Thighlander

I like to take my friends to this place wedged in between Changmai Commercial College and the Royal Guest House. It is only open during the day. Most expensive thing on the menu is 35 THB. Real thai food, real thai cooks, real thai customers. It's almost always dam_n near perfect.

If I wanted to show someone how to waste a lot of money on a mediocre meal, I would take them to one places along the river.

It's amazing how "2 succulently flame grilled prawns, done to perfection and served on a light bed of finest exotic jasmin rice, topped with a sprig of our own home garden grown holy basil" can cost a fortune in some places....and people pay it.

Pad grapow gai, kai dow suk, kaaw suay, laaw goh pepsi duay 50 baht.....wins hands down every time.

When you know a place, they do not give you msg and sugar if you don't want it and they wash the wok every time.

Mai Sai Phong Churot=NO MSG. City Life did a great article on this recently. The same principles apply to Mexican food (heaven forbid there are any similarities in Mexicans and Thais). The best Mexican food is usually found at a place with paper napkins, possibly a taco stand type place. They cut back on the spices at the places catering to Americans. How many Mexicans could afford 2000 thb for dinner for two? How many Thais can? It's just out of their element.

My first time to CNX, in 2004 I stayed there through www.asiatravel.com

It worked out to about 9 usd per night then. Findley staff, no problem with "guests."

Too close to night bazaar and some other elements I want nothing to do with.

The a/c sucked, but the room was very nice, and the staff were friendly.

For 330 THB you can stay at New Mitrapap, and McCormick/Arcade is walkable across the bridge.

a/c fridge/cable/nice staff good security--needs a paint job, and I have seen a few dried boogers on the wall. Excellent value.

Lots of the other TEFL programs were accused of engaging in fraud. It WAS a breath of fresh air to see such a fine university start a program. I even considered attending.

IMHO, It is just another pay to work scam. And in this case, it looks like it was even a pay to volunteer scam.

I like to take my friends to this place wedged in between Changmai Commercial College and the Royal Guest House. It is only open during the day. Most expensive thing on the menu is 35 THB. Real thai food, real thai cooks, real thai customers. It's almost always dam_n near perfect.

If I wanted to show someone how to waste a lot of money on a mediocre meal, I would take them to one places along the river.

I did the mini-van once--it sucks, and only stops at places they will get kickbacks. Green VIP Bus to Chiang Rai for 265, it is the 24 seater Mercedes. Then you get the local bus for about 40 THB to Maesai, where for 8 thb the red songthaews will take you right to the border.

The duty free sells lots of fake items...fake cigs, fake absolut, fake cigars....You might be able to get a decent bottle of wine, that I generally pay 3 us for back in the States. Get your fresh 10 dollar bill here in Chiang Mai. If you want to break up the trip, after you get your visa and fake cigs, then take the 40 baht bus back to Chiang Rai, buy your VIP for the next day, and get a guesthouse room for 200 THB. I've done it 20 times. The VIP will get you to Chiang Rai in 3 hours. Have lunch, take a breather, the local buses leave every 30 minutes to Mae Sai. Mae Sai is kind of a dumpy border town/tourist' trap. Chiang Rai is a bit of a tourist' trap, but has some amazing sites, and is a vibrant small city.

One thing for sure here--It was a falang's fault.

Another 'good' hotel close to the AirCon bus terminal (there are two in KK) is the Roma Hotel ... many of the other suggestions will require some form of transport or tuktuk... the flip side of your request is that you do not want your KK crushee to know just how cheap you can be ...

http://www.hotelscom...l_Khon_Kaen.htm

She'll find out soon enough. Of course, she is simply looking for a man with a good heart.

That orchid looks tempting for 590, but I've been paying 230 THB in Chiang Mai with fan/private bath/hotshower. 330 for a/c, which is almost unnecessary this time of year. Always seems to be best value in Chiang Mai. I've encountered the same thing in Chiang Rai.

Thanks for the advice to everyone.

I have a crush on a nice young lady I met from KK. I've only been through on the train. Are there any good/cheap hotels/guest houses that would be easy to get to from the bus station? Thanks everyone.

Should I just go to Arcade Bus Station? Never approached it from CNX. I heard about 6 hours by bus. Is that correct?

Any cheap/clean accommodation recommendations? Thanks everyone.

I believe he stated it was actually awarded by the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

The questions about his credentials were raised years ago, and he did come forward and clarify to the satisfaction of many.

I had a blue book with my house in Hang Dong. I just held onto it and gave it to the new owners. I agree, the rules on these changes like the wind.

Can a Farang get a blue book- I have always been told no chance.

U mean on your Condo?

It came with the house my Thai Lawyer bought for me.

I had a blue book with my house in Hang Dong. I just held onto it and gave it to the new owners. I agree, the rules on these changes like the wind.

It seemed like they always made it clear, as did "Dr." Kay, that it was an integral part of the University.

I'm wondering how many of these exports are assembled here vs produced.

How is that actually effected by currency and what proportion of profits/expenses comes into the country or as THB anyway.

Stronger THB makes their products like rice more expensive than Vietnam, for example. One reason companies like Caterpillar from the US is doing so well right now.

Wednesday this bar across from Mike's (Thapae) had 50% off for ladies night. There were two farang girls in there, both carrying 70+ kilos. Tonight I was on Thapae Rd. at 8 pm and was surprised to see 5 customers in the bar, but I then realized the band was taking a break.

I took two farangs (myself being the third) to the famous Tiger promotion on Wednesday Night. We walked there (OH, very far) in about 25 minutes, and waked right by that beer garden on the leftside of Huay Kaew. They had ZERO customers. Certainly not a place I would want to buy a draft beer from. Then we got to Dayli at about 9pm. There were about 60 customers. 3 Large Tiger for 129 THB. Service was exceptional. Our waitress is a Teaching student at Ractchabat. All of us are mid 40s and were among the oldest customers. We had a blast and it seemed like everyone else was, too. A ot more like the old "Turn it loose" Coors light commercials, than being at one of the well know Fat, Old, Bald, Grumpy Man Franchises in CM.

BTW, we had 12 large Tiger, 2 entress, and a pack of Marlboros--our tab was 720 THB. We tipped 80 due to the great service and ice cold beer. We did not buy one bucket of ice, they rotate out of a freezer. Excellent ambience and a great walk home.

last week, exports were up 43%--my arse.

Thais do not want a home owned by a foreigner. They will also have a very difficult time getting a loan right now. The foreign market is slow due to the currency situation. I know of some homes that have been on the market for several years.

Paying 4 million baht to live next door to a barking dog is not a good idea. Every year, Thailand seems to become less investor friendly. It's amazing that they can still walk, after shooting themselves in the foot so many times. I estimate there are 10 million townhomes in Thailand that need renovation. Last hardware store I walked by had four workers sitting down with zero customers. I woud be more than happy to invest, and hire thais, and use thai materials to do the job. Government red tape does not appeal to me. It's plenty bad in my home country, and that's even doing it in English.

Disregarding the flag situation, the reason there were no other tourists is that (for the beach destinations especially) it is the lowest of the low seasons right now. Go back to that same place in late Dec or Jan and it will be different story.

There were thousands of Thais visiting the Beach for the weekend. I only saw one other farang at the beach, though. I thought word had gotten out about the "dick popper swimsuits"--apparently he didn't get it.

I used to buy at the place near the Burger King. No Cubans, nor Dominicans (usualy just as good). 320 for the Villagers from Europe for a small box of minis. Certainly not the worst option.

Didn't read everything, so if repeating advice, sorry....plus off subject as to whether or not expat population is decreasing.

If the OP's condo owning friend really needs to sell then maybe he should do his math to set the price differently. If he bought in pounds and the pound has fallen, then he should calculate at today's exchange rate what his breakeven point would be after changing baht back to pound. Then decide how to price his condo....

If he bought at 60/1 for 1M, then he paid 17,000. If the rate today is 40, then selling at 680K would let him break even when he changes the baht back to pounds and leaves the country. Or if he keeps the baht, staying here, rather than bringing in more pounds at the lower rate.

Exactly, If he repatriates his money, he will have a lot more back home. He basically bought THB cheap and can sell high. I "bought"my house at 39 and sold at 32.50. Other than that, there would have been little profit.

I would like to ad that I was in BKKBank on a Friday at 11:30 am. There was not a single customer. The red/yellow thing is probably less of an issue than the extreme tightening of global credit markets. SOmeone told me that they would not loan his wife 500K on a paid for 2.5MM house, with good credit.

Prices will have to drop in Real Estate because they just seem too expensive for foreigners now. Most of Thais don't have the income to get good loans. Few would even want to live in a foreign dominated area, anyway. The Chinese are showing up more and more in some of the depressed markets of America (Phoenix, Vegas, South Florida), as well as the Australians and Canadians. You would be truly amazed at how many US properties are now owned by Deutche Bank, HSBC, and Credit Suisse.

Since most foreign owned condos were paid for with cash, there will not be a complete collapse, but there could be a large correction, and there are some liquidating assets here to cover their losses back home. I've been shopping for condos here for the last month (under 1 million), and my 68 square meter townhouse with a walled patio on a bankrupt golfcourse that I paid 22,000 is looking pretty dam_n good.

I will be going to the Tiger promotion again tonight. Three large for 129 THB. Meanwhile, the grumpy, fat, bald, old men will be charging, paying nearly that for one.

I think I have a crush on a FarEastern University Student, who wears the Tiger dress. Cheers.

mks.bmp

I wanted to put a flag up once and asked my Police General while he was in for a drink and he said I can do it but would have to have the Thai Flag above and it should be bigger as well. just to show respect.

so you can do it if showing respect to the Thai flag as well.

this was in Bangkok.

I had heard something similar to this, as well. And as another poster mentioned, it is nice when the businesses have small flags from many nations.

Unfortunately for them, they were without a beer promotion and customers, also. Surprised to see such a large crop of ladyboys at the bars. (hint: it wasn't Pattaya).

There has been a lot of discussion here about foreign operated businesses. I was at a well known beach town over the weekend and here is what i saw. A bar (empty except for the owner) with two flags from his home country flying from poles mounted on the second floor. I'm not going to say which country (at this point). Meanwhile, another bar had a flag flyinging from the owner's country, and a Thai flag flying at the same height. I thought that sure did seem a lot more respectful. Are there laws in Thailand regarding the display of foreign flags? Was the first guy clearly in the wrong? and then onto another subtopic--Aren't these guys alienating themselves and their businesses from a lot of deep pocketed customers buy making their establishments appear to serve one nationality? Almost every business on the block was empty. Not one had any kind of sign out front describing any kind of "promotion." In fact, in the three days I was there; I saw more dead soi dogs in the street than I did beer/drink promotions. I actually love the rain, so the continual downpours didn't bother me (we only get 20cm per year in AZ).

I had a near perfect guest house room for 333 thb per night, with a/c, fridge, cable, but the restaurant farang scene was pathetic. The first place I went to, I was asked by the farang owner sitting on his rump drinking all day, "where are you from?" I said USA. He says "George Bush." When he stated he was from the UK; I surely didn't say BP! Give me a break and pull your head out of your <deleted>. The thirty baht ground pork sausage on 1 baht of rice was acceptable, but you really didn't have to cry when I didn't order a small Chang for 60 thb.

Sorry for the rant.

I was at Siam Havana in BKK last week. A box of five Partagas was 620 thb. They are real. I settled for some belgium minatures for 190 thb for 10. They tasted like lawn leaves. I will bet that the ones at Tallechek duty free are fakes. I drank some "Pear Absolut Vodka" in Chiang Rai a few weeks ago that was definitley a counterfeit item.

The most sensible thing is too buy the blocks of 25 burmese cigars, not the green ones the hilltribe people sell. They are about 60 thb for 25. They are mostly very fresh and I have smoked many of them, without a negative reaction. Many people ask me about them, and if I had just simple said they are two hundred thb each; they would have bought one from me. If you spent 10,000 usad on a walk in humidor, you would set it at 80F and 80% humidity--well in Burma the weather is like that most of the time. They just don't trust them because they cost less than three thb each. I think Phillip morris makes a pack of Marlboros for about 30 cents.

I used to smoke the Villager minis, but at 320 thb for 10 minis, it just ain't worth it.

I've known people to pay as little as 6K to rent there. I owned in Section Five. It's too far off the main road. The soi dog problem isn't too bad, except for two households that feed them, then let them roam in packs at night. Horrible place to excercise, unless you don't mind carrying a large piece of rebar. The developers house has been on the market for at least four years. There are others, who can't sell because they would take a huge loss. The homes starting at 1,040,000 sign on Hang Dong has been there so long that it is beginning to fall apart.

It is a beautifully planned community, considering it has no sidewalks. Motorcycle cab to the main road is 25 thb, and yellow songteaw into the city is great from 5am to 8 pm. The lower priced homes are the ones under the planes. That didn't bother me. People breeding large viscous dogs in nearby homes and leaving them caged up for days at a time certainly did. If you need the bedrooms; it may be a good option--better than a lot of the Koolapunts.

I would have rented my house ourt for 10,000, mostly furnished, and not to "locals." I definitely had some quality farangs asking me if they could rent. If you are like the missionary families that never leave their property (except in their SUV) you won't have any troubles.