Smeagol

Loving our updates Carol, Oh how i wish i was in BKK. (away from the troubles of course)

dogster

And I'm glad you're staying O/N instead of that crazy one-day dash. BKK won't be the same without kuranosake. Fly safe.

debnyc

Please forgive my ignorance as a newcomer to this forum and Thailand, but as a shopper, I'm rather intrigued by the "shipping" conversation. It seems in the states that shipping has grown rather expensive. But by the thread of conversation here, it's the best way to go. So my question is, are there mailing shops or post offices set up to facilitate and make overseas shipping easy for night market stuff? (wrapping fragile purchases and insuring the post gets there) I would love to buy furniture and art, do stores easily take care of this? Is it trustworthy or costly? If all seems good with politics in Thailand I'll be CM the end of June. As for my scheduled shopping trip for 4 days in BKK, well, with the situation at hand, I'm on the fence about that.

Kathie

I always bring two suitcases to Thailand, one with things I need, the other filled with bubble wrap. For fragile items, I hand-carry them on the plane or pack them carefully in my extra suitcase. I've never had anything break in my 20+ years of shopping and bringing things home.

Of course, if you are buying furniture, you'll have to have it shipped. The shipping will cost at least as much as the furniture itself. It will also be shipped to your nearest port, not to your door-step.

I'll let Carol tell you about what and how she ships.

rhkkmk

thanks pook....we stayed in a holiday inn near to town on our first visit....what karen was referring to....and it was 2 damn hot days w/o a/c...

we have also stayed at the sheraton...it was fine but we thought a bit removed... now it is a HI>>>

simpsonc510

That hotel has been under a number of different chain names. We really like the riverview suites. They are HUGE. Really nice! I think Maeng will enjoy the jaccuzzi tub. (DH and DS both put too much bubble bath into the jaccuzzi one time and filled the bathroom with bubbles!!! lol)

Regarding shipping, we ship a lot from CM, by ship. Air shipping is really expensive. I've sent home boxes of things UPS from BKK and paid $200 and up. Shipping by sea takes time. Usually about 6 weeks. We have an agent in Chicago who accepts all of our shipping from Thailand, and when the things arrive, he will arrange for delivery to our small town.

If you are buying furniture, be aware that the dry climate in your part of the world may result in cracking of the Thai wood. DS has a couple of rooms of furniture, and they have cracks in some of the pieces... but not bad enough to ruin the pieces. And yes, if you buy furniture, the seller will help you find a shipper, no problem.

We miss Ken already, and we also miss our army buddy who went back to Texas just this morning. Our Dr friend who came as a newbie to BKK is now back in Illinois/Iowa. A friend from Samui goes back to the island tomorrow. BKK is going to be much quieter!!! haha

I have one very large rice bag (pretty orange/green/blue/purple strips) filled with purchases from the weekend market. I have an extra rice bag (same colors) stuffed inside, just for bringing things home from CM on Wednesday. Maeng always buys a big box of specialty foods from a market down in CM city. I have a feeling we will bring the two rice bags back to BKK full. We'll see...

Carol

bkklover

Carol, hope you have made it up to CM. How is everything up there? Heard yesterday about grenades outside the Police Headquarters but cannot place the exact location in CM.
Saw that they were expecting 39 degrees today so it must be hot , hot ,hot. Still in a waiting game and do hope to be in Bangkok briefly before going to CM.

Will be in Indonesia and Hong Kong either before or after. So many plans have had to be changed but this can often happen.

Thai colleague in Bangkok [ from Thai Airways ] mailed me last nite [Aust time 8.30pm ] to say that my Thai 50th Anniversary flight to HK had been changed so I will now look at rearranging yet another flight.

Do hope you are buying lots and all is well .

lcuy

Carol, Haven't had anything useful to add to the conversation, (and still don't !), but just wanted to say hi. I always enjoy your "slice of life, up to the minute" travelogues. Wish I was in BKK with you, that's for sure!

simpsonc510

Hello from Chiang Mai! Yes, we made it here yesterday afternoon, arriving around 2pm. Jit, our driver for the past ten years, picked us up at the airport, took us first to our hotel... we selected the same place we've been staying everytime we are in CM for an overnight visit. The Westin Riverside, then Sheraton Riverside, then Crowne Plaza Riverside, is now Holiday Inn Riverside. The place has not changed very much. We still love love love getting one of the big (think really big) river view suites w/king bed. This time we have the suite plus the adjoining 2-bed 'regular' room (which is also big), so the three of us each have our own bed for sleeping, and we can share the big livingroom for TV and conversation, whatever.

The view is of the river, of course, but from 2212 we can also see Doi Suthep!

Stops yesterday included the frog factory to place lg order, and also a stop to see our friend who ships to USA for us. I gave her my rice bag full of purchases from the weekend market. I will no doubt give her a few more things after my CM shopping is complete.

For dinner, we wanted to go Nang Nuan (seafood/fresh fish) along the river. It is CLOSED..DONE..FINISHED!! Drat! Next choice, the Italian place (L'Opera) which is also riverside, but CLOSED.. DONE.. FINISHED! Drat, again!!! But, the good news is that L'Opera has been replaced by a very nice Thai place. I really don't know the name as it was written in Thai!! The food we ate was excellent. Maeng says it is 'authentic old world' Thai. We have had this discussion before on fodors, so will not go back into that..... (BoLan... hint hint)

After dinner, we wanted to go to a bar that we had not visited for a very long time, nearly ten years... CLOSED... DONE... no more!! So Maeng and I came back to HI for sleep. Brad and Jit went out for a bit together... I'll get the full report once he is up and showered and ready for the day.

Speaking of the day... we will go to Doi Intanon (sp) today, plus visit a hilltribe somewhere. Maeng wants authentic, not touristy. We'll see what Jit has in store for us. I'm sure we will have a good time. Maeng says we will have an adventure!

Dinner tonight will be with shipping friend, so do not yet know where we will go, but I'd guess Good View.

Shopping will wait until tomorrow (smile)... and that's fine!! We do not leave CM until tomorrow night at 9pm. Plenty of time to shop till I (we) drop.

CM is really hot hot hot. But Jit has good AC in his car. We will have him get a van for tomorrow, as we will be filling rice bags to take back to BKK!!! Maeng always goes to the food mkt to buy specialty items for the PL crowd.

Wish I knew about red shirts in BKK. CM is a red shirt stronghold, so not sure what we will see here. I think not many yellow shirts would venture up here, if they are very strong about their political views. I do not know anything about the police station here, if there is a problem.

I'll try reading BKK Post on line. I cannot download the thread on BKK protest update as it is too large, and the internet is too slow here!! Drat, yet again!

Anyway, we are fine. Enjoying our time in CM.

Lucy, did you get your trip plans figured out? Would love to be in BKK/CM at the same time, sometime. We'll see you in Sept, if not before.

Carol

sunshinememphis

Hi Carol,

Hope you are having a great time in CM and buying lots. Are you from Chicago? I am originally from Chicago now living in Memphis!

Kari

thursdaysd

Have you tried Twitter.com for up-to-date info? Search on #Bangkok and #redshirts - e.g. rawnnie Sizeable presence of army and police at Asoke now. I see guns, riot gear, barbed wire, loud speakers. How come Asoke? #redtweet #redshirts

rhkkmk

i thought issan was the red shrit strong hold, not CM???

debnyc

Kathie and Carol....
thanks for your shopping insights. I'm bringing the extra suitcase filled with bubblewrap.
Even if they charge extra baggage, it's cheaper than shipping.Thanks for the tips on furniture.
I think I'll forgo that one.

Guenmai

Carol: To answer your question, I don't know when I'll get back to Bangkok. Remember, I was just there in November. And now with all of the stuff going on, AGAIN, I just don't want to deal with any of it. Been there...done that before. So, I've been spending my time in Paris. I have a great apartment, American owner, and couldn't be happier. I'll always miss Bangkok, but until things chill out, there are plenty of other places to go.

As for Hawaii, I know I won't make it this year as I am so busy that I barely have time to breathe. Plus, my dad turns 90 the month after Hawaii and my mom has a birthday then,too. But, one of these days.

Take care and have a ball! I'll keep in touch by e-mail.

P.S. One day we'll have to meet in Hong Kong and go on a Shanghai Tang shopping spree at the flagship store! I've still never been to Hong Kong. Happy Travels!

simpsonc510

Hi guenmai... nice to "see you" here. Hong Kong for shopping sounds great! But I'll bet the prices are better in Thailand. In the meantime, enjoy Paris. What's NOT to enjoy???

What a fantastic day today has been. It's 6pm. We are back at the Holiday Inn after having been to Doi Inthanon. (no time for hill tribe stop) It was absolutely gorgeous!! What a huge surprise that was!! I like it better than Doi Suthep, I think. Inthanon is not a temple. Inthanon has a couple of huge stupas, and this doi is near the highest point in Thailand. They have absolutely gorgeous gardens with every flower imagineable! I have no idea what most of them are, but they were all beautiful. Maeng took photo after photo, and she kept saying that this flower and that flower were not available in BKK. The gardens are beautifully maintained at Doi Inthanon. The entrance fee is 200Bt for farangs and 30Bt for Thais. There's nothing unusual about that pricing...

Inthanon is at 2565meters. The air is really fresh and much cooler than down in CM. Natural air con. What could be better. I would guess it was about 60 degrees. Maeng says she has never ever been THAT cold before!! (we just smiled and told her that if she came to Illinois in January, she would immediately want to go home to BKK)

After wandering around the two stupas and gardens at Doi Inthanon, we stopped at a really beautiful waterfall on our way down. The name of it is Wachirathan waterfall. Jit says it is the biggest one, and it really was a nice sized waterfall. You could feel the spray of the falls on your face from one of the viewing points. This falls is at or near the start of the mighty Ping River, so says Jit.

We came past a local market and Jit stopped so we could have a look. This was not supposed to be a shopping day, but Maeng and I bought bags and bags of things! So cheap! Hand made jewelry, little wood resin figures of animals and Buddhas. Food items, fruits and vegetables. We were the only customers...we got bargain prices on everything we bought! We got a good start on filling one of my big rice bags... haha

At the summit of Inthanon, there was a rest area where you could walk around and have a look and take photos. They had restrooms that were, well, unique. I took a couple of photos. DS said that Maeng and I had to come and look at the mens room. No one was there so it was OK to have a look. It was a row of urinals lined up OUTSIDE for the world to see, with a fairly steep cliff right behind you when you are (ahem) doing your business. Brad did a fake pose... quite funny. Maeng and I both snapped a pic of him.

Tonight we are meeting our shipping friend for dinner. A new place for me, Jit suggested it. Oh, last night's fantastic Thai dinner along the river was at Samsenvilla. I'll find out about tonight's place and then post tomorrow.

Gotta play around with pictures now. Sure wish we could post them here on fodors! You'd just LOVE Inthanon!!!

I hope BKK isn't in shambles when we get back tomorrow night.

Carol

rhkkmk

we also spent a day on the mountain as they called it....its a national park....if i am not mistaken one of the buildings is dedicated to the king and one to the queen...

i think we stopped at the same market place on the way down...was it hilltribe people? it was when we were there...

its well worth a day to visit this area... very green and remote.

simpsonc510

Sounds like the same place(s), Bob. Yes, a day well spent!

Dinner was at a different place, near the airport. The name is something like Wittayu Gang Bin. The there has to do with the military somehow. Interesting food. Thai fusion, says Maeng. Items from the menu... and No, I can spell better than this!!!! This is from the menu, as spelled.

Fried Indian with soft shell crab
Surprised spare ribs
Deep fried frog with garlic
Deep fried SEEbass
Steam sour spicy cAttlefish
Hot spicy preserved drdrfridry (huh?) squids salad
Junfle curry with pork/beef/chicken
Fried blocoli with shrimp
Macaroni with pork, seafood

We had a really pleasant dinner with shipping friend, a friend of Maeng's, plus our driver. We got back after 11pm! Time for some sleep. Tomorrow, 11am, with the VAN to do some shopping!

Carol

Hanuman

I think the first dish is illegal in Thailand.

rhkkmk

is it a "man" indian or a "woman" indian?

simpsonc510

lol... that menu was certainly interesting (entertaining). I just had to write down some of the items from it. And I swear to you, this is the exact wording/spelling from the menu.

We're a little bit slow to get moving this morning. I'ts after 9:30. Brad is still sleeping. Maeng and I are up and showered, but we sat around from 8 to at least 8:45 just chatting this morning before doing anything.

Shopping will be the main focus today. There are the markets at BoSang and Hang Dong, and then there is the little shop in the city that sells the animal bags that I think are soooooo cute. I'll buy some more of those. I never know what I'll see, especially at BoSang, in the way of 'new' items that I want to buy.

Looks hot and hazy outside once again. Today Jit will bring the rental van rather than his car. Hope the air con is in good working order!

Please, pook, try to keep peace in BKK today, as we will be returning around 10:15 tonight and want to be able to get to our hotel(s) and the PL without problems. No road blocks please. See what you can do...

I'll be reporting from BKK once again this evening.

Carol