WHAT TO BRING WITH
YOU:
Well, you can buy most things in ChiangMai as they have 4 large
superstores: Carrefoure (French); Macro (Thai), Lotus (British) &
Auchan ( Dutch) which all have a large variety of goods & food -bulk
products. 3 are on the superhighway & Lotus is on the Hangdong Rd. There's also supermarkets like
Rimping off Chang Puak Rd (North), Tops in the Airport
Plaza (South) & Central department store (West) (Kaad Suan Kaew)
& what you can't find here you
buy at the many markets all over town. Chiangmai has loads of fresh
markets selling everything from hot foods to vegetables, fruit, meat,
fish etc and is Thailand's 2nd biggest city. Water can be purchased delivered to your home at 15 baht per
20 litre plastic bottle. Just bring your favorite foods
but forget the clothing as that is cheap here. Furniture is cheap &
most places if not all will deliver to your home. You can buy 2nd hand
items as well and we have an excellent monthly news on
buy/sell/exchange. Check out the monthly [ Chiangmai
Trader News ]
GETTING AROUND:
ChiangMai is so different and easy to get around unlike cities such as
Bangkok. Being the second largest city it is not conjested and the old city has
charisma that no other
city has. Chiangmai is in the Lanna Kingdom and you will never get lost--Doi
Suthep moutain is on your west and once you know that the rest is easy. Motorcycles cost around 100-150 baht to hire per day on a monthly
basis about 100 baht &
vehicles 900 baht a day; songteaws cost 8 baht per route but ask first
the
price. Tuktuks cost a min 20 baht but again you must ask the price before you
accept the lift. Don't worry there's loads of them around day and night
so if one is too dear move on to the next.
BUYING A CAR OR
MOTORCYCLE:
Theres plenty to choose from in Chiangmai. Should you be interested in
purchasing a motor vehicle then ask us about the paper
work, procuring the right car, changing the papers into your name,
insurance cover etc. You must possess an International drivers license and hold a non
immigrant visa to purchase in your own name. Tell us the make and model
of the vehicle you want & price range & we can inspect and
change all the paper work. Some owners use Thai people
to insert in their name but we do not recommend this as you can lose
your car & more than not you will. We also do not recommend leaving the vehicle in the other person's
name or anything else for that matter!. You must however have a non immigrant visas to have vehicles in
your name[ Visas
]
THAI DRIVER'S LICENSE
A must if you want to stay in Thailand for a long time. Many people just
cannot be bothered but we recommend it as your International license is
only valid for 6 months here. Please bring your original driver's
license with you. This will save you a test.
If you want both the car & motorcycle license best do this at the
same time as you need a letter from your Embassy for one license but can
photocopy if you do both at the same time. If you haven't got a
motorcycle license in your own country no problem. You sit a straight
forward written test then ride a bike in and out of 5 poles. The
registration dept has them for hire at 10 baht a shot but test the
brakes first. If you miss the
test no problem go back the next day & resit the same test.You must
get 15 out of 20 questions correct for a pass. Cost per year for the license 120
baht.
PAYING YOUR BILLS
Where to pay them and assist you with all your forms like: UBC TV, Electricity ( usually can pay at
your home); water (again from your home); drinking water ordering, Telephone, Fax,
Internet & any other bills you feel that you might incur.
SCHOOLS
With 3 Universites and 6 International schools to suit your pocket your
children have an excellent choice where to be educated. We can offer you
free assistance as we work closely with Teachers from Chiangmai
University and the Chiangmai International School.Check the new [ Prem
Centre International College ]
VEHICLE
BREAKDOWNS:
Again we can direct you with all your repair problems. Unless you use a
reputable mechanical shop do not trust an upcountry repair shop as they
sometimes swap your parts for old ones--better to bring it home. A touch up or panel job we can
direct you to excellent workshops.
ONGOING HELP
The above services are available to all our clients. If you need something
fixed up we will have the repairmen call upon you. We charge a small fee
for our services but we offer our services to you all year round and we
carry out every task diligently & professionally. We now have a new
Thai business who can do all your repairs from plumbing to lawn care to,
electrical maintenance. Yes ask us about CONNECT -one call does all!!
