ChiangMai101

If you are leaving the country every week you want to be close to the airport which makes the LIST area very convenient. The traffic and aircraft noise is really not that bad. Rent a car for a while and drive around - there are many moobaans around that area that would make an ideal location. Just a matter of deciding on a budget and finding something to your liking in your price range. Two months rent deposit and one month rent upfront is a common requirement. I don't agree with a blanket statement that renting directly from an owner is better than going through an agent. There are good and bad in both.

Bought a Brother machine at the Pinn shop about 6 months ago. It's a great machine. In my opinion very comparable to Elvira. Elna, Janome and Bernina are very good machines but not good value for money in Thailand. They are very overpriced here.

Still being drenched here in San Pak Whan. The kitchen is flooded and the gutters look like collapsing. Won't have to water the garden for about a week. Is this unseasonal? Perhaps the rainy season is finishing later...

There has been heavy rain for quite some time now south of town. I have plans to go into the city later this morning and was wondering what the roads are like. Is it still raining very hard over there?

Quality art and craft supplies.

Sewing and needlework supplies.

Books.

Educational toys, puzzles and board games.

Magazines.

Merrels can be found in the sporting goods sections of some dept stores. They are very comfortable shoes but quite expensive. Ecco brand shoes are very good for walking too.

Which ones ? Thx

Sorry can't give you Bangkok specific info but here in CNX they are available at Central, Robinsons and Sportsworld stores. Pretty sure you'll find some at your nearest Sportsworld.

If you are interested in Ecco seems there is a factory outlet http://bangkok.angloinfo.com/business-directory/listing/6246/ecco-shoe-factory.html

Merrels can be found in the sporting goods sections of some dept stores. They are very comfortable shoes but quite expensive. Ecco brand shoes are very good for walking too.

If you are going to be here in the rainy season, a good quality lightweight full length raincoat would be good in my opinion. The raincoats/ponchos I have seen here are complete rubbish and don't last.

Brown rice anyone?

I always say to visitors when they mention "let's hop down to the islands for a quick break'' that you need a full day to get there and a full day to get back. That includes Phuket. Depending on where you are staying in Phuket you would need to leave in plenty of time to get to the airport (due to the bad traffic) check in to your flight at least 1.5 hours in advance, wait around in a boring non-descript airport, endure the hour and a bit of flying, get your luggage, organise transport, make your way to your hotel, dig out our passport again, fill out more forms, drag yourself to your room, find your way around the hotel, find a 711 to stock up on water and cool drinks for the fridge, find your bearings around a new town all over again... Ho hum. Unfortunately, that's what travelling entails. In this day and age where we want and expect everything to come easily and happen instantly in a superfast fashion, we are bound to feel a bit worn out and grumpy by the end of it all. Anyway, glad you finally made it to CM. Hope you find what you are looking for.

I had one made at "Pet Mart". It's a large pet supply shop on Canal Road. You'll find it on the left (heading south) between Chanon-Somphot and Night Safari Road. It was ready in about a week and cost about 250 baht. I'm sure other pet supply shops could do the same.

More reasons to have a car: Aircon, the hairstyle factor and of course Songkran.

All those wonderful things for families at Promenada to look forward to - but so far... no Dairy Queen. Too downmarket for the likes of Promenada perhaps? I don't want high end frozen organic yoghurt after a tedious day of shopping.

IMO your transport budget of 48 Baht is way off the mark. Chiang Mai and the neighbouring provinces are very scenic. They demand to be explored. You will surely want to travel around a bit in the beginning. Why come all the way here to spend the whole day in a condo?

I have noticed that the majority of retailers stock mostly light coloured make-up (referred to as base/foundation). Thais go mad for Korean and Japanese brands and of course the Japanese and Korean skin tones seem to be a lot lighter. Perhaps the unfortunate dark skinned girls simply can't get foundation to match their skin tone perfectly. (Pity the poor African women who end up living here.) Just a thought - I could be wrong.

Ban Wangtan is ideal... 10 mins from anywhere! Houses available from ~ 15k per month. A quiet and pleasantly green, leafy mooban. Been renting here 12 months now, like it so much we're building.

Don't believe all negative comments, there's only 2 old soi's with yappy dogs.

Hi kaptainrob. You mentioned you're building. Is it next to the yellow house with the pool?

I did notice a bunch of cool looking bars opposite the JJ markets this afternoon. Can't offer any advice on actual night life. (Sitting here in my pjs on a Saturday night).

Perhaps some useful replies will be forthcoming tomorrow when revellers have returned home.

Anyway, off to bed with a good book . That should say it all really....

have you tried strong sticking plaster? The fabric type. Just an idea....

Beef and potato soup in the pressure cooker. Works well with the tough sinewy stuff. Mai mee wife or gf.

Try Auto Gloss at Nim City Daily : 081-8826769

Jeepers creepers. It sounds like the stuff of nightmares. 'The day the cotton candy things came......'

Yes I can att

There is a huge orchid Nursey on the road to Pai. I can't remember the name but they have a website. They also do tours of other orchid nurseries. Just Google them if you are interested. They may also be able to assist in export/import of the orchids.

They still may have problems bringing the orchids back as they will most likely need to go into quarantine for a while. Just because they are in bottles doesn't mean they will be regarded as disease free.

They will almost certainly not be able to bring them in. It is possible that they could apply for an import permit and go through the AQIS process but the cost would be prohibitive and they would most likely just end up with a bunch of dead orchids at the end of the day.

Yes I can attest to this. I investigated the process a while ago and Australian customs requires one to obtain an import permit prior to importation. Somehow the orchids will need to be certified as disease and pest free. Good luck with that! (IMO this belongs in the too hard basket and won't be worth the angst - they may not flourish in their new Australian environment anyway).

I bought some at Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures. They are situated at 55/3 Ratchapakhinai Road in the old city.

I also scored some knives and shears at Big C with my collection of stickers.

I think Asia Books is a good card to have. For the girls: Oriental Princess Society, Beauty Buffet and Yves Rocher.

Watsons and Boots are a total waste of time. I have a Rimping card but I don't think I am going to receive any of their gift rewards in my lifetime...

Does anybody have experience with a car wash card?

If you do need a certificate of residence, allow at least a week extra. CM Immigration are issuing them but they only do 10 a day and they have to be signed by the Director of Immigration now. There is already a backlog. Perhaps you can get by with the work permit ..... I would give it a go. Please come back and report your experience.