KevinHunt

Kevin - You must be a happy chappie this morning?

Yes. They still need to beat Marseille, but it's looking good. It got a bit cold at 4am but the late goals warmed me up.

Here we go again. One more win and we're through. I'll be the only one (daft enough to be) wearing a scarf. Hopefully it will be early goals that warm me up this time round. Same time, same place, same result?.

Would it be possible to have the restaurants putting on a traditional dinner to post their menus somewhere here? With prices? That would save a ton of legwork!

The current issue of Compass Magazine has an article describing what 7 or 8 restaurants are offering for the holidays, including prices. If you read the ads, you'll figure out what a few more are doing. You'll have to do the rest of the work yourself, including getting your own copy of the magazine.

Citylife magazine also has a comprehensive list of Christmas promotions in Chiang Mai

http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2013

Which one on the list from the link above would you recommend, Kevin?

I wasn't aiming to recommend, just inform. I'll leave the recommendations to those that have more experience .

Would it be possible to have the restaurants putting on a traditional dinner to post their menus somewhere here? With prices? That would save a ton of legwork!

The current issue of Compass Magazine has an article describing what 7 or 8 restaurants are offering for the holidays, including prices. If you read the ads, you'll figure out what a few more are doing. You'll have to do the rest of the work yourself, including getting your own copy of the magazine.

Citylife magazine also has a comprehensive list of Christmas promotions in Chiang Mai

http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2013

Thanks for the pointers. Its on old lampun rd or lampun rd. Directionally challenged type that I am, the only way I know o fgetting to Lampoon is via the super highway aka Rt. 1 is the the one??

The Gymkhana is off the Old Chiang Mai Lamphun rd which runs along the river from the Nawarat bridge. It is about half way between the Nawarat and Mengrai bridges. About 500 metres after the Gawilla army barracks, turn left where there is a big tree at the intersection. The Gymkhana entrance is 200 m along the road (Ratutit Rd).

According to the US Department of State, Thai Government and others, the tourist industry was worth about 320 billion Baht (US$ 7.5 billion) in tourism revenue last year representing about 6% of Thailand's GDP.

Of this, approximately 8% was believed to be directly related to sex tourism and 90% of that was inter-regional with tourists from Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan etc.

This gives a contribution of Non Asian sex tourists to Thailand's GDP of 0.048%, or about 160 Million Baht. A pretty insignificant figure in the grand scheme of things and a little bit less than tourist spend on golf!

Thanks for clarifying that. Too many old-timers in Chiang Mai vastly over-rate the importance of a few empty bars and their clients. Hence, any discussion about improving Chiang Mai comes down to lifting the restrictions on these places. To say that it is the Bread n Butter of the Thai economy is simply amazing. This suggests an exaggerated sense of importance. Maybe their egos are being massaged too much?

As it is Chiang Mai is a great place to live and visit, but of course there is still plenty of room for improvement. Tuktuk's are a novelty for most tourists , but they are far too noisy and too many of the drivers are reckless. Maybe an electric version with properly trained drivers would help.

As has already been pointed out, temples are quickly becoming huge car parks. The city needs to address this problem as well as provide the most basic of amenities - public toilets. Almost non-existent. How many have you come across? There used to be a filthy hole that was supposed to be a toilet on the Tapae Gate square but I imagine that has been demolished. Such a popular venue for many cultural events and no decent toilets? That is probably still the case after the recent improvements. By the way, I think the new surfaces around the moat are a big improvement. The old cobble-stones were unsightly and uneven.

Pedestrianisation of maybe the Night bazaar in the evenings and the back sois of the old city could add a bit of tranquility that is missing in a 700yr old city. A lot of old tourist towns in Europe have this and it certainly adds to the charm.

The local government does a good job of beautifying the place with flower pots along the bridges, river and around the moat. Maybe this could be extended. The pollution in march/April needs to be urgently addressed. Most Thais see Chiang Mai as a Shangrila in the mountains , that should be the target.

.

I have noticed that the 2nd part of the poll is gone! Maybe there was/is a glitch somewhere or --perhaps-- something more nefarious took place!

In this particular case: I don't think so. PeaceBlondie said he had tried to add some option... I guess that had something to do with it.

Tourism is certainly important, but Sex Tourism is a small part of it these days. The fact that most of the girly bars are empty year round is testament to that.

I think you missed my post earlier. Been to Pattaya or Samui lately? There's MORE sex tourists than ever before in Thailand's history. The phenomena we're entertaining at the moment is that they're not coming to Chiang Mai. (To your endless delight, no doubt.

There aren't many bars on Loi Kroh where the 'staff' outnumber the customers.

Now there's a scary prospect.. A bar where the customers outnumber the staff.. YIKES..!! Definitely nightmare material.

The pimps that come here to run girly bars are struggling I imagine.

You seem to assume that most bars are foreign owned? Do you get around at all?

That's only a little sentence.

Read it again.

Have you finished?

Read it once more, just to be sure.

Done that?

Now, who's making the assumptions?

Yes, I do get around. Nice of you to ask.

From Chiang Mai, most tourists go to the islands or beaches. Does that explain my statement. Not too difficult was it?

they tell you this while you have coffee with them in starbucks?

What is your point?

Most tourists go south to the islands, or beaches after leaving Chiang Mia. What is there to dispute about there?

I couldn't agree with you more. Sex Tourism has been on the decline for a long time. Let's hope the trend continues. Most tourists are coming on a reguar holiday for sea, sun and adventure, and I believe that despite what the 'Thailand is not the same' brigade think, the majority have a great time and a fair few return.

i have been here 6 years now and still have yet to find a beach near chiang mai. pattaya? now we're talking sea, sun, adventure and a hel_l lot of nightlife. and if you trying to tell me that tourists go to pattaya predominately for sea, sun and adventure, you are just kidding yourself.

sex tourism been on a decline for a long time? sure, not cause of the tourists but the new regulations that pertain to the nightlife.

wake up and smell the coffee

I've been here for 18 years, and I haven't seen a beach in Chiang Mai, either.

From Chiang Mai, most tourists go to the islands or beaches. Does that explain my statement. Not too difficult was it?

You must be joking right? Do you think the sex industry is a larger money earner then say the auto industry in Thailand? Larger then rice exports? Larger then chicken produce exports? Larger then the rubber product industry?

Tired of this slur and slander from foreigners about Thailand ……………………..

Of course I'm not joking.

Anyone who doesn't think that tourism is one of Thailand's biggest money earners is missing a few marbles and Thailand's night life and demimondaines are famous the world over. They are some of the reasons why so many tourists come here and some of the things that make Thailand unique. They are a big part of what makes Thailand so amazing.

By the way, "slur and slander" only apply to things that are not true. What you are "tired" of is people who don't agree with your Puritanical views.

You said that sex Tourism was this countries bread and butter, not tourism.

Tourism is certainly important, but Sex Tourism is a small part of it these days. The fact that most of the girly bars are empty year round is testament to that. There aren't many bars on Loi Kroh where the 'staff' outnumber the customers.

The pimps that come here to run girly bars are struggling I imagine.

if you asking about getting more tourists here and more people(farangs) to live here then get more red light districts. thats the only and surest way to get the $ into economy. and thats reality.

Great minds think alike tigerbeer.

Everyone is asking why tourism has gone steadily down ever since the morality campaigns a few years ago.

Because they chased away the Golden Goose: The sextourists and "regular" tourists who enjoy the whole atmosphere of being around something that is not easy to observe safely in other countries because it is only alowed to exist in dangerous redlight districts where normal people fear to tread. Adult sex tourism is this countries' bread and butter.

You must be joking right? If not, then please print this and stick it in front of all your book shops as a reminder to others what you think of this country. Do you think the sex industry is a larger money earner then say the auto industry in Thailand? Larger then rice exports? Larger then chicken produce exports? Larger then the rubber product industry?

Tired of this slur and slander from foreigners about Thailand ……………………..

I couldn't agree with ypu more. Sex Tourism has been on the decline for a long time. Let's hope the trend continues. Most tourists are coming on a reguar holiday for sea, sun and adventure, and I believe that despite what the 'Thailand is not the same' brigade think, the majority have a great time and a fair few return.

Another one to watch out for is The Siam Cafe in Loi Kroh Road.

The waitress/cashier there tried to charge me 500 baht (sic.) for electricity (I''d plugged in my laptop to their power, something I'd done several times before). I'd also brought others to spend there money there. There had never been mention of an electricity charge before.

In the middle of the 'discussion' she said I should go next door to the Internet shop - that was where her manager was. I did so. the guy in there didn't know what I was talking about. I came back and told her this; whereupon the manager/non-manager from next door came in and stood behind the counter with her. I was naturally bewildered by all this.

I took my 500 baht change off the cash register, and left. I think I left behind about 100 baht in change on top of the 500 - that wasn't worth fighting for.

The waitress's name was Wa.

That's the second time that Wa has tried to Rob Robroy. And that's not a typo. Wa... please leave him alone. The last thing we need is a headline in Chiang Mai Mail 'ROBROY ROBBED'. Imagine the difficulty the Northern Thais will have pronouncing that one!!! Actually if she just threw him out would be easier.

But then that could be even more confusing because 'ROBROY LOBBED' would sound just the same if my wife said it!!!

Sorry about this but ...

I was just thinking that assuming this is all going on before 6pm, and that Wa eventually kicks him out, the headline could be

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY: ROBROY LOBBED

I just tried saying that quickly and my false teeth fell out!!

I'm not going to consider trying that one on the missus, or we'll be here all night.

Another one to watch out for is The Siam Cafe in Loi Kroh Road.

The waitress/cashier there tried to charge me 500 baht (sic.) for electricity (I''d plugged in my laptop to their power, something I'd done several times before). I'd also brought others to spend there money there. There had never been mention of an electricity charge before.

In the middle of the 'discussion' she said I should go next door to the Internet shop - that was where her manager was. I did so. the guy in there didn't know what I was talking about. I came back and told her this; whereupon the manager/non-manager from next door came in and stood behind the counter with her. I was naturally bewildered by all this.

I took my 500 baht change off the cash register, and left. I think I left behind about 100 baht in change on top of the 500 - that wasn't worth fighting for.

The waitress's name was Wa.

That's the second time that Wa has tried to Rob Robroy. And that's not a typo. Wa... please leave him alone. The last thing we need is a headline in Chiang Mai Mail 'ROBROY ROBBED'. Imagine the difficulty the Northern Thais will have pronouncing that one!!! Actually if she just threw him out would be easier.

But then that could be even more confusing because 'ROBROY LOBBED' would sound just the same if my wife said it!!!

I was at CM last week.All the guesthouses I wanted to book were full. I checked 5 or so.

To go back to the original post....

Loy Krathong is traditiaonally the real start of the high season, and as far as I can see the night bazaar is pretty busy, the roads are congested and hotels are pretty full. With problems in most of the last frew years - Flower Expo,Coup, Tsunami, Sars, bird flu etc then assuming nothing untoward happens this could well be a good high season for Chiang Mai.

must be due for a late flooding then?

Expect it to get a little quiet for the next few weeks. After a good upturn in business for November, it usually goes a little bit quiet till about the 15th. My theory is that folk are waiting to combine there annual leave with festive holidays and so get three weeks holiday, using just over 2 weeks leave. High season so far has been quite good for me.

Another one to watch out for is The Siam Cafe in Loi Kroh Road.

The waitress/cashier there tried to charge me 500 baht (sic.) for electricity (I''d plugged in my laptop to their power, something I'd done several times before). I'd also brought others to spend there money there. There had never been mention of an electricity charge before.

In the middle of the 'discussion' she said I should go next door to the Internet shop - that was where her manager was. I did so. the guy in there didn't know what I was talking about. I came back and told her this; whereupon the manager/non-manager from next door came in and stood behind the counter with her. I was naturally bewildered by all this.

I took my 500 baht change off the cash register, and left. I think I left behind about 100 baht in change on top of the 500 - that wasn't worth fighting for.

The waitress's name was Wa.

Now this is interesting because in an earlier post of yours Siam Cafe

You wrote something very similar but with a single difference: vis

One place to avoid IMO is the Siam Cafe in Loi Kroh, where I spent 2 days eating, bringing guests (hundreds of baht spent) and wi-fi-ing recently. At the end of the second day my bill was 360 baht; they refused to give me any change from my 1000! On enquiring the girl (Wa) said it was her birthday.

I took this to be a typical Thai joke - until several minutes went by and still no change.

I then grabbed 500 baht off the till, and asked for the rest, please.

They sent me next door to talk to their 'manager'. The 'manager' said he had nothing to do with the Siam Cafe. Back I went and asked why they'd lied. No reply - their English became very bad at this point.

In the end they KEPT my remaining 140 baht as a (previously unmentioned) 'electricity charge' for my laptop.

I have been going to the Siam Cafe for 2 years and have always tipped generously. But no more.

It seems strange to me that before it was a birthday present and this time it is for electricity. So which one is correct or is it that you have some other reason for these posts?

just curious

Crow Boy

He keeps on leaving 500 baht on the till, and then taking it back, and goes back for more. Strange!! Suddenly quiet too.

Just one more question. When I set up my user name, I unintentionally left the Caps Lock on and so my family name is set up as though I was shouting (should that be in Caps?) , which could be interpreted wrongly. Can I reset my username, without caps? If so how?

Easiest way is to send me a PM with exactly how you would like your ID to read and I will get it changed.

have fun

CB

btw congrats on the Liverpool win

Having thought about it, I decided to leave my username as it is. I reckon that most users on this forum are probably getting on a bit, and so they are more likely to be a bit deaf, in which case shouting out my second name may help them avoid the embarrassment of mishearing it. I was thinking of Bigmac, for example.

As regards to the reds victory - well deserved I thought, and they vindicated my decision to stay up a little bit late .The freezing weather conditions locally almost made it feel like I was back at home on the terraces of Anfield!! All it needed was a soggy pork pie and somebody peeing on the back of my trousers to complete the atmosphere

Being new to Forums, and having never sent a text message, I was wondering how I could fiind a list of commonly used Forum acronyms. I came across LOL a few months back and had somebody explain that it was 'laughs out loud' but I had never seen IMHO before, but somehow figured, eventually, that it meant In My Honest Opinion.

I then came across IMO (In My Opinion), which presumably means that an opinion is being offered, but not necessarily Honestly. Is this a code for indicating that the comment is a wind-up maybe? All very confusing.

I also noticed a poster being reprimanded recently for using ALL CAPITALS because it supposedly is considered as shouting? I thought he had just left his CAPS lock on! By the way I wasn't shouting, when I used capitals above, just highlighting!

Interesting question ... what if somebody wanted to shout out (which is rude, I know) that he was offering an honest opinion, acronymilly (nice word). My guess is IMHO . Would that be right?

Just one more question. When I set up my user name, I unintentionally left the Caps Lock on and so my family name is set up as though I was shouting (should that be in Caps?) , which could be interpreted wrongly. Can I reset my username, without caps? If so how?

Another one to watch out for is The Siam Cafe in Loi Kroh Road.

The waitress/cashier there tried to charge me 500 baht (sic.) for electricity (I''d plugged in my laptop to their power, something I'd done several times before). I'd also brought others to spend there money there. There had never been mention of an electricity charge before.

In the middle of the 'discussion' she said I should go next door to the Internet shop - that was where her manager was. I did so. the guy in there didn't know what I was talking about. I came back and told her this; whereupon the manager/non-manager from next door came in and stood behind the counter with her. I was naturally bewildered by all this.

I took my 500 baht change off the cash register, and left. I think I left behind about 100 baht in change on top of the 500 - that wasn't worth fighting for.

The waitress's name was Wa.

Simple really. If you had asked if it was okay to plug in your computer, she was wrong. If you hadn't, you were wrong. The electricity cost would have been minimal, but common courtesy would require you to ask first.

Kevin - You must be a happy chappie this morning?

Yes. They still need to beat Marseille, but it's looking good. It got a bit cold at 4am but the late goals warmed me up.

I tried searching for this but no luck so here goes.......

Need to get a business visa to China ASAP (Have invite letter), anyone in Chiang Mai have recent experience of the consulate here and how long it takes? Cost is not an issues if there are different options/processing speeds.

Thanks.

I got one in April. Apllied one day - picked it up the next. Only option, I think.

Back on topic.

I have owned and run expensive restaurants in London where our (home made) bread was free and we charged only for special mineral water. That from the tap was always free.

We did occasionally have problem with customers who came in and emptied the bread basket into a bag (two or three times) when they thought we were not looking, asking for more. We gave them more, ignoring their behavior and, as the customer left, we tried to shame them by handing them a box of breads and asking for the contents of the bag back, explaining we appreciated that they enjoyed our product, but please not to steal from us again.

Few returned.

EDIT - Any further discussion of Isreilies will be removed and the offender officially warned... KEEP ON TOPIC.

Interesting approach. Since you mentioned that it was an expensive restaurant, we can only assume that they had a good sized bill. They took a bit more free ( and since it was home-baked , presumably inexpensive) bread than they should have, accused them of theft (does that apply to free bread?) , publicly disgraced them , causing them to lose face, and they never returned!??

Two posts have been deleted and a red card issued. You all know the rules but I draw your attention to:

1) You will not use thaivisa.com to post any material which is knowingly or can be reasonably construed as false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, referencing prostitution (including bargirls and barboys), referencing suicide, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law.

And before someone makes a mistake of commenting on the above:

5) Discussion of moderation issues, actions or moderation policies concerning individual cases are not allowed in the forums. Such comments should be directed to a moderator or administrator, and not discussed on the forum.

Crow Boy

Moderating Team

Thai Visa

I completely agree with you removing one of the posts I saw briefly. Extremely bad taste.

Back on topic, I may well make it tonight for The Man U game. Although I support Liverpool I'm not your average ' I hate everyone else' football fan. If you like football you have to admire the style and flair of Arsenal and even the skills of Man U. To prove my point to an expat Everton fan, who only ever referred to Liverpool as 'The Redsh*tes' I hung an Everton scarf next to my Liverpool scarf in the pub, which would be unheard of in Liverpool I imagine. I've seen plenty of cars in Thailand with both Liverpool and Man U stickers. Why not, I say.

One thing I haven't figured about the Thais is ... when they talk about 'Looney' is it a mis-pronumtiation or a character judgement, or both!!

Interestingly enough, the four young men in question were neither Israelis ... !

Why don't you expand on your interesting feelings about Israelis.

Yes, what has being Israeli have to do with the scenario in question?

Young Israeli back-packers have less money than most others and so over the years have become well known for their thriftness . Nothing wrong with that, except if you happen to be the owner of a busy bar or restaurant and four said youths order a small coke and four glasses. Or as I was told once , a free(!?) glass of water with their meal so that they could add the best part of a bottle of tomato ketchup to make a tomato juice. Whilst I can almost admire their frugality and inventiveness, as a business owner I'd rather have four free-spending Japanese tourists occupying that table.

I had four young Israelis in for a match recently and they spent freely. I quite liked them. In fact it was one of them that explained their fellow-countrymen's financial predicament, and why they have acquired their reputation.

The same is sometimes true of Expatraiates.

Pull up a sandbag, and I'll tell you about the time ....

Before UBC came to Thailand, the only way of receiving Premier League football was via huge satelite dish. Just about the only bar in town that had such a thing was The Spotlight bar. They could pick it up from Indonesian TV, if I remember correctly.

After tennis on a Saturday evening my tennis partner and I would make our way there to enjoy the match. Having now become frequent visitors there, my wife became a bit suspiscious and accused me of chasing the girls. Which only goes to show how little women understand us. Why on earth would I be watching the girls do their tricks when Robbie Fowler was doing his tricks on the screen?

I can even recall my mate Jack complaining with a scantilly-clad girl for getting between him and the TV because he almost missed seeing a goal.

However, the half time show there was more interesting than the adverts, I must admit.

You just reminded me of an amusing incident at my place a while back.

We were even more busy than usual because of an FA cup final, and a group of 4 young guys had occupied a prime spot below the big TV to enjoy the game. They had all ordered a sandwich each and at half time they decided that refreshments were called for. One of them went off to 7-11 to buy 4 bottles of water and returned not long after, ready to settle down for the next 45 minutes of excitement. Having seen this, I informed him that whilst it was okay to bring your own drinks in, we had a policy of charging 100 baht corkage per bottle; reminding him of the fact that we sold water too.

His reply was that the we charged 25 baht a bottle (for obvious reasons) and that this was more than they charged for water in a pub in England. Having been reliably informed that pubs in England would charge the equivalent of 100 baht for a glass of lukewarm water from the tap I doubted whether his statement was true. Nonetheless, my reply was that I was no position to dissagree with his statement since in all my visits to pubs in England, I'd never ordered a glass of water.

Interestingly enough, the four young men in question were neither Israeli or Expats!!!

How is it that every noodle stand can offer free bottled water with a 20 baht meal, but more and more expensive farang restaurants refuse to provide it?

Another thing that pisses me off are these expensive places that charge for "extra" bread.

I don't use 20 baht noodle stalls, but most Thai restaurants that I use have bottled water on the tables that they charge for; which is fair enough to me. I assume that 20 baht noodle stalls don't charge for water because the majority of the customers are using these sort of places 3 times a day and can't afford to pay the extra 10 baht for water. Labourers, and their ilk.

I personally wouldn't be 'pissed off' for being charged for water or extra bread, but that is only because one of my father's most anoying phrases was 'nothing in this world is free, lad!!' By and large, that turned out to be true.

Comparing 20 baht noodle stalls with expensive places is a bit like comparing chalk with cheese , I'd have thought. I would asume that an expensive French restaurant is probably expecting customers to have a few glasses of wine and perhaps a fine cognac with their meal, and may not look favourably on those that don't want to pay for a drink. On the other hand 20 baht noodle stalls would not be too surprised if a majority of customers didn't order a drink so they may offer free water out of sympathy.

All in all, certainly nothing to be 'pissed off' about for men of means, but an interesting little debate, nonetheless.