chinagal

Hello Ladies, and Gents,

I am an American and have been dating and living with a Thai boyfriend for the past year and a half in Chiang Mai. Everything was perfect, we had our occasional lovers' quarrel, but nonetheless, a very good relationship. About every 4-5 months, I would take a month long trip to the U.S. to visit family and stuff. And I generally leave 2 months of rent money plus a bit extra for boyfriend. Well, this past trip over Christmas was not so smooth.

One week after I left Thailand, the boyfriend had met another Thail girl. I found out the hard way, through friends that saw them together. That's when he had stopped answering my calls as well. It was eating me up alive knowing that he was driving around in the nice moto-cross bike that I had bought him, wearing the nice clothes that I had bought, spending my money and living it up; and worst of all, sleeping in my bed with another girl.

I need to stay here in the U.S. for a few more weeks; and I just felt so helpless. Thank goodness for two of my good friends, one is a male teacher from the U.K. and the other a Thai girlfriend. They went to my apartment, confronted the ex, took the moto-cross bike, and gave him 2 days to move out of the apartment.

Two days later, my friends returned to my apartment to pick up the keys and make sure that he has not already emptied the place. Well, not sure whether its the security camera that stopped the ex from pawning everything in my room, he had somewhat cooperated. The only thing was though he paid January's rent, he had already spent the remaining 12,000B in the bank. Then the situation got escalated now that money was in question and also it was hitting him that he had little possessions left. This was a really nice guy as I knew him. Whatever that possessed him (actually, obviously its the new fling), he is now a complete different person. He refused to reason with my friends and basically tried to claim every little thing that he did not own. And no explanation for the money just the fact that its spent.

I am torn but at the same time relieved that a potential nightmarish relationship is over. It could have been a lot worse, maybe if I was in Thailand when this happened, or if I did not have friends that stood up for me. Now I am worried that this ex becomes vindictive and seeks revenge with my friends. He knows where they work and live. The only thing I can think of doing is to threaten to call the police. I believe there are cameras at all ATMs, and he's made at least 10 withdrawals - well, 10 pictures in an ideal world.

So do you think I should contact the police to report the incident when I return to Thailand? I have no intentions to send him to jail, but I need a bit of leverage as a warning. The last thing I want is for him to hassle the very good friends who helped me out. He's not the murderous type, but with his changed behavior, I suspect he would break some windows and slash some tires.

Thanks for listening and hope you can shed some light on the situation for me.

What about taking them for a spa treatment at the Four Seasons Hotel - I think it's rated as the top spa in the world by Conde Nest this year. Then perhaps dinner and enjoy the sunset overlooking the rice paddies fields

HKG Express still operates direct flights between Chiang Mai and HKG, on Thursdays and Sundays. I have had no luck with their website either and when I visited their local office on the moat, they had quoted me a full rate. I took the staff's suggestion and booked with a travel agent and got a much better fare

There is a small cigar and wine shop in Home II. I remember seeing cubans and some other quite pricey cigars there, and there is a walk-in humidor in the shop. Home II is a relatively new complex tucked behind Carrefour and down the road from the German Brewery. Good luck on your search.

Hi guys anybody seen the 'Curry Pot' (opposite Hot Pot) being set up at Kad Suan Kaew? Looks like it could be just the job........let's wait and see!

Curry Pot is now opened. I had a set lunch there today, mutton curry, with choice of naan or yellow rice, small salad, yogurt, and bean soup for 169B. I thought the curry was just ok, the naan was good though. I still prefer the curries at Hinlay, much tastier in comparison. But its nice to have another choice of cuisine in KSK.

Silomjoy ??

I've been quite often in this part of Chiang Mai, but I've never seen a place called Silomjoy.

Silomjoy is on Changklan Road, a couple of km past the night bizarre and across from Samo. The sign is in Thai, and the open air resto opens in the evening only.

In relation to this topic...I don't think Silomjoy offers buffet. They do have good food and a good Thai band playing most of the time though.

The 3pm news update on Channel NewsAsia reported that there was a 17 year old female that was rescued. A bit of good news amidst the tragedy.

Thanks so much for the recommendation! I went to Rio last night and had a great time. The resto has a trendy decor; service was excellent; brazilian music and the couple of dancers bouncing around the dining room created a fun atmosphere.

The food was very good. I was slightly disappointed to find out that they did not have any bbq prawns. But overall, food, service and ambience made it an enjoyable evening.

The 2 for 1 promotion definitely did the trick, and the price also includes a glass of house wine

I know of Hot Pot and they use to have a Japanese restaurant in Central which I now think has been closed. Does anyone know of any alternatives to Hot Pot where I can eat some sushi?

I have always enjoyed the sushi at the Empress Hotel lunchtime buffet, but you must be there by Noon with sharp elbows! It may also be the only table worth visiting now, as I heard from regulars last week that the quality of the rest of their once proud, excellent value offerings were becoming poor to inedible.

A Japanese friend said a year ago that Zen in Airport Shopping Plaza was her favourite local sushi place. A few weeks ago I found it just average and just a little pricey.

Try the hotly recommended buffet at the Grand View Hotel on the city side of superhighway (formerly the Holiday Inn, Green-something-blah-blah), said to be superb, generous and Very low cost.

Also the tiny Japanese restaurant in Sidornchai on your left after you cross the stinking klong heading for Changklan. Cheerful people, fast service, good prices.

I agree about ZEN, the restaurant is conveniently located in the mall and its nicely decorated, but I still find it hard to justify the price for the quality of their sushi. For more authentic Japanese food and sushi, I'd try Gigantea Restaurant, its next to the Gecko Bookstore near Mike's Burger on the moat; and another upmarket place is ZYU Restaurant, located in the Twin Peaks Residence on Changklan Road.

For quick sushi fixes, there is Tsunami on Huay Kaew Road, near Lanna 3. And also there is a road side open-aired resto with decent sushi; from the Kad Suan Kaew/Huay Kaew Road junction, take a left onto Hassadisewi Road, the place is shortly on the left hand side. I think its only open in the evening.

Has anyone tried Tabeya? Its on Soi 11, Sirimangkalajarn Road, opposite from Zum Sabai Moo Kata. The place serves Japanese fusion cuisine, first of its kind in C.M.? I can't wait to give it a try this weekend!

There are office spaces available in a garden like setting in the Changklan Plaza, next to Shangrila Hotel. Its about 26.5 sq.m in size. Monthly rate ranges from 5,500b to 6,500b. Here's the number for the rental office: 053-820037-8

Riverside Restaurant also serves Beer Lao, I believe its 90b for a 12oz bottle.

Greetings! :-)

I haven't seen any evidence of it via Google searches, but with all of the real estate development over the past few years throughout the Kingdom.....have there been any high end serviced apartments (with fitness, ADSL, etc.) built in Chiang Mai?

What's the most high end serviced apartment there that you know of?

CHEERS!

D

There are two other high end serviced apartments in the works, Studio 99 in the Loh Kroh area is scheduled to open in October, not sure about Prohm Paradise though.

Studio 99

Prohm Paradise

In addition to the Punna on Nimmen, there is another new project called Vieng Ping, next to Hillside 2. It's almost finished and looks like it could an upscale apartment complex. The sign advertised the building as CityLife's City Apartments or something, I tried to call the number a few times, but no response...

There is a cool new art loft in the old city. Art work on display includes paintings, photography and printmaking, all work of nine talented local artists. The current exhibition named "About Mom" will be on display until September 20th.

Matoom Art Space is located on the 3^rd floor of Hopf Coffee, a coffee and internet shop directly across from UN Irish Pub. Just walk into the coffee shop and head up the stairs to the loft on the 3^rd floor. They are open until 8pm daily. Free admission.

Here's a link to some pics – Opening Party

Maejo University is currently looking for a native Chinese teacher. Check out their ad in Citylife's classifieds section.

Located in the Chang Phrek area of the city, this house is close to Thanin Market. It is a newly renovated attached single story house with one carport, an outdoor patio area, two bedrooms, living room, one bathroom with western toilet and bathtub, and a kitchen.

Fully furnished with TV, A/C, refrigerator, hot water heater, stove, sink and microwave.

Available for rent in the end of August at the monthly rate of 7,000 Baht. Water, electricity, telephone, cable and ADSL additional.

Please PM for more details.

Pictures of the House

Thanks Chinagal,

That's even cheaper than the Internet shops. Great! Thanks for that info. Do you have to register with AIS to take advantage of this nice price?

Regards,

Hill 16

Yeah, it sure beats the 7B +/- per min rate in internet cafes (sorry cafe owners...) with solid connection too.

I have never registered with AIS - but I would stop by their office anyways to find out which call center has the best rate for the country you are calling.

I stopped by to chit chat once and found out that their sim cards have different local calling rates under various promotional programs depending on where and when you purchased and activiated your sim card. Interesting bits of info...

Hi,

I've been trying various ways of making international calls but so far all have cost me a small fortune.

I've tried using my 12call mobile phone card which cost about 30baht per minute.

Pretty much the same using a 300 baht Cat Telecom card.

I tried the Lenso cards that you use from the public phone booths but if you're lucky enough to be able to hear the other person you don't get to hear them for very long!

I'm guessing that the Internet shops that cater for international calls are the way to go so anybody got any favourites they could suggest please?

It's good to talk

Regards,

Hill 16

Hi Hill 16,

You can connect to 12Call's various call centers for better rates on international calls on your cell. Depending on which countries you are calling, you can dial 007, 008 or 009 prior to the destination numbers. I use 009 for my U.S. calls, so I would first dial 009 1(country code for U.S.) then local number and its only 5B per minute. Stop by any AIS office for a list of the call centers and discount calling rates.

Just found out yesterday, that the seafood place that used to be situated in front of O'Malleys in Anusan Market place, has re-opened at a new location. Don't know if this has been reported yet, but definately worth a mention. I belive it has been opened a few weeks now.

It is located on Chang Klan, go down chang klan to the traffic lights Pantip Plaza, go straight across and there it is some 200m on the left, a big yellow sign above it. It now has its own car park next to it as well.

Still well worth the visit.

I believe the name of the restaurant is Aun Hea Ha. Went there a few weeks ago, food was good, excellent tom yum talay soup! New location is bright and clean and they were offering 10% discount for the re-opening. Though when I was there, their live seafood tanks were not filled yet and their seafood were displayed on ice. Can not wait until they fill those tanks up, craving for a good, fresh steamed whole fish with ginger, scallion and soya sauce

I don't like much Oishi I'd rather eat at Hachiban.

Me too, I have packaged ramen noodles from the store that taste better than Oishi's. The outdoor Japanese restaurant across from Rincome market makes pretty descent ramen noodles, comes with a good portion of pork and a rich broth, and at a fraction of the price.

I agree that the egg custard tarts sold at Kanom are a rip off!. no wonder they not selling many of them anymore. In Malaysia, they call them POrtugese Egg Tarts and been looking for good ones here in chiang mai.

TB

I am glad to hear that you feel the same about this Kanom place...I suspect the fancy packaging contributes to the price of their tarts

Yeah, thanks ihop! I can't wait to check out the restaurant. Hopefully, they make one of the all time favorite Shanghainese dish, Shao Lung Bao (steam pork dumpling with broth inside them). I love and miss good Chinese food!

And the Mekong Restaurant in Changklan Plaza has pretty authentic Chinese food as well. Enjoy!

I believe they do...on the menu, it's "xiaolong of xianghai" and it's awesome. Our daughter orders it everytime. 30 baht for 5 dumplings. For the newbie...wait for it to cool abit and then pop the whole dumpling in your mouth so you don't have broth dripping everywhere.

Shanghai Restaurant has a more complete menu now that includes meal sets ranging from 185 baht to 1680 baht. And gone are the italian-sounding names I mentioned, replaced with translations "Fried Aubergine with stuffed pork" (eggplant) and "Green pepper with RKstuff"?

Also, the dimsum place across the parking lot offers Guangdong-style dimsum (Cantonese) while Shanghai Rest. offers Shangainese-style.

And thanks for the Mekong rec...will give it a try.

Bee-lined to the new Shanghai Restaurant...and yes, xiao lung bao was on the menu indeed, great fix for this dumpling/gyo fan. Also tried a few of their other dishes, fresh and delicious as ihop has suggested. This restaurant serves very provincial Shanghainese dishes, what a nice addition to the Chinese food options in Chiang Mai!

After the satisfying meal in the S. Rest., I stopped by the little dim sum place across the way, and there were some egg custard tarts coming out of the oven. The owner/employee saw me drooling over them and offered me a free one - what a nice gesture! Well, it was so good, I ended up taking 1/2 dozen home with me. They were only 10B each and taste so much better than the 35B ones at the Kanom chain in the Tall Teak Plaza. Will sure to go back to try the other dim sum dishes too!

I had mentioned about Mekong Restaurant before, but their actual name is Mei Jiang - sorry about the confusion. There is a write up on them in the latest issue of Chiang Mai Mail:

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/dining.shtml

The chef/owner is originally from Hong Kong and has worked as a chef in a 5-star hotel in China. The Cantonese food is very authentic and he also whips up pretty good Szechuan dishes as well. Enjoy!

Anybody know what the current Visa rules are for a Thai national, either short term stay, or longer to visit Malaysia?

Penkoprod

I am not sure about long term stay, but I went to Malaysia with my Thai friend last month and he got a 30-day visa on arrival (free) at the airport.

I've had a chance to eat at Shanghai Restaurant a few times the past month and they are by far the most refreshing and delicious meals I've had in CM this past year (yes-yes, the Dukes is delicious too )

I LOVE good Chinese food. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, thanks ihop! I can't wait to check out the restaurant. Hopefully, they make one of the all time favorite Shanghainese dish, Shao Lung Bao (steam pork dumpling with broth inside them). I love and miss good Chinese food!

And the Mekong Restaurant in Changklan Plaza has pretty authentic Chinese food as well. Enjoy!

Heading back on topic, thanks for the note about the Malaysian place, tigerbeer.

I like Tai Zi for Malaysian food in Chiang Mai. When I visited yesterday, I was happy to find that they added Hot Pot Rice with chix, salty fish, and black mushroom (it was yummy!), and a few other new dishes on their menu. Overall, their menu leans towards Malay/Chinese food, versus the heavy spiced curry dishes. The only item that screams Malaysian on the menu is the Buk Kut Teh, a traditional Malaysian herb and pork bone soup. They also have a few dim sum dishes, and a pretty good set lunch menu, the 49B set includes Hainanese chicken and rice, soup, a small plate of Chinese brocolli with oyster sauce and a glass of chrysenthenum tea.

The restaurant is located on Si Phum Road, about a block from the Jazz Co-op Cafe heading towards Chiang Mai Ram. Their restaurant name is in Thai, it is part of the Coca-cola restaurant sign...and it is located right next to the music equipment store.

I saw an advertisement hanging down the street about the Big Ass concert in Bangrak. I will write the telephone nr down and post it in this topic. I wanna go to see Big Ass as well, but don't know if you need to reserve a ticket in advance.

Laters

Hi all,

The poster advertisement states that Big Ass "begins" on the 26th, suggesting that it may be more than a 1-day venue. Here's Bangrak's website with the phone #:

http://www.bangrakgang.com/