EL159

Whoopy doo! Someone gonna teach me how to make coffee? Where have I been going wrong all these years? Silly me, my own coffee must be crap if I m not a qualified "barista" and I dont know how to smell it!!!! Its OK. Only joking!

23 minutes ago, IvanLaw said:

I do ?

After years of hard work

Tis called retirement  ?

?

If its "retirement" then its not "holiday" is it? "Holiday" is a break from work. Please stop being so unnecessarily pedantic!

So to summarise this thread after seven pages. Normal genuine tourists= Allowed in. People trying to live here on a tourist visa= can and should have problems with immigration. Russian and Uzbekistan hookers= now being correctly denied entry.

Think that sums it up perfectly!

7 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

 i knew someone would this bring this up and you did 555

i suspect immo were thinking exactly that

Never one not to call "a shovel a shovel" as it were!  One of the most uncomfortable experiences in Thailand is to wander into the Grace Hotel late at night. Uzbekistan hookers everywhere, someone I know once booked in there without realising and left after one night having paid in advance via Agoda so no refund of course. Good luck for once to Thai Immigration, just hope their clampdown targets the correct ones for once!

3 hours ago, Belzybob said:

You've got it.

 

Any genuine tourist will probably breeze through; but if somebody is suspected to be otherwise, then expect problems.

 

Of all of the recent threads here on the topic, I have yet to see one about a genuine tourist being rejected.

Exactly! My son has visited me from UK every year for the last five years. Stays three weeks. Has return ticket. No problem!

10 hours ago, Mahseer said:

Mate, instead of having a moan why not give the bloke options? I have had many a decent night at Boys Blues Bar and don't have anything against backpackers although to be honest jazz is not really my preference but North Gate is for the bloke to consider and that's why I listed.

Not having a moan. Being realistic and truthful. No point in seeing Chiang Mai arts and culture wise through rose coloured specs, now is there, when we all know its not that good. As I said in my post, its still by far my preferred city to live, its unique in so many ways, but not artistically. Theres nothing like "Saxaphone" music club, or "Brown Sugar" jazz club here, and again as I said, if you want the better music places you have to do Bangkok weekends. Perfectly fair review I think? Cheers!

A bit of straw clutching going on here! Chiang Mai is nowhere near Bangkok, but then again that would be like comparing London to Milton Keynes! Simply cant be done! Theres actually hardly anything goes on here of a "modern cultural" nature ( as distinct from all the "Lanna" type stuff). Theres never, ever been a concert here featuring a major international artist, classical or modern,  despite having some big venues available ( eg the new exhibition centre),  and if Northgate Jazz ( packed with backpackers and you have to stand outside on the pavement most of the time), and Boy Blues Bar ( mostly empty until about 10.30) is the best on offer thats a bit of a sad admission!

Having lived here 12 years, and often jealously missing real culture ( music and art)....but of course Chiang Mai has other good reasons to live here as could never live in the madness that is Bangkok. Therein lies the dilemma !!! Occasional  weekends in Bangkok is the closest I get to a compromise.

5 hours ago, ZeVonderBearz said:

Thai and Indian use most the same spices and herbs. The only things I haven't found in Thailand that are used in Indian cooking is green cardamom and mustard seeds but I'm sure they both are a thing if you know where to look. Think your knickers are twisted. 

Dont think I am. Try offering a meal at an Indian Restaurant to 90% of the Thais you know, and I promise you ll be going alone!

12 hours ago, davehowden said:

I take it from your stupid reply that you don't know of anywhere!

Absolutely not "stupid"....absolutely correct and logical. There is no "Indian Food" culture in Thailand, in fact, most Thais dont like the mix and type of spices used in "Indian Food", therefore dont like "Indian Food", therefore Indian Food such as it is in Chiang Mai  tends to be where the tourists are, ie Downtown, near the Moat area.

By the way the Indian food at Papa Rock/ The Venue is no more than average at best, and in any case, the chap who did the Indian cooking has left hence the change of name. Good luck to Patrick, the owner there, but with the rent and overheads he has to meet I fear hes swimming against the tide making that place profitable 

8 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Rubbish and utter nonsense, "the price you pay" is barely seen in Chiang Mai restaurants. BTW, I'd love to play more but I have a hallway to paint, byee.

Job done! "I rest my case". The power of fact and logic wins as usual! Bye bye!

8 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

A 200 baht pizza, that must be a gourmand delight!

 

And what's this nonsense about hidden taxes, the government sets taxes, not restaurants, the menu's clearly state that VAT is in addition, as they do at many restaurants.

Simoh, you should get out more, and stop hanging out in Dukes all the time! There are excellent Pizzas in any number of places at around the 200/220 ish mark.....oh, and by the way, in case you hadnt noticed, Pizzas are simple fare, theyre never going to be "Gourmet food"! Regarding the taxes, apart from the major hotel chains, and Dukes, almost every restaurant put"the price you pay" on the menu. Its called "net price" so that youre not seen to be fleecing your customers.

By the way, just to clarify my earlier and now much debated post, yes, I can EASILY afford to eat at Dukes, in fact very often eating at much more expensive places when the mood takes me/ us. I dont eat at Dukes because I think baht for baht, and especially when you add on the hidden taxes, the place for me is not good value because I feel the food is average and no more. Who in their right mind would pay 300 baht for a pizza when you can get a better one at several other places for around 200 baht. Its as simple as that! Clear for you now, "Simoh" ?

2 hours ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Is it really defamation and "violation of the computer crimes act" to post an honest review?

 

I do think it might be better to do it on trip advisor or so  management gets a notice and chance to respond.

 

There are so many places now it is pointless to argue who has the best pizza, etc, I like the Dukes pizza also. It isn't cheap. So If a person does not want to pay taxes and service charge why not go elsewhere ?

 

 

NO IT IS NOT! However, a chap I know was threatened by the Dukes owner with a defamation suit simply because he entered a facebook page and said that he didnt think that Dukes pizzas were the best in town! Honestly held views, which in no way criticise the food as such,  doesnt amount to defamation, surely? Unfortunately it seems that Dukes has a bunch of bully type supporters who have a habit of threatening people who dont like the food!

3 minutes ago, elektrified said:

Actually, according to a relative who works at the Prom, farang customers (both those that are there for Immigration and those not), only account for less than 10% of the overall business there. So I doubt that Immigration leaving will have any effect on business at Promenada at all.

So when immigration leaves Promenada the ghost town it is now will stay the same?  Apart from Rimping theres hardly any customers at any shops ever in Promenada! It saddens me to say that by the way, would love it to succeed, but even Uniqlo who are very astute in their retailing practises upped and left !

8 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

If you can't afford to eat at Dukes/Rago, say so, don't waffle and make up pathetic excuses!

Ah Yes, Typical reaction from someone who cant read every word! Now where in my post did I say "cant afford". Of course I can afford. I frequently eat at more expensive restaurants than Mr Dukes establishments, but in those cases the food is both better quality and therefore better value for money!

20 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

The OP's post reeks of things anti-Ragu and anti-Dukes, Ragu has consistently proved to be very good or better in our book for more than a few years, I am not aware of any of their staff who don't speak at least decent level English.

Its not "Anti Dukes", its the fact that all of the "Dukes Empire" ( Dukes, Ragu, River Market) are over priced, most add sleight of hand taxes on top and the food at the whole lot is bang average at best. There you go, Dukes Lovers, you can spend all day tomorrow keyboard warrioring!

2 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

Sorry but NOT OK.  Haven't you read about food cheating? Pure honey revealed to be 47% white sugar; pure olive oil shown to be 15% soy oil; French red wine that's 27% Italian; tuna fish sashimi tested and found to be tilapia.  False labeling and packaging fools many folks worldwide.

 

Only a DNA test will tell the truth.  It's no different from paternity.  You may indeed believe and hope it's cod, but frozen, breaded, deep fried and smeared with vinegar and tartar sauce and served up to a hungry bloke can mask a lot of wrongs.

I never met Toni, probably a swell guy but he's in business to make a profit. Even Toni may be suffering a scam so don't feel too bad.

It LOOKS and TASTES like COD. It says its COD on the box it comes in. Clearly in the minutiae of your suspicious mind, you have a problem....but I dont. Sometimes you have to trust people and in this case I do !!!

Dont like to see Tonis name being taken in vain by people with opinions but no knowledge ( not untypical on TV!). The fish he serves is definitely COD.  Which type of Cod, I have no idea, but it is COD.  I e eaten the stuff numerous times and I ve seen the packaging it comes in! Trade secret where he sources it from ( he wont tell me!) but its definitively COD. OK???????

Yup. From personal experience ( once and never again) they ll probably charge tax and duty more than you paid for them.

Agree with Trujillo ( for once!) "best fish n chips in the uk"...Haha, in his dreams......I m from Yorkshire where you can go to any village and find half a dozen "chippies" all of which produce lovely fish n chips ten times better than anything Kellys has ever produced!

22 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Papa Rock just of the 108/121 intersection used to be good - it has moved to Kad Farang Hang Dong and I haven't tried it there (yet) but I assume the roast is still OK - good roasties and yorkshire pud

Papa Rock just going through big changes. Nicky, the chef, has left, so "his" sunday lunches no longer available. I ve heard that "Papa Rock" as such is no more, and that the owners are changing the name and looking for a new chef.