Goldpanner

Im now waiting for a resonse to my claim. Ive given them 14 days to respond. Unless they do I'll send a Notice before Action then file a County Court Claim against them. If it had just been a simple delay with no bullshit I would have let it go but this one went beyond the pale

So Im back. Worst trip of my life and probably my last. Heres a tip. NEVER fly BA especially if they are using the 777's. The seat spacing is horrendous, little more than being in a mini prison cell. You cant move and you pray the person in front doesnt drop their seat back, back because if they do you are trapped. The seats were so worn that my bum just went through it onto the hard base. They ran out of decent food and had to offer 25% of passengers a Vegetarian pasta. (I told them where to throw it, good job I had sandwiches.). Also the outbound flight was staffed exclusively by mincing shirtlifters. Im quite happy with gays but these twats were mincing around like they were in a drag show. THAT WAS JUST THE OUTBOUND. The inbound was where the REAL fun started. Inbound. Departure 21st October 11.20 AM. (Allegedly) I did an Online Check in at Midday on the 20th and printed my Boarding pass. There was nothing mentioned about any delay. THEN at 1639 later that afternoon, I get an email from BA. Flight Information Dear Customer, Flight BA0010 on 21-Oct/BKK - is delayed and will now depart at 08:30 local time on 22nd. BA apologise for the inconvenience. Yours sincerely, British Airways Customer Services Is that it? Is that all, No more information?? I emailed (No response) I phoned 5 numbers in BKK and UK (No answers) Fortunately I used to be in the Travel Business and knew to present myself at the normal check in time as they would be obligated to provide a Hotel, transport and food. Then at 2312 Local time I get this email: Dear Mr XXXXXXXX This email is sent on behalf of British Airways to inform you that BA10/21Oct has been delayed. Hence the new departure time from BKK is 0830(LT) on 22Oct. For any further queries, please log on to ba.com before arriving at the airport. Thank you for flying with British Airways. Hope you have a comfortable and safe journey ahead. Regards, Shridevi Amazing ! Logging on to the BA site all they had at that time was the announcement that due to the effects of the Hurricane some Short Haul flights were being cancelled or rerouted. A Little later another announcement on the website stated (Youll love this) "BA0010 delay. Passengers recieving notification emails from BA need not go to Airport. Passengers not receiveing emails should present themselves at the Airport at the normal time". EHH ????? WHAT ?? Sod that. If you dont go to the airport at the correct time they can actually state you didnt check in. I arrived at the Airport at 0730. There was already a couple of guys there waiting but they were completely in the dark about the cancellation and knew nothing about it even though they had given BA their emails for notification. From the 20 people I asked, only 3 others had received any notification from BA. 0800 Check In staff arrive and dump A4 sheets on the check in desks. This informed us that the Delay/Cancellation was due to the outbound flight to BKK BA009 had 'Technical problems. It also advised us that transport, Hotel and food would be provided (which it was) I asked about being rebooked onto another flight, as at 0800 hrs n the morning there would he a hell of a lot of flights from BKK to LHR which we could be switched onto during the day. Got the standard Thai Reply "No Have Sir". (I later found out that a lot of club and first passengere had indeed been rebooked onto the 1250 Thai flight to LHR). BA had an obligation to rebook any passeger that asked to be rebooked onto other carriers. They failed. We were then taken to a Hotel around halfway back to BKK for the night. A predominantly Chinese Hotel complete with spitoons. Our early call would be at 0400 (!!!!) when Breakfast would be provided then transported to the Airport for departure at 0820. The breakfast was COLD. Cold Fried Bacon, cold sausages, cold fried eggs, unbelievable. When checking out we were asked if we used the Mini Bar? How could we? All the Mini Bars for us BA passengers were LOCKED. Check in and boarding was as expected, apart from which, when the plane was all boarded and doors closed it was announced that the plane had not been refueld so could we all turn phones and computers off while it was being done!!. Flight was half empty and we were delighted to find that nearly everyone had 3 most uncomfortable seats to themselves. Oh Bliss Oh Heaven. Back at Heathrow later I spoke to one of the Cabin crew who told myself and some others that they had not even been notified of the Cancellation/Delay untill 22.30 on the 20th and that the delay was caused by a lightning strike on the earlier BA009 flight. Final Insult. Heathrows 'Arrivals Board, mixed up our flight BA0010X with the scheduled BA0010 due in 2 hours later and posted it was not due to arrive untill 1735 when we had actually landed at 1500 hours. Meaning a lot of people (me included) did not have people there to collect us. Ive already sent in my claim for Compensation.

After my last trip on Thai where the seat cushion was so thin my bum was on the metal under it I decided to try BA. Back in the 80's after a terrible flight with BA I swore I would never use them again, but as this will definately be my last trip to Thailand decided to give them one last try

Well I have to disagree. I booked it online at the weekend and within half an hour my flight and locator were on the BA site. They are IATA, ATOL AND ABTA registered so my money is protected. If you check up on every travel agent youll find someone saying bad things about them. I also paid by Credit Card so have the extra protection of that. I'm happy

I'll be in Bangkok from 14th to the 21st October if anyone wants a beer or six

I booked with a company called Travel Trolley Very impressed. Booked and paid and the booking showed up on the BA site within 20 minutes Found them through http://www.skyscanner.net/routes/lond/bkkt/london-to-bangkok.html

Just got 2 return tickets LHR-BKK for October on BA for £560 each. Last week they were 643 Eva air still £540 Anyone around in early october?

HAHAHAHA I have just had a Prostate Biopsy and am in Hospital at the moment. Unfortunately for me this is a teaching hospital and I've had just about every Student doctors finger up my arse. Afterwards, as they were round my bed, I caused a great ripple of laughter when I asked the head Honcho when it was MY turn to try THEIR arses, I mean....fairs fair, isnt it?

Im sending this from a Hospital Bed in Winchester Hospital and ts FREE !!

I was hoping that, with the present problems in Thailand that airfares might drop a little. But its school holiday time soon so I doubt they will

My last trip on TG several years ago was appalling. The seat base was so worn my bum effectively squashed the worn foam down so I was sitting on the hard base and Im not a heavy bloke. I wont fly on Arab airlines on principle now, so it looks like its BA untill TG get their A380's running into heathrow

Are Thai running the A380 on the London-Bangkok route yet?

Nothing beats Tarom the Romanian airline back in the 70's and 80's they flew old soviet planes that still had the bomb aimers bubble down on the front. I reckon that was their navigators place so he could see the roads. Food was so apalling no one ate it. It was a salad of some description, consisting of some sort of meat, (we never found out what), some cheese which I suspect came from the captains feet and when you had a tea or coffee the milk was in an old Coke bottle !! The worst thing? Toilet paper. It had half inch bits of wood in it ! I kid you not. But it was cheap !!

Reminds me when China Airlines began flying from Amsterdam to Bangkok. Most of the hostesses hardly spoke english. They tried but the service was appalling. I asked for some Worcester Sauce for my Tomato Juice and was met with totally blank stares.

Fancy a quick trip out to BKK and China Southern looks nice and cheap with relativeley short transits in Guangzou £408 return Any travelled with them??

True, the best place to find 'Straight girls' is Bangkok, far more women, far more places to meet them. Try MBK around lunchtime on a Saturday. So you admit in a later post here you've never been there and have no empirical knowledge of the place yet you recommend it as the place to find a wife, thats pretty bizarre and based on a few PI girls you know in the US???? And that isnt the same for Thailand?, boy are you lost. Ive been to the PI several times and Thailand many many times and can tell you there are as many, probably more women in Thailand who speak English than the PI, The problem is that in Thailand they tend to be a lot more shy in speaking English unless they are laughed at or lose face. What Thai's DONT come out with is the BS you get from most PI girls that they have all been to University, an almost universal scam statement from most all PI girls I ever met. yes theyve all been to University !! wow even those showing a level of ignorance and stupidity that goes off the scale ?? Many, if not most PI girls Ive ever seen or met are predatory, ok some Thai girls are like that, but not on a scale as those in the PI. PI girls will say anything and do anything to get married and get out of the hellhole called the Phillippines. And you probably dont know of the scandal that went rounf the UK in the 80's? When almost every new PI girl who married a UK guy was eventually contacted by some other PI girl and given a letter of instructions about how not to divorce your UK husband untill after 3 years and once the 3 years was up grab UK citizenship, a UK Passport then leave him. I actually had one of those letters passed on to me and I sent it to the UK Immigration department. As far as my information goes, and I have to admit it now isnt that recent, but my information would show longer marriages between UK-Thai females than UK-PI females. My advice would be after being married to a Thai for over 20 years and also knowing many other blokes from the 70's and 80's who are still married, would be to marry a Thai and NOT a PI girl.

Firstly this isnt a post slagging off Pattaya. For those that still love the place its fine.But,I'm afraid for me its way past its best. Its a personal thing and like many things personal, I would prefer to remember it as it was. We simply didnt even feel safe there when we were last there, VERY aggressive katoeys, pickpockets, thieves etc. I also wasnt complaining about the prices of girls. There were fools going there in the 70's and 80's who would pay WAY over the going rate, such is life. Ive always had a thing about some blokes who say "Oh this is the price or that is the price". Also those blokes who will demand that you'll never get a pretty girl for 500Baht a night. Some blokes will never get a good deal with a girl, for many reasons, their look, their demeanour, their clothes, what they drink, how they drink, how they talk, what their hair is like and most importantly how they treat the girls. They forget that, though she might be on the game, shes still a woman, with all the feelings that a woman has. I could go on, but some blokes will never learn. For me and many others there will never be any competition between Bangkok and Pattaya, Bangkok will win every time. It has so much more going for it. Not only female wise but simply things to do. Laying on a beach or around a pool has never been my thing, The thought of sitting in some bar of an afternoon watching Football sends shivers of fear down my spine. On my last trip I spent a whole day just wandering around Chinatown, and 2 hours in a metal stockholder shop with an ancient Chinese man who told me magnificent stories of a war in China. I spent i whole day in MBK and to add to the pleasure ended up in bed with a quite lovely 35 year old Thai lady. And thats one of the main things about Bangkok if you go there simply for the pussy, the simple mass amount of women. So many places to go to pick up women, not working girls either, women from 18 to 80. And girl prices in Bangkok higher than Pattaya, no sorry, see the paragraph above. There are ways of making the girls want to go with you and its no different than in the UK or France, thats why some blokes will always pay over the odds and some will get it cheaper of even free. One of the great pleasures of Bangkok is the chase, finding and pulling straight girls and women. The other thing about Bangkok is the amazingly different array of places to go to find working girls, small private 'Love hotels' 'Hands free' restaurants, small out of Town massage parlours. There is even a couples 'Swinging Hotel' similar to the Partouze Hotels in Paris. S&M and B&D places. Places just out of town where 'Normal' straight Thai girls/women will go to earn some extra money, usually but not always where the Thai girls wont go with a Farang. Whatever is found sexually in any of the great cities of the world is here in Bangkok, tucked away somewhere, you just have to know someone or look hard enough. My old hunting ground was the Original Thermae, where the simple amazing assortment of women from all ways of life would go. Its not the same now and not even worth a look. Patpong is a Tourist trap, condemned to mediocracy when they allowed the market stalls. Its now a shadow of its former self. Nana Plaza, a pimp infested dump, I can remember its opening night and even then it was obvious it would never work. If I have to go to bars it would always be Soi Cowboy, it still has that 70's feeling for me and the girls are still fun. But Thailand is all things to everyone, I dont like what has happened to Pattaya but many people still like it. Many people dont like Bangkok, Vive la difference ! To each their own. Just enjoy life, it goes faster as you get older, grab it while you can. Just a final point, one that will make some wonder. Im married to a Thai Woman, have been for 22 years. She knows what I do in Thailand, but she's happy,She was a beer bar girl when I married her, she has our house in the UK, has a BMW and a big garden and she knows I will always come back to her.

Haha yep I remember that, When all that was behind the Diana Inn was a swamp, when the Nipa Lodge was a great place for a drink. When the downstairs open area at The Marine bar was 6 times bigger than it is now and if you didnt get a seat by 10 you were out of luck. When walking st wasnt a pedestrian area. When the only beer was Singha and Kloster. When the tarmac rd to Jomtien stopped at the Asia turnoff. When you didnt have smug self important civilians running around with uniforms thinking they are the police. When the Bangkok University girls and bank workers would come down on a Friday night for some pin money or the chance to meet and marry a Farang. When the Ekamai to Pattaya bus had more cockroaches than passengers, and when you got off the bus onto the Baht bus to take you to your hotel there was an amazing feeling or sensation of fun. And hilariously, when you didnt have Rotary club members or Pattaya Chamber of Commerce men, who all came to Pattaya originally as sex tourists now wanting to close the Gogo bars down !! I was In Pattaya with some friends last year. We were booked for a week but came back to Bangkok after 2 days. It just wasnt for us. If youve only been going to Pattaya for a few years then its probably OK for you, youll love it, and I dont knock that, but for many of us who knew the place in the 70's and 80's it, and the attitude of many of the girls just isnt the same. The 'feeling' isnt the same. I doubt I'll ever return, but good luck to you people who still find it fun. Wonder what you'll be saying about it in 20 years?

The 80's were great days in Pattaya, people actually smiled and didnt hold their hand out after for money. Few katoeys on open show. Girls were great fun and the place was relatively safe, unlike today. Shame that

I actually had a ticket on Phuket Airlines last flight from London to BKK. £350 ..........And I lived !!!!

Latest http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/308187/Kingfisher-flights-cut KINGFISHER Airlines yesterday tumbled further into the mire yesterday after the struggling Indian carrier slashed overseas operations, including flights to London, and partner British Airways suspended their code-sharing agreement. Debt-laden Kingfisher, owned by billionaire Vijay Mallya, said it had also returned an aircraft leased for use on its flagship Mumbai to London flight and came under fire from Indian regulators, who accused it of reneging on a turnaround plan agreed in January. The directorate general of civil aviation said the situation could not be allowed to continue for long. In a further blow, the company also lost another director. Former tennis star Vijay Amritraj said he was quitting as a non-executive because of other commitments.