hougourou

After many years a scofflaw, I finally made it down to LTD (khon song) in Hang Dong.  First time motorcycle license.  They checked my paperwork and gave me a form telling me to report back a week from tomorrow for the tests, etc.  Probably to do with language issues, although my Thai served me fine when I got my car license. Many green and grey farang types there these days. Don't know if this is a new system, and not a big problem for me, but I thought it worth mentioning.

The one previously mentioned as near Meechok  is Tan Packaging, surely the best in CM.  It's actually closer to the Thepanya Hospital at the bottom of the Mae Jo road.  You'll find it on Google.

I saw them at Amorn, in front of Icon Plaza. Over 300 Baht. If you want high drain type best order from Bangkok--the vendors on Thailand Vapers sell good IMR type, etc.

Thanks to both of you for this useful information. I didn't know CAT also was offering a free trial at 30 MB (or maybe you were especially lucky, Stevie). TOT is offering 30 MB @ 1200/month (no installation fee, but 1800 for the router) and CAT is about 2000 for 30 MB. Since we've already got the ball rolling with TOT (said they'd install in two-three weeks), and CAT said they be by to change our current ADSL line to fiber in a month's time, I suppose I should just wait and see what happens. Ah, the ambiguity of life in Thailand, it's really part of the fun!

It will depend on what plan you subscribe to / what speed you pay for.

I know a resort in Pranburi that has installed the CAT Fiber2u fiber optic with a 40 mbps download / 10 mbps upload package, and it is awesome. It actually bursts in the first few seconds up to 80, and uploads burst to 30. After a few seconds they realize that we are speeding and the throttles kick in.

Packages are available up to 100 mbps.

So the potential will be there for you to have greatly improved speed if you want to pay for it. They probably won't give you any big increase for free.

Thanks for this, bino.

This morning a fellow from CAT, our ISP, arrived and informed us that they are changing all the lines in our area (San Pisua) to fiber optic cables (unlike other ISP's, they run separate lines for phone and internet use). No charge for this change, he said. When I asked if this would result in a higher connection speed he replied, "As luck would have it." Although I think his use of the expression was slightly off, and that he meant that it depends on our luck, I found it amusingly eloquent!

Has anyone else had such a visit, or an idea of whether this will improve our current connection speed? We were planning to switch to TOT fiber optic and now don't know what to do/think.

Thank you.

Thanks for the website. Which of these would you recommend? http://yunnansourcing.com/en/6634494-pu-erh_tea

I'd go with their "house brand" (Yunnan Sourcing on the menu). Scott goes to the independent growers and chooses the best quality and value teas he finds.

Local teas are really hit and miss--mainly miss. I'd suggest ordering from Yunnan Sourcing, (website of the same name) run by Scott Wilson, an ethical dealer who has lived in Yunnan (the source of Puer) for years and really knows his teas. Excellent quality, small quantities available, good pricing, and reasonable shipping from Kunming to CM-- only takes a few days. I've never had it hit with duty at this end.

My favorite is "galok", meaning "skull", for a bottom bracket.

Hey, since there are so many tea drinkers on this thread I'd like to take the opportunity to ask how you have fared with customs. With food supplements I think under 70 USD and two kilos raises the likelihood of getting past customs without getting dinged, although there are random checks so one can never be sure. I have already recieved two pu'erh bings of 357 grams each, one from teaspring and the other from a vendor in Shanghai, but I would love to make a larger order to my new favorite vendor, in Kunming of say, 140 USD and between two and three kilos. Am I just asking to be flagged?

I just received a shipment of tea last week from the East India Tea Company in London. Four 200g tins, a bit over $100 USD and slipped right in with no Customs duties charged.

Excellent, a hundred bucks worth slipped through. I ask because the shop I'm going to order from charges a lot of postage as soon as you put one item in your cart, but it gets relatively more reasonable as you add things. He has low prices, though. FYI, it's Yunnan Sourcing, an American in Kunming and in a month of reading obsessively about Pu'erh I've found he has a high reputation for being very informative and helpful with questions. He carries 45 varieties of what Westerners call black tea (but the Chinese call it red?).

I met Scott of Yunnan Sourcing in the Kunming wholesale tea market about eight years ago. Nice guy and very knowledgable. Pu-erh is his specialty but the other teas he sells are also interesting, such as the Dan Cong Oolong from Guangdong. Good prices and service--I highly recommend him. I've received several 2 kg. shipments from him and never was charged customs duties.

You are probably talking about "Ma lee" tea or Jasmine tea in English.? World famous made in Fujian China only. Thai tea is western style tea including the Raming company. They make tea western style.

I am a tea drinker. My favourite local tea is Mien Lee tea. It has quite an unusual flowery aroma and it is grown in Thailand. There is very little information about this tea on the Internet, but it is available everywhere in the Chiang Mai province. The tea culture in Thailand is Chinese, so what you get here are Chinese teas, especially Oolongs and green teas. I am not very much into Oolong, and the regular green teas from Mae Salong and other tea growing areas are of mixed quality. There are pretty good ones and also pretty awful ones. It's essential to try before you buy. As for fermented/black teas, I haven't seen any decent one yet that could be used for anything else than tea/milk shakes. Personally, I like Jasmine tea and the white teas offered by some local companies. Unfortunately, the white ones cost about three times as much as the greens. The Raming company, probably the oldest and biggest tea company in Chiang Mai, produces some quite decent green teas, in addition a lot of commercial mid range teas. They have a tea house in the city and an outlet on Rd. 107 where one can taste and buy their teas. Then there is the pink gourmet tea shop on Charoen Rajida Rd. next to the river (18.791537, 99.002742). I am surprised that nobody mentioned it yet. They have a great choice of imported teas, scented and unscented, and they market their own blends, some of which are pretty awesome. I was positively surprised by their green Earl Grey (bergamot scented) tea, for example.

Cheers, CM-Expat

No, he is referring to hom muen li, meaning fragrant for 10,000 li (a Chinese unit of distance, less than a kilometer), which like jasmine (mali in Thai) is a flower added to the tea to give it a fragrance beyond that of the tea itself. Very nice, but isn't adding another fragrance, like jasmine or bergamot, a bit of admisssion that the tea is not really the best qulaity leaf? The best oolongs have floral fragrance that comes from the tea leaf itself.

Still, what you like is what is good!

Scrolling back, I see other anwered before I did on the hom muen li. Oh, the humiliation. Lot's of good ideas here, I've been buying Mae Saong Oolongs for 15 years--quality varies and high price is no guarantee of success. I now get the Doi Number 17, also known as gan on, or soft stem for 130 Baht per 100 gram vacuum sealed bag. Main shop located on the southeast corner of CMU.

You are probably talking about "Ma lee" tea or Jasmine tea in English.? World famous made in Fujian China only. Thai tea is western style tea including the Raming company. They make tea western style.

I am a tea drinker. My favourite local tea is Mien Lee tea. It has quite an unusual flowery aroma and it is grown in Thailand. There is very little information about this tea on the Internet, but it is available everywhere in the Chiang Mai province. The tea culture in Thailand is Chinese, so what you get here are Chinese teas, especially Oolongs and green teas. I am not very much into Oolong, and the regular green teas from Mae Salong and other tea growing areas are of mixed quality. There are pretty good ones and also pretty awful ones. It's essential to try before you buy. As for fermented/black teas, I haven't seen any decent one yet that could be used for anything else than tea/milk shakes. Personally, I like Jasmine tea and the white teas offered by some local companies. Unfortunately, the white ones cost about three times as much as the greens. The Raming company, probably the oldest and biggest tea company in Chiang Mai, produces some quite decent green teas, in addition a lot of commercial mid range teas. They have a tea house in the city and an outlet on Rd. 107 where one can taste and buy their teas. Then there is the pink gourmet tea shop on Charoen Rajida Rd. next to the river (18.791537, 99.002742). I am surprised that nobody mentioned it yet. They have a great choice of imported teas, scented and unscented, and they market their own blends, some of which are pretty awesome. I was positively surprised by their green Earl Grey (bergamot scented) tea, for example.

Cheers, CM-Expat

No, he is referring to hom muen li, meaning fragrant for 10,000 li (a Chinese unit of distance, less than a kilometer), which like jasmine (mali in Thai) is a flower added to the tea to give it a fragrance beyond that of the tea itself. Very nice, but isn't adding another fragrance, like jasmine or bergamot, a bit of admisssion that the tea is not really the best qulaity leaf? The best oolongs have floral fragrance that comes from the tea leaf itself.

Still, what you like is what is good!

SYM dealer is on the Super Hiighway, heading south just before Big C Extra. Small place--look for the motorcycles parked in front.

I have a 22 year old Toyota Mighty X with a petrol (benzine) engine. Since benzeine had gotten harder to find, and expensive, relative to the gasohol fuels, I was thinking of having my engine modified to use them. I've heard something about just chagning some rubber fuel lines to plastic. Do any of the experts know what really needs to be done, a rough price, and above all, will my dear old mighty x be OK with the gasohol fuels?

Thank you.

One of our son's dearest friends at NIS--we are all crushed by this.

Sail in the stars fine young man.

Condolences to your family.

As mentioned just above, there is a new version of the Sym 300i GTS EVO with 278 cc engine, larger front fork, 14 inch front wheel and greatly increased HP of 29, rather than 23. The bike is shown on the Sym Taiwan website under "New Sym 300i Evo/Joymax. I'd hate to buy the current 23 HP model and have this new one show up a month later.

Suspect identified, according to this article Thai language article. Still at large, believed to be in Hat Yai:

http://www.manager.co.th/South/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9550000129954

Half way down Chang Moi Road where it turns slightly to the left, on the right side of the street next to the shop selling mountain bikes. Name of shop Sampong or something similar. Have the YSS gas shocks, Yoshimura exhausts and will modify PCX variators for increased speed.. Lots of fancy stuff to "improve" the bike's appearance as well.

I think the price you saw was in Chinese yuan. Usual China Eastern price from CM to Kunming round trip is about 14000 THB

I like watching the ITV highlights--excellent commentary. This and other versions are available here:

www.cyclingtorrents.nl

Thanks for posting this, I wonder what they charge for the rims and tires. I think I would like to do this with mine.

They are selling the standard Lifan 200 cross for 46 K Baht and the modified version for 51 K.

It will make it slightly more torquey and top speed will suffer a bit. Obviously cornering on dry pavement will improve. And unless compensated, the speedo will show slightly faster than actual, also making the odometer inaccurate.

Aesthetically, I have to say the difference in tire sizes is just awful looking.

.

Thanks for your ideas. The front tire in the photo attached is flat--could that be what causes it to appear odd to you?

Greetings,

I just saw this Lifan cross 200 modified with smaller wheels (18 front and 15 rear) at the Chiang Mai dealer. The tires are also not the knobby type. I sat on it and it feels much more stable for this 5-10 inch body than the stock 18 rear 21 front wheels. Could anyone please offer their thoughts on how this modification would effect performance? Does a smaller rear wheel mean more torque and less speed?

Thank you.

That's Cherry Bike on the Doi Saket Road on the left heading out of town, just past a big green bulding that sells pet supplies. About 100 meters before the first ring road stop light.

Tel: 053 380 229.

The picture show Pu'er compressed tea from Yunnan in China. A company called Yunnan Sourcing offers a good selection of it by mail order. I don't think anyone in Mae Salong (Chiang Rai's tea town) is compressing their tea, which is usually the small leafed variety, not the same type of tea used to make Pu'er.