mistephenso

It is a great news to me to discover that Thai cuisine uses parsley, so far, all I could see, was coriander.

"Thai" parsley is used is many Thai dishes - it is nothing like the parsley you would find in a supermarket in the west though (Google it and you'll see)....

And yes, coriander is used a lot too!

The Win Hotel in the centre of Phayao is the best place to stay now (IMO)...

It's brand new, has air-con and internet connections and is not too expensive. You can get a basic room for 250 baht a night, or a larger room with air-con and internet for ~600/700 baht a night.

The hotel is bang in the centre of Phayao, just down a small Soi opposite the back of the department store. It's a big, bright yellow building, so you 'shouldn't' be able to miss it. The Gateway is a little tired now and there isn't much more choice around Phayao really.

Hope this helps!?

Kao Soi is traditionally a Northern dish - the only place I've had it in Bangkok is at the 'food court' in Central Lad Phrao. This was a while ago though?!

I now live in the north, and have a VERY nice Kao Soi shop just around the corner from my house. It's awesome with leg pork...!

In answer to the OP's question about the Thai on the menu; it simply says 'Kao Soi moo-bplah-gai'. That just translates to Kao Soi with pork, fish or chicken...

Good luck on your Kao Soi hunt

My GF calls me Khun Mark and I call her Khun Jim

You call her Jim? I hope you get the tone correct on that word

(Check into the Thai language forum if you need some clarification...)

Simon

LOL - I was thinking exactly the same thing!

That could be a bit embarrassing for your GF out in public with Thai friends if you're not careful...

Hi Ginoooo,

There's a good air-con shop on the main (Pahonyotin) road that runs through Phayao. It's between the Phayao Ram hospital and Pradtuu Chai junction on the same side as the Esso garage. Family run place and cheaper than the other shops in the Phayao area....

We've just bought 2 units for our new house here and will be purchasing another 2 very soon. Ended up going for Mitsubishi inverters, which seem very good so far and are extremely quiet! I'm not sure what you mean when you say an 'outside' air-con unit, but these come with the wall mounted unit inside with an external 'compressor' (if that's what you call it?) that sits outside.

You won't find a decent bed in Phayao though. I'm all for a comfy mattress and we picked a decent one up in Chiang Mai in the end - I'm sure you'd find something in Chiang Rai, just make sure you check about delivery prices unless you are transporting it yourself?!

Cheers,

Mike

Only just seen this post, but I'm not far from Mae Chai (I think) - I assume you mean แม่ใจ (or 'mother heart' literally translated, which I would pronounce 'maair jai')...!?

Enough of the language lessons before you get bored though; I live in Phayao, about 20km south from there. I'm not that familiar with Mae Chai to be honest, but I know Phayao pretty well. Were you after anything in particular or just random farangs like me to hook up with for beers...?

Let me know if you do need help with anything and I will if I can!

I guess I'll try and bring this back on topic....

@cmjantje:

I would assume you are heading down 'Super Highway' #1 on your trip down to Pattaya? If so, I can recommend stopping in Kamphaeng Phet to break the trip nicely in two. The in-laws live there, so I know the town fairly well. The best hotel to stay at would be the Chakungrao Riverview Hotel (http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/kamphaengphet/chakungrao_riverview_hotel.html) - it's bang in the centre of town and, despite what the first 'review' says on Agoda, the river is about 250 metres opposite the front doors of the hotel...!?

Nakhon Sawan would be my next 'best' suggestion for a stopover, but it's about another hour's drive further on. Phitsanulok is a bit off the main highway (although admittedly not that far), but I would go for either Kamphaeng Phet or Nakhon Sawan so you don't need to go too far off track. I'm afraid my knowledge of Nakhon Sawan is very limited, but it's a fair size so you shouldn't have problems finding a decent hotel if you did decide to stop there?

I've driven the route a couple fo times, but personally prefer Cha-Am and Hua-Hin side myself. Maybe a suggestion for your next holiday!?

Thanks kandahar and VF - yes, I'll be floating around on here in the future...

Will take a look at those links in a bit. Farangs are definitely a minority in Phayao, although it is good for getting stuck into the Thai 'way of life' I guess!?

Although I've been lurking in the background on ThaiVisa for a while now, I thought I'd pop my posting 'cherry' with an easy reply here...

I'm about 90kms south of Chiang Rai in Phayao - that qualifies me as 'Further Out'.