billyhouston

Here in Chiang Mai we run Air Purifiers for 24 hours a day in the bedrooms and they handle the pollution in a satisfactory manner. The main part of the house has far to many openings and one way is to wear PM2.5 masks there. Exercising outdoors during the high pollution season is very difficult since a PM2.5 mask is very restrictive by its very nature

This is my first experience of Songkran and the pollution in Chiang Mai, around that time. I expect that, in future years, we will move away for a couple of months, as a now deceased Kiwi friend of mine did.

Word on the streets in Qatar is that Qatar is paying Iran not to attack.

Whilst walking past, yesterday, I saw a sign noting that the Lotus Hotel, on Soi Viangbua, was for sale. I don't know whether this is particularly new, but I hadn't seen it before. Adam's Apple was its usual self but, with low season, the place was not crowded.

I seek to fly MAN-CNX and since covid have flown via LHR, AMS and CDG. Cathay now seems to be getting its act together once more and I'm hoping to return to MAN - HKG - CNX. The connections in HKG are just over 1 hour each way making for short total flying times. Just at the moment their calendar only extends to 28 Mar 2026 (switch over to Daylight Saving time.) but I would prefer a few days into April. If that doesn't appear, I'll take 28 Mar. My record from stepping off the plane, having come in from HKG, going through Immigration and customs, where they invariably x-ray one of my bags, and getting to the car is 12 minutes. How I love CNX.

I have used Nickermann's for more than 20 years and have been very happy with their work. (I'm not fat by the way.)

In the middle of December Thailand opened 'new registrations' for migrants who had no papers. This was an opportunity for illegal migrants to become legal, but I believe registrations closed on 31 December. At the moment 'renewal'' notifications (2 Years) are still open but will close mid-January. The problem for many is that they don't know what is going on and, not speaking Thai or English, need help to fill in the necessary forms. Over the past year, we have had a few arriving in the middle of the night from Shan State who are now registered. There are severe restrictions on the jobs migrants can do and most jobs are reserved for Thai citizens. Basically migrants are allowed to work in construction or in certain types of hospitality employment, jobs which Thais do not wish to do. In Northern Thailand there are thought to be 3 or 4 million migrants, mostly from Shan State.

According to Google Maps, 18.3 Km. In other words, a long way.

098 334 6549

Chiang Rai, Mae Sai and Tachileik are badly flooded at the moment, but I drove into Chiang Mai city today, crossing the Ping River serveral times. The river was contained within its banks from what I saw, but doubtless our turn will come as the water flows towards the sea. Rain has been continuous for an extended period and I'm surprised that the Ping has not already broken its banks.

I recall, in the late 50s and early 60s, being sent by my father to the local newspaper to buy their overruns, in which the fish and chips were wrapped. I also remember the prices in those days, which were 4d for fish and 2d for chips . (That's old pence for those who are too young to know.) Those were Lancashire fish and chips!

Most days, when in Pattaya, I walk from Jomtien to TukCom and back but usually after dark as I need to hide from the sun. It's purely for exercise and, sometimes, I extend it as far as the Hilton. In the semi-rural area of Chiang Mai where I live there are no pavements, making it dangerous to walk at night and with no shelter from the sun during the daylight hours.

Putting my views into context, ten years ago, after a bad experience with cabin crew in Royal Laurel (mileage upgrade), I stopped flying with EVA having flown with them 23 times LHR-BKK-LHR. With both Air France and Cathay Pacific wanting ridiculous fares for this August I swallowed my pride and flew with them again. Looking at the stats for the last 90 days or so, it does seem that this is a somewhat simplistic analysis by flightstats.com Many of the flights, if not most, were delayed at that awful place Heathrow. To what extent that was the fault of EVA we don't know but I suspect that Heathrow had a lot to do with it. The other interesting feature is a comparison between the scheduled time and the actual average flight time. It's very easy to pad the scheduled time and many airlines do so in a dishonest fashion. British Airways, on internal flights, comes to mind. All EVA had to do was to add 30 minutes to the scheduled time and the problem goes away. They are being more honest than many airlines.