WinnieTheKhwai

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me can comment if that article is relevant for Northern Thailand.. As has been said before Chiang Mai doesn't suffer from that type of 'big city' / industrial pollution. Levels in the city are not significantly different from levels in the countryside; the whole North is affected primarily by smoke/particulate matter pollution during the dry/burning season, not NO2/Ozone ?

That's why you should only buy from stores like Tesco, Carrefour, Big C etc. This advice applies to Thais just the same.

Let the small time stores AND their ridiculous policies go to hel_l.

I am afraid the officer is correct, things will get very bad for farang and thai alike as the global depression sets in.

He wants the photo and bodily dimensions for if a body turns up.

Lets hope kidnappings dont start. Quite popular in other 3rd world countries.

I wish we could legally carry a concealed pistol here.

i think you would be safer in your home country

I also think Thailand would be safer with him in his home country

Looking at my Yahoo 10 day weather forecast it shows for CM..

"maybe" scattered T-storms Sat Mar 14th, AM showers Sun Mar 15th. scattered T-storms Mar 19th, scattered T-storms Mar 20th, scattered showers Mar

21st......not a religions man but lets still all pray some this is true.. can I get a AMEN!

Weather forecasts in Thailand are useless.

The most accurate weather forecast are yesterdays actual weather reports. (Go to weather.com, type 'Chiang Mai, Thailand' in the box and then go to 'Yesterday'. There you will see the best weather forecast for the foreseeable future.

I think the train to Bangkok is a good option vs the bus if you value comfort more than time (train takes a bit longer than bus). However taking the train to Pattaya is ***VERY*** slow, no comparison at all to the regular Motorway buses. That I really wouldn't do.

So if you do take the train you'd probably want to get off at Bang Sue Junction station and then take a taxi to Mo Chit for the bus to Pattaya. This will add about 3-4 hours I guess, but you will sleep better on the train.

I'd go second class aircon sleeper in that case though.. 1200 baht for First is hard to justify compared with Air Asia when booked ahead of time. ( Unless you enjoy train travel in its own right of course. )

No worries, I make big issues out nasty comments by male posters as well. I call em as I see em.

Whingy-the-Kwai wrote : "What makes you think it's any better at night ? Because it's dark so you can't see it ?"

When did you stop beating your wife ?

Whingy-the-Kwai wrote "Anyway the only thing I do is I don't exercise."

Yes, you can really see what that's done for your mind.

~o:37;

I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Perhaps a moderator can take care of the needless abusive comment.

As for whinging.. Who's whinging? Some are whinging about the weather every year around this time; I don't do that, I'm off to Pattaya next week.. Should be able to exercise again there as well.

Yes, Nakorn Chai operate a bus to Pattaya, however it takes a very long time because it takes the old road South, and stops in just about any province it passes.

So it's actuallly quicker to take any VIP bus down to Bangkok, then connect at the same terminal (Mo Chit Northern & North Eastern) to the regular (Roong Ruang) bus to Pattaya. Those run every half hour or so, so you don't lose much time waiting for it either.

Of course if you don't like changing buses, or don't fancy the walking to the departures hall at the Bangkok bus station then you could consider the 'direct' bus, but it'll be a loooooooooooooonggg trip.

Another great way to Pattaya is to fly Air Asia to Bangkok and book the Bell Travel bus to Pattaya. This leaves from the main terminal in Suvarnabhumi, takes the Motorway to Pattaya and they then even bring you to your hotel in a minivan.. All for 150 or 200 baht or so, it's a great service. Takes less than 2 hours from the airport.

I don't really know what to say. I was going to criticize the original poster for suffering from the thing that affects many Western residents in Thailand namely that they relate to Thai women much better than men, gays excepted.

But then some female posters responded with such negativity and downright aggressive and petty comments that I don't know anymore which way to go. Let's just say that overall it's not one of the better topics on this forum.

In Phuket it's not that big of an event anyway? I think they celebrate here and there for just one afternoon..

In places North and North East I wouldn't really worry.. They couldn't stop the party (incl. alcohol) even if they tried.

I would add one more area of concern about the LM laws. I have been told to be carefull and anger Thai's because they could easily accuse me of breaking this law even if i didn't and there could be hel_l to pay. I have read about this fear posted on this web site by other people also. So it would seem that it can be used as a form of intimidation for us foreigner in Thailand.

It's much more commonly used as intimidation against other Thais. Foreigners by and large are wise enough to stay out of it, bar the occasional exception. After all most of them didn't come here because of the great political system.

None of the names or prominent scholars are recongisable as Thai experts. I think they've just signed a paper because it's sounds good, without any deep knowledge of the matter.

They're spot on though.

Nothing wrong with the lift, it was ghosts who did it, obviously.

Thailand is not famous for its graffiti. Often there is little of it, certainly compared to my home country of the UK. A tropical outdoors lifestyle means seeing eyes are usually witnessing most things going on. I also imagine the cost of spray paint etc. deters most juvenile delinquents.

What I have seen is mostly unimaginative e.g. someone's nickname, Lek loves Kai, or uniquely Thai, the name of a technical college.

However on Saturday, some graffiti on a toilet door at a Kampaeng Phet restaurant amused me. "Need gay sex? Call one of these numbers 085-xxxxxxxx 081-xxxxxxx. Ask for General Prem or his son-in-law, Aphisit."

LOL!!!!!!!!!!! I for one think it's very funny.

Nothing yet, but I am about to buy an air purification system for my home, and am looking into effective masks to wear out of doors.

Where do you buy those? (air purifyers) and I assume they are legit?

> ride bicycle only about 2am

What makes you think it's any better at night? Because it's dark so you can't see it?

Anyway the only thing I do is I don't exercise.

oh wait.. I didn't do that to begin with.. Now I have an excuse though. And in addition I got my Pattaya trip idea approved by the Mrs.. Forgive me for seeing only positives.

For any regular trip within town during daylight hours it's 15 baht; no need to wait for any response or appreciation. Especially now that diesel prices are back to around 1 baht per km for those vehicles. I would almost expect a reduction to 10 baht actually for short trips but I don't take them enough to really care.

When going further afield your mileage may vary, but often the driver will bring up the fare issue before agreeing to the destination in that case.

If no comments from the driver beforehand it's 15 baht, I didn't know that was even a debatable issue.. Not if you state a common destination and pronounce it with reasonable clarity anyway. If you're wearing a backpack and go point at maps or try to get one on the side of the road going the opposite way of where you need to go then all bets are off, obviously.

I married my wife and only my wife.........family is nothing to do with me I dont understand why it should have to be. Always seems a strange concept to me that I have to marry the family.

That's fine, and I wouldn't fault anyone for that, however in such a case it becomes important that your wife is firmly on your side. (firstly) and that you're open to at least do the common social basics assuming her family are friendly regular people. (secondly)

Nobody is expecting anyone to write their in-laws unlimited blank checks, but if they're decent people then I can only once again stress the importance and mutual benefit of a good family relationship. Family is a cornerstone of society and will bring a lot of benefits as well as joy and happiness to have a good relationship.

That said, I know that complete basket-case families exist so people's mileage may vary. In the basket-case families however your wife MUST be firmly on your side and be able to stand up to unreasonable requests. If not then, well, then we'll see some more Thaivisa posts on how bad Thais are or how they dislike Farang....

Sadly it seems all too common, reading these posts over and over again.

Washing or service or anything else I always remove all keys except the ignition. This includes removing the Locktech key of that heavy steel thing that locks the pedals.

I'm not overly worried about crime in general, but it's silly to tempt fate, especially with your address possibly on all kinds of stuff in/around the car such as an old Makro receipt, letter, the sticker of your housing development, etc, etc.

Not that it makes sense though because my house door locks are woefully inadequate and we usually leave windows open 24/7.

Not a restaurant, but my wife and I have been avoiding a Shell gas station closest to our house because one attendant with somewhat of an attitude. I forgot exactly what it was, it was very minor but still an attitude, and from a gas pump attendant! It was something like me confirming that he was going to put in B5 Biodiesel and not the horrendously overpriced unnecessary crap called V-something diesel. And his response was more or less to point at the label on the pump and have a slight attitude about it.

So we've been avoiding that whole pump for half a year now, and could easily become forever.

So there you have it. Staff and staff training are very important in getting and KEEPING customers.

(Do I win the prize for the most insignificant event leading to a personal boycott? )

CMT,I have a certain amount of understanding regarding your post.If you've been in a relationship with your g/f for a number of years then at some point you must gain a certain amount of trust,if not what have you got! Posters who retort in replying with degratory remarks are deluded or to selfish to be of any worth to anyone.It is a fact that a high percentage of thais hold there families in a higher esteem than there western b/f ,husbands, especially if they are from a poor background.

This still implies that it's acceptable (or that some foreigners accept) that they don't become a part of the family, and/or that this would be different from a Thai man who would become part of the family?

Nobody should accept not becoming a part of the family. When in doubt about that this means the wife/girlfriend really needs to go above and beyond the usual to make clear she's committed to her husband, or else you should walk. I do realize many of the people here don't, and then whine about it making it seem like it's a universal Thai cultural trait where in fact it's their inability to see the blatantly obvious, and/or an issue with choosing someone from a 'poor background'. (And I don't necessarily mean poor as in money)

However saying that I personally would be skeptical if my g/f refused to help with recovery of monies owed.

Right. Often though it's the same people who are in a very unequal relationship and don't run their household on the same wallet / shared finances. I'm not intentionally being nasty but this topic does paint an incredible stereotype on both sides in the relationship.

??????????

No worries, it's a heterosexual thing.

Yeh, nothing like a bit of healthy stalking to pass the day eh...

Come on, it's not like he took the opportunity to sniff them.

I think.

It's correct, I plugged it into Google to check and it finds a bunch of websites with pics or recipes for the dish.

There's too many crazy responses so I don't think I'll post on this thread again. Just wanted to share my experience and I still believe absolutely that the average Thai is more loyal to their family than the average farang.

You still don't get it, I believe it was Heng who said it first: You should be part of the family. If you're not then you have a choice to make, the outcome should depend on your girlfriend. But I think we've read enough, and Guesthouse had the best course of action.

The kids here have a duty to look after their parents.

And their spouse. And son in laws have a duty to look after their parents (in law) too. But you're not married, you call her your gilrfriend... I can see where they're coming from.

Better get out and pick a better girl (and family) next time; there's no shortage. (You make it seem like it's a genetic Thai thing)