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Everything posted by NorthernRyland
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The downhill trajectory of Chiang Mai immigration
NorthernRyland replied to NorthernRyland's topic in Chiang Mai
Not saying it's the worst thing in the world just reflecting on how it's gotten worse over the years and will continue on this path. It's trend in the city and something to consider. -
I was watching a video on YouTube of a guy in Khon Kaen and he showed the new immigration building. Huge building and large open parking lot. Looked pretty much empty. How nice that would be. This made me reflect on the Chiang Mai immigration office. First time I went was in 2006 but Google only has images going back to 2011 but I don't think much changed by then. Back then I only used the small building on the right and even if it got full it didn't feel crowded or hectic. Parking was trivial but I only had a motorbike back then and cars seemed to find places within the grounds proper. I forget but I think they had a simple queue number and just came up and handed over the papers then came back when it was done. Fast forward to today and the old building is now dedicated to solely for Burmese and the rest of the people go to the new building on the left (see second picture). Parking is a non-option now and you need to park across the street and pay 20 baht then cross over the busy road (at least they made a cross walk with a light). During the peak season unless you get there before they open you're probably going to have to come back after their lunch break and there is a pre-scanning process outside before you even go inside. Seating is often so full you need to wait outside. Very hectic and stressful now. They had to add a drive-thru line for 90 day reports and the copy/scanner building is located around the back where before it was right next to the main building (where the coffee shop is now I think, under that large tree). It's a ticking time bomb. It gets worse every year and eventually the outside parking is going to be filled too. Hectic and slow as to be expected given the volume of people. Even so they seem dedicated to this location probably because it's so close to the airport and easy for tourists. 2024. Look at those wires now too. The median in the road (behind the picture) which had nice trees is all concrete now too. Uglier and top of it, except that tree has gotten much bigger but you know they're going to cut that down eventually too.
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They're coming for you man! I see people roaming around in places I never saw before and it's happening fast.
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Oh great even more of them. The whole world has descended on Chiang Mai now. Not what I signed up for.
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Who are those people who ride around bicycles and wear the black slacks and white shirts? Mormons? They I also see some women who often wear dresses and have this little skull cap thing like the Jewish men wear. They're some Christian sect but not sure which one. I see both of these from time to time in Chiang Mai. In fact a friend of my wives dad was a Thai Christian and I wen to his funeral at "church" in Chiang Mai. It was really bizarre the preacher there was even soliciting during the funeral which was in really bad taste.
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I only ever go out in the evenings after the sun has dimmed. I always time it so I have 2 hours and arrive back just before dark so the time I leave depends on the time of year. This fits my schedule but if you're an early riser of course go in the morning but the sun is harder to avoid then. Problem is when it rains in the evening I miss that day or get resolve to get soaked but that's the rainy season for me (like today).
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Gotta get away from them. Had a nice storm this evening. Got soaked but now it's a cool 22C outside and peaceful. Life is pretty good.
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Within the first minute she dodges the EQUITY part and gives a definition for equality. Comments disabled for a reason! This is a racial quota system intended to distribute races more equally in an organization. HR people are now being hired and paid to help fill this quota. Once again state mandated low standards for Americans. Total tyranny, no free doming of association. It's a disaster for Americans who just wanted to be left alone.
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It doesn't matter if there were some Africans in the Roman army in some select locations. BBC has done similar things with the findings of a single black person in some city and by that they can extrapolate and say "see, it was always diverse and you're just racist and ignorant for complaining your town looks like Lagos when it was all white when you were growing up" The purpose of this propaganda is twofold, first is to disposes the English of their heritage so they can't not claim full outright ownership of their country and second to give the Africans their importing in to the country a sense that they belong. If this was happening to any other group you would see it clearly for what it is, i.e. part of a larger cultural cleansing project aimed at a dispossessing a people from their homelands.
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ha that's funny you mention that. Some years ago (before COVID even) there was a woman sitting next to coughing and sounding extremely ill. I started wearing masks during air travel then as an experiment to avoid getting sick and the woman out of courtesy told me she had the "cancer cough" and wasn't infectious. Made me feel better at least that I wasn't going to get what she had and spoil my summer vacation back home. Hope she pulled through ok.
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My uncle got bronchitis last year and it's not gone away ever since. I suspect it's a lifelong illness now. He's 73 and lives in Pai which has some of the most extreme smoke anywhere in Thailand, I'm talking days where it's 400+ AQI and thick like fog. Not sure where this goes but it has seriously impacted his quality of life. He was in Pai for 23 years and made it this far.
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What is up with tattoos and tourists / expats here?
NorthernRyland replied to Maxbkkcm's topic in General Topics
When I ever I see tattoos on Thai people it's also a person from the nightlife scene or lower-class "thug" looking youths. Never do see a normal or middle class Thai person with them. -
What is up with tattoos and tourists / expats here?
NorthernRyland replied to Maxbkkcm's topic in General Topics
More are coming though. Usually those types found Chiang Mai too boring and backwards so they stayed in Bangkok, Phuket etc... but now that the city is growing they're find a place for themselves. They're still out numbered by the unusually large amount of female travelers and backpacker types but I've seen a noticeable increase around the major tourist spots. -
What is up with tattoos and tourists / expats here?
NorthernRyland replied to Maxbkkcm's topic in General Topics
This just popped up on YouTube. Textbook example. Thailand attracts these people in droves. It's strange because they don't reflect anything about Thai society yet the country calls to them. I guess if you were driven so strongly by ego you could stand out in Thailand even more and get more of that gratification you were after. -
What is up with tattoos and tourists / expats here?
NorthernRyland replied to Maxbkkcm's topic in General Topics
Tattoos are mainly a function of urbanization, wealth and atomization of families. When people become detached from community they lose their group identity and seek to define and project themselves through other means. It's not only body art, it's piercing, clothing, trinkets like watches and luxury goods like cars. There's even luxury believes now which are most prominent in urban areas, basically "woke" and all those high-minded liberal ideals. I would even say that the various sexual identities like trans and general homosexuality fall into this category too. Notice when you leave cities how the people change. Suddenly they become more uniform and project less of themselves and their egos on to the outside world. This is because they're more rooted in their families and tending to their basic needs in life. No time for all these other things which occupy the minds of people who are more wealthy and have more provided for them. -
Try this out. Chiang Dao. That road is bananas to drive up if you had a motorbike but would suck on car cause it's so narrow. I saw some women bungalows you could rent.