kandahar

Pizza, calzones and other good dishes with meat and cheese can be found at Tree House. Great food, good service. It's on the Google Map.

That's right. All of us have to put up with a lot from that Scandinavian/Martian/Aussie/UK clique, so don't feel too bad, Brian.

Brian, I'll be stopping by to see you today, if you're going to be home.

Here's a little feedback.

I see on your website that you have on offer many Americian items. What is Americian? I have never heard of that word.

Go away Naam, I can hear them calling you in Outside the Box.

There's a good idea.

I will go scout out the CR beach area this weekend. Lots of paved area there and lots of shade. We, as a group, should be able to bring enough tables and chairs for a get-together. I have enough seating and table space for several people besides the wife and myself and I can quickly build some portable tables and benches for others but not for enough for everyone. If all contribute, it will work. Tailgates on trucks make good seating for some people.

Only one big pavilion in that area that I can think of, so, let us hope it doesn't rain if that ends up being the place to go. Away from the river and in the old flower shoe area, lots of shade trees are available.

There are pay-as-you-go toilets nearby.

Anyone wants to go with me for the look-around, just let me know. I'll be having a look at around 1:00 p.m. Will also see if any of the vendors there by the river are interested in "hosting" us.

The wife shared this story with me today.

Years ago, one of her friends left the nest and headed off to Pattaya to become a housewife. The girl had grown up here in CR and a lot of things in the big, new world were unknown to her.

She took to riding a bicycle around the neighborhood in her new hometown for sightseeing and shopping. One day, she saw some people making a movie. She had never seen anyone making a movie before but she had seen the Thai movies on television. Curious, she rode up and down, back and forth, watching the camera man and a few others who were there. She couldn't see any of the stars. She couldn't see any of the actors. But she persisted and kept riding up and down, back and forth, waiting for evidence of who was in the movie and what it may be about. She knew this would be big news back home in CR when she was able to tell the story.

After a long time, she decided to just ask the question and then she would know the answer. She asked the camera man what movie they were making. His reply: "We're not making a movie. This is not a movie camera. We are trying to survey here for a new road. Would you please take that bicycle and go somewhere else so I can see my guy at the other end?

Don't really want to start a new thread for this so here it is. Good things in CR- I heard from ImageDude a few days ago. He has his new leg and is learning to use it. Will return to here sometime after the new year. Overall, things are progressing for him. His words sounded upbeat and optimistic. He also says that our local good guy, Biff, is staying in contact with him. Thanks Biff. And thanks ImageDude, for the update. Wishing a speedy recovery to you. CR will be a better place with your return.

kandahar

You might also contact Don at Don's Restaurant. He can probably swing a nice BBQ for your gang on the outskirts of CR and he may well have some tour contacts that he is working with. You can send a PM to him from his profile page at this link-

http://www.thaivisa....-donaldbattles/

Wow! No input on this one.

canardo, there are lots of little tour outfits here in CR. I have no idea who is good and who is not. I would guess you could find a lot of the local ones on the Internet.

Better suggestion, though, is to make a day trip up here and scout it out. Talk with the operators and talk with their customers. Should be able to get a pretty good feel for what is what in a day's time. I think you would want to be pretty sure anyway before you committed your money and your people to a two or three day adventure like that.

If you come this way and don't know your way around, contact me. I can take you to a few of the bigger operators or set you up with a driver who will.

Have eaten at Vivien House several times in the last few weeks. We go with friends, order too much food and spend the evening sampling all of the different dishes that arrive. Every time is good but last night was exceptional. Four people ordered eight different dishes. Each item was outstanding. I don't know where they learned to cook but they learned well.

Lots of money is spent advertising lots of destinations in Thailand. CR is pretty low on the list of priorities because other sites have a lot more to offer and therefore, a better chance of attracting the travelers. They are looking at "bang for the baht". CR is a great attraction for the Thai tourists from the south and it doesn't need much advertisement geared towards those individuals. Thai folks in the south already know what CR has to offer them, which is cool weather, more than anything else. Not so much to offer the foreigners compared with other areas.

CM specifically has LOTS more hotel rooms available, as well as restaurants, tuk-tuks, taxis and the rest of the support network required for foreign tourists. It doesn't take a whole lot going on in CR to completely fill the hotels for a weekend here. In recent times, I have tried to secure a room for travelers here only to find that the only rooms left are the low end backpacker rooms and the very high priced (3,000 baht) luxury rooms. At those times, I have been told, "Come back next week. We're will have lots of empty rooms then."

Also, the advertising is geared towards filling the "licensed" hotels, who pay into the tourism bureau. The unlicensed ones aren't a concern because they are operating under the tax radar. Soon, according to the news, we will be seeing a crackdown on those unlicensed establishments. CM and the larger areas have lots more licensed hotels.

I saw the humor but missed the smiley face thing. Would have been just as funny had you done that to me.

Here is the media list that I know of. Thai language but web addresses aren't in Thai. Never seen any that are.

http://www.thaicongenvancouver.org/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=80#Media

Scroll down to Thai Media

Me too.

Would the moderator change the title of post to CR INTERNATIONAL FOOD GROUP and under comments FORMALLY POT LUCK

Thank You

What!?!? After all 27 of us Googled "potluck"? I don't think sooooooooo. I'm very anxious to sample whatever VF brings from the Meridian.

As Soap would say, "On!, ON!".

Makro sells hotdog and hamburger buns. Same brand as Big C, if I remember correctly. But, just like Big C, Makro is sold out of them more than they have them. So, just keep watching for them. And, ask what days and times the shipments of them come in. Then you know when to go. Also, be aware that they sell the buns in a package of five. I'm used to seeing them in a package of six. But not here.

Don't know what you mean about sweet Thai/American ones. American hotdog buns and hamburger buns are not sweet. I do find that most Thai breads are sweet. I dunno why they do that.

The bakery, Tourist Inn, on Jetyod Rd., makes hamburger buns. They are expensive, compared to the packaged ones at the supermarkets. But they are also the buns that are used by most of the better hamburger shops in town. Quite a bit of substance with those buns. If you ask them, they may well make hotdog buns for you. Perhaps they make them already and I just don't now about it.

I shopped quite a while for an A/c unit before buying in CR. EVERY shop that I talked with told me that to get an A/C unit that would also heat in the cold season, it would have to be the inverter style. We went with the inverter unit. Internet research showed that the payback on the extra cost would be between 2 and four years, depending on electricity costs and climate. So, either way, I couldn't see going wrong with the inverter. I also froze my butt off here two winters ago and wasn't looking forward to doing it again. So, cool air in the hot season, warm air in the cold season. With the research telling me the extra expense would be recouped in the savings from the efficiency of the thing, it was an easy decision for me. I'm not an expert. But I know what makes me feel good.

Cajole, tease, provoke, challenge. If at first you don't succeed, try something different. Maybe it is just too difficult or the map doesn't work all that well. Whatever, I thought I would give it a try. Also thought it would be interesting to see how spread out we are on the map. If it doesn't workout it is no big deal.

I have talked to others who said the same as Scorpio. Put themselves on, repeatedly, but it shows them elsewhere. They gave up.

Checked Central in CM tonight. They have only stainless steel and ceramic.

Nice to see you're down enjoying the delights of Chiang Mai. I have to admit after living there with my wife five years, the shopping was convenient and mostly good. Did you happen to see the brand of the ceramic knives?

The brand at Central is Kyocera.

4,000, 5,000, 6,000 a month for decent places are very do-able here. If you want to start going upscale, then raise the prices accordingly; the hi-so stuff is out there. The every-guy stuff is out there as well, at every-guy prices. However, I do know of one couple who were paying 10,000 a month for a crappy place with roof leaks, falling paint and a long drive to town. They went through an agency to get the place and just assumed that the agency was doing the best it could for them. It wasn't. It was doing the best it could for the property owners. The owner is who pays the agency, not the renter.

So far dindong, biff, and VF are the only ones I have seen on the Forum Map of members. Of course biff is on some faraway Island and not in the Rai per se. Why not add a few more map markers for Chiang Rai. This is not Sven's Map but the TV Forum Members Map, found under the Forums tab in the toolbar.

I see Garry put his marker on the map. Anyone else have the courage to contribute?

Cannot figure out how this has anything to do with courage.

Checked Central in CM tonight. They have only stainless steel and ceramic.

Don't forget to tell her about the lines that are painted on the roads. They are NOT for marking lanes, as some outsiders seem to think. They are actually fuel efficiency boosters. The government has bought special paint with magnetometers embedded in it and placed it in lines on the roadways. The magnetometers interact and communicate with the turbulator in each car engine to increase fuel efficiency. The best signal between the magnetometer and the turbulator is achieved by straddling any one of those lines. Dead center over any one of them works best.

Hi jubby.

Okay. Calm down, calm down. You want help, we're trying to help you.

It just so happens that I have another form available. Not sure where all of these forms came from but it appears that they are coming in very handy for you.

Now, today, we have on offer the 25,000 baht plate form. That may actually be what you're looking for. Of course, you lose some prestige every time someone with a 30,000 baht plate drives by you. But, as you're saving 5,000 baht on the plate, we up your prestige a little with a free gift of the little dangling dice cubes to hang from your rear-view mirror. Just let that 30,000 baht plate guy pass you and see that! Envy all over the place!

Let me know when you can stop by and pick up the form. The plate will run you 25,000 baht at the department of vehicles but we have to charge you 5,000 for the form. These things aren't cheap. You see? You really ARE getting a lucky number!

Now, I know what you're going to say and I can tell you here, no thanks is needed. Just buy me and the wife supper at the Meridian sometime and we'll call it even.

Hello jubby.

Maybe I can help you in your search as well. I happen to have an extra form for applying for the lucky number plates. This form will get you the 30,000 baht plate. I know you have two vehicles, so you can probably just photocopy the form and then fill out one for each vehicle. They will look really nice on your vehicles and will, no doubt, make your ride to any destination more stylish.

If there is anything else we can help you with, just post here. However, I feel kind of bad that you didn't ask in person while you were here the other day. There is no need to put your personal vanities on the public forum. Feel free to confide in me in private in the future.