kandahar

The smoke is back and it is thick today. Sad. Well, we had a few beautiful days, anyway.

I had the cheesy cheeseburger at "Nice Kitchen" yesterday. For my money, they do the best cheeseburger in CR. The burger is about the closest in CR that I have found to the kind of burger I grew up enjoying. I usually order two and they bring one for me to start on and then deliver the second one about five minutes later. They don't skimp on anything when they build the burger. The burger is a nice step up from the tot-sized burgers that most other cafes in town serve. The fries aren't bad, either. They do serve Thai dishes as well, which the wife always orders and they are very good but I go there for the burgers.

The American breakfast at Nice Kitchen is typical of the CR American breakfast except perhaps it is larger than most. Of course, the American breakfast doesn't include any fried potatoes or any of the sausages that one finds for breakfast in the U. S. Nice Kitchen serves, as do all others that I have found in CR, hot-dog style sausages. So, the American breakfast is about as American as the french fries in the U.S. are French. I think the lunch burger makes up for the mistakes they make with the breakfast.

I do know about the burger at the golf course by the old airport. When it is good, it is good but they aren't consistent. Sometimes it is great, sometimes it is a big disappointment. I hate taking chances on burgers. When I'm ready for a burger, I don't like disappointment. Nice Kitchen never varies on their burger, probably because the owner is the cook; there is no turnover of kitchen staff at the Nice Kitchen. Same quality, same service, every time. "Chance" doesn't enter into the deal at Nice Kitchen.

The cafe is on the pinned Google map. The location is Jedyod Road.

There used to be a locally made peanut butter available. The Belgian baker had it before he closed and I seem to recollect seeing it at Rimping (Airport) in Chiang Mai. It was really nice.

You might like to ask on the Chiang Mai forum.

I wouldn't hunt for it in CM but if I found it locally, I would give it a try.

It is easy enough to make. Many of the grocery stores at my old home have the grinder available to the shoppers. You can grind your own, fresh, in the store. You just put the little tub under the spout and turn the thing on. It grinds up the peanuts and fills the tub for you. But I find the cost of peanuts here would make the home-made stuff even more expensive than the product at Tops. Peanuts are pretty cheap back home.

I consider myself lucky to have tasted many varieties of Avos in San Diego (center of US cultivation) and Central America/Southern Mexico ( their ancestral home). Most of the Thai avos I have tried have been of the jungle lowland varieties (thin skin, less rich and oily) and of poor to average quality. Three years ago on a trip to Chiang Mai in November we bought various kinds of avos and one of them, from the central fresh market, was an absolute winner! Thin skinned but quite rich and with a great flavor. Had to be one of the best 10 kinds I ever had. Wish I knew how to get more (and yes, friends have sent us ones they bought by fast post - eat them right away!).

Avos are now much more expensive in California than before partly because many farmers have had to stop growing them in San Diego and Santa Barbara counties due to the high cost of water.

Sorry to hear that they got expensive in California. I recall stopping at roadside stands there in the early and mid 80's and getting 12 avocados for one dollar. That seemed cheap to me because they were 2 for one dollar where I lived. I also picked up almond butter at those stands on many of my trips to the coast and took several jars home. The California almond butter was way better than peanut butter but those produce stands in California are the only places I could ever find it.

I'm surprised that they don't have something along those lines, peanut butter or almond butter, here in Thailand. I buy peanut butter at Tops (expensive) but I think that type of food isn't well received by the locals. As many peanuts as they eat here, I would think peanut butter or a similar product would be a staple.

I asked several more people today. Apparently, the dry ice isn't used these days by many of the street vendors. It went out years ago and unless someone has an "in" with the distributors and gets it for free, they don't use it. One person I talked to gets hers from an ice-cream shop and that dry ice is shipped from the distributor with the ice cream that the shop sells to the public. That ice cream shop gives the dry ice to this woman because she is related to the owners. The only places in CR that my sources know of is the distributors of ice cream and I am told that they don't sell dry ice to the public. It isn't even used on the motorcycle routes these days. That practice ended, apparently, years ago. My original info came from my elderly in-laws and they don't get out much. At one time, dry ice was very common in CR. The common answer today for a place to purchase dry ice seems to be CM but nobody knows where in CM.

As Sceadugenga says, maybe the compressed gas place in town has some. I won't be filling my CO2 bottle until next week but when I do, I'll ask. My supplier is in the Ha Yeak area on Uttarakit Rd. but I don't recall the name of the company.

I recieved a popup indicating someone wanting to sell a PS 2 but when I went to my post there was not posting. Was this a PM I have read about? If so please educate me as I have not dealt with PMs before. Also could the person for sell please repost or PM again THANK YOU

Sorry I do not know how this happened. Did not do anything unusual. I note though that I cannot place visible cursor on window nor delete words for corrections.

Scorpio1945, scroll back up to the top of this page and look at the upper right side of the forum page that you are reading. You will see "My Controls". The last link on the right on that line is your message page link. It will read 0 New Messages or 1 New Message or something like that. Click on it and it will take you to your message inbox. You can click on the new message and it will open, allowing you to read your messages and reply.

The little pop-up thing that happened is your initial notification that you received a message and if you click on it, it also will take you to your inbox.

You are a helpfull guy. Thanks. Could you tell me how to send a PM?

I can help a little with this. I don't know all of the ins and outs. One way is to find a post from the user you want to contact. Their user-name is on the left of their post. Click on the little down-arrow next to their name. When you click on that arrow, a drop box opens. You have various options in the drop-box, one of which is "Send message". Click that and your message box opens with the poster's name already listed in the "to" box. If you don't want to lose the current post, right-click the "send message" button and you have the option of opening your message box in a new window or page. Fill in the subject, then type the message. I believe the "send" button is at the bottom of the page. You can choose to select the "keep a copy of this message" option or not.

I didn't get many good answers today. Almost everyone I talked to that uses dry ice says it comes from their own distributors in CM. This includes Swensen's. The one exception is a guy with a "silver bullet" style container that was using dry ice. He initially told me he gets it from a family member who works for one of the larger ice cream distributors. When I asked how I could buy it from them, he back-tracked, changed his story and then got too nervous to discuss it more. I assume a family member may be getting it for him under the radar, so to speak.

Swensen's in CR has dry ice for their own use but will not sell dry ice.

I asked another source about the mortuary thing. Not sure I asked the right person but I think she knows what goes on in this town pretty well and she did make a phone call to confirm her answer. She says in CR, the deceased are kept on real ice, not dry ice.

It seems that dry ice is made in CM and readily available there but not made in CR. I'm not fully convinced of this so I'll pursue it a bit. I know they fill carbon dioxide bottles in this town so maybe, someone makes dry ice as well.

I'll try again tomorrow if I get out and about. I'm supposed to talk with a guy that works for the Nestle distributor but I'm not sure what day he will show up here. That company is said to use dry ice on the motorcycle vendors routes. I'll ask if they sell to the public.

I recieved a popup indicating someone wanting to sell a PS 2 but when I went to my post there was not posting. Was this a PM I have read about? If so please educate me as I have not dealt with PMs before. Also could the person for sell please repost or PM again THANK YOU

Sorry I do not know how this happened. Did not do anything unusual. I note though that I cannot place visible cursor on window nor delete words for corrections.

Scorpio1945, scroll back up to the top of this page and look at the upper right side of the forum page that you are reading. You will see "My Controls". The last link on the right on that line is your message page link. It will read 0 New Messages or 1 New Message or something like that. Click on it and it will take you to your message inbox. You can click on the new message and it will open, allowing you to read your messages and reply.

The little pop-up thing that happened is your initial notification that you received a message and if you click on it, it also will take you to your inbox.

I don't have the answer so I'll give half an answer that might do until you get the RIGHT answer.

Check at Swenson's. Ask where they buy theirs. They use it to package the ice cream that they sell for take-home. Also, if you go to the Saturday night street festival, ask any of the sellers there that have the big "silver bullet" type containers that they sell ice cream out of. Most of them use dry ice to keep the ice cream from melting. Others there use it to make the little "freeze pops" or frozen popsicles. Some of the sellers that sell ice cream around town from the motorcycles use dry ice as well but I'm sure they get it from their ice cream distributor when they load their product in the morning.

So, you've got a mystery, a few clues and still no answer. I'll ask around tomorrow, and if you don't already have an answer by then, I'll post when I know the answer. I just love a good mystery.

Hello!

Yes, now it is wrong again-I did not what to do and how to react-the bank has,as I told you,sayd that everything was ok now,but then they phonetoday and say it is not ok-They wont me to stand as a garantee forthe mone and then ofcourse they wont to see some proof that I have some mony-which I dont have-only my pension every month from Denmark-and I think I have make that clear to them when we was in the bank.

Now they have found out,that my last adress in Denmark is a big farm-and in there wisdom they some how have figure out that I own it-so I need to have alot of mony they think.

The truth is that this big farm,is a place for homeless men and men who are devorced and fore a while dont have a home-so it is totaly stupid.

I found the home page for this place and try to put it on a memorycard after translating to Thai-but it diddent work,becourse when I open it again the translation and all was gone.I think I wont to show the bank what kind of place it is,so this misunderstanding wood stop.

There was a person in here who say that we maby can sell the house-so some one payd the mony to Sinthanee and then buy it for a lower price from us-we wood loose alot of mony but not it all,ths way.But I think about it and it is still a bit of mony even if rhere was a person who wood wont this-we have payd 440.00-and they wont 2,7 million for it-so it will be 2.3 million-and then if we have,let us say 200.000-it is still 2,5 million Baht-so I dont think eny one wood do so.

So here we are again-and I feel that the lady think it is all my foulth-even she says thats ok,and we will be able to handle it some how-of course we will-but I think it is hard fore the moment.

So,guys,I am sorry to disapoint you about the house warming-but this is how it turned op to be.

Enyway-thanks fore your support and kindness in here-hope things wil be better later and we will meet in here a day.

Have a good life and take care!!!

Brian

Brian, we aren't going anywhere. We'll be right here.

I hope your lady doesn't think it is all your fault. Two people are in this together. Don't let this divide you. Most people on the forum have had rough times and gotten through it and most are better people because of it.

Brian, is there another house that you want, for less money, that the firm would let you move your deposit to? If you can find a house with the same firm, and for an amount that the bank will loan on, maybe the firm would help you and help themselves at the same time. Of course, they don't have to help you. As I said before, the deposit is your guarantee that you are going to buy the house. But a conversation with the firm may save you from an expensive lesson. Worth a try?

Stay in touch, Brian.

Don, like I said before, the Day Market (Morning Market) has avocados. This is the big market located, more or less, behind Overbrook Hospital. I just went to see to the dude. He has some on display right now, dark and large. I don't speak Thai, he doesn't speak English, but I understand he has approximately two bushel on hand right now. He didn't have that many in the stall but says he can bring them in. His name is pronounced "sue cone". I'm sure the Thai spelling isn't that but maybe Sukon or something like that. His phone number is 087-8224583. He gave me his business card. I would guess if he got those avocados, he can get more.

His shop is not in the front row where you can see what he has from a vehicle. You have to walk the second row, close to the buildings. His is one of the last in that back row.

Before you bother with driving in, give him a call. He had customers while I was there.

Yes, yes! I'm sure the house-warming announcement was going to be his next post.

I have already typed up the PM with my request (with recipe) for the special burger that I prefer at house-warming parties. Now I'm just waiting to hit the "send" button when the invite shows up on here.

Naw, not funnin' you, kandahar.

Nung phan baht just means one thousand baht, no more, no less.

I was really having more fun with UG, who I know personally.

Great guy, and yes he's a sponsor, and yes he owns several bookshops here in Chiang Mai.

BTW, I was last in Kandahar in 1971.

I think it has changed since then, no?

1971, huh? Yeah. I think you might find things a little different there now.

But back to the funnin'- you should have been. That would be a GREAT one! It would have still been funny even if I found out from the wife that it was a joke before I tried it.

Truly a heartwarming end to a difficult thread....merchantilism at its finest

Buy that new coffee table book about Chiang Rai- and count your change.

I'll weigh in here with one little comment.

Whenever I offer other than exact, or close to exact change, and there is a 500 or 1000 B bill involved, I clearly state "nung phan baht" or the like, with full eye contact. Never been ripped off.

Once, at a Lemon Green petrol I had a most artful young man count my change for a purchase of ~80 B; a 1000 bill was tendered.

He made a big show of counting the change not once, but several times. I took it, and then in front of him, and 2 other attendants proceeded to count it out slooooowly. 100 B short change. I just laughed at him, and put out my hand. He put a 100 in my palm instantly. I didn't complain about him to the manager, but I noticed shortly thereafter that he was no longer employed there.

I had to PM him and ask what kind of business he had. There are several ads on the CM page and I didn't know which one was his. So, it is a book-store.

But back to the topic. I don't speak Thai. That's my fault. Your sense of humor is well-known even to us newbies. Are you setting me up? Does "nung phan baht" really mean "keep the change", and you are just dying to see my post here when I use that phrase for the first time?

I had better ask the wife.

I have a sense of humor, too.

8 AM - 9 PM. If you look at the Chiang Mai forum and click on my banner all will be revealed. By the way, the main store is about 4 times the size of the others and has the best selection.

Please say hi.

Okay. If we can get there, we will. Got a lot going on while we're in CM but I hope to have some free time to check out your place.

I didn't get to go to CAT today. Too many loads of rock showed up for me to shovel.

The wife called their CR office and received this info:

The current price of the hardware and supporting software is 6,500 baht.

The current price for the monthly plan we have is 850 baht per month.

The plan we have for 850 baht per month has unlimited download. They offer other plans for cheaper rates that have download limits that kick in at different levels, depending on the package.

CAT currently has several specials that involve buying hardware and matching plans. I don't know what those plans are but she said they have MANY different specials/promotions going right now. The promotions have end dates, with the number one special ending on May 1, 2010

They are well-versed in what areas have dead spots and can quickly let you know if the area in which you live, work or play is supported by a tower that is close enough to insure good connectivity.

They now offer 3-G. I don't know anything about that.

Their phone number in CR is 05-371-6741.

Hello!

We was in the bank today,and happy me-there was a man speaking English,and he syad that we do not have to worry about anything-just a matter of time so Main bank in Bangkok says ok.

Then I told them that my lady is worried about loosing her mony if bank says no-but he told me not to worry-that will not happend,he sayd-also becource they have Sinthanee as costumers,so they talk together alot.

Then we go to Sinthanee office and they told us the same,so we was very happy today when we was on our way home.

So when we came home,about an our later,the phone call-and it was the bank-they sayd,yes!!!

So it all went up very good,and we are a happy family again.

Thanks for your reply all of you-good to know you are in here,ready to help people if you can-nice job!

Brian

Congratulations, new CR home-owner. I'm happy it worked out for you.

Hi Kandahar. Is there a monthly download limit on this service? Ie 3Gb, 5Gb

Thanks,

C35b.

Hey C35B.

I don't know about a limit. If there is, I have never reached it.

I have to go pay the bill today. I'll ask about the limit and the current cost of the hardware and post it here.

I confess I no longer drink, but still occasionally shop for alcohol for or with others. I'm definitely an impulse buyer but cannot resist a bargain.

My wife (also Thai) cares little for shopping, just goes and buys and is indifferent to price differences. The only time I've seen her put out by price fluctuations was when when she sold some of her gold at 9000B, assuring me it would soon drop to 5000B and she would buy it back at a profit.

I never found out who her financial advisor was in transaction but I frequently point out the price at gold shops we walk past.

That's funny! I'm sure she appreciates your keen eye.

I read that you gave up drinking. I'm not a "drinker" but I like a little of what I like once in a while. Once in a LONG while. And that's okay. I got most of mine out of the way when I was a lot younger and before I had a family. So, I know what I'm missing.

I thought all Thai women were pretty tight with the baht but I don't know ALL of them. All of the ones I know seem to be on the same sheet of music and find much glee in notifying each other of a price that they missed out on, even if it is only a few baht.

My wife doesn't care for shopping for herself. In fact, if she gets anything new, it is likely that I bought it and gave it to her and got chewed out for it. But she is very aware of the baht we both spend. Because paying too much for an item gets her goat so bad, I can't help but find humor in it and, all the more when it happens while she's going out of her way to "save a few baht".

Along the lines of your wife and her gold, my wife will often sell off one stock or another based on some kind of information that just won't find a connection with my brain and then, after I have questioned the logic of it, the prices goes up. I find good fun in that as well. Overall, she's an ace with the market and she's very good at ignoring the advise of professional advisers and making good on it. So, for all of her tight-fistedness, I can't complain.

hello Kandahar,

Thanks a lot for your extended reply.

If there is no other comment from other members, I will follow your advise and go for CAT.

Do they have a shop in Big C? That would be the easiest way as, anyway, I have to pass in Big C when I will arrive

I really don't know. I always go to what I think is the CAT CR head office, kind of in the area of Overbrook Hospital.

I go to Big C sometimes but I don't pay any attention to the shops that are located in that complex.

I use the CAT CDMA dongle and service. Works well in CR, CM and Mae Sai. I'm told it won't work in BKK but haven't tried. The monthy fee is somewhere around 850 baht. The hardware was 8,000 baht when I bought it but I understand that the price has dropped a lot now. The hardware is offered up for sale on the ThaiVisa classifieds by different people from time to time at some really good prices. Doubt you'll have time for shopping that market when you come. If you visit the CAT office when you come, they will set you up immediately and you'll be operating.

The wife says it is faster than the landline connection she had at the house before. I can't talk about speeds because I don't know much about them. Using CAT CDMA, I watch my favorite TV shows from overseas on the computer without problems. The wife trades stocks all day with the live connections to the markets and she doesn't have problems. So, fast enough for us. This is the only Internet connection we have.

It travels well in the areas we visit. The only dead spots we experience is on the way to CM. There are several spots in the higher hills on the superhighway to CM where the thing can't get a signal. It maintains a good signal all the way to Mae Sai.

Works well in the office buildings and hotels we have visited.

I run a Gateway laptop, she runs an ACER and the system works great on both machines.

We did have trouble with lots of dead time and dropped connections early on. The problems were fixed by CAT on their end several months ago and things have been good since then.

Bad weather has no effect on the signal here in CR and in CM. It continues to work well in storms.

I can't address all of your questions but that is my experience with the hardware and service I use. I'm sure others will pop up here with other input.

If you go with CAT, let me know when you're ready. I'll show you the way to their office. Easier for me to do that than to try to tell you where it is.

My post was not meant to offend anyone. I just want to point out that all of us make mistakes and we should not jump the gun and assume that we are being cheated too quickly. I know that I often made that mistake when I first arrived here and later came to regret some of the insinuations that I had made to people who probably had not intended to do any harm.

I wasn't offended.

I'll be in CM next week for a couple of days. What and where is your establishment and what are the hours?

Is there a duty free shop in Mae Sai? Or are you talking about Tachilek?

I've found the shop opposite Myanmar immigration worth a look because they often have specials. There's a couple of other shops in the town (Tachilek) that have good all round prices as well as specials, one I came across last year had 3 bottles of Australian red wine for 500 baht.

Yes, you are right. It isn't Mae Sai, but across the bridge.

I didn't notice any specials on other liquors when I was at the duty-free or at the other place. I wasn't looking. But I did scan the prices on the few favorites I have. Other than what I drink, I don't pay attention to what a shop carries. There may have been LOTS of specials on other items in the duty-free and the other place. I never fall into impulse shopping for liquor. I always know what I want and I go right to it. With my personality flaws, I can't afford to start dabbling and trying this or that when it comes to liquor. I just stick to what I know I can handle in small portions.

The Bailey's purchase was planned weeks in advance and that duty free shop was the wife's suggestion. Did I tell you she was Thai? Do you know what happens to a Thai woman when she makes a purchase and then finds the same item at another shop only a few meters away at a significantly (to her) lower price? It isn't pretty, nor is the rest of her day. It's funnier than heck, but it isn't pretty.

I buy the Glenfiddich here in town. She doesn't even mention the duty-free any more. HA!!! But she does go with me to make sure I get the best price. They don't carry the older, more expensive Glenfiddich, which makes the wife say to me "HA!! When she does that, I just remind her of the duty-free incident. HA!!!

Don, I see in some of the older threads in the CR forum concerning avocados, someone has offered their crop to you. Maybe if you PM the person/persons that had those crops available in the past, you can find a good supply to get you through.

Don't ever share a single malt whiskey with a Thai.

A few years ago I brought in 2 litres of Glenfidich, gave one to my bro-in-law who had picked us up from Cmai Airport. Well mine was sipped, savoured and half drunk after 6 weeks, the other bottle GONE after 6 hours, mixed with liberal quantities of soda, and swilled down the gullets of several whiskey ignorant mates of the bro-in-law, tragic! If I'd just put Mekhong in the bottle they would never have known the difference.

This tickles me. I have an identical story concerning my BIL, almost. The difference is, I continued bringing him a bottle of Glenfiddich every time I came here on R&R several times a year. Only when I stopped working and settled here, did I learn that each time I delivered the good stuff, it was mixed with terrible choices of other liquids and consumed in one short evening by three or four men who didn't know better. That was the last time I spent that kind of money on whiskey for any of my family.

Concerning the duty-free in Mae Sai, I have found that another liquor shop on that side has better prices than the so-called duty-free. I bought a bottle of Bailey's at the duty-free, and then walked to the next shop and found it for nearly 100 baht less. I checked prices on a few other choices and found the same thing. No more duty-free for me. I don't even cross the border these days.