Chiang Rai’s Cast of Characters

[villagefarang]

Admittedly some other epithets did come to mind but my intent was not to offend so I am glad you do not object to the words I chose in the end.

[mimithewoof]

Thanks to all of you guys for your posts - yes, the Chiang Rai forum is a lot different in a positive way from the rest of the rant hubs on Thai Visa.

I've lived in Chiang Mai for over 7 years now, and have watched the community change to the extent that I'm now considering a move to Chiang Rai. You've encouraged me!

[villagefarang]

Moving to Chiang Rai is not like moving to another planet and if you live on the Southern side of town, Chiang Mai is closer than you might think. It is a nice drive and you can always go back and visit friends and the things you still like, as often as you wish.

[wileycoyote]

I am sometimes in and around Chiang Rai ,my wife's home province

[villagefarang]

I am sometimes in and around Chiang Rai ,my wife's home province

You should lets us know the next time you are in and around Chiang Rai.

[harrry]

I am sometimes in and around Chiang Rai ,my wife's home province

You should lets us know the next time you are in and around Chiang Rai.

Road Runner ( aka VF )is easy to catch...he tries to keep moving but just hold out a Starbucks and he will stop for a while.

Let us all know when you come.

Edited November 28, 2013 by harrry

[sceadugenga]

I have a long overdue coffee with Wiley, I'd really like to catchup with him.

[Garry]

I have a long overdue coffee with Wiley, I'd really like to catchup with him.

I think I owe you a coffee as well.

[sceadugenga]

With interest it would be a cup and a half now....

[Garry]

With interest it would be a cup and a half now....

I suspect you are correct

[Aftrmidnyt]

Hello my Chiang Rai TV friends.

It has been a long time since I've posted or even checked in to the forums.

I have missed the topics, banter and photo's immensely and look forward to reconnecting very soon.

At present, I am back in northern Canada, but will be returning "home" in time to ring in the New Year. My beautiful wife is crossing the days of the calendar with great enthusiasm. (Like Crossing them out a day early will make it come sooner! Lol)

Another great thread!

I am a Chiang Rai neophyte and would love to spend more time there than is possible at present due to work..... But I dare to dream! One day it will be so.

As for interests and/or hobbies.......

Amusing my caddy and friends with my severe lack of talent but enthusiastic approach to the game of golf is a great way to spend a day.

Puttering about in the yard with the various plants, trees and the fish pond is very satisfying. More so when they thrive, but this too is a learning curve.

Going for drives to explore the area and learn more about my wife's native country and my adopted home is also time enjoyed.

Lurking, reading and occasionally posting in the Chiang Rai forum on TV.

Lots more on the "to do" list.

A warm Hello to the folks that keep this forum rolling and Welcome to the new comers.

Cheers

Aft

[sceadugenga]

We'll look forward to your future contributions.

[ripper15]

I think this is only the third or so thread on thaivisa that I have read that is a civil read. Nice read thanks. I really liked the photo thread too. Thanks. I have a few friends in the area and hope to meet them when I retire to LOS this year and maybe run into some of you. Torn between northern Thailand and Ranong area as I like the beach and mountains.Don't care for city life as I am an ole country boy and an avid diyer.I love riding motorcycles and exploring back roads, So I also enjoy those posts and enjoy gardening and happy to see posts about that too. Anyway just happy to see that folks up north seem to be a nicer bunch than the down south fellows. I have read many posts about how the Thai's up north seem to be a much nicer bunch than those in the south. I beginning to think that this applies to farangs also.LOL I used to spend all my time in Patong Beach in the early 80's, but would not be able to stand it now. While I was there, I decided that I would retire here someday. That day is this year and I can't wait. VF, I do read your site and enjoy it.

Edited March 1, 2014 by ripper15

[Manassas]

I think this is only the third or so thread on thaivisa that I have read that is a civil read. Nice read thanks. I really liked the photo thread too. Thanks. I have a few friends in the area and hope to meet them when I retire to LOS this year and maybe run into some of you. Torn between northern Thailand and Ranong area as I like the beach and mountains.Don't care for city life as I am an ole country boy and an avid diyer.I love riding motorcycles and exploring back roads, So I also enjoy those posts and enjoy gardening and happy to see posts about that too. Anyway just happy to see that folks up north seem to be a nicer bunch than the down south fellows. I have read many posts about how the Thai's up north seem to be a much nicer bunch than those in the south. I beginning to think that this applies to farangs also.LOL I used to spend all my time in Patong Beach in the early 80's, but would not be able to stand it now. While I was there, I decided that I would retire here someday. That day is this year and I can't wait. VF, I do read your site and enjoy it.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your retirement. I just retired last year so I went thru the same debate on where to settle. I chose Chiang Rai because - uh err - my wife decided. That is, she is from this village and has land where we can set up our home base. But we are in a nondescript farm village outside CR. Nothing special about it at all. But we are related to almost everyone in the area so we will have lots of help available as we get older.

I enjoy reading the ongoing debate about living in Chiang Rai v Chiang Mai v Other Places, but really this village could be anywhere in Thailand. But what I like about CR is that it is off the beaten track and off the well-worn tourist track so I enjoy the peace and quiet. I also grew up in the country but worked in the city(ies) for too many years. For my retirement lifestyle I wanted to get back to small town life. If you want western restaurants and night life, you might want to live in a Thai city. But I am an avid gardener and also enjoy biking the back roads and this area has that in abundance. It also has enough restaurants and shopping to make life very comfortable. I'm currently getting the garden in shape for the next rain season - and trying to convince the relatives that there is no need to build another house in the newly cleared land set aside for the garden.

Good luck with your retirement planning.

[sceadugenga]

Nice to have you contributing ripper.

[Randell]

Hi there Randell here. Just wanted to add a few words. I'm from Canada and still work in the industrial construction business when possible. Built a house for my wife in her village in the Waterford Valley and enjoy the quite life. I met a few of you at the New Years coffee klatch. That was enjoyable although to brief on my part as I didn't get to met all there (My apology's Seca and Kevvey) I have been in country a bit longer than usual this year but it varies depending on work. I truly enjoy the slow pace of my life here in the Rai and actually have to make a point of being a bit more busy . I don't post a lot and usually just asking for help of which has been immediate I am grateful. Look forward to more involvement.

[sceadugenga]

I was one of the klutz's at the klatch Randell, the hansum guy with the debonaire beard the other side of village farang.

I'm sure you met Kevvy as well, he was the fat fellow with the lovely wife across from me.

Edited March 2, 2014 by sceadugenga

[scorpio1945]

I was one of the klutz's at the klatch Randell, the hansum guy with the debonaire beard the other side of village farang.

I'm sure you met Kevvy as well, he was the fat fellow with the lovely wife across from me.

I think he is saying he saw/meet them but did not talk or get to know them.

[sceadugenga]

Ah, fair enough Scorp...

We'll all have to catch up again soon.

[villagefarang]

We continue to get new members and more importantly new contributors, like Fiddlesticks, and while a few are lured away by PM to join other sites and told lies about the members on this site, the truth is we all love Chiang Rai and there is room for everyone.

Some of us live here while others just visit but most I have met on here are competent individuals, who lead active independent lives and who navigate our small uncomplicated town with ease. There are some great people on this forum, and though not everyone is group oriented or overtly social, I don’t know anyone who would not give you a warm greeting if you were to say hello.

We are not one of those forums impressionable people are warned about “where name calling, personal attacks, foul language, trolling, racism, nationalism, bigotry and other forms of rudeness and attacks are tolerated and even welcome” and personally I am unaware of any forums that resemble that ridiculous claim.

[ripper15]

I think this is only the third or so thread on thaivisa that I have read that is a civil read. Nice read thanks. I really liked the photo thread too. Thanks. I have a few friends in the area and hope to meet them when I retire to LOS this year and maybe run into some of you. Torn between northern Thailand and Ranong area as I like the beach and mountains.Don't care for city life as I am an ole country boy and an avid diyer.I love riding motorcycles and exploring back roads, So I also enjoy those posts and enjoy gardening and happy to see posts about that too. Anyway just happy to see that folks up north seem to be a nicer bunch than the down south fellows. I have read many posts about how the Thai's up north seem to be a much nicer bunch than those in the south. I beginning to think that this applies to farangs also.LOL I used to spend all my time in Patong Beach in the early 80's, but would not be able to stand it now. While I was there, I decided that I would retire here someday. That day is this year and I can't wait. VF, I do read your site and enjoy it.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your retirement. I just retired last year so I went thru the same debate on where to settle. I chose Chiang Rai because - uh err - my wife decided. That is, she is from this village and has land where we can set up our home base. But we are in a nondescript farm village outside CR. Nothing special about it at all. But we are related to almost everyone in the area so we will have lots of help available as we get older.

I enjoy reading the ongoing debate about living in Chiang Rai v Chiang Mai v Other Places, but really this village could be anywhere in Thailand. But what I like about CR is that it is off the beaten track and off the well-worn tourist track so I enjoy the peace and quiet. I also grew up in the country but worked in the city(ies) for too many years. For my retirement lifestyle I wanted to get back to small town life. If you want western restaurants and night life, you might want to live in a Thai city. But I am an avid gardener and also enjoy biking the back roads and this area has that in abundance. It also has enough restaurants and shopping to make life very comfortable. I'm currently getting the garden in shape for the next rain season - and trying to convince the relatives that there is no need to build another house in the newly cleared land set aside for the garden.

Good luck with your retirement planning.

Thanks for the welcome and hope everyone is having a fulfilling life in LOS. Am concerned about the Thai's being able to form a new government though and closely watching the news. I say this not to start a political thread in this forum but am concerned about the Thai's ability to maintain their social cohesion as it was one of the things I really loved about Thailand and one of the reasons I am leaving the west.

[sceadugenga]

We continue to get new members and more importantly new contributors, like Fiddlesticks, and while a few are lured away by PM to join other sites and told lies about the members on this site, the truth is we all love Chiang Rai and there is room for everyone.

Some of us live here while others just visit but most I have met on here are competent individuals, who lead active independent lives and who navigate our small uncomplicated town with ease. There are some great people on this forum, and though not everyone is group oriented or overtly social, I don’t know anyone who would not give you a warm greeting if you were to say hello.

We are not one of those forums impressionable people are warned about “where name calling, personal attacks, foul language, trolling, racism, nationalism, bigotry and other forms of rudeness and attacks are tolerated and even welcome” and personally I am unaware of any forums that resemble that ridiculous claim.

The fact that some of the most decent and likable people in the Chiang Rai farang community continue to contribute here speaks for it self.

[villagefarang]

I think this is only the third or so thread on thaivisa that I have read that is a civil read. Nice read thanks. I really liked the photo thread too. Thanks. I have a few friends in the area and hope to meet them when I retire to LOS this year and maybe run into some of you. Torn between northern Thailand and Ranong area as I like the beach and mountains.Don't care for city life as I am an ole country boy and an avid diyer.I love riding motorcycles and exploring back roads, So I also enjoy those posts and enjoy gardening and happy to see posts about that too. Anyway just happy to see that folks up north seem to be a nicer bunch than the down south fellows. I have read many posts about how the Thai's up north seem to be a much nicer bunch than those in the south. I beginning to think that this applies to farangs also.LOL I used to spend all my time isn Patong Beach in the early 80's, but would not be able to stand it now. While I was there, I decided that I would retire here someday. That day is this year and I can't wait. VF, I do read your site and enjoy it.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your retirement. I just retired last year so I went thru the same debate on where to settle. I chose Chiang Rai because - uh err - my wife decided. That is, she is from this village and has land where we can set up our home base. But we are in a nondescript farm village outside CR. Nothing special about it at all. But we are related to almost everyone in the area so we will have lots of help available as we get older.

I enjoy reading the ongoing debate about living in Chiang Rai v Chiang Mai v Other Places, but really this village could be anywhere in Thailand. But what I like about CR is that it is off the beaten track and off the well-worn tourist track so I enjoy the peace and quiet. I also grew up in the country but worked in the city(ies) for too many years. For my retirement lifestyle I wanted to get back to small town life. If you want western restaurants and night life, you might want to live in a Thai city. But I am an avid gardener and also enjoy biking the back roads and this area has that in abundance. It also has enough restaurants and shopping to make life very comfortable. I'm currently getting the garden in shape for the next rain season - and trying to convince the relatives that there is no need to build another house in the newly cleared land set aside for the garden.

Good luck with your retirement planning.

Thanks for the welcome and hope everyone is having a fulfilling life in LOS. Am concerned about the Thai's being able to form a new government though and closely watching the news. I say this not to start a political thread in this forum but am concerned about the Thai's ability to maintain their social cohesion as it was one of the things I really loved about Thailand and one of the reasons I am leaving the west.

Not everyone has the same tolerance level for political BS and social change but my 37 years of living in Thailand has convinced me that it is not worth getting all lathered up over the twists and turns.

Not everyone is suited to living in a foreign land but in my opinion it is more dependent on the personal traits of the individual than the macro political or economic picture. I hope you find what you are looking for here.

Edited May 2, 2014 by villagefarang

[onthedarkside]

Time for me to step in and remove the last 3 posts which were quite unhelpful in this reasonably amicable topic, so far.

[onthedarkside]

More inflammatory posts removed

[harrry]

I didnt necessarily want to introduce myself to this cast of characters as the earthquake alarmist, but, these continual quakes should not be dismissed as just mere aftershocks, there are 800 so far, and this one a 4.4 just occured.

I hope people are taking the precautions necessary to survive a disaster,

food, water, communications devices other than cell phones, a plan for loved one's to meet if separated by road closures. etc.

Origin Time (UTC) Mag Latitude Longitude Region 2014-05-14 17:23:57 4.4 19.57 99.67 Amphoe Phan, Chiang Rai

Steve

the Watchman

You forgot to add wills....shared copies of all your pin numbers...body bags...Mekong to drown your sorrows and tickets to the Meridian Brunch to celebrate each Sunday's survival.

By the way welcome to Chiangrai where many of us accept you as you are not as we want you to be.

Edited May 15, 2014 by harrry

[Scarpolo]

I didnt necessarily want to introduce myself to this cast of characters as the earthquake alarmist, but, these continual quakes should not be dismissed as just mere aftershocks, there are 800 so far, and this one a 4.4 just occured.

I hope people are taking the precautions necessary to survive a disaster,

food, water, communications devices other than cell phones, a plan for loved one's to meet if separated by road closures. etc.

Origin Time (UTC) Mag Latitude Longitude Region 2014-05-14 17:23:57 4.4 19.57 99.67 Amphoe Phan, Chiang Rai

Steve

the Watchman

You forgot to add wills....shared copies of all your pin numbers...body bags...Mekong to drown your sorrows and tickets to the Meridian Brunch to celebrate each Sunday's survival.

By the way welcome to Chiangrai where many of us accept you as you are not as we want you to be.

thanks for the welcome,

my thai girl(friends) entire family is in Mae Sai, so, this is where my interest began.

I was in Chiang Rai with her in Dec.

[villagefarang]

I didnt necessarily want to introduce myself to this cast of characters as the earthquake alarmist, but, these continual quakes should not be dismissed as just mere aftershocks, there are 800 so far, and this one a 4.4 just occured.

I hope people are taking the precautions necessary to survive a disaster,

food, water, communications devices other than cell phones, a plan for loved one's to meet if separated by road closures. etc.

Steve

the Watchman

Earthquake alarmist has a nice ring to it and serves to single you out from the crowd. You may have noticed that many of us who actually live here full-time are not nearly as concerned about earthquakes as you seem to be from the opposite side of the planet.

I think it is human nature that we respond differently to things depending on our own experience, expectations and location. It is nice that you are concerned about your girlfriend’s family and the residents of Chiang Rai.

I wouldn’t try to dissuade you from being the concerned individual you obviously are but it might be worth considering that not everyone is going to respond with the same level of anxiety. We all deal with things in our own way.

Wherever we live there are always reminders that Mother Nature is ultimately in charge and we simply have to deal with her moods.

Welcome, and you make an interesting addition to our ranks.

[brianmarinus]

Johnmarhall-I dont know what your issue is but why picking at VF-it is our town-it is our forum ect....I think - no,I know VF do not mean it in the way you seems to think - if there is a boss here it may be the moderators - and do you feel you have an issue whit VF I think you could send him a pm and I am sure he will respond in a good way.

[Rimmer]

Inflammatory post removed