Friday, July 17, 2015

Troubles ahead

Agriculture: 

Drought is beginning to cause havoc on availability of local fruit and vegetables. No problem with higher priced imports
Expect shortages and associated price increases 
Farm produce exports will most likely decrease noticeably 



Tourism:  
The numbers of arrivals are up, but most likely does not translate into increased revenue. Group tourism tends to create less revenue 
Chinese tour promoters are demanding major discounts from hotels
The drought most likely will also have an impact on tourism venues related to river and canal tours
Increased numbers of tourists requires increased water use.



I am reminded a few years back, bars which lacked customers raised their prices in hopes of making up lost revenue. Many bars closed
Thailand: Turning cheap tourist destinations into quality ones - eTurboNews.com



It all adds up to less tax revenue, most likely tax increases or new taxes may be in the works.
An expected increase in VAT has been postponed for at least another year 

Sakon Nakhon FC hosts Mahasarakham next Sunday


Sunday July 19, 4pm


The recent 1 - 0 win in Mukdahan elevated Sakon FC from 15th to 14th position in the league, replacing Mahasarakham who recently lost to Surin 3 - 1.  Sakon Nakhon FC has a one point advantage over Mahasarakham.
Sakon Nakhon

Bed and Breakfast provided at this German Police station


Police NRW Recklinghausen Case file:   
Squirrel follows woman. Woman calls police.
squirrel apprehended, falls asleep exhausted.
Eichhörnchen verfolgt Frau.Frau ruft Polizei.Polizei NRW Recklinghausen verhaftet Eichhörnchen.Eichhörnchen schläft erschöpft ein.<3 Cuteness Overkill <3 http://bit.ly/1I2QR0v
Posted by WDR.de on Wednesday, July 15, 2015

If in doubt "DO IT AGAIN."



Sim card registration Deadline July 31

All SIM cards used in Thailand must be registered by the end of the month.

Extended stay foreigners may have registered their phones a few years ago when the SIM card laws were first announced. 


If you are unsure, check with your network provider.
If in doubt "do it."

If you are out of the country until after the deadline you will have to register and 're-activate' your sim card in order to use it


Bring your phone and passport to your service provider ( AIS - dtac - True Move - etc.)

Tourists should not use the sim card from their home country unless they have thousand of dollars of spare change.
A Thai SIM card can be purchased for under 300 baht

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Snail outbreak Escargot for dinner


Sakon Nakhon

Overnight rainfall 10.6 mm, more likely today. Did Cloud seeding help?

That 10.6mm is an average for the area,
 definitely had more than that at my house




Cloud seeding operations ongoing in North, Northeast to replenish reservoirs
National News Bureau of Thailand July 14


"Thailand started a rainmaking project in the late 1950s. The first principle was to scatter sea salt to catch the humidity in the air and dry ice to condense the humidity to form clouds.[36] The project took about ten years of experiments and refinement. The first field operations began in 1969 above Khao Yai National Park. Since then rain-making has been successfully applied throughout Thailand and neighbouring countries.[37] On 12 October 2005 the European Patent Office granted to King Bhumibol Adulyadej the patent EP 1 491 088 Weather modification by royal rainmaking technology."
Source: wikipedia cloud seeding 



"... research project, began as early as the 1830's ..."
"... Verifiably successful rainmaking attempts did not occur until 1915 ..." 
source: metabunk History of Cloud Seeding...





Sakon Nakhon

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Scattered, mostly cloudy, some cooling this weekend





Half way down the page at BBC WEATHER is a colorized four day animated map indicating how scattered the rains are.  

At least we are lucky enough to have some rain. 
Let's hope it's enough rain to last through till the next rainy season.

It's a different story in other parts of Thailand
Sakon Nakhon  Post 4901

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

No Rain Yet - it's on the way







Sakon Nakhon

The Price of Rice in Thailand 'going up'

Three words which are being used more often these days on a variety of subjects.   








Keep in mind last year's headlines proclaimed worst in decades. The drought and the resulting water shortages in Thailand is going to get worse.  
Much of the drought is blamed on El Niño.  Equal (or more) blame should go to deforestation.   
Let's not forget poor government management.  Droughts and floods have plagued Thailand for ages.  Much of the damage could be diminished by constructing more reservoirs and canals



Locally the drought is a patchwork.
If you drive through the province you will see some lush green ricefields outnumbered by dusty 'wasteland.' I suspect water tanks are selling well.





There seems to be no imminent danger of Sakon Nakhon city tap water being shut off.  Nong Hahn water levels are low, but not yet dangerously.  Thai meteorologists have assured the public that the rainy season will start late this year but will arrive in early August.




Sakon Nakhon