bifftastic

Congratulations! Wishing you all the happiness for the future

Just spoke to the g/f (5km east of Chiang Saen and 100m from Mae Nam Kong) and it would seem the reports are correct. Apparently 'China not open door from water'.

I'll try and get a photo of the water levels, probably tomorrow.

Question is, given that holes in the outer wall would invite wildlife to colonize, how would the walls be vented? Indeed do they need to be vented at all?

The advantage of the stud/plasterboard walls would be insulation, allowing greater control over internal temperature, concealed wiring and a better (than concrete skim) surface for painting.

Advice appreciated

If you do decide to make a room in one, be sure to close up all those ventilation holes on the exterior - cavity walls don't need ventilation but the gap can go all the way up into a loft space. The object being the outside air doesn't come into contact with that of the inside.

Make sure they use the butterfly-type ties (metal wire) between outer and inner wall as opposed to beams of concrete that they typically use to strengthen that type of wall here:

Using thermalite blocks is also a good idea:

Thanks for the info re vent holes yep, ties would be used for sure.

Thank you for the invitation, what a great little story!

I wish I could come, but I too am in England.

I wish you all the best for the day itself and for the future.

Biff

Etihad may be different from the airlines I have used whose e-tickets all said the same thing (Thai. Air Asia and Jet) but all I had to show was my passport, the nature of an e-ticket is that the ticketing information is in the computer system at the check in desk, all they need to do is verify that you are that person, usually they use your passport to do that. The credit card thing is like a second level ID check but, as I say, I have never been asked for it.

Sod's law though...if you haven't got it they'll ask!

I reckon the credit card statement is a good idea.

Hope it goes ok for you.

That most likely would have been Khun Korn Waterfall which is the tallest in this area.

Did you get to Black Village as well as the White Temple? Two beautifully juxtaposed venues on opposite sides of town and well worth seeing.

Yes I believe it was Khun Korn. Didn't make it to Black Village, after the falls we hit Big C, fed everyone in the foodhall (the missus got lots of brownie points as she discreetly took 1000 baht from me and split it up into 10 pre-paid cards and dished them out to everyone) took the kids to swensons so they could eat the ice cream they'd seen on TV, and by the time everyone had made it back to the pick-up, dad was after heading home to feed his baby chickens, he must be pushing 80 years old so I reckon he'd had enough by then. I was going to rent/borrow the pick-up more often but the following day it broke down in the main road in Mae Sai, which resulted in 2 or 3 hours in a garage in the back roads and Bt2,000 later (which was considerably less than I thought it would be) I was a little reluctant to take it out again! We stuck to things more within motorsi range of Chiang Saen after that.

Next visit (in May I hope), I'm going to rent transport from the car hire at the airport, unless anyone has any better recommendations, and do a couple of days in that, hopefully with a few less people in the back! Black Village is definitely on my list, as are some of your recommendations for coffee

Interesting post, I have a similar question, relating to the vent blocks that were used in the top of the walls of the two rooms constructed under my g/f's sister's house. I've seen many concrete block rooms under Thai wooden houses and all seem to be single wall (ie no cavity or insulation) block constructions with these vent blocks (same sized concrete blocks with vent holes in them).

I would, in the future, like to construct similar ground level rooms but having stayed in the single wall rooms and noticed that the walls soak up the heat from the sun and act like a storage heater, I too was considering double walls with a cavity or, at least, adding studs, insulation and plasterboard.

Question is, given that holes in the outer wall would invite wildlife to colonize, how would the walls be vented? Indeed do they need to be vented at all?

The advantage of the stud/plasterboard walls would be insulation, allowing greater control over internal temperature, concealed wiring and a better (than concrete skim) surface for painting.

Advice appreciated

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

No violence at the old firm games then?

These issues can only be solved by expensive measures. In the UK the clubs pay for the policing at the games and are fined and can be banned from competitions following FA charges of 'failing to control' their supporters. This, and laws enabling police to declare areas around grounds as 'no go' areas moving on, or arresting anyone who doesn't disperse when told, plus cctv and video footage, all ticket games, registration with address verification before ticket purchase (for 'high risk' games)mean that anyone involved in this kind of behaviour knows the law is 'on them'. Train stations, streets, highways, bristling with cctv, police units dedicated to infiltrating/monitoring of hooligan elements, follow up arrests (you can get the 'knock on the door' six months later then end up with a prison sentence). All of this took years to implement and cost(s) millions of pounds.

And was only implemented after many years of repeated violence at nearly every football match in the top leagues.

If the Thai authorities can jump in quickly and there is proper segregation/ticketing and adequate security/policing at matches, they can prevent the rise in popularity of the game equating to a rise in violence and disorder. The lessons have been learned in (some) other countries.

The press don't help by exaggerating the extent of the trouble.

Hope no-one was seriously hurt.

just for comparison of electric costs, house in Chiang Rai province with TV (on pretty much all the time!) fridge, lights (about 4 strip lights and a couple of lamps), no aircon. Was, before the arrival of industrial sewing machine (used around 6-8 hours a day), about 250Bt/month, now around the 500Bt mark. Not sure of the Bt/unit charge as I'm too ignorant to be able to read the bill!

I think that in all the places where something naturally occurring is declared illegal you will find politics laced with religion (or vice versa) at the root of it all.

In declaring the penalty for failure to report these 'crimes' and adding that 'attempted homosexuality' is also illegal it kind of turns the population 'in on itself' and encourages people to settle grudges by reporting others to the authorities for things which are hard to prove or dis-prove.

Creating mis-trust, suspicion and treachery. The government, meanwhile, gets on with totally messing everything up and has large numbers of the populace focused on 'the enemy within' as it were.

Many authoritarian regimes have turned their people against each other in this way but it still surprises me that the roots of all this hatred can come from people who have 'faith' in religious doctrines which, on the surface a least, pretend to espouse love, friendship, tolerance and compassion, yet so easily lend themselves to exploitation for political ends.

Thanks to JT for another informative and thought-provoking post.

Not really 'what a Thai girl can do' but what my girl does

for me, one of the sexiest things is when she just casually pats the back of my head while I'm driving (this can often lead to quite a vicious ear tug and a declaration of 'man kieow') or, when we're walking around hand in hand, puts my hand on top of her head (yeah i know it's a little weird!) or when I catch her looking at me with a kind of half-smile. The playful stuff that isn't particularly Thai or pertaining to any culture just normal playful stuff.

Also, given the language issues (mine and hers) the depth of conversation and emotions we are still able to express.

And just being able to have a laugh and a joke and lazily enjoy each other. I find that incredibly satisfying.

Now if I could get her into a 7-11 uniform as well....

I agree entirely, but could you change the 7-11 uniform to one of those gals at DTAC... They are HOT!

Oh yes! great idea!

I got my 12-call sim in April 2009, didn't get the year thing done, can't remember exactly when it said it was valid until when I left in May, It still worked in September and when I topped it up it said 'valid until xx/11/09' so I was thinking I'd need a new one in January but it still worked.

Going off my UK pay as you go sim, I believe that the date is referring to the top up credit rather than the actual sim card itself.

With AIS, there's a grace period after the credit expiration where you can revive the sim. It tends to get longer the more credit you've put though it. I think my last, hardly used sim was live for 45 days or 60 days after the credit expired.

Ah ok, thanks I didn't know that. It did get quite a lot put through it in September, I did 'fire it up' in the UK in December and it roamed on to a network and I could still check my balance (2 Baht!) maybe that helped extend it as well?

I suppose 200B is more than reasonable in international terms.

It's amazing how kee neuw we get after a few years in Thailand, in my former home city the airport/city run would be less the half the distance we travel here and a taxi fare would be about $30 (AUD).

Not sure if it's kee neuw, more being accustomed to the cost of things. But I'm very aware that I compare prices to those I'm used to in the UK and Bt200 (£4) is the minimum fare in a mini-cab and the price of a single journey on the tube. I suppose it's not too bad in Thai terms considering that any passengers will have paid Bt1000 or more for their 'plane ticket. Not sure how much of that the driver got as I paid the people at the desk.

But yes, international terms, plus the 2 hours taxi/tube to Heathrow, 10 hours to Mumbai 5 to BKK, 3 hour wait then 90 minutes to Chiang Rai...Bt200 was fine by me!

For comparison, the next day we paid Bt40 for the bus to Chiang Saen and Bt100 for the Tuk Tuk to Ban Sob Kham (about 5km). I still think a bus into town is a 'must have' for any airport, odd that there isn't one.

Now that I know the roads, next time I think I'll hire a pick-up for a day or so, been quoted Bt1,250 plus Bt1,000 to pick it up in Chiang Saen, bit pricey I know, but if you factor in the hotel in CR (Bt500) and the feeling of 'I just wanna get home' I reckon it's justifiable.

Again, bit of a monopoly with the car hire people, there were none at all in Chiang Saen, ended up 'borrowing' an old pick-up from a neighbour for Bt800 (which decided to break down in Mae Sai whilst i was doing a u-turn in the main road!) but that's another thread or blog entry!

Apologies for rambling off-topic!

Biff

I reckon the consensus looks like the taxi stand. I mean, I'm not a frequent taxi user at Suvarnabhumi but I have used the taxi stand before, the price (Bt350) was agreed before hand and the driver asked for that and got more. Whilst waiting for my connecting flight just over a week ago I saw people trying to jump over the barrier at the departure entrance to save themselves Bt50 (a pound for goodness sake!) and the coppers having a right pop at the drivers for trying it on. There were also police vehicles sounding sirens and giving warnings over their speakers to drivers who dropped off and then hung around.

I would recommend the taxi stand, as for the meter, how much are we talking about saving here? Bt100? Ok if you fancy having a strop and jumping out of a car with your luggage over £2 then go for it, but as with any taxi in any city, agree the price before you get in and you'll be fine.

When it comes to spitting out the dummy and having a pop at people about their IP addresses when all someone asked about is a taxi.....

I got my 12-call sim in April 2009, didn't get the year thing done, can't remember exactly when it said it was valid until when I left in May, It still worked in September and when I topped it up it said 'valid until xx/11/09' so I was thinking I'd need a new one in January but it still worked.

Going off my UK pay as you go sim, I believe that the date is referring to the top up credit rather than the actual sim card itself.

That would be the taxi you get at the airport desk Biff?

They seem to have a monopoly there, I've never seen any cheaper form of transport waiting outside the terminal.

Yes it was at the desk. They do seem to have it sewn up. Having said that, I thought Bt200 was reasonable to town. Last time the missus arrived from Bangkok she asked about a taxi to Chiang Saen and was quoted Bt2,000!!! (she took the bus). But the airport does seem badly served by public transport. I suppose it's a fairly quiet airport and those travelling will make their own arrangements, but I was surprised that there didn't seem to be any buses at all.

I was thinking it should be the same in reverse

My two penneth...

something like marriage, when viewed as a concept, can have pro's and cons like any other concept but as it is the union of two people then, in my opinion, until those two people are together then the question cannot be answered.

If you are finding the women you 'bump into' if you'll forgive the pun, are 'looking to get married' then that, for them, is a goal in itself rather than two people meeting and then finding that marriage is the result of their partnership rather than the realisation of an ambition 'to be married' which rather implies that it doesn't really matter who you are married to.

It must be very difficult after a long and happy marriage which ended in such a sad way for you to contemplate repeating that in any way. It would, I imagine, conjour up thoughts of replacing your wife with another, which is impossible, and could make you feel guilty as if, somehow, betraying your previous marriage.

If you meet the right person who loves you for who you are then, I think, you should not be afraid to marry her. Having said that I don't think it should be on some sort of list of things to do.

Apologies for a post with contradictions, but it is that kind of subject which doesn't really have a definitive answer.

All the best

Biff

Thanks for the info everyone, I'm not a photographer but am considering ways of having my photos 'accessible' for friends, family etc. and have found this thread useful.

Apart from the strange aggressive comments about people who don't post with the name from their passports. Quite why that would be an issue at all (for normal people) escapes me completely.

Now we've established which airport OP is talking about, I can add that when I arrived in CR taxi to Moon and Sun hotel was Bt200, (picking up g/f at the end of the dual carriageway road out of the airport as that was the closest she could get by public transport) return journey I drove myself but I would imagine Bt200 would be the going rate in that direction too. That was on 14th Jan this year.

Enjoy

Do a member search for Limbo in the Chiang Rai forum, he's your Chiang Rai football expert

Thanks VF, I've got a few pages/entries in there now. I do like the Google Map, that will be my next challenge.

As far as getting readers, I have to say I'm not all that fussed. If people want to read it then good, but it will be somewhere where I can post my photos and write how I want to write, like a reference point for me and somewhere I can point people to when they ask me about my visits to Thailand.

Thanks for your advice mate, much appreciated.

Biff

whoops, double post, sorry

ok i got the first page up using blogger.com, took me a bit longer than i thought but i reckon it looks ok, link is on my profile ( i think! ) please let me know if it works :-)

Cheers,

Biff

A positive finish to a brutal week.

Bifftastic, as Villagefarang pointed out, there are numerous blogging platforms that are really easy to use. You can start off simply, add more and more tricks or go all the way to a full custom web design. If you're in a hurry, which you seem to be ;-), you can make your first blog post in minutes.

Thanks, I think I'll do just that

Hope everything goes well upcountry. Your GF's kids look absolutely adorable.

Thanks again, yes they are adorable