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magnum
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Quote: from PussyLover 69 on 10:10 pm on May 9, 2011
... the quick back of the envelope calcs are that Airport Link's 'Ghost Train' needs to do 300,000 monthly trips to hit breakeven... they are achieving 21,000 monthly trips, merely 7% of what is necessary to breakeven.
... the only savings they might reasonably incur will be in the high costs of maintaining these very expensive machines... replacing brake shoes has already surfaced as an expensive problem, requiring them to shut down the whole system for a week last month.
... God Almighty, I really hope the foreign contractors who built these machines linked their maintenance contracts to the warrantees... even then, the maintenance will someday be taken over by the Thais.
... yet another in a LONG list of Thai incompetence and corruption, evidencing why the world simply cannot permit the Thais to develop and operate nuclear reactors... (bad enough that they breed and vote... cretins).
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:00 pm on May 9, 2011
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from magnum on 9:00 am on May 10, 2011
... yet another in a LONG list of Thai incompetence and corruption, evidencing why the world simply cannot permit the Thais to develop and operate nuclear reactors...
Sadly, true...
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 1:41 am on May 10, 2011
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bkkz
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Quote: from magnum on 9:00 am on May 10, 2011
... the quick back of the envelope calcs are that Airport Link's 'Ghost Train' needs to do 300,000 monthly trips to hit breakeven... they are achieving 21,000 monthly trips, merely 7% of what is necessary to breakeven.
... and that's assuming people are taking the Express train. For the number of times I've been on it there were hardly more than 10 people onboard. In fact on one trip, I can swear, I was the ONLY passenger. It's the non-Express ride which has lots of passengers and the cost of the trip averages at 35 B per trip.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:07 am on May 10, 2011
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koolbreez
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Hmm, not sure how this person got to the airport. I used the airport link 3 weeks ago, and the fare is bt40, bt35 to my stop at Ratchaprarop, and the same going, or coming.
It is real easy to get to, and get your token at the airport if you use the elevator to the bottom floor, or on the escalators. It is not dificult to get to, no more dificult than finding the taxi stands.
It is definitely for those with only one bag, but it connects very easily with the rest of the BTS system. The only downfall is the midnight closing.
If you have just one bag it is the way to get into the city, with no traffic, or tolls to pay, then about bt100 max to any hotel you are staying at. You might be comfortable using it with 2 bags, but with one it is the best way to get into the city.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 3:08 am on May 10, 2011
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Kaymanx
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Some parts of this report are surprising :
"But the mystery starts at the airport end itself – where you can’t buy a ticket. You go to the top of the escalator that leads down to the platform and a security staffer asks where you are going...."
I am not sure he is talking of Bangkok airport. The ticket counter is right there in the middle as you enter the station area. The only way you can miss it is to keep your eyes closed. Besides you cannot get to the top of the escalator without a ticket. Very mystifying report.
While the economics and passenger numbers may be not up to expectations as yet, the train is the best way to get to the city from the airport, or back, for light luggage travellers. Despite the inconvenient descent and ascent at a couple of points when you leave PhayaThai airport link station and enter the skytrain station (I haven't used the Makkasan exit yet), the train is the best and the most economical way to commute for light luggage travellers.
Bad signage ? Not so bad really unless you want to make a mountain of this molehill. No trolleys ? Obviously; you are travelling by train, the trolleys are available at the airport just at the station exit. Nearby link to public transport ? Of course, Phaya Thai. A broad ramp connects there. The Makkasan exit is dicey from what I read, but why is the report not mentioning the Phaya Thai connection to the skytrain ? Looks like a studied attempt to run down another Thai effort by focussing on molehills.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:51 am on May 10, 2011
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magnum
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Quote: from Kaymanx on 6:51 pm on May 10, 2011
.. we live here, so become accustomed to compromises to common sense, safety, convenience and just plain human decency in return for living on the ratty edge of a country which is arguably 3rd world... save for a very thin veneer, Thailand is little different than Cambodia with a bit of infrastructure, a fortunate central location and some visible money spread about to 400 VERY wealthy families.
... stripping away all the details and lack of planning and adled thought that went into this, I can make the judgement on a single basis... the Airport Link is losing THB 42 million per month!... forget everything else... they are at 7% of the trip generation to get to b-r-e-a-k-e-v-e-n!... now a 7% load factor and THB 42 million in monthly losses can be described many ways to the investors, taxpayers, and banks footing the bill for the incomptent and corrupt Thais who were made wealthy by this ill-conceived bit of work, but 'molehill' doesn't strike me as one.
... the Airport Link is built with the best available (foreign) world class technology, and at a world class cost (separate, of course, from the THAI class cost of corruption).
... and yes, with what went into building this system, I WOULD have expected better in many other cultures (outside of Sub-Saharan Africa)... but, I live here... tempered by experience, my expectations of the Thais was exceedingly low, and the Thai culture did not disappoint.
... I am unsure, Kaymanx, you might or might not be an unashamed apologist for the crap produced in this country as a result of inferior Thai cultural values, but you do need to concede the point when they dump a load of stanky horse shit like this out there and call it a modern transportation success story... it is more like the APPEARANCE of modern transportation, which is about all the Thais really care... hell, the Japanese were doing better than this in the 1960's and they were using slide rulers!
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:38 am on May 10, 2011
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koolbreez
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Sure there is allot of corruption involved in the building, and operation, but it is the best way to get into the city if you are traveling before midnight, and don't have a mountain of luggage.
The article is wrong about the ease of using it, and the cost, among other items. It is a very biased article, and very questionable if the person writing it even rode on it. That is typical Thai too.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:11 pm on May 10, 2011
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magnum
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Quote: from koolbreez on 3:11 am on May 11, 2011
... the author's datum for comparison appears to be SIN, where he migrated from India... SIN is a high standard, and well beyond the reach of a Thailand.
... he has lived here (Thailand), as well... I could reasonably assume that a reporter who is any good gets close-up to the reality of Thailand and beneath all the imagery behind which Thais are so keen to hide, he might have a cynical view of a culture that functions as this... I know several long-enduring journalists here, and they are certainly cynical about what they report on here (social commentary, political beats).
... hard not to grow cynical of Thailand, as me, when you've gotten up close to the unvarnished cultural values, with the bark still on... up country, up-scale and so many of the social segments inbetween.
... Thai cultural values are not pretty and they permeate anything this country produces... from the Thai FIFA Member accused this morning of soliciting a bribe from the UK to support their bid for the 2018 World Cup, to last week's report of the 12 year old Thai girl who has been sexually molested since she was age 9 by her now 27-, 25- and 17-year old brothers (for causing the family loss of face, she was abandoned by the family when she exposed them, and now lives in an orphanage... the detailed story is much more revealing of widespread unethical and immoral Thai cultural values... how about that for making a man a cynic?).
... these examples are along way from crap public infrastructure, but they are all products of the same system of cultural values... inferior.
... reporters are not imune from bias... and if a man has a potential for bias in him, the common, everyday behaviors in Thailand will certainly bring it out.
... count me as cynical.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 8:58 pm on May 10, 2011
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koolbreez
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Your diatribe has absolutely nothing at all to do with the fact that the airport BTS line is the best way into the city before midnight if you don't have allot of luggage.
It is much better, and cheaper than one of the run down taxis, or rip-off limos, and much easier to use than trying to get to a bus.
I guess if someone has been burned as much as you seem to have been, then cynacism is understandable, and reason to cross Thailand off your list of living, or vacation destinations. Which country are you trying next?
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:57 am on May 11, 2011
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