Sa-teef

Without cheating and re-reading my review the biggest intangible with Keerati was it was TOO DARK for my taste. The hallway was not well lit and I didn't have any problem with the light coming in from the hallway (I was in the back next to the Metropole ) The bathroom is vented to the outside so I just kept the bathroom door closed. Hence, no bugs in the bedroom and my aircon kept the place cool enough. My bedroom windows were traditional glass-type with wooden blinds, the later of which I kept pulled out of the way most hours. My bathroom was good size and the shower area as shown is quite large. Overall a pleasant stay but nothing special enough to warrant the higher price IMO. ~Sa-teef

I stayed there for a month back in 2005 or 2006 I think it was. The middle size room I was in definitely had a safe in it at that time and if you find the string you will find an almost comical discussion of how you could remedy that fact on a long stay. There should be pictures of the middle size room on the string as well. Use the search feature over the past three years and you will find it. It was a nice place but there are equally nice places around. Actually the area has grown-up a bit and there is a flock of them about that neighborhood. ~Sa-teef Edit: Here's my pics from 2006 and I notice there are a couple other threads as well on this place. Keerati Home Stay summer 2006

"Maybe that jetlag has made you a little slow on the uptake-I agree with you regarding the cabin crew on the NRT-BKK portion.I made no mention of eastbound/westbound cabin crew on NW." Silly me. The string is about LAS - BKK and you mention LAS - LAX. You did say the women on the NRT to BKK leg were hot (usually a pleasing collection of asian stews, agreed) but if you took the east/west NWA flight into NRT you might have a different opinion. Little did I know that Scotty had beamed you up from LAX to NRT ! Frumpy old bats on the legacy carriers for the most part. But as I said, I'm spending a lot less flying time in proportion to days on the ground in LOS these days so I'll just spend air time sleeping as best I can and enjoy my time in Thailand a little more. I actually had a friendly one on the flight back July 27th. A friendly, 200+ lb white behemoth. Some of those white women scare the begebers out of me ............ ~Sa-teef

Must have hired and fired them all in the course of the month. I was on it June 1 and again on July 2 (flight 19 westbound) and neither the stews' or the food were particularly hot.............. Lazy and matronly comes to mind. ~Sa-teef

"The service is almost (IME) universally great, including better food and free booze. They come when you hit the call button and will fetch drinks all trip. They also have someone on duty in the galley at all times if you want to grab a sandwich or some noodles if you get hungry. I like the stop in HK as compared to other asia hubs (e.g., narita) as a great airport and you can grab a shower and then only quick 2.5 hours to Thailand. For those that have flown Northworst banghead.gif , flying cathay and it's cute and polite hostesses and much nicer cabins will seem like a lovely dream. " I couldn't agree with you more about the level of service on CathayPac Hub. If I lived in or near LAX or the New York area they would be my first choice every time. But stuck out here in the Midwest I have to deal with a connecting flight when I use them and it seems more than half the time in the last few years I go from an enjoyable flight on Cathay Pacific to endless delays and waiting in airports to get to my final destination. That's why I have resigned myself to the NWA one hopper direct from MSP to NRT and onward. The flight attendants are old fat and lazy and the service level is nothing to compare. But the NWA flight has to date never been delayed more than an hour and I choose to buy my $5 glass of wine or two , pick at the food on offer and go to sleep! If there is any consolation for me the staff on the NRT to BKK leg is far better, with thai, nip and chinese flight attendants being in the majority. It 20 hours going west and 17 1/2 hours coming back. I'm not stuck in a blizzard in Denver or Chicago wondering when or if that connecting flight for 1k miles is going to happen. Getting there is sometimes more important than the ride. "I am not sure where you saw long layovers - " When I plugged in my next trip on September 2nd most of the good ones were gone and all that were left were 27 to 41 hour total travel times. I just did the same and ALL the September 2nd $926 departures were sold. I expect like most of the airlines they have a limited number on offer at the special price. Oh well. Not going to fret about it. Just finished a nice cow pat moo that the teelack made for us and I think from the look in her eyes there is a bit more on the menu! Ta-ta, ~Sa-teef

Not surprisingly Cathay Pacific wants to pick-up some disgruntled Thai passengers with their July Deal of the Month after Thai announced their cancellations and reductions of service to the coasts: Bangkok or Singapore from New York or Los Angeles as low as $926. Deal of the Month I couldn't find LAX to BKK for less than $1010 but that's still a good deal on CathayPac. Mon thru Thur effective Sept 1 to Nov 30. Fri thru Sun a bit more. Some long layovers. ~Sa-teef

Being just a little picky maybe? Yes, technically it's the consular office at the Royal Thai Embassy: Consular Office Royal Thai Embassy 1024 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 101 Washington, D.C. 20007 e-mail : visa@thaiembdc.org http://www.thaiembdc.org Tel. (202) 298-4817, Fax. (202) 944-3641 In country it's the Immigration Bureau. Can we really expect a guy who tries putting film into a DSLR to know the difference? ~Sa-teef

I just looked on Sidestep and Korean Air had some one hop flights in September for $1,256 but with long layovers in Incheon. Didn't know they flew directly into Las Vegas. Traveling light with just carry-on and going through LAX will be cheaper. There always seems to be a bargain to be had through LAX if your dates and choice of airline are flexible. ~Sa-teef

Happy to say I was there for opening night and you and the crew have done a bang-up job on the place Paul, It sure felt like Misty's to me in a great looking new venue: top service staff, plenty of friendly ladies and cold enough to hang meat in the place! I managed to keep my hands warm thanks to a couple of familiar brown bodies. Vidman perhaps you didn't notice the forgetful dancing damsels upstairs on the encircling walk ways? No question about "shows" in my mind when they were leaving nothing to the imagination. Best of luck to you at the new venue. I think it will be a great success! ~Sa-teef

No, he thought your response was useless and counter-productive, Emil! But we still love ya anyway! he-he-he.... ~Sa-teef

This is a good link with a lot of information on it: Airport Link It lists the commuter stations to be opened along the commuter line. About 1/2 way down there is actually a Google Earth link that will show you the airport link under construction. Follow it to the right to find the Airport and follow it into town and you will see the stations under construction. ~Sa-teef

I paid an average of 837/night for a suite (wasn't one of the official ocean view suites but had a partial view) back in May 2004 for a 18 night stay. I had to negotiate in person to get that and it was paid one week in advance. Clean basic housing on a quiet street. The location is hard to beat inside the loop and within walking distance to a lot of things. They have always been the poor cousin on the street that keeps raising prices to shadow the other, better hotels on Soi 13. Not a bad place but I think over 2k per is a bit over the top for it in the month of July, typically one of the slowest months in town. Their idea of a suite is just two adjoining rooms with a door between them. ~Sa-teef

Well said. It's noisy enough on the planes. I try to sleep as much as possible on the long flights and phones going off would drive me to distraction. ~Sa-teef

Besides, you look so suave with it Emil! Actually, everyone looks good in a Badgers hat! ~Sa-teef

They are using 744's from MSP to NRT and A330-200's from NRT to BKK. Lots of good prices from the West Coast it seems Comaghee. The only problem for me is getting there (reliably). The only non-stop from MSP to LAX is: NWA domestic. You can do United through ORD. Or United/Frontier through Denver. Or Sun Country through Las Vegas. But those places all create havoc and I've been delayed and missed West Coast international flights sitting in all three of those locations. Another consideration for me is NWA check-in at MSP. They have a remote kiosk at the charter/limo/regional bus terminal. It's off my shuttle bus, up one escalator and I'm there. They are never busy and three minute check-in is routine. You get your boarding pass and drop any checked baggage right there. When I walk the skyway across to the terminal I already have my boarding pass and can go right through security. That's worth something as well. ~Sa-teef

I've had one sna-foo after the other with domestic flights out of MSP the past few years, but once I'm on an international flight it's pretty much smooth sailing. I'm counting on more of that with NWA this year! NWA has one of the ONLY west bound international flights out of MSP these days. Avoiding the connecting flight to ORD or LAX should save me a fair bit of grief and delay based on past experience! The NWA flights 19, 21, 22 and 20 from MSP - NRT - BKK and back were trouble free for me in March so I'm hoping this is the start of a trend! Sounds like a great idea Pen. I'll PM you. ~Sa-teef

Pen, I should mention how I find tickets on Airfare.com. I search on sidestep for the flight using flexible dates and they find the flight and give a hotlink to the available flight on Airfare.com. The search engine on most of the other discount web sites don't seem to be as flexible. I've booked by flights for the rest of the year. May, September and November all in the $1,200 range on NWA one hops MSP-NRT-BKK. I've been holding out for July because the prices have been silly but I finally found a ticket on the same flight for $1,583 tonight, again on Airfare via Sidestep. I just checked and it's back up to $1,683 at this moment. I'll be gold by September and platinum elite by the end of the year. If I stay clear of the NWA domestic flights we'll probably have a long and happy relationship again! ~Sa-teef

Airfare.com has rock bottom prices for my next several trips at the moment. I'm going to watch the nwa.com website closely and if I can get them all for $1000-1200 like they are listed now I may well buy several more. The last time NWA dropped prices like this United followed suit and that's how I got started flying United back in 2002-3. The one thing (and about the ONLY THING) that NWA has over United is a single stop in Narita, which eliminates most of the complications for me. The international flights tend to be on time but the connections inside the States get loused up on a regular basis. ~Sa-teef

Just booked a trip via Airfare.com from MSP-NRT-BKK for $983.70 mid-March. Good price for a one hopper from the Midwest to Bangkok. The bad part is I'm flying Northwest Airlines! Airfare.com Afternoon departure from MSP with a midnight arrival in 'Poom Airport; 744-A330. Departure is at 6 am BKK and arrival back in MSP early afternoon; A330-744. ~Sa-teef

Good information and glad to know approximately where the impound lot is just in case it ever happens. But aren't you guys overpaying the motocy? I was taking one from Third Road/Soi Xzyte to Walking Street a few times this last year when I didn't want to take the moto and always paid 30 baht. Sometimes in the early hours they would ask for 40 baht on the return trip but I always told them my price when I got on and most times they were fine with that. Strangely enough, the teelack went from Pattayaland Two to the apartment on Soi 17/ Third Road on two occasions and they charged her 50 baht once and 60 baht the other time. Half the price if you know where you're going (she didn't; that was the reason she wouldn't take the moto home herself). ~Sa-teef

I've had generally good service from the frequent flyer staff with United and NWA, even if I had some trouble getting an awards flight on NWA as well. And the counter staff at United has gone out of their way on a number of occasions to assist. But efforts seem to end at that point. I had the rudest, nastiest flight attendant in my entire life three years ago in United business class. We weren't even off the ground and she was bitching and snapping. This 200 pound bundle of charm was on the the ORD to Narita flight and near the end of the flight when I asked to see the chief to get her id number she was making everyone's life miserable in that part of business class. But NWA has to have the worst of everything in US carriers. Once in the last year I had to use them for a short hop to ORD to catch my Korean Air flight, but a flat tire delayed us for a couple hours, just enough to miss my asian carrier flight. NWA then proceeded to send me to Detroit (delayed landing just enough to miss that one!) then MSP my origin (seems we're over booked after all) and finally LAX where they overnighted me and made me late by 24 hours into BKK. My last two trips I've made it back to LAX from BKK on time on Cathay Pacific, but the NWA flights from LAX to MSP are so late (3+ hours) that I miss my shuttle bus out of Minneapolis and I have to rent a hotel room to wait for a morning bus. And since I'm at my final destination they won't do a thing for me. NWA protects their sweet routes aggressively: try to book a non stop from MSP to LAX and 8 of 9 of them are, you guessed it, NWA. But they are so routinely late or canceling flights that it often times is more efficient to book another airline which on paper gets you there later and with stops on the way. I truly envy the West Coasters who have options available to them with Asian carriers and avoid US carriers entirely........... ~Sa-teef

Glad to hear your little adventure in China had a positive outcome. Hope the next one goes well. I've always thought Hong Kong is one of the better organized airports around and had nothing but courteous treatment when transiting there on CathayPac. To say they have a heavy presence at their worldwide headquarters would be an understatement! ~Sa-teef

"Thailand embraces in its bosom all people of Thai blood. Every inch of Thailand belongs to the Thais." -first two lines of the Thai National Anthem Let them have their land. In a legal shit fight they would probably prevail upon you the foreigner anyway in any arrangement that was not rock solid. If I ever build a home in Thailand it will be on leased land with a lease agreement prepared by a competent attorney. And if I'm not prepared to pack up and leave the house (or the country) tomorrow then I've invested too much. Good on you if you can make a few baht in the Thai land market. But it's still the third world and your rights and interests could evaporate with the next coup. ~Sa-teef

Wasn't aware of that! I flew round trip with Korean twice in the fall of '06 MSP thru ORD to BKK and all seats were assigned. Glad I didn't connect through LAX! In spite of the bad hours they arrive and depart at, which was one of my many complaints about United along with the surly FA's and mediocre food, I'll probably go back to them full time in '08 because I prefer their Triple Seven flights through ORD to the 744's most of the bargain airlines are using. That, along with their superior program has me grudgingly agreeing with Emil. If I didn't have the connecting flights all the time to MSP they would have a fighting chance to actually get me home on time once in a while. While almost all the carriers seem to get me to the States as scheduled, I inevitably get delayed once I'm back in the US with whatever airline I use, because then I'm at the mercy of a US carrier again. I hope you West Coast people appreciate the advantages you have! ~Sa-teef

Not without posting the bell ringer into the corner please! Hatton made a good effort and showed terrific spirit. He just wasn't the best fighter that night. Okay, I'll leave it alone now..... ~Sa-teef