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Message from Mr. Udomphant Chantraviroj
Chief Executive of the Chiang Mai Provincial Administration Organization
On the occasion of the opening of Chiangmai Mail newspaper, the introductory edition
 On the occasion of the launch of the first published
edition of the Chiangmai Mail newspaper on this day, I would like to
congratulate all the organizers and staff who lave sworn their devotion to
become the people’s representatives in public relations including
surveying, searching and seeking out information, knowledge and the truth to
reveal and to inform the general public, and in maintaining the everlasting
unity of the nation, religion and the beloved Royalty.
On this greatest occasion, may the might of the Three
Gems and all sacred things that Chiang Mai people pray for, including Doi
Suthep Temple, Gracious Monk Sriwichai, and the Three Kings Statue, as well
as the might of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen bless all the
organizers of Chiang Mai Mail newspaper and the readers with great
success and prosperity.
Mr. Udomphant Chantraviroj
Chief Executive of the Chiang Mai Provincial Administration Organization
About time!
Dear Sir,
And about time too! In case that sounds like a complaint
let me quickly add that I welcome the appearance of Chiangmai Mail, as I did
that of Pattaya Mail. I lived in Pattaya in 1992 when Pattaya Mail hit the
streets for the first time and watched it grow from strength to strength.
Now, as the Chiangmai Mail is born, I live near Chiang Mai and look forward
to your paper becoming as interesting and informative as Pattaya Mail was
(and, I suppose, is). I’ll be sure to get it every week.
All the best,
Charles Fairmont
Chiang Mai
Relief from Economy Class Syndrome
Editor;
Suffering from ECS, I had to contact 4 doctors before I
got treatment for Thrombosis. Fortunately it saved my life, but I am still
suffering from Post-Thrombosis leg pain and heart irregularities and
wateroedems.
I would really be thankful, if you could name a
specialist here in Chiang Mai, as I am not satisfied with the doctors I
contacted.
I had to smile about the last sentence in that article,
because it is not easy at all to get the right diagnosis.
Thanks,
ECS
Dr Corness replies: Dear ECS, I am sorry to hear of
your plight, but glad that you did get the correct treatment for the
condition. Professional etiquette precludes my recommending different
doctors for various conditions, but as a general rule, the larger hospitals
have a greater number of specialist doctors to draw upon, therefore are more
likely to have a specialist in the discipline you may need.
Hopefully someday all public transport will be electric powered
Dear Editor,
Let me start out this letter with kudos for a great first
issue of your newspaper. I’ve enjoyed reading it and look forward to every
Saturday perusing the news, features and social events of my second home in
the north of Thailand.
I was positively surprised to see your front-page article
on the electric school buses. Not only will they prevent our environment
from deteriorating further, but also cut down on the noise level of our busy
streets. It is a good step in the right direction and I truly hope that the
pilot project will succeed.
I’ve read in a recent article that people living in
metropolitan areas of Thailand are exposed to twice, sometimes triple the
amount of carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide than people living in Europe.
In a single day around the metropolitan area a person breathes as much
polluted air as a smoker who smokes 3 packs of cigarettes.
This article stated that there are around 70,000 buses
with totally environmental damaging diesel engines and around 50,000
three-wheel vehicles (tuk tuks) on Thailand’s streets. It probably won’t
be in my lifetime that I will see all of them powered by electric engines,
but I can only hope.
Best Regards,
Barrie Bonnes
Too expensive for some
Dear Sir (or Madam):
Welcome to Chiangmai! There is a large expatriate
English-speaking community here and, I am sure, that sheer curiosity will
make them buy your new publication.
I would like to comment on the restaurant - Baan Suan -
you chose to review in your initial issue. With prices of appetisers ranging
between 100-150B, Thai main dishes between 90-260B, and wines under 2,200B,
this puts Baan Suan in the totally unaffordable range for most of Chiangmai,
including the foreigners who live here. Surely a more reasonably priced
restaurant could have been chosen as the very first restaurant you have
reviewed in Chiangmai?
Yours Truly,
Sombat Kapeng
Reply from Miss Terry Diner. Dear Sombat, Thank you
for reading the column. Chiang Mai has the full spectrum of restaurants, so
there will be expensive ones and totally budget ones, which are reviewed.
This week you can have a 30 baht, all you can eat buffet, which is surely
affordable for all, including the foreigners who live here. Please go and
try the “affordable” restaurants reviewed, and get the tourists to take
you to the others! Even though we may feel some of the restaurants are high
priced, for the tourists, all of Chiang Mai’s restaurants are a bargain!
Keep Chiang Mai cheap
Dear Editor,
Referring to your article on Boonlert Perera being
elected president of Chiang Mai Tourist Business Association. In your
article you quoted Perera as saying, “... increase of goods and tourist
services ... so that Chiang Mai comes off the ‘Cheap Destination’
list”.
I’m outraged at such a dull comment. If this is the
best Perera can do, I think the tourist business association made a
unanimous mistake.
I come to the north, and Thailand for that fact, for its
reasonable prices. If prices start to radically climb I might as well choose
another destination in the south or maybe even another country for my
holidays.
Thailand’s prime minister has already destined a
tourist island for the upper class of society on the Eastern Seaboard of
Thailand.
Don’t take away the charm of the north and turn its
citizens into greedy business people.
Greetings from Europa,
Boris Kyraznivla
Know what you are doing
before trying to start a business
Editor;
Re: James Hawthorne’s “Caveat Emptor when dealing
with franchises letter” last week. It sounds like he was writing from a
bad experience. I hope he wasn’t tangled up with the same cleaning people
I was a couple of years back, who seemed more interested in cleaning me out
than establishing a cleaning franchise.
That aside, James wrote how the government is just now
beginning to address the franchise situation in Thailand and is passing new
laws. I agree that this is good; however, there have been laws on the books
for a long time to deal with business transactions, laws supposedly written
to protect potential investors. The problem is, if you are a falang and
should something go wrong, just try and get those laws enforced!
It seems that most of the time it is foreigners who take
advantage of gullible (like me) foreigners, and when that happens forget
about any recourse, especially if the taker either knows his or her way
around the loopholes in the law, or just plain disappears from the scene
faster than a driver involved in a traffic accident.
James also wrote that there are some good, reputable
international franchises here in Thailand, and I do agree, but it is the
same here as it is in any country, you really must know what you’re doing
before handing over any cash. If, for instance, a bunch of hotdog stands
looks like a good idea, if you’ve never been a vendor before, chances are
you won’t succeed just because the idea sounded good.
The best advice is to stick with what you know. If
you’ve been in the cleaning business or Amway or whatever for 20 years,
then chances are you will be armed with enough knowledge to at least begin
investigating Thai laws and customs to supplement your already hard earned
knowledge so that you may begin investigating doing something similar here.
Good luck on your new newspaper.
Sincerely,
Pete George
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