Rogie

Does Hua Hin have an airport? No mention of one in my guidebook. You can travel there by: car bus train Car: If you are contemplating travel by hirecar consider how conversant you are driving in Bangkok. I have done it but only with a Thai person as navigator, never on my own. If you drove like fury you might do the journey from central Bkk to Hua Hin in a shade over 2 hours, but not knowing the road prior to my recent trip it took a lot longer, allowing for stops at petrol stations, etc.it took well over 3 hours. The car + driver option would be the best one if you are not too keen on driving in Bkk. Having said that the rest of the journey is easy on highway 35 and then highway 4. Incidentally I was amazed that some sections of highway 4 are single lane. Why surprised? Because it is the main artery (and the ONLY artery in places I think) between Bkk and the south of Thailand. The single lane section may be south of Hua Hin, I cannot remember exactly. Bus: Leave from the Southern bus station, and according to my guidebook they run every half hour and take 3 and a half hours. I've done the journey once several years ago and have no memory of it so it can't have been too awful. Train: Again, cribbing from my guidebook there are frequent trains running from Hualamphong and the journey takes 4 hours. You have a choice between 2nd or 3rd class. How about 4 hours in a 3rd class carriage just as we enter the rainy season khun MIchael?

A recent short side-trip to Burma (Myanmar) didn't throw up any major surprises. Here is a rundown of the current situation as I found it. Getting there: I used Myanmar Airways International (MAI) to fly Bkk to Rangoon, cost 8,200 baht rtn, travelling out on a Wednesday, returning the following Sunday. Non-stop flights: 8 per day, 1h 18m duration Airlines: Thai, AirAsia, Bangkok Airways, MAI −Schedule of non-stop flights Valid through 31 May 07:15 → 08:00 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S AirAsia 3770 07:55 → 08:50 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S Thai 303 09:15 → 10:05 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S Bangkok Airways 701 11:50 → 12:35 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S MAI 336 15:00 → 15:50 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S Bangkok Airways 703 16:50 → 17:35 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S AirAsia 3772 17:50 → 18:45 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S Thai 305 19:15 → 20:00 BKK-RGN M T W T F S S MAI 332 Visas: Burma have introduced visa on arrival at Rangoon airport in the past and just as suddenly withdrawn it. Currently you have to do it the traditional way. Which I declined to do. The visa was obtained from Siammar travel agent, Soi Pan, Bangkok and cost me 2,500 baht. This is far in excess of what you would pay by patiently queuing early one morning at the Myanmar Embassy, handing in your completed application form, your passport and two passport-size photos and being told to come back in the afternoon 3 days hence for the visa. I have done this myself in the past and can no longer be bothered to do it in such archaic fashion, albeit a lot cheaper. I have seen posts on bulletin boards such as this one: "I showed up at 8am (the Embassy opens at 9) to find already 40 people ahead of me in the Q". The visa takes up a full page in your passport and it now incorporates a small photocopy of the photo you supplied them with. The Bangkok Post carried an item on Monday to say citizens of any of the ASEAN countries will be eligible for a tourist visa on arrival as from 1st June. Business visas will be available for all nationalities. Immigration: I sailed through, the airport is clean and spacious and a big improvement on a few years ago. Exchange rate: Not so good just now. The black market rate has been around 1,000 kyats to the US$ for many years. The best rate I was offered on my visit was 850 (by a street urchin using a hand-held calculator), with 830 perhaps being a more realistic top rate somewhere reputable. Costs: Carefully work out your projected budget well beforehand and bring it into the country as US Dollars. Notes must be post-2006 issue, unfolded and with no tears or writing on them. (Such paranoia is perhaps laughable in view of one of the Burmese generals' pals North Korea producing what is recognised as near-perfect forgeries. If you ask me, the older, the more tatty the note, the better!). There are ATM's but they do not accept foreign cards. Credit cards are accepted at a few top-end hotels I believe, otherwise forget it. Travellers cheques are hard to change. Inflation in Burma is of the order of 30% per annum. That's a lot higher than inflation affecting the purchasing power of the US$ worldwide I would imagine. Simply put, that means that if you pay in $US you are probably getting round that problem. Some travel sites recommend paying for your hotel and travel in advance and there is a lot to be said for doing that. Tea: Lonely Planet used to use the cost of a cup of tea in a typical Burmese teahouse as a good yardstick. In their 1996 edition tea cost approx 8 kyats. I did not visit a teahouse on my recent visit but according to the 2011 edition tea will now set you back 250 kyats. I leave the mathematicians amongst us to work out if that ties in with the already stated inflation of approx 30% per annum. Beer: half litre draught beer 600 kyats, bottle 'Myanmar' brand (630 cc size) 2,000 kyats. Bottle of water in restaurant 300 - 400 kyats. Food: Portion of rice 500 kyats. Cooked snack eg. steamed vegetables 1,500 kyats. Typical main course meal eg curry, sweet and sour chicken, 3,000 kyats. Whole steamed fish 6,000 kyats. Clothing: T-shirt from stall in the Scott Market 2,500 kyats. 100% cotton, made in Myanmar. NB. If you under-pack for hot weather like I did lightweight clothing is cheap. Bus: You would have to be pretty desperate to use one of the local buses, but long-distance buses are fine. The fares, like other costs in Burma, have been greatly affected by inflation - payment in kyats. Taxi: Short hop within inner Rangoon 1,000 kyats. Taxi from airport US$7, although drivers waiting outside the airport will ask for $10 or even $15. There are no meter taxis. Air conditioning? Yes, if you call driving with all the windows open that is. Most taxis are hardly more than scrap metal on wheels. Although the Burmese drive on the right, most vehicles are RHD. Confused? Well, the story seems to be that many years ago some mad superstitious general decided to change from driving on the left to driving on the right. Only the newest cars on the road have LHD. Hotels: I stayed at the Three Seasons Hotel, 52nd Street, Rangoon. e-mail: phyuaung@mptmail.net.mm. Tel: 95-1-9010066. This is a small family-owned and run place, with a guesthouse atmosphere. It has only 9 rooms. Twin room $25, includes an excellent breakfast. Hotel was more or less full which is not bad going considering the April heat. Most guests only stay a night or two and are either just arrived in Rangoon or stopping there en route to up-country. Hotel management are most helpful and can help with planning visits to other parts of the country. Money can be changed at the reception desk. My visit they were offering 800 kyats to the US$. General atmosphere: Unchanged. Despite the mood of optimism amongst many tourists, I didn't see any difference amongst the Burmese themselves. Years of stoical forbearance, allied to a general friendliness towards foreigners (similar to Thailand), would explain that I think. Gay life in Rangoon: Unexplored on this trip. I was there to meet up with a friend. Previous visits have drawn a blank despite finding a bar staffed with delightful young men! If you are determined and exercise discretion and patience you will probably make some headway. One big problem as I see it is where to go after meeting your new friend. My understanding is it will be awkward to take him to your room. Day visits would probably be ok but overnight visitors would be another matter altogether. That's just my hunch, I have no experience myself. I believe you may be ok at some of the upmarket hotels, for example I seem to recall when researching the topic a few years ago the Pansea Hotel was mentioned as accepting overnight guests, but it was far outside my price bracket! I have just run a Google search and see that hotel was sold in 2006. Other ways of travelling to Burma directly from Thailand: There is a twice-weekly flight between Rangoon and Chiang Mai. I haven't checked this so have no details. There may well be flights between other cities that I am unaware of. There are several land borders. The one at Mae Sot was closed some while back and may be open again. I haven't checked. You cross into Myawadi in Burma but must be back in Thailand before the immigration post closes in the evening, so you are limited to what you can do in just a few hours. I've been there once, but unless you have never been to Burma and are just curious, there's little to recommend it. As far as I am aware the crossing at Three Pagodas Pass is similar. I've never used this crossing, neither have I the border at Mae Sai. You can travel by boat from Ranong in Thailand to Kawthoung (Victoria Point) in Burma. I haven't researched the overland travel restrictions for this option, although I understand if you want to explore the so-called Mergui (or Myeik) Archipelago you have to either arrange a package deal with a certain hotel chain, sail on a cruise ship, or sign up for a live-aboard scuba diving outfit. Summary: Burma is a delightful country, best visited in November to February; rather like in Thailand it is their 'cool season'. That means more tourists of course. Would I recommend visiting in April or May so as to avoid the crowds? No, I wouldn't. There will still be plenty of tourists then, especially if the new 'openess' continues, and the weather is hellish. Rangoon is an absolute cauldron. I would be very surprised if other parts of the country were much different. One place in particular, Bagan, would be absolutely dreadful in April or May I would imagine. It's a bit like visiting the Mayan temples in the Yukutan in Mexico, everything is very exposed. Except it would be even worse in Bagan as the site is so huge. I would consider Burma still cheap, but inflation is a big problem and if I had to guess it will no longer be a very cheap country to visit a few years from now.

1. I haven't ever got an airport bus to Pattaya but several times have done the reverse. The one from the parking lot opposite Pan Pan in Jomtien is excellent and costs about 120 baht. It's not as fast as a taxi but gets there as fast as a bus can. Allow 2 hours. 2. Following on from FH's terrible experience and Z's comments with which I am in complete agreement, I had another annoying taxi ride on Monday of this week, following on from the fiasco with the diddled meter. I had to wait 10 minutes outside the Malaysia Hotel before I spotted an unoccupied taxi. It was 8 am so I guess a lot of people using them to get to work. So I was very relieved to get in and ask for the bus station. I know it is vital to make sure the driver knows where you want to go so I always say Morchit - Northern Bus Terminal - Chatuchak. That way there can be no misunderstanding, right? Some of you can probably guess what happened. Yes, he dropped me off at Morchit BTS station. I was pretty sure he'd got it wrong but he insisted 'bus station' and so I got out and a women hopped in and joined in the chorus (in excellent English) Yes! Bus station! with a lot of finger pointing. I still suspected they were wrong and I was right, but as I had already disembarked and paid (just over 100 baht) I was on the losing side. I then had to pay a further 50 baht for a motorcycle taxi to take me to the real bus station. Luckily I had only a small amount of luggage and I wasn't in any great rush, so it was hardly the worst experience of my life, but infuriating because I should have known better and refused to get out of the cab until he took me where I wanted to go.

I have either been very lucky or passengers must have evaporated in the heat. Returning on Sunday at 6pm from a side trip to Burma there were no Q's at immigration, consequently baggage reclaim was my only delay. It was equally quiet flying out of the country on my outward leg on Wednesday evening of last week. Again, no Q's whatsoever at immigration or at security scanning. My interpretation, based on what various people on this board and elsewhere have told us, is that it's a management problem. Yes, there are more passengers arriving and departing than is ideal for the way the airport was planned, but surely for the waiting times to vary so wildly, from reports of one to two hours Q'ing to the other extreme, no Q's at all, tells me it's a simple failure of management to get a firm grip on things. They just don't seem to be able to understand the concept of forward planning.

That description of the meter layout would appear to confirm my suspicions. The final digit in the fare section of the metered display was obscured by a small Buddhist charm or some other object, so only the first two digits were visible, i.e. with a fare of 350 baht the zero was hidden. Perhaps the distance travelled display was also obscured. Fountainhall's description implies this. The despatch form described by FH appears to differ from the ones I've had recently. Mine are A5 in size and headed in red 'For Passenger'. There is no quarter part for the driver that I can see. However, I assume we are referring to a document that serves the same purpose.

I flew into Sivarnabhumi on Sunday early evening. I got a taxi at the public rank as I always do, gave my destination as the Malaysia Hotel, and was immediately allocated a driver. Interestingly, there was a long line of taxi drivers Qing up for a fare, but whether that is salient to what followed, I have no idea. I thought the meter was turning over a bit quick but at first gave it little thought. However, by the time we turned off the expressway I was getting very suspicious. The final fare to the hotel was 350 baht. I knew from experience this was a greatly exaggerated amount. (As always I had already paid the 70 baht in toll fees). That meant a total fare of 400 baht by the time the 50 baht airport surcharge was added. Like Fountainhall, with a somewhat similar journey to his condo I believe, past taxi journeys have usually been around 220 baht to the Malaysia. There was no way I was going to hand over 400 baht! But. . . and a big but, I was no longer in possession of the slip of paper, the one headed FOR PASSENGER in red ink. He had taken it from me as soon as I had got into the cab. I needed it back. It took at least a minute of at time heated argument before he reluctantly gave it back to me. Although by now I was almost 100% sure he'd fiddled the meter, I knew there had been talk of raising taxi fares so I asked him if fares had gone up but as far as I could tell from his reply they hadn't. By now he was clearly scared that I'd file a complaint, so when it came to deciding a 'fair' fare he asked for 250 baht. I gave him 300 baht not expecting any change (because of the 50 baht airport surcharge) but he insisted on giving me 50 baht change. So what best to do, forget it or file a complaint. I do not have any evidence other than what I have already mentioned, and I did not check the distance travelled as per Fountainhall's post above as up till now I have never knowingly been ripped off so have never bothered to do any more than check the amount. Has anyone ever filed a complaint, and if so what was the outcome, or do they just end up on some bureaucrats desk only for him to chuck them straight into the w.p.b.

More nonsense from North Korea. North Koreans celebrate 70th birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il Dateline: 16 February 2012 The 'serious and substantial talks' referred to in my post #44 are explained in more detail here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9085786/North-Koreans-celebrate-70th-birthday-of-late-leader-Kim-Jong-il.html

Memory is a very precious possession. Unless we are unlucky, we can access its treasure trove at will. I love it when an old or seemingly forgotten memory comes bubbling up from the depths. Memory adds such richness, depth and perspective to our lives. It can also be maddening and mysterious, you can have a name you ought to know on the tip of your tongue just as easily as by a bit of systematic mental effort you can recall that more obscure memory. It's always good of people to feed back to us their experiences, tips on do's and don't's, new places opened or old ones closed, maybe a little anecdote here and there "But one welcome change, we thought, is the introduction of cute, lively coyote boys at each corner. I invited one for a drink. A Bangkok university student, he spoke some English and was really fun to be with." so the reader can judge for himself whether he'd like to tread a similar path. In the main there are two kinds of reports of this nature, those written by visitors and those by folk such as Fountainhall, an owl wise in the ways of Bangkok's varied strata. Some visitors report in breathless fashion as they run from place to place, their childlike enthusiasm either infectious or tedious depending on how we react to what they write. Others, old hands can come across as a bit predictable or cynical even - but they have the advantage of experience and perspective. Fountainhall, as a resident, knowing as he does his home turf intimately, reports honestly, as he finds it, without a trace of cynicism or world-weariness.

Ultimately a bit of a non-issue, and badly written, but see what you think: Read more: http://business.time...y#ixzz1ncmUk68M

Crikey! What was I doing last week not to have grasped the rather cheery news that the death of the Universe had been averted? Could those pesky neutrinos have sullied my faculties to that extent? Read more: http://newsfeed.time...y#ixzz1nbsoixxH

So we get to the end of the post above none the wiser as regards who won what. Well, that's a merciful relief. I'm not saying I have zero interest in the Oscars, I enjoy watching films, but FH has dextrously hammered another nail in the coffin as far as my cynical attitude towards them is concerned. I never watch the award ceremony and so I usually find out who won by happenstance. Another thing I dislike is all the phoney speculation ahead of the awards. For example how can the media be so certain that a particular film is going to win, are they just guessing or have some of the mysterious 5,765 voting members been blabbing? When an award is made there should be a reason why that film or that actor/actress was chosen and a breakdown showing us how the members voted. Let's have a bit of transparency instead of perpetuating what is clearly some kind of secret society. Another question: one would imagine that in order to qualify for a vote, any individual member should have carefully watched every film nominated for an award. Hopefully they all do but can you imagine the nun being bothered (even if she's allowed!) to do that. Of course she probably doesn't vote so fair enough, but I wonder how many members are enthusiastic voters having watched all the films and how many are lazy and can't be bothered apart from casting their votes with a cynical shrug?

From May 2008 we have this: Barack Obama drew a big crowd at a rally Sunday in Portland, Oregon. Nearly 75,000 people attended the rally, which shouldn't surprise political observers: the primary in Oregon is on Tuesday. Barack Obama was amazed at the huge crowd that gathered to listen to his speech at the Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon, adjacent to the scenic Willamette River. He is currently visiting the state for the primary on Tuesday. Obama and his campaign said this is the biggest crowd they received during the campaign. Also, It may be the biggest crowd ever for a political rally. Now that seems a more sensible way to do it, holding it in a park rather than a stadium. Of course you need good weather for a park. So there we have it, beat that if you can, an "unbelievable" 75,000 people at a political rally. Read more: http://digitaljourna...5#ixzz1nWsnSAcg

Just checked and I agree it still hasn't been updated since then. Unbelievable it may be, frustrating it certainly is. Frustrating if you were a Brit or indeed any other nationality outside of the US who was keenly following developments in US politics and, like me, seldom watch the news on TV. I expect it would have featured on the BBC World News the 24 hour channel. It's old news now anyway thanks to your good self FH. As for the 70,000 seater stadium, that must be huge. I assume it is an all-seater. As I am familiar with football stadiums in England I will draw a comparison with them. In the old days of mixed standing and seating in British football (soccer version) stadium attendances well over 50,000 were common but nowadays they are all-seaters not many hold more than 40,000. I find it exceedingly difficult to imagine an English Premiership football ground swollen to 150% i.e. half as large again, packed with people munching their cheeseburgers and guzzling Bud lites straining to hear what Mitt Romney had to tell them. Has any American politician, anywhere, drawn a crowd of that size? I have to say unbelievable is a word I'd use too.

The only thing missing was a bit of music! How about the festival organisers approaching this musician to book him for next year's festival . . . http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17162066

Thanks for the memory-jogger FH. It's fascinating to speculate why certain countries excel at certain sporting events. I think there must be several factors: 1) a country's history and tradition of sporting excellence 2) how much encouragement potential young sportsmen and women get 3) whether the predominant ethnic group in a country gives it a likely advantage in certain sports events I am sure there are more, especially with regard to individual competitors overcoming all kinds of obstacles to achieve success, but these are the ones that come to mind.

Yawn http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17136478

I agree that kind of thing smacks of poor organisation, but as for making the headlines in Britain I've just checked the BBC News website's US and Canada section and it's not featured.

I don't normally go in for that sort of thing (see my comment below) but I did enjoy watching. FH makes a good comment on the other board about Chinese and Japanese gymnasts that will make me more likely to watch some of the gymnastic events in the olympics competitions. Up till now I have more or less ignored that kind of thing. Not watched gymnasts since Olga Korbut and that other one, Nadia someone or other, so I wonder at what stage the Asian performers overtook the Russians (formerly Soviets).

Seatmates? Love that! I've never tried it (obviously!) but death by chocolate sounds a nice way to go. Now, as I squeeze my ample frame into what will be my own little castle for the next x hours of cattle-class torment, to add to my woes I must now sneak furtive looks out of the corner of my eye in order to pro-actively detect incipient homicidal tendencies in my seatmates. Oh, I love you dearly, I really do. . .

Seeing a headline reading . . . "At 30,000 ft we heard a crack" . . . maybe you'd assume whoever was recounting the experience made pretty sure his seatbelt was nice and tight and he was thoroughly familiar with emergency procedures. But you'd be making a big assumption. What if the 30,000 ft was not in the air, but under water? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17060355

They're good. Thanks for posting the link. I don't understand the significance of the sculpture in black with the camera and sound technicians? Later: I just twigged, it's in the cinema! Silly me. . . To make amends http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17138754

Just who are these simple continentals? Us simple Brits look across the English Channel in awe at our sophisticated continental cousins (most Brits have a fair smattering of European blood in 'em such as Viking - Danish or Norwegian or German from the Saxons or Norman French) swishing around in their little red open-topped Alphas in Rome or in their Traction Avant Citroens shooting out of Parisian side-roads without looking. A glance at the breakfast menu of Papa David's in Pattaya lists the following: English (British) Continental Dutch German French Norwegian Belgian American Swiss Italian Etc Spot the odd one out. By the way, I love that 'etc', make up your own kind of DIY brekkie I suppose it means.

That begs the question, "why run for office in the first place?". i guess it depends on what kind of office. Firstly, there's voluntary positions. So for example, I served as a local councillor in an inner city area of London for four years. I enjoyed it but I didn't stand for re-election, it was just too time-consuming for a person with a full time (paid) day job. There was no salary or any perks, just nominal expenses, and for four years I had several meetings a week, mostly in the evenings after a full day's work. As for election expenses - peanuts - a couple of cheaply-produced election leaflets stuffed through letterboxes. Paid for by the political party I was representing, its money coming from subscriptions from members and fund-raising events. Accounts all audited and open for inspection. Positions which pay generous expenses or some kind of salary must be tempting for people without any other kind of job or those in low paid jobs. Doesn't seem any problem there, if the person's elected democratically, that's fine. But what if in order to stand a realistic chance of being elected the candidate has to stump up funds for literature, for broadcasts on radio and local television, for hire of public venues, for telephone canvassing, for mailshots etc.? I don't know at what level of politics in the US money comes into the equation as far as upsetting what ideally should be a level playing field for candidates of all income groups. Once it is an issue that distorts things. The candidate either needs a substantial private income or he has to rely on some kind of sponsorship. But that still doesn't answer why, if a person does have what it takes in terms of money, he would want to run for office? To answer that, you'd have to ask them. So I don't know. Maybe some ethnic groups are more pushy, more insecure, more motivated by thoughts of power and influence, the list is probably a long one. One thing I would guess is that Americans of Asian descent don't feel the need so much to enter the fray. That might change in years to come, maybe there'll be the equivalent of the Kennedy dynasty, or the Bush dynasty, or whoever, as it does seem that politics once tasted, is a bit like blood to a vampire, and cannot be resisted.

If ever there is a book detailing the evolution of air travel over the past 30 - 40 years, its ups and downs, you'd be in pole position to write it FH. A decent-sized coffee table book (best viewed a deux on said coffee table perhaps whilst sipping coffee liqueurs, NOT on one of those new-fangled electronic book-readers!) chock full of black & white and colour plates with a scholarly text with just the right amount of gravity mixed with humour and amusing anecdote. Ah, I can see you hesitating FH, well, why not? I would offer to write the foreword!

Bob's underlined a big flaw in my comment about Asians working their way up to positions of power as decision-makers in US politics. They're spread too thinly. Then again, that must've been the case for many minorities over the years. So what to do about it? If new immigrants find themselves living or are encouraged to live in areas in sufficient number that might serve to give them a reasonable voice, but at the expense of not being seen to integrate into the wider spectrum. A desire to be 'anonymous', to blend in, is laudable but that way any minority, although numbering in the millions nationwide, will always be just that, an insignificant factor 'on the ground'. Unless there are other ways.