WinnieTheKhwai

I believe it is illegal to sell any electrical appliance in the EEC without the correct country plug or adaptor

That would make sense; he is however not selling anything.

Also in the UK they're easy to get; they're the same ones that convert from North American plugs, so no shortage in demand or availability.

If you fancy a police escort for anything, all you have to do is apply and pay the money. In case of higher-end tours, there may be some value in keeping roads clear and keeping the drivers somewhat in check.

It's called an opinion, and voicing it. Not appreciated in some quarters.

I voted Yes even though I wouldn't actually 'fear' it. I think it'll happen though.

In the end, they hope the players, red- or yellow-shirted, will respect the judges' verdict so that the country may return to normalcy.

Uhm, not really. I hope (very slight hope) that the verdict itself will be a sane and fair one. If it's not, then there's not much point in hoping for the judges to be respected.

I haven't read the book.. I know roughly the topic but can't really comment other than I think there's very little true scamming that goes on in the bar scene. Bar girls hedging their bets, sure, but scamming is something else. Sex work is not a charity.

Chiang Mai is chock full of tourists right now.

Are we living in the same Chiang Mai? ? Sure there's some people about, but chock full of tourists to me means something different.. Like, Patong in December/January or something.

Ok this is probably a minor thing, but at the Night Safari currently in the area in front where you purchase tickets there was a staff guy with a young white tiger on a chain. This is more or less the same area where kids play at some playground setup, incl. my 4 year old. She loved seeing the tiger, it was in a cage on a trailer being pulled in by a guy on a quad-bike. Young tigers are basically young cats so it looked at all the kids running around with somewhat peeked interest, much like a young cat would look at some mice running around.

So far so good, but then they took the tiger out of the cage and put on on a leash (chain) with just one handler holding it and playing with it (pulling tail, patting/hitting it on the head playfully, etc). It was about the size of a large dog (larger than any Thai dog) but looked a lot stronger/muscular than a dog of that size.

So I felt a little uneasy that the only thing between a juvenile but pretty big playful tiger and a bunch of playing 3-4 year old is one dude holding it on a chain. As with dogs, you could do this every day for a year and it wouldn't go wrong, but really the beast just needs to feel like breaking away once and if the guy can't hold on to it when that time comes, then it would take the tiger about 3 seconds to get to one of the kids. (I've seen a young tiger do this, one at the Tiger Kingdom jumped and hit the bars of the cage he was in real hard when making a jump towards my then 2-3 year old. I have some respect for young tigers since then, and would really want to make sure they're in VERY proper enclosures and not among people & kids. So we left. (Was there just to look at the deer and to go to the playground)

Anyway, I know: This Is Thailand. I'm not really expecting any insight or response beyond that basic observation but still wanted to post.

Assuming you mean Yangon:

No carrier currently flies that route. Air Mandalay did for a while, but not currently ( http://www.air-mandalay.com/ )

You connect in Bangkok.

Permit! Guys, here's one who said "permit" in relation to being able to do something in Thailand !!

International human rights organizations have been increasingly critical of Thailand pretty much since the coup onwards. You don't always read about it because the main-steam English press prefers to print a pretty picture. But it's there for anyone who cares enough to Google.

I'll pick a rose from the garden. Any garden, really.

Do what everyone else does: Charge what comes to you in your wildest, wettest dreams. Then after one year of not selling it you could either stick to the local thing of keeping the price there for the next 10 years no matter what, or you could reduce.

Alternatively, go to www.jasminehomes.co.th and look for comparable houses. If you decide to put your property up on a place like that they they will make a suggestion, but don't think of that as a proper valuation.

There's no true valuation that goes into any kind of detail. Pretty much the only time that happens in this country is when you get a mortgage, then the bank will send an assessor.

Feel free to post a picture and/or description, then I'll give you a ballpark.

Well it's early February; of course it's not much of an issue yet. The time of reconing really is March. I don't think there's soul in town who would honestly recommend that as a good month to visit Chiang Mai.

A week or two in March will decide if this is a good or a bad year.

I believe the check-point people close the road at 8pm. So if you go up before that, then you can drive up for the nighttime view. They do chase people away though at those checkpoints not too long after 8pm though.

I drove up there just after midnight last night - not a soul in sight.

That's GREAT!!!!!!!!! Absolutely perfect, that will come in very handy one of these days.. Let's hope it stays this way..

Internet?

The good ones are very hard to breathe through. Doesn't work well with exercise.

YES!

Women click into a different mode when they see the moon come up from behind the mountains across from town. Weird creatures they are. (Doesn't mean that getting it on right there and then is required, but it's most definitely an important aspect of a romantic night)

I believe the check-point people close the road at 8pm. So if you go up before that, then you can drive up for the nighttime view. They do chase people away though at those checkpoints not too long after 8pm though.

I never paid Sin Sod but did sit in on a sin sod discussion relating to the marriage of my sister in law. It was preposterous (in-law side) and in the end my family's take was that it wasn't worthy of discussion. So similar outcome as in my own wedding, though I had the good sense to not even debate it. Paying any kind of Sin Sod very much looks like you're buying a wife; that just doesn't sync with my culture.

Needs to be handled with some tact though, it can be a real face-killer for either side.

They do work...

I was almost mugged in BKK eleven years ago, they backed of when they saw the munk amulet I wore.

I agree fully, they work. Last time someone tried to cross me, bright lights shone out of my amulets and incinerated the person. Quite a sight.

"Red shirts warn Thai army to stay neutral"

Would be a first...

Yup..

Excellent.. You don't see that kind of analysis in the mainstream press in Thailand..

Ah' well Mr.Thaksin didn't start to make Thai Politics,

but he got his hands badly bruised in trying to till the power

balance, into his favor, which failed badly!

Yes... When Thailand matures as a democracy, that power balance will have been tilled.

It will likely take better men than Thaksin or Sonthi to do it though.

It's a nice place. And not hard to find either unless you're a total newbie tourist who never gets out of the Thapae area. It's at 89 Plaza. Many other good food options there as well BTW, Thai, Chinese, Japanese.

(But even as a tourist you can combine it with visiting the Wiang Khum Kham area. )