ceejay

Thanks for looking into it Michael. It's not a problem to me - I just thought you would want to know.

Don't know why it happens but sometimes when I am replying to a post, Firefox closes down without warning. I lose everything I have written. I have: Win 7 64 bit - fully up to date Firefox 64.0.2 (64-bit) It doesn't seem to happen with other websites.

When I hear a story like this, I don't so much wonder why they gave so much away as how they got it in the first place.

You get older, you get madder. I meant, of course, "reader" not "spoon"

Apologies Peter. I can see it might read as if I was attributing this to you when all I was trying to do was avoid attributing it to Spoon personally! There are other exceptional places in Chiang Mai: The Doi Chaang coffee chain, which is a co-operative dedicated to the improvement of the lives of the people of Baan Doi Chaang: https://doichaangcoffee.co.th/en/about-us/ Doi Tung Coffee, similarly part of a Royal Project to improve the lives of the people of Doi Tung: http://www.doitung.org/cafe_journey.php And, the best established coffee chain in Chiang Mai, Wawee Coffee http://www.waweecoffee.com/aboutus-2?lang=en There are others. I would suggest that Bangkok, far from being the "craft coffee capital of Asia" isn't even the craft coffee capital of Thailand.

Thank you, Peter RS. This guy Han Wang is typical of guys in Bangkok - until they have done it there, it hasn't happened. There are several chains and many shops in Chiang Mai that could, 8 years ago, have saved him a trip to Taiwan.

The one I use does, but it is in Chiang Mai and so is not much use to you.

I would suggest that you go together and get tested together. He gets your results unopened and you get his unopened. That way you are not singling him out - it's same-same for you and him.

Not just bar-workers. It's a very important part of Thai culture full stop. As I understand it, it's partly status and partly adulthood. So, you are born, you are the youngest in the family and everybody has a responsibility to look after you. Then you get older and you acquire responsibilities, including those for people. That's almost a rite of passage. As I understand it, a Thai who hits 30 and has no-one to look after is something like equivalent to a Western man who hits 30 and still has his mother shop for his underwear. That's all overlaid with issues of seniority and familial responsibility. I don't claim to understand all, or even most, of it and doubt I ever will.

Something I have learned from more than one Thai acquaintance (independently of each other). If you order a main course in Sizzler, it iincludes the salad bar for free. You dine exclusively on the salad bar and ask the staff to package the main course for carry out (they will do this). You get 2 meals for the price of one.

Oops! I have checked to find out the price and it seems things have changed. You now need a ticket out to apply for a tourist visa (in both the UK and the USA so - I was wrong. It doesn't solve the issue at all.

Christian has already touched on the simplest answer which is to get a tourist visa before you depart. Thai immigration only require a flight out if you are entering visa exempt (getting a 30 day stamp on arrival). A visa, any visa, and you do not need the flight out. The airlines know this. I don't know about other airports or airlines, but you will get checked at Heathrow using BA. Their automatic check in will direct you to a manned check in station if you have a 1-way ticket. This is specifically to check you for a visa. (Incidentally, the last time I did this it was a miracle the woman on the check in station had found her way out of the front door that morning, she was that stupid. I quote what she said to me "You need a visa for Thailand. This says Chiang Mai Immigration")

I visited during Bon On Touk which is an annual festival featuring one of the biggest (maybe 400 teams coming from as far away as Australia) dragon boat racing events in Asia. Happens in November (this years has just finished). Takes place right in the middle of town along Sisowath Quay. Phnom Penh rocks while it is on - the city is heaving with people.

The trouble with me is I am a terrible old cynic. Just suppose guys that the Chinese guy is a shill - tipping with the bar's money- which goes back to the bar at the end of the night! Reason - to sucker other, inexperienced, customers into accepting this level of tipping as a norm - and putting some real new money into the system. That's what shills do. There - I said I was a cynic.Sometimes comes in handy in this neck of the woods.

That's harsh. These guys are self employed entrepreneurs and they are going to go for the after sales revenue if they think it is there - as any businessman would. They are even continuing to provide a service - giving their customers another opportunity to feel good about themselves after they have left Thailand. If you don't want to pay he solution is simple. Don't pay.

The water that looks filthy is usually brown because it is - tea!! It is a natural disinfectant which is why it is used.

Interesting that the 2 posters that mention partners say that they (the partners) were discouraging (or at best lukewarm) about having their farang partner learn Thai. I could give other examples from personal experience - enough to make me wonder if something else is going on. I suspect that often the Thai partner will see their contribution to the partnership as being to act as an intermediary between the farang and the Thai world, and they don't want to give that up.Maybe the reasoning is that if you learn Thai, you will need them less. Also from personal observation, the resistance often becomes less after the relationship has lasted a few years. Perhaps that's because the Thai partners feel more secure in the relationship by then?

I must have missed this thread when first posted. For what it's worth, my replies to Jun's original questions: Have you/would you move to Thailand full time ? (or elsewhere in SE Asia) I have moved to Thailand full time. Been here for 4 years without returning to the UK. Or stay there for several months a year ? I spent two years doing this before I moved full time. October-March in Thailand, April-September in UK. Where in Thailand ? Chiang Mai. Why that location ? I considered several others (Bangkok, Pattaya, Nong Khai and Ubon Ratchathani to be exact). Settled on CM as having the best combination of cost of living, people, society of other expats, medical facilities and nearness to wonderful countryside but above all because I wanted to live here. I know a lot of people seem (for reasons inexplicable to me) to have a down on CM and I have come to the conclusion that this is, in part, due to it being (for some, at least) a better place to live than it is to visit. This may be true for other places - and so may the reverse. Bear that in mind. Advice/questions for others ? I have seen people advise drawing up a sort of balance sheet of pluses and minuses of Thailand compared to the home country and making the decision as to whether or not to relocate on that basis. Do not do this. In my experience people who do will, with the passage of time, start to take the pluses for granted and become obsessed with the minuses. Then they go mad - then they go home. Thailand comes as a package, take it or leave it. If you don't accept it on those terms it will bite you. If you don't feel in your gut that you want to live here, don't come because you will live to regret it if you do. When to retire ? As soon as your finances allow it. You don't get younger and you don't get fitter as the years pass. No one ever died wishing they had spent more time in the office. An aside about buying condos. I did, when the exchange rate was over 50 baht to the pound. It is now 43 to the pound. Buying has in part insulated me from exchange risk - if I were renting I would have taken a 16% plus hit in sterling terms.

I always tell people I have a swimmer's body. After all, I swim - and it is my body.

You could try Koh Kret on the Sunday. A nice long trip on the river on the Express Boats or you could easily enough get to Nonthaburi on Grab. https://migrationology.com/koh-kret-day-trip-bangkok/ I've been there - it's a different type of tourist experience because most of the tourists are Bangkok Thais. That makes it an authentic Thai cultural experience in my book

Don't want to put you off a bucket list ambition (or come across as a grumpy old sod) but there are some things to consider about that daytime train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It's a diesel rail car, and the seats are spaced close together. If you are above average height for a farang then it can get seriously uncomfortable during a 9 hour journey. Long distance trains are never on time in Thailand. Allow for it to be at least 2 hours late, quite possibly 3 or 4, so you will probably be getting in to CM some time between 9.30 and 10.30 pm (if you are taking train 7 which I guess you are.) The songtaews and tuktuks that wait outside the station are all going to try to rip you off for an exorbitant price. Depending on where you are staying you should be able to settle on 60baht (songtaew) or 150 baht (tuktuk) (those are still inflated prices).

Thai Lion have direct flights from Chiang Mai to U-Tapao which might be better for your itinerary, Bucknaway.

You really believe that NGO's are a good conduit to get money to people who really need it? That's actually a pretty good description of many NGO's MO. If I even think about giving money money to an NGO then I want to see a website that includes a link to their accounts. You would be surprised how many spend the majority of their income on salaries. No accounts - no donation. Secondly, they must not be peddlers of superstition (aka "religion"). Chiang Mai is infested with "Christians" whose agenda is to destroy the culture of the hilltribes and replace it with their own brand of poison - which includes a very overt, anti-gay agenda. Why should I support them? I make my own assessment of the people I see in front of me and give, or not give, as appropriate. That's my business. As to "over tipping" there's no such thing. If I give whatever amount of my own money then it's the right amount - because it's what I want to do. Nobody else is entitled to an opinion because it's not their money.

Well, there is another way of looking at it: