Never used plastic bags that way

.

Leanne Fagan has a blog and photo album of local events at blogs.statravel.co.uk


Tony reports in his German blog that he went out New Years eve to visit in-laws:

"Police checkpoints were already in operation at 6 PM.  They didn't just check licenses and  inspected seat buckles and helmets, they also used metal detectors to check for weapons."

Local Holiday shopping fell more than half over last year, according to some merchants.  People just don't want to spend a lot at the moment ryt9


Getting ready to fly the coop.  The Pattaya Rag has a link to a flight search site with... "all the essential information on one easy to understand chart.



Only In Thailand
Plastic bags not a wise substitute for condoms: Ministry  read the article at THE NATION

January is Double Fair Month

Trade Fair - Red Cross Fair

Jan 08	National Children's Day
Jan 09-16	Thailand - Laos - Vietnam Trade Fair
Jan 16	National Teacher's Day
Jan 18	National  Armed Forces Day
Jan 28	Red Cross Fair
Jan 29	Red Cross Fair
Jan 30	Red Cross Fair
Jan 31	Red Cross Fair
Feb 01	Red Cross Fair
Feb 02	Red Cross Fair
Feb 03	Red Cross Fair
Feb 04	Red Cross Fair
Feb 05	Red Cross Fair
Feb 06	Red Cross Fair

The party's over

Most Thai's take the opportunity to clean house as the New Year begins.
Clean out the closet, get rid of unused clothing.
Their philosophy, if you want new clothes, you have to have space in your closet to attract new things.

From the looks of things, my cleaning is going to be an extensive project.  Repairs required.


The pool is empty now.  It had it's first cleaning.





Grouting, sealing and curing will probably take a few days work.






Then I'll spend time with the puzzle, reassembling the filter.







Mister Hans' Neighborhood

Did enjoy a white Christmas of sorts

Every morning without fail my neighbor airs out his birds

They hung out a sign on one neighbors fence.  I'm told it say's Happy New Year

The Monsoon lake on the property next door has dried out

Funny stuff on the net
They are doing it again, the Walmart customers link Hat Trick 
2010 Statistics for Airport Screenings  link Pattaya Rag

Happy New Year

Earlier yesterday evening I walked to my Thai friend's house on I.T.U., to watch the kids shoot off fireworks.
They shot off fireworks from the center road divide.
One of those rockets was upside down, and of course sent fireworks across four lanes of road.
Lucky there was a break in the traffic, no cars or motorbikes.
They avoided what could have been a major carnage.

While sitting there on "Mainstreet," a number of ambulances and police vehicles passed by with their emergency lights flashing. Busier than usual.

One two year old used her sparklers to make burn marks in the pavement.  She has a good chance of becoming a welder when she grows up.



A guy across the street lit one of those flying lanterns, similar to the ones pictured.

It momentarily got hung up in the electrical cables hanging along the road.  Another major incident averted!
After bumping into the cables, it rapidly lifted upward.


I had enough of watching this tomfoolery, my bottle of wine was empty, I headed home early.

I got a few hours of sleep before the neighborhood sounded more like a war zone.

 

Loud party music continued throughout the night.
The party music isn't as loud anymore.  At 6 AM I can still hear it while standing outside in my yard.
6:30 AM the community speakers began broadcasting. 7:00 AM intermittent fireworks continue.
The parties continue. It's not New Years yet in some Parts of the world.

I stay close to home when "When the roads get deadly"

Anton (German Tony) posted this video on his facebook wall.

I like the music, hope you do too!!
The video gets a bit bloody

I prefer to celebrate the New Year within walking distance to my mattress.
Here's one reason why:
When the roads get deadly THE NATION

Sakon Pattana Suska School Reunion

I was invited by friends and family.

The entertainment and service was really great and made for a pleasant evening.
The party started 6 PM, Thai time.
We were the first ones to arrive and seemed to have the place to ourselves for at least an hour.

Most of the food disappeared quickly after hitting the table.
It was just that good. If you wanted to eat, you had to be quick about it.
One of the kids at our table has a sumo wrestler type body. He eats like that too.
I made sure I didn't go away hungry.

Half way through the evening, two tables were joined so friends could sit together.
Monkey see monkey do.
All of a sudden tables were moved everywhere, there were three tables in our group.

For a moment it looked more like moving day than a party 

I knew so many people and made many new friends,  I did spend some time table hopping.

The party was still going strong when I headed home.

Yea I Know, Another parade

Many kids from my neighborhood participated in this one.
I was told days ahead to be sure and get some photo's of them.

Delight your palate for free

Tony invites you to a New Years Eve Day Luncheon

Feb 7, 2009

"We'll have  fish on the BBQ," says Tony and his wife.

They are planning a free lunch starting at Noon, Friday 31 December.

"We could use  some help with the  fishing," says Tony.

Anglers wishing to catch their own fish are welcome to start fishing any time after 10 A.M.

Tony's pond has a variety of fish.

His place is located 16 km from Muang Sakon Nakhon on highway 223
For further details you can reach Tony at 0898627102

The place where  happy memories are made

 

Dec 17, 2006

 
Jan 14, 2007



You never leave wanting more when you've been to one of Tony's bashes.

His wife is an Ace in culinary delights.

Two local Expats hospitalized

.

Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year
If you drive, stay sober.
If you party hardy, then let someone sober do the driving.
Expect increased road checks over the holidays

Two local Expats hospitalized

an e-mail I received

Dear Hans,nice to see you the other day,thank you for your help.
I read your web-site daily. Sometimes I pick up some interesting small items of news, however, as Sakon Nakhon's roving Falang reporter, I think you are missing out on some important human interest stories of local falang persons, instead of commenting on parades etc.

In the local General Hospital are 2 seriously unwell peopole.
{1}Laurie R... ... suffered a heart attack.
{2}Tony P...
I have visited both of these people.
Are they not worth a visit from you our intrepid reporter ; a mention on your web-site.they have personal help but encouraging support may help from other fellow falangs, it is not nice to be in a hospital in a foreign country.
What do you think?
regards,

Thank you for sharing information regarding the health of two of our compatriots.

 

Roving reporter is a misnomer.  This blog is a hobby, not a profession.
I first started a website, then switched to this blog with the intent of providing information and entertainment for tourists and expats. I post information as I discover it.  I try to avoid gossip without verifying the facts.

With a few exceptions, this blog has been pretty much a one man show.  I gladly accept contributions from others.  A recent example is the entry Mekon River At Nakhon Phanom with pictures contributed by Gene.

I frequently get invitations to photograph weddings, birthday parties and the like.
I generally only publish photographs of public events, such as parades, for a reason.
I've had a number of occasions when I received frantic phone requests to remove specific pictures because people didn't want their whereabouts to be published.
Some reason given: "I don't want immigration to know where I am," or "I don't want my Ex to know where I'm living."

For similar reasons I have edited the names from your letter.
I do wish to commend you personally for visiting our hospitalized friends and sharing the information.
Which hospital?

Another Expat home under construction

Supposedly at ITU Soi 3/5 Sakon Nakhon. I went looking for it. Found another construction site, but not this one. First time I've seen them use a pile driver. Usually they dig the holes by hand.

Fish farming encouraged as extra income for poor and elderly

At least that's my understanding reading the news story in GOOGLE Translate.
You really have to read between the lines to understand these computer generated translations.
I do have a problem understanding the references to "...Thai sex change doctor fish..."
original article GOOGLE Translate

-----------------------	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Thai Meteorological	29/14	30/15	28/14	28/12	28/13
Accuweather	33/15	32/13	29/12	29/13	31/16
Weather Underground	29/14	28/13	27/12	26/13	28/15

An odd way of Celebrating New Years

Safety Inspection Failure