Bob

Never had a problem in all the time I've been here. I note that the incident reported in the article indicates it occurred "early Tuesday morning." While I'm not sure if that means 1AM or 3AM or 5AM (surely it wasn't during daylight hours), it's somewhat clear to me that a substantial majority of the victims of street crime are drunk themselves, hanging out in the wee hours in places they shouldn't be, etc. One reason that most of us have not been victims is because we use some (maybe not a lot but at least a little) common sense as to where we hang out alone at night. I've probably read over 100 newspaper articles about gangs/groups of ladyboy hustlers and thieves along Beach Road. Simple solution is to be slightly aware and stay the hell away from places you know (or ought to know) aren't reasonably safe. Reminds me somewhat of all the stories we hear about somebody losing 50,000 or 100,000 or 200,000 baht. If you carry that kind of cash on you (or keep 500,000 baht in your hotel room or apartment or condo not in a safe), you almost deserve to have it stolen.

It appears that the "drug dealer" business was only a cover and he was the leader of some outfit that did contract hits. Story here: http://us.cnn.com/2013/09/27/us/ex-army-drug-trafficking/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Hmmm....much too serious. Michael claims he has dyslexia but, for some reason or other, I think he meant dailysex instead.... Then, of course, there's the dyslexic ladyboy. I heard she only cooks sock. (ok, Michael, have at me....hehe)

The cops were probably pissed that they didn't get a cut of the action; however, with the arrests, now they can get paid.

The Imperial Mae Ping fronts (although set back quite a ways) on Sridonchai Road. These coordinates show that the gallery/café is actually on Sankampaengdin Road, approximately due east (toward the Ping River) of the main Mae Ping hotel building.

They have a couple (or more?) dance shows a night and, yes, the dancers are very good (they do dance!) and are very good looking to my eyes; but, be aware that G-Star is not a gogo bar or a host bar and the dancers are likely all straight and non-offable. Almost exclusively a young Thai crowd who appear to me to be mostly gay (I have no clue about possible hookups there). I'd note that there are few (if any) chairs (you're expected to stand up and maybe lean on the somewhat small tables housing your drinks) and the music is very loud. Given I'm not into standing up for a couple+ hours and the music is too damn loud to carry on any conversation, I'm likely not to return.

Saw that article this morning too. What a friggin' non-story, a couple of boys were charging people to have their photo taken with a little monkey-like creature. The Thai cops and journalists ought to spend their time on more important things.

Ditto. Unless and until some peace arrangement is made (which likely won't happen in my lifetime), I'll go nowhere near the place.

Relatively dry up here in Chiangmai. Seems to rain a bit every other day but not too much. Another 10-15 days without a problem and we won't have any flooding this year.

Damn, I've been shopping at Rim Ping for years and never had anybody try to set me up. What's Bruce's secret (tears, sad face, etc.)? But you're right, Rim Ping is a great supermarket (not sure but think they have about 4 of them up here now).

Thoughtful comments but no real need to defend anyone. This board has been fairly exceptional (as has the nearly departed Ting Tong) in avoiding personal attacks. We can disagree rather vehemently with the content of a post sometimes but we here thankfully tend to stay away from non-humorous personal shots. That's rather nice and, in spite of our minor differences here and there, makes this place rather enjoyable to visit. Of course, a few who don't post here and seemingly relish creating fights, call most of us rather turgid and boring. That's cool too at least if what they perceive as our turgidity and boringness keeps them the hell away from here! (hehe). We've only had a couple of major disruptions here but, thankfully, the mods ultimately took care of them. Without naming names, long-timers know who they are - the one who is now really/dearly departed and the other one who's simply played an obviously fraudulent/fictional role on multiple boards (the latter one once posted here more than 200 times within 36 hours and is the same one, mentioned above, who posted phony trip reviews elsewhere). Without either of those two characters, we are, of course, probably even more turgid and boring. Fine with me.

Off topic and, in my view, totally unfair, Firecat. I've actually met Christian and I have no (zero) doubt at al that what he writes on the board is exactly (even anally exactly) as it happened. And, frankly, I don't think this thread (or perhaps any other location) is the place for you go after him or even suggest (without believability, I'd add) that "many" others think the way you do. That being said, I really have little interest in most of what Christian posts; regardless of that fact, I'm not about to say he's making any of it up as I firmly believe he isn't. I do agree with his general comment that people shouldn't post fiction without clearly labeling it as such or, as the example given by somebody above, post photos and a review of a hotel when the poster has never been there. As for the comment about telling him to "stop trying to tell the rest of us what we should have on this Forum. It is not for you to decide!!!" Excuse me but I didn't see him as telling anybody what they had to do, he simply expressed an opinion. And his opinion is worth no more nor less than yours or mine.

Recently, I noticed on a weather website I often review that they list elevations above sea level. Chiangmai is listed as 1006 feet above sea level. Bangkok is listed as 3 feet above sea level. When you think of it, that's not much of a slope heading all the way down to the Gulf of Thailand. Not even considering the natural subsiding occuring there, the area surrounding Bangkok is in for a very tough future should global warming cause the sea levels to rise. And, of course, I'm doubtful if the Thai government will actually take any preventative measures (presuming an effective dike system could ever be built) to protect the city. One often hears up here in Chiangmai that the reasons the Bangkokians are buying up so much property up here is they are planning on moving up here when Bangkok ends up under water. I have no idea if that statement is true but I do hear it quite a bit.

Rather frustrating topic. There are some drugs just too dangerous to legalize but, on the other hand, the war on drugs has been a miserable failure that's probably cost society (crime to feed drug habits, cost of the criminal process and incarceration, etc.) more than if we just legalized everything. Hell if I know.

I lived in Hua Hin 3 months one year and 4 months another year and, while I really like the place, I think the beaches in Phuket are a fair amount nicer (cleaner sand and beach edge in any event). And you won't find the sugar white sand of Koh Phi Phi or a few other areas in Hua Hin (although, again, I liked the beaches in Hua Hin and did swim in the ocean there too). No great snorkeling places in Hua Hin to my knowledge. There's very little gay action in Hua Hin although there usually are 2-3 sorta host bars open there. If you're interested in more of that in the evening, Phuket would be a much better choice. Both places have plenty of good restaurants all over the place. No matter where you go, smile and have a good time.

Way back when I made my first trip here, I spent 3 days down in Phuket and really enjoyed it, especially the beaches and a snorkeling tour to the islands (which you can arrange via almost every tour desk in every hotel/motel). Stay in the Patong area and you'll be able to check out the bars in the evening, all within a relatively short walk from Patong Beach. Oh, in spite of what you might read, there's really not much of a gay beach down there (we stayed at a place that was supposed to be right in back of the gay beach but we didn't see more than a dozen other gay couples there the whole time). I'd note that others here surely know Phuket better than me as I've only been down there a total of three times in the last 15 years.

Nope but I will if I can find the place? Any idea where it might be? I find a couple of places with that name by googling but I'm guessing it's the place on Ratchamanka (the east-west street inside the old city opposite the west end of Loi Kroh) which is referred to as a german restaurant but also notes it has pizza. If/when I make it there, I'll report here (but I'll warn you in advance that I'm a fan of Chicago-style pizza and usually dislike the modern pizzas with thin crust tasting like cardboard!).

I, being once (long, long, ago in a faraway galaxy) one of those American children, never heard of the guy and I'm doubtful that anybody I know ever heard of him. Didn't ring a bell at all. Given that, I think that the likelihood of winning the lottery is a bit higher than anyone actually knowing or guessing who this grizzled dude might be.

I won't say as I cheated. There's an internet site which specializes in identifying the internet location of photos which you upload to their site. Ain't the internet marvelous?

I haven't had enough experience in taxis here (Chiangmai) to know for sure how the rates compare. My impression, though, has been that the rates charged (for taking you home from the airport or for picking you up and taking you anywhere) were no more than what I used to get charged (years ago) in Bangkok. As for songtaews, it's pretty much 20 baht to anywhere and I've never felt that was expensive (yes, maybe more than jumping on a fixed route baht bus in Pattaya or Hua Hin but, then again, I'm asking them to go to a specific location). And I don't understand the "too small" comment as the baht busses I've ridden both here and in Hua Hin seemed to me to be the same size as the ones in Pattaya. I've never driven - car or motorsy - in Thailand and I've always appreciated the transportation available up here in Chiangmai. I get to wherever I'm going without any undue hassle. I would agree, though, that it's now too easy to find either a songteaw or a tuk tuk late at night (but usually whatever venue I'm attending will call for a tuk tuk if I ask them). Apologies to the OP for straying off topic.

Here's a link to the story and photograph of their lame effort: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/travel/thai-accident-logos-blurred/?hpt=travel_hp_herobox Now, mind you, nobody possibly could be fooled. Every Thai and most foreigners sure as hell recognize the colors they couldn't cover up (and which you can see half a mile away - notice the other Thai Air plane taking off in the background?). On the plus side, I haven't heard any reports of the pilots running away....hehe.

Hardly. Getting around here is fairly easy if you know/understand the baht bus system. Plus, you can find a tuk tuk usually (before about 11PM anyway) if you want to pony up 80-100 baht for one of those. And you can telephone for a taxi any time (and those are metered - or at least the few that I've been in). I just came through the airport last night and I didn't see any problem with people getting taxi rides. Like ceejay, I'm unaware of "metered" taxis at the airport. You just go to one of the taxi booths, tell them where you're going, and they'll tell you how much (and hand you a slip of paper that you hand to the taxi dudes outside the north end of the airport).

Poke? Weird. In Thai, the word (อันตราย or an-dta-rai ) before the exclamation point means "danger" or "dangerous." The next word (อย่า or yaa) means "don't" and the next two words (เข้า or kao and ใกล้ or glai) really are an idiom that means "to get close" or to "come near." I suppose if you've poked at it, you're way too damn close/near!

Really weird/funny one, Rogie. I can't even fathom what they meant to say when they wrote "prick" in English. The sign in Thai says: Beware of falling rocks ahead. In Thai, crab is "bpoo." One restaurant having a special one day had a huge sigh out front saying: "Fresh Poo." And, of course, I've also seen it listed on many menus as "fresh crap" or just "crap."

I've argued the same themes before to falang friends of mine, most of the encouragement (making a Thai Will, making specific arrangements about what one wants done with one's body if death occurs in Thailand, and, of course, making appropriate financial arrangements for their Thai partners) generally being well-received without any actual follow-up actions. [James: Interesting and valuable article, James, but I do wish you would have given us a clue as to whether it's fact or fiction. I realize that the story's source/reality probably doesn't change the good message it provides but, for whatever reason, I don't like to be left hanging as to whether it's a true story, a copied story from another source, a somewhat altered story to protect some identities, or whatever. So far, based on what I see and know, this is a story you personally wrote but it's obviously not about you (given you're still with us!)]