NancyL

I wondered how long it would take before the resident Expat regulars at Centara started throwing dumbells at me! (Note to OP: we've covered this ground before on the TV forum. You may want to use the search function.)

I go to Centara five times a week, at various times of day and just don't see the problems the previous posters have mentioned. I've had to wait something like 3 minutes for a shower stall once and I had to dodge kids in the pool a time or two, but the staff always straightens 'em out without my complaining. Oh yeah, I think all the treadmills were in use once, but I just did the bike for a while until a treadmill opened up.

I'm amazed that successful business people would discourage newcomers from becoming customers of another business that they obviously enjoy and patronize. Thai business people are great at imitating successful businesses. If other hotels see the success of the Centara fitness center, then they are more likely to open up their fitness centers to residents. Some of these same grumblers have pointed out to me that Centara has many more machines than they did when they first opened. See, they're responding to customer demand, too!

Oh well, I doubt I changed any minds, but didn't want to let the grumblers go unchallenged. Meanwhile, I'm off to visit my favorite used book store near Thapae Gate, but I'm not telling anyone about it because it already is crowded with too many tourists (especially in winter) and I want to keep all the good books for myself and my resident Expat friends.

BB, I love your explanation except for the part about the winds flowing to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern. It would really depend upon the "viewers" framer of reference to determine if the winds were from the right or the left. The correct explanation would be to the east in the Northern Hemisphere and to the west in the Southern.

Why is it that people from the U.S. seem to be the only English-speakers who can communicate directions correctly?

Yes, definitely make an attempt to learn some Thai. It helps, too, to learn how to read and write Thai. I was at an event recently where we were asked to sign our names, so I signed my name in Thai. People were crowding around to see my efforts and taking pictures, even though I protested that write Thai like an eight year old! It definitely helps to make contacts and "win points" as we Americans say.

This may be a bit more than 1 km from Thapae Gate, but the Centara Duang Tawan hotel on Loi Kroh offers one month memberships for 1000 baht. They have the equipment that will meet your needs plus a really nice pool. It's the tall white hotel at the end of Loi Kroh near the Night Bazaar.

We subscribe to both the Economist and the International Herald Tribune. Hubby is somewhat affected by the situation, so he used their websites to notify them. Thomas Fuller of the International Herald Tribune replied promptly, saying he appreciated the information and would become more interested if it appeared that other institutions besides CMU were doing this. In his initial email, Hubby pointed out that 300 students are affected. Maybe if all 300 emailed Mr. Fuller, he might be more willing to do a story. Thomas Fuller seems to be resident here in Thailand and writes many stories about our "adopted" country for the publication.

Hubby hasn't heard anything back from the Economist.

Nor has he heard anything from his email to the U.S. institution where he got his Masters degree -- the same institution where the CMU president obtained his Masters and Doctorate degree and currently has a number of Thai students on their campus.

He's contacted the American Consulate, who said he was the first to inform them of the problem early last week. They said they'd look into it. Has anyone had more recent contact with the American Consulate?

We've filed a "dispute form" with our credit card company.

Hubby's next move is to contact Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, who is a Vietnam veteran and has a "special interest" in Thailand, according to the new American Consul General in her Satuday talk at CM Expats club. Hubby is also a Vietnam vet who fell in love with Thailand during the war and he was born in Virginia (yeah, we know that connection is a long-shot). He's also considering emailing all 120 U.S. institutions that have "partnership" relationships with CMU, whereby the Thai students come to the U.S. to study.

He's doing all this and he didn't even have an educational visa from CMU. We're here on O-A retirement visas and Hubby wanted to be able to contribute his time to Thais. We both had looked forward to doing extensive volunteer work in retirement and been so disappointed that we can't legally do that with our visas. I've thrown myself into other activities, but Hubby really wanted to do volunteer work, so he joined the Cultural Exchange Progam after their presentation at the CM Expats Club meeting in May.

So, I hope all the rest of you who are even more affected by this than us are taking similar measures to get the word out about this problem. Please contact your embassy/consulate, your credit card company, the media and anyone or institution in your home country that may be assisting CMU students in their studies.

Once again, I'm imploring the moderators to move this back to the Chiang Mai forum. Normally, we never look at the Visa forum. We just want to be able to do volunteer work here in Chiang Mai "legally" and still keep our O-A retirement visas. The loss of the CEP program is a major blow to Thai people who benefited from time given by people in the CEP program.

I really object to the term "falang" being used in these discussions. Non-Thai Asians are also affected. Besides, the correct pronouncation of the pejorative the Thais use toward Westerners is "Farang" I'm sorry, but I have a real problem with westerners using this term. It's kind of like black people in the U.S. calling themselves with the "N-word" and then wondering why white people use that term.

Yes, and yes. I know of some places that cater to people who stay for a few months that become totally full in Dec-Jan.

Two of us have been taking Thai lessons at the YMCA and are reading/writing at the level of a Thai third grader. Our teacher has a short-term schedule conflict and can't continue to teach at the Y, so we're going to meet with her for private lessons, on Mon-Wed-Fri starting Monday, Oct 4 continuing through Friday, Nov 5. Total class time 30 hr. We're planning to meet from 10 am - noon, but would be open to a 3:30 - 5:30 class time if that works better for any new students. We'll meet near KSK (not at the YMCA). Cost 1800 baht for the entire program.

The emphasis of this class is reading and writing Thai, with a story book utilized by Thai school children. Also, we do "word scramble" exercises where we're given some Thai words that we have to use to construct a proper sentence. Plus, each class includes a listening exercise where the teacher reads a story and we answer questions based on what we heard when listening. We'll probably add some story writing during this session as well. It is not a conversational Thai class and we use the English language to discuss Thai grammar concepts. Of course, all the reading and writing is with the Thai alphabet, not phonetics.

The teacher is kind, patient and popular at the Y. My classmate and I hope we can recruit one or two other students to join us to justify the cost of continuing to study with her outside the structure of the YMCA's programs.

Please send me a PM for more details. I could scan and email you our latest "word scramble" exercise and story from our book so you can see if our level of study is right for you.

I also agree that the thread needs to be moved back to the Chiang Mai forum. This is an issue specific to those of us living in Chiang Mai and the rest of our community needs to be aware of what is going on related to CMU.

Moderators - come on - move it to the Chiamg Mai forum!!

I wish the mods would move this topic back to the Chiang Mai forum. I have friends who are affected by this and they said they looked on TV and couldn't find anything about the CMU situation. Perhaps that's why a newbie posted Matt's letter on the CM forum. Also, there may be some sort of pattern in CM since there is another thread on that forum about some falang teachers at International schools being tossed out. Remember it's not just westerns involved! I know one Japanese national who is also caught up in the CMU problem.

I like the idea to contact the media in our home countries, but unfortunately the U.S. media doesn't seem to care much about Thailand. However, the U.S. Consulate has promised to check out the situation. The more Americans they know have the problem, the better.

If you're caught in this situation, don't wait, thinking that maybe you'll get your money back. Contact your consulate or embassy NOW!

If the only two options are DD into BKK bank or having the check sent directly to your home, then the answer is obvious -- BKK, unless you have so much money here in Thailand already that you don't want to accumulate more out of concern for the long-term viability of the Thai economy.

We have two retirement checks -- one's a private pension from a major U.S. company, the other is SS. We have the private pension DD into BKK, via the NY branch. Unlike SS checks, it can go directly the BKK acct. that has ATM access. No trip to the bank to transfer funds. To set this up, we downloaded the forms on-line from the private pension people and then went to our local BKK branch for help in completing the forms. The OP mentioned he's set up his BKK acct at one branch, but was using another for most business. He should inquire at his new favorite branch if that branch can become his "home" branch. We've never had any problems with the private pension funds hitting our accout right at the first of the month. We can access them immediately, the exchange rate is very good and there are no additional fees.

We discovered that the private pension funds adequately cover our monthly living expenses here, so when Hubby started SS, we decided to have that check DD into our U.S. credit union acct. We set up our credit union accounts decades ago when Hubby worked at the company now giving him a pension. He left that company nearly 20 years ago, but we never bothered to close the accounts. When we decided to retire to Thailand, we rediscovered our credit union and consolidated all our U.S. funds there. They issued a Visa credit card with no annual fee and a 1% charge for foreign transactions (most Visa cards charge 3%). Plus, we get cash back each year depending upon the profitability of the credit union. Usually it's almost 1% of the value of our credit card transactions. We use that Visa card here for groceries at Rim Ping and Tops, hospital bills, department stores and internet. Really anything we can charge with a reputable merchant where we feel comfortable that the credit card info is going to be protected (no restaurants or bars, obviously). We just have to make sure they charge us in Thai baht, not U.S. dollars because the credit card company gives a much better exchange rate than the merchants. Hubby's SS check, direct deposited to the U.S. credit union, pays off the monthly Visa card bill with some left over for life insurance, etc, which I can pay using the credit union's E-checking feature.

If the OP isn't currently a member of a U.S. credit union, then perhaps he could piggy back on the elgibility of a relative. I've heard of adult kids setting up credit union accounts for their Thai-based parents.

When we first came here we didn't have all the DD set up and tried to transfer funds using various means. Every method -- wire transfer, depositing a U.S. check into BKK and waiting for it to clear, ATM machine, etc -- was expensive and a hassle. Now we have deposits set up on "auto pilot" with the system of inflow and outflow in balance and no fees for the deposits. Yes, we are accumulating a bit into our BKK acct each month, over and above our living expenses, but I figured we just take a nice little trip to Penang or China once we get an extra 100,000 baht.

Went to the supermarket in question today. While the home delivery guy was unloading my order, the cat was gleefully rubbing and jumping all over the cases of Leo. Within a few minutes the cat was busy batting a cockroach around on the floor. I don't even think the delivery guy had left yet.

I think Eek did the right thing. This is a management problem, not an isolated incident. Had she just taken it to the checkout they would have removed the cockroach, put the item back on the shelf and never told anyone in management.

We recently adopted a cat and when he developed a hobby of indoor cockroach hunting, I Wiki'd up the creatures and was impressed. I was mainly concerned that the cat might be hurt or poisoned and, no, it seems like harmless fun for him. We do use baited traps, which he leaves alone, so maybe his prey is a feeling a little "puny" when he finds them. He doesn't eat the cockroaches, so we don't think the roach poison is going to affect him. Every morning we wake up to find the bodies of 5 or 6. Sometimes he puts one on our bed as an "offering". I had no idea we had so many cockroaches until the cat joined the household.

I'm off today for a shopping trip at what I think was the same place where Eek found her cockroach. No wonder the cat always loves to see their home delivery and shows much interest in the cardboard boxes of beer and cases of soft drinks. New prey coming into his territory!

We flew up to Pai about a year ago on Nok Air and the view was also wonderful. This is a great time of year for aerial sightseeing (if it's not raining) because everything is so nice and green.

WM is next to the Srithana Technical College, on the same side of Huey Kaew as the Orchid and KSK. It's a few hundred meters away from the Orchid.

We've covered this before and if I recall the two top choices are Washy Mashy on Huey Kaew and the Orchid Hotel. The dry cleaning stand is actually just outside the hotel, on the left side as you enter the hotel. I don't know about the Orchid, but Washy Mashy has always taken at least two days to do dry cleaning for me, but they do a superb job.

HowardB, why not rent at Hillside 4 for 6 months or a year to see if you like the building, location, etc? You could figure out, too, which is the best side of building and the best floor. As mentioned, there are many units available there both for sale and purchase. While you're renting, you could let it be known that you're interested in buying a unit in the building and you'd probably become aware of some really good ones even before they're advertised. An owner would be willing to lower the price if they don't have to pay a sales agent commission. It would be fairly easy to move yourself from one unit to another within the same building once you've made your final choice.

If dressing neatly, speaking politely, waiting your turn, being prepared for a meeting, being kind to everyone including those who are providing you with a service, etc, etc, is groveling or selling out, then I guess I'm guilty as charged by the OP. I've found that most people respond favorably. In life, it seems that you're treated the way to expect to be treated and what you give is what you get. Also, I've found that people who DEMAND respect are usually those least likely to be deserving of respect. There's a saying in America (I don't know about the rest of the world) about someone "acting like they have a chip on their shoulder". The OP seems to have gone into Immigration with a obvious chip, just waiting for someone to knock it off.

Last night around 10 pm we heard a big commotion like a parade or march on Chang Moi Rd. Our soi cleared out with people venturing toward Chang Moi just far enough to see what was going on. Soon our Thai neighbors were laughing and looking relieved -- it was a parade to celebrate a big football victory. I think all of us, epecially our Thai neighbors, were afraid that it was some sort of red shirt march.

It sounds like an unfortunate situation and it's good that it was resolved without any violence. We've covered the topic of vegetarian restaurants several times on this forum. The OP may want to do a search and develop a little list for future reference. Personally, I would have just walked down Thapae Rd. to Taste from Heaven, the vegetarian restaurant on the right (south) side of Thapae as you're walking toward the river. I'm not a vegetarian, but eat there often because the food is so good. (I must admit sometimes I order take out, bring it home and serve it with some cooked chicken from one of those great street-side BBQ chicken stands!)

Welcome to Chiang Mai and the excitement of living right in the middle of the old city. No need for phone lines here. We use a mobile phone as our only phone and AIS for our internet. Both Hubby and I use our laptop computers at the same time, so we opted for the AIS wireless modem -- it was cheaper in the long run than each of us getting one of those dongle thingies. Admittedly, we don't have the portability of getting wireless anywhere we go, but we're not the kind of people who sit around surfing the internet in a public place. We've taken the modem with us on trips in Thailand and just plugged it in whereever we could find an electric outlet.

Some of my friends have those fancy mobile phones where they can access the internet, too.

Many, many options here for life without a landline.

For dessert -- whatever fruit is in season, the messier the better. I've sat around Thai outdoor BBQs with the women who gleefully cracked open the tamarinds or mangosteens or whatever else fruit I've never heard about. These fruits were always very messy -- not the sort of stuff you'd eat at a formal dining table. I guess it's the Thai equivalent of eating watermelon at a BBQ and spitting the seeds!

There is no shortage of American food in the Rim Ping and Tops supermarkets in Chiang Mai. We know of some westerners who live a couple hours from here and come "into town" once or twice a month, to attend church services, see a movie, whatever and then do a big shopping at one of these supermarkets. I'd suggest you take a mini-vacation in Chiang Mai, check into a guest house or hotel and spend some time touring the local supermarkets.

As mentioned, beef here is expensive if you want good beef. I have yet to turn out a good meal with Thai beef and I'm a pretty good cook. Hubby says they must be selling khwai (water buffalo) labeled as beef. But, the pork here is wonderful and we eat much more pork than we did in the U.S.