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7ft Tall Actors Blog on Life in Thailand, Food, Culture, Humour, Elephants and Surprises
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Monday, 13 April 2009 |
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First the ASEAN summit disrupted in Pattaya, with the Japanese, Chinese, SIngapore and New Zealand heads of state barricaded in their luxury hotels. The Australian Prime Minister turned his flight around mid way and went home. Abhisit, the current Thai Prime Minister had his car assaulted and the rear window smashed.
As I predicted back in December 2008, civil unrest has surfaced.
Now Army Tanks and fully armed soldiers are in the streets of Bangkok trying to quell the civil unrest. About 100,000 protestors have blocked traffic for days and the Bangkok Municipal Council has cancelled Thai New Year festivities that were due to start today...
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009 |
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Today walking up my street I found an old lady selling Betel Nut (well technically it is Areca Nut wrapped in Betel Leaf), a natural stimulant found Asia.
I recognised the Betel Nut for what it was from my trip to Myanmar about 2 years ago where every 10 meters on every street in the main city area of Yangon is someone sitting at a small booth selling Betel Nut in a variety of mixes for different flavour.
Previously I tried Betel Nut there in Myanmar but got no high out of it so today I jumped at the chance to try it again. So in Thai I asked the old lady "How much", her reply "10 baht" about 30 cents so out came the spare change and I walked off the happy new owner of...
Do It Yourself Betel Nut Kit
Why? Well Betel Nut is a stimulant, said to be as strong as coffee but also addictive, to me that sounds not quite right.... reading up on the customs and talking to people with 1st hand experience with Betel Nut chewers it sounds like it must be a lot stronger than coffee...
In fact it sounds an awefully lot like after chewing for prolonged periods you get a Betel Nut high...
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008 |
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I just realised that I have not done a blog on most bloggers favourite subject - "my blog: my life is so boring I am going to blog on what I ate today"
Yes I am being rude, but really as a blogger who cares what you had for breakfast.... what? OK then, your mum cares but we don't....
...so I am going to blog (very little) about what I ate, do a mini review of the excellent and long standing German restaurant Bei Otto (Bangkok Branch) and then do my typical rant that some find interesting/entertaining/annoying...
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Thursday, 04 September 2008 |
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Political and civil unrest have been prevalent throughout Bangkok now for over a week with parliment house blockaded and the Government meeting in a different location.
A State Of Emergency has been called several days ago and the military put on standby.
Will this turn into another coup like the 2006 coup ...
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Saturday, 09 August 2008 |
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Alright Saturday night - night when people with real jobs go out and get drunk!
What is Conan doing? What is there to do in Bangkok on a Saturday night - actually that has to be one of the dumbest questions of all time - you can do ANYTHING....
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Monday, 14 April 2008 |
Yes it's that time of year - Thai New Year - and what a good / bad time it is depending upon your mood.
This year it has been officially sanction as a 3 day holiday by the Government, great if you are a Thai or into reliving that lost childhood bad news if you have a business to run and want to get down to work.
You see all of Thailand (except Pattaya that is a special circumstance) goes into a 3 day water fight frenzy...
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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I spent the last week in northern China filming, this article is about some of the non-movie related impressions I got while working
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
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Flicking though TV stations while waiting bored in a hotel room I recently saw an episode of the Biggest Loser - it's the TV show where 'teams' of obese people compete against other teams to lose the most fat each week. I good loss in a week is about 6lbs, which is 3kg.
Well in the last 6 days I lost 13kg which is 28.6lbs!!!
Want to know the 'magic' supplement that caused this massive weight loss?
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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
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Got a stomach bug in Cambodia, been vomiting with bad diahoreea for days, the vomiting has now stopped but I feel light headed, somewhat dizzy and my guts hurt - not to mention I am off to the toilet every 1/2 hour at best.
I'll write more about the trip in a few days.
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Friday, 15 February 2008 |
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Following on the success of Air Asia's cheap 99 Baht ($3) Airfare deals - I am flying to Phnom Penh tomorrow for 4 days.
I plan oh heading down to the coastal town of Sihanoukville and seeing the place before all the International resorts and hotel chains build there (many have already bought land).
Also I will be meeting with representatives of Film Cambodia to check out hte current capabilities of the incountry crews and equipment availability and to form friendships for future working relationships.
Plus I will be taking time to examine the city in more detail as an ex-pat, accomodation, gym, supermarkets, food availability, etc.
And I will be catching up with a few friends I have made over my last few visits.
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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"Happy Be Mi"
Happy New Year, I don't know why the Thais use the English word happy but that is generally what we foreigners hear.
Either that or the string of 500 exploding firecrackers let off in the car park of our apartment complex at 7am followed by yokels laughing and children screaming....
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Wednesday, 23 January 2008 |
At 5am tomorrow morning I get up to go to Yangon in Myanmar (used to be called Rangoon, Burma) for a 3 day 'holiday' trip to visit a very good friend and to partake in the Australia Day celebrations held by the Australian Embassy to which I have scored an invite.
Seeing how there is very limited mobile phone coverage, patchy internet coverage and NO ATM machines in Myanmar I probably won't be posting any articles while I am away, but I am back on Sunday so I'll have a travel video shortly thereafter and a travel article with many photos.
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
Last week I was on my way to TOT, the major telephone company in Thailand to drop off some papers to get ADSL connected at my apartment, I called a friend who lives next door to the TOT office and asked if she would like to go to lunch. Turns out she was at the bank paying her mortgage, just up the road from my place, so I asked the taxi driver to stop and wait for a minute as she crossed the road.
Next thing I know Bangkok Police are hassling us for "prostitution" and trying to take an "on the spot fine"...
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Saturday, 08 September 2007 |
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With English as a 3rd or 4th language to many Thai people it is not surprising when you get some rather interesting spellings. Even road signs and street names are spelt differently in Anglicized letters by the government officials.
So on the menu at a restaurant the other day in Pattaya I was hardly surprised to see the following offered on the menu...
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Friday, 10 August 2007 |
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Yesterday I returned from my holiday to Phnom Penh.
Holiday in Cambodia? Didn't I just go on a holiday to Koh Samui and Koh Pang Nan?
Well one of the 'benefits' of living in Thailand is that you often have to travel out of Thailand everytime you need to change your visa, work permit? Yep, leave the country. You're married to a Thai? Yep, leave the country every 3 months. You want to extend your holiday? Yep, leave the country.... you get the idea.
So looking for a benefit in every occurance in life I turn my Visa Run into a holiday, this time in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia almost 1 year from my last trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Wednesday, 18 July 2007 |
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Last month I brought you Thai Porn. This week we go one step further....
Q. What could be better than Thai porn?
A. Thailand Super Porn
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Sunday, 15 July 2007 |
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Last week I headed down to Koh Samui to catch up with an old friend (well young friend I have known for a while) and then we headed over to Koh Pang Nan for a few days chilling out on the beach.
Koh Pang Nan was very similar to last time I visited 3 years ago, a quiet island geared to backpackers more so than holiday makers.
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Thursday, 28 June 2007 |
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Thai Porn, it is everywhere in Thailand. In the streets you can see Thai porn, in schools you can see Thai porn, even in government you can see Thai porn.
Yet pornography is illegal in Thailand. What is going on?
Wash Your Dirty Thai Porn Here
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Sunday, 10 June 2007 |
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Just had a run in with some low life Thai men wannabe gangsters. F***tards.
A friend clipped a motorcycle knocking it over while parking, it hit another motrocycle on the way over with minor damage.
My friend was willing to organise insurance and was willing to pay a little money to keep everyone happy, but low life scumbag Thai criminals decided that they wanted a payout approaching 1/3 the cost of a new motorcycle when damage was 2 paint scratches combined smaller than your little finger nail and 1 scratch to a decal (sticker) - total repair cost here maybe $40, maybe.
Failing to get agreement on this low life scumbag Thai criminal #1 decided to threated a retired gentleman, his wife and her sister and teh 4 year old child that he was going to kill them all - screaming and loosing his cool.
Low life scumbag Thai criminal #2 then pulled a stanley knife out...
That's when I got the call to come down
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Monday, 23 April 2007 |
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My girlfirend just asked me "What is the season, spring?"
I looked at her stunned for a second and then realised she wasn't joking - she was translating a letter written in English for a friend and they did not know what spring was.
Strange was my initial thought but then....
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Wednesday, 11 April 2007 |
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At 9pm on Sunday night I left on 11 hour local (ie non-tourist) bus ride to Mukdahan, Isaan, just this side of the Mekong River. My destination was to be Savannakhet, Laos.
Again as is usual for the way I like to travel I was the only foreigner on the bus and one of several at the few stops we made at regional bus stations. This was made much easier this time by the fact that I can now speak basic Thai....
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Monday, 26 March 2007 |
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At Emporium the other night after watching the Thai epic movie Narusuan Part 2 (3 parts 3.5 hrs long each detailing the life of the king that formed Siam (now Thailand) out of warring city states) as we were leaving my girlfriend turned to me and asked if we needed anything from the convenience store on the way home, she wanted to get some washing powder.
As we walked past the cosmetics section in a large upperclass department store of Bangkok. I told my girlfriend 'Pohm ow Nam Hoi' (I want Oyster sauce), she went red, several women nearby looked at me....
.... she put her head down and let her hair cover her face.
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Saturday, 13 January 2007 |
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Many people travel to Thailand and leave with a bad impression - the international media do nothing to help this stereotype either - in fact I can say that CNN "reporters" are nothing more or less than hot windbags full of intestinal gas whos parents are closely related.
Tourism in Thailand is varied and amazing, with a different experience around each corner and culturally diverse people in each part of the country.
Today I will write a little about each of the main provincial groupings and their backgrounds as well as a brief note on attractions and tourism destinations in each area...
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007 |
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Total bombs and grenade attacks on New Years - 7. Total dead now at about 3. Injuries - a lot more (36+).
Following the coward retards throwing grenades into innocent crowds on New Years Eve and setting off timed bombs they are continuing their 'attacks'. Just yesterday there were 2 more bombs set off in major shopping areas...
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Sunday, 31 December 2006 |
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5 seperate but co-ordinated bomb attacks have just occurred in Bangkok.
News at the moment is in Thai, I am off to a mates place who speaks Thai to find out more
More news here:
Bangkok Bombs
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Friday, 15 December 2006 |
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Several months ago I went on a short holiday for a week to visit some of the other sites in the region, predominantly I wanted to visit Phnom Penh, Cambodia and have a look at the place in terms of a future base (home).
People who travel to one other country then espouse how great it is and how they want to live there the rest of their life, in my opinion, are making a mistake. What are they basing their judgement on? Experience with 2 countries out of hundreds? Get out and have a good look around before you make your decision on where in the world you want to live. Also note that a 2 day package tour does not show you what a country is like at all - it shows you 5 star hotels and a group of tourists taking photos.
So off I went - overland - to get a good look at Cambodia, Phnom Penh and the people....
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Monday, 11 December 2006 |
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Where in the world would you like to live? For me I need a warm climate to be happy, more so now than before.
It's 28 degrees celcius here (83 fahr.) and I am freezing cold.
I am staying at a friends place for a few days and he has the aircon set at 28, I had to sneak it to 30 before I catch cold and die of it.
Funny, first time I came to Bangkok I could barely breathe due to the heat and humidity...
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Monday, 20 November 2006 |
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Walking along my Soi (street) the other day I noticed one of the vendors had a new lunch time surprise added to the BBQ menu...
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Wednesday, 01 November 2006 |
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It is good to see in Thailand there are many talented live bands playing in venues all across the country. The following video was shot in Trang, a small town in the South of Thailand. Even in this out of the way place you can see the singer is a little hottie and the band is fantastic....
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Sunday, 22 October 2006 |
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Many first time tourists in Thailand head out on their own, or with their tourist buddies and proceed to pick up a hot woman at the local nightclub - only to realise that the hot she is a hot he, locally known as a Katoey or Ladyboy.
So rather than insult her, and make yourself look like a git in the process - Here's how to spot a Katoey / Ladyboy from Thailand...
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