The Noodle Curtain

Air Canada's pursuit of mediocrity

I felt like I needed something on which to hang this issue of my unhappiness with Air Canada’s service. Then I found it in the toilet of the Korean Airlines flight from Seoul to Bangkok. It came in the form of a bottle of moisturizing skin cream.

It broke the log jam. The muddle in my head started to clear and I wish to state here that I’m sick and tired of Air Canada’s mediocrity -- to be kind. Don’t get me started on its frequent reminder that it was voted “the Best North American airline," by Skytrax respondents. Well, it’s a pretty sorry field of candidates. I base that on my American friends’ lack of anything good to say about American carriers! Mexico? Forget it.

I know it just seems petty and unwarranted to want to run down your country’s national carrier. I held off, trying to follow the platitude that says, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

But I cannot hold back now. Thank you bottle of moisturizer. But there’s more, a lot more.

I’d just spent 10 days in chilly, low humidity Toronto and my skin was peeling and cracking. I guess my skin had become acclimatized to the steamy tropics that keep your skin in oily condition. When I’m back in Canada, I get really dry, itchy skin now, even in the fall.

 I was on the return flight to my home in Bangkok. My shins were killing me so I thought I would check out the toilet because I remember a bottle of creamy hand soap there the last trip. Different cubicle, different toiletries. Two bottles, one of them spelling relief. That body cream  really worked.

Then my thoughts just cascaded. The KAL toilets smell nice. The water tap is tall enough and big enough to get your full hands under the flow and it keeps on flowing after you press the regulator. The AC one is extremely tiny, you can only wet your fingers and as soon as you remove your hand from the regulator, it stops. The flow amounts to maybe ant spit. The KAL tap spreads a nice wide flow and it continues long enough so you almost never have to touch it twice. 

 The KAL Airbus 330 mid-cabin service module has FOUR toilets, with curtains shrouding the two-sided hallway entrances. There’s two in the back service module. So convenient. Toiletries include toothbrushes, mouthwash, moisturizing hand soap and skin cream. AC? Some industrial strength liquid soap that dries out your hands.

 But let’s go back to the beginning of my trip where the downfall began.

 
First thing I noticed when boarding at Bangkok airport was how helpful and safety conscious the KAL crews were. Cabin staff were stationed all along the aisles to help people push heavy carry-on bags into the overhead bins, rearrange the load, put people in their correct seats, and generally prepare for takeoff. Once bins were locked down and everyone seated, staff went back through the entire cabin again to double-check the bins were safely locked and seatbelts fastened. They were very quick about it too. All was done with a real desire to help and maintain safety.

At Incheon, leg 2, when Air Canada took over, it looked like AC was using another airline to do most of the check-in and boarding. I’ve seen AC do this at Hong Kong, too. My Korean-born seat mate, who lives outside Toronto, said they were using another Asian airline’s staff.  

Frankly, boarding organization was a disaster. People just lined up anywhere, with the line blocking the exit path of an express moving sidewalk. Meanwhile, six or seven check-in staff stood motionless behind the counter watching and doing nothing to organize things.

Finally, someone managed to wake up and try to split the lineup and get them standing parallel to the sidewalk. It was a failure. Organizing boarding by seat rows was put over the PA but nothing done about it. People just lined up as best they could without any staff helping or pre-checking passports. 

 Inside, none of the luggage bins were unhooked and ready for loading. People had to reach up and pull the bins down themselves, including old folks and short people. Then they had to stow the bins themselves. Finally, AC staff and these rental staff showed up but the worst was over. 

 Throughout the flight to Canada, I hardly ever saw cabin staff except when they were forced to serve food. Then they would disappear. On KAL, cabin staff toured the seating area constantly, offering drinks or checking safety items. When the seatbelt signs went on due to turbulence incidents, they scurried into the cabin pronto to make sure everyone was belted in. Every time.

 On the return flights to Incheon and Bangkok, I have to say the AC ground staff at YYZ were very well organized for boarding. Went off smoothly and quickly. But, still not enough cabin help. In flight, AC served up the same menu it’s been serving for 10 years on this route. What’s with AC that it can’t afford to put lettuce or tomatoes or something green in its sandwich. Look at the cheap-assed ham “sandwich” picture. At least there was mayonnaise.  And whoopee, Nissin noodle cup soup. Again. Talk about cheap. 

 Meanwhile, the KAL meals, three to choose from (chicken, beef or fish), were varied and tasty. How is it that KAL can use stainless steel cutlery  in its meal sets, as does Cathay Pacific, and AC cannot; not even a bloody toothpick.

 Last, the LCD entertainment service on KAL was much easier to use, faster to react to inputs and had much clearer audio. Both airlines use Airshow software. I have found the AC system extremely frustrating to use. And how come the continuous flight data were only in the Imperial system, no metric?

 The overall feeling on KAL is that they are here to help you enjoy your flight and hope that you come back. On AC it’s an attitude that my job requires me to do this and that. I will do this to the absolute minimum standard and when you’re off the plane, goodbye.   

 Really, though, that attitude is common in Canada. We just don’t do service. We reach for the floor. 

 Here’s the Skytrax user ratings page for Air Canada. And for Korean Air.

I can't believe Air Canada's four-star ratings. If you have experience of Asian airlines, you will not want to use North American services again.

Air Canada and Cathay Pacific: roses and brickbats

Cathay Pacific has saved Air Canada’s ass. And mine. I’m ever so thankful.

The miracle is that I still managed to make it to Bangkok at the appointed time -- after missing two flights!

I know that sounds weird, but you’re forgetting some people (rumoured to be this author) can really screw things up and still come out at the right place and time.

I left Toronto’s Pearson Airport Monday, May 16 and arrived in Hong Kong early afternoon of Tuesday, May 17. Then plunked down at Suvarnabhumi late the same afternoon. Exactly as planned.

Now, back to the scene of the criminally stupid act of my travel planning. I arrived at Pearson around 7 a.m. before my 10 o’clock flight to Hong Kong thanks to (wonderful Toronto) agent (at Tour East) and separately booked my connecting flight to Bangkok because I wanted to use up Cathay  travel points.

Only I booked the HK connection for the same day I left Toronto. Well, if you’re following this and knowing HK is 12 hours ahead of Toronto, you’ll understand the problem. Simplified: you cannot fly out of Hong Kong before you’ve even left Toronto.

Yep, while I was sleeping in Toronto, my HK to BKK flight CX751 had left at 2:25 p.m. on Monday, May 16. How many times have I gone through HK on this very same itinerary? More than enough to make this act of planning stupidity dumbfounding.

It was the patient and kindly Air Canada agent who pointed this anomaly out about 7:30 a.m. when I asked AC to forward my luggage through to BKK.

Well, time to get on the phone! I got through security after several cigarettes outside (Pearson does NOT have any smoking rooms, damn them! How uncivilized!)

Who do I call? Asia Miles, which booked the flight, or Cathay. Last time I called Asia Miles (which is like Cathay’s Aeroplan), I gave up after 20 minutes of waiting on my mobile phone. I had resorted to a landline for the original booking. Took 55 minutes for someone in Hong Kong to answer the line. Couldn’t book online, as tried, because the Asia Miles/Cathay booking completion always failed at the last step.

Okay, to prepare, I added more top-up minutes. Just in case. But inside I found a convenient land line, called Asia Miles and waited, and waited, and waited. Half an hour and it became 9 a.m. Soon, AC will call for boarding. Yikes!

I had called Cathay earlier but they only open up their lines at 9 a.m. Eastern time. Since Asia Miles wasn’t answering, I called Cathay. They explained they couldn’t touch the booking because it was through Asia Miles.

Side rant: what is so hard to do when an Asia Miles booking is solely for Cathay and its subsidiaries? Same same Aeroplan for Air Canada. Why make any customer call a third party for a flight issue when it’s the airline’s planes carrying you. Argh!!!

It was only when I explained to the Cathay agent my dilemma that she volunteered to send an  email to Asia Miles in HK to call me. OK, I know I’m not going to get a call, if ever, because Asia Miles is understaffed, in my estimation. So I headed for boarding, knowing I’m going to have to rush in HK to the airlines’ transfer desk and beg to get on a Cathay flight. And hope they let me use points. Ha! The alternative was paying an exhorbitant fare. Yes, I was prepared to get on my knees.

So, into the AC boarding lineup and my mobile phone rings, 20 minutes later and two steps from entering the jet cabin. My heart leaped and I looked at 852 country code. Yes!!!! HK. The Asia Miles agent had already booked me into the 2:25 Cathay flight. Whoa! I must have sounded to others in the lineup like I won a lottery.

So my compliments  to Asia Miles/Cathay for believing my story, calling me long-distance and having it all ready to go -- and this didn't cost me a cent in rebooking fees, unlike AC and Aeroplan (read below). It’s probably happened to many others, forgetting about the change of day across the International Dateline.

I can relax on the 15.5-hour torturous flight. That is until it was clear we were going to be late when the takeoff  time came and went. It was almost 20 minutes past before the tug pushed the Boeing 777-300ER out to the taxiway. And half an hour after takeoff, the captain announces we are going to arrive in HK at 1:40 p.m., half an hour late!

What  bothered me was that no reason was given before we were going to be late unhitching from the gate. They would have known. I did overhear an attendant saying two people were coming in late. Hmmm. Suspicious. No one gets on a plane that late unless they’re VIPs. Anyway, no one showed up and when the captain said we’re going to arrive at 1:40, nothing was said and no one apologized. Hello, Air Canada! Wake up! That lateness also screwed several other passengers, as I was later to find out at the Cathay HK transfer desk, including a husband, wife, toddler and their grandma.

 As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, I got up and told a flight attendant that now I’m going to miss my connection in HK. Her response was a soothing, “we’ll probably be close” to the original arrival time Stupidly, I believed her and should have pursued this nearer the end of the flight. We arrived about 1:25 but by the time one gets out of the cabin and walks the half km to W1 transfer point, it would be way too late.

The Cathay agent was shocked Air Canada didn’t take care of my needs by calling ahead to try and find me another seat. It was their duty to do that. While I have nothing but praise for in-cabin service on the AC flight, nothing was done on the more important matter of making sure your customers can get to where they’re going.

So another flight missed.

The Cathay agent at the transfer desk must have dialed her phone 12 to 15 times, speaking with unknown persons at Cathay, the gate and the Air Canada agent on the ground. Air Canada uses generic agents at HK, not their own personnel. She consulted her colleagues several times. I was impressed how helpful Cathay was. But the agent was none too happy with AC.

I was put on standby for the 3:50 flight and told to come back to the desk at 2:55 p.m. When I did, it was then I met the Canadian couple going to the Philippines and missed their flight, too.

So at 3:10, Cathay found an empty seat on a 99% per cent booked flight. I had to rush to gate 27 and be there by 3:25 p.m. or I’d miss the connection. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from the transfer desk.

Cathay had taken my AC luggage tags and redirected my two pieces to the correct flight. I and luggage miraculously made it to Bangkok at the originally appointed time, well a day later!

Flight service quality:

One thing I noticed was how much nicer  the Cathay aircraft interior was on their Boeing 747 400 (to BKK) than Air Canada’s 777 300ER (to HKG). The CX seat is made of a fixed shell and the passenger seating portion slides up and down within the shell, therefore not bothering the passenger behind with the yo-yoing TV screen and food table. It’s been three years since I flew with CX.

The TV screens worked, too. On the AirCan flight, staff had to reboot the information system several times to get most of the screens working. Cathay’s was fully operational right from the beginning. It was quick and responsive, unlike AC’s. Also the route information system worked on Cathay’s plane, but it was “unavailable” for the entire AC flight. On Cathay, you got thorough information; I especially liked their at-the-gate update as to where you may need to go to connect with other flights.

    

Also, the Cathay food was of a higher standard, if one meal is anything to go by. The Air Canada meals were from the same menu since 2004. I swear it’s the same food because it looked identical.

And last, I had to rebook my original AC flight. I bought a one-year ticket for Bangkok, but got a notice from Asia Miles that I was going to lose 16,000 plus travel points this summer. So I called my (wonderful) agent at Tour East to shorten the flight to HKG, and I would use points to BKK. Air Canada wanted $200 to cancel and rebook! On top of that, it would take an astounding 6 to 8 weeks for AC to credit my credit card with the original airfare! Meaning, I would also pay the same taxes twice. Aeroplan imposes a $90 fee for flight date changes, no matter how long in advance. I know from experience, Cathay does not charge for return flight changes.

I think both airlines have some work to do: for Cathay it’s easing access to their Asia Miles service and Air Canada, upgrading their food services and cutting out this greedy fee scraping.

 

UPDATE: May Air Canada be blessed because it refunded my credit-card-paid airfare within 24 hours!

 

PHOTO NOTES: Top picture of Cathay B747 at HKG Airport; rest of the images show the back of the Cathay seat with its thorough and responsive information systems setup, plus the clothes hanger retractable button and cup holder.

Get used to biting your tongue in Bangkok

There are things that happen in Thailand that just defy belief. Mostly, your only choice is to bite your tongue. Or make an amusing (and instructive) story out of it among your foreigner friends.

The resident expats have seen most of it before. But tourists have not. So with this in mind, don’t be surprised when . . . in Bangkok . . .

Two or three Thai friends approach a door. The first one opens it and lets it fall closed right in the face of his or her friend. I kid you not. I’ve been this many times. Few seem to accept the idea that you could hold the door open to your following friend. Of course, in Canada, the custom is to hold the door open for the following person, friend or stranger.

Hold or not hold? I sometimes hold the door open. It’s such an ingrained habit. Still, there are times I don’t, probably depending on what happened last time I held the door open. Frequently, following Thais don’t even look at you, never mind thank you. Don’t think it even enters their mind that someone did them a favour.

Another way to look at the issue is,  there’s about 15 million folks  crisscrossing paths in the City of Angels each day. Our co-operative customs don't seem to exist.

A friend picked up his custom made shirts the other day. The four shirts were all long-sleeves. He had ordered two short-sleeved versions. What can you do?

I know all the ways to order drinks “straight” or “neat” in Thai. “Mai sai naam keng” and “pio pio,” sometimes reinforced by “mai soda, mai Coke, mai ice.” After going through the list, I am asked “on the rocks?” I reply negatively. I get a whisky on the rocks. Sometimes, as if to take pity on someone who drinks whisky straight, the waitress brings a water and ice. No one can believe someone drinks whisky straight so they refuse to “hear” it when taking the order. The crap quality of local whisky might explain the reluctance to allow anyone to drink it without pop or soda or juice. Have to agree.

Every neighbourhood has motorcycle taxis (the guys in dayglow vests) to take you from one end of your soi (side street) to the other or the transit system or local mall or other feature. It’s a 15-minute walk to the MRT subway for me, but sometimes I’m in a hurry so I grab a “motocy taxi.” There are three parallel routes to Pra Ram 9  station. One is behind and under the Fortune IT Mall and is the quickest path but only open in operating hours; a second is pockmarked, potholed, broken, full of mismatched asphalt patches, narrow but it is slightly shorter, maybe by 30 metres than No. 3. The last is smooth as a baby’s butt and wider. Perfect, in fact. Two riders have taken me on that route; saves the machinery and spine. But when I suggested the route a couple of times, I got waved off by a firm head shake. It must be said though that a moto taxi is the surest way to get where you are going in your local area. And inexpensive. And a touch dangerous!

I usually order an Americano coffee at my fave caffeine joint at Fortune Town IT Mall. Last week, this being the (mostly) hot season, decided to have one on ice. They brought me out a giant 24-ounce cup and I said it wasn’t mine. The clerk said ice Americano. Oh, oh. It was, but it would be no good after 3-5 minutes of being diluted by that much ice in the 30+ night temps. So the next time I said, holding a big empty cup, “only put ice here,” halfway up the cup. Understood. The longer-lasting Americano arrives and it is still filled with ice. “Americano ron”, which means “hot” in Thai, from now on!

In a city with hugely intense taxi competition and cheap fares, it’s hard to believe you can be refused by a driver. I’ve been refused my destination many times. First, I always take into consideration the timing and what is likely to be going on toward my home or other destination. Yet, day or night, I’ve been rejected. All friends tell the same story. Some drivers can’t believe others say no, when a fare is a fare and you’re taking in income instead of cruising the streets burning gas or diesel and other consumables. However, they might take a tourist on a flat rate basis. Not cheap! Oh, and never ever take a stationary taxi parked in front of your hotel, mall, public event, or nightlife or bar area. You will pay five to ten times the meter rate. Walk away from the area and catch a moving taxi. Two exceptions are  the taxi lineup outside transit stations and in mall parking lots.

Five sparkling new east-end BTS Skytrain stations, fully ready to operate,  remain closed and locked since last year when they could have begun operation and saved tens of thousands of commuters the daily headache of taking non-air-con buses into the farthest operating station at On Nut. Why? A city official in charge of opening bids for the signalling and other systems feared that his forthcoming retirement might be adversely affected if something were to go wrong.  So he refused to begin the bidding project, which should have begun in late 2008, and put the entire 5.2 km system opening on hold, according to a knowledgeable poster on Thaivisa.com. 

I had a shockingly good espresso in a Korat shop one evening near our hotel. So next morning I headed to the shop at 5 minutes to opening. The shop clerks were standing at the open door. By now it’s 1 or 2 minutes to 10. I asked politely as possible for an espresso. One pointed to the sign on the open door and turned it around to show me the shop is still closed and refused to make an espresso. Huh? I walked on incredulously to the next shop, which was just opening and the owner was happy to get the espresso machine running. Difference: employee clerks versus owner.

Many low to mid-range Thai hotels will offer free American breakfast. Menu will say eggs, sausage and toast. Before you say Cool!, let me warn you those sausages are no better than hotdogs and look like them (photo, below, of real thing). You rarely get bacon, the eggs will be pre-fried and piled in a pan, the “sausages” will be floating in some salty warm brine and the toast will be the worst kind of white bread. Worth little more than 30 baht overall. It’s no deal.

 

Continuing on the food theme, never, ever try to ask for a modification of a menu item. I remember, although this was in Vietnam, I wanted just a plain hamburger in a restaurant that catered to foreigners. So on a bacon and cheese burger, I said I didn't want the bacon and cheese. When I got the order, the buns were empty. Turns out it was strictly a bacon and cheese with no "burger." Yikes.

So this comes across as a rather pissy post. Well, it's because all these things happen/ed in Bangkok and continue to occur. Just fair warning to those who don't see it coming. Well, I've been in a pissy mood lately. Maybe it's one of those phases an expat goes through. Thing is, I only get in these moods when I'm in Bangkok. I didn't get these moods before. Could be a pattern relationship there. More investigation required.

 

Isaan tour 2011: Wedding in Sakon Nakhon

 

 

We were on the road to Sakon Nakhon and had just climbed Highway 213 to a flat part, maybe 40 plus klicks to SN. We  stopped at a 7-11, loaded up with drinks and snack foods for our "isloated" resort cabin where we would stay. Four foreign guys going to an Isaan wedding the next day. My first ever.

Later that evening, we revisited the 7-11 for some strategic party essentials but, SHOCK!, this store did NOT stock booze. What's wrong with Sakon Nakhon? What were we to do? I’ve never seen that before. Nothing to do but hope the resort had stocks of beer at least. (Even in the big cities of the northeast, 7-11's are not as liberally sprinkled in the districts as they are in Bangkok.)

After we left the store, we passed by more than a dozen roadside stalls with everything. Maybe? I spotted bottles. Driver Khun Miken (and fellow celebrants K Jannik and author K Dean Barrett), ever alert for opportunity, threw out the anchors.

Indeed. Beer Leo could be had. Our little gathering of four farangs (white foreigners) suddenly became the centre of a throng of locals. About 10 local girls and three or four guys. They peppered us with smiles and questions. It can't have been because  we were  a rare commodity -- white guys in deepest Isaan. And it can't be because there's nothing on TV because most don't have a TV. Maybe the new BMW we arrived in had the eye appeal. Buddha knows we're not such handsome men anymore.  We got the usual questions:  where we come from, where we were going, what were our names, and if we had "fan" ("lady Thai" or girlfriend) or "palayaa" ("lady Thai" or wife)?

Such was the press at times, we couldn’t physically move. We found ourselves conversing for some time, with each of us at different levels of Thai and Lao, me definitely having the least  fluency and Dean, with 10  years here, taking the lead. So Khun Miken says let’s open a “pop”. We did and offered “pops” all round. But most of the girls declined.  The gathering continued for some time as girls, some in the 40-plus range, continued to keep up the light-hearted, sometimes suggestive patter. It was all in good fun and we got invited to come back for Songkran water festival next month. 

I have experienced this Isaan friendliness in many of my travels throughout the northeast of Thailand. But never with this many eager listeners.  It was just about the best experience I’ve had in Thailand.

We couldn’t let this go to our heads though. We had to get ready for the wedding of two Thai friends just off Highway 213, in a little village of dusty driveways, stilted wooden homes, ancient motor scooters, water buffaloes, raggedy children, sun-blackened faces and rice farms. And I’m saving the best adjective for last: happy! The smiles and friendliness would have been hard for even a committed curmudgeon to miss.

We made it to the resort, which did indeed have beer.

But earlier in the day, we had been invited to the family house for a warmup and what a warmup. Incredible food (laab moo or stir fried spicy minced pork with salad, grilled pork strips, and the most amazing grilled beef with the astounding naam jim jao spicy dipping sauce), store-bought beer, and homemade sticky rice cider (satoh, Lao for a cider like drink)  and rice whisky (lao khao). We were treated like honoured guests.

They had set up a picnic table for us types that have to sit to eat and drink, while a few metres away, Thai people squatted or reclined on the low wooden decks, with 60-years-plus Isaan folks embarrassing us with legs folded nimbly underneath them, watching our every move. Fortunately, several of us visitors can speak some Thai and Lao, the latter being the unofficial language of Isaan, along with the Isaan dialect. Laughing and smiles never stopped.

    The ladies and men laboured in the outdoor kitchen, with its coal-fired hot pots and grilles, pans full of chilis, cold leafy vegetables, and ice chests full of meat, beer and lao khao. No one misbehaved.  It was one of the best experiences of my life, well worth the 700 km journey from the Kingdom’s capital.

The next day would dawn early, with wedding to begin at 7 a.m. You can imagine how in a steaming hot country, you want to get anything important done as early as possible. However, there was still the matter of dressing the house for the ceremonies, the arrival of the groom’s party of 40 or more in a bus from distant Ubon Ratchathani and gradual buildup of the bride’s friends and colleagues some of whom, after getting off work at 11 at night, boarded a minibus in equally distant Bangkok for Sakon Nakhon.

I won’t describe the village or our friend’s home. Look at the pictures. I think of the joyous time everyone had during the wedding; then look at the surroundings and forget about your first thoughts. People of Isaan have a rough life but you would never guess that from the proceedings or indeed, of those of any other day of the week. A ready smile and willingness to help anyone out despite the daily burdens make you look at yourself and your life and “how rough” you had it.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give that some thought for a while. Think about what you would give up just for one day. Would you really be less happy? Doubtful. These people have far, far less; others have almost nothing.

"Less is more" is one phrase that is easy to toss onto the table of discussion.  I am not focusing on the accumulation of products and services. Much of those things really exist to distract us from conversation, companionship, loving, sharing, listening, observing and analyzing in the sense of the need to survive.  I think you will have a rich life if you observe, listen, converse, share and love. There can be time for modern conveniences but I think it's unwise to let them rule your life.

I question myself about the following thoughts. I can remember being embarrassed, as a kid, about not having this or that thing. Or my parents not being cool. Or not having a nice winter jacket. But I had food, warmth, a roof over my head. Well, some of my Thai friends and many acquaintances never had anything and I never detected any reticence among my two Thai friends in welcoming us into the humble rice farming community in which they were born. I've heard many storeis from Isaan farm girls who come from the same or worse conditions. My GF recently showed me pictures of her family’s village home. It has a thatched roof, dusty ground floor and no electricity. She was proud of her parents and would do anything for them.
 

Photo notes: top, family home on wedding morning decorated to receive the couple; four foreigners visit the night market and gain an unlikely audience;   the completed meals plus beer and satoh or Isaan country cider from sticky rice; food preparation that would never be complete in Isaan or Thailand without killer chilis; and last, below, the village on early morning wedding day.

Background note: With the wedding in our sights, we decided to make this part of a larger tour of Isaan. We drove from Bangkok to Chaiyaphum the first day. Then after one night there, went to burgeoning, lovely Khon Kaen. The wedding was held about halfway between Kalasin and Sakon Nakhon. Post wedding, on day 3, we continued. On heading south, we passed through Kalasin again, then visited Roi Et (practically every bar and restaurant is called 101 plus something, hardly surpising considering the city's name is, in Thai, 101).  Then  the roads  carried us to Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima) Tuesday and finally to Bangkok  Wednesday. More reports to come.

Re-entry permits for Thai visas back at Bangkok airport

There's great, great news for expats on non-immigrant O and O-A visas who require a Thailand re-entry permit.

You can now get them as a matter of course at Bangkok's main airport, Suvarnabhumi. Yes, you don't have to make the arduous journey out to the main immigration headquarters on Chaeng Wattana -- if you live in BKK.

A news item dated Dec. 7, 2010 on the airport's web site details the new service -- I should say resumed service. Previously, you could only get these on an emergency basis. Previous to that, you could always get a re-entry permit as a matter of course. Now the latter service is back.

But this is important: On the day of your re-entry permit application, you have to have a boarding pass for a flight that day.

You may ask, what is a re-entry permit? On a one-year non-immigrant visa, you leave and re-enter Thailand as many times as you wish, as long as you have the multi-entry option. As you re-enter the country within the one-year visa period, each time you collect a "permission to stay" stamp. It is dated one year down the road from re-entry date . This, in effect, gives you two years of use of the O-A visa. Another way of looking at it is that the stamp keeps your visa alive. (After that you apply for yearly extensions of stay, but that's another topic.)

But as your visa heads toward its inevitable expiration, there may be a time when you will not return to the Kingdom until after your visa expires, but before the permission to stay date stamp expires. In this case, you must get a re-entry permit (single or multiple) in order to keep your permission to stay stamp alive. If you do not get the re-entry permit, you have to start the non-immigrant visa application process all over again.

The news has also been confirmed by members on www.thaivisa.com who have gone through the process since the news release last week.

I think the Immigration Bureau of Thailand and the airport authority need to be congratulated for bringing back a much needed service. It's also a sensible service that fits the needs of frequent air travellers who can now happily skip the extra task of visiting the local immigration bureau before flying out of the country for work, vacations or for returns to the homeland.

To fall or not fall for new Kawasaki ‘big bike’

I have been waiting with anticipation for an affordable “big bike” to show up on the Thailand market and it is (almost) here.

A slim 125 cc Honda or Yamaha self-shifter is ideal for threading traffic in this country. But those bikes are so small for a big guy like me (186 cm/6-foot-1), have little secondary road interest and cannot carry much -- if you want to ride safely.

 There are also many scooters from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and some of the Taiwanese and Chinese makers. They’re quite comfortable for neighbourhood errands and commuting in the smaller cities and towns. Even as a passenger on motorcycle taxis, you are fairly comfortable for getting down the soi or along the major roads for half a klick or so.

There is a shortage of big bikes on the market, unless you want to pay exhorbitant tarrifs and retail prices on such as the Ducati or BMW. There is the Honda Phantom cruiser style bike, but these low-riding, lay-back bikes leave me cold.

Kawasaki, which assembles bikes in this country, has been marketing the ER6n for a couple of years and the various small-size Ninjas. Neither fit my needs, which is to say, I like an upright bike so you don’t  “sit” on your arms (Ninja) or “sit” on your tailbone (Phantom).

By mid-December Kawasaki is supposed to deliver the first copies of its dual-purpose Versys, which has been a good success in Europe and less so in North America. Woohoo! Priced at 285,000 baht (taxes included, which is about $9,800 Canadian), it’s considerably less than the price tag in Canada at $8,999 plus Canadian GST and provincial tax (about $10,200 or 350,000 baht).

I took photos of the bike at the Kawasaki Thailand Big Bike Showroom on Pra Ram 9, about a 20-minute walk from my humble apartment on Ratchada. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone 3 mobile with me, with its pitiful camera.

The (somewhat flimsy) side and top cases, (metal bar reinforced)  handguards, (convincingly stout) engine crash bars and (useful) windshield extension were extras. The bike itself was a beauty, in my eyes. it comes in red (not shown) and black.

Incidentally, another expat at the shop says it would cost about 7,000 baht a year to obtain first-class insurance. That’s $210 to insure a bike in Bangkok; back home the same bike would cost me about $700 to $900 or up to 27,000 baht in Toronto -- the price of a good new scooter. But you can simply take the mandatory basic insurance of about 650 baht ($20!). Not a good idea. Insurance quotes for the related ER6n (650 cc engine, similar though weaker chassis) from third parties charted at the Kawasaki showroom indicate  about 12,000 baht a year.

Unfortunately, a big foreigner on a big bike (650 cc) is the natural prey of any policeman looking to fund a poker night in Khlong Toie. But maybe a worse scenario is learning to ride Thai traffic in Bangkok. Hmmm . . .

 

Hard living driving Bangkok taxi now

The taxi driver came running. I was crossing Asok to the west side to go north to Ratchada and my new apartment. To say he was keen to get a fare is an understatement. It was early in the morning, as in past midnight. The taxis -- typically 20 or more -- were bumper to bumper southbound on Asok, crowding around a bar district, double and triple parked, hoping to round up a wayward foreigner from Soi Cowboy. The Asok-Sukhumvit intersection is a biggie. Asok northbound leads to the longer Ratchadapisek Road, which leads to seemingly endless commercial, condo and apartment strips.

The driver spoke some English. As I opened the door, to his great relief, another driver asked whether I was going to Ratchada. A polite way to try to get me in his cab, I think. Within seconds of moving northbound, the driver says “Business bad. No tourists,” punctuated by sighs of frustration and desperation. He has three kids in Ubon Ratchathani, in poorest Thailand, in a group of provinces called Isaan.

He has been earning a living since before meter taxis, doing runs out of the old airport, Don Mueang. And then he moved to the new airport, Suvarnabhumi. Picking up tourists is how he learned English. “No go school,” he said. “Now BTS, MRT and airport express, no business.” And fewer tourists. He was very happy to get my 51 baht ride, plus tip of another 9 baht. That’s a bit much tip-wise but I did feel sorry for him.

(Taxi fares are crazily cheap. The meter starts at 35 baht ($1.20 Canadian, U.S., Australian) and stays that way for the first kilometre. It rises 5 baht per km till km 12. Source: Thailand Guru.)

The subject of general business climate in BKK came up among friends the other night during our frequent Londoner drink-and-smoke sessions. It was strongly agreed that business is way down and maybe getting worse.

A good friend, M, later observed how much business at the Londoner was down. He thought the usually heavily attended Halloween party last Saturday night might have been down 30 to 40% over 2008. I’ve noticed how even on 2-for-1 Wednesday nights, when the wide stairs leading down to the basement bar were largely empty. I can remember when you couldn’t move pass the hundred or so international school students who flocked to a good deal. Now it isn’t the high season yet, but the omens are not good.

This week I re-visited a well known language school office at the Times Square building at Sukhumvit soi 14. I wanted to check class schedules and was offered Nov. 4 as a start. But that was too early for me to commit thousands of baht. The one attendant on duty, unlike previous visits when I saw several, couldn’t offer another start date. Not one other date the rest of the year. A typical course would only have 3 to 7 students. So there were obviously no Educational Visa students signing up, nor resident European or Asian foreigners lining up to begin Thai language classes.

I saw more than 20 apartments in my attempt to find one I wanted to move into. My search routes followed the Sukhumvit BTS Skytrain line and the MRT subway northbound up Ratchada. In every case, owners and agents were ready to to discount by a thousand baht a month. Of course, in Thailand, you never accept the first number offered. But some owners were ready to cut thousands. Some places I saw hadn’t had a tenant in months if not years. And owners had not even cleaned up their places.

So the high season approaches and no doubt the Tourist Authority of Thailand will claim more arrivals than earlier this year and last year, which wouldn’t be too hard to do considering the sketchy political situation here with Red Shirt versus Yellow Shirt protesters that discouraged many tourists, especially Asians. And rumours of yet another coup.

Another problem, a big one, is the rising value of the baht currency. Canadians, Americans,  Australians, Britons and more have seen the value of their currencies plunge. The Canadian dollar, which has almost reached par with the U.S. dollar,  fetches only 29 baht. It typically would be in the very low 30s.

I wish the Isaan taxi driver well but he has an empty back seat and blames the political problems scaring away tourists.   It’s so serious for him, someone who speaks English, that he’s thinking of going back to Ubon to find work for the first time in many years. And it’s unlikely to be much better back in his home village.

As for Bangkok, if the “high season” is worse than last year, then many businesses are going to have serious problems keeping afloat, especially because  so many of them are marginal. The high season usually ramps up in mid-November and hits a high from mid-December. I don’t think it will be a sparkling  Christmas season.

New apartment, new neighbourhood, new life

 

The apartment hunt is over, thank Buddha. And I’m excited because I will be living in a part of town I only know a little about, but at least it’s off the Sukhumvit same old, same old.

As a tourist you will spend a lot of time with Sukhumvit at your back because it’s where most of the western oriented services are located and it’s also the east-west spine of the BTS Skytrain -- a huge factor in locating your place to live.

Instead I will be living near the MRT subway, the main north-south transit spine, which is more or less Asok-Ratachadapisek Roads. Ratchada goes on and on northward, but I will be at the lower end, namely Ratchada soi 5. It’s right between the Fortune Town IT mall (love this place) at the Pra Ram 9 MRT station and northward to The Esplanade shopping mall, which  is near the next stop, Thailand Cultural Centre.

Many residential projects that would appeal to westerners staying in the capital will be on or near the transit systems. You pay a premium for that of several thousand baht. Go 10 walking minutes down a soi and the rents start to fall. (Don’t believe the ads that say only 5 minutes to BTS. On a motorcycle taxi maybe. Count on 15 minutes on foot if it says 5.) Go way down the longer main roads from a station to the little soi’s and monthly rents plunge to the mid single digits, such as 6000 to 10,000 baht ($200 to $330 Canadian) depending on apartment size. Although, in my experience, you’ll still see rents of 20,000 + for distant 1-bedroom apartments, although they may be a bit bigger.

My new place is about 8-10 minute slow walk to Pra Ram 9 on Ratchada Road. I haven’t checked out time to TCC MRT stop.

It’s a 42 square metre studio, a format I had at one time rejected. But it was so well laid out and was such a good deal with free stuff thrown in -- and I was tired of looking. In my excitement I forgot to take pictures, so words will have to do for now. Pictures of my neighbourhood and apartment now online in separate post

The unit is in a spotless  3-to-4 year old apartment building, not a condo project, owned by an Indian family. The place still looks brand new, it is so well maintained.

The sizeable kitchen is off to the left and out of sight when you enter. Then comes a four-chair dining table in the kitchen area, then sofa behind that on the left viewing a 32-inch LCD TV, and then an office/working area on the right. Past room dividers comes the king-size bed and huge enclosed wall storage area, which I don’t think I will ever be able to fill.

On the back wall is a sizeable bathroom and shower to the left and large sliding glass doors on the right looking westward and southward to the downtown. It’s a sixth floor corner unit. The huge balcony would easily hold a four-chair table, alongside the outside water tap and sink for doing dishes, plus large working counter.

Amazing thing is, that with a one-year contract, 10 megabit Internet service and 30-plus channel satellite TV are free. That’s got to be 2500 baht a month if taken individually -- not to mention the little hassles of signing up, getting things installed and operating and paying the monthly bill at the 7-11. All in, 12,000 baht a month ($400). I hit my budget right on the head.

And the bestest thing: a couple of minutes walk away is a large Thai neighbourhood and all that that means. There are hardware shops, Internet cafes, food vendors everywhere, other neat shops and, well, I shall need to explore soon. And Fortune Town has food courts and fastfood joints, plus all the computer equipment and mobile phone shops, banks, and a huge Tesco Lotus grocery/drygoods store.

Coming next year, across Ratchada from Fortune Town, is the new Central Plaza Rama 9 shopping complex. I do like Central stores.

So a new life begins Nov. 1.

Only one hill to climb before I exit, Far East

“With only five more days”, I wrote at first,  then I checked and it’s only four! Glad I cleared that up because four more days to Bangkok sounds way better. This Thursday I will  strap on some Air Canada wings for Tokyo, then do an Isaan shuffle over to the Thai Airways counter. Remembering to smile all the way.  Well, that will be the easiest thing I’ve done this year.

Normally, when taking an Air Canada flight across the Pacific, or maybe that should be the Arctic, I would grin and bear it. Poor service, poor food, and a feeling of relief after the flight’s over. I switched to Cathay Pacific. After a couple of years of superb service on Cathay, in winter 2008 I stumbled across the lowest airfare to BKK I’ve ever seen. But it was Air Canada. Frightening! But for barely $1,000 and chance to go in May-June, which I’ve never done before, I took the amazing fare. 

I swear I was not flying AC even though the red Maple Leaf tail decals and staff uniforms said Air Canada. It was simply the best AC flight I’ve ever experienced. Sparkling service, good food and a feeling that I’d come off a Cathay flight. And it happened again in fall 2008 and 2009. That’s what kept me with AC, and suddenly I found myself with more than enough points for a free flight. In four days -- not five!

This flight leaves for Narita in early afternoon, which I much prefer. Gives me time to take transit out to the airport for $2.50 versus a ridiculous $55-$60 by taxi for a 15 km  run. I may just taxi to a hotel and take the Airport Express, which is only $18. In Bangkok, that taxi run for the same distance is 200 baht, plus tolls of 65 or 70 baht now. Plus tip. That’s $9-$10.

  And I have my shiny new Non-Immigrant O-A long-stay, multi-entry visa for Thailand. Woohoo!

Okay, time to update the earlier post on my anxiety levels leading up to the move to Thailand. In short, very low.

Accommodation: Still no takers on my apartment after about a dozen showings, some potential tenants not noticing the ad says  “furnished”.  Sheesh! If the place had been unfurnished, I could have rented it a month ago, says my agent. Well, Monday I will go to a nearby storage place and see what it will cost to store stuff for six months. (After assessing my life in Thailand, I will come back to Canada and decide whether to sell off whatever’s left.) Four days before leaving the country, here I am hunting for reasonably priced storage, booking a mover, then booking a mover specializing in removing junk. I don’t have that much left after pruning my belongings. But it’s too late to try to sell off some of my good stuff, which takes time. Lesson? None really. I flipped a coin and made the wrong move in trying to rent out a furnished apartment.
Anxiety level: 2.5 out of 5. (Previous: 4/5)

Banking: Decided to cut mortgage payments. I am paying a very high monthly amount to slash the length of the term. You know what? Not necessary. Being at an advanced age and having a fairly valuable property mean when I sell it, the mortgage payoff won’t be a biggie. So no worries. Otherwise, everything in place.  Anxiety Level: 1/5 (Previous: 2/5)

Personal goods: Only things left are big goods. I have exactly one box, not even full, of very personal stuff. I turned a mental corner a few years ago about attachments to things. I am about as detached a person as I know. I’ve already written on this topic Too much stuff? Don't move it, get rid of it. Anxiety Level: 1/5 (Previous: 3/5)

Communications: All folks and businesses I know can get in touch with me via the Net. Don’t know how anyone got along without the Internet years ago.  Anxiety Level: 1/5 (Previous: 2/5)

Relationships: Suddenly, friends are calling and wanting to get together in my last couple of weeks of residency. Frankly, I’m touched. Some booked several get-togethers. All credit to them because they are my oldest friendships, some spanning four decades. Enjoying it all and it’s a pleasure to chat. Have to admit it was easier to hook up because, well, I’m retired and have loads of time. Sort of. Makes you think about what you were doing during the previous three-plus decades of Modern Life!  Anxiety Level same as previous 1/5.

Packing: Minimal clothing, might even cut back the motorcycle gear because some of my computing gear needs to come with me. Anxiety Level: 2/5 (Previous: 5/5)

Note, from this Wednesday, I will be off the grid as I cancel all media services. Back online fully probably this Saturday. From the City of Angels. Did I mention the woohoo thing?

Too much stuff? Don't move it, get rid of it

Moving is never easy, especially if one suffers from the western genetic mutation called consumption. 

And moving to another part of the world, as I am this autumn,  makes the process an even greater challenge because I have too much stuff. Even though I have no plans to bring any stuff to Bangkok, I have equally strong plans to leave little behind; the more you leave behind the heavier the mental and physical chains. I’ve had enough of the chains in my 50 plus years. 

I don’t think of myself as a consumer. I have hardly bought anything in the last three or four  years. Most of what I got was obtained in my formative consumer years, which go back to the 1990s.

And have I got a lot. My last consumer era consisted of buying Asian films from the cheaper than cheap Chinatown in Toronto. Before that, earlier this century, I followed some terrific TV series, such as Battlestar Galactica, Deadwood, Heroes, Dead Like Me,  Wonderfalls, Firefly, and well before that, Babylon 5. In the early ’90s, I geeked out on Babylon 5. I have the novels, comics,  calendars (OK, now I’m embarrassed) and collectible cards. Before that it was comics such as Sandman and Death (do you think there’s a theme here?).

All along the way I read science Fiction. So I have a lot of books and DVD movies, and VHS movies and series, and music CDs (I even threw out some music cassettes this week!).  What to do with this stuff? Since I have entered the age of common sense, which is only about four or five years ago (it happens when you turn 50, hopefully) I will not carry stuff from place to place.  And, thanks to my stronger sense of living lightly,  it must go. All of it.

Which is a long about way to say I am looking back on my accumulating years  and going, What The F--k was I thinking?   Frankly, none of this stuff is worth much. Never was. Back then, when I had the full-on collector virus, you accept the consensus that all of this will be worth something some day, at least more than you paid for it. Ha! What a sucker! Those were in the Boomer Era days, when old stuff was gaining popularity and desirability. Suddenly, that old 33 rpm record was worth 10 times what you paid for it. Now, well, I just sold 40 albums from the 1970s rock years for $40. (Don’t ask me why I carried this anchor for nearly 40 years! Paying to move it each time, with its cumulative cost of . . . I don’t want to know!)

Of course, better technology and cheaper products overtake most of the old stuff.

So it’s out with everything: sell it, dustbin it or give it away. I was ruthless. I’ve up-ended boxes of novels into the recycling bin or trundled better ones to a local library; dragged bags of clothing, and DVDs and CDs to charity services; and I’ve bagged useless stuff and sent them plunging into the building garbage compactor.

If you think you’ve weeded out a good hunk of domestic driftwood, think again. You have always got more stuff than you think. One night I spent 4.5 hours in my building locker pawing dust-laden boxes and asking myself why did I think I’d want to see these cancelled race track tickets again? Ever? Or track ID badges? Or cheap automobile souvenir models? Or news clippings? Or calendars from some obscure industry?

That’s not all. I’ve got enough souvenir t-shirts that would probably clothe the entire populace of Monaco, should anyone be needy there. You see, I got rid of a lot of  stuff back in late 2008 just before embarking on my six-month sojourn in Bangkok. I really did. Or I thought I did. You see, I really got rid of only half of it. So the lesson here is: Be Ruthless. You will never need anything in your garage or locker or basement ever again if you haven’t look at it in a year. Ever! No qualifications.

The only thing I salvaged was some personal pictures of relatives and friends in my earlier years. They were good memories. They all fit in a shoebox. That’s all I have left. Oh, plus financial papers, which are a must to keep for are least seven years in Canada.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been selling a lot of stuff to collectors (Cf. dictionary definition, suckers) through online classified services. I discovered 1/18 scale race and road cars (but not 1/43 scale) are desirable, vinyl record albums (but only if they’re pristine, not like mine),  DVD movies, music CDs, and last and least, books.

I’ve been going out every night and coming home with empty bags and more than a $100 in my pocket from selling off DVD movies ($4 to $20 each) and music CDs, the latter practically worthless (e.g. 5 discs for $2). Sad to acknowledge how little value there is in books. I have some good ones, but while I haven’t tried to sell any, just a perusal of second-hand shops tells you all you need to know. They buy them by the pound. Or boxful. Not the title.

I’ll own up to the fact I bought a lot of travel books on Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. But did I really need five or six books, phrase and language books on each country? Plus multiple maps? I think you know the answer; they’re now lying in the recycling bin.

So in my preparation for my departure from Canada for a long-term stay in Southeast Asia this autumn, I really wanted to leave very little behind, only my apartment and some furniture. That’s my goal and I’m almost there. Really!