Life Out East

2007-12-30T07:54:00.000+07:00

For anyone who is even slightly interested, this blog is now closed.

2007-10-07T15:14:00.000+07:00

Does anyone care??

One of so many Burmese monks, bludgeoned to death by the regime

I'm guilty. I'm guilty as charged of caring. As much as I want to start the post by talking about the wonder that is the English rugby team which embarrassed the Australians and kicked them out of the world cup I think there are more important things to get off my chest. Sorry to be a bore but I'm talking Burma.

For a while it seemed that people cared but, alas, it's not so. A weekend of protests just didn't happen. The only place where anyone could be bothered to make an effort was London where several thousand marched through the streets in an attempt to gain support for some kind of action on Burma. The Japanese protest was cancelled because they've decided it's all hunky dory down Rangoon way now, 100 Burmese and foreigners managed a token gesture in Bangkok and the same in Sydney. Pitiful!China, host of the 2008 Olympics. A more appropriate logo.

It seems that no one really cares. Some have called for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in China (China is the biggest supporter of the regime in Burma and has the power to turn off the tap, as it where) but that won't happen; after all how will people be expected to remember those silly Burmese getting slaughtered a year from now. Personally I think there should be a complete boycott of all Chinese products but then that's me. Thailand is another big supporter of the regime and pours money into the military coffers in return for gas. But the Thais have never been ones to let the slaughter of innocence get in the way of luxury and consumerism so no action from them. Will anyone cancel their holiday in Thailand as a protest? Not a chance. Or maybe think twice about buying wooden products from Thailand, many sourced from Burma where the good old practice of slavery and environmental exploitation still exists. Nope. And the same goes for the French (Total oil) and the Singaporeans (big trading partner with the regime).

At the start of the week there was shock and horror at some of the images coming from Burma. People were disgusted and horrified. But that was the start of the week. Time has moved on and, as the saying goes, yesterday's news is today's chip paper. So just when the Burmese people need help the most no one seems in a real hurry to offer a hand. The UN is talking. ASEAN, currently chaired by Singapore, is saying that any solution must include the military. Anyone who knows anything about SE Asia and the great "Asian values" argument knows that what they mean is the solution should include an amnesty for the military and be profitable for them and the despicable neighbours (China and Thailand) who support them.

Does anyone care??

2007-10-04T05:23:00.000+07:00

An entry with no name...

Slow day. Still pain but going now. Half the day on the phone and the other half wondering how I managed to spend half a day on the phone.

It's here! It's arrived! Well it arrived a few days ago but this evening I have started to watch it. Yes, I'm talking about season 6 of 24. Sad I know but I think 24 is one of the best TV series for a long time. Over the next week 24 hours of my life will be wasted.

The daughter got yet another party invitation today which means another weekend given over to taxi duties. Free weekends are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

An entry with no name...

2007-10-02T16:20:00.000+07:00

Money's too tight to mention...

Yep, more going out than is coming in. Feeling slightly jaded and disillusioned about life in general at the moment. Several months back in dear old Blighty and still I'm not on the road to riches, or even on the pathway to security. Various projects that I've devoted time and money to have come to nothing or I've been outbid on. There's one I'm looking at at the moment that's showing a glimmer of hope but I'm sure that by the end of today it'll all seem bleak. God I must sound depressed.

I'm suffering from a neck injury which is causing me a great deal of pain. I'd like to say that it was the result of some heroic play on the rugby field but, alas, it's not. It was nothing more heroic than getting out of bed the wrong way on Sunday morning. I moved, there was a crack and that was that, virtually immobile since then. I managed to get the daughter to her party on Sunday afternoon which she enjoyed immensely.

Yesterday was just too painful to mention and this morning I awoke, after eventually getting to sleep, with the biggest bad boy of a headache I've ever had. So at half five this morning I breakfasted on a fistful of the strongest headache pills I could find and mooched about slowly until it was time to start the daily routine of getting the daughter ready for the school run. It's times like these that I have all the sympathy in the world for single mothers and can fully understand why so many of them seem to smoke.

This afternoon I have to take the daughter to get her "winter uniform". Nice as it is I can't help wonder if it really is necessary to have two uniforms throughout the year. Isn't this just a waste of resources and parents' money. I certainly feel like it's a waste of my money.

Here's a link for a petition about the crisis in Burma, please help by signing it and help put pressure on the UN and China to intervene. It seems that the various rebel groups along Burma's fringes might be preparing to join forces and attack the government troops. A spokesman for them pointed out that the people in Rangoon need their help and that this is the only chance of freedom the people of Burma will get for a long time. Though massively out gunned they can, at the very least, tie down much of the Burmese military and hinder their actions. Ten rebels being enough to occupy the attention of a hundred soldiers. I just hope they can get support from outside the country to help arm them, and political support.

Money's too tight to mention...

2007-09-29T16:58:00.000+07:00

Alicia Silverstone naked!! Gambari in Burma as more protests begin and a nice gift from the government...

I remember seeing a girl in a few Aerosmith videos way back in the early to mid-nineties. I thought she was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen, apart from Helena Bonham-Carter of course, but never managed to find out who she was. It was some years later when I discovered that the woman in question was Alicia Silverstone. So an email from PETA that arrived yesterday really brought a smile to my face. Not only is Ms Silverstone a fellow vegetarian she's gone and dropped her kit for a PETA advert. I know this is very shallow and even juvenile of me but here it is:

Alicia Silverstone’s Sexy Veggie PSA
Order a FREE vegetarian starter kit at GoVeg.com

UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari has arrived in Burma for talks with, well, whoever is allowed to talk to him. America has said he should be allowed to talk to whoever he likes but it remains to be seen if that actually happens. In the meantime protesters have taken to the streets again in defiance of the military junta. Could this be another day of barbaric slaughter or will the military exercise restraint whilst their guest is in town?

I discovered yesterday that the government deems it necessary for all 3 and 4 year olds to be in some kind of education and parents should be given help financially. As a result every 3 and 4 year old in the country is entitled to 15 hours of tuition or care a week courtesy of the government. Sadly we missed out on last term's handout but I'm on the case now.

Having paid this term's school fees in full at the start of the term the money will go against the next term, and with the discount for next term as well the next bill is set to be very low indeed. This is wonderful, like a school fee holiday for a whole term. This is one of the nice things about living here. A big hearty thanks to Gordon Brown and Co., for this early Christmas present, nice to get something back occasionally.

Alicia Silverstone naked!! Gambari in Burma as more protests begin and a nice gift from the government...

2007-09-29T01:45:00.000+07:00

Death of an innocent man, China and Thailand, and another weekend...

The moment the Japanese photo-journalist was shot [video below]

General feeling among world leaders appears to be that yesterday's hunting spree by the despicable Burmese military junta resulted in far more deaths than is being let on. I honestly find it so hard to believe that this can continue in the twenty-first century without anyone doing anything to help. The UN have talked, but action has been blocked by China and Russia. The EU and US have condemned the junta's actions but no action taken. Some members of ASEAN, of which Burma is a member, have mumbled that their action is a bit naughty but they haven't taken it further. And Thailand's General Sonthi remarked that criticism "isn't appropriate" yet. So in the meantime the people of Burma remain alone at the mercy of one of the world's most ruthless regimes.

Here is the footage of the Japanese journalist shot by a Burmese soldier. Cold, calculated and a complete waste of life. He shoots from point blank range and just moves on. Moving footage.

For Brits wanting to sign a petition to pressurise the government into some kind of action check here. People power is an incredible force. If enough people make their voices heard something might actually get done. I'm sure most who read the words I write here everyday already know what is going on but if just one person is encouraged to do something or sign a petition then it's worth it.

Here's a little reminder of why China and Thailand won't intervene. Something about birds of a feather I think.

Chinese tanks on the way to crush some protesters.

General Suchinda's brave soldiers whacking the crap out of some unarmed civilians in Bangkok

Another week over and another weekend with a party for the daughter. Sunday will see me playing daughter's taxi for this week's party. I think there's one next week and then we're free for a while. Other than that not too much happening. I've got some tasks that I need to complete by the end of play tomorrow but other than that it's a fairly uneventful weekend.

Looks like the wife will be here for definite in December so my spell of single parenting will be coming to an end. I'm sure the daughter will be over the moon about the return of the mum but I can't help feeling that there's going to be a painful period of re-adjustment when she does make an appearance. Turbulent times ahead.

England are playing Tonga in the rugby world cup. For a while they were in the lead and it was starting to look like we were heading down the pan. However, thanks to the great Wilkinson and his kicking ability we're steaming ahead and a great try by Paul Sackey has just edged us up even further. Something to smile about.

Death of an innocent man, China and Thailand, and another weekend...

2007-09-27T19:36:00.002+07:00

The aggression continues and sillyness from the UK...

*** http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Burmacrackdown/ ***

Sadly there is still no end to the chaos that has hit the streets of Burma this week, not that anyone expected it to end so soon. It appears the UN tried to make some moves but dear old China and her mate Russia blocked any moves towards taking action. China feels it's all a matter for the Burmese and we should all just close our eyes and carry on with business as usual. But I suppose for a nation like China to criticise hard-handed military aggression against innocent civilians it would come across as somewhat hypocritical, given their track record. Which is probably one of the many reasons why military controlled Thailand has failed to do any voluble condemning either.

[pics from http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/]

Word on the net is that there has been at least one more fatality. Bloggers from within Burma continue to get the news out one way or other and still the junta of Than Shwe threatens the people with harsh action if they don't just go home and behave. And stories of monks trashing a mosque are just that apparently. Seems the junta has been getting soldiers in robes to do some mischief-making to blacken the name of the monks protesting.

For the first time in a long while I currently feel respect and admiration for a religious group; the Buddhist monks of Burma. I'm no fan of any religion and have no time for such man made hypocritical mumbo-jumbo (no offence to any die-hard religious fanatics) but I think what the monks in Rangoon are doing takes real belief, conviction and plain guts.

Added: And now nine more have been killed including a Japanese video journalist and some reports have suggested a German national was shot by the soldiers.

On a somewhat more trivial and light-hearted note here's some news from the UK. McDonalds have been charging a fine in some branches for people who take more than forty-five minutes to eat their food. They've brought in a car park firm to check and process fines for cars that remain in their car park in excess of this limit. One family received their bill two weeks after visiting McDonalds. They have four kids and dropped in for some dinner. First there was a queue so they took some time to get served and then there was a wait for the burgers. We're talking young kids here so there was some dillying and dallying before the burgers had been eaten, by which time everyone wanted some ice creams and apple-pie. Result: it was more than forty-five minutes. Anyway, two weeks later they get a bill for £125GBP (approx US$250). It seems they are not alone, loads of people have been caught in this McTrap. The family have of course raised two fingers in McDonald's direction and told them to whistle for their cash. The case continues.

And the Conservatives have named their candidate for the race to elect a new mayor of London. And yes, they opted for the candidate with most comedic qualities, yes you guessed it, Boris Johnson. So that's it, surely another victory to the madman Ken Livingstone. Eton and Cambridge educated "Boris the Blond" has been editor of The Spectator, MP for Henley-on-Thames and a shadow Conservative minister but is probably most famous for his unique brand of upper-crust buffoonary on the popular quiz panel show, Have I Got New For You. So, keep watching for more hilarious antics as Bozzer makes his quest to become the new mayor of London. I just love this guy!!! [But I wouldn't trust him with anything serious]

Bozzer in action [he's the floppy haired one with the plum in his throat

http://www.freeburmarangers.org/

http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

http://weblog.xanga.com/dawn_1o9/618271640/the-dark-hours.html

The aggression continues and sillyness from the UK...

2007-09-27T02:49:00.000+07:00

A dark day for Burma....

From the BBC:

Witnesses described monks with blood on their shaved heads as police charged at the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon.

[photo courtesy of Reuters]

Reports have indicated that five monks and a woman have allegedly been killed during the bloody crackdown by the military junta in Burma. Brave action from armed soldiers against peaceful protesters in robes.

I must admit this whole thing has really got under my skin. I really fell for Burma the few times I visited and my limited experience of the Burmese was 100% positive: genuinely warm and welcoming people despite the terrible conditions most there live under. Whilst the Burmese are kept impoverished and as virtual slaves within their own country China and Thailand exploit the situation by making off with it's resources on the cheap, trade that helps prop up the evil regime and prolong the hell. In the case of Thailand this unfortunate situation also means they have a regular supply of extremely cheap labour that can be abused without complaint.

With the Olympics approaching in Beijing the general feeling has been that the Chinese might be able to put pressure on their allies, the Burmese military. However, the Chinese are now saying that it's purely an internal matter and for the BUrmese to sort out. Basically the Chinese think that stability, no matter what the cost, is preferable to any kind of instability.

Whilst Britain remains the biggest aid donor to Burma it came out today that not a penny of government money has gone to any pro-democracy cause. However, £120,ooo GBP of British taxpayers' money has gone to help save the Burmese bat. I'm all for looking after nature but surely there are more pressing issues in Burma at the moment.

http://irrawaddy.org
http://burmacampaign.org.uk/

A dark day for Burma....

2007-09-26T03:02:00.000+07:00

Plot thickens in Burma and something I never thought I'd ever say....

As more and more people and monks join the protests in Rangoon so does the intensity of media coverage outside Asia. With a curfew now imposed and threats of harsh action by the ruling military junta the big worry is where this will all end.

The footage of monks clad in nothing but robes marching in defiance against the heavily armed troops of Than Shwe is quite something. This is what I've always thought Buddhism was all about. Quite refreshing after my many years witnessing the uglier side of Buddhism next door to Burma.

Apparently the military have ordered several thousand robes and ordered the same number of soldiers to shave their heads. The thinking is that they might be preparing to send these guys in undercover to stir up trouble and start violence, thereby giving the military an excuse to let loose with the big guns.

The group I mentioned on facebook.com in yesterday's post [Myanmar (Burma) Uprising: Worldwide Support] is gaining support and some of the people involved have already organised quiet protests in Canada.

A view by Shwe Dagon that I took in 2005

On another topic here's something I never thought I'd ever say: That Gordan Brown bloke, he's not too bad. Anyone who either knows me or has ever read this blog will know that there's more chance of Margaret Thatcher voting Labour than me but after Brown's inaugural speech yesterday I can't help thinking he's not such a bad bloke. Unlike Blair and his cronies, Brown doesn't seem to be afraid of liking Britain. Where Blair made people feel ashamed of being British Brown is gunning for more patriotism and a sense of national worth. And rather than coming out with clever soundbites penned by Alastair Campbell he does seem quite passionate about his policies, including education, crime and immigration. Hopefully he's true to his word and manages to follow through on his promises. And, of course, being a Scot and PM of England it will be interesting to see who he supports when England next play football or rugby against Scotland.

Plot thickens in Burma and something I never thought I'd ever say....

2007-09-24T21:05:00.000+07:00

Monks' revolution in Burma, and some photos....

Things are really starting to move in Rangoon and throughout the rest of Burma. They're calling it the monks' revolution and it certainly seems to be gaining momentum. I've visited Burma about three times and have a real fondness for Rangoon, and found the Burmese to be a genuinely friendly and welcoming people.

Opinion in the media seems mixed about where this could all be leading with some predicting bloodshed and others wondering at what point will it be too late for the ruling junta to intervene. There is also a theory that the Chinese, one of the junta's biggest partners along with Thailand, are pressurising Shwe and the boys into exercising restraint. Either way, this is the closest they've been to true uprising for many years.

This is one of an increasing number of clips appearing on youtube.com from people inside Burma.

Here are some other images appearing on the net. These two courtesy of AP.

Here are two shots I took in Rangoon, personal favourites.

And on a lighter note here's a bill board I saw in Rangoon. Yes, that's right, beer that is both anti-aging and keeps you forever young. Marvelous!

Links:

http://www.irrawaddy.org/
www.bbc.co.uk/news

Or you could express your support by joining this group on facebook.com - Myanmar (Burma) Uprising: Worldwide Support

Monks' revolution in Burma, and some photos....

2007-09-23T05:19:00.000+07:00

So what's happening with our animals??? What is Red Gurnard and summer flooding...

Once again the country is at risk from another serious outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Currently confined to small pockets of the country, that are increasing at a worrying speed, the general line is that it's all in hand and being taken care of. PM Brown is on the case and he's gunning for the cattle and the farmers on this one, or so he wants people to believe anyway.

But now we have something new. Now the animals are being hit with bluetongue disease, being spread by midges. Bluetongue isn't a new disease for southern Europe and Africa but this is the first time it's emerged in the UK. General feeling is that this is the result of global warming.

Ever heard of Red Gurnard? No, me neither. Well this little known fish has been happily plodding along secure in the knowledge that its only use to mankind has been to be thrown back when caught by accident, or used as bait. However, thanks to the likes of Rick Stein, it's the new sought after fish by all the trendiest restaurants. It's good news for fishermen on the south coast as the price has rocketed from £0.25p GBP per kilo to £4.00!! And to top that, there's no annoying quotas like there are for other fish. Great news for fish fans, even better news for fishermen, but a real bugger if you happen to be a Red Gurnard.

During an afternoon of feeding ducks and swans and generally just sightseeing with the daughter I took her into Worcester cathedral. It's been a favourite of mine since childhood, for architectural reasons rather than theological ones, and I've been promising to show her a cathedral in England since we visited Hagia Sofia in Istanbul earlier in the year. It had to be today because she was insisting that it wasn't a cathedral but, in fact, Cinderella's castle. It took a tour of the crypt and twenty minutes watching the voluntary choir before she was convinced.

Here is a picture I took earlier in the summer when most of the country was freakishly underwater. When we should have been greasing up with sun lotion most were donning waders and bidding for dingies on ebay. This is a Tesco lorry determined to get supplies across the Severn, picture taken about three miles from the Severn so you can imagine what it was like closer.

So what's happening with our animals??? What is Red Gurnard and summer flooding...

2007-09-22T06:37:00.000+07:00

It's been a long time..

Too long. Feels like an age since I last posted. Being back here I just don't get the time to update the blog anymore, though I intend to try and change that now.

All the pressures of being back in the UK have been piling up. I'm still a single parent and a working one at that, which is proving to be a real bitch of a job. The daughter is in her second term and loving it and I somehow manage to take full care of her whilst trying to make a crust and fight off bankruptcy.

I can't lie, there have been the odd occasions when I've wondered if coming back was right and recently I've found myself drifting off into beach-based Thai-flavoured day dreams. Still, I'm here and I ain't moving nowhere just yet.

Is Christmas really that close??

Here's a few pics of some paragliding up on Hay Bluff in the Brecon Beacons the other week.

It's been a long time..

2007-07-13T17:17:00.000+07:00

What to do with the blog, 24 and insomnia again.....

I find now that I have less time to blog, or rather feel there is less to write, especially on a blog entitled "Life Out East" when I'm living in the west. Though I guess I'm technically in the east if you're coming from the States.

I enjoy the blogging thing and the whole blog experience and I'm happy that I've made some friends, and sadly some enemies too. But do I continue at all? Do I continue under this banner? Or do I start afresh under a different title but with a travel flavour? Try to contain the desire to be too harsh with any response here, I do have feelings.

As the rain drizzles down in the continuous and maddening fashion that seems somehow exclusive to these small isles the daughter, having a few days off between term end and summer school is competing with the rain to drive me insane. She wants attention! She wants MY attention! And when she doesn't get it she seems to know just how to drive me mad. She has perfected the art of annoying me when she feels there is a need to annoy me. Can't help wonder if this is something her mum taught her or if it's just genetically coded.

My relatively new obsession with 24 continues, and so do the late nights. Luckily I suffer regular bouts of insomnia, and that's what's been happening this week. So now after several nights in front of 24 until nearly 4am I'm cruising into season 5, which looks set to be a goody. And as the week draws to a close several days of 4am to bed 6am start are taking their toll and I really do feel that a good night's sleep is headed my way. Suffered a humiliating defeat at badminton last night which I put down to sleep deprivation and too much caffeine.

Is it normal to have the hots for your kid's teachers? Or one in particular actually.

What to do with the blog, 24 and insomnia again.....

2007-07-08T05:19:00.000+07:00

Concert for the planet and child care......

Due to a lack of babysitter I find myself stranded at home whilst the daughter and her cousin, who is here for a sleep-over, run amok. Fortunately the internet and Live Earth concert have stopped what could have been a very dull evening. Admittedly a trip to the pub would have been better still but beggars (parents) can't be choosers.

Quite nice to see that at last people are waking up to the fact that we need to change our habits if life is to continue as we know it. Though it is well known that more than a few of the people involved don't give a toss about the environment, they're just in it for the music, and the very cynical have even suggested that Gore (the organser) himself has more sinister political motives. .

We had quite a good selection of bands here in the UK and among them was The Foo Fighters. Obviously I've heard of these guys before but never really paid them much attention. Having seen their performance I'm impressed. That guy Grohl is quite an entertainer. They have a new fan.

I couldn't help notice the number of beards around. It certainly seems that the beard is in vogue once again. Maybe I won't have a shave after all.

I've also discovered www.facebook.com. Or at least I've just signed up for an account. Anyone else use it?

Concert for the planet and child care......

2007-07-05T02:47:00.000+07:00

Just drifting....

Never thought it would happen but great news about Alan Johnston. Free at last! Given the weekend of violence we've had here with Muslim doctors allegedly trying to blow up parts of London, and then two more ramming a Jeep into Glasgow airport it's nice to get some good news from that part of the world. Oddly, the release of Alan Johnston hasn't yet generated as much media coverage as the release of that bint Paris Hilton. Funny old world.

The daughter finishes school for the summer break next week, already! Feels like it'll be five minutes and then she'll be sitting GCSEs. Yep, having a kid seems to accelerate the aging process, certainly a lot more gray hairs.

Interest rates up again today. Seems our wonderful government is desperate to knock the housing market into a nosedive. Happy days ahead.

Discovered 24 just before leaving Thailand. Now on to box set season 4, almost finished. It does get a bit predictable at times but still got my attention. Great TV. Kiefer Sutherland is cool. He's also a Canadian/Brit. He was born in London, holds a British passport and lived and studied here. Must admit I assumed he was American from a Canadian family.

Anyone ever tried Second Life? Keep hearing about it on the radio.

Just drifting....

2007-06-28T06:38:00.000+07:00

Back from Germany and something from the inbox..

Germany was good. The daughter enjoyed seeing her old mate again and the two of them, three with the mate's little sister, ran wild all weekend.

Often there are women on the radio here in the UK moaning about looking after kids and especially when it comes to going on holiday, always worrying about what to take and how to entertain the kids. It really isn't that bad to be honest. Now having been clocking up miles with daddy-daughter travel over the last few years I can honestly say that I recommend it in some ways., it's no half a bad as people say it is.

We've made more flights from UK to Thailand than I care to mention, I've been to Laos with her, and Austria and Singapore. The two of us have driven through Malaysia, traveled overland from Istanbul to the UK and now driven from England to Germany and back. Did it drive me crazy? Not a bit. We had a great time. Drawing pad, pencils and crayons, book to read, cuddly toy or two, music CDs that she likes and the patience for hours of mindless conversations. Fortunately I haven't fallen into the trap of buying a seat-back DVD player yet.

Here's an amusing one from the inbox:

During a visit to a mental hospital recently, Harriet Harman asked the director what the criteria was, which defined if a patient should be institutionalized. Well replied the director, first we fill a bath with water, then we offer them: A teaspoon A teacup A bucket And ask them to empty the bath. Oh yes I understand said Harriet, obviously a normal person would use the bucket, as it's bigger than a teaspoon or teacup. No said the director. A normal person would pull the f###ing plug out. Do you want a bed near the window or the door ???

Back from Germany and something from the inbox..

2007-06-21T04:23:00.000+07:00

The comfort of technology and another trip...

Having one of those moments when everything just seems to fit into place. Perched comfortably on the sofa with laptop in hand and connected through wifi to the internet I'm busily planning an entire trip online whilst sipping a cold beer and watching an excellent film, Layer Cake. Sometimes I just love technology.

I'm taking the daughter to Germany for the weekend to visit one of her old mates from school in Bangkok who is back home for a month. The temptation of the budget airline was strong but I managed to resist and keep my new found environmental credentials intact, well almost. I guess train would have been the better option but more expensive, so we're driving.

From the comfort of the sofa with one eye on a great movie I can book and pay for the ferry crossing, get an exact route and map and print it all off, calculate the fuel and mileage, arrange and pay for European breakdown coverage, arrange and pay for European insurance, and sip an ice-cold Stella. Now all that's left is to battle through Friday afternoon traffic around London getting down to the ferry port, and that will be a challenge.

The comfort of technology and another trip...

2007-06-16T23:32:00.001+07:00

Meme time, MUSIC...

OK, so I've been tagged with one of these so now my turn to have a go. Having completed a short overland trip I found time, when the daughter was sleeping, to kick back and plug into the iPod. This got me thinking about music and travel. About music that you associate with journeys, music that is a must for a long journey, and generally, well, music. Here goes.

5 - You're going on a long journey, what five albums MUST you take with you? Albums that you need to listen to regularly.

4 - What four albums/songs do you most associate with a journey or travel experience? You know, the ones you listen to that instantly transport you back to a place and time.

3 - Your three favourite songs of all time?

2 - Two feel good songs, the ones that are guaranteed to lift the blues and put a smile on your face.

1 - Absolute, overall, undoubtedly the best album of all time, in your opinion.

5 - You're going on a long journey, what five albums MUST you take with you? Albums that you need to listen to regularly.

The Dreaming, Kate Bush
Protection, Massive Attack
Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
Tears for Fears Greatest Hits
Led Zeppelin 1 by Led Zeppelin

4 - What four albums/songs do you most associate with a journey or travel experience? You know, the ones you listen to that instantly transport you back to a place and time.

Give out but don't give up, Primal Scream - Working in Hong Kong early nineties, late nights walking home from Lan Kwai Fon (spelling) full of beer, happy and with this CD played real loud through the headphones.

Greatest Hits, Sade - Also early nineties but this time Samet Island, Thailand and being in love (sorry about this) and alfresco sex on an almost empty beach. Happy days!

This used to be my Playground, Madonna - At the end of my first backpacking journey I was on a plane to London from Hong Kong back in the days when planes were usually half empty and you could smoke. I remember being in a blissful drunken haze and drifting in and out of sleep listening to the in-flight music selection. For some reason everytime I drifted into conciousness this song seemed to be playing, must have heard it a dozen times. As a result whenever I hear it it takes me back to that moment. Again, happy days.

Angie, The Rolling Stones - Picture the scene: late at night in the dimly lit communal lounge of a backpacker hostel in Hong Kong 1992. Half a dozen or so strangers gathered around and high as kites on various substances. One guy, a slightly morose heroin addict starts telling his tale. The love of his life was in Taiwan. They had been together for many years and were deeply in love, they both had good jobs and life was sweet. But the relationship was a secret. Being Chinese she couldn't tell her father that she was hoping to marry her foreign boyfriend. Then he finds out. Our young hero is thrown on a plane by his girlfriend and flies to Hong Kong to excape possible death at the hands of the girl's father. He's waiting for her but she hasn't come. She isn't going to. He's given up work, started shooting heroin and his life is in a mess. The only thing he cares about is his distant girlfriend and his guitar. With tears in his eyes he starts playing and singing this classic Stones song on his guitar. It was a surreal moment and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. A moment that will stay with me forever and this song will always remind me of that night.

3 - Your three favourite songs of all time?

Didn't realise just how hard this one would be.

Thank You, Led Zeppelin
Gimme Shelter, The Rolling Stones
Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd

2 - Two feel good songs, the ones that are guaranteed to lift the blues and put a smile on your face.

Let me Entertain You, Robbie Williams
Lola, The Kinks

1 - Absolute, overall, undoubtedly the best album of all time, in your opinion.

In reality it would be a joint fist place with many others but if one album then:

Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan

Tags:

The Lost Boy - Interesting to see how he copes with this one, will dance music feature highly?
Lisa at Something Something - I enjoy her weekly eighties feature so it will be interesting to see what she comes up with here, sure to be good.
Sensei-Katana - I'm thinking heavy rock here as he heads for Afghanistan.
Escape England - No idea but look forward to seeing.
Lillian at My Thailand Diary - Mum of three, Swiss and living in Chiang Mai, I have no idea what to expect.

Meme time, MUSIC...

2007-06-15T16:08:00.000+07:00

Rain, trouble in Thailand and whatever happened to competitiveness in schools????

I was feeling glum last night due to the intense and prolonged rain. It poured it down all afternoon and most of the night. It was the full British rain experience; heavy thick dark clouds, continuous drizzle which regularly turned into great downpours and that feeling of overcast misery. Ah yes, the great British summer that I remember so fondly from my youth. Though to be honest, the weather has been fairly good so far so the odd lapse can be accepted I guess.

However, it seems that a drop of the falling wet stuff is small beer by comparison to what is happening over in Thailand (where I've recently returned from living for those who don't know). Outbreaks of malaria, missing billions, emergency decrees in Bangkok, fear of the entire education system in the south being closed down through violence and terror, and on and on... I must admit that life here does seem somewhat dull by comparison when the only thing I have to complain about is the rain and high prices.

The daughter has her first sports day coming up. I'm probably more excited about this than she is, as long as dads aren't expected to make fools of themselves in any way. I've been harbouring proud father images of the daughter winning a race or throwing a ball the furthest or generally winning some activity or other that three year olds do.

However, in this day and age of political correctness it seems that my dream will not come true. Having put her in a public (private for you non-Brits) girls school to escape the silliness of the education system here I find that it's even permeated into the private sector. Yes, they are creating a sports day that has neither winners nor losers. Just people taking part and being happy about the fact they are taking part. For fear of someone being disgruntled at not winning anything, and presumably then feeling that their human rights have been violated in some way, everyone will be a winner. Well yippee-dee! I haven't established whether or not this madness continues throughout the school yet, but if it does there will be a school change coming her way.

How will we ever beat the Aussies at any sport if we are going to take the competitiveness out of competitive sports?? When I was at school I won races and lost races (though lost more often than won, I seem to remember). In some things I'd either win or do respectably well and in others I was just a joke but it never bothered me. I couldn't stand football when I was a kid and reluctantly minced about the pitch like some kind of spanner that shouldn't have been there but I don't appear to be scarred by it in any way. The country is going completely bonkers! Can someone explain??

Rain, trouble in Thailand and whatever happened to competitiveness in schools????

2007-06-14T16:22:00.000+07:00

Cigarette Accessories Reviews..

I've been asked to link exchange with a blog about cigarettes and their accessories, the link is now on the blogroll and also here. Quite an interesting blog from a girl in the States mainly about cigarette accessories, rather than ciggies themselves.

Funny how even now I still find the itch to smoke when faced with things like this blog. I COULD MURDER A CIGARETTE!!!! And just to make it clear, I'm not endorsing smoking I just like the blog. Why are all the good and enjoyable things in life so bad for you????

Cigarette Accessories Reviews..

2007-06-14T05:22:00.000+07:00

Nostalgia...

Well, I guess it was going to happen eventually. I have had some thoughts and feelings that I suppose could be interpreted as missing Thailand. Shit, there goes, I said it. Never thought it would happen. It all started when I was having a clear out of old things and found a pile of old papers from my university days. It's not that I spent too much time looking through the papers but they reminded me of a time when I was very much in love with Thailand.

I found Thailand on a backpacking trip before I went to university, gap year I guess you call it. Anyway, it got under my skin, as did Asia in general, and I found it hard to get away. My summer holidays were a shade over four months which was great for going to either Hong Kong or Thailand, but I even managed to sneak off for the short Christmas and Easter holidays. I just couldn't keep away. I even opted for a project on the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong as an excuse to go there to research and take photos.

Thailand seemed somehow different in those days. I'm sure I've changed too but I can't help feeling that Thailand has definitely changed for the worse. Development was still in the early stages and people weren't quite so brash and ostentatiously vulgar as they are now. Many islands were still very much undeveloped and Bangkok's streets were thick with pollution and the air dense enough to cut with a knife (not that that is a good thing). I made some good friends who I still stay in touch with today.

On one occasion I fell in love with a young university student. It was love at first sight. I won't embarrass myself by going into too much detail but I got in her car, took one look at her and fell head over heels (she was a friend of a friend by the way). I remember she had a Utah Saints tape playing at the time which has meant that fly-by-night group will forever be in my mind (I think the track was 'Something good' - very catchy). She spoke excellent English, was gorgeous, knew about the world and western history, was educated, rich and reminded me of Kate Bush for some reason. Not quite sure which of those was the most important but we stayed together, often with more 6000miles between us, for about four years.

There were good times and bad times but generally I have some awesome memories of my early life in Bangkok and on Samet with her and I can't help getting bogged down with nostalgia whenever something reminds me of that time in my life. I hate the fact I'm getting old and would happily go back to being eighteen years old and doing it all again, even with mistakes and painful moments. It's not her that I pine for but my youth and probably the best years of my life. I'm older now and the world has changed. Gone are the days when I could spend twelve hours on a half empty plane, smoking like a chimney and getting quietly pissed whilst heading out east to do more of the same in a small hut on a paradise-like island for about a quid a night. Then I didn't worry about things like health and the environment and didn't have a single responsibility, just selfish desire for pleasure. God I hate getting old.

Sorry for the slightly morose post, I blame that recent burst of nostalgia and the more recent game of badminton followed by red wine which has left me feeling this way. So anyway, all this has got me feeling that I miss Thailand in some way. I hope this doesn't last, there's no way we can go back now, surely!

Nostalgia...

2007-06-10T05:33:00.000+07:00

Short update..

So, too long since I last tapped keys on this blog. The move back here has left me with virtually bugger all time. I just never seem to have the time to regularly read all the blogs on my list nor update my own.

Life goes on. Everything slowly coming together, well I hope so anyway. Not a huge amount to report other than daughter related things, work and house hunting. Oh, and trying to work out how to finance house purchase in the land of ever increasing house prices without selling the existing one.

Got this in the mail today so I thought I'd share it:

Larry gets home late one night and his wife, Linda, says, "Where in
the hell have you been?"
Larry replies, "I was out getting a tattoo."
"A tattoo?" she frowned. "What kind of tattoo did you get?"
"I got a Fifty Pound note on my privates," he said proudly.
"What the hell were you thinking?" she said, shaking her head in
disdain.
"Why on earth would an accountant get a Fifty Pound note tattooed on
his privates?"
"Well, for one...I like to watch my money grow.
Two...once in a while I like to play with my money.
Three...I like how money feels in my hand.
And, lastly...instead of you going out wasting money on shopping,
you can stay right here at home and blow Fifty quid anytime you want."
Larry is recovering nicely in hospital

That's it for now.

Short update..

2007-05-30T05:20:00.000+07:00

Trouble predicted in Bangkok...

Well, what's happening in Thailand. Is democracy about to take another hit? All sources seem to be pointing toward Wednesday as being a day of chaos and possibly violence. So much so that the government are drafting in 13,000 soldiers and police to keep things calm. Hmm, surely such a vast number will only have the opposite effect.

Oddly enough the "PM" is out of the country, despite warning about this date last week. So presumably in his absence responsibility for quelling any protests that turn violent (or ones that are forced into violence) will be at the door of the military. Worrying. For anyone who isn't familiar with the Thai way of quelling protests check out this video below (apologies to readers in Thailand as the great Thai nanny deems youtube.com unsuitable for your eyes). Watch it all and keep your eyes on the screen, it's shocking, really shocking.

With any luck the whole thing will pass without so much as a stone being thrown, but it seems that might be unlikely.

Trouble predicted in Bangkok...

2007-05-29T02:10:00.000+07:00

Single dad and nothing to write..

Being a single dad (temp) is taking its toll. Doing more work now and managing to balance fatherly duties with work - just about.

Surprisingly easy to slip back into life here in the UK. Apart from the fact it has rained for three days solid it's quite nice. Oddly enough even though everything here is stupidly expensive things somehow seem cheaper here, consumer goods and food at least.

Despite us Brits having a reputation for terrible food I really think the food here and the choice of food here is excellent. Certainly from the daughter's point of view things are better. The daughter has got her appetite back and eats much more than she ever did in Thailand. It's much easier to buy good quality food here and organic food is plentiful too. On top of that it's much easier for me as a vegetarian here.

Seems more difficult to find something to write about here. There are plenty of things that are every bit as shocking or interesting as there are in Thailand but somehow it seems less worthy of blog column inches. Or maybe it's just that I simply don't get as much free time to sit down and write whilst I'm here. Should eventually get more time to write as we get more settled here.

Single dad and nothing to write..

2007-05-16T04:54:00.000+07:00

Long time no post..

Seems like a lifetime since my last post. Slowly getting back into things here. Daughter in school and enjoying it. Normally 8am to 3.30pm but this week she's been staying on until 6pm, and enjoying it. I feel cruel making her stay so long but it's only temporary.

Now I'm completely a single parent (temporarily) the reality of it is sinking in. There's no problem but everything is a struggle. We're living quite a distance away from her school so I have lots of driving to do, something that will change when we find a new house. Balancing work and parenting is tricky. Even though the wife was only around for a few hours each day in Bangkok there were always some periods when I could take a backseat and relax. Now the pressure is all on me. Every time I try to do something for myself I'm wondering if I'm ignoring her and should I be spending more time with her to compensate for the lack of one parent?

Oddly enough I don't seem to be missing Thailand. We've been back here for two weeks now, I think, and I can't say there are any withdrawal symptoms. Enjoying not sweating all the time and not getting eaten by mozzies (and of course I can look at youtube here!!).

Here's something stupid from dear old nanny state UK. There's a law in place that bans smoking in the workplace. However a van used for commercial purpose, or a lorry, is seen as a workplace. So, you guessed it, someone in their own lorry or van who lights up a cigarette is actually breaking the law. Bonkers! And today a young child of about eight was arrested for throwing a piece of cucumber at a vehicle. The police said that they have a quota for the number of arrests they make so they are now having to target such cucumber throwing minors in order to reach that target. Ho-hum!

Long time no post..

2007-05-08T17:34:00.000+07:00

Thoughts for the day...

Should anyone be interested I've now added an email subscription link on the side. I must change the header at some point too if I'm going to continue blogging from here in England. I guess Life Out East is no longer completely accurate, maybe Life Back West or something like that.

First day at school seems to have gone reasonably well, I'm sure I was more nervous than the daughter. Horrible memories flooding back and flashbacks of early school days (shivers). She trotted off into her class to meet her new friends and seemed totally at ease. I guess I'm going to hear all about it later, and probably several times over knowing my daughter. Fingers crossed.

Now I find myself with some time on my hands - oh what luxury! I've got a shed load of things that need doing and at last I have a quiet environment in which to do them. Already clearing a backlog of work and still hours to go.

Now with my new found single parent status, albeit temporary, I have got to try and start earning an income and balance my role as a parent at the same time. It's early days but already I have a great deal of respect for single parents the world over. It's nice to be able to hand the reins over occasionally and close down for some rest. Can't imagine what it would be like with three kids!!

I've just had a work related conversation with someone in Thailand over the internet using Skype. Sound quality was lacking but it was completely free, don't you just love the internet? We have regular chats with the wife using the webcam too, so the daughter can chat on and on about The Little Mermaid or some Dr. Seuss character whilst I quietly wander into another room. I remember being impressed as a kid when I saw my first digital watch and then my first calculator watch but the daughter chats away on Skype whilst making faces at her mummy, all for free, from a distance of six and a half thousand miles and takes it all for granted. I feel old saying this but it really is a different world.

Thoughts for the day...

2007-05-07T15:58:00.000+07:00

English weather, daughter in school and Macau blog competition...

Weather here has been glorious since we got back, warm, dry and continual sunshine. However, normal English weather has resumed now and the drizzle has returned, along with grey sky and general feeling of depression. Hopefully just a blip.

The daughter starts her new school tomorrow. She's very excited about it and seemed to take to it well when she spent some time there last week. It's a girls school but they have a few boys for the first few years. She seemed quite happy about going to an all girls school. I wonder if opinion will change in a few years.

With daughter in school I will have more time to try and start earning money to pay for her education and all the other over-priced expenses that you get in "rip-off Britain". There was an article in the papers last week about how we Brits get charged way higher than our European counterparts and people in the US for services and products. Food came in as the only bonus for living here, food here is considered among the cheapest amongst comparable countries. Things like PS2 and Wii and all those other things I know very little about are about a few hundred pounds more expensive here. I guess when Gordon Brown takes the reins at No.10 we can expect prices to go even higher.

The ban on smoking in Pubs is coming in soon. I've had mixed feelings about this, reasoning that people should be allowed to make their own choices and maybe the government should try to act less like a nanny. However, on Saturday night I was in a busy pub with crap ventilation and it really was hard to breathe. Even some of the smokers I was with were complaining about the atmosphere. So maybe it's not a bad thing after all.

I've been contacted by a new blog from Macau, have a look here. They also run this blog competition on the link below.

English weather, daughter in school and Macau blog competition...

2007-05-05T07:46:00.000+07:00

Found this in my indox..

FEMALE GEOGRAPHY

- Between 18 and 20, a woman is like Afrca : wild, naturally beautiful and full of mysterious, fertile deltas.

- Between 21 and 30 ans, a woman is like America : well-developed and open for trade, especially for those with stacks of money.

- Between 31 and 35, a woman is like India : sensual, relaxed, in full bloom, aware of her beauty.

- Between 36 and 40, a woman is like France : deliciously mature, still a pleasant destination to visit.

- Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Yugoslavia : a lost war, haunted by the mistakes of the past. Major reconstruction work is the only answer.

- Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Russia : vast, with undefined frontier. The cold climate puts off any potential visitors.

- Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Mongolia : a glorious past, great conquests, but without a future.

- After 70, a woman is like Afghanistan : many know its whereabouts, but no-one dares to venture there…

MALE GEOGRAPHY

- Between 15 and 70, a man is like the USA : ruled by a dick…

Found this in my indox..

2007-05-03T03:52:00.000+07:00

Costs and how green was the trip..

The staff at www.climatecare.org have very kindly calculated the carbon emissions for our trip. Had we gone by plane we would have contributed 0.55 tonnes of pollution whereas our route and mode of transport totalled up to 0.1 tonnes, a saving of 0.4 tonnes of CO2. I feel good!

To be honest it was a great deal more pleasurable than sitting cramped inside an aircraft even if it did take several days as opposed to several hours and cost a little bit more. We had some spare time and the result was that we got to see the countries rather than flying over them. If needed it would be possible to do the whole journey in a little over two days and much cheaper. We were quoted some excellent rates for coach travel and there are almost direct links between London and Istanbul, and many of the other countries in the region, and coach tends to be a fraction of the cost of rail.

Total cost of the transport for our trip was just over GBP£400 which is about the same as both of us flying back with BA. Obviously there's three night's accommodation to factor in and various other costs which notch the total bill up above the cost of flying but we got a lot more from the journey than we would have had we flown.

Check out this shop below. I noticed this in Istanbul, the guy clearly isn't confident about the quality of the food he sells.

Costs and how green was the trip..

2007-05-02T04:46:00.000+07:00

2007-05-01T02:58:00.000+07:00

Vienna to home, via Paris..

We had just enough time for a shower at the train station (3 euros) and some breakfast before the train out. We managed to get a train to Paris with one change at Munich first and a 2130hrs arrival in Paris.

This being our first daytime journey I wasn't looking forward to the prospect of more than twelve hours on the train. As it happened it all went very well. The train had an excellent restaurant carriage and we had enough books and coloured pens to entertain the daughter throughout the journey.

Just before we crossed the border into France a group of French school children in their teens joined us and suddenly the carriage was alive with shouting and kids running around and smoking, despite it being a no smoking carriage. Their teachers did nothing to stop them and eventually one of the train guards came and suggested we move in order to get more peace.

Stupidly we had nowhere to stay in Paris as I hadn't managed to find anywhere online. The one place I did find sounded excellent but when I finally remembered to call and book they were full. For the first time during the journey I resorted to the Lonely Planet Europe guide to find somewhere to stay. I'd been using it for finding where to go and things to see but wanted to try to arrange all accommodation and transport via the internet.

Off we trotted to the Nevers Hotel on Malta Street having called and booked a room. Half an hour later we managed to find the place only to find they'd decided to let someone else have the room, which was their last. Utterly pissed off and trying to explain it to the daughter who was tired and making every question begin with "why", we wandered down the road and managed to get the last room available at Hotel Notra Dame.

It was the smallest room we'd been in so far and had a window on to a small internal square with windows to about thirty other rooms on about seven floors, all with their windows open. This internal void acted as a echo chamber and meant we could listen to several conversations, most noticeably a couple of English girls fresh in from a night out who wanted to go over their entire evening of fun again.

Paris was mecca for my daughter. She's a huge fan of all things French and wants to learn French, possibly inspired by her art teacher in Bangkok who is French. From the moment we sat down for breakfast at 0700hrs she began saying "Bonjour" to everyone and practicing her small French vocabulary. And she made the most of her new found passion for croissants.

We were only going to be in Paris for the day so we walked around a bit and then headed for the Eiffel Tower. Having bought her a pink "Paris, France" sweatshirt we bought our tickets and headed up to the top. I thought she'd be terrified but she wandered around the top without a care in the world and looked out on to Paris enthralled and kept saying that she could see "all of Paris from here."

We did more mooching and then had lunch and tried to find our way back to the UK. Reluctantly I decided to go for the Eurostar under the tunnel. Ferry would have been cheaper but with getting to the port and then getting up to London too it would have taken so much longer. So, we had our first trip on the tunnel which is excellent but pricey.

Two and a half hours after leaving Paris we were in Waterloo station in London and then got an underground connection to Paddington for our train back home. Having come all the way from Istanbul by train and bus and covering nearly two thousand miles without putting a foot wrong we managed to get on the wrong train and headed off down to Somerset rather than the West Midlands. In my defense we got the right platform but there were two trains on the same platform and of course I chose the wrong train. Arghhh!.

Vienna to home, via Paris..

2007-04-30T04:00:00.000+07:00

Serbia, through Hungary to Austria..

If I thought Sophia was dull it was nothing compared to Belgrade. To be fair Belgrade has a reputation for having a seriously good nightlife but a lone parent with a three year old tends to miss out on such things.

Armed with a fistful of Bulgarian lira I tried to change them at the exchange office in Belgrade train station only to discover that the only place for Bulgarian currency in Serbia is in the toilet. They wouldn't touch it. I wasn't the only one facing this problem, I spoke to some young Bulgarian backpackers who were facing the same situation.

A taxi driver appeared and tried to offer the two of us help. He told us that the closest ATM was a good taxi ride away, something the exchange office confirmed, but he just happened to have a bunch of euros and a brother in Bulgaria who he could pass the lira on to. Reluctantly I eventually agreed to change 70euros worth of lira for 55 euros. The young Bulgarians did likewise.

Afterwards we discovered that there was in fact an ATM in a different building in the station so we could only assume that it was a well organised little scam involving the currency exchange guys. Though it is genuine about the lira being comparable to toilet paper in Serbia, they won't touch it.

After "breakfast" in one of the station cafes we booked the luggage into the left luggage office and set off into Belgrade for a mooch. It didn't take long to realise that it's really not a city for kids. Not only is it not possible to escape the cigarette smoke, even the streets are thick with it, but there is just nothing for a young child.

Among the bland concrete buildings there are one or two interesting ones and, surprisingly, there are still some bomb damaged buildings that seem to have been left just as they were when they were hit by NATO missiles. After taking a few pics of one such building i asked a group of soldiers what the damage was caused by. One of them who could speak a little English pointed at me and said, "Your NATO did this." What do you say to that? The first thing I could think of was, "Bit of a mess that, thought you'd have cleaned it up by now." I did say it with a smile and very tongue in cheek but they didn't seem to find it amusing and just looked very serious said goodbye and wished me "good luck."

It didn't take long to realise that this was another place that we didn't want to stay in for too long. I think walking past yet another sex shop near the train station that had a life sized blow-up doll of what looked to be a child probably did it for me to be honest. So, where next?

Options open were bus or train to Vienna, train to Zagreb, then Llubjana and across to Venice, or a more expensive train ride straight through to Paris after a change in Zagreb. The daughter and I did Vienna the other year and after a fairly serious conversation for a three year old we concluded that now she'd eaten Turkish delight in Turkey all she wanted was France. As much as I would have liked to mooch about in Croatia or Slovenia it didn't seem fair to be dragging the daughter around yet more places that had little amusement for her.

In the end and after much consideration we bought a coach ticket for the overnight train to Vienna, going through Hungary. From there we'd try and get to Paris by whatever means we could. The 1640hrs coach was due to get in to Vienna at about 0230hrs the following morning which was a worry as I couldn't imagine we'd be able to do much until at least 0700hrs.

The coach out took us through the flat lands of northern Serbia towards the Hungarian border. Once again at the border we were presented with yet another beautiful immigration official sadly from the same charm school as the last one. As with the first official this one too seem concerned about a lone man and a child and actually took my passport from me which set the daughter off in tears. I could feel the glare of the rest of the passengers on me and could only imagine what they were thinking. We were the only non Austrian or Serbian passengers on the bus.

Eventually I got my passport thrust back in my hand and it looked like we could go. But no. Instead we were ordered off the coach and told to take ALL our belongings into a holding room. Then we were each ordered to open all our luggage, one at a time, in front of all the other passengers. The daughter began crying and wanted both the loo and a drink. Request denied.
One tobacco smuggler was found, a middle aged Austrian woman.

Having repacked our luggage we had to wait whilst the coach was given the once over, and under and then it was time to move. Though sadly only to a small inn a few miles up the road whilst we waited for our smuggler friend to negotiate with the officials. There followed two hours in a smoke filled inn with Serbs, Austrians and Hungarians watching Man United and AC Milan battle it out. As a Newcastle fan they just couldn't understand my lack of passion for the Man U, though I confess I was secretly gunning for them on this occasion.

With smuggler now with us again we made a start into Hungary, only to be pulled again by the police for yet another search. Luckily this was more a search of the drivers than us. And then again about an hour from the Austrian border we got a full shake down on the side of the road which involved pulling up floors and inserting small cameras into the ventilation system. I'm sure the two drivers had something to hide and were the real target but maybe they'd been warned this time. Eventually we made it into Austria several hours late.

Serbia, through Hungary to Austria..

2007-04-29T02:21:00.000+07:00

Bulgaria to Serbia...

A day in Sophia was more than enough for the daughter. Having viewed all the graffiti that seems to plague just about every part of the city and covers everything from historical monuments to kids' playgrounds to public buildings and roads, and visited the main attractions in the city we booked an overnight train to Belgrade in Serbia.

Graffiti on artwork in kids' playground

Giant Easter eggs in Sophia

One shocking thing in Sophia was the sex shops. It wasn't the fact that were quite a number of them but their location. We'd stopped to browse the window of a toy shop and the daughter was telling me about some cartoon character or other in the shop window when my eyes wandered through the open door of the shop next to the toy shop. It was one of those situations where you have to do a double take. In full view from where we were standing was the biggest array of sex aids I've ever seen, and right next to the entrance of a perfectly innocent toy shop. Luckily I managed to steer the daughter past this without any embarrassing questions.

Alexander Nevski Church

St Nikolai Russian Church

We managed to get shafted at one point. We'd been to the train station in the afternoon to book a ticket. The taxi there was about 3.5lira. Once we'd booked the tickets we grabbed a taxi back to get our luggage. The meter started at 6lira and was racking up the numbers faster than I could count them. I looked around for an explanation. Was I reading the meter wrong? Nope, we were being scammed.

I mentioned it to the driver, a huge unshaven guy who looked something like a super-sized version of Bob Hoskins chewing on a wasp, and he immediately got aggressive and said we could get out. We did. After about a quarter of the journey we'd racked up a fare of five times what it cost in the opposite direction. We both knew he'd scammed us but what could I do? There were no police about, for all the good they would have done us, and there was no way I was going to start jiving on the streets with this monster, he'd have torn me apart. So, I just had to accept the fact we'd been fleeced and move on. Oh yes, it was a very bitter taste.

The train was basic to say the least and our compartment was like an oven. Just as I'd put the daughter on her bed the guard came in with two enormous, thick, heavy blankets of the kind you'd expect to see Russian soldiers in Siberia using. I thanked him but couldn't see why we'd need them. Two hours later I was praying that the guard would bring more blankets, it was bloody freezing.

I was first made aware of the fact we were crossing into Serbia when I was awoken by a border official ripping the door open and shouting at me. I'd locked the door and put the "safety latch" on, and then added an extra measure which meant he could open the door but couldn't actually get inside. Quickly I jumped from my bed, tried to wake myself up and opened the door. He started barking at me, "Sprechen sie Deutsches, sprechen sie Deutsches?" I shrugged and said I was English and he wandered in to the room, blew smoke from his cigarette all over my sleeping daughter and buggered off.

A few minutes later and another goon appeared and demanded to see our passports. Bulgaria now being part of Europe they don't bother stamping other EU passports so he just checked them over and left.

Now it was the turn of the Serbians. The Serbian immigration officer was a drop dead gorgeous woman with a stone cold expression who looked like she hadn't smiled in twenty years. Still, she really was the best looking immigration officer I've ever seen. She looked over the passports and then began examining my daughter's and then comparing her three month old face in the picture with her now nearly four year old sleeping self. She wasn't happy. I quickly pulled out my daughter's Thai passport which has a much more recent picture on it as proof of her identity. This helped establish her identity but then made her question why I was entering Serbia with a young girl, without her mother, heading for the UK when the mother was in Thailand. She made me feel like I was guilty of something just by the way she stared at me. She wrote down my details from the passport, threw the passports at me and told me that she would be "making a check" of me. Then two more officials came in, both smoking and both feeling the need to lean over my daughter and blow smoke at her. Finally it was over, we'd arrived in Serbia.

About an hour before we pulled into Belgrade station there was a commotion out in the corridor and then banging on our door. It was an Asian guy from the room next door, the only other non-local on the train, and the train guard. During the night someone had broken into his room, removed his bags, then removed all his money and valuables and left the bags in an empty compartment. They wanted to know if I'd had anything stolen. Nope.

The Asian guy was getting really pissed at the guard and started to lay the blame in his direction which I didn't think was a very wise thing to be doing. The guard laughed and wandered off singing to himself while the Asian guy started shouting that he was going to get the police involved. Though what he expected them to do is another matter.

Welcome to Belgrade.

Bulgaria to Serbia...

2007-04-27T16:40:00.000+07:00

Back in England's green and pleasant land...

Arrived back in the UK last night. Having travelled several thousand miles by train and bus through foreign lands and not putting a foot wrong we managed to get on the wrong train at Paddington and were nearly in Somerset before I realised. Splendid! We wanted platform eight and we got on the train on platform eight. However, there were two trains on platform eight and we managed to get the wrong one.

Anyway, managed to get the situation sorted and after several changes we ended up home again. Now got to download all remaining images etc onto the laptop and then make a serious post about it all.

Back in England's green and pleasant land...

2007-04-25T12:49:00.000+07:00

Quick post

Hectic and no access to internet. Travelled up thruogh Serbia, through Hungary and now in Vienna waiting for train to Paris.

No time to write proper post. In brief; smugglers on coach got arrested in Hungary, coach stopped and everyone searched three times, my passport was taken away for check twice because my daughter doesn't look like her passport photo (she was three months old then) and finally we made it hours late.

Quick post

2007-04-23T23:17:00.000+07:00

Leaving Bulgaria and pictures from Istanbul...

Leaving for Belgrade in Serbia this evening. Should be interesting if nothing else. Probably won't be staying there, just try and move straight on towards Paris, the daughter really wants Paris and keeps trying out her limited French vocab. I can't imagine there's much to hold the attention of a three year old in Belgrade anyway.

Here are a few shots from our time in Istanbul. Just random ones from the hard-drive

Woman cooking on the street

Detail inside Aya Sofya

Also inside Aya Sofya

Chestnut vendor

Couple in the park

View from hotel window over the Bosphorus

Leaving Bulgaria and pictures from Istanbul...

2007-04-23T18:23:00.000+07:00

Blogging from ...... Sofia, Bulgaria..

The overnight bus was torture. The daughter has a small jacket but I'm still, having expected more from the European climate, in tropics issue jeans and t-shirt. To be short the border crossing was ball freezing cold. A nice Bulgarian woman gave me her coat to wrap around the daughter whilst we stood shivering in the cold. The rest of the passengers on the bus were locals except us and they were all suitably prepared wearing half a sheep a piece. Dumb Englishman and his poor daughter!

Sofia, Sofia, Sofia! I'm tempted to use just a two word description for Sofia (apologies to any Bulgarians reading): f#@%*$@ depressing!! But I won't. That was my first impression. However, things have changed since I discovered that not all the buildings in Sofia have been defaced by mindless graffiti and not all it's inhabitants have been turned to stone by Medusa. Just 80% in both cases.

Despite my feeling better about the place I still want to leave ASAP as there seems no point in lingering any longer. Off to the train station we go.

Taxis and food are cheap. There's a chain of restaurants in town called Happy, and it is. Not just because the food is delicious, or because it is excellent value for money, but because they seem to hire stunningly attractive girls as waitresses which really does make the dining experience a Happy one.

More later when we decide where we can go.

Blogging from ...... Sofia, Bulgaria..

2007-04-22T15:45:00.000+07:00

Blogging from Istanbul...

Still can't get the b@#£$* pics to upload, try again later.

We're leaving tonight for Sofia in Bulgaria. Should be interesting.

Blogging from Istanbul...

2007-04-22T10:53:00.000+07:00

Blogging from ... Istanbul...

I wouldn't say quite love at first sight but Istanbul is definitely somewhere that has my eye. The history, the architecture, the magnificent old markets, the smell of roasting chestnuts on the street, the chaos and the people all make it interesting and quite extraordinary. Last night I even considered ditching the overland route back home and just hiring a car and exploring Turkey, then flying back. But no, business as planned.

The daughter seems happy here, if a little uncomfortable at times. She's getting far too much attention from everyone and has free gifts from strangers, offers of dining for free in restaurants and too many people pawing her and generally making her feel agitated. As an over protective dad I watch cautiously trying to work out the scam angle but so far it just seems like genuine friendliness. Still, the guard remains up.

Yesterday we walked and looked around Sultanamhet, the old town. The parks were full of families and so many young couples being very open about their courtship, which seems surprising in a Muslim country. We wandered around Hagai Sophia from the outside as there wasn't enough time to do it justice last night, that's on the cards for this morning after breakfast and ticket purchase at the train station.

We hit the famous Grand Bizarre as it was closing, a shoppers paradise. An undercover maze of shops and stalls with a very eastern feel the wife would have been in heaven there. After possibly the best Indian meal I've had (yeah I know, Indian food in Turkey but the daughter wanted nan bread so that was where we ended up) we managed to get completely lost. As light was fading we stumbled from street to street in vain and totally unaware that we were, in fact, walking in the opposite direction.

"Daddy, if we're lost will we have to sleep on the street?"She's a darling, she took it all well and seemed to think it was all good fun. "If I sleep on the street will I get squished by a car?" I assured her that we wouldn't be sleeping alfresco and daddy would eventually find the hotel for her, which he dutifully did.

Well, now time to go. The sun has arisen over the Bosphorus and the mouth to the Sea of Marmara whilst I was writing and breakfast is ready to be served so I must move from my little perch by the window and leave this fantastic view. I'll try and upload some pictures later but the connection is too slow at the moment and I haven't the time to sit and wait. Still not sure which country to hit next. Coming soon...

Blogging from ... Istanbul...

2007-04-21T18:26:00.000+07:00

Arrived in Istanbul...

So, here we are in Istanbul. The sun is shining and it's very cool and refreshing. I can see the sea from our hotel room on the west side of Istanbul, looking across to the east side.

For a city with near on twenty million people it seems incredibly quiet. There are people about but not as bustling as London or Bangkok. Everybody seems very friendly so far and the daughter is getting a lot of attention on the street from just about everyone we pass.

We're aiming to stay until tomorrow and then move on but we haven't decided where to go yet, hopefully get that sorted in the next few hours. Too tired to write much now, been walking since we got here. Off to get thirty minutes sleep and then try and hit Hagia Sofia. I'll try and post some pics later.

Arrived in Istanbul...

2007-04-20T07:38:00.000+07:00

No really, I am going..

I was going to finish my stink in Thailand with an account of the trip to Luang Prabang, Laos pt2 but I haven't got the time to do it. That will have to wait.

I have to share one piece of typically Thai news from the Bangkok Post. The government, it seems, has discovered the source of its problems - a lack of Feng Shui. Yes, the boys at government house have called in the Feng Shui guys to give them a bit of luck. Everything from new cat's eyes in the road outside to fountains and "auspiciously" (oh how the Bangkok Post does love this word) named pot plants are being put in place. They're also removing pictures of previous PMs. It's the end of my time here so I don't want to be harsh but come on, really? This is worrying!

And finally, a few photos.

Wat Arun at night, taken from a river cruiser last week.

Girls performing traditional Thai music by the river.

Does anyone know what laid these eggs? The bird made a nest in a dying hanging basket outside my office window, so we now have to keep a basket of near dead petunias up until the eggs have hatched. I know very little about bird types. She sits on these regularly and I'm guessing they're due to hatch fairly soon. Sadly the daughter won't be here to see the chicks.

No really, I am going..

2007-04-19T20:58:00.000+07:00

Just hours to go now..

The daughter had her last afternoon of play with her best buddy today, there were tears. They were making lots of arrangements to visit each other, which if were to be carried out as they were reeling them off would probably bankrupt her buddy's parents and me too. And yes, I feel pretty guilty about this sad parting.

I've got some serious planning to do in a few short hours. Need to firm the route and try to book accommodation online. Have done for Istanbul but still haven't confirmed anything further. Any blogger from Romania, Greece, Bulgaria or France please advise. I'm trying to do the whole trip completely online and without planes (well, after Istanbul anyway). The PDA mobile is slowly filling with various files and details to act like an on the go guide book, batteries are charged but I haven't made a start on packing.

Watching the third season of 24 last night, the last four hours, and just an hour and a half from the end the DVD had a problem. So having sat through twenty-three and a half hours I don't know what happened. I could fill the page with expletives at this point.

The Land Rover is still in my hands, so to speak. I'm not going to sell it, much to the annoyance of the wife. The daughter is completely in love with it (she christened it Tindy after we got it) and has begged me to keep it for when we come here on holiday. I wonder if Land Rover know how appealing their vehicles are to three year olds.

I have a plan. Maybe next year, funds permitting, we'll get it to a garage for a complete makeover. I've had a quote for most of the work and it won't be tooooo much. Alter the bodywork slightly, new diesel engine, new shocks/suspension, better sealing all round, new more efficient air-con and a re-spray and it will look a lot less like a thirty-three year old shed. The daughter and I have this idea of driving it back to England then - something that will surely precipitate a divorce in our house.

Just hours to go now..

2007-04-19T10:44:00.000+07:00

Nearly time to move..

That's it, time's up. Just enough time for a couple of posts before we start our meandering back to old England. As it stands the route looks like being Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France and then England. However, things remain fluid and that route might change once we get going.

There were some last minute nerves yesterday an hour before the shipping company came to collect our things. I suddenly started to seriously question the sanity of going back and my finger was poised on the call button of my mobile for some time whilst I ran everything through my mind. In the end they arrived early and so we just went with it. Maybe it's going to be a huge mistake that I'll regret but how can you tell.

The daughter said this morning that she misses her gran in England and she can't wait to see her again. At which point I realised the one I miss most is in fact our dog. He was going to join us but I didn't want him to come out until we were absolutely sure we were here for the long haul. As it has happened it was a good job we didn't rush him out here otherwise he'd be facing a long wait in quarantine on his return.

Anyway, many goodbyes to make.

Nearly time to move..

2007-04-17T18:45:00.000+07:00

Meme..

I've never done one of these meme things before but here goes. I was tagged on one by Liza at somethingsomething so I thought I'd give it a go.

Name five things you love in your new country:

The heat (sometimes)
The Tamarind Cafe vegetarian restaurant.
Delicious pineapple.
Can do attitude of educated Thais.
The beaches.

Name four things that you miss from your native country.

TV - sad, I know.
Variations in the weather.
Good manners - yep, some people in the UK still have them.
The food - ok, stop laughing!

Name three things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:

Tendency of everyone to put their heads in the sand when faced with a problem.
Sticky humidity of Bangkok. Heat is one thing but this close stickiness gets me down.
The government, Thai police, corruption, racism of locals towards just about everyone else, lack of consideration for the environment, and on and on......

Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:

Can't get Shredded Wheat!! This is serious.
That they are still having military coups whenever they have a political problem.

Name one thing that you would miss terribly in your new country, if you had to leave it:

Close proximity to wonderful beaches (there are some left here). I am leaving and I miss them already.

Tagging:

MyThailandDiary

The Lost Boy

Moving to/Living in Argentina

Care for Dogs Diary

Meme..

2007-04-16T09:25:00.000+07:00

Kayaking in the park and holiday death count good..

The novelty of getting soaked and doing the soaking wore off pretty quickly, like an hour or so after it started. Been avoiding the water throwing gangs since then.

Managed to spend the afternoon in a park yesterday, hired a boat and all that kind of thing. Out on the lake we heard shouting and crying from a boat nearby. There was a mother and three kids, the oldest of which was shouting to us asking for help. He was telling anyone who'd listen that his mother was stupid and couldn't row the kayak.

That's her, laughing as he throws another insult

The wife got angry with him for his lack of respect for his mother. The mother just laughed as he insulted her for her incompetence but then he made no effort to do anything to help, except cause a scene. What did I do? Got my camera out and took a few pics of them.

Time is now running out, the clock is ticking and still I haven't finished packing everything for the shipping guys. I seem to have a thousand and one things to do and just can't seem to get around to doing them.

I recently discovered 24. It's been on TV back home for some time but I never bothered watching it, even though I'm quite a fan of Kiefer Sutherland. A friend lent me several series on DVD which I'm trying to plough through before I leave. It's addictive viewing. Typically American TV with very similar story lines: world's in trouble, Jack Bauer offers himself as a sacrifice to save the world, his daughter gets kidnapped every five minutes and nobody in the intelligence service and government can ever be trusted. Despite that it's cracking action TV. Just wish I'd bothered to watch it sooner.

Sun's shining, rains have stopped and it's another scorcher. The holiday period death count now touching 300. Sounds a lot but it looks like the final score will be quite an improvement on previous years.

Kayaking in the park and holiday death count good..

2007-04-14T17:38:00.000+07:00

Songkran is here, Happy New Year to Thailand!!

Samakee Road was heaving. Every twenty metres or so a gang on each side of the road, adults and kids, armed with buckets, hose pipes, tubs, water guns and white powder. Open backed trucks crammed with revelers armed to the teeth with water dispensing devices were in full battle with the street gangs. Traffic was moving slow, cars being forced to stop and accept a good dose of water and powder.

We pulled up and resisted the invitation to open the windows and get drenched as the first gang emptied its receptacles on the car and smeared white hands on the windows and bodywork. Their ammunition spent I opened the window - payback time. The advantage of tinted windows meaning they hadn't seen the pump action three litre water gun I was holding in the foot well. The window lowered enough to get the barrel out and then SPLAT! Half a dozen soaked. Success.

Or so I'd thought. A small kid I'd not noticed still had half a bucket of water at the ready and try as I might I couldn't get the gun back in and the window up before most of his offering came rushing through the gap. We were soaked!

And so it goes. The annual Songkran festival is upon us and in full swing. For five days the entire nation is one giant water fight. If you leave your home there's no escaping it. They're everywhere and it's all in good humour. The biggest celebration in Bangkok is down at Khao San Road where thousands of foreigners and Thais get stuck in to it with all manner of water guns and buckets.

Sadly the death toll for this holiday is usually quite high. Last year the death toll for the five day holiday was something like 500, down from previous years. From Wednesday to this morning 100 people had lost their lives, mainly through road and drink related accidents.

Songkran is here, Happy New Year to Thailand!!

2007-04-12T20:55:00.000+07:00

Trip to Laos - Vientiane..

The capital, Vientiane, is small and quiet and seems to amble along at its own leisurely pace. Asia and Europe mix here. Freshly baked French bread is sold on the streets in the morning beside noodle stalls. Pavements are level and clean and the streets buzz to the sound of the distinctive three wheeled tuk-tuk, that differs from its Thai counterpart in that the driver is perched high on the front end of a motorbike.

Vientiane is a walkers dream. The climate is perfect for walking and the city picturesque enough to make it interesting, with buildings a mix of temples, old colonial and more recent communist carbuncles. Art galleries, European eateries and coffee shops are plentiful and there's a pleasant absence of western fast food conveniences: the dreaded McClown, Colonel "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" Sanders and Starbucks have yet to pollute the environment with their presence.

Vientiane’s two centre pieces are That Luang and Patuxai (literally meaning Gate of Triumph). That Luang dates back to the mid 1500s and was built on the site of an existing Khmer temple and is clearly the main tourist attraction in town. Locals believe that the Khmer temple was itself built on the site of an even older temple that dated back to the 3rd century Mauryan Empire(from India) and actually contains relics of the Buddha. That Luang was destroyed by the Thais in the 19th century and then fully restored to its original condition.

Patuxai was built with money donated by the US for a new airport, which Laos instead used to build this monument to commemorate the struggle and victory for independence from France. And yes, it does resemble the Arc de Triomphe. Given the detestation caused in Laos by US bombing you can't help feeling that there's some justification for them getting one over on Uncle Sam when they got the chance.

Unlike in Bangkok an evening stroll by the river is a pleasant experience. The evening air is cool and there's a distinct lack of mosquitoes in the air (or at least there was when we were there) which makes dining alfresco an inviting option. And there's no lack of choice of what to eat either, from local cuisine through French, Indian and Italian to Vietnamese.

We stayed at La Villa Manoly just off Setthatitrat Road. It's in a quiet residential setting, walking distance from a market and the oldest complete Laos temple, Wat Sisaket. This renovated French mansion has a swimming pool set in the gardens and offers tasteful rooms with private bathrooms, balcony, and a fridge for US$25 a night (rates vary depending on the room).

I've read many times that you should skip Vientiane altogether and head straight for Luang Prabang. Having visited both now I disagree. Sure Luang Prabang is streets ahead of Vientiane in so many ways but I don't think it would be good to dismiss Vientiane altogether. It's a nice city and definitely worth a look.

What does take some time getting used to is the three currency system that seems evident in Laos. Often your bill for a meal or drink will arrive with the price in Laos kip, US dollars and Thai baht. Even negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers is a multi-currency affair. My advice is to get clued up on the exchange rates and equivalent values in all three currencies and carry plenty of 20 baht notes, deals can be had. One tuk-tuk driver would accept a kip less than 20,000 for a ride but then snapped the wife's hand off when she offered him 40 baht, which is the equivalent to 11,000 kip.

With only a few days to spare we opted for flight rather than road as a way to Luang Prabang. 30 minute flight as opposed to 12 hours in a bus meant that my green travel ideals had to take a back seat. The flight cost just over US$100 per person with Laos Air on one of their small MA60s. No complaints about Laos Air either, no bad from what I experienced.

More from Luang Prabang later.

Trip to Laos - Vientiane..

2007-04-12T09:36:00.000+07:00

Packing to go and getting to Laos...

Back from Laos and now in a mad rush to say all the goodbyes and pack everything ready for shipping. The house is starting to resemble an indoor market with boxes and packing everywhere and the floor littered with various objects and items.

We're having a harsh de-clutter at the same time. So much junk that really isn't worth carting all the way back home. The daughter and the wife are the biggest collectors of junk. Personally I'm into minimalism and other than clothes have very little apart from books, techie gadgets and DVDs. As fast as I fill bags with unused toys and clothes for the local orphanage the daughter empties them, insisting that this little plastic toy that doesn't work is really something that she "needs". How is it that 3 year olds don't actually want or prefer things, they need them.

Having looked into the options for getting to Laos from Bangkok we opted for overnight train. Cheaper than air, more interesting, and environmentally streets ahead of any airline option it was a good choice. 1st class sleeper to Nong Khai was 1,200 baht per adult, kids go free. For that we had our own air-con compartment with two beds, a sink and a small amount of space. Breakfast and dinner can be ordered in advance and delivered at a pre-arranged time, though I wouldn't recommend the food on the train unless you're really desperate.

Vientiane isn't much to look at. Basic, dusty and geared up for the cross border traffic and trade that is clearly a big part of local life. The most disticntive things about Nong Khai was the tuk-tuks, the distinctive Laos tuk-tuk with the driver perched high up on the front half of a motorbike. They don't have the speed of the Bangkok tuk-tuk and certainly didn't feel anywhere near as safe, which is worrying.

1st class compartment

Nong Khai

We crossed the 2km friendship bridge in a rickety old bus, crammed against what felt like half the population of Thailand. Checking in to Laos was frustrating. The queues at immigration were long and painfully slow moving and the guys processing the visa on arrival decided to down tools for a lunch break just as we arrived. But then we made it into the former Land of a Million Elephants (Lan Xang), as it was prior to being renamed Laos.

The taxi ride into town was interesting. The driver was really friendly, like pretty much all Laotians we met, and happily chatted to us about Vientiane and handed some good advice about what to see and prices for various things. The taxi was reminiscent of one I went in in Rangoon: Japanese, right hand drive in a left hand drive country, and held together by rust and dirt.

Train: 1,200 baht per adult
Visa on arrival for UK passport: US$35
Entrance fee: 10 baht
Taxi to downtown Vientiane: 300 baht

More about Laos to come.

Packing to go and getting to Laos...

2007-04-10T10:08:00.000+07:00

Back from Laos and still no YouTube...

Back from Laos and head still rocking from the train journey. I know the train to the north is hellishly long compared to air travel but if you can get the first class sleeper (there aren't many) I personally think it's better than flying. Cheaper, more environmentally friendly and more enjoyable than squeezing into a tiny seat on a plane.

Will post more and some pics when I get my head together and sort myself out.

I see the great YouTube debate is still raging. Having been out of the country and had chance to access the controversial YouTube I checked out the clips that are causing such a stir. One is just silly and not in the slightest bit offensive and the other one is clearly someone angry and making a point by being insulting. I can see why the more sensitive Thais would be offended by the latter but not the former, it's just someone making a point. Having a quick browse through the comments I noticed that most of the comments I saw were in fact in support of the video posters and against Thailand and its lack of freedom, contrary to what has been said here in Thailand.

As many have already said, if they hadn't caused such a fuss the original videos would have simply vanished without a trace and no one would have need to bother about it. The Thai government seems to have done a great job of advertising those videos and encouraged more. Thailand seems to forget that in other parts of the world people are free to mock and criticize at will and when that freedom is checked they will do it all the more. Respect can quickly turn to derision.

More later.

Back from Laos and still no YouTube...

2007-04-07T13:38:00.000+07:00

In Laos PDR

No posting for a while as I'm in Laos. Forgot to mention. Came here Thursday and should be back next week. First impression - really good!! Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Vientiane sooo quiet. On the way to Luang Prabang later today.

In Laos PDR

2007-04-05T09:00:00.000+07:00

YouTube gone....

It's official, YouTube is banned in Thailand and it's caused quite a stir.

According to the BBC:

the site was banned after a 44-second film showing graffiti over the king's face was aired.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 79, is revered and it is forbidden to insult him.

The minister said a ban came after the Thai government asked YouTube's owner Google to remove it and they declined.

The contentious film also shows feet being placed over the king's face - an offensive act to Thais, who consider feet dirty.

Anyone who knows anything about Thailand will be aware of how seriously something like this will be taken here but to ban the whole YouTube site seems a tad excessive. Opinion is mixed. Matt makes a good argument against the banning here, some others are in favour of the banning including newbie Andrew here.

I fully appreciate why the authorities are offended by such a posting and I'm sure within a few days there will be protests outside the US embassy demanding that YouTube capitulates. However, how can this level of censorship ever be justified in a country that claims democratic status and is proud of its freedom of speech?

The internet is a wonderful thing but with all the good that comes from the internet there's a negative side. People from around the world can anonymously express their opinions to a potential audience of hundreds of millions, as should be their right, and some of those opinions will be offensive to many. But isn't that a price worth paying to keep the freedom of the internet intact?

It's no coincidence that the countries around the world that try to control internet content most are generally the countries who have the most to hide. Just imagine what stories would come to light if there was freedom of access to the internet in China and Burma, and potentially what atrocities could be prevented through increased exposure on the internet. Does Thailand really want to be lumped together with these guys in terms of personal freedom? It hardly fits with the Amazing Thailand image that they like to sell to the world.

Whilst this particular video, which I haven't seen and knew nothing about until YouTube got banned, sounds fairly pointless and plainly offensive to someone who isn't in a position to retaliate it does raise the question of why. Why did he/she do it? My guess is that it is some kind of reaction to the recent jailing of a Swiss man to 10 years in prison for spraying paint on a picture of the King. As yet the only thing known about the poster is that he/she is registered in the US.

So, what will happen? Will the people of Thailand be denied access to YouTube indefinitely? Will Google, owners of YouTube, agree to drop the video? Personally I think the latter. Despite Google stating clearly that they could see nothing offensive in the video in question I feel sure that within a short period of time YouTube will once again be available in Thailand.

YouTube gone....

2007-04-04T14:49:00.000+07:00

Youtube.com banned in Thailand, snorting dead man's ashes and stuff...

As reported in the Bangkok Post today authorities have managed to block access to youtube.com from within Thailand. Having tried to connect to youtube.com today I can confirm that there is nothing but a blank screen.

Apparently no one seems in a hurry to claim responsibility but an anonymous source told the Bangkok Post that CAT (Communications Authority of Thailand) has blocked access to the popular video sharing site.

So, what's the problem? Why do the people of Thailand need to be protected from the evils of youtube.com? It seems that recently there have been some political postings to the site (possibly guilty of telling the truth, which of course is frowned upon here) and last week a video was uploaded that was in some way insulting to the king of Thailand.

Either way my youtube.com viewing days appear to have come to an end for the time being. No more music videos, no more humorous clips from favourite comedians, no more senseless home videos and, more importantly, no more videos from me. Arghhh!!

Almost as disturbing as the lack of youtube in Thailand is a report I just read on the BBC that says Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones has admitted to snorting his father's ashes during a drug binge a few years ago.

"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow."

Shocking but maybe more so if it wasn't Keith saying it. It somehow seems the kind of thing you'd expect from Keith Richards.

The daughter's got friends around here this afternoon so I have even less freedom than usual and certainly less piece. These kids brought with them several huge water guns with water filled backpacks. So needles to say there's an air of dampness around here at the moment. My request not to fire them in the house led to them mooching off into the garden and firing straight through the windows into the house. Lovely kids!

Youtube.com banned in Thailand, snorting dead man's ashes and stuff...

2007-04-03T20:28:00.000+07:00

Flights booked and changing names...

The journey back home has turned up a gear, a flight has been booked. So now we have as far as Turkey confirmed, just need to sort out the best route from there. Several options available involving land and sea.

Looking like we might be off to Laos this weekend. Vientiane and Luang Prabang being the main focus. Whilst I'm happy to go I've got so many things to do here I'd rather stay but the wife wants some "quality" time with the daughter and I before we head off. Any recommendations as regards accommodation? Can't help feeling a beach trip would be better at the moment given the heat here.

There's been a suggestion that whilst the current junta are re-writing the constitution they could perhaps look into reverting the name of the country back to Siam. I must say I think that is a great idea. Re-branding is definitely what this place needs at the moment. The old name of Siam (first coined by a Brit) served happily as the country's name for about three or four hundred years until a military dictator (Phibun Songkran, who also declared war on Thailand's allies Britain and the US) renamed the country in 1932.

After he was removed Siam was restored for a few years and then another military ruler changed it back to the old new name of Thailand. Personally I think Siam sounds more mysterious, and gives it that special je ne sais quoi. Anyway, I doubt very much if anything will come of this.

Flights booked and changing names...

2007-04-02T19:55:00.000+07:00

Israeli killed at the Full Moon Party, and a Thai cricket team...

This month's Full Moon Party has got off to a bad start with another tourist murdered by locals, this time an Israeli guy who had flown out specially for the party on Koh Phangan in southern Thailand. The Bangkok Post had this to say:

Police found the body of David Kakilashvili, 32, dead with eight knife wounds to the chest, arm, face and back and four head wounds at 2 a.m. Sunday at the Drop In bar in Phangan, an island situated 430 kilometres south of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand.

Witnesses said the Israeli and his friends were drinking at the bar when a fight broke out with five teenagers from the island who stabbed and beat Kakilashvili to death before fleeing the scene.

"We know who the culprits are and will ask the court to issue a warrants for their arrest today," said Phangan Pol Sub-Lt Likhit Chumchuay.

"The suspects include the son of a local politician, who has a bad reputation for bothering foreigners," said Likhit in a telephone interview.

Sadly this was only considered important enough for the inside pages in a very small column in the print edition but the text above came from an online update. Presumably the fact that it was a politician's son at the centre of the investigations was the reason for this.

If you actually tallied up all the tourists and foreigners who meet a sticky end in Thailand every year I'm sure tourist arrivals would plummet. There was something like a dozen or more Brits alone killed since we came back, and that's just from actually being murdered not through accidents. Factor in all other nationalities and you'd be shocked.

What's even more shocking is the leniency of the sentences passed down to Thais convicted of murdering foreigners, and the speed with which they are released after serving very little time in pokey. I'm sure I read somewhere that the guy arrested for the murder of the two Russian women earlier in the year, who actually confessed, is out on bail whilst the police try and find more people responsible. And of course the world's media has now moved on to other things, the spotlight is focused somewhere else and all is forgotten.

On a lighter note the Chiang Mai Gymkhana Club is hosting the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes. A local team of young Thais have made headlines by beating an Australian side and look set to do quite well. Apparently cricket is quietly gaining popularity among Thais. And when I say quiet I mean seriously quiet, but it is happening and more and more kids are being won over by the game. I'm sure I read somewhere that it's quite popular in Japan too.

Israeli killed at the Full Moon Party, and a Thai cricket team...

2007-04-02T09:29:00.000+07:00

Terrible shopping experience - again!

I've done it again. I promised myself last time that any big"gish" purchases would only be from Central World or Paragon, on account of they seem to be the only places where you get a good level of service. Yesterday, due to time constraints, I broke the promise and bought from Central Lad Prao.

It's the wife's birthday today and I bought her a video iPod, and at the same time another video iPod as a replacement for mine that I ran over a few months ago (long story). So yesterday I went into the Apple shop in Central Lad Prao with the intention of buying two video iPods.

After twenty minutes of being ignored by the staff, who refused to serve me and turned their backs whenever I tried to get their attention I lost my rag. I interrupted two members of staff having a good chat and a laugh behind the counter and asked where else in Central I could buy iPods, as no one there seemed interested in serving me. Sarcasm is wasted on Thais, they just don't get it.

When I finally got my point across the one seemed concerned enough to serve me whilst the other one laughed at me. I spoke Thai and asked her why she was laughing and if she had any manners. Sorry, sorry, giggle, giggle.

I agreed to buy the two iPods and said I needed to know how to get all the songs from my existing itunes library onto the new iPod. Sure said she, she'd get someone to explain when I'd paid. I paid and that was that. Get lost. No explanation, nothing. refused to help. I enquired about the manager. Not here today. Could I have a business card? He doesn't have any. Can you give me his telephone number? No, we don't know it. The one girl was still giggling as I left the shop.

I just didn't have enough time to get to town as I had to take the daughter to see Finding Nemo on ice up at Impact Arena so it was a case of desperation. Incidentally that was quite good, well if you're three it was. Oddly it wasn't full, probably about 60% of seats taken. I guess the Thai language shows probably have a bigger crowd.

Terrible shopping experience - again!

2007-04-01T13:37:00.000+07:00

Hot with itchy feet...

HOT! Weather just getting hotter all the time. Last week some parts here reached 41c. I feel like I'm sweating all the time unless in air-con areas. I need a beach!

Uneventful weekend so far. All day filming yesterday, daughter to ballet this morning and have to take her to see Disney on Ice this evening - Finding Nemo I think.

Our trip back is almost worked out. It's going to be quite a journey taking in about seven countries, though nothing confirmed yet. Looking forward to this and can't wait for the off, though travelling thousands of miles by plane, train, coach and ferry with a three year old is going to be interesting.

Hot!!!

Hot with itchy feet...

2007-03-30T11:50:00.000+07:00

Bangkok hospitals again and too much to do...

A hell of a day yesterday. The daughter's school called me and asked if I could collect her, she was running a high temperature and had no energy. Seems that last week's illness is still with us.
I raced into school and scooped her up from her bed where she was just flaked out and off we went in search of a hospital. I decided to try another hospital as I didn't get a great deal of confidence from the last one, who tried selling us antibiotics even though he'd given her a clean bill of health.

Eventually we got to Phayathai Hospital on Paholyothin Road. Nurses were a bit scatty but the doctor was good. We spent several hours there whilst they ran blood tests. Initially he said she should be tested for dengue fever. After a great deal of screaming the place down blood was taken and off they went to analyse it.

An hour later the results came back. How nice, she was negative for typhoid and various other ailments but they'd forgotten to test for dengue! I kid you not. So, it started again.

Eventually we got the all clear. Seems she has a gastric-virus, probably picked up from other kids or from toys. Anyway, she needs rest and lots of water and she'll be mended in a few days - apparently.

The work is mounting up. The things I need to do before we leave are just not getting done at the moment. Yesterday was lost and today I'm entertaining the daughter as she is not in school which means I have a constant distraction whenever I head to the computer. I need to find storage for the Land Rover, ship personal items back to the UK, say goodbye to everyone, tie-up loose ends and on and on... On top of that the wife wants a holiday before we go so she can spend some time with the daughter and I. Life is starting to feel like one big stressful holiday - GIVE ME WORK!!

Bangkok hospitals again and too much to do...

2007-03-28T08:45:00.000+07:00

Need help finding a route..

We're looking for an interesting route home. The daughter and I are heading back home next month. Whereas I have enough air miles for the trip the daughter falls short. Short being as close as the edge of Europe or, strangely, South Africa. So, rather than pay the difference we're going to try and fly as far as we can and then make the rest of the journey by methods other than air.

We can both go totally free as far as Egypt, Turkey, Middle East and South Africa. I've looked at South Africa and found a way to go back by sea, on a container ship. Great idea and I can secure a room on the ship but they won't take a child under eleven years. So that's out.

Another option is Egypt. The daughter wants to see the pyramids anyway so we could mooch about a bit and then move on. But I can't seem to get assurances on the sea crossing into Europe. Some sources say it's not available and other it is. So that's in the air at the moment, or alternatively we just fly, in the air, from Cairo back to the UK.

Turkey is another option. We could then either go by train through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France and then the UK or take the Turkey, Bulgaria/Greece, Albania, ferry to Italy and then train up through Italy and France route. Question mark on the latter is on Albania. Personally I'd have no problem going there but not sure it would be wise to risk taking a three year old.

Or, alternatively I could find another route. I need help. Anyone got any advice? Any suggestions? It needs to be cost effective (if it is five times cheaper to fly then there's no point to it), interesting, not involve flying if possible, and reasonably safe.

Need help finding a route..

2007-03-27T09:10:00.000+07:00

Just nonsense and a funny clip...

Ever wondered who is looking at your blog or how they get there? I'm always curious as to who would want to read anything I've scribbled and occasionally take a browse through the stats and referral lists. The most used keyword is, no surprise, Thailand.

However, I noticed today that I've also attracted interest from Nigeria. Nothing wrong with that in itself. But I was curious as to how there would be several hits from Nigeria. And guess what? Yes, it seems to be in some way connected to the good old west African scam. My Nigerian visitors had come via a Google search of the following words: 2006 email DIRECTORIES and account information of all the board of directors in swiz bank. Search for those words on google.com and I come top of the pile. Of course I've never written anything about Swiss banks or even their boards of directors but those words obviously pop up most frequently in my blog. So, instead of getting sensitive account info from Swiss banks they got me, and I got more spam email. Wonderful.

The government here had proposed a plan to offer lower taxes and duties on eco-cars to encourage their importation, production and usage and thereby help lower fuel dependency and help the environment. However (screech of brakes) they have decided to drop the plan because it might effect sales of regular cars. But that, I thought, was the whole point. Isn't the idea to eventually replace the streets filled with 3litre pick-ups and Mercs with small eco-friendly cars that don't guzzle gas or cause harm to the surrounding environment? Maybe I'm missing something.

Daughter back in school today and seems to have recovered fully. She woke early and wandered in to our room at about half four this morning trying to convince me that it was daylight and I should get out of bed. Having gone out for a drink last night the last thing I wanted was prodding and to be spoken to at that unearthly hour. No amount of ignoring could get the message across so she tried a different approach, "daddy, I love you". Arghh, not easy to ignore such sweet words so I had to reluctantly open my eyes and respond. How do females manage to learn so early how to control men?

Here's an amusing clip from Iraq.

Just nonsense and a funny clip...

2007-03-26T11:07:00.000+07:00

Daughter not well and hunting for the blind...

Weekend of the daughter being ill. Oh yes, two sleepless nights so far. She's been burning up with a high fever and sneaked into our room on Saturday night just in time to wake us by vomiting all over our bed. Luuuvely! Non-parents will have no idea of the difficulty in remaining calm and supportive at 3am when you've just been awoken by streams of vomit being splurged all over your bed.

Seems on the mend now but kept her out of school today as she had high temperature again this morning. Normally she gets frog marched into school no matter what and has a more or less unblemished attendance record but she really has had it rough all weekend and I don't think school would be any help today.

Managed to resist going to the doctor's so far. I just know that whatever the problem it will be the usual dispensing of antibiotics. She appears very much on the mend at the moment so hopefully all is well. Any continuation and we'll have to see the quack just in case.

Ever heard of Edmund Kuempel? He's a Texas State Representative who has just announced a new bill to give blind people the "right" to hunt using lasers and lights so, and I quote, they can enjoy the fun of hunting too. Basically this translates as everyone must have the right to needlessly kill animals for pleasure. Well cheers Mr. Kuempel, you really are quite something. Maybe they should tether the animals to short chains and that way the "fun" of needless murder is guaranteed. You'd have to be blind to miss. Oh yeah, I forgot. What a world!

Daughter not well and hunting for the blind...

2007-03-25T10:31:00.000+07:00

Gee, I just love your accent...

I've never been to the US. I've visited many countries, close on twenty I think, but never the US. There's no particular reason for this except I just haven't managed to get around to it yet. There's so many American programs on TV and American films in the cinema that I guess it feels like there's no need to go there as there's a permanent window in to the US in the form of TV and films. And sadly there's rarely anything I see that inspires me to go jump on a plane and check-out the US.

But what really fascinates me is stories of Americans going all gooey over the British accent. It's a common thing we Brits here about and most Brits I know who have either visited the US or made it their home have experienced it at some point.

Recently there was something on the BBC website about all this, triggered by Stephen Fry noting that: .."..a British accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that is not there."

The piece went on to discuss attitudes in the US towards the British accent and Brits in general, generally portrayed on screen as either plummy upper class buffoons or just simply the bad guy. But it seems that Americans have this feeling of the British accent somehow sounding, "better than any American accent - more educated, more genteel," to quote Rosina Lippi-Green, a US academic.

Apparently one of the reasons for Americans associating Brits with high intelligence and a brain the size of Boston is that many actually assume that Brits speak English as a second language and are thereby super-smart for having managed to master the English language so well. Grrr! Whilst hiring a car in Florida a friend of mine was complimented by the woman dealing with the transaction for being from England but being able to speak English so well, "how did you learn to speak English so well?" Any connection between "England" and "English" was simply missed altogether by her.

Then there are those who say that getting a girl in the US is simple if you have an English accent. Is this really true? Certainly I have many friends who have visited the US either for work or pleasure and most have engaged in some kind of relationship with American women, though if it was an accent thing is not known.

Personally I've met many Americans and generally they seem to have a pretty good grasp of British history and certainly understand where their language comes from. Though I guess the average American I meet is probably not reflective of the average American on the street in the US: educated to high level, working abroad. And I've never experienced American women throwing themselves at me or drooling over every uttered syllable, though I guess that could just be a me thing.

Diverging slightly, the only American I've met that I didn't like was a well known blogger who is a dangerously self-opinionated, ultra conservative, extremely right wing Christian and proudly homophobic. He also has trouble stringing a coherent sentence together and thinks Bush is the most visionary leader in the world today.

Having read about this and spoken to many people I wonder if maybe it's just simply an accent thing. People like the sound of accents other than their own. I personally find women with a French, Italian or Japanese accent a big turn-on. And closer to home a woman with a Geordie (from Newcastle) accent does something for me too. So maybe it's not just that it's a British accent but just the fact that it is an accent that Americans find attractive, if in fact they do. Or could there be some deeper more historical explanation to this attraction.

Gee, I just love your accent....

2007-03-24T07:10:00.000+07:00

A topical joke (mainly topical if you're a Brit)...

OK, so I haven't got much time this morning and I was going to write a comment about the protest last night and how the army were "preparing" for action or about the policeman who cut off a dancer's arm after she refused to join his table, and the police tried to cover it up. Or the many other things happening in Thailand at the moment. But instead I thought I'd share this amusing story.

You need to know that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is Britain's finance minister and that the current one is Gordon Brown.

A topical one!
A young man named Gordon bought a donkey from an old farmer for £100.00.
The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day, but when the
farmer drove up he said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news... the
donkey is on my truck, but unfortunately he's dead."
Gordon replied, "Well then, just give me my money back."
The farmer said, "I can't do that, because I've spent it already."
Gordon said, "OK then, well just unload the donkey anyway."
The farmer asked, "What are you going to do with him?"
Gordon answered, "I'm going to raffle him off."
To which the farmer exclaimed, "Surely you can't raffle off a dead
donkey!"
But Gordon, with a wicked smile on his face said, "Of course I can, you
watch me. I just won't bother to tell anybody that he's dead."
A month later the farmer met up with Gordon and asked, "What happened
with that dead donkey?"
Gordon said, "I raffled him off, sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece,
and made a huge, fat profit!!"
Totally amazed, the farmer asked, "Didn't anyone complain that you had
stolen their money because you lied about the donkey being dead?"
To which Gordon replied, "The only guy who found out about the donkey
being dead was the raffle winner when he came to claim his prize. So I
gave him his £2 raffle ticket money back plus an extra £200, which as you
know is double the going rate for a donkey, so he thought I was a great
guy!!"
Gordon grew up and eventually became the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and no matter how many times he lied, or how much money he stole from
the British voters, as long as he gave them back some of the stolen
money,
most of them, unfortunately, still thought he was a great guy.
The moral of this story is that, if you think Gordon is about to play
fair and do something for the everyday people of the country for once in
his miserable, lying life, think again my friend, because you'll be
better off flogging a dead donkey!

A topical joke (mainly topical if you're a Brit)...

2007-03-23T09:47:00.000+07:00

Photo blog Thailand - pt 1

One of the joys of living in Bangkok, and yes there are some, is its photogenic qualities. Take a stroll anytime of day, or night, and you'll almost certainly find something worth photographing. Look beyond the dust and the chaos of the traffic congested streets and there is charm and character just below the surface.

As I'm leaving Thailand very soon I thought I'd post some of the photographs I've collected on my hard drive over the last few years and share them. There tend to be a lot in black and white simply because I prefer black and white. Please feel free to comment, very interested in feedback on this.

Water at night

The big wheel

Pigeons in the park

Street traders

Mobile bank

Concrete

Clutter

Photo blog Thailand - pt 1

2007-03-22T08:35:00.000+07:00

Cinema, where is home and McJob, McBlog....

Took the daughter to see Charlotte's Web at Central World yesterday afternoon. Not the best film I've ever seen but the daughter enjoyed it. Good special effects and mildly amusing, and Dakota Fanning in the lead role was a big draw for the daughter (she was also in Cat in the Hat, her favourite film).

Being an animal lover it seemed to appeal to the daughter who seems to now be viewing spiders and pigs in a new light. Last week she announced out of the blue that she wants to be a vet. I know, she's three and will surely make a thousand changes before she needs to start thinking about her career properly, but this comes as no surprise. She's always been affectionate towards animals and has never hurt so much as a fly (excluding mosquitoes as they are just the spawn of Satan and don't count). She wants to go to Africa to see Lions and India to see Tigers (Kipling and his Jungle Book are responsible for this) and has cried on more than one occasion when she has seen an animal get hurt. Personally I think she will end up doing something animal related but only time will tell.

Speaking with a German friend who has two kids here (both parents German) the other day and we were talking about how the kids view Thailand. Both his kids see Thailand as home and Germany as a cool holiday destination. I've noticed that with our daughter she has never made the distinction of either country as home. To her the UK and Thailand are both home. She refers to England as home and Bangkok as home. She always says she's from England but lives in Thailand. When we're here she's home and when we're in England she says she's home. Don't know whether that is a good thing or not. I feel it is good but does it show lack of stability in her life? Hmm

McDonalds are getting annoyed with the Oxford English Dictionary for putting in the word McJob: an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector. They say this is unfair and demeaning to the many people it employs. Not sure what to think of this one, just find the cheek of it quite amusing. Here's one I just thought up, McBlog: an unstimulating, no-pay blog, with little or no prospects, esp. one created by the gargantuan expansion of the blogospere. Wow, that's my blog!!!!

Cinema, where is home and McJob, McBlog....

2007-03-21T09:58:00.000+07:00

Housewife's work, park life and Canadian clubbing....

I'm feeling the pressure and I'm going to eat some humble pie. I always thought that women complained about role of mother and housewife unnecessarily. I mean, how time consuming could it be? Take the kid/s to school throw some dirty laundry in the machine, put the coffee on and wait for the end of the school day. You know, that kind of thing. OK, I was wrong.

I'm basically playing the mum and dad role in our house. I look after the daughter, take care of the house (red faced embarrassment here) and do all the dad things with my daughter. I never seem to have any time. Admittedly I'm crap at time management but still there is more to this housewife lark than meets the eye.

In my defense I'm also trying to start a business 6,500 miles from where the business will be located, I have to generate an income as I pay for all our travel and the daughter's school fees and the two of us are heading back to live in the UK soon. There I will have to be a single parent and generate an income in a country where the average house price is GBP£240,ooo (about US$450,000 or 15,600,000 baht) (we do have a house but whilst there are paying tenants in there we won't be moving in). I've got to find somewhere for us to live, work, take care of her and also stump up for the school fees. The wife will be joining us later in the year. Yes, the pressure is building and life is about to challenge me to the extreme.

I took the daughter to Chatuchak park yesterday afternoon. Quite good for kids. There's a playground with some kind of assault course affair, a lake and boats for hire and a reasonable environment. We took a paddle boat and I paddled whilst she fed the fish. She loved it. There's the usual flocks of pigeons you get at parks anywhere and locals jogging and doing exercise.

It's the clubbing season in Canada. By this I don't mean nightclubbing, I'm talking clubbing baby seals type of clubbing. If you want to help stop this by spending a few seconds typing in your details click here and get the letter off to help stop this atrocity. Alternatively, if you don't know what I'm talking about check out the video here. Be warned it's not nice, the video contains graphic images of brave Canadian men bludgeoning innocent and defenseless seal pups so that brainless bimbos can wear seal fur. Ahh, what wonderful people! Please do spend a few seconds to send the letter. This is nothing short of barbarity and cruelty in the extreme, these people are very sick individuals and the seals need all the help they can get.

Housewife's work, park life and Canadian clubbing....

2007-03-20T08:47:00.000+07:00

Thailand's u-turns, more trouble and a crashed Bugatti Veyron....

In its quest to be the hub for everything and anything in this region Thailand appears to have found a new hub to aim for. The hub for u-turns. Anyone who has driven in Bangkok will know how much Thais love a good u-turn, the road system is alive with u-turn lanes and u-turn bridges. But the love affair with the u-turn is not restricted to the roads, oh no. Following such monumental about faces as the great exchange control u-turn which saw the value of the Thai stock market plummet like never before, and the banning alcohol advertising double u-turn we now have the "they bombed me, they bombed me not" u-turn.

After the confusion of the new year bombing extravaganza the government categorically denied the possibility of the southern Muslim extremists being involved. The country's military supremo, and also a Muslim, even pointed out that the insurgents in the south didn't know Bangkok and would get lost if they tried coming here (I jest you not). So it wasn't them, no way, no how, not possible, couldn't be, put it out of your mind, it wasn't them. Or so you might have thought. Now, as most will already have read, the screech of brakes is once again coming through loud as the government bus pulls another tyre-burning u-turn.

It was them!! It was them all along. The government was only teasing after all. The bomb material which wasn't the same was the same in the end. Where the MO was different now it is the same. Well there we go, another fine mess sorted and a classy u-turn that even the Dukes of Hazzard would be proud of.

On a serious note it is quite worrying the amount of people that are being killed here in Thailand at the moment. It seems that daily there is a slaughter of innocent people in the south, on both sides. It has even got to the stage where I find that I skim over the headlines of yet another bus load of innocent people slaughtered because they were of a different faith or whatever the reason and barely give it a thought. It's become so commonplace that I find myself desensitized. Ten bombs gone off, twelve people killed, three schools set alight, children forced to watch their parents beheaded and on and on and barely more than a tut of disapproval. I notice that one again there is almost no mention of these acts in the international media. Don't quite understand that one.

More Thais are protesting about the atrocities on both sides and at the weekend there was the makings of a serious protest, with eight hundred people taking to the streets in an anti-government protest. With the violence in the south, concerns about the military government in Bangkok and the appalling pollution in the north Thailand doesn't appear to be having its finest hour at present. You can't help feel that as the current junta comes under more pressure to restore democracy, give power back to the people and then bugger off they might just return to the bad old ways of the bad old days when innocent protesters were cheerily gunned down in the streets. Lets hope that it never comes to that.

Remember that Bugatt Veyron I mentioned before, here. Fastest production car in the world, costing US$1.5million etc. Well, some guy in the south of England has had his first crash in one. Apparently he is devastated and not taking it too well.

Thailand's u-turns, more trouble and a crashed Bugatti Veyron....

2007-03-18T20:52:00.000+07:00

The pain of development...

Many years ago I was having a pint with a friend and his step-father. The step-father was giving a sermon on the ills of the tourist industry and its effects on different parts of the world, whilst reminiscing about a journey he'd made as a young lad through Spain.

The trip was in the fifties at a time when Spain was still very much a country of quaint hamlets and peasant farmers full of hospitality. Comparing it to Spain as it had become by the early nineties he was full of sadness for the "terrible" development that had taken place.

At the time I could understand but it's only recently that I've begun to appreciate fully what he meant. In the early nineties I discovered paradise, well as close as I ever thought I'd get to it anyway; and actually I didn't discover it as that had been done many centuries before.

My paradise was Koh Samet. It was quiet, traffic free, free from pollution and all the noise and vulgarity you normally associate with tourist spots. The beaches were of spotlessly clean white sand and the sea crystal clear, warm and full of life. Accommodation was relaxed, cheap and generally of the bamboo hut variety.

I've just returned from a yet another weekend on Koh Samet. Now when I visit I feel nothing but sadness seeing how it has developed in the last few years at break neck speed. Every beach is developed, piles of rubbish are dotted all over, the sea is alive to the sound of jet skis and speedboats and the beaches infested with discos that churn out deafening music until the wee small hours (really sounding old now).

The best beach was always the one at the southern most tip of the island, I forget its name. Being the most narrow part of the island you could wake up in your beach-side bamboo hut to the sun rising and a five minute stroll in the evening would see you immersed in water watching the same sun disappearing over the horizon. The beach was the best I'd ever seen and with water to match. Whenever I spoke of Koh Samet, and that beach in particular, to others I found myself running short of superlatives, it really was something else. That same beach is now home to a five star resort that charges up to 60,000 baht per night! And they've put a swimming pool on the beach!! I'm equally short of superlatives in my description, but could probably muster a few expletives.It's nothing unusual and the development is actually par for the course and a natural progression. It's just sad when you know what it used to be like. I have some very fond memories of Koh Samet, and had some great times there. For someone going there now for the first time then maybe they see it as their paradise and their ideal beach location.

This trip was OK. We paid more than normal and stayed in one of the better resorts which doesn't have loud music and jet skis and, despite it's luxury, has been developed sympathetically with the surrounding environment. But, whilst lay in bed last night watching satellite TV in air-conditioned comfort, sipping cold beer from the fridge by the side of the bed with the wife reclining on the balcony outside I couldn't help think of when I'd first stayed on this particular beach before, fourteen years ago.

Then the room was made of bamboo, had a small fan just about tethered to the side of the room that offered limited protection from the heat, and electricity was only for part of the evening. Over the mite-infested bed hung a torn mosquito net and beer needed to be drunk quickly before it reached room temperature. I spent a week there with my girlfriend of the time and did nothing but read, swim, work up a sweat in bed, smoke, drink and sleep - and not necessarily in that order. Happy Days!!

The pain of development...

2007-03-16T09:06:00.000+07:00

Nearly at the beach, Imax, Bangkok hospitals and other things...

I should be on my way to a sunny beach with the daughter now, but I'm not. She's off school today, teacher's day or something. Yesterday I was called in to collect her from school in the morning due to her complaining of stomach pains.

Normally I wouldn't have bothered but she's complained of pains in the stomach a lot in the last few days so I scooped her out of school and made for the hospital on Chiang Wattana Road. She was examined, against her will, and given a clean bill of health. The doc said there was no evidence of anything being wrong. Wonderful.

But then he said he could prescribe two kinds of pill. For what said I. Because said he. I quizzed him, didn't he just give her a completely clean bill of health? Yes, he said. There's nothing wrong. So why the pills? Just routine. I declined and we left. Absolutely shocking. Nothing at all wrong but still they give you pills and he couldn't even give a reason for the pills he was prescribing! In Thailand the doctor's word is law and must be obeyed. So, had I been Thai I wouldn't have questioned but gone along with his recommendation, wasted money and my daughter would now have been popping pills for no apparent reason.

We're keeping an eye on her and assuming it's indigestion for now. To cheer her up I took her to the Imax at Paragon to see Open Season. Not a bad movie for the kids and impressive in 3D. There were six people in the screening altogether, including us, which made it quite a nice experience. Quite funny watching the daughter reaching towards the screen trying to touch the characters as they appeared to be coming towards her.

I don't like to harp on about shopping malls but I really think that, with the exception of the True shop at Paragon, Central World Plaza beats Paragon hands down. I find Paragon with it's heavily segregated parking based on social status and pretentious clientele just a tad too ostentatious for my liking. I think Central hits the spot just right. Paragon has better bookshops and that wonderful True shop but apart from that I see no positives.

Anyway, back to the beach. As a result our heading off to the beach this morning is on hold for the moment. She's looking fine now so it could be on for this afternoon. All we need to do now is locate a good beach and head forth towards sun, sea and sand.

On a more grisly note I read about the hearing of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He's quoted as saying: "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan." And: "For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the internet holding his head."

I can't begin to comprehend the hatred involved here, that this guy must obviously be feeling, and the callous attitude towards what was essentially an innocent life. I would dearly love to understand what makes someone like this tick, what his real motivation for such an act is and how he can feel so clearly justified in having committed these acts.

Nearly at the beach, Imax, Bangkok hospitals and other things...

2007-03-15T15:06:00.000+07:00

Sticky moments involving race..

The daughter had a friend here yesterday and they both wanted to watch The Chronicles of Narnia, the daughter's current obsession. Fine, I have no problem with that. They got comfy and I started the DVD.

The opening credits and then the film started. The first scene involves shots of London being bombed during WWII and frightened kids being separated from their mother and whisked away to far off parts of the UK for safety. My daughter's friend asked what was happening. Why are they doing that? I started to explain that the German's were blowing up London during WWII when it dawned on me that she is in fact German. Suddenly I felt the need to come up with new words to explain what was happening. Basil Fawlty suddenly came to mind, "Don't mention the war."

I know it's probably not a big deal but I just don't think three year olds need to have war explained to them just yet. A similar situation arose last year when the daughter got the Valiant DVD. Pigeons working tirelessly for the war effort against...the Germans. She kept asking me who the bad guys were and I just couldn't bring myself to tell her they were Germans, two of her closest friends being German of course. Maybe it wouldn't register but it seemed better to leave the race of the bad guys out of the picture and wait until she's older.

Race to date has never been a problem. She's in a multi-cultural environment, from a mixed marriage and neither parent is in any way discriminatory. However, there are only two black kids at the school, both black-American and both boys. She's never even mentioned any difference and is good friends with one of them, the other is older and in a different group. At school the kids are all just kids.

But when we were in Singapore airport earlier in the year she was bouncing around the play area when a Sri Lankan family came in with a daughter, who was clearly the darkest person my daughter has ever seen. My daughter looked a bit shocked and then smiled to me, "Daddy, look at the chocolate girl." My jaw hit the floor. The mother smiled and I apologised. But what do you say? She didn't mean any offence and actually played with her for a while until it was time to go. I couldn't tell her off because she didn't know that anything was amiss. I also didn't really want to draw her attention to it too much. I quietly took her aside and tried to explain that it was not polite to say things like that and that the girl might have been upset.

It's the one and only time that she's ever made any reference to people being different and I think it just came out without any thought process. Certainly embarrassing for me at the time. Don't you just love kids?

Sticky moments involving race..

2007-03-14T11:23:00.000+07:00

Security in Bangkok, somewhere for the weekend and photos....

Visited Paragon shopping mall yesterday and discovered that in the name of security all shoppers have to be scanned and have their bags searched. Seems OK, no problem with that. However, I went through with my camera backpack thingy from Lowepro which has a lower section for cameras etc. In mine I had a movie cam and a digital SLR and various things like batteries and remotes and whatnot. The guards searched the upper empty areas and didn't bother to question why such an empty bag was heavy. I could easily have been concealing a bomb or something more sinister in there and they would have been none the wiser. Did make me wonder if it is a serious measure or just a confidence building PR gesture.

Looking for somewhere to go this weekend, other than making our regular pilgrimage to Koh Samet. I spoke to someone recently (Thai) who said there is a huge problem on Samet at the moment with flies. Rubbish is continuing to pile up in the hedges and forested areas and no one is bothering to move it. Result is an abundance of flies and increase in food related illness. Good to see the authorities making good use of the extra income from doubling the entrance fee to the island.

Here are some views of Bangkok, for no particular reason.

Security in Bangkok, somewhere for the weekend and photos....

2007-03-13T21:41:00.000+07:00

New blog for a good cause and full moon party on Koh Phangan...

Found a new blog here in Thailand, worth a look and a very worthy cause. Ally is a retired English woman who has made Chiang Mai her home and devotes her time to caring for street dogs. As volunteers Ally and helpers work to improve the welfare for dogs on the streets in Chiang Mai, Thailand. There motto is: "Saving one dog won't change the world, but surely the world will change for that one dog" I've added this blog to my "Daily Read".

Many people have sent me emails asking about the famous full moon parties on Koh Phangan. I've never actually been but it's not possible to live here and not know anything about them. As far as I know the schedule for the coming months is as follows.

Full moon party, Koh Phangan:

April 2nd - May 1st - June 1st - June 29th - July 31st - August 28th - September 26th - October 26th - November 24th - December 24th.

That's the rest of the full moon parties on Koh Phangan for this year, as I understand it. Probably worth checking when you arrive too.

There are several ways to get there which involve bus, train, boat and plane, or a mix of all. Air Asia flies to Surat Thani and Bangkok Air flies to Samui. Boat/bus transfers are available from both locations. Trains run regularly from Bangkok to Surat Thani and there are coach companies that offer coach/boat package. Try any of the agents on Khao San Road.

New blog for a good cause and full moon party on Koh Phangan...

2007-03-13T08:57:00.000+07:00

Growing concern about the impending move and beach scene, Koh Tao..

Both pics Khao Tao, Songkran 2006

With the end date drawing closer there's an increasing amount to do. Moving country is quite a big thing. It's amazing how you manage to accumulate crap over the years. I try to keep things minimalist but the wife is one of those who just seems to live for acquiring pointless objects. If there's an empty space in the house then she has to buy some object or item to fill it. Result: we've got a lot of junk to clear out.

On the subject of moving, I had an email from a friend in the UK today reminding me that the house prices are still rocketing out of control at a rate of 10%. He was wondering where we're going to live. Having not worked for nearly three years now getting re-started is going to be very difficult.

I think food, clothes, cars and most electrical items are cheaper in the UK than Thailand but where it is definitely more expensive is the other costs: property purchase, utility bills, council tax, school fees, fuel, tax (the shed load of "stealth" taxes that Labour have sneaked in through the back door), and transport (rail etc).

We still have a house there but there but we rent it out and whilst someone is in there and paying it seems sensible to leave them there for the moment. It will definitely be a struggle to buy another one but if we can then hopefully it will be worth it, certainly in the long term. We Brits do have an obsession with property and property ownership. Europeans seem to be more content with renting and don't seem to attach such importance to property ownership as us Brits. Maybe they have a point, maybe struggling all through your life to achieve land and property ownership is, in the end, pointless.

I guess that despite the enormous uphill struggle we have to face in the coming months, and probably years, and combined with protestations from an angry mother-in-law, it should all be worth it. Time will tell.

Growing concern about the impending move and beach scene, Koh Tao..

2007-03-12T08:44:00.000+07:00

Japanese restaurant and inter-racial family turbulence...

Discovered a great little Japanese restaurant last night. Just across Sukhumvit Road from Emporium tucked away inside a soi, same soi as The Bull's Head I think. It's called something like Tan Tan Men.

Nothing special to look at, very basic in fact but the food is excellent. Had a veggie Wakame Ramen for 150baht a bowl which was delicious. Generally I need two bowls of noodles to feel that I've eaten but the portions here were generous to say the least. Clientele seems predominantly Japanese and the atmosphere quiet. Definitely going there again.

The wife broke the news to the in-laws over the weekend that we're off soon. The wife's father and sister were understanding and took it well, general feeling of "your life, do what you think is best", which I really appreciate. The mother, however, did not take it well. To say she is not happy about it is would be a huge understatement.

I am officially enemy number 1. I am the worst kind of rat there is and my wife is been selfish, apparently. We had expected some resistance but not the weekend long barrage of abuse we've received. The mother's idea is that I should leave and take my daughter with me and the wife should stay here, and we see each other once a year. Completely f###### deranged!! (Sorry about the language there but often a well placed expletive can convey the feeling better than a string of flowery adjectives).

This is beyond culture and even disparities in generational thinking, this is just about a selfish old woman who can't understand that people have their own lives to lead the best way they can. She even had the audacity to tell the wife that I don't love her and that she should not love me, and certainly not more than she loves her family or herself. She has now refused to see me or our daughter. Whilst I'm tempted to cheer at this last one I think it is very sad for the daughter, the innocent one in all this who is now going to be ostracized because of her blood.

On a happier note, the sun is shining and I'm off to the gym. With all this bad feeling about is a calming picture I took last year in the UK.

One of the peaks in Snowdonia, near the Cantilever. I might not have been a big fan of living in Wales but the countryside is beautiful - stunning. In Snowdonia you can always find somewhere to be alone.

Japanese restaurant and inter-racial family turbulence...

2007-03-10T21:38:00.000+07:00

Muay Thai boxing (kicking boxing) near Khao San Road and weight loss..

Interesting day. Spent the whole afternoon down Khao San Road way filming Thai boxers at Sor. Vorapin Gym with John from khaosanroad.com।

Having been in the ring with a couple of Muay-Thai (Thai boxing or kick-boxing) boxers and a regular boxing world champion I can safely say I now have a new found respect for these guys। It looks so easy on the TV but when you're in the ring with them, literally inches from them hammering the hell out of each other you get the full effect।

I was sweating buckets just watching but these guys seemed to be handling the heat pretty well। I'm inspired, i might go and give it a go. Certainly looks like the way to get fit - and lose some aggression at the same time.

The video and interview will be up on khaosanroad.com soon(ish) and I'll drop a version here too.

Talking of exercise, I mentioned about four weeks ago after returning from the UK that I'd managed to add on about 7kg whilst over there। I vowed to get it off and I have. Yep, 7kg now eradicated and I'm back to my previous weight. All gone through a mixture of controlling my diet and daily exercise. My aim now is to shed another 5kg and continue getting fit.

Muay Thai boxing (kicking boxing) near Khao San Road and weight loss..

2007-03-09T20:42:00.000+07:00

Safety guarantee Thailand, US$25million prize and mummies with too much spare time..

For anyone worrying about security in Thailand, don't. The dear old PM has guaranteed safety for all foreigners visiting Thailand, and I quote: "..we confirm that we will provide full security for our tourists.." Quite a statement to make. I wonder if that is FULL security or just from terrorists. Does that cover tourists murdered by criminal gangs, thieves etc and female tourists raped and killed? A full guarantee is quite something. Lets just hope it doesn't come back and bite him in the arse.

Fancy winning US$25? Britain's Richard Branson (the Virgin empire) is offering just that for anyone who can come up with a way of, "..scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.." Thinking caps on, get to it.

I was talking to some of the mothers at school today. Now the kids are staying later in the day and by start of school year August they will have to be there all day and some mums are wondering what they will do with their spare time. There's only so many tennis lessons and facials you can get in a day before you get bored I guess. I guess this is the time that the child's carer (whichever parent that may be) start to feel surplus to requirements.

Been discussing with the daughter about our return to the UK. I'm trying to sell the idea of an all girls school to her. I think she's up for it, though hesitant at first. Today she was pushed over by a boy at school which is kind of swinging her to my way of thinking.

Safety guarantee Thailand, US$25million prize and mummies with too much spare time..

2007-03-08T20:05:00.000+07:00

Sunburn in Bangkok, teeth and terror warnings for Thailand...

With temperatures today in the mid to high thirties I made the mistake of going cycling in the middle of the day. It was hot, very hot. Wouldn't normally be a problem but I didn't put any sun cream on so now I have burnt arms and burns on the backs of my hands. Note, not on the fingers just the backs looking like beetroot. Ouch!

The missing tooth which I'd all but forgotten about is now attracting my attention. Missing my opportunity to get the gap filled back in the UK I returned here and managed to forget about it completely. The daughter's stopped mentioning it, old news now, and I'm not the kind of guy who spends much time looking in the mirror so it just slipped my mind. Now there's pain. Since last night it's been bothering me on and off and now it's looking like I'm in for painful night. Might have to turn to the whisky bottle for some pain killing help this evening.

Seems Australia has issued terrorist threat warnings for Thailand and warned its citizens of potential attacks in Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket. Everyone here knows about this ongoing threat so is this something to worry about? Is this based on new information? It seems you never know when to worry or not here.

Sunburn in Bangkok, teeth and terror warnings for Thailand...

2007-03-08T09:02:00.000+07:00

Book review No.1

I read quite a lot and have decided to write the odd review here as a read them. So, first off is one I read last week.

Piers Morgan - The Insider.

The Insider is a telling insight into the workings of British tabloids, told by one of their youngest and most controversial editors. Full to the brim with juicy gossip and inside information about just about everyone who made the news during Piers Morgan’s reign as editor of both the New of the World and The Mirror.

Morgan provides a breathtaking look behind the scenes of the tabloid press and its relationship with British government and the celebrity world, and the thinking behind the front page splashes that are both loved and loathed throughout the world.

Having survived various controversies including allegations of insider dealings and a very public falling out with the PM’s wife, who allegedly tried her best to get him sacked, he finally got dropped after publishing hoaxed pictures of British soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners. Ironically, while he was leading his crusade against the war through the pages of The Mirror his own brother was fighting in Iraq.

Morgan is entertaining throughout but be warned, he never actually kept a diary which leaves you wondering if all the clever predictions and witty asides are genuine or simply the benefit of hindsight.

He once famously described Kate Winslet as having “lost her head up her own arse”, but by the time I reached the end of the book I was starting to wonder if Morgan was suffering from the same.

By his own admission he is guilty of hypocrisy; killing stories about those close to him whilst being savage towards others. And by the end it is clear that some of the Mirror’s more shocking headlines were largely personal attacks rather than being out of a genuine need to inform the public.

Though unlikely to win any literary accolades, Morgan’s style and passion make for an entertaining read.

Book review No.1

2007-03-07T20:03:00.000+07:00

Bangkok photo exhibition, southern beheading and murdered Russian girls....

Downtown Bangkok, from Pan Road

Took the daughter to the Kathmandu Photo Gallery on Pan Road, off Silom, this afternoon. They have a small exhibition on the first floor called Imagine the Sky.

The exhibition is by a well known Thai human rights campaigner and one time senator called Kraisak Choonhaven. One of the many things he's campaigned for, other than human rights, is for Thai people to take their country more seriously and try to preserve it in the face of brash excessive consumerism.

Anyone who has visited Thailand, and especially Bangkok, can't have failed to notice that the skyline is littered with enormous billboards. The Imagine the Sky exhibition is a series of pictures taken by Kraisak showing scenes of giant advertising boards. Beneath each picture is the same picture again but with the offending visual atrocities airbrushed out and replaced with trees or sky. The effect is quite stunning. His point being that the country is being rubbished for the sake of a few advertising dollars.

There was a big piece about Kraisak in the Outlook section of the Bangkok Post today. He sounds like a really interesting guy who is very vocal about human rights abuses in Thailand, specifically in the south under Taksin, treatment of elephants, continuing destruction of Thailand's most beautiful areas in favour of unchecked development, and the obsessive consumerism of the financial haves in Thailand whilst so many of the have nots go hungry and ignored. I don't think I've been so interested in a Thai person since discovering the late Kukrit Pramoj just before he popped is clogs back in the 90's.

The 25th beheading has taken place in the south today. That's 25 people beheaded since 2004. It's a real shame that this continues to happen, a senseless waste of life. Sadly this never seems to make the headlines outside of Thailand, maybe if it did get more international attention there would a greater effort to prevent it or find a lasting solution. The Bangkok Post listed all the beheadings here. It makes for seriously gruesome reading.

The acting Chief of police in Pattaya is tackling crime head on. Convinced that the murdered Russian girls story has more to it than meets the eye he's demanding more arrests. Since stating this there have been two more arrests and he wants more still. Investigations are now looking into the lives of the girls and their backgrounds to try and establish if they had any connections here in Thailand. not sure what to make of this. Is it a commendable effort to tackle the well documented gang criminality of Pattaya or the beginning of blame shift towards the victims? Cynical as ever!

Bangkok photo exhibition, southern beheading and murdered Russian girls....

2007-03-06T20:44:00.000+07:00

Fastest production car in the world....

Just had to share this, something that was mailed to me. Ever heard of the Bugatti Veyron? It's a monster.

Alleged to be the fastest production car in the world and coming in at a staggering US$1.4m this beast is packing a 16 cylinder power plant and punching out 1001hp! They're only going to make 40 of them and a deposit to get you on the one and a half year waiting list will set you back a cool US$250k. It's got a top speed of 254mph and drains a full tank of fuel in 12 minutes at that speed.

It's against everything I believe in as regards the environment and being responsible about fuel and to own one would be nothing short of a disgusting display of wealth. However, watching it actually make that top speed for the first time is compelling viewing and you can see it here, turn the volume up! I feel I need to plant a tree as penance for watching it.

Fastest production car in the world....

2007-03-06T09:49:00.000+07:00

Sightseeing in Bangkok and Expat interviews.....

Buddha's feet, Wat Pho

Once again it's just the two of us. The wife's away on business for a few days so it's the old daddy and daughter team flying solo again. Maybe do a bit of sightseeing this afternoon, or alternatively cop out for an afternoon in the pool.

We spent the afternoon mooching around Wat Pho yesterday. I'll write more about that soon and post a few pics. Amongst other things it has the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. Worth a visit. I recently added a few articles to the site here. One about a recent weekend in Ayutthaya here and another one that's been sitting on my hard drive for ages about Shwe Dagon in Burma here. As ever they are also available in similar format at khaosanroad.com.

I was contacted by Lizza at Expat Interviews a few weeks ago and she asked me to do an interview for her site. It's now live and you can take a peek here. She's got a great site there. It's definitely worth a look if you're in the mood for a new location.

Getting ever more nervous about the impending move back to the UK and wondering if it really is for the best. Life used to be so easy.

Sightseeing in Bangkok and Expat interviews.....

2007-03-05T09:01:00.000+07:00

Can anyone explain?

I'm appealing for some explanation here. There are two things that caught my eye in today's paper. There's an opinion piece about the growing Islamification of Indonesia and a letter from a foreigner in the Postbag about Muslim unrest in the south of Thailand.

The letter argues that tolerance and understanding are central in ending the violence in the south of Thailand. The writer argues that Thailand should follow other countries in being tolerant towards the needs and wants of the Muslim population.

The opinion piece is about the recent move towards a more sharia based system of governance in Indonesia. The result already is that women are fined for being out after dark or without headscarves, Christians are forced to wear headscarves and cover up and churches are being fined and closed. A married mother was fined, given three years in jail and branded a prostitute for waiting for a bus at 8pm without a headscarf and having a stick of lipstick in her bag.

Am I alone in thinking that whilst we're all being told to be more tolerant towards Muslims the Islamic world seems to be nothing short of intolerant.

I come from the UK where it feels that a new law is emerging everyday to make life easier for Muslims. Public swimming pools have to have Muslim only days because Muslims don't want to have to bathe with non-Muslims, Christmas is all but banned in public places and any sign of Christianity is removed for fear of upsetting Muslims; traditional Christmas decorations in the streets are a thing of the past and one member of the Labour government even suggested changing Christmas to Wintermass so as to cause less offence.

Integration is a wonderful thing and I'm all for having mixed societies (I'm a product of mixed blood, my wife's Thai/Chinese and our daughter is a mix of all that). However, it does seem that non-Muslims are being all tolerant and the Muslims are anything but.

I have Muslim friends and one in particular who regularly sends me emails trying to convince me that Islam is very much misunderstood. In a bid to try to understand more I bought a copy of the Qu'ran. I haven't read it in its entirety yet but whenever I flick through it I always seem to come upon a page mentioning how us non-believers will burn in hell etc. "Argh", says my friend, "then you need to read another book to explain what you are reading in the Qu'ran in case you don't understand what the book is really saying". Hmm

Thailand has committed some terrible acts of revenge in the south against Muslim insurgents but at the same time they have not been shy in beheading people, setting off multiple bombs and burning down schools. With this heightened level of violence it's not hard to see why tolerance is in short supply.

I'm curious. I've asked this question to various Muslim friends who can't answer. Where is a true Muslim country? Where can I go and see Islam practiced in its true sense, complete with tolerance and understanding towards others? Iran? Saudi Arabia? Pakistan? Syria? Which Muslim country encourages people of different faiths to live side by side in harmony?

If Thailand bends to the will of the insurgents in the south will it bring peace? Will the lower three provinces become cut off from the rest of Thailand and become strict Islamic provinces run by the rule sharia? Will Thais from Thailand's predominant Buddhist population be able to live freely in those provinces and practice Buddhism openly without fear of persecution, as Muslims in other parts of Thailand can do now?

Can anyone explain?

2007-03-04T09:24:00.000+07:00

Living in Thailand, the positives, and silly price for Take That tickets...

So, with my departure now imminent I am going to try to ignore all the things that annoy me about Thailand and focus on some of the positive aspects to life here. Yes, there are some. Despite my obvious annoyance with the state of politics here, xenophobic attitude etc etc there are many things that I will miss about life in The Big Mango.

Food - Thai food is very nice and there's lots to choose from. Being a vegetarian choice is somewhat limited but if you eat meat and enjoy spice then it's a great place for eating and costs are generally low. Ironically my favourite restaurant, apart from various street stalls, is not Thai but French/Taiwanese vegetarian which I've mentioned more than once before, Tamarind Cafe. You can also get food pretty much any time of the day or nigth which is nice too.

Weather - The heat at this time of the year gets me down and makes me feel lethargic. However, I will miss not having to wear more than one layer and also being able to go to the beach and swim in the sea any day of the year regardless of season. I think this is something I do take for granted but don't take advantage of enough. This weekend was supposed to be a beach trip but for various reasons it got cancelled.

Bangkok - Yes, I will miss Bangkok. It's chaotic, polluted and has way too much traffic but it grows on you. Amongst all the dirt and the grime there is character. Hard to explain but I don't think I could get bored of Bangkok. It's a wonderful place for walking and cycling and there's always something interesting to see for western eyes, you just have to look.

Red Tape - Thailand is king of bureaucracy. Everything that involves officialdom takes a long time and is frustrating in the extreme. However, on the other hand you are generally left to your own devices here. Unlike the nanny state that the UK is fast becoming here you can just get one with your life unhindered. People build more or less where they like, build what they like and how like. You want to extend your house, you do it. You want a cowboy builder to do the job on the cheap then it's your lookout. In the UK you can't put a garden shed up without planning approval these days and now the local council tax will take into consideration things like garden sheds and new kitchens (basically if you improve your house you will be taxed more, kind of like a punishment for wanting a better life).

Another thing that I guess is not unique to Thailand is the mix of nationalities you get to meet. I know very few Brits and mix with even less (I've got nothing against Brits, I am one, I just don't seem to know any). My daughter goes to school with people from about a dozen or more nationalities. Today we'll be taking her to ballet with her German friend and then go out for the day with her family. In the last week she's been to parties of a Spanish, Caribbean and Australian flavour. The list goes on. Back home she'll probably be the most exotic person in her class and one of only a few non 100% Brits at the school. This worries me. I want her to grow up as a citizen of the world not a little Englander or Thai-centric.

I'll post more as I think of them and try not to read to much into what's in the paper and on the news. I know I'll miss this place despite everything.

And now for something very silly. Take That concert tickets with a face value of GBP£45 have reached GBP£100,000 on Ebay!! Can you believe this? Who in their right mind would pay that for a concert ticket, and Take That too??? I mean, if it was Led Zep or the Stones I could understand, but Take That?? World gone mad.

Living in Thailand, the positives, and silly price for Take That tickets...

2007-03-02T15:44:00.000+07:00

Killer of two Russian girls found and powerless malls...

Day five of the saga and the police have announced they have found the killer of the two Russian tourists. He is Thai and his ex-girlfriend put the police on to him.

His motive: robbery. Yep, he tried to rob the girls as they lounged in deckchairs on the beach. They screamed so he shot them both. How much money would you expect someone to have with them on the beach? Most people don't take more than enough for a few drinks so it can't have been a lot anyway. So they were killed for a few dollars basically.

Having committed the deed he raced off on the bike to his ex-girlfriend's apartment and asked to hide for a few hours. Then off to Chon Buri, where he comes from, to sell the gun. The girl said she wanted to tell the police so she couldn't be connected with the crime and get into trouble at a later date. So presumably it wasn't because she thought that murder is wrong and she wanted to do the right thing.

The police were going to give 500,000baht to anyone with information but it looks like she won't be getting her hands on that money. The Governor of Pattaya has offered the families of the dead girls 100,000baht in compensation (about US$3,000). I think sometimes such offers would be less insulting if they simply weren't made. I mean, money can never replace a loved one but to be offered such a small amount is nothing short of an insult.

Now I know this is wrong, but I can't help thinking that the whole ugly incident would have been handled differently if the victims had been American or Australian or European. No nasty suggestions that the girls were hookers, no Clouseauesque police investigation involving game show contestants and no pitiful offers of compensation. Stereotypes are rife in Thailand and sadly the Russians have a pretty bad image, due to a minority of badly behaved ones, especially in Pattaya (so I'm told).

He had been arrested earlier in the year for robbing a couple of Korean tourists, found guilty and then released.

The heat is getting me down now. I'm feeling lazy and lethargic all the time and totally uninspired. It's just too warm to move. Sleep is all I feel like at the moment.

The power went when I was at Central earlier. It's funny but you take things like light and cool air for granted in these enormous shopping malls. When the power went it suddenly got very dark and I was reminded that these large buildings generally don't have windows. And then the heat came. Within minutes it went from being almost cold to warm and then hot and sticky. As soon as the power went there was a mad rush from shop assistants as they pulled down shutters, presumably to stop any opportunists from taking advantage of the situation.

Killer of two Russian girls found and powerless malls...

2007-03-01T12:05:00.000+07:00

Images of Bangkok - Travel (short movie)

OK, so here's another attempt at a short film. This one focuses on transport in Bangkok, the river, Banglamphu and Khao San Road. As a first for me I've put subtitles on this clip. It was shot to DVD quality but quality, as ever, is lost the moment I upload to www.youtube.com. Still, can't complain, it's a free service. The music is from an up and coming band in the UK called MonkieJamm, the track - Rest of my Days. Comments welcome as ever. Enjoy!

Images of Bangkok - Travel (short movie)

2007-02-28T21:43:00.000+07:00

Adventurous kids and Blood Diamonds.....

There's a Thai radio station which is basically a talk station. It's a favourite with taxi drivers as they have a lot of info on the various stages of gridlock throughout the city.

This morning they had a woman on making an appeal for her kids, or step-kids as it turned out. She lives in Bangkok and the two girls aged 3 and 9 had left home last night at about 6pm. They left a note saying they were off to see their mum in Pak Chong, about 190km north-east of Bangkok. Two kids and their bikes.

The woman and the father waited a while and tried to find the two. They couldn't. They called the police but the police told them they couldn't help because the kids hadn't been gone for 24 hours yet. Yes, that's right and don't forget they are 3 and 9.

This morning came and still no word so in desperation the woman called the radio show and went live on air to ask for help. They broke for the news and traffic update and then came back with great news, the kids had been found. A taxi driver listening to the show had seen the two kids, still in Bangkok but heading north. He stopped and got them and called the radio station from a call box.

The kids had slept rough last night and had enough money to buy rice and eggs and some drink. The 9 year old was the spokesperson for obvious reasons and was very confident and not in the slightest bit worried. The step-mum laid into her on air about going without telling anyone, until the presenter stepped in and pointed out it was neither the time nor place for a roasting.

Happy ending. Just thought I'd share it. Can't believe the 24 hour ruling with the police still applies even for 3 year olds.

Just seen Blood Diamonds. Great movie and DiCaprio in his best role yet, well, since What's Eating Gilbert Grape anyway.

Adventurous kids and Blood Diamonds.....

2007-02-28T14:33:00.000+07:00

Continuing saga of the two Russian girls and Land Rover maintenance....

The latest twist in the murdered Russian girl saga seems to be that the police have invited a "motorbike expert" winner of a game show to see if he can recognise the bike used by the assassin. So I guess something along the lines of asking Jade Goody to help the police with their investigations. Hmmm. I can't help thinking that this is not showing the police in a very good light. I think Sly Stallone is in town at the moment, maybe he could be drawn in to decide what gun was used. He couldn't recognise the make of the bike from the footage but cleverly recommended that the police get a still from the video. There's a good idea! And it's only day four!

Another scorcher, though I think I may stop mentioning that as everyday is a scorcher here. Two mechanics here trying to fix the clutch on the Land Rover. It started as a two hour job this morning and wasn't going to cost much but it's now afternoon, they're still here and the price has quadrupled.

With bits of Land Rover spread out all over the drive I'm trying to stop the daughter and her mate from getting involved. They seem to be attracted to the oil, just want to get their paws in it and then share their new find with the furniture. Both mechanics are smokers so the place smells like, er, oh, I don't know, something smokey.

Having run wild all afternoon I've been persuaded to put a DVD on for them so I guess it's just a matter of time before they are both spark out on the sofa and then won't want to sleep later.

Continuing saga of the two Russian girls and Land Rover maintenance....

2007-02-27T20:20:00.000+07:00

Bangkok traffic, Prince Charles and a great new band - MonkieJamm.....

It was a distance of not more than two hundred yards. It should have taken seconds but it took nearly forty minutes. Yes, I was in a Bangkok jam. What's happened? The last two days have been mad on the roads. Yesterday morning was chaotic and this afternoon was just unbelievable.

Yes, I know this is Bangkok and it's always bad but today's session of static butt kissing was on a road that usually flows. This always causes problems between the wife and me. She has the advantage of being a Buddhist and seems to be able to retain a relative calmness in these situations whereas I start to boil.

It's not normal to sit staring at the back end of a people carrier displaying a cartoon of a young boy pissing for more than half an hour and be calm. It's not normal to stay calm when finally the traffic does start to move and is suddenly brought to another crashing halt because nearly every car on the road immediately begins switching lanes. I can see where the term road rage comes from. I wonder if anger management courses for drivers are available in Bangkok? Hmm.

Prince Charles of Britain has upset McDonalds by being quoted as suggesting they be banned as a possible solution to the ever increasing obesity amongst kids back home. They of course say they have made great steps to change their business practices. Though I tend to side with him on this one I must say that I noticed McDonalds back home has changed: new furniture and layout, organic milk and salads, a recycling push. All very inspiring. To be fair, they can hardly be blamed for an entire nation's obesity problem.

Ever heard of a band called MonkieJamm? Probably not, they're an unsigned band from the UK. Have a listen to this and let me know what you think. I found it by accident and really like it. Needs some production and, personally I would suggest drums towards the end, but really catchy and perfect for getting over several hours in the Bangkok traffic.

If you liked that try this.

Bangkok traffic, prince Charles and a great new band - MonkieJamm.....

2007-02-27T09:46:00.000+07:00

Soo hot, Taksin in London....

Another scorcher but with less breeze so the effects are greater. The garden is in desperate need of water.

The hunt for the killer of the two Russian girls continues and there's another change in the story. Yesterday the man on CCTV was Asian but today he's large and of unknown nationality. They're now looking for a Thai tour guide in connection with the killing too.

Taksin is off to give a talk on democracy in London. So, will it now be the turn of us Brits to be on the receiving end of Thai xenophobia? Will it be Tony Blair's turn to have his effigy burnt in public with protests outside the British Embassy and lots of trampling of Union Jacks and waving of the Thai flag? Remains to be seen.

The wife pointed out this morning that the government are not happy about him doing this. I pointed out that, loathsome as he was, Taksin was actually elected fairly and democratically three times by a vast majority. The present PM was appointed by the ruling elite following a very undemocratic military coup. She said goodbye and went to work.

I still have a Land Rover for sale if anyone is interested - deathly silence.

Soo hot, Taksin in London....

2007-02-26T11:29:00.000+07:00

Russian tourists killed...

A reward of US$3,000 has been offered to anyone who can help identify the killer of two Russian tourists in Pattaya over the weekend.

Having been quick to brand them illegal sex workers the authorities have now confirmed that they were indeed genuine tourists and had no known connections with business of any kind in Thailand. Sadly it seems a very local trait here to brand all people with the same brush, especially when it concerns foreigners. Thereby two Russian women in their early twenties must have been on the game. I feel for their families and friends if they happened to read that account online from various Thai news sources.

I've never been to Pattaya, well once ten years ago but I refused to get out of the car and carried on without stopping. It had a terrible reputation and recently local business leaders there have been making an effort to re-brand it and present a more "family" style holiday destination. Sadly occurrences such as this one are not as rare as they should be and it still manages to retain its old image of sleaze and violence.

Russian tourists killed...

2007-02-25T08:30:00.000+07:00

Funny old world - murdered tourists, honoured dictator and anti-semitism in Korea..

Two Russian girls have been shot dead in their deckchairs in Pattaya. Part of a legitimate tour group the girls were on holiday in Thailand and were apparently minding their own business when a gunman walked up to them on the beach, shot them and casually strolled back to a waiting motorcycle. Official line is that they were obviously illegal prostitutes, despite being part of a legal tour group.

Thais in Los Angeles have been protesting about the Thai military government and want power returned to the hands of the Thai people. I can't help but think they are wasting their time. On the subject of military dictators, today sees the official cremation rites of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn.

Known as one of the "three tyrants" Thanom ruled the country with an iron fist from 1963 to 1973. During the second world war he commanded a battalion against the British in Burma, after Thailand declared allegiance with Japan and war on Britain and America. He was briefly PM in 1958 and then took over from Sarit Thanarat, following his death, in 1963. His decade long rule led to accusations of nepotism - the other two tyrants were his son and his son's father-in-law - and corruption, and culminated with the mass slaughter of nearly 80 student pro-democracy protesters on the streets of Bangkok on October 14, 1973.

Following exile in Australia and Singapore Thanom returned in 1976 which led to, understandably, protests from students. Sadly they were viciously put down by the military and police and officially 46 were killed, though many say the actual figure was a lot higher. Following his three years in "exile" all crimes were forgiven and by 1999 he was nominated as an honorary member of the royal guard.

Jews in America and Korean Americans are up in arms at the publishing of anti-semitic cartoons in a book aimed at children, in South Korea. The cartoons imply that Jews control the world's media and all top positions.

Translation: The final obstacle (on the path to success) is always the 'fortress of the Jews'.

Translation: To sum it up, American public debate belongs to the Jews and it's no exaggeration to say that it (US media) is the voice of the Jews.

Translation: 1) The reason why Arab terror struck at the despised America. 2)destroying the WTC with a suicide attack. 3) Jews use money and public discussion as weapons to make America do what they (the Jews) want.

This seems odd coming out of Korea, have I missed something? Jews and Koreans in the States are united in revulsion towards this publication which has apparently sold more than 10 million copies already. It was designed to teach Korea's children about people from other countries. Hmm. I hate to think what they have in the British section!

Funny old world - murdered tourists, honoured dictator and anti-semitism in Korea..

2007-02-24T09:01:00.000+07:00

Hot Bangkok and nastiness towards Singapore..

Another scorching day here in Bangkok. As we head towards the Thai new year and the great water throwing festival the mercury is rising rapidly. Starting to get uncomfortable again; hot and very sticky.

Last night on one of the talk shows there was a senior military man dishing the dirt about various scandals. He claimed to have been offered 300m baht to "wipe out" one of Taksin's main opponents and when he refused an attempt was made on his life. Shockingly he also claimed to know exactly who carried out the new year bombings in Bangkok, but wouldn't say who. Apparently the authorities know but it seems the population are not to be privy to this information, just for the ears of the select few. All friends together I guess.

More anti-Singapore protests in the news. This picture was on the front page of the Bangkok Post this morning, showing Thais burning an effigy of the Singaporean PM and burning flags, whilst draped in the Thai flag and shouting for Singapore to go to hell. Singapore is one of Thailand's key allies and best buddies as it were. Nice way to treat your friends, eh.

Nationalistic sentiment is getting stronger here and this kind of ugly scene seems to be becoming more common. I think it boils down to having been shafted by one of their own, Taksin. Now they have to find a foreigner or foreign entity to hold responsible, as is so often the case. So much for their much trumpeted tolerance and friendliness towards outsiders.

I'm starting to feel the need for a beach. I really feel like spending a few days by the sea doing absolutely nothing except reading, swimming during the day and quaffing chilled Tiger in the evening. Now that is something I will really miss when I go back.

Hot Bangkok and nastiness towards Singapore..

2007-02-23T09:31:00.000+07:00

How about something funny?

The end of another week and I'm only slightly closer to knowing what I'm going to be doing in a few months time. The move is looking almost certain, though with a heavy heart in some ways. I will miss this place and there are so many uncertainties about going back to the UK. Is it the right decision? Only time will tell.

Anyway, giving that I'm feeling less than happy right now I'm going to turn to youtube.com for some light relief. One of the great things about youtube is that there appears to be no limit to what you can find hidden away among the zillions of clips showing people doing inane things. There follows a clip from Chris Rock, someone I only began to appreciate a few years ago.

Being a Brit my preferred choice of humour is predominantly of a British variety. I usually find American humour way to obvious and the type of "humour" packaged in shows like the ghastly Friends is just unbearable (IMO). I really liked Frasier and have laughed my socks off at Eddie Murphy, Mel Brooks and Joan Rivers. Anyway, here's Chris Rock so enjoy.

How about something funny?

2007-02-22T14:25:00.000+07:00

Fires and taxis in Bangkok....

River life

Look daddy, it's going to rain. This was my daughter on the way home from school yesterday afternoon. No said I, the sky is blue and it's scorchingly hot. But look, she protested, look at those big black clouds. She was right, there were big black clouds to our left.

When we turned into Tiwanon Road the clouds were clearer, only they weren't rain clouds but thick black clouds of smoke. The Toshiba factory was going up in flames. Hundreds of workers, all in identical uniforms, spewed out on to the road like ants to be counted as the smoke continued to belch forth from the back of the factory.

Sadly I have to admit that we slowed down as we drew nearer to the factory, to take a better look. Come on, it's human nature, we all do it. However, when I realised what we were looking at we moved off quickly. The fire seemed to be on the side of the factory right next to the Shell petrol station, and there was a breeze in the direction of said petrol station. Potential disaster I should think.

Heading down the road towards Tesco there were more than half a dozen fire engines hurtling up the road with firefighters perched dramatically on the top for maximum exhiliration. There was no bang or all-engulfing fireball so I guess they contained it before any real damage was done.

Once again I found myself in conversation with a taxi driver today. The usual conversation ensued with both of us firing questions back and forth about where we came from etc. Then he asked an odd question, is your wife cruel? Seemed strange. He elaborated. Does she shout? Does she talk too much? Does she stop you from going out? I think all women do this. (His opinion, not mine). Just seemed like a very peculiar thing to ask someone.

The he asked why I liked living in Thailand. Difficult one, as at the moment I'm not completely sure I do like living here but I couldn't say that. I thought about it and then lied through my teeth reeling out all the old cliches about food, weather and beaches. But in reality - these days I rarely get to the beach; the weather is far too hot and humid and the food, though very nice, is predominantly meat or fish based which makes it difficult for me as a vegetarian.

Fires and taxis in Bangkok....

2007-02-21T08:58:00.000+07:00

Odd politics, moving and France...

I feel cheated. Like many people here in Bangkok I was in support of the military coup, with the sworn aim of dethroning the big man Taksin and his cronies. They were going to take the country back and set it back on its path to democracy and economic success, and free it from the yoke of greedy egotistical leaders.

But now what's happened? The new government has appointed non other than Somkid Jatusripitak to explain to the world about Thailand's "sufficiency economy" (I'd like that explained to me too). For those who don't know, Somkid was the deputy leader of Taksin's TRT (Thai Love Thai) party and largely responsible for what became known as Taksinomics. Think Tony Blair winning the 1997 election and then appointing Margaret Thatcher as chief policy advisor. You see?

So having dethroned the nasty TRT they have now begun hiring it's most senior members to help run the country. So how long before Taksin is brought back in to once again schmooze the electorate? Many are left wondering why the tanks were rolling down the streets of Bangkok last year, what was it all about.

Having made the decision to leave I'm now starting to back-peddle. Oh sure I think we'll be off shortly but now the decision has been made suddenly the positive aspects of life in Thailand are screaming at me loud. Suddenly all is rosy again. There are still many issues I have with life here but underneath it life is good, just so long as I don't read the paper or pay too much attention to what is going on. The more I read about life back in the UK, the state of the education system, crime, quality of life for children and .....on and on, the more I wonder if we're making a big mistake.

I do know that we won't be in the UK for all eternity, I seem to get itchy feet very quickly. And if Labour win another election we'll definitely be off. I managed to miss most of the Blair years by being out of the country and I don't know that life under Mr. Brown will be something I want to experience, assuming of course that Blair finally lets go of the reins.

To be honest if I could select any country to live in it would be France. I wouldn't say this in earshot of any French person obviously but I do like the French and I adore their country, especially their wine. The daughter has an obsession with France too, and she's never been there. I think she's inspired by her French art teacher at school who she has a great liking for. Last year she (the daughter) was telling me regularly that she wanted to live in France, in an old house that has no bathroom. Kids say the strangest things.

Odd politics, moving and France...

2007-02-20T18:46:00.000+07:00

Pool party.....

Another one of the increasingly popular mid-week parties today, this time a pool party. The wife is a huge fan of these working hour kids' parties because she has the perfect excuse not to attend - work. I, on the other hand, fulfill my role as driver and chaperon and dutifully collect daughter from school and take her to said party, having already been and bought present and card.

As it turned out this wasn't a bad party. The party was outside and I'm a sweater. If it's hot I perspire. But today it was so hot that everyone was in the same boat which I found to be a refreshing experience in a sadistic kind of way, rather than be the only one with dark patches of moisture showing through.

Unlike the weekend parties where both parents are generally in attendance this one was almost exclusively female, with me being one of a two male minority (I was also the only Brit there). So while the daughter frolicked in the play area and in the pool I was left chatting to the only other male and of course a good number of the scantily clad and mostly attractive mothers. Being a house dad does have its advantages.

I think today was the start of a new stage of development for the daughter. Unlike previous parties where she's tended to mostly cling to me like a lovesick limpet, today she struck out on her own and spent most of the time playing with her mates. There were definite signs of a growing Independence. This is doubly surprising given that over the last few days she's made a point of looking me in the eyes and telling me, "I will never leave you daddy, I'll always be with you". No idea what's brought this on but, touching though it is, I pointed out that one day she'll be a teenager with an attitude and the mere sight of me will embarrass her. She's not convinced.

Pool party.....

2007-02-19T20:58:00.000+07:00

The Bangkok taxi driver...

I've blogged before about Bangkok taxis. Generally I enjoy taking taxis in Bangkok because it's a great opportunity to practice a bit of Thai and chew the fat. I took a taxi earlier to Banglamphu with a really interesting guy who told me all about what it's like to be a Bangkok taxi driver.

It was one of those pink taxis that are rapidly increasing in number throughout the city, the ones that my daughter insists we go in everytime because they're pink. He works twelve hour shifts from 0400hrs to 1600hrs everyday, and then hands the car over to a buddy who will work it for the other twelve hours. For him there is only one car for the job, Toyota. His Toyota is three years old and has worked 24/7 since new with nothing more than regular service and tyre change. So no surprise that about 99% of taxis in Bangkok are also Toyota.

As with most of the taxi drivers he pays a rent to the taxi company of 600baht per twelve hour shift, everything else is his own, after fuel. The company pays for maintenance and he's responsible for repairs due to accidents.

His biggest problem is increasing competition from the overcrowded taxi market in Bangkok and the police. He was very passionate about his annoyance with the police and their tactics regarding taxi drivers. "You park in the wrong place for a few minutes, too fast, too slow, make a wrong turn, whatever reason they take your money all the time. Sometimes for no reason or a made up reason they take your money. It's too much, I'm bored of it." The police in Bangkok are well known for their dubious antics and liking for collecting "tea money", unofficially.

The big bonus for any taxi driver is the trip up country. Within Bangkok they are bound by law to use the meter but outside Bangkok it's down to their bargaining skills. A trip to Pattaya from Suwarnabhumi will set you back between 1,300 to 1,500baht, or Hua Hin 2,500baht. He was virtually rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of this.

Suwarnabhumi was another thorn in the taxi driver's side. It's so far away that they can't come back to Bangkok empty and so have to stick around at the airport until they get a fare. With so many taxis there at anyone time and the queuing system controlled by the airport, who take the 100 baht service charge, taxis have to wait an average of two hours. That's two hours with no fare.

His dream is to get enough money together to make the down payment on a car of his own and then start to earn more money and work the hours he wants rather than having to stick to his present shift.

An interesting guy and great fun to chat with. We came back from Banglamphu by river taxi which the daughter enjoyed immensely. My foot problem got so bad by the evening that I ended up going to hospital for some anti-inflammatory pills and bandaging. Seems I've torn a tendon or something so no wonder I've been in pain for six days and can't walk properly.

The Bangkok taxi driver...

2007-02-19T08:36:00.000+07:00

Great news for Bangkok, bombs in the south...

Afternoon nap.

At last!!! Great news on the front page of the Bangkok Post. For as long as I can remember, or at least as long as I have been visiting Thailand (fifteen years), I have moaned about the immigration staff in Bangkok, first at Don Muang and now at Suwarnabhumi. They are miserable, un-interested, rude and appear to have lost their heads between their own butt cheeks most of the time. Immigration staff in Phuket, Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai aren't like it, and immigration staff in other countries aren't like it. Even their counterparts in Beijing and Rangoon are more friendly and welcoming.

Well, the many complaints from pissed off tourists and visitors has finally paid off. The Post reports today that immigration staff at Suwarnabhumi airport are to get "personality training" so as to learn how to smile and present a better image of Thailand. It's a simple thing but will make such a huge difference to the thousands of people who start there trip into Thailand wondering what they did to anger the miserable bugger at the immigration desk. Whoever is responsible for this, I want to kiss you! Personally I would have recommended a full personality transplant but training is a good start.

Sadly there has also been a series of bombs in the south, one report saying more than twenty explosions throughout four provinces. The explosions were coordinated and managed to injure nearly fifty people and some reports say four dead. Devastating as this is, in bomb terms and acts of terrorism it's a lucky escape. Two bombs went off yesterday in Baghdad killing 56 people. I know that's small consolation for the people injured and dead but just imagine what would have happened if the twenty or so bombs had been of the same magnitude as the Baghdad bombs. Catastrophic!

I was hoping to go and watch the Chinese new year celebrations yesterday but still suffering from my ankle injury from last week so had a day of rest. It didn't help, just as bad today.

Great news for Bangkok, bombs in the south...

2007-02-17T20:08:00.000+07:00

Chinatown, Bangkok and a great electric car....

Had a mooch around Chinatown area this afternoon watching the preparations for the big celebration tomorrow. Busy but I guess not as busy as it will be tomorrow. Red and gold everywhere and firecrackers going off regularly.

Lots of colour

Food is a big part of the Chinese celebration

Ever heard of VentureOne? It's a revolutionary 3-wheel, plug-in all electric, or Hybrid vehicle - that tilts. A 2-passenger capacity vehicle that can reach 100 mpg, hit 60mph in 6 seconds and speed you to more than 100 mph. And the best news is it should retail for under US$20,000!! And to top it all it looks great! But will it ever get into production?

Chinatown, Bangkok and a great electric car....

2007-02-17T08:33:00.000+07:00

Patriotic Thailand

Well, things are getting serious, seriously deranged. The head of Thailand's present military junta has made a speech declaring that he, as a Thai soldier, will not allow "even one inch of Thai soil to be lost". And that includes assets, and assets other than land.

He was of course referring to Shin Corp, the company sold by ex-PM Taksin to Temasek, the investment arm of the Singapore government. A private company sold for US$3.9billion to a foreign entity but now the new military self-appointed government have said they are taking it back. Apparently there are two options open to them, either they can prove Temasek have broken their contract and grab it or they can simply snatch it back regardless of silly things like laws and common decency.

This news has been received with a great deal of thumping of chests and shouts "chaiyo" from Thai nationals. Patriotism is high on the agenda in Thailand at the moment and there's a strong feeling of them and us. At the moment there's a Thai film out that has been very successful, The Legend of King Naresuan. Yet another Thai film about those evil Burmese trying to steal land from the peace loving Thais. Once again the proud, but put-upon, Thais are saved by a great hero, this time a king (it was an elephant last year).

These patriotic Thai films (of which there seems to be an endless stream) depicting the Burmese as scum of the earth, evil-doers seem to forget that Thailand too was not averse to a bit of land-grabbing itself during this period. They stole from the Burmese, Khmer and swallowed up small independent kingdoms in the north and south of what is now known as Thailand. Last year several respected Thai historians came out against these films and asked that the truth be told occasionally, especially in school text books.

The queen has seen the film and declared that it is important and shows the importance of patriotism. General Sonthi is due to see it and has ordered the army to create a cartoon about this great king for younger readers. He has also ordered every unit in the army to foster patriotism in this, 2007, the year of patriotism. So I guess Thailand will soon be known as the "hub" of patriotism. There's only been one mention of hubs this week, and that was the old "technology hub" chestnut.

What was it that the great Dr Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame said about patriotism: Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. Hmm

Patriotic Thailand

2007-02-16T10:59:00.000+07:00

Finding a good backpack....

I've been looking for a new backpack for some time now. I've been trying to find a small, light backpack that is easy to carry around town or when cycling, not for going off backpacking with but a small "day pack". My requirements are that it needs to carry: laptop, digital SLR, movie cam, small digital cam, spare batteries, pens, notebook, book (of the reading variety) and somewhere for the iPod.

After much consideration I have found the one I'm looking for and bought it yesterday. I looked in the UK and on the internet and it seemed the only company that really makes anything remotely like what I was after is Lowepro; website here. I've bought the Lowepro CompuDaypack which has: padded laptop compartment, padded adjustable compartment for SLR and several lenses, large upper daypack compartment, quick access iPod pocket with headphone cable port, padded shoulder straps with breathable dryflo, and it's water resistant.

I bought it from the True shop in Paragon which was, ironically, cheaper than the shop at MBK that sells them. It was 2,500 baht (GBP£38, US$75). In the UK they retail for double that and are hard to come by. The cheapest I've seen them to date is on Ebay from Singapore, for about US$10 more than True in Paragon. It's seems like a really good bag and probably the most comfortable one I've ever used, great purchase.

They do a few other small packs for laptop and SLR but they tend to be much bigger and more like mini suitcases than day packs. For 5,000 you can get the CompuTrekker which really is like having a small suitcase on your back. Seems a great bag and really well made but just too big. Definitely worth checking out Lowepro if you're in the market for any kind of backpack, they have a great range.

Finding a good backpack....