MMan

I don't like taking antibiotics. After a couple of days the side effects from the antibiotics are usually making me feel worse than whatever it was prescribed for.

Glad the number was corrected from 25 million to 25 thousand as I was afraid there would be no more Europeans and no more Americans in about 12 years time 5555

..

Just noticed that almost all stock markets across Asia and Europe are trending downward today... with one notable exception... Germany's market is up. Football feel good influence I'm sure. 555

I have been informed by bar workers in Chiang Mai that bars must close on Friday for the Buddhist holy day. Also Saturday too, though I question if that is actually the case. If that impacts your lifestyle plan accordingly.

Out of town on the highway driving is fine, though in town you need to have a lot of patience, be very alert and very careful. Just assume everybody else on the road is a total idiot and bound to do something crazy at any moment. The fact that you are concerned about it means that you will probably be careful, and thus you will probably be OK.

Adjusting to driving on the left is not as difficult as you might think. I been here 7 years and still have to think about which side of the car I need to get in on though. As one other poster mentioned, it can be confusing when turning onto a 4 lane divided highway as you enter from the opposite side.

For internet, a 3G aircard may be your best option. I have both True (which is someshat unstable where I live) and DTAC (which works very well where I live). I also have AIS 3G service on my phone and it works well.

The Visa thing though may be difficult. Thai Immigration has really been cracking down this year on people abusing the Tourist Visa / Visa Waiver privileges, specifically targeting people who are not coming for legitimate tourism and / or plan to stay indefinitely - if they suspect you are doing that they can refuse to allow you to re-enter when you go for a border run. Also it is a requirement when coming for tourism that you can show proof of having a round trip air ticket back home, though they do not often check for that. Further you are prohibited to work in Thailand when on a tourist visa - so if they suspect you are doing that, you can expect trouble.

If arriving as a tourist on the 30 day visa waiver, they will only allow you to do a border run and re-enter 3 times. After that they will send you away and tell you to apply for a visa before coming back to Thailand.

You might be able to get the Education Visa, though they have been cracking down on people abusing that as well.

The US Embassy this week sent out notices to Americans residing in Thailand about the Immigration crackdown, and also mentioned that if you are denied a visa or re-entry, they cannot help you.

I've only seen good things coming from the traffic police crackdown.

The area near the street food vendors around Chiang Mai Gate by the moat has long been a big traffic mess. Motorcycles park on the road near the food carts, then tuk tuks and songthaews double and triple park next to them, waiting around for passengers while blocking the road. Many times it has taken me 10 minutes or longer to get through that area in my car because they had traffic almost completely blocked, with traffic backed up a long way. Late afternoon and early evening were the worst times.

Not now! :-) In the last week I've driven through there many times in late afternoon or early evening with no major traffic backups. Only a few tuk tuks and songthaews parked around but not blocking virtually the entire road anymore. Traffic cops on motorcycles keeping the road open.

This is a great little boutique 3 star to 3.5 star hotel. Only 6 months old. Clean, modern & comfortable. Great staff - very friendly and eager to be helpful. While not luxurious and a bit spartan, it is of stylish modern contemporary design. Pool & fitness room are small but do the job. Free wifi works fine. Complimentary mini bar. I have a deluxe room which is roomy and well designed, with a nice balcony overlooking the pool. The breakfast eggs tasted like they came from a microwave but no complaints and overall I thought breakfast was quite satisfactory (the whole wheat bread was excellent).

Location is good - 5 minute walk to night market, 2 blocks from the clock tower and about 3 blocks from the 'farang nightlife' bar street.

Extra bonus points for the very comfortable mattress, and also the bathroom with large counter-top and large walk-in rain shower.

Overall a very solid choice and great value for the price. I normally stay at either the Wiang Inn, Dusit Island or Le Meridien and have had good stays at all three, though now there are 4 hotels I would be happy to stay at when in the area.

As it is new and small, most taxi drivers and even the taxi dispatch call line are not familiar with it.

Great - thanks for the info. I've read good reviews and will do my own.

Booked to stay at this new centrally located hotel, but having a bit of trouble figuring out exactly where it is. Address is 610 Phahonyothin Rd.

If I type the address into Google maps, it appears to be south of the Wiang Inn on the same road, near the Diamond Park. However on the hotel website and also Agoda, both of which refer you to Google Maps, it shows as being north of the Night Bazaar on their version of Google maps. Help?

Does Phahonyothin make a 90 degree turn right north of the Night Bazaar and go out to Hwy 1? (turning where it intersects with Baan Phaparkan)?

On moving to Thailand I quickly learned to look both ways before stepping onto a road or even a sidewalk, even a one way road. And when walking down a sidewalk in Bangkok be sure to look behind you before suddenly changing direction, as a speeding motorcycle may be coming up from behind at 50 kph plotting a course roughly one inch to your left or right. ALWAYS assume that everybody on the road is a stupid idiot and may do something insane at any moment.

Both of these condos appear to have several large and decent looking units available for rentals at reasonable prices. However parking spaces appear very limited at both. Would appreciate hearing from residents or anyone with first hand knowledge on these properties if car parking availability is indeed a problem..

Smoking has been banned in all Thailand restaurants, bars and other indoor public areas throughout Thailand for 7 years. Open air bars and restaurants are exempt. Some hotels are 100% smoke free though most offer both smoking and non-smoking rooms.

Some indoor bars and other places do allow smoking, but most places you would likely go do not.

I don't like to be around smokers either and it is generally not an issue here in Thailand.

How I would get from Myanmar to Luang Prabang:

Air Bagan flies Yangon to Chiang Mai on Thursday and Sunday afternoons (depart 14:20 arrive 16:10). Stay in Chiang Mai overnight (or better yet a few nights).

Lao Airlines flies daily Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang (depart 15:30 arrive 16:30). Cost with tax is about $ 170 USD.

No experience with Air Bagan, but I've flown Lao Airlines including this route and was quite satisfied with them. There are no Mandalay to Chiang Mai flights.

Was at Promenada a few weeks ago on a Tuesday night, which is probably a slow night at most malls. Very few customers around at any store, with one exception - The Dukes. It wasn't 'busy' but between 1/3 and 1/2 of the tables were occupied, which made it easily the busiest place in the mall.

Butter is Better has the best pancakes I've had in Asia. Have had their buttermilk, whole wheat and blueberry pancakes - all excellent! So big though they'll fill you up and not leave much room for other items. Good value too.

Have had pancakes at many hotel breakfast buffets around Asia including several 5 star places, and they are usually tasteless aside from whatever you put on top of them.

The IHOP photo got me looking forward to my next stateside trip! So wish we had IHOP and BOB EVANS here in Chiang Mai!

In the Night Bazaar area:

O'Malleys Irish Pub in the Anusarn Night Bazaar. The Dukes restaurant. Le Bistrot beer garden at the Suriwongse hotel has indoor seating available.

For something with more scenery... Foxy Lady.

I was told as recently as Thursday and Friday by bar managers and employees that they could stay open this weekend - apparently the police did not get the word out much in advance.

Not a problem to find a drink though if you know where to go.

There does seem to be a general lack of safety consciousness in Thailand. Occupational safety, road safety, etc. In my country it was something we were taught from a young age; in school, in church, on the job, etc. Our school invited the highway police to come every year and to deliver a lecture on highway safety + tell / show about horrific accident scenes. When I worked for an industrial company every department was required to have monthly safety meetings and report on safety matters. We also had annual safety audits and unannounced safety inspections. Violations received upper management attention until rectified.

I doubt those things exist here. I've seen more than a few high rise building fire escape stairwells that are used as 'storage areas' or a place to keep the garbage cans. Have seen many that would never receive a 'pass' from the building inspector to open for business in the first place where I come from.

I recently booked RT BKK - LAX on EVA with UA miles. If you book far enough in advance some good Saver miles options.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Thanks for the info. BC has had problems as long as I can remember and have never been able to keep any good management. Let's hope they turn that around. For various reasons including those you mention + cost golfers have been largely avoiding Phuket in recent years.

If you're mainly shooting for facebook uploads or general sharing, several phones on the market now take very good photos (after a bit of touch-up with Photoshop). I have a Samsung S4 Mini and since I bought it I seldom bother to lug my Cannon camera around anymore. The main pro is that you always have your phone with you. The main con being no optical zoom.

cool

I have DTAC and TrueMove aircards and both work well, though in some areas one will work better than the other depending on proximity to their signal and how many other users are on at the time.

Been researching local hotels that sell outside memberships for locals to use their fitness center:.

Centara Duangtawan: 6 months @ 8500 thb and 12 months @ 12,000 thb (not sure but I think 1 month is 1500 thb). It was probably the best option in town at one point though it is now dated like the hotel itself, and I've heard can be crowded at peak times.

Shangri La: 6 months @ 20,000 thb and 12 months @ 29,000 thb (pricey but nice)

Dusit D2: Well eqiupped fitness center at top of hotel with nice views, though I think prices are close to the Shangri La.

The following also sell outside memberships though I do not know the cost: Kantary Hills, Anantara (Chedi), RatiLanna

Le Meridien is for in-house guests only.

If others have additional information or suggestions please share. I'd like someplace I can get to easily where parking and traffic are not a problem.