Toon Army

Nice one rose! And not even a mention of the air pollution, we need more like yourself. God bless you.

News byte?

"InterContinental Hotels Group is to introduce its Holiday Inn brand to Northern Thailand when the Sheraton Chiang Mai becomes the Holiday Inn Chiang Mai on 1 April 2007.

Jan Smits, chief operating officer, Southern Asia and Korea, InterContinental Hotels Group Asia Pacific, said: “There is a strong and growing demand for branded mid-scale hotel accommodation in Chiang Mai, a lively and prosperous city that is widely regarded as a gateway into Northern Thailand and the Mekong region. Right in the heart of the action is Holiday Inn Chiang Mai, which will undoubtedly appeal to travellers to this region.”

The hotel is owned by the Chiangmai Riverside Plaza Hotel Co., Ltd. One of the company’s owners, Kasem Shaikh, said: ”With the strength of a respected industry leader like InterContinental Hotels Group and the appeal of a world-renowned brand like Holiday Inn, we are confident that the rebranded hotel will be a great success.

Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts is the world’s most recognised hotel brand and the winner of Business Traveller Asia Pacific’s Best Mid-Market Hotel Brand in Asia Pacific and Best Mid-Market Hotel Brand in the World awards for six consecutive years. Holiday Inn Chiang Mai will be the sixth Holiday Inn hotel in Thailand."

Obviously the Shereton's Dim Sum wasn't up to scratch!

One of my staff sells at the Sunday market. She told me that it's first-come, first serve. She doesn't pay a penny for her stall.

thats correct as far as I know as well, only condition is no pirated goods allowed

I also heard that MP market opposite Pantip isnt too bad during the week which has low rental

Caught this piece in a recent City Life Forum; might be of some interest: http://www.chiangmainews.com/forum/viewtop...p?p=12571#12571

The new bakery section looks really professional. As I understand it they spent quite and few million Baht on a new oven to cook their own bread in house, train the staff which has moved from 1 at Chontana to 7/8 staff at the new branch.

I was there yesterday but was hard pressed to see any bread they had actually cooked themselves! Most of it is the same stuff they used to get from other outside sources. I bought a bagette as we had friends coming for a meal the same night. The bagette was pretty hard when we came to serve it up and would have presented a problem for anybody with anything but the toughest of teeth (false teeth merchants - forget it) .

This morning, what little was left over of the bagette was like concrete! Need to work harder on the receipes.

Sprinkle a little water on it, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds and you will have soft, warm french stick.

Good tip, maybe someone should tell Rimping!

Could everybody start raving about how great the air quality is now in Chiang Mai?

I just bought a bunch of great stock and sent it up there that I would like to sell!

Tell me more UG

I heard The Dukes is opening an outlet next to McDonalds Night Bazaar.

That would suit me as Im down in the market frequently and would like to tuck into a good juicy

steak/pizza etc more often

Anyone know more?

btw also a new pizza place to open soon in the NB.(?)

making my lips water now

Yep, Donnyboy I hear it opens it's doors on the 4th this month. I also hear there may be some changes to the original menu but don't know more than that. No doubt your favourite steak/pizza will still be there.

To add my 2 cents worth I just hired Prathom to do some wiring work for me at my house. Need three phase wiring into the kitchen to install high powered water heater for new washing machine ( yes have 3 phase into the house, but not the kitchen). Talked with the guy and he knows what he's talking about! Came to the house, inspected and not a problem.

Found him from George's post about tradesmen in Chiang Mai.

Thank you George.

Think you'll find the tradesmen post was from p1p. George is trying to sell hotels

And I have uesd Prathom too with very satisfactory results, but a bit pricey though.

How much would it cost you in your home country??

Ajarn

Thank you for your interest and reply to my post. I don't quite understand why your tone has to be so aggressive though. I merely point out that I have used your recommended electrician and found his work to be satisfactory. However he did charge somewhat more than I have been used to paying other local electricians for equivalent work.

What does my home country have to do with anything? And how do you define "Home Country"? The place I have my only home is Thailand and has been for more years than I care to remember, certainly more than 80% of my life to date.

So aggressive?? I was just joking with you, which is why I left a

Get a grip on reality, sir...

Norman d

Have to say, for what it's worth, I also felt a bite in Ajan's reply, maybe I also need to get a grip on reality

But back to the topic, I would have thought you having been here so long and considering this is your 'Home country' you would have:

i) requested a job estimate in advance;

ii) as you considered it 'a bit pricey' why did you not opt for a cheaper estimate.

It seems rather unfair to criticize the guy after you had agreed the price before he started (did you?). Also why did you not sick with the 'other local electricians' you referred to in your post, who you state would charge you less.

Just my tuppence worth.

Not sure where this fits into the timeline:

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml#hd3

States "Mayor’s Office confirms Songkran set for April 12-17. The official starting date for Songkran is April 12 and will continue through April 17."

Makes more sense.

Yes, the Duangtawan Dim Sum is good if you like Dim Sum.

Not a big fan myself.

Looks like we need to introduce you to the real thing at the Sheraton then. We almost always choose this Chinese restaurant to celebrate big events, birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc.

Thank p1p.

I agree with you on the Duangtawan. Better than nothing, but not up to much.

I look forward to trying the Sharaton!

For Shereton now read Holiday Inn!! When did this all happen?

While on the subject, just wondering if everyone is aware of the contents of a reply I received from UBC re an enquiry I sent to them regarding the compatibility of LCD TVs and UBC reception. This was requested following the experience of a new LCD TV owner/UBC subscriber, I for one was not aware of this problem:

"Thank you very much for your support in our service. With regards to your inquiry about the quality of the picture with plasma screen television, we would like to inform you that currently our service does not support high-definition television system like LCD or plasma screen television. When using LCD or Plasma screen television with UBC equipment, the resolution of the picture will be lessen. The picture might be shattered as UBC transmission quality is equivalent to VCD picture. However, UBC is developing its transmission system as well as equipments to support high-definition television system in the future."

When I wrote back and asked them if/how they made this information available to everyone, to date they have not replied. Apologies if this has been discussed previously.

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Yep, a crackdown would have been better

Thai government can't do right for doing wrong

I know it's a long shot, but just on the off chance there's one gathering dust in a corner somewhere and needs a caring new owner, here he is!

Cheers bonnie lads and lasses