Chiang Mai - Is It Safe?

[Ricardo]

I think Chiangmai is very safe. I have never encountered any problems in 3 years. As long as I keep the knives and cleavers locked away and do exactly as the thai wife says I have nothing to fear.

Urgent Warning !

You forgot the scissors, garden-shears & machete !

I'd also recommend putting muzzles on your local geese and ducks.

[scottishjohn]

We are obviously not allowed to comment on a moderator's decision to ban someone but I believe very strongly that we must be allowed to comment, and in my case complain, about the rude and disrepectful manner of KH's banning without feeling that we will be banned for saying so.

[vagabond48]

I guess if Kevin is gone and the google ads remain then I'm gone also.

To Ian and others considering leaving ThaiVisa...there's more to 'the naughty schoolboy' than meets the eye. He couldn't keep his own promise. The Google ads will go.

I guess Ian's condition has been met. He'll probably return, besides where is he going to get such a drooling audience for the photos showing him with all the cuties.

[getgoin]

Welcome back Chiang Mai Old Hand.

[getgoin]

The fact of the mater is that everyone has known the 2 or 3 names that Kevin has taken since the last time K. Hunt and his restaurant has been banned. I posted a ditty about how he was on the sly promoting his restaurant and it was deleted.

The Red Loin is a Night Bazaar restaurant and the locals do not go to it. Make him pay for sponsorship, what a cheap bastard.

I forgot to say that I really like his posts though.

Edited October 31, 2009 by getgoin

[jackr]

So ole Mike's been banned, eh... oh dear, how sad, never mind. Although he did, on occasion, breathe a bit of life into it all.

On CM being safe or not... of course it is. Only a tit and those actively seeking trouble would think otherwise. Of course there are dodgy areas and dodgy people, that's always going to be in the equation and especially in a place that has an obvious amount of abject wealth; but for such a large city and to be able to wonder around anywhere at a whim (touristy or otherwise) and not have a problem on innumerable occasions, you'd be hard pushed to do that in any other high-profile place in Muang Thai. I've lived all over and if the heros think that the run-of-the-mill shit that goes on here is worth getting paranoid and writing about, I suggest you move down the deep south for a few years and report back

[amexpat]

KH should know the way to get free promotion is to announce a contemplated branch opening and ask for suggestions about where to locate it.

That method is good for 100+ posts if you come back and stir it occasionally.

[Ulysses G.]

The Chinese Electronics place next to Big Mango Books and near the Boots on Thapae road was burgled again and they went through the roof again. Almost evey holiday a number of businesses at Thapae Gate are robbed like this.

[sassienie]

.

[Rasseru]

The Chinese Electronics place next to Big Mango Books and near the Boots on Thapae road was burgled again and they went through the roof again. . . . .

Not a surprising or unusual reaction, I would say.

[orang37]

The Chinese Electronics place next to Big Mango Books and near the Boots on Thapae road was burgled again and they went through the roof again. . . . .

Not a surprising or unusual reaction, I would say.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Rasseru,

I and I find ourself wondering if there are tenebrous (even Halloweenish) overtones in your comment.

Are you implying UG's comment was not surprising to you because you believe it implied there may be some tendency for burglaries in general to break out during holidays, or implied some tendency local to Chiang Mai for burglaries to break out, or implied some tendency for burglaries involving skylight penetration to break out; or are you, perhaps, suggesting (the most interesting possibility) that during the time of the most ancient of old Lanna festivals Thai people might be more motivated to burgle Chinese shops given the economic domination of Lanna by Chinese merchants and traders during the 19th. and 20th. century as the area was brought under central Thai control : kind of "payback" from the old nobility who lost their lands and timber holdings to the Chinese and the British, and the many farmers who lost their lands to Chinese money-lenders (one family of which has a name it would be very impolitic for me to mention).

We always strive to find meaning in your posts : because : as Ur Orang once said : "the only real safety is in meaning."

best, ~o:37;

[Thakkar]

If you go looking for trouble, you can find it anywhere. There are places where trouble will find you more readily than other places. CM is the 'other places'

[Rasseru]

The Chinese Electronics place next to Big Mango Books and near the Boots on Thapae road was burgled again and they went through the roof again. . . . .

Not a surprising or unusual reaction, I would say.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Rasseru,

I and I find ourself wondering if there are tenebrous (even Halloweenish) overtones in your comment.

Are you implying . . . . .

We always strive to find meaning in your posts : because : as Ur Orang once said : "the only real safety is in meaning."

best, ~o:37;

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun ~o:37!

I am pleased to tell you that there is a simple rule to guide you in finding the meaning in my posts. Keep it simple and don't look for hidden meanings!

In this case, I wished only to make the observation that it is a very natural reaction to go through the roof - an expression that I have always understood to mean, essentially, to lose one's cool, to get angry, to blow one's top - when one is burgled, so that no one should be surprised that the owners of Chinese Electronics did so after they were burgled.

Openly and frankly yours,

Rasseru

[Ulysses G.]

[Kitsch22]

To Ian and others considering leaving ThaiVisa...there's more to 'the naughty schoolboy' than meets the eye. He couldn't keep his own promise. The Google ads will go. TVisa carries on.

Back on topic.....

I am, relatively, a newbie and may have missed something but I am still struggling to identify the rule which he has broken. What is it that I must do (or not do) in order to avoid extermination?

[trainman34014]

The Chinese Electronics place next to Big Mango Books and near the Boots on Thapae road was burgled again and they went through the roof again. . . . .

Not a surprising or unusual reaction, I would say.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Rasseru,

I and I find ourself wondering if there are tenebrous (even Halloweenish) overtones in your comment.

Are you implying UG's comment was not surprising to you because you believe it implied there may be some tendency for burglaries in general to break out during holidays, or implied some tendency local to Chiang Mai for burglaries to break out, or implied some tendency for burglaries involving skylight penetration to break out; or are you, perhaps, suggesting (the most interesting possibility) that during the time of the most ancient of old Lanna festivals Thai people might be more motivated to burgle Chinese shops given the economic domination of Lanna by Chinese merchants and traders during the 19th. and 20th. century as the area was brought under central Thai control : kind of "payback" from the old nobility who lost their lands and timber holdings to the Chinese and the British, and the many farmers who lost their lands to Chinese money-lenders (one family of which has a name it would be very impolitic for me to mention).

We always strive to find meaning in your posts : because : as Ur Orang once said : "the only real safety is in meaning."

best, ~o:37;

I doubt the locals who carried out this blag know any history other than the last few blags they have been involved in!

[venturalaw]

If you go looking for trouble, you can find it anywhere. There are places where trouble will find you more readily than other places. CM is the 'other places'

I've heard of trouble caused by drunk police in dive bars or karaoke places. So I don't go to dive bars or karaoke places. One can get into trouble in dive bars anywhere, not just in Thailand. Perhaps more trouble more often in dive bars in poor areas (Southeast Los Angeles, etc.). As far as just walking down the streets, never ran into a problem in Chiang Mai, anytime of the day or night. My experience is that it's safe.

Edited October 31, 2009 by venturalaw

[iainiain101]

If you go looking for trouble, you can find it anywhere. There are places where trouble will find you more readily than other places. CM is the 'other places'

I've heard of trouble caused by drunk police in dive bars or karaoke places. So I don't go to dive bars or karaoke places. One can get into trouble in dive bars anywhere, not just in Thailand. Perhaps more trouble more often in dive bars in poor areas (Southeast Los Angeles, etc.). As far as just walking down the streets, never ran into a problem in Chiang Mai, anytime of the day or night. My experience is that it's safe.

Had to look up 'dive bar', here is what I got

The term “dive” dates from London in the 19th century, when young men wanted a livelier place in which to spend their afternoons than the gentlemen’s clubs frequented by their fathers. They formed informal clubs, where they gathered to smoke and drink coffee.[citation needed]

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary indicates that, in the United States in the 1880s, the term referred to an illegal drinking den or other place of ill repute, especially one located in a basement.

The term may also refer to an opium den.

Modern day people would refer to a "dive" bar as a less mainstream bar, the opposite of popular night clubs. A dive bar has a tendency to have a more laid back atmosphere, with less need for a dress code. Many dives are more rough around the edges, yet uphold a frequent crowd or regular patrons.

So which of these definitions are you referring to, and where are they in Chiang Mai?

[venturalaw]

If you go looking for trouble, you can find it anywhere. There are places where trouble will find you more readily than other places. CM is the 'other places'

I've heard of trouble caused by drunk police in dive bars or karaoke places. So I don't go to dive bars or karaoke places. One can get into trouble in dive bars anywhere, not just in Thailand. Perhaps more trouble more often in dive bars in poor areas (Southeast Los Angeles, etc.). As far as just walking down the streets, never ran into a problem in Chiang Mai, anytime of the day or night. My experience is that it's safe.

Had to look up 'dive bar', here is what I got

The term “dive” dates from London in the 19th century, when young men wanted a livelier place in which to spend their afternoons than the gentlemen’s clubs frequented by their fathers. They formed informal clubs, where they gathered to smoke and drink coffee.[citation needed]

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary indicates that, in the United States in the 1880s, the term referred to an illegal drinking den or other place of ill repute, especially one located in a basement.

The term may also refer to an opium den.

Modern day people would refer to a "dive" bar as a less mainstream bar, the opposite of popular night clubs. A dive bar has a tendency to have a more laid back atmosphere, with less need for a dress code. Many dives are more rough around the edges, yet uphold a frequent crowd or regular patrons.

So which of these definitions are you referring to, and where are they in Chiang Mai?

Thank you for the etymology of 'dive bar'. I was referring to 'rough around the edges'. Not certain of where any are located, although east of Nimmanhemin and south of Huay Kaew as will as south of Tapae Gate I've seen a couple.

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup Khun Rasseru,

I am pleased to tell you that there is a simple rule to guide you in finding the meaning in my posts. Keep it simple and don't look for hidden meanings!

Well sir, that is a masterpiece of deception if I and I have ever heard one. Do you think we cannot recognize the difference between the complex lurking disguised in the simple and the simple glaringly revealed in the complex without dark glasses, and a tin cup, and our harmonica ?

In this case, I wished only to make the observation that it is a very natural reaction to go through the roof - an expression that I have always understood to mean, essentially, to lose one's cool, to get angry, to blow one's top - when one is burgled, so that no one should be surprised that the owners of Chinese Electronics did so after they were burgled.!

Aha, you are using the double-bind foo on me and moi now, attempting to paradox me with a double entendre following up on a feint to the right-left hemispheres, but, we are nimble; both white boy and orang can jump.

We can see you are now attempting a "cover-up" of your accidentally "leaking" certain nuclear family secrets including the fact that "going through the roof" is a reference to research on time-travel through worm-holes in space.

Openly and frankly yours.!

How did Frank get in here ? Is he from the CIA ?

If you're going to tag-team up with Frank on me, then I want Kevin Hunt back here covering my back-side.

best, ~o:37;

[chiangdan]

I think Chiangmai is very safe. I have never encountered any problems in 3 years. As long as I keep the knives and cleavers locked away and do exactly as the thai wife says I have nothing to fear.

Urgent Warning !

You forgot the scissors, garden-shears & machete !

I'd also recommend putting muzzles on your local geese and ducks.

I know these comments are made in jest and humour but in reality if a thai woman is not treated with silk gloves and obeyed the knives and cleavers will be a reality.

[chiangdan]

Who is this Kevin Hunt person that people are speaking of and what did he do? Is he a local Chiangmai criminal that we have to be wary of does anyone have a pic of him so I can avoid him whilst walking the streets of chiangmai

[orang37]

Who is this Kevin Hunt person that people are speaking of and what did he do? Is he a local Chiangmai criminal that we have to be wary of does anyone have a pic of him so I can avoid him whilst walking the streets of chiangmai

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun ChiangDan,

"Kevin Hunt" is an alias of aliases for everyone of us here. He is already inside you now, implanted in you by your reading TV in the way that Sony Corporation once implanted rootkits inside personal computers.

The way to avoid him is not the same as the way to see him which varies from one person to another.

For you the way to avoid him might be to look in a flower, the way to see him might be to look in the mirror, but that might be bass-ackwards : only you can discover exactly what works for you, and what works may change at random.

He's looking through my human eyes right now, although I doubt he's seeing what we're seeing ... or what you are seeing.

best, ~o:37;

[Ulysses G.]

Careful, you might get banned for channeling Kevin Hunt!

[Donnyboy]

does anyone have a pic of him so I can avoid him whilst walking the streets of chiangmai

this would be a recent one

Edited November 2, 2009 by Donnyboy

[chiangdan]

Who is this Kevin Hunt person that people are speaking of and what did he do? Is he a local Chiangmai criminal that we have to be wary of does anyone have a pic of him so I can avoid him whilst walking the streets of chiangmai

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun ChiangDan,

"Kevin Hunt" is an alias of aliases for everyone of us here. He is already inside you now, implanted in you by your reading TV in the way that Sony Corporation once implanted rootkits inside personal computers.

The way to avoid him is not the same as the way to see him which varies from one person to another.

For you the way to avoid him might be to look in a flower, the way to see him might be to look in the mirror, but that might be bass-ackwards : only you can discover exactly what works for you, and what works may change at random.

He's looking through my human eyes right now, although I doubt he's seeing what we're seeing ... or what you are seeing.

best, ~o:37;

OMG So Chiangmai really is not safe with demons taking over our minds. I have gotta get out of this place.

[chiangdan]

does anyone have a pic of him so I can avoid him whilst walking the streets of chiangmai

this would be a recent one

I have seen him somewhere before but just can't place it

[orang37]

OMG So Chiangmai really is not safe with demons taking over our minds. I have gotta get out of this place.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun ChiangDan,

"Safety" here, as elsewhere, depends, we think, on being aware of what demons (and angels) you create.

For moi and moi KH is no demon, or angel, but is a preferred site for target practice (temporarily Rasseru is filling that void).

As for getting out of this place ... well, that's one strategy; how can my human forget hearing the Animals singing that song live in San Francisco :

"We gotta get out of this place

If it's the last thing we ever do

We gotta get out of this place

Cause girl, there's a better life for me and you"

but it's based on the assumption that the place is independent of where you are.

We suggest getting out of your mind. And our beloved Chiang Mai is a great place to undo that.

best, ~o:37;

[scottishjohn]

Who is this Kevin Hunt person that people are speaking of and what did he do? Is he a local Chiangmai criminal that we have to be wary of does anyone have a pic of him so I can avoid him whilst walking the streets of chiangmai

Yes indeed it would appear that this Kevin Hunt has become a local criminal in Chiang Mai. You should be safe walking the streets of this fair city provided you never visit a den of iniquity called 'The Red Lion' or indeed mention these dreaded words (Red Lion ) on this forum, You have been warned.

[IanForbes]

OMG So Chiangmai really is not safe with demons taking over our minds. I have gotta get out of this place.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun ChiangDan,

"Safety" here, as elsewhere, depends, we think, on being aware of what demons (and angels) you create.

For moi and moi KH is no demon, or angel, but is a preferred site for target practice (temporarily Rasseru is filling that void).

As for getting out of this place ... well, that's one strategy; how can my human forget hearing the Animals singing that song live in San Francisco :

"We gotta get out of this place

If it's the last thing we ever do

We gotta get out of this place

Cause girl, there's a better life for me and you"

but it's based on the assumption that the place is independent of where you are.

We suggest getting out of your mind. And our beloved Chiang Mai is a great place to undo that.

best, ~o:37;

You MUST pay attention to what the learned Orang has to tell you.

I used to be handsome man like this...

Now after spending time in the dangerous city of Chiang Mai I look like this...