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Anybody know what's going on with Thai Air flights relocating from DMK to BKK? Last Saturday I booked the following flights: - Don Muang to Khon Kaen on 28th March Khon Kaen to Don Muang on 1st April Don Muang to Chiang Mai on 1st April Today I've received a slightly cryptic email from Thai Air suggesting that Khon Kaen flights will depart/arrive at Suvarnnabhumi from 1st April. No mention of Chiang Mai but when I check the schedule it says the Chiang Mai flight I'm booked on is no longer operating! Surely they would have made alternative arrangements! Now I'm confused

Just done this a couple of weeks ago. This is an assortment of advice I picked up from other boards and the British Embassy web site: - All of the evidence was presented in a tabbed and indexed ring binder. Research suggests that good presentation is important. Also good appearance - clothes, hair etc so that your girl looks like a nice girl and not a tart will help (not that I'm suggesting that your girl is a tart you understand). Also if your girl has worked bar, avoid any mention of this or Pattaya etc. On the "reason for return" issue my GF doesn't really have one but was still successful. I just mentioned that I would be returning to Thailand in May and that she would obviously be returning with me and that as she has no friends or relatives here she has no reason to stay. Hope this helps - PM me if you want any further information e.g. example of sponsors letter etc. Chok Dee

Thanks for the info

I'm flying to LOS on 22 December with Gulf Air via Bahrain. Anybody know what their service is like? Also, do they have booze on board or are they a "dry" airline? Same question about Bahrain - do they have duty free booze there and is it any cheaper than London? cheers

Airline Business Limited Highbridge House, Bath Rd. Longford, Middlesex UB7 OEH, United Kingdom TEL : +44 0 870 774 5457 FAX : +44 0 870 774 5459 E-mail : phuket.air@airlinebusiness.co.uk

Does anyone know if it will be difficult to find a hotel during these dates or if availability is generally OK?

Just spent 10 days at the Dynasty Inn, Soi 13. I most respects a very nice hotel, modern, clean, nice staff, reasonable price, very guest friendly. However, it was let down by a few small details: Hot water was variable and often only luke warm, towels were small thin crappy affairs, lighting in the room uses those low energy bulbs that have a cool feel to them like flourescent light bulbs - combine this with the luke warm shower and the very effective aircon and I actually felt cold for much of the time. Also, no in-room safe, although I did leave valuable lying around without any problem at all. As mentioned in other posts, the pool is not great. As for construction noise - no problem (early November). The Whitehouse Condotel next door is basically having blockwork walls built between the floors so noise was minimal. Would I stay again? Possibly, but I there are many other hotels I'd like to try first. I'm told that the Sandy Springs further down the Soi is a better bet.

This may not be entirely accurate as I did this on my PC running WinXP SP2 but I guess it may be similar with other versions - Go to Control Panel and select "Regional and Language Options" On the the "Lanuages" tab there should be an option to "Install files for complex script and right to left languages [including Thai]" Select this option. Also in the "Text services and input languages" area click on the details button and in the dialog box under "installed services" click on the "add" button and select "Thai" from the "Input Language" list (there seems to be more than one Thai option - I've no idea what they mean!) You might also need to install Thai fonts - you can get some from here:- Thai Fonts Hope this helps

Hearing this news made me feel the same as I did when I heard Joe Strummer had died. May his spirit live on

Both these hotels seem to have good reviews and appear to be guest friendly, but it seems to be swings and roundabouts in terms of choice. Anybody experiened both? If so, which gets your vote and why? Cheers