US pays Bt8.8bn for new consulate in Chiang Mai

[Olmate]

1 minute ago, CaptainCarrot said:

Australian Embassy: Jakarta. bomb took out the windows in the office next door as well - my office!

Exactly.

[SomchaiCNX]

17 minutes ago, Olmate said:

 Dont they know no one has ever attacked a foreign embassy.

Yeah right, Iran?

 

[Olmate]

2 minutes ago, johnarth said:

Australian embassy has 1194 Thais working there no idea what 90% of them do, there are 4 Aust. work there to do our problems for us amazing

BS

[Arthur Mullard]

4 hours ago, donnacha said:

Chiang Mai is certainly an ideal location to spy on the Chinese ????

Exactly.

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Maybe this means they will finally start doing some outreach to the US expat community, like so many other nations have been doing? What do they spend their time doing, anyway? 

What would you like them to be doing for you ?

I prefer having no contact at all with my Embassy 

[Olmate]

3 minutes ago, SomchaiCNX said:

Yeah right, Iran?

 

Wooosh

[CorpusChristie]

4 hours ago, elgenon said:

Probably can't afford that. Whoops, sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

I hope the Brexit goes well for our friends.

With our extra 350 million a week , we could afford something bigger 

[moe666]

28 minutes ago, Olmate said:

 Dont they know no one has ever attacked a foreign embassy.

I guess you need to research that one

[Dustdevil]

4 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Is this America's mission in Chiang Mai , I had it confused with other duties.

Waiting for next sequel to the excellent "Narcos Mexico" series. Narcos Chiang Mai, now that wouldn't be so bad; I might join the DEA for that post (and go elsewhere to do my paperwork during the smoky season).

[Olmate]

2 minutes ago, moe666 said:

I guess you need to research that one

Another wooosh

[Andy from Kent]

I'll bet this is the only time any of these five guys ever touch a shovel in their lives.

 

 

[Dustdevil]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

what the model does not show is the huge antenna farm on top of the building. 

all US Embassies and consulates have a gigantic basement full of radio interception equipment.

it would be interesting to see how large a hole they dig for the subterranean part of the building. 

 

years ago the US Embassy in Moscow:

 

"finally, at a cost of $240 million, the embassy was taken apart brick by brick and rebuilt stone by stone. The top two floors were knocked off and replaced by four new secure floors. The stone and glass post- modern building was unofficially opened in May."

 

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/U-S-Finally-Opens-Moscow-Embassy-Building-was-2714015.php

Of course. The Soviets/Russians were always good at penetrating US embassies.

[Thomas J]

Lousy buy,  heck for a little more they could have got a submarine. 

[tomauasia]

14 hours ago, Guderian said:

The Thais could have built a high-speed rail line to China for less than that. No wonder the West is going broke. 

Yes outrageous cost. Getting robbed.

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

Do us Yanks now get Elite visas??? ????

No hope & you know the rest ..

[Burma Bill]

4 hours ago, donnacha said:

Chiang Mai is certainly an ideal location to spy on the Chinese ????

Yes indeed. my thoughts exactly! For starters, all the Chinese casino complexes and their "workings" in neighboring Burma and Laos. This new Consulate will no doubt include CIA personnel. Several years ago, as a Tourist Police Volunteer based in Chiang Rai, I visited the reception complex on the Thai side of the Mekong opposite the Kings Romans Casino complex in Laos. I am not a telecommunications expert, so was amazed to note a change in the service provider on my 3G mobile phone from AIS to China Telecom. Here in Cambodia where I now live, my mobile displays AIS/metfone - as one would expect.

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, Burma Bill said:

Yes indeed. my thoughts exactly! For starters, all the Chinese casino complexes and their "workings" in neighboring Burma and Laos. This new Consulate will no doubt include CIA personnel. Several years ago, as a Tourist Police Volunteer based in Chiang Rai, I visited the reception complex on the Thai side of the Mekong opposite the Kings Romans Casino complex in Laos. I am not a telecommunications expert, so was amazed to note a change in the service provider on my 3G mobile phone from AIS to China Telecom. Here in Cambodia where I now live, my mobile displays AIS/metfone - as one would expect.

I can use my Thai internet service provider whilst in Laos , 

[Time to grow]

When you print as much as you want, it hardly matters what it costs. The real question is how much longer will people trade their hard earned labor and materials for the soon to be worthless paper. May as well spend it while the gettin' is good because those days are numbered.

[Raymonddiaz]

Just another spy center in Thailand. From there the US will have much more capabilities to spy on Thailand, Laos, Myanmar..... 

[Time to grow]

Duplicate entry deleted.

[peterdarby]

4 hours ago, EricTh said:

Really? 

 

You mean UK embassy doesn't have its own building? Most other embassies in Bangkok has its own building as far as I know.

We sold it to make room for another vital department store

[AhFarangJa]

5 hours ago, Olmate said:

Agreee but why 3 times the price for US in CM?

Must have a bigger Golf Course...........

[chuck holmes]

About time........

[Dart12]

Great purpose, the drug war.  

Give it up, it's unwinnable.

Only purpose to keep up the war is all the excuses for more law enforcement and privacy invasion.

Legalize it and you've got no gangs and cartels making Billions from it.

and the money and taxes can go back to the original mafia...the government.

[Rob Cook]

5 hours ago, cxxis said:

Imagine how much of the USA left behind onexploded ordinace garbage we could have cleared in the Lao PDR with this cash.

 

Apples and oranges there genius

[JimGant]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Maybe this means they will finally start doing some outreach to the US expat community, like so many other nations have been doing? What do they spend their time doing, anyway? 

What outreach have other nations been doing in Chiang Mai that the US Consulate has not? Seriously, as a Yank here in CM, what should I be demanding of my consulate that others are apparently doing?

[Expat Tom]

The person who quipped that Thailand could have build a high speed rail link to China must be an employee of the Chinese Communists Party. The last thing that Thailand needs is a high-speed rail to China so that the Chinese can more easily add to their list of gifts to the world. That list starts in about 1958 with the Asian flu, followed by the Hong Kong flu, the avian flu, Sars, Swine flu, and now the CCP Wuhan Coronavirus. Additionally, a high speed rail link would only aid China when the Hoard of the North decides to invade little brother (aka Thailand).  Incase the mental giant who suggested a high speed rail link has been living under a rock, let me remind him/her that the world is decoupling from the Chinese supply chain to the benefit of Thailand and especially Vietnam as many businesses are moving out of China. 

 

The new American consulate in Chang Mai is a de facto form of foreign aid in a time when every penny (baht) is needed and a reaffirmation that the USA will invest in the security and prosperity of its oldest ally in Asia.   

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

What would you like them to be doing for you ?

I prefer having no contact at all with my Embassy 

The British and Australian embassies have outreach programs. Perhaps other too. They have consular officers who set up meetings regularly in big cities, where the expat community is able to ask and get answers to issues that pertain to them. This is past of the duty of consular officers. Whether you choose to participate is on you. But, as least the service is offered, and the option of there. 

 

America is either too arrogant, too indifferent, or simply too incompetent to accomplish such a task. An empire in decline. 

[spidermike007]

34 minutes ago, JimGant said:

What outreach have other nations been doing in Chiang Mai that the US Consulate has not? Seriously, as a Yank here in CM, what should I be demanding of my consulate that others are apparently doing?

See above. 

[FlyingThai]

That's definitely not a regular Consulate in one of the most remote regions in the world.

 

It's an outpost for various other purposes as evident solely by the size of the installation. The United States already have their largest embassy complex worldwide just down in Bangkok so clearly that's not just a facility to serve American citizens in the area. It's no secret that Thailand is a strategic law enforcement and military base for the U.S. so this is pretty much just another fortress.