Teak

Service to the non Thai speakers has always been challenging in CM and beyond. In the 'old days' you would sit down in a restaurant and use your best Thai language skills to order. The waitress would dutifully take your order with a cute wai and off to the kitchen. After a half hour you are no longer able to be noticed and your waitress had disappeared into the back. They simply did not understand you and hoped you had the grace to simply leave. It was either the Bier Stubbe or correct your pronunciation. Not that hard to receive good service from someone that can actually understand you in their own country.

People seem to miss the Wai...maybe the people giving the Wai never received a reply.

The Wai is a tricky business...how high to reply ? There could be endless discussions on wai etiquette. Who goes first, how high...oh no, mine was higher than his, or mine was lower...but, I know he is more connected than myself and he deserved a higher wai. A wai can be given, but not retracted :-) But, to give a wai too high makes you look foolish. :-(

If you go to the same place often, try a simple dip of the head and a 'kawp' . Doesn't take much to connect.

As for CM...it has always been a place to get drunk, laid and get out. Still good for that.

.....Ken

There are 4x4 pickups that haul freight and folks to Muang Khong from Chiang Dao and rides in the back are cheap and entertaining. I have taken the ride up the hill and got off and walked the ridges down to Muang Khong, then took the truck back to CD a few days later after staying with the Puyai Ban. It is not standing on top of the Doi, but going where few folks tend to roam. There is a Karen village along the way once you drop down from the highlands, where you can also ask to stay. A long and pleasant walk with little required except rudimentary Thai language skills. ....Ken

Some of you older fellows may remember Mad Mike from Mae Rim (long dead now). Mike did have a Thai passport with his beaming white face. There were also transit stamps inside, so if he made a fake one ...it worked. :-) If I remember correctly, he received it over 30 years ago.. ...Ken

I have been back and forth since 1986.

I understand that finding the best pizza in Chiengmai, regardless if the 'Thai/ Anglo' pronunciation of the city comes closest is more important to you..

The pronunciation of the cities name is irrelevant to this topic.

Some of you older farts/gentlemen, as i am, please, remember Mr Suchinda....... do some research, if you do not know. where was he from? What did really happen ? I honestly, never understood this, I watched it on TV. He was a military dictator and agreed/forced to come before the King and ...he stepped down. He controlled the army, he killed many people and he voluntarily stepped down from absolute power to honour the King.

Suchinda Krapyoon is someone worth learning about. Certainly a 'bad guy', but, worth learning about. History repeats itself. We are not smart enough to remember...'we' should have learned the lessons taught to us from the Viet Nam war. Others should learn from Mr Suchinda....but, it won't happen, each generation lives within it's own vacuum.

Forget this cultural difference crap. we just do the same damned stuff over and over again......regardless of culture. We do not get smarter...we just become trickier monkeys.

my best regards ............Ken

Water soluble beef 'boullion' cubes for making beef soups etc.and toss them over the fence to your neighbours lawn.....when it is raining. Those 'beef nuggets' dissolve and the dogs start digging to find where that tasty smell is coming from. The neighbour becomes exasperated with his dogs digging up his yard and eventually gets rid of his dogs.

Best dog I had was with a coconut curry 'lat cao'.

....Ken

Think of it as a gift, When a hive gets too big it splits. Generally a younger queen is in the centre of that mass. The gorge themselves with honey to the point that they are so fat they cannot sting you after splitting off from the main colony. They are looking for a home and will stop, hang out, until the scouts come back with a better direction to a home site., I have 'caught' several swarms in Thailand. When first landed there is little general movement in the swarm, Use old grass an a can with a hole for air in the bottom, to create a smoke and place it under the swarm..to 'mollify' them a bit. Place a wooden box 2 ft x 1 ft with a lid and a one inch x 12" opening at the bottom...or 3 or 4 1 inch holes.. A proper beehive 'super' would be best. Once smoked a bit, simply cut the branch and drop them into the box. Do it quick and very decisively. They will actually fall like raisins.Put on a lid and leave them alone to see if If they decide to stay. They will decide in a couple of days. If they stay they will make you honey to harvest for yourself which you are then required to share with those who made it. They will get to know you, and you them. Must be some damned Buddhist thing......

Bees only sting when they are scared or trapped. I knew a woman once who only tended her bees when naked with tight panties.....says she never got stung. :-)

...Ken

Of course Chiengmai (please excuse the old spelling and how Thai people pronounce the city).

it is simply a city.

It is not cute, but I remember that finding a "Falang' shoe size was impossible. Acquiring a turkey was a serious project planned 6 months in advance,

If you choose to live in a city in Asia, with all the perks of a western village. You have it.

I believe I have more to complain about Westerners than i do about Thais. :-)

....Ken

I like this topic............most of you are urbanites.To the few who are not, you may or not agree ;-)

Trees are not just trees. Some are valuable and some are NCV (not commercially viable). Okay..my bias shows. Thais burn mountains and the trees survive because of the relatively low heat and the tree's inherited defences. In Australia the eucalyptus get tinged black and survive. Same in Thailand. Pruning.......severe pruning, is usually irrelevant. New growth sprouts. In China old trees have signs on them not to be cut down............but, damned, they are pruned for firewood to an extent that even I thought was extreme...........but they bounce back. Nothing makes any plant regenerate more than a threat to it's existence. The Thai system to most things is contrary to (especially) an urban Western point of view. However, their system has worked for generations.Easy to criticize, harder to appreciate.

Believe me, I am not an 'airy fairy' person. (Bloody far from that ).The Thai system works, because it continues to be able to exist. With respect...deal with it or piss off (smiley face).

.....Ken.

Thanks for the info. Definitely visible and about 30 cm below sea level. Short trailing tentacles. Before you chuckle....I am positive it was not a plastic bag ;-)

Somewhat similar to what we have off the west coast of Canada, . Whatever it was ....I am now sure it was not a box jellyfish. Thanks...Ken

Hi, today Feb. 12, 2016, I was at beach 10 km or so past Jomtien, controlled by access points by the Thai Navy and went into the water. When chest deep I spotted a jellyfish about 30 cm in size and more square than round. It was about 2 meters away and near the surface.I was about to float on my back and let the current take me in to the beach. That decision quickly changed and I carefully walked away with eyes wide open. No problems. Not sure if it was a box jellyfish or not....but, the shape was not common to me.

regards....Ken

Okay, the Urban Mainlanders can be difficult at times., However my current wife is Chinese and currently curating a museum in Southern Yunnan, She has never learned to drive. I tried for several years to teach her in Canada with not even close to any form of success. She and some of her staff members are taking driving lessons in China right now. It starts off with a written test that was quite difficult, harder than the written test she passed in Canada. Next they had to attend a 3 day first aid course and pass it.Next....(not happened yet) she will have to attend 20 days of driving lessons for 6 hours each day...every day. I believe this is very new to some regions in China where you could formerly just pay some money and receive your license.. She said the instructor told them right at the start that she will not take money....they must pass the test !!!

Maybe the next generation of Chinese drivers will be better. I did like the compulsory first aid course, as they know they will see may crashes ;-)

I would think that Cambodia might have the worst drivers. I hear that President Hun Sen has stated that he will remove the need for motorcycle licenses as a vote getter for the next elections.

...Ken

Just checked the farm... leaves getting dry. Going to be nice when I start the fires to get rid of that snake and scorpion cover and see the green shoots appear come rain.

It seems the condo dwellers don't have the same concerns....Ken

I was riding toward Hangdong yesterday and was pulled over. There was a time, if you were 'white on a motorbike' you were simply too much of a problem to deal with. So off I am pulled, helmet on, sober enough....but left my license back at the hotel. Okay 500 baht fine. Okay I say in Thai to the young policeman "get on the back and we are both going to the police station to pay". "Now...come with me now, Please." That caused a problem. He then showed me a card in English/Thai that stated I can also pay the policeman directly. I then say okay 'loy deo' The policeman looks down and says okay 'loy deo'. I did not have my license with me. I was at fault. I just negotiated a reasonable price for my infraction. It seems to me if we just become a pain in the arse we may just return to the old days when 'white on a motorbike' is easier to just wave on through....Ken

I wonder if the newer, Western origin folks, who are interested in the Lanna rural lifestyle are aware that, given a rudimentary grasp of Thai language, can approach most any 'pu yai baan' and ask for a place to stay for the night ? I have had numerous experiences being on the lee side (physically and metaphorically) of a tough route back and simply asked the neareast 'village boss' for accommodations. I have never been refused and most often been the centre of entertainment for the evening. It is an expense...being an ambasador of your race, but, if you put your self out a bit...The rural Thais ...just might, not let you go without a pleasant memory.

...Ken

I should add an addendum. Although I do not appreciate Thailand as I once did. I did return to the family homestead, which I had been avoiding to visit for 15 years. A small village of 70 or so households. The teak house I had built and the few rai my ex had previously owned was overgrown. My ex nephews and I had to cut a path in and broke the door down to gain entrance. Everything had been protected by the villagers. My personel effects were where I had left them and a substantial stack of 1 x 14 to 18 inch x 8 ft mai pradoo planks, laying loose and drying in the rafters was also where I had left them 15 years before. This is in a village that certainly covets wide wood.

There are many stories of bad Thai families waiting to gain profit from the outsider.

This has not been my experience over 25 years. .....Ken

LG, Geez, he was a performer... and damned good ! His nemisis the T, and I had numerous disagreements, but I always respected his OCD. That fellow from the Bangkok post was damned good.

You don't have to agree to learn something.

I keep trying to like CM every few years. Liking it less each time.

Take care ...Ken

social culture thailand

A forum back in the old days.

We would argue alot and occasionally support certain individuals, but, bloody well find heated differences in our opinions with others concerning Thailand and the lives we leed or have led there.

The debates and animosity ended SCT.

I miss the vitality.

It seems new/old expats now in CM, have more passion debating MacDonald's new menu.

....Ken

Growing 'organic' is tough in Thailand. I spent frustrating years working with inlaws (ex) encouraging them in ' value added' organic products sold direct to hotels etc.. I am sure there are more than a few of us in the same former position. Damned tough in Thailand. There are a lot of bugs. The farmers have learned what is viable and how to do it,,,,yes, they now have to push the limit on pesticides.

The only way to buy 'non pesticide' food in Thailand is to know a farmer, his daughter or his son in law.. Most villagers grow two crops...one they eat and one they sell.

...Ken

Unfortunately, if your dog was black. I would have very appreciative new owners.

...Ken

One way to easily check the general quality/purity of honey is to simply turn the clear glass bottle upside down and watch the air bubble rise again to the top. It should move slowly upward. If sugar water was added to the honey the air bubble will rise quicker. It is interesting to compare the viscosity of honey from vendor to vendor. If enough buyers did this the sellers would be hesitant to thin their honey.

...Ken

"Chinese Haw invasions into Burma? Are you referring to the Kuomintang (Nationalist Army of China) 93rd Division? 1949- ?"

No, the 1287 invasion. Technically a Mongol invasion, but staffed by Hui and repulsed by the Burmans.

The Haw/Hui moved (unopposed) into Wa Land (Panglong) in the 1850's after the Panthay Rebellion in Yunnan. Later the fleeing KMT pushed them out and the Wa regained control.

I enjoyed reading about McCarthy and trying to decipher those triangulation maps.

The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma by Thant Myint-U is quite good. The author is the grandson of former UN secretary U Thant.

This book also tells of the Haw / Hui invasions into Burma from Yunnan.

I just finished an ebook called Traders of the Golden Triangle / Cognoscenti Books.com out of Chiengmai. It has to do with the history of Chin Haw .

starting in the 1300's in Yunnan Province and with some Haw/Hui ending up in Mae Salong. Interesting that the author combed through many regional histories and compiled a singular book dedicated to the Haw.

Another title of interest to me is Teak Walla by Reginald Campbell, concerning teak logging in Thailand.

Anyone interested in posting the titles of books they have read concerning the history of Southeast Asia ?

I am sure most of us have a stack of them.

For a Visa Run holiday fly from CM to Kunming, China, if you have to go to a Thai consulate. If consulate is not needed fly into Jinghong....or take the boat , if running. The boat leaves about 6 am and gets into Jinghong about 7 pm. Jinghong can be interesting...Ken