billyhouston

I suspect that WinZip cannot open .rar files but cannot be sure since I use WinRAR. The latter, however, will also open zip files. An extension such as .001 is likely to mean that the file has been split and that it needs to be joined to the other, remaining, parts. A popular program to split, and join, files can be found here: http://www.hjsplit.org/

That will be the Aroma. Unfortunately, on my last visit, I saw rats running around the place. Still, you can get a decent cappuccino there.

Those who have the celebrated Nationwide Flexaccount can, nominally at least, arrange the 'SWIFT' transfer online. However all this really does is send a request to their foreign dealing people who then process the request. The basic cost is

IBAN is rather Euro-centric. I had my Kasikorn Branch provide me with a printed slip which has all the details needed for International transfers in. Basically, you need the Swiftcode which is: KASITHBK You also need the address of your branch and the account number (which includes branch information anyway). I have always found them to be helpful and efficient with (Thai) interbank instant transfers available long before my UK bank.

Even maintaining a house in UK does not appear to get around the issue. I guess that people who have retired abroad are considered unlikely to vote so the parasites politicians feel they can get away with this sort of thing. The relatively recent changes at immigration (passport readers) would make it possible for government to know that you have been out of the country if they choose to link the computer systems. For the past 13 years, our beloved Gordon Brown has cynically and systematically used public money to buy the support of the hard left in his party and to buy votes at an election. He was a smug, self-serving hypocrite who was incompetent as Chancellor and incontinent as Prime Minister.... just look what a mess he has left us in.

Alas, eligibility for free treatment under the UK National Health Service is now based on residence. However unfair this may seem, and it is, there's very little that one can do about it. HMG website This is catching out increasing numbers of people. Rather like the freezing of pensions if you reside in the wrong country, the fact that you have paid NI contributions throughout your working life is ignored.

What is even more galling about the UK NHS is that if, having paid your NI contributions throughout your working life, you have the temerity to become resident overseas then you cease to be eligible for NHS treatment should you return to UK. Meanwhile, every Tom, Dick and Harry newly arrived in UK gets free NHS treatment. Where's the justice in that?

For some years I've used Atsiam for my Thai bookings. More recently I've found it interesting to use the comparison site Hotels Combined which covers most of the usual suspects. Seldom do I book direct though, just at the moment, my favoured place in Bangkok has special offers available direct. The fact that it's on Langsuan may have something to do with it.

While I'm aware of the rather harsh conditions in respect of (their) cancellation of a flight, I have found AirAsia to be a low-cost carrier unlike their European counterparts who seem, sometimes at least, to cost more than full-service carriers. A careful trawl of their web-site and my booking confirmations hasn't turned up any requirement to present the credit card used for the booking at checkin. Their recent seat sale yielded quite a number of BKK - CNX, and vice-versa flights for Bht 157. Even with bags and a 'hot seat' (added later) this is still cheap. Bangkok - Yangon return for Bht 1010 wasn't something to be sneezed at either. Having given up on NokAir, AirAsia has filled the gap with cheap, and usually 'on time', flights. As Fountainhall has noted, you run a risk and must take that into account with your hotel bookings.

I'm sorry Josan, I simply don't recognise this picture of Yangon. The military's move to Naypyidaw in November 2005 (I was there at the time and passed through the military area between Mingalardon (airport) and Htaukkyant.) proved to be a false dawn for the people of Yangon. Safe in Naypyidaw, there was no need for the generals to protect power and water supplies to Yangon. As a result people now get between one and three hours a day of electricity which is needed to pump water. Broken gas pipes, broken Chinese generators and low water levels are blamed for the problems. The damage done by Nargis remains laregely unrepaired. Across the river in Dala and Thwante, people are dying from lack of water. The city is in a time warp, as it has been for along time, and has not been growing 'upward' to any extent.... thank goodness. Like Vientiane, being low-rise is one of its charms. Workers in factories have been rioting because their wages barely allow them to pay for the journey to work, let alone live. Conditions in these factories are terrible. A recent fire at the main wholesale market in Yangon is causing considerable difficulties throughout the city and country. Yangon was the commercial capitol (sic) of the country before the military moved out, so that's nothing new. Yangon has great charm, even though it has not had a lick of paint for more than 60 years, and I would encourage people to go, see for themselves.... and reflect, but please do not over-hype the place. I do not see the 'middle class', such as it is, bringing about change since the military are too powerful. Change will have to come from within the army, which means a younger generation of officers.

Found it at last. This is a reasonable version of that which I downloaded: Visa on Arrival

Since 1 May it has been possible to obtain a Visa on Arrival at either Yangon or Mandalay airports. Although I've printed off some forms, I can no longer find the site from which they were downloaded. Many sites have been very slow to update the information. If you want a copy I can send it as a .jpg ready for printing. (Visa on Arrival has been tried in the past, but the conditions were pretty onerous.) Inevitably some money you spend will end up with the government but it's a pittance compared with what comes from China and Thailand. The Thais are between a rock and a hard place; lack of access to Burmese resources would, literally, put the lights out in Bangkok. Hotel choice would depend upon your budget but generally the smaller hotels would contribute less to government coffers.

I'm familiar with 'Free Burma' and their position. There was a recent article in which Thant Myint U argued very strongly that they were misguided. For those who don't know, Thant Myint U is a Cambridge historian and, for those of a certain 'seniority', parts of the name may ring a bell. He is the grandson of that wonderful Burmese who angered Ne Win (predecessor of Than Shwe) and whose funeral resulted in a student revolt where, sadly, many were killed. Oddly enough, I'm not even sure that 'Bamar' is politically correct; in that context Burman is preferred! What it comes down to is this: the term Burma represents the period of occupation by the colonial power. It also refers to a country which is a subset of what is now, in the terms of the 1947 constitution, the Union of Burma. I cannot imagine that anyone would, these days, refer to Zimbabwe by its colonial name. If it's good enough for the UN and for Amnesty International, then it's good enough for me. YMMV Yangon, Bago, Bagan etc. are what locals would expect and the only place which sticks with its colonial era name is Maymyo, in spite of official attempts to change it. It has been Burmese policy to eliminate the ethnic minority languages some of which are very different to Burmese. The teaching of these languages, in schools, is forbidden, and children have to learn them in Buddhist monasteries. Some older Shan I know cannot speak Burmese or, at least, speak it very badly! While I know that criticising Aung San Suu Kyi is dangerous and close to heresy, she has given no indication that she recognises the right of the hilltribes to some form of self-government. Indeed, she is unlikely to undo what her father forced on the British Government. Her pronouncements on 'governments in exile' support this conclusion. What is happening in the hill areas is ethnic cleansing and those responsible should face an internation criminal court. Burmese people tell me that, when the military are gone, they will be reconciled with the ethnic minorities but I point out that it is more more difficult for the ethnic minorities to be reconciled with those who have oppressed them for 60 years. The military's callousness extends even to their own people. The rains are late and the devastation caused by Nargis means that people across the Yangon River in Dala, less than a mile from the centre of Yangon, are dying from lack of water (perhaps the fact that many are Karen does not help). The elderly and the young are particulalrly at risk. The killing of monks in 2007 was a message which the population at large clearly understood; if we kill them then we will kill anyone who opposes us. While we may disagree about the means, I hope we can all agree that nothing is more desirable than the end of the despicable military dictatorship that is now in power.

The reason for no answer is that, due to time differences, I have been asleep. I'm more than happy to answer but first I must make clear what nonsense the above statement is. I have no 'extensive business' in Myanmar. None whatsoever, though clearly the writer imagines that anyone who visits the country has such interests.... piffle! Let's look at why it should be called Myanmar. Someone has already spiked my guns by noting that both the UN and Amnesty International (hardly a reactionary organisation) refer to the country as Myanmar, and with good reason. If we go back to the days of Marco Polo the country was then known as Myanmar. Between 1885 and 1937 the country was governed as a province of India, which ended when the 'Government of Burma Act, 1935' came into force. Ministerial Burma was effectively the Irrawaddy basin and did not include the Frontier Areas, home of the hilltribes. during this time many names were changed for easier pronunciation by the occupying colonial power. It should be remembered that the 'hero of Burmese independence', the deified Bogyoke Aung San, along with his 'Thakin' friends, trained in Japan and fought alongside the Axis powers when Japan invaded SE Asia. Only when things where not going entirely in their favour, and at the last moment, did they switch sides. After the war, the British Government was not inclined to give independence to the Frontier areas as they were not felt to be ready for such a step. However, in the run up to Panglong, Aung San blackmailed the British Government into including the Frontier Areas alongside an independent Burma. With so many problems at home in 1946/7 it's hardly surprising that the British Government felt it had more important things to deal with. The Constitution of the Union of Burma, 1947 was written in two languages with the English version using 'Burma' and the Burmese version using 'Myanmar'. The name is not some invention of the generals and their thugs, it has been around for a very long time. While I have Burmese (a term used for an ethnicity and a language) friends most of my friends are from the aforementioned hilltribes. The Karen have been fighting the Burmese for more than 60 years and similarly the Shan, the Kachin and the Chin along with other ethnic minorities. During that time their peoples have been subjected to murder, pillage and rape at the hands of the Burmese. It continues to this day and is on a scale that rivals that being perpetrated in Darfur and yet the West does very little about it. Referring to the country as Burma insults these peoples, they are NOT 'Burmese'. Than Shwe and his cohorts don't care about sanctions, which serve only to impoverish the general population; they go to China and Singapore where they are welcome. The upcoming 'election' is an attempt by an ageing dictator to secure his future and is nothing but a farce, as anyone who is familiar with its terms will realise. Sadly, even if Aung San Suu Kyi were to come to power, and there is no sign of that at the moment, though things could change quickly, that would not be the nirvana her supporters imagine. The hilltribes, forced into the Union by her father, quite rightly look to the agreement of 12 February 1947 at Panglong and article 201 of the Constitution of the Union of Burma, for their future. I suspect most would accept a federal solution, though not the Karen, but this would be an anathema to the daughter of the 'father of Burmese independence'. Even at post-graduate level, the hilltribe peoples are not able to study their own history and understand how they came to be in their present situation. I do my best to correct this defect in the Myanmar education system.

Aung San Suu Kyi is but one voice, albeit the most important one, within the (now disbanded) NLD. Many former members of this organisation take a diametrically opposite view with regard to tourism. My experience has been that for every person who wants tourists to avoid the country, I can show you ten, or more, who take the opposite view. This applies equally to those within Myanmar and those who are refugees, having fled the country. Tourists, as well as seeing what goes on in the country can also enable its citizens to learn what is going on in the outside world. Political correctness is a modern absurdity and there is nothing more absurd than insisting on referring to the country as 'Burma' other than during the period 1885 to 1948. There are many reasons to call the country Myanmar and, similarly, many reasons not to call it Burma. Please do not allow yourselves to be controlled by the 'chattering classes', who have their own agenda, and, instead, study the situation and make your own decision whether or not to visit Myanmar. 'The River of Lost Footsteps' by Thant Myint-U and 'From the Land of Green Ghosts' by Pascal Khoo Thwe make interesting reading.

.... and who has subsequently been 'predicting' guerrilla warfare? "(Reuters) - Exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Wednesday that a military crackdown on protesters backing him could spawn mass discontent and lead to guerrilla warfare." It's unlikely that he will ever be able to return to Thailand for fear of assassination......

I'm sorry 'founthall' if you thought my reply was an attempt to belittle your troubles with AA..... it certainly wasn't my intention. I was simply responding to: Having regularly been shafted by Lao Airlines and Air Mandalay amongst many others, I can assure you that I have every sympathy with your problems.

While all my recent flights with AirAsia have been on time or, in the case of Chiang Mai to Bangkok a couple of weeks ago, 20 mins early, I feel for anyone who has things go wrong. In 2004 I was booked on Air Asia from Chiang Rai to Bangkok but on arriving at the airport the staff were waiting for me to tell me there was a two hour delay. They explained how they had tried to contact me, but I pointed out that phones don't work in Kyaingtong from where I'd just come. Explaining that the delay would cause me to miss a meeting in Bangkok they immediately booked me on TG at several times the price of my AA flight. Unfortunately when the TG flight arrived at Don Muang the aircraft taxied to the furthest part of the airport, obviously parking for the night and to heck with the customers, and the ensuing bus ride combined with the inordinate time it took to get the bags to the terminal resulted in my being late anyway. Not the fault of Air Asia whose service on that occasion was exemplary. Flew mostly on NokAir when Nok Plus was a mere Bht500 but then they cut back flights very heavily and jacked up their prices. Some years ago, the day before I was due to fly Chiang Mai to Udon (for Vientiane), they phoned to say the flight was cancelled. After much arm twisting they booked me on TG via Bangkok. What should have taken an hour became an all day affair and I haven't flown with them since. I notice that they have reinstated this route a few days each week but at much higher prices. While I have used Air Asia internationally, KL and Yangon, most of my flights have been internal to Thailand. Because my dates are known almost a year ahead (!) it's possible to take advantage of their seat sales and I recently obtained three flights between Bangkok and Chiang Mai for October, December and January next year.... they didn't have next March available at the time. :-) Bht350 for the one hour flight is pretty well unbeatable but later I'll add baggage and seat selection... it's still a good deal. With these flights I'm only connecting from other flights and not to but I do leave plenty of time and delays should not be critical. If you are able to take advantage of their seat sales, are flying within Thailand and are not connecting with other flights it's certainly worth considering Air Asia.

Thank goodness for that.... and long may it remain so.

I knew the Euro was strong, but hadn't realised that it was that strong.

I have used 1-2Call for some years and there is a (relatively) cheap way around the expiry period. It's possible to transfer not only credit, but also expiry to another phone and, as a result, there is a market in such things. I pay Bht50 per month for time or, sometimes, get 3 months for Bht100. This is at the Warorot in Chiang Mai but I imagine Pantip or MBK will provide the same.... perhaps even more cheaply.

To convert from Christian Era (CE) to Buddhist Era (BE) you need to add 543. 2009CE becomes 2552BE. Unless you can read the Thai months you need to make certain that your new found friend was born in 2533 or earlier. That way, irrespective of his birthday month, he will be 18 or over. Enjoy!

Tachilek, in the same way as border towns such as Nuevo Laredo or Tijuana, is not really representative of Myanmar in general and Shan State in particular. The Shan people are routinely abused by the tatmadaw (Burmese Army) and, as a consequence, many have been forced to flee across the border into Northern Thailand. Here they are abused by the Thais but they are all clear that it's much worse back home. It's difficult to know exactly how many illegals there are in the Land of Smiles but a million and a half Shan and Karen would probably not be far short of the mark. The present economic climate is making life especially difficult as Thais now are prepared to take low status jobs in construction and catering which, in better times, they wouldn't touch. Some restaurants in CM are staffed almost totally by Karen/Shan whose spoken Thai is limited and whose written Thai is often non-existent. This is why, in some places, you are given a 'list' to fill in to indicate your order.... the waiter is not capable of writing the Thai. If you look around you in CM you will see many Shan working in the construction industry. This is dangerous occupation, which Thais try to avoid, on account of the poor health and safety record. I recently observed some guys working on a roof near Kad Thanin and they were in a very dangerous situation. By and large Karen are to be found to the south, closer to Mae Sot. Last time I was in 'New My Way' there was but a single Thai in the lineup... all the rest were Shan. Circle Pub and Free Guy were much the same, as was Adam's Apple when it was last open. Most of these guys are straight. A trip to Myanmar is a great experience though it's not politically correct to express such a view. For every person within the country who says 'Don't come' I will show you ten or more who say 'You must come! We need to know what's happening in the outside world and you need to know what's happening here'. In the first category you have Aung San Suu Kyi and in the second someone like Par Par Lay who tells some great jokes about the generals and, as a consequence, spends much time in prison. Potentially one of the richest countries in the region, decades of military misrule have impoverished its people. The hill tribes have been targeted for particularly harsh treatment notably the Chin, Kachin, Karen and Shan. These peoples were never part of 'Burma' but in the hurry to rid itself of empire after the Second World War, the former colonial power connived at their inclusion in the Union of Myanmar/Burma. This was the Panglong Treaty of 12 February 1947. Apologies in advance, I feel very strongly about this matter!

This appears to have changed. On 3 Feb flew up to Chiang Mai and, although you have to go to the booth to pay your money, you no longer have to go back to check-in. The guys at the booth issue the baggage claim and boarding pass. The baggage charges for 20Kg and 25Kg were introduced between my booking and flying. Express boarding is now combined with 'Pick a Seat' and 'Standard seats' or 'Hot seats'.

For the vast majority of users, the 32 bit version would be the appropriate one to download. To be honest though, if you don't know which to use, it's probably not a good idea to play around. :-)