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WinnieTheKhwai

Member Since 2008-07-03
Offline Last Active Yesterday, 22:26
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Topics I've Started

If You Think Everything Is Getting Too Expensive, This Will Make You Feel Better.

2012-05-11 16:24:50

Attached File  phone.jpg   92.51K   100 downloads

This is what we were paying for a basic phone, not too long ago.   And who says the iPhone is too expensive.. ;)

Scanning Old Photo Negatives Into A Digital Image

2012-05-09 15:00:18

Does anyone have experience with this?  Do photo shops typically offer this?  Any recommendations?

I found a billion old negatives and may want to get some back as a proper picture on screen..  (Not talking ancient here, they range roughly 1994-1999.)

Chiang Mai Then And Now. Four Years On

2012-04-30 16:43:08

Here's yet another excellent topic, if I may say so myself.   I was wondering today if Chiang Mai is just growing and being beautified at a regular healthy rate of development, or that it's actually closer to a complete development and population explosion, with expansion increasing exponentially a la Bangkok in the booming years.   It's hard to tell living here all the time, but even so I can't help but notice all thew new housing developments, roads and shopping malls, and that's just in suburban areas;  also in town things are going at break-neck speed.

Here's something nice to do on a rainy afternoon:  Compare Chiang Mai 4 years ago with today.  How?  By comparing the old Mapjack.com site with the recently updated Google Streetview.  There's about 4 years difference between those, so a really short time by city development standards.  And yet, the differences are remarkable.

Sit back, relax and enjoy.   Then see if you can find some other noteworthy changes within the area that Mapjack covered.

Huay Kaew, near CMU

Attached File  1a.png   1.17MB   103 downloads  Attached File  1b.png   1.19MB   105 downloads

Moon Muang, the old Kinnaree dump that was completely renovated.  And the addition of the Tiger Kingdom In Town place.

Attached File  2a.png   1.16MB   81 downloads   Attached File  2b.png   1.11MB   60 downloads

Siam TV, on the Southern Moat used to be an empty wasteland where sometimes a market was held.

Attached File  4a.png   1.39MB   57 downloads   Attached File  4b.png   1.45MB   54 downloads

Airport Plaza Intersection

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More renovation / beautification, near Thapae Gate

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Ratchamankha Road

Attached File  7a.png   1.29MB   53 downloads  Attached File  7b.png   1.32MB   46 downloads

Ratchapakinai Road, near the moat

Attached File  8a.png   1.24MB   47 downloads   Attached File  8b.png   1.14MB   36 downloads

We're of course restricted to the area Mapjack covered, so can't see all the development along the ring roads and roads out of town.  It did cover Nimmanhaemin and the CMU area, I think there's probably more good changes to be seen there.

Up-Market Renovated Town Home.. Would You Live There?

2012-04-30 14:09:00

This is NOT my project, but I came across a very slick looking ad for refurbished town homes in downtown Chiang Mai.   Have a look at the website first, and click around to see all the (professionally done) pictures.  Click the ' + ' signs in teh bottom part of the page, then have a look around their site:

Website : http://www.baancharo.../townhouse.html

Posted Image

Now get this, it looks nice right..? The asking price is a cool 7.9 million baht for a townhouse.. Okay they're nicely done, a bit taller than the usual and in a good location downtown near the river and the night bazar.  They're nice, but are they 8-million-baht-nice?

So I went to take a look.  I'm not detracting to the work they did, but on the site it looks like it's a single block:

Posted Image

That's however not the case; there are a couple units in there that they apparently don't own, so those are still un-renovated.  That also gives us a look of what the property looked like 'before' and 'after'.  The 'before' is definitely quite mundane.   Also, while the view to the back is apparently nice, the view to the front.. not so much. (Last pic)

The block:

Attached File  photo 0.jpg   196.01K   27 downloads

Old, unrenovated unit:

Attached File  photo 2.jpg   155.75K   29 downloads Attached File  photo 3.jpg   171.96K   31 downloads

Mix of old and new:

Attached File  photo 4.jpg   146.53K   29 downloads

After renovation:

Attached File  photo 7.jpg   154.84K   26 downloads

But.. the view towards the front, across the soi:

Attached File  photo 8.jpg   190.16K   18 downloads

So.. it's a bit of a mixed bag.  I really like the design, especially the interior design.  But even given the good location I think it'll be an up-hill effort to bag 8 million baht for a unit.  The location is nice, both centrally located and in a somewhat up-market area near Alliance Fraincaise, The Chedi and the Ping Nakhara hotel. Google Streetview Link:  Google

Does anyone think this is good value at 7.9 mil, or would you rent it at.. I don't know, say 0.5% monthly of that amount so 40K Baht?  What price do you think is realistic to purchase/rent?   Personally I would start to get interested at about half those amounts as it provides higher-end in-town living with vastly more space than a similarly priced condominium unit in that area would provide.

Chiang Mai No Longer A Fashion Backwater -- A Milestone

2012-04-29 09:09:27

A milestone in expat history in Chiang Mai last week.

I was talking to a friend about some girl who's name I couldn't remember. I was able to describe her as "the black haired girl we met here last week.." AND THIS SUCCESSFULLY ID's the girl!   No need even to go into describing tattoos or her inch-long eyelashes.

The old expat joke of "which one..? black hair, about this tall, brown skin?" is officially a thing of the past in Chiang Mai, finally.

Yay for diversity!

This probably requires a picture to hit home the message; all over Asia, black haired women are rapidly becoming a minority:

Attached File  569298382.jpg   129.38K   39 downloads

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