A Modest Proposal

[wjmark]

One of the things that makes Chiang Mai so special is the huge variety and quality of the restaurants and the great overall food scene here. And the massive numbers of foodies who are interested in all that.

(If you thought I was going to say the "huge variety and quality of the ThaiVisa members" please jump to the topic on the quality of ThaiVisa members - it seems to be really popular: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Chiang-Mai-Forum-t322016.html).

Anyways, my concern is food, and finding the best of it, eating the best of it, learning about it, not get ripped off eating it, and talking about it (I even have certain erotic fantasies about food. (What is that old Ian Dury song - "Sex and Food and Rock n Roll"? ).

People often comment to me that the Chiang Mai forum seems obsessed with food. I proudly agree. Food food and nothing but food!

Once upon a time there was a special 'pinned' topic on food in Chiang Mai - it died an ignoble death. People didn't see it. People didn't think of it, and people didn't use it. I liked the idea of a special topic on food - I even posted there a few times - , but the thread didn't work...

SO:

Simple idea - easy to instigate - minimal maintenance - and would help organize and make sensible the mess that is "the food topics ".

(I'll shout) HOW ABOUT AN ACTUAL CHIANGMAI FOOD SUB-FORUM UNDER THE MAIN CHIANGMAI FORUM.

Make it clearly visible on the regular Chiangmai forum, so it is readily and easily accessible.

We could post topics on restaurants, shopping for food, bad restaurants, restaurants with free water.

We could be pleasant, erudite, thuggish, personal, mean.

No reason to change who we are.

BUT... It seems like a great idea to me.

[eek]

Haha! Someone had some coffee today? Because your mind is alert! Great idea.

Now go have some carbs and take a well deserved after carbs nap.

[anonymouse]

I second the proposal

It would be benefical for those that don't like all the food threads as well as those that do, good idea.

[Ulysses G.]

Good idea.

[purplehaze]

Mapguy are you up for it?

[tigerbeer]

belly good idea.

[eek]

Edit: original comment removed because the forum is playing up. ..this is weird..topics are all over the place for me. I posted this comment in the t-shirt thread..and it landed here.

Edited December 16, 2009 by eek

[ThaiPauly]

Good idea.

Ian Drury's song was "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll " though.

No mention of food

[uptheos]

Sounds like a well thought out idea - should give it a go.

[harrry]

Food is life so anything goes in the food thread right?

[harrry]

By the way wjmark are all your books sorted on their shelves in the correct order and are your kitchen shelves sorted in order of item size or colour

[wjmark]

By the way wjmark are all your books sorted on their shelves in the correct order and are your kitchen shelves sorted in order of item size or colour

Actually, I am a mess - inside and out! And that goes for my kitchen too...

And for the earlier comment, yup - I know it is Sex and Drugs and RnR, but I did spell Ian Drury's name wrong!

As Bryan Ferry said, "Food is the drug!"

===

edit - here are the lyrics to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll (note that I have highlighted the important bits..

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Is all my brain and body need

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Are very good indeed

Keep your silly ways or throw them out the window

The wisdom of your ways, I've been there and I know

Lots of other ways, what a jolly bad show

If all you ever do is business you don't like

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Is very good indeed

Every bit of clothing ought to make you pretty

You can cut the clothing, grey is such a pity

I should wear the clothing of Mr. Walter Mitty

See my tailor, he's called Simon, I know it's going to fit

Here's a little piece of advice

You're quite welcome it is free

Don't do nothing that is cut price

You know what that'll make you be

They will try their tricky device

Trap you with the ordinary

Get your teeth into a small slice

The cake of liberty

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Sex, drugs, rock, roll

Sex, drugs, rock, roll

Edited December 16, 2009 by wjmark

[rohitsuk]

I vote for that, it sounds like a thoroughly sensible idea.

[ricklev]

Yes, the long running restaurant thread was the most interesting thing on the forum. I was sad to see it murdered.

[StevieH]

this is an excellent idea. too often the main chiang mai forum is completely littered with food threads. there is far more to life in chiang mai than just eating.

[Chunkton]

Seems like a good idea to excise food into it's own domain, another sub forum should also be formed under Chiang Mai or make make Chiang Mai a sub forum elsewhere. Won't add as have been warned several times of banning.

Ian Jury followed up "Sex and Drugs and Rock" and Roll later with "I Want to be Straight". Never saw them live but caught a live concert om TV and they were brilliant musos, wish I'd taped it.

[Thakkar]

I came to see a food fight and look! Everybody's in agreement. Where's the food fight, people? This is most unusual.

[ThaiPauly]

My ONLY concern would be....what would be left to discuss on the main forum????

Not much going on these days as it is

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun WJMark,

Great idea ! You have our votes ~o:37;

[Ulysses G.]

My ONLY concern would be....what would be left to discuss on the main forum????

Not much going on these days as it is

This is my thought too, but if it will shush the crybabies...

[WinnieTheKhwai]

BRILLIANT idea. I wouldn't worry about what remains in the main Chiang Mai forum; if anything it means that 'actual' topics of interest will stick around longer/better/more prominently.

[Ricardo]

How about separate sub-forums (or fori ?) for Pizza-threads, Burger-threads, Fish-&-Chip-threads etc ? No, I don't really agree, you can take all this categorisation too far, personally I don't even look at the CM-Events section often. It's fine as-is.

[Asmerom]

How about separate sub-forums (or fori ?) for Pizza-threads, Burger-threads, Fish-&-Chip-threads etc ? No, I don't really agree, you can take all this categorisation too far, personally I don't even look at the CM-Events section often. It's fine as-is.

You seem to have missed out on the one important category which the OP's suggestion of A Modest Proposal surely refers to : Swift's "Modest Proposal".

"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance

in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year

old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether

stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it

will equally serve in a fricassie, or a ragout."

[harrry]

Does this mean that food and music cannot be discussed together. We may need a Music in CM Food establisments thread too.

[Ulysses G.]

We still have not gotten into exploring the literature of the 60's yet.

[orang37]

... snip ... You seem to have missed out on the one important category which the OP's suggestion of A Modest Proposal surely refers to : Swift's "Modest Proposal ... snip ...

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Asmerom,

We are sure that WJMark's allusion to Swift's famous essay suggesting the British eat Irish children, was, sub-textually, metaphorically, referring to the fact that the nature of the TV Chiang Mai forum as it is now is already a cult of ritualistic cannibalism in which, to continue the metaphor, the "children" of spontaneity and loving social discourse are being eaten by crass commercial self-interest.

We can truthfully say that every shamelessly self-promoting post we read that mentions a certain pub in Chiang Mai takes a bite out of our ass We can truthfully say that every time we, by accident, read the endlessly repeated toxic mantras "no free water," or "no riff raff," instant nausea occurs.

God bless the Irish, some of whom (the ones not hung as horse thieves) were our human's ancestors in the maternal line.

best, ~o:37;

[StevieH]

My ONLY concern would be....what would be left to discuss on the main forum????

Not much going on these days as it is

general local information, for both residents and short-term visitors. first time i visited the CM forum it was a really useful resource for local information, tips, hints and recommendations. over time it became a food forum where you had to really go searching for information and advice on anything. a separate food forum would keep the main board relevant and interesting and also have the benefit of not making first-time site users think that every farang who lives in CM is an eating-obsessed gutbucket.

[harrry]

My ONLY concern would be....what would be left to discuss on the main forum????

Not much going on these days as it is

general local information, for both residents and short-term visitors. first time i visited the CM forum it was a really useful resource for local information, tips, hints and recommendations. over time it became a food forum where you had to really go searching for information and advice on anything. a separate food forum would keep the main board relevant and interesting and also have the benefit of not making first-time site users think that every farang who lives in CM is an eating-obsessed gutbucket.

May I take it that you would prefer the forum to be a static "Yellow Pages" rather than a vibrant everchanging interaction between various people (and one halfperson halfbeast) of the Chiang Mai Community

[Asmerom]

We can truthfully say that every shamelessly self-promoting post we read that mentions a certain pub in Chiang Mai takes a bite out of our ass We can truthfully say that every time we, by accident, read the endlessly repeated toxic mantras "no free water," or "no riff raff," instant nausea occurs.

God bless the Irish, some of whom (the ones not hung as horse thieves) were our human's ancestors in the maternal line.

best, ~o:37;

Having read your passionate post three times over I can truthfully say I agree that those constantly repeated "toxic mantras" are certainly dim witted and boring. And although you may be forgiven the slight exaggeration contained in your charge that TV forum is already "a cult of ritualistic cannibalism" I also agree with its main tenet and I can see why you fully support WJMark's modest proposal,but pehaps, as you say "God Bless the Irish", not Swift's.

[sbk]

Will bring it up for discussion among mods and other admins.