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Thanks again Ghost, another great site indeed for those interested in Thai language, arts and culture. Magic I liked the Thai Classical Music too :-)))

Many thanks for sharing that url Ghost, really useful I will play with that when I have time, maybe it will give me a bit of a start before I arrive in LOS.

Yep I enjoy a good biography too though I really am not a soccer fan. For me the best sport is Motor Racing so I recommend Murry Walkers biography "Unless I am very much mistaken" a very good read and only came out last Autumn.

Ah Emil I didnt say tht I got a free flight for 1900 Airmiles but I notice I can get a hefty discount with 1900 Airmiles but I need to look up how much off I would get and probably it is off the full BA scheduled flight cost so probably still 3 times the cost of a ticket from the discount bucket shops :-/ Tom I love baked Beanz mate so don't start on me over that now will ya ::) As to the 100 posts yep I never thought I would get the century with this topic, the shopping list maybe but not this. Oh well life is full of surprises Still not in a position to fix my flight date yet but still gunning for end of April. Vasectomy next week, apply for OA visa the week after, Pickfords rep visits me the week after that so all cumming together (and that is the best way to cum) :)

Tom, yes mate I collect airmiles on my Access Credit card, Shell petrol, Buying PC parts at Dabs Direct, and Tesco Clubcard points into airmiles and I think many UK folk do too. In the last 20 years I have had two free return flights for two of us to Miami, and a return one person flight LHR to Rotterdam and currently have about 1000 airmiles available. So yes they are worth collecting as a free bonus IMHO though I do not fly with BA because of airmiles, only if I am getting a free airmiles trip. Thus I will likely fly EVA in April/May and get one of their cards too I think, unless BA have a better offer with cashing in the airmiles I have though I think I need 1900 to get a discounted flight to BKK.

Pod, I mentioned that back up the thread about 2 weeks ago that Eva return to BKK form LHR was £455 incl taxes through Airline Warehouse. That is still available too. There is some doubt now that my nephew will be coming with me as he is unlikely to be able to make it at that time so looks like I will be flying out alone on Eva Evergreen one way ticket :) :)

Great board Pete, don't change it till something even better comes along. Change for changes sake is crap but changes for the better are good news indeed though you can never please all the people all of the time of course. ::) Whoops just noticed this is dated 2002 not 2003, well I leave this post as it just says how much I love this board and shows gratitude to El Pedro ;D ;D

Tom you b*stard, you are just trying to confuse a poor old senile pensioner again ::) ::) ;D Decision time will be very soon now so I am keeping in touch with prices and offers. Until I get the yes or no answer from my nephew I will not know where the goal posts exactly are. :-/

Shilo >>OK guys, any idea what the thought was behind that sentence << No I have no idea but why not ask our good friend Mutt he speaks the same language ;D ;D ;D

Alan, another short a*se like me ::) I am also only just a fraction over 5ft 6ins "tall" . Funny I used to be almost 5ft 8ins but you seem to lose height as you get older :'( So a good point that, do I really need the extra seat pitch offered by some airlines? But much like you I have knee problems too (in fact my left one is a partially steel and plastic replacement one), so this does dictate needing more room, especially as I always love a window seat as I never cease to lose the enjoyment of admiring this beautiful planet we live on from 30,000 feet. Taking price, seat pitch, IFE etc into account it looks like Eva Evergreen is the best choice as long as you take a lap top and some DVD's and plenty of MP3 files on your hard disk to top up the restricted IFE offered. Look forward to meeting you Alan in FLB one day, we should see each other if we find the tallest barstools they have ;D Well at least we are taller than the BG's, though not the Katoeys but I don't expect we will meet in one of "those" bars anyway. ;D

Yep Tom, very confused now and not sure whether to buy shares in BA or In-Flight Entertainment Systems or the Deep Heat Back Pain Relief Company ;D ;D I have about 1000 Airmiles, some Boots Rewards points and my Tescos Clubcard is looking healthy not to mention a slowly buiilding up store of Nectar, so will these help ??? ;D Seriously though, there is now a chance that my nephew may not be able to make it in late April /early May but he will know for sure in about a week's time. If I am going out on my own then I will definitely go EVA Evergreen Deluxe and take some DVD films with my Laptop to make up for EVA's shortage of films. Anyone know if EVA offer a laptop battery recharge service ??? Just had a bad week. Was off on leave and rest days all week and hardly got anything done due to a nasty cold/flu like bug which has really laid me up :'( I need a nice friendly Thai night nurse to rub my chest and other bits ;D ;D

Thanks for all the great input guys, very much appreciated particualrly Tom's website links. That Air Whorehouse ;D , ehh sorry Warehouse, company looks quite good from their website though of course all that glitters is not gold. Been established 28 years with good looking credentials, and they just have a good professional feel about them from the impression their website gives. If I do use them I will let you all know if they are good or not, as they could be a useful additional ticket supplier for us UK based members. Will get a quote from WestEast as well I think at the point of booking, several of you have recommended them strongly so if their price is comparible then I will use them. As I said I am not yet quite ready to fix the firm date but working hard at getting to this stage :) :)

Baz, Tom Okay looks like BA/Qantas are looking more favourable after your information. Seat back TV's are important to me on long journeys, though I do have a lap top to watch a DVD before the battery goes flat, though I know some airlines give you a laptop battery recharge service. Okay the website is:- www.airline-warehouse.co.uk Now I cannot vouch for how good or reliable they are as I have never used them before, in fact cant remember where I found them though likely from a search engine. They are the usual ABTA, IATA certified though by the looks of it. The flight finder search engine is particularly good. The cost of the return flight for my two mates is £433.40 out on 29th April at 22:25 or 22:30 (two flights so close together?) and return on May 13th at 23:15 or 00:20 arriving around 6:00 am at Heathrow. Eva equivalent flight is £452. Take a look here show the result of my search options:- http://www.airline-warehouse.co.uk/frame.asp?ibe=true For my one way flight on the same service it is £314.90 > Why do they charge so much for this ?? Should be a little dearer than half of the return say £250 - £270 but this is way over the top though I have no choice really. :'( As to BJ's from the stewardesses well I think I can just wait until I am settled in Pattaya. Keep on dreaming Rick69 ::)

Baz Thanks for that input, now you have me thinking. The prices quotes are Qantas/Ba about £430 and Eva about £455 both including tax and both return for my two mates. The one-way ticket is just over £300. Those flights are all for April 29th and direct to BKK. A big point for me is seat back VDU's , I would rather lose 3" leg room than lose the seat back TV. Can anyone confirm whether Eva economy still definitely not got seat back TV monitors ???

Tom you HAVE come up trumps as usual. Many thanks mate, decision made I fly Eva air. Should be in a position to book within next two weeks so hope there are still flights available on this date. I would really love to fly Evergreen Deluxe especially seeing it is only a one way cost for me but as I said there are three of us and the other two want to keep the costs down. If anything happens and say one of them cannot go I think I will scrape the extra up for the remaining one to upgrade.

Thanks Alan and Shaggy. Alan that 6 inches extra are you sure that applies with Eva Economy ?? :-/ I know the Evergreen ticket gives you much more room but that is an extra £100 or so. Sounds like Eva win even if it is the same leg room though.

I have good prices for economy class fares from LHR to BKK in late April from both Qantas and Eva, with Eva being very slightly more expensive (about £25). Anyone who has flown with both to BKK, can you comment which you found was the best. ??? Cheshire Tom maybe you are that person ??? If little difference I will use Qantas and save the £25. Please note that I do know about the Eva Evergreen options but I have to go economy as my travelling companions need to keep the cost to a minimum (cheap charlies ;D ).

Hi Tom Yep that may be wise not using Qatar, I must have a direct flight also as my nephew who is coming with me and staying for two weeks is a very nervous passenger, it is a phobia he has. It is hard for him to get on a plane but once on he is okay so he only wants to get on and get off at the far end. He also hates not being able to smoke for about 12 hours (poor addicted sod he is, what hope has he got ;D ) As to the visa well I have the police record letter and can get the doctors certificate within a couple of days BUT the OA visa has to be validated (i.e. used by entering the kingdom) within 3 months of issue. So I intend to get it in mid February and it should not be a problem by all accounts. :) :) Still cannot confirm my date when I will be able to get away but again will know this within the next week or two and will then book the flights (for me and my nephew and his friend). Those two want to fly Economy to keep the cost down so although I fancy the EVA evergreen class I will not be that anti- social. Now to get the Hep B jabs and the Vasectomy. Will also contact Pickfords in about two weeks time. Very busy sorting out all my personal effects, what a big big job that is going to be. At least it should keep the dustmen fit ;D

Yep indeed BigDUSA, that is well in my mind. I am not a worrier by nature so it would not put me off flying Quatar as I am sure they would detour their flights away from any war areas. Still that is IF a war takes place (and I personally dont think it will) and even if it does I reckon it would be over within a couple of weeks and well before end of April. I would worry only if I could NOT get a flight to BKK from LHR but if there is a middle east war then the costs of flights could be even cheaper or many cancellations available. But hey man I would rather pay the normal fair as I do not want to see any war, too many innocent people die or have their lives ruined.

Thanks Tom so they are agents not obscure classes of travel, duh trust me to get that wrong, what a senile old git I am ::) Okay certainly browse many internet flight ticket outlets but not looked at those you mention so will do. I wnated to get the OA visa sorted first then I will book the flight so will liekly book lin mid to late February for a late April flight. Or do you advise against waiting till then and think I should set my date and book my flight now ???

Hub, thanks for the info, saved me a lot of web searching. Got the rough info I needed, looks liek the going rate is about 3000 Bht for a two dive trip with all food, tanks, weights etc, just have to supply you own gear (but can probably rent this too I should think). Certainly that is well within my budget for an occasional passtime as I do very much enjoy scuba diving. :) I hope you get the time to do it one day Hub, the PADI open Water Course is the best one to do in my opinion, it gives you all the basics and more and is a recognised worlwide certificate. Well that is a good price and I believe is even a lot cheaper than Florida Keys prices though I stand to be correctd on this :-/

Thanks Tom and Starry. Tom that is a good list. Qatar looks cheap, what is the cons there? Maybe a silly question to you but what is Travelbag, Travelmood, and Airline Network i.e. what am I buying here. Only ever heard of Economy, Business (Club) and First classes, oh and the Evergreen Deluxe from EVA of course I have only ever used Economy and Business/Club class when work pays, but always nice to learn of more options.

Hubster Didn't know you were a diver. I have a PADI open water certificate I got down in Key LArgo FLA in 1995 but I have not dived since as no good opportunity (I am not diving in the English Channel too bloody cold and murky). Now I am obviously rusty but would love to do soem dives again with an experienced buddy after a refresher course. I have to think about money but how expensive is it over in LOS?? You mention the discount percentages and I am a PSC member, but not the costing itself. Can you give a rough guide as to cost of a two dive trip out to somewhere that is a decent location. I may just like to do this again on the odd occasion, yet another interest to pursue in my forthcoming plentiful free time :) :)

Starry was that return ?? If so I wonder how much a one way would cost be end of April ?? Must take a look. Can anyone suggest a good site to get good price on EVA flights to BKK from LHR ??

LeoTex, yes I also have one of those Debit cards, in fact a Connect Vis card which debits my current account. I used that in LOS as well as Spain too no commission charged but just check the theiving exchange rate they apply, it is criminal. Check with an exchange rate site that keeps historic rates and compare on the day they converted your Baht to local currency and be prepared for a shock. Banks get away with bloody murder IMHO (I know a bit about this as many years ago I used to work for one and it is even worse today). At least I see the Brit Government are starting to clamp down on them and have given them a limited time to get their act in order or there will be legislation to rightly curtail them from further legal robbery from the poor innocent members of the public I am all for businesses making a good healthy honest and well earned buck but I loathe the fat cap rip off merchants that seem to poison our world these days.