Drain FAIL

Seen in Phuket from my hotel window.
It's raining cats and dogs and the back of a pickup-truck
has turned into a swimming pool, the drain-bucket has
little use now.

Indoor fishing

Seen at restaurant in Patong beach, Phuket.
Besides accommodating an all you can eat BBQ, grilling your food at you table for ฿129
(€3,12/$4.20), open from 6 am to 6 pm, you can take your fishing gear and go shrimp fishing.
No need to take your boots and rain coat. The catch you can eat locally or take away.
"Gone fishing" gets a whole hew meaning this way.

All day breakfast

Seen at Patong beach, Phuket, a guesthouse sells breakfast all day,
but happens to be closed.

Inside an ATM-machine

Seen in George Town, Penang Malaysia, an ATM-machine is opened up for maintenance

Handy compact UK power outlet adapter

One problem I have with so called world adapters is that the're bulky, and half of the plugs you will never use, so I left mine at home, I just have a few small adapters from US to European and European to US. Coming to Penang I looked up on internet what plugs they were using. I have been here several times, but few years ago and forgot about it. Before coming here I saw at the last moment the're using the UK outlets over here, for which I tried to buy an adapter at the airport but was not able to. In my room I found out they had a simple, compact, non-electrical, 100% plastic, no-brain solution for charging my phones, camera and netbook. This handy devices costs around RM 0.20 (€ 0,05 / $ 0.06), but the receptionist offered it to me free of charge.

Get me a coke please

Seen at a construction site at Phuket, Thailand, bought at a 7/11 store next door, just a single coke bottle in a plastic bag is being brought way up high by a heavy load tow to one of the Myanmar construction workers on top of the building.

Funny Thai-English phrase-book

Seen in Phuket, Thailand.

I guess the Tourist Police will not be too happy with these kind of requests..

To me it appeared to be more or less similar to the above scetch

The meeting of religions

Seen at the arrival hall of Phuket airport, a Muslim lady and three Amish girls, which were accompanied by their parents waiting for their luggage. I thought they used horse and carriage only, but obviously not so.
What is not clearly visible on the photo is that they have a small black scarf on the back of their heads.
The girls are probably the only virgins on the peninsula. Where would they go? Patong Beach?

Double standards II

Seen at funkydog cafe, Chiang Mai.

Vegetalian meals: Are those vegetarian pasta's and pizza's?
If you're not into a veggie diet, don't worry, you can order the best buffalo steak in town as well.

Thai hat-umbrella

Seen at a Chiang Mai bar, for sale, a hat-umbrella, just tie the straps around your head and you're protected against the rainy season hands-free.

Old portable restaurant

Seen in a temple at Chiang Mai, a photo of a portable restaurant dated
between 1897 and 1907

Video-karaoke tuk-tuk

Seen in Chiang Mai, a tuk-tuk has a video-karoake system built-in.

Mounted at the roof is a convertible 15" LCD screen made by Zulex (the black unit in the front), a 4 x 800Watt amplifier (on the left) and a 2400Watt amplifier (the black unit behind the pink box), an equalizer and switch-unit in the back. Big woofers and tweeters are located in the back seat.
Good enough for karaoke fanatics to give away a street concert.

Chiang Mai touristic musts part IV

Visit a silk-'factory' where the ladies do their utmost to look busy.	Entrance is free, but exiting without buying  something in the big silk-shop is harder.
Boil eggs	at the Sanpamkaeng hot springs.
But take care, the water is 105°C/221°F. Didn't my physics-teacher told me the maximum temperature of water is 100°C/212°F? Anyway it took me 20 minutes to get a medium boiled egg, so I guess the real temperature was more like 90°C/200°F.	And what attraction is complete without an  Indian tipi?

Chiang Mai touristic musts part III

Orchid farm	Butterfly garden at the orchid farm
The 10 waterfalls of Mae Sa

Deep fried Wasps and Bamboo-Larvae

Seen at a Chinese restaurant in Chiang Mai; Deep fried Wasps and Bamboo-Larvae

Overregulated discotheque in Chiang Mai - Don't take advice from any Farang..

Seen at a disco called Spicy at Chaiyapoom Road in Chiang Mai. Spicy seems to be a popular place for hookers and I was told there were a lot of fighting on a regular basis as well. No reason at all to go in there. In an attempt to stop this, Spicy now has more rules written down than an average airport. One rule they forgot however; "no photographs" which they will surely add later on if they have any space on the wall left. Here is list of the rules and signs: - Admitted over 18 only This premises has been cleaned and disinfected - No own drinks allowed - No pets allowed - No guns allowed - No smoking - No ladyboys allowed - No drugs allowed - No love making or sexy posing allowed Furthermore on the right there's a big list with of fatherly advise. I highlighted my two favorite parts in the list which goes like this:

We expect you to be well mannered and respectful of the right of others
The etiquette and laws of the real world apply an we have the right to
remove just as we would in the real world if you fail to comply with the
rules
LOCAL LAWS
Possession of Marijuana can lead to a prison sentence of up to 15 years
plus a fine of Baht 150.000 (£ 2,300). Ampetamines ( Ya Ba) and
Ecstasy are regarded as a class A drug and possession or trafficking of
them carries the same penalties as, or over, of a class A drug at a point
of exit from Thailand result in a carge of illegal possession.
possession for distribution and attempt to smuggle and export i.e. Trafficking
DON'T
-Don't argue with Bar girls, you don't need a plank or bottle over your head.
-Don't walk around on the street drinking a bottle of beer, you don't want to
 be mistaken for a drunker.
-Don't shout in public ( to anybody ) if you want to argue with your wife or
 with your girlfriend do this in the privacy of your hotel room and not in public

Think that Thai women are " easily available " Though around 1% of the
female population is working in the sex industry, this also means that 99%
is not working there! You can get yourself in big trouble if you offend a
women in this way. Her husband may find he should take revenge, which
could be very unpleasant for you

-Get involved in prostitution in Thailand You do not only put you health
 at serious risk but the chance of getting robbed is very real. And apart
 from these dangers for yourself, give it a Thought that having "budget" sex
 in a developing country like Thailand is very unfair towards the people
 involved
-Don't take advice from any Farang who has spent the past 20 years sitting
 on a bar stool ad a bar-beer in Changmai. he knows nothing.

You should not become involved with drug of any kind
Possession of even very small quantities can lead to imprisonment
Possession of Marijuana can lead to a prison sentence of up to 15 years
plus a fine of Baht 150.000 ( £ 2,300)
Amphetamines and Ecstasy are regarded as a class A drug and possession
or trafficking of them carries the same penalties as for example heroïn
Possession of 20 grams or over  of a class
A drug at a point of exit from Thailand results in a charge of illegal
possession possession for distribution and attempt to smuggle and export
i.e. Trafficking
A guilty verdict usually attracts the death sentence

Never show sign of anger in any circumstances it will get you no where
in Thailand Your smile is your best passport to get out of any embarrassing
situation. Keep your voice at a reasonable level. Raising your voice is
considered rude

Van Bar

Seen at Chaiyapoom Road in Chiang Mai, called Jack Van Bar, a 40 year old Toyota van has been restyled as a bar

Tuk-tuk bar

Seen in Chiang Mai, a tuk-tuk has been modified to function as a bar.

The King of rock and roll meets the King of Thailand

Seen at a bar in Chiang Mai The date was June 1960 during the filming of G.I. Blues.
Below is some video footage of the event.

Double standards

Seen in a restaurant in Chiang Mai

Help ban street begging elephants in Chiang Mai

Seen in a restaurant in Chiang Mai
So if you see a begging elephant call the police and/or sign the petition here. They got 2,278 petitioners and have a goal of 10,000. But one thing I don't understand; why ban the elephants only in Chiang Mai? In Isan I have seen them all over the place and it seems that in all of Thailand there are about 2,400 street-elephants.

China's Got Talent: Man uses 'Trojan pig' trick to get his wife singing

Normally I don't write that much about second hand stories and this item is off-topic as well, but still thought it was interesting enough to publish it here. A candidate for the TV-show China's Got Talent imitates the killing of a pig. Interesting enough for the jury to get him in the show for a good laugh and of course he's rejected to pass to the next round, but then he confesses, it was a setup to have his wife, which he loves so much, singing on stage, which the jury hesitantly allow. Is she the new Susan Boyle?

Source: youtube.com

Bartender course

Did you ever wanted to imitate Tom Cruise from the 1988 movie Cocktail?
A tiny bar called the "Chillout bar" at Moon Muang Rd. Lane 9 in Chiang Mai, offers you the opportunity to become a professional cocktail bartender.

OTC Viagra for sale

Seen at a toilet in a restaurant-bar called "The Local" at Moon Muang Rd. lane 9 in Chiang Mai.
I informed at the bar whether that would include one pill or more and they informed me it was a four-pack, so I guess it was not that expensive, provided it would not be a Chinese copy. I didn't check it out yet however.

Super versatile shop

Seen in Chiang Mai Moon Muang Rd. Lane 9, you can be sure that whatever is wrong with your clothes, they can repair it. But that's not all; they have a bar, a mini-mart and restaurant as well.Don't worry about bringing enough cash, they even have an ATM-machine.

Dutch singer of Isan/Laos songs

Ever heard of Christy Gibson? She's a famous singer in Thailand specialised in the Isan/Laos style of music called Mor Lam and Luk Thung Prayuk, which is certainly not the easiest choice to make. Christy or nicknamed Kitty by her fans is born to a Dutch mother and British father, but moved to Thailand when she was six years old. Nowadays she's sings together with the Swedish-British singer Jonas Anderson who came to Thailand when he was nine.
I guess both Christy and Jonas are school examples of Farang-integration in Thailand, although both singers seem to be members of a strange Christian sect called Family International, infamous for having a history of child-abuse and other sexual scandals. Visit the joined website of Christy and Jonas here.

Pseudo Thai

Similar to the clever use of the Thai typography for a washing powder called "Breeze", which will read like USA or Usa for foreigners, I tried to come up with something similar, based on the characters u,s,a,n,w,o,b,v,i,l and y, which are about the only letters which have a more or less readable Latin script equivalent in Thai.
So far I came up with the following short sentence only.

Any puzzlers who'd like to create their own 'Thaipography'?
More info about the Thai script you will find here and one of the many anagram generators here.

Chuang Chuang the obese panda in Chiang Mai zoo

Chuang Chuang fovourite pastime is eating, after becoming obese weighing 150 Kg/331 Pounds, his parter Lin Hui felt unconfortable mating with him any longer, so the zoo’s chief veterinarian put him on a strict diet of bamboo leaves 2 years ago. This video which I shot 4 days ago shows his eating habits haven't changed much since then and he's back to eating Bamboo shoots. See also: msnbc

Leave nature alone

Seen in my hotel in Chiang Mai, three trees grow through a small shed

Roots Rock Reggae bar, Chiang Mai

Hidden away on the North side behind Ratchawithi road is a small nightlife enclave with an interesting spot called Roots Rock Reggae.

"Come to shake your little ass!!! And dance with us!!!" is their slogan. The place was 90% packed with foreigners, the rest being filled up with unconventionally dresses Thai. Not all visitors had a small ass to shake by the way

Original lampshade

Seen in a Thai restaurant called "Juice" in Chiang Mai, behind the norh of Ratchawithi Road on the corner 50 M/160Ft opposite of Roots Rock Reggae bar.

A lampshade made from a Leo beer carton box and it has an adjustable flap as well. This zero-investment policy paid off, since the most expensive item on the menu; pork with vegetables and steamed rice was just 35 Baht (€0,88/$1.12) and tasted great.

Just it was hard to pay or "Check bin" as they say here, since the whole family was concentratedly watching the final episode of a TV-soap-series called "The power of prayer" which by the way had an happy ending.