Rasseru

. . . . .

In 2 years, all the CM business establishments will have signage in Mandarin, and dim sum and steamed pork buns will be the new pizza and burger thread topics of conversation on Thai Visa.....

What a relief that would be!

There used to be a shop that made wooden doors, located on what could be Hong Dong Road, just north of the Superhighway. I say 'could be' because I am not sure whether the section north of the Superhighway keeps that name or whether the name changes to something else. In any case, the shop used to be located on the left hand side, the west side, of the road very soon after passing north on Hong Dong Road through the intersection with the Superhighway located next to Central Airport Plaza.

The shop seems no longer to be there.

If anyone knows, I would be grateful to learn if it has moved, and if so, where. I would also appreciate it if anyone could tell me of any other shops that make wooden doors to order (as opposed to selling ready-made doors).

Just bad luck.

Yawn.

Oh dear, more pai bashing. If you don't like this kind of place then simply don't go back there. The OP liked the countryside, well that IS the main reason for going there. Just keep out of the town. And incidentally there's plenty of places that are less than 800 baht, one just needs to look a bit better. But why stay in the town when the countryside is so nice? Why not stay out there?

Pai certainly attracts the moaning farang. Crikey, how some farang just bloody moan and moan and moan about being here. Places like chiang mai and pai, even as they are developing, are magnificent when compared to so much of the world, yet they just have to be moaned about.

Pai is a truly magnificent place with so many guest houses, so many restaurants and eating places, so many drinking places, so many interesting other kinds of places, excellent walking and cycling, magnificent nature opportunities and so much else to commend it. Yet farang who go there, don't like it, just have to moan about their experience and project that into some kind of objective reality.

Keep away from these places if you don't like them. And as for going at the height of the high season when half of bangkok have left their city is asking for problems for the moaners. There again, perhaps it's the best time to go there if one is a moaner because it provides some class moaning material.

I trust you are inwardly quite grateful for the post, femi fan, as you seem to have enjoyed yourself very much moaning about it.

MHS's nice, as is CDao, but they just haven't got that setting and je ne sais quoi that Pai had.

The setting is marvelous even now. The je ne sais quoi? Je ne sais quoi.

Hmmm. Our experiences are different then, Pikey. In general I find more of a give-and-take attitude here in Thailand than I have in the West, where I have never found it particularly prevalent.

REALLY

I can't possibly believe you are serious with that comment, do you drive a car ???

Yes, really, but no, I do not drive a car. However, my experience includes occasional rides in tuk tuks, songthaews and taxis, as well as daily use of motorcycles. In my nearly six years in Thailand, I have never experienced or witnessed any road rage. Once in a while slight annoyance, but no more than that.

. . . That doesn't bother me it is the way they park cross ways where they could just as easily park length wise . . .

As one of them myself, I understand the reason for that. You park length-wise you're almost certain to find your motorcycle well and truly blocked in by others on your return.

But I do walk a lot and my pet peeve is the way they park there motor bikes on the side walk. It is not that they park them on the side walk it is that they park them in such a way as you have to walk in the street to get around them. Same go's for the cars parked on the side

You forget, I think, that Thais prefer never to walk outside, which makes it hard for them to realise that some other people might want to use a sidewalk for that purpose.

Hmmm. Our experiences are different then, Pikey. In general I find more of a give-and-take attitude here in Thailand than I have in the West, where I have never found it particularly prevalent.

Maybe I'll get flamed for saying this but I have always said that "Thailand is like a veneer, it looks great on the surface but scratch it a little bit and you can see the ugliness underneath".

You may get flamed but not by me. I merely add the observation that in the respect you mention Thailand is no different from any other human society that looks good, in whole or any of its parts.

I went there for the first time two weeks ago and everything about the trip was delightful. The mountain roads were a treat on a motorcycle, and they were not particularly crowded going or coming back. The town was nice enough, though the walking street was my least favourite part. We ate at some fabulous restaurants, including a southern-style Thai restaurant that had the best Thai food I've ever eaten, and that I would willingly ride back to Pai to dine at again. Better even than the town, though, for me, was the countryside around it.

Sorry, I should been clearer than I was in my last post. The memorial service I mentioned was for the Japanese soldiers who died in Northern Thailand in the Second World War.

In my experience - which includes visiting a memorial service in Chiangmai by Thai Buddhist priests and monks and attended by very many Thai people as well as Japanese and interacting for some years with Thai people as one member of a Japanese-speaking couple - there is a greater feeling of sympathy and friendship among many Thai people for the Japanese than most farang know or, as I now conclude after reading this thread, would care to know, and even, yes, if it comes to that, than many of those Thai people have for farang.

My question was about music, not apps.

You can buy or get music anywhere, in MP3 or AAC format, and just plunk it into your device without a problem. You don't need to buy music specifically for your ios device.

Yes, thank you, I know, but that too is a different point from the one I was asking.

My question was about music, not apps.

For anyone curious who happens along here, I will report that I was told by a seemingly quite knowledgable staff member at the local Apple store in Chiangmai that the iTunes Store in Thailand is not remotely close in content to those in Japan, the US or Europe.

If like me you cannot find a shop that sells them in Chiangmai, there are several Mont Blanc shops in Bangkok, at least one of which also does repairs.

Cage drivers be frustrated, scooter riders be relaxed.

One hundred twenty six views and no replies . . . is that a record? Do I win a prize?

Does anyone know how the music available at the iTunes Store in Thailand compares in scope with that available in the iTunes stores in Japan, for example, or the U.S. or Europe? I assume availability will not be exactly the same as anywhere else, just as it not as among the stores in the other places I mention. But I would like to know how close it is, preferably by genre, like classical, jazz, electronic, alternative and so on. Popular music in the West is probably not such an issue, since I would imagine it will generally be available here too.

I have ridden the Samoeng Loop, Rene123, maybe seven or eight times, and I enjoy it every time. I am glad you enjoyed it too.

I've had and ridden a motorcycle in and around Chiangmai for over five years now as my regular and sole means of personal transportation. I have never found it difficult or particularly dangerous. That said, I came to it with decades of experience in other countries, including several years of very high speed track racing. Anyone who finds it dangerous or scary should stay away from it, I agree.

Yours is an interesting post, Mapguy. Or at least somewhat amusing. Maybe I missed the reason in there somewhere, but I am perplexed . . . am I supposed to care in any serious way about the 'problems' you so entertainingly describe?

I like matcha very much, and used occasionally to drink it in Japan, very, very occasionally at traditional tea ceremonies. I even have a whisk for making matcha, although I have never used it. This thread had piqued my interest in whether matcha is sold in Chiangmai. My wife, who is Japanese (but who has never actually looked for it here), thinks it is very unlikely that real matcha would be sold here, given that even most Japanese do not drink or use it, other than in a formal tea ceremony. I will look, though, in the stores mentioned, and if I find any, will report back.