrow was legally obliged to provide a Free service along the Bath road and around the airport periphery which they do not like to publicise. In some cases the bus stop is directly outside the Hotel, in other cases its a short walk to the nearest stop.. From the London Website: Local Buses to Heathrow Hotels (Many Free) A curious policy is being operated by the owner of Heathrow Airport. The official Heathrow Hoppa Bus charges a full price to transport you to each Heathrow hotel. At the same time the airport subsidises all public buses so that any journey from the terminals to anywhere on the perimeter roads is completely free. In many cases these buses stop right outside the hotel entrance. Buses are free as long as you get off/on the buses on the perimeter roads of the airport, (where many hotels are). Many of the buses run a 24x7 schedule and all run from early morning until late evening. Most of the buses are the famous London red buses like the one pictured above right. A few going south and west from the airport are run by different operators but still offer the free journeys around the airport perimeter. A mixture of double deck and single deck buses are run. Nearly all routes have several buses an hour, the major routes run about every 10 minutes during the day. Where To Board The Bus At Heathrow For Terminals 2 and 3 all the buses depart from the Central Bus Station. With luggage it will take about 10 minutes to complete the journey on foot. Much of the journey uses moving walkways and the entire journey is inside. The bus station is above the Underground station and the way is well signposted with ramps in each terminal and lifts up to the bus station. There are no steps involved.

If youre staying at a Heathrow Hotel the night before departing and youre a Cheap Charlie like me, dont use the Heathrow Hoppa or the more expensive taxis, use some of the FREE bus services that serve the Airport and most of the Bath Road. https://www.londontoolkit.com/lhr/heathrow_local_buses.htm Also if you need an International Driving Permit, there is a Post Office in Terminal 3 where you can get one.

So does that mean the CIA spooks as well??

Its called Thread Drift.

I didnt think anyone that far North in the UK could afford a ticket to Thailand Do they still wear clogs and things up there and eat Cowheel Pie ? I used to live in Saddleworth (Uppermill) and there was always the bloody annoying clog dancers poncing around when we were trying to have a quiet Sunday Pint. I cant go through the Thai Passport bit in Swampy, my wife has a UK Passport !

Welcome to the 2 hour immigration queue or pay for the VIP service

My wife has just arranged for us to be picked up by her regular taxi driver who has a newish airconned Minibus. He'll collect us from the Hotel in Patts and take us to North of Kanchanaburi for 3500 Baht so were going for that now. Cheap Charlie will also get the wife to pay him !!! (I Hope)

If you find an Acupuncture place make sure they are more experienced and even qualified as some of the charlatans that masquerade as Masseuse, not only in Pattaya but in Bangkok too. I personally know one poor sod who had a disc displaced in his back by some silly stupid little girl at Sabai Land, I think it was, back in the early 90's. He still suffers intense pain and is on medication for life as the disc that got displaced eventually ruptured. Ive developped Supraspinatus Tendonitis in both arms and shoulders. Its fecking agony some days, and as someone who loves tinkering with my Cobra Replica its amazingly annoying. I did try Acupuncture but found it didnt work. Physiotherapy does help but the only thing that realy helps is Vaping CBD oil from time to time. And as Im in the UK that can be difficult.

I apologise if I seemed rude, it wasnt intended. I need to be pretty tight with money this time as I will be buying Jade in Burma a week or two later and need to save most of the money I can. Just a point is Nams Taxi price per person or per vehicle ?

Being a Tight arse and seeing her prices I'm getting the Bell bus at 350 Baht