MESmith

Not heard anything about 4th ring road, but 1317 is being widened, further out, I think as far as the intersection with 1147. The current outer ringroad is in desperate need of widening.

I believe an English language DL is sufficient for tourists rather than International DL, but only for the class of vehicle being driven. So a UK car DL is no good for motorcycle.

Still no news as to what actually happened & where.

Myself, I always take family & bicycles in the pickup to quiet areas with very little traffic to ride. Whenever I see cyclists on main roads here in Thailand, such as hwy 118 from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, I worry for their safety.

What concerns me is not what's going on inside the ringroads (that's gone, going to be built on), but what's going on in the countryside. Uncontrolled development, no planning strategy. Buy rice field, do what you want with it. Chiang Mai urgently needs some kind of "green belt" policy. In a few years it's all going to be gone. Real shame Hwy 1317 heading east is being widened out towards Mae On, the roadside trees are being felled already. Once that is finished the developers will take over. Actually, they're taking over already. There will be no more attraction to the valley. Then, they'll start building on the hillsides.

I live 2 hours outside Chiang mai in the lamphun countryside and there is construction and renovating going on all over the place.

It's amusing to see all the farang complaining about not having this or that Western convenience, or wishing for this or that Western convenience... You can NOT have it both ways. Cheap, simple, easy living do NOT go hand in hand with shopping malls, cheeseburgers and 10MB internet connections. At least in the long run they don't. Some people may be able to find a happy medium and live between the two worlds.

The roads in CM are absolutely terrible traffic wise and are exponentially getting worse... I hate to think about 5 years from now...

China blowing up hasn't helped things. The amount of Chinese tourists is absolutely staggering compared to just a few years back and is bringing in tons of dough to CM....

I live about 10 km from Varee School. SE of CM out in the rice fields. Don't want any shopping malls or western conveniences. The rice fields around us are being excavated to provide the "fill" for developments along 1317. Suburbia is approaching. Comparing google earth images of 5 years ago & today is scary. A few years from now I'll be living in suburbia . Hopefully our land will have increased in value so we can sell up & decamp further out.

Potential future projects once Richy Rich is sold out include Stinky Rich & Filthy Rich. And a new condo project could be "The Squat"

Build it and they will come!!

god, I hope not......where will I go??

Probably to the Makro that will be built next door to your place

Never been asked to "flash the cash" even though I always wear shorts . Saw the "It doesn't matter" last month. Never have more than 10,000 on me, though 20,000 is supposedly required for non O. Not the kind of place to be carrying loads of cash - border town, crowded market, foreigner standing out like a sore thumb

Think i'll put my back up hard drive in a biscuit tin tonight

Better put a few more beers in the fridge, could be quite a night

Quote: "I may organize a virgin trip for a small group to see china for the first time flying direct into kunming from chiang mai"

Could work out a bit expensive for you

Backpacked in China, back in 1991. Enjoyed the bits I went to, apart from being poked in the ribs by waitress wanting to know if I wanted another beer. Beijing, that one

now does the whole country for TOT go thru 1 server? no redudancy??

chiang mai up and running at 13:30

Not in San Kamphaeng, after 4 pm.

Talking of refunds, once it was off for about 4 days, waiting on a spare part for our area. Filled in the right forms & got the refund. It was the principle rather than the amount. Apart from outages like today, TOT is generally pretty good considering our "out in the sticks" location.

Another "brick" on wheels to replace the Everest. Find this hard to believe.

Replace a brick on wheels with another brick on wheels, seems to be par for the course or did you think they would build a SUV sports car instead ?

I would expect something with a bit more styling than a brick on wheels. As I expected, it's a photoshop hoax.

Another photoshop jobbie, but better looking

Another "brick" on wheels to replace the Everest. Find this hard to believe.

Replace a brick on wheels with another brick on wheels, seems to be par for the course or did you think they would build a SUV sports car instead ?

I would expect something with a bit more styling than a brick on wheels. As I expected, it's a photoshop hoax.

Did someone mention bubbles

Another "brick" on wheels to replace the Everest. Find this hard to believe.

Anything to avoid Bangkok is a big plus!

Going directly to Cha Am sounds great but it would be up to my in-laws' comfort level.

Will they be inside the pickup or in the tray

sprayed with insecticide until distributed to buyers

I suspect there would be those who would say rice, that is milled rice, sprayed with insectside was no longer fit for human comsumtion.

Consider would you like to eat it?

how would we ever know though ? whether sold in packets or eaten

in a restaurant we would not have a clue what went on before ?

Easy, don't eat rice. Pasta time

What is wrong with the pollution sensors in the city? CM has been the cleanest city in Thailand the last 2 days. The current reading at city hall is 11. I'm guessing it is nearing 80 but would like to know.

You're looking at NO2 reading, not PM10 @ NO DATA today

"Will it be sold out within a day like the Supalai?"

You don't really believe that do you?

I suggest folk sleep out on the pavement to have a hope of snapping up a bargain

Still I guess the muppets at the ministry of culture will be smiling.

Not if any midriffs were exposed

I got my kit from this company in the US:

http://mobilevideowh...play-p-231.html

Did you install it yet?

installation instructions here

That video is useless....filmed at night

I know, I read your youtube comment

I got my kit from this company in the US:

http://mobilevideowh...play-p-231.html

Did you install it yet?

installation instructions here

The air quality definitely "went south" over the weekend. Hiking in the hills on Thursday, fresh air. Cycling on Saturday, iffy. Cycling this morning - awful