Chiangmai

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Monday 28 August 2006 :-

Floods forecast for many regions

The Meteorological Department yesterday forecast heavy downpours in all regions of the country and warned residents of Mae Hong Son, Tak, Chiang Rai, Nan, Uttaradit, Sukhothai and Phetchabun in particular to be on alert.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warned seven southern provinces to be prepared for possible floods, storms and landslides.

"Relevant authorities must closely monitor 267 risky spots and watch out for landslides," said Suwit Kaneekul, head of the department's office in Songkhla, one of the provinces for which the warning was issued, along with Phatthalung, Trang, Satun, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

Suwit's warning came as a landslide in the southern province of Surat Thani briefly blocked traffic in Phanom district.

In the North meanwhile, flash floods yesterday ravaged four districts in Phitsanulok province - Noen Maprang, Wang Thong, Nakhon Thai and Chat Trakan.

Sirens were sounded across Noen Maprang district at around 2am yesterday.

"The sirens helped. There are no reports of casualties," Noen Maprang district chief Praphan Phu-ngarm said.

Pornsak Toothong, a janitor at Ban Pluak Ngarm School in Noen Maprang district, said torrents of water burst through the school's new wall and flooded the school to a depth of more than a metre.

The floods also damaged farmland and houses in the province.

In Chiang Rai province, more than 20 houses were submerged by floods in Mae Chan district. The provincial authority has asked its residents to brace for possible flash floods and mudslides.

In Uttaradit province, officials were closely monitoring the situation as heavy rain rapidly raised the water level in several local canals. Some villages in Tambon Pailom in Lap Lae district have already been flooded and residents of at-risk areas have been told to pack their belongings for possible evacuation.

In eastern Si Sa Ket province, about 15 homes in Wang Hin district have been affected by floods at least 50 centimetres deep for four days already. In the worst-hit spot, the floodwater level was one metre.

Heavy flooding in Nan last week caused more than Bt50 million worth of damage to schools in the northern province, according to a senior education official. At least 29 schools were forced to close down. All schools will resume classes today and students will be exempted from having to wear uniforms because some had lost theirs in the floods.
--- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[pussyman72]

this is the worst flood in CR. it is better to postpone for the time being.

[KLKOOL]

Originally Posted by ThaiHotels

Bro KLKOOL,

Thanks for the intro.

Popular hotels in Chiang Mai include,

Star
Suriwongse
Suan Pang Kaew
Lanna Palace
Imperial Mae Ping
Downtown Inn

Hope this helps

Cheers

Tim

Imperial Mae Ping no girl friendly... unless you talk to the night manager and fark them upside down... it costs 500 baht to take a girl up... must register... Sheraton must pay 1000 baht... Tim... mebbe u can advise them which hotel is best cos i am sure most bros are there for extra curricular activities...

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Tuesday 29 August 2006 :-

No let-up expected in northern floods

Residents in nine northern provinces were yesterday warned of more heavy downpours and flash-floods this week.

Influenced by low pressure ridges and the southwestern monsoon, thundershowers and flash-flooding were forecast this week for Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Phrae, Lampang, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok and Phetchabun, the northern weather bureau said.

With 151,294 villagers from 43,436 households in 13 districts affected by the flooding between August 19 and 26, Nan Governor Prinya Panthong said yesterday that he had approved a budget of Bt500,000 for each district to supply food for flood victims, while relief and rehabilitation operations continued.

In Chiang Mai's Mae Rim district, at least 1,000 low-lying houses were on the verge of being submerged due to heavy overnight rain on Sunday and the rising Mae Rim River, official Jeerachat Seutrakul said. The local authority has therefore urged residents to move their belongings to higher ground and has piled sandbags along the river, Jeerachat said.

Meanwhile, local officials used heavy machinery to rescue 20 villagers stranded at the Mae Poon waterfall in Uttaradit's Laplae district. he group - who had gone to collect fruit - were stranded after downpours caused landslides and flash-floods that cut off access to the area.

Flooding in Phitsanulok's Nakhon Thai and Noen Maprang districts has receded since the rain stopped. In the north-eastern province of Loei, six homes in Chiang Khan district were damaged by flooding, while the local authority prepared evacuation and rescue operations as mud from a landslide at Phu Pha Din Pok moved closer to the community.
--- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[phenom]

"FLOOD: don't go, postpone your trip!"
All typical reactionary "advices" from the mis-informed, ill-informed and under-informed; based on newspaper general reports.
20 houses in Mae Chan flooded? Know how many times twenty houses are there in Mae Chan? Its just like some "smart" newspaper-reading guy in Europe advising all his countrymen not to come to Sg because 20 houses in Bukit Timah are flooded!
If you had already planned your trip, rather than panic, try to enquire on the specific areas you are visiting, rather than assume that the WHOLE of Northern Thailand is inaccessible.
I had done just that and I am going ahead with flying to Chiangmai on 2/9 and then be driven to Mae Sai through Mae Chan; a 3 to 4 hour journey. I had it from people who are living in those towns that the major roads are just fine. There are floods, yes but not so serious as to render the roads unpassable. I will call the people there again just before I leave but they doubt if the situation can turn so bad as to make me cancel the trip.
My advice is don't assume everything is bad. Find out the specifics rather than rely on the general info or mis-info.


To put the scale of affected houses and persons in perspective, here's the population figures (2000 census):
Northern Thailand: 12 million
Chiang Mai province: 1.6 million
Chiang Mai town: 180,000
Chiang Rai province: 1.3 million
Chiang Rai town: 62,000
Mae Chan: 30,000
Mae Sai: 22,000

[pussyman72]

well presume or dont presume dont expect things to be good. it better to be safe then sorry.

I have call up my friend in maesai, flood is not that bad, just abit only. doi tung also not as bad.

Sometimes we dont presume it will not be a bad one. newspapers only report what has happen only. those weather prediction u wont know what is going to happen well if we lucky the weather dont turn bad good for u. what if is bad? it better to take extra step to prevent then to be sorry.

Take an example of hatyai nobody expect hatyai flood so badly in Dec 2000. Newspapers said expect flood everyone take it ez thinking it wont happen n what happen it really flood.... how many pple stuck there? lucky i postpone my trip else im stuck.

pple were snatching food n water there for 3 days, my friends was there n he stuck there for 4 days before he was able to get out....

nov 2001 Hail storm in CR, nobody expected it to happen n was not the first it happen also....

Nobody trying to be smart telling others not to go. just an advice not to go during this period to avoid urself getting into problem. if pple still wants to go fine with it, nobody can stop pple from going anywhere....

Figures dont mean anything. whether it 20 house 20M pple so what. When mother nature wants to do it works 300M pple also will suffer.....

Risk or no risk is up to one to decide...

Chokdee Krup
PM72

[yinyang]

Originally Posted by ThaiHotels

..Popular hotels in Chiang Mai include..

Timmy,

Add to you list Central Duangtawan. Good 4*, just 2 mins around corner of night bazaar area.

Got back CNX over last weekend, good hotel, nice pool, clean rooms with BIG lobby over 2 floors. Promo now on in low season bt1200++ and deluxe bt1480++ (direct booking).

As for weather, only had showers 1 night (of 2). Local recommended a restaurant Thanam (Waterfront), romantic with northern all wood style design, and traditional music background . 4 pax with some soft drinks = bt790.

[HornyBunny]

To add to list of hotels..

Chiangmai Orchid - right next to popular shopping complex Kad Suan Kaew. Thursday - Saturday there a mini bazaar, good place to sit have coffee and check out chicks! May have chance to chat up some puying Hotel is pretty alright.

Amora Tapae - Near tapae gate. Stayed there for Songkran. Great service and good english speaking recept Nice hotel.... mid range.

Yaang Come Village Hotel - Another new hotel. Very nice hotel, price mid range. Great atmosphere.

The Chedi - Just open few months back! Great hotel but price on the high side but if anyone wanna pamper themselves this would be it.

Hope this helps..

Cheers!

[dave188]

Ya Central Duangtawan best location of all liao... nearest to the night market, below is Horizon Disco and thai traditional massage. And you can avoid paying the 1000baht for bring girls back, as easier to siam the security, unlike Imperial Mae Ping.

And 16th storey above in Duangtawan all internet wireless access facilities.

Originally Posted by yinyang

Timmy,

Add to you list Central Duangtawan. Good 4*, just 2 mins around corner of night bazaar area.

Got back CNX over last weekend, good hotel, nice pool, clean rooms with BIG lobby over 2 floors. Promo now on in low season bt1200++ and deluxe bt1480++ (direct booking).

As for weather, only had showers 1 night (of 2). Local recommended a restaurant Thanam (Waterfront), romantic with northern all wood style design, and traditional music background . 4 pax with some soft drinks = bt790.

[ThaiHotels]

Originally Posted by KLKOOL

Imperial Mae Ping no girl friendly... unless you talk to the night manager and fark them upside down... it costs 500 baht to take a girl up... must register... Sheraton must pay 1000 baht... Tim... mebbe u can advise them which hotel is best cos i am sure most bros are there for extra curricular activities...

Bro KLKOOL,

Star Inn

Suriwongse

Lanna Palace

Lotus

Heard from reservations today that they are all guest friendly.

Tim

[ThaiHotels]

Originally Posted by yinyang

Timmy,

Add to you list Central Duangtawan. Good 4*, just 2 mins around corner of night bazaar area.

Got back CNX over last weekend, good hotel, nice pool, clean rooms with BIG lobby over 2 floors. Promo now on in low season bt1200++ and deluxe bt1480++ (direct booking).

As for weather, only had showers 1 night (of 2). Local recommended a restaurant Thanam (Waterfront), romantic with northern all wood style design, and traditional music background . 4 pax with some soft drinks = bt790.

Brother Yinyang,

Thks for your advice. Now have added Central Duangtawan to my site. As well as Chiang Mai Orchid. Hope you brothers will find the pricing nice.

Glad to hear you are ok, given the flooding there recently.

Tim

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Friday 1 September 2006 :-

More flooding on the way as rains continue

Heavy rain overnight triggered floods and landslides and caused reservoirs to burst in several northern provinces, while the Meteorological Department warned the heavy rain would continue across the country.

In Phitsanulok, heavy downpours caused the 100-rai Ban Hin Lad reservoir in Muang district to overflow. The resulting flood made impassable the only road connecting the 160-family Ban Hin Lad village to the outside world.

Lamphun's three small reservoirs burst, inundating homes in Muang, Ban Thi and Pa Sang districts and causing local schools to close.

Chiang Mai city's low-lying communities were under 50 centimetres of water due to the heavy rain. Also, an 80-metre earthen ridge along a city road collapsed and a 10-metre stretch of the ancient wall near the Chang Pheauk Gate had subsided.

Uttaradit's Thong Saen Khan and Nam Pat joined Laplae, Tha Pla and Muang districts on the list of zones deemed at risk of floods and landslides. In Nam Pat, villagers evacuated in a panic after a flash-flood submerged their 45 homes under two metres of water.

In Mae Hong Son, flood waters swept away a home, inundated several others and submerged 500 rai of farmland in Muang district, while Mae Sariang district was under 80 centimetres of water.

At least six schools in Lampang's Thoen district were closed due to flooding. In Muang district, irrigation officials marked a "critical line" in yellow along the banks of the Wang River and warned residents to evacuate if the water reached the line.

In Phayao, the Rong Chang Canal in Dok Kham Tai district overflowed, inundating 100 homes and 5,000 rai of rice fields.

In Nan, the 31st Military Mobile Development Unit sent enough kits to produce 600,000 litres of drinking water for flood victims in Tha Wang Pha district.

The Meteorological Department yesterday issued flood warnings for Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Tak, Nan, Phrae, Uttaradit, Phichit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Kamphaeng Phet, Loei, Nong Bua Lamphu, Udon Thani, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Chumphon, Suphan Buri, Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi, Ranong and Phang Nga provinces, as well as for Bangkok and its outlying areas.
--- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Friday 1 September 2006 :-

New phone numbering system for Thai handphones takes effect from 1 Sept 2006

Callers to mobile phones now should start dialling "08", followed by the existing eight-digit number, as the new national numbering plan takes effect today.
Fixed-line telephone numbers remain the same.

For example, mobile phone numbers that start with "01" should be switched to an "081" prefix. The number (01) 234 5678 becomes (081) 234 5678.

Callers from abroad will have to add "8" after Thailand's "66" country code. For example, +668-1234 5678 would replace +66-1234 5678.

However, callers have until November 30 to get used to the new cellular dialling scheme. From December 1, only the 10-digit mobile-phone numbers will be valid.

All mobile-phone operators are now offering a free service at shops nationwide to convert numbers stored in handsets to the 10-digit format, regardless of the customer's service operator.

They will also send teams to busy shopping areas, such at Victory Monument and Silom as well as the offices of their customers to offer the conversion service.

Users also have to reconfigure the code of the short message function in their devices, which they can do by themselves or at operators' shops, to enable them to send and receive short messages. But they have a grace period until March 30.

Sigve Brekke, CEO of Total Access Communication (DTAC), said he would join more than 300 of his employees in spending the day in the Silom, Sathorn and Victory Monument areas to help people update their numbers.

The numbering plan aims to increase the total of phone numbers to 300 million from the present 90 million, which is expected to be enough to serve surging demand for 30 years.

Cellular-service providers have spent a combined Bt400 million upgrading their systems to comply with the new numbering plan.

The National Telecommunications Commission spent Bt30 million to publicise its new policy.
--- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[KLKOOL]

Originally Posted by dave188

Ya Central Duangtawan best location of all liao... nearest to the night market, below is Horizon Disco and thai traditional massage. And you can avoid paying the 1000baht for bring girls back, as easier to siam the security, unlike Imperial Mae Ping.

And 16th storey above in Duangtawan all internet wireless access facilities.

haha... forgot about this hotel... nice save here... cheers bro....

On the issue of floods in CM... well.. its just a warning... but more than that... its still kinda off season now... most of the girls i smsed from CNX is only returning in Oct... so my next trip will probably be in Oct.. cheers..

[yinyang]

Originally Posted by KLKOOL

... most of the girls i smsed from CNX is only returning in Oct... so my next trip will probably be in Oct..

Whoa, sounds like you got kinda HAREM (seasonal?) over in CNX.. Watch your junior's well being (aka yin or yang?) hehehe. Only 1 month away from your promised land..