WinnieTheKhwai

2 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

Where is the 'chiang mai smoke house'?  I don't do facecrap.

I would also like to know.  Also I don't do Google either and am thinking of stopping to do ThaiVisa.   Can you all send me your phone numbers please then I'll call you when I want to know something.

8 hours ago, Thai Ron said:

After many run ins with certain posters on other threads who deny that farang nonces are here in significant numbers, TNN's stats couldn't have come at a better time.

People trying to deny farang paedos are here in significant numbers.

Note all the nonces are from farang countries. No Chinese, no Africans, no Asians. Much as it pains me to say, the problem has reached the point where drastic action is needed to protect Thailand's children from foreign paedo scum..........even if it causes the decent, non warped farangs to suffer the minor ignominy of being racially profiled.

Wow, LOL.  I don't even know where to start.  But maybe let's just start that you base your information on an article you just read that couldn't get a couple percentages to add up to 100%, written (and then reposted) by people who literally can't add 2 and 2 together, or wonder where all the other nationalities are including Japanese, Middle Eastern and a large number of other European countries.

41 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

 > [Spreading pictures of known perps around would be a good thing] 
 

Or spot someone who looks a bit like one of them and totally ruin the life of the person mistakenly identified.

You mean showing a passport or other ID wouldn't clear that up in 5 minutes?   Or even just a quick query in the immigration TM30 database for the foreigner registered at the address?

Realistically though if any foreign government has a name and/or passport number then Thai authorities will locate the person very quickly.  If they *don't* have a name but do have a picture then there might still be a suspicion that the person is in Thailand and then spreading the picture may definitely help.   

Yes that will lead to a few false IDs.. but wouldn't clearing that up be worth it if it means you occasionally catch a real one and save a number of children?  (IMHO: yes it's worth it when done discretely.  No it's not worth it when done in the usual pompous Thai police style, inviting press over and putting someone in a newspaper in the fact-finding stage.)

Hi,

A couple days before the event the official schedule will be available that will show all the cultural events, most of which take place in the morning on the 13th, 14th and 15th.   Also every temple will have people making merit especially in the morning hours. 

And then the afternoon is for the water related festivities: anywhere along the city moat is a good place, but it can also be fun (if a little raunchier) in tourist bar areas down from Thapae Gate and around the corner on Loy Kroh.  

It doesn't require a lot of planning frankly, just show up with a good mood; any kind of water-hurling equipment can be bought right there along the moat.   Do buy sun block, it's insane how burnt you can get even in unusual places (feet, ears, etc.)

BTW I think Doi Inthanon isn't great in April: it gets very dry so there's not a lot of water (if any) at many of the waterfalls.   Ob Khan National Park is a good tip though, and some local Songkran celebrations may be going on there as well, and without idiot tourists. 

I buy these at 7-Eleven and throw away the rest.

What's all this talk about Loy Krathong.. it's not even Halloween yet!!

On 10/27/2017 at 10:00 AM, mrmillersr said:

Hate to break the bad news but the air in Chiang Mai is actually unhealthy year round so don't believe the nonsense of all you have to worry about is a couple of weeks or so. 

 

The WHO considers a PM 2.5 level of 10 or under to be safe.  A major study was done showing the long term effects of elevated PM 2.5 levels on health and it was found that for every increase in 5 points over a reading of 10,   death from all causes increased by 7%. 

Good luck finding a place in Asia that is around 10 or even 20.   I'll wait.

Even in Europe it goes way over that number almost all the time, as is readily apparent if you look at that air quality site (http://aqicn.org ) 

Let's look at Europe right now shall we, the UK, directly in a nice Atlantic breeze.. and PM2.5 levels are.. around 50.  So good luck finding a place that's at 10. 

In summary, you have unrealistic expectations for almost anywhere on the planet, but particularly so for Asia.

3 hours ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

This is not about me or where I live. It is about people living in an area from the airport all the way to Sansai who must be bothered. 

 

I suppose, if push come to shove some people might try putting pressure on the politicians if they want to be re-elected that is.

Umm.. you moved to a dictatorship.   (Yes, also if you moved before recent coups)

Anyway get used to it, the coming days for Loy Krathong will be very busy, and then all during high season.  And lots more flights, even international now to/from Qatar and Ho Chi Minh.

(And then when TAT releases tourist arrival numbers that are inevitably higher, a billion Thaivisanisti make sounds of ridicule.. They must not live in San Sai.)

I'm wondering if people in Bangkok stopped wearing black today. 

Specifically the middle class people that you see every morning in the Skytrain: was that a sea of color this morning?

Note: yes I know that people in the outskirts or construction workers etc have always worn whatever.  I'm asking specifically if there is a change in Bangkok business districts.  It was interesting to see that in my Chiang Mai office there's no change whatsoever and it's all still black or very muted colors.

On 10/27/2017 at 2:34 PM, Dipterocarp said:

One of my Thai friends is a very accomplished amateur photographer and has won some awards and shown her work in the USA. She always asks permission before taking photographs of people but one time I saw her at Loy Khratong parade, with a girl in traditional dress we met. Not only did she ask permission also gave the girl some money and had took her pic from various angles with a floating lantern. She intended to submit to a competition with a well known  magazine. 

 

I asked my Thai photographer friend if this was ethical? She was paying the girl to pose in what would appear to natural images but they were in fact paid and staged. I din't get a straight answer.

Not staged, just arranged for capturing a good photo.  Staged would mean she hired people, dressed them up as Minions and then photograph that.   She's just arranging the actual scene to facilitate a good photograph being taken. (Like, technically: lighting, background, etc.)  And indeed if you ask people to do that for you then offering some payment is nice.

At the same time, not everyone photographs well if they're aware a photo is being taken and they're expected to pose, usually awkwardly.  So another tool in the photographer's toolkit is to just take long range zoom shots of people behaving naturally.

Both are totally fine.

On 10/28/2017 at 7:25 AM, MaeJoMTB said:

Usually imagined by halfwits trying to be more Thai than the Thais.

Yesterday a foreigner wai-ed the coffee shop  waitress.

If that was the worst thing that foreigners did that day then I think we're doing pretty good.

And then on the original poster.. a rethink of his life may be in order:  tourist temple or not, lots of people take pictures there, including Thais, including monks, including expats, including tourists.   Until he realizes that he's the odd one out he'll struggle through the most innocuous moments in daily life.   Maybe there are pills for that.

17 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

Fascinating.  If anyone has links that would be cool.  I know NONE of my Thais friends have any idea that he wasn't following the traditional ritual and the question has to be asked... why? 

Because it's common to follow wishes about funeral proceedings made by people before their death. 

Anyway I could not quickly find a link about his majesty's comments/wishes about it, but there is plenty about the old urn tradition being modified and the urn used symbolically only.   (Which shows that it should not be a surprise to anyone who has followed things closely.) 

For example, this article from a year ago: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-14/thai-kings-body-taken-to-palace-as-mourners-pay-last-respects/7935152  

Relevant part: 

"According to tradition, the bodies of Thai royals are placed in a golden urn.

But palace officials said the tradition was no longer upheld and the king's body would be placed in a coffin with a symbolic royal urn near it."

38 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

Peter it was promised is the point. Millions who could not make it wanted to say farewell but it looks like that was reserved for the 'special' few. 

No.  'Was reserved' implies planning.   

This on the other hand looked only like a last minute change, and without a plan B.   Looking around at people's opinions here and on LINE etc, they're pretty unanimous on where the blame is at. 

And nothing in Thailand's press, needless to say.   BK Post hinted at it very slightly, Nation is doing what it always does.

7 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

"The corpse is first placed in a sitting position inside an inner urn, made of silver, the palms joined in front of the face in a gesture of homage. The inner urn is placed in an octagonal golden outer urn, which is taken by the family to the large Dusit or 'Celestial' Hall in the Grand Palace"

 

This explains Thai Royal Cremations and the Rituals. It would be shocking if they did it another way Peter.

 

https://iias.asia/iiasn/10/Regional/10CDIA12.html

This is not new information.  The Queen Mother was the first to request a different process, and the late king followed suit, expressing his wishes about it.   He was very down to earth about it actually, saying he didn't feel like sitting up in an urn for a year, preferring a coffin.  He's definitely earned to rest after a life of hard work. 

I won't comment on how bad it is because as you can see above that's opinion based.  What I can say is that if you plan a holiday strategically in March then you avoid most of it.

And I can definitely say that there is almost no difference at all between downtown and far far out of town. In fact the further North out of town you go, the worse it gets.   How do I know this:  from air quality measuring station data in town versus in the suburbs versus all the way out in Chiang Dao, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, as well as visual observation both in person and online via cams that record the view (or lack thereof)

It's (almost) nothing to do with pollution from city sources, very nearly all of it is from forest fires and -especially- agricultural burning of fields. In fact this year the inner city station showed better values than the one out in Mae Rim.

The last couple years have seen a burning ban that's being enforced better and better.  The last couple years also have been better than average looking at the last 20 years for which there is data.   It's too early to say if the burning ban is truly the reason for the improvement, as a lot of the haze comes into Thailand from neighboring countries. The trend definitely looks encouraging though, but a lot more needs to be done in the region.

So, last night marks the first time in 235 years that Chiang Mai had better nightlife than Bangkok.

Friday looks like it'll be the second time.

21 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Do you mind if I "Pirate" your medication recipe.

Can you give me a link or are you concerned you may get a "Torrent" of abuse and a Kickass-oops I mean a Kick up the *ss for your little Bit of streaming?

Haha;   :)  And good meds are affordable at Suan Prung Hospital on the moat. 

Maybe now they learned something themselves:  why the rest of Thailand doesn't build with mud and bamboo.

Tourist/expat bars in Bangkok will be closed 25-27..

Now in this case Bangkok may actually be more strict than Chiang Mai; it's usually the other way around.

https://www.stickboybkk.com/news/patpong-nana-plaza-closing-25-27-october/

But I'd say that as a worst case we're looking at 25-27.

Khanom Khrok:  There is a well-known place along the river, North of the Riverside and Good View restaurants and before you get to the Nakorn Ping bridge:  https://goo.gl/oxAoBg   Or near markets I see it a lot, but can't really think of one now.

And then baked or mashed potatoes.. In town probably the cheapo Farang restaurants, places like Mad Dog, Gekko Garden, the Irish Pub and others.   

I would especially recommend Gekko Garden, if you can get past the sadness of it all.

( LOL.. sorry I know that sounds weird but if you go then maybe you'll see what I mean. )

Also a personal guilty pleasure is to visit Nick's restaurant in Hang Dong (the one with the play things for kids) and order the German Sausage thing with double mashed potatoes and double Sauerkraut and then mash it all up. But then that's close to where I live, I could probably arrange a similar Carb & Kraut orgy at other places.

EDIT:  I realize most of these places aren't in the Huay Kaew area.. chances are there will be options around Nimmanhaemin, but I know nothing about Nimman. (And try very hard to keep it that way.)

EDIT 2:  Chiang Mai Gate market area: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ขนมครกชาววัง-ประตูเชียงใหม่/348102245301249   another delicious link: http://www.chiangmaitouring.com/ขนมครกชาววัง-ประตูเชียง/ 

And YES!  One West of town, near the back (South) entrance of CMU: https://www.facebook.com/palangmor/  

On 10/21/2017 at 12:28 PM, elektrified said:

Isn't this crap illegal? Why are they allowed to comment on this stuff anyway?

I'm shocked.  Shocked!

Going for some extra meds now, then some chamomile tea and then pray I'm over it in the morning. 

To clarify: if you extend a 5 year license with another 5 years you don't need the medical certificate; when extending a 1 year one for your first 5 year license then you do need a medical certificate.  Any small hospital or clinic will do for this, the smaller the better.  (Like, Mor Wong hospital near Sanpakhoi, LOL. )

On 10/3/2017 at 1:18 PM, scottiejohn said:

 

RAM bar IS a tiny GAY bar which will be full of all the queens/Gay community etc watching the identical crap poor man's fake "Lady Boy" 40min show that is available all over Thailand any night of the week. 

It's a 'straight-friendly' gay bar as per their website.  I think the show is quite fun, and there is no charge for it as long as you buy drinks at the bar.  Now it also doesn't strike me as 'the place to be for NYE' but overall not a bad recommendation for one of the other nights.

Personally I always go to the Thapae Area.  Doesn't matter if I actually get all the way there or not, anywhere along Loy Kroh for drinks and then towards the moat for the hot air balloon thing is fine for me.

On 10/4/2017 at 4:07 AM, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Obviously law enforcement is not strict enough to prevent this anachronistic and illegal practice. Appalling behaviour on behalf of guests to the Kingdom IMHO why is following the rules so difficult for some?

LOL. :)   Nice one. 

Anyway I mostly use Uber these days out of BKK.  Call one as you're walking towards the exit and it'll be there in a minute or two.

Due to the random nature of anything related to Air Asia, I fly TG or PG.

Nope; it remains illegal, just like all the other illegal things we happily do every day. (Y)

Here, in town. https://goo.gl/GXGQ8m