Firelily

as far as I remember, a relatively recent thread on gt-rider had photos of the condition of the road between Samoeng and Wat Chan (they also have the best map of the area, red cover, called "Mae Hong Son loop"). worth looking around on their forum.

I would suggest they wake up and start with hooking up every village school to the electric grid, get them fans. Then books, shoes and uniforms for all the poor kids. Then maybe upgrade the latrines. Set up libraries, buy sports equipment, art supplies. Paint the walls, repair leaking roofs. Make sure no teachers get shot and killed on the job.

I know, I know.... politicians always know better.

what's the price range of the bungalows around Mae Chaem? difficult to find info. anything 300+ baht is definitely out of my budget, but the cheap places are rarely online, any ideas? thanks.

Where are all the donations that were collected on a compulsory basis from all the kids and parents around here and then sent to a special fund?

(rhetorical question. I still have no clue why didn't we just contact an affected school directly and transfer the money to their account.....)

they didn't go anywhere at night, predictably.....

Baffled, I was always taught in driving school to reverse into parking slots.

in Thailand, people are paid by the month. I think you have been offered this info at least twice so far in your various threads.....

yes, would be nice to find strawberries again that were not picked two weeks early. not sure they are aware of the concept, having to wait until the fruit is ripe (unlike many Thai fruits). I have come along ripe strawberries so it can't just be that the climate is not suitable....

they were all right there last night when it was starting to get dark!

also, I don't think they are specifically "heading for" Lamphun, that just happens to be where the wind takes them, if I am not mistaken....

as far as I remember, I think direct flights to Europe are impossible because the runway is not long enough to accommodate a plane so full of fuel to take off.

how long do the flowers last? couple of weeks?

3 parades: 9, 10, 11. 9, lanterns mostly. 10, small krathongs. 11, big krathongs. starts around 7? from Thapae towards the river. third one always biggest / most colourful.

I don't think anyone has ever asked for my passport. apart from a stupid hotel clerk who took it and saw the "admitted until" stamp on the departure card for a date 3 months prior. grabbed my passport and called the police on me before I could shove the extension stamp into her stupid face. I go with an "expired" stamp for 9 months every year so I don't show my passport even if I have it on me. strictly for out of province travel only. if I lose it, it's an expensive and inconvenient trip back to Europe, can't get a new one here. I won't risk that no matter what. driving licence well enough for most purposes. even for the bank.

I would be surprised if in the current situation trains weren't totally full and you didn't have to wait a week to get a ticket for one of the sleepers.

work permit can be used instead of residency certificate.

Just check it is not one of at least three Catholic schools known so far for putting up a Nazi parade for their sports day.

I always buy orange or yellowish melons to carve, look much more like the US-style pumpkins than anything else I can lay my hands on.

Muang Mai market, near the US consulate, about 15 baht a piece.

just a thought: those who are affected probably don't have electricity, are busy moving stuff, helping neighbours, cleaning up, wading out to find food and water, that sort of thing....

I know of two colleagues at least who lost their houses, and another colleague's school was totally destroyed.

those people won't be around here casting votes, which "may" skew your results a "bit".....

local council or some authority were handing out food and drinking water behind Gymkhana golf club around 4 p.m., they said some more supplies coming tomorrow, and they were taking some to Wat Muang Kai as well in case someone needs it. wading there may be a serious issue though. if someone running low and no shops available nearby, worth asking Thai neighbours who may know where or what time help will come tomorrow. (didn't hear if there was an announcement on the local tannoy.)

it is thigh high in the street behind the Gymkhana golf club, lots of Thais wading as far out as they can along the street and taking pics of each other. seems to be slowly but consistently getting worse here, with an inch or two going up every hour.

which bridges are still ok at this kind of water level? possible to pass Mengrai / Nawarat?

anyone remembers / knows what the level was in 2005? still a foot or two to go? would be useful for comparison. from the figures it looks like sandbags will be needed soon around here. thanks

The little sois leading up to Mengrai bridge were flooded over knee deep an hour ago (on the west side). The bridge was still passable but very near to overflowing. Lots of people just standing there and watching. Seems like they are handing out sandbags on the Lamphun road (the one with the old trees), at the cemetery (about 200 m north up the road from Tesco express / gas station, but there was a crowd and I have no clue how organised it is.

I cannot be bothered to read 17 pages, so I may be repeating stuff for people who are making fun of sawatdee and swastika - they actually do come from the same Sanskrit word, no coincidence there.

I would say even if the teachers had absolutely no clue what the symbols meant, there is still no excuse for letting children march holding guns (even if not real). They claim they had no knowledge of the costumes, it was all kept in secret - I completely refuse to believe this, having seen way too many sports day preparations (elsewhere, thankfully).

thanks :jap: