Lucky we live in Chiang Rai!

[villagefarang]

My wife insisted on a shopping trip to town on Monday to top up our supplies.  No shortage of stock at Makro or Tops so we are good if we need to stay home for a spell.  We have recently stopped going to the gym and dinning out but there is plenty to do at home and when we really need to get out there is always a hike to the dam or a drive in the country.  The pollution levels were a bit more tolerable today so we left our filtered and air conditioned comfort to enjoy a 10 km hike in the hills near our house.

 

While people in the city are freaking out and hoarding, things up here seem to be close to normal with just a hint of social distancing.  I sure wouldn't want to be stuck in a tiny apartment in Bangkok with gyms, restaurants and entertainment venues closing down.  Chiang Rai is always a great place to live but with all this virus panic, it seems particularly attractive.  Now if we could get some wind and rain to help improve air quality a bit more, I would be ecstatic. 

[sanemax]

Yes, plenty more time to spend at home posting about being a home on Thaivisa

[Happy Grumpy]

Chiang Rai is the only place in the world where you can stay at home or go out for a walk.

 

 

[thequietman]

7 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Yes, plenty more time to spend at home posting about being a home on Thaivisa

Yes, and if you happen to be residing in an actual retirement home, then you are posting in a home, which you call your home, posting about being at home, when you are in fact, in a residential home and not your actual, real home. ????

[Airalee]

Thank you for popping by to remind us (once again) how wonderfully perfect your life is.  ????

[Nyezhov]

10 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Thank you for popping by to remind us (once again) how wonderfully perfect your life is.

Wile his lungs solidify with PM 25...O yes Muffy, the pollution rahlly wasnt bahd today, I could see out the window 2 meters....

[Airalee]

3 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Wile his lungs solidify with PM 25...O yes Muffy, the pollution rahlly wasnt bahd today, I could see out the window 2 meters....

Bu-bu-but the air was so much better today than it usually is...
 

*https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bu-bu-but

 

 

 

 

[villagefarang]

"We" as in all of us who live here, not just "Me".  I was hoping others would have their own anecdotal stories to share, of life in Chiang Rai during these troubling times.????

 

It just seems to me there are much worse places to ride out this world hysteria.  Yes it was hot today but there was a good breeze which made it bearable. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by villagefarang

[orchis]

how lucky you are

[emptypockets]

Surin is pretty good too. Don't have the urge to start a thread about it though.

Perhaps that's a side effect of living in one place for forty years without being able to broaden ones horizons.

Edited March 18, 2020 by emptypockets

[Lacessit]

22 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Wile his lungs solidify with PM 25...O yes Muffy, the pollution rahlly wasnt bahd today, I could see out the window 2 meters....

I have two air purifiers. They are like two six-guns against the PM 2.5 in my condo. I offer up that analogy because I know it will give you a warm glow.

[Sambotte]

Oh really ?

Pollution kills much more than any virus (yet), but you don't hear so much about it (yet).

Did i read last year it was more than 100.000 people visiting (or staying) in hospital for that problem in north Thailand ?... Was on Bangkok post if i remember.

 

Not so brutal, not so scary, not so "breaking news", but worse. The virus scare everybody and gouvernement because nobody knows how bad it could become (not like the flu wich kills still more but is well known and not "breaking news/panic mode"), and because corona-sick people need to rush urgently to hospital to... hmm... breathe (too).

 

But to live in the north for month between December and June (especially Mars to May) is just a very bad idea for your health. And i mean very very bad unless you stay home with a good filter.

 

I love Chiang Rai, but no way i would be there now.

 

https://aqicn.org/city/mueang-chiang-rai/

And look at historical datas. Good luck (not health) with that...

[villagefarang]

3 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Surin is pretty good too. Don't have the urge to start a thread about it though.

Thank you for surrendering to your urge to comment here instead.????

[Sambotte]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I have two air purifiers. They are like two six-guns against the PM 2.5 in my condo. I offer up that analogy because I know it will give you a warm glow.

Yeah well you live in confinement then ? ????

[Psimbo]

No panic buying in Phuket so far so why the superior attitude?

[Logosone]

I heard good things about Chiang Rai, but there's no hoarding going on in the city of Chiang Mai either, I saw a single empty shelf at Big C. Everything else fully stocked. 

 

 

Same at Central Food Hall.

 

Not sure about Bangkok or Pattaya, but maybe the north has cooler customers.

[villagefarang]

3 minutes ago, Sambotte said:

I love Chiang Rai, but no way i would be there now.

 

https://aqicn.org/city/mueang-chiang-rai/

And look at historical datas. Good luck (not health) with that...

I think all of us who live here full-time are well aware of air quality and make adjustments to our lifestyle, accordingly.????

[rumak]

44 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Thank you for popping by to remind us (once again) how wonderfully perfect your life is.  ????

I was soooo disappointed by the lack of posed photos .  

[Lacessit]

Just now, rumak said:

I was soooo disappointed by the lack of posed photos .  

Well, I don't frequent the bars here, so I can't oblige. I'm still suffering from my disappoint in you, but. How could you lose a photo of a chick that hot?

[emptypockets]

10 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

Thank you for surrendering to your urge to comment here instead.????

My pleasure.

[villagefarang]

9 minutes ago, Psimbo said:

No panic buying in Phuket so far so why the superior attitude?

I just enjoy living in Chiang Rai.  Glad to hear things are good in Phuket, too.

[Hank Gunn]

Pretty similar here in Buriram town. Went to Makro last Sat. and it was a typical Sat.; more people than a weekday but not overly crowded. Also, no apparent shortages of anything. In fact, I noticed prices for several items to be cheaper than in the past (mostly western stuff like Ritz crackers, 250 gm of Ementaler cheese, and milk).

 

Went to BigC a couple days later to go to the bank branch in the mall there and probably because it was the middle of the day on a weekday, there were very few shoppers. Still lots of inventory but my wife said prices were up for cooking oil and oyster sauce. Stuff like that.

 

I was up in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai for a short trip (5 days) in Jan. and really enjoyed it; mostly Chiang Rai but liked both. Stayed at a nice little hotel that was walking distance to that large, outdoor courtyard with the restaurant that had wooden tables/benches and outdoor stage with some musical entertainment. Great food and chill atmosphere. (Sorry, don't know the town well enough.)

 

Had the airport taxi dud give us a nice tour with another Thai/Farang couple from Buriram we were with, of some of the sites in the area. Started with the tea plantation which was great. The only downside was the air quality (which is also bad down here) and it hindered the views of the mountains that I'd been looking forward to. Hoping to get a motorcycle soon and would like to head up there again to enjoy the beautiful riding roads/scenery.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Hank Gunn

[Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai]

VIllage farang I can relate to what you saying.

Don't worry about comments some sound jealous.

 

????❤????????

 

[Lacessit]

9 minutes ago, Sambotte said:

Yeah well you live in confinement then ? ????

Not really. I play golf, swim, go out for coffee ( very good ) and have massages. My GF visits from a village 25 km away. I enjoy pooting around on my scooter looking for new restaurants. A couple nearby have good and inexpensive food. The fruit and vegetable markets in Chiang Rai are ridiculously cheap. Three mangos for 12 baht.

I moved to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai on March 1. Left a couple of friends back in CM, still stay in touch with them. Have no reason to regret the move, anywhere is what one makes of it. Having lived in Port Hedland during the first iron ore boom ( 1966 ) most places are luxury by comparison.

[villagefarang]

4 minutes ago, Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai said:

VIllage farang I can relate to what you saying.

Don't worry about comments some sound jealous.

 

????❤????????

 

Thank you.  I am not worried and understand some people are just happier being unhappy and criticizing those who are happy.????

[villagefarang]

2 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Sorry, don't take this personal and you are totally entitled to you opinion. But I just couldn't help noticing how much your comment contradicts your .sig file.

I noticed that too.????

[Lacessit]

9 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

 

I was up in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai for a short trip (5 days) in Jan. and really enjoyed it; mostly Chiang Rai but liked both. Stayed at a nice little hotel that was walking distance to that large, outdoor courtyard with the restaurant that had wooden tables/benches and outdoor stage with some musical entertainment. Great food and chill atmosphere. (Sorry, don't know the town well enough.)

 

Had the airport taxi dud give us a nice tour with another Thai/Farang couple from Buriram we were with, of some of the sites in the area. Started with the tea plantation which was great. The only downside was the air quality (which is also bad down here) and it hindered the views of the mountains that I'd been looking forward to. Hoping to get a motorcycle soon and would like to head up there again to enjoy the beautiful riding roads/scenery.

The Night Bazaar is closed with the coronavirus.

 

Chiang Rai is a much better launch point for the sights than Chiang Mai, which really has only 3 or 4 tourist attractions. If you come in low season, when the air is clearer, there's lots to see.

[Hank Gunn]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

The Night Bazaar is closed with the coronavirus.

 

Chiang Rai is a much better launch point for the sights than Chiang Mai, which really has only 3 or 4 tourist attractions. If you come in low season, when the air is clearer, there's lots to see.

Yeah, we have a nice outdoor, farmer's market near us, plus a "walking street" market on Saturdays and Sundays in downtown Buriram, and I believe both are closed now. (My wife went to go to the farmer's market yesterday but it was closed.)

 

From my extremely limited sample size, I kind of liked Chiang Rai a little more. Chiang Mai was large and had quite a bit of traffic, and to get out to the mountain roads took a little while longer. Chiang Rai seemed to have enough of the quaint coffee shops, shops, restaurants, etc. but easier to get out into the country/mountainside, which for me would be the main attraction of the region.

 

The motorcycle thing is still a couple/few months away for me, but longer term I'd love to do a trip up there and spend a little more time there, both riding the mountains and enjoying the shops, restaurants, etc. (I usually do the Thai foot massage but had a great oil massage that really loosened up my back and neck. Also had another nice foot massage there.)

 

Totally off topic but two other things I enjoyed. On the drive into CM from CR, going past the hot springs, we bought some outstanding avocados at the side of the road. Pretty close to as good as I used to get when I lived in N. Calif. (We get them here in Buriram but the local grown is not too good and the imports from NZ are limited to their seasonality.) I also discovered the local sausage, Sai oowa (?) served with garlic, peanuts and chilis. Wow, delicious. I'm a fan of the Isaan sausages, sai krauw but really liked those sai oowa. Some of those with a cold beer or two in the evening, with a nice dinner. Nice!

[Sambotte]

I may have over-reacted, maybe like others, because with this huge problem of pollution, hard to understand how lucky or happy you could be. You do not like HUGE HASARDOUS pollution, do you ? ????

Either you have air filter AND wear a N95 mask outside all the time during the smoke-season, either you do not care about your health. It's a free world so it's up to you. Your health. 

 

That said you talk mainly about the no-panic and no-shortage there, ok nice.

 

And like you, i knew Chiang Mai and prefered Chiang Rai, very relax athmo... arg... mood, not full of tourists, no taxi-mafia, a few good condos, easy living, traffic fluid, and the girls are fantasticly pretty in the north.

 

Will return. But in May or June, i like to breathe without equipment and/or confinement, and i do care a minimum about my health ????

[Guest]

True Story:  Just the other day I told a friend, "If they offered me free rent ... I would not live In Chiang Rai / Chiang Mai.  You need to check the air quality In Bangkok .. especially near the river.  Better than most larger cities around the world, and lot of small ones too!  You enjoy being prisoner to some of the worst air on the planet.  By the way, did you know we go for walks here in Bangkok too?  Difference being, there are so many places to go!  LOVE BKK