NancyL

One of my favorite treats is to go early to Airport Plaza on a Wednesday, check the movie schedule, buy a discount ticket and kill time until the show starts by eating lunch in the food court. Usually, I can't finish the bottle of water and stuff it in my bag to finish during the movie. Gosh, I hope they don't search my bag!

Seriously, though, I agree with JayJayO, my biggest beef with the Airport Plaza cinema is that they don't post their schedules on the internet in advance. In fact they normally don't post them until after 11 am, which can be too late to get in gear to see the first show of the day. But, when I come early, sometimes I find the show I'd like to see doesn't start until 4 pm -- that's too much time to kill.

That's part of why I go to Vista at KSK more often than Airport Plaza -- because they post their schedule on the internet in advance, allowing me to plan my life a day or two in advance.

Things were better today. Went in at 2 pm for 90 day report. Done by 2:40 pm -- a bit longer than before.

The number ticket machine was working. Some of the desks had computers and a couple guys looked like they were working on hooking up computers for the other desks. The window and counter system is gone. Now they have desks set up in the area that used to be the office behind the glass. The desks looked like they were arranged in side-by-side pairs with an assistant helping the immigration officer with all the forms and the the stapling. Of course, the immigration officers still control the all-important stamps. Maybe the new scheme is a plan to speed up service with each officer having an assistant by their side.

They were back to doing letters of residency, along with other services like 90 day reports, application for re-entry permits and visa extensions. Of course, by 2 pm all the numbers for the visa extension process were gone for the day, but that was no different than before.

As with yesterday, every seat in the waiting area was occupied and the signage was lacking. It looked like utter mayhem when you first arrived, but after sitting for a while I realized there indeed was a "system", but it wasn't obvious when you first entered the waiting area. The one saving grace is that the air conditioner continues to blast out cold air!

No matter the country, I always make it a practice to watch the postal worker to make certain that the actual postage is affixed to the letter/package. I did some part-time seasonal work at in the U.S. Postal system and realized that even they have problems with workers stealing mail or pocketing money and disposing of the object to be mailed. It wasn't a wide-spread problem; the U.S. postal system has detectives whose entire job is to watch for these actions, but it still happened sometimes.

Also, I'm not too wild about these Thai postal substations where casual passers-by have access to the items in the outgoing mail. I always use a station that has the workers behind glass and controlled access to the outgoing mail.

What is the name of the school in Thai? Some of the forum regulars can read Thai.

Shipwreck, you gotta give us more info! The name "Chiang Mai" refers to both a very large province and a fairly compact city. I think previous posters have addressed both situations -- you want something as small and agile as possible for the city and perhaps something with 4 wheel drive if you plan to go somewhere that can be reached only by mud roads during the rainy season. I can't imagine why you'd want to do that unless you were into serious outdoor activities like hiking and camping or worked for a NGO with an operation in a hilltribe village.

Sparkles, as for that lady at Central Airport Plaza -- maybe she has a 4 wheel drive for the same reasons we had one in Michigan -- to handle all the snow and ice on the parking ramps!

We use MagicJack, but I thought it worked only in the U.S. and Canada. Don't know -- we don't make very many phone calls so the price is right. I have problems with the voice cutting in-and-out if I'm trying to use other internet functions, like to call up a website page while I'm talking with a bank or credit card customer service rep on the MagicJack. Might be worth investigating another service if you plan to use it frequently.

Niloc, Hubby first hooked up the computer to the dinosaur TV in our old place. That took some doing, but he finally got it to work. Our current condo came with a fairly new, flat screen TV and Hubby was in 7th Heaven to discover it already had all the right holes on the side for connection to a computer.

I've never posted a link on this forum before. So, here's my first effort -- the page where you can access the movie schedules on the WE TV site:

http://www.wetv.co.t...nload_onair.php

I thougt we keep a clean house and I change out the roach traps monthly. Recently we added a 4 month old kitten to the household and he likes to get up at 5 am with Hubby. Hubby reports that while he surfs the Internet the kitten prowls around looking for those large cockroaches. He gets at least one or two every day. I have to take his word for it, though, because by the time that I get up all that's left is a few leg parts or something that looks like it may have been part of a cockroach. Hubby swears the cat isn't eating the roaches, just batting them around so much that they eventually fall apart.

WE TV has Aljazeera but not BBC or CNN. They do have Fox News and US language news channels from Singapore, Australia and Japan. The German and French news channels may sometimes broadcast in English but don't seem to be speaking it whenever I tune in. They have three movie channels that show English language movies. They're "home grown" channels with very eclectic programing. In the span of two weeks we watched everything from old classics like Ben Hur and Rear Window, modern classics like Saving Private Ryan and Lord of the Rings, romantic comedies like Notting Hill and 27 Dresses, thrillers, horror movies and all matter of action flicks. Their movie schedules are on their website. All in all, it's a very good deal for just 350 baht/month.

Oh, and yes, you can hook up your computer to your TV. Hubby handled this tech innovation for us, buying some special cables and (I think) downloading some program. Someone else on this forum could give you the details or you could come to one of the Tuesday afternoon meetings of the Computer Club and the scoop from them.

I'd go from Chiang Mai to Bumrungrad in BKK for a second opinion. That's what we did when Hubby had a little scare with his PSA readings. Yes, I know that Bumrungrad is more expensive, but travel to BKK is fairly cheap and it's one of the best hospitals in the world. You don't want to mess around to save a few baht to treat something that is life threatening. Bumrungrad could confirm a diagnosis and outline a course of treatment that you could either do there or pursue back at CM Ram. I've heard too many horror stories about how CM Ram gives good quality care but seems to be lacking in diagnosis skills.

Marcgee, did you live year 'round on a boat in Canada? I've know people who have done this is the southern part of the U.S. but never in the north.

Anyway, I'm not much help for your question. I don't know anyone who lives on a boat in Chiang Mai. But, I'm interested in your research. So many of the westerners here live in studio apartments that aren't much bigger than a boat. The boat lifestyle might be more interesting than the "condo" lifestyle.

Wow, after reading the postings from HT Woodsen and daoyai I almost want to sign up at the AUA for Oranute to whip my Thai pronouncation into shape. After 18 months of classes at the YMCA, that's definitiely my weakest area. I can read Thai well enough that I can turn the sound down for English-language movies on WE TV and just follow along with the Thai subtitles, but I still can't communicate my destinations with every song thaew driver.

So, I guess it's really a matter of whether you want a program that meets five days a week or one that meets three times weekly. For me, I like having a few "days off" during the week. Others may want to focus on learning Thai as their primary goal.

I've started to do some work on this topic, but need to get off my rump and finish the process. What I've learned so far should be enough motivation. Hubby and I didn't think we owned property here but we do have a joint bank account and each of us have separate accounts for the funds for our retirement visas. I talked to our bank manager and learned that in the event one of us died, our joint bank account would be frozen and the funds in the sole account of the deceased person wouldn't be available to the surviving spouse until our U.S. will had gone thru the Thai equivalent of probate. He said the fact it was a U.S. will would complicate matters because the will would need to be translated, verified and, in the event Hubby passed and I survived, they'd want to know that Hubby didn't have any children in Thailand (he better not!) If we had Thai wills, we could file copies with the bank and then it would be a simple matter of releasing the funds to the surviving spouse without waiting for the Thai courts to act.

Oh, I also talked with a westerner who had recently done a Thai will on his own, without a lawyer. He gave me details on which government office to visit, etc. As soon as I do this, I post the details. He did stress that the "medical" exam was necessary to show you're of "sound mind". Apparently Thais aren't used to seemingly healthy people wanting to file a will. Also, they suspect if someone is of a sound mind if they want to leave their estate to someone who is domestic partner, rather than a husband or wife.

Thanks for the tip, Loaded. Hubby needs a residence letter for his drivers license and Tuesdays work the best for him to go to Immigration. I guess he won't be going this coming Tuesday.

I grew up with a Siamese cat. We got the cat in the 1960s and my mother did some research at the library to come up with his name -- Rama! That was my first introduction to Thailand since she learned so much in her research and believed in having enlightening dinner table conversations. So, we got to hear all about Thailand for several evenings from my mother, the expert!

After Hubby and I got married I felt our life was lacking something -- a Siamese cat. So, we answered an ad in the paper for someone who had two adult Siamese cats that needed a new home. Turned out the cats were neutered males, litter mates, 9 years old and the owners had been transferred overseas and didn't want to subject the cats to a 6 month quarantine. Those cats lived to be 22 years old!

All of these cats had the "traditional" rounded face, which I've also heard described as an "apple" face in disparaging tones by modern cat exhibitors. My parents went on to have some Siamese cats with the newer pointed face and I never liked them. They seemed to have a nastier personalities and just didn't have the heft to be good lap cats. Maybe their bone structure is finer.

After the two Siamese passed away we had a couple of "regular" cats and while they have their charms, they just don't have the personalities of the Siamese cats. Hubby says that is sometimes a good thing since the Siamese cats are real "drama queens", with their vocalization and strong personalities.

Recently we adopted a soi kitten that looks just like Dave2's cat. Funny thing -- this kitten is a real vocalizer! Early on I said "he sounds just like our Siamese cats!" Hubby pointed out that he is a Siamese cat.

I've been taking various Thai language classes at the YMCA for about 18 months. Often in the higher level classes, we've been joined by "new" students who are refugees from the AUA. They want to continue to learn Thai but have been driven out of the AUA by their experience with Oranute. I've heard them encouraging each other to continue their studies, saying "just think of it as showing Oranute that you really can learn Thai." Some of them still use the AUA library for doing homework because of the resource books there and in the secret hope that Oranute will see that they're still studying Thai. In general, it's been my observation that Oranute has helped to build the Thai language program at the YMCA by driving people away from the AUA.

Take the train -- it's more fun and a lot cheaper!

Pingpong, you're probably not the only one in the building with the problem. Talk with the building management. We had termites in our 15th story unit when we rented at an older high rise condo building. Turns out many people in the building had the same problem. Naive folks would say "how can you have termites, you're on the 15th floor and the building is made of concrete?". Yeah, but there were so many unoccupied units in the building that the termites could live in the wooden fixtures of a unit without anyone doing anything and swarm to invade neighboring units. We know residents who had so much termite damage that their kitchen drawers were unusable and they warned you not to lean against their kitchen counters during a party.

The building management was all-too-familiar with the problem and sent in a crew that did a rudimentary job of spraying Lord-knows-what. We had to point out the exit holes of the swarm and the damaged areas to them. After that we bought some aerosel spray at Tops, something with a nifty spray tube, and Hubby shot some of the stuff into the exit holes in the walls once a month. We didn't have a problem after that.

When we had an open house for about 20 guests, I asked around about caterers and had the best response from the Thai owner of a restaurant on our soi. She said "you live near Kad Lueng(Warorot Market). Just go the day of the party and buy spring rolls, eggs rolls, satay sticks, and Thai chips." That's exactly what we did and it worked out very well. Most of the vendors of snack-type foods are in the second building from the river, not the building with the fresh fruit vendors along Chang Moi.

I think a telescope is going to invert the image. We really like using high powered binoculars on a tripod for this purpose. Doesn't take up as much space as a telescope, either. The tripod really improves the quality of the image.

I don't think you're going to find this kind of stuff in the cosmetics section of a fancy department store like Robinson's or Central.

The place mentioned earlier at Tanin Market is good and there's a similar place in the Wararot market area. It's called Win.

If you're coming from the river, proceed west down Chang Moi. On your left you'll see the market that has all the fresh fruit out front. Pass that market and continue past the second market on the left which is more enclosed. Then you'll come to a street on your left, with a name that I can't find on the big map. Turn left on that street and proceed south, looking on the right, or west side of the street. Win is actually two shops that aren't adjacent. There's another unrelated shop in between them.

The first Win shop you see (the one to the north) is the one with all the professional salon supplies with every possible hair coloring product. The other one to the south specializes in consumer beauty and grooming products and is also great fun to visit. For some reason that shop always seems to have big tables of Thai bras displayed on the sidewalk but they don't sell ladies underwear inside. It's always packed with everything from Thai uni girls to hilltribe women spending their earnings from the previous evening of selling wooden frogs. Fortunately, the professional products shops isn't as busy and sometimes you can find a shopgirl with a rudamentary knoweldge of English. But, just in case, bring examples or pictures of what you want, or look up the appropriate Thai words before you go. These two Win shops are on the same side of the street as an ornate Chinese temple, but I can't remember if they're north or south of the temple.

This is one reason we visit our branch bank weekly to change 1000 baht notes into 20s and 100s. Then when we pay at shops and restaurants, we can give them close to the correct amount of the bill. It minimizes chances for confusion about the change ("oh Madame you gave me 500 baht not 1000 baht) and also minimizes the chance that we'll receive fake money as change. Presumably, our branch bank checks over the notes before they put them out in circulation (I hope)

You could take the train from CM to Bangkok, then switch to the train from Bangkok to Udon Thani. Should take just a couple of days, but the price would be fairly cheap.

Another option is to rent a car and driver. We did that when we wanted to go from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and see a few sights on the way. As I recall, it was less than 1500 baht per day plus the cost of fuel for the car.

I know of two laundry services that use real, heated dryers, which makes for nice fluffy towels. One is Washy Mashy on Huey Kaew, on the same side as KSK, but several hundred meters toward CMU. The other is on Chang Moi, on the north side of the road about just a bit east of Wat Nong Kham. I don't know the name of that place. Both these places are good for towels and sheets, but I wouldn't have them do the rest of the laundry -- they don't iron.

Like the OP and Eek, I haven't really found a laundry service that performs to my satisfation. So, I when we moved to a place with a cute little 6.6 kg LG clothes washing machine, to decide to make "textile care" a hobby. I download NPR shows to my MP3 player to listen while I iron.

I agree with the "no-go" posters on this question.

I've lived in many houses in the U. S. -- all with kitchen, in-sink garbage disposals and most with septic systems. Our last U.S. home had at 1970s-era septic system on land that had a high water table. Fortunately, the soil was sandy and for most of the year it wasn't a problem. I soon learned, however, that during periods of heavy rain I couldn't use the garbage disposer and if the rain persisted, I had to go and do laundry at the laundromat in town, rather than have our laundry water go into the septic system. I think if we'd stayed there, I would have investigated how to move the laundry and shower water out of the septic system to use for garden watering.

I don't know about costs for a in-sink-erator unit in Thailand. In the U.S. they were fairly cheap and I agreed to have our kitchen remodeling contractor put on in, suspecting that I wouldn't use it during some months of the year. I was right. At least it didn't create a flow restriction at the sink.