T.i.T. bits plus

• Thailand unveils measures for ‘Year of IP Protection’

• Hopewell pillars coming down - Bangkok Post

• Thai retailers banking on purchasing power of Chinese tourists - Channel NewsAsia

• Thailand mulls bigger cigarette warning graphics - Bangkok Post

They're Back, End of Cool Season??

They weren't around 

Kids using the pool:

With temperatures in the 50's and 60's Fahrenheit the pool was just not tempting. 

Just one daring kid took a dip right around New Years. 
   Hadn't seen goose bumps like that since I left Alaska.

A large group of kids visited yesterday after school and left disappointed.
   I advised them the pool would be cleaned and ready for use the next day 

The Formicidae Family

Them there pesky critters

Ants returned from hibernation.  

When temperatures dropped below 15.5 C (60 Fahrenheit) none were to be seen.
Now they're returning from all directions.
The only other time ants disperse, you know it's about to rain.

I use talc (baby powder) around the outside perimeter of the house and garden.
Soapy water (dish soap) kills 'em quickly and washes their trails without causing damage to plants. 

Mosquitoes did not suffer from the recent cold spell.  Not cold enough to decimate them.
Seems they've been more of a problem than usual.
With the weather warming, fans are the best defense against mosquitoes. 

฿ gains continue ⇧ ⇧ ⇧

• Thailand Pouring cash into a bottomless pit of corruption 
      The China Post
• 
  

• Korea, Thailand Warn Over Fallout from Easy Money, Currencies 
     The Irrawaddy Magazine
• 
  

• BOT urged to consider capital controls 
     The Nation

• Father of Thailand's culture minister arrested after 7 years on run
     Asia One

• Lawyer jailed 3 years for embezzling £60m from Thailand’s ex-premiere 
      GulfNews.com

Travel Thailand By Bus

344km/214 miles
5hrs 10 min (car)

  A You Tube Video by Tom Isaan

It's a great little travel slideshow video of bus travel along the way from Ubon Thani to Sakon Nakhon.

First slide immediately tells me
it's not a FIRST CLASS coach ride.

Most cities and towns are served by more than one bus company with their own terminals and stops.
Some first class services are better than others.








The do's and don'ts displayed on the bus window also indicate
it's not a FIRST CLASS coach ride.


No dogs ✓

No Smoking ✓

Karaoke o.k. 
No way I'd never take  a Karaoke Bus

DVD movies ✓

VIP bus "it's NOT"

This one 

should be a 

 See Thailand

 through a  

Bus window 

Promotion Poster

Experience the ride condensed to a   2:46 minute video

Visit:  Isaan-Live

Showers possible before HOT HOT HOT

Thai Meteorological Department Weather Warning
"...Thunderstorm with Gust and Hail in the upper Northeast..."

Advisory seems to be mostly for northern most Thailand (Chiang Mai region)
Locally expect  a shower or two (or three) 

Traveler Comment: NOK AIR

I'm beginning to have some safety concerns 

Read comments here 

สกลนคร on YouTube

• Daylight robbery of elderly lady at knife point by two suspects

• Sakon Group then and now

• Temple Fair earlier this month

• Visibility POOR

• Nang Rum Ban Nong Takai, Sakon Nakhon

   

Tomorrows Thai Stars TODAY

Music when I was young

Last surviving member of The Andrews Sisters 

dead at 94

Doors, Beeps, Wheels = Memory lapses

 Received in e-mail 

It's not our age, it's that dumb door!

Ever  walk into a room with some purpose in mind,
  only to completely forget what that purpose was?

Doors are to blame for these strange  memory lapses. 

Psychologists  at the University of Notre Dame have discovered that
passing through a doorway triggers what's known as an  event boundary in the mind, separating one set of  thoughts and memories from the next.
Your brain files  away the thoughts you had in the previous room and  prepares a blank slate for the new  locale.

 Did some further reading on the subject and recommend 

• Why did I come in here   Science in Our World

• The top 5 things that cause brain hiccups   Mother Nature Network