Zidane

Great photos.....I've stayed on Sukhumvit 11 on quite a few occassions and always enjoyed it. A bit surprised at the Bed Supper Club closing.It was one of Bangkoks trendiest venues.I wonder if it has re-opened at another location ? Q Bar is another good place on the soi.

Nice to see Liverpool hauling themselves clear of the relegation area,anyway.

Jomtien Thani on Soi 5 and Nirvana Place on Soi 4 are both a couple of minutes walk to the beach. Island trips.....locally theres Koh Larn but better is Koh Samet.An hours drive from Jomtien past Rayong and catch the ferry at Ban Phe. Koh Samet has nice beaches and decent accomodation. Zidane

If ever you are in Jomtien for breakfast try Papa Davids. They have got many varieties.....English,Irish,German,American,Swiss,Norwegian,Healthy etc.and all at reasonable prices. Zidane

I've flown Etihad from Manchester a couple of times and they are fine. The connecting airport to Bangkok is Abu Dhabi which is small and compact but you can do a bit of shopping,have a bite to eat etc. The waiting time for the connecting flight here is usually no more than a couple of hours,anyway. For that price I'd say youve certainly got a good deal. Have a safe trip & enjoy your stay over here. Zidane

This time last year we were getting 72 baht to the pound. I've been here when its been as low as 42 before the SE Asia financial crash but certainly hope it wont go down as far as that as it will certainly affect a lot of peoples lifestyles over here. Zidane

Definitely transfer it from the UK in Sterling and have it converted to Baht over here. The pound is slipping against the baht,at the moment,but you would still get about 63 baht to the GBP. If you had it converted to Baht in the UK,though,you would get a ridiculous conversion rate of about 56. So thats quite a loss to take....ie.for 100 quid you would only get 5600 baht as opposed to 6300. Zidane

Gary, Yes,400 baht is the price for the old wing of the Karin Hotel. The 700 baht price is for the new wing in the building to the right of reception. Both are OK.....depends what you want to pay. Zidane

I only went to the Immigration Office to check on the requirements for the visa,other than financial,really. Things like marriage certificate,proof of income from bank,pictures of house,wedding etc. I knew about the 40,000 baht monthly rule but when he started spouting on about income of 800,000 baht in the bank or 65,000 monthly,it threw a spanner in the works ! Oh well,we'll see what happens in June...... Zidane

I'm married to a Thai girl and am currently over here on a Non-Immigrant O Visa,valid for 12 months. In a few months time I want to change this to a Marriage Visa so last week I went along to the Soi 5 Immigration Office for advice as to how to go about this. My understanding talking to expats and looking on the internet is that from Oct 2006 the financial requirement is 40,000 baht per month. I told my circumstances to the Officer and he asked...... How old are you ?............53. Will you be working?........No. Then he said the requirement is either 65,000 baht per month or 800,000

The chef from the City Lodge called Andy left last October and I believe its not so good now. Irish Clock.......850 baht,includes English breakfast. Karin Hotel.......700 baht,includes the smallest breakfast ever. Top Mansion.....350 baht but no breakfast and hard mattresses,so I'm told ! Charoen Hotel...900 baht,no breakfast. Zidane

Sorry to hear the story of this guy.It sure makes you think. But there are probably many guys living over here who havent made provision for failing health as they get older. Thinking about it,he could have continued living in the UK had a miserable life and died in a couple of years. At least in Thailand he had four good years before he passed away. And his wife may well be able to claim a one off lump sum from his pension. Its a sad story but at least he had a pension......not living off just savings. Zidane

The only way you can win with timeshare is for you to use it as often as possible. As well as the,say,two weeks you have paid for you can usually get bonus nights at a 70% reduction of the going rate.So a place costing usually 3500 baht a night you could get for a little more than 1000 baht. BUT really you would have to live in Thailand to make this work. If you live in the UK,for instance,the cost of coming over about 4 times a year would be prohibitive.Also if you only use it once a year you will never get value for money and the maintenance fee is just as high as two weeks in a hotel.

I use Nationwide Flexaccount and have never been charged for my transactions by card in Thailand. If you live over here for any length of time I think Nationwide is the obvious way to go if you use your credit card a lot. When I used to holiday here I used Travellers Cheques plus my Nat West card......Nat West charged 3%. If you live here permanently and spend,say,10k a year on your card then 3% works out at 300 quid for the Bank. Zidane

You could try the Jomtien Thani on Soi 5.This Soi has quite a few bars and restaurants on it. Tuk-tuk just 10 baht to Pattaya but dearer coming back depending on where you get it from. Best place is near the traffic lights on the soi up from the end of Beach Road....turn left instead of going down Walking Street.