billyhouston

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. :-)

No. Cost was Bht 0 plus Bht 230 taxes, so it was a good deal.

Thanks very much for this, I would have missed it. Three flights BKK-UTH-BKK and CNX-BKK each for Bht230

Have internet banking on my Kasikorn account. For the past year or so it has been possible to make INSTANT online transfers, not only to other Kasikorn accounts, but also to those of five or more other banks. The fee is Bht 25 and you can have the bank send an SMS to the recipient included in that fee. Works very well for me but setting up the transfer initially is a tedious exercise in paperwork.

EVA are offering some LHR-BKK-LHR fares between now and 30 June 2009, excluding peak periods: Econ £553 Elite £913 Laurel £1503 including all taxes and surcharges. Maximum validity one month (alas).

If you do decide to go to Samui you might care to look at: http://www.premiumwanadoo.com/atmanasamui/ Mana and Didier are very good hosts. If you want to avoid the sharks at Bangkok Airways, you can fly to Surat Thani and take the ferry from Don Sak.

When you top up your 1-2-Call card, you are buying call credits and also time/validity credits. Being away from Thailand from March to October I need to make certain that my validity takes me through that period. 1-2-Call allows users to transfer validity from one number, which has plenty of time credits, to another number which needs them. A market has grown up in time/validity and it's possible to purchase it, usually in blocks of month at a time, from various sources. Kad Warorot in Chiang Mai comes to mind but I'm sure Pantip in Bangkok will also offer the service. Not had a problem with failing to make a call from March to October provided that the 'validity' is topped up. Of course, there's always a first time.

Managed to open an account with Kasikorn a few years ago while holding only a 30-day stamp. Internet banking was no problem but setting up transfers is tedious. Once set up, money can be transferred instantly both internally and to most other banks. The recipient gets an SMS to inform of the money's arrival. The cost, for normal sums , for this service is Bht25. This is a 'savings' account, comes with a cash card (fee) and modest interest.

jtrack33, why do you have to be so unkind to Nationwide. The rates, Kasikorn in my case, for Telegraphic Transfers are, at this moment, 65.88875/66.48625 so the ripoff is less than you state but since these rates vary by the minute it's difficult to be sure just how much you were ripped off. It certainly wasn't as much as 1.37 Baht.

Using Thailand as a base to visit nearby countries I have found it convenient to use 'Visa Exemption' rules, in other words 30 days. (That's what the Thai Consul, Hull calls it anyway.) For greater convenience, and because of the enforcement of the 90-day rule, that will change to a Category O visa shortly. Looking for a local bank account I tried TMB and Bangkok Bank with no joy but then alighted on Kasikorn who opened an account without problems. Internet banking followed shortly afterwards and, provided the transferee has been set up previously, many transfers are now 'instant' with an SMS to the person receiving the money. Not only do different branches vary in their attitude, but even different employees in the same branch and, perhaps, even the same employee on different days!

It is interesting to study exchange rates for various currencies. It has become the habit in UK to call them 'commission free' but this should be subject to a prosecution under the Trade Descriptions Act. The cost, or commisssion, is hidden in the 'spread', the difference between the buying and the selling rate. In the UK this spread is very wide even for currencies that are considered common or usual. Today's buying and selling rates for the Baht are: Travelex 59.1827/73.7820 NatWest 60.377/72.406 Looking at my own Thai Bank, Kasikorn the corresponding rates are: Kasikorn 65.067/66.795 and this is for notes in all cases. In fact, if you look at Telegraphic Transfers the figures are: Kasikorn 65.9475/66.545 When you use a (UK at least) ATM card in a Thai ATM there are, as I understand it, two possible charges. Visa load the exchange rate by some 2.75% or thereabouts and the UK bank may add a percentage with a minimum of £2 or whatever. Nationwide absorbs the Visa loading and makes no charge itself. This results in an exchange rate as near as dammit to the Interbank rate. I have records of all my 'exchange rates' over the past five or so years and would guestimate that it would be somewhere around 66.3 today. Perhaps a little higher perhaps a little lower. The narrowness of the 'spread' in Thailand means that it always pays to change your sterling there, whichever way you make the exchange (either to or from Baht). Even if you look at commercial rates in UK the spread is wider, though I don't know what happens if millions of pounds are involved. Nationwide offer this facility as a 'come on' and it certainly persuaded me to open a current account with them, while maintaining one with my regular bank. As jtrack33 says they offer competitive rates and their E-savings account, which is tied to a current account, is to be found in the 'Best Buy' tables under 'most consistent'. To sum up, buying holiday currency from either Travelex or the Banks is a ripoff in UK. Using a UK ATM card in Thailand is usually better value for money but the best value for money comes from using a Nationwide ATM card whenever you are overseas. Surely even a Yorkshireman can grasp that?

I'm sorry but, quite simply, you are wrong. By profession, I'm a mathematician... I don't make mistakes where money is concerned. Have a good day.

Clearly they forgot to dish out brains on t'other side of the Pennines... or is it that tykes cannot read? Interbank rate is just that. You will not get a better rate, almost by definition. Enjoy!

Actually for some of us it's the cheapest way to obtain cash. Use a Nationwide card in an ATM and you get the interbank rate without any charges or loading. Likewise their credit card has no charges when used for purchases in foreign currency. If I need US dollars the cheapest way is to draw Baht on the Nationwide account and then use Baht to buy dollars. The dollar 'spread' in Thailand is much narrower then in UK.