trainman34014

With most of their patrons being falangs and hi-so Thais, you would think they would insist on falang sit down toilets.....and only two small toilets for that big and growing complex.

I know a lot of people like Rimping but I prefer Tesco. Most things are there and they will be 15-20% cheaper. I hear all the cry's of Rimping having more Farang food choice's but if you use your eyes you will find about 90% of it in Tesco. Also; Tesco have some of the best Toilet facilities in Chiang Mai and the food court upstairs is cheap and offers a wide choice. Why slum it at Rimping?

When I'm looking for presents to take back to Europe and I want something a bit different from the usual trash, this is where I shop. Lots of creative stuff there and you can spend several hours perusing what's on offer. Plenty of good, cheap food available all around the area when you get hungry too.

Sadly; this is often the case in a lot of Thai establishments. Go into many Tambon or Amphur blocks and you will find the same situation. Even the staff complain about the toilet facilities but nothing is done. The bosses get new 'company cars' every year to keep up their 'face' but the rest of them and the public don't matter. The toilets at Rimping complex are probably not their responsibility so they will cry 'not our fault' if you bother to complain.

Thanks Sophon, is there a minimum time, hours, days i must stay outside Thailand, or can it be similar to the usual eg Mai Sai visa run? Appreciate the help

Apologies, im new to this site and im sure this question has been asked a thousand times but i must ask again for my own benefit, im on a multiple entry 1yr Non-Immigrant type O visa which is due to expire Nov 28th, i understand i can leave the country, return some days before expiry and get an extra 3months stamped in, so effectively its a 15 mth stay? Is it possible to use a land crossing, eg at Mai Sai for this purpose or must i exit/return through an airport? Thanks

You can exit at any border, it doesn't matter if it's a land crossing or airport. To be certain of getting the 90 days you should re-enter Thailand no later than November 27th.

Sophon

No minimum time limit. You can be out and back in 20 minutes.

What's wrong with this picture.15 people in an overloaded boat and the PM is one of them. Sure they have life vest on just in case. Five are standing up. Who is going to tell them about safety.

When they capsize don't throw them a lifebelt or try to help in any way because as a Farang, you will be 'blamed' for the capsize. Oh yes; it was all HIS fault Mr policeman sir !!

I can always recognise the local Lecky, he is the one with the 'neon' screwdriver just as the local welder is the one with the fake Raybans. Perhaps someone else has some ready identifiers for respective tradesmen?

I saw a car mechanic trying to use a bicycle spanner on someones brake line!

luckily i just got a return bus ticket for friday

Lucky indeed; I know 4 who have failed miserably of late to get tickets within 3 days of needing them.

Home Pro has them; I bought some there. Take the photo with you if you cannot explain in Thai.

If all else fails PM me and I will bring some back from England for you in January. However; your beard may get rather long by then so unless you are playing Father Christmas at the annual kids get together in Chiang Mai, this offer may be of little use!

I have personally used deionized water to wash insulators up to 150,000 volts.

As for telling the locals what is safe, never, just stand back and watch the show.

..really. Regardless of the wet string and conductivity..the mere fact kites have strings and will probably get entangled in the power lines and they will go and try to free it is reason enough to stop and point out the dangers, as per the other post about parking the car..if it makes you feel that you acted correctly, go ahead..how else will people be educated..too late when there's a fatality.

When they have an attitude of superiority and know it all they can take the responsibility also.

Yes; and a lot of them do have a 'Superiority Complex' especially when they have a seat cover sitting next to them so, let them crunch the car, fry themselves or be generally Som Nam Nah while you continue to look after your own skin in a potentially dangerous country.

Another option is to head down to immigration and purchase a 7 day extension for (I believe) 1900 baht.

Something to consider before overstaying.

For 1900 Baht you get a 30 day extension; I did it myself two years ago. Takes about an hour at immigration but well worth the time because you don't want that overstay black mark for the duration of your passport.

These days the VIP buses are quite often sold out two or three days before the journey. Book one week in advance to be sure of your seats Ladies& Gentlemen. No excuses for leaving it late when most of you are not doing a great deal of tiring work other than lifting a glass!

Thai police have been heavily corrupted by Thaksin, and Thasksin alone. It is like a kind of illness.

It will take a while after Thaksin death for the corrupted police to recover.

I would say corrupt Thai policemen were around long before Thaksin was even born!

Oh; corruption starts at the top....the very top.....so first you have to rid yourself of corrupt government..........the impossible dream?

Seven years in Chiang Mai was seven years of burning eyes and a painful throat and 3 traffic accidents. Moved few miles outside and from the second day the burning eyes and a painful throat were gone and no more accidents since.

Maybe in a 20 years things or so things will be improved, not sure, and Chiang Mai as being a nice and beautiful city is too far away anyway. Complete lack of city development made it nothing different from any outskirt of Banckok with a Walt Disney temple every 500 metres.

There isn't anything beautiful in Chiang Mai not even a square with seats and fountains where people gather together to talk and reading their newspapers, a city like that is not a city at all just a collection of homes and shops connected by roads, open sewage's and black spaghetti. The traffic atmosphere is one of 'we don't care about you - just move on go where you need to go-, the sidewalks are like 'we don't care if you break a leg why should we'.

Every city should have a chance to develop the positive way, also Chiang Mai, but they just don't care and let everything be. Sorry I don't wish to spend my life in such an uninteresting, stinking shtihole !

Bye bye Chiang Mai, the memories of 10-15 years ago are sweet though.

There may not be a 'square' in Chiang Mai but there is a park where people jog, eat, relax, talk and read newspaper's. I live outside of the City but I think it's very unfair to say there is no beauty there. For a start there are as many beautiful women there as any City in the world I have ever been to and there are many good things to see if you just open your eyes. It's not about what's there......it's about how you see it!

With regard to less than wonderful paving and the like; things won't change much until people get taxed into oblivion to pay for all the modern conveniences that some expat's appear to be missing. Higher taxes means higher prices for everything which means that most expat's will be looking for the next 'cheap' country to move to and moan about. You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time but some people are just miserable gits who are NEVER satisfied.

Nothing compares to the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, aka The Flying Coffin and The Widowmaker.

Germany lost about 30 % of them and Canada over 50 %.

I had a Greek pal back in the 80's who was ex Greek air force. He told me (at that time) that Greek F-104 losses were around 60%. He said whenever four or five took off only three would come back! I don't know what the official Greek loss figures were for the F-104 overall but there couldn't have been many left for the scrapman by the time they were retired from service.

I agree ,considering the Heathrow route is one of TG's oldest & busiest ,you would think that TG Management would some make effort to make it a more pleasant flight.

Is this just wishful thinking ?

I think wishful thinking.

You are right that it seems this route is one of Thais busiest and most expensive routes. I stopped flying Thai, on this route many years ago, but friends who still do say it's usually pretty full so I presume their thinking is people are flying the route so why bother to upgrade.

Thai flights to and from London are usually full because they compete well on prices FROM England. However; they have a lot more competition, particularly from the Middle Eastern airlines, when you are booking from Thailand and for some reason they do not compete well. Seems they are happy to fill their seats from the London end. Many of the passengers from that end are not looking for all the niceties, they are just 'going on holiday' and are quite often used to charter flights with cramped cabins and lousy food and service.

So sad to see such a failure of common decency and social order within a society such that this person gets away with these bad actions year after year......

I can't figure why so many people keep going there and giving this woman cash? I book all my own travel on-line and pay by card to get the protection that is available to all of us. Why oh why use these agents in a land that everyone knows is so full of scammers? No point in crying afterwards when it could have been easily avoided.

My key to losing 140 kilos (300+pounds) was simply to increase my excercise and balance my food.. I eat anything I want, just less of it.

I lost 9 kilo's the first year I lived here just by switching entirely from Western food to Thai food and eating less volume in general. No extra exercise needed for the first year just complete change of diet. These days I do swim once a week and ride my bike almost every day but weight stays off until I visit Europe for a couple of weeks every year when I put on a kilo or two. However; drops off within 10 days or so of returning. In my mind the key is leave all Western food off the menu.

The vast majority of Thai food is very fattening so I don't buy into that. Less volume and exercise is the key - not the Thai food.

Whatever works for whoever I suppose. Just my experience but it works for me. I personally don't find Thai food fattening but I guess it's a matter of what we choose to eat. Less food volume overall and very rare beer drinking here probably crucial in my experiences too.

My key to losing 140 kilos (300+pounds) was simply to increase my excercise and balance my food.. I eat anything I want, just less of it.

I lost 9 kilo's the first year I lived here just by switching entirely from Western food to Thai food and eating less volume in general. No extra exercise needed for the first year just complete change of diet. These days I do swim once a week and ride my bike almost every day but weight stays off until I visit Europe for a couple of weeks every year when I put on a kilo or two. However; drops off within 10 days or so of returning. In my mind the key is leave all Western food off the menu.

Obese and alive is better than "healthy" and dead.

If we're dead we obviously aint healthy are we ? However; obesity will kill us earlier and statistics do prove it. Ok Ulysses; I'm out of shells for now and I'm far to idle to re-load. Adios Amigo.

I would love to see some proof that "the world was a much healthier place" before there were any.

Checking world obesity levels might crack it ?

That must be why life expectancy was so much lower back then.

I would love to see some proof that the <deleted> served in Mc Donalds actually extends peoples lives !

I lost my faith in McDonalds when they ditched the strawberry milkshakes. Gutted, I was.

I lost my faith in Mc Donalds after my first meal in one during a USA visit in 1975. I too remember when there were no McDonalds................and the world was a much healthier place!

Agree standards are slowly rising but what food you desire most often reflects on where you are from. You refer to the 'old country' and looking at the list I presume you mean the U.S ? The only listed foods I recognise from my 'old country' are Ice Cream, Apple Pie and Croissants....and even the latter are French.

I would love to see somebody do a really good Steak&Kidney Pie and three veg' followed by steamed Rolly-Polly and Custard. The dream list could go on all day but the chances of most of it becoming a reality in Chiang Mai are slim.

You sure- as I been once and showed Biz Visa and no go. To me it seemed- if you look like a Farang and smell like one then ur paying up for tourist prices. They laughed at me trying to get Thai price, even when I reside here. My girl laughing with them- I say tell them I live here and here's my Visa and address. Blaa blaa no go... laugh laugh.

They say- must be Thai- must be Thai- u Farang- u pay Farang price....

Hmmm; seems to me you have a gf that likes to take the p**s ! On the other hand I have a Thai wife who gets me in anywhere at Thai prices by just plainly telling them....'He is my husband and lives here with me"...she talks firmly and calmly and it has never failed yet. Time to get yourself the right type of woman?

Just as a PS..............Tesco bake and sell some nice long European style loaves covered in Poppy Seeds. They appear to be there one minute and gone the next so are obviously popular. Seems they bake at least two batches a day but I don't know if the seeds are available in pots on their own or not. Next trip I will look around the shelves.

I see a lot of Thai men wearing England football shirts with the three lions emblem but I don't see any who have stitched a Thai flag above them!

Personally I don't see any harm in any flag outside of anyone's house or business but what makes me laugh with the English....and I am one of them....is that they like to put the Union Jack outside their Thai home when they would never dream of doing it at home in Blighty. After all; if you do it there you are considered 'Naff ' or 'A Poser ' by your neighbours and even your own kids who will beg you to take it down !