grin

Trying to figure out what the big deal this weekend was here in Chiang Mai Buddhism-wise this is the best I could come up with:

http://chiangmaibest.com/wisaka-bucha-visakha-vesak/

This post is from last year but it seems to point to May 2 as the date for this year.

Surprised I can't find out more about this holiday.

Grin

Edit: BOT site says Wisake Bucha is on June 1, 2015:

https://www.bot.or.th/English/FinancialInstitutions/FIholiday/Pages/2015.aspx

So what is going on now? Is it just some small group celebrating something?

Interesting - a totally mis-titled topic has gotten people including myself interested in flying this Kan Air route.

I saw some mention of religious holidays earlier in this topic but nothing specific. My extended family seems to be celebrating something religious this weekend, long outings to see monks at some temples, etc, both today and tomorrow.

Googling around it seems that today May 2 is a Full Moon Day but not sure who observes that.

On another site I found that May 3 is celebrated by Theravada Buddhism as Buddha’s Birth, Enlightenment and Demise Anniversary.

So it looks like May starts with 5 straight holidays of various types, maybe?

Anyone know anything more specific about this weekend? When my wife and kids return I will see what I can find out.

Grin

I'm just about ready to perform my annual ceiling fan maintenance.

The biggest problem I have is the balancing weights keep falling off the blades. I have solved the problem with the weights corroding by replacing them with coins. I have tried the thick foam like tape that is sticky on both sides and have tried rubber cement to keep the coins stuck in place but eventually both have failed. I don't want to use some adhesive that will mess up the top of the fan blades. Has anyone seen any adhesive gels in Thailand? Worst case I guess I could cut up some of those 3M command strips.

I placed adhesive dots on the blades next to the coins, color coded for coin type, so I don't have to figure out the balancing all over again and so far these dots have been staying in place.

As far as other maintenance goes I always clean the blades and use compressed air to try and clean the motors as best I can. Some friends tell me that these motors need lubrication and some say they don't. I don't see any obvious spots to apply lubrication. Anyone have any suggestions on that?

Slightly off topic but not that much: We have wall switches for each ceiling fan that have a white plate with a rocker switch for the lights and a vertical slider with 4 positions for the fans. The little plastic handle on the slider has "Compass East" printed on it. The problem we have is that these handles keep breaking off. Fixing them by buying a whole new switch for 300 Baht seems excessive but that is what have been doing every few years. Any idea on what one could use to replace these handles? The slider just has a little horizontal blade protruding that is about a half a cm wide.

Anything that I am missing here as far as maintenance goes?

Grin

Reefer madness on TV.

Daikin now has inverters that use R32, the so called nextgen refrigerant (Model FTKC).

These R32 inverters also come in a more expensive smart model that detects someone in the room (Model FTKM).

One thing I don't see mentioned as an advantage that inverters have is that they are continually dehumidifying and filtering the air.

Grin

Getting a breathalyzer is a good idea, they are cheap and you can see how slowly your metabolism removes alcohol from your blood. I got a DUI in California when I was young when I thought I was sober. I had about a dozen shots of tequila after work and had my last shot before 7 PM. Then we went for dinner and to another bar to play some pool where I only had some soft drinks and snacks. We went to one more bar where I only drank coffee. Around 2 AM I was dropped off at the original bar where I left my car. I felt perfectly sober. I was pulled over by the cops immediately after leaving the bar's parking lot. I was measured at almost double the limit. It was about 7 hours since my last drink and I assumed that I was under the limit at that point. After buying a breathalyzer I could see for myself how the reading peaked hours after drinking before it started to go down. I assume this may not be the same for everyone as metabolisms differ but it was a real eye opener.

Grin

I think that if you buy a house, especially a new one, you will be surprised about how much ongoing maintenance is needed. Repairs may be made cheaply, but finding and keeping contact with people that do quality repair work can be difficult.

In the U.S. I might expect to have very little maintenance for at least the first ten years after buying a new house. Here, depending on your luck in finding quality construction, it might take you ten years to repair everything that was poorly done when the house was built.

Grin

Anyone tried the new Sling TV service from Dish? For 20 USD per month you get ESPN and TNT plus some other random channels. It's especially good for college hoops and NBA action. The iPod app was having problems during commercials on ESPN but everything worked fine on my ancient Roku device.

Grin

Yes, you need VPN and a US credit card.

The only reason we watched 10 minutes or so was to see some Chiang Mai scenes. It wasn't worth it to watch more to see if they came back to Chiang Mai.

Even our niece and nephew who manage to watch pretty dumb movies stopped watching.

Anyone familiar with this movie that just showed up on Netflix? At least some of it seems to have been filmed in Chiang Mai. It has some nice aerial views.

Pib, thanks for the PenFed advance payment tip. I probably would have never tried that.

Grin

Amorn ,has lots of small cutting tools,made in China,

regards Worgeordie

Where is Amorn, please?

I know of two locations:

Big C on Hang Dong Road, interior store on the east side of the north end of the first floor.

Big C Extra on Super Highway, exterior store on the north end, entries from the parking area on both the east and west sides.

Grin

Don't believe they are "Made in Japan" just because they say they are. I met a guy selling surgical instruments here. Some said "Made in Pakistan" while others said "Made in Germany". He told me that they were all made in Pakistan in the same factory but that many people would pay much more money for the ones that said they were "Made in Germany".

I was just sold some clippers that the iron-monger assured me were made in Germany. He would not budge from 380 B. They were not even as good as my worn out Japanese label pair that I am looking to replace.

Nana Screw on the road going from the moat to JJ Market has higher quality tools than any other places. I don't think they stock any Chinese tools which I hate.

Can you clarify this location a bit more? Do you mean Thapae road going east away from the moat toward the river? Where is JJ Market?

From the northeast corner of the moat go north. Nana Screw is on the left hand side about 50 meters up.

I renewed my US passport at the Chiang Mai consulate and it was much less hassle than renewing in the US. It only took a week to get the passport but that was about 5 years ago. You do need to make an appointment and usually there is only a 10 day or so lag until available appointments. However, the consulate is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays and may be closed on Thai holidays so to be safe make your appointment well ahead of time. Check out their website. Also in the past they have been good about returning email in a timely fashion and answering specific questions.

Grin

Edit: They also accept credit cards for payment

Multiple members of my family have sensitive skin. We have been using the Big C house brand of liquid laundry soap for babies for several years now. We also do a second rinse to reduce the soap residue. It comes in 1 liter and 3.5 liter plastic jugs.

Grin

grin , try a plumbers merchant , ask / have a look for an "obstruction spanner". Its a bar with a lobster type gripper claw at the end of a 30CM bar , turned one way it opens up , other way it grips to tighten nuts and bolts that only need to be hand tight. Hope this helps.

Thanks, I have what I call a basin wrench which is what you described but there is not enough space to even get the gripper up to the nuts. My son who has skinny fingers can only get one finger on the nuts so they are not even hand tight. We are working through a hole in the concrete slab under the counter top and a piece of rebar is obstructing the hole as well. Do you know of any plumbing merchants where I might go look for any special plumbing tools?

Grin

I should have mentioned that I already tried the obvious places like Global House and Home Pro. These tubular box wrenches are hard to find anywhere let alone Thailand. So I am assuming the only place to find them would be some type of specialty shop.

Essentially they are hollow tubes about 10 cm long with an open hex socket of different sizes on each end. They also have a pair of holes on each end so you can poke something like a screwdriver through the holes to turn the wrench.

In the US this type of wrench was at one time common as a spark plug wrench. In general they are used to get into recessed places where you can't get any other type of wrench on the nut.

My particular need is to get to the nuts on the mounting plate on the underside of a cartridge type faucet. These nuts attach to mounting bolts that protrude about 5 cm so the tubular wrench has to be longer than that to fit over the length of the bolt to reach the nut.

Grin

Has anyone noticed tubular box wrench sets available anywhere in Chiang Mai?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/6PC-TUBULAR-BOX-WRENCH-SET/dp/B00CMU0KHE

Grin

For my workbench I bought 2 of those cheap small wood tables at a roadside shop and put a door across them.

The tables are 40 x 60 cm and 70 cm tall and have two shelves which make them quite useful.

Grin

I would say about a quarter or a third of the houses in my moo baan are vacation homes for Bangkok owners and most of them are here now. I have never seen so many cars in the driveways as there are today. Probably the most crowded it gets in here all year.

Grin

Has anyone used the 690 Baht coupon to get a digital set top box? I am assuming that all of the digital channels are broadcast out of Bangkok so I was wondering how the reception is. Any suggestions on an external antenna for this box?

Grin

They have already set up all the market stalls all along Thapae Road. Frankly I hate it. There are so many people that it is hard to move. It is suffocating.

Back in the old days, people would drink elsewhere and about 10 minutes before midnight everyone would go to Thapae Gate for the countdown and fireworks. THAT was fun.

Yes I think I will avoid the moat area completely this year

I don't know about the very old days but the last couple of years it is just too congested

That's my feeling as well. I drove past Pratu Thapae yesterday and this year they have tons of junk food sellers and trinket sellers completely congesting the area - like on Sunday nights. In past years that area was left open for people to congregate, for the bands to play, etc. So I'm guessing everyone will be out in the street this year like the Songkran Festival. I've partied in that area every NYE since about 2006-2007 and honestly last year I didn't enjoy it one bit at all, and tonight I will give it a pass. It has become way too crowded.

My opinion is that the moat area has become somewhat grotty and that since C.M. has "grown up" so much the last couple of years, that there are so many other options for places to go; not only NYE but every night. I've been going out quite often lately and I really like the area by Nimmanhaeman and Huay Kaew. The bars up on the roof of MAYA are very nice, there is plenty of bars around Nimmanhaemann, plenty of people and action. I've also had a couple of fun evenings up at the rooftop bars at the min-mall near the bus station. The crowd there is a little less pretentious than MAYA roof top bars. And for people who live out in the outlying areas and are worried about driving in to the city, the Prom always has good music, inexpensive drinks, and a nice atmosphere in the evenings. No doubt they will have something going on there tonight. Those should offer a decent alternative to the moat area for NYE. Of course the above-mentioned places don't have ex-pat bars or hookers, so if that is what you are after then better stick with the moat/Loy Kroh. I always take my kid out with me on New Year's Eve so I don't care about that. This year we will go to one of the other places.

Wherever you end up - stay safe and have fun!

When referring to the mini mall by the bus station is it the Star Avenue location across from Big C Extra? Is it obvious how to find the rooftop establishments?

This makes me wonder if the Star Avenue location on Mahidol Road near Chiang Mai Land has any rooftop restaurants/bars. Or any decent restaurants for that matter. Anyone checked out this location?

Grin