A Modest Proposal

[IanForbes]

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.

Okay then... sex and eating.

Oh, and a little fishing to break up the regular pattern.

[Thakkar]

A compromise, and a more comprehensive solution might be to allow members to tag topics with multiple category tags, including 'food' and a resulting small 'word cloud' next to the topic would allow a quick visual insight to relative contents of the thread, dynamically as they change.

Too ambitious? Not workable? Just thinking out load.

[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.

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

it can be a combination of the two. just pointing out that there have been times when page one of the board is completely dominated by 'best burger / best pizza / best croissant / best peanut butter / best lobster bisque / best penguin salad' in chiang mai threads. it's boring and i'm sure very offputting to noobs looking for genuine information.

[harrry]

when page one of the board is completely dominated by 'best burger / best pizza / best croissant / best peanut butter / best lobster bisque / best penguin salad' in chiang mai threads. it's boring and i'm sure very offputting to noobs looking for genuine information.

Well at the moment there are only two posts about food and one of them is this topic on the forum list. Could this be a bit of an exageration?

[StevieH]

when page one of the board is completely dominated by 'best burger / best pizza / best croissant / best peanut butter / best lobster bisque / best penguin salad' in chiang mai threads. it's boring and i'm sure very offputting to noobs looking for genuine information.

Well at the moment there are only two posts about food and one of them is this topic on the forum list. Could this be a bit of an exageration?

thanks for cutting the contextual words 'there have been times' from my post, ed.

[Ulysses G.]

Probably no more than 5 food threads at one time have ever appeared at one time on the first page of the Chiang Mai forum – 7 at the very most. There is room for something like 25 threads.

Harry is right about the number of food threads being exaggerated.

[orang37]

... you may be forgiven the slight exaggeration

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Asmerom,

Our exaggerations are never slight, Sir, they are always robustly over-the-top, and they are designed to be unforgivable curses as in : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_in_Harr...rgivable_Curses.

best, ~o:37;

[Fishenough]

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.

Okay then... sex and eating.

Oh, and a little fishing to break up the regular pattern.

Ah gee, Ian some of us are married; therefore it's just food, fishing and motorcycling.

I agree it's a good idea, won't feel silly asking things like 'can you buy tasty honey in Chiang Mai' to the boar of all these non food obsessed members. Or posting pictures of deep frying a duck at home in a home made fryer. We eat out plenty and cook many different items, sometimes even though we think we have the source's sourced, TIT rears it's head and the suflay or yorkshire pudding falls flat.........

learn some teach some

[BigWheelMan]

The problem would be that some restaurant owners with corporation from their mates will try to hog the threads by using subtle methods for promoting businesses rather than use the classifieds to advertise their restaurants, plus their mates would go on the attack against those who mention any opposition or faults about their services.

So taking this into consideration, maybe a Chiang Mai food sub forum would not be a good idea.

Edited December 18, 2009 by BigWheelMan

[orang37]

The problem would be that some restaurant owners with corporation from their mates will try to hog the threads by using subtle methods for promoting businesses rather than use the classifieds to advertise their restaurants, plus their mates would go on the attack against those who mention any opposition or faults about their services.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun BigWheelMan,

Fear not : there is no one, including ourselves, on the TV Chiang Mai forum that intelligent; if we were that smart we'd be working for the CIA, or we'd be consultants to Cambodia

Why do we quiver (and want to snort) when we hear the words : "hog the threads" ? Is there a connection to the recent "variation of the type-A (H1N1)" influenza outbreak amongst Thai pigs : Pigs are Coughing ? Surely it couldn't be ... that most typical of our human being's traits ... guilt ?

oinkly, ~o:37;

[Thakkar]

The problem would be that some restaurant owners with corporation from their mates will try to hog the threads by using subtle methods for promoting businesses rather than use the classifieds to advertise their restaurants, plus their mates would go on the attack against those who mention any opposition or faults about their services.

<snip>

That might be so. But if someone is successful in sneakily convincing me to visit their establishment and I enjoy myself there, then as far as I'm concerned, no harm no foul. If it's a bad experience, I'm out a couple of hundred baht, but I've learned who not to trust and I might pan the establishment and whatever free publicity they got would be negated. Self-promoting free loaders and their friends aren't that hard to spot; visitors to this site know who to ignore.

[just_Elaine]

Personally, I used to look at the food threads quite a bit. I would start at the end though and go backwards because the thread is too long and the information in the front is too old to be valid. Anyway, I on occasion peek at that thread to see if anyone has bothered to update it. I appreciate people's input on where to eat. A change to the food portion would be nice.

Thanks,

Elaine

[caf]

The problem would be that some restaurant owners with corporation from their mates will try to hog the threads by using subtle methods for promoting businesses rather than use the classifieds to advertise their restaurants, plus their mates would go on the attack against those who mention any opposition or faults about their services.

<snip>

That might be so. But if someone is successful in sneakily convincing me to visit their establishment and I enjoy myself there, then as far as I'm concerned, no harm no foul. If it's a bad experience, I'm out a couple of hundred baht, but I've learned who not to trust and I might pan the establishment and whatever free publicity they got would be negated. Self-promoting free loaders and their friends aren't that hard to spot; visitors to this site know who to ignore.

I see both your points of view. But sometimes the self promoting is not so easy to spot. What BWM is suggesting is not that over the top. Let's just have posts that enable a poster who has actually visited a restaurant to say what he personally thinks about the experience. To comply with forum rules one can not name and shame; but one can dam_n with faint praise I suppose.

" I went to XXX pub last night for a meal. Their tablecloths were pretty "

[Ricardo]

I see both your points of view. But sometimes the self promoting is not so easy to spot. What BWM is suggesting is not that over the top. Let's just have posts that enable a poster who has actually visited a restaurant to say what he personally thinks about the experience. To comply with forum rules one can not name and shame; but one can dam_n with faint praise I suppose.

" I went to XXX pub last night for a meal. Their tablecloths were pretty "

"The free water was quite wet"

"They accepted payment in Thai Baht"

"Food was served on plates, at no extra charge"

There is a whole new sub-genre, of off-hand restaurant-critic-remarks, just awaiting our collective creative-talents ! Dig In !!

Edited December 18, 2009 by Ricardo

[IanForbes]

The ORIGINAL modest proposal was that the rich people fatten up the children of the poor people and eat them for supper.

Would that be appropriate in Chiang Mai where I see a lot of poor people?

[wjmark]

The ORIGINAL modest proposal was that the rich people fatten up the children of the poor people and eat them for supper.

Would that be appropriate in Chiang Mai where I see a lot of poor people?

As I had never heard of that modest proposal before, isn't my modest proposal 'original' as well (albeit not as shocking)?

[highonthai]

I vote for a sub forum.

I have owned 2 Bar's and currently own a resturant in town. I have never tried to self premote it here on TV, albite suttle I do see it happening here all the time.

In the years I have been living here, I have only once recomended a resturant.

I'm smart enough to know I'm not going to get a "New York steak, mexican food, or the best burger" here in thailand.

Don't even get me started on Sushi.......

JMO

[orang37]

... snip ... isn't my modest proposal 'original' as well (albeit not as shocking)?

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun WJMark,

Yes, we believe you are the Adam, in this Garden, the Primordial One in this Universe. And both of me (we mean "us") think your proposal was timely, as well as original; but those are of course, just our perceptions. We've never claimed that two wholenesses co-located in one meat package deserve more than one vote.

You are appreciated here.

We wish you Merry, Merry, and happy taste buds !

best, ~o:37;

[Ricardo]

I vote for a sub forum.

I have owned 2 Bar's and currently own a resturant in town. I have never tried to self premote it here on TV, albite suttle I do see it happening here all the time.

In the years I have been living here, I have only once recomended a resturant.

I'm smart enough to know I'm not going to get a "New York steak, mexican food, or the best burger" here in thailand.

Don't even get me started on Sushi.......

JMO

I tried that Sushi stuff a few times, but it always tasted fishy, to me ... perhaps I should have ordered Chips with it ?

[orang37]

I vote for a sub forum. I have owned 2 Bar's and currently own a resturant in town. I have never tried to self premote it here on TV ... snip ...

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun HighOnThai,

We thank, you, Sir, sincerely, for being the kind of TV sponsor we would patronize frequently if our human component had taste buds that worked, and could swallow something that wasn't soft ! We will try to figure out where your restaurant is, and direct some of our friends, one or two of whom are not bums, and do have taste buds, there.

best, ~o:37;

[wjmark]

.

Hello again. OP here.

Thanks for all the response. Without counting, I would say about 95% in favour of a Chiangmai Food sub-group. Great.

I think the only real hurdle would be transferring older food threads (say, for the last two years) into this sub-group.

I VOLUNTEER TO DO THIS.

The only real problem I see would be categorizing certain topics. eg. "Where do I find a cast-iron pan" or "How much to tip?" But mostly, it should be easy!

===

I would also like to respond to a few specific people and ideas...

EEK - Thanks! But my doctor told me to lay off coffee. The idea has been in my head for a while - nothing fancy really - just a bit of clear-headedness (it happens now and then). I believe I made myself Spag Carbonara for lunch that day, and didn't wake up till evening!

ThaiPauly - don't forget another of Ian Dury's great songs - "Wake Up and Make Breakfast For Me"

RICKLEV - yes too bad about that food thread - except it didn't really work...

StevieH - You said "there is far more to life in chiang mai than just eating." Name three things!!!

And you said "not making first-time site users think that every farang who lives in CM is an eating-obsessed gutbucket." Guilty as charged...

CHUNKTON - I have a bunch of Ian Dury vids if you want - PM me... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Dury

orang37 - you have a multi-faceted personality! (that's a good thing!)

ULYSSES G - you said "but if it will shush the crybabies... " - we both know nothing will do that...

WinnieTheKwai - You might not realize this - but you are named after my home city - lots of water-buffalo in Winnipeg!

RICARDO - Yes, things can be categorized too far. But to me, this seems like a broad simple category that could streamline things. And for sure people would look at it more than the 'events' - which is basically populated by Citylife postings, and not really a "forum" at all.

ASMERON - are you trying to make me hungry?

SBK -THANKS! Hope it works out. Like I said, if someone sets me up, I would be glad to go through that last couple of years transferring food threads...

IanForbes - What? No photos?!!!!

THAKKAR - I am not a moderator, but your idea does seem, as you asked, "Too ambitious? Not workable?"

FISHENOUGH - Me - CBR150 (now 166cc) . You?

BigWheelMan - good point about scurrilous restaurant owners using the sub-group for their own ends. BUT THEY DO THAT ALREADY in the main group - no difference with a subgroup...

just_Elaine - Thanks - I agree. It would make keeping up with food matters much easier...

CAF - I agree, but these problems would exist in a food sub-forum, or in the regular forum. Not really an argument for or against a food subforum...

HIGHONTHAI - I think I make the best mexican food and best burgers in town. But I am not a restaurant!

[Fishenough]

Wjmark, D-Tracker. Great mileage, hops the highest curbs and can do 130 plus I hear.

Oh, trust me Banana leaf (Ian) has pictures.