EricTh

From my experience, the number of smokers are much less in Thailand than other Asian countries. The well-uniformed smokers who smoke in Thailand are actually tourists from China and Korea. I once lived next door to a Korean and he puffs several times per day even though he's not supposed to do so inside a hotel. That said, it is usually the Thai construction workers that smoke heavily, educated office workers usually don't smoke.

Can anybody recommend a contractor to do metal roof extension who is reliable and fair in pricing? Preferably those who have personal experience with the contractor?

The narrow roads around Chiang Mai moat were built (maybe 70 years ago) for motorbikes and bicyclists when few people can even afford small cars. But nowadays, the volume of traffic with its huge cars has grown tremendously and accident rates have increased as a result. I see a lot of tourists and retirees from Europe and Japan who still think that Chiang Mai is a 'rural' area and ignorant of the perils of riding a bicycle.

I have a question. Suppose after the retirement visa has expired and we go out of Thailand for around 6 months and want to come back in for another year of retirement visa. Can we still use back the same OA visa and just apply for extension in Thailand or must we apply for a new OA visa first outside of Thailand?

Accident rate is very high in Chiang Mai but I still see a lot of ignorant tourists riding their bicycles slowly without a care in the world. Take public transport, it is much safer.