BarnicaleBob

I've never been to LP so now I'm starting to plan a trip to there. So far my plan which is flexible depending on feedback here, is to drive to Chiang Khong, cross the river to Housy Xay, take a slow boat down river to LP. We will spend a few days there seeing the sights then take a bus back to Housy Xay and cross back to Thailand.

Anyone have any input to this plan or a better way to do it?

What are some of the best ways to travel to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai?

I would like to avoid flying if possible so what are the other ways to get there?

All sovereign countries must solve their domestic tasks on their own," he said.

So I guess the Ukraine and Georgia do not count as sovereign countries?

There is a growing population of Russians in Thailand, Could it happen here?

Thailand should be careful when dealing with this man, there are so many Russians living in certain areas of Thailand they might decide to secede and seek to be part of Russia. That seems to be happening a lot lately.

To find to office, look for the lane that runs along side of McDonalds and follow it all the way back (about 100 meters of less) and you will see a building on your right with a small parking area in front. Go inside and ask for Khun Kan, she speaks English and should be able to find you a house that fits your needs in that moo baan.

I also have a Garmin and have found it to be superior to other GPS systems I've had over the years here in Thailand. Your Garmin nuvi 3597 should have four free updates a year for life. It will inform you when to check for updates at the beginning of each quarter of the year. You should have received a cable with it when you purchased it that can link it to your computer to get the updates from Garmin's Internet site. The cable has a USB plug on one end for your computer and a fitting on the other similar to ones that link cell phones to plug into your Garmin.

The first time you use it to link up it should download a Garmin program into your computer to manage updates for you. Good luck with your Garmin and enjoy.

Secondly, he may be a Kurd because what type of person was claiming refugee status 15 years ago. If memory serves that was a long time before shock and awe and Saddam was still the boss.

As the the BB gun that is just schoolboy stupidity as is not stopping when asked to.

His name is not Kurdish but he could have been one of the many Iraqi Muslims who crossed Saddam Hussein before 911. He may be one of the many Sunni Muslims that were fleeing Iraq during the time before Saddam's regime fell.

This afternoon while driving into Chiang Mai on the 118 (road from Chiang Rai) I counted 13 cars with Chinese license plates on them heading into the city. Since they finished the super highway from China to the Thai Laos border I been seeing more and more of these cars. Earlier this month some were driving through my moobaan looking for houses to buy. There here

I think the AEDs are a good idea as long as they are placed in locations where workers in that area are given a little bit of training on it's use. In the later part of my career I was issued an AED to carry with me in my work vehicle, I had only a few hours of training on the day they issued them to us. I did use it on two occasions in the following years and I am sure that the life of two people were saved because of it because in both cases rescue and ambulances took ten or more minutes to respond. These are simple machines to use and have step by step instructions on them, some models even have voice instructions that guide you through the process. Anyone could use them and if they have a couple of hours training all the better. Even if a person messes up in using an AED it is better than doing nothing at all, at the very least it increases the chance of survival of the victim.

Whenever I have something minor that maybe just needs a few stitches I go to the local government hospital, I live in Doi Saket so that mean the Doi Saket hospital. Last time I went there I was giving a ride to one of my American neighbors who had sliced open his hand and needed about six stitches. His total bill including meds came to 250 baht. On another occasion I had surgery at Lanna Hospital but needed to have my surgical sight cleaned and redressed every day for a few days, I went to the Government hospital in Doi Saket and each time they cleaned and dressed my wound I was only charged 50 baht.

I live in the Chiang Mai area and my wife employs a live in maid. Over the years she has always had a Burmese maids and provides a nice room with TV, nice bed and furniture as well as free meals. She has always started them off at between 5,000 and 5,500 baht a month topping out at about 6,000 or a little more after they have been there a while. From what I hear from my friends that is about average in this area.

This happened to a friend of mine. He had a million baht Thai life insurance policy and died about two years after he took it out. He was intoxicated and walking along a mountain road near his home. He slipped and fell off the edge then off a cliff to his death. The insurance company refused to pay based upon his blood alcohol level at the time of his death (determined by blood alcohol tests during his autopsy). In small print the policy had an exclusion for dieing when intoxicated. They paid nothing to the widow. So if you get a policy here read it carefully and you can be assured if the circumstances of your death do not meet what is in the policy your beneficiary will not be paid.

You might want to check with your hotel as many of them have a free airport pick-up service.

Theres sweet FA at Lopburi except the famous monkeys and no nightlife worth a look for a few hours though.......go for Ayutthaya but dont forget to book the sleeper train well in advance, you cant hop off, hop on trains here with one ticket.

However, the other alternative if youre adventurous, is to simply wait for the train to derail, then you'll have to get off....it does this most days in random locations....who knows what exciting undiscovered corner of thailand youll end up in :-)

The BKK to Chiang Mai train does not derail every day, it is only once every week or two. Don't worry it goes so slow that the passengers are rarely receive anything more than minor injuries. Nice adventure in itself. Or you could take a bus and be in Chiang Mai in less than half the time it takes the train. Ayuthaya is the only place along the way worth stopping for. The other places have so little to offer you will quickly be bored especially if you are traveling by yourself without someone to translate for you.

Thank you everyone for all the input, I'm kind of new to this type of technology and appreciate the help. Yes, it is a 64 gB microSD card that I'm looking for but meeting a guy on the street just seems a little shady to me so I will stick the the stores recommended. Thank you everyone.

Does anyone know a place that sells 64 GB simcards in the Chiang Mai area? And prices if you know.

I have a Garmin GPS and my new car has an Alpine GPS built in the dash. On a trip from Chiang Mai to Roi Et I plotted my course on both and they gave me two different routes to take. Upon studying why this happened I found that the different routes were caused by different settings in the two GPS systems. If you go into settings you will see options as to how you wish to travel such as Scenic, Highway, or back roads. If one GPS is set to something other than what the other is then you get two different routes.

I find my Garmin GPS to have more options and it gives better information than the built-in Alpine. When traveling on long trips my car's dashboard looks a little crowded with the video camera, the Garmin GPS and the Alpine GPS all on at the same time. I take advantage of having two GPS devices by setting one for a close up view so I can see all the side streets and the other GPS set to show the route from further back.
By the way they both give me the same speeds and locations as I travel.

Macro also sells the ¨Roys¨ brand smoked bacon. 275baht per kilo pack. I have found it quite tasty with the only down side being that you really have to eat it all within 3 to 4 days. I always thought bacon would keep longer as its basically preserved by the salt.

Maybe they use a different method here..... chemicals and flavors only? I shudder when I think about it. However that said, I still like Roys bacon.

I agree with Macro in the frozen meat department, one Kilo for 275 seems like the best deal to me. Also it is frozen so I only defrost what I plan on using for two or three days and leave the rest to defrost later as I need it. This works well for me.

I was in Beijing last week and flew in and out on a major Chinese airline. both coming and going I was amazed by the behavior of the Chinese passengers. It was like musical chairs once we were in flight. Their normal talk sounds like yelling by our standards and there was a lot of that as many of them were standing in the isles yelling at each other. I was sitting in a isle seat and the man next to me had to get up every ten minutes to go talk to somebody. In time he asked me to move and I told him it would be up to stewardess. So he asked her and she was very embarrassed as she asked me if I would like another seat. I was happy to move but I ask for and got a window seat. From that point on it was just a show watching all the clowns do their thing.

In one case there was a middle aged couple with their 20 something year old son. The son demanded that his dad stand in the isle so he could lay down across the seats. The dad spent the better part of the five hour flight standing. The spoiled brat even loudly chewed out his dad for waking him up when the food came.

So this was two flights and in both cases the Chinese on board acted like children on a school bus trip.

Back in the day up until 1985 cops could shoot any person who was in the process of committing a felony who resisted in ANY way. Sine the law changed felons have become a lot more dangerous because they feel they have to right to physically resist arrest or attack a police officer. Bring the old law back and felons may think twice before they attack a police officer. Yes, striking, grabbing or any physical attack on a police officer is and always has been a felony. Hundreds of police officers die every year in America because of this do not take their right to defend themselves.

I've been there a few times and spent two days in ICU one of those times. Service seemed very good and the bill was reduced by 50% for cash or credit card payment vs insurance.