Butch

Hi Got an email that EVA are having a bit of a sale, if you can call it that. LHR-BKK Econ for May / June (random dates) - £529 LHR-BKK Econ Premium Econ April / May / June (Random Dates) - £830 LHR-BKK Premium Laurel April / May (Random dates) - £1800 Not bad for a direct econ fare, when Thai is a bit more (£620 - depending upon the service you book). There should be some more deals coming up over the next few months as Thai and EVA start their usual seasonal price battles. Not sure how the 1 stop ME carriers compare. Also, it appears that all EVA Econ flights out of

If I were a gambling man, I'd wager that someone upstairs in the echelons of Senior Managment is determined to see this Company fold. There are a couple of Airlines which already do this, but (might be wrong) they're budget airlines, hardly the image BA are keen to encourage. Probably another nail in the coffin for BA, surely there can't be many left to go now?.

The trick is to lick your index and middle finger, make sure everyone sees, then run them down the whole 2 columns of floor numbers as you go out*. *I've never done this to a lift full of annoying chinese in the Hilton Pattaya, ever. I swear.

The baht bus doesn’t stop for you standing on your own.

Phuket is more expensive than Pattaya. There's plenty of info here (on the forum) for the first time traveller but you might need to search it out or ask for a link. I think you need to be elevated to "member" status before accessing the really useful info though (stuff like updated prices and the answer to your question about GoGo girls). If perhaps you chuck a few more posts up or ask the Admin / Mod team nicely you might get bumped up.

Butlins - You were posh, we always went to Pontins !

The girl in the first pic on post #56 (having her plait done) A genuine, beautiful smile and oh my god, to me that looks pretty much a "9" bordering on a "10" (facially anyway). Great pics patna, some really nice girls - although I hope that the general fashion for teeth braces isn't becoming widespread again.

In the Philippines there is the option to pay by cash at the end of the trip, I usually add 10% or a minimum of 20 or so peso (which is about 30 pence). You can also pay by card of course linked to the app. It's hurting the Taxi drivers, but to be honest they operate as a bit of a mafia and run crappy million mile toyota camrys, whereas Uber cars need to be younger than 3 years old, clean and must have working A/C.

I heard a yarn that PAL were booted out of LHR due to not paying the bill or something, as well as not meeting European aviation safety standards, but it was a yarn so add a pinch of salt. A mate at work flew to Manila on the old 747 PAL back in the 80's, he said it was a pretty good flight all in all - does anyone know if it was a direct flight back then?. On the subject of 747's, as of Jan 2018 there will only be 2 carriers using the 747 out of LHR for passengers, one being El Al, the other BA. korean have apparently changed over to 777's, so I am told.

Perhaps a change of managment and internal policy, coupled with solid investment and re training could turn the airline around. Never say never, look at Marks and Spencer, at one time they were much like BA, had an over inflated opinion of themselves and sold nothing but crap, until a re working and fundamental changes were made, it soon became the "darling" of the high street. It is possible but will take some sweeping and major changes.

It's a shame because PP always were very competitive and I've never had any problems with them, ever. They used to have a massive site at LHR just near the Western International Market, but it got purchased last year I understand and now they operate out of what was formally the "Purple parking for business" (which used to charge a premium) premises on Bath Road next to the Premier Inn. Hopefully they will continue to trade, given the amount of cowboys operating in the airport parking game, there is a place in the market for a decent firm like this.

Gomorrah is being downloaded as I type. Thanks MM!. That'll fill the empty space left by TWD. On the subject of TWD, S08 is now 2 episodes in and it is utter shite. The last episode (S08E02) was comical, like an A team episode but with worse acting, a weaker script and more predictable. Sorry to say it but I'm pretty much done with TWD now, it's going nowhere and the script / direction is just apalling.

Navaras are good workhorses, but have been known to suffer catastrophic chassis failure, mainly on the 05-08 models, on later ones (such as the one here) this has been rectified but anyone thinking of buying an older model might want to reconsider. http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/763726/Nissan-Navara-snapped-chassis-recall-UK-4x4-split

Close enough to smell the sulphur. We visited Cagsawa which is actually slightly farther away from the volcano than we are, which is hardly reassuring (for me, anyway). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagsawa_Ruins it is a stunning area, our village is very nice, no buildings over 2 stories and no traffic, the beach is black sand due to the volcano, if the locals kept it clean it would be awesome. sorry for the going off topic rather than a total threadfuck, here's a few pics taken last trip:

We just dipped out on Cathays A350 HKG-MNL which was a shame, I'd like to have had the experience, we went Premium Economy LHR-HKG-MNL all on a 777. To be fair to Cathay, they're 777 fleet is in very good order. The biz and first classes are way beyond anything I've seen on EVA (although technically EVA doesn't operate a first class on the LHR-BKK route). I often wondered why CP didn't order the A380 and stuck with their 777's instead. They also have some odd routing, running a 777-300ER on a short HKG-MNL hop. With any luck we've got enough Asia miles for a biz upgrade sometime in the

In Manila we've always got 2x25kg sacks of rice kicking about, plus a back up water tank fed by a lift pump and borehole which is now redundant as the mains water has finally arrived (Yep, you too can have mains sewage and water in Manila in 2017). We keep the tank topped up anyway and the pump is electrically and manually operated. We've got a few chickens, enough "cup noodles" to keep even the hungriest relatives fed and whey protien if things really go south. Tinned tuna and Sardines in oil, plus several packs of tinned pork and ham provide the basic food needs (carbs, protien and fats). W

Nice one Gus, flight durations are 6.45hrs LHR to Doha 6.35hrs Doha to BKK plus the layover, so not too shabby at all.

My own experience is thus; I recall in 2002 when a few US Navy guys barfined every single girl out of classroom and took them to a party at the Penthouse, they took the whole of the top floor. I can also remember not getting a seat in several of the Bars on Soi Pattayaland 2, as well as Gop (Nishachol - the former owner of the Top class entertainment group) giving me a chunk of baht and asking me to visit a few bars and barfine some girls, bring them to her and she then farmed them out!. Back in the early 00's when the navy was in town, CG was noticable , certainly visually at least. M

The 747 combi's, yes, I remember them well , when the Evergreen deluxe seats were red, the IFE was a small screen and the Cabin Crew got an applause from the pax at the end of the flight. If I recall Evergreen Deluxe was about £75 each way more expensive, so usually £150 over the econ fare.

It's the travel agents version of "clickbait". They get you in promising the cheap price with the disclaimer that it is "from" say, £450, and to get the £450 price you need to be the first person to book it, all thr other seats are "from" £450. I've had it myself loads of times, called up about a cheap advertised fare only to be told it had gone, but they can do me one for more. To be honest, £600 for Thai at that time of the year isn't too horrific. I also tend to go direct with the airlines these days, although I end up paying a few quid more, it saves the hassle when having to go throu

I'm wondering why EVA have switched their configuration. Well, I know why, it's about money and increased revenue and they , along with Thai and BA have the only direct BKK services out of LHR (4 services a day, 2 Thai, 1 BA 1 EVA). Given the cost involved they won't revert back, and I'm willing to bet that the revenue lost from "picky" guys like us who are changing to Thai from EVA for a better in flight experience is possibly minimal compared to the pax going to Taipei who will still use the service (Chinese). I'm 100% with Gus on this one, EVA have been consistent in worsening servi

The old A Team bar was great, inside there was a welder, a "brake" (Metal bending machine) sheets of steel, plasma cutter, grinders, discs, spare engines, numerous light semi automatic weapons that won't hit anybody and enough gear to fabricate a makeshift tank to get the bad guys. Plus a big black guy "who ain't gettin on no plane with that fool".

Good job too. Smokers use the beach as their own personal ashtray and it's disgusting.

"Tin Star" was disappointing, It's only available on Sky but it's worth giving it a miss anyway. Some of the acting was good, along with epic scenes of the Canadian countryside but it really weakened half way through and left far too many unanswered questions and loose ends. It has been commissioned for a second series but I don't hold out much hope. Shame really it started off quite promising. Has anyone seen the new movie "Dunkirk" by Christopher Nolan?. I've been told it's pretty good. TWD SE08 Starts soon. From the trailers it seems more of the same but different lol.

Good report Harvey. "Kev in Thailand" did a youtube video review on this place: Looks like it's a fairly new build. I don't mind Asian tourists, but they can be noisy in the wee hours. I recently stayed in the "Blue Sky" on Soi 5 which had a few of them in, and they were a pretty well behaved bunch.