38 - Chiangmai for a bit
🇹🇭 This week we took an internal flight up to the north of Thailand and we are in Chiangmai for a bit. Thailand is a big place and this is 1500 miles north of Phuket. We are here continuing to scout out interesting locations for the future - recall our previous expeditions to Madeira, Mallorca and Malta as well as Bangkok and Phuket down south. If you have relevant experience or suggestions - do comment below.
The weather here is fantastic - warm and sunny mostly with seasons like in HK but without the humidity and maybe even a bit nicer; the only downside seems to be the bad air quality in Feb thru Apr due to crop burning.
We had a super week here and were very busy. Chiangmai is the largest city in Northern Thailand, 700 miles north of Bangkok with a population of 130,000 people. As such it is a fairly big place with lots to see and lots going on.
The city is completely flat and easy to walk around but you can expect to do a lot of walking - distances are large - you can explore here on Google Maps.
The larger shops are limited to the shopping centers dotted around the city. You have the original markets like Warorot, then places like Lotus (formerly Tesco Lotus) and the the up-market malls like Central Festival (similar to the one in Phuket).
Public transport is limited to the Red Minibuses and Tuk-Tuks and of course you have Grab cars (like Uber or Bolt). The fares are all pretty reasonable and advantage of Grab is that you get a pricepoint that you can use in negotiations with others! Traffic is not great and there seem be be a few hours of bottleneck each day.
On Sunday we had a great day out doing the Self Guided Chiang Mai Introduction Walking Tour. This is a most interesting website and app and there is likely a tour for places near you.
Noteworthy spots on this tour included: Cultural Center and 3 Kings monument, Wat Phra Sing (photo above), Wat Chedi Luang, Tha Pae Gate and market as well as the Warorot Market.
While visiting Tesco Lotus we found a few interesting streets nearby that are full of street art:
We also checked out all sorts of accommodation options, also visa arrangements and the local health services as well as gyms and yoga.
Other activities included trips outside of Chiangmai too - including to Wat Pha Lat, Doi Suthep, Bhubing Palace and Mon Tha Than Waterfall. There are quite a few interesting meetup groups here too including Bitcoin Weekly Meetup (a most interesting group of people) and Hiking Chiangmai (suitable for walk and talk). We also checked out quite a few of the co-working spaces; they are pleasant, affordable and packed with people - some are so full they have stopped taking new members! There is quite a dynamic community of foreigners here and good facilities for collaborating and doing business.
🎓 Reading, listening and learning
Below are some interesting sources that I came across, or was reminded of, in the past week - for your enjoyment and edification.
Reading and Podcast of the week
This week there has been a lot of discussion around the collapse of FTX and Alameda and the contagion that is yet to be fully realised. There will be time for post mortem and analysis however it is already clear that with the benefit of collaborative research and the transparency of blockchain transactions the truth will become apparent and I would not be surprised to see the official story ignoring inconvenient truths or deviating - let's see. For now - it is worth considering how could something like this have been foreseen (spoiler, it was) and what are the learnings.
Do read Alan Farrington's latest post - you may well prefer to listen to Guy reading it and giving his 2c worth as well.
"My learned opinion is that although your average toxic Bitcoin maximalist might be able to sniff out this bullshit a mile away, Silicon Valley cannot, because Crypto is peak Silicon Valley, and Silicon Valley has sadly become peak fiat." - Allen Farrington
Not to be outdone, Saifedean has similar views and he certainly did spot the BS though he does also have an interesting and somewhat contrarian take on one particular aspect. Watch and Listen and you decide!
Grace's analysis is a MUST WATCH - while you still can - see too below for Guy's warning below of what is already in the pipeline.
Can you answer Grace's questions at the end of her video? Do comment below.
Just a coincidence?
The FTX collapse happened on 11/9 - 21 years after 9/11, its mirror image!
On censorship and disappearance of freedom of speech
You probably ought to be concerned by Guy's latest analysis of a recent report by The Intercept - you can read the Intercept report here or watch his summary - click on the image below.
I do rather expect (as Guy suggests) that this will generate a drive towards decentralised social media (and decentralised money and store of value). I also agree that this is likely the reason for the seemingly unreasonable attack on LBRY by the SEC - we are clearly in the "and then they fight you" stage.
James C explains this similarly with plenty of links to supporting information with much more on his website.
In case you cannot imagine why all this might be important - do watch Max's latest Walk and Talk - do you agree with what is coming? If not, might it not be a good idea to speak up? For sure this is something that should be subject to public discussion with both sides of the argument being discussed and evaluated openly.
🤪 How curious is this...
We have talked in recent months about things that you think you understand but on deeper inspection the truth seems to be something else entirely and beyond your wildest imagination - recall Sacred Geometry and the Bent Pyramid to name but a few..
Here's another: consider this short one from Praveen - he is an Indian who documents (on his iPhone) strange things that he spots on local temples that he visits. These temples are much more than 1000 years old.
If the above video piqued your interest he takes things to a whole new level in this one; you may well find this is hard to believe but please do offer some other, better explanation - comment below.
🤪 English spelling is difficult
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