Latest News

Airport Link begins commercial operation

BANGKOK -- After long delays in construction and several test runs, Suvarnabhumi airport's Airport Link begins commercial services Monday with special discount fares offered until the end of 2010, shortening travel times for inbound and outbound air travellers as well as easing arrivals and departures compared to existing airport transport.

From Monday onward, arriving and departing passengers as well as relatives or friends seeing them off from Suvarnabhumi International Airport, in Bangkok's adjacent province of Samut Prakan, will save significant time in travelling as the Airport Rail Link project, linking the airport and the Makkasan and Phaya Thai areas in downtown Bangkok, commences operations.

To ensure smooth operations, State Railways of Thailand (SRT) Governor, Yutthana Thapcharoen, inspected trains and other facilities whose construction began in mid-2005, for he wanted to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

The 28km rail link connects Suvarnabhumi Airport in the eastern flank of the capital and the City Air Terminal in Bangkok's Makkasan area, where passengers are able to check in their baggage.

With the speed capacity of 160km per hour, the train will serve eight stations and can cater up to 50,000 passengers daily.

City Line commuter trips, with set fares at Bt30, take 30 minutes to reach the airport and will operate 24 hours from Phaya Thai station. Trains pass through six stations.

The Express Service operates 19 hours daily from 6am to 1am and provides a non-stop journey between the City Terminal and the airport with the promotional fare set at Bt100.

SRT plans to establish a subsidiary firm to administer the Airport Link and will seek Cabinet approval through the Transport Ministry by raising registered capital to Bt2 billion from Bt500 million. (MCOT online news)

http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/en/index.html

United States Authorities to introduce charge for ESTA Travel Permit

Since January 2009, British Citizens who have travelled to the USA under the Visa Waiver Program have been required to apply for ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). Until now, there has been no charge for this service by the US Authorities. However, effective 08 September 2010, they will be introducing a charge of US$14 (£9) for all ESTA applications.

Even if you have no current plans to travel to or via the US, we recommend that you request a new ESTA prior to 08 September to avoid paying the new service charge. Each ESTA is valid for 2 years or until the date of expiry on your passport, whichever is the earlier. Even if you already have an existing ESTA, you can apply for a new one at any time which will give you a longer period of validity. We strongly recommend that you keep a copy of your ESTA approval for future reference.

ESTA is a required "travel permit;" it is not an actual US visa. ESTA Applicants must also have a valid machine-readable passport. UK travellers without an approved ESTA Travel Authorization or a valid US Visitor Visa will be denied boarding on all USA-bound flights. The US government recommends that you apply for ESTA at least 72 hours prior to travelling to the US.
For further information about the Visa Waiver Program, please go to: http://london.usembassy.gov/vwp.html

You can apply for your ESTA online at the official website: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov - please be aware of unofficial sites which are making additional charges for the service.

Phuket Reservation Office Relocation Notice

Dear Members, Due to the relocation of the Phuket Central Reservations Office to a new state of the art facility, there will be outages of the telephone system and also limited internet connectivity.
Full communications will be re-established by Monday the 26th of April. We appreciate your kind understanding and look forward to serving you from our new international operations office.

New Australian and USA telephone numbers

Members,

Please take note of our new telephone numbers for Australia and USA.
Click the Contact Us page on this website or HERE

The Australian local call number is still 1 300 886 508 and the international number +61 2 8005 1318 or if in Australia simply 02 8005 1318 to reach the Thailand Member Service officer.

The USA number has been amended to +1 646 736 7988 and this will allow you to avoid international phone charges.

We would like to remind you that the office is staffed from 9 am till 6 pm Monday to Friday Thai time and we sincerely apologise for any inconvienience incurred and should you have any further problems let us know immediately by email mailto:member@clubAbsolute.com

We would also like to hear from you if you have any difficulties using this service or have any suggestions on how we can better serve you.

Urgent Warning Notice

Warning:

It has been brought to our attention that an individual or company has been emailing our members and offering to sell their Absolute Vacation Club package through a new online auction.

Lies:

This is NOT TRUE.

The supposed 'Auction' never takes place and merely involves our member paying an upfront fee of 300 GBP.

This practice is not endorsed by Absolute and any clients who wish to proceed do so at there own risk as we are currently taking legal action against the individual.

Please advise us if you have been contacted by any individual or company IMMEDIATELY by e-mailing Henry Powers - Member Services in Phuket