kandahar

Yes, if you go by green bus and it rains, you'll still get wet. ADVENTURE!!

Thanks guys!

How many km from Chiang Rai to Mae Sai, how long would it take on a small bike?

Is it a smooth road and traffic not too bad?

I dunno the KM. About an hour or a bit less in the car? Your butt will think it was 12 hours by the time you return.

Nice road, fast traffic. Stay in the cycle lane or you'll get hit. Weekend traffic gets worse, during the week not too bad except for the beginning and the ends of the work shift hours.

Plenty of little places along the way to cool your heels for a bit.

You know, the little green bus isn't a bad deal. Of course, if you're after adventure, then the scooter thing will probably surpass the bus, but just barely. That bus ride can be a hoot sometimes.

A Chiang Rai resident was preparing to drive to the big city of Chiang Mai for the first time. He had been driving a pickup truck for years but he had heard something about Chiang Mai being serious about traffic lights. He called a friend in Chiang Mai and asked about the Chiang Mai procedure for traffic lights. The friend set him straight:

"When the light is green, it means that all of the Chiang Mai people can go."

"When the light is yellow, it means that the BKK people can go."

"When it is red, it means that the Chiang Rai people can go."

The Chiang Rai man thanked his Chiang Mai friend for the advice and set off for Chiang Mai with confidence.

Upon arriving in the big city, he soon came to a green light. He stopped for the light and marveled at the flow of traffic and was impressed with how many of the drivers were from Chiang Mai. Soon, the light became yellow and he watched the small number of drivers who proceeded and thought it was fitting that so few drivers in Chiang Mai were from BKK. At last, the light turned red and off he went. He was halfway through the intersection when a red faced BIB began blowing his whistle, waving his arms and motioning to him.

As the Chiang Rai driver drove past the cop, he smiled and waved and shouted out his window, "IT"S OKAY!!! I'M FROM CHIANG RAI!"

The red traffic lights aren't an issue here. We ignore them. They are only for the out-of-towners.

Distributor- Sells large amounts at lower prices, facilitates bulk sales of product from the factory.

Dealer- Individuals sales, larger profit margin per item.

Perhaps I was a bit too obtuse.

If you're planning on undercutting the distributor, in their own market, than you very well can not buy from them can you? I would have thought that was obvious unless the train of thought was that the distributor was going to give a potential dealer helmets at cost and disrupt their own cash flow....

What I was suggesting was to attempt to subvert the established chain, which is obviously flawed in the traditional sense, and, if this is a serious inquiry about establishing a meaningful business, strike out on your own.

Perhaps a bit, but useful thoughts, still. Thanks.

Yes, in the distributor's mind in THIS case, they are looking to protect themselves in the RETAIL market. I find that an odd thing. We deal with quite a few distributors here and have only run into this one other time. It took six weeks of e-mails going back and forth from us and the overseas factory rep before the distributor finally called us and made nice. Truly, at first, the factory didn't believe what I was telling them and the distributor was smart enough not to put any of it in e-mails to us. But the factory did reply to me eventually saying all was fixed and and within minutes of that, the phone rang with the distributor calling us. We were establishing a fair deal with the distributor in minutes. And the distributor told the wife to tell me to never contact the factory with problems again.

Striking out on our own. We are working on it. So far, the factories do not want to go around their distributors and I'm not going to pay that big of a price to get it done. The wife doesn't want to be a distributor, only a dealer. I am sure they cannot work with us because of signed agreements with their distributors. We already step out there a bit on some of these deals just to get things done. Not looking for lawsuits, so we tread lightly.

Distributor- Sells large amounts at lower prices, facilitates bulk sales of product from the factory.

Dealer- Individuals sales, larger profit margin per item.

A little update.

As much as HJC sounds like a popular brand, things aren't looking good here. No significant dealer deals to be had from the distributor, no dealer support from the distributor, no extra product on consignment basis if a large chunk of money is spent with them and only have seven days from receiving date to return product if we feel it won't be a good seller. They have proposed several things that they say are their dealer-only deals but we can buy from another HJC dealer cheaper than we can buy the same models from the distributor. The distributor does offer another route, if we put 300,000 baht in their corporate bank account and leave it there in escrow against future orders but details about what we actually get for that deal are very, very vague. Hmm........

We will contact HJC Asian area head office in Korea and see if HJC corporate can't do something better for us. On some HJC models we looked at, you guys can get them cheaper via the Internet from our Thai dealer friend than we can buy them from the distributor. Hopefully, corporate is a little more interested in moving product.

As near as I can tell, the distributor sells more at retail from their Thailand website than they do to dealers and they would like to keep the profits coming in that way with no competition. I'm just making an observation there, not complaining. It is their investment, up to them what they do with it.

Other brands offer much better deals and a whole lot more support, including free returns on models that don't move. Shark is looking good for us right now.

Here is the link to TV classifieds, qualified with only the last ten days of advertisements. Have several folks listed there as having more than one rental available. Don' know if they are all Lanna Realty or not. Can do a search for even older ads and may find more.

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/ads/search/1/currency/5/day/10/county/10/ord/price/sens/asc/

There are lots of rentals around that are not listed here. Just need to spend a few days wandering around asking and looking. Many of the local rentals are listed on paper flyers on utility poles around here.

Here is the link for Chiang Rai Focus, the local Thai language website where lot of stuff gets advertised. If you have a Thai reader or if you know the language, maybe you will find something there.

http://www.chiangraifocus.com/

Welcome home.

Cheers SHS1.

Will check out todays skies, think a trip in the truck is a safer and drier bet.

I'm not sure what road SD took from the hot springs upriver to the bridge. The road/trail we took is not paved. I don't recall one meter of concrete road from that start point to the bridge. It was dirt, clay, and deep ruts with lots of nearly straight ups and downs and some places where we actually rode next to the road in the brush to by-pass ruts/gullies as deep as 18 inches. I think maybe he is remarking on the road from the first hot springs with the swimming pool, which is on the left as you drive upriver. We left the last springs on that route, which is on the right, sits right on the river bank and, as much as I can remember, is where the paved road terminates into that park. From that park on to the bridge, it is dirt. But perhaps there is another road, paved, that parallels that dirt track. And perhaps my memory is no good. Anyway, if you are thinking of going in the pickup on that dirt track past the last springs after this rain, I would advise against it. I suspect you would end up sideways at the bottoms of some of those sharp drops/inclines in the road.

Isn't this this same schlemiel who "doesn't respect farangs?"

And his criticism of the cruise line is ludicrous. The tuk-tuk drivers have about as much right to scam cruise ship passengers as I do to gang-bang Sutep's wife, video tape it and sell it to a porn site.

When the passengers do get scammed, they blame the cruise line (and could easily sue them - and win) and then guess what? The cruise line avoids Phuket next time.

His comments about foreigners scamming foreigners and Thais and foreigners scamming foreigners is pandering to the Thais listening who might bristle on the notion that they are anything but a nation of honest, hard-working, racist licentious hypocrites.

At least the leadership is maintaining the standards of ineptitude.

Re- read his full statement and get the whole story. He didn't blame the "cruise line", he blamed the tuk-tuks for blocking and preventing the passengers from using the tour buses that the tourist paid for. But added the tuk-tuk had just as much right as the tour operator. But the problem is the tuk-tuks rip off the tourist by over charging them. Two separate issues here.

The tuk-tuk drivers in that case didn't have ANY right. Buses and vans were pre-booked by the passengers and tour operators. They have no right to demand that a passenger who has already paid for one service, abandon a portion of that payment and use the Tuk-tuk service. Tuk-Tuk drivers are losing out to better marketing by wiser competitors. If they want the business, they need to be marketed better and, if half of what I read about the tuk-tuk operators is correct, then fat chance of them being portrayed as a better option by any marketing campaign.

They didn't only selfishly demand satisfaction where it wasn't due, they hurt a lot of other business operators who stood to gain by receiving tourist expenditures. It is the rest of the businesses who need to stand up to the tuk-tuk operators.

And of course, the law needs to be enforced.

I think that pic was taken from the guest house side, looking upriver. If it is, then that water to the right is very shallow. But to the direct left of the cameraman, across the river at the other bank, it where the eddy is.

Yes, Steve, it is a good thing you did not attempt the little road heading upriver from the springs during, or immediately after, the rain. That lengthy patch of clay will take a few days to dry out and you wouldn't want to be on it when it isn't dry. We would have to rent an elephant from the elephant camp to come get you and even the elephant wouldn't think much of that route when it is wet.

I can't say for sure, but I think the lower river in the city area is over-fished. But there is a lot more fish activity further upstream, so I believe it would be better. Had I had a rod, reel and my favorite Mepps Minnow lure on the day I was there, I would have waded and swam the short distance across the river to that eddy. The fish were definitely feeding hard while we were there.

The sandbar near the eddy is submerged, but you can observe where it is and see how it forces the water away from the bank and creates the calm backwater between it and the bank as the water passes it and then turns upstream along the bank until it reaches that big tree and its roots.

Go 1 1/2 blocks north of the new clock tower. On the right is a nice little bakery, good prices. This is in the vicinity of the Krung Thai Bank that is on the right also. Philippine lady owner, puts out a good selection every day and will bake breads to your specs if you order. Nice people. Get her business card when you stop in and then you can place your orders by phone before your trips to town. You don't have to worry about your favorites being sold out already if you do that.

She makes my special order hamburger buns for me and does a very good job of it. That product isn't something she normally sells but when I asked her about hamburger buns, she told me they could make them if they knew exactly what I expected in a bun. They tried two different recipes and came up with a very good one. Now she keeps that recipe with my name in her Rolodex.

This bakery is on the opposite side of the street as the huge market that is north of the clock tower. The market isn't showing up correctly on the pinned map, nor is the clock tower, but I would guess you know where the clock tower is.

I notice the new clock tower on the map has slid into the woods on the other side of the river now. The earthquake probably did that.

Thanks Kandahar. Could you possibly pin that village on CR map and I will head out there. Sounds like a great spot.

Cheers

Steve.

Open the pinned Google map.

http://maps.google.c...b6884458b352d35

Find "Motorbike Bridge" in the left hand column list of sites. Click on it. That jumps the map to that point. That is the bridge, designated by a picnic table icon.

Just above that and to the left is another icon, a house with a flag on top. This is listed in the site column list as "Guest house My Dream". I believe that is where we had lunch.

So, if you stay on the opposite side of the river from the guest house (Hot Springs side) and make your way down to the river bank right there, you will see the protected pool of water. Of course, you could take the better road out there on the north/east side of the river, cross the bridge and make your way upstream to the same place. Or you can wade across the river at the guest house. I suspect there are numerous good holes as you work your way upstream.

FYI- The hot springs are on the map also, listed in the site column as "Tourist Hot Spring".

If you hit the satellite view button on the map when you are looking at My Dream Guest house, and zoom in all the way, you will see a little dirt road/trail follows the river right there on the opposite side of the river. Good access to the river from that trail.

Don't take a sedan car to that point from the hot springs. Motorcycle or jeep is okay. If you're taking a car, stay on the north/west side of the river. Better roads.

planemad, we are in Chiang Rai.

Garry, we don't plan to stock oil at this time. I don't know of anyone stocking the oil here in town. I'll keep a lookout, though.

Hello all.

Thanks again, for the posts and the info. We will try to use the info and your experiences to do the best thing.

kandahar

Thanks guys. Have done plenty of pond and lake but just never gave the river a go before. Will go on a reccy this week and try and find a nice spot with a bit of tree shade. Any suggestions?

On one of our recent motorcycle rides, we went to, and beyond, the hot springs. At one point beyond the springs, we turned right and crossed the river on a little suspended bridge, made a left and went immediately into a little village with a nice little resort. As I fooled around on the river bank at the resort, waiting for lunch, I was watching a small back-water eddy on the other side of the river. The little calm backwater area was alive with nice sized fish jumping, chasing and carrying on. There is a big tree growing half in, half out of the river right there. It has caused a small sandbar to form, trailing out away from it and the water swirls in behind it and back up to the tree. Obviously a nice sized hole there. I saw more fish activity there than I have seen in all of the other parts of the river combined. So, if it was me, I would definitely head upstream and get further away from the densely populated areas and expect to find a greater population of fish.

Since there was not a strong preference one way or another, it has beed decided to hold the APRIL 24 pot luck at the home of Lannaman. He volunteered and his home is located 3 kn east of CR so it is reasonably central. The format is the same only the location has changed, so bring all the same things you would bring to the other location. The idea is to place a minimum burden on the host. :jap: I will now leave it up to Lannaman to provide directions, hopefully a map, and a time.

Sounds good to me.

I am not so sure much of that huge rain we just had actually hit the ground. With the fierce winds pushing it, most of it seemed to be heading in a horizontal line for somewhere south of here.

Nice contributions of good info here, folks. Many thanks from us for taking the time.

We won't be selling Index. They are everywhere and there is no point in going head to head with the competition for so little payback. (as little as 100 baht per sale).

Difficult to sell REAL brand here and succeed because so many shops in our area sell them but only carry last year's models at much cheaper prices than current models and therefore, would seem to have much better prices than we could offer on the latest models. That is comparing apples to oranges but a lot of people don't see that. Last year's models of ANY brand is much cheaper than the current models. There is also difficulty in offering replacement face shields for the older models. Those seem to go out of production quickly and then the helmet can be thrown to the bin because of an unserviceable shield. We don't want to carry anything that we don't have replacement shields / lenses for.

Most of the branded models we find for sale in shops around here are several years old already and there are no replacement parts available. I ran into that predicament when I bought my helmet. I could find nothing on it that indicated the YOM. I asked and was told it was a new model. I asked about replacement face shields and was told that they could be ordered in one week. A couple of months later I was back, asking for a replacement. They couldn't order it, nor can any shop in this area. I have tried all of them. The model is so old, it isn't in any of the catalogs for the last few years.

Our customers come from pretty much across the board. No one group is more representative of our sales than another. We get a little bit of everybody looking for hard to find things and we aren't interested in competing for the baht of the masses. The places that do that are everywhere and they come and go as quickly as they can open the doors and then be replaced by the newest noodle shop. We're trying to offer what is uncommon here, while maintaining stock that is desirable and a good value. Helmets will only be a portion of the big picture for us.

We will look into these suggestions and see what we can come up with.

I REALLY appreciate your help. Nice folks on here.

Piyaporn Place has secured parking for your car, within short walking distance to the shopping area. Motorcycle taxis, buses and Tuk Tuks available EVERYWHERE if you get overloaded with packages. If the main street hotel is full, they have another, larger one behind that a few blocks. Just ask. You can do an Internet search for the phone number. In the neighborhood of 1,500 baht this time of year, I think. Maybe cheaper.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/410161-accommodation-february-mae-sai/page__p__3977839__hl__piyaporn+place__fromsearch__1#entry3977839

Haven't been impressed with Farang food anywhere in Mae Sai so don't know what to advise about that. We always stick with the local fare because of the lack of decent choices in the other category.

Hi all. For any of you who would feel inclined to offer us a little help in our selection of a good helmet product for our shop, please read on.

We are looking to stock a brand of motorcycle helmets in our shop. Maybe two. Getting into stocking of helmets is a major step for us. With that in mind, please post some advice on what brand of helmets you would like to see stocked in a Thailand shop. We really don't want to invest in a brand that is so expensive and "niche' that is doesn't move or satisfy a fair sized group of shoppers. We don't want to stock something that is so cheap it can be found in every cycle shop in Thailand, nor do we want to stock helmets that are not approved by the major safety councils.

One other note: Shark brand helmets has offered us a decent deal. I don't know anything about the brand's popularity but it appears that they are an approved helmet in Thailand and the ones on offer here are actually made in a Thailand factory, which is something we would like to support.

So, what's on your head? And why?

Thanks for any input on this subject.

Hi Khun Orang

Here's my wife's take and to warn you she tends to assume things not in evidence.

She doesn't see it as an insult but the last gasp of a father who is at the end of his tether. An "I've had enough" gesture by someone who doesn't wish to insult his daughter nor physically hit her. Something we might consider a "cutting of the cord" gesture as to say "you're on your own now, as I've done all I can". As I say my wife likes to make assumptions and she's already put hersef in the shoes of this man and she feels sorry for him. She also says she can well understand how the daughter may see it as a curse but she doesn't believe that was the intention at all. FWIW

Agree Lannabirth.

I spoke about this with my wife who has been brought up very conservative. She told me the father does not know anymore What to do and the gesture means: I forgive you, please come back as a good girl.

He does Not want to argue or hit his daughter... Very simple... he is the father we all want to have. Loving and modest but clear.

I can assure you that you're not speaking for "we all".

In this tired old world, lots of youth benefit only from a "freight train" approach to maintaining order and respect in a household and/or family. One mold doesn't fit all.

Took a ride today. Thanks to the Harsu gang for showing us the way to some cool stuff. I hope they can go on future trips with us. They are good company.

Riding, sightseeing, eating, drinking coffee, self guided tour at Doi Chang and visiting. What a complete day. We didn't get wet. Took in the zoo, the reservoir and the reservoir dam, DC, the bakery and, up high, took in some smoke when the mountain was burning. Two of the more adventurous riders struck out for home the back way from DC. I'll give that a route a try next time, in the not too distant future.

Great company today, as always. We were missing a few of the previous riders and gained a few new companions on this ride. Super people to spend time with, all of them.

Thanks for sharing the trip photos.

It reminds me of our visit when we say you both :jap:

You'll have to make a trip with us one of these days. Always a nice day of getting to know people. For me, it really is about the folks more than anything else.

Quote: "Rough old route but we made it through alive, Lman had Juppy really worried at one point!

Hit Crai at 4.10, and we enjoyed a well earned cup of Earl Grey at Chez Lman.

Great day, great company, great old elephant to decend. You others missed some great scenery too when the old peepers weren't on the track!

Nice pix Woraphat, will post mine when I have time."

Yes, jubby said that back way had some excitement. I suspect we will go to DC via that route towards the end of the month if the trail isn't too wet. He said it would be a mistake to try it when it is raining. Am looking forward to the scenic views we missed.

If your scooter did well on that route, I suspect the Phantom will fare well also. What about 2 up on that one? Good idea or not?

Took a ride today. Thanks to the Harsu gang for showing us the way to some cool stuff. I hope they can go on future trips with us. They are good company.

Riding, sightseeing, eating, drinking coffee, self guided tour at Doi Chang and visiting. What a complete day. We didn't get wet. Took in the zoo, the reservoir and the reservoir dam, DC, the bakery and, up high, took in some smoke when the mountain was burning. Two of the more adventurous riders struck out for home the back way from DC. I'll give that a route a try next time, in the not too distant future.

Great company today, as always. We were missing a few of the previous riders and gained a few new companions on this ride. Super people to spend time with, all of them.