Archive for the ‘From Tom’s Desk’ Category

Isaan Updates From Northeast Thailand 9.05.13

May 9th, 2013 admin

buddhaDaeng and I traveled to Khon Kaen on the 1st to visit friends and pick up some computer accessories that cannot be found in Sakon Nakhon. The 1st was a holiday and she managed to get the 2d and 3rd off giving us a 6 day weeked as Monday the 6th was also a holiday. After a few days of food and drink and with Larry Westfall along we headed out on the 5th in search of Free Thai sites, Vietnam war era sites and whatever else. We traveled to Na Khu in Kalasin and checked out the Free Thai airstrip there before moving on to Nam Phung in Sakon Nakhon where we had little luck with the site there. After a stop at Phu Khieow and a forest of antennae we arrived in Sakon Nakhon later in the day on the 5th, sort of a day earlier than planned.
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The Government in Thailand. Is it a Detriment to Public Order? A View From Northeast Thailand

April 26th, 2013 admin

Thai Censors have banned a new documentary on Thai-Cambodian border conflicts, as they say it is misleading ( I have read that they have unbanned it, but have been unable to find it)and would disrupt public order. Yes, truth and honesty are detrimental to the public good according to the Thai Government! What a joke, the Thai Government is who is misleading and detrimental to the public, period, full stop.
There are too many lies, fabrications, misleading actions and statements to mention so I will just mention a few.
One of the most important is the Tablet for students illusion. I have not visited all of the country, nor all of the schools, but I do know only a minority of the Prathom 1 students have their tablets. And as far as I have discovered they are the property of the school, not the students. Thailand, Tablets for Prathom 1 (Grade 1) Students in Northeast Thailand, is the story of my visit to a Kalasin School.
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Songkran2013,Sakon Nakhon,Thailand a Wrapup

April 17th, 2013 admin

Okay that wraps up my 17th Songkran in Northeast Thailand, rom villages to towns and cities. Some years after a visit to the wat and a parade I would lock myself up and get scads of work done, Some years I even put together lists and managed to accomplish bunches. Lets face it times do change and songkran cannot be the same as in the pre internet, pre cell phone, pre phonecam days. And a person can only see what is happening at his own little patch.
I had high expectations based on posted schedules and a visit to the food fair on the 12th. The morning of the 13th the reality of events not happening and 0600h beer drinking government officials got me back to real reality as opposed to Thai reality.

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From Toms Desk 5 April 2013

April 5th, 2013 admin

I have been using WP SEO Supercharger and am generally satisfied with it. What it does is to create draft  posts made up of past posts relative to Google searches, such as the one shown here. We’ve created a post http://xxxxxxxxxxx for search query living in khon kaen thailand Your page http://www.isaan-live.com/ ranked #1 on Google for this search query. I have deleted the link to the draft as it is not pertinent  I can then go to the draft and either post as is, which I rarely do, or edit and schedule or post, or I can just delete it. I would say I probably delete about 50% of them as searches can be quite similar and I see no need to over repost posts. Another tool I have been using lately is Storify. I can use it to merge past posts of mine into a single post or  I can search a topic and put it together in one post. Have a look…

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An Urban Legend Debunked from Northeast Thailand

March 20th, 2013 admin

A few days ago I posted something I had recently seen on the Internet that I had not encountered before namely  this post  March 2013, Not Only in Northeast Thailand, This happens once every 823 years.
Anyhow Larry of Khon Kaen Retirement fame had seen it before and this morning sent me this from snopes dot com that debunks the story I would think for any month with 31 days.

Remember unlike Thailand’s Nearly English Language Dailies we try to check things out…
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March 2013, Not Only in Northeast Thailand, This happens once every 823 years.

March 19th, 2013 admin

 

 

This is the first I saw of this phenomenon and a google search brought no results. So before the month finishes and is gone for a long time

 

 

 

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Coming Up at Isaan Life In Northeast Thailand

March 8th, 2013 admin

Friday morning it is up early and over the Phu Phan taking highway 213 to Kalasin and the  Pong Lang, Phrae Wa and Red Cross Fair. If you are looking for fairs and festivals in Isaan the Red Cross fairs go on in nearly every province in February and March and can always be found on the Provincial website.
Arguably, except in Kalasin, the best silk in Thailand is produced in the Province and one of the best types is the Phrae Wa  generally produced by the Phu Thai people of the region. And the   Pong Lan a log xylophone from the Isaan region of northeast Thailand is also featured.
75% is the same old plastic flip flops and buckets found at all Isaan fairs and the bet 25% are the crafts, demonstrations and music…

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From Tom’S Desk Isaan Update 27.02.13

February 27th, 2013 admin

At 0900 hours on the 27th I board the Nakhon Phanom to Bangkok VIP coach in Sakon Nakhon. Arrival time in Bangkok is scheduled for 1900. I will probably de-bus at Rangsit and taxi to my friend’s house on Sukhumwit 31, have a couple beers and crash.
I have an appontment at the US Embassy at 0900 and a bunch of errands to run. If I complete everyting I will book a Nakhon Chai Air coach to Khon Kaen for Friday morning the 1st of March And back to Sakon Nakhon Saturday. And if all continues to go well will renew my visa for 1 year on Monday the 4th of March. And if anything comes up I have all sorts of contingencies set up and hope to be sorted by the end of the week

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From Tom’s Desk Update from Isaan, Northeast Thailand

February 18th, 2013 admin

Thursday it is off to That Phanom for the festival and Magha Puja. As I have written ad nauseum it is my favorite festival of any type, full stop. We have to be back early on the 26th and I have to get ready to bus back to Bangkok and the US Embassy, where I do have an appointment. I will travel from Sakon Nakhon on the VIP 999 coach and will write it up after the trip.I have recently been documenting travel around Northeast Thailand and more so that readers can learn the how to do it of public transportation.
I will be down there for a couple days and will return to Sakon Nakhon via Khon Kaen the way I prefer to do the trip. It is then my first trip to Immigration in Sakon Nakhon to renew my visa, an annual event and a form of torture when done over the years in Nong Khai.
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