US pays Bt8.8bn for new consulate in Chiang Mai

[IAMHERE]

11 hours ago, donnacha said:

Chiang Mai is certainly an ideal location to spy on the Chinese ????

I figure the Chinese will plant listening devices in the cement and mortar when that place is being built. Then use radio micro-waves to power them. Of course the microwaves will give the embassy employees cancers of various forms.

[Pib]

33 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

I figure the Chinese will plant listening devices in the cement and mortar when that place is being built. Then use radio micro-waves to power them. Of course the microwaves will give the embassy employees cancers of various forms.

 

And such possible issues is one reason they have American companies "design and construct" such facilities. 

Quote

The new U.S. Consulate General will provide a secure, modern, and resilient platform for the conduct of U.S. diplomacy in northern Thailand. Ennead Architects of New York, NY is the design architect for the project and B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, AL is the construction contractor. The project is expected to be completed in 2023.

 

[IAMHERE]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

And such possible issues is one reason they have American companies "design and construct" such facilities. 

Yet somehow Russia imbedded many listening devices in the embassy built in Moscow.

I suspect Cuba has the devices planted in the US building there and that is why the Cubans are shooting microwaves at the US building and making staff sick.

[TheFreqFlyer]

14 hours ago, Olmate said:

Agreee but why 3 times the price for US in CM?

Probably because it covers 3 times the land area, for one. The Americans always have to be the biggest, even when it doesn't seem like there's any point to it. They occupy some of the most prime real estate on Wireless Road in Bangkok. The Ambassador's residence next to the embassy is massive. Ditto for the American embassy in Yangon, Myanmar. Located next to Inya Lake with a spectacular view, it's in one of the city's prime neighborhoods and not far from the residence Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest in for many years. 

 

Same with the monstrosity in Vientiane, Laos, which was moved several years ago from it's former location closer to the city to a site about halfway between downtown and the Thai-Lao Friendship bridge, right on the main highway. Can't see the justification for it. Meanwhile in Bangkok, to my great surprise, the UK is moving (or has already moved) from it's old location next to Central Embassy and opposite the Swiss embassy to an office inside a commercial building. 

 

What a demotion for the UK. Even the Swiss still have their own building and land. 

 

It's like someone moving from a nice house on a big plot of land in the suburbs to some small condo in the city. No one in their right mind would consider that anything less than a major downgrade in status and quality of life. 

[CapeTown]

15 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Is this America's mission in Chiang Mai , I had it confused with other duties.

You mean "other duties"?

[CapeTown]

At a time when Thailand is turning away from the States and falling into the Xi orbit, this is clearly of immense strategic importance.

The Chinese consider all S E Asia as theirs. The seek to push the yanks out to the second island ring, they're militarising their nine-dot space, Taiwan will be first, there's the Kuriles ...come on, this is a spy station! And good luck to em.

Edited September 26, 2020 by CapeTown

[Ireland32]

They just sold Real Estate in HK USA flush with cash 

[Ireland32]

31 minutes ago, CapeTown said:

At a time when Thailand is turning away from the States and falling into the Xi orbit, this is clearly of immense strategic importance.

The Chinese consider all S E Asia as theirs. The seek to push the yanks out to the second island ring, they're militarising their nine-dot space, Taiwan will be first, there's the Kuriles ...come on, this is a spy station! And good luck to em.

The Yanks were here a couple of months ago having private meetings , Remember!!!

[Heng]

kind of a tangent but as most know, US ACS is no longer doing outreach... anyone know if it's coming back?   Or is this a permanent thing because of budget constraints?   Outreach is so much more casual, not to mention you don't have to drive into the middle of Bangkok (in my case) to do minor passport renewals, etc.  

[ChaiyaTH]

That is a building to be spying on people and countries, no reason to need that for consulate tasks or some assistance in trafficking in the north.

[ChakaKhan]

20 hours ago, donnacha said:

Chiang Mai is certainly an ideal location to spy on the Chinese ????

Aka The Mama Cup Militia....keep it on the DL

[ChakaKhan]

16 hours ago, hotchilli said:

No hope & you know the rest ..

Brown envelope or bottle of Johnnie Walker?  

[ChakaKhan]

20 hours ago, donnacha said:

You certainly get better visa treatment in Vietnam compared to those of us from countries that didn't try to carpet bomb them into the stone age just 40 years ago.

Agreed I met some friendly cuties there and easy e-visa process...I got no beef with Vietnam folks....huzzah

[TERMINATOR3AB]

Obviously this is  related to China

What  who knows  spying  good books with Thailand  cos getting too close  to China

But  as for  doing the  job of  RTP   with drugs  and human  trafficing 

Well  the RTP   dont do  it do they  Druggies  and trafficers  will find it hard to bride the USA officials

Say no more  .............OH  mistake  most of the staff will be Thai.....USA  mean nothing  still in Thailand 

Good Luck Thailand   

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, ChakaKhan said:

Brown envelope or bottle of Johnnie Walker?  

Red label possibly.

[SiSePuede419]

The new Consulate General building will be located on 16.5 rai of land under a construction budget of $284 million (Bt8.8 billion). Construction is expected to complete within 2023.

 

First of all, 8.8B Baht is only $84M USD, not $284 million.

 

Second of all, that's not that much if it's built to U.S. standards. 

 

And as someone already noted, much of that is for security and spy equipment, which is all imported from the CIA (perhaps from Israel). ????

 

[Olmate]

26 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

The new Consulate General building will be located on 16.5 rai of land under a construction budget of $284 million (Bt8.8 billion). Construction is expected to complete within 2023.

 

First of all, 8.8B Baht is only $84M USD, not $284 million.

 

Second of all, that's not that much if it's built to U.S. standards. 

 

And as someone already noted, much of that is for security and spy equipment, which is all imported from the CIA (perhaps from Israel). ????

 

 

[piewarmer]

Looks like the new site will be a stones throw from the new Bangkok hospital

[Pib]

39 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

The new Consulate General building will be located on 16.5 rai of land under a construction budget of $284 million (Bt8.8 billion). Construction is expected to complete within 2023.

 

First of all, 8.8B Baht is only $84M USD, not $284 million.

 

Second of all, that's not that much if it's built to U.S. standards. 

 

And as someone already noted, much of that is for security and spy equipment, which is all imported from the CIA (perhaps from Israel). ????

 

 

As Olmate showed Bt8.8B is approx $284M.  Time for a new calculator battery and/or exchange rate source.

[spidermike007]

16 hours ago, NancyL said:

You've been living under a rock.  Representatives from the U.S. Consulate have been at the last several gatherings of the CM Expats Club helping Americans to register to vote.  If you enroll in STEP  https://step.state.gov/  and let the State Dept know that you live in Chiang Mai, you'll receive helpful emails several times a month about local events, like antigovernmental demonstrations that are best avoided.  They did a great job of keeping us updated about the Covid situation and flights to the U.S., etc.

 

Before Covid, they hosted meetings at least once a year on subjects like Social Security, voting from abroad, etc.  

 

In my experience, they do at least as much as the Australian Embassy and much more than the British Embassy.  (I'm on the email lists of all three)

OK. I stand corrected. Thanks for the info. 

[piewarmer]

2 hours ago, piewarmer said:

Looks like the new site will be a stones throw from the new Bangkok hospital

I found the site, right next to the Index Living Mall, a massive piece of land

[berrec]

On 9/26/2020 at 7:05 AM, Olmate said:

New OZ Embassy in Wireless Rd reportedly cost $110 million to build! Must be a big one!

And what a pain in the backside it is to get to. 

[4737 Carlin]

On 9/25/2020 at 2:58 PM, webfact said:

Part of the consulate’s mission, said the US, was to target transnational crime in the North, including narcotics trafficking and trafficking in persons.

I presume this will be reciprocal and the Thai government will spend millions of dollars building a Thai consulate in Los Angeles to target trafficking on the southern border with Mexico. Western countries are mugs - no wonder they face extinction.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 9/25/2020 at 2:58 PM, webfact said:

Part of the consulate’s mission, said the US, was to target transnational crime in the North, including narcotics trafficking and trafficking in persons.

 

If the OP article by The Nation is anything to go by, it's interesting that they're talking about narcotics and human trafficking, and seemingly no mention of promoting U.S. business in Thailand or, heaven forbid, serving/assisting U.S. expats living in Thailand.
 

PS - I wonder how they're going to prevent some members of the local workforce building the project from, at the behest of China, trying to compromise it with listening/surveillance devices. Presumably, they have some protocol for countering such things, successfully or not.

 

[rumak]

15 hours ago, daftdada said:

The West, as in the USA, is not only broke but in the red to the tune of 23 TRILLION+ USD.

 

[rumak]

9 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

heaven forbid, serving/assisting U.S. expats living in Thailand.

 

uhhh,  that memo was sent out about 20 years ago .    along with a cute cartoon :  two govt.

employees having a good laugh at the term  ..... public servants .....

[Andy from Kent]

13 hours ago, TheFreqFlyer said:

Probably because it covers 3 times the land area, for one. The Americans always have to be the biggest, even when it doesn't seem like there's any point to it. They occupy some of the most prime real estate on Wireless Road in Bangkok. The Ambassador's residence next to the embassy is massive. Ditto for the American embassy in Yangon, Myanmar. Located next to Inya Lake with a spectacular view, it's in one of the city's prime neighborhoods and not far from the residence Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest in for many years. 

 

Same with the monstrosity in Vientiane, Laos, which was moved several years ago from it's former location closer to the city to a site about halfway between downtown and the Thai-Lao Friendship bridge, right on the main highway. Can't see the justification for it. Meanwhile in Bangkok, to my great surprise, the UK is moving (or has already moved) from it's old location next to Central Embassy and opposite the Swiss embassy to an office inside a commercial building. 

 

What a demotion for the UK. Even the Swiss still have their own building and land. 

 

It's like someone moving from a nice house on a big plot of land in the suburbs to some small condo in the city. No one in their right mind would consider that anything less than a major downgrade in status and quality of life. 

 

Those pesky darn Americans.   ????

[NoComment]

The British Embassy should hang it's head in shame and disgust at itself.

Well done to the USA and Australia.

You care about your citizens unlike the British who couldn't care one iota.

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, NoComment said:

The British Embassy should hang it's head in shame and disgust at itself.

Well done to the USA and Australia.

You care about your citizens unlike the British who couldn't care one iota.

What would you like a British consulate in CM to do for you ?

[3NUMBAS]

uk bailed out cos of the potential for BKK flooding in the near future so sold the embassy site while prices were good ..others are holding out

 

they still have the broadcasting /listening site in nakhon nowhere

Edited September 27, 2020 by 3NUMBAS