Ajarn

Ajarn, glad you edited your post:

Agree. I've used their place for surgery as well as shots, spaying, neutering, fevers  ...Over about 4 years.......Great care each and every time

I was going to ask when you received the fateful cut, and why your voice is not an octave higher?

One can never edit fast enough, it seems!

I attempted to make salsa fresca as in the picture but when i bought what i thought was cilantro it was parsley do we have cilantro locally and what chili would be close to a jalapeno?  -R  

'Pak Chii' - ผักชี is what you're looking for

It's available in probably every produce mkt in Thailand..

The easiest way to tell the difference is in the smell. Coriander is much more pungent than parsley.

For the pepper, some markets carry "phrik yao" (long pepper) which is pretty close to Jalepena, I think. Here, I just add 2-3 prik kii nuus (mouse shit peppers) per pint of Salsa..Making sure that any pepper pieces are very small...

In the 'Salsa Fresca' (Salsa Mexican where I come from). cilantro goes a long way. Try just a little at first, would be my suggestion.

Vinegar helps to sharpen the 'hot' somewhat, but I often don't use it, without any loss of quality, according to my tastes.

Checked with source and Hang Chuak road is it, except for my phonetic spelling.

When I said south, I mean in a general heading toward Hang Dong, or the opposite direction from Mae Rim.

Checked with my Thai friend and he said old sports complex on Chang Pua Road was definitely best bet for Gymnastic instruction.  My spelling of the Road is phonetic and may not be close.  It may be the same road described in the other post with Hotel as part of the name. 

The directions would be to go south on the road past Novatel Hotel and it winds past elephant statue and you end up with the complex on your left.

It sounds like Chang Puak road but I am not so sure about your compass bearings as if you're going away from the city on Chang Puak you are heading "north"

Simply, it's inside the old Municipal Stadium complex. Very active place after 4pm, and weekends. It's on Sanamgila road, which turns into Rattanakosin road at the wong wian in front of the stadium entrance. The earlier poster's directions are pretty accurate....

CMU Small Animal Hospital is excellent and open, I believe, 24 hours. For those who don't know it, it is on the Klong backing on to the Uni, between Suthep and Huay Kaew roads.

I agree. I've (actually, my cats have) used their place for surgery as well as shots, spaying, neutering, fevers ...Over about 4 years.......Great care each and every time

I've found most of my teak furniture from showrooms along San Kampheng Rd....Some showrooms seem strictly for those with serious money, but there is some really beautiful stuff there.

On Mae Jo road, just 50 meters from the Super, on the East side on Mae Jo road, is a teak furnture showroom for a factory in Sukkothai. They have quite a good selection on show, plus they have a catalogue w/prices. They can also custom-make whatever you might want

In the Hang Dong area, I haven't had much luck finding good selections of new carved teak furniture...Mostly used furniture, antiques (and copies), and new pieces from old wood... Mostly quite expensive, in my opinion.

As soon as UBC has a competitor, they will lose many customers.

That might be true. In areas where cable from other operators (mostly illegal) is available, it seems they usually have no lack of customers...Mostly Thai anyway, many people would seem to prefer like 300 baht per month for all the Thai channels, plus a few others, rather than 1400+ per month for basically watching the same programs as on cable- The other channels being mostly wasted...

UBC really is outrageously priced, but it's the only game in town unfortunately. I'd be satisfied with Thai channels only but oddly enough my wife (Thai) likes the farang channels.

If you live in CM city, there is cable service available. A couple of farang friends use the service and like it, when compared to UBC prices...

If you value your life, forget the government hospitals.

The private ones are good value.

Room charge with meals, less than a reasonable hotel!!

I'd say take all precautions you can, and don't trust any doctor, at first. I've had bad experiences on Samui, including an operation at the govt hospital by a drunk doctor...I had no choice at the time

Good health care in Thailand is hit or miss. Nice clean hospitals are great, but in no way are any guarantee of competent staff, including doctors...Plenty of horror stories still happening in Thailand. Better than before, but still not good enough, in my experience.

I agree totally Ajarn.

Watch like a hawk, even in the private sector.

My nephew has been bitten by a dog.

He has started the rabies injection, and the

wound needs dressing each day.

2 days in a row the bill was 120 baht,

today they wanted 204 baht.

Now I know that is small money in real terms,

but I questioned the 60% rise.

It turned out that the nurse had used more lint and cotton wool

today...........

Well she can be wasteful with her money, not mine!!

Next time I shall be watching for wasteful use of resources!!

I sincerely hope that will be your worst experience with Thai medical care

As soon as UBC has a competitor, they will lose many customers.

That might be true. In areas where cable from other operators (mostly illegal) is available, it seems they usually have no lack of customers...Mostly Thai anyway, many people would seem to prefer like 300 baht per month for all the Thai channels, plus a few others, rather than 1400+ per month for basically watching the same programs as on cable- The other channels being mostly wasted...

I had this discussion with my wife and she said that they were not Thai's and being hill people that they can never be Thai.

I asked about the hill people that have lived here for hundreds of years and according to an article that I read that the hill people can not work on the land taken by the Thai gov't for wages,because they have no Thai ID card,,she thought that this is fine,because you can not work for gov't if not a Thai,and this ran into a long discussion,,"why aren't they Thai,They were born here" ,,"because they are hill tribes and can not be Thai",,"Why not?","because they are hill tribes",,"But they were here before the Thai",,"don't make any difference,they are hill tribes and can not ever be Thai"

This dialog went on for an hour,and never was settled to my satisfaction,I say if you were born in Thailand,then you should be a Thai,no matter the bloodline involved,,but I guess that a Thai don't see it that way.

 

Kevin, your wife is simply wrong. Just as Chanchao said, hilltribe people can become Thai if they were born here, and can show proof (birth certificate/affidavit from Puuyaibaan). That is a FACT, no matter what your wife says. And your wife speaks for herself, not all other Thais. She certainly is entitled to her opinion, no matter the ignorance of the truth...But it's not fair for you to assume all other Thais will agree with her. Every Thai still has an individual mind.

By the way, Mathew also spewed a lot of crap. People with unbalanced thinking often do, in my experience.

Ajarn

It was Doisaket that posted but i will assist.

Cross the bridge past all the touts etc.

Take the first set of steps down to the street market.

Turn immediately right. Walk not more than 50 metres and the shop on the left is great. If you miss that entrance and arrive at the next road. Turn left and it is on the left. Like an 'L' shaped shop.

I think 110Baht is the norm.

Would not agree that "every imaginable" but certainly a lot.

THey are Chinese origin so technically legal for personal use:-)

Have subtitles that can be turned off and the soundtrack is USUALLY english but ask:-)

MP3's of thai and international go 5 4 100 baht.

Proper CD's about 80-90.

DO NOT buy porn in the streets unless they are prepared to test it . THey wont be:-)  Like karaoke!!!!

Had a dodgy dvd once and they just changed it on the next trip.

Have some superb collector boxed sets like the whole 'ER' or 'NYPD' series etc.

Have fun.

Get me a few??

CT

I was trying to imagine the testing of Porn before purchase ..In the street?

And, just to confirm, by 'cross the bridge', we're in Tachilek, not Mae Sai, right?

I'll keep an eye out for some boxed sets for you

Cheers.

Just returned from burma border found every imaginable dvd and concert dvd's

at exceptional quality only 100 baht per title. cant beat it aywhere

over and out- -R

Mae Sai?

Can you describe where, exactly ? Along the shopping street below the bridge, to the left? Or one of the sois off the main road near the bridge?

Mostly I've found Burmese music and some old crap...I'll be going up there soon for some shopping, and it would be nice to find some quality

KevinN, you made this mistake earlier in the other discussion, but then I only saw it after 100 other posts that weren't about this particular thing anymore so I let it slide.

In that post you compared hilltribes with American Indians (Native Americans) in that they were in fact native, indigenous and European Americans came later.

That would be a false comparison because Thais were here WAY before hilltribes. Some of them only arrived very recently, say during the last century.  Note that I'm of course not saying that this isn't long enough to qualify for citizenship or some other official legal status)

Second mistake you made is the assumption that no hilltribes are Thais.  This is also incorrect.  Many actually have ID cards and are just as 'Thai' in a legal sense as your girlfriend, who you should apparently not take as an authority on life, the universe and everything.   They have ID's because they can actually apply for it!  Not in all areas this applications is processed very fast, but I've been involved in one particular application for a hilltribe girl who needed a passport, and the whole thing was done in a month or so, including ID card & Thai passport!

Then there are many (the majority perhaps) of hill tribes who have an 'in between' status: They don't have the regular white ID card but have a yellow (or was it green) identification card that at least means they have an official status. On this alone they can't legally work outside their own province, so if they want that then getting Thai nationality should be a priority for them.

Often what keeps them from sucessfully getting Thai nationality is lack of education/understanding of the application process, reluctance to attempt anything that involves government officials, or no perceived need for Thai ID.    (Lack of understanding is of course NOT their fault: The government could be more pro-active in making everyone 100% Thai).

Hope this cleared some things up.  Now back to the original topic about why people were deported to Burma.  (IF this is in fact the case!! Quite likely they were just taken to some border refugee center on the Thai side.   If people could still contact them by mobile phone as has been reported then they can't really be too far in Burma can't they..  And it's also unlikely that Burmese prison people would let them keep mobile phones.... So...  Don't believe everything you read, even on Thaivisa! 

Cheers,

Chanchao

Excellent post, Chanchao. Nice to see some accuracy and balance here in this forum...

So difficult for many to wade through the nonsense, I think

Like you, I feel this burmese prison stuff just doesn't fit some known facts and some common sense....Once they're released at the border with the other illegal immigrants (either at, or slightly inside the border, the gate on the police cagetruck is opened, everyone kicked out, and then it's every person for themself. Happens literally every day in the North) , how are the Thai officials going to keep track of two among 10's of thousands of other undocumented aliens in burma?

I realize common sense is often of little value here, but still, it should be considered, too, na'?

=Darknight,Sat 2004-05-29, 09:20:41]As you maybe noticed in this and and other threads i'm not into organized religions.

Be it buddhist, catholic, or others. I'll take te good and bad things from all of them and evaluate in regards to my experience. I would say that i lean to buddhist religion the most. But actually during my stay in LOS last year i found it sad that 90 percent of the "buddhists" just don't realize what their religion or way of life is about  .

It has just become a worship the statue and do the moves religion for most. ( see the thread on buddha's finger in HK ???? )

I hear ya' about taking what works for you and dumping the rest. I feel I do the same...

Over the years, I've come to believe that the essence of life, for me, is simply, "Do good, get good, Do bad, get bad".

That's all I need to know

It's also what I try to teach others

I've gone to Kasems with some unusual requests, and if she didn't have what i was looking for hidden away somewhere in the depths (rarely did she not), then she either pointed me in the right direction or ordered it for me.

There may be some places where the prices are better, but hers are competitive and she earns my business through her knowledge, great service, kindness and lots of free baked goods gifts to take home to my wife and kids.

Her store is one of a kind and a great resource in CM

".....and lots of free baked goods gifts to take home to my wife and kids."

And now y'all know how I got so fat

Then if you want to go all the way get a big dish (2-3 metres) and apart from the initial equipment purchase and set up costs it is all free from there.

Unfortunately, my experience with the larger dish satelites tells me there is very little English programming, and very little interesting programming of any sort. But there are a few gems to be discovered, at times. I like watching CCTV 9, Airiang, IndoTV (PM)...There is BBC, but no CNN. They do have the fashion channel, too.

=john b good,Fri 2004-05-28, 21:38:17]

Mae Kasem has been like a mom to me since I first started shopping there. Over the years, I've become closer to her, and her family. I've felt privileged that Mae Kasem opened her heart and her family to me, allowing me to be a part of her life. Her personal support has been very valuable, too.

On Mae Kasem and her store (here sister's store in actual fact) I have ceased going there.

It is very much over rated and whilst she says that she will get something in for you (readily available in the big mango) she never has for me at least.

People and shops do get past their "use by date" and Kasem's is definately one of them.

Anything you can get in Kasems and in much greater variety can be found in Tops and Rim Ping

And is is almost impossible to get a park close to Kasems.

On the subject of her persona I make no comment. You obviously know here better than me.

Yeah, plenty of reasons not to go to Kasem Store. Higher prices, poorer selection than the Super Stores, difficult parking sometimes, no wheeled shopping carts...

But, the other reasons I mentioned earlier are more important to me. They will always have my loyalty and kind regards.

I also am the kind of person who prefers to maybe pay a couple of baht more to the small business person trying to survive against the onslaught of the Super Stores...Surely, I must be nuts, huh?

Ajarn: and all others, here is my follow up, my internet connection down for a week as usual.

First went to the big hardware/machinery store on the southeast corner of super highway and mae rim road and found three or four heavy duty hand crank models made by Chechs.

Then went to Mackro and bought the electric one for 879. Happy as a clam until I tried to use it. The motor is too underpowerd to force all but the softest meat through the mincer. It just "hung up" when the force required was to great for the little motor.

Returned it and go full refund.

Went back to first stop, bought a mid-size hand grinder, and couldn't be happier. It is a little heavy in the lifting department, but otherwise a real grinder.

One of the shortcomings on the electric one was the corckscrew drive shaft was not machined, but cast aluminum, so the contact between the screw blades and the side of the grinder was not tight, allowing meat to get wedged between.

The Chech model has machined corkscrew edges that come in tight contact with the tube of the grinder so meat cannot get inbetween. I have even ground frozen meat without a problem. I did need to mount the hand grinder, but had a extra laminated shelf from my kitchen cabinets that works well.

Must oil the machined parts otherwise rust after washing.

Many thanks for all your help. Finding what you want and having it work in Thailand is a blessing, and only possible sometimes with Thaivisa guys help.

Thanks for the education

I have around six accounts in the "realm" Bangkok Bank, Thai Farmers and Krung Thai, and I have never been asked for or been required to have a visa of any sort.

Of course what was required yesterday might not be the same as what is required today.

Remember when they asked to copy your passport? They don't need to ask you anything about your visa because it's seen when copied. They don't need to tell you anything because you already have a visa.

Next time, try to open an account without having a visa. Then you will be among the clued-in, rather than the cluleless

Who's f^&*£"g clueless??

Of course I had a visa otherwise I would not have been in Thailand in the first place and the bank in particular.

The visa was a "visa on arrival" nothing more nothing less.

I suppose that you are one of these self proclaimed "experts on every imaginal aspect of residing in (or visiting) Thailand.

Met many of these people hanging out in the bars spouting forth with all the "newbies" hanging on their every word.

Little do the newbies know just what a load of s^*t and cr*p they are listening to.

Sorry, I don't have time for fragile little egos. Too bad your feelings were hurt. My comments were strictly tongue in cheek

But, It seems you are still among the cluleless. C’est la vie

=Goat Roper,Fri 2004-05-28, 08:08:46 Good stuff Ajarn, I found some interesting stuff on both sites you posted and you are correct about us driving around aimlessly looking for houses to rent. Much thanks for your input.

Goat Roper (euphemism for what, pray tell:)), I must say that I myself spend the vast majority of my free time driving quasi-aimlessly around...The scene is always changing- and this time of year eveything is so green and clean...

Even if you don't find a house, I'm sure each adventure out into the unknown is still filled with interesting visions and experiences. I'm still excited about living here. So much to explore, to wonder about, to pull your hair out about...

Perhaps the CM expats on this board could look out as they move around and send you the details of any houses they see.

There's also a monthly Thai newspaper which came out a couple of days ago. The Fish and Chip Shop had copies of it. It's full of private ads and agents ads.

Frankly, I've used rental agents and was helped. I think that they provide a valuable service, and their cost is paid by the landlord, in my experience...The two houses for rent that the agent took us to were the same rate, agent, or not. One of them I rented, and when I moved out a year later for the house I'm in now, the owner didn't use an agent, but charged the same rent...The same rent he charged the people before me, without an agent.

Your experience may differ, but I'd say go ahead and use them. If the price for rent is too high, then pass on it. Trying to figure out whether the owner might charge you less if you didn't have an agent is a question you'll likely never get an answer to, and you can drive yourself nuts worrying about such really petty nonsense. Besides, why shouldn't an agent get paid for his efforts?...Again, just worry about the bottom line- too expensive, or not. If you are new here, a good agent can be invaluable. Just use some common sense, and maybe check some specific prices here, perhaps....

When taking advice, also consider whether that advice comes from personal experience, hearsay, or just an opinion, educated or not.....Of course, take it all in, but filter through it carefully. Not all advice is good or useful, or time efficient... You'll soon learn for yourself, anyway.

As for driving aimlessly around looking for rental signs, I'd suggest looking for 4-sale signs, or simply empty houses, and asking a neighbor for contact info. There are tons of these most everywhere when I drive around...Some areas you mentioned are prone to flooding, so check with neighbors, and look for high water marks on outside perimeter walls. If you're in the country, you can almost be guranteed that a neighbor will have some sort of contact info for the owners....A bit of leg work, and a hip Thai-reader/speaker are what you need. That's how I found my house I live in now, and several others before it

There are a couple of places online that I usually see some reasonbly-priced rentals...

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/mailmarket/index.shtml

http://www.chiangmainews.com/classifieds/

The rental agent I would recommend is named Teera, and he works at Chiang Mai Habitat. Nice guy, honest with me.

2/5 Sukkasem Rd. (Soi Condo 103 Project 3), Chiang Mai.

Tel. 217-769, fax 215-606

Good luck

The lenders consider that unemployed foreigners are too portable. Any sign of problems and they go ex jurisdiction.

Agreed, but in actual fact they are still a better (safer) bet than a goodly percentage of Thais.

Maybe I am a slow learner but I would just love to get some of the thousands (hundreds of thousands) of Baht which I have loaned to some nice Thai people. I don't lend one satang now, with out some collateral or in the case of it being a female (and I get at least one plea for "help" meaning money a week) I tell them to happen by and work it off.

At least thataways I can sleep better knowing that it was not a loan that is unlikely to be honoured.

Gentlemen borrowers need not apply. I like the idea. Let me know if the queue of lady borrowers gets a bit long for you to handle.

Here! Here!

A man I not only knew personally and talked with regularly, but whom I also lived with in Oregon in the 80's (where he went to escape criminal prosecution in India). The Bhagwan has been dead for at least 10 years...

I can't believe they've brought the memory of this Charlatan/ConMan, and are now commercialy marketing him as a Buddha

Now that's just sick. 

Apparently there was a reason you lived with him then ? ....

Each his own view mr Ajarn, i don't want to get in to a slaggin match over this.

I just find his discourses on several subject practically identical to my own experiences...

Up to you to find something else.

I think that you'll find a lot of commercial marketing going on in any religion / belief system by the way.

Yes, I was a school teacher there for a period (actually, my Teaching Practicum.) Certainly one of my great life experiences, and the Baghwan, though an okay man really, made a strong impression of ET Barnum. I agree he had great thoughts and words to express, but I could see the hypocrisy throughout the reality, as most could. Not only the Baghwan's personal hypocrisy, either. That's mostly why it (the Oregon ranch)could never work...Too much evil allowed to prosper within....Maybe you remember the food poisoning of the local townsfolk on election day, which has gone down in history as the first Bio-terrorism in the US....

I agree that everyone has their own experiences in life. That was certainly an interesting one...Lots of great stories from there, too, especially before AIDS became a central focus of the Baghwan,- who, by the way, was one of the first promoters of Safe Sex, even putting condons in the guest rooms of the hotel they owned...circa 1983. But that still ain't gonna make him a Buddha in my book, even if he did say we are all Buddhas....

On an aside, I grew up in California and Oregon during the hippy period, and later, the Cult Period, where people were literally kidnapped, then 'Love Bombed' into brain-washed submission...Christians!. And Hare Krishnas, they were good promoters. Man, they had some groovy chicks...I got roped in for awhile, attending a number of Hari-Krishna 'dinners' because I got laid each time afterward....

It's an interesting place, this Earth. I'll give you that

Onward, through the fog

It's maybe a lot more understanding then you think lioneric.

maybe you can only draw attention to more difficult concepts if it's mascaraded as something else? Maybe i don't agree with the buddhist concept of celibacy? Maybe i'm just a "kind of buddhist" as i am "a kind of catholic" as i am "a kind of muslim"?

Maybe you just don't understand yet ?

Maybe you find here what i mean?

http://www.osho.com/Topics/TopicsEng/Zorba1.HTM

Maybe i like a current version of buddhist scriptures instead of the one's written for people some 4000 years ago?

Zorba the Buddha?

Looks to me like the dead Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh. A man I not only knew personally and talked with regularly, but whom I also lived with in Oregon in the 80's (where he went to escape criminal prosecution in India). The Bhagwan has been dead for at least 10 years...

I can't believe they've brought the memory of this Charlatan/ConMan, and are now commercialy marketing him as a Buddha

Now that's just sick.

I have around six accounts in the "realm" Bangkok Bank, Thai Farmers and Krung Thai, and I have never been asked for or been required to have a visa of any sort.

Of course what was required yesterday might not be the same as what is required today.

Remember when they asked to copy your passport? They don't need to ask you anything about your visa because it's seen when copied. They don't need to tell you anything because you already have a visa.

Next time, try to open an account without having a visa. Then you will be among the clued-in, rather than the cluleless