BFD

I just wanted to put out a recommendation for Chiangmai Furnished Apartments (.com). I won the draw for a three-night stay, and I took my girlfriend there earlier this month. While all the apartments aren’t finished yet, I think this place will be a mainstay in Chiangmai for a long time to come. I should clairify that I have no financial interests in the place at all; I won the contest and told the owner that I’d post my thoughts here on ThaiVisa.

Pros:

Extremely friendly service (even went out for drinks with the owner, although his liver might explode if he did that with all his customers)

Great location (5 min walk from night bazaar)

Beautifully equipped apartment:

TV/DVD/Speaker system, great kitchen facilities (full-sized fridge, stove, toaster, kettle, cookware/cutlery/etc) tasteful design, food already in the fridge, great security (with imported locks, so folks can’t just go down the street and get a copyof the key), more stuff that I can’t remember.

Price (hey, it was free!)

In all, the overall benefit of this place is autonomy. If you don’t like eating the food from your hotel/guesthouse lobby, you can cook for yourself here. If you don’t like the fact that the only movie being played in the common room is ‘I, Robot’, you can put on something good in your own room. I rented a motorcycle from a place just down the road and had a degree of freedom which I don’t even have at my apartment in Bangkok (just too afraid to drive here!). This applies doubly if you already live in Chiangmai and have folks coming to visit you; giving them the ability to fend for themselves will help with their sanity and your own. A word about price; of course, I stayed there for free, so I can’t complain at all. However, even if I had paid, I would have found it to be great value. I stayed in what’s called a ‘Small One-Bedroom’, which is 1760B/night, with service charge. Definitely on the more expensive side of accommodation in Chiangmai, but I tell you right now that it is worth it for the benefits of autonomy.

Cons:

Too bright in the mornings

Too hot

Hard to find (first time)

I feel I must put in the caveat here that these cons are pretty subjective. In other words, my girlfriend had no problems with the lighting and was cold, rather than hot (I’m a robust sort, so I’m always too hot). Similarly, I quite possibly have the world’s worst sense of direction, so ‘hard to find’ applies to everything from distant locations to my bathroom in the dark.

Again, I have no interests in this place; I just had an excellent stay there and wanted to spread the word. If you have other questions about my stay there, feel free to PM me.

BFD!

I recommend Khun Jee who has over 10 years experience teaching Thai and did in fact first started teaching at Jentana's school.

I finally got ahold of Khun Jee and she does sound experienced but I think her rate of 700 baht per hour is ridiculous.

I think you might really like going to Somchart language school. It is on Suk 11

Thanks, I have talked to them and it sounds good, just need to drop by and get set up.

Just to clarify, girlx, Jee doesn't charge 700 baht per hour. It's 467 baht per hour, which is pretty close to what I think is the standard. The 700 baht figure comes from the fact that her lessons are 1.5 hours long, which gives a good opportunity for cognitive impressions to set in (of course, this varies for everyone).

For further clarification, I have no financial interest in her business or anything like that; I simply find her a good teacher and a good person. Honestly, I have nothing but good things to say about her as a teacher and I cannot recommend her enough.

Hopefully this clears things up. Anyone thinking about taking lessons would do much worse than having an experienced teacher who has written her own books and is willing to travel to your house to teach you.

Sorry to not do this over PM, but I don't want the misinformation to be spread.

BFD!

The Two Towers - You Know Who!

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Is 'couth' the opposite of 'uncouth'? As in, could I say 'The prim and proper ladies at the Pink & Black Ball were extremely couth'?

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Why do Canadian travelers absolutely MUST have a Canadian flag on their rucksacks?

Those people are usually American pretending to be Canadian.

Just jokes, by the way.

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Totally agree that emulation is the way to go. You really don't even need a 'good computer'. I used to run a SNES emulator flawlessly on a p3 1000, with 256mb ram. This kinda thing you can get for peanuts at MBK (possibly less than a SNES itself, plus you get a computer and all the games you could ever think of). I realize the nostalgia-factor for a real SNES, but emulation really is a viable option for you.

BFD!

I'm like a small, helpless little girl when it comes to spiders of any description. It defies all logic, as I am a rather large western male who is not afraid to skydive, bungee jump, or eat scorpians, snakeblood, etc.

I must have had some crazy experience with spiders when I was a young 'un.

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If Samuel Beckett were alive today, what would he think of Three's Company re-runs?

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Stink (Short Version) - Get Shorty Soundtrack

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Ditto for hockey. Say what you will about the Oilers, but man I had some good times in that building.

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Haw! Awesome advice. Thanks kindly!

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Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to get from Udon Thani to Luangprabang? I know the Udon airport is only domestic, but would I really have to fly back to Bangkok to get a flight up to Luangprabang?

I'm going to be in the Udon area around the 20th of June, and I'd like to spend a few days in Laos, with speed and convenience of travel being the important factors.

Thanks,

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Over population is certainly the root of all other problems the world is facing, but by the time it's apparent to everyone it will be too late...

Here's a riddle for all you TV geniuses: if pond scum doubles in size every day and it takes 100 days to cover the pond, on which day will the pond be half covered?

Wayne Gretzky Day.

I answer riddles with riddles.

BFD!

Sorry, can't help with the 5-bladed version.

Once, I was being interviewed by a reporter for a weekly culture magazine in Canada. he asked my what my biggest lifestyle change would be in I ever 'hit it big' with my then-current band. I told him that the biggest change I would make would be that I'd use a fresh mach3 (both blade and handle) every time I shaved. Turns out, the guy's dad was the owner of a Shopper's Drug Mart and he gave me a crapload of the replaceable blades in exchange for free admission to my band's shows for awhile. The band broke up shortly after that, but I've only recently run out of replacement blades!

BFD!

Mach 3 for me- rarely cuts, blades are a bloody rip off tho'

Absolutely. At least this isn't another case of price disparity; I remember them being crazy expensive in Canada as well.

That said, I will not use any other type of razor, bank balance be damned!

BFD!

This is just awesome. From the descriptions, I don't feel the slightest bit of sympathy for this spoiled brat. I do hope, however, that at some point he realizes how trivial 'his' seat is. I'm not a particularly malicious person, but when I encounter someone like this, I just can't help but push their buttons for a little while.

Bravo to the OP and other TV pranksters!

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My spelling is absolutely horrible. I have no difficulty reading, but I get all mixed up when it comes to dictation. Then again, I've only been learning for about 8 months, so maybe I should just relax.

I guess it's just a matter of more practice...

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oh god its the old guy who doesn't live in thailand but spends 4 hours a day on thai visa complaining about thailand.

I just gotta say:

That was pretty funny.

To stay on topic, I have had experience with both sets of kids. What I mean is that I have taught the rich luuk krungs and the fullblooded Thais and have indeed found a discrepancy, as the OP mentioned.

I don't have any kids, nor do I intend to have any, so I can't offer any real advice. However, I would hazard a guess that frequent trips to the less-fortunate areas of Thailand might have a beneficial effect. If the Thai half of the marriage has the good fortune (!?) of being from a poor area, the son/daughter could really learn a lot from grandma and grandpa's house.

BFD!

Or you can PM me.

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they dont charge any delivery charge or markup on the eat in menu price of the restaurant/bar.

. . . . so how do they make any profit??

That's a good question.

In fact, they DO charge 60 baht per delivery; it says so right on your receipt. However, the markup is still even less than that of FoodByPhone (I even have a FBP VIP card).

BFD!

Been here nearly two years. Came at the age of 25.

My current plan is a 'Five-Year MINIMUM'. On the one hand, I don't want to limit myself to some sort of maximum stay, saying "If I haven't blah, blah, blah within 3 years, I'm out of here". On the other hand, I don't think anything less than 5 years is giving a place a fair enough chance to get to know it.

Back to the original topic: yes, I feel that my experience thus far have made me appreciate Thailand more. The priorities have definitely shifted. In other words, I like certain things more now than when I arrived and certain things less than when I arrived (ie. I don't find the women as 'shockingly' beautiful anymore; I can't shrug off traffic jams like I could when I was a tourist vs I can speak the language, and I am finally getting an appreciation for the food).

So yes, I would move here in a heartbeat with my current supply of knowledge of life here in Siam.

BFD!

Hmm, never heard of that, but I usually am ordering at least 500 baht worth of food (my TGF can eat twice that without stopping for breath!).

BFD!

can anyone recommend a private thai teacher in banglamphu or near siam square?

I am using Jentana (you can find her using Google.) on Suk Soi 31. The school will send a teacher to you for one-on-one lessons.

I recommend Khun Jee who has over 10 years experience teaching Thai and did in fact first started teaching at Jentana's school.

I have recommended her to a number of Thaivisa members who I gather are very happy with their progress.

You will find it hard to find a teacher with this kind of experience - when I used schools including Jentana's the teachers had minimal experience and could not answer my questions.

Her costs are also reasonable compared to any of the schools.

I will PM you her contact details.

Cheers BB

I second this recommendation, and I believe it was Balthazar who originally recommended Jee to me. Honestly, no complaints whatsoever. I have taken lessons for about 8 months now. She's extremely personable, but also can be a hardass if that what you need to stay motivated.

BFD!

I have no sympathy for the old man he should just sign the papers IMO

Don't think anyone was aking for your sympathy.

Good call! I hate it when posters come in here and just rattle off judgments, when the original post was just trying to generate discussion.

In my opinion, opinions should stay out of it.

Er..., that didn't sound right, did it?

Anyway, don't sign anything without a lawyer present. That goes for any crime, any country, any language!

BFD!

Well, if he told you that this story happened to him 'a few days ago', then he obviously got out of jail before the 3-4 months.

Either way, if it were me, I wouldn't sign <deleted>. That is, if I didn't already know how to read Thai. My rationale would be that they were obviously making me agree to something EVEN WORSE than the hot, sweaty room. From what I understand, many Thai police officials get 'accolades' when longstanding unsolved cases are finally 'solved'. For all an illiterate person would know, they are admitting to a murder that occurred in 1993.

So no, I wouldn't sign. Especially since I could read it and tell them how ridiculous it was. One more reason to learn the language, I guess. However, I really hope I don't have to ever use it for THAT purpose!

BFD!