Johpa

As one who does not yet qualify for Medicare but who has a rare cancer with very pricey treatments options, I have at long last changed my avatar dating from, well from forever, to that of my new hero, Kathy Griffin, the only person who had the balls to speak the truth of this total douche bag of a human being.

6 hours ago, elektrified said:

Things have changed. Camping is a huge fad now. Many wealthy families from Bangkok come to go camping. There have been many articles recently.

Yes, you can find them in droves up around Mon Jaem, where it is a sea of bright tents (thalae tent) where many families go as well as young couples trying not to make too much noise at night so as not to teach the younger children of the families too much about nature.  Mon Jaem has replaced the nearby old Erawan Resort as the Bangkok Chinese definition of communing with nature.  During the high season it is 500 baht per night but includes restrooms and showers.

For that money you can buy your own tent and go up to the far less crowded campgrounds lacking Bangkok folks at places like Pha Hom Pok north and high above Fang, or a bit closer Khun Khan National park west of Samoeng. The Forestry Department also has some very basic cabins for rent around the north, really not much difference from tent camping.  Ask about Phu Chi Pheu off the 4009 northeast of Khun Yuam, perhaps the most spectacular view in all of Lanna Land.

So why not just rent a big bike one day a week to practice and hone your skills and rent a more appropriate 250 to tour the back roads of Lanna Land.  We are looking at the beginning of the high season so you won't get much in the way of discounts for a long term rental of a "big bike".  Another option is to buy and then sell.

To soften a request I might just begin the statement with ขอ.

The idea that the Kurds have some sort of foreign master is laughable. They do have allies where there are common enemies, but the Kurds have been fighting for independence for generations, long predating any foreign assistance.  There is no tail wagging this dog.  And in the Middle East it is well known that every dog has his day.

The Kurds suffer the same as do many peoples, such as the Tibetans, because they are out of fashion in the west among the liberal dogmas.  Nobody cares for those out of fashion. There have been few protests, no boycotts. Crikey, one of the few active NGOs in Kurdistan has been FBR out of Mae Sot. Neither the nation-states nor the real masters, the corporate masters, want to open up the can of worms of redrawing national boundaries when the aim is to eliminate such lines on the map. Such lines too often work against profits.

On 9/24/2017 at 5:52 PM, boomerangutang said:

How does Kushner stay under the radar so much?  It's like if Trump had a giant festering puss-swollen injury on his butt, but he acts like there's nothing there.  

It is rather easy to stay under the radar once Jared and his wife accepted the fact that they are, and always have been, irrelevant. Oh sure, there was a time early in the Trump era where even otherwise educated people were hoping that Jared and Ivanka somehow represented rational voices of influence in the White House and that they had something meaningful to contribute. But eventually the truth could no longer be hidden that Jared was nothing more than an inheritance slumlord and that Ivanka was indeed the stereotype of a vacuous blonde. Best that Jared stay under the radar and go back to being a slumlord and money launderer. Jared is not the sharpest tool in the shed and Ivanka is not the brightest crayon in the box.  Although once Jared gets sent up to the big house, he might have the achiest hiney around.

I meant to do this last year but forgot. So close to today marks the 21st anniversary of the passing of Gwyn Williams, the first linguist to be active online on the old. soc.culture.thai (SCT) usenet group.  Gywn taught at Thammasat. I only spoke directly to him once but we had many e-mail conversations and of course there were the numerous discussions on Thai language on SCT. He was a good-hearted person and it was a shame the world lost him to disease at such a young age. Here is to your spirit Gwyn.

I think most places would be open on Sundays. I like the folks at Burning on Kaew Narawat, just east of the bridge on the left when heading east. If you already have the new tires then there are countless small shops that can swap out the tires for you.

Going in-country on Non-O (marriage) but need total of 120 days.  Wife will not be with me at time of renewal. Can I (1) do turn around at border (Mae Sai), or (2) get a 30 day extension at immigration (still one full day for me in CNX but without all documents as we keep original documents with wife and she will be in the US),  or (3)  should I just take the easy but more expensive way (I am fixed income and not much of that) and fly somewhere else for a few days? My first choice would be to ride up to the Mae Sai region to visit friends and family, but my understanding is that I would only get a 15 day extension and I will need a full extra month extension.

3 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

reducing the corporate tax to a 25% and getting rid of all deductions would result in a huge tax revenue increase for the federal government.

Given that the Federal government wastes such a large percentage of revenue on defense spending, there is no real benefit to the larger economy by increasing tax revenue. It would not grow the economy in that it would not increase aggregate demand for goods and services.  And it would not address the costs, social and otherwise, of economic inequality. The entire concept that reducing taxes on corporations and the upper income brackets will grow the economy is simply a preposterous lie foisted upon the naive masses. The economy is more likely to grow by lowering the taxes on the lowest 80% who spend the bulk of their income simply to maintain a modest lifestyle.

Sounds more like you are looking for less than decent ladies willing to please someone who clearly can not find a soulmate in the west for, I am afraid to say, clearly obvious reasons. Given the paucity of any substantial red light district in CNX, I would advise you to return immediately to Bangkok or Pattaya to avoid having to confront your personal reality.

I always found the UN Irish Pub to be rather sedate and laid back with a fairly agreeable clientele. But then I only go there to watch US football so perhaps the rabble that you refer to is mostly missing during my visits.

My apologies posting before coffee.  It was Eddie, not Freddie, who was an old pal from decades ago who went into the monkhood years ago. He was one of the few Farangs who made it to my wedding up in the hills.

Fast Freddie is now making merit in Fang??  Anyone know which temple?

Encroachment in Tambon Mae Raem?!?  Tell me it is not true.  But I daresay the person behind this particular encroachment is not as powerful as the people behind the encroachment at Mon Jaem, although perhaps they are on par with every other resort atop the mountain with "Mon" in the name.  Meanwhile the head of the sub-district, recently upgraded to a municipality (thetsabaan) is probably preoccupied with more, uh, domestic issues.

8 hours ago, Thailand said:

You are wrong.

Not a matter of wrong or right, just a matter of opinion. But I also tend towards Doi Inthanon being overrated. Better, IMHO, to move on towards Mae Chaem and spend the day exploring a far more traditional Lanna district than you will find near Chiang Mai.  Go over to the gt-rider website where David has posted his meanderings in the area including some great temples and some traditional craft centers. Or keep going to Mae Nachon and spend the night along the river at Hot Coffee where the proceeds go to provide dorm facilities to hill kids who attend school away from their villages. If you want high mountains then go spend a night literally on the river up at Thaton and take a day to visit the second highest mountain in Thailand, Pha Hom Pok. Take the largely paved road ( 3037) from north of Fang looking for the brown sign (in Thai) noting "little village in the large forest".  Be sure to check your vehicles brakes, a very steep road.  Again, just my opinion. I mean Doi Inthanon is maybe worth one visit on a nice day in the slow season, it is a little nice if no crowds, but it is overrated.

I know all three villages well.  Its a tough life up there. Village #12 is a Lahu village and village #13 is a Karen village.  I hope everyone is safe. There was one ex-pat in village #13, a Brit if memory serves me right.

Crikey, one section of the loop road (3037) to the second highest mountain in Thailand, Pha Hom Pok, begins just out of town along the northern segment of the Fang bypass ring road. But that stretch is unpaved. You can catch the paved road (check your brakes as it is steep)  to the top just north of Fang at Baan Huai Pa Sang.  Look for the brown tent and camping signs.  Although only the second highest peak, the views and the Royal Project up top puts Doi Inthanon to shame.  It is the only national park worth the price of Farang admission.  But yes, like just about every large town of Fang's size in Thailand, Fang is a pretty dull place to live for an ex-pat unless you have strong Thai speaking skills, and even then you will probably get bored with Fang itself eventually.  Like most of Thailand outside the tourist centers, unless you marry into the community you will be like a fish out of water,

Better to stay up in the Thaton area as Thaton always has a mix of Thai, ex-pat, and tourist visitors, a hidden gem as long as you get out of Thaton in the daytime.

If it is US football you are talking about then the UN Irish Pub is a decent place. Games are delayed so you need to look at their website to see which games are being shown at which time.  Also, since games are on a delayed broadcast, you need to stay off the Internet for a day or so to have the experience of not knowing who is going to win. I always go by myself and usually meet affable folks at the table, often folks younger than myself. I do avoid the one or two faces I recognize from photos here on ThaiVisa.

On 8/11/2017 at 11:35 PM, Deserted said:

Modern English was more than 500 years away from coming into existence at that time. I think you guys need some background in applied linguistics. You might want to go beyond wikipedia to define what a creole actually is,

 

Actually Wikipedia has a decent article on creole languages and includes the various controversies endemic to the subject. It even has a link to the Middle English Creole hypothesis in the list of creole languages.

1 hour ago, barmatt said:

I've seen the opium poppies openly grown in the fields when I was there in 2013. Dont know which district it was but around where the royal palace is.

Odd, I haven't seen any poppies within sight of a paved road, less near a royal palace, in about 20 years or more.

The road to Pai had significant sections repaved and widened just last year or so. The highway from CNX to Pai is not the tight twisty road of legend. The narrow corkscrew turns that would test your sphincter muscles are long gone. Just stick close to the shoulder and don't rush and you will be quite safe.  Dozens of newbie scooter drivers do the road daily without incident.  There are now countless places to stop for coffee so take your time and enjoy the views.

They use to send them to Khun Yuam.  I wish someone would relocate me to Nan.

Another Lanna classic is the Hong Tauw Inn on Nimman for traditional northern food.

Fifty-six retired U.S. generals, admirals and other senior officers can't all be wrong. The US military took a lead in racial equality and a slightly slower lead in gender equality. Meanwhile Trump continues to make America increasingly irrelevant on the world stage. The generals, admirals and other senior officers need to come out and speak the truth, that Trump himself is the number one threat to our national security.