Paagai

Unbelievably they actually have a plan.... The red Line, The Green line, The Blue line and the Grey line. Construction is scheduled to start next week

Not to underrate the importance of proper earthing, but earth Leakage protection at the supply should be first on the list! Easy to add at the main supply entrance. e.g. SafeT-Cut http://www.safe-t-cut.com It should help if you unwittingly become a substitute for the missing earth

The earthing will only be as good as the Electrician who installs it. I once watched one chump here bang a piece of rebar in the ground and strip 5cm of a 1.5mm² earthcable which he loosely wrapped around the rebar and covered with insulating tape.

drunk driving blitz that will have 0 farang charged.

Sorry to contradict you but I know of two Farang who've been busted already at Thapae Gate (separate times). Both got to spend some time in Jail, before a trip to see the judge. The BIB weren't making any exceptions on financial grounds either. I heard that the current "crackdown" is a gift from the outgoing Governor, but has taken on a momentum of it's own due to recent events in Bangkok. Seems even the old chestnut "do you know who I am?" doesn't have much sway right now

The Pub has Glenmorangie and a couple of others.

Would you be visiting from Southern Thailand by any chance? Next post in the farming forum about where to find ammonium nitrate perhaps?

Series of loud bangs in Nimmanhamin area last night during the heavy rain. Sounded like firework celebrating Mother's day or something

At or near Wat Jet Yod they had an impressive firework display last night during the rain. Was probably that; some seriously loud bangs would have been clearly heard in Nimmanhamin area.

They also set of fireworks at odd times, including early mornings so that might be an explanation if other Wats do the same. Though apart from cremations I don't know why.

Last year I rented a truck 3 times from Budget and because it was low season the charge was 1000 Baht a day with insurance and no excess. The truck was brand new.

Budget Chiang Mai, two bad experiences: won't be going back for a third......

We always use North Wheels, great service and easy to deal with. Had a pickup from them just the other week, I guess no consolation to the OP though, sorry.

There seem to be a lot of black market Farang web designers in Chiang Mai. Wonder how long before some go the way of Farang musicians

There is no box that has the ability to emulate the encryption system for TRUE NDS and for sure a card share setup is needed.

Card share, Hmmm, that's gonna go well......... I don't think so

Not really import that you think so or not. That is how they get astro,true, vinesat, sky and all the rest. Is all via card share. That is also how they are now sharing the new TRUE NDS via card share. The issue is that the cam they are using will not run under dreambox so they are working to port it to one that will run under dreambox.

Interesting, so what CAM are they using?

There is no box that has the ability to emulate the encryption system for TRUE NDS and for sure a card share setup is needed.

Card share, Hmmm, that's gonna go well......... I don't think so

Should only be closed 2 and 3rd which are the Buddhist holidays. 3rd is Kao Phansa; the start of Buddhist lent, from what I've seen in past years Thais take this event very seriously so expect most stuff to be closed (many Thai restaurants too). Some places may still be closed Saturday, if the staff go back home etc, though I'd expect most Farang orientated places to be open.

I think the pirates will have the new True cracked in six months

Never say never, but I very much doubt it....

For True, and True's subscribers there is one major benefit of a secure conditional access system and that is availability of decent content. When it's known an operator has a compromised CA system many content providers are reluctant to provide content or even totally deny access to it (particularly in a country like Thailand). True has been in this situation for several years where they have not been able to get the best content, or have had to pay through the nose for it, simply because their system has been hacked and that content is not secure.

Now True should be in a position to negotiate for better content and eventually get a channel line up more in line with the prices they charge.

This does't add up.

You have to look beyond the "blame one person" approach. The whole situation regarding bar regulation is complex in Chiang Mai, there is more than one political power base influencing the situation and competing interests between different law enforcement groups and venues owned by their colleagues, Then there's the mafia, both in and out of town (and country) and associated patronage systems to which the large bar owners subscribe. All of these overlap and also include the bigger activities like illegal gambling and drugs. Hardly surprising then that enforcement is patchy and inconsistent.

The food looks great, but surely only an American would serve ketchup with a Sunday Roast?

The word from my guy is that true is changing the code everyday so they can't get around it.

It's much more complex than that; there are several fundamental differences in the way the new True system works, which makes the piracy method previously used by Dreambox more or less impossible to implement.

Weather forecasts having been showing possibility of thunders showers or storms for the past 2 months or more. The reality is there has been very little rain in the past 2 months. Days when it does rain it has been for only 15 minutes or so. However August and September are close and that probably means a lot of rain.

That's very true. The Mae Taeng and Ping rivers are below normal for this time of year. Almost 100% of the Mae Taeng is diverted to the canal to allow rice planting to start. Last year there was much more water flowing. A few days of hard rain could change all that quickly though.

IIRC last year's flooding woes started with Nock Ten That was almost exactly a year ago........... If anyone has seen what happened in China last few days it might be time to prepare the sandbags!

Sadly I dont recognise what you describe, and I was out of there like a shot when I first stayed in C.M, when I realised the reputation the area had for "people batting for the other side" and it essentially being the Le Crow for Thais.

Batting for the other side ? What does that mean? Is it a TV.com euphemism for whether one prefers Pizza or Burgers?

Well, I'm a Pizza man and proud of it. Fortunately these days you can get some really great Pizza in Santitham too and burgers (Google it)

Santithum does seem to be a popular locale of discussion. In all honesty haven't been through there for a while. Last time was with my ex-wife many years ago where we met some people on business in a gay bar (yeah I know, but it is true) where the main attraction was a guy masterbating on the stage, didn't do anything for me but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Recall hearing shouts for an encore.

Paagais' unashamed avatar basically sums it up. Santithum is the area for gays and katoeys, if that is your thing then you will undoubtably love it. Vibrant buzz, coffee, food etc is the justification for friends and relatives that don't know better, the reality is quick access to what rings your bell. Friend of mine recently discovereed a yearning for katoeys, he changed locale from southside straight into Santithum and it definitely wasn't for the coffee.

One has to question your motives for posting such utter rubbish when, by your own admission, you've never even been there recently. Your comment, "Santithum is the area for gays and katoeys" sums up your ignorance more than anything else. You should get with the program, it's 2012; the days of the gay ghetto have gone!

Yes there are still four gay bars with shows of the type you describe. But, they are all in discreet locations largely out of sight. Three of them in quiet sois where no one would go by accident, and most are located just off Chang Puek road and not in the center of Santitham at all. A very stark contrast to the high visibility whore bars around the city's main tourist areas. If you want to find the really sleazy gay bars, where old farangs can be seen publicly fondling young guys, look no further than the Night Bazaar, and you'll find way more Kathoeys on Loi Kroh road than you will in Santitham.

Santitham does have several good restaurants and Cafes that are popular with gay farangs but they are all respectable places that have a mixed clientele and none are specifically gay. Compared with the four gay bars, there is a much bigger group of old local Thai style "lady bars", though these are now few in numbers, concentrated in a small area and largely off limits to Farangs, What Santitham does have is maybe a hundred plus small bars and restaurants, many with live music that are packed with Thai students having fun. Some of them maybe gays or kathoeys of course, but that's normal anywhere in Thailand .

Can't find Santhitam on the map - can you give a few landmarks and general directions please?

It's in Chang Puek district inside the area North West of the moat and North of Huay Kaew Road, bounded on the East by Chang Puek Road and north and West by the Superhighway.

18.801841,98.978233 is Haa Yak Santitham (the traffic circle on Santitham Road Thai's often use in directions)

The Encryption has now gone to NDS, which in the UK they have been trying to crack since 1997, so don't hold your breath for a solution any time soon.

card sharing has been going on in the uk for many years with sky having no luck in stopping it

Really, please do tell more......

Mostly planes take off towards the South and land towards the North, but if there are different and strong winds that this can be reversed.

Departures to the North are usually to de-conflict outbound and inbound traffic rather than anything to do with the wind.

Where did you get that information?

MSPain

Here: http://www.aviation....ngMai_Chart.htm