You are invited

Free Buffet

Graham's Birthday Party at THE TOON ARMY BAR,
starts at 8 p.m., Saturday, 19 Sept. Thai and western courses.
Coyote entertainment starts at 10 p.m.
Pictures shown are from January Toon Army 'Dinner and a Show'

Overheard (in another province):

My father won the election.
Did he buy many votes?
hm hm

09 09 09 House Blessing

The number 9 brings good fortune according to Thai belief in superstition.
Celebrations were underway throughout Thailand coinciding with 9 a.m., on the 9th day, in the 9th month, during the 9th year of this century.
Plenty of prayers, parades and school assemblies, office celebrations, and the like, comemorated the occasion.

It was also an ideal day for a house blessing.
Attended son O's house blessing.

It's a starter house with a lake in the back yard.

Flowers, candles, incense, food and drink is placed at the front of the property before ceremonies begin. I suppose this is in lieu of a spirit house.

Everyone present gathers for a short prayer. Then the group walks around the house three times before entering the house. Prayers and chants continue while a ' shaman' blesses various parts of the house.

With the ceremonies concluded, it's time to find a shady spot for food, drink, and conversation.

Free TV on your computer

How often have you seen that.
I've seen it plenty of times.
When you scroll down there is the payment plan. Buy the software !!

I was just flabbergasted when I came across TVU networks.
Downloaded the free software and started watching live broadcast.
I know they are live, I compared broadcasts with my satellite service.

Streaming is excellent.
It's a perfect alternative where satellite or cable is not available.
DSL required

As Seen On The Web

Some really great photo's of Sakon Nakhon

can be seen at http://www.skyscrapercity.com
There are photo's of the city's Songkran. a trip into the mountain, and lots more.
Well worth a look.

Education

Sad news is a report of the large number of dropouts in Thailand,
as reported in THE NATION. Nearly half the students dropped out due to poverty.

Even though education is proclaimed as free in Thailand, there are plenty hidden costs: Uniforms, books, transportation, meals, fees, etc.

The present government has placed literacy on a national agenda with promises for more school equipment. One computer for every ten students, according to yesterday's headline in THE NATION

Tourism

THE ULTIMATE THAILAND EXPLORERS is getting a very slow start.
Recently started, the new promotion has only 16 applicants to date.
Limiting the contest to English speaking contestants is also limiting the results.

Opening the contest to other languages would increase media attention and subsequently enhance the purpose of the contest:

Revive World Wide interest in Thai Tourism

I'm willing to read English subtitles to any well done video

New Local Releases

Thai Language

Not Enough Rain this year in the area

This years rainy season has been quite weak.
Heavy tropical rains were very few.
Plenty of cooler cloudy days with lightening storms and dark clouds in the distance.



Quite frequently we were surrounded by rain as if in the eye of the storm.

Definitely not like last year when sewers backed up ankle deep on some major roads.

Wild swings from one extreme to another (rain - drought) are predicted as the global warming effect.

At present there is no water shortage.
With recent heavy population and construction growth, lake Nong Hahn, the city's water source, will probably reach critical stage within a few years.
Dredging the lake has been rumored for the six years I have lived here and hopefully will get past the rumor stage in the not too distant future.

With dredging equipment in the area, they may consider to raise some of the temple artifacts, including large Buddha statues, hidden under water.

An attempt to raise one such artifact was made earlier this year, unfortunately the equipment available was not sufficient.

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