pewe

1 hour ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I honestly thought Germans had one of the best pension plans. Why is his so low?

I hope you can read a little bit of German.

Average Pension

This will tell you that the average pension ist around 860 Euro. SS is no paradise even in Germany, but you can get away with it. Average means that there are many people who get more, but also many people who get even less.

As a german i know from experience that medical insurance can be a big pain for him. The normal 'Reisekrankenversicherung' will exclude any preconditions. Also the maximum stay is limited to 42 days.

His normal medical insurance (Gesetzl. Krankenversicherung) will not cover him at all while he is in Thailand. And of course he should never travel to Thailand without proper medical insurance!

Thank you guys. And I thought they were digging for gold.

When we drove around in the area of Sansai today on some small roads, we could see some huge open pits, some filled with water, but some in operation or so it seems. Can someone please enlighten me? What are they doing there? I asked a Thai friend about it, but to my surprise he did not know.

Are you people kidding me? My wife and I fly into CM on friday and there are two main reasons: one is the jazz festival on the 24th and the other is loi krathong the following week. We just love it, and we love all the thai people to get really excited about it.

Oh, and if you are afraid of the fireworks, you might wear a helmet.

Pewe

This place sounds like fun. Is it 18.809123,98.973994 (paste the numbers in google maps)?

Please confirm.

Thanks.

How about these people?

http://www.baan-king...-orphanage.org/

@ctrunfree: May I ask you if you know this orphanage and the people behind in person?

Thanks.

Peter

I don't know anything about them, but have heard good reports from visitors to CM who have been out there and subsequently made a donation of cash or supplies. It's likely there will be others on this forum better placed to vouch for them.

Ah, ok. Of course I would feel much better to do a donation if somebody said "Yes, they are still there, and they are doing a great job"

So, does anybody know more about them or any other orphanage?

How about these people?

http://www.baan-king...-orphanage.org/

@ctrunfree: May I ask you if you know this orphanage and the people behind in person?

Thanks.

Peter

the surroundings are underwhelming.

They haven't updated the price list section on their website since 2007 and list the Baht as 40 to the $.

Might not be current prices

2007 prices?

They did not raise the price since 2007 :-) No need to change the web page (other than the exchange rates)

I highly prefere the surroundings over areas like the Night Bazar!

I have stayed in Viangbua Mansion several times and I was always very happy there. I will stay there again in September.

The rooms are not new, but they are always very clean, and even if you use their small room (superior type 1) you will have enough space. Depending on the budget I would recommend the superior type 2. Ask for 'mountain view' to have a nice view of Doi Suthep. The staff is very friendly and most of them can speak english good enough. Some of the staff are there for a long time, so they know what they are doing. The breakfast is ok, but I would not call it 'great'.

Viangbua Mansion is only 2 minutes away from tanin market with local food and fruit. This is not a tourist area. I would not recommend it if it is your first visit to Thailand as a tourist. The location is 100 m from Chang Phuak road, and it is a 10 minutes walk to the moat (north gate).

@Winnie: there is a 'gay friendly' hotel in the same road, and a bar that may be a gay place. But I would not call this area a 'gay nightlife area'.

Oh yes, this gentleman Warren is from Liverpool. Must be a good place for good music, almost as good as Chiang Mai. If I remember well, there were quite a few boys from Liverpool :-)

@KevinHunt: Why don't you just bring the good people from Rose Guest Hous over to 'the garden'? Wait a few weeks, and we will have a drink there together. Btw: It took me some time to find out what 'scousers' are. English is not my mother tongue. :-)

I love both Guitarman and Chais Blues House. But my favorite is the little jazz club called 'The North Jazz CoOp' near the North Gate. If your tuk tuk does not know, tell him to go tanon sri poom/chang phuak, or 'The Sira Hotel'.

In this jazz club you find a very exceptional fusion of western/european and asian/thai musicians. One evening every week they have a jam session - that is great fun!

On sundays, 'The garden' is a must. It is in ratchadamnoen road, that is where the sunday night market is, right on the other side of the streat of the 'U Chiang Mai Hotel'. You can walk the sunday night market and than have some good old blues songs there, a guy calling himself Warren plays acoustic guitar, and the owner of the house (or so I think) plays the bass.

I will see you all guys there in september.

Pewe

I remember an eldery guy from sweden sitting next to me in a well known farang place recently. He looked at the beautiful thai lady sitting at my side, turned to me and said:

"I don't mind getting older for as long as my girlfriends are getting younger". The thai lady understands english fairly well and she picked up what he said, and she shoutet at him: "you are a very dirty old man"

:-)

This never happened to me in LOS, but from experience in other countries (tourist places in good old europe) I always have enough small money with me when I go out late. You need 20 and 100 baht bank notes for tuk tuk anyway, or do you pay them with a 1000 baht note, too :-) And I leave the credit cards in the hotel. I really love Chiang Mai, but you never know. Just the usual precautions. And I do not complain if I loose 10 euros (500 baht) just because I did not follow my own simple rules.

As fare as my thai girlfriend is concerned, whatever I give to her often ends up in some very stupid purchase. The more I give her, the more stupid things she buys. Like contact lenses which make her eyes look green... :-) I still like her a lot, and it is great fun to see how excited she can get about this.

See you in CM in september :-)

Thank you for your replies.

@femi fan: that sounds like a good idea, but on the other hand I would love to be among the thai people enjoying this event.

@Ulysses G: I thought about Taphae gate, but if you search for 'Chiang Mai' in youtube, you will find videos that look much more like somewhere near Nawarath bridge, maybe near the Good View Restaurant.

Anyway - I happen to be in CM in a few days until mid september, so I can ask local people. I will post my findings here.

Hope to see you in CM

-Peter

In 2007 my wife and I missed the Loi Kratong festival in Chiang Mai for a few days. It wasn't bad in Ao Nang, but we were told that the 'real thing' is in CM.

My information is that this year Loi Kratong will be from 12.th to 14.th of November, with the main event held on the 13th. Is that correct?

I would guess that the best place to join the crowd will be near navarat bridge. What do you suggest?

Thanks for all your information

-Peter