Whats On Chiang Mai

There is a new LinkedIn group for this site:  Whats on Chiang Mai

Enjoy!

Chiang Mai has been listed as the number five best city in the world, 2009, by Travel and Leisure.

I agree Chiang Mai is a great city to live. The food is amazingly good. The weather is great. The people are quite friendly and fun to talk to. There are mountains, rivers, waterfalls and lots of nature to enjoy. The cost of living is very reasonable. There are so many good things about Chiang Mai, and I can see why it was listed in the top ten best cities in the world.

The down side of Chaing Mai is that driving in the city can be very stressful. Chiang Mai is an older, historic city. The streets are narrow and disorganized.  There are small motor scooters flying everywhere, lawless for the most part, some with an entire family (three and four on a scooter) and  a baby in the basket!  Drivers in both cars and motor scooters will pull out in front of you without looking or warning at any time, all the time. Bangkok is worse of course!

I am so happy to see that Chaing Mai was listed by Travel and Leisure magazine as a top city. It is also interesting that Bangkok (#3), Luang Prabang (#7, Laos), Siem Reap (#18, Angkor Wat, Cambodia) are on the same Travel and Leisure World’s Best List, and very close to Chaing Mai.

After our last review of Miguel’s Nong Hoi, we thought we would stop by and try some fajitas. According to Wikipedia, a fajita “is a generic term used in Tex-Mex cuisine, referring to grilled meat served on a flour or corn tortilla. Fajitas today include chicken, pork, shrimp and all cuts of beef. In restaurants, the meat is often cooked with onions and bell peppers. Popular condiments are shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and tomato.”

The most important part of a fajita is the tortilla. Unfortunately, the tortilla at Miguel’s is the worst tortilla we have ever eaten. Miguel’s tortillas were soggy, oily and brittle. These tortillas were so bad, they ruined the experience of eating Mexican food, and I could not finish the meal and left Miguels hungry vowing never to return.

After all, just a few blocks down the road you can eat delicious Thai food for 25 Baht a plate, cooked nearly to perfection with rice! Why pay 160 Baht for a soggy, oily, brittle tortilla???

In search of the perfect floor mat for your car?   We recommend you visit Amnuay Motor Air 2 and pick up some Back Liner Classic Series floor mats.   Back Liners are a bit expensive, but well worth it, in my opinion.   We paid 3500 Baht for a 7 piece set, originally quoted 3200 Baht if bought the color in their stock, versus a special order from Bangkok.   They are the best and most attractive floor mats we have ever seen.

The service at  Amnuay Motor Air 2 was great.    The service reminded me of “the good olde days” in Chiang Mai when people offered you tea, coffee and water in just about every shop.  Those days are long gone, but I did get cool water and great service.  The shop is very large, modern and clean. I might even pay some big bucks for an Apline or JVC DVD / WAV multi-function player for our car.

Amnuay Motor Air 2 is well situation and easy to find.

It can be quite difficult for foreigners visiting or living in Chiang Mai to find a good auto body shop.    That is why we can recommend Number One.  We had a very good experience with Louis (the owner) and his team at #1.

• Number One Auto Body Shop
• 227 Mu 4 New Chiang Mai - Sankampang Road
• T. Tasala, A. Muang. J. Chiang Mai
• Telephone:  053-245-688
• Mobile: 081-595-5588

Number One provided great service and their paint matched very well.   Highly recommended.

Also, I want to thank the folks at AXA Insurance in Chiang Mai for recommending #1.  I have had a very good experience with AXA in Chiang Mai (but luckily, no claims yet!) AXA Branch Manager Khun Anothai Buranathai is a great guy!