Butch

Just read on the Thai Airways facebook page and they mention that after the airline relocates from Terminal 3 LHR to the new Terminal 2 in June / July (along with EVA) they then plan to phase in the Airbus A380 on the LHR- BKK route from around Oct 2014. It was, however, a posting from last year so how true or accurate it is is anyone's guess. Might be worth keeping an eye on their fb page just in case though. They don't mention which service ( the 12:00 departure, TG911 or the 21:30 departure TG916) they plan to use it on.

Me too, great pics and thanks for posting.

Customs are wise to moody gear coming back from most of SEA these days. I was watching the idiot box the other day where they found perfectly faked hand rolling tobacco pouches complete with hologram and customs duty paid stickers separate from the tobacco which was probably smuggled in another container. It goes right from the large industrial scale down to the tourist bringing home or posting bent gear in their suitcase. All of it is X rayed if coming via a cargo flight or commercial, There's less chance of it getting discovered in your personal items, but if you're sending a DHL or other kind of freight box to "Joe Bloggs" in the UK from Thailand the chances are, at 70kg's, it's going to get inspected, which by the way carries an inspection fee before it is released to the customer.

I had the Mussels at Patricks a few years ago, they were outstanding and came in a bloody great bucket. I thought I was meant to share it but then BM "Cerberus's" bucket came out, which he promptly demolished in about 15 minutes. While I was still struggling. A friend had the steak which was sizeable but nothing spectacular.

All Cathay Pacific 777's have plugs under the seats in all classes for power. They are a 3 pin type with the facility for US / Asia / European plugs. Also, they have a USB slot in the IFE screen so you can plug your phone into it and watch any movies you might have on the SD card on the screen. I think Malaysia have the same as well (or at least their A380 airbus does).

Lol I hope that was a typo Jacko... The RG is a decent hotel, but certainly the in room safes at the Eastiny and flipper group are the access code types (or at least they were). Also, the key access option is very often a universal one anyway. The safe will only be as secure as those who have access to it. I was the same, always trutsting either the in room safes or the downstairs lobby strongboxes. With hindsight I think I must have been lucky. you're right of course, rogue employees are 99 % of the time secured cash goes missing.

In room safes are notoriously easy to crack, either by having a default access code (000000) or even by hitting them hard on the top can force them open. Simply google them on "Youtube" and see what I mean. Also, bear in mind that a hotelier will have the same access code for all the safes so his staff can open them anytime , for example when one guest leaves without resetting it and leaving the door open. Factor in that they will also be using the cheapest safes as well, because if you have 25+ rooms they'll aim to save cash and get the cheapest available. For the sake of 20 minutes hassle it's best to open an Account at Kasikorn, or failing that hide your money within the room itself or inside your suitcase lining perhaps. It's never nice to hear someone's holiday is ruined due to their stuff getting nicked, & it serves as a lesson for the rest of us to be more careful.

Evil, give me your flight no and I'll track it via flightradar24.com. and try to post a screenshot here.

Just a note, TG911, the one which leaves LHR around 12:30 and codeshares with Canadian Airlines is currently a 747-400 which has been refitted with a new cabin. The later flight at 21:30 is an A340. Or, at least it was today cos I watched it on FlightRadar24 when I should have been working.

Great idea if you want to use the aircon. As Jacko said, a majority of hotel rooms don't have fans as the windows are sealed, as well as fan instalation being an added expense during construction. I'm sure some guest houses still have fans though. Besides, what's the point in booking an Air con room at a hotel if you're not going to use it?.

Good point Midlife, most AC's harbour some kind of Bacteria, if I were a hotelier with 50 rooms, servicing my air cons each year might cost me several thousand pounds / baht / dollars, if I don't, then that's a nice saving on something that I only have to fix when it goes wrong. Legionnaires is caused by stagnant water (from the condensing effect of the AC Unit) pooling and the exsisting legionella bacterium in the water multiplying in the ideal conditions . The two things that the legionella bacteria require to grow and reproduce are: a water temperature of 20-45ºC (68-113ºF) , impurities in the water that the bacteria can use for food, such as rust, sludge, algae and limescale. All pretty much describing any given hotel room AC unit anywhere in SEA. Also, don't forget most of us step out of a long, metal tube which we've been in for 12+ hours full of people farting, caughing, sneezing and breathing the same , recirculated air. given that most Viral / Bacterial infections appear after a few days, once the immune system starts to struggle, then it is easy to attribute it to the AC unit. Of course, having a badly maintained unit harbouring nasty bacteria will add to your problems anyway. Here's a tip. When you arrive in your hotel room, have a look at the cassete AC unit on the ceiling. Get a chair and unclip the front of it (there's 2 small plastic tabs you use for leverage). The front will lift up revealing a black and white plastic mesh grille. The brown stuff you can see on the front of it is airborne dust, dead skin and other particulates. Remove the grille (hold breath while doing so!) and head into the shower, trying not to breathe in any dust when you remove it. turn the shower on and clean the grill down until you can see right through it., wipe it clean with your hands, wash them well and then let it dry outside for 10 min. Go back to the unit and with a wet tissue wipe the plastic cover you flipped up inside and out, as well as the front area which the grille covered and the "flap" underneath from left to right. Replace the mesh grill into the AC unit, close the front & wash your hands again and turn it on. This sounds daft, but after you turn it on, smell the air coming out of the AC, it should smell "cold". I always do this every time I enter a hotel room with a separate AC. Some rooms have a non intereference system which is a large metal grille, usually above the door or in the wall of the room at ceiling height. There's nothing you can do about these unfortunately. Very often AC systems like this are only maintained , if ever, when they go wrong. Personally I think it is the combination of pollution, Air con, being on a plane for hours, travelling and a general lowering of the body defences which causes the problems. Before any trip I always load up on Vitamin C, ensure I get a decent rest before the flight and hydrate as much as I can. Although that didn't stop me from nearly croaking it on a Malaysian airlines flight 2 years ago, it did, until then, stand me in fairly good stead.

A friend recently went on the BA service, said it was as could be expected, nothing particularly brilliant but pefectly adequate. I think Thai are upping their game a bit. EVA have declined since I first used them back in the 90's, but that I expect is due to corporate changes and growth. Back then on the old 747-400 combi EVA's, the Cabin crew were given a round of applause at the end of the flight. Anyway, Thai always seems to be running a tired fleet. Thier 747's have been in service 25+ years. Most of EVA's fleet and BA's are relatively new ( I say relatively). If you do fly BA, let me know how you get on, I'd be interested to know your experiences. Cheers Butch

Hi Goldpanner It's currently on the Frankfurt-BKK route, with no changes planned. I flew on a Thai 747 once in 2007, I had to turn my watch back 20 years when I boarded, they were possibly one of the only carriers not to have personal IFE on long hauls. Glad to hear their A340's are being updated and the 747's retrofitted with it. Interestingly, anyone looking for a direct flight from LHR-BKK, British Airways run a flight leaving at 1500 in the afternoon arrives BKK mid morning. It's number is BA009, and the aircraft a B777-333ER (I think - could be wrong, but it is a 777 Variant) , sometimes though as it is a codeshare it comes up as an Air Canada flight or an Iberia one. Departs from T5. No idea on prices though. Having flown BA to HKG before on a 747 it wasn't a bad flight , We recently flew Cathay to the UK on one of their 777's and it was top notch. Regarding the IFE boxes, they are a pain in the arse, however, I noticed the EVA ones are fairly slim so you can still stretch your legs out to the side of it, unless you have a bag under there.

Nice one Cookiebear, Glad to hear it all went well and thanks for the bang up to date report. (Now we want pics, pics I tell you!) Cheers Butch

Cheers Rushman, glad you enjoyed them. I've got an Island hopping trip report coming up. for anyone interested in living a simple life in SEA it's going to be a treat. cheers butch

I used to fly Gulf Air to Muscat, Oman in the 70's. The airline equivalent of a number 22 bus, stopping here there and everyfuckingwhere. They had a fleet of Lockheed L1011 - 500 Tristars which, at the time, were the bollocks. My only complaint was I always got sat next to some Walt boasting he was going home / coming back on leave and was in the SAS. kind of like the bars of Pattaya but I was stuck there for 9 hours with the twats with no alcohol or IFE.

Couple of bloody good points you make there Yokul. I forgot to mention that portables also dehumidify, the cycle you run them on is down to individual preference. In the RP mine's always cooling as relative humidity is fairly low. The work around is to attach a length of Silicon Hose to the Water Tank outlet on the machine and then feed it outside, also it needs to be draining at a lower level as the water isn't pumped, it's fed. BTW if anyone is into recycling, the water which comes off is actually demineralised and can be used in Irons or car batteries once filtered. In the best Philippines fashion, our Unit has a hose which feeds into the dogs water bowl.

Yep, they're basically an evaporative based cooling system or "cold air advection" as I've seen them marketed as , neither of which will be much good in a high humidity environment. Niot sure of any brand names, but all electrical stores have them. I've sent you a PM Ram, but went off on a bit of a yarn, sorry. I thought you were asking for the name of a full system and not the name of the cold air advection one. A portable Air Con unit doesn't run on Water, water is a by product caused by condensation and also the dehumidification process it runs off into the drain tank which needs to be emptied occasionally / frequently depending upon useage and realtive humidity. Depending upon where the system is going to go (usually the lounge area) then a portable one could be used to cool the bedroom instead of fitting a ceiling mounted unit in there. Cheaper than 2 systems, but more expensive than a fan / ice combo.

Yep no worries, all you need to do when you get one is pull the rubber plug out of the back and look at the aperture of the plastic pipe which will be the water tank drain, give me an approx measurement (diameter) and I'll send you however much length you want. Then you just slip it over and you're sorted.

Devils Den offer this (fuck me I sound like a DD Sales Rep) but it is not cheap. however, like all Devils Den experiences, it's one you won't forget and one whch will leave your balls drained. More than once.

Personally I'd hit the sack for a few hours and then have a shower and a visit to Soi half dozen in the afternoon. However, if you are really in need of some lovely, smooth brown Asian skin to rub against in the wee hours, then I'd contact the Devils Den and put forward a request. They are and have been open during the curfew, observing the times correctly.

Hi Obsession We stayed initially in a small, local resort / hotel. I'd rate it about 1 or 2 star. It was dirty, poorly maintained and the rooms / showers were tired. Then again this is a small village so it caters mostly for local weekend tourists and events. The pool itself was "clean" though, but the area around it pretty filthy, so much so that I told the kids not to play there. There were cigarette ends, litter and I told one kid to stop spitting on the floor, being locals ,as the pool is open to them during the daytime , they didn't give a shit about the place or the other guests. It got so bad that we moved into a cousins house. Unfortunately that's the quality of the accommodation in the PI, once you get out of Manila, Subic or AC the hotels are shit. We paid about 600 peso per room, roughly £8 or $14. Re the "tricycles" they all have a sidecar attachment , unlike Los I think they are used to transport rice, coconut and durian etc inbetween fares , hence they are built with the "freight option". That's what Mrs Butch reckons anyway lol. As a means of transport they are bloody uncomfortable, especially for foreigners cos every time you hit a bump you'll twat your head on the top. Fucking hard work to get out of as well. Cheers Butch

Hi, Thanks for the responses. Firth, there are hiking trips up the Mayon but I'm not sure how close to the top they go. It's not for the faint of heart though, and the Mayon is still active. It's approx 15 km away from the village. I did enquire about a trip up in a chopper to have a look around, but there's nowhere local that does it, sadly. The Island hopping is fun, for anyone with intentions of Diving, there are some great local areas apparently. I'm not a diver so couldn't offer much by way of advice, but if anyone is interested I might be able to find out some more info for you. There were a couple of Dive schools in Legazpi, one being foriegn owned iirc, but that was a couple of years ago. If you're ever in the vicinity a trip to Cagsawa (the buried church) is worth it, along with maybe popping into Naga city to go to Cam Sur. Legazpi itself doesn't have much to offer except some decent fishing. Cheers Butch

Ach, shit it, I've found some more pics..here we go: Village Outskirts More of the Bay Some Street scenes during the day, plus a flower :) Breakfast at 0600 More views of village life.

I forgot to mention, any questions I'll happily answer best I can. If anyone is asking, yes you can live here , yes you can own land, albeit by going through some loopholes but one needs to consider that the village has NO supermarket, one small, house fronted "sari sari" Pharmacy selling only chinese copies, one Policeman, a school and a college, one Bar and the nearest Petrol Station is 20km. That's pretty typical of most villages in the PI. Electricity isn't 24 hours (8 hrs once a week rotational blackouts), there's no mains water either. Internet is available of course, as is Satellite TV. (but you can buy generators and put a deep well in) However, consider this: Coconut from the tree is 2 Peso. Fresh fish 45 peso per KG. Veg is 15 peso per KG. Mangoes grown locally are 3 peso or free depending upon how close to the tree you are!. Rice price is too variable but about 30 Peso per KG, then again being a rich farang you'll buy 50 kg at a time so that point is moot. No building regs to follow. Land varies from 150 to 300 Peso per Sq M . Labour costs cheap, steel is more expensive than concrete. The nearest city is Legazpi, the nearest Airport also approx 20 mins West, same for the nearest Hospital / Dentist / Whorehouse. Cheers Butch