butterisbetter

Just use thick unglazed terracotta floor tile. The largest size you can find. Apparently, that's what Peter Reinhart, a major bread guru, uses.

I use Star Visa which is located on the same soi as the American Consulate. Not for the 90 day stuff but to renew my non-O visa. Basically, what they do is organize everything for me and send me on errands to do that which they can't do themselves - like going to the Consulate. Then the check all the assembled documents and put them in a folder. I take the stuff to immigration myself. I think that when the Immigration people see that it's been properly organized and easy to inspect, the process the application more readily. I think the last time I used them I paid about 500 baht.

I saw stones for pizza ovens at Yok's. Not terracotta but a white "stone". Granite is a crap shoot. Sometimes they hold up fine and sometimes they crack under the heat.

Dentaland began as a dental clinic for kids. One of our children was really phobic about dentistry. She went in screaming to see the dentist but she came out smiling. Ever since then she actually looks forward to seeing her dentist. She was age 5 at that first visit.

I believe it's more than a course - it's a 1 year full-time program. Which is more impressive. As for implant specialists, Dr. Piraya was the guy I used for implants. I am very satisfied with his work. He's also an instructor at Chiang Mai University. One of the places he works at is Dentalland on Nimmanheiman Soi 17.

Glad you were satisfied with the work, that's always the main thing.

I note from Dentallands website that the implant + crown is between 50-65,000 Baht.

Elite Smiles website shows 36,000+crown, with 10% off if using a Bangkok Bank Card before the end of the year.

I wonder what the difference is?

We've had a few Australian dental tourists at our place and one told me that he was getting shallow implants which are cheaper. Maybe that's the reason for the price difference.

Maybe it's the provenance of the implant. At Dentalland I got Swedish made implants.

Just go to any beef shop at the market. I bought about 3kg for 100 baht. Great for frying chips in too.

Was the fat already rendered or did you have to do that yourself?

There is a guy on Thapae Rd. with a sign that says from 36,000. There is some mention of UCLA. I think you only save 5000 by getting the Thai made post. The ones from Switzerland and America are the international standard. It doesn't surprise me that a dentist in Oz would badmouth Thai dentistry. They hate competition and price advertising, just like America. Most Thais have very nice teeth, probably inverse of the number in Cambodia or the UK. This clinic has a least one dentist from CMU school of Dentistry: www.ssdentalclinicshiangmai.com. Grace is most well known, but seems to have high prices.

Popped by there about a year ago when I needed some work. The mention of UCLA inspired me to go there. Turns out the Dentist took one course there.

Yes but it was an 18 month course specialising in "Dental Implants". He also employs other specialists eg Dr Joy for root canals etc. You really should be careful about what you imply.

Sorry it was 12 month course. BTW Do a check on Dental 4 U Thaepae Rd and Elite Smile and you will see Dr Warut Muttaruk is the implant specialist at both. His CV is on the Dental 4 U site. BTW he is my dentist and friend.

I believe it's more than a course - it's a 1 year full-time program. Which is more impressive. As for implant specialists, Dr. Piraya was the guy I used for implants. I am very satisfied with his work. He's also an instructor at Chiang Mai University. One of the places he works at is Dentalland on Nimmanheiman Soi 17.

You might try googling for an image of the asian giant hornet. It just so happens there as an article today somewhere (maybe nbc.com?) about people in China being killed by these things. Whether it's the same species as the hornet or wasp besetting your property, without a photo, it's hard to say.

Simple directions to Bakersmart please...

GPS: 18.755298,99.008276

Where is Yok never heard of it

Across from Big C Superhighway.

There's another, newer store in the vicinity of the JJ market. That's not precise enough a direction to get you there but the locations of Yok and Bakersmart should be easy enough to find out by using google.

What class of items are you interested in? If it's every category that Yok and Bakersmart offer in one locale, then they are the only options..

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

Actually, it's rarely made from lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).. 99.99 percent of the time It's made using calcium hydroxide or quicklime which turns into calcium hydroxide on contact with water.

As BillyBobThai points out hominy was traditionally made using woodash, which does contain a lot of lye. At least it was made that way in north america. So lye can be used. In Mexico, they roast limestone to turn it into quicklime.

There's a whole thread in the western food forum about making masa which is where I either learnedor gave me the impetus to learn most of the stuff I'm regurgitating now.. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663304-you-can-make-your-own-corn-tortillas-at-home-in-thailand/page-3

One word of warning: if you're thinking of getting your quicklime from a construction supply house, don't. It could be contaminated with heavy metals. Apparently, they sell something in the food markets called "Bpoon Daeng" which is red quicklime. If they're making it just by roasting limestone, it might also not be safe to consume. So I've ordered some quicklime and some calcium hydroxide reagent grade (a purer grade than food grade) from a chemical supply house. Still waiting.

Phun keaw, the local beetle nut lime is made from burnt snail shells and crushed up into a powder. Same same as in the Philippines before white men came and brought chemicals. I've used that many times for making masa and works great. Maybe the American indians did same??

That's good to know. I've read that Native Americans in what is now roughly the USA and Canada used wood ash.

check out central in central airport

There is no Central department store at airport plaza. It's Robinson's. Actually, the Central Dept. Store at Central Huay Kaew offers the best selection in Chiang Mai of high end appliances. You can also try Bakersmart and Yok which each offer good selections of appliances both for consumers and restaurants.

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

Actually, it's rarely made from lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).. 99.99 percent of the time It's made using calcium hydroxide or quicklime which turns into calcium hydroxide on contact with water.

As BillyBobThai points out hominy was traditionally made using woodash, which does contain a lot of lye. At least it was made that way in north america. So lye can be used. In Mexico, they roast limestone to turn it into quicklime.

There's a whole thread in the western food forum about making masa which is where I either learnedor gave me the impetus to learn most of the stuff I'm regurgitating now.. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663304-you-can-make-your-own-corn-tortillas-at-home-in-thailand/page-3

One word of warning: if you're thinking of getting your quicklime from a construction supply house, don't. It could be contaminated with heavy metals. Apparently, they sell something in the food markets called "Bpoon Daeng" which is red quicklime. If they're making it just by roasting limestone, it might also not be safe to consume. So I've ordered some quicklime and some calcium hydroxide reagent grade (a purer grade than food grade) from a chemical supply house. Still waiting.

I am under the impression that most of what is sold as milk here is made from powdered milk. What is not made from powder is rare and I pay 70 baht per liter in the supermarket.

You are under the wrong impression, all the milk sold as fresh milk is exactly that...fresh milk and not made from powder.

How do I know....my GF used work in a milk factory and was responsible for testing the milk as it arrived from the farms.

I've seen this powdered milk assertion many times on Thaivisa. It seems very unlikely that major international corporations like Meiji, Foremost, Allowrie, etc. would allow their milk to be adulterated with powder.

I used to live in the Yucatan, and the tamales there were made with banana leaves. I don't think I ever saw one there made with corn husks.

I was told by someone who used to make cheese for a living in Switzerland, that milk is much more expensive here than it is there.

Did you try aloe vera yet?

Do you use it? How? I have read about preparing, just smearing on the juice doesn't work apparently: http://dokmaidogma.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/aloe-vera-does-cure-middle-age-acne/

I "burned" my hands by working with some chile peppers that I thought were not hot. I just broke off a piece of an aloe vera plant and rubbed it on the afflicted portions. It worked brilliantly.

There is more than just a plant that makes you itchy. While doing some gardening with my shirt off, I was moving large bundles of plants and grass and it was in contact with my shirt. Later, burning sensation followed by massive swelling and blistering....just like a burn. Never did find out what plant caused it. But no more gardening without protection now.....

There are some caterpillars covered with a kind of hair or fur. These can cause the symptoms you described.

Actually, now is a great time to buy used cars. The Thai government was offering subsidies to first time car buyers in thailand, The result was predictable: once the benefit from the subsidies ran out, the buyers couldn't afford to make their payments and the cars were repossessed. So there is a glut of lightly used cars on the market. There have been several articles about this in various news sources.

I missed that spectacular bit of wrongness Femi fan, where do you get the figure that the US uses half of it's energy and water on beef production? And half of their total crops? Really? Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Even if it were true about cattle raising, which is dubious, it doesn't mitigate the fact that palm oil plantations are also destructive. It's like saying that since 75% of murders are committed with a gun, there's nothing wrong with committing murder with a knife.

Palm Oil = DEATH! Dead elephants, orang-utans, the list goes on and on.

I won't use it for this reason alone.

Thousands of sq kilometres have been cleared in Indonesia and Malaysia without a care for the environment.

I don't know why people say this about palm oil.

The one single thing that ruins the world's environment more than any other source is raising cattle. In america alone it uses up about half their total energy, half their water resources, and half their crops just to feed the cows so people can have their hamburgers. Not to mention all the forest clearing in other countries including the amazon to grow crops to feed the cows and to find homes for the cows.

So worry about beef if it comes to the environment!

Clearly your predilection for of palm oil outweighs the fact that the cultivation of palm oil trees is creating the risk of mass extinction for many species of animals, including the orangutan. It's a convenient sort of conscience you have that leads you to decry cattle farming while dismissing the environmental dangers posed by a food you favor. It's so much easier to ask others to make sacrifices rather than yourself. Maybe raising cattle is worse for the environment. But the cultivation of palm oil trees is really bad, too. There's an observation from, I believe, Aristotle about making the perfect the enemy of the good. You've managed to make the worst the ally of the bad. Quite an accomplishment in a dismal, sophistacal sort of way.

I bought my electric Siemens cooker at Siam outside the Moat, near the Chinese Embassy, three years ago and it's always worked well. Only problem was no instruction book in English so contacted service dept Bangkok and they sent me one free within four days. Cost me 25,500 on promotion. Thai wife found it all a bit baffling at first as never used only electric for cooking before but she's well used to it now and says it's the best after using those filthy gas tanks for many years. Worth remembering too that electricity here works out a lot cheaper than using gas for cooking.

Are you sure that electricity is cheaper than gas? I don't think we use up even one 15 kilo tank per month for our gas range. And we use it a lot. And currently the cost of the gas in that tank is 320 baht. Usually, it's gas that is cheaper. And here, it's still subsidized although that is going away. Unless you're using induction burners which are a lot more efficient than standard electric burners. I like gas better for cooking because the heat is instantly adjustable unlike standard electric burners, Again, induction burners also are instantly adjustable. But aluminium cookware won't work on induction burners.

I've read that electric rates vary depending on where you live in Chiangmai. I can't recall the details, though.

I have a stove that has gas burners and an electric oven. Which I think is the ideal combination because electric ovens tend to be more precise in temperature control.

I wish the machine itself were ideal. It's a SMEG. Don't buy one. Oven is great, but the range is a semi-disaster. I'm not the only person who's had problems with SMEG.

I've heard good things about Mex brand.

One thing to look for is if the company has a branch in Chiang Mai. That way you get their technicians instead of some guys from the store that sold it to you.

Global House had some expensive imported stoves last time I was there.

Ricoota and cottage cheese are both made from Whey that is left from making other cheese and are probably the richest in protein source from all dairy products and great for athletes, one thing you need to check is that they are made of milk only and no powders or stabilizers.

Better then any protein powder is to buy fresh real ricotta or cottage

Actually, cottage cheese is made from the curds. It's ricotta that is made from the whey.

This place is on the Lamphun road near the mahidol road intersection.It sells used furniture. Here's the GPS: 18.759311,99.006908But I would first go to a new furniture store to get some idea about prices.

The Chiang Mai Community Church sends out a weekly newsletter with a classified section for household goods including furniture. here's a subscribe link: [email protected] It's usually send on thursday evening or friday morning.