Last September, I sent you an e-mail to ask if you would be good enough to give your thoughts on Chiang Mai in Thailand. Your reply tipped the choice of holiday in favour of Chiang Mai, and we booked for Christmas and New Year with Saga (ok, so I'm an old git, but the brain's still 25). Best holiday ever, so thank you, thank you. We did go on the elephant ride, raft on the river Ping, and ox cart ride. A good laugh was had by all. They say Thailand is the land of smiles. I think they should add land of common sense, and the pick-up truck. While we are being pushed into smaller tin boxes, with lower CO2, to save the world, the Thais are running around in 3.0litre pick-up trucks. While Mars is having similar warming up problems to the Earth, I feel we are being conned. Do Martians drive low CO2 vehicles, or big 4x4's? Whichever, it's doing nothing for their atmosphere. Tuk tuks are brilliant. What a health & safety nightmare. We hired one for a day (1000 baht), and were taken all around Chiang Mai. To a beautiful park with a large lake, an orchid farm, and Tiger Kingdom, where my wife went into a cage, and stroked the live Tiger it contained. (It was only six weeks old mind, but still a Tiger.) Going back to traffic, what a difference to the UK. We didn't see one bit of "road rage". Drivers just get on with it, and make it work. No need for all the law & legislation that is put upon us, which does nothing but get up most peoples noses. Our guide on most days, asked about life in the UK, and how it compared to Thailand. On explaining about speed & spy cameras, traffic wardens, and how we are fined and persecuted for trivial misdemeanours, he replied, after some thought, that we are either bad people, or our authorities are evil in wanting so much control.