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

[CoreanoOzzie]

Exhaust cloud? Hmmmm.... I never noticed.

I guess I was too busy enjoying all the flowers and the pretty girls.

Having a choice of what we pay attention to is just one of life's daily perks.

No exhaust fumes in Santhitham this morning, and I was right by the road.

Beautiful weather.

12695219_10153898849458749_1107384379_o.jpg

Choc au pain fresh out of the oven.

Looks scrumptious and peaceful.

[bazza40]

I'm hoping the moderator will close this thread down soon, because I'm starting to drown in the syrup.

[villagefarang]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

[MESmith]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

I prefer my coffee hot & in a cup with a handle

[villagefarang]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

I prefer my coffee hot & in a cup with a handle

Something a little more like this I am guessing. Still everything in Chiang Mai is so lovely.

Edited February 3, 2016 by villagefarang

[villagefarang]

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

[villagefarang]

The hotels these days are much nicer than in the good old days. Like this little place where a friend put me up for my birthday.

[flyDelight]

Chiang Mai went down quickly after demolishing of the Nightbazar bar areas, at the current D2 hotel parking (the cocktail bar under the dok champa tree along night bazar!) the -now- Ruedee Market with the bar 10 stairs high on top of the climbing wall, and the walk-trough bars leaning on Nightbazar Building. Many bars moved to the shitty Chiang Mai Entertainment Complex.

Edited February 3, 2016 by flyDelight

[flyDelight]

 

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

 

Where is that?

[cmsally]

The hotels these days are much nicer than in the good old days. Like this little place where a friend put me up for my birthday.

Problem is most tourists don't want to spend their holiday in a hotel. There are lots of "5 star bits" but no one seems to be able to string the dots together.

Actually that 137 pillars hotel location was wonderfully atmospheric before the hotel went up. I seem to remember the actual pillared building was inhabited by a German entomologist for some years. The whole site was like wandering back in time.

[FolkGuitar]

 

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

 

Where is that?

Not much of a tourist, eh?

These were shot at the King and Queen Stupa atop Thailand's highest peak... Doi Inthanon.

Edited February 3, 2016 by FolkGuitar

[MaeJoMTB]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

I prefer my coffee hot & in a cup with a handle

I prefer my hot latte to cost 30bht ....... and the large choc-au-pain 30bht too.

[villagefarang]

 

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

 

Where is that?

Doi Inthanon

[flyDelight]

 

 

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

 

Where is that?

Doi Inthanon

 

Aha I see, never felt going to that tourist place.

[villagefarang]

 

 

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

 

Where is that?

Doi Inthanon

 

Aha I see, never felt going to that tourist place.

There are usually very good reasons for a place becoming a tourist place, otherwise people wouldn’t go there and keep going there. If one doesn’t like crowds they are easy enough to avoid by choosing an off-peak time to visit.

[villagefarang]

The hotels these days are much nicer than in the good old days. Like this little place where a friend put me up for my birthday.

Problem is most tourists don't want to spend their holiday in a hotel. There are lots of "5 star bits" but no one seems to be able to string the dots together.

Actually that 137 pillars hotel location was wonderfully atmospheric before the hotel went up. I seem to remember the actual pillared building was inhabited by a German entomologist for some years. The whole site was like wandering back in time.

If it weren’t for good Thai friends taking us to their favorite places I might not be so enamored with Chiang Mai but there still seems to be a lot of interesting places and something new every time we visit. Living in the rural hinterlands of Chiang Rai, we find a few nights in Chiang Mai to be a real treat.

[villagefarang]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

I prefer my coffee hot & in a cup with a handle

I prefer my hot latte to cost 30bht ....... and the large choc-au-pain 30bht too.

I tend to focus on everything but the price.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes. Hotels in the old days... let's see.. Montri Hotel. Suriwongse Hotel. Phet Ngam. Anodard. President Hotel. Prince Hotel..

God they sucked.

Orchid and Rincome were okay I suppose. Rincome was way out in the boonies, because Nimman was rice fields. Nearest decent coffee was in Laos.

Edited February 3, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Tywais]

Yes. Hotels in the old days... let's see.. Montri Hotel. Suriwongse Hotel. Phet Ngam. Anodard. President Hotel. Prince Hotel..

God they sucked.

I've stayed at all the above except Phet Ngam at some point. Prince hotel was convenient and met a Tuk-Tuk driver who pretty much became my daily chauffeur in the mid '80s. But the hotel was a bit of a hole but I had a tight budget then. Lots of missionaries stayed there. As for the Montri, personally I liked it and spent nearly a year there in '93 for the convenience before committing to something more permanent. Had daily breakfast at the Bier Stube, evening drinks at Cozy/John's place, darts/pool/drinks at True Blue/Up2You all a short walk from the hotel.

Yes, I do miss those times.

[totally thaied up]

Driving out to Hang Dong the other night to get to a party with my partner. Traffic was the worst I have ever seen it and a 20 minute trip took and hour and 20 minutes. I told my partner I could not live out at Hang Dong as over the last few weeks, I had to go out that way to do a lot of things and the traffic was just a downer for me. I prefer to live right in the middle of the city as I can just about get anywhere in 15 minutes on my bike. I have a house out in a Village in Lamphun and if I want to go back 25 years ago in time, I only have to go back there. Nothing has changed there period apart from just the older generation dying off.

Even though I live in a Town House smack middle in the middle of Santitham, I can get around most this area in like 15 minutes. At least twice a week, I ride around the old city at 3-5am in the morning with no traffic at all just taking in the cool morning air and stopping at old Wats, riding up small Soi's and then watching the City slowly come to life.

Things will never be like 25 years ago when I did my first trip to Chiang Mai but to me, some things have improved apart from the Traffic. I now have decent coffee, good air conditioning, great Internet and none of my Thai friends have changed at all. They are just older, funnier and drink less Lao Khao.

I think life is pretty sweet. It is all about the ride guys and the way you look at it.

I am pretty happy. I have plenty of student friends from CMU that come to my partners shops and they, the younger generation is very polite and they seem switched on. I think their future is getting better, so something may be improving.

[flyDelight]

 

 

 

In the good old days you didn't have photo ops like this.

 

Where is that?

Doi Inthanon

 

Aha I see, never felt going to that tourist place.

There are usually very good reasons for a place becoming a tourist place, otherwise people wouldn’t go there and keep going there. If one doesn’t like crowds they are easy enough to avoid by choosing an off-peak time to visit.

 

I avoid locations that are exploited and overcultivated. Even Mon Cham mountain has lost it's charm and now wasted with Thais tourism and Chinese and a nonstop flow of minivans, very sad.

But there's lots of amazing hidden places even closer to Chiang Mai. I'm not gonna share them here.

[hml367]

Yes. Hotels in the old days... let's see.. Montri Hotel. Suriwongse Hotel. Phet Ngam. Anodard. President Hotel. Prince Hotel..

God they sucked.

I've stayed at all the above except Phet Ngam at some point. Prince hotel was convenient and met a Tuk-Tuk driver who pretty much became my daily chauffeur in the mid '80s. But the hotel was a bit of a hole but I had a tight budget then. Lots of missionaries stayed there. As for the Montri, personally I liked it and spent nearly a year there in '93 for the convenience before committing to something more permanent. Had daily breakfast at the Bier Stube, evening drinks at Cozy/John's place, darts/pool/drinks at True Blue/Up2You all a short walk from the hotel.

Yes, I do miss those times.

I think you are going to make more than a few self-proclaimed old-timers jealous with those dates, Tywais.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes. Hotels in the old days... let's see.. Montri Hotel. Suriwongse Hotel. Phet Ngam. Anodard. President Hotel. Prince Hotel..

God they sucked.

I've stayed at all the above except Phet Ngam at some point. Prince hotel was convenient and met a Tuk-Tuk driver who pretty much became my daily chauffeur in the mid '80s. But the hotel was a bit of a hole but I had a tight budget then. Lots of missionaries stayed there. As for the Montri, personally I liked it and spent nearly a year there in '93 for the convenience before committing to something more permanent. Had daily breakfast at the Bier Stube, evening drinks at Cozy/John's place, darts/pool/drinks at True Blue/Up2You all a short walk from the hotel.

Yes, I do miss those times.

Wouldn't True Blue have been Dominos at the time? That was the last time that area didn't suck. (Although it's not like there was anything else)

Anyway, I'm not saying that people didn't have a good time in the old days. Those same people who were around then likely had better times than they do now. But that's different from objectively looking at what it was like (not the time-improved memories) and acknowledging that people who arrived yesterday still have an absolute ball, and have more options.

There is a reason you don't have breakfast at Bier Stube today: it didn't change, but you have vastly better options now.

Edited February 4, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[villagefarang]

I figure if you are going to move halfway around the world to a developing country like Thailand, you would be better off embracing, not just tolerating change. To begin with everything is different, then you have the fact that the place changes at the same time you and your perceptions are changing. From birth to death we are in a constant state of change. If you are the type who complains that things don’t stay the same, you are going to spend an awful lot of time complaining.

It makes sense to me, to simply change ones attitude toward change and focus on all the great things in life. I may have had some great experiences in the 70s and 80s but there is no way I would want to go back to that time here in Thailand. Who knows, maybe one day I will turn all nostalgic but for now I am firmly planted in the now and enjoying each day as it comes.

Edited February 4, 2016 by villagefarang

[Tywais]

Yes. Hotels in the old days... let's see.. Montri Hotel. Suriwongse Hotel. Phet Ngam. Anodard. President Hotel. Prince Hotel..

God they sucked.

I've stayed at all the above except Phet Ngam at some point. Prince hotel was convenient and met a Tuk-Tuk driver who pretty much became my daily chauffeur in the mid '80s. But the hotel was a bit of a hole but I had a tight budget then. Lots of missionaries stayed there. As for the Montri, personally I liked it and spent nearly a year there in '93 for the convenience before committing to something more permanent. Had daily breakfast at the Bier Stube, evening drinks at Cozy/John's place, darts/pool/drinks at True Blue/Up2You all a short walk from the hotel.

Yes, I do miss those times.

Wouldn't True Blue have been Dominos at the time? That was the last time that area didn't suck.

Dominos was just shuttered up shortly after I arrived then Up2You in the back opened up then later True Blue started.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ You whippersnapper newbie you.

Edited February 4, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[kanook]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

I prefer my coffee hot & in a cup with a handle

I prefer my hot latte to cost 30bht ....... and the large choc-au-pain 30bht too.

I tend to focus on everything but the price.

The next time your in town villagefarang, why don't you, ME Smith, MaeJoMTB and I go out for a night of Karaoke. Since you don't focus on price, I'm sure you wouldn't mind picking up the tab either.

Edited February 4, 2016 by kanook

[villagefarang]

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

I prefer my coffee hot & in a cup with a handle

I prefer my hot latte to cost 30bht ....... and the large choc-au-pain 30bht too.

I tend to focus on everything but the price.

The next time your in town villagefarang, why don't you, ME Smith, MaeJoMTB and I go out for a night of Karaoke. Since you don't focus on price, I'm sure you wouldn't mind picking up the tab either.

You couldn't pay me enough to go to a karaoke place, I'd rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard.

[orang37]

Cutting myself with Occam's Razor, I find this hypothesis written in blood:

"The probability that "we" (this Orang self, and its human symbiote) are "long gone" is higher than the probability that Chiang Mai is "long gone."

Your mileage may vary.

'jes sayin'

~o:37;

p.s. lately I lean more towards viewing Homo Sap in the Kingdom of Smiles as more a dangerous, but essential, commensal bacteria in the gut of the country ... rather than just a congeries of losers, and/or an exaltation of larking-pilgrims.

[flyDelight]

 

Chiang Mai is lovely and there are so many lovely coffee shops. Even the coffee is lovely.

 

Where is that place? I want to find out who make that wooden coasters.