CMHomeboy78

18 hours ago, AnnaBanana said:

How would most Indians react if a white Englisnman were to be described as a"Punjabi" or a "Bengali" under similar circumstances?

Exactly.

The racial idiocy so prevalent in the West would be seen as ridiculous anywhere else.

It would be comical if the consequences hadn't proved to be so catastrophic.

The country I grew up in has changed out of recognition as a result of it.

There is nothing to go back to.

4 hours ago, trax33 said:

How's Ulysses G. doing nowadays, still alive and kicking?

The last I heard was that he had returned to San Francisco.

He was a prolific poster here on the CM Forum and ran one of the best used bookshops in town for many years.

On 5/16/2025 at 9:12 AM, MisterTee said:

Israeli misbehaviour is nothing new in Thailand.

As long ago as the early 1980s the biggest mountain trekking company in Chiang Mai banned them after getting so many complaints from their guides about obnoxious Israeli behaviour.

 

That's true.

The trekking company also ran a popular guesthouse in Fa-hahm back in the day.

Their guides - mostly Karien and Lisu - flat out refused to accept Israelis after having so many bad experiences with them.

To say it was anti-semitism would be ludicrous.

It's not race, religion, or politics, it's the way they act.

The whole place has been on life-support for a long time. Just a ghost of what it once was.

My only reason for going there was Good Speed Computer, my go-to shop for repairs and low prices on new equipment.

They are now located on the same street [Manee Nopparat] just a little further along at #332 3.

Good people to deal with - honest, efficient, and courteous.

23 hours ago, pattayadgw said:

When is the govt going to get serious about this air quality issue?  Its seems to be getting more serious every year and besides effecting everyone living here its certainly got to be giving the country a bad name for tourism.

If tourist arrivals were to fall drastically then you would see more - and hopefully more effective - action to stop this ongoing insanity.

In all probability more money is spent to promote tourism in Northern Thailand than is spent in firefighting in the mountains and in strictly enforcing the seasonal laws against agricultural burning.

A moratorium on promoting holiday travel to what is on some days the most polluted city in the world would be a good first step.

According to my son-in-law who lives there, Singapore has had success recently in greatly reducing smoke haze caused by agribusinesses in the region. They impose sanctions that have had the desired effect.

Gov't inaction here in Chiang Mai isn't surprising, but it is really discouraging to see the widespread apathy - especially among young people - when faced with this public health crisis.

On 3/29/2025 at 9:15 AM, VillageIdiot said:

Boston Inn?

Just a guess.

It was famous/infamous back in the day.

The only thing it lacked was Charles Sobhraj.

Spot on... Charles Sobhraj didn't operate out of the Boston Inn.

He had a flat in Kanit House and his partner-in-crime, Ajay Chowdury was based at the Malaysia Hotel from where they met many of their victims.

Jailed in India after his luck ran out in 1976, his story has been written about and filmed many times as an ongoing criminal adventure.

He's still alive as far as I know. Recent information about him is hard to find. Maybe some members could give an update.

Those who were here in the late 1970's will remember the large numbers of Thais - and many foreigners - who were con-artists of one type or another. Maybe not homicidal nutcases like Sobhraj, but just as clever at parting you from your money, your valuables, or your passport.

It was all part of the journey and there was nothing "sentimental" about it.

When I first came here in 1978 I knew what to expect because I had done the Hippie Trail two years earlier with a friend, riding two-up on his BMW 650, so I had already graduated cum laude.

6 hours ago, ronster said:

Only a 4000 bht fine 😳

What is on the table is usually a lot less than what passes under it... TIT.

23 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Ah yes; who was it who put the C++t in Scunthorpe ?

Probably the same town planner who named this one.

16 hours ago, BonnieandClyde said:

That's true.

Some years back there was a group of farangs in Chiang Mai who would meet up as an informal group to sing and strum guitars in restaurants that welcomed them.

They faced increasing harassment from self-righteous prigs - many on the CM forums - who seemed to take pleasure in tormenting them with threats of grassing them to Immigration.

 

Yes, I remember that tempest-in-a-teapot.

The informal leader was a prominent poster here on ThaiVisa - as it was called then.

There was the predictable exchange of bad-tempered posts on a thread that lasted several weeks and died a slow death.

If I recall correctly, the principals involved went on to form a fencing club here in CM.

Nothing surprises you after a while. TIT.

2 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   You mean that he was working illegally without a wok visa ?

I suppose he was working without a work visa.

Wok Visa's came in much, much later.

I hope yours is up to date.

56 minutes ago, novacova said:

Rude law breaking foreigners from all over the world here, so why pick out a single race?

Maybe because egregious misbehaviour by Israeli tourists is so frequent and has been going on for so many years.

In the early 1980s i was good friends with a Dutch guy who was an informal tour guide working with the biggest mountain trekking company in CM.

Incidents with Israelis became so regular that the Thai owners bannsd them outright by nationality.

It would be ludicrous to attribute that action to anything but what it actually was - a considered decision based on their customers behaviour rather than prejudice of any kind.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Duke's IME is terrible food.

 

I had a fish burger there once that was still frozen in the middle. I didn't say anything, just never went back.

 

Auf Der Au and Butter is Better both have good food.

Funny you'd mention fish at The Duke's Iron Bridge.

I had the fish and chips a few nights ago with some friends and relatives who ordered a variety of other things.

The fries were just OK - I've had better there in the past.

The fish [snapper] was exceptionally good and done to a turn.

There have been many positive and negative reviews of The Duke's over the years but the place has been going strong since the early '80s and has always attracted a diverse clientele.

The consensus seems to be that it is the best - or one of the best - restaurants for American steakhouse food in Chiang Mai.

To each his own.

4 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

In Chiang Mai if you crave Western bread, ie French Baguette, you are blessed with "L'Opera". They have bread better than in France.

 

If you crave Burgers, "Rock Me Burger" has burgers better than America.

 

Mix Restaurant next to One Nimman has awesome steak, but it costs of course.

 

For quality Chinese Tolou delivers like in the West.

 

At San Kamphaeng walking street on Saturday's you'll get a quality Chicken Doner from a Halal Muslim guy for 60 Baht. Churros too.

 

Why Ribs make superb ribs in Chiang Mai.

 

Rimping Chiang Mai sells good fresh Bagels if you get there on time.

 

Mega Bangna in Bangkok has Shakeshack.

 

Basically you can get anything in Thailand. Just a question of price.

 

 

 

All good places I'm sure, and worth recommending.

Even limiting yourself to CM nowadays you are spoiled for choice.

Quite a difference from what the oldtimers remember.

In Chiang Mai it's The Duke's [Iron Bridge] for me.

Low-balling it, Mickey D's Double Quarter Pounder with cheese is a pretty good burger when the craving strikes unexpectedly.

15 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

Precisely!  If they want more tourism and to make travel hassle free - introducing more visas would not be a good idea. If they demanded that visa success depended on being a certain calibre of person - many won't be able to travel and others will just fake the documents.

 

Brawls go on in Thailand regularly - often between Thai's - university and technical college rivalry can be deadly - we just don't see it.

 

If Thailand wants more tourists with easy access - increased bad behaviour goes with the territory.

There is no  "...university and technical college rivalry...", at least none that results in armed clashes. It is certainly not a  "town vs. gown"  or class conflict situation.

For many years now there have been periodic fights between students from rival technical colleges in Bangkok involving deadly weapons resulting in deaths and serious injuries.

To say  "...we just don't see it."  is inaccurate as well. The incidents are widely reported on in the local media.

36 minutes ago, edwardflory said:

Color me stupid but I can NOT understand why any person would come to a FOREIGN country and make a total arse of themselves.

 

MAYBE  that they can not hold their liquor? Maybe they hate people in general?

 

I've traveled 14 countries, lived in 3 of the 14, now in TH 12 years and have never been in "trouble" or a fight in any country - so far!!!!

You're the norm, Ed.

The majority of us stay out of trouble - for the most part.

It's the slimebag minority that gives us all a bad name and spoils the scene.

My younger daughter, working in the US, comes home every year and has all her dental work done here.

Yesterday she went to the CMU Dental Clinic in Meechok Plaza for cleaning and X-rays.

First time there and all went well she told me.

Check it out... google: DentCMU@Meechok.

It might be what you are looking for.

I'm a graphic artist.

I paint what I see... sometimes in my head, sometimes out of it.

1 hour ago, Dante99 said:

If you want to learn Thai, study with a Thai teacher.  

That's the best advice anybody could give or get on this subject.

10 hours ago, lom said:

Indeed it did, in home showing videos they have stopped using the name Master bedroom and started calling it the Primary suite. Can't say Master anymore.

Nowadays when having two or more cpu's on a computer board it is said that they work in tandem but I think the original old description was much better - we said they worked in Master-Slave mode but that is not kosher anymore..

Thanks for the confirmation.

Spineless idiocy like that makes it obvious just how much the country has changed for the worse.

"You can't go home again"... the old chestnut has never been so true as it is now.

Bending over backwards to avoid racial offence often descends into farce. Even the classic Hawley & Hazel toothpaste "Darkie" was renamed "Darlie" after Colgate-Palmolive acquired 50% of the Hong Kong based company in 1985.

CEO Ruben Mark changed the name in 1989 insuring that no trsvellers in East Asia would be offended by a graphic depiction of a blackface minstrel and a name that was never used with hateful intent.

28 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

The word master is used in the UK to describe a boy!

From The Oxford English Dictionary; a title prefixed to the name of a boy.

It was the same in the USA when I was growing up in the 1950s and '60s.

I haven't heard it used for a long time... maybe it was offending some racial or ethnic group.

8

FM radio stations in Chiang Mai are an unreliable source for BBC - or any other English language news.

Go direct to the online sites of the news you want.