tomcat76

I've booked my trip this year with Thai Air. 'Decided to splurge for the direct flight, and their Premium Economy. I checked Kayak, Vayama, Expedia and the Thai site - prices at all were roughly equivalent (~$US1800) LAX-BKK. I'm not aware that there was any cheaper way to do it, although I don't think I checked CheapOAir, but would be surprised if there was any significant difference. (Lately I'd been thinking that maybe prices had retreated a little due to the publicity surrounding the flooding, but I just checked the Thai site, and no, no change...) If you're not familiar with it, there's a handy site called SeatGuru at which you can enter your flight information, and see the seatmap for your flight (and more generally, type acft and other such information). Very nice to have up in front of you when you're making your reservation & picking your seats, but also gives you all the facts & figures about the seating for your particular flight (how much leg room, seat pitch, entertainment system details, etc., etc.). 'Also useful if you have a choice of airlines and want to compare seating options among them. I never make a reservation anymore without it.

Total ignorance of what the unemployment figure represents... "10% unemployment" doesn't mean 10% of the total population for Pete's sake! Not even close. No one even pretends that's what it means. It means 10% of the "workforce". According to the US Dept of Labor, as of September, there were 13.9M unemployed in the US. I personally think that significantly understimates the true unemployment figures, but not by 17M!! Still, your point about western economies drowning in welfare is well taken. The picture's really bigger than that though. It's the bloat of government generally (of which the entitlements picture is no small part), and the uncontrolled/now probably uncontrollable spending, that's dooming us. At this point in time, I'm not sure there's any road back. 'Doesn't matter what the central banks try to do. They can't cut enough, they can't tax enough, they're running out of even the ability to shore up things for a little bit longer. There'll be a major default (the euro or the dollar most likely) triggering hyperinflation within the next few years, and that'll be the end of fiat currencies for awhile. Spend your money now, before it becomes worthless. You could try buying gold, but that's bound to be confiscated soon after the big bang, and after that you won't be able to legally sell any you refuse to turn in. US claimed gold reserves (~8.1K metric tons) would currently be worth less than half a $US1T. I'll bet confiscation wouldn't even bring that to an even $T. (And I'm highly skeptical about the 8.1K tons in the 1st place.) Compare that to the US nat'l debt ($14.8T), and the debt trend! No possible return to the gold standard without a severe devaluation. Sorry - 'couldn't help myself. Topic really has gone off the rails... But it will leave places like Thailand for somebody else. The Chinese ('not sure they'll escape the big bang though. They're heavily invested in dollars and dependent on western markets). The Arabs (but even oil in lifeless economies won't be worth but a fraction of what it is today). Countries whose currencies are actually backed by substantial stockpiles of gold? The Germans or Swiss maybe? Who knows?

Thanks!!

If it were any place other than Pattaya, I'd just move on. But unresponsiveness to availability & reservation requests being more the rule than the exception: If anybody's staying at this place, could you maybe on your next pass by the front desk ask them to please check their email...

With a "regular" airline, you don't have to leave the secure area and go through immigration in order to check-in for your connection. 'A real pain, esp. if the outbound immigration lines are long. Would like to try AirAsia, but it doesn't serve N America.

Would love to take Thai Air, but their fares ALWAYS run much higher than other fares I'm able to get. This time around, about a $1300 difference (incl a SANLAX leg): $1466 on KAL vs $2715 on Thai. And I've noticed the waiting game never pays off with them - their flights just fill up. Take away the commuter leg, and there's still a $400 difference. Funny how that short commuter leg really distorts the price comparison. I can get a $1450 ticket on China Air (without the commuter leg), or just pay $16 more flying KAL and GET the commuter leg included. (The commuter leg by itself currently running $274.) Bottom line: I can take KAL for $1466, or fly Thai for $1808 + 274 = $2082. $600+ seems like a lot just to skip a 90-min stopover and get there at 0620 instead of 1220. (Well, I think there's a few extra inches of legroom on Thai's A340s. KAL always smells like kimchi to me, too...)

'Make this trip every year (just not on NYE...). Normally, I'm wheels up from LAX on Day 1, make a stopover somewhere on the asian side (Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Guanzhou, Narita, wherever) on Day 2, and continue to BKK arriving just after midnight on Day 3. At the moment I'm looking at KE12 leaving LAX just before midnight on the 29th (arr Seoul @ 0615 on NYE), and KE657 (arr BKK @ 1215p). It's possible to make it the next day - I usually come close to that arriving sometime around midnight Day2/3. Checkout CO891/CO9711. If I could leave THU morning I could be in BKK by FRI 1020p (which is closer to my usual itinerary, except I'm usually departing a few hrs later not usually going through BKK immigration until just after midnight). Coming back, I arrive back in LA the same day I leave BKK. Making a trip to Japan in a couple of weeks - I'll be back in LA before I leave Haneda! Trying to decide whether global recession is going to lower airfares btwn now and my departure date, or raise them as the result of reduced flight volume. (there's talk about AA bankruptcy...)

This year I'm arriving smack-dab on New Year's Eve (can't get away until after work on Thursday the 29th), and wondering whether to do it in BKK or Patts. Have been to LOS so many times, but not for the holidays in many years. If YOU were arriving for New Years Eve, which would you do (and where would you try and stay for that particular night)?

ahhh - "I'm gay"?

Bombshell?

Market economics at work. I have no special sympathy for the Japanese, but beware the stones you throw lest we find them raining down amongst ourselves... What's the real and final difference between their circles and ours?

Agreed. Were Mafiosi "real men" because they were thugs? Bloods; Crips; Nortenos; Surenos? Heaven forbid this poster ever has to deal with them...

'Made the mistake of "invading" a gang pack in traffic once. I guess about 20-25 brightly clad riders on riceburners. I needed to make a right turn, found an opening between "clumps", signaled, shifted lanes, and was promptly stopped & surrounded by the gang. They deliberately swarmed my car - up on the sidewalk even. 'Couldn't so much as open an door. All 'cause I invaded what they deemed their "space". I really wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I got out my cellphone intending to call 9-1-1 if the situation didn't improve, but they saw me and immediately rode off (with many sgl-fingered farewells...). 'Called the police when I got home & reported the incident - they apparently had had a couple of other calls. 'Don't know whatever happened, if anything. (Probably nothing.) Are all mc gangs like that? No - I'm sure not. And the entire riding community shouldn't be punished for the misdeeds of a few groups of punks. But there's something about the mentality that too easily sets in. The few DO ruin things for the many, and are the reason legislation like that mentioned inevitably gets taken up.

... For the anxious people out there... Researchers develop pocket-sized "date rape" drug detector ya know... ... I'm certainly no expert in this area, so other more informed opinions would definitely be in order, but I think rohypnol is either the as- or more likely encounter... The gadget is described as effective at detecting only GHB & ketamine. (Then again, article says the thing actually detects optical changes in the drink caused by the addition of the chemicals, so maybe they just left out mention of rohypnol.)

These discount "low-cost" airlines can be undependable and a real hassle. Yes, the fares are very competitive, but when things happen it's the passenger left holding the bag. In the airline world they're definitely seen as second-class citizens, and as a passenger you notice the difference. I've experienced very frustrating delays with Cebu Pacific on the BKK end of flights to CRK. If it's one of those times when the immigration lines are backed up, you need to get checked in just as soon as the counter opens up (and heaven help you if you're caught in line behind a big tour group - you'll get to stand by and watch all the johnny-come-lately's trapse right by you to the front of the line while the counter crew scratch their heads trying to figure out what to do...). And if you're on a connecting flight, you'll have to come all the way out through immigration and check-in again (so try to avoid any short-fused transfers). Some of the websites for the discount airlines can be screwy, and you might find yourself making expensive international calls to sort things out. 'Hopefull AirAsia will have their act together.

WTF has FOXNEWS got to do with it?? (I know - I shouldn't even ask. 'For sure some obsessive-compulsive explanation there...)

I won't call it a matter of stupidity, but rather of judgement. It seems convenient to have one's own transport, and being right & tight about it, but you've GOT to weigh the RISKS! It's a personal decision (as it should be), but to me (and I've been there, including a Pattaya emergency room, with some blood-soaked clothing, needing stitches, a slightly wrecked rental, etc.), it's pretty much not worth it. I've always thought I was lucky enough to dodge a bullet, and I guess I'm just not the type to "double-down".

Nope. Never. Filippina wife/GF? Thinking about moving to the LOS? 'Don't even THINK about it (unless your sigo somehow lacks that gene or chromosome that results in the non-surgical amputation of valued body parts....). I can only suggest you trust me on this one - the percentages on this are scary...

Your work is sensitive and you trust it to a Payatta room safe? 'Can't be THAT sensitive - your training is shiite.... Your work is not that sensitive, but you put a whole lot of valuable stuff in your in-room safe? How in the world did you manage to accumulate all that valuable stuff? Decide what you can afford to lose, and bring that with you. It's easy. People who don't know how to travel WILL eventually get ripped off. (Yeah, it's a brutal truth. LOS. US. Anywhere.)

ANY doubts at all - see a doc EARLY! Esp in the tropics. Consequences of a delayed decision can be serious-to-fatal, whereas early intervention can be downright trivial.

'Just want to thank everyone for their recommendations & comments. 'Much appreaciated. I have my phones here in the US, but don't want the hassle of carrying an expensive full-featured phone (& contents) back & forth through customs. I just want as much funtionality as I can get cheaply and easily there on location. If the TGF can't use it, then I'll just can it. All I want is a game accessory. Apologies (& a tip of the hat - you do a great job) to the mods for not iniitiating this in the right place.

Is it me, or were the pickings so much better back then?

...one less electronic gadget to have to drag through US customs. ...and worry about losing or having stolen. Geez - have things progressed to the point where the BGs are that picky about freebies?

I've resisted the trend until this year, but can do so no longer. Can anyone recommend a "disposable" cellphone model (and where to buy it) for my upcoming annual Pattaya trip, with texting, that can just de-sim'ed and "donated" to some deserving young Thai lovely when I go? 'Should be cheap but do the job.

Aren't there some cultures (not saying Thailand is one of them...) where being photographed really is objectionable at the religious/cultural belief level? Also, even though not "illegal" or "legally actionable", I can see where taking too much license with one's camera, in the wrong place or at the wrong time, can possibly interfere with one's quality of life... Some people walking around in places like Bangkok or Pattaya take their privacy/anonymity VERY seriously and simply don't want to be photographed, and are in a position to, well, DO something about it. NOT to endorse thuggish behavior....I'm just sayin'....