Flashermac

It was unreachable all yesterday, but it works now. Just clicked on it and it came up. I see there's a thread on it. A mod said the site was down for maintenance.

It's not quite so bad in Bangkok, if you drive with the understanding that everyone else is out to get you! I have friends who have ridden bikes here for 20+ years with never an accident. But watch out for Songkran - when mo'cy riders are the favourite (though ilegal) target. Nothing like a bucket of ice water thrown in your face as you come riding around a corner! In the provinces it is really dangerous. I knew several Thais who have been killed by Thai drivers - both hit by speeding idiots in pickups or big lorries. A Farang friend who taught in Phuket for two years told me she lost students in her rachapat uni classes every semester. The daily mo'cy death rate in Phuket is something like 1.5 per day and the press has been told not to report it. My friend said first thing she did was buy a car in Phuket!

You can probably work something out with a couple of mo'cy' boys. Go to an area with light traffic and ask them. :D Driving in Thailand

A good location for what? The Landmark is good for both Nana and Cowboy, but if you already have a companion maybe that's not what you want. Several other 5 star hotels in that area too.

No idea why this came up under new posts, since I don't see any. But for an update, Jeff Savage - the Brit wanker who also was involved on the attacks on the ASEAN meeting in Pattaya - has been expelled back to the UK. The raving loony Irish-Aussie, Connor Purcell, has been shipped back to Oz (though many Aussies hoped they'd send him back to Ireland instead). Purcell "exaggerates" - to put it mildly. He was in the Oz army as an infantryman but not any SAS. He also was not shot in the demonstrations. Even stranger are the photos that surfaced of him 2 years earlier demonstrating for the yellow shirts, the Red shirts' opponents. Purcell is totally out to lunch and apparently thought he was taking part in the 1916 Easter Rising. > - Bangkok Post

Bamrungrad caters largely to foreigners. The Arabs really like the place and fly to Bangkok just to go there. The docs are often western trained, but I've been told their ability varies. A US MD told me he was not happy with the questions the Thai MD was asking, so he began firing questions back at the doc. The Thai MD immediately sat up straighter, realising he was dealing with another MD (a surgeon, in fact). Then the Thai doctor became much more thorough in his examination. He obviously wasn't used to being challenged. I do know that the US Peace Corps in Thailand sends its volunteers to Bamrungrad. That tells you something.

Some friends 6 or 8 years ago tried pricing the same hotel on all of the booking sites. They found an amazing spread of prices and picked the cheapest one. Don't ever just look at one site and not compare.

Frankly, I think Phuket sucks. I have no wish to go there any more. Do people still speak English in England? A friend took his Thai girlfriend to visit London. She looked around and said ... "Where are all the Farangs?" :P

Does the Philippines need English teachers? All the Filipinos and Filipinas I've met spoke fairly decent English. You find plenty of Filipinas teaching English in Thailand - say it pays better than at home! (Seems like 90% of the population of the Philippines is trying to get out.) Of course, you could always try a place like this one - nice teacher! :D http://www.teflphuket.com/

It looks to me like the apartments must be well on the Thonburi (west) side of the river. I'm not that familiar with that part of the city. Say a 20 minute bus ride to the Skytrain station - maybe 12 or 14 baht on an a/c bus. Then a quick trip to the school - 20 baht (30 at the most). The school must almost be in Patpong, which will make for plenty of temptation. Friday nights should be fun after class. :) Here are some secretaries at Saladaeng during the red shirt protests. Patpong is just down the street a bit.

How did they manage to miss the King's Birthday???

That sounds unusual for Bourbon Street. Wonder what their Christmas buffet will be like after that. Not a good sign.

Aha! Found the address of the Metro Park Sathorn - same same. Kalpapruek rd. kwang Bangwa ket Phasichareon Bangkok 10160 http://www.tee-pak.com/en/Metropark+Sathorn+

Don't ask me how I made 2 posts out of the last one. :P

The photo is a bit of Fort Red below the Saladaeng station last May.

This photo is a bit of Fort Red below the Saladaeng station.

Looks to be the same to me. I only find one Metro Park by googling. Taksin Bridge station is on the Bangkok side of the river. Wongwian Yai is across the river on the Thonburi side. The Skytrain used to stop a Taksin but now runs to Wongwian Yai. Sathorn is the road the station is on (big wide boulevard now, lots of highrises). Lumpini is the district that includes Sala Daeng - the station opposite the southwest end of Lumpini Park and just north of Patpong. (It was fired on by the black shirt guards supporting the red shirts during the April-May madness, with some travellers killed or wounded.) Here's a Skytrain map for you to see the locations. http://www.bts.co.th/en/map.asp

You can drink for free from 11.30am to 5pm? You could really get floating by then. :D

It's not very Cajun, but I like it anyway. Good meals and a friendly owner too. Bourbon Street is one place you can usually get a drink on those rare dry nights - maybe because it has rooms upstairs and thus qualifies as a hotel.

I always go to a hair dresser, not a barber. Thai barbers tend to leave you looking like an army conscript. :P Foodland on Soi 5 - just north of NEP on Sukhumwit - has a decent breakfast for a reasonable price. Don't know what time they stop serving it, but I think you can still get breakfast that late there. It's sort of a lunch counter as soon as you enter Foodland. What kind of massage do you have in mind - a plain massage or a massage with extras? Big difference. :)

Never stayed there. I've had nice apartments for 5,000 to 6,000 a month, but they were nowhere near that area. I've always lived near the river, just a stone's throw from the Thonburi side.

This board is surprisingly quiet considering that there must be many more expats living in Bangkok than Pattaya.

Dunno. I pay 10,000 for a big house in the suburbs. Utilities run about 600 to 1,800 a month, depending on how much I use the a/c. Another 2,000 for the maid - a bit much but she does a great job and I could never get another one as good. I don't know if you could save all that much compared to 17,000 in that part of town. I presume it includes laundry. Still, if I were going to misbehave I'd want some place away from prying eyes at the school. Sounds like you will be very close to Patpong and temptation. :) You'll be here during a pretty hot time of the year. You will want that a/c. I've never lived in that area, though I once worked there. I looked up Metropark Apartments. Seems they have three different rates: 1). Studio Condo – 30sqm – THB 9 000/month 2). 1Br Condos – 42sqm – THB 11 000/month 3). 2Br Condo – 58sqm – THB 15 000/month If you are not getting the 2 bedroom condo it seems they're ripping you off. Maybe contact them directly? http://www.mrroomfinder.com/blog/metro-park-sathorn.php

Fair enough, but I suspect with my cat buying curtains is not the best idea for me. :P

Nice pics. I've got old Agfa transparencies of Thailand from the 1970s - and the colour has literally gone to hell. Maybe I can copy them some time and figure out how to use Photoshop on them. Ironically, my Kodak slides from the VN War are as good as new.