Let's Be Honest - It Was *never* The Temples ....

[krisb]

"Funfon, is that you?"

 

Were you expecting Bob Dylan?

preferably.

[Loptr]

Not symmetrical at all. Her right boob is bigger than the left one.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Loptr

[OldChinaHam]

Very minor design flaw?

Or, maybe our right hand is always larger than our left?

[bangkokburning]

Yes, many tourists visit CM and I would imagine many enjoyed their stay. In fact, friends of mine (couple about 60yrs) recently there, expats living in India. Enjoyed it.

I just see it as a dull backwater, not Bangkok, but not Pitsanulok. It's about as hot as Bangkok in reality, just has two months in which the am/pm's are cooler and more pleasant. Counter this with the fires and the fact you are basically 24hrs by bus from the Andaman.

The fires are serious and ongoing. The govt simply refuses to deal with it. Then there is the traffic and air pollution.

I will readily admit to being a seafaring man, hills and mountains are great to visit but lack anything really pleasant activities. Hiking without nature (animals) is a bore and hiking in CM area unguided many stories of robberies on the trails and more still about poor backpackers leaving their valuables with trekking companies only to have money stolen and cards used.

CM is a backwater. Bangkok is King and Phuket his queen. The rest just fall in behind.

CM is one of those places that finds itself in a guidebook and people go - because its in a guidebook. Little of interest. Better jungle walks and bird watching elsewhere in the NPs. It has Doi Suthep, bfd.

Pretty girls, yeah the women in the north are in fact the prettiest, but the beauties are in Bangkok. In fact, anyine that is trying to get somewhere in life not attached to their own small business is in Bangkok.

[MrWorldwide]

FWIW, I recall seeing some absolute stunners in the Robinsons in Udon Thani, and some of them may even have been born female !

Can't say I've seen any women in CM that forced me to risk an elbow in the ribs from my female companion - a constant hazard in BKK - but the single most stunning Asian female I can recall (movies aside) appeared like a vision in the midst of a very ordinary setting. I dont recall the name of the central shopping centre/market complex in VT, but the vast majority of the women were nothing to write home about - she was, and clearly knew it from the giggles which accompanied my feeble attempt to pick my jaw from the floor. I expect that Daddy is either a bigshot businessman or govt official - someone was clearly buying her clothes and makeup - but she would have been a traffic stopper in any city in Oz, and there was no sign of the homogenous hair-color, three-inch nails etc. Once again, the Chinese influence in her facial features clearly set her apart from her Laotian chums - its a heady mix, IMO.

[Ulysses G.]

I have to disagree. Many people tell me that Chiang Mai is their favorite city in Thailand and I have heard the same thing from lots of tourists for more than 20 years. I don't quite understand it because I prefer the beach myself, but I live here because all my friends are here and it is so affordable compared to Bangkok or Phuket.

The fires suck, but all of Northern Thailand is covered by smoke from Burma, Laos and China athe same time every year, so even if they stopped the burning locally, it would not make a lot of difference.

Yes, Bangkok and Pattaya are superior for the sex trade, but there are plenty of outlets in Chiang Mai if that is what one is looking for. As far as there not being any stunners in Chiang Mai, that is just plain silly. Chiang Mai has way better looking women than any city in Thailand other than Bangkok.

[HeavyDrinker]

Corking thread Mr WW....

I can't believe that you actually did get a good few 'well actually...it WAS the temples that bought me to Thailand and how dare you suggest otherwise...' posters out of the woodwork

Stunning work Sir.

[BradinAsia]

"CM is a backwater. Bangkok is King and Phuket his queen. The rest just fall in behind."

Obviously the views of a sex tourist. Chiang Mai has everything civilized folk could ever

want -- especially, friendly people. Even most of the tuk-tuk drivers are friendly.

What Chang Mai lacks -- the gridlock traffic, the choking fumes, the in-your-face sex

trade, and the droves of overweight, unwashed, bleary-eyed geezers -- are the very

reason why more and more discerning folks are flocking to Chiang Mai.

[HeavyDrinker]

"CM is a backwater. Bangkok is King and Phuket his queen. The rest just fall in behind."

Obviously the views of a sex tourist. Chiang Mai has everything civilized folk could ever

want -- especially, friendly people. Even most of the tuk-tuk drivers are friendly.

What Chang Mai lacks -- the gridlock traffic, the choking fumes, the in-your-face sex

trade, and the droves of overweight, unwashed, bleary-eyed geezers -- are the very

reason why more and more discerning folks are flocking to Chiang Mai.

Last time I was in Chiang Mai the traffic and air quality was abysmal...far worse than Bangkok...

[BradinAsia]

"CM is a backwater. Bangkok is King and Phuket his queen. The rest just fall in behind."

Obviously the views of a sex tourist. Chiang Mai has everything civilized folk could ever

want -- especially, friendly people. Even most of the tuk-tuk drivers are friendly.

What Chang Mai lacks -- the gridlock traffic, the choking fumes, the in-your-face sex

trade, and the droves of overweight, unwashed, bleary-eyed geezers -- are the very

reason why more and more discerning folks are flocking to Chiang Mai.

Last time I was in Chiang Mai the traffic and air quality was abysmal...far worse than Bangkok...

No place on earth is perfect.

Even the best places (such as Chiang Mai) have their imperfect days.

The main secret for enjoying life is to find the best place to live, focus

on its best aspects and thank heaven the imperfections are few. Most

of all, avoid the dismal, gloomy, pessimistic outlook so common on TV.

When I encounter imperfections in the place I live, I immediately recall

how much worse it was in farangland.

I plan to stay in Chiang Mai until the oceans all dry up. Meantime, I will

enjoy this marvelous city every day and pity the gloom & doom crowd.

[MrWorldwide]

Corking thread Mr WW....

I can't believe that you actually did get a good few 'well actually...it WAS the temples that bought me to Thailand and how dare you suggest otherwise...' posters out of the woodwork

Stunning work Sir.

Thanks HD, but what really stuns me is that - after the wowsers lost interest and went back to reading the Qoran - it seems to have devolved into a thread about Chiang Mai. Nowhere in my OP nor in any subsequent post did I mention CM - bar the one before this, and then only in exasperation. I believe that 'temples' somehow equates to 'Chiang Mai' in the minds of some TVers, despite the fact that Bangkok has some truly stunning temples : that reclining golden Buddha is a jaw dropper. I've also been to temples in Cambo and Laos, but I didnt feel they compared to those I've seen in BKK. The TG I took to Malaysia seemed happy to spend time in a large Taoist temple admiring the incredible detail on the carvings and statues, but still refuses to believe that there are large Buddhist populations from India to the Pacific - all I got whenever I tried to raise that was 'Thailand Number One Buddha !'. I guess when you have a so-so football team, you kinda cling to notions like that.

[sunshine51]

Plenty of women all over the world.

Next.....

Plenty of women all over me here. I'm stayin'.

I came for the food...the waitress was beautiful...I stayed...of course that was

42 years ago and I was much younger.

Edited May 16, 2013 by sunshine51

[kurnell]

I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit? It is just <deleted> hot, full of locals milling about and whiteys look as out of place as a pervert in a nunnery

Edited May 16, 2013 by kurnell

[HeavyDrinker]

I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit? It is just <deleted> hot, full of locals milling about and whiteys look as out of place as a pervert in a nunnery

Your analogy is flawed.

Don't they have priests in nunneries...?

Edited May 16, 2013 by HeavyDrinker

[OldChinaHam]

"I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit?"

Free food.

At least where I come from.

[StreetCowboy]

"I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit?"

Free food.

At least where I come from.

Architecture. I went to Notre Dame, even though I'm not a Catholic.

SC

[OldChinaHam]

"The fires are serious and ongoing. The govt simply refuses to deal with it."

As usual, showing my ignorance here, but I thought I had read that at least some of the fires/smoke originates outside Thailand and that even if Thailand were to control what is in its domain, this still would not fix the problem. This sounded believable to me knowing that so much smoke is being blown from China into Hong Kong, and that there is not a thing that can be done there either, except move out. So far, though, I have not seen much smoke in CM that I would consider particularly serious, even though the reports in the media state otherwise. If this year has been a normal year for CM, then it just seems that there is not THAT much to get so excited about. But, I admit my ignorance here.

[OldChinaHam]

Earlier this afternoon, I met a sweet young lady in the grocery store. She began practicing her English on me. She told me that this is the "Country of Smiles". I do believe it is.

My body is my temple.

So I left it at that.

[rgs2001uk]

"I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit?"

Free food.

At least where I come from.

Architecture. I went to Notre Dame, even though I'm not a Catholic.

SC

Last time I was there some farang got the hump and spoiled the day for everyone.

I think he was French, but thats only a hunch, back it up I cannot so dont ask.

[StreetCowboy]

"I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit?"

Free food.

At least where I come from.

Architecture. I went to Notre Dame, even though I'm not a Catholic.

SC

Last time I was there some farang got the hump and spoiled the day for everyone.

I think he was French, but thats only a hunch, back it up I cannot so dont ask.

I believe the chap in question has passed on now; he looked just like the publican at Sid's, though. A dead ringer he was...

[OldChinaHam]

"A dead ringer he was..."

[rgs2001uk]

"I don't get the temple thing at all. If you are no buddhist, why visit?"

Free food.

At least where I come from.

Architecture. I went to Notre Dame, even though I'm not a Catholic.

SC

Last time I was there some farang got the hump and spoiled the day for everyone.

I think he was French, but thats only a hunch, back it up I cannot so dont ask.

I believe the chap in question has passed on now; he looked just like the publican at Sid's, though. A dead ringer he was...

Au contraire SC, the chap in question was spotted in Soi Cowboy the other night.

The girls told me, if he wasnt so tight,and bought us some lady drinks, he would be a dead ringer for love.

I think he was from Yorkshire, his reply was, I would do anything for love but I wont do that.

[HeavyDrinker]

^aye but lets face it, if he offered to pay a barfine the'd be off like a bat out of hell

[poanoi]

Your primary reason was woman (for rent presumably)

My primary reason was the climate.

Let me spell it out for you that part again:

If this place had prostitutes for 1 baht per hour,

i would still not ever have come here if it was snow and ice here too.

not ever

[HeavyDrinker]

Your primary reason was woman (for rent presumably) My primary reason was the climate. Let me spell it out for you that part again: If this place had prostitutes for 1 baht per hour, i would still not ever have come here if it was snow and ice here too. not ever

You just keep telling yourself that laddie...

If you do it enough times, it might become true...because Thailand has the only tropical climate on the planet...

[BradinAsia]

Your primary reason was woman (for rent presumably) My primary reason was the climate. Let me spell it out for you that part again: If this place had prostitutes for 1 baht per hour, i would still not ever have come here if it was snow and ice here too. not ever

You just keep telling yourself that laddie...

If you do it enough times, it might become true...because Thailand has the only tropical climate on the planet...

Maybe the heavy drinking has addled your noggin.

[HeavyDrinker]

Your primary reason was woman (for rent presumably) My primary reason was the climate. Let me spell it out for you that part again: If this place had prostitutes for 1 baht per hour, i would still not ever have come here if it was snow and ice here too. not ever

You just keep telling yourself that laddie...

If you do it enough times, it might become true...because Thailand has the only tropical climate on the planet...

Maybe the heavy drinking has addled your noggin.

Brilliant! Must have taken you a while to drag that one out of the bag...

You must admit, some of the denial in this thread is quite hilarious, yours included...

[poanoi]

waste of time

Edited May 16, 2013 by poanoi

[BradinAsia]

"You just keep telling yourself that laddie...

If you do it enough times, it might become true...because Thailand has the only tropical climate on the planet..."

How long did it take to drag this eloquent jewel out???...

[rgs2001uk]

Your primary reason was woman (for rent presumably) My primary reason was the climate. Let me spell it out for you that part again: If this place had prostitutes for 1 baht per hour, i would still not ever have come here if it was snow and ice here too. not ever

You just keep telling yourself that laddie...

If you do it enough times, it might become true...because Thailand has the only tropical climate on the planet...

Maybe the heavy drinking has addled your noggin.

I dont know, whats he drinking, pints of heavy, or heavy pints?