Are the "good old days" of Chiang Mai long gone?

[FolkGuitar]

You live inside the moat?

That would be weird. Really have touristitis all the time.

If it's me you're asking, no. I live outside the moat, a kilometer or so west of the Old City. But I walk into the Old City most every day, crossing over to the east side. I don't mind the tourists at all. In fact, I'm glad to see them. It reminds me why I moved here 15 years ago. To them, Chiang Mai is a new and wonderful place to explore. They don't 'compare.' Instead, they 'see.' And in 'seeing,' enjoy their vacation. It's one of the reasons I like walking. It give me a chance to 'see' again. Discovery isn't only visiting new lands; it's seeing with new eyes. Granted, in the afternoon when I ride back into town on my motorcycle I'd prefer if the tourists were better drivers, but still. They aren't a problem.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The trashpacker ghettos of the Old City and

I don't always laugh out loud when I write 'LOL', but I did this time.

Keep 'em coming.

[JSixpack]

Get ready for annual DEATH threads!

[NoshowJones]

Worst you have ever seen the traffic in Thailand???? It's bad, but certainly nothing like in Bangkok. I've sat in taxi's for 90 minutes in Bangkok - going a very short distance.

I bet the meter wasn't turned on.

[MESmith]

The trashpacker ghettos of the Old City and

I don't always laugh out loud when I write 'LOL', but I did this time.

Keep 'em coming.

He forgot to mention "circus pants"

[FolkGuitar]

The trashpacker ghettos of the Old City and

I don't always laugh out loud when I write 'LOL', but I did this time.

Keep 'em coming.

He forgot to mention "circus pants"

That's because there really IS a God...

[Broeno]

Just get out of the moat and into the valley and hills. You will find many activities there from organic food till mindsets. A good start can be some Facebook groups. Most of them start with Chiang Mai in their name you will experience a new Chiang Mai with many of the old things you are missing now.

[Card]

Worst you have ever seen the traffic in Thailand???? It's bad, but certainly nothing like in Bangkok. I've sat in taxi's for 90 minutes in Bangkok - going a very short distance.

Makes me wonder why people like you don't just get out and walk - get some exercise and see what's going on around you instead of sitting for 90 min in a taxi whinging about traffic. Unbelievable.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Card

[bangmai]

The trashpacker ghettos of the Old City and

I don't always laugh out loud when I write 'LOL', but I did this time.

Keep 'em coming.

He forgot to mention "circus pants"

Are you implying that trashpackers often wear circus pants? An interesting observation.

[ozyjon]

Boring, who cares.

[Card]

CM is way better than when I first came here 7 years ago.

More western food available, in shops and restaurants.

Newer and better shopping malls, schools, hospitals.

Cycle shops, coffee shops, faster and more reliable internet.

Wider choice of condos and houses to rent.

If you want bars and hookers .... go to Pattaya.

Makes me wonder why you left your own country.

[MaeJoMTB]

Are you implying that trashpackers often wear circus pants? An interesting observation.

I quite the 'circus pants and no bra' look of the girls.

[Card]

arrived here many years ago after leaving patong immediately after the tsunami,very quite city in them days,very little traffic,night life negible,tv just beginning.now look at it incredible growth.just wondering how far it can go.say one thing good job its not got a beach.

Strange - it doesn't seem that different from my first trip in 1987. Maybe more modern buildings and a bit more traffic, but not heaps different.

[Rancid]

I've been away for years and our houses neighborhood still looks pretty much the same and the locals still friendly. There is more traffic, but that's typical of most everywhere, I use a motorbike (albeit with more padding these days) and its still easy enough to get around. I think I preferred it 15 years ago but its still fine. If living outside the city probably still much the same, at least where I've ridden seems to be.

Change is inevitable, enjoy each day as it comes, but the future will be different.

[Trujillo]

The problem is that every place changes but for a long time in the past, things were still more or less the same.

From 1985 to about 2000 you could go to the coastal areas in Taiwan, for example, and they were pretty much the same. Some small development -- restaurants and such, but if you go there now, it will be all be unrecognizable and, importantly, overrun with people (if you call Chicoms people).

It can NEVER be reclaimed.

My point is that there is a long time for places to be "like they were," and only in recent years has tourism and encroachment starting to really eliminate the longstanding past.

Goa, India was the same, a bit more "civilization,", when I was there in 1991 stretching back to when the hippies came in the late 60s. I don't think I would recognize it now at all if I went....the story is endless, and sad.

It used to be, "Oh, they put a footpath here," for years, and then recently we get rapid successions of, "Oh, look, they asphalted the footpath," then, "Oh, they widened the road and put in a mini-hotel and a bar," then, "Oh, you used to be able to see the ocean from here," and, "Oh, I used to stay around here but there are so many buildings and cars I really can't tell for sure where I am."

Do you know what I mean?

[MESmith]

Are you implying that trashpackers often wear circus pants? An interesting observation.

I quite the 'circus pants and no bra' look of the girls.

That depends on whether the lasses are on a diet of pints & chips

[Dap]

Loxinfo? Is that a hypertension drug?

Well, assuming that this wasn't a tongue-in-cheek reply... Loxinfo, now known as CSLoxinfo is a internet service provider resulting from the merger of former CSComs (was part of the Shin group that includes AIS) and Loxinfo, a subsidiary of Thai-Singaporean Loxley PLC.

Used to be a dominant ISP, now has been eaten alive by True and BB Broadband in the home user market.

This being said, I find it hard to relate to the topic of this thread, so my apologies for the diversion.

To the best of my knowledge Loxinfo was the

first and only in Thailand 20 years back.

[connda]

Think Buddhist: "Annica, annica, annica." Everything changes.

Yesterday's 'good old days' are waning. Today's 'good old days are on the rise.' Tomorrow, today's 'good old days' will be awaning.

As my Dad said, "Roll with the punches."

[Dante99]

To hell with the good old days. Bring on the good new days, one at a time is fine.

[bazza40]

The "good old days" is a focus on what was good, not what was bad or inferior to today.

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, a lot of people were focused on the threat of nuclear annihilation - referred to as Mutually Assured Destruction ( MAD )

Seem to remember Bill Gates stating 64 kb of memory was enough computing power for anybody.

Perhaps the Thai focus on living in the present is not such a bad idea after all.

Can't say I've noticed big changes in CM that affect me personally, although I'm wondering when the condo building bubble is going to burst.

[dotpoom]

 

The good old days of everywhere are long gone.

Personally I just live with it and give thanks that I am old and so managed to see a few nice places decades ago before they were permanently ruined.

 

In my humble opinion, every day we are above ground is a very special one indeed and a fantastic privilege to experience another "great old day".

[bazza40]

He forgot to mention "circus pants"

That's because there really IS a God...

How do you know?

[FolkGuitar]

He forgot to mention "circus pants"

That's because there really IS a God...

How do you know?

Because she speaks to me.

[Puwa]

One word; Loxinfo

KSC Internet

[Puwa]

 

The good old days of everywhere are long gone.

Personally I just live with it and give thanks that I am old and so managed to see a few nice places decades ago before they were permanently ruined.

 

In my humble opinion, every day we are above ground is a very special one indeed and a fantastic privilege to experience another "great old day".

Wise words, on Groundhog Day.

[scrumba]

Even nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

[bazza40]

That's because there really IS a God...

How do you know?

Because she speaks to me.

Really. What does she say?

[masuk]

I thought this thread was going to be reminiscences from 25 years ago, but find it to be only "several years."

Things seem exactly the same from several years ago to me (aside from the construction on the ring road, which is a temporary phenomenon).

Changes seem to happen fast.

I moved back into Nakornping condo 18 months ago. In that time, three areas of land outside my room have been bulldozed flat, and three new hotels are being erected. A quick walk around the area will find a new condo or two going up in each block. Same across the road and up towards Nimman.

The city is becoming nothing more than a gigantic, unregulated block of apartments. Narrow sois have traffic parked on both sides of the road.

It will lose its charm in no time flat.

[namatjira]

What's actually changed is you, it's impossible to re-live the old days when one experiences new things, Chiangmai is much the same, albeit bigger and more traffic, the problem is your expectations...

[namatjira]

What's actually changed is you, it's impossible to re-live the old days when one experiences new things, Chiangmai is much the same, albeit bigger and more traffic, the problem is your expectations...

Edited February 2, 2016 by namatjira