New face in town

Name's Russ, he's interested in meeting folks in the area who speak the Kings English.

Read his post at THAI VISA and send him a welcome and invitation.

Thailands Unemployment Rate

Thailand's unemployment rate fell to 1.8% in the second quarter of the year according to this report.

It has to be quite amazing when the rest of the world is reaching new highs in unemployment. Spain over 15%, USA over 9%, UK over 7%.

Thailand from all appearances has the lowest unemployment rate in the world. The statistic is hard to accept when you look around into every day life.

Then I suppose it's all in how you do the math. 1+1=2 or 1+1=11.

To get a better understanding why the rate is so low,
I looked at the last official Thai 2000 census .

According to that census 81% of the population is employed in agriculture.
Apparently every adult with a farm as an address is considered employed.

Making the Rounds

With less than thirty days to go until Sakon Nakhon's yearly Main Event, it was time to cruise around town and see if preparations were underway.

Did not see any wax castle construction at a number of temples. Apparently still a bit early for that.
Not much action at the local lake either.

Along the shore van, truck and minibus drivers were parked, obviously resting until it was time for their next run.
In the distance you could see some preparatory work under way, as plants were uprooted to clear the way for the boat racing track.

Then I was off to the local sidewalk market. Bought some berries, and was really surprised when an extra handful was added to my purchase. The same happened when I bought some corn. Two more than what I had bargained for.

What I was really looking for was tabaco.
I'd been told if you can't stop smoking, then at least get away from smoking paper and filters.

I had recently started smoking a pipe and did notice it's not as harsh on my throat than cigs. But the price of pipe tabaco at Bt 370 ($11) per pack was a bit much.

Pointing at my pipe I asked a samlot driver where I could buy tabaco. He pointed and gave me directions, no pressures. I handed him the 20 baht it would have cost for him to take me there, and walked.
I found the place where tabaco is sold at Bt 100 ($3) per kilo. Not bad either. Think I'll throw in some cherry extract to make my own cherry blend

Thailand Tourism Revival

The latest effort to promote tourism in Thailand is

The Ultimate Thailand Experience

It's a contest for computer savvy, English speaking couples.
25 winning teams will be sent to five major tourist locations within Thailand.
If you're interested, you have 42 days to apply.
You can read the press release here.

Full details with applicants videos can be seen at
www.ultimatethailandexplorer.com/

It will be quite interesting to follow the progress.

Observations

Sakon Nakhon cable available within the city costs Bt 3,500 per year.
I just received my bill. When you pay yearly, you also get a free T-shirt.
Through my TV controls I was able to rearrange individual stations to my likings.

Many cable broadcasts are not interrupted during heavy rains.
When my satellite reception is interrupted I switch to cable.

Continue to occasionally receive the blocking message when surfing the net
Best thing when that happens, is to hit the reload button.
That seems to solve the problem.

Google translate service is quite helpful at times. At other times it's just too hilarious.
This is a translation from WaNonNiWat in Sakon Nakhon Province.

Wax Castle and Boat Racing Festival

Just received a copy of this years events schedule.
Should have the information translated later in the day and will post it on the live website.

You don't do that in Thailand

Unfamiliarity is no excuse.
Some very basic rules of etiquette can be found at sunsite.au.ac.th
These are rules any tourist should be aware of.

Appropriate clothing during Songkran should be added to the list.
Some fabrics, especially white become almost see through when wet.
Songkran is a religious festival, not a western style wet T-shirt contest.

When it comes to public behavior, Thais are extremely conservative.
This rule is even more stringent for Thai public personalities.
There was quite an uproar a few years ago when a Thai actress wore an overly revealing dress to a major public event. Now the uproar is over a Thai Boxer.

According to Worapoj Petchkoom, a Thai Olympic silver-medalist, he thought he was being paid for a fashion shoot, but wound up on the covers of a gay magazine.
It's a case of plain old stupidity, lack of management, which has him suspended from compeeting for a number of months. He's not gay! The pictures are a bit on the sensuous side, not pornographic.

If the pictures would have appeared in a fashion magazine, or a woman's magazine, I doubt there would have been any fuss at all, just a few raised eyebrows.
Read more at The Philippine Star and Outsports(photo)
The sanction seems a bit extreme. That's my opinion.

Recent Sakon Nakhon visitors

Crazy Guy on a Bike passed through Sakon Nakhon last week.You can read about his trip which started in Udon Thani at Southeast Asia in the Rainy Season. Sakon Nakhon was only a brief stopover of an itinerary which includes Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Fireman Eric concluded his 20 day visit to Sakon Nakhon and returned to Australia. FIREMAN ERIC'S PERSPECTIVE

Housewarming, Brunch, and a HOT New Rumor

Construction on a new 3 unit shop house completed about a month ago. Time for a very traditional house blessing ceremony.
This one is within a two minute walk to my house.
Different about this ceremony from others I have experienced was a very lengthy prayer session. Nearly two hours..

A number of times I had considered a walk to the nearest family market for a shot of something. I was getting parched.

Ceremony over, the monks departed with todays donations

I was so relieved when they finally started serving food and drink

.

The courses of food and refills just kept on coming. We ran out of space at our table.

Guests were still arriving when I said my thanks and goodbyes.

For me brunch wasn't quite over.
A five minute drive, and I was seated comfortably at the MJ Majestic in front of a cool beer with new and old friends. The local third person news of the day is that there will be an immigration office opening in Sakon Nakhon soon. When this will occur is still uncertain.

UPDATE: Still in planning stage. expect this to happen in the middle of next year

I headed home when I was nearing my drinking / driving limit.