swain

Much as I love it, Chiang Mai became unliveable for me & my (Thai) girlfriend, because of the smoke.

If I had been rich I would simply have left for 3 months of the year, but that wasn't an option.

The choice was to stay & suffer (& complain) or leave.

I left.

I now live in Cambodia, where there is no smoke (the Khmers don't burn their rice - it obviously isn't necessary), and no visa problems incidentally.

How is the living there. Smokes not an issue.. but how is the quality of life outside of the fact you can breath. Any regrets? I am thinking of exploring this as an option as well.

I would like to hear from someone that got a Haier air conditioner and had problems and what they were and how did they get it serviced. Everything can break.. this is the nature of electronics but I have yet to hear from someone that has had a negative experience besides from someone that might be motivated by a higher commission on their next sale. Cheap does not always mean garbage. Look at the Magicjack its VOIP at its cheapest and its like the number one selling voip device in america and I cant live with out mine.

Anyone else found a second choice on purchasing a Haier Air Con. Read those negative reviews about Siam TV and I am having second thoughts about buying from them. Still looking for other dealers of Haier Air Cons.

They are unreliable I am told... and Siam have had many problems with them - selling very few as a result - typical of much of the junk made in China

I guess I have been lucky.. though I have seen others that have had the same luck.. never spoke to someone that had problems. The reviews coming from the USA on Haier products have been very positive. The one thing that might support your assessment is the fact that its hard to find them. My understanding is that they dont have much of a profit margin so the people selling them don't make as much as the major brands.

I know they maybe be biased if the margins are low - I only reflect the guy in Siam yesterday - I specifically went there to have a look at them - I asked him and he said they had had problems with units they had sold. So who knows if he's BSing or not but it is of concern 'íf' they go wrong getting the support here. Bit like Mazda - Thais don't like them but they are perfectly good - Thais hate new products - unreasonable but TIT

Anyone else found a second choice on purchasing a Haier Air Con. Read those negative reviews about Siam TV and I am having second thoughts about buying from them. Still looking for other dealers of Haier Air Cons.

They are unreliable I am told... and Siam have had many problems with them - selling very few as a result - typical of much of the junk made in China

I guess I have been lucky.. though I have seen others that have had the same luck.. never spoke to someone that had problems. The reviews coming from the USA on Haier products have been very positive. The one thing that might support your assessment is the fact that its hard to find them. My understanding is that they dont have much of a profit margin so the people selling them don't make as much as the major brands.

Anyone else found a second choice on purchasing a Haier Air Con. Read those negative reviews about Siam TV and I am having second thoughts about buying from them. Still looking for other dealers of Haier Air Cons.

Thank god for negative ion air filters. Which is great for watching tv, working on the computer etc... but really wasn't one of the reasons for coming to Thailand to experience the culture outside of your air cleaned bubble. Maybe we should be posting hotels and guest houses with air purifiers and portable oxygen tanks or masks.

I should have bought two when they were so cheap.. too bad.. the reviews I have been reading about Haier in the USA are very positive.

Btw... was out in San Patong n Hang Dong in various places this afternoon, and all of the Lam Yai trees are blooming. Major pollen times with some plants out here now. You could be suffering allergies as well. Itchy-watery eyes, throat, n sneezing are all symptoms of that as well.

Yes of course... you nailed it...

I dont think you have to worry much about that... breathing on the other hand.....

Burning season...

I've heard they're a bit noisy. Is this so?

I got the same deal 9000 BTU the low price of 8900 baht. It was on sale at Big C but I ask about this now at Big C and they say they never sold it. I guess it was a dream. A nice dream, quiet, effective, has an ionizer that you can turn on and off too that works very well. They could have made the remote a little bigger but thats the only complaint I have. I love it and when you find where you can get one let me know as well. I will check SIam TV.

I would definitely buy, you can find something for about 10-15k (with papers) use it for this amount of time and sell it very close to what you bought it for. Renting has all kinds of issues associated with it. I just picked up a Honda mio for 15k with papers, automatic and in good shape. There are some good markets to go to find one such as the San Patong market out in San Patong on Saturday from 6am to 12pm (noon). If you are looking for just something to get you around you could find many as cheap as 5000 baht that are not stolen but are behind in their tax payments. So if you were to register it, it might have 2-5k in fees that might have to be paid. I have been pulled over once in 8 years and it was for a helmet not because my bike was not up to date on its taxes. Wear a helmet and if you have the misfortune of being pulled over, be polite pay the fee (200 baht) and be on your way.

Because of the economy you will find a lot of motivated sellers. Best time to buy.

I like the the feel of Thailand. I like that I am not constantly aware of the government intruding on my life. When I was in Los Angeles I would see police constantly. Got a tickets for jay walking, for speeding, for parking, for smoking ( not me but friends ), for not having a helmet on (not 200 baht but close to 200 dollars) and on and on. They were constantly hammering you down.. Got to a point you may have forgotten tickets that you needed to pay so warrents would be out for your arrest if you got pulled over. You lived in fear of the police..

Not so here... This is nice... and not so nice.. I like it this way.. but its universal if I want the police to ticket the idiots that are doing the burning as it is against the law and enforce liter laws. I have to say I want all the intrusions like the USA, which I don't. Someone told me its the difference of paying 400 baht for burning and 550 baht for the disposal of the waste after a crop of rice comes in with out burning.. I don't know if this was a day or in total.

I dont know what the solution is... seems like everyone has to breath.. so it should be everyones concern.

Yes, yes a life is exactly what I want to have. That would be the problem. I do live here and do have my life here. When I was a child... once in a while someone would be burning leaves in my neighborhood.. This was a pleasant smell and one I fondly remember as a smell I associate with fall. This burning in Chiang Mai is nothing like this. Lately its been constant and choking. If your thinking about coming to Chiang Mai during the next three months you should seriously consider this before coming. Chiang Mai is a very nice place for the most part but I suggest you seriously consider someplace else if you have a heart condition or are asthmatic. If your eyes are sensitive to smoke and or you are sensitive to the smell of burning agricultural waste.

We had a very nice winter here and this is really the best time to come.

Amazing game... I could watch that again!

Don't get too uppity ... its been ok... still too much burning for my taste.

Rose cafe gets my vote too! Breakfast is top notch, one large HD TV and a smaller one the other end. You won't be disappointed if you go there.

Just a shame about the quality of the UBC signal not being HD. I have a 55" Samsung LED at home, I never watch sports on it because the picture is just no good. Basically in Thailand the bigger and better your TV is, the worse the picture will look because of the low grade SD signal.

You'll be better of chosing where to go looking at what else is offered, rather that whether ther is a HD tv or not.

You can get quality HD streams off the net.. and direct them to you TV. Super bowl as well... you just have to have a good internet connection.

Music is not books. Everybody listens to music and numerous people have large collections - many want to have the best sound possible and are willing to keep upgrading to new technologies in order to get it.

However, very few people read more than a few books a year and they do not want to have to buy an expensive machine in order to do so. Besides that, after centuries of use books are already pretty close to being perfect for their purpose. So far, attempts to recreate them electronically have failed dismally - they are just not as comfortable as a real book - and maybe they never will be.

As grandad use to tell me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

For someone who is down on digital media as you seem to be.. you are online reading quite a bit. On your computer or laptop... You seem fairly comfortable with it as your posts would suggest. I think you are a closet digital media addict tied to a dated delivery service for survival.

Wow... doom and gloom... digital books will bring and are bringing literature to many who who might have never have had a chance to access it before. The . I have one dvd that has over 13,000 books on it. This is more exciting than the internet itself..

13,000 books how ridiculous how many of these books have you read or do you think you are going to read?

I have a friend who is obsessed with downloading music, he has thousands and thousands of songs downloaded but never gets the time to listen to them I'll ask him if he has listened to the latest album by [insert artist] and he always says "yeah I've downloaded it but haven't listened to it yet.

How many books does the average person read in a year, I'm an avid reader but I'm pushed to read a hundred or so a year I'm sure for the majority it is a lot less.

For me to much choice is a negative not a positive.

Too much choice is a negative.. Don't even know how to respond to that. I picked up the DVD in bangkok for a couple of hundred baht. I have read two from the DVD. But, I know there is always something I can find when I interested. I don't spend hours downloading everything. For me having unlimited choices is what makes the internet and this new medium so exciting.

Looking for one with breakfast buffet... best drink specials... and if its not too much trouble a foot massage at half time...

Wow... doom and gloom... digital books will bring and are bringing literature to many who who might have never have had a chance to access it before. The dream of a laptop for every child has this at its very core. You dont need a Kindle to access these books.. you can do it on your laptop, your cheapest desktop and net books, handhelds, blackberry's, cell phones... There are services that will print out your digital books for the people that just cant handle reading a LCD screen. Digital libraries and Digital used book stores.. I see a service like netflicks but with books... and you don't have to wait for the cd to arrive...

Vast collections, complete works of the masters on one blue ray dvd... Its amazing how little a huge book takes up in space in this medium. I have one dvd that has over 13,000 books on it. This is more exciting than the internet itself.. TOTAL access to everything everywhere.. ... well its not here yet.. but its coming...

There will always be the doom and gloom people that will try to slow the progress, but this is like the tide .. its coming in and no one is going to stop it.. Some are trying to control it... but face it... they tried with video and music and this really was a huge failure.. as its everywhere and totally accessible. Books that take no time to download will be..(and in fact are) available everywhere. God bless the internet!

There is no market ... except as in a collection, like stamps, or coins. Its the last gasp of the buggy whip makers when cars started being the preferred mode of transport. They still make whips ... just a few here and there... which meet the demand. R.I.P.

There will be jockeying for position and new venues too. When the world moves to a new format there are bound to be problems. There were issues when the world went from records to CDs as well. In a very short time we will see digital libraries and checking out a book will never be easier. A used digital book store absolutely.

Sounds like your grasping at straws, looking for the problems. Yes there are bound to be even bigger issues in the near future. But kicking and screaming the world will move towards what can only be described as a more enlightened future. If knowledge is power then this is a very powerful change for the better in our growth as a people.

I think that are two sides... one that pushes very hard for this issue to come to the surface and hope it stirs the pot and another group that will not tolerate anything that could take away tourist trade. There are laws againist it .. they are still doing it. This is the country where laws are more like a suggestion and not by any stretch of the imagination compulsory . The things I love about this country are the same things that make me sometimes think it was a mistake to move here.

Supposedly, The rich and the new middle class live here too.. and have children that are being exposed to this as well. If they get motivated maybe change can happen.

Last year the one bar I went to that was open had a buffet and was standing room only. I got there late so standing room only. Its good there will be some options because it was NOT comfortable. Any other bars, restaurants having a super bowl gathering?

Well I have never had a problem before.. and now that I know what to expect its not that bad either. 200 baht fine once in a while if I choose not to wear a helmet is not the end of the world. The time waste was more of a deterrent than the amount I had to pay. Helmets for all who travel with me.