mamborobert

Whilst the idea of being treated as an equal is nice, the reality for many farangs is that we are "more than equal". Many farangs have greater education, income, savings, experience, and options.

I ride them everyday and tip generously probably 80% of the time. It means bugger all to me but often I am the only one travelling, have a pleasant chat, learn something new, and know that a tip makes a big difference. ......petrol and some staples have gone up.... and there have been other threads on the "skyrocketing" prices.

Its not patronising or pandering, I know what I am doing, and I am making a personal choice.

I appreciate that some may say this sets a trend...so be it. A trend in being nice when I can.

Beats some of the farang trends others I saw at Loi Kratong, street drinking, shirtless, drunk, and more than a few on the nose.

Its my money, makes me feel good, and does good.

Many thanks Nancy.

You can make them yourselves after buying the beads but I am afraid that many years ago my artcistic endevours faltered after failing PlayDoh101. Also wanted something much nicer that I can envisage let alone make.

Will check out the Wulai as you have suggested. Thanks again.

Anybody have any idea where in CM you can see a selection of good quality (stone/silver/gold) rosary beads or chaplets, bracelets or one decades. Not too worried if it is Thai orientated just want to see a good selection of good quality stuff. Even good qulity handicraft stuff would be nice to see.

Have wondered through some of the evangelical/baptist/christian/fundamentalists shops around born again type shops around Wat Ket but have been kindly advised that "no have" at least, and my interests described as graven idolatory worship at worse. Hopefully Jesus still wants me for a sunbeam.

Not seen anything in Warrot gold wise at all...and no luck with silver either.

I have seen some cheapies at Sacred Heart but I want this as a present for a very dear friend so looking for something nicer and/or more memorable.

Silkworm Books in Suthep is also advertising this for sale...but has a December date (from an old advert). May be worth giving them a call also if Suriwong is out of stock.

The two volume slipcased set is 2700 baht.

Main volume is 1500 baht, Companion volume 1500 baht.

Anybody have any ideas where (or even if) you can get (or will be able to get) Oplatek bread or wafers in CM.

These are the thin wafers used in (primarily) Poland and some of thebaltic states at Christmas Eve celebrations.

Any tips more than welcome otherwise will start harrassing my next lot of visitors.

This old pic is of a good mate and his dog, Jodie. Jodie once did the same trick unexpectedly with a police motorcyclist in Oz.

Pillion, I challenge you to sit on the back of my bike and not grab the chicken rail during acceleration.

I could handle a dog being pillion.....but a ranger/wranger driver?

A man has his limits.

Opportunity to cuddle. I haven't cuddled in 8 months.

Note to self.....stay away from CheGuava

Speaking of nippy.....

As cold as I find it the wifey finds it much worse. She gets up about a hour before me each morning and when she came to wake me, complaining as it were I found out quickly that making fun of her CWI's from the luxury of a warm bed is not going to put me in the good books for the rest of the day.

I think its possibly OK to talk about Fish and Chips now that a certain restaurant and its army of internet soldiers have disappeared.

Tut tut....twas all just a small matter of personal opinion.

Don't forget, one man's fish is another man's poisson

Sorry...could'nt help myself

Some big budgets flying about. Does anyone mind if I ask how you all make a living as there arent that many high paying jobs in Chiang Mai. Or are you all already rich and retired?

People with genuinely high budgets, probably wouldn't feel the need to post their information on here, knowing that they were higher than average.

I think I am on a highish income as per previous post (around 3500AUD net pension a month and retired at 48) and I do think this is more than enough for me. I know people that pay mortgages and raise families on this sort of income (as a net) in Oz.

For me there is no budget as such. There are basic costs rent/water/elec/internet/food but that really does not add up to much here and I have more than enough to cover (I think) so I do not budget at all, and then everything else is discretionary but varies dramatically on what I want (or want to do) month by month.

Is there any physical restirctions on being a club member.

If for example one was larger (i think the current medical phrases are morbidly obese or American) would they have to be rostered with a driver of equal weight for balance?

As a driver there is nothing worse than a hard brake with a dead (or soon to be dead) weight on the back.

Also ...for a pillion, I would have thought that possessing legs and at least one hand should be mandatory.

Whilst this is a very intersting topic it is never going to be enlightening.

Everybody is different kids/no kids, young kids/older kids, rent/own, 25/65, golf/bar/golf and bar, family/no family, house/condo, maid/no maid, healthy/infirm, car/motorbike, local school/international school etc

You can rent a nice place out of town for 8000 to 15000 baht...but if you are a home body I can understand spening more...Like all things you get what you paid for....and there is always some place nicer.

It is exactly the same in home countries. We all know that there is a minimum in Thailand upon which you exist rather than live...but there is no real maximum. Same as home countries.

People generally live up to their income. If you get a pay rise its not like you suddenly start saving more, your lifestyle simply moves up (generally).

I am on about 3500 AUD a month which at a 22 baht exchange rate got me 77000 baht a month, and now at 29 gets me 101000 baht a month.

I am actually saving but then I have relatively simply needs and to my mind was living quite well (ok bloody well) on the 77000 baht a month at a poor exchange rate, and usually had a heap left over from this...which I spend on overseas travel.

There is no magic figure but I would have thought that family wise you 60 000 baht would generally be comfortable...and everything above that is driven by need (kids schooling choices for example) or desire (golf/overseas trips for example).

Its a matter of choices....I could think of nothing worse than playing golf three days a week, and could never justify spending 10 000 baht a month on this...but I would not do that in my home country either. But that is me and my money...If you have the money then its yours to do what you want with.

I too however could eat rice soup for breakfast for the rest of my life and die happy.

Bottom line is value for dollar you are better in Thailand than a lot of other places....but I do think you need 60 000 baht a month, anything below this (and if you are older and/or have a long term or chronic illness) and I would think that your home countries (in quite a few cases) welfare and health system may start to outweight staying in Thailand.

Most of the girls at the Loi Kroh bars are about 35 years old and not very attractive. Many of the clubs are closed. Walking back from Thapae to the Lai Thai where my friend stayed, you have to walk past no less than 20 fairly aggressive khatoeys standing on the street.

I can't tell if you call that a negative or a mitigating factor?

You mean those nice girls are not nice girls

I didn't think they were aggreessive. I thought they could'nt help themselves because I was a "hansum" man, they told me often enuff on my stroll home.

They are certainly moving further down Loi Kroh now as the pickings get slim (so to speak)....and starting to arrive earlier in the evening as well. Definately a better bet to walk on the other (north) side of the road while they are plying their skills to some inebriated pensioners.

Back on top there are some nice places down the sois...Vipa house on soi 1 is nice enough and 100 yards from Loi Kroh, nearer to Thapae and Moong Moong...and you can have some sherbets at Number 1 before retiring for the night. Quite a few ok places further along this and adjacent sois/lanes

Yes,

Last time I went , a few weeks ago, AON were not charging.

There is one branch at Tesco Lotus Hang Dong and there must be others around.

Used Aeon in Tesco yesterday and no fee. I am told there is another Aeon somewhere in the City but I know not where. Aeon are a Japanese bank and a young lady there told me some months ago that they will not be imposing a charge for withdrawals as it is not head office policy.

There is also an Aeon on the third floor of Central Airport Plaza.

There are two - but one is very well hidden!

There are four....but two are strictly for us Freemasons

Any Idea on the exact date? I would like an afternoon watching that

Assuming this is not advertising....

http://www.chiangmairugbytens.com/index.html

I've started seeing a few adds about for the 1st Chiang Mai 10's to be held at the Prince's College at the end of November. I understand that they also have a web site up and running. As far as I can see this is an exclusively asian country competition (having said that if it's anything like th HK or Japanese national teams half of them will be from Oz or NZ anyway).

Does anyone have an idea as to what countries are coming, how many games, or how serious the competition is....are these primarily competitive games or have a more social aspect like Golden Oldies.

Could think of worse ways to spend a few afternoons in Chiang Mai than watching Rugby in a good social atmosphere....

Some people seem to be confusing a visa on arrival with being visa exempted.

This fools loads of visitors to Thailand as well.

Malaysia has:

* Visa exemption

* Three month visa-free stay (Most Western countries that are not in the Commonwealth

* Onemonth visa free stay (Applies to Thai citizens and other ASEAN citizens)

It's all out there if you just Google. Like http://impressions.com.my/kl/visa.htm

Some countries are visa lable free ...not visa free altogether....and some of the group are visa free altogether

Malaysia still has requirments for even the visa label free (visa free) nationals...must have return or onwards ticket, must have six months left on passport etc....so you can still get turned around on your arrival even if you are from a "low risk" country if you act up for example (which is never a smart thing to do in an international airport).

Malaysia still has some oddities...people from Hong Kong and Taiwan must geta visa first from an embassy (must not upset the Chinese government).....and if you are from Israel you need to get prior approval from the Malaysian government in Malaysia (not just from an embassy).

If you are not from a country that you are certain has reciprocal rights (for the automatic three months) then you really should check with the embassy or your travel agents (same for anywhere you are going really)...Indonesia for example runs hot and cold on the six months validity left on your passport one month your ok one month your not. Sounds like Thailand

I flew to KL from Thailand in September on an Australian passport. Can enter the country for up to 3 months without a visa. I believe it's the same for a lot of other countries. The VOA cancellation is only really a problem for countries that needed a visa in the first place.

Well, since you've done it, the question has been answered thank you.

Just a quickie. If they needed a visa in the first place, how could they get a VOA anyway?

Lots of countries that have VOA programs have been winding them up (Philippines is another example). Basically a lot of the less developed countries have had more than enough time to get their passports up to scratch (integrity and security feature wise). While they were supposed to do this some countries (like Malaysia) used to let certain nationals (from medium to high risk countries but with low quality passports) fly to them without a visa and get a visa on arrival (after they make declarations about intent, health, criminal convicitons and the like). You could still be refused a VOA and sent back from the airport to your departure point again if the VOA was refused.

Its not a drama for the vast majority of expats......

Everybody needs a visa for Malaysia...its just that sometimes you do not even know you have one because your travel agent, or the flight check in staff lodge and validate your visa before you even get on the plane.

There are 40 or so low risk countries that you can travel to on an exchange where you do not need a label for a toursit stay of up to three months. These are places like Australia, UK, France, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Italy, Norway etc). They are called ETA's mainly (standing for electronic travel authority).

If you are a national of one of these countries you can go to Malaysia (or transit) no problems becuase you have a visa even though you may not know you have it.

That's why the nationals of these countries travel between them without a physical visa in the passport, because they have an electronic visa linked to the chip in the passport, or the machine readable zone on the biopage (where immigration or customs scan the bottom of the bio page).

I am Spartacus

1

No No No....remember we are intellectuals now.....it is 42 not 1

There are some topics that you love to see done by a mime. This one would have kept be occupied for days guessing what its about (possibly weeks if done by a Chang beer girl and me holding a Chang).

Smith Tower on the corner of Kaewnawarat Road and Bumrungrat Road is worth checking. It's a 5-minute walk from McCormick.

Many thanks for that Loaded. I was going to look at that but seem to recall some negative somments about the Smith Residences on the board before (but then again I could well have a faulty recollection).

Thanks also to the other posters (especialy Lis41)..The food there is great and I regularly eat at a place on Thung Hotel Rd at the McCormick end. Stumbled across it when I was getting a car serviced at garage opposite and had an hour to kill. Great feed and great company....and all at Thai prices. It is really is remarkable the price up for beer and soft drinks from a Thai place to anything on Loi Kroh (400% plus). Its not aCheap Charlie thing but you are paying almost Western Prices for some stuff and the cost price for the seller is Thai based....

Also please note that D'Town Inn and Downtown Inn are two different places...one near night market one on Thung Hotel Road. I am particularly interested in D'Town Inn but it seems more of a long stay condo/apartment system and as such does not seem to have a good web site, booking agent etc.

In general I do agree that there are a lot better places than the Dowtown Inn near the Night Market though.....never a good choice IMHO.

Once again thanks to all so far....

Folks I have to arrange a place near McCormick Hospital for a friend for a few months. D'Town was suggested as a good choice. Does anybody have any experiences with this place, positive and negative. Any info would be very much appreciated. Likewise if anyone knows some reasonable places near Dara Academy, McCormick or better still on Thung Hotel or one of its Soi's that would be great too. Have tried all the usual google searches, tripadvisor etc but it seems that this area of town does not have that much coverage and D'Town seems to stay under the wire. Thanks in advance...

Wow weeee... the guy simply asked about where to get Testo... now he knows.

The option of HGH is a personal choice in longevity and feeling and looking better.

I am an advocate of those who wish to try be better than they currently are- Mind and body.

An aging body can be helped by the above- who are we- or government to stop a person from doing this... Most government make it near impossible without the huge bucks of superstars- I highlighted that in Thailand u do not need to be a superstar to gain access.

As for the celebrities you mentioned- their is obvious jealousy at play- u are jealous of the successful and put many down when you feel u can. Do they listen- NO because u achieved nothing like them, Chok Dee.

If you read Sly S life story then u would know he is a far more motivated and ambitious man than u ever were- get over urself...Orang37- obvious jealousy.

The man is quoting Walt Whitman....I don't think reading Sly Stallone's biography will be his next choice.

Come to think of it would'nt be mine either....but then I would watch some of Sly's films

Success is measured in many different ways...and I do like the more wholesome description of it by Orang.

Sly has had three marriages, been a lapsed catholic, been caught in Oz with 48 vials that he tried to hide (so I guess respect for the laws of your own country is not high on his list of merits either). Having said that there are not a lot of perfect people about nowdays...except maybe on Thaivisa.

Lets just let everyone agree to disagree without the sledges.......and end with a quote from a man in the action genre camp sans roids, Clint Eastwood, "opinions are like <deleted>, everybody's got one"