Bang Fai Season

TiT. I was informed at noon that there were a number of Bang Fai Celebrations around the area.
An hour later we headed out of town.

Just a few miles out of town, parachutes could be seen on both sides of the road.
I counted eight parachutes on one side of the road, so that's where we headed.
No breeze, and those parachutes seemed to just hang in the hair indefinitely.

Four rockets shot into the air simultaneously as we arrived. A dozen parachutes in the air.

Of course many hello's and where do you come from.
I declined a number of invitations to indulge in some Whiskey White.
Walked around for 40 minutes. I needed the exercise.
Who am I kidding, I love public events because I love people watching.

The meet market.






Waiting line to fire, trampoline (first I have seen in this country).  Of course the security guys had to get into the picture.

Bang Fai Celebrations claim more victims

Roi Et Province, May 30: One person killed, another injured.
Previously (May 12) reported of a local celebration, here in Sakon Nakhon Province, which decapitated a victim.

The Weekend

Toon Update
Friday, after the rains eased off I ventured for a drive to see if there was life at Toon Army Bar.
There was. I am horrible remembering names, a younger chap with his companion was there.
We had a nice chat.
Had missed Cowboy Jim, who, as I was told, had been there earlier.

Opening hours had been somewhat haphazardly as of lately,
but I was promised, that regular opening hours would be restored.

I had hoped to stay for more than one beer,
but I got quite lightheaded and called some friends to drive me home.
Guess I'm not quite up to venturing out too far from home on my own yet.

Gardening
Saturday, with the help of my daily entourage, I cut down the two Banaba trees.
Also known as Crape-myrtle or Queen's Crape-myrtle, the trees provided plenty of shade.
Over the years they have been a constant attractant to red ants.
Ant control had become Mission Impossible.

Replaced the trees with seven Papaya trees.
Papaya require less maintenance and produce an abundance of fruit, which my neighbors gladly take off my hands.



Meanwhile work on the website continues as a daily effort.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Net Readings of interest

Land purchase through Thai spouse forbidden: Phuket Gazette

Rubber Trees in Isaan;  News in Bangkok

Thailand Banks scrutinized: Thailand jumped the shark

The world is watching Burma.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did make one obvious mistake:
She failed to report her uninvited visitor to the authorities, a stipulation of her lengthy house arrest.

Another direction at Sakonnakhon - Live

Sakonnakhon - Live started out as a website in April 2008, it was a learning process in using Dreamweaver web design software. Changing to a more user friendly software Rapid Weaver.
The major difficulty in running that website was connectivity. Of course there were other limitations.
This blog was started January 15 of 2009. I did migrate some earlier posts into this blog.
The Hotel listing, a project not yet complete, was placed temporarily into it's own blog.

Google recently offered a new service: free web space complete with online software.
Thus the website is being recreated. Mind you it's a self-taught process still in the works.
In case you want to take a preview peek go here http://sites.google.com/site/sakonnakhonlive/

Toon Bar Update 

Opening hours are apparently a bit later in the day. Our friend Paul has been seen there in the evenings, helping out.

Camp it up

Camp

noun: something that provides sophisticated, knowing amusement, as by virtue of its being artlessly mannered or stylized, self-consciously artificial and extravagant, or teasingly ingenuous and sentimental.

Of Interest

KUALA LUMPUR
Study confirms mothers-in-law are the chief cause of divorces. The Star online
Local expats give careful attention.

Phuket
Job fair May 29..1667 vacancies, sales, service, housekeeping, cashier, etc.

phuketwan.com
What is the present unemployment figure?

Thailand
New laws regarding alcohol advertisement.
No more than 2 second images on television.
Subliminal message?

Goal to half HIV infections in two years in Thailand. MCOT.NET
Been a few years since school kids paraded around with condoms as balloons.
The HIV rates actually declined during those years if I remember

At Home: 

Cruised past TOON ARMY BAR early afternoon yesterday. 

Doors shuttered and locked from the outside.
Anyone know???

Looked at some treadmill's at MACRO yesterday.
Recovering from my recent illness I decided I need one.
The outdoor display there was stacked, not accessible and dusty.
At least I have an idea what sort of price I'll be looking at.

PB Air upgrades fleet

...replaces Brazilian-made Embraer ERJ 145 LR jets with ATR 72-500 turboprops.
read more at Bangkok Post:  (Some interesting facts about the airline in this article).

Turboprop Quotes at WIKIPEDIA
Turboprop engine exhaust gases contain little energy compared to a jet engine.
The most common application of turboprop engines is in small commuter aircraft, where their greater reliability as compared to reciprocating engines offsets their higher initial cost.

Turboprop engines, are mostly used where high-performance short-takeoff and landing (STOL) capability and efficiency at modest flight speeds are required. In a civilian aviation context, the most common application of turboprop engines is in small commuter aircraft...
read more at WIKIPEDIA

More ATR 72 technical information at
www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/atr72/

Soap Box Proclamations

To the mostly British gossip going around...

that my knowledge of German is like the stuff in the crapper.
I added another point by not being able to translate Chicken Pox into German.


When I brag, as I recently did, you hear, "yeah right."
For you nonbelievers, here is a screen capture from 24 July 2008.
No I did not edit the content in any way.



I have received this particular video clip from a number of friends.

I am atheist. I do not believe in god.
I see religion as the eventual cause human extinction.
I see nothing wrong with the muslim faith, or any other faith for that matter.

It's extremism at both ends.
It probably also explains why I live in Thailand. Buddhism teaches tolerance.

Chikungunya Virus to the North and South of us

The mosquito borne disease Has now been confirmed north of us at Srisaket, and to the South at Ubon Ratchathani.
Chikungunya at wikipedia
News item at phuketgazette

Similar to dengue fever.The pain associated with CHIKV infection of the joints persists for weeks or months

Sunday Adventures

Sundays is gardening day at my house. The gardner shows up every Sunday morning.
Today I can say he earned his keep. Remove over a dozen bamboo trees, roots and all.
Planted too close to the hanger, they started to cause damage to the tin roof.
They are not the kind of tree you want four feet from your house.

On the other hand, some bushes in front of the house are at their seasonal prime.
A lilac smell in the air. I'm still waiting for internet "scratch and sniff.

After gardening was done, it was time for a prearranged trip to Sawitree Cafe.
Heard about the place, nothing but praise. A Must Go SEE.
Quite pleasant place. Mostly done in wood, gives you a feeling of and earlier Thailand.
Back in the sixties, before everything changed to cement.



I had a latte. I prefer a shot of rum in my latte. Sorry not available at this time.
For a Sunday afternoon, the place seemed at capacity.
By mid afternoon, two Germans, a Brit, Belgian, and the Assie owner sat around chatting.
For every round of beer ordered, an extra bottle arrived each time. Must have been a spirit sitting with us.

Then my embarrassing moment: I went to the toilet.
Unfortunately the pictures identifying mens and women's restrooms looked identical to me.
I had to choose. I peeked in. They looked identical. I used neither.
I looked at the garden, played with a puppy and returned to the gathering.
Everyone had watched my indecision, it was a laughing matter



I should have taken a few more pictures, but I'm still somewhat in recovery mode. Not quite ready for that sort of thing.

Sawatree will have it's official opening June 9. Worth a visit.

Note: Location is approximate, will correct when I am informed



Chicken dinner was waiting for me when I arrived home. Four pain pills. A very early good night 6:30 p.m.

Survey Rerun: Isaan women prefer foreign husbands

I vaguely remember a similar survey done some five or six years ago.
At that time students were asked their goals, after school.
If I remember correctly over 70% of the girls replied that they sought to marry a foreigner.
In a recent survey of almost 500 Isaan ladies, the result seems to be almost unchanged. THAI VISA

Talking about surveys, American tax payers are in an uproar since it became known that the National Institutes of Health is funding a study why prostitutes in Thailand have high HIV risk.
The tab for interviewing 36 women and 24 kathoey is $178,000 FOX NEWS

Getting the facts straight

Toon Bar is not closing

Had been hearing a number of rumors in regards to the future of the place.
So I went to get it 'straight from the horses mouth.'
What I got was an offer to buy the pool table from Graham.
Then Graham stated that everything was going into storage.
He also stated that he was planning on staying in England.
Thus I posted that the place is shutting down.
Friday evening Graham called me and stated the bar is not closing!!
No further explanation given.  

Lost in Translation Medical Labeling

Imagine you have a very painful outbreak on your skin over your chest, side and back.
Four local doctors informed me it was Herpes.

What do I know about Herpes, it's a sexually transmitted disease.

Then I'm told there is not much that can be done, just ride it out, two to four weeks.
Three visits to a local clinic, I was given over a dozen different pain medicines within a week.
Some labels simply said vitamin for pain. None of them really seemed to be too effective.
Finally I got some morphine pills and injections. But nothing to treat the symptoms.

After three weeks of misery I happen to get to the CDC web pages to discover that Shingles Disease is also known as Herpes Zoster.  The pictures on the webpage were identical to what I have.

This type of herpes is not sexually transmitted, rather a leftover virus that stays in your body after childhood chickenpox.

Translating the word Shingles into Thai, I sent someone to the local drug store.
I finally got the medication I should have been on three weeks ago.
Two hours after the first maximum dose, I feel the difference.

This makes me seriously wonder why doctors failed to prescribe more appropriate treatment.
In the future I may visit a local druggist first.

Questions about Thai law? 

Look at our sidebar "Useful Information." 
The link to THAI LAW ONLINE may be of great help to you.
It has plenty of good information worth looking at.

Swine flu renamed AH1N1 is inevitable.
A recent major outbreak in Japan, confirmed cases in Malaysia, Australia, etc..
Temperature screening at airports is more of a show that something is being done.
Infected persons show no sign of illness or fever for the first three  to six days.

How about blood tests before you board a plane, train or bus.<>Joke

Another Black Eye for Thai tourism: The Aussie Beer Mat incident.
Aussie vacationer goes to Assie bar. "Friends' play a prank and put a beer mat in her purse.
The bar's undercover man arrest her as she leaves the bar. 'Theft."
She goes to jail, gets out on bail.
Every Aussie media has the headline. Aussie's are enraged
A scheduled court appearance rescheduled four days early.
A guilty plea. The fine is paid by the local governor. Quick departure.

Lesson: You are responsible for your purse, handbag, anything you carry.  Choose your drinking friends carefully.

Catching Up

Been quite ill and on bed rest. Seems it was almost five weeks, then I checked the calender and counted 2 1/2 weeks.
I't seemed longer. The last few days I've been getting around, doing house and garden chores to regain some strength.

Laying around for two weeks sure zaps the energy out of you. I did some tree pruning, lot's of sweeping, pool cleaning, outdoor cement floor scrubbing. All those duties which wait patiently when you're not available.

As soon as the heavy downpour subsided, I ventured for a drive to visit Graham.
It was basically a good bye meeting, Graham is leaving this Saturday to get some body work done.
How long he'll be gone is somewhat open. Probably depends of required body repairs and recuperation.
We played the "Guess Who's In Town Game."

Then I was off to the furniture store, I needed to do something nice for myself. I walked through the store, and when I saw it, THAT WAS IT. Don't care for fake leather, naugehide, so I will cover it with a large blanket.

The chair was delivered within ten minutes after I left the store.
Half an hour later, after having eaten and indulged in a bit of pain medicine, I was in the reclined position.
I remained reclined until waking at 10 p.m.. At which time I moved to the couch.

Listed at 13,900 Baht, the price first dropped to 13,500, showing a bit of reluctance: final offer 13,000.

I actually had my eye on a LAZYBOY last time I was in Bangkok. It has more features and costs 55,000.
LAZY-BOY is a brand name for an American product, not some Thai I know.

The Sakon Nakhon Directory has grown quite nicely, thanks for some help from Martin. 

Funny Mail Google Group I was able to keep up with posting jokes as I received them. My Favorite Joke this month is: 

Jumbo Ride: Fun was had by all

   

Click on the thumbnail for a full view

That Picture should be used in the Thai Tourism revival campaign "AMAZING THAILAND"

Rainy season... Flu Season

There is no denying, the rainy season came early this year.
The first days of heavy rain started during the last week of April, traditionally considered the hot Season.
Looking at the temperature forecasts and comparing the real and feels like temperatures, it becomes quite apparent that the humidy will be quite high, but will ease somewhat later in the month.



The Southern Provinces of Thailand are experiencing a Chikungunya virus spread by mosquitos. More details at UPI.com
No such reports locally, but it's something to consider and take preventive measures.

The rainy season is typically also the flu season, Health Ministry warns. More details at MCOT.NET

There have been seven Heavy Rainfall weather warnings since May 14. The most severe rainfall is in North and Central Thailand.
Most of our rain is coming from the south, later in the rainy season that will change to an easterly direction, from the Philippines.

Satellite weather maps from the last few days, demonstrate the current weather trend.

Local Bang Fai celebration with deadly results

The Bang Fai season has begun.  

These celebrations can be most pleasurable events, but they can also be deadly as happened locally on May 11.

It's a stark reminder that if you attend such an event that you pay attention to your surroundings at all times.  These rockets are generally home made, some are quite elaborate, while others are not

 

Translation of the news article is quite incoherent, but apparently on that day a rocket misfired and instead of going skyward, headed toward spectators, hit a 29 year old spectator in the head, killing him instantly.

Related article: Bun Bang Fai - Thai Rocket Festival

News on the Net

Leeches in the Kwai River: THE NATION

Look before you sit, toilet snakes are not a myth: REUTERS

No food shortages sufficient water supply forecast: MCOT.NET

2009 Royal Ploughing Ceremony Photos: THAIPHOTOBLOGS

Thailand Resorts for sale: PHUKETWAN

Amazing Thailand Trip Giveaway extended: YOU TUBE

Wan Wisakha Bucha Day Parade

In observance of the commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and Passing of Buddha, as everywhere in Thailand, Sakon Nakhon celebrated the event with an evening candlelight parade.

The parade route was marked with lamps in the shape of flowers  and kerosene torches.

See More photos here 090508 Parade