Yes, air quality this time of year is a big problem in Chiang Mai. I and many of the expats I know make a point of being elsewhere during those months, and I've spent time weatherproofing our doors and windows. Between that and keeping a bunch of air purifiers in our home, we can get the AQI down to...

I don't know how thoroughly this was researched or how official the rating is, but as a resident of Chiang Mai this was nice to see.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/2493 ... in-se-asia

I'm based in Thailand and haven't spent a lot of time in Cambodia, so I can only give a superficial answer based on two short recent trips. But I had thought about this even before seeing this thread and yes, I do feel like the country is surprisingly safe and peaceful considering the recent history...

I'm back in the U.S. for a while and have been going through souvenirs and videos from the '91 Cambodia trip, which has been fun. There's a lot of Angkor footage. In all of them, it's amazing how quiet the place was at the time. I think we encountered 2 other foreigners during our 3 day stay and the...

"How Smart are the Robots Getting", excellent NYT article, but it may be blocked by their firewall. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/technology/chatbots-turing-test.html?unlocked_article_code=87H0iGfKPAoXefaumppadY9G1YFmsauDIncriLPAWSIXTgIVTVOgv9JTRKaRyj4WWXwgsv4s9ePoYxNNdNX8gkNdXogma-R1...

A niece came to visit this summer and when we were in BKK for a few days we decided to check out KSR one night. We had a blast drinking and people watching, and had a pretty decent meal there. It sure has changed, but I feel that these days it's a good balance of nightlife, some interesting shops, a...

I have no issue at all with Chinese tourists but will be sad to see the return of large tour groups with their busses, big queues, decibel level, restaurant takeovers, etc. Obviously a lot of businesses in the big destinations have been hammered, but the peace and quiet in Chiang Mai has been nice t...

Never heard of that publication before bit it looks very interesting Thanks for mentioning this.

a couple days ago I stopped by the Siam Museum in BKK to see their "What is Thainess" exhibit (free for seniors, BTW) and one section talked about the tuk tuk. According to this placard the first ones in Thailand went to Ahyuthaya and Trang in 1960.