Pattaya death toll May 2009

A super quiet month, either Pattaya is cleaning its image up or there is no one going to Pattaya. I'll soon find out as we go there in the next few days.

May 2009
Road deaths 2 Brits
Murdered
Suicide
Natural

Total 2009
Road deaths 2 Brits
Murdered 3 ( 2 Brit, 1 unknown )
Suicide 1 (1 Aussie)
Natural 15 (4 Brits, 2 Swede, 1 Dane, 3 Yanks, 5 German)

Nuch's Friends

The main reason for going back to Thailand is for Nuch to catch up with her friends and family over there.

She always goes back to her old place of work at UBC. UBC is the Thai version of Sky and has been recently taken over by True Vision so there were quite a few new faces. We always get a warm welcome and this ear was no difference.

You can see from the picture that the centre of attention was Elizabeth!!!

Dusit Thani resort Hua Hin

Over the next few days we visited Hua Hin and stayed at the five star Dusit Thani Resort. The only way to describe it was MEGA!!!

The reception is old colonial and the rooms were immaculate with a view to die for. The facilities at the Hotel were fantastic, they even had a polo riding stable which Elizabeth took advantage of.

The pools were amazing and there is even a jacuzzi to help the aching bones.

You will see from the picture of the beach that Thailand is going through a downturn and the low season is very low, the hotel was deserted and we had it pretty much to ourselves on the first day.

The best thing about the Hotel is that its only about £65 a day per room to stay there, compare this to a Travel Lodge in the UK and you are getting a super bargain. Stay at the Dusit, its the best.

Thai House 2009

It was good to see the Thai House again, it does need some work doing on it and the ants are still a pain in the ass. Nuch's Dad again as done a fine job with the garden. Here are a few pictures of the the old place.

Thai Airways

It as been a few years since I have flown with Thai Airways and in fairness they have never been that impressive. Old planes and a little expensive.

First impressions were the same, an old 747 with a few big screens, not the better personal tv screens. However the leg room was fantastic. You can see from the picture, there were a good 8 inches between my knee and the seat in front. Even if the person in front reclined their seat, it wasn't a problem.

The food was great and we ended up with four seats so Elizabeth had plenty of room for a lie down. So go on and try Thai Airways.

Thailand time again

Today we start the annual pilgramage to Thailand. Not so much a holiday, but a working holiday. Taxi Driver, baby sitter and tour guide are a few of the jobs I have.

I do look forward to seeing Nuch's family and try to make sure Elizabeth as a good time. I would just like to relax more, sit round the pool, chill out and watch the world go by. Sadly Nuch doesn't do this. Thai's don't do this, they find it very boring.

I will try to put up as many photo's as i'm able.

Where's Terry Wogan

We all know that the Eurovision Song contest is value entertainment!

This year is no different and with countries Armenia, Azerbhazan and Albania in the line, who could fail to be impressed.

One thing is standing out this year and that is the dresses that some of the ladies are wearing, very, very revealing!!!!!

Sleep update

The new job gets no easier and the lack of sleep is now becoming a real problem.

From last monday 09.00am to saturday 06.00am I managed 16 hours sleep, 8 of those coming on friday. With Nuch's shift pattern it looks like things will get worse!

Thank God for RED BULL

Oh well, hopefully re-charge the batteries on holday.

Bangkok Bank rip off

Bangkok Bank and KTB, two of Thailands leading banks have just slapped a 150baht fee for every transaction from one of their ATM machines when you use a foreign bank card. This means that if you take 500 baht out (£10) you will be charged by your bank for using a foriegn ATM, about £1.25 and then a £3 charge by the Thai banks. 'Kin hell!!!!!

The Thai banks have said this is down to Mastercard and Visa putting up their rates, however Mastercard say the increase which is the first in some years is only 0.02% of the old charge. This works out that Mastercard charge the Thai banks about 21baht per transaction.

This is just another example of Thai companies charging more when the chips are down, things like if your restaurant numbers are down put up prices or your bar is down on takings put the price of the beer up. This is in contrast to the western style of cutting prices and increasing service levels to attract dwindling customers.

Oh well!

The food of the Gods

The holy grail of fast food has been found, it ticks all the correct boxes

• Ready in 20 minutes
• Taste fantastic
• No nutritional value
• loaded with saturated fat
• possibly the most un-healthey food in the world

I'm talking about a "Doner Kebab Pizza"

It tastes superb and you know its going to kill you, but what the hell!!!!

Swine Flu Ferver

The outbreak of a type of Swine Flu in Mexico is rightfully a cause of concern. But just look at this Headline on the Yahoo homepage.

" Pandemic 'could kill 750,000'
Over a million people could end up in hospital and 750,000 killed if a flu pandemic sweeps the nation, according to a government paper. » More
UK human-to-human results due ".

This is research fom a paper completed last year and was talking about a supposed virilant flu bug that could reek havoc on the UK or any country. The current swine flu seems to be centred in Mexico and seems to dilute the further away you get from there. It is serious and should have headlines devoted to it, b ut this alarmist type of headlines dont help in any shape.