trainman34014

Some years back I would stay there every time I came as it's a reasonable price and standard and the breakfast buffet is very good imo. After staying a few times I found out that my then girlfriend, now wife, being a Nurse, could flash her ID and get me a 25% discount every time I checked in....bonus ! I also liked the fact that you had the shopping plaza attached but that's become a bit of a bung hole in recent years.

Wonderful stuff Gonzo, and thanks for sharing. Fancy a 57 hour flight these days? People now moan if they take 24 hours via here or there door to door.

Apart from repairing bomb craters and replacing Steam with Diesel in the 70's/80's, not much seems to have changed for the railway system. Despite all the hypo about High Speed systems, I don't see much change on the horizon in our lifetime.

I've always wanted to own a British or American classic car but never got around to it. With the amount of old cars running around Chiang Mai maybe the dream will still be realised one day, if I can find the oomph !

Sadly, a lot of what Beetlejuice says is true and we do seem to have more than our fair share of miserable old gits. I've been retired here for almost five years now and have a lot more Thai friends than Farang, but I have to say that the Farang friend's I do have are good friends and we tend to meet more in our homes than in Bars etc.

You don't say exactly what area of the Province you are in? Who knows; we could be almost neighbours !

Ah sorry; just noticed the Saraphee bit, wrong side of the City for me. I hope you meet some nice folks soon,

As Bangkok slowly sinks the Master Plan will be implemented.....'Abandon Ship' !

FYI:

I paid £530 return from LHR (via Mumbai) to Bangkok in October with JET airlines. I never heard of them before but been told they are good, we'll have to see!

I've used Jet Airways LHR-BKK via Mumbai and no complaints about the Airline as good service, modern aircraft and great if you like Indian food. Mumbai Airport is a bit of a dump but in my case it was a pretty quick exit so not long to suffer it.

Indeed a lot of the oldie ads look good received one the other day that said most Doctors preferred Camel cigarettes.

Gonzo were you able to tell which end of the 1946 Studebaker was photographed. LOL

Actually in the mid 50s they had some darn nice looking cars.

Reminds me of walking into my Doctors surgery when I was a British kid in the 50's and you needed a Machete to hack your way through the smoke filled waiting room. You then needed it again when you went in to see the Doctor as he chain smoked untipped Players Navy Cut, which were real cancer sticks. He would light one from the end of the last all day long, but he still made it into his 70's before falling off his perch. As for the old cars, well, I sadly miss all those individual shapes we had on the Planet and I love to see the occasional oldie around Chiang Mai. Shame we are now surrounded by ugly looking 4x4 monsters and aerodynamic bubbles with little or no style whatsoever.

Coincidentally, I'm sure that I recall seeing a photo in National-Geographic about road-building in Thailand in the late-60s/early-70s, the American (US-Aid ?) bulldozer-driver had a bottle of Coke while the Thai worker had a plastic-bag filled with crushed-ice & liquid.

I remember being intrigued by this (then exotic) picture, and wondering where the country might be, little knowing that I'd end up happily living here many years later !

And IME the Thais found the better way, to serve a soft-drink, too !

This is all very well but, did that road ever get finished and have either of those workers died of a chronic disease yet caused by those sugar filled drinks ?

I know of at least three drive through fast food dives

Excellent, you've found three drive through fast food outlets in Thailand. And their customers are obese 'cause they're not getting out of their vehicles.

I think you've got a winner here, pal. Publish your own diet book, "The Get Out Of Your Vehicle And Walk 25 Meters Weight Loss Plan."

Sure to be a best seller! But wouldn't the walk just make them hungrier? No matter.

Activity and exercise don't have much at all to do w/ the problem at hand as I noted in an earlier post. It's all about diet.

Make that 4; they are building a new Mc D's drive thru in Chiang Mai right now !

I think this is a BXXShhiX sorty,

"I have also checked with the airline who confirmed that she had checked in for her flight but was then stopped at Thai immigration ( as per airline computer records)"

No airline will part with this information, epsecially from a 3rd part!

Complete lies.

I suspect the OP knew exactly was was occuring.

No trouboe with his "wife" for 7 years, this has obvoiously cost teh OP plenty over the years.

Again, I hope she rots in jail( If this is a true story)

Wise up kiddo; the airline doesn't need to give away any personal information as we all have to check in BEFORE we go through immigration, at which point the Lady was arrested. The airline is not giving away anything that is not already known. The OP obviously wanted to check that the story had some credibility and and that the Lady had actually checked in prior to her alleged arrest.

That's much, much more than just a sinkhole, and if repaired properly will stop the trains running for quite some time as the infrastructure will have to be strengthened considerably to make sure it doesn't just collapse again within days of reopening.

You have to have a giggle when you think about the possibilities of this country ever building a High Speed Railway network when they can't even maintain the old system in any decent manner. One shudders to think of the possibilities of riding at 300 kph on a system not maintained to the highest possible standards.

IMO it's all a show and a waste of time. The real test will come when the floods come, then we will find out how satisfied people are !

They can eat what they like; in sensible moderation. Problem here seems to be that they never stop eating day and night. Everywhere you look they are munching something or drinking fizzy drinks.

We can wish for the right outcome for the result of improving Thailand's reputation, but I think if we are realistic we all know what the outcome will be....lots of dosh paid to the afflicted family, a large fine and a three year suspended sentence, five year driving ban, and that will be the end of it.

The Copper who tried to set up the Patsy will be sent to some area of the Boonies where he will be forgotten (I hope it's not my area ) and normal life for the rich will continue without further ado.

Speaking of which, I just watched the movie 'Marley and Me' ... fun movie and the dog was great.

.

Book is ok, movie is complete dross.

Hachiko is much better.

Agree for Marley

Haven't seen Hachiko , but for a movie about a dog story, my favorite is Quill.

What I personally hate is people highjacking a thread to start a personal conversation totally unrelated to the OP subject.

So rude !

_

+1 These people are such legends in their own minds !

'Yingluck calls for'....Pah ! Sick of reading those words. Just another Photo' call for the Bangkok Bimbo.

Just a few locals angry about their own particular situation. The big picture concerning the rest of the country remains unaffected !

Chiang Mai.....1950's Vauxhall Velox, still in daily use.

Very commendable. Perhaps she would like to start by coming around our local villages and personally explaining to the brutish men by the dozen that violence against their Wife and Children ,when they are rat arsed or high on yaba is no longer permitted. Not only that but they can't do it when they are sober either. I would love to see the reaction.

5 AM in morning, might be drunk...

More pictures here :

http://www.dailynews...th/crime/153092

I assume it is the young man in the blue shirt who is being arrested and it is obvious that he shows no contrition whatsoever for what has happened.

I think if I were a common Thai that I would urge everyone that I knew to boycott purchasing Red Bull until justice has been done; and the expatriate members of TV who are aware and consume the product should do so also.

OK, I will start.

I don't drink Redbull untill justice has prevailed.Any more followers?

If you wait for any kind of justice to prevail in Thailand you will be off it for life !

Why not take some of the 'Army/Airforce/Navy/Forces' budget away and spend it on 'Education with a BIG E'?. Friend of mine reckons that Thailand spends around 20-25%-25% of its GDP on the 'forces'.! Why, who the hell are they going to fight? Wonderful idea eh spending money on 'Thai 'Submarines', again what the hxxl for? They have no sense of where they can get the best return on their expenditure for the good of the country and probably never will !

They need a lot of bullets to shoot at 'Men in Black' aka Red Shirt protesters hiding in Temples !

The Thai answer is why create when you can copy !

Just one of those head scratching moments I guess but, why are Thais pushing in with impunity at immigration?

Thems aint Thai's, they is Burmese by the million !