LazyYogi

Exactly, it's not water that's the problem in Feb/March. It's a lack of rain combined with the locals burning everything in sight that will catch a spark.

It's a very unhealthy time of year to be out cycling...

http://siamandbeyond.com/smoke-pollution-makes-march-the-worst-month-to-visit-chiang-mai-northern-thailand/

This post inspired me to book an on line appointment to renew my passport.........thanks, as there were only 2 days available in Dec and I got mine just in time it seems. The worst thing about the 'new and improved' Consulate is that you can't speak with a human unless it is an extreme emergency. Years past, you could easily find a friendly human to speak with.

I won't even complain about the new fees for a passport @ $110.

and now they charge $80 just to get extra pages...

...used to be free >_<

Interesting development:

- Maya decided to postpone the opening to January.

- Central Department at Kad Suan Keaw will renew the contract as they expect the owner of KSK to renovate the mall.

Well, it's been obvious for a while now that Maya's not going to make their deadline to open in the 3rd quarter of 2013.

Better to have everything set up proper when you open instead of half-assed like Promenada.

With the location, they'll have no shortage of visitors.

I for one am looking forward to having a nice cinema in walking distance from my apartment.

The thing I don't get that I've seen multiple times is Chinese tourists on motorbikes or bicycles waiting on the very far left of the left lane at a red light. Then as soon as the light turns green, they try to turn right, cutting directly in front of 2 lanes of cars that are trying to go straight.

Seen it many times at the Rincome intersection.

Granted, I've seen idiot Thai drivers trying to turn from the wrong lane as well, but never when stopped at a red light on a bike.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

As someone else noted, the statue in the sleeping posture is indeed the Buddha, not his wife.

The Buddha always slept on his right side and also passed away in this position, which is why it is depicted so often.

On a Mac, click on the country flag at the upper right.

Then select "Show Character Viewer" from the drop down menu.

Under the "Latin" category you'll find many variations of every letter in the alphabet, including the ones you're looking for with marks over the vowels.

My ex-wife's mother used to say "khrap" to me. And it annoyed me because I felt like she was talking to me like I was a four-year old kid.

If an older Thai woman talks to you with "khrap" it's not because she's trying to show that she's older and you should respect her.

She's doing it because she assumes you don't know how to speak properly and she can't bring herself to treat you as an adult.

I often overhear Japanese or Korean men using "kha", which I assume is just because they hear it from bar hostesses, waitresses, flight attendants, etc... and nobody ever corrected their pronunciation.

Vashist is a location notorious for hash and ganja smoking.

I'm guessing she was stoned out of her mind, and wasn't thinking clearly when she tried to get back to Manali.

ha-ha. Seriously, I would have thought that China being such a crowded country they would be more aware of vehicle traffic and the need to keep out of the way to prevent getting run over.

Why is it that so many Chinese tourists, when given the choice between walking on the sidewalk (pavement) or walking in the middle of the street in the way of motor vehicles, choose to walk in the middle of the f@#$%g street???

Even if you honk the horn, they seem oblivious to the presence of any cars or motorbikes and make no attempt to get out of the way.

Just a pedantic comment for all you hoping to hop a songthaew or tuk tuk to the new Maya shopping mall once it opens: according to the Thai spelling the name doesn't rhyme with the Central American culture. Think more like the month of "May"+"a".

exactly. who was the genius who decided on the spelling of the place?

Should have spelled it "Meya"

The Tai Yai or Shan language spoken in Shan State of Burma is in the same language family as Thai and Lao.

Burmese, however, is completely different.

Cambodian (Khmer) is also entirely different from Thai, although they use similar alphabets, and Thai has a number of loanwords originating in Khmer.

Vietnamese and Malaysian are both totally different from Thai as well.

CM108.com is reporting on their facebook page that a corpse was found in the moat in the vicinity of Chiang Mai Gate this morning around 10:30am.

The body is a male over the age of 30. And according to the story, people in the area recognized him as a person who regularly comes to drink in the area, and he also happens to be the son of a policeman. They think he was drunk since yesterday.

Quite sad, and also another good reason to avoid the moat water if you can.

39 in one day is less than the daily average for the year.

Approx 20,000 / 365 = 54 per day.

Actually the average is about 70 per day according to Thailands own traffic minister.

I for one don't believe the 'official' figure of 39 at all. A friend of wifeys works in the Highway Police and just smiles that Thai smile when we talk about driving here and says well over a hundred die everyday.

Seriously, how come the news stories never make any mention of the regular daily average number of road deaths throughout the year?

Wikipedia lists Thailand at 19.6 annual road deaths per 100,000 people.

If we use their population estimate for 2011 of 66,720,153 people. That gives...

66,720,153 x 19.6 /100,000 = 13,077 per year/365 = 35.8 road deaths per day on average.

which would put the first day of Songkran only 3 over par for the course.

You guys do realize today's date is April 1, don't you?

Nice try though

The rain this week and last week is definitely helping.

Yeah, I just spotted a group of about 100 men on motorbike and foot headed down Chang Klan road towards downtown.

They were carrying signs reading "We love prophet Muhammad "

And they were dragging a US flag along the ground.

Really?

Yes. I was just sitting in a coffe shop, and saw them all head past.

It was all men and a few boys. I didn't notice any women in the group.

It was quite offensive the way they dragged the flag on the ground , but I'm not stupid enough to get in a confrontation.

It was a good sized flag too, maybe 1x2 meters or thereabouts.

Yeah, I just spotted a group of about 100 men on motorbike and foot headed down Chang Klan road towards downtown.

They were carrying signs reading "We love prophet Muhammad "

And they were dragging a US flag along the ground.

Oasis looks ridiculously over-priced.

I think I might try Cheeva Spa. Their packages seem reasonably priced, and they have lots of great reviews on Trip Advisor.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a Spa to take my girlfriend to as a treat?

I'm thinking someplace that would have a package Skin Treatment/Aromatherapy Massage, etc...

with a pleasant atmosphere.

Somewhere nice, so she feels pampered...but not TOO expensive.

I put a new app together for the iPhone that has a nice little collection of Thai slang, curses, dating phrases, etc...

It's mostly just for fun, so don't hurt yourself by actually using anything in it to start a fight with someone

You can find it in the App Store for download here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speak-thai-slang/id542915154?mt=8

And I did a little write up about the app here: http://womenlearnthai.com/index.php/the-speak-thai-slang-ios-app/

I started up a new YouTube channel and website to create a series of short Thai video lessons.

The website is: www.twominutethai.com

You can also watch the videos from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwoMinuteThai

Or straight from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TwoMinuteThai/videos

I would like to hear feedback from anyone, including what topics people are most interested in.

Actually the particular color of the cow is for religious reasons, which I don't really expect to make sense to anyone else.

But thanks anyways for all the relpies.

i wonder if it might be a striped kukri snake.

http://bangkokherps.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/striped-kukri-snake/