Exploring Chiang Mai

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Nellie and Monk decided to go exploring Chiang Mai today. Monk had never been here before and, as with any new town, a day spent wondering and soaking up the atmosphere gives one a good feel for a place.

Like elsewhere in this region, Chiang Mai abounds with temples and it would take a week or two to see them all. Monk put his trust in the Lonely Planet and visited the recommended sites. Of those, his favourite, is Wat Pra Singh. It'a large temple complex with a central building holding the Lion Buddha itself - the Pra Singh. The grounds of the wat are a peaceful place to while away some time in comtemplation. Monk lit a candle for his darling Irene.

Chiang Mai is a lovely town without all the excesses of Bangkok. The weather is much cooler and it has not been hot and steamy like Bangkok can be.

Monk's hotel is in the middle of the Night Market area which covers perhaps 1 mile by half a mile wide. There's just about every kind of tourist tat and fake designer goods for sale if you're into that kind of shopping. The market starts when it gets dark around 6pm and continues till around midnight.

One of the spin-offs of the market is that there are numerous restaurants and bars around. One section of the market, the Anusan Night Market, is particularly good for eating and specialises in seafood. Because the tables are outside, amongst the market stalls, there's lots of action going on and diners have a moving cabaret to entertain them while they are eating. Monk chose a restaurant that seemed poplular with Thai people and was pleased he had - the squid was excellent.

There are, of course, lots of bars around. Last night Monk tried a bar, Guitar Man, which had a couple of live rock bands - it was a good way to spend an hour or so. Live music seems to thrive in Chiang Mai. The restaurant Monk had eaten in on his first night here had a couple of live singer/guitarists performing.

So, all in all, the evenings in Chiang Mai pass quite pleasantly.

What Kind of Scam Is This?

While Monk was loitering on a corner consulting his map, he was approached by an elderly Thai man who said he was a policeman and always liked to help out tourists who were lost. He certainly did have some kind of official-looking uniform on. After asking where Monk was from, he went on to detail his entire family history and to talk about each of his relatives who were living in the UK. This small talk went on for at least 10 minutes when he started to talk about some silk dresses he'd bought to ship over to his daughter in England. He'said that the Royal Government Store was where the Thai royal family, army commnaders and all Thai officaldom bought there suits and dresses. He drew a map and said Monk must go there immediately if he were to have a suit made before leaving Chiang Mai. By now Monk was getting restless and wanted to move on, however, while drawing on Monk's map, the man had cunningly asked Monk to hold his bag for him, and, despite how much he tried to hand it back, he wasn't for taking it. Monk finally managed to force the bag back into his hand and, while Monk was making good his escape, the man kept telling him he must go to the governmet store. He was very pleasant and Monk didn't sense that he was hustling to get him to buy a suit from him. He never really tried to do any sales close on Monk.

Some half an hour later, Monk was wandering around a wat when a Thai man in his thrities came up and asked where he was from, He started telling Monk about his brother who lived in Brighton. Once again very pleasant, he even had his little son with him and said he was up from Bangkok for a holiday and, you guessed it, while he was here we was having some suits made at the government store. In the meantime, his child had wondered off and was now banging the temple drum and probably rousing the monks from their slumbers before time. This didn't detract the man from enthusing about the government store, This one came closer to perfoming a close on Monk by insisting that he go there today. He called a tuk-tuk driver over and told him to take Monk there. Monk said he was intending to look around the temple a bit more. No problem - he told the tuk-tuk driver to wait for Monk and then disappeared. Monk finished his tour of the temple and sneaked out the side gate feeling slightly guilty.

An hour or so later, wandering around a quite section Wat Phra Singh, a Thai chap and his wife approached Monk - same spiel - on holiday with his wife from Bangkok. He'd just been and bought his wife a silk dress from the government store and I must go there. Monk was now becoming suspicious but, again, no firm sales close.

What is puzzling is that not one of these guys gave Monk a card with their names which might earn them a referral fee so it would seem there was nothing to be gained personally for them since the government store had no way of linking them with any possible purchase Monk might make. Are these guys just doing it because they're genuine loyal customers of the government store, or has the government store employed hundreds of people in Chiang Mai to spread the word.

After he was coming down the steps of the main wat building and putting his shoes back on, Monk saw another guy approach an English couple close by. Monk thought he would trunk in on the conversation. The man lived in Phuket and was here on holiday - lots and lots of irrelevant chat about friends and family who lived and studied in the UK and then, after about 10 minutes, he mentioned buying suits in Phuket which he said were rubbish. Every time he was in Chiang Mai he would order some suits at - yes - the government store. Monk stuck around and listened to the whole pitch - again no sales close.

What's this all about?

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