AceCafe

Anyone know of a hotel in the immediate Croc Farm/Thai Red Cross Society area of Samut Prakarn please? Looking at around the 1000 baht range (lower if possible!).

Thanks.

And your solution is what, pray tell? Since the ban on harvesting teak in Thailand there has been a huge increase in the number of unemployed Elephants in this country, and the Forest Industry Organisation and all other Elephant sanctuaries cannot possibly hope to care for them all. Don't forget that one Elephant has to provide for a mahout and his family...... a lot of mouths to feed in a family where for possibly generations the only life they have known is working Elephants.

As for training methods for your "Elephants on the streets or in shows"........... they are exactly the same throughout Asia for training bona fide working Elephants. Cruel to some western minds maybe but we are talking about a beast of burden here..... a tool to be used to provide an income. Certainly not the same as, say half a dozen semi house-trained Elephants roaming huge paddocks in a wealthy wildlife park, but beggars cannot be choosers.

I do not condone circus type shows but there are some very good Elephant farms, ranches, schools here, including Khun Phairat Chaiyakham's Elephant Village in Pattaya (where I worked some 18 years ago!) which put on informative and yes, entertaining cultural displays. So for me, far better to have Elephant shows where a decent salary could be earned than unemployed beasts begging in the streets.

What's the answer? This country should take more care of a huge part of it's own heritage that one day will be gone forever. Start educating primary school kids about conservation, specifically indiginous (sp) species, and provide a healthy budget for more national parks and government run wildlife centres.

Is it going to happen? Not on our watch.

Hi Al..... my fave route, and quickest (for me coming from Jomtien) is to use the 331, then 304, then 319 past Prachinburi onto the 33, through Nakhon Nayok to Highway 1. Then come off the 1 just past Saraburi and take the 21 to Petchabun where I'd recommend staying at the Homeland, as detailed in the OP.

From Petchabun ride north on the 21 to the Lom Sak interchange then head west on the 12 to the Phitsanulok by-pass. Take the 11 north past Uttaradit to Den Chai, then Lampang, Lamphun and into Chiang Mai. Easy peasy!

When touring with the bike club we'll sometimes take 3 or 4 days to get to CM and ride via Tak, Mae Sot, Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son, Pai, Mae Taeng etc, or Loei, Nan, Chiang Khong, Thaton etc.

Cheers.

Just back from an absolutely awesome 9 day 3,500km tour to Chiang Mai and the Golden Triangle...... me on my H-D Ultra and a good buddy on his H-D Dyna Lowrider. We did the Samoeng loop and Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, the Doi Mae Salong loop in Chiang Rai, rode up to Chiang Saen in the Golden Triangle and had an absolute blast on highways 107 & 1089 from Chiang Mai up to Mae Chan and the 120 & 118 from Phayao to Doi Saket..... absolutely superb riding on well maintained roads through probably the most beautiful countryside Thailand has to offer.

Nights out were spent in almost every bar Loi Kroh road has to offer and the 3 Go-Go bars....... and the next 3 or 4 paragraphs have been edited because ThaiVisa frowns on what I have to say about how I enjoy my nightlife…… som num naa! (But can be found on another forum!)

For food we used the Mad Dog bar (nothing to do with the bike club of the same name) on the inner moat road on the East side...... good English breakfast and passable pizzas. The Riverside restaurant was its usual very good self...... packed out as always, good Thai food, good Aussie wine at 700 a bottle..... don't forget, it's always rammed so you've gotta book to avoid dissapointment!

Hotels we stayed in are all highly reccommended, including the Homeland in Petchabun.... forget the old and tired Burapa Hotel as your mid-trip stopover..... the Homeland is 10 klicks further out of town on Highway 21 and has really nice rooms with extremely comfortable bed and all the usual, plus swimming pool, for only 500 baht. Great food too! Unfortunately the name on the archway at the entrance is only in Thai but you can recognise it from the photo below.

In Chiang Mai we stayed at the Lai Thai, a wooden Thai style guesthouse..... very friendly staff and an almost unbeatable location for the bars, restaurants, night bizarre shopping and easy access around town. Again only about 500 baht per night.

The Golden Triangle is very strangely deserted after dark, most tourists doing day trips from Chiang Rai so we had the place to ourselves at night. There are a few guesthouses down some of the side sois but unfortunately the old charm of the area has gone, replaced with enormous Buddha and Elephant statues along the riverside. The only decent place we found to eat was a Thai cafe that no tourist would use...... we had a good evening there though, interacting with the family and having a (clean!) laugh with the owners daughter and grand-daughter..... I'd reccommend it, and you'll recognise it from the photos of grand-daughter and name board below. We stayed in the new and totally soul-less Serene Hotel right on the river...... really nice comfortable rooms but at 1500 a night I'd prefer something with life and character.

Riding home we were heading again for the Homeland but rain stopped play so we pulled over at the Sappraiwan Grand Resort up in the hills in Phitsanulok...... it's the one with all the Elephants....... we were expecting a place this gorgeous to be about 3000 baht per night and were pleasantly surprised at the 1200 price tag....... terrific huge rooms and I'd highly reccommend doing a weekend there..... they have a very good cook, great swimming pool, river with white water rafting, Elephants to mess around with, beautiful scenery and you're close to Khao Kho for exploring.

Sorry if this report seems a bit disjointed folks, it was a lot more colourful but had to be edited!

RIP Jim...... I was in Chiang Mai last weekend (till only a few hours ago) and hoping to meet up again (we have a mutual pal, Warren, who introduced us a while ago) but sadly, not to be. My thoughts are with your family.

Ride forever free.

Martin.

Firing the Harleypig up at sparrow fart tomorrow and heading up to CM...... can any of you locals tell me if the bars are all likely to close on Friday, or are things more relaxed up thar.......

I like to start in the Ba Ba Bo Bo Bar....... it's all downhill from there!

Probably stop tomorrow night at the Burapa in Petchabun, so if any of you pavement drinkers from the shop behind the hotel are around..... see ya there!

I think you'll get pretty bored with KK if you're up there for 5 days Dave, but you're so close to Udon it'd be worth going up there for a night...... then on up to Nong Khai...... much better!

oh please enough with the warm beer you are making me sick. Only the english drink thier beer warm. A good beer is served icy cold and do not even think about putting ice in the glass that's a thai thing. Only us Aussie really know how to dring beer.

oh please enough with the warm beer you are making me sick. Only the english drink thier beer warm. A good beer is served icy cold and do not even think about putting ice in the glass that's a thai thing. Only us Aussie really know how to dring beer.

I do agree with that one

Rubbish (in the nicest possible way! )!! You mob wouldn't know a decent beer if it upped and wacked you in the face!! All you lot sup is piss weak lager!

Middle of winter, pissing down sleet, hail or snow outside, standing in a classic old London pub, downing copious pints of room temperature Old Speckled Hen, Bishops Finger, London Pride, Green King etcetera...... you lager quaffers don't know you're born!!

On many of these special Buddhist days the police issue notification to bars which states:

"Please try to show respect to Buddhism and try to refrain from selling alcohol" (or words very close to that effect) which is automatically translated by excitable and not very attentive Thai bar staff to a Farang boss as "no can sell beer."

I honestly cannot remember any of the Buddhist holidays being a zero alcohol day......... but of course TiT and rules change daily!

Most places will compromise by keeping outside lights off and the music down. Some places choose to sell booze in coffee mugs. I've always worked by the credo "don't take the piss, keep your head down and you'll be ok"....... seems to work.

Yes, beautiful bike but I do believe they're charging in the region of 650,000 baht! Bit of a bloody cheek for something being made just up the road! They've always been a very strange and secretive crowd up there, and the prices are reflecting their attitude. Real shame.

Depends what you're looking for during your break. I did 2 short breaks to Sihanoukville earlier this year.... loved it. But I'm an middle-aged party animal who misses the hunger from Pattaya way back when, and Snooky's got it in buckets, along with a decent crowd of expats, cheap as chips and very tasty draught beer, decent hotels, good food to be found, lovely beaches and the local nightlife is still hungry as they haven't spent 15-20 years on easy sponsorship, KFC or MacDonalds!

But maybe you're after a cultural tour?

55555! In a fit of pique once (ok, I was bladdered!) I slung the missus shoe collection out into the car park........ bloody hilarious the next day seeing all the Khmer builders, painters, sparks etc swarming over the condo block opposite, all wearing her heels and pumps!

Triumph release limited edition Daytona 675

By Andy Downes

This stunning limited-edition Daytona 675SE is the latest model from Triumph – with pearlescent white bodywork, blue frame, swingarm and subframe costs just £150 more than the standard bike.

The graphics and pinstriped graphite-coloured wheels are all new and unique to the 675SE which is mechanically identical to the standard 675 which was changed for this year and won the MCN 600cc class shootout this year.

The three-cylinder Daytona 675 has been a massive success for the British firm around the world.The 675SE will cost £7739 compared to £7589 for the stock bike that comes in red or black.

A full range of official accessories are available for the Daytona 675SE, giving owners with an opportunity to personalise the looks and performance of the bike. This includes racing accessories, such as lightweight carbon fibre parts, a ‘plug-and-play’ quickshifter set, race-style rear footrests and silencers developed in cooperation with Italian firm Arrow.

(But I'll bet the thing costs a dam_n sight more than 380,000 baht up Bkk way!!)

Speaking of motorbike thefts, my girlfriend's roommate told me a crazy story about something that happened to her recently.

She was selling her car, and placed an advertisement in a Thai classifieds. A guy contacts her and wants to look at the car, 20 something year old Thai guy. They meet up at Tesco and discuss the car a little, then he wants to test drive it. She gets in the passenger seat and he drives around a little. He tells her that he really likes the car but wants his friend who is a mechanic to look at it. He tells her the friend lives nearby and asks to stop by the friend's house. She says OK.

They stop by the house and he tells her to wait in the car. She watches through the window while he talks to a guy and a girl in front of the house. After a few minutes, he gets on a motorbike and drives off somewhere.

A looooong time passes, and she's wondering where the heck he rode off too. Finally the guy and girl walk over to the car and she rolls down the window. They ask her, "Where did you BOYFRIEND go?" She says, "What? He's not my boyfriend, he's just a guy that was test driving my car".

Turns out the guy and girl were selling their motorbike. When my friend and this guy pulled up, he told them he wanted to buy the motorbike, and that his girlfriend was waiting in the car. He asked to test drive it while his girlfriend waited with them, and then he rode off with the bike, never to return.

Finally, a Thai tealeaf with a lot more savvy than the average! Don't get me wrong, I abhor thieves, but this one did make me smile!

As for the prickly heat powder, I wouldn't put menthol anywhere near my scrotum and the talc is unhealthy too. Corn starch powder is cheaper and healthier.

Each to his own. You carry on using your pancake powder old chap, I'll carry on using the one that I've been with for 20 years because: 1. it's well reccommended, 2. my nutsack is very healthy thankyou and 3. I can afford it.

There are many ways to skin a chicken ...

...... and the area in question will certainly look like one after he tries all these remedies!

Shave, and apply Snake Brand Classic Prickly Heat Powder.

Bikes in Thailand: First Beer Engine On The Isle Of Man.....so may i assume that the Isle of Man has already been annexed to Thailand, that's actually a great news guys, considering the current british economy (ie: GBP) that's surely one of the best things i heard since the Islas Malvinas changed name!

Typical snotty comment from the sort of smart-arse that people do warn you about on this forum...... if you were a regular contributor to this biking sub-forum (I'm a newbie myself but hoping to become an old hand here) you'd realise that bikers belong to a universal brotherhood, and stories like this are appreciated wherever you go. Do you have any inkling what the IOM means to bikers?

Sulby Glen Hotel unveils the beer engine

29 April 2009 By JOHN TURNER THE Isle of Man's first Honda in-line four beer engine has been installed at the Sulby Glen Hotel. The equipment, a modified Honda bike engine, uses an electric pump to pour four different beers via its four exhaust ports and is a copy of one spotted by Sulby Glen directors Rosie and Eddie Christian on a pub trip to Germany last year.

'It was the brainchild of Hans Georg Petrovic from Waltrop in Germany,' Rosie said.

'He is president of the Waltrop Motorrad Club which has been visiting the Isle of Man for TT and at other times since 1967.

'On a trip to Waltrop we said how we liked the beer engine in their club house and he replied "if you like it then you too shall have one. I will make it specially for you".'

The engine was donated from a restoration project belonging to Sulby Glen customer Norman Cunningham and first had to be liberated from the clutches of nature.

'On arriving at his house it was discovered that the motorcycle was not as accessible as first thought. The tree that was growing through it had to be cut down and then the frame of the bike cut,' Rosie said.

Salvage operation complete, the engine was handed over to Mr Petrovic who effected the transformation back in Germany before returning it carried on a sidecar outfit.

The beer lines have been threaded up through the barrels and it has been completely stripped and repainted.

'It is appropriate because it is a Honda and it is emission-free,' Rosie said.

Rosie and Eddie thanked Mr Cunningham for his donation, Mr Petrovic for his work on the conversion and John Cojeen of Heron and Brearley for his technical services connecting all the beer lines and ensuring they worked correctly, not to mention Tony Temple who located the right size and shape of beer badges for the front of the engine.

Firing up the equipment to serve its inaugural pints were sidecar driver and Southern 100 winner Matthew Sayle, sidecar passenger and solo rider TT, southern 100 and Manx Grand Prix winner Daniel Sayle and two times world enduro champion, Sulby resident David Knight.

Hi. There are so many "old wives tales" about this topic, and so many folk have their own preference.

Personally I'd leave a small amount of fuel in the tank..... don't bleed it dry..... then when you come back fill her up and the "old" fuel will be mixed with new and you shouldn't have any problems. If it's a new bike and being stored under cover I cannot see there being any corrosion problems over 6 months. (Don't ever run her on to reserve anyway...... or if you do, clean the lines/carb periodically.)

I'd just drape an old blanket over the bike....... bungee it down as cats have been known to sleep on (and scratch) a nice comfy covered bike seat!

Side stand is ok...... if you had a centre stand I'd suggest using it and taking some air pressure out the tyres but unless you put a wooden block under the bike and jack her up I wouldn't bother. Just make dam_n sure you check tyres for hairline cracks when you return, because standing tyres will lose their elasticity...... but 6 months stored in shelter? Should be ok.

You could go the whole hog and disconnect the battery...... then give her a good charge up on your return, or buy new!

Best bet is have a mate fire her up every 2 weeks and take her out for a few klicks!

Sorry, don't think you'll find anything in Jomtien. Try ThaiSri on Sukhumvit, left hand side going north, between Tai and Klang (sh1t, might be between Klang and Nua, but you get my drift)....... nearly opposite Index, if memory serves. I use them for our small 110cc/125cc scooters, all about 300 baht per annum, which is the minimum cover required (I believe) to be road legal here. They'll sort your annual road tax too.

Magical beasties, aren't they! I worked with them for 15 years in UK (10 years as Head Elephant Honcho at John Aspinalls Port Lympne where I had a breeding group of 2 bulls & 6 cows) and they are what brought me to Thailand (contrary to popular belief ), all those moons ago! (I worked with Phairat Chaiyakham at the original Pattaya Elephant Village)

Can you please post exactly where the Patara Elephant Farm is, and costs? (And more pics!)

Oh and the Thai "ankus" or hook is fairly blunt but still capabale of breaking skin....... unfortunately it does happen. When your beastie is well enough trained you can get away with using something as simple as a ball point pen cap to direct the animal, because it's what it represents. Fortunately, with an animal that is as intelligent, and as easy to train as a dog, vocal commands and tone of voice work very well.

If the UK is like most countries she is still a citizen even though she has remained out of the country a number of years.

For info on getting passports see this webpage on embassy website.

http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/

Thank you, that's as I thought. Useful website info..... I'll save that.

Cheers.

They drive too fast on an open straight road. Usually tailgating the guy in front. But the moment they turn into a side road they crawl at less than 20kmph.. Frustrating to say the least.. Worse they often stop or slow in mid-corner... As if they are scared to turn the steering wheel..

It all comes down to the same thing.. They have had little or no training.. They don't understand the rules of the road or how their vehicle is meant to be operated.. They got their licence and proceeded to 'drive'. They are Thai and they don't need help/advice from anyone.. That's why you will often see a line of ten cars following a samlor along a road. The samlor is in the middle of the road and refuses to 'keep left' the rest of the drivers are either too nervous to overtake or don't want to offend somebody.. It's <deleted> painful..

Good post and spot on! I find it's most painful up Udon/Nong Khai way....... riding along behind someone who is crawling along so you easily anticipate the mistake they're just about to make..... you think "no, surely, you're not gonna do that?"...... and then they do, but at half the speed they'd be doing it in BKK or Pattaya! Frustrating, dangerous and sometimes highly amusing!

I'm casting this net for a friend hoping someone can confirm what I think.

The ex wife has dual Nationality (Thai/UK) but has been living back here for approx 10 years. Her UK passport has long since expired (approx 5 years). I am presuming she can just go to the Embassy here and simply get it renewed...... yes? She (as per norm from how I remember 20 years ago!) is worried and keeps throwing up "if's" and "but's". Can anyone out there clarify? Thank you.