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The Women of Songkran 2012

Talen — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:21:10 +0000

Pattaya International Bed Race 2012 in Pictures

Talen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:37:24 +0000

The Pattaya International Bed Race 2012 went off without a hitch last night and there was a lot of fun in the air. By the time the beds started lining up for the parade it was overcast and threatening rain and not too long after that the skies did open up for a bit but aside from a little rain, thunder and lightning there was an incredible turnout this year and I would say there were easily a couple thousand people lining the streets and eager for the race to begin.

On the Stage the house band from the Blues Factory jammed away and were eventually joined by a Jerry Lee Lewis impersonator who did a helluva job in keeping the crowd rockin.

There were about 30 beds entered in the race again this year and some of the old favorites made their return such as Champagne agogo and Murphy’s Law. I will have to say that Champagne agogo was the winner this year when it comes to bed innovation as no other beds had a working shower head with the ladies working the water in a way that only they could . Best looking bed would have to go to the Nova Hotel Baywatch team even though it looked exactly like a speedboat I’m betting you could sleep in it and what lovelies it held. Most rowdy bed as always has to go to Murphy’s Law. Hard Rock Hotel always has the most fun and snazziest dressed bed participants.

I didn’t stick around for the end of the race but it was a great year for the Pattaya International Bed Race and the real winners were the children that the charities will help…enough of the words on with the Pictures!

Pattaya International Bed Race 2012

A great time was had by all. For more information on upcoming Thailand Events and Festivals Please visit the Thailand Events Calender.

Pattaya Fireworks Competition 2011 in Pictures

Talen — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:21:52 +0000

Pattaya Fireworks Competition 2011

This weekend the Pattaya Fireworks Competition finally took place after being rescheduled due to lack of tourists last month. The fireworks started early Friday evening and lasted until about 10pm and again on Saturday. Friday night the fireworks were great but Saturday’s show was just awesome with the best teams showing off for all to see. Luckily for me my balcony was perfectly situated for the show and I managed to get some great shots. Enjoy!

Picking Flowers in Petchaboon

Talen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:39:40 +0000

Farmer Talen circa 2009 in the rice fields of Mukdahan quite a bit heavier then and very sweaty.

The first thing I noticed as the bus pulled into Petchaboon province were the small mountain ranges on the horizon and after that was the miles and miles of farmland. Petchaboon is definitely farm country as is most of rural Thailand, and while you’ll see many rice fields as expected they are far from the the money crops. The rice fields for the most part are for personal use while the main crops are sugar cane, tamarind, soy beans, corn and potatoes…miles and miles of potatoes. From atop the mountains you get a beautiful view of these patchwork crops laid out as far as the eye can see.

One evening after dinner I was sitting with Mo and her parents talking about, of all things, Ford tractors, and that’s when Pappa asked me if I would like to go with them in the morning to pick flowers…I said sure, I would love to. Now, I have learned quite a bit of Thai over the past year but staying with the family in Petchaboon quickly made me realize that my Thai was sorely lacking. I was able to pick out enough words to understand what was going on but I missed a lot of the subtle things such as Pappa’s picking flowers question.

While the farmers do rotate crops and in October many farmers rotate in sunflowers it was still too early for picking because the sunflowers were only 2 feet tall with small heads and for the life of me I saw no other flowers anywhere. Needless to say I was a little confused as to what flowers I would be picking.

The next day came early and after a good breakfast we headed out in the pickup truck, a few miles down the road we pulled into some fields and I started looking intently for flowers…nope, we had stopped at a house to pick up a few older ladies. A few more miles down the road we stop again to pick up and old couple…and when I say old I mean old, they were in their 90′s. Another twenty minutes and we pull off the road into a muddy track between sugar cane fields, about a mile in we stop as the road is flooded so we had to walk the rest of the way.

Interspersed between the sugarcane fields were the flower fields or should I say RICE fields. We wouldn’t be picking flowers at all but cutting rice. I asked Mo if I misheard her father about picking flowers and she told me I didn’t but when harvesting rice many of the old timers refer to it as picking flowers. Of course everyone was dressed for farm work but me because I thought we would be casually picking flowers Either way I grabbed a sickle and followed the 90 year old man into a field.

They had already started harvesting a few days before as there were already bundles of rice laying out to dry. It turns out the 90 year old couple owned the 15 or so rice fields which they shared with 4 families in exchange for planting and harvesting. A good deal all the way around which keeps every family in rice for the year.

The old man showed me what I needed to do which was as you could guess…grabbing a handful of rice by the stalk and cutting it about 3-4 inches from the ground then laying it behind me to dry. After about 15 minutes of this in the blazing sun I was ready finish, the old man told me to slow down I could die in this heat which made me laugh my ass off as he had cut one bundle then sat down and lit up a cigarette and that was his work day. I talked to him the best I could and caught bits and pieces of what he was saying but could read so much more in the lines of his face and the big smile he wore that said so much more than any words could. At 90 he was still going strong and taking care of his family and friends and he was more than happy to do so.

By 11 am it was time to quit, the fields would wait for another day as Pappa and the others had their fields to tend to. Mo and I hung out with the kids at a small shack in the middle of the fields and had lunch before we went home, I was beat, the sun had taken it out of me and it showed. This was hard back breaking work that these people do day in and day out year after year because they have to, because this is how they feed their families.

2 years ago I worked in the rice fields of Mukdahan getting them ready for planting by shoveling dung into the fields and now I have come full circle by helping to harvest some rice. What I’ve done working in the rice fields was very little compared to the lifetimes the Thai’s have spent in these fields, but the little bit I have done has helped me to understand and appreciate what it takes to put a bowl of rice on the table and the people who do it.

Sadly just a few hours ago Mo told me she is going back home for a week, the old man who I shared a few laughs with passed away last night.

The Beautiful Mountain Top Wat Sup Prairo Part 1

Talen — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:14:51 +0000

Wat Sup Prairo

Mo’s family lives in the South Western area of Petchaboon in the Amphoe of Wichian Buri, more specifically the family lives in the Tambon of Sap Noi. In order to get to the family farm one needs to go down a very long dirt road about 20 miles, at about the halfway point you’ll see a very large statue of Buddha near the roadside and a few minor statues but not much more. This would be the entrance to Wat Sup Prairo.

I didn’t see the normal Wat buildings that I thought should be there set back against the mountains, instead I only saw a dirt parking area and a place to sit and relax. It wasn’t until we pulled in that I realized there was going to be some climbing involved, nothing treacherous but certainly steep and much without railings or guardrails. As I looked down there was indeed a Wat building surrounded by canopies due to a religious event taking place that day.

The lower part of the steep walkway up the mountain does have some handrails but only for a short way. Apparently up until 3 years ago the only way to the upper Wat was by traversing bamboo ladders up the side of the mountain. While there are steps of a sort now the majority is very steep and cut roughly into the mountain. The journey up was tiring on legs not used to steep ascents but there were ample areas to rest with stunning views.

Finally as you near the top of the mountain a deck juts out of the mountainside and just beyond that is the entrance to the caves. Around the entrance to the caves are statues, Buddhist flags and several elephant heads carved/concreted into the mountainside. As you enter the cave it appears at first that the temple is a small 2 room affair but when you walk around the corner to the second room you notice a winding pathway going down into the mountain.

Tomorrow I’ll take you into the caves and show you some stunning sights that Wat Sup Prairo has to offer and you’ll get to meet a new friend I made named Cantaloop.

The Famous Thai Change purse

Talen — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:37:36 +0000

Anyone who has been to Thailand has most likely noticed this before, a ten baht coin stuck in the ear of a Thai girl. They don’t all do it but I suspect most have done it at least a few times.

While Mo and I were at the local Monday/Friday market the other day she got change for a 20 baht note and quickly stuffed the coin in her ear, so, I snapped a quick pic and laughed a bit. I would think a lot of foreigners may have the same reaction but when you think about it people the world around use their ears in very similar fashions. The ears also make great pen holders or a nice place to keep that cigarette waiting for a smoke break.

Anyway I thought I would share this pic with those of you that may have never seen it before.

Next up I’ll take you up into the mountains of Petchaboon to see a beautiful mountain top Wat that is strung out through a series of caves.

Greetings from Beautiful Petchaboon

Talen — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:50:14 +0000

Petchaboon

When I last left you I was returning from a short blogging break that ultimately became much longer than I expected. I was all set to get back to my normal posting routine when all hell broke loose. One by one all of my websites and server were hacked, and I mean hacked good. After 2 weeks of working on the various problems with my host we finally got all the problems taken care of but I was pulling out hair for a while.

My girlfriend Mo, Yes, I said girlfriend , wasn’t sure what to make of me during my mini meltdown but she definitely decided I was not the same happy go lucky guy she knew, so, she decided I needed a break. More like she kidnapped me as she surprised me with bus tickets to Petchaboon the night before the bus was to pull out. I realized she was right, I really did need a break and off to the province of mountains and sugarcane we went.

I’m actually about 50 miles outside the main city of Petchaboon staying on the family farm surrounded by sugarcane and mountains. It’s been nice to get back to rural Thailand with all it’s customs and quirks…and let me tell you I have seen some quirks such as dead children being channeled through a Buddhist medium but more on that later.

It’s been nice to eat real rural Thai food again , I mean who doesn’t love buffalo brains in spicy sauce? It even felt good to revisit the rural hongnam complete with it’s squat toilet and the ritual dumping of cold ass water on yourself and calling it a shower. Most of all I’ve really enjoyed spending time with Mo and her family and all their crazy animals, who you’ll meet soon enough.

This trip has really re-focused me to the possibilities Thailand has to offer. Over the last few months I have really gotten bogged down with day to day stuff and forgot about the wonders of exploring this beautiful country.

I have a lot of great stories to tell about the people and places I’ve seen and I will definitely be posting them every couple of days or so over the next few weeks to come but for now just a glimpse of the beauty that is Petchaboon and a quick line to let you know I’m back to blogging about the country I love, Thailand.

The Great Pattaya Recession

Talen — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:16:54 +0000

Pattaya Bay Receding

While it’s not an economic recession, yet, the beach sure has gotten a lot larger in Pattaya. At some points the bay has receded so much there is actually an extra hundred yards to walk before you hit the water. The buoy’s laying on the sand are there to section off the swimming areas from the boat and jet ski traffic, now not needed so much.

Now that Songkran is over Pattaya is in the full grips of low season, the hottest season and rainy season. All these things together won’t be good news for Pattaya merchants and establishments. Pattaya beach was a very lonely place to be today compared to most days and you could see the pain in all the merchants faces.

While I feel for most of them I did have a broad grin when I realized that there weren’t any people on jet skis in the water, as a matter of fact I saw very few Pattaya jet ski operators even set up completely with only 1 or 2 jet skis sitting way far away from the touts who were sitting in the shade sleeping.

Another sight not bound to be good for local Pattaya business was the re-emergence of the red shirts driving their convoy of trucks up beach road blaring their loud speakers and waving their flags. A small reminder that there is still political tension in Thailand and with general elections to be held within the next few months it’s anyone’s guess what the outcome or subsequent fall out will be.

As always though there is a bright spot in my walks and today didn’t disappoint when I saw this old firetruck all painted up hippy style. The next few months in Pattaya are going to be hard on a lot of businesses I fear but hopefully Thai ingenuity and some of those famous Thai smiles can help pull Pattaya through.

And on the 7th Day… Songkran

Talen — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:34:25 +0000

Songkran 2011

Over 500 photos of Songkran in Pattaya can be seen in the gallery, Pattaya Songkran 2011

They sure as hell didn’t rest!

Pattaya’s seventh and final day of Songkran started with a thunder storm and torrential downpour, it seems even Buddha wanted to get in on the fun and a fitting start to the rainy season.

The final 2 days of Songkran in Pattaya are a free for all and all rules go out the window as water is thrown 24 hours a day and it’s mandatory that everyone gets wet. Even the Indian tailors, that usually greet tourists with “Hi Chief” or “Ello Mate”, got into the act by drenching passerby’s; probably a good release for their frustrations after a year of tourists politely telling them to go forth and fornicate with themselves.

By 11am the rains had stopped and the city was awash with Songkran revelers. Beach road was closed to traffic and with the traffic jams on second road it might as well have been closed as well. The water trucks were out in force but they weren’t selling, they were hosing people down and not to be outdone the firemen parked several firetrucks around town and opened up the water cannons.

The last day of Songkran in Pattaya is definitely not for the weak of heart. Luckily I rigged a Camera housing out of 4 plastic bags that actually worked and I was able to get over 200 decent pictures and video of the day.

I started the last day of Songkran on Second Road and then worked my way down to soi’s 7 & 8 before hitting beach road and Soi Diana before returning home at sunset. Enjoy the pics. Check back in the next few days for a complete gallery and videos of Songkran 2011.

Songkran in Pattaya Day 7

Happy Thai New Year!

Songkran 2011 Day 3 : The Ladies of Pattaya

Talen — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:58:11 +0000

The Ladies of Songkran Day 3

I was so tired from day one of Songkran that I took day 2 off to recuperate. Day 3 I was ready for action again and found it all over town. I started on soi Dianna and headed to Second road after that. Eventually I found myself doing a loop through Soi’s 7 & 8 with Beach road as another distraction.

Songkran day 3 was much more active and Soi 7 was completely out of control with at least 3000 people on the Soi in the bars and crowding the street. While taking pictures of the general festivities is fun I really needed a theme today…but what?

There will most assuredly be a much more retrospective look at the ladies of Songkran 2011 but I couldn’t resist a teaser. So, Lets get on with the show shall we…

Thailand Land of SmilesThailand Pictures | Thailand Land of Smiles

The Women of Songkran 2012

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Picking Flowers in Petchaboon

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