MESmith

A new bike lane has been built between Chiang Mai Convention Centre and Huay Tung Tau. It is super popular and enhances that part of the city where it is located. Many many local people have started using the path and taken up cycling. New Bike shops are popping up all the time. I would say CM has a lot of bike shops now. The cycle lane is used pretty much only as a cycle lane. Hardly any motorcycles use it and motorists rarely decide to park their cars in the middle of it. The cycle lane is located on one side of a canal and the busy road is on the other side of the canal so that helps.

Would've preferred it, if they'd direct their resources & budget to keeping the smoke belching trucks & buses off the Doi Suthep climb, which is probably the most popular cycle route in Chiang Mai. I rarely ride up there because of the pollution. Last time i was riding down, a tour bus (coach) going up was putting out more smoke than The Flying Scotsman steam locomotive

Cable car to the temple would be a start.

Back to the OP, did you get your bike?

I've managed over 70kph on parts of the Doi Suthep ride, & that's going up! But, I try not to boast about it

Try ebay from China. It's fairly local.

The link to the data, you provided earlier is very useful.

"About the on-line queue: Col. Rutjapong said it was discontinued because it can't accommodate two locations and generated many complaints."

If complaining is a reason to discontinue a service then a whole lot of people should shut up before more complaining shuts down more services. HELLO!

Surely the way to proceed is that everyone should complain to Immigration about having to report every 90 days, then they can discontinue it because of too many complaints.

As far as complaining about having to wait in line at an early hour is concerned, it's not Immigration's policy. They don't care what time we arrive.

But it is Imm's fault that they cannot cope with the numbers of people who HAVE to visit their office. We are required by law to make these visits.

Did you try the Mitsubishi dealer on Maejo road, on the left hand side as you go from superhighway to first ring road?

They're the same people as the old city branch.

They had them at Airport Plaza a few weeks ago.

Where's SGS?

Speed, well yeah it depends on your device, number of satellites in view and whether it supports something such as an ant+ wheel speed sensor algorithm or not. I don't know of any that have a differential GPS function at a cycling-user level. A bit like altitude derivation/sensing; the specific devices are ahead of the phone apps.

On the high-rise [multi storey carpark] gps position wander: This can be affected by a number of factors. Some of which can be the phone based positioning algorithms inability to triangulate in the vertcal [z] axis. Others related to satellite unlock/blanking.

Perhaps any, more navigation savvy, members could comment, but I believe the altitude derivation is similarly challenged, before Strava etc meddle with it.

Meantime, I'm happy to believe the parameters from my rides, within reason

altitudes are the greatest weakness of gps readings.

And then strava really messes with them. Doi Suthep temple climb is about 625m (which most garmin will show). Strava app will credit you about 1000m climb. And about 170m climb on the way down

Alright guys.

I checked with SaengThong already and the guy seem really nice.

I'll be going to their shop later this afternoon. Upon browsing the range of bikes that they have, I am really looking forward to try Merida Scultura 300.

If it feels comfortable, I'd definitely go for that one. Thanks for all your help!

Only in small sizes?

To be honest, I've always loved white hair. I was white right up until high school; at the grand old age of 13 I was going to see the Sex Pistols and I dyed it electric blue. Punishment from my parents (when they got over the shock) was bad enough, but it never went back to white after that until it was peroxide white with the Debbie Harry look in my late teens and early twenties, and now look forward to having it again.

+1 for 29er with road tyres.

Hope all those quoting top speeds are using speedometer, not mobile phone gps

Do you think that there's much difference?

I know the GPS estimates are a bit grainey.

I think it would be worth avoiding the front suspension if you want to go quickly on the road.

I've burst the little switch that lets me lock the suspension out, and I reckon I suffer a bit from wasted energy riding with the suspension unlocked. Also, the riding position is less aggressive because the handlebars are higher, with the forks not compressed.

SC

Depends on the quality of gps fix. Can get some way out readings which are obviously wrong, so why not some believable high readings. Look at the gps plot - sometimes you're way off the road etc.

I lock the front suspension on roads, except on descents where I know there are pot holes. Very comfortable on long rides. I do a mix of offroad & on road, so it means I only need 1 bike.

+1 for 29er with road tyres.

Hope all those quoting top speeds are using speedometer, not mobile phone gps

What happens after the 20 queue tickets have been seen to by immigration? Do they call it a day, early or can late shows turn up & get seen?

Btw anyone know why quotes seem to be screwed up recently?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Usually "operator" error

http://saengthongshop.weloveshopping.com/template/e3/showproduct.php?pid=27223639&shopid=319083

Selling off 2015 year model. A bargain.

They are also on Facebook, & reply to pms very quickly.

When I drive round, I see traffic violations every few minutes, even in front of policemen who do nothing. Crackdown my a-s-s!

My 2 appointments made on-line were successful at the first attempt.

I'd queue overnight if the Stones were coming to Chiang mai. Not sure if a queue ticket for a retirement extension qualifies as the "hottest ticket in town"

British Consulate ....e-mails bouncing

British Consulate .... staff scowling

British Consulate .... price gouging

British Consulate .....in the trough snouting

Very unfair.

I have dealt many times with the Consulate staff and in every instance Panitha and her team have gone above and beyond what is required by their FCO employers.

In every instance they have done as much as they could and more than they should by FCO requirements.

They deserve credit, not cheap sarcasm.

In my experience the above also applies to the current Hon. Con.

I am not referring to form filling.

I agree, the staff were great. It was the <deleted> <deleted> in London that <deleted> everything up!

btw, I self censored myself before TV got on the case

I thought the consulate was "no more".

Even without an online appointments system, they could allow people to visit the office to make an appointment. This is the major failing in the system & can be easily corrected.

I was shopping at Promenada this afternoon, & decided to see if I could get my 90 day report done. 15 minute wait. Can't complain about that & quicker than my usual trip to post office

Office was pretty quiet. Maybe a dozen people sitting inside.

About what time did you get your queue number. Obviously they are not running out of 90 Day queue numbers in the morning, although getting one in the afternoon might be 'hit or miss'. So, just curious about the time. By the way - good show! That might actually show some promise.

Early afternoon.

So....when my retirement extension comes up in January, I should be able to go when the office opens, get a number and having all my paperwork ready to go, be served a few hours later and out the door. Is this correct?

If immigration has in fact opened its own "agent service," doesn't that indicate that they are purposefully not aiming to serve expats and tourists as a matter of course? I mean if their operations are run smoothly and efficiently, there would be little or no need for any agents.

As for the comment about finding a student to stand in line for me, or get married and have the wife do it, well, that's only a topical solution -- we need to cure the patient.

By the way, two thoughts:

1. What is the need by government to have expats report every 90 days? Has this ever prevented a crime or solved one? Has it benefited either the foreigner or the government in any meaningful way?

2. Why do we have to submit copies of every Thai immigration-stamped page of our passports? What does immigration actually do with all that paper -- which they have had copies of since 2006 in my case? What could possibly be the point of having nine sets of copies of my passport?

Why, during these interviews with immigration, are these basic questions never brought up?

I'm surprised more people haven't questioned the requirement for expats reporting to immigration every 90 days. I asked one of the immigration officers about this requirement a couple of years ago. He stated, it enables immigration officers to locate foreigners that are here illegally or wanted by their home countries.

Thailand does attract some people who are on the run from law enforcement but somehow I can't imagine any of these people would comply with this requirement nor can I imagine a person being in this country illegally would show up at immigration for their 90 day report.

I believe the 90 day requirement along with all the copies from our passports are as mind boggling to immigration as it is to expats, because none of them really knows the reasoning behind these requirements either. In spite of this, Chiang Mai, is still a great retirement destination.

And why the need for a photo, when they take a digital pic?