Tahoe_Bill

Haven't seen it in a long time, but years ago I liked Apfelkorn, usually with a beer chaser.

I checked the latest Big C promotions and for 595 baht they have a DVD player that also accepts USB video and comes with 2 speakers. http://www.bigc.co.th/bigc/file/page_img/4734.jpg If you have a single region portable (or standard) DVD player to be used in LOS that runs on 220V (to include U.S. dual voltage players) you can usually hack it to play all regions. Here is a URL that provides hacks for many popular DVD players. http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/ Prior to my first mp4 player I always brought 8" portable DVD player (that was hacked using the above URL) to LOS if for no other reason than I had access to entertainment for the flight between Tokyo and Bangkok which didn't have in-seat IFE. Additionally since the player has RCA output, when there was a little "in country downtime" to fill I could watch a movie if there wasn't anything of interest on the local cable.

Not sure why anyone (not residing in NY) would want to wear an "Evil Empire" cap.

If you enjoy a glass of wine or cold beer with dinner or nightcap, you’ll probably want to pass on Egypt Air. Unless they’ve recently changed policy, they are a “dry” airline with no alcoholic beverages served.

Thai has Premium Economy (PE) LAX – BKK although it usually costs more that EVA PE. Thai flies an A345 LAX-BKK with 42 PE seats with seat pitch @ 42" and width @ 19". EVA flies a B77W SFO/LAX-TPE with 63 PE seats with seat pitch @ 38" and width @ 18", TPE - BKK on a 77W or 744 with the same PE dimensions.

If the exchange rate stays below 60, (currently about 48) than your pension is less than the 65,000 baht / month required by Thai Immigration for a one year visa extension based on retirement. That said with some money in a Thai Bank account to bring you up to the magic number for pension + bank account than your 53,000 Baht / month will probably suffice.

The phone number for the Khon Kaen taxi dispatcher is 1584. Reportedly there is an additional 30 baht fee on top of the meter charge for pickup service.

Joe you beat me to the punch. Least expensive should be Air Asia to Udon Thani and bus to Loei. You could also try Khon Kaen but Thai Air is pricey compared to the budget airlines that serve Udon (Air Asia and Nok Air). Air Asia: http://www.airasia.com/site/en/home.jsp Nok Air: http://www.nokair.com/nokconnext/aspx/welcome.aspx?currlang=en-US Thai Air: http://www.thaiair.com/

The square root of 625

Just curious are you military retiree as well as a disables veteran? If so you might look at Tricare Overseas coverage as well as your VA coverage. In case you haven’t run across it yet; on the VA website I found a little info concerning the VA Foreign Medical Program: http://www.va.gov/hac/forbeneficiaries/fmp/fmp.asp

I just got an e-mail from UA with a link to 2009 Saver Award Chart http://www.united.com/ual/asset/saver_space_chart.pdf Mileage requirements for award travel from North America to South Asia will increase as follows: Economy from 60,000 miles to 65,000 miles Business from 90,000 miles to 125,000 miles (ouch!) First Class from 120,000 miles to 145,000 miles I believe that this will pertain to all Star Alliance partners as well.

Su, Welcome to the board. The Songkran holiday traditionally runs 13 – 15 April. In Pattaya the festivities start a day or two earlier and seem to run 7 to 10 days. If you’ve received full board access, from the Pattaya Talk Forum main page you can use the search function (located upper right corner) and search for “Songkran”. There are a few threads on the subject. Cheers! Bill

A lot of what you pay for electricity is dependent upon what the property owner charges you per unit (KwH). This was addressed a couple months ago on this thread. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...c=38085&hl= Since I don’t live in Pats, I’m not sure how much you’ll pay, in Khon Kaen I pay about 3 baht / KwH or about 1000 baht per month directly to the electric co. for our house. I haven’t had to pay a water bill in the last three month based on the governments relief effort, houses (and maybe condos with individual water meters?) using less than 50K cu. Liters of water have bee exempted from paying for water through the end of the year in Khon Kaen. Before that I averaged about 150 baht per month for water.

Limited info on Jet Airways posted to PT in Aug 08. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...;hl=jet+airways

Replace florescent overhead (semicircular glass globe) lighting in the living room and bedrooms with lighted ceiling fans. I bought mine for 5K each last year at Home Pro. Glass enclosure for the shower. Move the 29” TV to the bedroom and replace with an LCD preferably 40”or 42”, although a 32” may work based on estimated room width. Enclose AC units with false ceiling wall box. Plaster over the cement and drywall or maybe wallpaper treatment (boarders) for the living room and bedroom walls.

I have a friend from CA coming to Thailand on about the same dates so I’ve been watching the fares. Last night when I looked, the lowest fare I found for your travel dates was $1786, flying 12/22 and returning 1/11 (MSP-BKK-MSP). I only found 1 cheap Left Coast flight for that period and it was on Christmas day out of LAX.

I’ve seen Cathay Pacific (Nov. midweek flights) for under $1150 R/T including taxes through their website. Korean Air is also reasonable but has a 10 hour layover in Seoul on the return trip.

Stayed at Jomtien Beach Residence last November. http://www.jomtienbeachresidence.com/ Nice 1 Bedroom suites for around $60 / night. Under the same management / ownership as Residence Garden. Bill

Having heard on numerous occasions, the standard US pre-landing announcement that “all passengers regardless of their final destination must process through US immigration”. I checked and it looks like a C1 visa will be required. After checking the requirements for a C1 visa (about 2 printed pages), I’d say that if it’s not too late to change your itinerary it may be the easier course of action. Otherwise you can contact the US Embassy in BKK at (e-mail): visasbkk@state.gov or phone 02-205-4000. The visa URL is : http://thailand.us-visaservices.com/Forms/default.aspx Good Luck! Bill

Don't know much about Dream TV, but this URL may be what you're looking for (although the info seems limited): http://www.dreamsatellite.com/

SKINBAD, If needed, here are a couple of other van options: http://www.pjscuba.com/taxitransfers.htm I used PJ’s three or four times in the past. Service overall was quite good, only complaint was a bad shock absorber between Pats and BKK on one of the trips. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32487 Mr Ao’s pickup svcs looks interesting but I haven’t tried them yet. Cheers, Bill

Try this URL: It may work with a little help from a friend or family member with cable or Satellite access. http://us.slingmedia.com/page/home Unfortunately my TT&T DSL (in Khon Kaen) is such crap that it would be a waste of money for me. I've seen it favorably mentioned by one or two other boardies. Bill

Nakhonchai Air (NCA) Pattaya Bus Station is located on the southbound side of Sukhumvit Road (30/7 Moo 9), one block south of the junction with Central Pattaya Road. Phone # 038424841. As indicated above Routing is Pattaya to Korat, with a bus change for Korat to Khon Kaen (KKC). Both busses VIP to include Thai snacks, beverages and electronic seat massage. Fare Pattaya to Korat 405 baht. Fare Korat to KKC 176 baht Busses leave Pattaya for Korat @ 17:15, 18:15, 20:15, 20:30, and 20:45. Schedule and fares from NCA URL http://www.nca.co.th/web/timetable/timetable.php As stated Pattana bus 407 (Rayong - Nong Khai) departs from (Petronas or PTT?) gas station just north of Central Road on Suk. Rd. Daytime and overnight busses. Bus 407 usually makes numerous stops between major cities for roadside passenger pickup and drop-offs. Since Jungle Girl doesn’t want to change busses in Korat in the middle of the night we take bus 407. Pattana 407 have at least 1 daily double decker VIP bus which isn’t quite as nice as the NCA VIP bus. FYI you can get your Loa Visa at the Lao Consulate on Prachasamosan Rd. in Khon Kaen. Standard 2 day service or for a 200 baht surcharge; expedited service (usually 5 - 10 minute wait for Visa). This will allow you to take the Lao-Thai International Bus all the way into Lao (boarder or on to Vientiane) cost 80 baht from Udon or 55 baht from Nong Khai. PM me if you need more info. Bill PS: as of next week Air Asia will resume service BKK- KKC @ 1442 baht r/t including tax.

No recommendations but you can check out menus from about 18 (of the better known?) Pattaya restaurants on the Door 2 Door URL: http://www.door2doorpattaya.com/home.htm

FYI, I just checked evaair.com and the LAX-BKK fare has dropped for the outbound travel period: 2007/9/5 to 2007/11/30 . Economy R/T from $826.80 and Elite R/T from 1096.80 inclusive of all taxes.