WinnieTheKhwai

Well ive been offered several studios for less than 300,000 in town. But it seems you cant get 2 room place for 600,000 seems strange. I can buy a house in Chiang Mai for 600,000+ - id have to go a little out of town to a moo barn

Even a house is hard at <1mil, and condo's are more expensive, gawd-knows-why.

I personally plan to build a VERY basic weekend house for around 500K on land we already have, and that's a major challenge. It'd however be much nicer to live than some of the horrific offerings in dilapidated commercial devopments. (or, ex-developments, unfinished developments, 'developing' developments or whatever you'd call them. "Ruins" perhaps.)

I seldom go to NB because you have to park for a fee, and then I bought all my Lanna shirts in Wat Harinpunchai by 2006. My last Ferrari jacket at NB, 500 baht.

Isn't there something in the forum rules against providing information on pirated goods?

( maybe there isn't.

Starting at 1,8xx,xxxx Up to 3,xxx,xxx

Looks like it has gone up from the time you saw it. I took the brochures back yesterday, it ranges from 3.9 MB to 6.9 MB.

Oh, that's very high!

The range I gave was my own guesstimate.. If it starts 3.9 for that tiny 3 bedroom thingy on 60 square wa then that doesn't sound like the deal of the century to me.. It's a good location of course on a good road, though it would have been nicer if there was regular public transport on the Canal Road. (There used to be, ages ago)

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Not for me it doesn't. Are you perhaps using a foreign ATM card? (why?)

Oh-oh..

1. (H1N1 is no different from any other flu. If you avoid Airport Plaza now, you should be avoiding it forever)

2. (Those masks don't help. Unless you're already having the flu, in which case it's somewhat helpful to limit speading it to others)

It's called Facebook, Hi5, etc. Search on Chiang Mai. Presto.

Great, circumventing Thai law while putting money into the pockets of the Burmese regime.

I could comment, but I think it's obvious.

Starting at 1,8xx,xxxx Up to 3,xxx,xxx

I love it when they pull that xxx-price thing. Man that just gets me so excited.

100 baht!

20 baht in the back of a bamboo shack!

But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.

Back then, we were so poor, we ......... etc.

> Maybe you have not heard about it because it never had a booth like those ugly places they sell at the shopping centers.

Who said I don't know about it... I drive past it every day! What I don't see is why it would be more desirable than the next door Ban Nai Fun, or other developments? The houses are bog standard 3 bedroom jobbies. Even the biggest one is still 3 bedrooms, and you can get it on as little land as 60-70 Sq. Wa.. That means that when complete, (IF it ever completes), most houses will be the cheapo ones and they will be built incredibly close together.

I only see warning signs, frankly.

So... when you're complaining about getting a gift, I guess life must be pretty good, generally, eh?

Lucky lucky.. count your blessings.

Edit: Also, did you try and contact them and say "Sawatdee khrap, I'm sorry and didn't have a chance to visit earlier but I love spas and would love to try out your place. Any chance of letting me use the voucher?"

Any chance that that would be a better approach than going on an online whining forum and whine about it to other whiners?

Hint: YES!

He's trying to sell us something.

Anyway, when I find something that's an almost too good to be true opportunity, I tell the whole world too. Oh wait.

What is Spicey?

A good place is the Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens. Way at the end near the restauant they sell various tree seedlings, and often there are people around who know what they're talking about.

And then there's Kham Thiang plant market of course.

As for soil, it differs a lot; if you have a typical garden in a gated development then it's very likely the land has been raised with dead grit blasted out of a mountain somewhere. That's not the best soil to grow anything in.

Seeing the increase in tourists from South Asia, I think this will lead to a rapid increase in Indian food in Pattaya.. It's already by far the best / most diverse for international cuisine in the whole of Thailand, simply because people from a particular country tend to settle down with their tee-rak en open a restaurant featuring their native cuisine.. Can't wait for that to happen to Indian food!

There are plenty of cheaper places that are quite secure.

Who cares? On that budget you won't have anything worth stealing.

I don't have a problem taking transport away from the Moobann to find the all swinging happening Chiangmai City. You could not do it every night though.

Does that mean that you don't drive a car or motorbike? If so then I can see the dilemma. Especially in Out-of-town Chiang Mai you'd really need some wheels.

I have lived too many years in the Med where night begins at 9.00 clock

Same in Chiang Mai I think.. it's pretty dead before 9 for anything except food.

Keep the ideas coming though

Idea: Meet/make some friends to meet up downtown, or even let them drive you there and back. Would be easy for me to do, this Friday evening perhaps. Itinerary would include mostly cheaper / traveller type places, preferably with some live music. But depending on the group of course, when there's more Thais then there are nice pubs in the Nimmanhaemin or River area, or cheaper more student-ish places near Kham Thiang and Santhitham.

I am going to Hong Kong in a week or so - bring it on I say!!

Lan Kwai Fong is always good for a night out. (Don't get stuck in the Wanchai area where single male expats tend to go) The key is finding the happy-hour places in the right sequence. Like happy-hour surfing, to get to the next happy hour when the one at the previous place ends.

WTK

Happens quite a lot actually. So something to think about when buying into a new development; chances are it won't look like the brochure 10 years from now.

Buying in a well established and well-run development already makes more sense I think.

Still, when all the plots are sold it's then up to the home owners to get together and form some kind of foundation or group if they want to keep the facilities such as guards, garbage collection, the club house / swimming pool, general upkeep and all those other nice things you see in the brochure. If you're in a village that's anything less than very high end, you know the kind of paupers you will find around you, with a snowball's chance in hel_l that they'll pay for anything. Then it's Waiting for the Weeds.

No, Bang Saen the pub... I remember driving past it yesterday, but now I can't for the life of me remember where it was.. Nimmanhaemin possibly. Or thar road near Kham Thiang..

Can anyone confirm? And what's the format?

EDIT: Ah, just remembered, I think it was on the river. Just South of Nakorn Ping bridge I believe. And girls are ready to go there? Didn't strike me as that kind of place..

If you want to see underage prostitution in Thailand, it's readily available - to those who speak Thai and who venture into non-farang karaokee bars/clubs, especially in small rural towns.

Under-age prostitution is indeed rife, but child sexual abuse, as in, pre-pubescent children, isn't. (At least not in a commercial, non-family setting)

The following is usually where a huge argument ensues, and oddly enough it's often started by quoting from Wikipedia or a dictionary in an attempt to get everyone on the same page:

A lot of people confuse paedophilia with cases of underage sex; a paedophile targets children. Actual children. Paedophiles need to be taken out, whatever it takes. Ending up with a 17 year old Karaoke girl in the morning happens to (some of) the best of us. It'd be better if it didn't, but I'd really hope all effort and focus goes to the paedophiles who target and abuse *children*.

Great post by Krungthepian.... until I got to the anti Reds rant.. Not needed, or helpful, or apt.

We go walking around the complex after 8pm and its like a ghost town - everyone is sleeping

If you happen to live outside the Cities boundaries there is very little to do and who wants to drink and drive in company with some of the lunatics that frequent the roads at night.

Sorry but I don't get this at all. First, you lock yourself into some brain-dead housing estate [and there's NOTHING wrong with that, I did that myself], where the specific goal of living there is the peace & quiet, and then you complain about.... it being peaceful and quiet. Hellooo.. Also, how far is this out of town anyway? Sparkles mentioned Ban Wangtan, all of 10 minutes to Chiang Mai gate.

Why are we even discussing his.. in 10 minutes you're in town! Or if even downtown Chiang Mai is too quiet, there's plenty to choose from in SE Asia. I'd personally opt for Hong Kong, but even there chances are I'd live in a pretty breain-dead and quiet condominium!

And whats traffiking? I once smuggled a Burmese friend of mine to Chiang Mai so he could work as a builder. He travelled with me in my car, in the front seat, not in the boot..... am I a trafficker?

Yes. And if he was 17, then this case is very much included in ECPATs child trafficking stats. They don't make any distinction between a 10 year old being abused, or a 17 year old girl in a karaoke place. While both are indeed illegal and a crime, I would personally find it outrageous if an NGO didn't leverage all their efforts towards the 10 year old. As it stands however, they themselves don't even want to acknowledge the difference, the priority is seemingly to get to the biggest number / statistic, not the safety of the 10 year old. And that's just sad.

Wait, that didn't come out quite right. I meant to say I appreciate the underdog, and the phenominal challenge they face.