eyecatcher

I'm usually very social and would too love to hear some good ways to meet new people?

There is a website called facebook, apparently you can meet everyone in the world on it.

and at a more local level, drink a few beers and you will meet many people.....but not before you go into the AUA,otherwise your dress code will be irrevelant

A chang beer drinker myself; I dont understand all the hype surrounding Carlsberg;

I found a can on a wall once and it tasted like pi$$

Positives:

CM doesnt have a Nana place (off to a contraversial start)

CM doesnt have the disgusting Morchit bus station

CM is infinately easier on the budget

CM has great access to equally as many interesting places as Bkk

beer is dangerously cheap

always someone on the forums able to help with anything problem you have from food to ear wax removal

its green, water around,mountain ranges, waterfalls, gardens

negatives;

CM doesnt have a skytrain

CM has an unnecessarily long songran

CM has severe air pollutants in the new year

CM has farang conflicts between expats and backpackers

not as easy to run away or hide from a clingy girl

a pain to have to fly to bkk to get home

its black, urban, high rise, polluted, hi so and expensive.

my bote CM

this is why i have the cheapest phone here-480 bt...i would never bring a iphone here..2 cells stolen...

spoken by a true oldie.....yes if you cant afford to lose it dont even carry it.

a missing iphone to a youngster must be like an oldie with a restaurant menu without his reading specs..............nightmare

no sympathy; its probably out of date anyway

"Most lively", must be the East gate (Pratu Thapae) or the South gate (Pratu Chiang Mai). About the same distance to the 'night spots'.

Thapae Gate is a mostly Western scene. Chaing Mai Gate is mostly Thai.

True enough and as kaptainrob said, putting yourself in the middle of the SE quadrant of the old city puts you a 5 min stroll from the Thai side and falang side. It's good mix for a visitor. Personally, I live a little farther out, can't get into as much trouble here

You mean you can get away with it easier.

ok Al we're in the same territory here, we have a better class of visitor in the NW corner, more cultured,the well to do Thais, the Japs and the koreans want a bit of class, not many farangs here, only a select minority...who appreciate a bit of cultural diversity. we dont have the western mainstream toursity bars and restaurants per se., so ambience and student frivolity.......ok ok I take back everything i just said.

SE corner it is for 2 days then then you can decide what suits you best.

This subject will go down a storm......ask them where the 600 calorie burger is, or the 16in pizza and you are onto a winner but health foods..........you need to get the dictionary definition to help some of these readers.

Get yourself up to the "salad concept" (down townies forget it) and see what the upper echelon of chiang mai society are eating off their healthy menus; I think your research and potential customer base is misaligned on here.

but as I dont like to be too contraversial; doctors says that most people die of natural causes so why exactly are you wanting to promote natural foods as being healthy.

Isnt there a forum for techno geeks?

So sorry this is 6 miles above my head; my first computer beat me at chess, but I found out it was no match for me at kick boxing..thats all I know

good luck though despite my flippancy.

Thapae (West) is busiest, but you could make a good case for Chiang Mai gate, which is also an interesting area. Either way they're not too far apart. The old city is a mile across.

Where's the West gate of Thapae?

thats a stupid question...........its when you go through from the black canyon side.....the east gate is from the starbucks side; what a plonker not called Rodney are you

does it come with "free" dodgy footage?

Welcome to TV where you will good info, good humoUr and downright stupidity:

You have a very generalised question, probably the most asked and I suggest firstly you quickly browse just the last couple of weeks threads as we have discussed a lot of your questions already.

there is no "best" or "worst" and a lot depends what your interests are, maybe your age, single, married, mates, want bars and noise and youngsters or quieter, nice restraurants etc etc everywhere is home to some of us here...and most of us are happy despite our inherent boredom (at times)

The old city is as busy for hotels and guesthouses as elsewhere so dont rule it out. The old city is a square and probably about 3km each side, maybe 30 mins walking so its dooable from anywhere.

The most common advice for new visitors wanting to stay a month or so, is to book yourself into somewhere random for 2 or 3 nights and then explore locations and hotels/apartments in your own time. It will not take you long to find something to suit your budget.

I am sure other more technical TV members will be able to provide some links to your questions discussed previously.

the pro helmet gang always cracks me up. i personally love the guys who have 6 beers and take their bike home (but always wear the helmet)

if you're consistently going above 60km/hr then, yes, you should have a helmet on. if you're puttering around at 30-50km there is absolutely no need for a helmet. in fact, id argue a helmet INCREASES your chances of an accident at low speeds on account of reduced visibility, weight on your head, and the general lower awareness that a helmet inflicts, yes, INFLICTS on its wearer.

it comes down to awareness. if you can handle a bike and are aware enough to anticipate/prevent bad situations, then you'll be fine. if you dont possess those skills -- and riding a bike in thailand is very much a skill -- then no level of protection will prevent you from having accidents.

Sure is a lot of very stupid posts on TV!

yes I was thinking the same.

I pick up on the comment "if you can handle a bike.....can anticipate......youll be fine"

lets highlight the following exceptionally skilled drivers and riders, professionals in their own right, who all have the full monty of anticipation at their disposal.

F1 racing drivers...sadly many died due to others

Moto Gp racers...sadly many died due to others

race jockeys....sadly many died due to others

"tour" cyclists..sadly many died due to others

driving and riding here is risky come dangerous but its not feasible to assume everyone behind the wheel is drunk,or blind, or a girl without a licence;

It doesnt matter how much you anticipate each eventuality, you can never anticipate every eventuality; and having a helmet on could be your life saver.

so you're comparing puttering around at 30-60 km/hr to professional racing sports?

I was trying to illustrate that speed and your own skill/judgement are irrelevent really becasue there are likely to be events occur that cannot be anticipated.(even by the top pros) so wear the appropriate gear just in case. (like all of them do)

the liklihood of being hit by a car on the road is of course immensely higher than whilst you are walking on the pavement.

You put shoes on your feet every day to go out dont you? why do you do that? ...safety maybe?

the pro helmet gang always cracks me up. i personally love the guys who have 6 beers and take their bike home (but always wear the helmet)

if you're consistently going above 60km/hr then, yes, you should have a helmet on. if you're puttering around at 30-50km there is absolutely no need for a helmet. in fact, id argue a helmet INCREASES your chances of an accident at low speeds on account of reduced visibility, weight on your head, and the general lower awareness that a helmet inflicts, yes, INFLICTS on its wearer.

it comes down to awareness. if you can handle a bike and are aware enough to anticipate/prevent bad situations, then you'll be fine. if you dont possess those skills -- and riding a bike in thailand is very much a skill -- then no level of protection will prevent you from having accidents.

Sure is a lot of very stupid posts on TV!

yes I was thinking the same.

I pick up on the comment "if you can handle a bike.....can anticipate......youll be fine"

lets highlight the following exceptionally skilled drivers and riders, professionals in their own right, who all have the full monty of anticipation at their disposal.

F1 racing drivers...sadly many died due to others

Moto Gp racers...sadly many died due to others

race jockeys....sadly many died due to others

"tour" cyclists..sadly many died due to others

driving and riding here is risky come dangerous but its not feasible to assume everyone behind the wheel is drunk,or blind, or a girl without a licence;

It doesnt matter how much you anticipate each eventuality, you can never anticipate every eventuality; and having a helmet on could be your life saver.

What is it.

I have seen candling done is that it.

What, making a whole candle from ear wax?

good time to go on your birthday then, you can light it up and celebrate afterwards

Seriously for once!!....just in case cotton buds are your preference..............

did anyone recognise the one I photographed on the road to Samoeng, countryside area. It may have been crossing the road and got clipped by a car or a bike, injured obviously.

If Thais or better young Thais are lazy was a simple question, I don't want to insult anybody no matter what nationality. I just ask this to find out if there are more owners with similar experiments so I know what I have to look for. I owned a company for over 10 years with 14 peoples but this was never happen to me.

Thanks stigvinck for the tip!

A pretty Thai girl in CM that can speak good English and has a driving license will be expecting a wage of 20k+ a month. If you are expecting them to have a degree as well add another 5k a month.

If you pay less, or expect long hours, you won't find anyone that will stick at the job longer than a week.

I don't think the Thais are lazy, I suspect you want too much for not enough.

big big difference between expecting and what is offered.

I think at a stretch you can expect lets say for example a pretty hotel receptionist in a 4 star hotel, degree in English a pre requisite in Phuket to get circa 15-20k in high season with service charge comissions, but same girl in same hotel in Chiang Mai, maybe 12k tops.

not sure who you know on 25/30k; we are talking the level of bank managers/lawyers/teachers with oodles of experience.

However that being said I hope to God my beautiful,fluent English speaking,28 days a month, 14hrs a day, reception manager, and bed partner doesnt see this post or i will have to raise her into double figures!

think it would work as not nice scent, have you ever smelled moth balls? Who held the wings?? (the same who hold true for buttery penises)

well......I am not putting mine anywhere near a snake thats for sure

dont they say hire a youngster whilst they still know everything?

The younger end to me, no matter whether in the affluent areas or santi...other areas seem to place such a high priority on drinking to excess each and every night until the small hours that they simply are not fit to be diligent and alert at 9 in the morning. So yes you even get the clever graduates discussing how to make their millions over beer, but I bet they are not discussing what jobs are on offer, more likely which business or dot com site they will run.

they dont want to work for someone else do they?

ok obviously not everyone fits this category, lets just say, its a factor surely.

and as for the OP washing his dirty laundry in public, I would never discuss, even anonymously interviewees or ex employees becasue you simply dont know where or if a backlash will come that affects you or your business.

we need to identify the snake...was it like this one?

I snapped this one sunbathing or "mao" on the road, very much still alive though and appeared to be more than 3ft long, nearer to 6ft.

when I came back must have sobered up or else it was due for someones evening meal.

Ama Ahka would have been on my list, but this year their iced latte went up from 35bht to 50bht, and there were rats running around the place. Right beside where I was sitting.

obviously a higher standard of clientele demands a higher price then now. ....ouch

I often decide a 60bt "chang yai" is much better value

Sorry, what does that mean eyecatcher....is that a brand name or Thai expression ?

a big bottle of Chiang beer.....I sometimes go safe than risk bad coffee

I am also very difficult to please when it comes to buying coffee. I always drink black coffee, as I dont like original flavours to be "hidden" with milk, cream and sugar.

Even then I find many of the coffees I drink here bitter or burnt or maybe "stewed" because they have been bubbling and evaporating from the machine since 7 in the morning.

it simply is not what I call fresh and infact often tastes no different to red cup instant nescafe.........on top of that for 40/50/60bt for a few slurps from a tiny cup; I often decide a 60bt "chang yai" is much better value

call me crazy, but i think CMwebs "biz" is just starting. lots of typos, different properties with the same pics, then a bunch of high-end condos in a building that won't be completed for a year (or more). my guess is that the pricing was decided by a dart throw...

Or hoping there are gullible farang's on TV..........which of course there aren't.

They called me gullible......and I believed them

Mosquito bites, I see young backpackers covered in bites ....... but they never seem to bite me.

They are not backpackers...........they are itch-hikers