NorthernRyland

Do you know the average wage in Thailand? Why not try to fit in a little and be modest?

The hospital if horrible I'm sure but "just washing with a hose" is more sanitary by far. I really wish people in the west would be able to understand this.

Thai police are an institutional cargo cult. They wear uniforms and occupy offices with police-like appearance but they don't actually serve the function of the police. The Thai public if asked would say they have police but they're part of the cargo cult also that doesn't know the difference between actual police and people that wear police costumes. I cringe a little whenever I meet a Thai cop because they're such a joke but they don't even know it. It's a real sad state of affairs to be sure.

50% of gun deaths in the US are suicides. Looking at "gun deaths" doesn't show the full the picture.

I think the majority of gun deaths are suicide and then following that it's homicides by gangs (mainly black and then "hispanic" to a lesser degree). The high profile mass shootings in the 5+ range are a tiny fraction of the gun deaths yet that's all the media reports on. Does Thailand have more domestic gun violence than the US though? That would be interesting to know.

On the contrary, this is exactly why Thailand is 3rd world. They've imported foreign institutions like rule of law but they lack the ability to actually implement it properly.

Last week my neighbor cut down a tree on his property and systemically cut it in to pieces and burned every last twig down to charcoal. Stunk like hell all day for 4 days but guess what? no one cares except for pesky farangs that don't understand Thai culture. Obviously Thailand is going up in smoke. That's what they want isn't it?

but where will all the mean middle aged women go when they lose their jobs?

I'm a huge proponent of a colonial police force since Thai's are so useless here. Chinese though? no way. Someone more honorable like Japanese or any number of European/Anglo countries would be perfect.

Your choices are to drive yourself and let them to kill you or drive with them and they kill you anyways. Choose wisely nappy haired hippy adventurer, that blunt may be your last.

CM is too big to figure out in that time frame. I would stay for a couple days in each major area of the city, starting from most dense to most rural and see where you're comfortable. 100% you need to get on your bike or have a vehicle otherwise you'll see very little. Remember some places will make it impossible for good cycling because you'll be trapped in urban sprawl and the good roads will be unreachable. Much of CM is like that actually so you need to be extremely careful where you live if you're a cyclist. If cycling is your majority priority in retirement I would now considering avoiding CM because the major roads bisect everything and make it difficult to travel far outside your area comfortably.

dude are you being serious? I know Thai's like to gamble but I'm never actually seen these rituals.

indeed. Air was good there in March so there's that.

on second thought I should say that road is actually really dangerous also because it's a major shipping artery for all the hill tribes that live back there and need to get produce into Chiang Mai. I've seen multiple accidents and commonly people are driving on the wrong side of the road around corners because they're going so fast. Massive transport trucks are common during harvest also which are a nightmare to get stuck behind. I've seen multiple wrecks and in fact the first time I took it we almost got pushed off the side of the mountain by some truck. yeah so no place is safe sadly.

I saw a story a couple weeks ago of an Italian man in Chiang Mai which freaked out after there neighbor wouldn't stop burning and ended up attacking and breaking the sons nose. Specially the Thai people cited how he was not friendly and integrated into the moo ban. I agree this goes a long way to resolving problems. If OP doesn't know the people and the neighbors he should get mediation otherwise they may take it as some pesky Farang not fitting in a behaving badly.

for what it's worth I used to watch a Thai construction channel on YouTube and I remember him stating very clearly you can not encroach on the neighbors land in Thailand. In fact my wife's parents house had some neighbors which built right up to the wall and built a roof extending over their outdoor kitchen which attached to the wall and would spill water on to his property when it rained. They did get it resolved but it's disheartening there are people her who would ever consider this proper. 100% go to the village head and have him mediate this for you because it's common Thai people will get nasty and passive aggressive if you confront them, even if they're clearly wrong according to the law.

Yeah it's kind of a challenge for a car and you can get behind trucks you can't pass for miles so a bike makes sense. I see many touring bikes pass by that way (I stay in Samoeng often).

The one thing Kom Pot had hands down over Chiang Mai was the vast assortment of foreign owned restaurants. Cambodia makes it easy for anyone to setup a shop and get to work so those options are great. Sadly Thailand is too tight-fisted and most people won't even bother or can't afford to the staff and headaches. The prices were extremely expensive compare to anything else but still a novelty. Still won't be going back ever again though.

There is another road from Samoeng which passes through Wat Chan. It's amazing and the condition is great (now) but the crazies will find that too. Takes another 2 hours or so which will deter most people but the tourist traffic through Samoeng is picking up now and I see people coming from that direction which probably means from Pai.

The "far right" aka a normal person from 20 years ago.

I stayed 20 days in Cambodia. Very depressing place except little highlights. There seems to be dual economies, one for the rich and tourists and everyone else, no good middle ground like Thailand. Money for value is better in Thailand across the board. EDIT: I think beer was cheaper actually, but I don't drink so I'm not sure. Cigs could be the same. All due to taxes of course.

that's what kills me the most. They KNOW people are doing this and yet they're powerless to stop it. The most basic driving 101: don't drive on the wrong side of the road is totally ignored and tolerated. Thai police are beyond useless. I don't know if they'll ever take action.

I visit family in Pai often and got to see some gnarly crashes. Worst one was a larger sized bus that went off the road on the last steep curve before dropping in to the valley. It hit a massive tree which peeled off the entire top of the bus so it looked like a safari touring vehicle. I was biking up the road to the checkpoint as I like to do and saw a body with blood still in their seat after everyone had been removed. I know the driver and one passenger died so I bet that was her. Another time I saw a truck carrying eggs crash at that same curve and deposited a mountain of smashed eggs on the side of the road. It stuck like hell for 2 weeks as I rode past it. That's the most dangerous curve and to their credit they built some beefy concrete barriers since then.

Thank you so much I appreciate your long thoughtful comments also. 😄

If anyone has ever been on this ride you know exactly why this happened. Absolute lunatic drivers which are guaranteed to get you killed eventually. Not the first time and not the last. Avoid at all costs. Renting a private car is 100% worth the money. I don't understand why Thailand can't get control of their road safety problems but I am glad to see many of the Thai commenters know exactly how dangerous these drivers and avoid themselves as well. https://www.facebook.com/100064402730843/posts/pfbid02hsshuSdEc2S538awMFhng4oGkcKoWBQWWhVhbvugdrmHAwWmXSZvUCbUDjBsd5hpl/?mibextid=Nif5oz