MrBrad

Googling "Thai hilltribe  headwear" brings up lots of informative examples.

https://www.google.com/search?q=thai+hill+tribe+headwear&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk02KVtsKgY7Fq7BxqcOlEhStYp5_RQ:1615769681302&source=lnms&tbm=isch&biw=1024&bih=463

http://www.chiangmaigrandview.com/

If you don't have an accident, you don't need a helmet.  Of course, nobody knows when an accident will happen, so a helmet is meant to be good insurance, and the better the helmet, the better the outcome.

Imagine if you will, that you are standing in a safe place on the pavement, concrete preferred.  Now imagine that your hands are tied behind your back, and someone trips you.  You're going to fall, and you will have a headache for a while.  Note, you were not moving at 70 kph.  Not even 20.   You weren't moving at all prior to being tripped.

Your legs are fine, and so are your arms.  But your head hurts really bad.  A helmet would have helped to lessen the pain.  A well-cushioned, high-quality helmet would have provided the best protection.

I think that with an additional charge of probably 15,000 baht or so, the extension can be gotten.  That's even with an agent!  Whatever.  It's better than having the extension denied and being forced to leave.  Be prepared for a shocker, but take it in stride.  Lesson to be learned: watch your bank balance.

11 hours ago, jackdd said:

I don't see why you felt the need to share this with us. I see a foreigner following social distancing, why would he stop half a meter next to others when there is a lot of free space in front? Good job for protecting everybody from Covid.

He should obviously put on a helmet though. Has this been your first time in Chiang Mai? I regularly see people doing the same at this intersection.

 

If somebody wants to have a laugh i recommend to go to this intersection a bit up the super highway before Central Festival:

When doing one of the U-turns there (either direction) you have an exclusive lane to do the U-turn, you even have the elevated curb behind you, protecting you from lane challenged drivers, as you can see on this picture.

A significant amount of people are not able to drive around the corner while staying in this lane. Instead they decide to stop at the location which I marked with red, until the other lanes are free, and then continue to turn using up half of the next lane. The first two times or so when this happened i nearly rear ended them because they just hit the brakes and I totally didn't expect it. They could just turn the steering wheel a bit further (even with a pickup that's no problem, it's definitely not a tight turn) and continue. Now I'm aware of this, so I'm always prepared that they might stop there for no reason.

This kind of problem could have been avoided if the engineers had extended the concrete divider a few car-lengths, making an island to the right of the lower red mark or to the left of the upper mark.  Doing so should have made it crystal clear to drivers that they do not need to stop for oncoming traffic.

In my house and most others in Thailand, the inside air is the same stuff as the outside air.  That's true for indoor shopping malls as well.  Unless your home is airtight (or close to it), an air purifier won't help much.  Staying indoors in the coming months won't help most people.

On another thought, I've been wondering the past few months why many of the reporting stations have disappeared or been inactive on the aqicn website.  I like to check the stats in my area, but lately I find only sketchy, infrequent reporting.  As an example, Nakhorn Ping Hospital's reporting was last available on July 15.

https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/chiang-mai-province/อุทยานดาราศาสตร์สิรินธร-(สดร.)-อ.แม่ริม-จ.เชียงใหม่

33 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

he wants more fun... Mor = doctor 

Fun= tooth 

Mor fun = dentist... 

I speak American English, which is often different from British English; so shoot me.  But if I were to say "more fun" thinking I was saying the Thai word for "dentist," I'd get blank stares.

To me, a closer transliteration of "dentist" (หมอฟัน) would be "maw fahn."  And if one wants to be a bit more exact, the word "maw" should have a rising tone, and "fahn" would be mid tone. 

If all else fails, you can order it online at Ubuy.

https://www.ubuy.co.th/en/search/?ref_p=ser_tp&q=kraft+mac

What is the benefit or purpose of having a yellow book?  The same goes for a pink ID card?

Death being the worst result, what can go wrong with this kind of surgery?  Please give some possible negative results.  Thanks.

Also, if you are using a virtual private network (VPN), you need to disable it.  The 90-day reporting and most likely a lot of other immigration sites are accessible within Thailand only.

US postage or postage-free markings must be on envelopes dropped off at the Embassy or Consulate.  The US Embassy and Consulate does not use the Thai postal service for official government mail.  (Other, garden-variety, personal correspondence and packages can not be sent via the Embassy or Consulate.)  Your ballot is government mail.  Somehow they send all government mail in a pouch back to the United States on a plane; it's magic, I guess.  Once the pouch arrives in the US, its contents are then taken to a US postal center to be mailed on to the intended recipients. 

NOTE:  I just received this email from the Secretary of State:

Drop off Ballots: U.S. citizens may drop off their voting materials during normal business hours at the U.S. Embassy Bangkok or at the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai in the voting boxes located at the American Citizen Services security entrance.  Bring your U.S. passport or other photo ID to show the guards when you arrive.  U.S. citizen employees of the Department of State are responsible for the handling of all ballots.  Please make sure your envelope is signed, sealed, and addressed to your district office.  It also must include U.S. postage, or use a postage-paid envelope.  You can find postage-paid envelopes available for download at this link: https://www.fvap.gov/eo/overview/materials/forms.

Pro Tip: You can print the postage-paid envelope on regular paper, then tape it to your envelope when you are preparing your ballot to be sent. 

17 hours ago, moontang said:

I got my ballot a few days ago... What hours can you drop off at Embassy?  Do you need ID and/or passport? Is there a simple solution to printing out their postage paid envelope?  It only took them two tries at my cmu copy shop, but now I am in bkk.  Thanks. 

In Chiang Mai, I don't know about Bangkok, you can drop off your ballot at the guard's window at the Consulate 24 hours a day (maybe daylight hours would be better though).  No ID or passport is needed.  Just hand your envelope to the guard at the window.  Make sure that the envelope is addressed to your polling place in the States, and that there's sufficient US postage on it or that it's already postage-paid, in which case no additional postage is required .

To muddy the waters a bit more:

• If you personally hand-deliver your ballot to the Consulate or Embassy, you should use 2 envelopes.
  • The envelope containing only your ballot should not have any address or name on it.  It is a secret ballot which the election officials should not be able to connect with you by name. 
  • The envelope as described above should be inserted into a larger envelope, either postage-paid or having US postage stamps affixed.  This larger envelope will be addressed to your voting place.  You will or may also include your return address on the outside of this envelope.  Along with the smaller envelope containing your ballot, you may be required to submit a voter registration form inside the larger envelope.  The form will be used to verify your eligibility to vote.  (This is how it is done in Minnesota; your state may differ.)
• If you use Thai Post to deliver your ballot to the US Consulate or Embassy, you would need a third envelope.  That one would contain the two envelopes as described above.

On 8/20/2020 at 12:54 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

We should be reminded that Thailand Post is NOT sending airmail overseas. Thus we risk our ballots being uncounted. I am so dedicated to this pursuit is that I will use a $100 courier, if necessary.

 

For what it's worth, it appears that as of a couple of days ago Thai Post is again providing international airmail. 

On this link, the first page or so is in Thai, but English follows:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGkBLRXkgaOuA-x2N-I2fLe0faBrUXeu/view

I've found that firecrackers and bottle rockets work well to quell unruly dogs.  You don't need an arsenal of pyrotechnics to accomplish the desired outcome; just an occasional one should do the job.

As for the $2,000 you mention regarding Cambodia:

Apparently lots of others have been through this, and felt that taking the chance (whatever that entails) is worth it.  If you had to forfeit that amount or more, would you still make the move?  Keep in mind that no matter where you go, there will be costs involved, and relocating to some countries could very well cost more than $2,000 in all kinds of unexpected expenses.  It's a sum of money that none of us cares to lose, but, all in all, it's not a ridiculously unaffordable amount to part with, if it should come to that.

At this time, Thailand requires 800,000 baht in the bank or a steady monthly income of 65,000 baht.  Coming up with and stashing $27,000 in a Thai bank is a bit more oppressive.