2011 Record breaking weather disasters... More to come

"It warmed up really quickly."

A few comments like that yesterday:
In fact a few people wondered if the pool was ready.  I hope they were joking.
For the moment daytime temperatures should continue to heat up just a bit more, in the evenings you can turn off the fan.  Evenings will remain cool to moderate.
Extended temperatures are still on a roller coaster ride.  Cooler weather ahead, but not like the Christmas weather.

Don't ya just love Thai wording

Those roadside checkpoints, checking your license, insurance, and sobriety... they're called road assistance centers.  That's some assistance I'll try to avoid

Record breaking weather disasters... More to come

The news clip below describes some record breaking disasters this year.
This announcer forecasts:  "...2012 will start off where 2011 left off."

2011 was a good year for me, judging from my photo Album

192 photo opportunities in 365 days, over 8,500 picture memories.
Did plenty of traveling, attended many family celebrations, sporting events, fairs.
Got together with many friends and made plenty new acquaintances.

Resolutions for 2012

Keep on living and "enjoy."

Don't miss this superb collection of Thailand pictures

• Out and About Thailand  buadhai blog

Caution!! Holiday Mayhem Ahead!!

With the New Year approaching, expect roadside driver inspection stations to be set up throughout the province. Some of these roadside stations will be equipped with breathalyzers

Not for Squeamish
Locally produced News VDO
Reasons to wear helmets when riding a motorcycle

 

The video below is less graphic, yet very eye opening if you are not familiar with Thai traffic.
I recommend you read the article which accompanies the video at channel4

Have a Safe and Sane New Year

T.i.T.

Every path I take in this town, new construction is underway. Large and small projects. Homes and businesses.
Many of the new buildings, with for rent signs, sit empty though.

Cement mixing tub going to a construction site

Dont drive drunk or you may wind up with broken joints

 

This lamp post on I.T.U. hasn't fully recovered from a  recent D.U.I.
The lamp post. which had been knocked over and luckily caused no injuries in the fall,
has been replanted in it's rightful position.  However there are still some broken joints which need mending.

"COPY" Thailand

There have been recent complaints of the overcrowded conditions of Bangkok's rail system.

The Sukhumvit line needs more carriages:

•  "Longer trains desperately needed on the BTS Sukhumvit line" The Nation

The problem is that Thais tend to emulate Japan as a model, rather than a western model.
Just be glad they are not using India as a model




55555 (5=ห้า=ha)

Smörgåsbord

Concert at city Hall this evening, missed it 

There's a concert at Sakon City Hall this evening.  Traffic around the area, including the night marked is heavy.  It's an annual event, unfortunately I missed any public notices of the concert.  Can't miss the spotlights in the sky

Thailand FC 1 - Australia FC 2

Didn't expect Thailand to win against Australia. It was somewhat of a pleasant surprise that Thailand scored first and kept the lead during the first half. Australia had possession of the ball most of the game and kept the Thai defense very busy. Best player on the Thai team was the goal keeper. He quite often caught the ball or diffused a score attempt. But the odds were against him. 

OTOP  Festival September 15 through 18 

at Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University

Google Street View is coming to Thailand thaitravelblogs

Tourism Authority of Thailand is promoting street view as it is expected to promote tourism.

Of course this could also expose the seedier establishments for a world view. Google-X (rated) anyone?

Russia Green Lights $65 Billion Siberia-Alaska Rail and Tunnel to Bridge the Bering Strait!  inhabitat

A centuries long dream close to realism.  A rail link between Russia and Alaska.  There are no details how and if this rail link will travel through Alaska and Canada to reach the lower 48 states. The tunnel will be twice as longs as the Chunnel

On the Road in Thailand

Obviously this is an army ambulance.  Seeing that graphic made me think of a different caption:
"first I get to wound him, then I get to treat him."
Personally I don't think guns and grenades are appropriate graphics for an ambulance.

Plenty of these overloaded looking vehicles on the road.
After rice has been milled, the husks are transported to factories where glazed clay roof shingles are produced.  Apparently the rice husks are ideal for firing the clay shingles where temperatures of 900 to 1200C are essential.
This driver has no idea what is approaching from behind or either side.  Could be an interesting lane change.

Hope for the best...

Friday was midyear banking holiday.  Banks closed.  Dear Landlady, the rent will be a few days late.

Saturday morning, a 'hundred days after the funeral party.'  A few people staggering through the neighborhood.

Saturday evening a party across the street.  Quite a few visitors.  It was all very hush hush.  I was able to sleep undisturbed.

Sunday, Joey went to vote around noon at a nearby school.  Voting at that time was very light.

Exit polls were being broadcast after the polls closed at three.
The pie chart representing North East Thailand seemed over 90% RED.

  Pheu Thai wins 101 seats in NE  Bangkok Post
(of 126 seats)

They're calling it a landslide, I'd say it was more of an Avalanche.

Predictions, some declaring imminent disaster, are running rampant on the net.

 What could happen to Thai rice market after election?  Reuters

I have a wait and see attitude:  Hope for the best don't act surprised at the worst.

The election promise to devalue the Thai Baht perked my interest, it is of course something  I would look forward to.
The rich aren't going to stand for that unless they have their bank accounts overseas.
Pensioners will of course love it!!  I would!! 

Prior to the elections Sakon Nakhon province was near the top of the list "where pre- and election violence may take place."
Didn't hear of any. (insert Applause here!!)

Sakon FC sponsors concert

Skyscraper city com has a 13 page thread of Posts from and about Sakon Nakhon.
SAKON NAKHON "City of Beautiful lake, Beautiful Mountain and Beautiful Girl"

Bangkok Post has an article about an Isaan University offering
"...diplomas for between 35,000 and 50,000 baht each."

Gaba Rice (Brown Rice) most likely was pioneered in Sakon Nakhon Province according to an article in the Bangkok post. A healthy alternative to regular rice.
Innovation on the menu

Concert on June 4, 6 PM to midnight, at the municipal grounds (next to immigration and police station) sponsored by Sakon FC.
Featured is Nga Caravan (first video) and Pongsit (second video).

Sakon FC cheerleaders most likely will also appear on stage. (LOL)

Here's a video slideshow from last years school activities.  I was there, but left before the risque performances seen 3 minutes 10 seconds into the video

V.I.P. treatment

Consumers must brace for more price hikes The Nation


Toxin 'likely' cause of a series of illnesses and deaths in Chiang Mai The Dominion Post
The article refers to a report done by CBS 60 Minutes.
The CBS website has no reference to the news story at this time

Football Thai Division 2 League North Eastern Region

Nakhon Phanom defeated number two in the league Loei last Saturday. 
It's noteworthy since Nakhon Phanom acquired 5 Sakon Nakhon players at the start of this football season.  Most likely a major reason why the local team isn't performing as well as last year.


Sakon FC probably would  have come out ahead in last weekend 2-2 game against Yasothon, had it not been for the absence of Ken.  At the time of the game, Ken was in Bangkok awaiting a flight home, where his father had recently passed away. 
Ken moved out of his local apartment before departing, causing me to wonder if he will return.  Ken had a number of offers from other Division teams. 


I'm always a bit weary when having to use the restrooms at football games.  Lacks privacy.  
If you have to use one of the stalls, the stalls marked V.I.P. have western style sit down toilets,  while other stalls have squat toilets.

Drought still ongoing

On my recent round trip to Yasothon I had many hours of local scenery pass me by.  
Most obvious was that just about everywhere rice fields where parched.  
The occasional thunderstorms so far have done little to alleviate the drought ongoing since October 2010.  Rice farmers will remain idle and without income till their fields are under water.

Plenty of storms to the west (Yangon), but they will most likely dissipate over land before they reach us.  To the East Manila is also being pounded by heavy rains.  But that system is not headed in our direction.  Some of the heaviest rains in this area come from the east.

Noon, May 8                                                      5:40 AM, May 9

Thai Tourism Explained

Met this Thai teenager a short while ago. Was told that his mother and Western stepfather where visiting from Europe I was invited over for a visit last night
Apparently other family members in the area also visited... the kitchen was abuzz with people preparing a feast on new appliances.

New furniture all over the place. I didn't ask, but the visiting mother mentioned that they will slow down their spending 'tomorrow', they had spent Bt 60,000 on furniture and appliances.
I suspect a grocery supply run is in the makings.

Net Picks

Urgently Wanted - Native English Speaker-Salary is 25,000 Baht/month   ajarnjobspace 

Sugar Falls   Bloomberg 

Rice May Fall   Bloomberg 

Cloudy with occasional thunderstorms

Weather is traveling West to East.

Sakon FC started the early season in seventh place. 
After a number of losses, slipped to 11th place. 
The recent win raised the club to 8th place. 
The team travels to Yasothon this weekend. 
Yasothon is in 9th place at the moment. Thai Division 2 League North Eastern Region Standings  


You tube Video by pui900

Songkran antics on the canal

 

Police Story Thailand: Road Checks

My first road road check in Muang Sakon was only blocks away from my house.

When I had stopped and lifted my visor the policeman very obviously rolled his eyes.
You could tell he wasn't expecting a westerner.
I reached for my wallet and the officer smilingly motioned to me that it was not necessary.

"Where you from, where you live, where you going."  The officer peppered questions at me.
It quickly became very obvious that he had exhausted his knowledge of English with those three questions.

I answered "U.S.A.," he had a dumbfounded look on his face. I rephrased my answer "America." Now he understood where I came from.

Answering the next two questions, I started to feel more like I was giving a mini-English lesson.
"I live in this neighborhood" took a lot of hand gestures to explain.

He did understand my final answer that I was going "shopping." and smilingly sent me on my way.

The second road check I encountered I was a passenger in the back seat of a car.

Unfortunately, when stopped the driver became quite grumpy:
"What the hell are you stopping me for."
The cop didn't understand the question, but he obviously picked up on the drivers disposition.
He demanded every possible document from the driver,  Insurance papers, drivers license, vehicle papers, visa, passport. 
I thought next he's going to ask for a birth certificate.
The lesson is obvious, smile and you get a smile in return.  Hassle a cop and expect to be severely hassled

There have been times when I passed a road check slowly, expecting to be stopped, but the cops either waved me on or totally ignored me.

Memorable was a road stop where the police officer totally ignored the Thai driver in the car and came to my passenger side.  That English lesson lasted over five minutes until his partner finally told him to get back to work.

In the eight years of driving in Thailand I was only asked once to produce a "bicycle license."  That took me a moment to realize what the officer meant, since I was driving a motor cycle. 

In a distant town my Thai driver was pulled over for going through a red light.  As he was exiting the car I offered Bt 200 to him to pay the obvious fine, but was refused.


Twenty minutes of waiting, the driver returned and asked me for the Bt 200.  It took another 10 minutes before he returned.  
Lesson, pay up and be on your way, the cop always wins the argument.

The most memorable road stop to date deserves a separate post.

Coming Soon!! Dumbfounded TAXI

Going hunting, Thai style

Direct sun 1 PM

Shade 1 PM

Hot day yesterday, at least until early afternoon.  

Driving around town the smell of toilet seemed to be coming from many street sewers.  
It was obvious that most of the water had evaporated exposing the smelly substance which lines the sewers.

I was hoping for rain.  Dark clouds could be seen west of us, but they just seemed to pass us by.

By early evening the cooler temperatures were quite noticeable.  I turned off three fans and was quite comfortable with one at slow speed.

Heavy tropical rains began after midnight

Satellite images at 3:45 AM and 6:05 demonstrate that the storm is quickly dissipating, with mostly lighter rains.

What do two extremely intoxicated Thais do, on a tropical rainy night, when most of the liquor establishments are closed?

Go Frog Hunting

Equipped with flashlight, bucket and umbrella (mine) they went on a two hour frog hunt from 2 to 4 AM.
I hope the frogs are on someones menu.  I will not start a frog farm.
Been there done that.  Snakes used the frog farm as a snack bar.


This morning the air smells fresh and clean, the empty lot next to me has once again turned into a pond

After 5 pm the police are asleep or ...

100% helmet use campaign started in Phuket last November.
The following month a nationwide campaign was kicked off.
Quite recently, posters and banners started to appear locally promoting the campaign.

The campaign seems to be working to some extend, but it's not quite 100% yet.

While adults wear helmets, their passenger children are mostly without head protection.

5 pm seems to be the time when helmets are discarded by almost everyone.
As one neighbor explained it to me, after 5 pm the police are asleep or...

I'd suggest eventually the law will expand, requiring eye protection for motorcyclists.  It's mandatory in many western countries.  Until then, we'll see plenty of eye patches.

Somewhat reminds me of the headlight law.  When I first started driving a motorcycle in Thailand (2003), Thai's would laugh at me for keeping my headlights on during the daytime.  A few months later it became law.  But it took another year before it became accepted practice.

Motorcycles sold these days are manufactured in a way that the headlights are on automatically when the engine is running.  Unfortunately helmet wearing can not be built into motorcycles.

Only in Thailand!!!!

Thai army coins new terms for Lady-boys to avoid offending them.

• Type 1:  Looks like a man
• Type 2:  Has breast implants
• Type 3:  Has had full sex change surgery

Thai transgenders had previously been classified to have psychological / mental disorder, which disqualified them from military duty and many civilian occupations.
Should conscript shortages occur type 1 and 2 could be conscripted.
Thailand has an annual conscript lottery April 1 through 11

Bangkok Post

Monsters and Critics

They'll be howling at the Moon

Tomorrow the moon will be 356577km  from the earth.

• “SuperMoon” or “SuperHype”? universetoday
• Supermoon' May Cause Moonquakes, Scientist Says  foxnews

SuperMoon happens once every 18 years.
2011-18 = 1993!

March 12–13, 1993 Storm of the Century, the ’93 Superstorm, the Great Blizzard of 1993, wikipedia
March 11, 2011 at 2:46pm Japan Earthquake


March 1993 seemed a routine month for me. Work on the docks of trucking company.  I was making plans for a vacation the following month (April).  That year I went to Pee Pee island and Chiang Mai

He could have fooled me

English version of NHK TV is available through local Sakon cable.
It's reporting about the effort to contain six nuclear reactors and news of the effects on the economy
Here's an internet feed    Watch NHK  World in English



House under construction for sale in Sakon Nakhon udonmap

Thailand's Got Talent Season 1:  She or He

You'll figure it out after 1 minute of the show
The singers personal comments at the end of the video reveal it all.

School's almost over

You have your good days, and you have your bad days...

Prepared for the day, I was on the way to school.
Then I was told: Today we want you to give an ICT lecture to the students.

I was no longer prepared for the day.
Half of the seventy-some students in the lecture hall where my regular students.
Now that's what you call teaching by the seat of your pants.
Luckily the lecture hall had a internet ready computer.
I spent a large part of the class showing the students their pictures I had taken over the years, and where to get copies.

It was really a neat way of ending a school year.
I have one more week to teach, then it's finals week, graduation party and graduation ceremonies.
I just hope to have instilled something they find useful in their lives



Sakon FC vs Mukdahan FC, March 5, 5 PM
After two delays, the Division 4, Eastern division games can begin

Local ladies looking for love

I've been following a few Thai dating sites.  Local Thai girls advertising to connect.
What does amuse me in these ads is the age limits these young ladies are aiming at.

One recent ad from a woman in her early thirties was:  interested in a man from 32 to 69.

I've seen the age limit go up to the low seventies by ladies in their twenties.
I suspect one of the introductory questions would be "how big is your pension?"


Record Thai Sugar output likely  Bloomberg

Dengue Vaccine in ten years mysinchew

Herbs for Removing Plaque in Arteries eHow

Mirror, Mirror - on the Roof... OK now I've seen it all

I've seen the mirror up there, on top of a school building many times.
Thought if I'd get there early enough, I'd get to see some jolly giant combing his hair... never happened.

Always wanted to ask "Why."

The answer wasn't all that enlightening, as much got lost in translation.
I did understand that it's a Chinese concept and to ward off evil...

So I Googled 'Mirror on the Roof'

• There's a commercial entity by that name, selling everything from handbags, posters and even refrigerator magnets.  No help there!

• Some people on the net talk about placing numerous mirrors on their roof to reflect the sun's heat and keep their house cool. No help there either!

Feng Shui, The ancient Chinese art of aesthetics was a bit more helpful.
There is quite a discussion of Bagua mirrors.  They are eight cornered concave and convex mirrors placed above entrance doors. 
The mirror on the roof isn't eight cornered, nor concave or convex, but it seems to serve an identical purpose: " To reflect bad energy away from the building and defend against malicious, evil spirits.

Another squater evicted

I don't know why they consider my shoes such great housing, but I'm glad I look before getting in.
Don't know if this is the previous squatter returning, or one of his relatives.

They do all look alike.

From now on I'm leaving my shoes on the table, no matter what etiquette prescribes.