Headlines that caught my attention

You may know him. I was a sceptic.

But this Sakonnakhon Expat can build you a house for under $500 in a week

Give your lady some red wine.

"According to this research it increases her 'desire.'

Bill Gates has too many wannabe friends at Facebook,

so he quit Facebook.

Thailand - beautiful paradise or ugly hole?

Read the opinions at Teakdoor.com

About time
Thai officials arrive in Israel for airport security tour

Those aren't clouds, that's smog over Thailand
Forest fires in Indonesia hard to control

Thailand is not cheap according to this author.
He thinks Thailand is overpriced and he can live much better back in Florida.

No wonder, his residence at the moment is Phuket, the most expensive city in Thailand.

Thai officials complain that H1N1 reports are inaccurate

What do you expect.

A few weeks ago they put out the word that medical services are not to release information to the press. Only the health department can do that.

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Ex Pat Interests

Asia Computer News

German readers may be interested in the beginnings of a local German website by Mister Anton.

http://proszamer-anton.npage.de/

Computer users throughout Asia may see improved internet service next month.

Watch for news headlines of the inauguration of a new fiber optics cable laid across the Pacific.

Shopping

Did you notice
Tesco Lotus has lowered prices on 800 products thaivisa.com July 19

Germans gone overboard.

Any emblems honoring Germany's world war II era are outlawed.
A waving gnome was found not guilty of giving the 'Sieg Heil" salute. See a picture of the accused Yard Gnome and read the article at www.matthewhunt.com/blog/

Makes me seriously wonder if this cat is "kosher" in Germany.

T.i.T.'s and more

SNO

Grahams Toon Army Bar offers 20% off on Saturdays and Sundays on all alcoholic beverages. Discounts is available through August 16. Discount does not include menu items.

TH

Illegal DVD producer nabbed pattayapeople.com

Do most Thais know what a smoke detector is? They do need fire safety training, 'dousing' an electrical fire can create more hazards. pattayapeople.com

This question has surfaced again. Here's my answer.

Dog meat on the dinner menu was outlawed years ago.

Haven't seen the dog collectors for a few years. They offered plastic bowls and buckets to owners who gave up their dogs. Don't tell anyone, but in the rural areas it still happens. Some people can't break old habits, to others it's a delicacy for special occasions.

Tourism: Brining along your medications

Had been wanting to write about this, but awaited updated confirmation.
The rule which applied during my tourist days back in the eighties and nineties is still in effect.

This is an e-mail received by a soon to be Sakon Nakhon Visitor from the Thai Consul in Canberra:

Any prescribed medicines brought into Thailand must be covered by a letter from a health professional/doctor specifying diagnosis, name of medicine and prescription of treatment and the quantity allowed without prior authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration in Thailand is for 30 days supply only.
All medicines (prescribed and non-prescribed) must be in their original packaging and must be declared on arrival in Thailand.
For further information please contact:
Narcotics Control Division - Food and Drug Administration
Tiwanon Road
NONTHABURI 11000 THAILAND
Tel: (66 2) 590 7343 / Fax: (66 2) 591 8471
E-mail: narcotic@fda.moph.go.th

49 year low in Thai Tourism Thaivisa

U.S.A

KFC secret ingredients no secret anymore msnbc.msn
I used to enjoy KFC on a monthly basis until they did away with the plastic buckets. Perfect size for an ice bucket.

Arm twisting the big corporations

United Airlines refused to pay for damages done to luggage, even though there were witnesses.
Stewardesses countered "not my problem, not my concern."

A year later this song hit You Tube.
It took less than 24 hours after this song hit the internet for the airline offered to pay up.
By that time the guitar owner did not want the money and suggested they make a donation to a worthy cause.
Kudos

T.i.T. bits

SNO

Received a call from Graham. From the sounds of it: "he's baaaack."

Graham wanted everyone to know: 'Toon Army Bar is open."

Stop on by and exchange the latest.

Some really great local photography at the TEAK DOOR by "Hooter."

He describes his trip to Phang Khon.

He loved the visit, but not the 14 hour bus ride from Bangkok.

TH

Airport House Cleaning. After countless complaints, they are promising to clean up all airport scams. thaivisa.com

Consulate in Penang: Tourist Visa Rejected. thaivisa.com

Pattaya Daily News: Unwary tourists, troubles to avoid

Thailand's Happiness index down thaivisa.com

Thailand Tourism

Recently read an article which quoted an international airline spokesman; "Our flights to Thailand are down 10% capacity."
That's hard to swallow, when many tourist hotels admit that occupancy is down 80 and 90%. They avoided mentioning how many flights they cut back.

Shameless Mack reports tourism is down by half.

He has photo's of an empty airport, and reports there are more vendors than tourists at Pat Pong

RDR (rainy day ramblings)

Probably the most known and played 'foreign' song in Thailand.

I love the beginning of this version, which is generally deleted from many records

Been getting plenty of invites lately to 'join me' at TUBELY, facebook, myspace,twitter,

friendster and a whole lot more.

Sorry Folks If you want to stay in touch with me, send me an e-mail.

Most of these sites require detailed information from you which they then claim as theirs.

There have been too many problems associated with some of these sites.

Besides I am busy with this blog, funny mail , and my photo albums

In letzter Zeit habe if viele Einladungen erhalten, 'join me' at TUBELY, facebook, myspace,twitter,

friendster and a whole lot more.

Entschuldigung Leute: Wenn Ihr Kontakt mit mir wollen, senden Sie mir eine E-Mail.

Die meisten dieser Seiten benötigen detaillierte Information, die sie dann als Ihre anfordern. Es gab zu viele Probleme im Zusammenhang mit einigen dieser Seiten. Außerdem bin ich sehr mit diesem Blog, lustige E-Mails und meine Foto-Alben beschäftigt.

On the rebound. I feel I am finally at the other end of the tunnel health wise.
The biggest discovery was that most medication was extremely under prescribed.
Once I realized that I finally got some decent pain relief.

Had a number of suggestions for home remedies. Peeled some aloe and mixed it in a blender with turmeric.
That mixture applied to my skin brought instant relief. When I wiped the mixture off I came to another realization.
I have all these old kitchen towels, they used to be white. Over the years they turned grey.
Now their use has been extended. Turmeric is a great dye.



Thai scientists are experimenting with it. They think it can be used for skin lightening. Many Thais want lighter skin.

Solar Eclipse a No Show
It was supposed to be visible over Thailand, not around here.

Paradise Past

It's the rainy season. Time to edit and upload albums of happy memories.

-

Expat luncheon at Colin's 2006 - - - - - - - - - Parade May 2006

.

Visit to That Phanom 2006- - - - - - - -- - -- --- - --Wax castle construction 2005

Visit to a local village temple 2006

Years ago, on a tour around Bangkok. Packed on a minibus the tour ended early.

The other tourists with me on the bus were mid twenties to thirties Australians.

The guide asked the group if they wished to stop by another temple.

"If you've seen one, you've seen em all," was the unison Ozi reply.

I'm not religious, but I enjoy visiting temples.

They are most often the local art galleries, meetings and events places.

Some temples have more recently produced art.

Others receive donations which are very rare and exquisite.

Many temples have extensive gardens, statues, small lakes, swans, monkeys; a wide variety of animals

.

I get an eerie feeling when I visit ancient sites, just thinking of the thousands of people who were here before me. The residents and the battles responsible for the destruction.

Travel Warning Repeated

As Mentioned in this blog July 5

British Tourists caught in Bkk airport extortion

Jonathan Head, reporter for BBC News, Bangkok, warns tourists to be aware of continuous airport scams.

Read his Article at BBC News

The Danish Embassy has similarly alerted Danes of the scam.