Ajarn

There are a couple of nice small shops around Tesco, but you have to look aoround... Here are the places I like to check out..

My favorite shops are located near Suan Buak Hat...

I don't think there is any police or military involvement in the Songthaew business here. It's simply that they have the numbers... Local officials are quite wary of upsetting the co-op because, in the past, they have massed together to create traffic problems downtown, most recently when the city was threatening to cut back their numbers and make them subservient to the the busses- financed by the PM's sister, as you said. After tying up traffic downtown by massing around Thapae Gate for a few hours, the city caved and backed off their plans... The city's plans for future transportation in CM still includes the Songthaews.

Thankfully, it seems the military mafia is pretty much out of the picture, being relegated to running private security companies.... I once refused to continue paying for my share of the security at our muubann after one of them was continually harrassing my wife... Just an hour after I told them, Col Chalermchai Matchaklam showed up at my house in full uniform, suggesting that the crime rate will go up without my support... When my neighbors saw this obvious act of intimidation against us, most of them also refused to pay for their security services any longer. It gave me a different feeling about Thais standing up to authority. BTW, Col Chalermchai Matchaklam is now under sentence of death for killing a governor a couple of years ago. He was also a 'look nong' of Major Intharat Yongbaitoey, whose wife was mayor of CM for awhile. Since she was booted out, and after Intharat was elected Senator, the miltary mafia no longer seems to exist to any large extent, including the Night Bazar, which was a run by Intharat and friends for many years...

Personally, I think the downtown area is better suited for songthaews than the large busses currently running around (mostly empty). CMU has a great system with their smaller electric busses which I think would be perfect for the downtown areas.

The taxis will be around as long as they're making money, but will never be a help to the mass-transit system, in my opinion.

I have been hearing and reading alot about the "Mafia" in Patong Beach. Who are they and what do they do or who do they target?....

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Just don't tell the tuk-tuk driver who wants 200 baht to get you from McDonalds to Sea Pearl Hotel to "shove it".

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As long as you're smiling when you say it, no problem

In fact, I it can help one to release a bit of anger/frustration/resentment/ dissapointment in a safer way, sometimes. I've used a smiling "###### you very much" on a few occasions myself.

Just don't get too carried way with clear enunciation...

I've heard 'Chuea mai dai' (can't believe) also used in similar situations, but 'wai jai mai dai' should be plenty clear to most any Thai, in my experience, given the context you gave- even if your pronunciation isn't perfect...

But, I think 'Mai dai, ....' is a better response than 'Mai Chai,....' to the question that was asked of you, and maybe that put him off track a bit? Just a guess

I only use English here, and most everyone I come in contact with everyday only speaks Thai, so I get lots of speaking practice...

Am I understood, and can I understand them? Yes, always...

But not always on the first try

Better to have fewer farangs who want to seek guns, too, in my view.

If you want a great hamburger try Mikes I had one the other day and it was delicious!!!

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Agreed, but Fillmore has the BBQ'ing, and that's what makes it special in Chiang Mai.

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The seven-burger (all chargrilled) menu at Chiang Mai Saloon deserves mention too. I dined there with some friends a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and we were impressed with the quality of the farang fare there as well as the friendly service. "Saloon chips" not to be missed either.

For my tastes I'd rank CMS's burgers as number one, Fillmore East #2 and Mike's #3. Hard to beat Mike's for atmosphere though ...

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SabaiJai, I wasn't aware that the saloon (on loi kroh, right side, right?) If I hear that 'Academy Fantasia' song on UBC one more time...!! does BBQ'ing... I've only had one burger there a couple of years ago, and I don't remember it being BBQ'd... I'll sure stop back by for a burger. Rod (Ron?) is a nice guy, and his staff are quite sharp, in my experience. Lately, I've been going there for their tasty Chilli-dog, though I think Mike's is tops for that.. But now I'm afraid to get food from Mike's after a small (and gentle!) food complaint escalated out of hand...

If the Mango Tree would get a litlle Hibachi or something, I'd call their burgers near the top, too

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I assume by 'barbecued' you meant 'grilled'? You might have to wait awhile for barbecued burgers ("For purists, real barbecue means smoky slow cooking over low heat in an enclosed space.")

Anyway, I just remember the cheeseburger I ordered was impressively tasty, and the menu said all their burgers are grilled. I found a web link to the Saloon's online menu, which also describes their burgers as 'chargrilled'.

saloon menu

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Yes, as you've realized, I've not been a 'purist' about much for a long long time .... I've pretty much forgotton what real smoked meat tastes like. I do get some interesting Cajun food (burned food) at home sometimes, though...

The still-biggest selling point for Fillmore is his use of Bull'sEye sauce.... I've looked around a bit to buy locally, but nothing for many months. For the time being, Fillmore is the only place to get that fix

When was the last Tsunami here in Thailand? 600 years ago or so??

Even in Japan, when they have tidal wave warnings, tons of people flock to beaches to watch- and this can be witnessed on tv during most any program on 'videos of the world's stupidest people' or something of that sort, watching scores of them getting washed away....

Of course they should set up a warning system now, but placing blame for such a freak tragedy is really pointless, in my view.

They're almost as rare as dodo birds.  And some report last month claimed that they were everywhere in Chiang Mai.  I'm picking my best friend up at the airport tomorrow night, and I've hired a tuk-tuk.  However, there usually is an OLD taxi sedan waiting outside the terminal.

Chiang Mai should have the market for a hundred real taximeters.  Don't the red songtaew fleet have a union, or a mafia?

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Who do you think operates the taxis? The Songthaew co-op

Anyway, here's a list of the individual drivers with a taxi..

Nok tel. 0 9261 4290, Singkame at 0 1952 0900, Werapong at 0 1960 1391, Winyu at 0 1885 4469, Somboon at 0 9851 3708, Wisan at 0 7177 0929 and Somchai at 0 6181 6386

30 baht for the first 2 km and 4 baht for each subsequent kilometer. Waiting time – 1 baht per minute

I saw one today at about 4 pm, on the road from Mai Sai to Sop Ruak...

I grew up in a California beach town near San Francisco, directly on the San Andreas Fault Line, and there were always earthquake drills, but never any discussion of tidal waves. The only publicized water safety issues were sharks and riptides. Many years later, there was some warning of a tidal wave in SF, and many many people (not me) went down to the beach to watch... Nothing happened, thankfully. That's the only warning I can remember during my lifetime there...

The quake in the sea off Antartica and felt in Tasmania on Christmas eve was I believe an 8.1 on the richter scale.....a big quake by any standard....no Tsunami occured from that quake....now to put your suggestion in perspective.....an 8.5 quake off the coast about 400 miles from the American coast....would you evacuate every city within a 600 mile radius because a tsunami may occur....I think not.

The strength and the occurance of a tsunami has less to do with the strength of a quake but rather the ever changing sea floor.....many quakes produce tsunami's but some just peter out because of the conditions....Tsunami's may appear as a large swell out to sea....but as the water depth becomes less and all that water is compacted into a smaller area....then the "wave" builds in speed and intensity....watch a swell turn into a breaking wave...that is a mini tsunami...Look at the power generated in its final moments as it hits the beach.  Now magnify that many times over.

The time from when that swell becomes a destructive force sometimes can be measured in seconds not minutes and not hours.....sure from the time of the quake maybe hours.....but from detection to hit is usually not that long.

Great description, gburns. I was watching BBC a few moments ago, and they had some footage, from a couple of areas, of the last few seconds of some swells before rising and forming into a wave, breaking, then moving VERY fast and forcefully... Easy to see how it would catch one off-guard.

Apologies. Wrong post. Clicked the wrong button.

And the part of your fantasy where some guy is sitting somewhere and not telephoning Thailand, etc, etc...??

This is not the time or place for such ignorant nonsense... Please don't try to pass off your clueless fantasies as facts... People here want to know REAL facts about this terrible situation, and your baseless accusations don't help at all. 

I WANT to point out on such ignorant non-sense , as those stated by the so called ajarn (I always thought, folowing in that thai popular belief, then farang ajarn are mostly crossdresser + druggs addict + britt ... maybe I am wrong, someone told me recently there is also a huge amount of US tramps from Khao San Rd who use to be called ajarn ... what is your category).

Whatever, if really you are in teaching business, you should know there is several points all around the word that report earthquakes, so I don't think the tsunami have reach Thai coast in seconds, but certainly in 5 or 6 hours.... WHY NOTHING WAS MADE TO AVOID HUMAN LOOSE? That is thequestion .... it's sure 5 hours of shopping in less should have given less earning to some people , but is certainly not the reason ...

It's not a geologist who done the mistake, but widely some "political" who have done nothing ... I would like to see heads role on the ground like in 91 (1791), those who are responsible (accountant) for the life loose, the material loose MUST pay, whoever they are.

This country widely speak about democarcy, I suppose it must be time to apply it.

ANd to Ajjarn, don't think I am starting a personnal war , whatever I logg on only one time per week, but I really and deeply think the fact to refuse to speak about responsability is at least insulting for those who are dead.

Regards

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Do some research mate, before you climb into people.

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Exactly. Just the facts, Jack

Can't figure out why it is that the page URLs from that website, when I paste them here, always lead to a different page than the URL where I found them. Any clues? 

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In that particular instance, my guess was you were looking at a cached page, and the website had just recently updated their page... It was on Saturday, the day the new page is usually put up. I just went to the top of the list of back issues, and stumbled my way to it.

Does that make sense?

If you want a great hamburger try Mikes I had one the other day and it was delicious!!!

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Agreed, but Fillmore has the BBQ'ing, and that's what makes it special in Chiang Mai.

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The seven-burger (all chargrilled) menu at Chiang Mai Saloon deserves mention too. I dined there with some friends a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and we were impressed with the quality of the farang fare there as well as the friendly service. "Saloon chips" not to be missed either.

For my tastes I'd rank CMS's burgers as number one, Fillmore East #2 and Mike's #3. Hard to beat Mike's for atmosphere though ...

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SabaiJai, I wasn't aware that the saloon (on loi kroh, right side, right?) If I hear that 'Academy Fantasia' song on UBC one more time...!! does BBQ'ing... I've only had one burger there a couple of years ago, and I don't remember it being BBQ'd... I'll sure stop back by for a burger. Rod (Ron?) is a nice guy, and his staff are quite sharp, in my experience. Lately, I've been going there for their tasty Chilli-dog, though I think Mike's is tops for that.. But now I'm afraid to get food from Mike's after a small (and gentle!) food complaint escalated out of hand...

If the Mango Tree would get a litlle Hibachi or something, I'd call their burgers near the top, too

Sad to hear about this tragedy at what is probably one of the busiest times for tourists. I  am flying out from England on tuesday to visit friends in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Would I be right in thinking that the east coast of Thailand has not been effected by the tidal waves? If anyone has any information, I would welcome a response. Thank you.

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No Thai tv news reports of any problems on that side, that I've seen...

The answer is simply Google News. It tells you all, within minutes of the event.

Try this link for further education

And the part of your fantasy where some guy is sitting somewhere and not telephoning Thailand, etc, etc...??

This is not the time or place for such ignorant nonsense... Please don't try to pass off your clueless fantasies as facts... People here want to know REAL facts about this terrible situation, and your baseless accusations don't help at all.

My heart goes out to all involved, a terrible thing to happen, not a very merry xmas after all.

Tornado, Could you give me some info please, I think not as its on high ground but is Katamanda (the luxury villa resort) in Kata Noi damaged at all?

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I just called a mate in Kata and he said "hasnt been touched", anyone else here in Phuket add more info for Dave?

cheers

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Well, the Thai TV news has reported at least three deaths at Kata beach from people being washed out to sea...

I would be REAL scared right now - if I was a geologist sitting in an earth-quake center that had something to do with reporting the earthquake.  How could communications about the coming tidal wave be so absent?!

Why was the 8.9 Richter scale earthquake - with possible tidal wave - not announced to the Phuket/Thailand government, and all other neighbor countries!?  It is not that hard to make a phone call.

The tidal wave took five hours to travel from the earthquake center in Jakarta to Phuket.  Is that not enough time to make a phone call to someone in Thailand!?

This is a gross error on some geologist part.  Many people are dead, and people could have walked to higher ground with an hour warning.  The tidal wave was even seen hours before in other countries.  Amazing...

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How do you come to know what happened?... Who called who, and when...

Stop fantasizing and pointing fingers, please. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Name-brand camcorders are supposed to be the same quality world-wide... I've bought 5 camcorders (3 canon, 1 panasonic, 1 Samsung) in Thailand in the last 3 years, and everything has performed normally.

Lots of fakes electrical goods from China, but mostly obvious, with names like 'casiko' (for casio) and the like... But China also makes fake Sony stuff, too. Tons for sale in Mae Sai.

And not all cheap fake stuff is terrible quality, either...

In any case, Buyer Beware, as always

This is the only place providing coverage - Thai television seems to be taking no notice.

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News Channel 7 had news at 12.00 and ITV is reporting right now.

BBC World News had pictures from Phuket on the 13.00 news.

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Unlike in the west, regular Thai TV programming is rarely interrupted for such things... The coverage will continue to be a part of normal newscasts today.

Update:

Phuket coast swamped after Sumatra earthquake

PHUKET:--  Emergency response units have been scrambled after waters off Phuket surged onto land this morning, washing away homes on the east coast and causing damage at resorts all along the west coast.

The sea rose after tremors from an earthquake just before 7 am off Sumatra, Indonesia, that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale.

At 11 am, Phuket International Hospital confirmed that at least 10 people had been admitted for serious injuries, and that many more were expected to arrive.

At Bangkok Phuket Hospital, many other injured people had been received, though a total could not be provided.

The Gazette has received reports of deaths in Kalim, in Thalang, though that report has yet to be confirmed.

Kawee Sukunthamath, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), has told the Gazette that homes along the west coast are being evacuated as a precaution.

The move follows waters at Khao Khat, on the east coast, reaching up to about 300 meters inland, washing coastal homes and vehicles away. People were holding on to whatever they could to stop from being swept away.

In Patong, Gazette columnist Woody Leonard reported, “A giant wave went up the beach, at least as far up as Beach Rd … People were running from the beach as fast as they could. The beach is devastated … There were a lot of people on the beach, [and they were] swept away by the wave.”

The waters reached as far inland as the Club Andaman Resort.

K. Kawee said that the tremors were also felt in Phang Nga, Ranong, Krabi, Trang and Pattani. The Gazette received a report that the surge left a Royal Thai Navy ship at Tab Lamu naval base beached.

--Phuket Gazette 2004-12-26

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The Thai tv is saying 100 'sia jeewit' (dead)

It's all about the doctors, mostly, followed by staff and equipment...

Bamrungrad has likely the highest standards of care in Thailand (and I love their 'hotel' for disabled folks), but it ain't perfect. I've experienced some incompetency there, too. Anyone must be very proactive in their health care here. As someone pointed out, you're mostly without protections here, as hospitals and doctors are even less accountable for their mistakes then they were in the past.... During the last 4 years, the government has flattened any of the patients rights bills that were written into this constitution already, but weren't passed by parliment until the doctors and hospitals were guaranteed protection from suits...

The internet is, of course, a very good tool for research, and forums like this are invaluable for learning from others.

Frankly, I think the link is more interesting, maybe even enlightening, to some