Now starting: Chiang Mai Expats Dining Group

[novacova]

3 hours ago, roo860 said:

He was eating nan bread or roti, which is eaten with your fingers, it actually used to scoop the food up with.

Savages scarfing food with their grubby fingers…I get enough of that unsightly primitive dining with my hairy wife.

[JimTripper]

3 minutes ago, novacova said:

Savages scarfing food with their grubby fingers…I get enough of that unsightly primitive dining with my hairy wife.

So you eat bread with a fork? 🤣

[novacova]

2 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

So you eat bread with a fork? 🤣

No, knife and chopsticks 

[JimTripper]

9 hours ago, novacova said:

No, knife and chopsticks 

There's a noodle cart on the corner, mate.

[JBChiangRai]

9 hours ago, novacova said:

Savages scarfing food with their grubby fingers…I get enough of that unsightly primitive dining with my hairy wife.

It was an Indian restaurant, it’s polite to eat following their cultural norms, with the correct hand. The gentleman diner is both Thai and Canadian.

 

This was the Chiang Rai dining group in its eighth year and open to everybody not the gentlemen who may be invited to the OP’s “billy-no-mates” event.

[Dante99]

4 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

“billy-no-mates”

good one, 😀

[novacova]

7 hours ago, JimTripper said:

There's a noodle cart on the corner, mate.

No, there are no noodle carts in the neighborhood, for at least 4km

[JimTripper]

7 minutes ago, novacova said:

No, there are no noodle carts in the neighborhood, for at least 4km

We will still require payment for your meal before you're excused. Seperate checks.

[novacova]

7 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

It was an Indian restaurant, it’s polite to eat following their cultural norms, with the correct hand. The gentleman diner is both Thai and Canadian.

The correct hand is the right hand, we all know what Hindis use their left hand for so don’t even think about Hindi dining if they’re left hand is part of any food handling.

[novacova]

5 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

We will still require payment for your meal before you're excused. Seperate checks.

Ain’t attending.

[roo860]

8 minutes ago, novacova said:

The correct hand is the right hand, we all know what Hindis use their left hand for so don’t even think about Hindi dining if they’re left hand is part of any food handling.

What's a Hindo?-------- Lays eggs.

[JimTripper]

23 minutes ago, novacova said:

Ain’t attending.

I distain when people show up uninvited. No wonder the Op wants to limit membership.

 

In the future you are to arrive with long trousers and closed toe shoes, not shorts and flip flops. Also, no beer branded t-shirts. We also require you wear deodorant as a courtesy to the other diners.

Edited Tuesday at 09:24 AM by JimTripper

[xylophone]

On 11/18/2024 at 1:54 PM, Old Curmudgeon said:

I will continue inviting a few other expats to small group lunches in Chiang Mai.

But any new attendees will come only from word-of-mouth recommendations, not from posts on social media.

Yes, do keep on trying and maybe think about a dinner get-together, which might be more suitable for some people??

 

A group of us here in Phuket had a dinner get-together every Tuesday at a selected Italian restaurant, and it was called IFAWAS (Italian food and wine appreciation society) and I contacted the restaurants we were aiming to dine in and asked if we could bring our own wine and they were okay with that, which was good because part of the evening was meant to be about discussing the pros and cons of the wine we had brought along.

 

There were around 6 to 8 people who attended on a regular basis, sometimes more when friends were in town, and new guests were always welcomed provided they were invited by existing diners.

 

This went on for quite a few years before it fizzled out due to one thing or another, but at the time it was enjoyable. 

[khunJam]

On 11/17/2024 at 12:41 PM, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

Brief update on this new dining group for expats in Chiang Mai:

 

- Three meals so far:

•   All were lunch (no evening meals).
•   4 people each time.

 

- Restaurants so far:

•  Sausage King Garden -- best atmosphere for conversation
•  Route 66 -- cooking seems to have gone down slightly.   (Maybe new cooks.)
•  Kahm Saen -- beautiful restaurant, but too "formal" for relaxed conversation
•  Next restaurant:  still searching.  Goal is find 3-5 comfortable restaurants and rotate among those.)

 

- Lessons learned:

• No Thai women:  conversation tone changed when a woman was present.
• Separate checks, organized by the waitress, not by the group organizer (me).
• Before group meal, must evaluate restaurant first, not depend solely on suggestions here, or anywhere. 
• Previous lesson learned:  No missionaries (Jehovah's Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, etc.  Many in Northern Thailand, but not invited to this group.)
• How to handle problem of vaxxed people: still unsolved.

 

- Important note:  This dining group is not sponsored by, not approved by, and not associated in any way with this forum or any other expat group.  Posting here is merely a  "notice of community event".

You gotta be joking. What forum members here actually went to meet this fella? Smells like gammaglob is cooking up a real joke storm.

[khunJam]

4 hours ago, novacova said:

The correct hand is the right hand, we all know what Hindis use their left hand for so don’t even think about Hindi dining if they’re left hand is part of any food handling.

Left hand is a butt cleaning tool

[Old Curmudgeon]

18 hours ago, xylophone said:

... think about a dinner get-together, which might be more suitable for some people

 

...at a selected Italian restaurant ... it was enjoyable. 

 

Thank you, @xylophone for your very helpful comments.

 

Okay I'll ask about dinners vs. lunches.

I plan to open a LINE group for these expat meals: will ask there about dinner vs. lunch.

 

Ah, Italian:

I've ordered repeatedly from Billy's Italian restaurant (near Tapae Gate) and received excellent food. 

But not yet gone there to eat in person.

Should do that soon.

Pictures look like a comfortable, relaxed place for conversation.

Small, Italian restaurants usually are, eh?

 

Edited yesterday at 05:08 AM by Old Curmudgeon

[JBChiangRai]

1 hour ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

Thank you, @xylophone for your very helpful comments.

 

Okay I'll ask about dinners vs. lunches.

I plan to open a LINE group for these expat meals: will ask there about dinner vs. lunch.

 

Ah, Italian:

I've ordered repeatedly from Billy's Italian restaurant (near Tapae Gate) and received excellent food. 

But not yet gone there to eat in person.

Should do that soon.

Pictures look like a comfortable, relaxed place for conversation.

Small, Italian restaurants usually are, eh?

 

I’ve eaten in Billy’s many times and watched his son grow up from a toddler to a teenager.  Billy is Burmese btw.

 

Everything except Pizza is excellent there IMHO

[newbee2022]

On 10/28/2024 at 1:13 PM, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

By invitation only.
No cost to join.

 

Small group: limited to 8-16  (1-2 round tables).
One lunch or dinner meeting per month.

At relaxed and comfortable restaurants in Chiang Mai.
Comfortable restaurants, not cheap restaurants.

 

I am starting to work on a plan for an expats dining group like this in Chiang Mai.
I have arranged and managed two similar groups in two other cities in years past (not in Thailand).

 

Not a business.

No commissions or anything like that.

Just an informal gathering.

 

Right now I'm looking for comments and critique on the plan.
If you are interested to discuss, please use private message to exchange email address with me.

After refining the plan, will post here for public viewing and further comments.

 

Thank you.

 

Do you need some support?

[newbee2022]

On 10/28/2024 at 1:41 PM, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

Very good points.

Thanks, @BritManToo for posting.

 

Target group:

- Long stay expats, retired or similar - 50+

- No tourists.

- No digital nomads.

 

Employment status:  Does it matter??

 

Possible restaurants (subject to change):

- Duke's

- Red Lion

- Route 66

- Sausage King Garden

- Kham Saen restaurant (at Khum Paya near CBD).

 

Oh no, these are not restaurants. They are more plain food deliveries for filling your stomach.

[JimTripper]

I'm not sure restaurants are the best idea for this kind of group.

 

I would be inclined to find someone to host that has some sort of garden or outdoor area near town with some comfortable chairs, shade and tables where drinks and snacks can be served.

 

That way you are out of the Thailand vibe and bustle and can create a space for discussion. People would also be comfortable attending since the time and place would be the same.

 

That's what my neighbor did with the Soiree'. We had wine, drinks and food in an elegant gated setting that was more like Portugal or France, not Thailand. All the riff raff in town was gone, it was invite only and people had similar interests and backgrounds.

 

You could make it into a Uk gentleman's club vibe if you wanted to also, since it's just a blank canvas space.

Edited 10 hours ago by JimTripper

[MarkyM3]

On 11/17/2024 at 2:23 PM, Bill97 said:

Yes it just gets worse and worse.

IIRC I contributed to a thread the OP was running recently asking what would happen after the value of all world currencies went to zero, which was believed to come fruition soon. Will make for interesting lunch/dinner conversation if nothing else...

Edited 9 hours ago by MarkyM3

[MarkyM3]

On 11/17/2024 at 7:46 AM, JBChiangRai said:

The hat is to hide a hair transplant!

Thought it was Reni from the Stone Roses 😄

Edited 9 hours ago by MarkyM3

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

Sounds like OP is playing the long game.  First it's a few restaurant meet ups to identify the marks then he starts quietly asking for "loans."

[Old Curmudgeon]

2 hours ago, MarkyM3 said:

I contributed to a thread the OP was running recently asking what would happen after the value of all world currencies went to zero, which was believed to come fruition soon. Will make for interesting lunch/dinner conversation

 

Exactly.

Many topics like that, of common interest to long-term expats here.

 

Thanks, @MarkyM3 for mentioning that here.

[Old Curmudgeon]

On 11/17/2024 at 10:43 PM, JimTripper said:

Were they actually people from this forum who showed up? I wonder if they gave out their online identities at the dinner. Scary thought.

 

Correction:  "showed up" is not quite accurate.

It is invitation only.

 

None of the expats at lunch were frequent posters here; not that I know of.

As for giving out online identities, again, none that I'm aware of.

 

As for "scary thought", well, that's exactly why these expat lunches are "invitation only".

 

Works like this:

Person interested sends a PM to me ... I know his online identity and he knows mine.

Then we "chat" in email a bit to get acquainted on both sides.

And I look back on his posts here.

 

If, in my opinion, his "attitude" here is less than desirable, the conversation ends quickly.

Otherwise, the next step is a one-on-one meeting for coffee.

(Old Curmudgeon pays for that.)

And then, perhaps, there will be an invitation to one of the future lunches with fellow expats.

 

Posting about this here, because I welcome thoughtful comment and critique.

[novacova]

On 11/19/2024 at 4:20 PM, JimTripper said:

In the future you are to arrive with long trousers and closed toe shoes, not shorts and flip flops.

I will dress as I damn well please, fipflops shorts ball cap and no stinky deodorant. If that is a bother to anybody well then tough isn’t it.

[JimTripper]

3 hours ago, novacova said:

I will dress as I damn well please, fipflops shorts ball cap and no stinky deodorant. If that is a bother to anybody well then tough isn’t it.

I will leave it to the Op, it's his group. It may be something to consider how to respond to people that crash the group or don't vibe with the other members when the live meets take place.

 

Usually, they leave on their own accord. With attendees off this forum though, I'm not so sure that would be the case!

[TheAppletons]

If one actually wanted to dine with expats, one would simply go to the CM Expat club breakfast.

 

No need to interview with anonymous internet whackjobs, no need to prove allegiance to bizarre internet conspiracy theories, no reason to reinvent the wheel.

 

Since I want to be positive, I'll state that I'm positive that I would never accept an invitation to a group as described in this sad, sad thread.