CheshireTom

I would also recommend the Majestic Grande. As besty says, for around 40 quid (incl taxes and breakfast x 2) you get a brand new 5 star hotel. The Deluxe Grande rooms are good value at 3,900 Baht incl tax and b'fast which is pretty much what you would pay on Priceline for a standard room at the JW Marriott further up the Soi. There is no comparson between the rooms though. Tom http://www.pattayapics.com/photopost/data/...eluxe.jpg[/img]

Denny, Why is it that you are you so sensitive to alternative opinions about Skytops? Any neutral observer would think that you had an interest in the place. If I have ever alluded to what you suggest, please report it to the Monitors to deal with as appropriate. If you want to discuss it further please PM me or post in the Members' Area. Tom

Jack, I've no problem with Skytop - simply balancing out some of the oft-repeated, exagerrated remarks and reviews that a couple of folk make about the place. Firstly, it was you that alluded that some of the guests are high-quality, I pointed out that some of them are also murderers. That is a fact, not an opinion. Secondly, you pointed out that the manager has serious altercations and threats of violence with his guests, not me. I merely highlighted your comments. That is also a fact not an opinion. Thirdly, you suggested that the proximity of the Tourist Police is of some benefit to the immediate area. I pointed out that this, unfortunately, was not the case. Again, a fact, not an opinion. I asked what hotel you were comparing Skystop to since I do not believe, relatively speaking, that it is particularly good. For your own reasons you chose to avoid that simple question. If I make comments or express opinions about anywhere or anything in Pattaya please feel free to disagree or offer an alternative opinion; just as I will do. Tom

Jack, I'm not sure what Hicksville, USA has got to do with Pattaya. However, it appears that you have confirmed that not only did one the "high-quality" guests from Skyslops murder a barowner about 20-30 metres down the road but also the owner of the hotel has serious altercations with his guests. (He wasn't a co-owner or partner in the bar BTW, just a customer.) As for the proximity of the Tourist Police .......... they didn't do Brendan the barowner much good, did they? I am sure you are sincere in recommending the Skyslops to other boardies but it would be interesting to know what other hotels you are comparing it to. Tom

Didn't one of the "high-quality" guests at Skyslops murder a barowner up the road not so long ago?

Mike, In short, it is an economy class code. A simplified explanation of the various codes is: First class codes A, F, P, R, Z On domestic flights, F commonly indicates first class on a two-cabin plane. If a three-cabin aircraft is used, P (for "premium") may be used to distinguish the higher level of service in first class. The R code indicated supersonic transport and is no longer used with the retirement of the Concorde. The A and Z codes may indicate a first class ticket whose fare is reduced due to restrictions on refunds, advance reservation requirements, or other terms. Business class codes C, J, D, I On many airlines, C or J indicate full fare business class, whereas discounted and thus restricted and un-upgradeable fares are represented by D or I. Economy class codes Full fare: Y, H Standard fare: B, M, N Special or discount fares: G, I, K, L, O, Q, S, T, U, V, W, X In most airlines, a full fare, unrestricted economy ticket is booked as a Y fare. Full fare tickets with restrictions on travel dates, refunds, or advance reservations are commonly classed as B, H, or M, although some airlines may use S, W, or others. Heavily discounted fares, commonly T or W, not only will not permit cabin upgrades, refunds, or reservation changes, but may require Internet booking, not credit miles or elite status credit in a frequent flyer program, or impose many other restrictions. Other fare codes are restricted for use by consolidators, group charters, or travel industry professionals. Tom

No miles in V and W classes on Thai from 1 June this year. At the same time Y class was increased to 110% of miles flown. They seem to be following other airlines and rewarding revenue earned rather than miles flown.

mike, TG971 and LX4300 are the same flight. It is operated by Thai. LX182 is operated by Swiss. On the return TG970/LX4301 is operated by Thai and LX183 by Swiss. Keep your eyes open for any news on Air Asia announcing details of their VietNam flights. They are due to do so within the next month or so and there could be some good deals available. Tom

yselmike, Generally speaking, flight prices will increase in mid-December depending on the airline. My own opinion (and that's all it is) is that flights to LOS will very heavily booked this Xmas - notwithstanding any disasters, terrorist attacks, wars etc. The reason for this is the increase in numbers of groups of younger guys who are doing 2 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks at Xmas/New Year. The way the Bank Holidays fall this year (Mon 26/Tue 27 Dec and Mon 2 Jan are all public holidays) means that guys will be able to go out from Sat 17 Dec through to Tue/Wed 3/4 Jan and still only use 10 working days holiday. If I was booking now I would happily take the 950 Euros on offer from Swissair. They have decent, new aircraft, decent timings, good service and PTV in each seat in economy. You may also have the option of electing to take the Thai codeshare from Zurich which should, by that time, be operated using one of their new A340-600 aircraft (PTV in economy). As an example, a cursory check for your dates shows the cheapest fare with Swiss (on the Thai codeshare from Zurich) from London at around 1,010 Euros. There are a couple of cheaper alternatives (China Eastern, Alitalia, Turkish) but nothing I would fancy flying on for 12 hours. Regards, Tom

bigmofo, That's not the case on all websites/search engines. E-bookers, for example (Travelbag, Bridge the World etc would be the same), throw up this example when you search on their site: Price per adult: £ 3382 Total incl. of taxes and fees: £ 3454.00 Departure: London [LHR] 25 Jul 12:30 Arrival: Bangkok [bKK] 26 Jul 06:05 Duration: 11h 35m Direct Class: Economy Departure: Bangkok [bKK] 30 Jul 00:25 Arrival: London [LHR] 30 Jul 06:45 Duration:12h 20m Direct Class: Economy Tom

Why do you want to travel to Europe on Easyjet or Ryanair to link up with a "direct" flight? It seems a bit pointless when you can get the same flight with KLM, Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian etc on a through ticket? I would say that 600 quid for travel in early/mid August is a pretty good deal. Tom

Sheesh! How cheap do you want? A cursory check through some of the previous posts this year will show shit loads of cheap flights from the UK (BA and Etihad at less than 300 quid, Thai, Qatar and EVA at less than 400 quid and the list goes on and on). As a starting point go to the e-bookers main site, scroll down to the bottom of the home page and select whichever European country you want to price up and then input your details. It will then come up with a price. http://www.ebookers.com/ Tom

The Piano Bar at The Westin is my regular early evening haunt when in Bangkok. The resident entertainment is/was a Filipina duo who are pretty good. Overall a nice place to take your TG and totally guest friendly. As Hub said, some of the service staff are pretty cool Come to think of it, some of the chambermaids were pretty cool. It's also handy for nipping over the road to Riva's at The Sheraton if your wallet/ego can handle it. Tom

monkeyman, I just checked now to book my mother out (don't ask! ) 10-24 Nov (Thu to Thu). No problem with availability. I would assume that if you are looking for seats on Sat/Sun then they may be a bit thinner on the ground. Tom

He He ............. Big C is a supermarket chain. The one opposite Soi 2/3 is part of a complex more properly known as the Central Festival Centre (shopping mall, restaurants, cinemas and, of course, the supermarket) The hotels mentioned in that area are all probably around 150-200 metres from the beach. The area itself is home to many beer bars, shops and the three main soapies. Cheap and easy access to Walking Street and Pattayaland at night (if go-gos are more your thing) by the never-ending stream of baht-buses. The area in general is much favoured by many of the boardies. Tom

All of the following offer two-bedroomed "family suites" on their websites(availability is a separate issue ): Bella Villa Prima and Bella Villa Cabana Nova Park Pinewood Residences Sunshine Vista Tom

No Denny. You didn't say that TG would start a new service to LAX, you said Thai had announced a new service to LAX. They hadn't and didn't do so until this week. As I said at the time: "Yep, I can find plenty speculation of what will happen with the third A340-500 when it arrives in the autumn but no announcement from Thai." Tom BTW - Slightly off-topic .......... Have you ever stayed at the Westin Bangkok?

echster, The info on LAX obviously flowed from the TG Q2 Investors' Presentation on 26 May. It makes for some interesting reading. Bear in mind that TG's fiscal year is 1 Oct - 30 Sep. TG Q2 Investor Relations Presentation A couple of snippets from it: JFK non-stop prices to rise by 25% in July so it seems an opportune moment to buy your ticket if you plan using that route. Adjust price upwards for sectors with > 70% cabin factor (bad news for London). New routes (in addition to J'Burg and Moscow) include Berlin, Christchurch and MANCHESTER! (it's the first time I've seen it in writing from them). Ideally we would like one of those nice, new 772ERs to compete directly with Singapore and Malaysia's non-stops but we'll probably end up with a MD11 via Moscow. I'll stick to Qatar in that case. Regards, Tom

BigDUSA, Not at all. The announcement was made this week - not sometime in April as you claimed. Neither was the "announcement" reported in the Nation, TG's press releases, nor the Bangkok Post as you claimed. As usual, you were talking out of your arse. If not, provide a link to the announcement you referred to. Tom

echster, Thai's schedule has now been updated and shows the BKK-LAX non-stop flights to be operated using A345s. The flight time on the return leg is 20 mins longer than the JFK route (17:31 v 17:10) so that would seem to make sense otherwise why get the 340-500s in the first place if both routes could be managed using 340-600s? I know JFK-BKK is ostensibly further than LAX-BKK but the JFK route (presumably) has the benefit of tailwinds since it flies eastabout, whereas the LAX-BKK route is westabout. Have you got any idea how the 744s are coming along with their refurbishment? There only seems to be the one aircraft operating BKK-FRA at the moment. Whatever the case on the LAX route, I'm glad you have got the early BKK arrival - the early morning Euro arrivals should just have about cleared by the time you get to immigration. All the sweeter if you have managed to fly in enhanced economy on one of the A345s. Tom

echster, I know the feeling! As you know, Thai has always had the A340-600 earmarked for the European secondary market (Milan, Zurich etc), Auckland and Japan to free up the 747s and MD11s for new routes. The A340-500s have always been earmarked for the North American market. I have assumed that the delivery of the two remaining A340-500s in the autumn would be used to increase JFK to a daily service and add 3 x weekly non-stops to LAX. If, as this guy claims, LAX is to be served by A340-600, where are the -500s going to? Tom

The flight times are as per the current 747, i.e. Departure Flights: London(Heathrow)-Bankok From: London(Heathrow)( +0) To: Bankok( +7) Travel date: 9/24/2005 Flight No. BR0068 Frequency .234.67 Dep. Time 21:35 Arr. Time 14:55 Arr. Date +1 Stops 0 Class Aircraft Type 77W Flight Hours 11.20 Return Flights: Bankok-London(Heathrow) From: Bankok( +7) To: London(Heathrow)( +0) Travel date: 9/24/2005 FlightNo. BR0067 Frequency .234.67 Dep.Time 12:55 Arr. Time 19:15 Arr. Date 0 Stops 0 Class Aircraft Type 77W Flight Hours 12.20

Elef, Thanks for the links. I was under the impression that the Weekender, Sabai Room and Sabailand were, in fact, only let out on management contracts. Tom

Elef, The Sabai Lodge is currently handling the bookings and day-to-day management of the Sabai Resort. However, the new wing referred to on its home page is the Sabai Wing on Soi 1, not the Sabai Resort which is the old Weekender complex. Tom

The airline is called Etihad and stops in Abu Dhabi and not Dubai. That aside, they are, by all accounts, a decent outfit and if you have got a price and the dates that suit you then, as you say, no worries! Have a good trip. Tom