cm das

Definitely Chiang Mai - my mother in law was a witness. The police have the license plate numbers.

The "regular guy" is very regular in that just like everybody else he is in biz to make money. He sells expensive drinks relative to drinking at home and he pockets big cash from the people handing over money to him to drink booze and listen to his "free" music . He is making money using illegals.

I know the "regular guy" in question and this is simply inaccurate. He is not pocketing big cash. The North Gate needs to take in a certain amount of income but it is not an enterprise motivated by profit. In fact, it's called the North Gate Jazz Co-op because the whole idea is to have an open, creative space where as much of the money as possible is shared by the community of performers (I'm talking about regular bands, not jam nights). Whether foreigners worked there illegally or not is a separate question, but please don't make characterizations like this if you don't know the motivations of the people involved.

The bacon ,cheese burger has been bery, bery good to me!!

A taste of of Chico Escuela in Chiang Mai. I love it

and the same out by the 700 year stadium

I always throw a cube of concentrated veggie stock in with my rice (or quinoa) when using the rice cooker. I do it for the taste but it also helps gets rid of the crust.

If you're a US citizen then the US Consulate can notarize documents for you. Like you'd expect, it ain't cheap though.

I got a re-entry permit at the airport desk about a year ago. The only catch was, for an airport-issued re-entry permit to be valid you had to be traveling on the day the stamp was placed in your passport. The guy who gave me the stamp wasn't aware of that apparently, because when I went to leave the next day I was told the re-entry permit I had was no good anymore & had to make a quick dash to the main immigration office about an hour before boarding.

Anyone interesting in playing Jazz and Funk?

Cheers, CMX

pm sent

I'm another who likes the retro sport, but I'd like it a lot more if it had a 200 or 250 engine.

If true this wouldn't be the first time that foreign musicians got busted for performing at Guitar Man. Meanwhile, in many years in the music scene here I've yet to hear of this kind of trouble at another venue. So for now I'd say this sounds like a crackdown on a particular place, not on the scene in general. And who said there was freedom of expression around here anyway?

The Lifan 200 GY has been sold in North America for several years. From what I've seen the reliability and performance reports on forums over there are generally positive, especially as regards the engine. And by the way, the engine has a 2 year/20,000km warranty. Of course this brand doesn't seem to have a long history of producing export-quality bikes, so longer-term performance is an unknown. But then that's all part of why the bikes are so cheap, right?

I live in Chiang Mai & I've got a 2 year old D-Tracker that I'm generally happy with. These days I do pretty much all my riding either in town, or on short (half-day) trips into the nearby hills. Before this I had a CBR 150 that I also liked, although I much prefer the riding position & versatility of the D-Tracker. I am not an aggressive rider and I have no need for major speed, though I do enjoy riding the twisty backroads up north. So here's the deal: though my D-Tracker treats me well, I wouldn't mind a change. At the same time, I could use a little extra cash to pay for a new computer. So I had the idea of selling my D-Tracker (well-maintained & only about 10k on the odometer) & buying a Lifan Cross 200. What do you think? Is that crazy?

Before the insults start flying (at me or at the bike), let me make a few things clear. First, please spare me comments like "it's Chinese so it must be a piece of junk." From what I understand, Lifan engines may not be high tech but they are tested & reliable. I'm not so sure about the overall fit & finish of the bike but Lifan is not Platinum or JRD & I'm not worried about the engine. Second, I'm not at all concerned with resale value. If I get this bike & if it lasts more than a few years, I'll plan on keeping it long-term as my city/dirt bike & someday I'll buy a bigger touring bike to go alongside it.

So what I really want to know is, how much would I experience a drop in performance switching from the D-Tracker to the Lifan? And would it really be any harder to get parts/find mechanics for the Lifan as compared to Kawasakis? Given the way I ride & my willingness to take a chance on Lifan, would this switch at all make sense? Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.

Phayao is another big source for salas. We ordered ours from there & saved about 10,000 Baht over what the shops in Chiang Mai were asking for similar models, and we did look at many places. Octagonal hard wood (not teak) sala with seating for about 8 delivered & set up for just over 20,000. Never had a problem with Thais being afraid to sit in it. Just the opposite - on occasion we've found strangers lounging in our garden.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. I'm looking for lime for plastering a rice hull hut I'm building. I'm fairly sure I've read somewhere that for my purposes it's preferable to have quicklime powder (calcium oxide) or lime putty made from that rather than the hydrated lime powder (calcium hydroxide) that everyone seems to be selling here. Something about the "fresher" lime having greater adhesive qualities when dried. Slaking quicklime sounds like a long & potentially dangerous process - that's why I'd like to find someone selling the aged putty. Calcium carbonate is out of the picture for me. Anyway, I've got some of the hydrated powder already & I'll give that a try.

And if anyone's heading up to Samoeng, you can pick up loads of poon khao in the first village you come to once you're in the hills. Lots of small shacks with big stacks. I was told it's all made somewhere on the mountain "bon doi".

I too am looking for lime paste in Chiang Mai. I went to the source mentioned above, at least I went to the place marked on google earth, but found no lime & no kiln. Lots of mearby places sold poon khao in powder form, but I can't find slaked lime/lime paste anywhere & it ain't for lack of looking & asking - from roadside shacks to global house. Anyone know another source?

I'll second the recommendation for Kamthieng Market. There's a small shop selling gardening tools near the head office for the market. I bought some very sturdy shovels & hoes there. The handles for the hoes were too long for my Thai workers, so they promptly hacked a foot or two off the end. The good stuff wasn't cheap, though.

The bike looks nice, but what's with the Video - I nominate it for most boring motorbike video ever produced.

The video posted above is definitely boring. The 2011 Honda Crossrunner offical video is just weird. Not a bad concept, but the bike never moves. Sounds weird to say it but at the end I wish the bike would, for once, ride off into the building.

Just want to point out that Wikipedia, as quoted above, has got the Sanskrit and Pali (in Devanagari script) way wrong for Sravakayana/Savakayana. Sorry, I don't have a Devanagari font on my computer to show the correct version.

There's a shop selling Lifans not far from the train station. From the station head out to the super highway. Go past the Isuzu dealership and you'll soon see lots of cheap Chinese motorcycles lined up on display on the right hand side. This shop carries a few no-name brands as well as Lifan.

Pre-Mahayana Buddhism had more than one flavor; only the Theravada has survived to the present. So if we're talking in historical terms, then Sravakayana seems appropriate. I agree though, that if Rinpoche is talking about contemporary practitioners from traditions that predate the Mahayana, then using the term "Theravada" would be better. Even better still, how about dropping the term "Mahayana", with its implicit sense of comparison/superiority?

The school that keeps getting mentioned is Panyaden (panyaden.org). My family and I paid a visit last month & were very, very impressed. It looks like an amazing place, not just the beautiful bamboo & adobe work but the whole concept. We're planning on sending our daughter there when she's old enough.

Thank you all for the replies. We want to build large patio type cover in a custom design. We wanted to use the fully treated bamboo of the CLC right from the time the idea to build in bamboo was decided, but they can only keep up with the bamboo demands of the new school they are building. Too bad.

If you find another supplier of treated bamboo, could you please post it here? I need some for a project up in Chiang Dao. May end up digging a pit and treating it myself.

If you're coming from Huay Kaew, the park is just past Green Lake Resort (& the lake) on the right hand side. It's actually well before you get to 700 Years Stadium.

I think that for backpacks & camping gear Sports World (3rd floor Kad Suan Kaew) has a better selection than Super Sports.

Can't give you a 100% exact translation but it looks like a tulip festival being held from Dec. 20 til Jan. 14 at the park commemorating the HM the king's 80th year, off the canal road more or less opposite the 700 year stadium.