My daughter is in Hosp. No JBR for a while from me.........

Hi Guys,

Just a quick note just to let you all know that I have not been lazy in posting my JBR, but that the very next day I had to take my eldest (7yrs) to Hospital and I have just gotten back home tonight. She is still there and will be so for the next week

Both my hubby %26amp; I are doing a %26#39;Tag-Team'; system as I have not slept at home for 2 nights.

She had sever apendicitis (sp?) which had ruptured and it was very nasty according to the surgeon.

It truly is a miracle that it happened the very next day after our return from LOS.

She has endured a lot of pain, my little %26#39;Blossom%26#39; but she is a fighter.

So as you can imagine, I am jet-lagged, tired %26amp; very emotional at the moment. JBR is the last thing on my mind.

Cheers %26amp; Happy travels to all.

T4

My daughter is in Hosp. No JBR for a while from me.........

Really sorry to hear that, our thoughts are with you T4. Your JBR can wait, just concentrate on your daughter and the rest of your family.

hugs, Jane

My daughter is in Hosp. No JBR for a while from me.........

Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery. All the best.

Hi T4, so sorry to hear about your daughter, I hope every thing works out fine for your family. Sounds like you really need some sleep, all the best and take care.

Rene

T4, We are thinking of you all and hope your little Blossum is starting to feel better now and has a quick recovery.

Cathy

T4 so sorry to hear of your daughters illness we wish her a speedy recovery. It is a VERY emotional time when your little ones are ill especially when you can%26#39;t take away the pain for them. Bez

Hi T4,

All the best for your Blossom, I hope she makes a speedy recovery.

Cheers,

Stewie.

Hi T4,

Sending all our best wishes and thoughts to you and your blossom.

Hope she makes a speedy recovery!

Lorree

Hi T4

Thankfully you were back home when this happened, your poor little girl must have been very brave. Hope she is feeling better very soon, we will look forward to your report whenever you get there. Big hugs for all of you, make sure you get some rest too.

Lee x

T4,

You poor thing. It%26#39;s hard seeing your kids in pain. Loads of well wishes for a speedy recovery.

Take Care

Sarah

xx

T4

We%26#39;re only a border or two away - yell out if there%26#39;s anything we can do to help out!

Cheers

Tiff, Rod %26amp; Co.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

yellow cream

Recommend a tour operator to Ang Thong Marine Park

Can anyone recommend a tour operator to Ang Thng?

I%26#39;m traveling with wife and Baby.. I prefer speed boat, is that possible with a baby?

I want to have stop on the main Island with the beautiful viewpoint, as well as on the island with the lake.

Any help grealy appreciated. Also if you can advise what you paid and if it%26#39;s cheaper to prebook or just book once there.

This is for Aug 13-17.

thanks

Recommend a tour operator to Ang Thong Marine Park

Lomprayah look pretty good. I was going to book this one myself for the week after yourself, and you get a discount for booking online.

We were warned against the speedboat las time in Samui, and that may influence you if travelling with a child?

Anyone else have know anything about Lomprayah?

Recommend a tour operator to Ang Thong Marine Park

There are a few to chose from, speed boat is the way forward as its so much quicker. I%26#39;m not sure taking a baby though will be ideal as the ride can be VERY choppy.

I cant remember the name of the operator i went with (i%26#39;m sure it had %26#39;blue%26#39; in the name - i%26#39;ll find out tonight) but they all seemed pretty much the same. Most visit the lake, have time for snorkelling and swimming and you either have a choice to go canoeing or going to the viewpoint.

We visited the Marine Park with Blue star Kayak and it was amazing. The boat was a big boat and you had a chance to go Kayaking in 2 locations. So if taking a baby you and hubby could swap. The emerald lake within the park is a bit difficult to get to with lots of steep stairs to climb not sure I would take a baby up there ( i certainly wouldnt be able to carry her/him.) But it was a wonderful experience and my husband and I had a great day.

No dont prebook when you get to Samui there are plenty of tour operators and you will be able to choose yourselves to find the best one for you and your needs.

Hope this helps

Glennie

We went with Lomprayah and had a great time. Save $$ if you book online. It might be a tough go with a baby.

Can you please explain, why is it a tough go with a baby? is there no private time to allow him to crawl? can we just relax on the beaches instead of running around frantically?

Thanks

we went to the marine park on a big boat owned by our resort, it took an hour or so and they provided drinks refreshments etc it was a lovely relaxing journey, with loads of rooms and seating but transferring a baby on to a fishing boat to get to the island would be worrying and then back again. it was really choppy when we left to get back to the boat and it was extremely difficult to get in the fishing boat and i had no children to take care of only myself, my bag, towel and everything ended up in the water, it got rough because a rain storm was coming in.

the island with the lake was breath taking but it was a very long hard climb up very primitive wooden steps the get to the top of the island, it was a dry hot day when we went and it was crowded and took ages its very diffucult and only should be done by able fit people. my dad couldnt even contemplate attempting it and hes fit but with a bad hip, the steps are a very high stretch apart. if it was wet i would not have considered even trying it. and i%26#39;m only early 40%26#39;s

the next day i ached all over, it was like a work out. i dont want to put you off but its only fair you know exactly what to expect. the other island was lovely, with a very primitive cafe and toilet, nothing else, the sand was gorgeous like flour, the tide came is extremely fast and i got stuck in some quick sand, there was quite a lot of debris on the beach including glass. and there was the same issue of transferring from the boat to the fishing boat. My next visit to Samui we took a speed boat to Koh Phangan, and i couldnt beleive how many people they packed on the boat, it was a bit dodgy getting from the beach into the boat, at Phangan we had a ten foot climb out of the boat onto the harbour wall, we stayed a few hours and on returning to the boat the tide had gone out a bit and the boat was another 5 feet lower that when we arrived, i was terrified trying to get in the boat. hope i have not spoiled your plans but personally knowing what i know i would not go with a baby

regards

tracey

thanks a lot for the info. very helpful... do you think it would be the same with all tour operators? do they all use the fishing boats? I was under the impression that lomproya or whatever it%26#39;s called takes you everywhere themselves....

thanks again

hi there had a look at Lomprayah, not heard of it before but it looks like a very professonal operation, you would still have to transfer to the beach on a smaller boat as there is no jetty or anything, please bear in mind health and safety is very basic compared to some other countries,,,might be wise to contact them. http://www.lomprayah.com/E/route.htm

good luck

tracey

Tracey said it all!! Enjoyed Lomprayah, but you would have to take turns staying with the baby when you are snokeling. The getting into and out of the boat probably wouldn%26#39;t be a problem. Not much room on the boat. Customers sit on each side of the boat with a narrow walkway. It was a very bumpy, wet ride back to Ko Samui. Also, if the baby isn%26#39;t happy, nobody is happy!!

Have till this monday to decide, I%26#39;m already in Thailand...

Lomproya sounds great, but if it%26#39;s a small boat, that could be a problem for him... So far he loved the elephants and bamboo rafting, but sitting in one place for close to two hours without being able to move might be rough.

anyone recommend any bigger boats that are decent?

Health Care in Bangkok & Phuket

Hi all,

me and my wife are arriving at Bangkok next August 16th for 2 weeks. We are planning to stay 5 nights or so in bangkok and then moving to phuket for 8 days and then return back to bangkok to catch up the flight to europe.

We are ot planning to do any jungle trips. Shopping, some monuments and beach holidays are our aim.

I just can%26#39;t stop reading all precautions one should have about several diseases.

Can anyone give an opinion of what is the actual risk of contamination of:

-Yellow fever

-Dengue Fever

-Malaria

-Bird Flu

-etc

Can you also please advice your best tips to avoid being bited by mosquitoes or to avoid any health problems.

Thanks in advance

Health Care in Bangkok %26amp; Phuket

The usual precautions.

If you avoid stupidity, you will be fine. Wear long sleeves and long trousers if you are worried about dengue and malaria (but in bangkok and Phuket the riskis very low anyway).

Bird flu? If you do not work on a chicken farm you probably risk nothing.

The best place to check is Lonely Planet.

Health Care in Bangkok %26amp; Phuket

Thank you mmaann

the question would might seem a little odd, specially for people like us which normally prepare in anticipation almost every detail, but as we only knew we were travelling less than one week before, such preparation wasn%26#39;t made :-)

Cheapest Bars in Phuket?

Hi Guys,

My partner and I and another couple are coming up in a couple of weeks and the men have challenged each other to who can find the cheapest bars/drinks around.

I found last time we were over that the market bars (the circle bars) accross the road from the Patong Merlin were good prices. Well my other half though so whilst I was shopping :).

What are your recommendations? We are staying just out of Patong.

Cheapest Bars in Phuket?

Ah come on guys... Any takers

Cheapest Bars in Phuket?

I have heard by a reliable person that the Bar on the Sakai has cheap drinks!!

The Quoka bar at Patong O Top markets is also pretty good.

There are so many and if you get out of town a little you will find some very cheap ones.

Cheers, Pete.

Hi,

To be honest, I did not really take much notice. I stayed at the Patong Merlin last april and visited a few places after the golf and the circle bars were as cheap as any i believe.

Food and drink in Phuket can be so cheap that I hardly give it much thought. Golf on the other hand is quite expensive and the drinks at the awesome club houses are very much higher than patong, naturally but it is very nice. It is good to spoil yourself, every now and then.

I would take a guess that the bars in Karon etc would be slighty cheaper than Patong Beach where most of the action is.

Anyway, have a great time..

Niko

Moevenpick Phuket

Hey Guys

We are travelling to Moevenpick in October and I sent them an email to ask if thye seems to have much a a mosquito problem there or if the provide nets/coils etc.

They replied and said';We do have a mosquito killer service in the room and also our housekeeper will be attending all our guest room';. Does anyone know what they mean by this? :-)

Cheers

Moevenpick Phuket

Guess they are telling you that if you see a mosquito and call room service, they will attend to it right away.. and that they, as part of the room service, will spray for insects?

What I can tell you is that the resort is really nice.. Its an older resort.. perhaps from the mid 80%26#39;s... But in very good condition, splendid gardens and well run with nice people looking after you. Right from the rception staff, the house keeping, restaurants, gardeners etc.

If your room is the ';ocean view';.. bear in mind that the ocean is a fair way away.. you do see it.. but its not really close.. The villas are nice.. especially the plunge and pool ones... We were there (plunge pool villa)...for a few days around Easter time.. and I don%26#39;t remember seeing mosquitos.... Enjoy and don%26#39;t worry... you%26#39;ll be looked after!

Moevenpick Phuket

Can someone explain to me what a plunge pool is? I see them on the hotel pics but I can%26#39;t figure out if it%26#39;s just a smaller ';pool'; in the room?

To my way of thinking its a pretty useless, very small pool... In the case of the Movenpick they are outside on a terrace. They do have jets in them like in a spa.. But they are really just a small pool.. Nice enough to sit in a sip a glass of wine. A gimmick if you ask me. However the rooms are supurb... Very large and really well furnished... and the service is 5*.... The pool.. well. take it or leave it...

The upstairs villas have larger pools...

Hello,

You certainly wont need a mosquito net in such a nice hotel and I would not recomend coils in teh room. But with the air conditioner on then you wont have a problem YOu might want some coils for your terrrace but you can busy those at any shot for about 50 pence.

Its the tropics and there is no way to completely avoid mosquitos but they are generally only aggressive from about 4pm to 6pm.

Hi,

Dont worry you wont have a problem with Mosquitos in the hotel, we stayed here before my favorite Hotel in Phuket it%26#39;s lovely.

Julie

Marriott Bangkok Resort & Spa

Staying here for 5 nights at the end of December in a Junior Suite.

Does anyone know what time the shuttle boat runs till ?My wife likes to shop at Patpong Night Market is it far away ? Are there problems getting a Taxi late at night ?Are the Junior Suites like the internet pics ?

Any help much appreciated.

Marriott Bangkok Resort %26amp; Spa

Hi,

Great Hotel you wont be dissappointed, I think the shuttel runs till at the earliest Midnight may be later, and early morning there is two and they go back and forth to the skytrain all day it takes about 10m mins but very nice and relaxing and they give you water and cold towel on your return journey, we stayed in a standard room and it was very nice just like the picture. You get the skytrain to Patpong night Market it%26#39;s not far.

Julie

Marriott Bangkok Resort %26amp; Spa

First river shuttle is 6.45am then every 15 minutes until last one at Midnight. Get off on the other side and catch the Sky Train to Patpong on Silom Road. Depending on connections, and Sky Train runs frequently also, about 30 minutes from the Marriott to Patpong.

Be careful with taxdis returning at night. We caught one from the Marriott to Suan Lum Night Market which cost 80 baht on the meter. Returning at about 10.30pm we couldn%26#39;t get one to go on the meter and had to settle for 200 baht when most wanted at least 300.

We had a Junior Suite and it was great, and we booked with breakfast and access to the Club Lounge for cocktails, beer, champers (anything you wanted) and a tasters from the various restaurants in the hotel from 4pm to 8pm every night. A very nice way to start an evening.

The hotel also offers a riverside BBQ and Thai dance show for 1500baht which was great value and an excellent Dinner Cruise on one of its converted rice barges. Also 1500 baht and excellent.

thai massage course

I am a qualified massage therapist and will be in Chiang Mai end of November, I am looking to enrol on a course max 5 days which is accredited and not too expensive.

Any recomendation is welcome. Thanks.

thai massage course

Here are two that i know of that are excellent.

In Chiang MaI,

Chetawan TTM School, the official branch of over 300-year old Chetupon Wararaam Temple (Wat Po) Thai Traditional Medical School. The school is located opposite the Rajaphat Teachers%26#39;s college on Chotana Road. Students receive a certificate upon the successful completion of each course they have taken.

Women students can take advantage of staying in the dorm during the length of the course they are studying at a minimal fee for electricity consumption. The Chetawan TTM School at 7/1-2 Soi Samood Lanna, Chotana Road, Changpuak. Tel. 053-410360-1.

This is our favorite Spa.

In Lamphun,

Huen Samunprai

Area of the Study

The history of Thai traditional massage, basic Anatomy and Physiology, massage safely and use of proper techniques; ethics, moral and the appropriate performance of good masseurs; techniques, style and posture; massage channels and points from head to toe.

Clinical Doctor

Ms. Naruedee Srisaringkarn

Ms. Srisaringkarn is a trained and liscensed alternative health care professional. She is liscenced to practice :

* Thai Traditional Medicine

* Thai Traditional Pharmacy

* Chinese Traditional Medicine

* Liscenced to supervise and accept students by the Professional Thai Traditional Medicine Committee.

Huen Samunprai, 180 Baan Suntonthong, Lamphun, Tel. 053-534977, 053-560766. Traditional medical home spa. Acupuncture. Homestay. Courses for both professional and personal therapy.

Hope this helps,

Randy and Ning

thai massage course

Hi Chokky,

Im also a quailfied massage therapist and im going to study in chiang mai at the begining of november and study for a month.. im still unsure of were to go myself if i find anywere i will let you know as i to want a nice school to train at... sam

yellow cream