wynzlo

It seems the best way to get reliability from the ISPs here is to use more than one. Maybe you could get an AIS 3G account to back up your TRUE connection? The 3G connection would help bypass any issues with the physical lines in your area. I imagine the Nimmanhemin area has good signal coverage too.

TRUE has been rock solid for me, only experienced maybe 15 minutes of downtime in 3 months. But I think Pushit is right, location makes all the difference with DSL lines. And being 1K from the Kad Suan Kaew area probably helps.

Are you interested in the short courses or the one year course? I've sat in on three different classes for the one year course taught by three different teachers with three different teaching styles and three different books. The only honest, though unsatisfying, answer is that it all depends on the teacher you get and what kind of student you are. If you are interested in the expensive one year course ask if they can tell you who will teach and if you can sit in on a class currently taught by that teacher. Of course there's a chance that they won't decide on the teacher until shortly before the class begins.

From what you heard, do you actually get to stick with the same teacher for the duration of the one year course?

Sounds like fun. Taxidermia is one twisted film, I'm really surprised to see that scheduled. Love the score for it - it's done by Amon Tobin, probably my favorite musician out there.

Show times aren't given here, but I found them on another site.

Saturday, April 24

7pm - Persepolis

9pm - Hana & Alice

Sunday, April 25

7pm - Me and You and Everyone We Know

9pm - Taxidermia

see http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Chiang-Mai-U...ti-t356803.html

That thread is about the TEFL course they offer, not the Thai language courses. I'd be interested to hear some recent opinions on their language courses also. How are the teachers there?

That is indeed excellent video. Thanks very much for posting, it'll definitely make people back home a bit jealous

that one near sat walking street is definately a chop shop, be careful. cheers for the advice guys, guess ill have to wait till after songkran to buy one now, oh well.

Just out of curiosity, what's your definition of a chop shop? Wouldn't it be hard to get the bike's green book and get it registered if it had been stolen?

I really dunno about that. But I bought my Honda Wave there, and was quite happy with it. Been to Sapathong market on Saturday twice and couldn't see a real difference in the price between this shop and the market. So then I def. prefer from the shop as you know where to take it as anything goes wrong. Like been said before the guy speaks good english and whenever I go there it's always busy with mostly Thai customers, I dunno but for me that's a reassuring thing.

I also found that the difference between a good 2th hand bike and a new one is rather small and its personal interpertation if it's worth the difference. If you wanna buy a new one, go to any Honda dealer in town. I had a look at their shop in the sunday walking street (Ratchadamnoen) but I was pissed off by the fact that all the prices of a new Honda bike in CM are like 3000 - 4000 k more then BKK (I downloaded the 2010 Honda pricelist) and they simply say that's for transport.

I obviously instantly applied for the job of transporting bikes from BKK to Chiang Mai, as you put 20 bikes on a truck to make quite a decent living so it seems .

Anyways, see if it is worth the small difference to actually buy a 2th hand.

EDIT: BTW had no problem with registring the bike or the check or the greenbook, all was well.

I should add that this chop shop claims to guarantee their bikes against major problems for a year after purchase. I take this with a grain of salt as there's nothing in writing. However, a couple weeks after purchasing my bike I brought it back because the tire had a very slow leak and there was something funny with the headlights. They replaced the headlight bulb and put a brand new tire on free of charge.

Also, they handled basic insurance, the inspection, and registered the bike in my name for about 1200b (400b, 100b, 700b). Maybe a little pricey, but I didn't have to do a thing.

These girls had just ridden through the gauntlet above at 20 or 30Kph - just how much of an imagination deficiency do you have to have to take a passenger that young on your fun trip...

I agree, by Thai standards she's certainly old enough to be riding a motorbike of her own.

that one near sat walking street is definately a chop shop, be careful. cheers for the advice guys, guess ill have to wait till after songkran to buy one now, oh well.

Just out of curiosity, what's your definition of a chop shop? Wouldn't it be hard to get the bike's green book and get it registered if it had been stolen?

I bought a used Nouvo from a shop down near the Saturday walking street. They had at least a half dozen used Air Blades and some new ones also. Nice people working there, and the guy who seems to run the place speaks good English.

From the southeast corner of the square, head west along the moat. When you hit the traffic light where the Saturday walking street begins (Wua Lai) turn left and go down the street before the walking street. The shop is a couple hundred meters down on the left. Google Map

Could be just be my own perception, but there seemed to be a huge number of the truly obnoxious wasted farang this time around. People were just as wasted last time, but I felt there was a more respectful air throughout. This time I found people sticking their legs out trying to trip me and my friends...come on now.

The newly acquired Chang sponsorship was another big downer. At least give people one other choice of beer, not everyone welcomes that inevitable headache the next day.

Overall it's pretty cool that these events can happen -- it's live music and entertainment at a beautiful location. But unfortunately I don't think I'll be checking out any future events. If I want that kind of party I'll head to Koh Phangan.

When they gave you the new SIM your old SIM was deactivated. Each sim has a unique number (something like 15 or 18 digits). When your phone registers to the system the phone transmits its IMEI and the SIM serial number. These must match or the registration to the network will fail. So you cannot just go get another SIM and use both of them. Also if you did clone a SIM and the same number was active on the network on two phones at the same time the number would be deactivated as this is a violation of the terms of service.

On the other hand, the carriers offer a service they call multi-sim where they will give you two sims on the same number but only one can be active for receiving and making calls at any given time. The other sim will still register to the network but for data services only. For your situation this would be ideal. Whatever phone you want to call on or receive calls on you enter a code on the phone and hit send to activate the sim for calls. When you switch phones you do it again to switch the sim that can make and receive calls. Some carriers require a postpaid account for this service and others will do it on prepaid. Not sure what TrueMove's deal is. Call them or go into a True store and ask them about multi-sim service.

jackbox,

Thanks so much for explaining that so clearly. I was hoping there would be some knowledgeable folks such as yourself here

One question:

You mention "The other sim will still register to the network but for data services only". Does this mean SMS messages could be delivered to both phones?

I thought the first party was a dud -- the bands were all the same house bands that play the reggae bar area every night, and there were no DJs, other than a few minutes of generic euro-disco music played in between bands.

While it looks like they may be addressing the DJ issue this time, the bands appear to be the same, which to me is a big minus.

There's a bigger, two-day "beach party" happening at the same place NEXT weekend, I might hold out for that one -- I can't manage an all-nighter two weeks in a row

Any info on this "beach party" happening the weekend after?

Have to disagree about the last party being a dud. I didn't like any of the music they played and still had a great time due to the atmosphere there.

A few months ago I either lost my iPhone or it got snatched -- not sure exactly what happened. It was an unlocked AT&T version from the US and worked nicely with TRUE prepaid (voice/sms only). Considering how much a new one is here, I just went with a cheapo Nokia. Went to one of the TRUE stores in Chiang Mai and they had a new SIM ready for me in minutes -- same number, and even had my remaining credit on it.

I might be making a trip to the US soon and am thinking about getting a new iPhone. I was thinking it would be real nice to have two phones, the iPhone and then the beater Nokia, both using a single number. Unfortunately swapping the SIM out of an iPhone isn't just a matter of popping a cover off, otherwise I'd be happy moving a single SIM between phones.

Does anyone know if two phones can work with the same number? TRUE didn't seem to think twice about giving me a new copy of the SIM card, I imagine it's routine for them. Any complications?

Sennheisers are sold in the shop in Airport Plaza. I think the shops name is EON or similar.

Mine are wireless, have volume contol and can transmit 50- 75 metres from the base station.

Sennheisers may not be the best in the world but they are probably the best you can buy in Thailand.

Great, thanks for the tip!

What I did (when I was back in Finland) was to do search on eBay with the exact model name of the headphones (in this case the lightweight Sennheiser PX100). I think I got them from Hong Kong. Cost was next to nothing including postage, at least compared to new ones or going to a real store in Finland.

I had a pair of those same PX100's but stupidly left them in the US. They were the best cheap headphones I've ever used, by far. Seem to remember them costing under $30USD too. Looks like the price may have gone up...

Have you tried the Audio shop top of Central Airport plaza? Next to Se-ed book store adjacent to the California fitness.

Or you could try the Sony shops or Chi Chang shops in the same area.

I believe there's also a Sony shop on the first floor of Pantip. Overpriced, as you'd expect from Sony, but might be hard to find anything better. If you come across any Sennheisers in CM please post the location

I can already read, write and speak Thai but understanding spoken Thai cannot, I really want to get good enough to follow phone conversations.

What I don't want is to spend hours learning to ask where the bus station is located or is there a post office nearby.

If you're at a decent level already, maybe language exchange would be more beneficial? And free is even cheaper than YMCA.

This site appears to have people in Chiang Mai looking for partners: www.mylanguageexchange.com

Sorry I can't offer any suggestions other than maybe the Night Bazaar.

However, I would like to thank you for the laughs -- those photos are truly awesome. The oompa-loompah song won't stop playing in my head though...

Thank you for that info...very helpfull!...especially about the housing!!! However I am wondering about the vehicle buying/registring, ect? I am 32 so the one visa is out of the question I am assuming.

So I am under the impression that I will be faced with getting a tourist type visa, can you inform me of the possible options for buying/registering/insuring, ect in this case? You can PM if you like as well regarding this. Thanks again for your help.

A few weeks ago I bought a barely used scooter from a decent-sized used dealership in the city. They asked me if I wanted them to register the bike in my name or renew the registration in the previous owner's name. They claimed that it wouldn't make much difference either way, that I could still insure the bike for myself, and could come back to transfer registration any time.

Since I have a non-B visa I just went and got my residency letter from Immigration to put the bike in my name. However, I know a couple farang who have had bikes registered in previous owners' names for years. I'm not advocating this, but it seems quite common that people here are riding bikes registered to people they don't even know. Another possibility (if you end up stuck with a tourist visa) is to have a friend register it for you. Maybe others here can point out the downfalls of doing this, if any.

I'm looking for a ROAD BIKE shop, what are the best options?

Been to 2 shops so far that only do mountain bikes (Chaitawat and La Bike).

I live Hang Dong area and see someone recommending a place near the junction with Baan Tawai - does that shop do road bike bits? Also looking for any that sell cycle clothing.

Does Jacky Bike do road bikes/parts?

Thanks

Yeah, Jacky Bike has a good amount of road gear. I seem to remember a handful of complete bikes in stock, mostly high end.

Velocity on Sriphum Rd also carries road parts. I found a good deal on some quality road tires there. Their specialty seems to be custom fixie/singlespeed bikes, but it's worth checking out. If you're heading east on the north side of the square, the shop is located between Chang Phuak gate and the northeast corner of the moat. Look for a line of bikes parked outside.

Jacky Bike Chiang Mai, Thailand. (New Shop)

Address: 12/7 Soi 13 Nimmenhaimen, 50200 Chiang Mai, Thailand.

email: [email protected]

Tel/Fax: 053-225278

Mobile: 089-7557910

its parallel street to the east(city side) of nimmanhemin.

I had a hard time finding it too. The address is a little misleading because it's not actually on Soi 13 -- like CobraSnakeNecktie said, it's on the street running parallel to Nimmanhemin, but you take Soi 13 to get there.

While Jacky seems to have a bigger inventory, I also found the folks at Top Gear on Chang Moi Rd to be extremely helpful and friendly. They speak good English and I imagine they can order parts if not in stock.

Race results: http://www.chomtong.com/html/resalt.html

The last thing is that its bullshit that all mountain races in Thailand are for ATBs. ATBs are for Cross Country and not for asphalt. I mean its a very tough ride and most of them had to walk anyway. Dont get me wrong, I have big respect of everyone who finished, but i hope you get my point. Nobody is doing ATB races on the road in Europe. And if they wanna use an ATB instead of a roadbike nobody would blame you for doing so. Or make 2 categories at least.

Agreed. I have to assume it's due to low availability and possibly a low coolness factor of road bikes. And as someone mentioned before, those with a single bike will obviously have an ATB for more versatility.

Road bikes (well, road tires at least) are one of those things where once you try them, it's very hard to go back. The thought of riding smooth asphalt on big knobby tires makes me shudder.

There are a few recent threads covering CM internet connections pretty thoroughly. Personally I use True and it has been consistent and fast. I'd be wary of any shared connections like those in a hotel - they're often just a bunch of lines routed to a single DSL connection.

DreamHost and HostGator are two huge hosting companies and I know a number of folks who are quite happy with their services. The prices on their site aren't the cheapest, but you can easily dig up promo codes to knock off a good chunk of the price.