bamboozled

I have a similar problem or so it seems. Just step outside my door and the mosquitos swarm. In fact, there are so many even in the house that I can't sit comfortably at night and type on the computer without having to keep a constant vigil on my ankles. However, the Thai folks in the house diagonally across the street sit in their living room with the lights on watching TV with the door wide open. As do many others. I can only surmise that either they really like farang blood or that there is something peculiar about my house. It is wooden, probably 50 years old, and slightly raised on stilts so that there is about 3 feet of open dark, dank space underneath. Maybe that's what they like, the crawl space underneath. Anyway, I can't type anymore, have to scratch an itch....

Thanks again, all. I didn't realize that steamers had become such a common place item. Last time I searched, in farangland 5 or 6 years ago, they were not common place at all. Now they are in almost any/every department and electronics shop. The cheapest is still over 3000 grand. Why it costs so much to make steam, I don't know. And I saw an iron that makes steam and maybe French toast, too, for over 15,000!!! It's an iron!!!!!!!

Great! thanks people! Much appreciated. Where is Baan and beyond? I've seen it but can't remember where. Do we think it would be less expensive than at Robinson's?

...and a decent, collapsible garment rack, too!

Does anyone know where I could purchase one of these in CM? I'm looking for the type with a refillable water tank with a hose and wand from which the steam exits, not an iron with steam capability.

thanks so much, cheers.

I have a registered Thai business. Having my girlfriend maintain the proposed stall would be to stay within the law as I cannot legally work at said stall/shop. I have thought the night bazaar was dying for years as well and certainly Kalare has had many empty stalls (not sure now) but if you drive/walk by on a non-walking street evening there are loads of people. I imagine it would tone down quite a bit in the low season (like now!) but still, if the rent is quite cheap and one can get a some wholesale orders it could be worthwhile. I'm under the impression Anusarn and Kalare are privately owned by mister beer Chang so the government would not be involved (if indeed this is the case). Walking street is run by the government and one must be a CM resident to participate.The place is such a madhouse these days and that thinking about navigating the crowds 1 or 2 nights every week makes me cringe. Of course, crowds are what you want but it seems so crowded you can't even look or buy anything.

There are many folks selling leather goods this is true. Mine are of my own production and so different from what's available, for the time being.

Thanks for all the input.

I'm toying with the idea of opening a stand in the night bazaar or Anusarn market. Does anyone have any input on that or current info? I'm not sure who to contact or any idea of price. I can go and talk to some folks that have stands already but thought I would find out what the buzz is on Thaivisa. I would be selling leather goods (or rather my Thai significant other would). My target is a bit higher than what most folks are selling but I would hope my product is as well. I'm thinking I might get some wholesale orders. Not sure retail would be much but I could make some less inexpensive items to add to my collection.

Any input folks?

Thanks and cheers....

The shop I was talking about...take a left on the small soi just after Siam Commercial Bank on the left-hand side of Chotana. This maybe 1 km down (or less?) from Chang Phuak gate (north gate) and before you get to Tanin market. It is down that soi on the right hand side #30. It has a sign only in Thai and has a glass front. You will see an old brick chedi on the soi...it is a little past that on the right. Good luck.

There's a shop on one of the small sois off of Chotana Road a bit before Tanin market. There are many small shops that do silk screening in that area and amongst them is a shop that sells art supplies (silk screening inks, for example) as well as stationery flotsom. I'm not sure they will have what you are looking for but it would be worth a look. I will try and get you some specifics about the soi and the shop. I can't quite recall how to get there off the top of my head nor the name of the shop. Does anyone know the place of which I am speaking?

Neither am I bored. What do these other fantastic non-boring places offer that CM doesn't, except the beach. I might be missing out on something good!

I'm curious what the people who are bored with CM do to not be bored, and where exactly they do it. Bored-with-CM people, care to comment?

Hmm, well, it's The New Yorker. It's made it here for years and was fine up until about a month ago. I can't imagine they would put Thailand on the cover but you never know. They do cover a wide range of things...

I subscribe to a weekly mag that should be delivered to my door weekly (albeit a week/10 days after it comes out in the US). for the last 3 or 4 weeks it hasn't been coming. It has been delayed in the past (I never knew why) and sometimes 2 or 3 will arrive together. My gf mentioned it might be because of the protests. Possible?

Ob Khan National Park down CAnal Rd about 15/20 km.

On Chotana Rd at the beginning on the left (just outside Chang Phuak gate) there is a shop called Shutter Bug. They sell a lot of high-end gear. They could probably answer your question.

I would still like to be able to test at home...probably a difficult thing to do. However, how accurate is the article? There could be some sensationalizing going on to drum up readers. Are the results exaggerated? How reliable was the testing? How many samples were tested? It is fairly vague on specifics. And these substances are bad for you but how much is one actually ingesting if washing a little and cooking using various methods.

I only mention this because one has to be very discerning about what one reads. Just because it's in a "newspaper"...

So what the heck are we supposed to eat? Soak it, boil it, wash it, peel it to start, I guess. Is there a home test kit for this (these) substance(s)? That would be helpful... Back to boiling...sure, that removes a lot of the nutrients, but would a quick boil, a blanch, remove a lot of the poisons?

Mmmmm sounds good. Does that work with bacon?

...how about honey?

I also would not buy an infrared again. Of course, in my case, we're talking about only 400 baht or something like that so it's not really a big deal. It's just been an unsolved mystery.

It does bring my crappy pans to the forefront. Looks like some shopping is in order, either for better pans, a new "regular guy" burner, or probably both.

I'll get the clay swiss cheese ring, too!

Coffee tastes good and the ritual and hot fluid in the morning is a nice way to wake up. However, I was feeling too zingy while at the same time still tired. I thought it might be nice to calm down for a bit. I didn't see any decaf at all at Rimping though I will admit I didn't pay much attention to the instant or Italian coffee. I've been stateside for the past 3 months where I started this decaf thing and I was buying a lovely dark roasted whole bean. I think it was Peet's.

I've been doing the herbal tea in the morning but I like the strong coffee flavor and apparently decaf does still have a wee bit of caffeine so....

I will check out Starbuck's! Thanks, Dante....

I have looked and conclude that decaf doesn't exist in CM. ...keep a look-out for the jittery guy.

My pans def leave much to be desired, this is true. As far as third-world stoves (burners, really), this is actually supposed to be a step up from just the plain burner, which is of course a flame from gas much as the flame on a sub-zero. Well, more or less. Anyhow, what is the point of these infrared burners? Ya, it's hotter and......? If one has to put all these added gizmos/spacers/etc...what am I gaining over a regular burner?

I'm thinking a spacer would be better than the clay swiss cheese ring. Doesn't that block too much heat?

I ended up buying an infrared gas burner a while back and have never been satisfied with it...it gets too hot! It is an Otto model. When you turn it on it forms a glowing circle of heat in two radii, large and small. The large is so hot it burns everything but water and stir fry. The small circle is also super hot...just a smaller size. It makes cooking on it very difficult. Impossible to simmer anything. I feel like I might be missing something about it's usage. Perhaps my gas valve is not adjusted properly or...?

Anybody have luck with these thing?

Cool resource, shapeways, thank you. Neversure...where? where? where?