Dennism

Just wondering if there is a better price for her for booking TG when flying with a Thai citizen. Have not booked yet but soon will.

Maybe I just hit it wrong but I've tried El Torro twice and not enjoyed the steak. The service and staff are great, but I'm there for the meat, sorry!

Nicely done, very good info for a newbie traveling to LOS

sommy, Its the Red Carpet Lounge, entrance is by membership or ticket if you are flying either Business or FC internationally. In Narita its close to the gates, in BKK its also near the gates but closer to Immigration than the departure gates. Still wondering what the SA membership card that leaford was talking about.

IMHO the best lounge is United's in Narita. Its very large, drinks flow freely, food is so-so at best, but the availability of showers is just perfect. Nice (free) large rooms to S.S.S. at the half way point. By the way, I'm not familiar with the Star Alliance card, I am a United Premier Exec. What's the difference, do you pay for your card?

I have some friends that work there. The center part of the island at the Princess and Charlie resorts were hit really hard, nothing left except some cement structures. All the cheaper Charlie bungalows are gone. The North end of the island was left mostly in tact. There is a Holiday Inn and a place called Phi Phi Natural, both are on the expensive side. Charlie and Princess resorts are trying to reopen for Christmas '06.

Matador, Just a heads up. anyone using only caps on this board is considered to be YELLING! So take the cap locks off and you'll be fine!

aj is correct, Sunday night and Monday night Football are available on the local cable on Monday and Tuesday mornings respectivelly. There are repeats of the Sunday games during the week. Remember that Sunday games start at 11:00pm on Sunday night in LOS. I love Football but I've normally got other things on my mind at that time of the evening.

Bill What sort of pricing did you get?

mrstein, I've been diving in Thailand for a while, maybe 10 years 2-3 times a year. IMHO without question the best sites are in the Similan Islands. Normally these dives are with a live-aboard company, no one lives on the islands. There are many that provide that service. It is also possible to do a day trip from Patong Beach. Its a long day, up early and a taxi ride to the port then a speed boat out to a live-aboard where you dive for the day (two dives), then the reverse back to Phuket, back for late dinner. Most of my dives have been on Phi Phi. I normally dive with the gang at the Phi Phi Princess resort. Sad to say that the entire resort was washed away. They plan on reopening in December '06. However the owner of the resort, Charlie, had just opened another site a little further south on Koh Mok. Its not as "finished" as the Princess or Charlie resorts on Phi Phi were but its very nice. The famous dive site there is the Emerald Cave, very nice. Also have the odd chance to see a Whale Shark. Check their web site its www.princessdivers.com if you go tell Chay, manager, Dennis said hello. Not all dive operators on Phi Phi were wiped out. As an example the Holiday Inn resort and the Phi Phi Natural resort on the North end of the island are all fine and operating, as I understand, at normal conditions. On the Gulf side there are many dive sites available to you. Again IMHO none of which are worth traveling to LOS for just the diving. There are some nice sites off Koh Samui, one of the most famous being Sail Rock. Let me tell you, its a real hit or miss. Unless a boat has already been out there and radiod back to the other boats you have no idea about visability. On a good day its 30+ meters on a bad day its 3 meters. I've hit both. If you get there and its bad, its a real waste of a day. You can always get trips from Pattaya or the nearby islands, just don't expect anything to special. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions about specific dive operators.

Not a big tub but a full heated Jacuzzi, even if its outside by the pool.

Thanks Ben, both yours and Martins photo's detail how a tragic event brought out the best in a lot of good people.

At times there is a lot of BS on this board that goes on with members throwing Shit at each other and I think that the board is going south to be polite. Then a tradegy like this happens and the humanity that is shown by the group reminds me of the real nature of all you hard asses. The management of the FLB as well as the board did good, thanks.

IMHO, for a Newbie that doesn't want any suprises for the money book at the Residance Garden. You can't go wrong, IMHO. Having to take a Baht Bus for 5 mins to get to walking street is not an issue. That way you can look around to see if you would rather be "in" the action next time or later during the holiday. Buy the way I'm at the Residance the same week. Look me up there or at FLB.

A company called Siam Future Development has purchased about 7.5 rai of land and will be building a Lifestyle Center there about 20,000 sq mtrs. It will have a 10 screen cinema, bowling lanes, a high end supermarket, restaurants etc.