car and headed to the Chiang Rai Airport about 56 km south of the Myanmar (Burma) border. Yes, those are elephants on the truck.
The trip was calm and the check points just waived us through. I guess they know us by now. When we arrived at the airport we dropped off the luggage at the curb. Daeng stayed with the luggage while I parked the rental car in the same spot we got it from a month ago.
We checked in with Air Asia and everything ran smooth there. Our two bags both were under the 15 kilo that I had paid for when I bought the tickets on the internet. Yes, you now have to pay for baggage and weight on this and many other airlines, especially the discount airlines.
We had to wait at Avis about 10 minutes because we were early and they opened at 7;30 AM. The lady remembered us and was very courteous. We 
gave her the portable GPS that we had rented. The GPS devise was a great help to us in getting around Thailand.
She checked the car and said no damage even thought I had hit a curb with the left bumper and left a little mark from parking in Pattaya. This was my first experience of driving on the left side of the road sitting in the right side of the car. I tended to get to far to the left overcompensating, I think.
Plane ride of an hour and ten minutes was quite smooth. I purchased a cup of coffee on the flight. No more free stuff from the airlines like the old days. I'm not judging, just saying.
We got our two checked bags and walked up to the fourth level, the departing level. That is a win-win when getting a taxi out of the airport. First, we don't have to wait in line for the airport assisted taxi service and second, pay the extra 50 Thai Baht.
For the taxi driver he gets a paying fair back to town right away, too. This trip we got a good driver that by-passed the highway tolls as it was still early in the morning and not much traffic in Bangkok. He got us to our guest house in downtown area for 210 TB, usually it is around 300 TB plus highway tolls of 65 TB.
After dark we would not do this as we just don't fell safe with unknown taxi drivers. The airport assisted taxi's are all licenced and handled watched over by the airport.
We were met at the guest house but this sweet little girl and her baby. 
One of the best rooms in the guest house was not empty yet but would be check-out of by noon. We left out luggage and went for a breakfast of barbecued fish, sticky rice and cow entrails soup.
When we got back our bags were in room 201. We got settled, had a shower and a little nap. I wanted to go to a meeting with some other English speaking folks I know here in Bangkok so I left Daeng in the room and headed to the meeting.
It was poring rain! None of the taxi's wanted to take me the three big blocks to the meeting area as the short cut through the Tobacco Monopoly was closed at night and the traffic pattern at 6:30 PM was going the opposite way.
I was standing under the big umbrella of the barbecue chicken lady's stand and she said to take a motorbike taxi as the rain was starting to let up a little. After talking to the three motorbike taxi drivers one said he would take me the three big blocks for 50 TB.
Well, talk about am "E" ticket ride. (If you don't know what an "E" ticket ride is just ask a old person that has been to Disneyland in the early days.)
I jumped on the back of the motorbike and that was the last time we were on the street. The driver took me on the wet sidewalk, with him weaving in, out and around people and telephone poles at a very high speed. It also started to rain extremity hard again so it was almost imposing to see.
We traveled on the sidewalk for the three city blocks and he did get to to the meeting area. This was a ride I wish I had a video of that crazy motorbike ride.
It was a fun day!
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