properjob

Lovers of blues music who ever get down to Bangkok will know that Ped Hua-Hin Bluesman, the leader of Ped's Band, who play the prime slot at Saxophone Pub at Victory Monument every Friday and Saturday night, is one of the best all-round blues artists in the country.

He is visiting Chiang Mai on this coming Monday (30th January) on a short vacation, and has agreed to come to Boy Blues Bar in Kalare Night Bazaar to join in the Monday Blues Jam. Ped is a superb guitarist and a fine singer, so anyone who loves electric blues might want to get along there.

For the record, I have ZERO financial interest in either the venue or the event. Here is a link to a decent YouTube clip of Ped in action at Saxophone Pub:

pj

Thanks for all the help.

pj

Hi JimmyM - I sent you a message, thanks.

Meantime, I have a feeling there must be a reliable money changer in town somewhere.

pj

I need to change a lump sum of Baht to £Stg or US$, but don't have the documentation that I think that banks would require.

In Bangkok there is a money changer business on Sukhumvit Soi 7/1 where exchange of lump sums is as easy as turning up with the Baht and your passport.

Is there an equivalent money changer operation in Chiang Mai?

If so, please give me directions. I need to do this quickly - before Monday.

Thanks,

pj

Touché, HelloDolly.

I can and I will seek out care at the hospitals recommended, but the point of the thread was to try and remove some of the 'pot luck' element of fronting up at hospitals to see doctors who come with no personal recommendations from forum members with experience of them. I know how the quality of care can vary enormously from one clinic to the next, and was only hoping that I might get some pointers here to help find one of the better set-ups first time.

Thanks for the responses.

pj

I am a little surprised that not more people with actual personal experiences of good diabetes specialists have answered my call.

Does this mean there isn't much in the way of quality diabetes care in Chiang Mai?

pj

There is only one Holiday Inn in Chiang Mai -- a big, high-rise hotel on the river. The hospital that's across from it is Rajavej Hospital, but it's pronounced Ra-ja-wet in Thai.

I don't have any personal knowledge of this doctor, but I do know where the hospital is located. They seem to do a good job and their prices are much lower than CM Ram hospital.

Thank you Nancy. I will contact Rajavej.

ron

Ask for Dr Jit at the hospital opposite Holiday inn

Could you possibly give me a little more information? There appear to be more than one Holiday Inns in Chiang Mai. A name for the hospital would be a lot of help.

Thanks,

pj

The good hospitals in Bangkok have excellent dietitians. Finding one in Chiang Mai should be no harder than asking at a decent hospital.

The pancreas is part of the endocrine system, so how about checking out the Endocrinologist recommended on the pinned list of doctors?

Although it mentions thyroid, this is just one of the endocrine glands.

Thanks for that tip. I'll look into the doctor listed there.

If anyone has experience of dealing with a good diabetes specialist anywhere in town, I'd like to hear from them.

rm

I am Type 1 diabetic and need to attend a diabetes specialist for regular check-ups.

Can anyone recommend a particular hospital or specialist clinic in Chiang Mai, and if so, could you please post the details here?

Thanks in advance.

pj

Thanks for the helpful responses. The mandolin arrived totally unplayable due to the complete absence of set-up. Nut too tall, bridge out of place and too high, frets needing seating properly because their ends were standing tall of the edge of the fingerboard - and the neck badly bowed and in need of a truss rod adjustment.

I sought and received good advice from a mandolin forum and eventually decided to try and make the repairs myself. Last night it took me several hours, with one or two setbacks along the way, but the final result is a mandolin that is something like how it should have been when I took it out of the box!

Are there any other mandolin players out there? I play mostly blues and bluegrass, but like to play folk/traditional too.

ron

Try buying the nearest metric key, slighty bigger and file it down to fit, even a good screwdriver that fits tightly in the hexagon will undo it,

Good Luck,

Thanks Lickey, but it's on a critical piece of the instrument that, if I stripped the inside of the allen nut, I'd be permanently nixed, and the brand new instrument would become an expensive ornament.

Before I do that I'll get a set of Imperial allen keys posted to me - or find a guitar tech/luthier in Chiang Mai (or take it to Bangkok for repair), or.....

Thanks again,

ron

Does anyone know where I could buy (or borrow/rent) some Imperial allen/hex keys?

I have to make a repair to a new mandolin, but need what appears to be a 3/16-inch allen key. I'll happily buy the lender a few beers if I can just find the right tool.....

ron

I have a brand new mandolin that arrived today in an unplayable state. I need to find a 'luthier', i.e. a guitar/stringed instrument builder repair technician.

The only one I know is in Bangkok. Is there one in Chiang Mai?

Thanks,

ron

Sorry for not checking in and responding to the information kindly provided. Lots of good tips there - thanks!

pj

I'm moving to Chiang Mai from Bangkok soon, and want to do a lot of cycling in the area. Can forum members recommend (or advise against) particular bicycle stores? I'm hoping to find a shop run by enthusiasts who know their machines, and which might have a decent selection of different styles of cycles and accessories, local as well as foreign-made, second-hand as well as new.

Any advice from fellow cycle enthusiasts would be appreciated.

pj

I went along to Ekkamai and, thanks to PadFoot's excellent directions, quickly found the shop he referred to. It has an interesting selection of violins, violas, cellos and double bases, a few quite good-looking guitars, and three mandolins. Unfortunately the two mandolins which were for sale were Chinese-made and rather agricultural in quality terms.

It's a shop worth a look for anyone with a need for classical instruments, and they do advertise that they also build and repair instruments.

So how about mandolins in Bangkok? I am sure there must be a mother-lode of mandolins hiding somewhere. Anyone got any ideas?

ron

I don't know if this well help, but there is a shop on Soi Ekkamai that makes and repairs violins. They also have other string instruments. They might be able to point you in the right direction. If you go down the soi from Sukumvit they are on the right hand side just before Big C. It's probably about a third of a mile from Sukumvit. I have walked by it many times and it looks like a nice shop.

Thanks PadFoot, I don't live too far from there, so I'll take a walk along there and have a look for myself. I'll let you know if I find anything.

ron

I know from talking to people around the world that in Vietnam they make very good mandolins and other stringed instruments, very reasonably-priced. They are advertised in huge numbers on eBay.

I imagine there must be a music shop in Bangkok that stocks such instruments - in particular mandolins or mandolas.

I have been to many music stores in different parts of the city but never seen anything like the Vietnamese instruments that interest me.

Does anyone have any information that would help me find such mandolins/mandolas in Bangkok?

Thanks,

pj