november222

When in company and especially indoors, I put my phone onto "meeting" or "silent". This means I know when it rings but it does not annoy others. As far as The Pub goes, I have been there a few times and found the place very welcoming and pleasant.

Mark

me 2, a good old northern welcome, great sunday lunch .....order , pay, leave , very happy, no sh*t, maybe caught the chef on a bad day, it does happen you know

I find it amazing that yet again some find it necessary to bash a business of some hard working people on a public and well-read forum and try to cause damage to them.

If you don't agree with something, you find the service bad or you find the staff rude or whatever you are displeased about show some back-bone and take it up directly with the owner or manager at THEIR place and NOT on a public forum hidden behind a nick name.

Whether the chef or manager at the establishment mentioned was rude or not. None of us can verify that as we were not there. We only hear/read one side of the story.

good comment, always 2 sides 2 the story

I, ve fond most COOKS , well thats what they are, tend to be full of themselves. Especially since the advent of the TV chefs. You get them now thinking they are Gordon Ramsey. After spending a grand in a place and then being told to turn down your phone would P*&s me right off. I would call someone I knew and tell the very loudly about the lousy, expensive meal I'd just had.

what do you know, go and phone someone if it makes you feel better

WE HAD AN INCIDENT IN OUR BAR LAST NIGHT WHERE A THAI MAN WALKED OUT AND STOLE ONE OF OUR MUSICIANS GUITARS,WE WERE ALL DEVESTATED BY THE LOSS. THE DAY AFTER ,TWO OF THE THREE WHO WE SUSPECTED CAME INTO OUR BAR, THEY WERE OBLIVIOUS TO THE ROBBERY, BUT TOLD US THAT THEY HAD SEEN THE LAD DOWN LOI KROH RD, WE TOLD THE POLICE,THEY TOLD US THAT WE HAD TO REPORT IT FIRST, THEN THEY COULD ACT,WHEN WE REPORTED IT ,THE POLICE TOLD US THAT UNLESS WE HAD A NAME THEY COULD NOT ACT.WE DID NOT HAVE A NAME.WE THEN TRIED TO GET INTOUCH WITH THE TOURIST POLICE,WHO COULDN'T DEAL WITH IT AS THEY WERE HAVING THEIR CHRISTMAS PARTY ! MY WIFE AND I HAVE HAD 4 ROBBERY'S IN THE LAST 2 YEARS,SO WE KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE POLICE........VERY LITTLE......IS THIS THE NORM'

Was you as aggressive with the police as you are with this script?

hey sorry,didn't mean to be aggresive,i was a bit angry at the time,the tourist police as we speak are on the case,and have been most helpful

latest update. the tourist police have taken statements ,recorded info, and have photos of the lost guitar, and by all accounts very sympathetic to the situation,hopefully there will be a happy ending

Yes, I think dingdongrb is a FANTASTIC parent for acting in this manner. You don't have to go too far these days to see poor parenting. He has an excellent point about this poor soul whos guitar was so important it lay in a dusty corner somewhere in a crowded bar while he sucked down copias quantities of beer or whatever....meanwhile some other musically inclined person decided they would give the guitar a better home

Maybe someone from a famous rock n roll group is now touring the world with it, a life the previous owner couldnt provide for it

no dusty corners , very clean,went to my mothers boot camp as a child, some things are just drilled into you

Do you really need an anwer to this question? Purlease!

Thailand is a country as an international courtesy only. Thailand really is an amusement park run by mafia. Mafia in brown uniforms. Mafia in plain clothes. Mafia in positions of authority.

If you get into trouble here, DO NOT call the police, or you risk being the one going to jail - be it a road accident, a robbery or any other matter.

As long as you understand that you have left the world of civility and social evolution behind and are swimming in a sewer of criminality and stupidity you can have a good time. It's called a vacation.

fair do's

like what ?

You mean the "better solutions"? I don't think we want to get into discussing those on this forum There seems to be unanimous agreement the BIB won't do anything, so you need to do like Thai people do. Justice, like most things in Thailand one might expect to be "free" (e.g. water ), has a price

i agree with the cctv system, will be getting installed soon as, by the way, the white lotus on loi kroh was broken into recently,and they have a cctv system installed, the theives located the hard disk recorder,disconected it and stole that as well,was thinking of leaving my killer german shepard overnight, but i know they would only poisen her

Any decent hard disc recorder includes motion detection alarms and the ability to automatically upload video to an ftp site when an alarm is detected (and send email alerts with still pictures - e.g. to a mobile phone). The recorder should be located in a hidden secure location (e.g. in a metal box/safe). It, the Power supply for the cameras and the internet modem should be locked away too and powered via a UPS. That should buy some time and get an alarm and off site copy of the video before the intruders can disable the system. Other tricks include dummy cameras and hidden backup cameras to confuse. None of this stuff is expensive here.

the theives knew the place as they had worked there and knew the system,what they didn't bargain for was the antique shop across the road having cctv cameras outside their shop,and they parked their motorbike outside our bar and saw them coming out with various things including my guitar,the lad is now serving 8 years,the police had to act as we hard hard evidence,we were very relieved it was all over as it was the same person who had broken in to our house twice and our bar twice, the last time he broke into our house it was in through our bedroom window while we were sleeping, i still can't work out how they did it,he took the glass plates off one by one , unscrewed the security bars (24 screws in teak wood) ,slashed the mosquito net,and was in,he cleared the bedroom out,guitar in its case,even went through my trousers i'd taken off and took my money out of my pockets.we couldn't believe it when we woke up,maybe a good job we didn't wake up.we have stepped up security at both places,the bar is like fort knox,as is our home,i know it's the same most places in the world, i lived in liverpool for a number of years (no jokes please), i just felt with the guitar incident' with the evidence we had,like knowing where he lived,witness', we could have gone a bit further down this avenue

Why is the OP yelling at us?

What makes anyone think that the Police 'Care' anywhere in the world?

There is nothing nice about having something stolen from you, but you ALL are 'Devestated' because a guitar is stolen....I hope nothing ever really bad happens.

Obviously you are not musically inclined. The loss of a guitar can be devastating to some people.

Then perhaps they should have a guitar sling and keep it placed around their neck and close to their heart. Or in a guitar case and carry it around. Where exactly was this guitar laying when it was taken?

As for my loved one, it's my 2 1/2 year old daughter. When we go shopping she is ALWAYS holding my or my wife's hand. She is always in our sight just like when she is out playing in the yard (always has adult supervision). Just last night she was here in the local market playing in one of those large inflatable jumping toys with 10s of other kids. While all the other parents just let their kids run loose without watching I had my eye on my child at almost all times.

our bar is usually a very safe place,most of our customers our locals ,on christmas day we celebrated our second birthday,the bar was in full swing,the man in question had been causing problems all night, grabbing waitress ass' generally looking for a fight, we were all aware of him,and had one or two of the 'doorman' kind of lads on stand by,it was during the change over of bands that it happened, the guitar was in it's case by the side of the stage,wih so many people involved in the change over,he saw his opportunity,as theives do,and was off with it,when the next band was on , we were all relieved to see him go, not thinking he'd walked out with the guitar, one or two people outside could remember seeing him walk out with the guitar,but at the time thought nothing of it as you see many musicians in chiang mai walking around with their guitar. the two men who he was with were in again last night and couldn't believe it, this man who i believe now was from singapore had latched on to them during the evening,and in high spirts went along with it, they had told him throughout the evening to calm himself down,as he was causing trouble, they met up again later and ended going back to his room for a jam and some after hours drinking, he told them it was his guitar and the two aussie guys thought nothing of it, it wasn't until they came back in last night that we pieced it together, the two guys took time out of their last night in chiang mai to go go down to the police station to help with enquiries,two other customers who saw him leaving with the guitar also went down to the police station.

Ta22 has it spot on, especially CCTV Systems are cheap and very effective, including internet connection so you can monitor your place from afar. Very effective detterent and they have the added bonus you can see what you did (and who you did it with ) when you came home drunk the night before!

Personally I'd recommend a couple of security/bodyguards too; invaluable! As to the BIB, if you have a name and know who the perpertrators are why would you go to the BIB? This is Thailand, there are much better solutions to such problems.......

like what ? i agree with the cctv system, will be getting installed soon as, by the way, the white lotus on loi kroh was broken into recently,and they have a cctv system installed, the theives located the hard disk recorder,disconected it and stole that as well,was thinking of leaving my killer german shepard overnight, but i know they would only poisen her

It is a great achievement to get that kind of recognition. Congratulations to the Tonic Rays who should be chuffed to bits.

here,here ! a great achievement, 100% rock'n'roll....nice one

Why is the OP yelling at us?

What makes anyone think that the Police 'Care' anywhere in the world?

There is nothing nice about having something stolen from you, but you ALL are 'Devestated' because a guitar is stolen....I hope nothing ever really bad happens.

a musicians instrument is his babe , through thick and thin,the good times,the bad, a lover, a naughty friend,a cruel mistress,you take that away,and it's a very sad day,maybe artistic people tend to where hearts on their sleeves.Today not feeling "devestated" as i can see out of the corner of my eye my girl calling my name,(she's a redhead)and whispering sweet nothings, music to my ears, ahh , true love !

WE HAD AN INCIDENT IN OUR BAR LAST NIGHT WHERE A THAI MAN WALKED OUT AND STOLE ONE OF OUR MUSICIANS GUITARS,WE WERE ALL DEVESTATED BY THE LOSS. THE DAY AFTER ,TWO OF THE THREE WHO WE SUSPECTED CAME INTO OUR BAR, THEY WERE OBLIVIOUS TO THE ROBBERY, BUT TOLD US THAT THEY HAD SEEN THE LAD DOWN LOI KROH RD, WE TOLD THE POLICE,THEY TOLD US THAT WE HAD TO REPORT IT FIRST, THEN THEY COULD ACT,WHEN WE REPORTED IT ,THE POLICE TOLD US THAT UNLESS WE HAD A NAME THEY COULD NOT ACT.WE DID NOT HAVE A NAME.WE THEN TRIED TO GET INTOUCH WITH THE TOURIST POLICE,WHO COULDN'T DEAL WITH IT AS THEY WERE HAVING THEIR CHRISTMAS PARTY ! MY WIFE AND I HAVE HAD 4 ROBBERY'S IN THE LAST 2 YEARS,SO WE KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE POLICE........VERY LITTLE......IS THIS THE NORM'

Where can I find a potato masher in Chiang Mai? Big C, Tesco etc... no go.. anyone know where one is to be found?

Unless you are running a restaurant or have a big family whats wrong with a FORK?? Thats all I use...for 'lumpy mash' to creamed...easy

yeah ! this thread for 'forks' sake

I was there and Eddie Baytos and Joe Cummings did a great job. Probalby one the best live acts I've ever seen in Chiang Mai. I didn't like the first gig of Tracy Chapman. I'm sorry that's not her name. I think she's called Cherry Lee. After her was one more band playing, which was quite good.

I thought she was good . She has a few clips on YouTube if you want to judge for yourself. Her YouTube name is TheBathroomgirl, because ............... she sings in the bathroom. Well worth seeing.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBathroomGirl

She plays at Guitarman still, but I'm not sure which nights.

Nice one!!

Men with lots of tattoos do look like thugs/criminals.

But i also think the same everytime i hear a scouse accent. shockin' talk la'

Chiang Mai has a vibrant expat scene. You can take it or leave it. There is a big expat club, a Thai-expat friends group, lots of pubs to meet friends, other activities. A friend from the writer's group found me at the pool this week. We had a record number of attendees at the ThaiVisa party at Tusker's Saturday night. If you are sociable, you can find friends here. If you are not sociable, that is fine, too.

I meet an expat occasionally who is soured on Thailand, and I kind of ignore such people. My partner is shy about meeting new expats, but we are having a big party for friends tonight. Like Gary A mentions, many of us have Thai partners who have family and friends from the community, and that suffices for them.

I'm trying to find the name of a movie that I saw years ago. It was a British film, comedy-drama if I remember correctly, about five UK construction workers from different parts of the UK, all with REALLY strong regional accents, sharing an apartment. Their accents were so strong that this film, although everyone was speaking English, had English sub-titles!

Anyone remember the name of this movie?

Thanks

sounds like 'auf wiedersehen pet' written by dick clement & ian la frenais, bits and bobs on 'youtube',

Maria Conchita Alonso... Is that the actress that I fell in love with years ago? Does she play music also??

unfortunately she wont be there to 'do a turn' on wednesday

Sounds like Guitarman is holding up well!

I was there last Thursday- busy night with lots of music and good conversations with friends.

Be great to see Joe and the other artists play...

hey , nice one la' ....guitarman rockin' at the momement, look forward to having some more great talent on stage on wednesday night

JOE CUMMINGS IS BACK IN TOWN FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY PLAYING WITH THE FABULOUS 'EDDIE BAYTOS' LIVE AT GUITARMAN ON WEDNESDAY 12TH NOVEMBER ,SUPPORT FOR THE EVENING WILL BE PROVIDED BY SINGER 'CHERRY LEE', AND 'THE WARREN SIMPSON BAND'. MUSIC STARTS AT 8.30PM . Eddie Baytos is a versatile dancer and musician who has worked with a varied and impressive roster of performers, most recently performing on Annie Lennox's new CD with Producer, Glen Ballard.

Because of his unique choreographic abilities in teaching non-musicians to mimic the energy and movements of veteran players, Eddie has carved out a niche for himself in a desperately needed field. Directors and audiences alike have marveled at the skillful way in which Eddie has taught actors inexperienced in the handling of instruments to portray artists convincingly.

A gifted musician able to play a wide range of instruments including washboard and accordion, Eddie has staged video performances and live tours for a variety of artists including the Eurythmics, ZZ Top, Uma Thurman, Jenna Elfman, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Maria Conchita Alonso, Annie Lennox, Weird Al Yankovic, and many others.

His commercial credits include staging and music in national spots for Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Coors, Budweiser, Chevy, Ford, and a number of industrials.

Eddie has also contributed to the scores for film features such as Runaway Jury, Thirteen, and Rugrats, as well as composing the score for an independent documentary on the history of “B” movies entitled Mau Mau Sex Sex.

In Eddie's long and storied musical career he has performed both live and in the recording studio with such artists as Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, John Fogerty, R.L. Burnside, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Percy Mayfield, Lee Dorsey, Johnny Adams, Ernie K-Doe, and Zig and Leo of The Meters. Eddie has even tap-danced on record with the famed Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers.

----

Joining Eddie will be:

John Dooley: bassist, producer, educator; holds the record for longest bass guitar residence with Chai & the Blues Maniacs; currently recording with Keo Carabao for Warner Music Thailand.

Joe Cummings: guitarist, arranger, composer; founding member of The Tonic Rays; band arranger for Mason Ruffner, Mitch Woods; currently recording with Keo Carabao for Warner Music Thailand.

Pornchai: drummer for Carabao, Chai & the Blues

Maniacs.

East Asia for the most part, needed a couple of years after 97 to clean up the mess, before it could begin to improve. Most of the countries did very well from 2001 to 2005, so Thaksin does not deserve credit for this. It happened most everywhere.

Much of Thailand's growth was in credit. Borrow and spend.

His own company's stock boomed during his tenure. Surprising?

And by the way, he had 2,000 people killed extra-judicially.

eye for an eye

please toxin didn't buy my football club !

I caught Boy Blues band two weeks ago, when illustrious Guitarman proprietor Nicky stood in as bass player and did a great job of it too.

An extremely eclectic and innovative Thai bluesman whose name I do not know, took turns with Boy for the guitar leads; Boy providing sophisticated, understated, weeping leads and this other bluesman attacking the axe from a 12-dimensional angle, ranging all the way from furious atonality over Parliament-ish funk chops into smooth, tip-toeing jazzy licks.

The best jam I have seen in Chiang Mai, and right up there with the gigs one is sometimes lucky enough to catch in Bangkok's Saxophone bar on a good night.

Took is without a doubt a highly accomplished blues guitar player of the traditional type, but I agree it seems he sticks with the same set of cover songs and does not want to expand his playing.

I recently experianced Boy Blues band at guitar man and thought they were great but was not too impressed with the venue, had a lot of trouble getting a drink and when it came time to pay the bill some freaky looking Thai girl with bright red hair totally screwed it up and was really rude to us all, dont think we will be back

thanks expat for your kind words about my 'freaky' wife, you usually find there are two sides to every story,coming on this site to offer a one sided offensive view is surely not the way to do it,school boy name calling.....very sad

Wandered into the Brasserie around 11 tonight looking to catch the warm up band and Took at 12 but surprisingly the main man was already on stage and for the next 2 hours provided an absolutely superb set of rock and blues guitar. Same again tomorrow? not a chance but if you catch the man on a good night then surely there is no better live music in town and all for the price of a bottle of beer.

Superb

not as good as boy blues band , his younger nephew boy is a chip off the old block,and for me has the edge ....come check them out at guitarman 5 nights a week

I have a friend that was in Pai about 2 weeks ago. He said a group of police officers entered the bar they were at. They were carrying a plastic jug that had writing on it. He said they walked thru the bar but he did not see or hear of them taking any samples. He said before the police officers arrived they were warned that they would be there shortly and what they were coming for.

So yes it is true.

nicky here from guitarman, we played up at be-bop in pai 2 weeks ago with our band november222, pai was swarming with police, we were told that later on in the evening the police would be coming in to piss test everybody, at about 10 bells they entered the building lead by the admiral police fella wid a big hat ,stripes and loads of medals, they walked up to the bar,took the owner aside,had a chat for about 2 minutes and left, make of that what you will ! fortunatly being such a clean living rock'n'roll band, we had nothing to worry about .