CMHomeboy78

You might try the Northern Industrial Promotion Center, or whatever it's called, located about midway on Tung Hotel Rd.

It's the place where they have periodic sales of northern products.

Good luck.

I know where you are talking about.

As a matter of fact I was there some years ago trying to find out who did the best quality offset printing in Chiang Mai, with a view to having some artcards printed.

What I experienced on that occasion was mind-boggling inefficiency. I was shuttled between offices for the best part of an hour by staff whose smiles and sa-nay never failed them.

If it was a bunch of surly farangs I would have walked out; but as it was, I allowed myself to be led around sheep-like until I got, more or less, what I wanted.

The whole thing was a deplorable waste of time and served as a reminder of the bizarre incompetence of bureaucracies almost everywhere.

But I'll give them another try. Who knows, maybe they have their act together by now.

Anyway, thanks again.

Does anyone have recent experience with custom t-shirt printers in Chiang Mai?

I have designs that are ready to go, so I don't need any artwork done.

It's the buying of good quality t-shirts and the printing process that I need information on.

Thanks for any input.

The mass tourists and the hordes of resident expats with any degree of intelligence or sensibility know very well that they themselves are out of place in Chiang Mai. The dramatic increase in their numbers makes their presence here more problematic as time goes on. The best thing they could do is call it quits and go home.

I so agree with you! Except for me of course. And you, I suppose.

Don't leave me out!

Me and some good friends I've made here in the past 30+ years.

My wife's extended Thai family also know a lot of farangs they'd keep on board.

But let's try to keep the numbers in check,,, just like the Good Ol' Days

Siam Reap?

Siem Reap of Angkor Wat fame

Siem Reap - The Defeat of Siam. (Is this correct?)

Just about correct.

Siem/Siam. Reap/ree-up, flattened,leveled.

The town was named for Cambodian victories over the Thai in the late 16th century when they took advantage of Thai weakness brought on by the Burmese sacking of Ayudhya in 1569.

> But I thought work permits were required to do those things even if you weren't getting paid.

No. Only the tourists themselves pretend that they're volunteering. Everyone else knows they're getting sold a package, and at a pretty penny too.

Thanks for the response WTK.

But frankly I don't quite understand it.

Are you saying that the volunteer work that these people are doing is part of a tour package and thus exempt from the usual laws and regulations in force here?

I've also wondered about Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity volunteers. Did they all have to get work permits for their projects in Chiang Mai?

It was reported today that Chiang Mai has been named one of the top ten travel destinations for people celebrating their wedding anniversaries according to Cheapflights, an online travel adviser.

The "main draw" is... wait for it... "Voluntourism". Teaching Buddhist monks to speak English; renovating old buildings; and a "hot spot" for people looking to care for elephants.

More than enough to keep the love-birds busy.

But I thought work permits were required to do those things even if you weren't getting paid.

Ending up in an Immigration holding cell, then being fined and deported would certainly put a damper on that wedding anniversary.

But if it is in the interest of of promoting tourism to Chiang Mai then maybe those pesky rules are waived.

Anybody know?

But why does it have to be in Chiang Mai? A city with a seven hundred year old history and cultural traditions that go back to a time when our ancestors were little more than savages. And now many among us have reverted to a state even lower than they were.

Shipping containers to use as storage and habitats for low-rent farangs is exactly what Chiang Mai needs.

A few weeks ago on this forum someone proposed the introduction of double-wide trailers here.

The shipping containers would compliment the trailers architecturally and the inhabitants, trailer-trash and container-trash, would co-exist equally well I'm sure.

Your first post and a good one.

I don't know what your background is or how long you've been here but you seem to be aware of the idiocy that is becoming more and more evident among so many farangs in Chiang Mai.

Just when you think things can't get any worse someone comes up with an idea that blows you away.

Shipping containers added to a scene already beginning to look like some concrete-jungle in California!

But like Trink's Night Owl used to say "I don't give a hoot".

And neither should we. But I do.

Anyway, as another able-seaman on this Ship of Fools, welcome to the Forum.

there is a shop at Pantip plaza that does conversions on the ground floor. somewhere left to Bangkok Bank. I do my video conversions there and I am sure they do audio too. prices are reasonable.

There is also a guy at Computer Plaza or Icon Plaza upstairs that does an excellent job removing the noise and so forth, however last time I was there it looks as though the repair shops up there have shifted around and relocated to different parts of the complex. I'm sure you could ask any of the shops up there and they would put you in contact with him. He was there for years and most of the people at the repair shops know him.

Sorry it's been a while and I can't remember his name or find his card.

Another lead that I'll follow up on.

The possibility of improving the sound quality is a plus also.

Much appreciated.

there is a shop at Pantip plaza that does conversions on the ground floor. somewhere left to Bangkok Bank. I do my video conversions there and I am sure they do audio too. prices are reasonable.

Many thanks.

I'll check them out.

Audacity is good, and free.

You probably know more about Chiang Mai at present than anyone living. So if you hear of anyone who can do this conversion please let me know. Grazie.

You can do it yourself. But you need a tape player and computer. There is a free program you can download which facilitates recording tape to computer. Sorry can't remember the name as its at home.

http://www.wikihow.c...ape-to-Computer

I think the software I used was Audacity but there are many out there to use.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm sure it would be cheaper to do it myself but I'm busy with a lot of other things so I'd like to find a shop... if one exists.

Thanks again.

I have a lot of old cassettes that I would like to convert to a digital format.

If anyone has information on where it might be done I would like to know.

Thanks.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Better yet, get out of Thailand altogether. You're always complaining about something.

You're as ill-suited to the climate as you are to the culture.

The concrete boxes most of you live in make ideal solar ovens but very poor habitats in a tropical country.

Wooden houses with plenty of cross-ventilation, raised on posts with a circulation of air underneath make sense.

Traditional designs could be combined with some sensible modern innovations to free you from air-conditioning and the the general kawk-moo lifestyle you're in now.

You've had your foreign experience. Your horizions have been broadened. Now go home.

Good post.

Acidic, but spot on.

Your idea of combining traditional home design with modern elements is what is needed here. That's for sure.

To what you said I could add high ceilings and gable vents wherever possible and a whole range of appropriate hi-tech features. But sink the air-con units for obvious reasons.

But for that to be feasible, as well as for many other sensible ideas, the population numbers would have to be stabilized.

Let's start with the most obnoxious and offensive group here... pogrom, anyone?

Short of drastic measures like that, your verbal attacks, combined with respiritory problems from breathing the salubrious Chiang Mai air might start a reduction in their numbers that would be welcomed by most Thais and the farangs who try to live among them in harmony.

No matter how highly recommended and/or personally impressive the electrician, if he is Thai in the end you have to check it yourself anyway. The instrument is cheap and the process not difficult to learn - google is your friend.

"if he is Thai"

That demonstrates ignorance and is disgusting if not outright racist.

Disgusting is my opinion, ignorance is a fact because there are many Thais who do competent electrical work.

Thank you; I thought exactly the same, but just couldn't be bothered to point this out -yet again- to the haters.

People like that really drag the forum down; it's embarrassing.

These are the idiots who are spoiling the scene for all of us.

Reports out Monday quote the Ombudsman Siracha Charoenpanij as claiming that foreigners owned 33% of all land in the Realm.

That estimate was challenged by Wason Khongchantr, director of Modern Property Consultants who said the figure was less than 5%.

Have any estimates ever been made for Chiang Mai?

The 33% figure sounds inflated even when the use of Thai nominees is taken into consideration.

But it's not impossible in parts of the country where the numbers of farang married to Thais is high.

Any Chiang Mai specific thoughts on this?

Thanks for the input on the Sin-kah Kook.

But toward the end you ranted and rambled way off topic.

I think I know what pissed you off. It was that Mae Hia restaurant thread, wasn't it?

Mindless pap from greenhorns who wouldn't have lasted a week here in the old days. The garbage they eat has addled their brains.

The only post worth reading was the one-liner from AnnaBanana. She, he, or it. Whether she's got ovaries, balls, or an empty sac, is spot on and funny in most of her short posts.

Her two-line put-down of the Space Cadet who took his daughter to get tattooed was a classic.

She uses a razor-sharp scalpel. She doesn't need Lizzie Borden's axe.

Live and let die, Anna. Whatever you are, we like your stuff and hope you don't shoot your load anytime soon.

As for you Gringo, live with it too. No way are things going back to anything like what they were.

Make the best of it Dude.

This annual sale of mostly high quality goods seemed to get bigger and better every year with more and more regional prisons being included. Then it ended suddenly and inexplicably.

I would like to know myself why they no longer put it on.

As you say, it seemed to be a good thing for everybody concerned.

I recall that it was held at Kam Tieng for several years but before that it was at other places. But I can't remember where.

I don't know what ended it. Maybe some TV Member knows.

Too bad if it was interference by foreign goverments or organizations.

If so, it would be yet another example of do-gooders causing trouble through ignorance.

Why do we assume that is ended due to foreign governments and NGOs? Sounds like someone has an axe to grind.

Because it is what happens. Do you remeber when Darlie tooth paste was Darkie?

Thanks for replying to this guy.

I think he was the one who drank the whole jug of Kool-Aid at last year's Fourth of July Picnic.

The effect hasn't worn off yet. Maybe it never will.

Sounds a bit like the seventies, if you can remember them.......how does that go again?

"If you can remember Chiang Mai in the 70's you weren't there".

Actually I can and I was... sometimes anyway.

The Sin-kah Kook [Prison Products Fair] that used to be held yearly on the big field adjoining Kam Tieng Flower Market hasn't been there for several years.

Anyone know why?

Has it been held somewhere else and I've missed it?

Those who remember it will also recall how good it was.

All kinds of things from small items to large pieces of teak furniture.

The craftsmanship was generally very high and the materials used were usually top quality.

Was it's end due to meddling by western goverments or NGO's ?

Or possibly big retailers in Chiang Mai wanting to snuff any competition?

This enterprise had no relation to prison labour issues of mass production often raised with other countries, notably China.

It was good for the prisoners who got a chance to excercise their skills and presumably earn a little money as well.

Also good for local consumers who got a chance to buy very high quality goods at reasonable prices.

Is there any chance of it coming back or is it yet another good thing about Chiang Mai that has gone down the memory hole?

Thanks for any information about this.

Here's an update for anyone planning to go into Tachilek.

I drove up yesterday, Sunday, March 4th.

It's become a very quick procedure to enter Burma. No more long waits, multiple photocopies of your passport, visa photos, etc.

I was asked for the 500 baht fee. I replied by asking if they would accept $10. It was a crisp new bill and they took it without hesitation

That's how things went. For what it's worth.

Line Dancing. OMG!

Didn't the Chiang Mai Chronicle predict some kind of cultural apocalypse around this time?

I've checked my edition of the Chronicle [Wyatt1995] and could find no reference to an apocalypse cultural or otherwise.

You may be thinking of the Mayan Calendar.

The Chiang Mai Chronicle records a long series of disasters experienced by the people of Chiang Mai through 1827 AD.

If this old dude is able to get here, Line Dancing can be added as an update.

The poster and all the newbies will get over their infatuation with Chiangmai when the honeymoon is over and reality sets in. Enough people coming to Chiangmai already.

For an object lesson to illustrate your point just follow the "I Loooove Chiang Mai" thread from the start.

His Pilgrim's Progress has taken him through Vanity Fair out onto a road that is starting to get a little rocky.

The Slough of Despond lies up ahead.

Certainly almost all of us who have been here any length of time still love it. In spite of all the negative changes that have taken place over the years Chiang Mai still has a lot going for it.

Plus... it's not the USA, it's not the UK, it's not Australia, etc.,etc.

But unfortunately it's becoming more and more like those places all the time.

Chiang Mai has always had many farangs. But they tended to be a diverse lot. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, certainly, but at least they were interesting.

The flood of humanity coming in now could have arrived enmass from a suburban housing development in the US or a council block in England.

They are the very people that travellers were always glad to leave behind in their own countries.

Now they've followed us here.

Eager to socialize and so out of place and culturally isolated that they will try to befriend you everywhere. In supermarkets, while waiting on Immigration lines, remote trails in the mountains.

Like some lost tribe condemned to eternal wandering.