millwall_fan

Having spend a number of years buying lots of turkeys in Chiang Mai, Gonzo, i can honestly say I don't recall seeing any turkeys in Makro at more than 7Kg. and as a businessman you can only look at Makro -Rimpings prices are way higher. I always bought the largest available which were generally 6-7Kg.

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re

Amazing that in mid November The Pub, O'Malley's, The Chedi, Holiday Inn, and a dozen other places we called tonight, have no idea what they will be doing in 7 weeks time!

in my experience with thais ( but i do tend to be down with the bottom feeders ) most of them dont know where they will be or what they will be doing in 7 days .... never mind 7 weeks

planing for next month , year or retirement .... equals zilch

dave2

I absolutely agree with you Dave2. (and i don't thin its confined to the 'bottom feeders' as you put it, but many of the places we are looking at patronising are run or substantially influenced by foreigners, which is why I'd hoped for rather better organisation!

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Le Meridien is 2,100baht Christmas Eve dinner and brunch on 25th is 1,800. Menu for both is about 4' long but if you're after Alaska king crab and foie gras these only feature on 25th.

053 253 666.

Called them up this evening, they're sending us an email because they can't put 'beverage promotions' on the net due to this country's ridiculous alcohol laws.

Amazing that in mid November The Pub, O'Malley's, The Chedi, Holiday Inn, and a dozen other places we called tonight, have no idea what they will be doing in 7 weeks time!

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Shopping (with a day pass) is not a problem. It mena syour current permisison to stay remains the same and you don't get a new permisison to stay when you return to Thailand.

shopping only for Thai , no longer for foreigner with just the vip pas , experienced myself few weeks ago

What do you mean? The VIP pass, whereby you make 2 photocopies of your passport, don't stamp out of Thailand and just pay 100 Baht on the Thai side and hand over your passport, then US$10 on the Myanmar side is supposed to be the equivalent of the border pass for Thais. It allows you to stay only during the day, then you have to cross back no later than 6.30pm Thai time or 6pm Myanmar time, which is when the bridge closes for the day. Nothing happens to your period of stay on the Thai side and there is no record of you having left Thailand or entered Myanmar. The idea behind this VIP pass I guess was to allow you to do some shopping, perhaps visit the casino etc. but then return back to Thailand.

Are you suggesting that now you have to actually stamp in/out, meaning that even for a one day trip you either need a multiple entry visa, or a re-entry permit, or if permitted to do so on a visa-free entry, you must be stamped out, into/out of Myanmar then back to Thailand?

Yes, thank you for clarifying Tom. Thats what i'm talking about too. Flupke seems to be suggesting that this scheme has bitten the dust. anyone know definitely?

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i hope this is not one of those "silent meal epidodes" i see so often.

test the waters with great conversation at a food stall first.

Actually, that's sound advice: unless she's some Chinese hi-so, she'll be terrified by a top class Suhsi place - far better to take her to a mid range Thai place and see how you get on after a couple of Leo's.

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I don't think he'll be shifting buildings around but maybe something like the following:

1) Put all overhead utilities underground.

2) Have an occasional street cleaner do the main arterials.

3) Dozens of large trash collection cans on main thorough fares with frequent disposal.

4) More open park spaces between large buildings.

5) More park areas in mega malls. (not "parking")

6) Enforcement of exhaust emmissions.

7) Streets dedicated for pedestrian and bicycle use only.

8) Moritorium on commercial highrises

9) One-way major arterials

Now write next to them where the profit is to be derived for the officials who make the effort to enforce your laudable suggestions and hey presto, you've got a deal.

so they're going to remove 'scattered advertisement signs' of every company unable to pay an additional fee to keep them there!

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You've definitely got your priorities wrong, my friend! Pretty girls are ten a penny in this city. Good mates need more effort!

I won't argue that. Valid point. I'm not really into this one and I've been out with several... I'm just in the mood to actually go out on a "date-date" because usually it's just drinks and back to my place.

I need some friends. Ha. I sound so lonely, but I'm really not.

you sound like a very personable chap. I'm sure you'll find a bunch of good mates soon!

You've definitely got your priorities wrong, my friend! Pretty girls are ten a penny in this city. Good mates need more effort!

Yeah right, plenty of pretty girls just want to have fun with a farang... last time I checked it was B. 3,000

a pop, far more expensive than a penny...and that's for one girl only....

to the best of my second hand knowledge you were robbed and could have got triplets for that amount!

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Are they still there? I used to enjoy a Shisha on soi Arab, but I heard the military dictators banned them.

Definitely there. I don't smoke myself but am not aware there was ever a ban. Now even the street stalls set them up. And, of course, every ME restaurant in the vicinity.

It seems like I am getting mixed information some of you say have shisha and some say gone has someone seen recently?

Yeah, thats where I am too. I stopped going to soi 3 after the men with guns banned Shisha - a mint tea, hummus and pita bread and a shisha were the perfect end to an evening on the piss on Sukhumvit. Hugely enjoyable cultural collision. The two options are a) they have been closed down or the shisha joints have paid the appropriate 'fees' and that the junta have reappraised their position in the light of this.

The problem was caused as Thais found the sweet tobacco in Shisha irresistible and some started smoking it in huge quantities and became addicted. The government stepped in to 'ban' them as they are highly carcinogenic - my few puffs once a month were about as bad as inhaling the traffic fumes on Suk rd, but the locals were toking like there was no tomorrow.

Are they still there? I used to enjoy a Shisha on soi Arab, but I heard the military dictators banned them.

Why don't you go out and have a few beers with your mates and then go out and find a cutie later when you've a had a few?

If you really want to impress, I'm told Lord Jim's at the Mandarin Oriental does some pretty amazing Sushi. Won't come cheap though, she'll have to be a pretty tasty morsel herself to make it worthwhile.

Still none the wiser about what the OP is looking for. If you want to learn 'Lanna' or Kham Meuang there are several million speakers - my son and wife's family amongst them. You should have no difficulty finding speakers to help you.

I suppose its too early for many places to have drawn up plans for Christmas, but when I had The Bell I used to have my Christmas plans in place by the end of September - and I bought the Paxo stuffing, bread sauce mix, cranberry sauce and the like back from UK in the Summer! Come on guys it''s a 'nice little earner' as Arthur Daley would say!

It's much easier for those of us married to locals. My wife knows, far better than me, the right level of neighbourliness.

Wish I'd been there! Got it again 2nd time in 3 weeks.

I attended the Remembrance Service at the British Embassy in Bangkok this year, due to my exile here! A well constructed service with high up representatives of many countries present. You can't beat the Chiang Mai service though for being in touch with ordinary men and women who served or have been affected by war. One day I look forward to re turning on 11th of the 11th.

Well, its been called 'Little Beirut', but I was sure that was because there was a kebab salesman there a few years ago.......

In the past, the Royal Thai army have fulfilled this role, in one of their more useful functions. They used to round up the mutts , take them out of town and let the recruits have target practice on them. If you think CM has a dog problem now, you should've seen it 20 years ago.

Good to be reminded of it Sally! Lest we forget. A major date of change in world history: Britain, Australia, Canada and NZ stood together in solidarity. The French, of course caved in pretty quickly and the Americans finally turned up, when was it? 1942? Better late than never, I suppose!

Can anyone verify this? I was planning on popping over the border on a VIP pass in Jan to get a couple of bottles of Single Malt and have a flutter in the casino. Without the Scotch I wouldn't bother.

Some interesting ideas! i always enjoyed Christmas Day at The Olde Bell, Chicog -certainly not gourmet fare but non nonsense grub and a fun atmosphere - which is kind of what we're looking to replicate!

Shepsel: One of the reasons I'm looking for a nice place to go is that last year i cooked Christmas Dinner for my Thai family in Hang Dong. It cost a small fortune. 1,000 B (20 Quid, 30 bucks) is hardly a rip off for a Western Christmas Dinner - as I was in the business, I can assure you that costs of ingredients have skyrocketed in the past few years, as have labour costs.

I've been to the Hideaway and they do some good quality food. I can't imagine the atmosphere on Christmas Day is up to much though.

Yummy Pizza is a definite consideration - good food, nice atmosphere and Tony really makes the effort.

Thanks for the warning on dogs, UG. That counts The Garden out.

I would plump for Archers, but Beer wants something a bit more up market (Just as well if they've sold out already!) I'll certainly be popping in to enjoy a pint or twain with Mark over the festivities thoughใ

Any news from the hotels yet?

Mrs Millwall_fan and I will be looking for Christmas Dinner in Chiang Mai this year. Does anyone have any details about what the pubs are doing? O'Malley's? Archers. The Pub, etc

All this guy was doing was acting as a tour guide. Its hardly murder! So he stole the job of some useless cretin who couldn't speak English properly and certainly no other language, who would take tourists only to places where he'd get commissions on top of his guide fee - in short do as little work as possible for the maximum money. Time to de-classify tour guiding as an occupation reserved for Thais and acknowledge that it would be better for Thai tourism to employ guides who understood the preferences - and languages - of their customers.

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Whether or not you believe that this boy did it is down to pure speculation. Yes the RTP aren't to be trusted in most cases but condemning a man based on conjecture is no better than what we complain about with the police here anyway.

I'm not sure if I believe the lads from Myanmar are guilty or not. I just think that this investigation has been so badly run that nobody will ever agree with anything that is reported.

I, for one am not suggesting the boy did it or did not do it. What most people want is for him to be independently and transparently DNA tested - to 'eliminate him from enquiries' as we Brits like to say, and given the chain of circumstances, this can only be done by the UK police. That the police spokesman felt the need to stress that there was no need for the UK police to become involved, only tends to suggest that there most certainly is a need.