2 hours ago, George Aylesham said:

A new cafe has opened a few days ago near us in Hang Dong called the 'Lazy farang'. Not nice.

Why not?

11 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

At the end of the day, Thai people just like making noise.

 

Over time you get used to it, particularly the wailing banshees on the karaoke.

It makes you appreciate what good music really is!

555 yes! Wailing banshees! A near neighbour likes to hold private karaoke events 2 or 3 times a month and of course they are loud. Mostly wailing banshees but there is one female and one male who are actually good singers. They sing traditional Thai/ Isaan songs beautifully and I enjoy listening to them.

I'd love to call Chiang Mai (at present) the 'new normal' due to the lack of Chinese tourists.

Unfortunately, with so many closed business's the locals are hurting because of the lack of..

My favourite Hotel, bars and restaurants are still open so all my needs are catered for.

There seem to be many Euro familes in town, and during the daytime, they're out of town on the tours leaving the downtown and moat areas very quiet.

The Tapae Gate area the exception... during the daytime there always seem to be outdoor meetings, parades and even protests made up of Thai's.  They're obviously not dispersing and spending the big bucks in the local area...   they just get bussed out when they've finished. 

Bangkok is definitely not the way it was before however, it's hastily heading in the right direction..  hopefully the current refurbishments will be complete before the high season.