sandmonster

Never ever had problems booking online via HK express, but they only fly Tues, Fri and Sundays. Thats probably your problem.

They are consistently cheaper than the others I have found. last trip was $174 return all in. 10kg carry on only.

Dragon Air is by far the most expensive usually. Air Asia can be cheaper at times if you plan well ahead but watch all the sneaky add ons. HKExp are a lot more up front. HKexpress arrival in HK is almost midnight so its the most inconvenient for public transport. Thats the only downer, otherwise its the best choice for short notice trips with not much luggage. they got sales on up to booking on 24th at the moment $HK80+taxes per leg..bargain.

Tried most of the suggestions often touted here but Akha Ama head and shoulders above imho. Just bought some Alti peaberry from Yok, and its very nice too but expensive.

After 3 years here, I am pretty comfortable with driving here. In the early days I saw jaw droppingly bad road craft from 2 and 4 wheelers routinely but gradually I learned to accept them as being normal to Thais. Even police m/cs do shocking moves. I am no longer surprised by much as I expect the unexpected. I am even beginning to adopt some of their "safer" quirks lol. It recently dawned on me why most Thais drive cars the way they do. They all learned their road "skills" on m/cs as kids, and the vast majority have never had a lesson in their lives and just jump in a 4 wheeler without any road education...and yes, it follows they drive cars as if it was a Thai kid on a m/c. Strangely my car has been hit 3 times in the last 5 years. Twice it was stationary waiting in traffic at traffic lights. The other time it was parked and some guy managed to scrape the rear nearside whilst reversing out of a parking space. Luckily each time, the cause was not debatable and their insurance paid the fix in full at my main dealer.

Its been so long since I have been "surprised" on the roads, however last week I was nearly caught out by a chinese tourist couple on a rental m/c ( u can easily recognise them with rental brand helmets and female with map as passenger ). I had stopped at the centre of the road in Nimen signalling and waiting to make a right turn into a Soi, and when the oncoming traffic finally showed a gap, I turned in, only to see a m/c flash across my path from the right going the wrong way, diagonally across my path onto the left hand of the road. I admit my heart skipped a beat for the first time in many months. Another crazy move to add to my memory bank. So... keep an eye out for this new population of 2 wheelers with the rental helmets.. they do things even the very worse Thais m/cs don't.

Stay safe, watch the "bees" and let them swarm around you, expect the unexpected, especially when stationary

Can anyone recommend a reliable ISP for the sansai noi area ? Not that bothered with extra cost of fibre if it doesnt improve on international speeds as many claim. Just for browsing, streaming movies and BBC iplayer, bit of skype.

Would international speeds to say a Singapore server be much faster than to Europe/USA ? If so, it might be better to go through a singapore VPN ?

http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/DATA/PF000507.HTM

i am told ya-nuannoi is a slow grower and tolerant to drought and low temperatures. In english its called manilla grass, zoysia matrella. It likes sun but not great in the shade. Its the turf they use on a lot of top golf course fairways where slow growth is one of its advantages.

Nua Noi and Zoysia Matrella ( manilla grass) are not the same. They look similar but are not the same.

i am told ya-nuannoi is a slow grower and tolerant to drought and low temperatures. In english its called manilla grass, zoysia matrella. It likes sun but not great in the shade. Its the turf they use on a lot of top golf course fairways where slow growth is one of its advantages.

Nua Noi and Zoysia Matrella ( manilla grass) are not the same. They look similar but are not the same.

They are the same according to wiki and everywhere else in google.

Really 53bt ? How much commision is on top ?

Seriously I am interested to know where you can get a rate of 53 today, or was that about 5 years ago

i am told ya-nuannoi is a slow grower and tolerant to drought and low temperatures. In english its called manilla grass, zoysia matrella. It likes sun but not great in the shade. Its the turf they use on a lot of top golf course fairways where slow growth is one of its advantages.

You can get same TH rates as local market rates in London ? ..umm. i have travelled in over 50 countries and one thing i know is to never ever change money in UK. UK is known as rip of Britain in general but its financial services its more like a mugging. Pray tell me where you can get even 50bt in UK !

you will get around 5% better with cash than with the FairFX card e.g Your 52.22 rate compares with 54.7 at superrichchiangmai money exchange this morning.

The halifax clarity credit card will give you the mastercard wholesale rate which is pretty much spot which is a tad better than best money exchange rates. However, in addition, you will be charged a surcharge by the Thai ATM of 150bt per withdrawal. Also as its a cash withdrawal, so you will be charged daily interest at an extortionate rate from the day you withdrawal the cash. So if you use that method, pay off the full amount withdrawn to the account as soon as the transaction appears to reduce the daily interest. Pre-loading the clarity card is not really allowed but. i have never tried. With the surcharge fee of 150bt, its advisable to take out your daily cash withdrawal limit in each transaction.

at stardome,

www.cnxgolf.com

Bill,

Whereabouts on chotana is Lanalatic ?

cheers for the advice. I am considering an above ground storage tank and constant pressure pump. Its a pretty standard project house 220sqm.

Biil, why do you think I need a pressure tank and filter ? How big and how much ballpark ? I am gonna have a filter system for a drinking water tap in kitchen. Yes the bypass and check valve i am aware of.

Cheers, will check them out.

Can anyone recommend a good water tank and pump specialist with a good range and reliable after sales service. Looking to install one in a new mooban house in chiangmai very soon, off the 118 near Sansai. I would prefer to use a specialist rather than the general guys at Homepro , global etc. Thanks in advance.

For the 'food experts' posting that the food isn't authentic:

Do the TV food connoisseurs realise that authentic Chinese food doesn't exist. Look at a map and you'll see that this massive country is comprised of many regions. These regions have their own style of cooking food that often reflects the people, history, culture and environment of that region. When you post I suggest include the regional cooking you are comparing GTH to and add some reasons why it isn't authentic. This helps win an argument. it might even convince me.

I don't think you are telling anyone anything they are not already aware of. I even said in my post JTH isn't close to any of regional styles I listed :0

Apparently GTH is influenced by Teochew , but it would seem bastardised over the years to suit the Thai palate, or/and due lack of authentic or fresh ingredients. But they will also do their own version of other regional specialities which will lack authenticity due to lack of regional chef I would suggest, and further localised. Hence why so many diners, both ferang and chinese tourists cannot recognise it as any style of chinese... many justifiably saying its closer to Thai.

Noone is saying its not tasty in its own right. But to pay big bucks for a poor imitation leaves one disappointed if one much prefers the real thing and expected similar, especially as its not that hard to find good and authentic chinese food of most styles around the world where there is a chinese diaspora. This is especially true of Cantonese.

My Thai hotel manageress friend has learnt her lesson and no longer recommends CM chinese food to chinese tour groups lol. She tells them to wait till they get back home next week. Similarly I am sure taking a group of Brits to eat Fish n Chips at Rimping might illicit a poor response. Its OK I guess if you are desperate for fish&chips but surely you would be disappointed to be told its the best fish & chips in CM.

However there are authentic japanese and Italian places around.

Maybe it's hard to find good Chinese food because Chinese food sucks.

Why are people so hellbent on the authenticity? When I eat food, I don't care what it's called, I care how it tastes. Call it crap on a shingle, if it tastes good, I'll eat it. I'll even give it a good review on ThaiVisa.

Its hard to find good chinese food in CM. Its not hard to find it in HK/Singapore, London, Toronto, SF etc.

Yes, unauthentic chinese, french, Italian food might taste OK to you, but to me it sucks because thats not what I paid for.

When I want a decent pizza, the Thai version just wont do if its advertised as Italian. But I guess you are happy to pay a big price for a OK taste Thai style pizza rather than something like you would get in Bologna ?

I guess some just have a more sophisticated palate than accepting crap on shingle as Beijing Duck. Probably why you think chinese food sucks :0. lol

The best Chinese food in Chiangmai is now at the Shangri La.

I wonder what standard 'best' is in CM . Finding authentic chinese food ( any of canto, fujian, eastern, shanghai, northern, western styles ) is like a search for the Holy Grail and discovering yet another poor chinese knock off each time lol. Maybe I will give Shangri La a try. Any idea if the chef is actually an experienced chinese chef who hasn't been ordered to add Thainess to it, or a Thai chef sent to HK/China for a few months training ?.

A Thai friend of mine is a manageress at a mid range boutique hotel here. They are always packed with middle class chinese families and young professionals. She was asked by the tour company to recommend a chinese resto for a big group. She recommended Jia Tong Heng near the Lanna Hospital based on its reputation. But the poor girl was left with total loss of face and blamed by the tour company boss. The chinese diners basically said what the heck is this...its not chinese food of any region. Anyway... I did warn her I hadn't eaten anything that close to authentic chinese food in town.. well not one that would be acceptable to a chinese palate. Maybe to most falang I'm sure its decent chinese fare. All look the same right lol.. maybe taste the same too .

When is the best time to get a good deal on Air Conditioning systems?

Today. Send me PM if you are interested in Samsung inverters at factory price.

Hi PeterSmiles,

I will be looking to buy some inverter units soon. Please PM me if you have any advice.

Cheers

Thank you. I did not think it would be that easy.

Au contraire, there are dozens of golf retail shops around town. Lots at the main driving ranges, a row of shops opposite Lanna Golf course, and at all the major malls . I haven't analysed prices much, but at a glimpse its a lot more expensive than in UK or USA in general. If you plan to come to CM regularly, it pays to keep a set here if possible what with the extortionate prices charged by most carriers these days and the hassle of lugging 15kg around.

You'll only get what you pay for. 1000 baht/hr instructor will get you nowhere

LOL, no real golfer who has ever endured fruitless expensive lessons would ever come to that conclusion.

My most recent short game lesson was also the cheapest and most effective. 2hrs for 1000bt by the excellent Khun De at Sansai New.

Maybe I should change my avatar from sandmonster to sandmeister now

Assuming the instructor is a qualified teaching pro, cost has zero correlation to how effective the instructor is for you. Every hacker is unique.

Butch Harmon.. prob waste of time and money for most hackers at $10K per hour

i would say the course with the most trees is easily Royal Chiangmai, followed by Alpine. maejo has plenty of big trees also except on a few holes. Lanna has mature trees only on course A 9. B has a few, and C is the racetrack 9, has zilch. Highlands doesnt have many trees although its a great course. Gold canyon and inthanon don't have many but both quite interesting if a little far.

Oh, and always send from UK in Sterling. NEVER do the conversion in the UK. UK is not known as" rip off Britain" for nothing, especially where the crooked banksters are concerned !

wixcm,

I think your main issue is you are using a UK card that has foreign transaction loading fees, as well as ATM usage fees. There are a few credit cards/debit that do not load for foreign transactions, and some that dont add additional fees for foreign ATM cash withdrawal too, although all credit cards will always charge interest for cash withdrawal from day 1.

You say your bank uses its own fx rate but infact it doesnt if you ask for billing in baht at the terminal. The wholesale VISA or Mastercard rate is applied. This is very close to the spot rate on the day the transaction is settled, and you can check historic rates on their websites. Then your bank applies loading for a foreign transaction, and also ATM usage charges on top so the final result is a rip off.

I know its too late but I would have suggested dump that card, and apply for one with no foreign loading and ATM fees. I use the Metrobank Debit card which has zero loading and zero ATM fees, although the local Thai banks apply a 150Bt surcharge , except Aeon. In your current situation, I would use a banks counter cash withdrwal service. At least then you avoid your banks ATM usage fee and the Thai 150bt.

For 40,000bt, i would have brought cash and changed it at Superrich or similar top money changers. They will give you the very best rate achievable. Even beats swift txfr or wholesale Mcard/Visa rates. For huge amounts, open an account with BK Bank in Thailnd, then do a local online faster payments from your local UK online banking to BK Bank London branch. They will foreward on to your BK Thai account for a £20 fee. Arrives the next morning. Check out BK bank UK website for details.