Busy host... Sakon F.C. is

Sunday, May 15, Sakon FC hosts Surin FC.

Sakon FC  is in seventh place in the division, Surin FC is in sixth place in the division.

Wednesday, May 18, Sakon Nakhon hosts Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) 
in the  Regional Qualifying round of the 2011 Thai League Cup, sponsored by Toyota

The following weekend is also a home game for Sakon F.C.

Sakon Nakhon's extreme minimum temperatures

Just cane across an interesting on-line pdf file furnished by the Thai Meteorological Department.
It lists the coldest temperatures experienced over the past 59 years in Thailand.
Sakon Nakhon's coldest years were 1955, 1956, 1974, and 1975
The coldest day on record was 0.5C (32.9F) in 1955

Sakon Nakhon Cowboy

Why he bought a shiny red tractor is anybodies guess.  It wasn't for farming.
Cowboy has had the tractor for a number of years, but there isn't a dent or scratch to be seen.
Some four or five years ago Cowboy brought the tractor to town to have a drink at the former Ned's Bar.
It's a drive of 20something miles.  Top speed, I'm guessing you can walk alongside.
A police road check along the way didn't stop him, no license for tractors required. 
He did get some strange looks though. 

A picture at his wife's facebook photo album explains the uses of his tractor 

Missed this event last weekend

Sakon Municipal Buildings Dedication Ceremonies slideshow at sakoncity

Death by bedbug spray

Mystery Deaths plague Thai (Chiang Mai) hotel  San Francisco Chronicle Hot Topics

U.S. Government spending (also applies to Europe)

The real battlefield  Miami Herald editorial cartoon
The U.S. government now borrows 40% of each dollar spent.

Very Emotional (tearjerker) Superb!!

 

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.

Dang

It really sounded like another sport day at 9 AM, Sunday morning. 
Amplifiers blaring music and speeches.
Even some Thais thought it was some sort of sporting gathering.

Obviously it wasn't.

It was a short convoy of about a dozen cars driving north on I.T.U.
With new elections looming in Thailand expect  rallies over the next few months.


It is highly recommended by the majority of foreign embassies that foreigners should avoid political gatherings.

สีแดง: red, pronounced dang

Sakon FC at Yasothon FC 2 - 2

 
Unexplained, starting times to most games had been changed from 5 PM to 4 PM.

Obviously the word didn't get out, we arrived to an almost empty stadium. 

Most spectators who thought they'd arrive early arrived while the game was already under way.

Yasothon scored early in the game

Sakon scored twice early in the second half.

Scorekeeper Risky Business

Notice the score keeper had to climb on a chair, then stand on a metal fence, hold on to the scoreboard with one hand, while changing the score.

On the road to Yasothon

Getting there

I had planned the routes on Google maps looking for an alternative  to driving through the Phu Phan mountains.  It might be a scenic drive but the mountainous road is slow going. Thus I came up with a route traveling through Mukdahan.

That route was 196 km and should have taken us a little bit over three hours.

The guy driving of course had his own map.  We drove 320 km.

 
According to Google map that route should have taken over five hours.  We did the trip in 3 1/2 hrs.

At times on two lane highways going was slow, but we obviously made up the time on deserted stretches.

At one road stop I was impressed by a misting system which reduced the heat quite noticeable

We arrived over an hour early and had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely lunch.

We had the place where we ate for ourselves.  Service was quick and the food was really great.

Couldn't complain about the prices either.  Lunch and drinks for six people was Bt300.  The most expensive item was the beer.  Bt30 = $1.

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