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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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..

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...

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...

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....

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)...

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

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....

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...

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..

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..

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...

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..

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....

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.....

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?