Teak

Relative to where that 'countryside' is for you......the point, for the 'rural us' is that it should be interactive to get the most fun out of it. That nod and wink from the Granny who knows you, that respectable nod from your male Thai peers. That charming giggle from school girls.....who may be related to you.... is the reason that some of us choose to spend time in the 'back of beyond'.

I suppose I am not surprised when urbans consider 'moving to the country' they don't consider that the countryside consists of communities that you should consider fitting in with; even if only for mutual protection/support. Building a wall between yourself and the community makes you the butt of ill humour. Your isolation and distress will become topics of enjoyable conversation in the community surrounding you. Every rural society likes to see the rich, new guy, who separtes himself, struggle and fail. It is good entertainment; when all he has to do is attempt to join in the best he can. During my 10 years in a remote small village complete with a large extended family, I was protected by them. In a way I was 'owned' by the village. Theirs was the only village that 'had a Farrang'. I was obliged to go to many funerals, weddings as well as stand or sit alongside the 'Phu Yai Ban' when a camera was present or ceremony being held. I did not want to do some of these things, but 30 years later the villagers and family still make me very welcome. My teak house and contents has stood abandoned for 20 years and nothing ever stolen. Of course there was conflict at times, as there is in all communities. There is also a dispute settlement process in every community that you should understand and use. It is basically mediation with the headman making the final decision. There will also be a local 'strong man' that you should be aware of and not inadvertantly cross him. There is a 'system' to each village that makes life there sustainable and far more enjoyable.

I am certainly biased against CM as it isn't as it was back in the late 80' /90's .The air was cleaner then, but far more garbage strewn acrioss the country side. I think the rat population has stayed about the same. Buying shoes was a problem and for a Christmas turkey you had to go in with a group of guys to fly them up from Australia. There was a daily sense of adventure/danger, far more guns were evident and very few white women who were not missionaries. Today it is crowded, polluted with what appears to be a malignancy of 'spas'. The only spa we had was across the river with the glass wall and pretty girls with numbers. However, last year one of my daughters wanted to go back to CM who hadn't been there for 12 years (24ys old now). She loved CM and extended her time there a few more weeks prior to going off to Bali. It seems to depend on whos eyes you are looking through and if visiting rather than living in a place.

Ya gotta be a Brit to appreciate it. However, there is history for Chiengmai expats.

Alprazolam interacts with alcohol and in combination may drastically raise liver enzymes in a liver that is reasonably healthy.

If you drink, google your drug of choice and add 'liver effects'.

It's taken us a long time to get old, best keep at it.

...I know a tuk tuk river with great deals ! ????

Seriously...you may value a diamond but some Thais will also value anything that sparkles.

Okay, YOU want to buy a diamond, fine. Do some research on what a diamond is composed of and how they are valued. Buy a 10 power jewelers loupe and go out on a free tuk tuk ride to Sankapaeng. Look at 50 pieces and start to learn why some are more expensive than others. Knowledge is earned. Good luck.

Just a matter of generally cleaning up my past. Not sure if I would be responsible for anything connected to the Thai ex., when I am in Thailand. Also married to a Chinese citizen (in China) for 7 years and after 3 years separation going back to divorce her where we were married in China. That one could be entitled to claim assets.... if I died from misadventure or something less noble. ????

I was married in Chiengmai 30 years ago and divorced in Canada 9 years ago. It just came to my attention that as far as the Thai Government is concerned I am still married to my Thai ex..

Would simply providing my Canadian divorce decree (translated into Thai) plus my Thai marriage certificate to our local Ampur (Chieng Dao) office be sufficient or would the marriage registration office in Chiengmai be the more logical place to proceed ? I am not on a marriage visa or retirement visa. 4 to 6 months in Thailand is long enough !  ;-)

When using any chainsaw.....make sure your left hand thumb is securely wrapped around the handle bar and always keep your face to the left of the bar and chain as saws do have a tendency to 'kick back'. Yes, there is a chain brake, if this happens damage is done if you lose your grip on the handle bar, hence the thumb grip and your head to the left of the bar, so the saw flies over your shoulder. Also you can sharpen the dickens out of the cutters but they won't cut if you don't file down the rakers. The rakers regulate the depth of cut the cutters can take. When sharpened right your saw should 'self feed' through a log with no exertion. Check your sawdust to see if your rakers are high. If your sawdust is fine they need filing. They should have a nice curl to them. If your saw 'grabs' into the log, then your rakers are too low.  If you hand sharpen and your saw won't cut straight you have probably filed one side of your cutters more than the other side, being right or left handed one side is easier to file. Make sure opposing cutters are the same length.

         ....an old log house builder, logger. 

Milk Thistle for drinkers. I have a blood test each year and three years ago my liver enzymes were getting over the normal range and my doc said stop drinking.....so I started taking milk thistle every day and kept drinking 'my normal' amount, as I tend to associate with women who are fun and drink enthusiastically. At next year's blood test my Doc congratulated me on stopping drinking. " Ahh, sorry Doc", I did not". He said I must have as my normal liver enzymes are 'proof'.  Okay, I found a milk thistle panacea for drinkers !  However, I continued to drink heavily and take my milk thistle, but after this years blood test my liver enzymes were considerably higher. I have been on the wagon for 6 weeks and will do so for 6 more weeks, as the liver needs 3 months alcohol free to repair itself (or not able to). All older drinkers should have a yearly blood test and note rising trends over the years. For alcohol damage follow your Bilirubin, Gamma  GT and ALT numbers.  In my experience Milk Thistle does work to assist the liver in processing alcohol......to a point.

I mentioned this case awhile ago where a young Canadian boy was murdered by a Thai policeman, who then shot a young Canadian girl in Pai. She survived and sued the Royal Thai Police. She could only afford a young Thai female lawyer and it took ten years, but she was successful in court; was awarded a considerable settlement and after another year of waiting, the money was transferred to her.

This young lady was brave and tenacious. I would have walked away as my opinions are somewhat similar to other posters regarding  these situations. However, "might is right" did not seem to apply in this particular situation. However, being a young, female, attractive tourist can't hurt.

????  35 odd years ago I bought some 'sapphires' in Tachilek and paid 300 baht each. I took them down to a shop on Thapae ...Shiraz, if I remember correctly. He looked at them and asked me "how much I paid ? " After I told him, he said I did good.....they were worth about 500 baht. Of course I thought they were worth thousands more ;-(. He explained that they were actually grown in a lab in France, faceted and then shipped to Asia to be sold....to gullible people like me. ????  I was in the jadeite business once, when it was illegal in Burma so I bought from various 'Khon Doi' smugglers and I worked for the Chinese buyers

in CM. There was a room in the back of the Chinese shop where the known fakes were kept. It held a lot of rough stone and I was shown how to avoid the harder to spot fakes. Fakes who had fooled these very experienced Chinese buyers.  Did I make any money....nope ;-(   

If you are buying smallish stones for rings....use methyline iodide. It has the same specific gravity as jadeite so it will sit suspended in the chemical...not sink or float. It also has a similar refractive index.

Being 'real' does not indicate value. It is all in the colour. Japanese prefer a darker green, Chinese a lighter green. Use a peacock feather, the feather's eye is a guide. That 'imperial green' is to search for. However, jade has all to do with 'magic' and power. It is also tainted by a Westerner's involvement. Avoid the 'lottery rocks' Jade is ofen found as an alluvial rock with oxidation on the outer skin, so a 'window' is traditionally cut on one surface and you bid on the rock....like a lottery. No one knows what is truly inside. Good luck.

Rubies are actually easier, as you look inside for the 'silk'. No silk and it is probably a spinal. Hard to reproduce that internal 'silk'.

I spent too much time in China....not long, just too much. In non industrial rural areas Beijingers are buying up remote clean air villagers (yes, villages 600 yrs old) displacing the residents for clean air homes from Beijing pollution. This is in Yunnan province, near the Myanmar border. But, now they stay in Beijing and when the smoke dies down and the pollution rises in Beijing they send the family to Yunnan province. Environmental mobility is becoming necessary.

Rice wholesalers have a lot of rice in open bags to show customers. If you go with a Thai woman who knows her rice, you might be there for hours. Smelling rice, touching rice, discussing rice, There is far more to it than the average Farrang can comprehend. Scout out a shop that sells beer and sit your self down....and wait patiently. Yeah, we can pick out a good potato though ????

It is often best to use the hospitals....tell them what you want and you are often moved up quickly to a Psychiatrist...they are often not that busy. Tell them what you require and usually no problem as you went through the right procedure. I wanted Zopiclone and they said they only had Imovane in Thailand. Very similar sleep aids. Over the counter sleepers are antihistamines. Avoid unless you have an allergy too ;-)

Ask for 30, which is a normal 'ask'. I have found 3 or 4 days in a row and the 5 th night you do not sleep without them. So, you get exhausted from lack of sleep one night and learned how to moderate. ;-) Usually, only the hospital can provide them even with a prescription from a legit doctor. For pain use Tramadol and usually available in most shady pharmacies. Like a Tynalol 3.

Most finishes are poor quality glossy <deleted>. If you like that , fine. Linseed oil....no longer is boiled linseed oil available. It says 'boiled' but not true. A cobalt drier is added to compare with boiled linseed oil. There is either raw linseed oil or chemically enhanced linseed oil to promote hardening. Linseed is not a great naturally hardening oil. 'Teak Oil' is most often 70% kerosene, and 30 % linseed oil with the cobalt hardener. Yes, can cause cancer. The best product to use is 100%, food grade, Tung oil. Tung nut oil is one of the best natural hardening oils. Walnut oil is in the same category, but harder to find. It must be stated 100% pure tung oil or you get the same petroleum product with a dash of tung oil for marketing. 

Where to find ?  Tung trees are grown in China and the nut is pressed for the oil. It should be available in Bangkok. I buy it in 45 gallon drums in China.

Try Thorzen, Thailand, Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon), Watthana,790 / 16 Sukhumvit Road (Thonglor)

     Regards,  Island Teak

Yes , yes yes..........but you will notice that most tourists pass oncoming tourists on the right in CM and Thais have started to also pass on the right to accommodate the tourists. Again, in less touristed areas the Thais pass on comers on the left. Of course, no hard and fast rules especially where space is the prime consideration. I am speaking about on sidewalks, not highways. Shouting excused. ????

I am not sure if this topic has ever come up, but whenever I have to leave the NE and return to CM, I get confused on which side to pass pedestrians on.

Of course there are no set rules, but in more 'traditional' towns Thai people pass oncoming pedestrians on the left, the same as how they drive. I suppose it is just the number of tourists in CM that pass oncoming pedestrians on the right. Do Brit/Aussie etc. walkers pass on the right or left?  I had to actually learn to pass Thai people on the left to avoid confusion. However, that confusion was often met with smiles and wai's.

On 3/18/2019 at 9:29 AM, orchis said:

it's one of the reasons but it's genuine.

Agreed, but it also clears the leaves and undergrowth so the young bamboo shoots can be harvested, as well as let you spot the scorpions and snakes better...It also make trails less slippery. However, years ago, walking off the mountain (Doi Pa Daeng) my brother in laws would randomly throw lit matches on either side of the trail, much to my concern, as I still have a teak house at the foot of the mountain. That was 30 years ago and it still goes on, and the house is still there. Quite impressive sight at night with the mountain ablaze. The winds take the fire uphill to barren rock and the fire ends. Like it or not, it is what they have always done....and may probably continue to do so. Possibly a new generation will change through education, rather than just repeat 'tradition'. However, forest food harvesting is still a vital part of seasonal survival in some rural areas. There is no way mountain fires can be reported or controlled which will have any effect. Added to this there is the knowledge that when the rains come, all will be clear again.

As you know, since 1986 when the teak logging ban was put in place it became harder to move wood around without a permit stipulating it was pre 1986 teak house wood. Most wasn't and still isn't. If I was you I would buy old logs/timbers from a timber yard as close to your residence as possible and have the seller deliver it and have the holes dug and the logs/timbers in place as soon as possible. I would also request a 'receipt' of some kind. I built a teak house 30 years ago and considered selling the wood last year and found no market due to the inability of obtaining a permit, which never was a problem in the 'good old days'.

On 3/10/2019 at 6:43 PM, Sophon said:

The agent applications for people who don't qualify are based on (fictive) money in the bank. When he goes back next year to do it himself, Immigration will check that he had the 800k in the bank for three months after the application and 400k after that. How do you suggest that he explains his inability to show this (or that he ever had 800k in the bank)?

 

With the new rules, once you use an agent for a fraudulent application you are pretty much locked into continuing to use an agent for all future applications. The only way out would be to break your string of extensions and start over with a new Non O visa (and hope that immigration never take a look at your previous agent aided application).

 

Sophon

There are, of course, agents that allow you to bypass all money on deposit in a Thai bank....however, not fictive money, but 800,00 Baht does arrive in your bank account for (1 second ?). Certainly not long enough for you to remove it. Some of these agents are former immigration employees, so the way is paved (paid) throughout the system. What I find interesting is that the banks are all in collusion and there is a paper trail that connects all. It is simply too big to bring down. Agreed, once you start with this type of agent you are locked in. In most cases these agents are now not taking new applicants, but maintain old clients for the last dozen (s) years. Hopefully the dust will settle after the election and we can return to a Thailand which is again semi free and easy.

On 6/4/2018 at 7:08 PM, Loaded said:

The Overlander

Yes, Alan Batey opened the 'Overlander Bar' after his lease was up in the older 'Lovebirds Bar' (mid/late 80's.) The Spotlight was there at least before the mid 80's as well as Karen Hut, Las Vegas etc.,

4 hours ago, The Deerhunter said:

Waved through (almost) every time.  We feel it does help in dealing with the police if you have a camo peaked cap in the middle of the dashboard front windscreen. At a distance of ten metres it could be an army cap,  but it isn't!  On the rare occasions where they get beyond the automatic wave through from ten metres before even reaching them, the window is rapidly opened and they see a late middle aged white guy and their instant response is the wave through.  Not worth the wasted time, agro and misunderstandings.  Question: How to ask to see a driving licence in English? Answer:  "Go. Go. Go."

I have watched roadblocks 'curbside' in CM to determine what is the process?  Family of 5 on a motorbike waved through, 3 cute girls with no helmets stopped. Two old Farrangs  in their 80's (tourists) no helmets waved through. Then a boss arrived and stood back and would yell into a walkie talkie 'FARRANG, FARRANG ! The BIB stopped the Farrang. Boss left and then it was hit and miss again. I have been stopped lots on m/c and usually guilty of a crime...no IDP or helmet etc.. Then we discuss the fine. This one fine fellow kept showing me a card in English and Thai that I was to pay the officer 500  Baht. I said no, and in Thai I said "come with me to the police station'. Okay 200 Baht. I said , no, please get on my motorbike with me and we go to the police station. I will pay there. We settled on 100 Baht. Now, I simply keep my IDP (Internatonal Driving Permit) in my shirt pocket and drive slowly and hold it up, with a smile and a semi salute of respect. I have received proper salutes back with broad smiles. 

Up country I was riding with my daughter (born in Canada) but has Thai citizenship. I was waved through and she was stopped. However, she cannot speak Thai....just looks Thai. Old dad had to go back and explain the situation to the BIB in my broken Thai. They thought this was hilarious. 

Most every Thai cop/army fellow still has his roots in some village. Being polite, respectful and with a sense of humour and not afraid to tease them softly, has always worked for me.