villagefarang Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 We have 'good day' and 'bad day' topics. How about a list of things we like about Chiang Rai? Certainly we all have things that we like about the Rai. Feel free to mention your favorite tourist attraction, hotel, restaurant or bar, if you like, but I was thinking more along the lines of the less the commercial and less obvious. I like this time of year, with its spectacular skies, lush green rice fields and a pace of life more controlled by nature than the clock on the wall. I also like my 50km, country road drives to town, believe it or not, especially on the motorbike. My list of things I love about the Rai is seemingly endless but I would rather hear from others. Big or small the only thing that matters, is that you like it. Please share. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sceadugenga Posted July 14, 2010 Popular Post Share Posted July 14, 2010 I like the arrivals gate at the airport, I go away far too often. I like the mountains, I was always a sea person but never miss it while I have the mountains here. I like it that most of the locals still genuinely smile at a farang. I like the rivers, from the great Mekong down to the little streams that run all year round. (To be continued). 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post villagefarang Posted July 15, 2010 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 15, 2010 I too grew up near the beach and the ocean, surfing and sailing small catamarans. Don't miss them much and at least part of the year, I am surrounded by a lush sea of green and big skies that seem to fill the void. I like the cold foggy mornings of winter in the Rai. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villagefarang Posted July 15, 2010 Author Share Posted July 15, 2010 I liked this evening's unique rain shower. Reminiscent of rains in Hawaii, on the leeward side of the island. The clouds came over the mountains to the east with welcome showers, while the sun was still well above the horizon to the west. Brilliant sunshine and falling rain turns the world into a sparkling fantasy, remarkable to behold. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sceadugenga Posted July 15, 2010 Popular Post Share Posted July 15, 2010 I like the Thais having a good time at my wife's birthday tonight. The children watching the cake being cut with huge eyes. The 300 baht flower arrangement I bought that would have cost me $80 in Australia. I like watching the girls go by while I'm having a coffee in Big C, but then anyone who knows me already knows that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pomchop Posted July 15, 2010 Popular Post Share Posted July 15, 2010 walking along chiang rai beach on a cool december morning watching the rice harvest in mid november from my deck watching the morning "rush hour" with Thais bundled up on their motorcys like they are going to the artic watching the afternoon market being set up buying fruits and veggies at some of the lowest prices on earth from roadside pickup truck markets watching the gem boat guys sifting through gravel in the mae kok watching thai kids ride their bikes with their dog following along watching the young monks doing their morning rounds riding my motorbike along the mae kok with no traffic in sight watching the total chaos of saturday shopping at big C eating fantastic food at give away prices at many CR restaurants attending the annual chiang rai flower festival planting a variety of plants/trees in my yard and being amazed at how fast they grow watching the neighbors get all excited about killing and cooking a snake walking around downtown chiang rai on a cool clear december morning having a cold beer in the garden area of peace bar taking visitors for a tour of the Red Rose Hotel watching the light show at the clock tower watching the hustle and bustle of the night market and the mix of thais and tourists riding the "refugee bus" from chiang rai to mae sai and seeing what kind of characters show up buying exotic plants at nurseries that would cost a fortune in the west for a few baht watching the thai high schools students hanging out and goofing around after classes having a pretty thai girl give me a big smile for no particular reason having thai kids practice their limited "i am fine" english out on me practicing my limited thai with thai kids and having them stare wide eyed at the farang before breaking into giggles watching the beautiful orange blossoms appear throughtout chiang rai 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 Nice Pomchop. The Cools seasons pretty special. You mentioned the orange blossoms, there seems to be a different Tree in Blossom all year round in these parts. No ones mentioned 'Starry Starry Nights' . The Night sky has got to be the most spectacular I've seen anywhere. very little light pollution I guess. Maybe thats a queue for a song 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villagefarang Posted July 15, 2010 Author Share Posted July 15, 2010 Great post pomchop! Hope you don't mind that I gave you a 'reputation' point by clicking the icon in the lower right corner of your post. Really great stuff. You too, jubby, I love starry nights as well but without the music. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 (edited) That's cue Jubby, I doubt anyone's queuing to listen to "Starry Starry Night" (Vincent). The orange blossom could be Philidelphus or Mock Orange, the one the Thais use to make the sweet smelling garlands they sell at traffic lights. (Stolen from Wikipedia) Edited July 15, 2010 by sceadugenga 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Oh , I don't know Scea. Music calms the savage beast or something like that 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Breast Jubbles, breast... not quite the same thing. "Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." William Congreve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 (edited) Breast Jubbles, breast... not quite the same thing. "Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." William Congreve. There you go again Scea. Lowering the tone. That reminds me, Where's the best place for Coffee in Big C Anyway, perhaps not the original saying, but its probably been said more often, and perhaps does ring true. Atleast in my world and apparently There may have been a Freudian slip when Congreve meant beast. Edited July 16, 2010 by jubby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Well it's up to you guys with a bit more formal education to try and raise the tone a little, the scraps of knowledge I picked up were acquired from reading at truck stops or in sawmill lunch rooms. (A little reverse snobbery there). I can see I'm going to have to be more careful who I'm seen with in public, I have a position to maintain in Chiang Rai society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Well it's up to you guys with a bit more formal education to try and raise the tone a little, the scraps of knowledge I picked up were acquired from reading at truck stops or in sawmill lunch rooms. (A little reverse snobbery there). I can see I'm going to have to be more careful who I'm seen with in public, I have a position to maintain in Chiang Rai society. I was a Chicken Grader in a past life. Only Joking. Its funny , I always took you for a Teacher or something. Anyway, we're drifting, ever so innocently off-topic again. Apologies to his great Virtuosity the Village Flang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 I like the way the gas bottle man came with a refill tonight within minutes of being called. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 I always took you for a Teacher or something. He is just being humble - actually quite clever for such a committed liberal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Socialist, socialist... Obviously you missed Politics: 1a at college as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Socialist, socialist... Obviously you missed Politics: 1a at college as well. Liberal, Socialist ... I don't know. ...... . He's certainly a Protaganist . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 I just like to push that particular button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sateev Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Calling it "The Rai" reminds me of the Brat Pack calling Malibu "The 'Bu". Just a little too "Awesome, dude!" for my tastes... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Ah well, you can't please every one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybluestu Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Calling it "The Rai" reminds me of the Brat Pack calling Malibu "The 'Bu". Just a little too "Awesome, dude!" for my tastes... to The Rai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svenivan Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Oh , I don't know Scea. Music calms the savage beast or something like that Thank you Jubby, Vincent was one of my favorite artists. I have read the book about his life 3-4 times. He was a very special man. This song with the video of his paintings was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 (edited) To quote pomchop : watching the neighbors get all excited about killing and cooking a snake Seeing my father in law come home from the farm with a big smil on his face and with two huge (live) rice rats for dinner. Guess who is dinner For some strange reason the rice rats get majorly upset when you come near them Edited July 20, 2010 by Garry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 (edited) Oh , I don't know Scea. Music calms the savage beast or something like that Thank you Jubby, Vincent was one of my favorite artists. I have read the book about his life 3-4 times. He was a very special man. This song with the video of his paintings was great! Yes, Its quite a special Video . There are a few Oriental Ladies trying to sing the song also on youtube. Check them out. Edited July 21, 2010 by jubby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pomchop Posted July 21, 2010 Popular Post Share Posted July 21, 2010 Great post pomchop! Hope you don't mind that I gave you a 'reputation' point by clicking the icon in the lower right corner of your post. Really great stuff. You too, jubby, I love starry nights as well but without the music. OK i am sitting in USA and bored....so i find that i enjoy thinking of positive things about Chiang Rai...here's some more... hearing massage parlor girls ask "massage sir?" in a sing song voice sitting on a bench at wat mengrai enjoying the solitude climbing the steps to the top of wat doi kong khao wading in the mae kok river on a hot day getting a cup of water thrown on me by a giggling 6 year old girl during song kran having the neighbors' dogs bark and growl until they realize it's just the farang coming home having my laundry picked up, cleaned and delivered back to my home for 75 baht a week having the water man deliver big jugs of water for 12 baht and refuse a tip having security guards click their heels and salute me like I am someone important watching female office workers drink whiskey with their lunch knowing five of the dancing shrimp's sexy waitresses by name having my motorbike oil changed for less than the cost of a cup of coffee watching workers climb and trim my trees with no ladders and only a machete having workers show up ready to work but without a tool to their name never having to worry much about the cost of most any repair to anything paying my electric and internet phone bill at 7/11 with no hassles getting caught in the pedestrian traffic jam on Saturday night at the walking street market parking at wang come hotel for 20 baht visiting an ear doctor and having my total bill be 100 baht trying to figure out what all goes on at the sperm club, the par club and the womb buying eggs that haven't been refrigerated and not worrying about it cooking up big pots of vegetable stew with many vegetables that i don't even recognize having TOT guys show up to repair my internet and actually get it fixed and no charge watching Thais collect red tree flowers and turn them into something tasty watching the ice cream tuk tuks roaming all over chiang rai selling 10 baht ice creams watching Thai ladies grubbing around in streams and lakes catching who knows what kind of critters having a hill tribe girl in the afternoon market try to line me up with her friend trying to walk for exercise along the river and having Thais try to give me a ride watching the Thais build buildings with bamboo scaffolding and not a hard hat in sight watching young Thais flirting and drinking whiskey at chiang rai beach having a nice buffett at rim kok hotel for 140 baht eating a tasty platter of chicken steak, french fries, salad and bread for 69 baht eating a bowl of 10 baht noodle soup served by a ten year old kid watching a bicycle tuktuk driver older than Methuselah peddle an even older lady around town seeing how many Thais can fit on one motorbike seeing how many Thais can fit into the back of a pickup truck seeing how many different businesses can be built onto a Honda wave motorbike pulling into a gas station and having 3 uniformed attendants gas my motorbike and clean my rear view mirrors and not expect a tip seeing how many different kinds of motorized vehicles Thais can come up with wandering around in various food markets and being offered free samples of many things i don't recognize holding my nose to cover the smell of the seafood section at big C trying to figure out when and where the baht buses at the afternoon market actually go laughing at some of the prices for imported goods at big C having a big C employee push my cart to an available cashier for me getting treated like a VIP just for being a farang and showing up having a waitress wai and thank me for a 5 baht tip taking my big C register receipt to the premium counter and winning a can of coke trying to figure out how they decide who wins what at the big C premium counter not really caring how they decide who wins what at the big C premium counter the boat trip down the mae kok from tha ton to chiang rai standing in line at 7 11 and having a little lady jump the line on me and i don't even care spending a night at the garden home bungalow in tha ton sitting at the chiang rai bus station and trying to fathom who is going where and why watching a new monk induction ceremony with all his family present and oh so proud watching the sunset from my balcony with an ice cold beer chang going to the public hospital and having poor Thai people insist that i go to the front of the line seeing a doctor for less than the parking would cost in the west chasing chickens out of my yard in Thai assuming they will understand me having Thais constantly tell me how good my Thai is when i know it's not stopping for directions and having a group of Thais gather around to see what the farang wants breakfast at nice kitchen near wat jed yod watching the goings on getting lost on my motorbike in the middle of nowhere and enjoying it walking across the mae sai bridge and being back in Thailand with a new visa stamp in less than ten minutes going to the CR post office and feeling like a local buying an entire watermelon for 10 baht having an entire wall at 7/ 11 featuring snacks for 20 baht or less the first big rainstorm at the end of the cool dry season watching a yellow Buddha flag flap in the breeze visiting the 10 baht stores and being amazed at all the items available for 10 baht watching the aerobics and exercisers at the old airport and wondering who is who having the mail man show up at my house on a motorbike and wondering how he found me eating a burger at Barrys at the golf course watching the beer garden girls at big C strut their stuff trying to figure out which girls are high school and which ones are college students enjoying how tight a high school girl can have a white blouse without popping buttons watching farang backpackers walk around with massive backpacks that defy all logic being able to sometimes go for days and not hear another person speak English or hassle me watching the frog giggers appear in the rice paddies at night after the first big rain seeing a bright blue bird with long yellow feathers in the wild seeing a nasty looking snake race across the road in front of my motorbike watching hilltribe people float down the mae kok on hand made bamboo rafts having to put an extra blanket on my bed because its freezing being able to see my breath on a few extra cool mornings flying in and out of CR airport without most of the usual airport hassles and BS 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Wow, Don't hold back on us Pomchop I've never seen female office workers drink whiskey with their lunch. Must be a stressful Job I Guess And where exactly is this 'dancing shrimp' place , just out of curiosity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 (edited) double post Edited July 22, 2010 by jubby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Must have been "happy birtday" someone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubby Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Arai Wah !? ....... I'm slow Scea. You know that Anyway, off to see a man (or woman) about a dog, or maybe internet service Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now