PeterRS

Nice one! No doubt that's why you're a successful young businessman with the world at your feet.

Two parrots! There'll soon be a menagerie in here.

You are sometimes a bit like a parrot, Mr Beachlover. That's twice in 24 hours you have virtually repeated what I wrote. No doubt unintentional.

Nice one! I suppose even automatic pilots get tired sometimes. Pity the door handle is nothing like any handle I have seen on an aircraft toilet!

I suppose everyone is different. The view from Lebua and Vertigo at the top of Banyan Tree kind of leave me cold. Bangkok is just so flat there is really nothing to see but lights and a bit of river. Not that there's much river traffic after sundown. So I cannot put it in the same category of "views" as the bar at the top of the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo towards Mount Fuji, almost anywhere in Hong Kong, or even from the bar at the top of what used to be the Westin Hotel in Singapore towards the skyscrapers and river (don't know it's name now).

Looks awesome? Looks to me more like one of those computer generated images of buildings you see on the TV series Life Without People! i.e. about to crumble down!

Not really. This is on Rama 4 close to Silom and Suriwong.

Thanks for confirming my comment!

Wowww! Great bods! Wonder if the government realised the implication of that design. 'SIN' and an arrow on the cap pointing downwards to an erect crescent on the briefs. That's pretty sinful in my eyes From the caps and physiques, I assume these guys must be the water polo team.

Are you sure you are completely cured? Songkran was many moons ago! Seriously, sorry to hear about your illness and delighted you are on the mend (I know you meant Loy Kratong). Do you think you got infected in Pattaya? What is the incubation period?

Your suggestions are all obviously possible. But you hit the nail on the head I think in your views on priorities. For most people, making a ton of cash is maybe a dream, but not a priority. In the same way, people concentrate on today rather than tomorrow. Life becomes stuck in a rut, pleasurable or otherwise. Getting out takes a great deal of will power and guts, which I reckon few people have. This is even more true the older one gets when changing professions or training for new ones becomes much more of a gamble. The only career advice I ever received was lousy. Same with much of the investment advice. Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I see where i made my mistakes. Thankfully they were not too damaging, but I'd still love to summon up the courage to have a crack at the tables in Las Vegas!

Looks like more trouble for the Dreamliner. The head of Qatar, one of the best of the new airlines, today said Boeing had "very clearly failed" in getting the airplane into production. He added his airline is now considering buying more Airbus A380s

I'm not sure if the jet setting refers to you or to me. If so, mine is usually of the armchair variety. More of a hobby, I suppose.

Not recently, but did stay there quite soon after it opened. The problem I found was the noise from the river. The rooms were not double glazed, and so the noise started soon after 6.00 am. I'm told it's a favourite of tour groups now. Plus, as beachlover points out, transport is not so easy, unless you go by river. Big rooms, but it's nowhere near the standard of the Mandarin Oriental.

I have been meaning to ask what the A380 experience is like. Is there a lot of space to walk around? Are the staircases 'grand' a la Titanic - or just larger versions of the 747's? Does it 'feel' much different from a 747-400?

Tell that to someone who is a dedicated teacher, fireman, nurse or other lowly paid profession with just enough money to raise a family. I'm sure they will be pleased to receive your advice. If Ih ad spare cash, then I might take your advice about investing in Australia. But then I remember the time not so long ago when the Aussie dollar was under 50 to the US dollar. I think the difficulty for most people with cash to invest nowadays is how to create a balanced portfolio that is going to grow over time. If I remind you of someone, I assume it's someone you'e met. I suspect this is extremely unlikely. My crowd of friend don't make anything like $100 per hour, sad to say.

I am not sure how long the flight has to be for a second set of pilots to be used by airlines. Most overnight flights of 10 hours or more will have them. 8 hours or less - probably not, but that's a guess. I know there is an ongoing study by Boeing, Airbus and an International Flight Safety Committee on the most effective times for crew rest periods. All long range aircraft have bunk beds for pilots just behind the cockpit area.

And how do you propose most people do that? Sure it makes a lot of sense. But the majority of people, including probably the majority of posters, have limited means and are at least in their 40s if not older. I'd love to make a "truckload of money" but have no idea how to do that barring a good run at the tables in Las Vegas.

As most frequent flyers know, four pilots is standard for a long haul flight with 2 resting whilst the other 2 fly the plane. I presume the fifth was a passenger being flown to London where he'd then pilot a flight out. But thank goodness he was on board, as it seems clear they needed all five to get that plane down safely. I see Qantas will have at least some of its A380s back in the air by the end of the week.

Sadly, not on the three I mentioned. They all exploded mid-flight and all on board were killed instantly. The problem on the first Comets was the design of the square shaped windows. Great to look out of them, but they resulted in minute stress fractures at the corners. After a certain number of take-off and landing cycles, the fractures developed into full blown cracks. Thereafter RIP! I may be wrong but I know of no Comet disasters when any on board actually survived. Sorry kokpelli, the 747 looks to be on the way out. It will take some years, of course, but the long range airliner of preference is likely to be the 777, with the extended Airbus A340 also filling in until the A350 is ready in a few years time. The Dreamliner, whenever it finally makes it off the test bed and starts flying passengers, will be the medium-size point-to-point carrier. However, the longer it is delayed, the more the A350 is catching up. The 747 is basically a 1960s deign, although with a vast number of modifications and upgrades over the years. It does seem that Boeing has not received enough orders for the fourth version, the upgraded 747-800 series. The order book has less than 50 for passenger aircraft at present. SO the chances of that getting off the ground are not high. I also think it's a pity as I love the space on a 747. But then , I haven't tried the A380 yet. The Rolls Royce accident on the Qantas A380 is certainly worrying. As part of their engine testing programme, engine makers deliberately destroy an engine going at full throttle. It has to pass that test without bits flying out of the outer casing before it can be certified. As Bob rightly says, "it's not supposed to happen like that!"

I've reached the point where I'm happy to take an A380 flight. The Rolls Royce engine problems are worrying, but other airlines use different engines. I'l try an Emirates flight quite soon. Re the Dreamliner, my concern is that so much of that plane is new technology. There's no reason why it should not fly successfully after its full test schedule. On the other hand, not matter how much people enjoy flying it, I prefer to wait a couple of years

Back to the Dreamliner. Guess what? Hot on the heels of a Qantas A380 having an engine explode leading to the grounding of its fleet of six, and Singapore Airlines replacing the engines on three of its bigger A380 fleet, now the Dreamliner has been grounded. So this means yet another delay in delivery to airines. CNN is reporting that one of the Dreamliner test aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Texas after smoke was discovered in the cabin during a routine test flight on Tuesday. "Until we understand the event, we're not going to schedule any new flights," said Lori Gunter, a Boeing spokeswoman. Sorry, but I'm keeping well away from this aircraft until it has been in service for a few years. Perhaps I remember too well the story of the revolutionary de Havilland Comet, the first commercial jet passenger aircraft. No less than three exploded in mid-air, a problem eventually discovered to be a design fault. It was 4 years before the modified aircraft re-entered service as the Comet 4. But the damage has been done. The plane was never thereafter a commercial success, having been overtaken by the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC8. http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/11/10/boeing.dreamliner.test/index.html

I can't imagine anyone thinking this is anything but staged. The dialogue is stilted and there is almost no-one else in the bar. It may look nice - but when was the last time you saw any bar customer up on stage with his clothes being stripped off?

I have been reading reports of dreadful flooding in many parts of Thailand. This presumably means the water in the Chao Phraya is racing towards Bangkok. Anyone know if there has been flooding in Bangkok?

Never been to HCM but spent a week-end in Hanoi and really enjoyed it. Some lovely colonial architecture and people were friendly. Am told there is a small gay scene which comes alive at week-ends. Traffic much easier on Saturday and Sunday.