6th Tsunami memorials in Kamala & Patong
6th annual Tsunami Memorials held at Kamala and Patong, Phuket On the 6th anniversary of the terrible tsunami which hit Phuket, other Andaman provinces and Asian countries on Sunday 26 December 2004, resulting in the loss of thousands of people including some of my closest friends, I went to witness and join in two memorials held in Phuket on Sunday 26 December 2010. The Japanese Association's Tsunami memorial ceremony was held in the morning at the black marbled Japanese Monument, in the shaded garden of Sunwing Resort, on Kamala Beach, attended by the Japanese Ambassador, President of Japanese Association in Thailand. President of the Phuket Japanese Association, Secretary-General of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, with prayers by traditional Buddhist priests from Japan and somber laying of wreaths & flowers by Japanese and Thai local officials, residents, and tourists. The 'Light up Phuket' memorial was held in the afternoon and dusk at Loma (Dolphin) Park, in Patong, with an exhibition of Tsunami artwork, drawings and paintings in competitions for Thais of all ages with presentations of prizes by a Phuket Vice Governor, CEO of Phuket Provincial Administration & President of Phuket Tourism Association
Have we noticed the change? Do we realize it had happened? Never had I expected that the effects of global warming can be witnessed in the short 7 years I had lived in Thailand, at least that’s what all my surrounding friends are talking about.
Full Moon at Koh Samet - Koh Samet, Thailand (full moon koh samet, ko samet full moon)
A TripAdvisor™ TripWow video of a travel blog to Koh Samet, Thailand by TravelPod blogger Rhi-nathan. See this TripWow and more at tripwow.tripadvisor.com Full Moon at Koh Samet "On Saturday we all (the 8 volunteers) took a speed boat to Koh Samet island. Really amazing place, chilled out, lovely white powdery sand and crystal clear water.
At school last week, we held our regular Thai Manners competition for the students. The students wore traditional Thai clothes and had to visit a number of different bases in order to show that they knew how to perform the proper respect in the correct manner. This reminded me of one of the most common questions that we get in our mailbox. That is the “Thai Wai”
I have been reading so much on the ‘Red Shirts’ and the current shenanigans happening here in Thailand, well Bangkok. I am all for people having a voice and being able to express it. I mean I have been in plenty of marches in my day with the union when we wanted to express the point needed making. But here in Thailand we have the ‘Yellow Shirts or P.A.D - People’s Alliance for Democracy” and now the ‘Red Shirts or UDD - United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship’ who continually fight over the government
The time finally came for Miss Noot to graduate. That meant an early morning to the hairdresser’s for make-up and of course her hair done. It wasn’t too bad as Noot didn’t have to be there until 5.30am.
Bridge on the River Kwai Travellers always seem to score points off one another by comparing how remote the places they have been are, the further away the crowd the more you can lord it over other travellers you meet in the bar. In any travellers bar when you hear someone mention they went to Ankor Wat sure enough a pretentious voice will put them down for going to a tourist mecca and proudly proclaiming they gave Ankor a miss and went to Two Bricks in a pile of Buffalo Dung Temple instead located in the middle of nowhere and without another tourist in sight. Occasionally being guilty of this myself one thing I’ve noticed is there’s a reason tourists go to the popular sites, because the remote ones you visit as an alternative are often pretty crap compared to them. So over the last few years I’ve increasingly become a blip amongst the crowd of package tourists on the beaten track once again.
Today marks the 69th anniversary of the battle with the French on 17th January 1941 near the island of Koh Chang. In dispute were some of the territories in Indochina that Thailand wanted to claim back. Although the Thais fought bravely, they lost two torpedo boats and the warship HTMS Thonburi was badly damaged
It is that time of year again when we do a quick review of the past year. Today I am going to look back at some of the more popular news photos from Thailand on our sister blog www.thaiphotoblogs.com .
View from Mirror Cave Mountain Just four hours outside Bangkok lays a haven of old Thailand, Prachuap Kiri Khan. Just along the road from the wave of development that swept Cha am and Hua Hin, sleepy little Prachuap has just snoozed on unnoticed. Prachuap was one of the first places I ever visited in Thailand back in 1991 and one of the few that has changed little.
The other week we had our sport day, there was a magnificent and amazing parade and the following are some more pictures of the parade. The marching band led the way. And this is my team; I am with the red colours. This young lady looked very happy, even after walking a few kilometres in those boots.
I wrote about the International Wax Sculpting Competition which is part of the Lenten Candle Festival, last Friday. Today is Monday and I thought I would go back and check on how the sculptures were all looking 4 days on. They have till tomorrow to finish the sculptures. I have the names and also what each sculpture represents from the artists perspective.
I ventured to our local park called Thung Sri Muang, this week here in Ubon Ratchathani we have our biggest festival, The Lenten Candle Festival and the city is booked out for around 5 days. At the park I went to look at this, wax. There is an International Wax Sculpture Competition taking place
When I see images like this I usually think of Japanese kids who often wear masks when they are ill or when they are concerned about catching a contagious disease. However, I took this picture this afternoon here in Thailand. The number of cases of people infected with the A/H1N1 virus has gone from a trickle to almost a flood overnight
It’s a question difficult to answer, it always depends on the equation. A story of that I will tell, of that which happened in the condo I live. Bart (lets call him Bart for he was more of a brat as the residence knew him) is a “luk-krueng” (mixed blood), father a Japanese mother is a Thai.
6th annual Tsunami Memorials held at Kamala and Patong, Phuket On the 6th anniversary of the terrible tsunami which hit Phuket, other Andaman provinces and Asian countries on Sunday 26 December 2004, resulting in the loss of thousands of people including some of my closest friends, I went to witness and join in two memorials held in Phuket on Sunday 26 December 2010. The Japanese Association's Tsunami memorial ceremony was held in the morning at the black marbled Japanese Monument, in the shaded garden of Sunwing Resort, on Kamala Beach, attended by the Japanese Ambassador, President of Japanese Association in Thailand. President of the Phuket Japanese Association, Secretary-General of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, with prayers by traditional Buddhist priests from Japan and somber laying of wreaths & flowers by Japanese and Thai local officials, residents, and tourists. The 'Light up Phuket' memorial was held in the afternoon and dusk at Loma (Dolphin) Park, in Patong, with an exhibition of Tsunami artwork, drawings and paintings in competitions for Thais of all ages with presentations of prizes by a Phuket Vice Governor, CEO of Phuket Provincial Administration & President of Phuket Tourism Association 
