trainman34014

RIP the poor souls that were the victims of yet another bus 'accident' that should never have happened. Best wishes to those who survived and hopes for a speedy recovery.

Thank the Lord for Nakhon Chai Air and their higher standards.

When I told Thai wifey about this she just shrugged and said 'I told you before you have to look after yourself in Thailand because nobody care you' . Sums up the way the ordinary folk see life here because they know nobody gives a shit about them.

I'm looking for a good quality hand mixer for baking. Any suggestions on where I should look in CM?

Thanks.

I bought one upstairs in Makro about 6 weeks ago 990 Baht. Name I hadn't heard of before but comes with adjustable stand, bowl and mixing tools. Detaches and can be used as hand mixer which is my main use. Very pleased so far, works very well.

Don't know which direction you are coming from but will assume you are coming out of town. Take 108 South towards Hang Dong, proceed past Tesco and keep going until you reach traffic light junction with BIg C on your left hand side right on the corner. Turn left and follow dual carriageway for approx 5k's and you will see Global House on your left hand side.

Don't know about flat packs but I bought all my cupboards at Global House where they have a large range of designs to choose from at reasonable prices.

what is fire food?

Thai Food. Bloody Awfull Red Hot Gunge..All tastes the Same to me. Except in Hi So Places..

Clearly; you don't have a Thai wife that can cook !

Look out you lot; the cheap charlie knockers will be after you any minute !!

Nobody has mentioned Disneyland in Hong Kong. If there was a direct flight from CNX it would be great for families with kids to go over there for a few days.

Can anybody comment from first hand experience about Disneyland and other amusement parks in Hong Kong?

Cheers :jap:

I've done the HK Disneyland in 2007. I don't know if it's increased in size since then but I thought it was rather small compared to those in the U.S. I think anyone who has been to Disney and Epcot in Florida has seen the best they have and most others are a bit of an anti-climax after that lot. To be honest I could have done all the Hong Kong one in about half a day if I was in a hurry and there are quite a lot of features where only Chinese is spoken. On the up side; it's very cheap for tickets compared to others and you have time to fit in other sights on the same day if you have a tight schedule and a lot that you want to see.

Don't know about any other theme parks but plenty to do in HK of varied interest, great for shopping and multitude of great Restaurants.

Casino would be super welcome for the Northern region yes. I can't see it happening of course.

A casino up here was very close to happening in 2005 already agreed with Macau entrepreneurs and it was the coup that killed it.

Still a great idea and every chance that it will be resurrected with the current government, makes a great deal of sense to keep the money in Thailand instead of bleeding over the various borders.

Agree with you about the money bleeding over the borders. I visited the Casino at Genting Highlands, Malaysia in September and I was surrounded by many High So Thai's blowing money like confetti. Some of them had driven down there as there were Thai registered Porshe's, Merc's and various others including a Maserati.

I just got back from an overnight weekend in Lampang. We took the train. We took the morning express at 8:45 (There are two types of trains the local & express.... The local(9:20) is basic an free to Thai/20 baht farrang...It is slower as it makes stops and has no assigned seats, no AC and most importantly the seats are made for Thai sized bodies ;-)...) We opted for the earlier 2nd class Express which was 50 baht with AC, assigned seats with reclining seats with padding!...

We arrived at Lampang at just after 11am... There are a bunch of songtows just outside the train station who all charge 20baht a person to go within the city... We went to a wonderful guesthouse right on the river in the Suan Dok area (500 baht a night - Google "riverside guesthouse lampang" make sure to get a room that has a balcony that faces the river)... On Saturday and Sunday nights there is a typical Thai walking street on the street that runs parallel to the river (Thannon Mit Kasem... We had diner at a wonderful Thai place called "Aroy One Baht" which is one block up on the corner of the one way street called Tichang and Mit Kasem (Sit upstairs ;-))... After diner continue away from the river on Mit Kasem and the Horse drawn carriages hang out - 200 baht for a nice 1 hour loop. The hotel also gave us a great map of the city that showed the places to visit - Old Thai styles house across the river and we rented a motorbike and went to a couple Wats too... We returned the next day Sunday on the 6:08 evening train and was back in Chiang Mai at 8:30...

We did it as an overnight but a day trip is very doable.... 8:45 depart & 6:08 return... Songtow to Thannon Mit Kasem, walk down the street cross the river to the UNESCO Wat & Old Thai House come back across the river for late lunch at Aroy One Baht and then a carriage ride...

Thanks for the heads-up stokevin, that's a nice sounding couple of days. We will certainly give that a go.

Me and the GF normally fill up at the machine at the apartment reception, but the other day we filled up at another machine on the street.....and the water was definitely not right, tasted disgusting and not right, even in coffee.

We threw that lot away and refilled at our apartment.

The questions I have are:-

1. Does anyone know who looks after and services these machines? Or are they just left for years?

2. What actually does reverse obmosis (or whatever) actually do? What do these machines actually do?

3. I guess these machines are fed by mains tap water and the water comes out at a rate, so how does the water get 'cleaned' so quickly?

4. Are there any serious long term/short term consequences from consistently drinking tap water?

Just curious!

1. Doubt it. Probably like everything else mechanical in Thailand..Zero Maintenance, just run it until it stops.

2. Membrane technical filtration. Something to do with cleaning out large molecules and ions form the membranes. No I am not a scientist am I ?

3. Anyone's guess as we can't see what the hell goes on inside the machine.

4. Not that I've heard of and I know many Thai's who have drunk Tap water and well water all their lives. Some of them look 73 but maybe they are only 30 !!

This is indeed good news and lets hope more flights are added direct from CNX as time goes by. We need a CNX-Anywhere in Europe direct flight more than any other.

Just hope these proposed new routes are supported well enough to keep them at a time when tourism is suffering because of multiple hiccups in Thailand over the last two or three years.

Lots of advice here and I will give you some of mine.

Ignore the posters who seem to be concerned only with money.

They are what is called cheap charlies. Willing to except second best because it is cheaper. They talk about people getting ripped of on the price they pay for rent. They do not know these people and for all they know the posters bargained the price down from a lot higher asking price.

What they don't know is that it is not a renters market. With the flood in Bangkok there is a lot of people coming to Chiang Mai for two or three months.

Besides maybe you are willing to pay top dollar to get what you want.

As for transportation I hear you. I have no desire to drive here in Chiang Mai. Far cheaper is to hire a car for a day around 900 or 1,000 baht two days a week probably cheaper than buying a car if money is a consideration.

I admit I would like to once in a while take a tour of the surounding country but not enough to buy a vehicle. One of thhese days I will hire a vehicle to drive me around not doing the driving I will be able to see the country side better.

Myself I have lived here and there on both sides of the border with the last twenty years in Kelowna. For myself Chiang Mai is home.

I find that the Thai's are different. That allows me to live in peace. I have friends who don't see different they see rite and wrong with the emphasis being on wrong. They are not all that happy.

Give us a chance there is lots to see and do or sit back and relax. We have two movie theaters if you are into them.

I can't understand why some posters seem to think that anyone who doesn't want to spend 36,000 a month on rent or 2,000 for lunch every day instead of a 30 baht bowl of noodles is a 'cheap charlie'. What <deleted> this is; it's up to the individual to decide how much he wants to spend, no matter how rich he may be. Flaunting 'High so' idea's in a country like Thailand can get you targeted by 'not so nice' people. Sure; I see Farang folks living in big houses with high walls and big barking dogs, and even camera's to make them feel 'safe'. Personally I prefer to be 'Mr Nobody' and live a lot more modestly in a reasonably secure Moobaan setting. You are likely to be a lot safer if you blend as well as you can into the community.

As for getting around and seeing the countryside; well, I have a car but don't use it that often, my Bicycle I find a lot more useful and I ride around the beautiful local scenery every day. This way you get to meet local people and don't spend all your time with a lot of the whinging expats that are around.

Can't recall how many threads there has been about short change, but it's too many. It happens, and not just in Thailand and we just have to get over it and get on with living. If people are really grieved about it they should complain right there and then to whatever management they can find. In other words put up, or shut up !

I would think the best thing for you to do is find a rental apartment and take some time to look around before you leap into any long term arrangements. There are plenty of new build Moobaan's to chose from all around Chiang Mai and plenty of houses for rent. The fact that you don't drive does make life more difficult if you are looking around the area but there are many agents who will probably help you, or you could hire a mini-bus for the day and ask them to cruise all the Baan's. For the rent you are willing to pay you could live in a reasonable size mansion in this country! Many houses for rent in the 10-12,000 a month bracket.

Never seen Nippon here but Tesco have several non-liquid types that I find work well. The best one in my opinion is ARS which is granules you put inside a small yellow plastic container. Works every time for me. 59 Baht I think.

Thanks for all the advice. I think a large suitcase is the way for me.

Indeed the way to go; especially if you are making several trips before you settle. I did it over a three year period of multi visits just bringing everything that would fit into suitcases. Never any problems with customs and now we have all the decent quality gear in the house that you can't buy here, or pay a fortune for. Personally I never bothered about bringing large electrical items/furniture etc as there are plenty of choices here and prices are no worse than the West in most cases.

We've done this as a day-trip, 3rd-class rail-car both ways gives you a look at real life for normal people, and is fun IMO. But I like trains !

If only there was a steam-hauled tourist-train, doing this route with a leisurely breakfast on the way down & cream-tea on the return, as it snorts its way up the mountain-side & through the tunnel !

We found the horse/carriage tour of Lampang fun too, your kids might enjoy it, mine did, and there's a nice museum in an old Thai wooden-house by the river !

Perhaps wiser to wait a month or two, until full-service has been resumed, though.

Now you're talking good stuff ! Bring back live steam !!

Lotus KSK with pool on roof around 900 I think.

diet drinks are for "suckers" who thinks they can get away from their habits...

I've never drunk lots of pop with sugar - only diet pop. So which habit am I trying to get away from? I don't want to quit. So I don't understand your point.

I know diet pop is not healthy. But I enjoy the taste of it. Why is that so provocative to so many people? It seems to me I can eat or drink or smoke just about anything else that's unhealthy, and other people won't say a thing, but when people find out I drink lots of diet pop the snide comments just won't stop. It's very weird.

Next time your on....wear a tin helmet !

When the floods first hit Bangkok last week, 20 people from Bangkok came up to Chiang Mai and bought houses in the moobahn I am moving to. Each house cost between 3 and 5 million baht each. I think that qualifies as Bangkok people looking for a house. I don't think they are looking for older houses, they want the new modern houses that are being built all over Chiang Mai.

Nonsense.

I agree with elektrified. Richard10365 still on the sell I see.

It's a load of whoopsie.

On our Moo bahn there are 225 empty houses out of just over 600. A lot of them are up for renting and I haven't seen queue's of Bangkokians anywhere around here. I think all this talk of that lot coming up here and buying up/renting everything available in the North is a load of twaddle. Sure some have come and are staying with relatives short term, we have some here, but they just want to get back home and clean their flooded houses out and get back to work as fast as possible.

Yes - plenty of rubbish drunk in the UK.

Doesn't stop those of us who prefer to taste something extra singing the praises of the fact that real beer is at least available (again - thanks to bearded wonders of Campaign for Real Ale who sang the praise of such beer for several decades) in many hundreds of different styles around that country. Lager doesn't have to be chemical $hite - look at Belgian and German craft beer from independent breweries.

As I've said on other forums, a beer is better than no beer, (but in the case of Thailand, only just )

CAMRA's mission is noble, I won't argue with that. Somtimes though beer (rather ales) that meet their philosophical standards are not the most pleasant to drink. One can specify the brewing methods, ingredients, that one out not to pump Notrogen into it, etc., until the cows come home, but ultimately the proof of the pudding in the eating. No matter how you slice it, there is no shortage of British ales that taste like old gym socks. Often too you'll meet a CAMRA member that couldn't tell the difference between a Spitfire and Beer Lao Dark if put to the test.

In that case their tastebuds are dead !

I went in to the Red lion last night and they are now selling Fuller's London Pride Bitter, a really nice drink. I had 6 pints last night and no hangover this morning.

I was there myself the other night for a chat with Kevin. Had a couple of London Pride 500ml bottles at very reasonable prices AND unbelivably, they've got London Pride Porter!! What a great drink!! staggered out very late!!

Kev, still has a few tricks up his sleeeve! Red Lion is still a great pub!!

How much is "reasonable"?

Cheers

180 thb a pint but well worth it just to drink a decent beer.

Not expensive really. A decent pint in England is now well over 3 quid in a lot of places.

Thanks for the advice. My beloved crock pot, in the new age world now called a slow cooker, is one of the things I was planning on bringing in. I can fill it up with kitchen nick nacks.

we just brought a LOT of personal kitchen items (include a Crock Pot) back from USA... in the suitcases... actually around 100 pounds of just kitchen stuff... they did not bother to open our cases, so all is good.

Otherwise, i might say get a thai wife, but it is probably just cheaper to pay duty on the items.

If you do send, send via post office, not DHL or FedEx, as those operations tend to get customs checks. Divide it up into small packages/lots and give it a whirl.

I brought all my Kitchen stuff from England in suitcases on several trips. Got opened once but nobody interested in Knives and forks, tin opener, Pyrex dishes etc..

I went in to the Red lion last night and they are now selling Fuller's London Pride Bitter, a really nice drink. I had 6 pints last night and no hangover this morning.

Wow; decent beer at last. On my way tomorrow evening.