Ropey

I find this number very hard to believe, it would mean I would be lucky to randomly see one a week in the population, let alone several or more a day as I currently do just going about my business.

Asia has many introduced foods, much of the Thai famous food for instance is not actually Thai, it's from Laos, which is where the isan people come from and only nationalised under a govt marketing campaign as 'one people' such as Som Tum, Laab, and most other spicy foods. Muslim foods in Thailand come from Malaysia, which in turn come from Sri Lanka, which is also where the Thai version of Buddhism comes from.

Crickets are fine, even served in Melbourne and other parts of Oz/Nz. Cricket based flour is also available in many APAC countries. My first visit to Asia, yeah I was scared of the food, but a few trips to Hong Kong and Guangzhou and I've eaten everything from Dog to scorpions to jelly fish tentacles, which all can be made delicious with the right seasoning. These days I eat dog in Korea as they do it best, Scorpion in Xi'an, Snake blood wine in Vietnam, Durian in Malaysia and Sichuan Phoenix Claw at any Yum Cha. You learn in time where does the best versions as your taste adapts. Though I still don't like blood pudding.

That may be a Cambodian specialty, but the Philippines is the original. It's called Balut.

I use Skyscanner which is an aggregator, but it has some traps such as cheaper flights that don't include luggage or all fees. Especially for regional travel, full service airlines can be better value than budget airlines as they are typically an 'all in price' listed on skyscanner.com and budget airlines still have fees to be added in the booking process, sometimes can come close to 50% of the originally searched ticket price.

That's called Laad Na Moo for pork or Laad Na Gai for chicken. They come in wet or dry variety, these pics look like a westernised version however, the typical Thai version has only one green vege and a thicker sauce with burnt flat noodle. It's a popular dish at Markets (Talad) so try find the shops at a Thai market for a real one, you wont be disappointed.

The curtain section I've been too, but not the upstairs ones as I use the carpark

I have a visa type that allows me to use the fast track lanes but as often as not, the fast track lane at DMK is as long or longer than going through the public lanes, because there is typically only one lane open and they divert all the monks, elderly, families with young kids etc into that lane along with the elite/business/diplomatic travelers. I find the most significant wait time can be for the taxi, so if your ticket number is too far back, head upstairs and hail a cab from departure area.

PB Hotel short time rooms have recently been renovated, mirrors behind the bed plus angled ones to the side as well as on the ceiling.

Are you expecting a free minibar too? I don't want to be the one that disappoints here but..

Would you? Where in the world does this? Cos I've never been there.

Plenty of taxis driving by at any given time, but it's slower than bts, can even be significantly slower depending on the time of day - except Sunday, Sunday is the only good day on the road in bkk.

I've a friend who visits for long stints, and while he's on PrEP, he's constantly down for the count with other nasties picked up from barebacking pros.

Nationwide afaik

The other good reason for buying in Aus is the consumer guarantees act, which Singapore and other Asian markets tend to not have. It often means the product delivered to Aus is of a more robust spec than the model released for Asia as the retailer is liable for replacement which is not the case in Asia who will push you off to the manufacturer, who will then decline a fix or replacement as you didn't fax in the warranty within 7 days or some other silly reason.

Pics? We're looking forward to the movie now!

My last laptop purchase I flew to HK and ferry to shenzhen and had a dodgy weekend there, then purchased my laptop in HK and flew home to bkk, and broke even on the cheapest of that laptop I could find in Bangkok. Thailand certainly isn't even good value for higher spec electronics.

Duty free is a rip for electronics, the only real savings you make will be on items where extra duty is applied such as booze, tobacco and perfume. Check out http://www.staticice.com.au/ Plenty of options for the Canon you want http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=Canon+sx430&spos=3

Smells of 1995 in here. Surely you just use your phone and/or laptop? Unless you're an enthusiast I guess, then I prefer the JVC VideoMovie, because you can insert the VHS directly from the camcorder into the player with no adapter required.

Good advice from Mikel. It's right next door to icon Siam, there's a free ferry to Saphan Taksin and as far down as Asiatique. Additionally traffic isn't too bad at night time in that area, patpong is only a 10min cab ride after about 8pm or 25min to Asoke. I'm also aware this hotel is used by pinay LB's on the circuit occasionally + there's quite a few LB's living nearby in Wong Wian Yai, so use wechat and see who is nearby.

I don't understand what you are panicking about that moving to the Landmark is going to solve?

What's involved for an express HIV test?

There's a lot of palm greasing required to get anywhere close to that timing if they can find an investor to kick it off, especially given the historic propensity to burn overseas investors as it has suited such as the Don Mueng tollway was funded under a promise it was to be the only airport in Bangkok, then Swampy finally came along (30 years in the making). There's no motorway/BTS/MRT connections out there and the sirat motorway extention (partially completed) connects only at Chatuchuk which is the tail end of where congestion typically builds up, it would be the worst airport to use to connect to bkk of the 3 if it went ahead.

FYI pulled from Thaivisa News: '' Also in February it was announced that smoking has been banned at six airports in Thailand. Smoking rooms have been removed Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Mae Fah Luang airports, with smokers now only permitted to smoke in special smoking zones located outside terminal buildings.` It's also worth noting for those who vape, it's is illegal to vape in Thailand, police make good money out of vapers in public.

All the more reason to avoid this dump imo