TURBO

I have to agree with our chiro friend - visiting a chiropractor should be your first step after suffering a back injury. If you want to avoid injury in the future I can really recommend that you take up yoga! I was visiting a local guy who does physiotherapy & deep tissue massage for some treatment on a sports injury. He also teaches yoga & advised me that it would help my condition. He was starting a class locally so I went along to try it out & 8 weeks later I'm still going. The class age ranges from 35 to 75, male and female but he is going at a pace that suits everyone. He gets us to do various stretches which develop into full yoga poses as we loosen up each week. He asks us where we are stiff/sore then shows us special stretches to help those areas. Most of us hadn't really realised how much we had progressed until last week when a new guy started. He was in his 40's, an ex soldier & in good shape but alas not very flexible. Even the 75 year old guy was able to stretch further. I know that I'm a lot better shape since I started the yoga. I rarely get lower back pain now but when I do 10 minutes of stretching & its gone. I hadn't been able to touch my toes for years, couldn't get much further than my knees. Now I can bend double & put my fingers under my toes!

It depends what you want - a good track or a fast kart. Mini Siam has the best track - very technical layout but once you learn the lines you rarely have to use the brakes. Karts are fast enough, better than most you get at public tracks. I combined it with a trip to Mini Siam one evening as it is nicer lit up & its a lot cooler in the karts. If you want fast karts this is the place to go. http://www.kart.thai.li/index_english.html Unless you are a very experienced kart racer I would not recommend you try the fastest kart - it is a real handful. I have competed in car racing & rallying for years & I took one of those karts out but it was extremely difficult to avoid spinning it at the corners. One touch of the throttle on any bend & it was gone. They have fitted hard compound tyres for longevity but they offer little grip. Mind you down the straights it was the fastest accelerating thing I've ever sat in! After coming in a regular visitor told me that the 2nd fastest karts are a better option for most as they are fitted with aerodynamic aids & are less twitchy. I was intending to go back & try them some day but I haven't yet. BTW you will lose 10kg in sweat & if available hire rib protectors. I left there soaked in sweat with bruised ribs. Turbo (fellow petrol head)

I suggest you try one of the 3 fish restaurants in that area . If you're outside the Cucumber walk back towards 2nd road , cross the small soi & you'll pass 3 restaurants beside each other with fish on display outside . The first one on the corner has the best selection but the others are ok . They look a bit primitive but the food is great & very cheap - a plate of fried noodles with veg & pork is only 30 baht !. It's mostly Thai customers but the menus are in English as well . I was staying in that area on my last trip ate there most days & never had a bad meal . Only down side is that it doesn't open until around 2pm but it doesn't close until 6am !

I have read somewhere that people with 2 passports were considering using them to stay in LOS on monthly entry visas . Basically the idea was that you use passport 1 to stay for 3 months , doing monthly visa runs . Then you use passport 2 for the next 3 months by which time you've been out of the country long enough on passport 1 & can enter LOS on it again . Since last week I would be 99% sure that this will not work . I have 2 passports as I have dual nationality . Most of the time I use passport 1 to travel in & out of LOS . I used passport 2 once before 2 years ago & again on my most recent trip . When I was leaving LOS last week I was stood for ages in front of the Immigration desk while the officer gazed at my 2nd passport & at something on his screen , looking puzzled . He eventually asked 'You have 2 passport?' . I wasn't sure what he meant & gave a puzzled look . He waved me forward & showed me what was on his screen . It was showing a perfect scan of the photo page of my other passport ! I told him that I had dual nationality & showed him the other passport I always carry with me . He had no problem with this & let me go on but if they have both passports on record I guess it will rule out trying to use them to stay in LOS permanently on monthly visas .

I was searching for August flights & I was strongly considered flying with Mahan Air as the price Man-Bkk return was only £485 . Next cheapest was £612 & luckily I went for that instead .

Etihad should have availability from either Manchester or LHR . Best place to search is their website - http://www.etihadairways.com/etihadairways/uk/en/home

I couldn't get any availability for next month from Dublin with etihad in Aug but there seems to be a few seats from Manchester for £612 .

I booked this last night , hopefully I'll make the connection . I'm going out on the first Aer Lingus flight to Manchester & catching the 10.00 Etihad flight to Bkk via Abu Dhabi . Not going until next month , hopefully the security situation will have improved by then .

I'm looking at flying via Manchester on my next trip to LOS . The inbound flight arrives at 07.25 & the outbound leaves at 10.00 . Is this connection too tight , given the current security situation ?

Tried to check prices on the Gulf website & they don't seem to fly the Dub-Bkk via Doha route now . Only option seems to be to travel to LHR first then onwards . Mind you we have the new Etihad route , though it seems to be fully booked for the next 2 months !

Come to think of it your current toilet attendant doesn't do the massage routine but one of the previous ones did . He has a shitty job (pun intended) & I'll have to remember to tip him . Still , at least it's a male attendant . There's nothing more off-putting than a female toilet attendant being around while you're having a piss . The Climax Bar had a couple of the massage attendants in the toilets but they've stopped that now & charge a 5 baht fee for using the toilet . Guess they listened to their customers .

This is one that really bugs me , especially if your drinking a bottle & they pull it out of the sleeve . I find it insulting & an invasion of my space . I know if a bartender did than in Ireland they would likely end up on their backs behind the bar - you just don't touch anybodys drink without asking first . Why don't they just point & ask 'You finish ?' like everywhere else in the world . The girls at Cherry Bar know I don't like this & leave me alone now . Another pet hate is the toilet attendants / masseuses once only seen in Xcyte but now seem to be common in a lot of the go-gos & the Blues Factory . I just go for a pee , wash my hands & leave . If I wanted a massage I'd go to a massage place where they know what they are doing . If you don't get a massage they still expect a tip for handing you a cloth to dry your hands that's probably been used several times already & is covered in other guys bugs . Why cant they just charge 5 baht for the toilet like the beer bars & provide soap and paper towels you are perfectly able of using yourself .

I forgot that some airlines stay on GMT for their schedules , giving you an extra hour during BST . Even so I doubt that connection is feasible . The flybe flight lands at 8.35 , maybe gets to the gate at 8.45 , giving you 10 minutes to collect your bags & check in for the Etihad flight before it closes . If there's any delay you'll miss check-in & have to fork out for another flight to LOS . I for one wouldn't risk a connection that tight . A few years ago I was travelling with Lufthansa Belfast-LHR-Frankfurt-BKK . The BHD-LHR flight was with BMI & it was late meaning I missed my connection in LHR . Luckily all the flights were booked through Lufthansa so they put me on the next flight to Frankfurt without charging me extra . But when I arrived in Frankfurt I discovered that they'd cancelled my reservation from there to BKK . Luckily they had a spare seat left due to a genuine no-show but that experience has left me cautious about leaving tight connections in the UK , especially when using the 'budget' carriers like BMI , flybe & easyjet . Listen to the radio any day & there's sure to be at least one Belfast flight either delayed or cancelled ! If you can book your flights all on the one ticket it's not as bad as the airline is required to pay for any flight changes if you miss your connection .

Sorry for the delay in posting . Our phone line went down on New Years Eve & it only got repaired today & only on a temporary basis at that . I very nearly used this route shortly after it started as it was coming in at the same price as the China Air DUB-AMS-BKK route . I went for China as I had enough airmiles for an upgrade . Ever since then their prices have been very high , usually over £600 ! That flybe flight lands at 08.35 & the Etihad flight takes off at 08.55 so that connection is not possible , unless you know of a later flight . You would even be too late for the only other morning flights from LGW , the Qatar 10.00 & Emirates 10.00 .

I guess I should've mentioned that I'm from Northern Ireland & I agree with your comments . Unfortunately a lot of the flights from the UK mainland to Bangkok leave early in the morning & you cannot get an early enough flight from Ireland to make the connection . None of the LGW flight are suitable & from LHR only the Etihad and Thai flights suit whilst still remaining cheap . BA/Qantas are too expensive & with Eva you have to stay over in LHR on the return leg . We are also limited on connections to LHR . The only'cheap' ones are BMI from Belfast City & Dublin and Aer Lingus from Dublin . Anyone know of any airline flying the BFS - LHR route now ? Where I live it is the same distance to Dublin & both Belfast airports but the prices of the BMI flights from BHD means I usually travel from Dublin . In the past I've usually flown with China Air DUB-BKK via Amsterdam . The price is usually around £540 , the connections are good & Schipol is a much nicer place than LHR . But they seem to have gotten expensive , I guess to pay for their new planes . They also had a good airmiles program which meant a free one-way upgrade every 3 flights but they have now increased the mileage required for an upgrade . Last trip I flew with Thai & coming back I took the later flight , arriving in LHR 6pm . I was just about able to make the last flight back into Dublin but it was tight . Now due to the time change from BST-GMT plus some unknown factor that flight doesn't arrive into LHR until 19.35 , making it impossible to catch the last flight to DUB ! Now I'm going to have to take the earlier Thai flight which means less time in LOS .