joshhb

Once you are outside of Bangkok metro sprawl driving is quite straightforward. The quality of the roads is superb. However you must drive defensively, especially on multi-lane highways with kamikaze trucks with poor lane discipline. I'd never rent a scooter except on a low-speed island. Way too vulnerable.

I think you need to state what type of island you want. If you want luxurious hotels and upscale restaurants, then Phuket and Samui are for you. If you want more local ones, then there is much more choice. Although Samui and Chang are easy to get to, the Samui and Trat airports are privately owned by Bangkok Airways, and therefore priced as a monopoly. Driving outside of Bangkok is very straightforward. Just make sure you have an international driving license. On my next visit in May we are going to drive to Hua Hin for a few days, then up to some national parks near the Myanmar boarder. Last time we flew to Chiang Rai and did a great road trip of the NE - Highlights were the boarder roads above the Wild Boar Tham Luang caves. Having a car gives great freedom to roam near or far from the sea.

Koh Samed. 3 hours 2500B taxi. Busy at weekends with Bangkok residents. Very local. No big resorts. Just rent a motorcycle. Koh Lanta. Fly to Krabi and drive for 1 hr. Bigger island again few resorts. Best to have a car. Amazing sunsets

On a related topic why oh why don’t more Bangkok taxi drivers use Google maps? Traffic congestion changes all the time. I missed a local flight because the taxi driver insisted on using his own routing which lost us 45 mins vs. Google maps.

Didn’t get that far. We dropped down off the mountain ridge to go to Mae Fah Luang gardens. Anyway the point is that having a car gives the freedom to explore some amazing countryside

Renting and driving a car outside of central Bangkok is a doddle. Just back from a 3 day road tour of Chiang Rai province. I had wanted to visit Thom Luang "cave rescue" cave, but unfortunately it was still closed (opens October 1). So we carried on a bit and headed North up the mountains and a road running along the Myanmar boarder. Through 3 army checkpoints, stopping for a coffee looking down through the clouds down to the flat plain. Then wound our way back down. Renting a car gives great freedom to do what you want to do. Rental prices are very reasonable.

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful.

Despite the relaxation of the rules Thailand is still the Land of Masks. Near 100% wearing outside. Even on beaches.

I've booked my first appointment with Universal Tailors. So far they have been efficient.

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try them out next month. I’ve had a couple of jackets made by the tailor shop near Trinity Complex/Chong Nonsi. Despite instructions they were too padded and structured

Please may I have recommendations for a good tailor to make a suit. I'll be staying in Silom but happy to travel to Sukhamvit if that's the best location. Thanks.

EVA seems to have lots of award availability. Call your local office first, and they will tell you if there is a Premium Economy to Business Class upgrade on your chosen dates. If yes, immediately book PE on line, then call back with the booking reference. They will then do the upgrade with an email confirmation in minutes. LHR - BKK rtn "costs" 75k miles, and you travel in one of the world's best business class products.

Hang out on Silom 4 for the mixed gay-centic bars and restaurants. "Full service" massage places will do less if you want. Arena and Sabaidee Spa would give you hunky masseurs. Arena is probably easier for a newcomer to find.

56 Surawong. It’s the budget sister hotel of Montien. Not bad and a great location. I was happy to pay the 2500B for the 3 hour express service which actually only took 1.75 hours

I arrived at a busy time at the end of March. Although the mass of desks and logos was initially confusing, all I had to do is to state by hotel name to the nearest desk staff, and I was pointed to the right desk. All in all a 5 minute process from exiting customs to being in a car. 2500B extra got me a test result in under 2 hours. The only clunky element to the Thai Pass process was the website which would not allow .pdf file unloads. If you want to see chaos, visit a UK airport immigration hall.

I've just completed Thai Pass PCR test. Just 1.75 hours from test to result. The premium was a reasonable 2500 B. All arranged by mid-priced 56 Surawong Hotel. Now I can enjoy dinner at Somtam Der with my BF

Oh I see. I land about 15:30, so would probably get to a test by 17:00. Do any hotels away from Silom offer express testing? Maybe in the Sukhumvit area?

Any recommendations please? Day 1 and 5 tests may be gone by the end of March, but if not.....

That's the one! Cool decor inside, and loads of parking.

Robert and Bom have opened a new restaurant on the west of the river. Kin Kao. It's a 30 minute taxi drive from Oasis.

A week ago I was coming through Suvarnabhumi immigration and despite the ban on Chinese tours there was a guy with a flag shepherding a small group tour from China. Cambodia PM has come into a lot of flak for allowing the cruise ship to unload but Thai PM is being reckless allowing flights from China.

And another one. Somol talk a.k.a Small talk. Earphones apparently.

If you believe that the virus will be contained then there is no need to be worried. However each infected person in China has now passed it on to 2.4 people. This means it will become a pandemic. I am going to take extreme measures. Face mask on mrt, taxis Suvarnabhumi etc. Keep away from the haunts popular with the Chinese. 3 bottles of hand wash are packed in my bag!

Jupiter is definitely to be avoided. Watching the crowd going in I’d say it is 50% Chinese. Which massage shops are not popular with the Chinese?

Seems to be getting less bad - in time for my arrival on Monday http://aqicn.org/city/bangkok/ I think the biggest culprits are 1. Badly-maintained diesel trucks / buses. 2. Crop burning. Last year Indonesian fires caused a huge blanket of smog all the way to KL. Chiang Rai was also very badly affected by northern crop burning Solutions: 1. Aggressive roadside checks and immediate impounding of failing vehicles. 2. Subsidize Happy Seeder and other technologies that deliver the nutritional benefits of burning, without the smoke.