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My friend here in Ubon Ratchathani has been off to Laos for various reasons and he is writing about his adventures over at his blog, Life in Rural Thailand. He had an interesting trip and is putting pictures up. Laos is a beautiful country; even though many are poor the people are amazing

Last week we headed to the annual Red Cross New Years Festival, it is held every year at the government offices here in Ubon Ratchathani. This year it is running from the 29th until the 7th. There are games, rides and of course many different things to buy. All shoes were 100Baht

At times I read things that the NLA (National Legislative Assembly) of Thailand do, and I cannot help but to get so angry and want to beat the living shit out of each and every member on the panel. This is mainly the rape laws that pertain to minors aged 13 – 15 years of age. (more on this in a moment, please bare with me) And then other times I think they are a normal, well educated and completely rationale functioning assembly

The other Saturday, our smaller students had their sport day. Just like their bigger counterparts they too dress up and have a small parade along the main road of Ubon Ratchathani. The following are pictures of kindergarten and primary 1 – 3 students. Here some of the kids are beneath the large Christmas tree set-up outside Ubon’s most luxurious hotel

I had ventured down to N-Joy ( I am going to blog on N-Joy soon) the other weekend to meet a few friends I hadn’t seen for a little while. While I was there, Lance the publican asked if I knew about the upcoming Remembrance Day. I didn’t.

On the 13th, two days ago. I got up a little late and then started painting all the trims of the house to finish the lounge room. I hadn’t been painting long when my phone rang and a lady on the other end said, ‘Mr

Every year in October there is a big temple fair in Samut Prakan. It is the most important annual tradition for the people in our province. It is called the “Phra Samut Chedi Fair” and lasts for 12 days and 12 nights. It is an event that we all look forward to as there are many stalls with things to eat as well as games to play

The Temple Fair in Samut Prakan has now reached its fourth day. Today is the 8th day of the waning moon of the 11th lunar month. On this day every year, the local people from Phra Samut Chedi District come together to compete in various traditional games. The event was presided over by Mr.

don't seem to notice that everybody wares long pants and shirts around them, they still think they're on the Pattaya Beach, probably. Thais are extremely tolerant people but though they still smile and interact with these naked morons, it doesn't mean that they really like or respect them. Try to learn a little about the people you're going to visit and don't embarrass yourself.

One of my favourite festivals in Thailand is the Rap Bua Festival in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan. I usually go every year now. In English, the festival translates as “Lotus Receiving Festival”

Top tennis stars Gilles Simon of France, John Isner of USA and Robby Ginepri of USA got some hands (and legs) on experience with Thai martial arts at the PTT Thailand Open 2009 tennis tournament yesterday. The three players were treated to an up close demonstration of sword fighting and Muay Thai before donning their boxing shorts and getting amongst the action themselves. The three received lessons in the Thai kick-boxing from Olympic champion Somjit Jongjorhor, much to the delight of the local crowd

Bryan Robson has agreed to a four-year deal to become Thailand’s new manager, the head of the country’s FA has announced. The 52-year-old will fill the vacancy left by former incumbent Peter Reid, who departed by mutual consent 12 months into a four-year contract to take up the post of assistant manager at Stoke after being told he could not split his time between England and the south-east Asian nation.

the conurbation in Chonburi Province. Pattaya's name evolved from the march of Phraya Tak (later King Taksin) and his army from Ayutthaya to Chanthaburi.

This is continuing my interview with Peter Robinson, who is probably better known in Thailand as “Phra Farang”, the foreign monk. (Click here for part one.) Peter spent ten years as a monk before finally disrobing in order to spend more time with his student charity, The SET Foundation (SET) .

First and foremost I would like to offer my condolences to the Riach family, Lydia Riach passed away from her injuries that she received in a bungled robbery attempt in Bangkok. You can read about the robbery here at Andrew Drummond’s blog or you can read John Le Fevre’s story at this link. I had read about the robbery but became really interested in the story as two Asian based journalists had reported on the robbery and one was accusing the other of false reporting