CheshireTom

The building to the rear (Soi 1) that was the Sabai Sabai pub has been demolished and a further six-storey, 100 room plus pool extension has now started construction. Expect this work to last 8 months to 1 year. The 16 room extension on Soi 2 is now almost complete and is undergoing internals and cosmetic finishes. Pretty much the same story with the new hotels on the 2nd Road end of Soi 3/4. Both the Bella Villa Prima and Mike Orchid Resort are blighted by the additional Mike rooms being put up between the two properties. Should be nice when it's finished but possibly best avoided for

rockinjerry, http://203.154.168.55/birts/plantrip.aspx Punch in your trip and the details you want will come up. Pattaya-Samui is a daily flight, as is Pattaya-Phuket (via Samui). Pattaya-Phuket direct flights (1.5 hours) commence on 28 March and fly on Wed/Fri/Sun. Cost of the direct return flight (Pattaya-Phuket) is THB6,880 incl taxes if booked on the website. You can normally get a better deal if booking in Thailand - the Bangkok Airways office in Pattaya is on 2nd Road opposite the Hard Rock/Montien hotels. The aircraft used on the route are ATR72 turboprops. Off

sparkey, http://www.bangkokair.com/samui_airport.htm http://www.bangkokair.com/sukhothai_airport.htm The pics don't really do justice to the laid back atmosphere of the airports. Regards, Tom

Roguetrader, EVA is currently available with all the main online agents on the dates you quoted at GBP470-490 incl taxes. Tom

sparkey, Just chill out and get the train down to Surathani from Hua Hin and then jump on the ferry over to Samui. It's a great trip and gives you a good look at Thai life along the way. Regards, Tom

sparkey, The 400 Baht charge is an Airport Maintenance Fee, not a tax. Samui is a privately owned airport, as are Sukhothai and Trat. They are owned and operated by Bangkok Airways. IMHO the extra fee is worth it (100 Baht at Sukhothai) just for the privelege of travelling through Samui or Sukhothai - I assume that Trat is designed to similar standards. Tom

sparkey1, Assuming you travel on non-blackout days, it is 35,000 miles for each intra-Asia journey. i.e. a total of 140,000 miles for BKK->TPE->MNL->TPE->BKK. Tom

Gus, I think you'll find that the LHR-BKK round trip is just short of the magical 15k (14,798 in Evergreen Deluxe). It works out that your fourth trip and every third trip thereafter amounts to a free return upgrade. (Unless you got a bonus mileage for joining online or similar). As Toby says you earn 100% miles for the paid economy class as opposed to the 125% for the Evergreen Deluxe travelled when upgrading. The good thing about Eva is that you can confirm your upgrades at the time of booking rather than 21 days before departure or similar with Thai and other airlines. Regard

Zeus, Thai currently has an order for five A340-500 which presumably will serve the US west and east coasts. They are however in dispute with the EU about the amount of chemicals in Thai prawns and Thaksin has chosen to link the two i.e. if you don't buy our prawns we won't buy your planes. Notwithstanding that argument, the aircraft are now due for delivery in 2005 (it was originally meant to be this year). If, and when, the aircraft come online it will be interesting to see what seat configuration they decide to go with i.e. whether they adopt the same attitude as Singapore with th

Valxxx, That's the problem in hospitals. It's almost impossible to tell the difference between a cook and a ........ err gay radiologist. Mind you, they can both be relied on to do a good mince! Tom

Sunny, I understand your point now. The problem , no matter whom we choose to fly with, is that it is always going to be a compromise regarding price, comfort, convenience etc. I'm sure Jordanian will prove to be OK. That said, if you now have lots of EVA airmiles you're looking to offload, drop me a PM. Regards, Tom

Sparkey, No worries. The A330 can't do UK-BKK. We will have to wait a while yet until Eva receives its Boeing 777ER (Mar 2005?) which will be configured to include a new upgraded Evergreen Deluxe as well as their revamped premium laural business class. In the meantime, keep accumulating the airmiles. Regards, Tom

Sunny, Why would you want to forego a non-stop flight on a brand new A330 with a totally revamped economy class product for something like Jordanian? ??? Tom

Lazyboy, Terminal 2. They went through a phase last year of occasionally going into Terminal 1 (the bags still came out in Terminal 2) but I think that was to do with the building works at the time on Terminal 2's new pier. Regards, Tom

neilri, I fly EVA regularly and tried China last year. The product offered then (effectively Dynasty Class with 20 kg baggage) beat Evergreen Deluxe hands down. China have recently downgraded that product (changed the AMS service to 3 classes from 4) in respect of the in-flight service and lounge access but retained the previous price. China's cabin crew (Thai-based) however leave EVA in the shade. The main reason I stick with EVA is to continue to accumulate miles to upgrade to their premium laurel business class when it is introduced on the London route - I believe it is being int

lasingmao, If it is the same as the Sheraton you will get hit for 10% service and 7% tax on what they determine to be the cash equivalent of your stay. Tom

Lazyboy, ??? The address is for Tesco Lotus on North Pattaya Road. Perhaps she lives on the car-park. ;D Regards, Tom

Fatboyfat, The fare seems to be valid for all days up to mid-June except 2 weeks during the easter period - subject to normal seat availability. I had a bit of a nightmare with some supervisor at Trailfinders who insisted the offer was a mistake. I went back to Travelmood/Flynow.com and done the booking direct with them - a guy called David on 0870 421 1460. Being a bit of a cynic (if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!), I elected to pick up the tickets this afternoon from their call centre in Leeds and then confirmed my seat pre-allocation with EVA, so it is a genuine offer.

Hammer, When you get into Pattaya go to the Bangkok Airways office (2nd Rd, opposite The Montien/Hard Rock Hotels). They always have special fares on an A4 flyer but they must be booked in-country. Tom

Baz, I will get you a few! I was already booked with EVA in Evergreen for the end of Feb - whilst digging around to try and find the Thai offer I came across an EVA offer on Flynow/Travelmood for UKP1,440 First Class. A quick call to my own agent (Trailfinders) confirmed they also had the deal and booked me up without any additional charges for changing. I will arrive in town on 26 Feb, staying in Soi 2 but I've managed to work out these baht bus things now so no probs getting up to your hunting grounds. What do you reckon to a French Night in FLB with OMJ as guest of honour

Baz, When are you next out in Pattaya? Tom

Baz, Emirates is circa 3 hour layover in both directions. Flights from Manchester go out at around 2 and 8 p.m. each day. Be careful with some cheaper availability as some connections are showing a 9 hour layover i.e. fly out on the afternoon flight but get held over for the evening flight connection. If you are in Notts why don't you travel from Birmingham on the Emirates flight from there? You can do a two-and-a-half hour stopover on the outbound and one-and-a-half hour stopover on the return on A330s throughout the whole journey. However, the same principle as MAN applies to B

daveuk, And you will now need your break half-way through the journey. Emirates has recently changed its Manchester operating aircraft from A330 to a high-density (charter) seat-fit 777 i.e. 10 seats across as opposed to 9. On top of this every departure seems to be absolutely packed so very little chance of any extra room being available. Probably better off on the Singapore Airlines non-stop (to Singapore) 777-200ER, a lot roomier with better IFE and cabin crew. Because it flies a more northerly route than Emirates, overall, it only puts 1 hour on the total travelling time to LOS

echster, It says a lot for TG that even the Thai Transport Minister doesn't regard Thai as a premium service. The trouble that Thai have got at the moment is that Thaksin has recently linked the sale of the A345 (and therefore any non-stop flights to continental US) to the EU accepting Thai shrimps/prawns full of chemicals that are banned in foodstuffs in Europe. On top of that their proposed expansion was based on them purchasing seven 747-400 from United who have now pulled out of the deal. One can only assume that they had no use for USD 300m worth of tom yam gung! Funnily en

jimimac, They only started digging out the foundations at the end of Oct/start of Nov and reckon it will take 6-8 months depending on the weather. The plan is for 16 deluxe rooms much the same as around the current smaller pool at the rear of the hotel. I am also there at the end of Feb, staying at the Sabai Inn opposite - 800 Baht for standard room and you have use of the Sabai Lodge pools (the building work is at the other end of the hotel opposite the Thai Pub where the massage, internet, tailor and Zebra Bar used to be). Tom