chanchao Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 It takes more than a lot of people to be a great city. :-) In terms of history, culture, diversity and international allure, no other 'second cities' come close to Chiang Mai. Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabaijai Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 It takes more than a lot of people to be a great city. :-)In terms of history, culture, diversity and international allure, no other 'second cities' come close to Chiang Mai. Cheers, Chanchao As long as you're talking unquantifiables, might as well make it Thailand's first! Or is this your way of admitting Bangkok is first? Personally I'm quite happy for CM to remain the country's 7th largest ... Has anyone been to Sunthuree's restaurant and music show on the river?I forget the actual name of the place. It's called Heuan Soontaree, northern Thai for 'Soontaree's House'. Nice spot, on the river, large menu of northern, northeastern and central Thai (the northern is best, as always in Ch Mai), though nothing spectacularly delicious. Tel: 0 5325 2445; 46/2 Thanon Wan Singkham. The big draws are the northern Thai atmosphere of the place and of course the owner-singer, Sunthari Wetchanon (that's RTGT, but she chooses to transcribe her name Soontaree Vechanont). She doesn't sing every night, and when she does appear it's usually around 9 or 9.30pm. I love the sound of her voice but if you're not used to northern Thai-style folk music it make take awhile for your ears to become accustomed to the 'nasal' twang of northern Thai singing. She has recorded many solo albums as well as duets with the late Jaran Manophet. Aside: Whenever you walk into a northern Thai restaurant or northern Thai handicraft shop, there's a 90% chance the music they're playing as atmosphere is Euay Sunthari (Elder Sister Sunthari). Her daughter has a great voice, too but dilutes/blends/improves (depending on your perspective) the northern Thai style with central Thai and Western styles. She also performs at the restaurant. The place is full of tourists, about half Thai and the rest from Europe, Japan, etc. Every Bangkok Thai that visits Ch Mai has to eat at Heuan Soontari at least once. Don't go for the food, go for the atmosphere and to watch the graceful Euay Sunthari. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 > As long as you're talking unquantifiables, might as well > make it Thailand's first! Isn't Chiang Rai older? I thought Mengrai establshed that one first before finally doing it properly and doing Chiang Mai. :-) > I love the sound of her voice but if you're not used to northern > Thai-style folk music it make take awhile for your ears to become > accustomed to the 'nasal' twang of northern Thai singing. Ah, that's generous. :-) And by far the most positive I've ever heard a foreigner describe her music. I think it's best described as an acquired taste, like durian or whatever: Guaranteed to send people running the first time they encounter it. Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polecat Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 I reckon 61's got shabby. The carpet is filthy and it takes them an age to clear the tables. Sitting outside is quite pleasant though. Monkey Club, is always packed, yes. However, what the ###### is going on with the music? Used to be bands pretty much all night, but now they seems to favour the looped tape deal. The new Warm Up on Nimmanheiman is carcking, although my Thai friends reckon that it is now PACKED with farang trying to pick up chicks and many have stopped going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajarn Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 The new Warm Up on Nimmanheiman is carcking, although my Thai friends reckon that it is now PACKED with farang trying to pick up chicks and many have stopped going. PC, is that a typo, or is another new English slang for this olde fogey to learn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too true Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Ah, that's generous. :-) And by far the most positive I've ever heard a foreigner describe her music. I think it's best described as an acquired taste, like durian or whatever: Guaranteed to send people running the first time they encounter it. Chanchao, is it really true? Sao Chiang Mai was the first song I learned all the words to in Thailand. Had to sing for a friend's wedding in Lampang and that was what someone decided I should sing. A wretched cover, I'm sure, but the villagers loved it. Immigration would probably blacklist me if they ever heard me sing it. But really, I've absolutely loved her voice from the first moment I heard it. Her daughter's as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john b good Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 <font color='#000000'>I've lived in chiang mai for 3 yrs now and have done some pub crawling and came to the conclusion that chiang mai is a 'family' town, so, i made a family and stopped crawling in the poor excuses for night life here. there's a few tourist traps with 'dogs' working by the night market and loy khrow rd and three bars whith dancers that i wouldn't take out for free if they offered it, but they won't offer it as here in chiang mai is where the ugly dogs can make a living, because they can't cut the mustard in pattaya or bkk. so, give up on night life in chiang mai and save your money for a trek . c.m. is a day town!!</font> I didn't pick this one up when it was first posted (I must have been nodding off, pretty much the same as bryanjackson must have been doing for the 3 years that hes been living in Chiangmai ) There are heaps of places in Chiangmai where the tastes of everyone are catered for (or almost if you don't include voyeurs) And to call the demimondames working in the bars or wherever 'dogs' is an insult of the worst kind. Having said that, the writer (of the quoted post) clearly cannot tell the difference it would seem. I pity your wife whatever extraction she might be. But then I guess that you don't have a wife (certainly not a Thai wife anyway) if you classify them all as dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabaijai Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 > As long as you're talking unquantifiables, might as well > make it Thailand's first! Isn't Chiang Rai older? I thought Mengrai establshed that one first before finally doing it properly and doing Chiang Mai. :-) Right, just following your concept of 'first' and 'second', which went from size (original poster and my reply) to culture/fun/international/etc (your reply to my post). So if you want to talk chronological first, there were several towns in existence in the north before Chiang Rai came along. But that's a debate best left for another thread ... Just sorting out which towns were really 'Thai' is a corker. Mengrai himself was half-Lao, half Tai Lu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Chanchao, is it really true? Sao Chiang Mai was the first song I learned all the words to in Thailand. Had to sing for a friend's wedding in Lampang and that was what someone decided I should sing. A wretched cover, I'm sure, but the villagers loved it. I bet.. You are female though, then, I would hope? :-) A foreigner singing a Chiang Mai song would already be a hoot, but when you're a dude singing "I am a Chiang Mai girl" that would have them rolling on the floor most likely. (Or did they update the lyrics, I think there's a male version as well) On my wedding I was only forced to sing 'Sabai Sabai', one of Bird's first and biggest hits and a relatively easy song. Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadish_sweetball Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 More budget/backpacker style: Forest Drunk, in Ratchadamnoen soi 6 or 7, the one going through the Three Kings monument area. I have seen the sign... Now, what about the origins of this name, is it a translation of เมาป่า mao paa, a corruption / pun on Forrest Gump, or what? Whichever it is, the name really tends to stick once you've heard it. Really should check it out some time... As for singing, my personal tear-jerker in Thai is Thee Chaiyaded's acoustic guitar version of Lom Haai Jai (not the disco version) ... Pleased to hear the Silly Fools did a good show, Sabaijai - does anyone know when they'll be in Chiang Mai next... also, is it true that Modern Dog have retired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Seems to have it's cool party nights and its dead nights.. Mostly depending if a whole group of teachers/NGO people/backpackers etc show up or not. > As for singing, my personal tear-jerker in Thai is Thee > Chaiyaded's acoustic guitar version of Lom Haai Jai (not the > disco version) And the one which' title I don't recall but starts like "bon doi mee make loi - bon doi mee ...... - mee saow ngaam chue Dang - mee ..... ho hum etc. What song is that anyways? ;-) Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabaijai Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Forest Drunk is hosting a DJ party at the River Bar on Sat night, the 29th. I just picked up the flyer at Forest Drunk last night from Tom, one of the resident DJs there. It's their first off-site party in a couple of months, I think. They list five DJs in all for Sat night, three of them from Europe. Cover is 100 baht but you get a free shot with that. Shot of what, who knows (probably plastic sombrero tequila). I might go, as I've not yet been to the River Bar anyway. It's behind the Diamond Riverside Hotel, right on the river. The party lasts from 8pm to 2am. Don't know how they're getting around the normal 'early' closings that CM is famous for. As for Forest Drunk, I'd describe it as a nicer/cleaner Rasta Cafe playing hip-hop/trance/techno rather than the reggae/dance hall/rap/hip-hop/rock you get at Rasta. FD has borrowed a couple of things from Rasta, including a rustic rope-and-wood-plank swing, and separating the beer-serving bar from the cocktail-serving bar. For people-watching, the Rasta is better because you can sit just about anywhere and view most of the space. Conversely for privacy, FD is better, as it's divided up into separate roofed sitting areas. I'd say the crowd's more diverse at Rasta as well, another plus for people-watching. But both have, as Chanchao described, their off and on nights ... Police showed up at FD last night at midnight, making sure they were closing down at that hour. Meanwhile places like the Monkey Club and Warm Up can stay open till 1am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 > Don't know how they're getting around the normal 'early' closings > that CM is famous for. It's a restaurant and part of a hotel.. I don't think they'll have a problem. > Meanwhile places like the Monkey Club and Warm Up can > stay open till 1am. Those are technically restaurants. ;-) Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabaijai Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 (edited) Those are technically restaurants. ;-) If they had restaurant licenses, they could stay open all night (like Spicy). I think Warm Up and Monkey Club have live music licenses. The written regs are clear, midnight for massage parlours, 1am for bars and live music venues, 2am for discos and no mandated closing time for restaurants. So Forest Drunk, which I believe has a bar license (well, they told me they did anyway , should be allowed to stay open till 1am, technically. Rasta, of course, has no license so is totally at the mercy of the men in brown ... At least I think that's how the sathaan bawrikaan law reads, I have a copy of the official pronouncement, though I haven't looked at it since it came out in April. A lawyer friend who specialises in entertainment and tourism law is flying up here again on Monday to represent a couple of bar owners here who are trying to convince the police to follow the letter of the law. The irony is that until this year the CM police were practically the only police in the North who actually did follow the (old) regs with regard to closing times. Edited August 24, 2004 by sabaijai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 > So Forest Drunk, which I believe has a bar license (well, they > told me they did anyway wink.gif, should be allowed to stay open till 1am, > technically. I kind of wonder if that was a smart choice... Given that they're on the premises of the old Vietnamese restaurant (restaurant-only) that since moved elsewhere, I would say there would be a lot of mileage in keeping with a restaurant format, serve some fries & pancakes if they must, and keep to a restaurant format. It already looks like one anyway, get rid of the bar stools. Then they could be like Spicy and remain open, sounds like a potentially awesome after-hours place to just lounge for hours until dawn! Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narachon Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 <font color='#000000'>Rinrada,The description of "Farang Pub" does list "naughty bars" and I didn't go into the juicy details. </font> hey i liked picking up birds at the BUBBLES nightclub in CM - near pornping hotel if i remember it right enjoy ! Yeah, I totally agree! There are so many beautiful women at that place! And they really know how to dance! All the ladies go there....University girls, Bargirls, Regular girls..... And most of them are Hot! I never had the chance to pick up any "Birds" there, but If I wasn't always there with my Thai Girlfriends ( or I should rephrase that, "Lady Friends".... ) I would have! Entrance fee is reasonable ( I forgot the price ) and it included a free beer... I don't know if it was a special promotion, or if they are still doing that.... Great place for Dance music and ladies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 100 baht entrance, includes a beer as long as it's a Singha or a cocktail, which are actually quite reasonably priced. (I think they charge a little extra for other beers). Note that the percentage of university/regular girls varies a bit over time. Bargirls and freelancers mostly seem a majority, especially when it's not a Friday or Saturday night. Then again it's *just* respectable enough to bring some Thai friends and make them reasonably impressed with it all as it's also quite different from most of the Thai pub/discos. (Like, there's actually a dance floor at Bubbles, not something looking like an attempt to get into the record books for cramming the most tables and chairs in a limited space) Cheers, Chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebear Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 The Bear's Den.. not sure if it gets busy these days The Bear's Den British Pub/Bar & Restaurant must be one of Chiang Mai's best kept secrets. A quiet hideaway with an awesome bar, great ambience and no BG's. Yes Chanchao it has got busier but in the nicest possible way with a good mix of regular expats and Thai. Perhaps its not busy every day of the week but then you can't be all things to all men! The new pool table is proving to be very popular especially on Wednesdays with the Thai wives having a great time - check it out again sometime. Cheers, The Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confusedbeats Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I usually avoid places where Thai Teenagers hang around. They are just nothing but trouble. Violent, aggressive, always looking for someone who they can beat the shit out. Try Bubbles the only Thai men that going there are gays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutethaigirl Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Try Bubbles the only Thai men that going there are gays. You can certainly say that is true. Yuk yuk Yuk First and last time in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadish_sweetball Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I usually avoid places where Thai Teenagers hang around. They are just nothing but trouble. Violent, aggressive, always looking for someone who they can beat the shit out. Try Bubbles the only Thai men that going there are gays. I suppose you could remove the nationality tag and just apply that haphazardly to ANY teenagers anywhere, though? :-) It's part of the 'profession', no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limbo Posted September 9, 2004 Share Posted September 9, 2004 <font color='#000000'>Any idea of the "scene" in Chaing Rai?I last visited about 10 years ago when a mate of mine had a bar in the Jeyod Rd not far from the Wat and the Boombumgrad Hotel (Golden Bar). I suspect it and poss.him have gone to the big A-GO-GO upstairs but as things would have it wife wants a new house on some land we have inherited up there and a visit in May is on the cards.... ::</font> Dear MR. Rinrada, Something tells me that you are talking about Chiang Rai (Chaing Rai comes close). The Yedyod Rd. still exists (also Yeyod Rd. comes close). Boonbundan Guesthouse (mixed with the Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok it comes indeed close to Boombungrad) didn't move eather. Your mate has probably been succeeded by many other mates in the mean time. It is quite usual that people sell the rental contract of their pubs to new victims. They subsequently put a part of their savings in it and when their reserves are exhausted they look for another mate to become the proud owner of it. There must be hundred 'mates' proudly telling that they once had a bar at the Yedyod Rd. Most of them are probably driving taxi in London now. The pubs of the Yedyod survive by the 'voluntary' contribution of about 25 alcoholic expats. Mainly Australian and British. The big A-GO-GO upstairs I don't know. But it must be years ago that indeed something similar existed on the mentioned Yedyod Rd. There was a big room upstairs (not far from the Full Moon, after three failures again waiting for the next victim to run it) where a group of ladies was wearing invisible clothes. You could have a rest there, enjoy a refreshment and enjoy the 'couture'. Now there are no goggo-bars anymore. The big prostitution areas are closed. Chiangrai wants to be a Buddhist own. The Town Council reserved a big budget to make this visible. Reading about the fascinations of Chiang Mai I absolutely dissuade you from even visiting this town. By the way, did your mate have tattoo's and did he speak with a cockney accent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutethaigirl Posted September 9, 2004 Share Posted September 9, 2004 The big A-GO-GO upstairs I don't know.Mr LimboYou are so funny You make all these not so nice comments about Chiangmai and the bar owners. <Leave them alone they do not hurt you> but you do not even understand the English joke about the go-go upstairs!! It mean he die and live in the sky Then you offer this valuable advice to anyone visiting Chiangmai Reading about the fascinations of Chiang Mai I absolutely dissuade you from even visiting this town. Lucky no one will listen to you. Chiangmai is very beautiful and so are its people. A few bars Thai or Foreign are not the whole city. Even people that go to the temple can drink a little too. Not everyone is the same. We wait for your next funny post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidgtr Posted September 9, 2004 Share Posted September 9, 2004 Now there are no goggo-bars anymore. Limbo Where do you get your info from, certainly not on site inspections.| Ive spent 2-3 nights a month in Chiang Rai the last few months & positively identified & visited several go-go bars in Soi Lobo! My last visit was only a week ago, & even tonight mates are in Chiang Rai on the prowl visiting go-go bars there. Are we on the same planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limbo Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 Reading about the fascinations of Chiang Mai I absolutely dissuade you from even visiting this town. Chiangmai is very beautiful and so are its people. Dear MR. Cutethaigirl, I ment ChiangRAI, but I didn't express myself clear. My apologizes! I just warned Mr. Rinrada in another threadt not to oversee the difference between ChiangMAI and ChiangRAI. By mistake he wants to buy organic vegetables in ChiangRAI whilst he is living in ChiangMAI. When he comes home the vegetables might not be fresh anymore. Also when you buy air-tickets in Bangkok it is very important to check if they entitle you to fly to ChiangMAI or ChiangRAI. You wouldn’t be the first to end up in the wrong town. Never, never, I would say any bad word about the pearl of the North, ChiangMAI. Some years ago I did some things for a famous family in Sankampaeng and visited ChiangMAI regularly. And for a while I tried to keep the students of the local university awake. I loved the long walks during the early Sunday-morning. Very quite, hardly any traffic, and lovely temple grounds to stroll around. ChiangMAI is beautiful, its temples, its monuments and even, compared to ChiangRAI, its architecture. And reading this threadt: There is a lot of divertissement for night-eagles as well. The most exiting place in ChiangRAI is the video-shop. And then, dear MR. Cutethaigirl, its people! Where do you find such pleasant, helpful, amazing in English and lovely people as in ChiangMAI? They are twice as fast in their reaction as an inhabitat of ChiangRAI. ChiangMAI is a big real Thai town, ChiangRAI is provincial, with much stronger Chinese and Shan influence. I only know one (1) bar-owner from ChiangMAI. He is a Swede and, with the hand on my heart, I would accept him without any question as my son in law (she married already another Swede, but how can I express myself better?). To point out that many former bar-owners of the Yedyod Rd. in ChiangRAI at present drive taxis in their home-countries was absolutely not ment as an offense for ChiangMAI bar-owners. And not for ChiangRAI bar-owners either. I just pointed out a fact. It’s only one letter different, but about twohundred kilometers apart. Hehe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limbo Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 Where do you get your info from, certainly not on site inspections.|Ive spent 2-3 nights a month in Chiang Rai the last few months & positively identified & visited several go-go bars in Soi Lobo! My last visit was only a week ago, & even tonight mates are in Chiang Rai on the prowl visiting go-go bars there. Are we on the same planet? I am seriously chocked MR. Davidbrd! It is quite a while ago that I inspected the area and at that time the ladies with the invisible clothes were replaced by television-sets. Last week I passed the soi (with all respect for the deceased, but to name it Soi Lobo might be one bridge too far) at the side of the clock-tower. I noticed a new, officially looking, but home-made street-sign: "Private Soi". It was clearly put there on purpose. Might be a purpose with legal implications, enabling you to look at these poor girls who have to dance to keep themselves warm in these aircon spaces. Bring them a scarf next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Treasure Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 Try Pun Pun on the river by Rama 9 Bridge. Foods good and the humour is OK. Tell John you heard about it here. Maybe give you a free garlic bread. Also Mango is the only decent place on Loi Kroh and it would be good if Phil didn't let the bar flies in there... But I don't give a cluck... (The worlds' stupidest quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narachon Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 Try Bubbles the only Thai men that going there are gays. You can certainly say that is true. Yuk yuk Yuk First and last time in there Sorry to hear that....Bubbles needs as many "Cute Thai Girls" as it can attract , I think.... But it's a VERY good place to meet Cute Thai Girls as well as ..errr......Uhmmm...."Sexy" Thai Girls, if you are a Straight Good Looking guy who can dance.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayinoz Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 > I was told that PAYING for a girl met there was more the normal.> Confirmation please? In my single partying days when I first came to Chiang Mai I rarely left Bubbles by myself.. And at that time completely didn't even have any money to pay for anything whatsoever so no I never paid for anything.. He11, I even went in through the PornPing Tower Hotel washrooms to avoid the cover charge and any after-hours noodle-soup would be "American-Shared" with any girls I was with. :-)) Cheers, Chanchao Farang Ki nok.... should have thought of it myself, when bubbles WAS open I needed to pay to get in- many years ago- darn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limegreenpatato Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I reckon 61's got shabby. The carpet is filthy and it takes them an age to clear the tables. Sitting outside is quite pleasant though. Monkey Club, is always packed, yes. However, what the ###### is going on with the music? Used to be bands pretty much all night, but now they seems to favour the looped tape deal. The new Warm Up on Nimmanheiman is carcking, although my Thai friends reckon that it is now PACKED with farang trying to pick up chicks and many have stopped going. I've been there maybe 4 times in the last month and i'm the only foreniger in there.....they have their info wrong. People actual like Bubble? I went there once, that's one of the worst clubs i've ever been to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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