WinnieTheKhwai

Huh.. I move all the time but never bother with an address change.. Just about every official paper, booklet or card that I own has a different address on it.. (Driver's license, social security card, tax card, work permit, etc, etc. )

I'm not a connoisseur, but I like the oolong tea from the Doi Kham / Royal Project stores. I go for the most expensive one, in the gold colored foil packaging. This is the rolled up type, which extends into full leaves when steeped in hot water.

hoppers have to jostle with dodgy characters trying to entice them in to see "ping pong" shows and other depraved spectacles, and their kids will keep peering in behind black curtains to see the scantily clad hookers dancing inside.

They will surely go blind or be scarred for life at the sight of women in bathing suits.

Have found another one open on the old Sankhamphaeng Road, in between the Middle and the Outer ring.

( Nong Hoi and the one on Aom Muang near Airport Plaza are closed. )

Does anyone know if there is still a Caltex station open in the Chiang Mai area?

I have some coupons left I need to use..

Try around just about any market... ?

Huh.. I thought pretty much ALL bars show the EPL.. the only issue could be on which of the 4 or 5 matches they show when multiple matches are played at the same time!

So it's so much of a non-issue that I don't even have a favorite place.. Just any place I happen to be enjoying a beer I'd keep an eye on the game too.

I wouldn't go watch it in a bar that's otherwise dead just because they have a big screen.

Pattaya.

No, really.

*Especially* when you drive yourself you will be able to explore that area, and you will find there are plenty very acceptable beaches in the area around Pattaya/Sattahip/Rayong. Far better (and cheaper, and a bit closer) than what you'd find around Cha Am or Hua Hin.

With your own wheels you don't get caught in downtown Pattaya's mass tourism, the tour groups from every country on earth, the bars, etc, etc. However there is excellent and affordable accommodation in the area. Stay at Jomtien (so-so beach but you're there for the accommodation, better beaches are nearby) or Wong Amat (North Pattaya off the Naklua Road).

And driving there couldn't be simpler; Highway 11 to Lampang, then Highway #1 until just past Ayudthaya when you hit the Bangkok Outer Ring (#9?), then from there on to the Chonburi Motorway (#7). You should be able to get there in about 8-9 hours. (More if you take it slow, or less if you drive suicidal. )

Does anyone else feel the same when they are torn away from our home town?

YES!

Plaza 89 is nice, but absolutely not walking distance from the Holiday Inn. The Holiday Inn is near Nong Hoi market. Plaza 89 is quite a bit south of Nong Hong intersection. (Intersection with Aom Muang ring road).

Needless to say, it won't work in that location unless you can appeal to a reliable Thai lunch crowd, which is VERY hard.

It may be due to most modern cars these days being able to go up and down a hill without fuss, even with a Bangkokian driver at the wheel with no sense of gears. Gotta love those Bangkok plate cars with the brake lights on all the way down to Pai.

Of course there are other places, like Mae Kampong (The treetop gibbon thing) but it's a bit more up-scale and not large enough to accommodate people in any kind of volume

Where is the darn place? They tell me left at Baan Huey Kaaw, but there is no left...

I've been there twice, looking for it.

It's a *right* turn past Ban Huay Kaew (assuming you're coming from the South i.e from the Mae On area). Ban Huay Kaew is where all the wholesale tree sellers are.

Mae Kampong is here: http://tinyurl.com/9x7ock

It's INCREDIBLY scenic. Pretty high up, so will be cold. (Weird plants overthere that you don't normally see) All good roads (fairly narrow, but all paved).

It's a problem though; a lot of tourists (backpackers) visited Chiang Mai primarily because it's a logical stop on the way to Pai. Many like Chiang Mai town once here, and stay around. If Pai is becoming less attractive (higher prices, more touristy/resorty, an overall less 'vibey' adventurous atmosphere) then there may not BE an alternative in the North near Chiang Mai, meaning people would skip the North (and Chiang Mai) entirely. That would be bad news.

Of course there are other places, like Mae Kampong (The treetop gibbon thing) but it's a bit more up-scale and not large enough to accommodate people in any kind of volume.

Lampang has some very big ceramics factories where you can buy for good prices, however I don't know about this particular type of item.

Not sure if you're just visiting or staying here longer time, but what most people do who live here is get drinking water delivered from one of the filter companies, like Dew Drop adn the like. They just show up, take empty bottles (any size, be it a huge one or trays of 1L bottles (plastic or glass), and replace them with full ones. Cheap and easy.

Right, what are they gonna do, throw an 83 year old lady in jail? Get real.

Trying walking into Moon Muang Soi 2, that's the soi in between Mad Dog and the HHH bar. There's a couple bars in there, chances are it's that soi. If not then it could be Ratchamankha road, that's the first proper road North from Soi 2.

If you're looking for more bars, there's plenty on Loi Kroh (Across the moat from there), and also further up Loi Kroh just before the Kamphaeng Din Rd intersection on the right, near the Mae Ping Hotel. I always forget the name of that area but there's a lot of bars and a boxing ring for shows and the like.

Wonder if he has a work permit for that? Maybe one from Tajiquanastan.

an independent professional organisation.

Thanks for that one.

Yup, this is just sad.. If you're a civil servant however in the North, you'd be very worried. Suthep is essentially trying the old fascist tactic of 'if your not for us, you're against us'. Anyone not vocal in his support will find his career sidelined.

That's sad.

It's not common for bulls to get seriously injured during this.. It's what they'd do in nature, push up against each other!

It's a bit boring really. But if you want to see it, the prime place is the Chonburi buffalo festival; (or was it Suphanburi..) Don't know when it is held, google it.

I very often wear red shirts these days. And get LOTS of encouraging comments on it!

It's funny how yellow completely disappeared, even on Mondays around the office here. (Chiang Mai).

Have you read the charges he's facing, the details of the 6 cases waiting to proceed if the fugitive returns?

SJ can probably find them for you if you ask him nicely, very minor are not the right words.

Yes I have, all drummed up by the military and their masters. And I don't need anything from SJ thankyouverymuch and stopped reading/responding to his posts as they seem only meant to be inflammatory.

i noticed that a case of soda used to be about 108 baht,then 114 baht,now i noticed a box was 148 baht thats a big increase.

They know you drink it with whiskey,so they figured if you can afford the whiskey then you can pay some more for your soda to.

If that's the case then I'd pick better soda than the vile Singh or Chang soda stuff.

There is a regular fare and it's 15 baht, despite fuel prices having come back down. (Though in fareness they were REALLY insane for quite a while; let them make some money now I say.)

Key is to not wait for any negotiations; go stand at a sensible spot in relatoin to the place you're going (i..e not a one way road going the other way or on the wrong side of the moat) and make sure your destination is also something clear, not down some small soi or whatever. Then the driver will first figure out if he can get there sensibly given the destinations of any other people in the vehicle and then just nod. No need to wait for negotiations at that point, just get in.

It's really quite obvious if someone is a tourist or not.. you know they're the ones shoving maps in a Red Bus driver's face or specify they want to go to "The Tamarind Village Hotel" instead of just 'yaek klang wiang' or whatever. Try to make your destination into something like "just after/before temple/market/school/intersection XYZ". In Chiang Mai town, your destination is pretty much guaranteed to be near one of those. If you specify going to a soi, make it clear you don't expect him to squeeze into it. (naa paak soi khrap). Also don't specify a road that goes on forever; 'Yaek Rincome' is more specific than just 'Huay Kaew Rd'.

They're really quite a good form of public transport. You absolutely need to know where you are and where you're going though.

I'd love to be a Songthaew driver for a day.