ollylama

ah, it seems the topic has been moved back the chiang mai forum:

I'm surprised there's still no topic on this.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/4635006/Seaweed-victims-emergency-heart-surgery

I'd be very curious to know where these three poor women ate that night.

Is the house on stilts so that you can easily detach it and set it on a new foundation? I know a few people to do it but they were smaller houses, one floor about 3-4 rooms. I know of one crew in Chiang Rai that does it. They have the flat bed truck and the crane. It is still pretty costly though.

Is the OP actually moving the house...or the contents?

Sorry I meant the contents... Have a friend with pickup, he offerred to help... yet prefer to find a couple of Thai guys with a small truck so we do not need to do so much lifting work ourselves.

Usually head out to the local farang bar in San Sai and ask around when need something... seem to always have long termers who know far more than me. Always good value.

http://www.uncleremoveservices.com/

not cheap but very good. they provide tons of plastic boxes for you so you don't need to get cardboard boxes. and they'll go down quite a bit from the first quoted price. i got them down about a third from their first offer.

If any one has a number on their phone- would appreciate it. Cheers Jay

old thread, and not the font you're looking for, but try the one i made: http://www.oliverbenjamin.net/FonTok.html

Ollylama plus one. Thanks.

i lived on nimmanhaemin soi 2 a couple of years ago. just before we moved in the farang woman who was renting it was badly robbed so the owner put bars on the doors. we didn't get robbed. but in my new house one of the doors wasn't that secure and we were robbed last year. took cash and a camera. they tried to pry the bars off the window before they discovered that the door was an easier target. now i've got bars on the weak door.

was robbed years ago in the suthep university area too. after we moved out the thai lady who replaced us was totally wiped out - they even stole her watchdogs. so it's not just farang who are targets.

one thing i'd recommend is getting a deadbolt - too many houses here have padlocks on the outside. it's basically an advertisement saying "i'm not home."

have heard of a serious uptick in house robberies this year. two houses were robbed while my friends were at home and awake!

the police are useless in this regard. only reason to contact them is if you need an insurance claim. i've never heard of them catching anyone. sometimes they even want you to pay them for coming over.

i agree that it's not the stuff. it's the sense of being violated. and the data loss if you've got irreplaceable work and photos.

perhaps i'm alone in this, but i think that it would be helpful if someone said when the party was actually taking place?

it's not being blocked at my house - TOT 2MB package in Chiang Mai.

this aggression will not stand!

yes and we had to walk to the theater uphill against the wind - both ways! and we liked it!

as far as the original post goes, i agree - you can't bring food into any movie theater in the west unless you smuggle it in. i've never seen anyone get busted for contraband burgers or what have you though. i think it's more of a suggestion than a punishable offense.

i wish they'd make bringing crying babies into theaters a punishable offense though. why? why would someone do that? it's beyond me. at least have the decency to drug it beforehand.

i can't believe no one has commented on the worst thing about airport plaza - the interminable series of ads. a full half hour of advertisements are shown before each film. now of course you could delay your entrance but i don't know if that means you might miss a bit of the opening scene if you don't calculate the delay correctly. furthermore some thais have the system figured out and end up rushing in en masse in the first scenes of the movie, struggling past you with kids and large bags of smuggled khanom in tow, screwing up your viewing pleasure for the first few minutes.

there are also lots of ads these days before movies in the west (i know - i'm in one of them):

but i don't think they go on for a half an hour or more! that's like the torture that malcolm mcdowell had to endure in a clockwork orange - only that was good old fashioned violence, not shampoo ads, which are arguably more damaging to the psyche.

though the quality of screenings are much lower at kad suan kaew (bad sound, projectionist falls asleep in between reels, a few dangerously cold rooms, out of focus, etc.) at least they start the film at the announced time, showing the ads before the time on the schedule.

of course, i haven't seen a movie there in a while - they might have changed that.

it doesn't seem fair to have to pay to watch advertising. when i was a kid this was unheard of (besides trailers). goddamm future.

i know at least five friends and acquaintances that have gotten dengue in the last few weeks. i don't remember that many people i knew getting it at the same time like this. anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but it sounds like this is the worst epidemic in chiang mai in a long time. cause for concern (and repellent) for sure.

nearby the three kings monument is a place called Eak Sticker (i think that's the name). south on the north/south street (forget the name) on the east side of the street. he's great.

not sure which place you're talking about on ratwithi but it's probably the new delhi restaurant (i think that's the name)? you might not know, but there's another indian just a few doors down - just next to cafe del sol, and it's an offshoot of the royal india. it is fantastic value and very cheap. nothing cheaper in chiang mai i believe for indian. their masala dosa is to pass into nirvana for (with coconut chutney). nice veggie wraps (basically a samosa burrito with amazing sweet and spicy indian sauce) too. everything i've tried is really good.

if you've got a kitchen get a jar of curry paste and a pack of frozen roti at rimping (comes in a box in the frozen food section). then make your own curries with chicken and vegetables (okra is a nice touch). add yogurt or sour cream to make it korma-like. cheaper, better and healthier than most of the low end indian places in town. super easy to make.

let's not split hairs here. heat, humidity. wha'evah. it's hot. africa hot. tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot.

to top it off, they turned off my electricity yesterday cause i forgot to pay my bill. how in the hel_l did people live here before electricity and running water? i sweat so much it was practically spraying out of my pores.

My only complaint was the music was not "American" bagpipes, Australia, New Zealand come on.

Ha ha! I agree with you about the Belgian bagpipes player. That was weird. But as the guitarist in the "Australian" band I think you're being silly. Our whole band was made up of Americans, except for Aussie John, the singer. And even if we were all Aussies, who cares? Plus, I think every song we did (except one) was an American rock song. The Kiwi couple also sang almost all American songs.

C'mon. If you're going to complain about something, then complain about the fact that I flubbed my first try at the Star Spangled Banner! That sucked!

Here's the second attempt, followed by the aussie national anthem:

Next year can we have both types of music Country and Western? I did like the Credence.

We'll play "Rawhide" for you Pol Pat.

yeah, it just might have been better if he didn't play while other musicians were performing. that was a bit odd.

anyway, america is a land of immigrants. any music would have been appropriate. italian, indian, burkina fasoian. wha'evah.

My only complaint was the music was not "American" bagpipes, Australia, New Zealand come on.

Ha ha! I agree with you about the Belgian bagpipes player. That was weird. But as the guitarist in the "Australian" band I think you're being silly. Our whole band was made up of Americans, except for Aussie John, the singer. And even if we were all Aussies, who cares? Plus, I think every song we did (except one) was an American rock song. The Kiwi couple also sang almost all American songs.

C'mon. If you're going to complain about something, then complain about the fact that I flubbed my first try at the Star Spangled Banner! That sucked!

Here's the second attempt, followed by the aussie national anthem:

shine a beacon in the sky with a picture of a rat. rat man will come running.

works for batman.

i traveled throughout the philippines in 2003 and didn't feel it was dangerous at all, outside of manila. the problem is that most of the cities are ugly as hel_l. but the beaches are amazing. i think i liked siguijor the best because it was so small, beautiful and friendly. it also has a weird tradition of black magic which i wish i could have been more privy to.

also, if you like to eat vegetables you'll have a hard time. i practically got scurvy from eating nothing but meat and carbs all the time.

very cool people - funny and easy to chat with. western sense of humor. i miss that here sometimes.

edit - i have to admit, i didn't spend much time in any of the cities. i'm sure they're more dangerous than chiang mai, though few cities of chiang mai's size are as safe as it is. it's one of the best things about the place. getting robbed or hurt can really ruin your outlook. i.e. stay away from spicy's.

wat umong is the most entertaining i think - a pond with fish, caves to explore, trees with funny sayings on them, monk chat, a zoo, a field of broken off buddha heads, etc. etc.

the horse racing on saturday afternoons just north of the city off the canal road (close to city hall).

huay tung tao reservoir - to see how thais really let their hair down.

for extreme sports - the x centre, run by a cool kiwi and his thai wife. lotsafun

mae sa valley road - lots to do and see and a nice drive, especially on a motorbike - elephant camps, animal shows, firing ranges, the x centre (aforementioned), the four seasons (great for a meal and a wander around the lovely grounds).

doi pui - hill tribe villages, coffee plantations, all very close to the city, just past doi suthep.

ban tawai - good for shopping.

bike rides - get the chiang mai big map (www.cmfinder.com i think) and look for where it says "good biking" - great biking trails and roads.

live music - guitarman on saturday (open jam), northgate on tues (open jam), the riva, the brasserie, ana gracey at the gallery on friday.

okay, enough for now.

i defiantly agree.

by the way, a cheaper option than buying that 3g modem for your computer is to buy a 1400 baht 3G phone one phone it's the 3gm602+ and works brilliantly as a modem, and not a terrible little phone either. it charges from the usb port so you plug it in the same way as the usb 3g modem, plus you've got a phone as well and it's half the price.

i bought a little squeeze bottle at chiang mai plastic (in warorot). works fine. filled it up with warm salt water and gently squeezed water into one nostril over the sink. had a cold a few weeks ago and it really helped clear up the sinuses. i don't think you need a fancy neti pot. i could be wrong.

what about that place close to the airport/immigration? it's called suan pak (vegetable garden). i think they're all about salads but i don't know for certain.

as far as the shopping centres go, the absolute worst salad bar in town is at pizza hut. not that that should be a surprise. i'm just saying. it's a horror. and though sizzler seems fresh and okay i always feel a bit sick after.

best salad in town is one you make yourself, with ingredients from rimping supermarket. made one with spinach, bacon and haloumi cheese the other night and it was fab-tastic.