davevi

I am need of a professional and high quality shop that can frame A3 (13" x 19") photographs.

There are many frame shops around town but I have no idea which offer quality services.

Suggestions?

These are professional photos that I'd like cut matte mounted with glass front and metal or wood frames.

Thank you.

(deleted, posted original note here in error)

Sorry to the OP but I can't directly answer the question... But I want to share an important point on this subject I learned about that may come up for those interested in this topic.

A friend was using the ED Visa to continue his stay in Thailand. He chose to extend his stay with an ED Visa to learn Thai in a school in Bangkok.

When he went to the main immigration office at Changwattana he sat down in the officers cubicle, had his paperwork reviewed for his second year extension, and the officer asking him about the fish in the tank in his cubicle. The western student looked at the officer puzzled and said nothing. The officer then promptly denied his extension. The problem? The officer asked him in Thai about the fish in the tank. The "Thai language student" with one year of study could not understand the simple question asked of him in Thai. Extension - Denied.

I can understand the need for Thailand to filter out those using ED to continue their stay in Thailand, but if you use a language school to do this be prepared for the potential of a test, formal or informal.

Also it appears these tests and the strictness of extensions is regional. In Northern Thailand several students from CMU reported last year that local immigration were taking a very close look at any foreigner on an ED Visa to be sure they were actually in school and using the Visa as stated.

I am considering installing SiNet Fiber Optic internet into my house.

There are some threads from 2013 and 2012 talking about SiNet, but nothing recent.

So I'd like to ask the Thai Visa Chiang Mai forum for feedback from anyone who has SiNet installed now.

How is it working?

Speed of connection (domestic and international)?

Customer service experience when there's trouble. How is that experience?

Thanks!

Running a new plane on short-haul's first is a normal process.

Thai did the same when they took delivery of their first A380 -- running short routes until they were comfortable with the performance and use of the plane -- and then transitioning the A380 to long-haul service where it continues today.

The crew and pilots will be fully trained on the 787 before its first passenger run, but the small logistics that are learned only with repeated use with a passenger load is only possible with a regular route.

I believe the official first route for this plane will be Bangkok to Perth. It's not clear when that transition will occur. Press releases stated in the past that this plane would begin service 01JUL on the Bangkok Perth route. But starting CNX-BKK makes much more sense.

Just received news from the Thai Air office today about their CNX to BKK route, and also changes in ticket purchasing processes on Thai Air's website.

First the fun news. Starting July 8th Thai Air will debut their new Dreamliner 787 on the CNX-BKK route -- twice daily, 10am and 3pm. The 10am flight was formerly serviced by Thai's 747, and currently running on an Airbus 300, and soon on the new Dreamliner. I was told there would be 24-30 biz class seats on the Dreamliner configuration (I think she said 24, but I'm not certain).

Second, the process for buying tickets on Thai's website has changed, and improved.

First, the change. it seems that you can no longer make a booking then pay for it at the Thai office or ATM. This option was not available yesterday, nor today, at the Thai website. The only option I was given for my domestic/international round trip was to pay immediately on the website using Visa, MC, or Amex. There is no option, at least on this route I purchased, to make the booking and pay within the next 24 hours as you have always been able to do in the past. And this is for a booking for a flight next week, not something in tomorrow, so I don't see a reason why this option is gone.

Second they have improved their credit card purchase subsystem. It's now easier to use, more professional looking, and smoother. It's quicker, much quicker. But for me my card still didn't work at their website, but I think it's my configuration issue with Bangkok Bank, and not Thai's website.

To get my ticket I went through all the steps to make the purchase on Thai's website, printed the web pages showing my routes and the flight numbers I wanted, and printed a second page that showed the seat selections I wanted. I took that print out to the Thai office in the old city and bought the ticket at the Thai office. And, for the first time, the online price was the same as the price they charged in the office. In the past you always paid a bit more to purchase in their office than online.

Today I tried the Japanese restaurant connected to Rimping in the basement at Maya.

It was a great meal and with prices that were much less than I expected.  

I ate with a colleague who lived in Japan for one year and he gave the food a thumb's up.  I had avoided the restaurant in the past because shortly after it opened I walked in and was handed a one-page menu with 6 items, none of them appealing.  Now there is a full menu with lots of great looking choices.  

We ordered five dishes and all of them were great tasting, well made, and fairly authentic.  Awesome!  

We were only disappointed by one item -- an item pictured in their menu as large round shrimp "meatballs" floured, fried and and sitting in Japanese broth.  What we got instead was tasty, but very small pieces of said food -- the size of gumballs, not golf-ball sized pieces pictured.

So overall a high recommendation for this restaurant and a lovely surprise.  

Thanks Rimping!

BTW, Rimping, in case you are reading this, would you consider adding a native English speaker in each large branch.  It would be really helpful -- because 9 of 10 times staff inside the store have little to no idea where things are, what they are, or what I'm speaking of in English.  

HIGHLY recommend a small unassuming shop in KSK in the basement (technically the ground floor).

The shop's owner/technician does excellent and careful work and his prices are very good.

To find it enter KSK from the main road, go to the lower level and stay to the right, the side with the bank of ATMs. Walk past 3BBB and the Telewiz shop and go all way down that aisle, on the right side (same side as Telewiz) he is the last sales shop. It is a small shop, with two seats at a sort of repair bench on the back wall and a glass front with new and used phones and accessories. The main tech/owner sits in the back at the tech bench and is about middle-aged. The sales were handled, when we've visited, by a young woman.

The last item he fixed for us was a 4s screen replacement which was perfectly installed at and excellent price.

I found this shop based on the recommendation(s) of others from this forum.

I am looking to purchase one Google's new Motorola branded phones, specifically the Moto E.

Are there any vendors selling Motorola brand phones in Chiang Mai?

Of note for those who are looking the Nexus brand of Google phone... I found the Google Nexus 5 for sale at the large DTAC shop in Central Festival. I have not seen it at any other DTAC shops. DTAC referred to the phone as the "LG - Nexus 5". LG makes this phone for Google. The DTAC sales price was good, about the same as ordering from Google in the US and converting USD to THB on your own.

Thank you.

I can confirm the exact same problems over the last few days.

However, as with many things internet related here it is instantly fixed with my VPN service.

I highly recommend a service called Private Internet Access (dot com) or just Google the phrase. There is a yearly fee, but I could not and would not conduct my dealings here in Thailand without it. They offer terabyte speed internet connections throughout the world, including dozens of connecting points in the US, Canada and Europe. Once installed and subscribed you can configure their VPN software to pick the server in the country you need (like if you had a bank account in the US, you could connect through your home state in many cases), or configure the software to automatically select their fastest server at the moment from their worldwide farm of servers.

Often connecting with this company's VPN clears you free of IT configuration issues and errors created at the TOT, 3BB, and any number of vendors who touch or have routers and servers between local traffic here and things outside our area or country.

If you prefer to review a rundown, review and user rating of VPN solutions, Google the phrase "Lifehacker FIve Best VPN" for the site URL.

I have been wondering about this, so I thought I'd post it as a question and see if someone out there knows the answer.

How many westerners live in Chiang Mai?

For this question the definition of "western" would be anyone from the US, UK, EU, or Australia.

I really have no idea what the number might be.

Another vote for this vendor!

We followed the OP's direction and located the shop.

We had a 4s with a cracked screen and a stubborn button. He repaired both in 30 minutes. The quality of work was excellent! I would highly recommend this guy's work. He's the shop in the far corner -- the name is in Thai so I don't know the shop's name.

You'll know you're in the right shop if it's in the corner by the stairs (stairs to your left if you're looking in the direction of his shop) -- and there are two work areas in the back of the small shop. On the right as you look into the shop is the main repair station where the man who repaired our phone sits. There is another repair area on the left. The guy we worked with is about middle aged, wears glasses and very helpful.

Before visiting the shop we stopped in at the iCare center upstairs and were quoted nearly 7000 baht for the repair -- which we were told would be a "new" used phone and no repair.

train is the best, easiest, cheapest and fastest.

of course if the train works from Chiang Mai now, i am not sure.

Have you shipped a big bike using the train?

Could you point me to where I could start gathering information on how to ship and what the price might be?

Thanks!

I saw this on Craigslist.

Rare jacket.

http://bangkok.craigslist.co.th/mcy/4274634185.html

I need to ship a Ninja from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

What are my options?

I've heard about EMS and the post office, but I'm not sure about insurance coverage and how reliable it is.

Also heard about using the train. I know nothing about this option.

Driving the bike to Bangkok is not an option. Putting the bike on a truck and driving it to Bangkok is not an option.

Thanks all.

I need to ship a Ninja from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

What are my options?

I've heard about EMS and the post office, but I'm not sure about insurance coverage and how reliable it is.

Also heard about using the train. I know nothing about this option.

Driving the bike to Bangkok is not an option. Putting the bike on a truck and driving it to Bangkok is not an option.

Thanks all.

The best quality health food is Tianzi down near the night market.

The chef is very good and the quality of food is very high and consistent.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293917-d1728707-Reviews-Tianzi_Tea_House_and_Garden-Chiang_Mai.html

Also for vegetarian fare, good prices and good service, Anchan in Nimanhamen is quite good.

It's a 2-3 minute walk from Salad Concept in the same neighborhood.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293917-d3602277-Reviews-Anchan_Vegetarian-Chiang_Mai.html

I'm looking for short-term office space, 1 - 3 months, with only a month-to-month agreement.

The office space does not need to be large, but should be able to accommodate one staff person, a desk and a phone.

Preferred location: Somewhere between the Northwest side of the moat (RAM Hospital) and CMU's North-side gate (near the zoo).

Things I've Found:

I checked around and I see a shared space called Pun (which looks quite nice), but their offices are open glass and perhaps not the style I need.

I checked a space in the Empire Building (Nimanhamen) and I cannot even get someone to respond to my email inquiries about pricing and contractual obligations.

Suggestions?

I don't need something fancy. Just workable and in a fairly good location.

The new (soon to open) Maya Mall...

Where can I find a list of stores, shops, restaurants that will be in this mall?

Their Facebook page is the only resource I found and they list only a small number of shops and 1 place to eat (Jeffers).

If you are here on holiday I cannot recommend Dr. Bunnakit.

His private clinic is difficult to find, his one staff person speaks no English, you will likely be the only Westerner there (if you can find it) and his clinic is open only during specific hours.

Additionally, my personal experience with him was such that I would not go again, nor recommend him. There was no physical exam, no privacy, only a brief conversation, and then antibiotics.

Please contact me via private message.

A further test shows that at exactly 2 gigabytes of international downloaded data my bandwidth is reduce to 2.5 meg.

I have experienced very specific bandwidth capping being done by 3bb. This occurs only on international traffic. I have a background in IT and can see the signs of their manipulation. I can find no software way around it, which tells me they are doing this at the hardware router level. The pattern I see is always the same. After 5pm I get approximately one gigabyte of full speed international data transfer, then my connection is cut to 2.5 Meg speed. This occurs every night, without fail. Exactly at midnight, every night, my speed returns to normal. This started several months ago, sporadically, and in the last few weeks has been 100% of the time. I don't speak Thai and I don't have the patience to argue with them over what they're doing. I've learned to work around the limits.

I recommend you check out Baan and Beyond behind Airport Central mall.

It has everything you need to set up a house from linens to housewares to kitchen supplies -- and the prices are good.

I also find good sale items on household goods at Robinson's inside Airport Central mall. It is hit or miss on whether what I'm looking for is a sale item, but when it is, the sale prices can be very good.

Thank you to everyone who posted replies to this topic. Your information was very helpful.

When my Thai friend told me about the year in the Green Book I suspected that the date listed was the date sold, and not the model year, but I needed to be sure. And based on the responses and information shared here to my original post it appears that this is the case. Additionally, since the bike was purchased in late October 2011 this matches information posted here that the model was 2012, though the bike was purchased in October 2011.

My concern about the model year was based on being honest and ethical.

The bike is for sale and I have an interested buyer. When I started to collect the paperwork to prepare for the sale (which isn't yet final in case anyone is interested in a really nice 2012 Kawasaki Ninja) I asked about the "11" in the top right corner of the book (just after some Thai characters) -- because I thought maybe this was the model year. I'd been ripped off badly on a motorbike that I purchased after moving here so I've learned over time to be careful with paperwork.

I don't have contact with the original owner, and cannot ask him any questions about the bike, but I do know he kept the bike in top condition, always, and that he never told me anything about the bike or the many, many expensive options he added, that wasn't confirmed as true.

But you never know, and for my own benefit and that of the next owner, I needed to be sure that the Ninja I was selling as a 2012 was indeed a Model Year 2012, especially if there was anything in the Green Book that would cause confusion or questions.

I think now I am comfortable that I was sold a 2012 Ninja just as my contract stated, and just as the original owner told me.

Do you have a picture you can post of what the spedo cluster looks like. I believe that was one of the only visible changes they made to the 2012-2013 model

This is a 2008-2011 cluster is yours digital? or mechanical as shown here.

The spedo changed from analog in 2012 to digital in 2013. I've confirmed this with my friend who owns a 2013 Ninja 250r. It's a small but welcome change.

As for my gauge it was analog and matches the description I found on Kawasaki's website. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to post a picture of it because it was replaced after the original owner purchased the bike in October 2011. The replacement gauge set is a Koso RX2. I was not given the original gauge part.

Based on all information I am comfortable that I own a 2012 Ninja.