1 hour ago, eumenades said:

I was astounded during my bus trip through Laos. So many hills looked like a shaved cat. 

The hill tribes cut the forests down for crops too. Hmong do that in Chiang Mai also but the forest department restricts them to their immediate area. 

On 4/16/2024 at 1:49 PM, hotchilli said:

Chiang Mai is off my bucket list.. I don't give a rats, it can burn down to the ground.

It will be fine in about a month until next February.  

The South is about double the cost up north for restaurant food.

My gym in Chiang Rai charges 50B for day pass, just paid 350B and while the gym area had superb equipment, it wasn't really air conditioned adequately.

So, you don't necessarily get more just because it's more expensive.

OK, the beach is technically free in the South, but then you're tempted to eat there and pay OMG prices.

Anantara, a 5 star resort on Samui wants 1000B for a Phuket lobster roll.

C'mon.  Is it really that good? 😊 

16 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The practice of face may be the single greatest weakness of Thai culture. It prevents growth, emotional development, and is the polar opposite of Buddhism, on multiple levels. It is a scourge. 

To this I agree 100% and is why like I stated I do not believe corruption, which is endemic, will never dissappear.

On 4/16/2024 at 3:03 PM, Don Kaeo said:

Been through 11 years of this, and not one step forward to deter or effectively combat these clowns causing so many problems. 
Leads me to surmise that either there is financial incentive not to stop anyone or the government is just too damn inept to deal with it. 
Either way, TAT is going to see it’s precious tourism revenue suffer, as the burning seasons extends itself longer and longer… 

Probably not be until the end of May that the skies will clear, so four months this year..? 
The missus and I have had enough, we’re off down south, I don’t want to but it’s ridiculous to think that this is just continue on unabated and considered a normal part of living in Chiang Mai. 

Regrettably I left my "forever home" in CM last  September after 20 years because of the terrible burning season last year.

I relocated to Hua Hin.

Obviously looking at the pollution this year it seems I made the correct decision.

 

I miss my mates as does my wife though.

 

We already came back to visit in January and will go again in August.

 

I hope that one day the government gets a handle on this as there could well be many more people like me that are not prepared to put up with it, turning CM into a ghost town.

If you don't need to be there, then don't be there and potentially harm yourself, especially if you are a pensioner like me with health issues.

It was stressful, but doable to sellup- buy and move.

On 4/16/2024 at 9:11 PM, Northstar1 said:

But the expats continue to argue that it is heaven on earth 

Maybe they are changing thier minds about that now......smokey season should be long gone by now....but it's still going on 

21 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

It will be fine in about a month until next February.  

The South is about double the cost up north for restaurant food.

My gym in Chiang Rai charges 50B for day pass, just paid 350B and while the gym area had superb equipment, it wasn't really air conditioned adequately.

So, you don't necessarily get more just because it's more expensive.

OK, the beach is technically free in the South, but then you're tempted to eat there and pay OMG prices.

Anantara, a 5 star resort on Samui wants 1000B for a Phuket lobster roll.

C'mon.  Is it really that good? 😊 

Not in Hua Hin.....property is the same price for buying or rental

Food is a similar price

Beers the same

I am spending no more now than when I lived in Chiang Mai

 

I can't speak for the islands but islands are always more expensive but you can travel all the way down south to Surat Thani and it's cheap...but HH is as far as I wanted to go as it has everything a westerner needs and is only 3 hours from Bangkok