CMHomeboy78

The cops will be playing Whack-A-Mole for years to come with Chinese gangs in condos all over the city.

As a graphic artist my income came from abroad - USA mostly. The immediate effect of the sudden baht devaluation was to effectively double my money. What had been a good life here with my Thai wife and our fwo young daughters became even better, at least from a financial standpoint. For the local khon muang that we lived among, the situation became one where they had much less buying power. Many in my wife's extended family were involved in the building trades in one way or another. All the big construction projects shut down leaving the workers to get whatever small jobs they could in their own neighborhoods. The ways they got by reminded me very much of stories I had heard growing up from my parent's generation of their experiences during the Depression of the 1930's.

Obviously gov't on all levels isn't up to the task of controlling agricultural burning and dealing with forest fires in the hills - many of which are set by foragers to clear the underbrush so they can harvest mushrooms and other forest products. If tourist numbers dropped precipitously that might arouse the authorities into action. In the meantime, more should be done by concerned citizens - especially young people,, but it's not. Until more creative ways of provoking elected officials into doing their jobs are found, nothing will change.

Beautiful indeed, and she looks a lot more Thai than Khmer. Siam occupied and dominated Angkor Wat and most of Northeastern Cambodia from the early 1400s until the French Colonial regime drove them out in the 19th century. Battambang had been the Siamese administrative center of the province. The fact that Pita's grandmother had once lived there - or even if she was born there - doesn't prove Khmer ancestry. Not that it would matter anyway. He made a mistake in making an issue of it. Tempest in a teapot.

So true... and it's not rocket science. A fully competent electrical appliance repairman would be your best bet. Avoid the big flashy places, they'll see you coming before you're even inside the door. I'd add my vote for Befixed. This guy has a well-deserved good reputation among long-term expats here.

If money isn't a big issue with you, then have it custom made. There are plenty of talented woodcarvers who can be found in the Chiang Mai area. Ban Tawai is probably the biggest but there are several other woodcarving and furniture making villages not far from the city. Take a photo of what you want, be clear on your dimensions, and shop around. Good luck.

That's the line of attack taken by Singapore against agricultural burning in Borneo and other nearby areas. They went after the big companies who were behind it with sanctions that proved effective according to my son-in-law who lives there.

I agree with you entirely. This is a situation that I can comment on because I lived it when I first came to Thailand in my early 30's. The country and people have gone through a lot of changes since that time in the late 1970's, but some things have remained largely as they were. The commercial sex scene is one of them. Like so many others, I was like a kid cut loose in a candy store when I first arrived. As a free-lance graphic artist I could live and work almost anywhere and I chose Thailand with alacrity... and not only for the easy sex. My nature is instinctively monogamous so I would select a willing girl and we would set up house together. The tree-lined klongs that still existed on the outskirts of Bangkok provided some really idyllic settings and small traditional houses were renting for about $30. per month. Several of these mee-uh chows had been "on the game" before I met them - either immediately or at some time earlier. What they all seemed to have in common was a fun-loving temperment, ever ready to by tee-oh and have a good time. As I was in the prime of my life and not some pot bellied old plug-ugly, they loved showing me off to friends and family. All great fun for me and probably the high-point of my life as far as pure sensual pleasure and a carefree existence is concerned. The flip side to that was the discovery - usually very early on - that each and every one of them had a mercenary nature, a mean streak, and the total lack of anything like a moral compass. Also, "Breaking up is hard to do" takes on a whole new level of meaning among those girls here in Thailand. I feel lucky to have escaped with my life and limbs intact after some of the violent affrays that resulted from our partings. That's my experience; no doubt others will have more positive personal accounts to relate. I subsequently moved to Chiang Mai and happily became acquainted with a better class of people, married, settled down in my mid 30's and went on to raise two daughters who my wife brought up in a traditional manner while preparing them for careers in the modern world. They have both been very successful, I'm glad to say. All's well that ends well.

Dr. Kittiwan Psychiatric Clinic. 78/2 Samlan Rd., A. Muang, Chiang Mai. This lady is also a staff psychiatrist at Suan Prung Hospital. She was highly recommended by the several people I know who have visited her for counseling and therapy. Part of her practice is marriage counseling for Thai/farang couples so language shouldn't be a problem. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Evan Williams... Used to be dirt cheap in the NY area years ago. I've only seen it once in Thailand. Mai pen rai if you can find it.

Spot on. I voted with my feet a long time ago. The USA that I grew up in no longer exists. There is nothing to go back to.

I prefer to dress comfortably at home. For me, that means seu-uh muang, and shorts. Out and about I try to look presentable in casual clothes that often reflect my preppy youth in the turbulent 1960s. Americans of a certain age might remember their parents telling them about the birth of the varsity preppy style in the Roaring '20s. Raccoon coats hip flasks, and sneaky nightime visits across-the-tracks to the Darktown Strutter's Ball... "I'll be down to get you in a taxi, honey..." My genrration had their bleeding madras button-down collar shirts, chinos, and dirty white tennis sneakers. All personified by The Kingston Trio among others. That look, among the more affluent types and those of us who aspired to be so, held sway until the British Invasion of the early '60s. A lot of things changed after that, not just fashion. Fashion became anything you wanted it to be. Especially among my family and friends. Thanks for the memories.⁹⁰

Make that "chump" instead of "champ".

The closest thing i can remember is the "Tax Clearance Certificate". It had to be shown upon departure from Thailand or you weren't allowed to leave. During Anand Panyarachun's administration (1991-2) it was abolished. Getting it at a gov't revenue office was a formality that was usually quick unless there were a lot of people ahead of you. Nevertheless, we were glad to see it go. Anand, Thailand's best PM by a country mile.

For sure. My wife remembers the present Nawarat Bridge as a small child in the early '60s. So far, I've been unable to find the exact date it was built. 1848 is a year I have in my head for the building of the Iron Bridge which was located where the Nawarat Bridge now stands and is the one in Condominas' photos. However, I'm far from sure that's correct. It came from one historical source and I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere else. As always, getting accurate information about local history can be a challenge.

Songkran photos taken by the Frenchman Georges Condominas in 1958.

If you really believe that, your experience is limited to an easy-going and laid-back group of Thais. Len hoo-uh, or touching and playing with someone's head is is as offensive and taboo as it has ever been. Spreading misinformation that it is otherwise could get newcomers here into some serious trouble. A slight exception might be with the small children of family or close friends.

Well deserved praise. He was a new broom that swept CM Immigration clean a few years ago. Not long after he arrived the levels of courtesy and efficiency improved noticably. After he left the situation reverted to the status quo ante very quickly. A visit to CM Immigration is usually a deplorable waste of time dealing with a crowded, disorganized, and stressful scene. More high ranking immigration cops like Big Joke are needed to sort out this mess.

No, they're not. As anyone who has spent time in a red village could tell you.

All the best Gonzo. Long time CM expats, like MacArthur's old soldiers, never die, "...they just fade away."

That's a very good summing-up. Thaksin and his clan are corrupt to the bone. Anybody who can't see that is either blind or has an agenda they want to push. But you underestimate his background. He is descended from a Chinese immigrant who arrived here in the 1860s and went on to make his fortune as a tax farmer. He settled in Chiang Mai in 1908 where his son and grandson - Thaksin's father - prospered in construction, agriculture, and later as cinema owners before going on to open Shinawatra Silks. So they were far more than just "silk merchants". Forbes puts Thaksin's boodle at two billion... he could very easily have bought this latest verdict in his favor. "But I don't give a hoot" [to quote Trink] as long as he and his family never get back into power.

Thanks for the informative post. Oldtimers in Chiang Mai will remember when ganja was very easy to buy almost everywhere... in town, in the countryside, in hilltribe villages and on trips to the islands wherever you were it was there. Often in the form of Thai Stick and pretty potent as well as dirt-cheap, The GIs reportedly loved it. Long before the War on Drugs there were laws against it nationwide but they were selectively [$] enforced, if enforced at all. The War on Drugs changed all that and introduced draconian measures to be taken against the "Surging Drug Abuse" they saw everywhere. Malaysia wuz worse... who can forget those large billboards shouting DADA IS DEATH...? But this merciless crackdown had so many bad consequences in Thailand that the governing powers seem to be coming to their senses and letting it be traded locally. How long this Freedom/Honeymoon lasts remains to be seen.

Agreed. It will become an immense white elephant. How long did the Poy Luang Hotel stay a vacant eyesore out on the Super? In the late '70s it was the tallest building in town and its revolving rooftop restaurant was the pride of Chiang Mai locals. Sang Tawan cinema was for years the best of many good ones - then along came home video. How long has it been closed? Don't expect anything different for KSK.