Airport Worries ? What about the Streets

[Gonzo the Face]

I read with some interest last week or so about the expectations of a couple hundred thousand Chinese due in the airport during the New Year. A point well taken...... but did anyone take into consideration all the Chinese Convoys that are clogging up the streets and highways...... Never saw so many Chinese autos together.....Seems if they cannot get a airline booking , they convoy and drive down.

[khwaibah]

Good reason to leave Chiang Mai.

[masuk]

You mean the song teaw to private car ratio is changing? Just adding to the chaos. I'll stay with the disintegrating footpaths, walk around the parked m/sais, avoid the oil slicks or possibly stay inside.

[arunsakda]

I could have come back to CM today but decided to try and avoid holiday crowds and hype.

Sunday is the last day of C.N.Y. right? Had enough of High Season/Holidays for now.

May skip Songkhran too depending on work schedule.

[northernjohn]

Talked to a friend in Pai earlier today and he says they had a convoy of about 20 Roll's and B entley's up there today. Driving like they owned the road.

[chingmai331]

Yeah. Well, if i drove a Rolls, or even a Bentley, you better believe i would think i owned the road. At least the police along the road would be mine.

[PostmanPat]

Yes, its chaos out there ! just had to abandon a trip to Gymkhana Club for a 6pm meeting due to gridlock on every road I tried to use. Combination of normal friday rush hour plus the convoys (why do they always seem to drive in lines of 10 to 15?!) of Chinese cars tells me to put my feet up, open a bottle of red, and enjoy a few movies this weekend !!!

( By the way, my route was Hangdong Road towards Airport Plaza.....gridlock, Mahidol Road towards the river......gridlock........both ways !! )

[true blue]

they certinally have nice cars though,must be some money in that china.lol.

[Ricardo]

They will own a percentage of the new railway-line to Laos, perhaps they might like to drive in convoys along that, instead ?

[uptheos]

There was a group asking, where is the best chicken fried steak in town?

[Rancid]

Change is inevitable, probably the shape of things to come, best get used to it. As the West declines the East rises.

[Gonzo the Face]

There was a group asking, where is the best chicken fried steak in town?

........AND.... what'ja tell um.....hmmm hmmmm hmmmm ????

[MESmith]

There was a group asking, where is the best chicken fried steak in town?

Palm oil or sunflower oil?

[Tywais]

Sunday is the last day of C.N.Y. right? Had enough of High Season/Holidays for now.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday for Thailand but not for the mainland Chinese. They have around 8-10 days off for CNY.

[Mapguy]

OP comes across as a bit sniffy and possessive of something that isn't his but everyone's to enjoy !!!

One other comment about "nice cars" makes me wonder if some local expats are suffering ffrom "car envy."

"Car convoys" strike me generally as a commonsensical idea traveling over long distances, as Chinese must, to drive to Thailand. And it sounds like a fun thing to do with friends!

Otherwise, I think it worth noting that Chinese tourists whom I have seen keep their clothes on as opposed to Western tourists who seem impelled to strip to practically nothing. I haven't yet seen a Chinese male tourist wearing a wife-beater, sloppy shorts (Definitely not a mature Thai male thing to do except in a slum or on a farm or hauling cement on a construction site!) and flip-flops to show off his tattoos. And I have yet to encounter any zaftig Chinese ladies bouncing their boobs with no cover out of push-up bras while wearing shorts that cut into the crotch, or pose in bikinis on the city walls! Bikinis?! Thank god, Chiang Mai will never have a beach and suffer from "Scandinavian Beachwear Syndrome !!!

[Tywais]

or pose in bikinis on the city walls! Bikinis?!

No, they prefer to dress in university uniforms and do photos at CMU.

Have to admit, the sun dresses that some of the Chinese girl tourists often wear at the university does speed my heart up a tad.

[Mapguy]

Well, not any more!! That WAS curious, wasn't it? Considering the number of tourists, et cetera,was it all that terrible ?! And then there was the classroom thing...

Anyway, CMU initially rather bluntly but soon quite diplomatically and efficiently has handled the press of visitors, as i have been able to observe it, very, very nicely in the snazzy green trollies (so you can tell them from the normal student trollies). It seems CMU does big tourist business !!

I should add that CMU should learn fast what universities in several other countries have learned that full-tuition foreign students are BIG $$$ business. How quickly might CMU catch onto this marketable fact of life, With adequate demand, you can even restrict access by quality of previous education unlike "universities for profit" that do exist in Thailand.

Also, CMU denizen Tywais, are you ready to start an informative thread on the necessity of window stickers for regular vehicular access to the campus ??!! Have you gotten your sticker? Talk about the Department of Immigration !!! You better have appropriate documents in hand !!!

[Johpa]

Being out of the country, I would imagine that Chinese New Year is now little different than the Gregorian New Year and has become a time to get out of Chiang Mai and seek refuge elsewhere.

[Tywais]

Also, CMU denizen Tywais, are you ready to start an informative thread on the necessity of window stickers for regular vehicular access to the campus ??!! Have you gotten your sticker? Talk about the Department of Immigration !!! You better have appropriate documents in hand !!!

Yep, got my sticker for the last few years. Funny thing about that, when I'm in the queue of cars at the Suthep entry for security to check the sticker seems Thais driving they have no problem recognizing their sticker meters away. I come through and they start waving me down until they get a good look at the sticker. Guess that white face confuses them and couldn't possibly have a farang ajarn there. I don't slow down for them anyway.

There has been a high theft rate at the university, both bikes and buildings broken into so more strict now about access. Oh wait, this was supposed to be a new thread.

Yeah, have to say the university did a good job setting up the new trollies for the tourists and a smart move for them PR wise and perhaps financially.

[Mousehound]

So there is a good road from China to Thailand? Through Myanmar?

[Loptr]

or pose in bikinis on the city walls! Bikinis?!

No, they prefer to dress in university uniforms and do photos at CMU.

Have to admit, the sun dresses that some of the Chinese girl tourists often wear at the university does speed my heart up a tad.

I have to admit that the Old City is awash with Chinese ladies that dress in their finest when out and about... Sun dresses, hats, parasols and huge sun glasses... A dramatic change to the appearance of the average western backpacker chicks around town...

[khwaibah]

So there is a good road from China to Thailand? Through Myanmar?

No. They are invading threw Lao by car. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/802209-chinese-tourist-arrivals-a-boon-and-a-bane-for-chiang-rai/

[masuk]

Being out of the country, I would imagine that Chinese New Year is now little different than the Gregorian New Year and has become a time to get out of Chiang Mai and seek refuge elsewhere.

Not forgetting Lunar New Year, which I believe many Asian countries prefer to call it.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes, its chaos out there ! just had to abandon a trip to Gymkhana Club for a 6pm meeting due to gridlock on every road I tried to use. Combination of normal friday rush hour plus the convoys (why do they always seem to drive in lines of 10 to 15?!) of Chinese cars tells me to put my feet up, open a bottle of red, and enjoy a few movies this weekend !!!

( By the way, my route was Hangdong Road towards Airport Plaza.....gridlock, Mahidol Road towards the river......gridlock........both ways !! )

How to get to Gymkhana in that case:

https://goo.gl/maps/dsvJG

[WinnieTheKhwai]

or pose in bikinis on the city walls! Bikinis?!

No, they prefer to dress in university uniforms and do photos at CMU.

Have to admit, the sun dresses that some of the Chinese girl tourists often wear at the university does speed my heart up a tad.

I have to admit that the Old City is awash with Chinese ladies that dress in their finest when out and about... Sun dresses, hats, parasols and huge sun glasses... A dramatic change to the appearance of the average western backpacker chicks around town...

Yes.. I honestly don't get the griping.. can others please have a holiday occasionally or do you all own the town for yourselves?

[arunsakda]

or pose in bikinis on the city walls! Bikinis?!

No, they prefer to dress in university uniforms and do photos at CMU.

Have to admit, the sun dresses that some of the Chinese girl tourists often wear at the university does speed my heart up a tad.

I have to admit that the Old City is awash with Chinese ladies that dress in their finest when out and about... Sun dresses, hats, parasols and huge sun glasses... A dramatic change to the appearance of the average western backpacker chicks around town...

Some are cute but %90 are completely pasty and unfit.

As for the fashions I prefer the circus pants and armpit hair crowd to those frilly foo-foo's.

Particularly the huge fake Chanel goggles.

The quicker those bug eye sunglasses go back out of fashion the better.

[Tywais]

Part of an article from last year and background of the why. Quite detailed and some rather scathing comments from the community.

"So Chinese tourists tend to have a degree of self-centeredness and a lack of awareness for their surroundings and for the way they blend in with the people around them. I honestly feel bad for them because I know they just want to go on holiday to a foreign country and enjoy themselves. They are mostly completely unaware of how their behavior in public is seen as rude, inconsiderate, or disrespectful by others."

http://siamandbeyond.com/survey-says-chinese-tourists-wearing-welcome-chiang-mai/

[Dante99]

Love them or hate them as you will, without them the CM tourist industry would be suffering badly and the whole city feeling the consequences.

[PostmanPat]

Yes, its chaos out there ! just had to abandon a trip to Gymkhana Club for a 6pm meeting due to gridlock on every road I tried to use. Combination of normal friday rush hour plus the convoys (why do they always seem to drive in lines of 10 to 15?!) of Chinese cars tells me to put my feet up, open a bottle of red, and enjoy a few movies this weekend !!!

( By the way, my route was Hangdong Road towards Airport Plaza.....gridlock, Mahidol Road towards the river......gridlock........both ways !! )

How to get to Gymkhana in that case:

https://goo.gl/maps/dsvJG

Wrong !!!.....at that time of day you cannot use the little underpass next to the Ping River which brings you out at the top of Changklan Road....the police block it and make it one way, coming out of Changklan, not going in to Changklan. The result of that fiasco is that instead of going under the underpass, you are forced left onto Mahidol Road, then you have to go all the way to Airport Plaza before you can UTurn to head back to Changklan !!!

[Cheesekraft]

OP comes across as a bit sniffy and possessive of something that isn't his but everyone's to enjoy !!!

One other comment about "nice cars" makes me wonder if some local expats are suffering ffrom "car envy."

"Car convoys" strike me generally as a commonsensical idea traveling over long distances, as Chinese must, to drive to Thailand. And it sounds like a fun thing to do with friends!

Otherwise, I think it worth noting that Chinese tourists whom I have seen keep their clothes on as opposed to Western tourists who seem impelled to strip to practically nothing. I haven't yet seen a Chinese male tourist wearing a wife-beater, sloppy shorts (Definitely not a mature Thai male thing to do except in a slum or on a farm or hauling cement on a construction site!) and flip-flops to show off his tattoos. And I have yet to encounter any zaftig Chinese ladies bouncing their boobs with no cover out of push-up bras while wearing shorts that cut into the crotch, or pose in bikinis on the city walls! Bikinis?! Thank god, Chiang Mai will never have a beach and suffer from "Scandinavian Beachwear Syndrome !!!

at least we dont' have to see the backpackers taking care of business in the moat in broad daylight