vagabond48

I just wanted to say a short hello from Athens Georgia, USA, the location we thought we would try. Never lived in the South before but I hope this medium sized University town will be our next home from a long time. This location has similar weather as CM except that the winters will be a bit colder with possible snow occasionally. It's close to Atlanta for our occasion trips back to Asia via Korean Air. Close to the Atlantic Ocean and many of the surrounding states having lots of nature.

The state is very tax friendly to those seniors over 65. There is no tax for income under $75K. When I was living in Thailand, I tried not to compare the prices to the US. They were what they were. Well now that I am here, I have to stop comparing the prices to Thailand, like buying 5 KG of tomatoes in Thailand for less than $2 while here, each 1 lb (.45KG) is $1 on sale. I do miss the fresh Thailand fruits. The fruits here in Athens aren't tasty. At least, a new car here is only a few $1000 more than a used 3 to 4 year old car in Thailand. The cost repairing them will be another story.

Anyway, that's it for awhile.

Again, thanks for your good wishes.

Good luck ! We even have the Internet in the U.K. and can access Thai Visa !!!

That is good to know if I ever decide to move to the UK.

Safe journey and may you and all the family have a happy and prosperous new life.....God Bless.

Who's god?

Red Skelton's

After living almost 9 years in Chiang Mai, we decided with mixed feelings to return to the US.

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank many of the TV members, who, through the years, brought laughter, entertainment and provided great advice.

Perhaps, I will return to Chiang Mai every so often to see the natural beauty and enjoy the wonderful culture I have grown fond of.

So, I leave you with this song from the Sound of Music,

Between train station and Bus Arcade

Anyone know if the taxi SUVs I see around town can handle 2 persons with 4 large (maximum size airlines allow) check-in luggage and 2 smaller carry-on luggage. How about a very reliable taxi company with reasonable rates (do the two go together) with larger sized taxis?

Thanks!

I just tried Craig's and I got through without VPN. I guess after I sent several emails to them they unblocked it (for now).

Spoke too soon. Got blocked again today. I guess its back to VPN once again.

I just tried Craig's and I got through without VPN. I guess after I sent several emails to them they unblocked it (for now).

Went last week on my usual Monday last week, they are closed Tue-Thur I think

Actually their closed Wed to Fri.

Thanks for all the info. I'll just go through the inconvenience of using VPN whenever I access Craigs.

I have been using Craig's list consistently for the past month without a problem.

Since yesterday, I have been getting the message below when accessing Craig's List.

This IP has been automatically blocked.
If you have questions, please email: [email protected]

The only way around this problem is using VPN.

Anyone else having this issue?

Thanks so much TVers

I thought it is on the Chiang Mai Lamphun road somewhere on the left side after the Gymkhana Golf Club and before the Holiday Inn. Can someone help me find it?

Ha! If you like Western style "Chinese" food. God! Where are your taste buds?

My taste buds are fine. I like both. I also like British style curries and Mission-style burritos. I am a big fan of quality fusion.

Calling food from China Chinese, is like calling food from France, Germany, Italy etc, European. My wife is from China. Each region has a slew of delicious dishes that might be hard to find in any of the larger Chinatown's of the West. I know when we ate in Chinatown of San Diego and LA 2 years ago, we found the several meals we had to be average tasting. We just came back spending time in Yunnan and the city of Hangzhou. The food was a lot nicer and tastier than I ever had in NYC's Chinatown.

Our plans have changed so we will not be buying nearly enough to be a customs issue. I rather surprised that no one had an answer.

Since there has been no responses to help anyone else in the future, moderators you can delete or close this thread.

My wife and I are planning to buy well over 20,000B of precious metals abroad. When we return to Thailand, I know you are required to declare items if they are worth more than 10,000B for each of us. We will divide the metals between us. We plan to take 100% of these metals abroad in less than 3 months. If we declare these items and pay Thai customs, will we get the customs tax back when we leave Thailand.

And the re-entry permit?

Normally I would get my re-entry permit the middle of the week just after lunch but I decide to test the system. I went yesterday, Friday afternoon at about 2:20PM and with the office being closed Monday April 6th for holiday. I expected them to tell me "no more numbers" but I got one. It was 3 numbers from one displayed. Wow. I got my permit 25 minutes after I arrived. It would have been even faster but for some reason, they called the next number several times for someone who never showed and waiting about 10 minutes before calling the next number. The process is now more streamlined. The officer does all the required passport stamping while you are standing there. I sat down and was called about 5 minutes later to take a photo similar to immigration at the airport which is a new procedure , got my computer printed receipt instead of the normal hand written one.

Just a friendly reminder, if your extension is up from approximately March to August, the online reservation queue generally has plenty of slots if you reserve your slot(s) 100 days before you want to extend. As of 1 minute ago 8:20AM, June 22nd had 4 open slots. No need to even do it at 12 midnight.

Why would you want a poster of winniethekwai or uptheos up on your wall?

You haven't seen me in all my glory!

what was that again, "In all your gory"?

You can get a re-entry permit at CM airport. It will cost 100B extra if they do all the paperwork and take a photo. From my last inquiry when I was there last month, it might be free if you come prepared with the required completed documents and photo.

Please note that it is only available with a boarding pass.

I have had to use VPN in the past to access MySocialSecurity but I just signed on successfully. I guess they have loosened the security for overseas access. Thanks bangmai for the heads-up.

Meanwhile, back in Chiang Mai............

How long have you been holding this back,it must be a big relief to get it out? They are now at the top of my boycott list , especially now that you have highlighted the fact that they're probably only in this business for making a profit. Get the timing wrong and it could be costing baht, never mind satang. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they probably wait a few hours before reducing prices too.

I only use Esso because, although it probably doesn't apply to you, if you spend 900 baht or more you get two 1 litre bottles of Free Water. Worth remembering and going out of your way for.

One good tip deserves another. As regards to staring clear, I sometimes find that eyedrops help.

Sarcastic at 3AM. Must have been a slow night.

The information I shared was not to easily save up to 50B per tank rather to inform those who might be interested in hearing about a company that is being sneaky. In Muang Chiang Mai, the price of gas is usually the same at all gas stations including Shell except when Shell decides raise their price ahead of the others.

Now, I can flush this thread down.

I have been meaning to write about this for a long while. I have noticed on several occasions especially when prices are about to go up that Shell were increasing their price ahead of the other gas stations. Normally the price goes up or down in increments of 50 satang. Depending on the current price, that could be an additional 1 - 2% profit for them. Because of this practice, I just stare clear of them as a norm.

Whenever I am on my bicycle and dogs start to bark and chase me, I first begin to bark back ( I was probably a canine in a former life) and raise my very handy and convenient arm (that's my natural big stick) that startles them and they usually back off.

We had Dukes pizza only once. Although it was tasty, I didn't like that the crust was so thin that even though we waited for it to cool down, each slice when taken fell apart and portion of the cheese wound up on the rack. It might have helped if it had been on a solid platter.