Chiang Mai Wins Best City In Asia and Third Best City in the World by Travel and Leisure Magazine

[Ruffian Dick]

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

Doe it also attract the less wealthy retiree because of its costs ?

Um, yeah...

 

I was observing the extremes... because... rhetoric.

[sanemax]

On 7/18/2017 at 11:23 AM, 4MyEgo said:

Change is always going to be hard when you are dealing with the uneducated, but its a start in the right direction.

 

I had to go and buy an IQAir purifier, the best on the market at a cost of 60,000 baht to assist me while in my own house (wife's house) because of the smoke from our village, that is until I lost it one day and told my Mrs that if we cannot live in our house with windows and doors open like normal human beings because two clowns up the road want to make that charcoal stuff in those big bee hive looking things, we are moving.

 

I said to her there is no way on earth anyone would be aloud to burn that crap in a residential area as its toxic, suffice to say Thai's won't to do anything, even if the guys grandchild was in and out of hospital with breathing problems, (wonder why), suffice to say the Mrs's family are close to the mayor, and one of the guys burning the crap is a relative to the mayor, so one would think we had Buckley's, hence the reason for my threat, i.e. we will be moving, anyway, long of the short, the mayor rocked up and told them too many people had complained to him and when he drove through last night he could see the thick cloud of dormant smoke, they packed up and moved to burn the crap on the land about 2 kilometres away, a happy ending, but I am left with a 60,000 baht air purifier that I no longer use....lol, oh well, at least the smoke has stopped and I am happy, doors and windows open 555

Maybe you could have asked them to stop burning, before you bought the air purifier ?

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

Maybe you could have asked them to stop burning, before you bought the air purifier ?

I thought I mentioned that my did, my bad.

 

She asked them twice, also advising them that it was bad for everyone's health, including their grandsons health who was suffering with Asthma, his wife agreed and told my wife that she and the neighbours have all told him and the guy next door but thy won't listen, my wife even offered them to relocate to any of her land nearby, otherwise she would have to go to the mayor with the guys replying being, "up to you".

 

Going to the mayor was the last resort as Thai try to resolve things on their own in this village, suffice to say the purifier took me months to consider buying, but when I saw we were going around in circles, I had to do something, but then coming home from being out, or going outside when the smoke was at its peak wasn't pleasant to breath, struggling to get the key into the door, not being able to open windows, that's when I said to the Mrs we I will be moving and if she wants to come, "up to her", that is when she went to the mayor and the problem was solved, coincidentally there is no bad blood from the two guys, they just needed someone with authority to be told to move, the land across the road belongs to the temple and is there for everyone to use, i.e. grow veggies etc etc, not burn that crap. 

[elzach]

On 7/18/2017 at 11:23 AM, 4MyEgo said:

Change is always going to be hard when you are dealing with the uneducated, but its a start in the right direction.

 

I had to go and buy an IQAir purifier, the best on the market at a cost of 60,000 baht to assist me while in my own house (wife's house) because of the smoke from our village, that is until I lost it one day and told my Mrs that if we cannot live in our house with windows and doors open like normal human beings because two clowns up the road want to make that charcoal stuff in those big bee hive looking things, we are moving.

 

 

What kind of air purifier costs $1800? And is it really 12 times better than the $150 ones?

I have a $125 Panasonic Hepa in China (that I brought from the US) and it does the job, for a studio apartment.

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, elzach said:

 

What kind of air purifier costs $1800? And is it really 12 times better than the $150 ones?

I have a $125 Panasonic Hepa in China (that I brought from the US) and it does the job, for a studio apartment.

There is a huge difference, a bit like a luxury car to a standard car, suffice to say its all about the filters (3) and it picking up the smallest  molecular air pollutants and allergens that other air purifiers can't, its also hospital grade.

 

Trust me when I say I did a hell of lot of research on this, and if you switch it on at night, you notice the air quality difference in the room.

[Ruffian Dick]

On 7/21/2017 at 3:05 PM, sanemax said:

Maybe you could have asked them to stop burning, before you bought the air purifier ?

Shit in one hand, wish in the other, and see which one fills up first.

[superglue]

I have lived in LOS for 15 years - almost all in CNX. I now live 150km from CNX.

Chiang Rai is my pick.

 

[Pim Kemasingki]

You are all completely missing the point. Travel+Leisure is read by top end tourists who can and want the best that money can buy. The readers voted for this, NOT TAT sponsored whatnots that you are all dreaming out of thin air. These people do not come here in the pollution months, they come in the lovely months. They stay in great hotels far from the squalor and probably have chauffeur driven cars. T+L doesn't pretend to be anything but and certainly wouldn't be bribed by a small local TAT! Their tens of thousands of readers think that CM is a pretty cool city to visit. It is not about living here, it isn't about backpackers and social issues. It is what it is. 

[johnnysunshine]

Brilliant response Pim!    Our city works for you and I and those who come and end up adoring or at least admiring what we have.  

I am grateful that my travels ended up in 1997 here to check CM out before I returned to Phuket (which was an okay place back then).    

Because when I came back from the USA with my commitment to live in Thailand, I remembered my special time here and made my choice to live here rather than Phuket or anywhere else and year after year Chiang Mai became even more special!

[elzach]

8 hours ago, Pim Kemasingki said:

You are all completely missing the point. Travel+Leisure is read by top end tourists who can and want the best that money can buy. The readers voted for this, NOT TAT sponsored whatnots that you are all dreaming out of thin air. These people do not come here in the pollution months, they come in the lovely months. They stay in great hotels far from the squalor and probably have chauffeur driven cars. T+L doesn't pretend to be anything but and certainly wouldn't be bribed by a small local TAT! Their tens of thousands of readers think that CM is a pretty cool city to visit. It is not about living here, it isn't about backpackers and social issues. It is what it is. 

 

Agreed. So, as I mentioned before, 1-2 million Chinese tourists (who are actually a very small number) can vote up the place as the best in the world. What can we make of that? Maybe take it with a (huge) grain of salt?

[Ruffian Dick]

You're all acting like Chiang Mai is some sort of hell hole, haha!

[Pim Kemasingki]

On 26/7/2560 at 1:54 AM, elzach said:

 

Agreed. So, as I mentioned before, 1-2 million Chinese tourists (who are actually a very small number) can vote up the place as the best in the world. What can we make of that? Maybe take it with a (huge) grain of salt?

Pretty much always refer to the source and find out who is voting...It's not the best ever ever ever...it's the best according to xxx and yyy people. I think that is all we can do! But the T+L thing is interesting as their readers tend to be extremely well travelled. Posh travel that is!

[sanemax]

On 7/26/2017 at 1:54 AM, elzach said:

 

Agreed. So, as I mentioned before, 1-2 million Chinese tourists (who are actually a very small number) can vote up the place as the best in the world. What can we make of that? Maybe take it with a (huge) grain of salt?

Did 1-2 Million Chinese actually vote though ?

[YetAnother]

Interesting how high the ratio of disbelievers in this forum on this topic is

[Pim Kemasingki]

I wrote to Travel+Leisure to ask them why Chiang Mai was voted, here was their answer: http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citylife-articles/editorial-august-2017/

[elzach]

11 hours ago, Pim Kemasingki said:

I wrote to Travel+Leisure to ask them why Chiang Mai was voted, here was their answer: http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citylife-articles/editorial-august-2017/

So the answer was "culture and history", plus "Chiang Mai has many top properties that deliver a standout guest experience".

 

With due respect, and with a proviso that do I like CM, I wonder how many places in Asia fill, and exceed, that criteria....sans the pollution during certain months (not days) of the year. 

 

I'll have to stick to my very first statement here, the Chinese tourists voted up the place. They may not be "posh travelers" as someone noted before, but the numbers (i.e. just 5% voting for CM) can overwhelm any travel ranking.

 

 

 

 

[Ruffian Dick]

2 hours ago, elzach said:

So the answer was "culture and history", plus "Chiang Mai has many top properties that deliver a standout guest experience".

 

With due respect, and with a proviso that do I like CM, I wonder how many places in Asia fill, and exceed, that criteria....sans the pollution during certain months (not days) of the year. 

 

I'll have to stick to my very first statement here, the Chinese tourists voted up the place. They may not be "posh travelers" as someone noted before, but the numbers (i.e. just 5% voting for CM) can overwhelm any travel ranking.

Expats are, by and large, stuck with a place 365 a year, but tourists can visit when a location is at its best.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Ruffian Dick