masuk

It is not about damaged property . It is also not about religion. It is about respects of Thai culture. Do you know what Thais consider of the feet ?

As I said, irrational, culture, superstition, religion, ..... "consider ot the feet" ? yea, can make good money performing foot massage. It is up to the tourism people to inform visitors of any special cultural fetishes.

Boggles the mind sometimes. Feet are dirty but they will prepare a meal on the floor...

...or stand their kids on one of the dining tables at TOPS restaurant in Chiang Mai.

Heard Australia had elected officials. those folks make the rules as the people want them. i notice some cig smokers in restaurants/bars here in CM. in many places with democratic rule, 'no smoking' in rests/bars, coz the general pop wants food/beer without the awful smoke and bad odor. in authoritarian societies, like china and here, the general pop has no say in rules made by the officials so the laws really only benefit the lawmakers, generally to enhance own bank account.

education helps too as folks learn the merit/demerit of permitted behaviour, eg, the LED signboards on every big corner. how about some vehicle emission control laws here , wouldn't that be nice?

Some time back, I saw an nice looking air con German restaurant, not far from Thae Pae Gate.

Walked, in about turned and walked straight out. Three guys in there smoking cigars!!

I'll throw out an idea for NancyL to comment on and anyone else who fancies, I think there will be a few takers

Another line, which is a 'priority' line for people over 70 (can be 75) or those obviously disabled.

Whoever is in that line before 7-30 am gets priority for a retirement extension ticket that day, regardless of what time the queuing started.

Or something like that I think you get the gist.

Able bodied people under 70 can come back another time

OK start throwing eggs.

YES! All of us oldies to be issued with over-ripe eggs for throwing at the young'uns under 70! Way to go!

To be a tad serious, I admired the Chinese Immigration for their 'over 65' queues. When you arrive at the Macau/China border, there are 41 queues, each with about 100+ people. Go to the 'oldies' queue and a policeman immediately checks your age on your passport, and off you go. Also their great discounts to exhibits, parks, beaches, for over-65s, or totally free entry to many places, cheaper bus fares. Just show your passport and you get waved in! I like it!!!

none of this 'you're white so you pay treble'!

I had been told there was an 'over 65' queue at Thai airports, but have yet to see one. Is there one at CNX?

Australia has a migration system, and many thousands enter the country legally each year, from around 116 countries.

If people want to jump the queue and enter illegally, then they have a problem.

Don't tell anyone that people don't know what's happening once they enter Australian waters. They come equipped with satellite phones, numbers to call, and it's all well-organised, to the point where boat people 2 years back were being forced onto wrecks of boats at gunpoint by the police of Australia's northern neighbours.

I thought the Chiang Mai head of Immigration did a good job. We had been warned that he could not speak English, and I only wish my Thai was as good as his English.

This country has got a long way to go before its English is up to the standard of former British and US colonies, and it's a pity we can't be of more assistance, but they don't want volunteers, so there's nothing we can do.

So many of us 'oldies' would be more than happy to help, as they do in other ASEAN countries, but this is what the Thais want, like it or not.

You can pick the mangos when they are still green, before birds attack them.

Wrap them in a newspaper and leave in a box till they go yellow.

Surprised you have mangos now....mine haven't got even the flower yet.

Thanks for that. I've got 3 or 4 that look big enough to pick now but are still green. There's another half a dozen that are sort of plum-sized at the moment so way too small to pick. I'll harvest the larger ones and ripen them as you suggest.

Here in Pattaya it seems to be a bumper mango season. People down the road with mature trees have got literally hundreds of them coming.

The bags (Usually newspaper made into an envelope) are placed around mangoes while they're still green, loosely tied off at the top, and the fruit fly can't leave their little eggs to hatch into maggots to grow inside. It also discourages birds from have a few pecks, and don't forget the squirrels. Leave a few unwrapped for the wild-life, not forgetting the red ants.

Hi. A bit of topic,

but could you please try to make topic titles that most people can understand ?

Who knows what CNX means ? I suppose very very few people...

Looking on Google Thailand, CNX could be Chiang Mai Airport,

but I fail to see the relation with Certificate of Residence ??

just to make your day, BKK stands for Bangkok.

Everyone here knows what CNX means. (Chiang Mai!)

You could try diesel.

Make sure you use chain saw bar lube when you're cutting next, as it is designed to stay on the chain, and not fly off.

aahh! Reminds me of having to thin a tree or two on the farm, and cut and split 8 tonnes before it dries out and hardens.

The joys of cutting Aussie hardwood to keep the slow combustion stove going through the winter.

I've been using Glacier water for the past 2 years, and continued doing so as it's delivered to the condo, and for a few extra baht, staff deliver it to the rooms.

Recently I've notice that some of the bottles are growing a green algae, and I just wonder how efficient their water purification system is, as well as Quality Control.

If water is filtered and ozone treated, there shouldn't be anything visible or invisible in it.

Anyone else having problems?

Yup, this one sets the windows rattling, and it's Thai air and BIG!

I wish for the future that there are more trees are planted and all those ugly billboards disappear.

Nice wish but expect the opposite.

In some states in Australia, bill boards are not permitted, and even large signs in the street are not welcome.

Genius

This has got to be an early April 1st joke.

so the Governor is openly suggesting m/cyclists should break the law??

I agree with this.

Whilst the behaviour of the Chinese tourists in the video is far from pleasant, I'm sure someone could just as easily make similar videos on the behaviour of British, German, American, Russian, Israeli, Swedish, Dutch or any other nationalities which visit Thailand in large numbers.

Well then you'd be wrong. I've never witnessed hordes of Europeans/Americans push their way through roped off barricades at airports the way the Chinese do. And can you imagine any of the aforementioned flinging hot water at a steward? Or defecating in the corner of a temple?

I might also point out that it is only in those areas where there are a large farang contingent that the Thais have learned some manners and to not queue jump and also to hold doors open for others. Enough of this PC BS. The Chinese are boorish peasants who should stay home until they're up to speed with how to conduct themselves in a civilised manner. Much like the Russians.

The English peasants weren't behaving too well in Paris the other day, shouting racist taunts and pushing some unfortunate black guy off a train on the metro.

To quote "Yes Prime Minister", they were obviously overwrought - as a newt!

Thailand will become a nanny state with all these new rules!!

Can't agree with this odd comment! The rules are there. It just needs a professional police force to uphold the law and not treat it as a money-making exercise.

If a Jumbo jet crashed each week killing 500 people, as the road fatalities here do, there'd be an international outcry.

But the deaths go unreported, week after week; m/cyclists won't wear helmets, people drink like fish after dark and aren't breath tested.

Because there are efforts to bring in some law and order, and follow western countries and have highway patrols, speed cameras, red light cameras and an efficient police force, is far from being a nanny state.

Farang get stung if they are honest-rich Thais pay nothing.

Thailand has always had double standards-should be at at least 30000 baht .for all nationalities.

Ron

What if a returning expat can show that goods were tax-paid in their home country? i.e. NOT purchased duty Free.

There is a double tax agreement between some countries.

Similar problem here as the OP: religious logic.

My wife is working in a field that is heavily based on research and knowledge, but she still wants a little buddha in the car, some monk drawings on the hood of the car and the engine, little Chinese statues in the room, and asking some monk for fortune and luck.

It does not bother me as it is all small and gives her peace of mind, but i cannot follow her logic for doing it. When we talk about it she sounds likes she does not really believe it, as in she cannot defend it with logic or sound reasoning and agrees it is silly, but she keeps on doing these things.

I noticed the same thing in the Philippines.

Highly educated, different religion, but statues and paintings and street parades and necklace charms.

Its more bad manners and bad behaviour that in general is on the low end of the scale.

I find them disgusting in personal habits but nothing like the tattooed roid freaks walking around with

no shirts on intimidating people.

90,000 and say 10 fools, I can cop that.

Take a look around Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok during the holidays and you'll see

some of the lowest toe rags on earth with a few drinks in them doing much worse.

Maybe charging for a visa instead of freebies might filter things a bit.

It certainly costs the rest of us time and money to enter China.

Thanks Nancy. The video is well-made and is a good addition to the video library.

I've sent the video on CM to many friends overseas.

Try Boots. I once got a mask with a carbon filter. Keeps out dust and some chemical pollutants, hopefully diesel particulates which are carcinogenic.

Seem to recall one near Hua Hin by some farang / thai consortium.

There are people manufacturing cheese in Chiang Mai.

I buy my yoghurt cultures from Australia and I know they send cheese cultures to Thailand for cheese manufacturing.

The price of good cheese varies a lot from store to store. In Chiang Mai, Makro has a good cheese selection and would be the cheapest I've seen.

The only fixed parameters of your dilemma is your light-rail travel which will take a good hour not taking into account how long you might have to wait for the next airport link train.

As for the rest .... airline punctuality, immigration and baggage claim - time for you to get out your crystal ball.....

Immigration could be slow: depends a lot on who is in front. Then you have to wait while baggage is loaded onto the carousel and this could take 20 minutes or more. Customs is usually speedy. Then transport to the station, purchasing a train ticket, probably no sleepers at that late stage of things.. I'd allow a good 2 hours as you'd be cutting things too fine..

If I were you. I'd plan on an overnight stay in BKK and take a day trip up to Chiang Mai on the morning train.

The city's infrastructure will need to be addressed before Chiang Mai grows much further, regardless of who is doing it... There are times when traffic around the moat is pretty much at the saturation point...

How very true! Try coming into the city for dinner out at around 6pm.

Some one needs to explain to the Regional or National Government, the magic words T.O.W.N. P.L.A.N.N.E.R.

We have in Chiang Mai the nation's second largest city, possibly the most interesting, not a park in sight, footpaths breaking up, and these almost totally blocked with motor bikes in some areas, as there is no provision for parking. As far as people are concerned, there are only two controlled zebra crossings in the old city that I can think of, a few hundred metres from Thae Pae Gate. There are a few uncontrolled crossings such as trying to gain access to MAYA where you stand a good chance of being knocked over by those running the red lights.

Condominiums/apartment blocks are coming up like hairs on a dog's back all around the city. I can count six under construction within 500 metres of my condo, and one about to start outside my window. East of Nimman seems to be one big building site.

This means a lot more vehicles on the road, possibly even more pedestrians, certainly a few thousand more motor bikes. The expat population has doubled in the past two or three years according to the Immigration Dept. I doubt very much there are census figures showing Thai population increases.

While the focus appears to be on cleaning up corruption, beaches and crime in southern provinces, why do I get the feeling that we're the Cinderella Province?

Satellite cities with good zoning, shopping centres, restaurants, mini-markets, adequate transport, (NOT tuk-tuks and Song Teaws!) good planning, pools and parks would encourage a population shift out of the city centre. Increased business opportunities will keep people employed there and no need for commuting.

There are so many possibilities while there is vacant land on the outskirts of the city, yet everything seems to just bumble along.

Part of an article from last year and background of the why. Quite detailed and some rather scathing comments from the community.

"So Chinese tourists tend to have a degree of self-centeredness and a lack of awareness for their surroundings and for the way they blend in with the people around them. I honestly feel bad for them because I know they just want to go on holiday to a foreign country and enjoy themselves. They are mostly completely unaware of how their behavior in public is seen as rude, inconsiderate, or disrespectful by others."

http://siamandbeyond.com/survey-says-chinese-tourists-wearing-welcome-chiang-mai/

Last year I had my first holiday (and my last) on Hainan Island in China. Lovely beaches, and normally would be totally invaded by Russians, but not this time.

Prices in restaurants were astronomical, especially sea food and an ice cream was over $10.00.

However, it was the people and their customs which amazed me; all forms of transport seems to be fitted with the loudest air horns I've heard, on a par with the BKK tour buses which cruise around Chiang Mai. The horns are used to blast a way through traffic coming from any direction.

The normal way of disposing of rubbish was to drop it wherever you were; Under the table, on footpaths, on the street.

The yelling got to me the most: no one talked. they just shouted - across the table, across the room.

Tunnel vision seems to be a genetic thing, as people would just walk into you, with or with a mobile phone.

I'm more than happy to have the relative peace of Chiang Mai, if only someone would tell me how to shut those dogs up outside!!