ThaiWx

We recently went through the same thing when we built our deck. Looked around for wood that was dense enough to resist termites and found out it was way too expensive. We also discovered there's an artificial wood (Conwood?) that looks real, bug proof and weather resistant. Cheaper too. Comes in standard plank/board sizes and cuts and drills the same as real wood. We bought ours from a shop on the Chiang Mai-Hong Dong highway about 3/4 the way down to Chom Thong on the left (southbound) side. We painted a couple coats of stain/sealer on it and it beads up the rain and no termites so we're happy with it. Sorry I don't know the name of the shop but imagine other wood suppliers around may have this stuff.

Night time action? Good luck. I just had a friend in town for 8 days and tried to point him in the direction of some night-time action. Most of the girls at the Loi Kroh bars are about 35 years old and not very attractive. Many of the clubs are closed. Walking back from Thapae to the Lai Thai where my friend stayed, you have to walk past no less than 20 fairly aggressive khatoeys standing on the street. But I have to say that some of the girls at the Karaoke Bars looked great! I took my friend to one on Chang Klan and there were some farangs in a tuk tuk out front trying their luck but they were refused. The establishment did not seem farang friendly.

Night time action isn't what it once was here.

Maybe stay at some cheap guest house here and use all the money you save to fly down to NEP, Soi Cowboy, Pat Pong, etc. at night.

Can't see Doi Suthep this morning from nearby Airport Plaza because of the fog.

I'd say you're socked in this AM.

Sliced thin and fried in a pan makes it slightly better than O.K. IMO.

hmmmm, guess I should close my hong nahm window when I'm singing in the shower. Didn't realize it carried so far.

I'm thankful I no longer have to take the traditional Thai style showers (scoop and pour) when the weather gets like this.

Maybe a little out of the way for you but this shop does good work. They painted my ATV and it turned out nice. The shop is located along side the highway that goes between Big C Hong Dong and the Ping river down at the Ping end on the west bound side.

Would you mind telling me where about do you live, its not 18c in Nimman but it's cool enough.

17.5 C and a very light fog.

17.5C at 07:00 here near airport plaza. Tip of my nose and fingers are cold!

Got up this morning to see it was 64 (18 C) degrees. Probably still go sown a little more too before the sun gets up. Kind of early for winter weather.

I've lived here over 10 years and been visiting over 25 and I disagree.

Okay, but I have lived here full time for 26 years.

What exactly do you disagree with?

If you believe that the farang should pay even if they are not at fault because they have more money than yes, you have been here too long and I don't need to agree or disagree as your statement speaks for itself.

Sansai Sam, I did witness an accident where a colleage of mine (farang) was making a right turn, with turn signals on, and a Thai man on a motorcycle from behind decided to pass on the right at the same time. Well the farang made the turn and they collided. A policeman was in the same line of traffic a few cars back and saw it all. He wrote up the accident report and charged the farang a 1000 Baht ticket. Being here too long just gives you more opportunities to see more.

" Imagine what the driver who hits and kills someone in an example like this, will have to live with that split second image, for the rest of their lives. Through absolutely no fault of their own. "

Scary indeed and don't want to be that person. Bad enough to live with that but chances are because you are a farang and the deceased is a Thai, good luck with the law and who's right and wrong. Don't mean to sound biased or prejudice but have seen similar instances not in favor of the farang.

I'll stick my neck out And predict that the season of rain is over and old man winter is next door.

It sure feels that way up here today. Fresh cool breeze blowing from the NE since before sunup.

Allot of the weather sites have the wee man in his red arctic coat as of tomorrow.

Thanks to the high pressure coming down from China. Actually had a shiver from the breeze this morning.

The stories my tgf tells me about snakes in her bedroom when she was a kid, leave me cold.

Her parent's (wooden) house is in Lampang and is plagued with snakes - their 2 dogs kill some of them, but recently both were sprayed in the eye by a Cobra.

A friend of mine hardly ever sees a snake in his garden, yet another friend who only lives a few km away from him has them as regular visitors.

When I was in Hong Kong the advice was not to have ponds in the garden. Not sure if this was an urban myth or whether it meant water = frogs etc = snakes?!?

It's true, we have a garden pond and often find a snake inside it looking around. But, during this rainy season I have been keeping ours cleaned out and keeping it drained. Bottom line, the frogs are still around as well as a snake here and there so a pond may attrack them but if they are around they'll be here with or without a pond.

WHAT?

Yah mean I'm leaving one rainy location for another? Our rainy season has finally started in earnest here in BC, Canada. That is why I generally leave around November, expecting to see some sunshine when I get to Chiang Mai. How's a guy going to ride around on his motorbike in shorts and sandals when you guys tell me it's raining?

Oh well. It can't last too long. I'll just have to give my girls an extra tip to hire a tuk tuk when they come to see me.

Better bring extra tip money 'cause it's still putting it down today!

"Can they climb stairs?"

You betcha!

It looks like it's from the Sphinx catepillar family and may turn out to look something like this.

WHAT?

Yah mean I'm leaving one rainy location for another? Our rainy season has finally started in earnest here in BC, Canada. That is why I generally leave around November, expecting to see some sunshine when I get to Chiang Mai. How's a guy going to ride around on his motorbike in shorts and sandals when you guys tell me it's raining?

Oh well. It can't last too long. I'll just have to give my girls an extra tip to hire a tuk tuk when they come to see me.

You'll probably stay drier over here from what I've been seeing brewing over there. Quite a bit of tornatic activity in the s/e states and moisture spewing all over inc Canada.

^^ 1/8" is about 3mm.

Scattered thundershowers up here in Pai now too.

d'oh! Good catch. Should have said we got about .02" (.5mm). Sorry 'bout that.

Looks like the Mae Hong Son area is getting a bit more from that too.

Just finished out here by the airport after a quick .5mm (1/8 inch) sprinkle. Looked and sounded like it was going to do something.

Yeah saw that a little around here this morning. My wife is up at the Golden Triangle area and said it was dense up there this AM.

Besides getting up to date flooding info on this forum, this CM weather site has good radar selections and more information you can monitor as your visit date approaches. http://thaiwx.yolasite.com/

wtk.

re ... Pandas just don't cut it.

are we talking pandas from the zoo here .... or a spelling mistake from you and you meant pandoras ?

dave2 ..... probably sailing close to the wind again : )

just joshin mods !

pandoras, the 'other' zoo?

There's a camera repair shop called Denchai Camera on the north/east side, ouside the moat but like ta22 said it might be less expense to replace it. Maybe worth checking though.

Any flooding downtown yet? Looks like we're getting some good rain at the moment. I haven't been downtown for a while; the only pictures I've seen looked like some localized flash flooding but nothing major.

What's the river doing?

No local flooding WTK we avoided this one. The river at 6AM this morning was only at 2 meters.

Let's hope we stay lucky and keep avoiding them. Looking like activity is picking up around the area.