PeterRS

Apologies to @DenverDude. There are of course two roads next to each other at the arrivals area and taxis have to be in the one further from the entrances. There are indeed barriers there and one way revolving entrances. But not all are in operation and so it is easy just to wak through these.

Presumably he had not checked in in advance. Because there I think almost all airlines require passport details. Get one detail wrong and you cannot change it or change to a new passport. Result - either denied boarding or need to purchase a new ticket.

Well, he has to say something like this, doesn't he? A way of justifying the massive cost of renting his huge Thai plane to get to New York! Let's hope those words don't come back to haunt him next year. This rather contradicts the earlier part of that release. Doesn't the journalist realise that World Cups are vanity projects which cost host countries massive amounts of cash? Sure they generate a lot of tourism revenues but not nearly enough to cover costs. Estimated losses from the last 3 world World Cups - Qatar: US$229 billion, Russia: $16 billion, Brazil : $19.7 billion. Discount Qatar because it had to buld a totally new infrastructure. But Thailand would need to construct several totally new stadia and spend a great deal of cash upgrading others. Plus all the required infrasructure costs. If it decided to combine with other nations, the last joint-country World Cup was Japan/South Korea in 2002. Estimated losses - US$7 billion. No doubt the PM is merely parrotting what the previous PM had said in June 2019 that all 10 ASEAN nations would bid for 2034. By November that year, the number of nations had rather suddenly dropped to 5. By June 2022, the Cambodian Chairman of ASEAN weakened this further by suggesting either 2034 or 2038. With Saudia Arabia and is trillions also ready to bid for the 2034 World Cup, ASEAN doesn't stand a chance. This is like the Thai businessman who years ago informed the media he was going to bring a Formula 1 Grand Prix night race to the streets of Bangkok. It was sheer fanciful idiocy and could never happen. Singapore's annual F1 Grand Prix costs the city state in the region of $150 million. 60% is paid for by the government. Admittedly, tourism revenues help defray the bulk of the private sector costs. But with average hotel room rates before tax and service in 2022 at S$440 - 11,590 baht at today's rates - how many are going to flood into the region to pay those rates plus inflated air fares? An 1 race in Bangkok was never going to happen - and it didn't!

Not true - unless it's happened in the last couple of months. You can go up in the people movers, escalators or the lifts. Years ago, I always used to go to departures up to get a taxi which had just dropped off passsengers. The only problems now are that there are airport cops trying to stop this (not effective in my experience) and the taxi will not be registered for airport returns. At the official taxi stands you get the printed notice with the taxi number and other details. This may (but only my guess) lead to a problem if for any reason you wish to complain about the taxi you get from upstairs.

I agree with @vinapu that the train is extremely convenient, provided your hotel is not far from one of the Skytrain stations. It's fast (about 26 minutes), cheap (45 baht) and the only other negative I can think of is that at peak times you might have to wait for one or two trains to fill before you can board, but they do depart every 10-15 minutes. Against that, if you have a suitcase and a carry-on, the station changes and having to get a taxi from the Skytrain to the hotel can be bothersome. Taxis are well organised now. You go down to the taxi level and join a queue. Once you reach the head of the queue there are 3 or 4 ticket dispensers. Each ticket has a station number and taxi number. You walk over to that station for your taxi. Fares have recently gone up and I'm not sure what the cost is likely to be, the more so as I do not know the location of your hotel. With the airport surcharge, I expect not much more than 400 baht. Others can advise. But if you want a taxi early in the morning with rush hour in full swing (basically 7:00 am to 9:30 am), the expressway into town will be completely jammed with traffic. The air conditioning will be nice, but your crawl into town can take a good hour or more - and all the time the meter is creeping upwards.

Very happy I'd think! LOL Apart from those who think they should have won more 😵

I suggest this is what we disagree about in general. How other people spend their money and wherever they spend it is almost always of no interest to me. Do you seriously believe that "nothing excites more than other people's money and how they spend it?" Or is this another of your little jokes?

I'm sorry to disagree, but I do not see what you mean. My meaning is I suggest perfectly clear. Some will like it. Others will have reasons for not liking it. Fair enough. But the constant requests from those new or returning to Thailand after a long period for information on what sort of tips to give is, to me, a waste of space when it could easily be imparted on one sticky note. That does not stop discussion. It merely reduces and minimises it.

7 years is a long time. The graduate crisis that has become serious in China is post-covid. Covid caused deep fissures in the country's economy. Almost everything in China has been changing rapidly since 2019. Look at the real estate market. We know that the debts of the two largest companies, Evergrande and Country Garden, are over US$500 billion and the inventory of unsold properties is rising daily. 53 smaller developers have collapsed in little more than two years. $14 billion of Country Garden's outstanding local and foreign currency bonds have lost at least 90% of their face value. We know that Chinese banks are owed over US$3 trillion by the property sector as a whole. Bloomberg estimates that the real estate development sector as a whole has debts worth 12% of GDP which are at risk of default. According to Bllomberg estimates, this places "a massive burden that could curb growth in the world’s second-largest economy for years to come." https://news.bloomberglaw.com/capital-markets/china-faces-property-debt-defaults-worth-12-of-gdp-be-says Most local and regional governments in China depend for a large chunk of their income from the property sector. These local government bodies are vital to China's economy. But overspending on major infrastructure projects and plummeting returns from land sales have increased local government debt levels to US$12.8 trillion in 2022 - up by 50% from 2019. But these are only reported figures on balance sheets. Experts say the central government does not know the level of hidden debts. After decades of increasing prosperity virtually each year, much economic activity in China has crashed dramatically. In such a scenario, it is absolutely the case that employment in better jobs has decreased substantially because the jobs are no longer there. Hence the graduate job crisis and hence the general youth unemployment crisis. China's economy is virtually in uncharted waters.

If price is not really a factor, the 5-star Sukhothai Hotel on Sathorn has amazing breakfast buffets.

But I think all of the above many times over will not go anywhere near spending your $1 million. Surely there must be something else that would eat up the rest? Or are you going to donate that to @TotallyOz's welfare fund? 😵

In my suggestion I stressed "the most frequently used range of tips." I totally fail to understand how a frequently used range of, say, from 1,500 to 2,000 baht can be set in stone. As for overpaying, how many times have we read in recent weeks of customers who were more than satisfied and payed extra? More than a few! A range is precisely that - suggested top and bottom (oops!). It suggests nothing is set in stone.

With respect that shows how little you know of Xi and his ways of controlling his Party leaders.

I'm curious. What would you spend it on - apart from bigger tips to the boys in Pattaya 🤣

Forgot to add that the weather in December is very pleasant. It should be warm and sunny during the days but could be a bit chilly at night - so a sweater is definitely advised. The crop burning season does not usually start until later in January so no problem with pollution - apart from the usual traffic pollution.

Agree with the recommendation about PJ's Place. Only stayed once but enjoyed it and the owners really looked after their guests. Excellent breakfast cooked to order. It's also relatively close to Adam's Apple. My Way and Circle bar. The owners will also arrange an airport pick-up if you wish. https://pjs-place.com Also not far is the old town bordered by the moat. This is packed with temples from the very old Wat Chedi Luang in the centre - and the large Wat Phra Sing - to many smaller temples in and around the old city, including the relatively unknown Wat Chedi Liam. Well worth exploring over 2 days. In the grounds of Wat Chedi Liam As @vinapu suggested, a trip up the hill to Doi Suthep is a must. You can find cheap songthaews or local drivers prepared to take you up and back after your visit. There are also official taxis which will be considerably more expensive. But the trip is well worth it. Once you arrive, there is a longish staircase before you get to the temple itself. @forky123 has mentioned Doi Inthanon National Park and again I totally agree. Again you'll need transport to get there but it's not too far out of town. Since December is quite recenty after the rainy season, the waterfalls should be spectacular. Doi Inthanon is to the south. Go north and see an orchid farm and take a ride on an elephant around one of the elephant sanctuaries (although the authorities prefer you not to do this!). Also as suggested by @forky123 you can consider a trip to the hilltribes. My one disappointment was the gay bars located in a soi across the road from Le Meridien hotel near the Night Bazaar. But that's just my view!

A suggestion. One of the most posted topics is the issue of tips. Could the moderator consider a sticky at the top of the Gay Thailand section of the forum that gives the most frequently used range of tips for Bangkok and Pattaya? Obviously these would be average ranges but I think readers would undersand that. It would also save the question being asked and answered so many times.

That one trillion baht cost seems an underestimate to construct two container ports and all the expresway and train infrastructure required to link them. Even though it's not much more than 120 kms, I imagine the estimated costs do not include all the fat brown envelopes that have to be passed on to various officials before it gets the final go-ahead. No doubt such a landbridge will result in considerable savings for the shipping companies. On the other hand, they will be faced with additional Thai docking, manpower and transport costs, plus two ships where one had previously been required. But I guess that's not a major logistical issue, the more so given the time savings by not having to round Singapore. And with 300 ships presently taking that sea route daily, some will prefer the Thai solution.

For those who have won a lottery, I see the Peninsula Group has finally opened a hotel in London. It has a great location at Marble Arch but rooms rates start at £1,300. No idea if this incudes tax and service, but I suppose if you have to ask you can't afford to say there. 🤣 Incidentally, for those with shorter memories, the Peninsula Group built a hotel in Bangkok on Rajadamri at the end of the 1970s. It opened at a time of economic recession and the Group sold it only a few years after opening. It then became The Regent which many years later sold it to The Four Seasons. It's now named the Anantara. It's lobby is modelled almost exactly on that in its flagship Peninsula Hong Kong hotel. Forgot that i did actually spend one night with a client at the Peninsula Hong Kong. Soon after my bag had been delivered to the room, there was a knock on the door. It was the roomboy with a silver platter of designer soaps from which I had to choose the one I wanted. "Roomboy" was somewhat of a misnomer. The Peninsula had a policy of keeping its staff as long as possible. My roomboy looked around 70! But the soaps were all large bars in their original plastic boxes. Lasted me many weeks! https://edition.cnn.com/travel/peninsula-hotel-london-opens/index.html

Back in the mid-1980s one of the dozens of boys who worked in Twilight was half Thai and half American. Since most of the customers in those days were Thais, perhaps he was very popular.

I play every time I am in Hong Kong. The Mark 6 draw is three times a week with a minimum top prize each time of US$1 million. Since there is no top prize winner in 6 out of 10 draws and the Jockey Club which runs the lottery adds addtional Snowball amounts several times a year, most top prize winners receive more than that million. The highest amount ever won was US$11,840,180. (But I wouldn't quibble if I only won that million!) No idea how much i have spent over many years and the most I ever won was just under US$6. The consolation is that most of that lottery's profits go to needy social welfare causes.

For a decade around 1990, there was a popular TV series that regularly placed Bangkok's then-named Oriental Hotel (now the Mandarin Oriental) as the best in the world. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was a cloying peaen to all those places none of us could afford to visit hosted by the equally cloying Robin Leech. Since then world class hotels have opened all over the place. Virtually the only one I ever stayed in (apart from The Oriental in Bangkok which was business-related and free!) was the gloriously understated Park Hyatt in Tokyo, the hotel where director Sophia Coppola filmed much of her lovely movie Lost in Translation with Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson. That visit was also technically free as I blew almost my entire stash of Hyatt points. But I adored the hotel. Now a new Organisation called The World's 50 Best Hotel Academy made up of 580 hoteliers, hotel industry experts and travel journalists has come up with its first 50 best hotels list. Perhaps not surprisingly 4 of the top 5 - and 5 of the top 10 - are in Asia. 9 more Asian hotels are included in the full list. Top spot goes to a small hotel bordering Lake Como in Italy, Passalacqua. The next four are The Rosewood Hong Kong, Four Seasons Bangkok (the new one by the river), The Upper House Hong Kong (which used to be a block of serviced apartments above the centrally located Marriott Hotel before being converted into a luxury hotel) and Aman in Tokyo. In 10th place is Bangkok's Mandarin Oriental. This lower ranking does not surprise me as the rooms in the new wing (well, new in the mid-1970s) are now pretty much on the small side. Definitely surprising to me is a hotel and hotel chain I have never heard of before - Capella. Capella Bangkok on the river comes 11th and another great river hotel the much more Thai-styled The Siam located up river from the Royal Palace comes in at 42nd. Capella Singapore is at 28 whereas the one other Singapore-listed hotel Raffles is at 17. The 101 room Capella Bangkok - which to me looks like a block in a housing estate. Even the pool looks extremely small! Celebrated older hotels no longer have their shine. London's top hotels are Claridges at 16, The Connaught at 22, NoMad at 46 and The Savoy at 47. Neither the Ritz in Paris or London are on the list, but Paris has four other hotels. Only one New York hotel is listed - the Aman. Few if any of us will have any chance at staying at any of these hotels unless we win a lottery or had bought shares in Berkshire Hathaway half a century ago. In my case, I am not really a fan of top hotels even if someone else pays. I was once on a business trip to New York with a client who was on the Board of Sheraton in Asia. He had booked us into the St. Regis on 5th Avenue. We were arriving on different flights from an earlier visit to Las Vegas - me taking a roundabout route with 3 flights to maximise airline points. When I arrived at LGA late in the evening, my suitcase had missed a connection. So I arrived at the St. Regis and was ushered into a small suite looking virtually like a tramp. Having underwear and socks cleaned at the overnight laundry was more expensive than buying them new. And at breakfast wearing a red sweat shirt and blue jeans amid a plethora of bespoke-suited businessmen, I felt utterly stupid! Full list here - https://edition.cnn.com/travel/world-50-best-hotels-2023-cmd/index.html

What a load of PR nonsense! There was a time when all Thai Ministers and their spouses were entitled to free first class travel everywhere on THAI. I believe that was finally suspended some years ago. But rather difficult to sit in first class when there is no first class seating! Another piece of PR spin aka b/s! With TG having no flights in to New York, the Prime Minister would certainly have looked foolish descending the steps of a JAL, Korean or other nation's aircraft. So a charter from a Thai aircraft will no doubt have seemed the only other solution. Pity the government did not check. The answer has to be a very resounding 'yes'. Or he could have taken a regular non-stop THAI flight to London and then taken an executive jet from there. The cost of a mid-size executive jet for that round trip would be no more than US$100,000 So they paid their pro rata share of 30 million baht? I'll put a lot of money on the table that that is nothing like what they paid!

And the world actually believes this is the reason? It is Chinese propaganda. The real reason is that he will have angered Xi in some way and Xi absolutely does not tolerate that from ministers, senior or not.

As the richest man in the world, Musk clearly thinks he can do or say anything he wants. He has been wooing China for quite some time as he wants to open Tesla plants there. So naturally he has been spouting off his desire to see China reunified with Taiwan. A possible problem for Musk is that if he plans to sell in China he faces competition. The Chinese BYD company of which Warren Buffet is a shareholder sells more electric vehicles than Musk's company. But it does so because it keeps profit margins low and therefore the price is cheaper. SInce 2015, EV prices in China have dropped by 50% and now stand at around $32,000. Similarly an EV is priced around 27% lower than a petrol car. According to the US Environment Protection Agency, the average cost of an EV in the USA this year is $37,300 and that cost is more expensive than a petrol car. Little doubt that he plans to export his Chinese made Teslas, if he gets the relevant permits to open factories. There are still many companies around the world where the EV market is either in its infancy or is non-existent.