Blinky Bill

Apparently Lucky ran out of luck-  kidnapped by Max's missus family and 'lapped' near Lampang!! RIP+

                    Fosa

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Unlucky Lucky. Max almost suffered the same fate........

The fat black pig was named Lucky probably due to the fact that he hadn't ended up on the Bar-b-que. I'm not sure what happened to him in the end. Probably tasted delicious.

Max is still about.....Haven't heard of John for years.

Yea, the good old days when you could sit in the Karen Hut bar and listen to Frank sing and then wander down the little soi, past HRH eating (s'cuse me, saweooy ahaan) at the Coq D'or and visit My Place and soon enough Frank would be there singing. And then walk down and across the moat to Lovebirds where soon enough Frank would be singing again. And finally to Oasis where Frank did not sing. And then if you were really feeling bad you could visit the Welshman's place, long the lowest common demoninator of the tiny ex-pat community.

My favorite was the mid-80s Cottage Bar hosted by Phii Khao, one of the few ex-pat bars without the hostesses.  A drinkers bar frequented by the teachers, a large component of the ex-pat community back then, as well as off-duty free lancers looking to take a break from business and have a drink, and the gay pals of the owner coming in between cabaret shows at the Blue Moon.

There were also a few Thai bars that all seemed to have an American western/cowboy theme and although Thai speaking Farangs were welcome, they just weren't all that entertaining after the first hour unless you happened to like country music.

And in the afternoon you could sit around the pool at the Prince hotel where all the girls who worked at the ex-pat and tourist bars congregated to swim and gossip during the day.

I can only say that the bars back then had a different character than today, but then Chiang Mai as a whole had a radically different character as well, a far more Khon Muang character.

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Saw old Philipino Frank in a CM bar a few years ago, he wasn't singing, we talked of the old daze, fond memories. Hope he has added a few more songs to his repertoire of Johnny Horton and Hank Williams Senior tunes.

If only this were to happen..  Via 2Bangkok I found a link to an old (but not that old) map showing a planned railway line from Chiang Mai to Burma..

What a lovely idea!

Cheers,

Chanchao

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The plan was put together by the Japanese Government but they ran out of labourers back in 1945.

Back in the early 80's in Chiang Mai there was the Karen Hut Bar, My Place Bar(the original) and Oasis Bar, all long gone.

And of course The Pub on Huay Kaew which is still there although it'll never be the same as in the days of Nigel and Darunee Parker who sold it off to Peter and Nai Bachman. The latter used to amuse the customers by throwing ashtrays, glasses and any other heavy object they could lay their hands on at each other. The customers were mostly resident tobacco and various Foreign Aid agency expats who all made a very interesting and amusing group.

Nowadays there are hundreds of bars throughout Chiang Mai aimed at the tourist and ex-pat crowd, seems that most have more staff than customers. Not too many have any real character.

BB

The new Queen Victoria Inn by far. They would have to have the most pleasant and friendly bar staff of any bar I know. If you are a beer drinker (I'm not) they probably have the best range in town on tap. Great atmosphere, and an exrensive menu, and what's more it's spotless!!

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WOW, thats some advert

Have you got shares in it by any chance?

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Is nobody allowed an opinion but you ThaiPoorly?