Chiang Mai – Loy Kroh

Via: Thai Visa – Chiang Mai Forum

OP:

Having not ventured into the centre of town for quite some time, I recently met a friend there for a few drinks because he was flying back to New Zealand the following morning.

When we were walking through the Loi Kroh road around 9.30pm, I was taken back just how seedy, dirty and squalid that area has become.

Dirty tatty little open bars full of gross drunken farangs, and the girls pretending that they find these guys cool and they’re drunken rants amusing.

The BGs there appear uniformly unattractive. Not young, not old, average age perhaps around 30ish, but cheap and nasty..

During the dark hours around the centre of Chiang Mai city becomes infested with hideous freaky travesties.

blah, blah, blah

***

Random Comments:

TBH compared to other places like BKK, Phuket and Pattaya, the P4P scene in Chiang Mai is tiny so im not sure why you are getting so hot under the collar. Aldo ladyboys and katoeys have always been a part of Thailand and always will.

~

I really dont understand why so many people get on a high horse about this street – it is pretty easy to avoid if you find the bars/ girls/ patrons offensive.

~

“I was taken back just how seedy, dirty and squalid that area has become.”

What was it like before?

~

How about letting the Thais decide what to do with their own country?

I wonder just how happy you’d be if a bunch of foreigners moved to your home town and started lecturing you on how they thought it ought to look?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/463801-chiang-mai-loi-kroh-road/

.

Thai Visa (dot) com

I think this is the BEST ‘expat’ source of information for people who:

- LIVE in Thialand

or,

- are considering MOVING to Thailand

or,

- are simply thinking about VISITING Thailand

http://www.thaivisa.com/

.

Thailand – live U.S. TV programs, available for FREE, on USTVnow

For FREE I can watch CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS.

Currently @ 7:00 am – Thailand

CBS – Wheel of Fortune

CW – Major Leauge Baseball (Braves home opener vs Phillies)

FOX: Two and a Half Men

NBC: Entertainment Tonight

PBS: Sesame Street – This will remian available until the Republican teabagger Party cuts off funding; the bastards!

====

MANY of  the OTHER U.S. TV channels (Comedy Central, NBC, ABC, >>>) are available for $49 per month ($1.63 per day).

http://www.ustvnow.com

 

The Girls at the ‘Forget Me Not’ Bar

A couple of years ago, on a trip down to Bangkok, I went to an ‘Entertainment Center’ next door to the J.W. Marriott. It was about thirty ‘Mini-Me’ size bars, UNDER a FREEWAY!!!

Note: We’re talking about some special kind of ambiance here.

***
For no particular reason, I stopped at the third bar, and on hind sight maybe number two, or number four, would have been better; but hey, there’s no way to know.

I ordered a Singha Beer and was immediately hit with: 1. ‘Wat Ur name?’, 3. ‘Wat hotel u stay?’, 5. ‘U take me home?’. I mean really ‘hard-core stuff’, because they skipped right over; 2. ‘Where U from?’, and 4. ‘U buy me drink?’. One beer, and out.

The shortest distance to my hotel was to ‘run the gauntlet’ through the rest of the bars.

I hadn’t planned to stop for another beer, until I saw the girls at the ‘Forget Me Not’.  I mean without exception; the girls were 8′s, 9′s and several 10′s. And there wasn’t a ‘hard-core’ look with any of ‘em.

Note: These bars didn’t have dancers, so the girls were dressed, more or LESS, in normal street clothes.

***
The bartender spoke great English because she was an American Thai, going to school in Bangkok.  Her uncle owned the bar, and the rule was she couldn’t ‘date’ the customers.

She was surprised to hear I wasn’t looking for a ‘date’, but was simply there to have a beer and hopefully find someone who could carry on more of a conversation than, ‘Wat ur name?’, ‘Where u from?’ ….’ .

She said, “Yeah, that gets old doesn’t it?”.

She then told me, her uncle wanted her to work with the girls to help improve their English; i.e. to increase business.

The girls English were better than most, but frankly they were so HOT; I didn’t care if they spoke Urdu.

Anyway, it got off to a rocky start because the youngest and prettiest girl in the bar, asked, “What Ur name?”

I said, “For you my ‘sweet young thing’, you should call me, Grandfather Jon”.

 The bartender was drinking a Coke at the time, and it went down the ‘wrong way’.

The ‘sweet young thing’ unfortunately also took it the ‘wrong way’, because she thought maybe I had said something insulting.

After the bartender recovered and explained it to her, it was all cooool.

The ‘sweet young thing’ became essentially a second ‘Left Arm’ for the duration. And I tell ya, it was GOOOOD.

The other girls in the bar picked up on the story, and they became an alternating second ‘Right Arm’, and that was SOOOO GOOOOD!

It was the normal Thai bar scene; with music, bar games with the girls, etc, etc, etc. I probably spent $40 the whole evening on drinks; a couple of beers for me, and a ton of ‘lady drinks’.

Note: the old Cyndi Lauper song, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, HAD to have been written about the girls at the ‘Forget Me Not’; I mean they were simply so much FUN to be around!

When I was getting ready to leave, I was debating whether to come back the next night or not; I mean I had serious doubts that it could possibly be as good.

I reluctantly decided to tell the girls I had to leave town in the morning; blah, blah, and blah.

***
As you might have guessed, the next evening I just couldn’t resist going back.

One of the girls saw me about sixty-feet away, and the other dozen or so joined her in a ROUSING CHOURUS of, “Sawadi kaaaaaa, Grandfather Jon!!”!

About thirty-feet away, the DJ started playing the oldie and moldie ‘Macarena’, and the girls, of course being Thai bargirls, started to dance.

Anyway, they were surprised; surprised I say, when I started dancing with what, 12-14 girls?

It was great fun, and THEN, they started improvising by adding some rather ‘lewd’ moves.

When I started copying their ‘lewd’ moves, the smiles became even BIGGER, and SWEETER!!

And jeez, it was even better than the first night; and I’m not sure how I was able to do it, but I resisted the temptation to do ‘take-out’; but I did, and I’m glad I did.

=====
I’ll NEVER, EVER, forget the girls at the, ‘Forget Me Not’.

Catching a ‘flick’ in Chiang Mai, Thailand

As far as I know, without a dish, there are four ways to watch a movie here: 1) download from the net 2) cable TV 3) movie theatres, and 4) DVD’s.

***
2) CABLE TV

In Chiang Mai, you can get HBO-Asia or Starz Movies.

They both, obviously, need to tailor to the local audience, so there seems to be an abundance of low-budget, “Action-Jackson: blow ‘em up, shoot ‘em up, kick ‘em in the cajones”, genre.

If that’s not to your liking, you can watch ‘straight to cable/DVD’ teen horror or teen comedy.

But every once in awhile, they’ll show something good; however, they’ll show it five times a day; for four, eight, possibly twelve weeks.

In summary, cable movie channels in Thailand are EXACTLY the same as in the States.

***
3) MOVIE THEATRES

There are two major multiplexes in Chiang Mai, one with eight screens, the other with six.

They usually show one or two American movies at a time, most often in English with Thai sub-titles.

—-
- Thai movies

The Thai people seem to like: ‘Kung-Fuey-Louie’ movies; unbelievably sappy ‘boo-hoo-hoo’ love stories; and dumb-ass comedies, often featuring one, or more, lady-boys.

The Thai movies often have English sub-titles, and on a rainy afternoon, it’s a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

- American Movies

The leading U.S. box-office grossing movies are shown here at the same time as in the States.

Note: movies open here on Thursday, which is Wednesday in the States.

Prices: higher for the first three-days and the weekends: 60-130 baht @ 35 baht = $1.72 – $3.72.

***
4) DVD’s

I suppose if you LOOK really, really, REALLY HARD; you might, and I say might, be able to find DVD’s that aren’t counterfeit. But I honestly, have never seen any that are legit.

The quality of the DVD’s varies between what you would find at Blockbuster (good), or like your Aunt’s “Trip to Cozumel” video (TERRIBLE!).

The selection is very extensive, and run all the way from the BIG box office hits, to Sundance Film Festival movies.

Quite often, you’ll find videos in the States they are being advertised: ‘Limited Engagement in New York and Los Angeles: Opening Soon Nationwide’.

PRICE: 100 baht ($2.86) – fully refundable if it’s TERRIBLE quality; like say for, MY aunt’s “Trip to Cozumel” video.

——-
the photo: I’m just slightly out of the picture to the left. I’m wearing glasses.

Chiang Mai – used bookstores

One of the things I like, no make that LOVE about Chiang Mai, is the availability of good cheap reads.

There are about a dozen used bookstores in town where you can buy good quality, fairly recent, pocketbooks.

But my favorite is, Gecko Books

http://www.geckobooks.net/

***

My guess for average price,

is +/- 150 baht @ 30.30 = $4.95USD.

But when you finish with it, they guarantee to buy it back for half price.

Only $2.47 – Shoot, I use have to pay bigger library fines, and that’s when I was in high school!!

———
Good Gawd Almighty, I love this town!!

Chiang Mai – Samlors

Because they make very little money, and it’s a damn tough job, there are very few young samlor peddlers left in Chiang Mai.

—-
One of drivers I see on my rounds is a very old dude, my age, name of Tip.

We ALWAYS exchange smiles, wais and sawadi krups; and I’m usually asked, ‘Where you go?”.

Last night, walking home from dinner I just happen to have a travel brochure in my hand, so when he asked, “Where you go?”

I said, pointing to the samlor, and the photo of the Grand Palace, “How much?”.

He laughed and laughed, and pointing to his friend, said, “No, No, not me; he take you”.

***
The Grand Palace is in Bangkok, +/- 450 miles to the south.

======

Note: This whole business about Thailand being the ‘Land of Smiles’; well I tell ya what, it’s NOT a cliche.