Buddhist Temple in Sisaket Built with Beer Bottles (and others)

I never posted my photos of this temple because I didn’t any great shots - the lighting was all wrong but I still took about 50 photos. I’ll add them to this post as I find them. There are many more buildings than this article shows - but the idea is well captured.

If you live in Sisaket or Surin -somewhere around there you might as well go - can’t go to the Cambodian border and see the temple anymore, can ya?

Buddhist Bottle Temple in Thailand…

How Important is Face in Thai Society?

I saw an article in The Nation today about a Thai man that set himself on fire in a street. Why did he do it? From the looks of the article I’m going to guess it had a lot to do with face he was going to lose when he couldn’t give his family money so they could hire rice pickers for the harvest. The family was counting on him for money apparently and he wasn’t able to give it because his employer cheated him out of the money (which may or may not really be the case - but no matter).

I’ve written about the Thai concept of ‘face’ a few times here at this blog and also at some of my other sites. Without going deeply into it - face is the backbone of Thai social interaction. Face is akin to respect or value… worth in Thai society. A Thai person gains face by doing the right thing in the eyes of others. He gains face when he overlooks mistakes or errors by another person and instead encourages the person to try to do better the next time. He gains face when he has friends in high paying or highly respectable positions in Thai culture and is seen with those friends. He gains face when he has accumulated wealth himself or in some position of power.

Losing face occurs when someone tells a truth that hurts to your face or behind you back. If someone is gossiping about you behind your back you are losing face with those people because you’re being spoken about negatively. The things said might be right on and truthful, or they might be lies but either way - face is lost when you find out.

Losing face occurs when a man’s girlfriend goes with another guy instead of him. Thai men will often kill the other man or kill the girlfriend. Thai women usually kill themselves it seems.

Losing face might occur if you have a temper that easily flares up and causes you to become loud in public or to hit someone or worse. Losing temper or getting emotional (negative) causes loss of face. Being stupid and being found out causes loss of face. Gambling and losing a lot will have people talking and you’ll lose face. Being wrong and having someone point it out causes a loss of face.

Losing face is something every Thai strives to avoid - even more so than building face because I think naturally all Thais have an idea in their mind that everyone else has face until they lose it. It’s a given that people have a decent level of face until they show that they don’t deserve it.

For some reason the man that killed himself by fire was going to lose face whether because he wasn’t bright or quick enough to see that his employer was going to screw him out of his pay or whether he was just powerless to do anything about it when he found out he was going to be screwed out of his money. It doesn’t matter whether he lost it gambling it away or for whatever other reason - the whole point is that he couldn’t pay his family money they were counting on to be able to harvest their rice. He was going to face a severe loss of face within his family and that was unacceptable to him.

It brings to mind some discussions I’ve had with my girlfriend about her needing to give money to her parents because they can’t take care of themselves anymore. I understand it in her case. I’ve met her entire family and my girlfriend was basically brought up by her aunts and uncles because her parents couldn’t do it. Literally, couldn’t. I won’t go any deeper than that about it.

When your Thai girlfriend or Thai husband or whomever tells you that they need to send back a couple thousand baht to their family so they can help support them it’s really in your best interest to do so. A couple thousand baht - even 5,000 baht - I don’t see a problem with. If you’re sending 10,000 or more baht each month I guess if there were extenuating circumstances then it might still make sense. Anything over that and I’d have to wonder - why must it be so much?

I’ve met guys here in Thailand that send 0 baht per month and I’ve met guys that send 25,000 per month to their Thai tee-rak’s family. 25,000 baht is a lot of money for family support each month and in my mind wouldn’t be justified for any but the most urgent need - perhaps your tee-rak has 17 kids that her parents are taking care of or maybe her mother needs some 24-hour nurse care and dialysis that costs a lot of money, or something like that.

Sending something is probably necessary - especially if the family knows the daughter or son has a farang partner. All their needs must be taken care of, so now the son or daughter should take care of the parents needs too. It’s Thai societal expectation - this is the way life goes. A son or daughter loses a lot of face if they can’t contribute to ma and paw’s monthly income. After all - the son or daughter went to college and can get a decent job making more than enough to take care of their own monthly expenses AND send some home. That’s the whole goal. That’s the reason most young educated Thais head for Bangkok to work outrageous hours (10-14 per day a lot of them with the commute). They need to make enough for themselves AND their parents. Girls have it extra hard it seems like because frequently the sons are screw-offs and don’t send money home to help. The family forgives this - but the girl’s are then held to a higher standard. The girls are put under more pressure to come through then.

So, this guy set himself on fire in the middle of a street which showed me how much face means inside a Thai person’s head. It’s everything to them. It’s their whole world. If you cause a Thai to lose a lot of face - they might as well burn themselves in the street - the pain is less than they feel inside over losing a considerable amount of face.

Thai man immolates self … (The Nation 10/30/2008)

Your Digital Photos Aren’t Worth ANYTHING

I had a weird experience the last couple days and it got weirder today.

I wrote a small company on a very small island and told them I liked one of their photos they use on their site. I also told them I was writing an article about the island and would mention their small business favorably and put a link in the article linking to their site AND another link on the photo with credit to them and a link back to their site if they would allow me to feature the photo in the article.

This was not for ThaiPulse incidentally, but no matter - could have been for any site.

The girl co-owner, a Brit, writes back that she couldn’t let the photo be used without charging for it.

I thought she didn’t understand so I wrote again to clarify everything. It’s in the best interests of her business to be mentioned - didn’t she “get it”?

She got it, at least she thought she did - but, in the next email back she wrote again - that the article is worth more with a photo and she’d need to charge for it.

Let me explain further. The shot has nice color. That’s about it. It is only about 400pixels by 250 and not high resolution by any means. Anyone or a monkey could have taken the photo - it’s just that the perspective seen is from high above the ground.

I have access to Getty images for free. I have credits at Dreamstime.com enough for hundreds of photos - basically free. Or, if you equate credit to dollars - I have the $3 it would take to get a photo of the island from the same or much better perspective.

I like to help small Thai businesses that I like, that I believe in. For free. I don’t make any extra money writing this article, I’m paid a salary at the place I was writing for. It’s not freelance… anyway…

Your digital photos (and mine) are not worth squat in today’s market. Everyone and their kids has a digital camera and are capable of turning out remarkable photos. Gone are the days when I worked in New York City as a photographer and spent hours prepping a scene or a model to take photos that were worth something more than $3 at Dreamstime. Those days are WAY gone.

Apparently someone is still telling the world they can make money with their digital photos. It’s a novice way to enter into online sales of some sort. Something everyone can do to have a business online. Everyone wants the easy money online.

There isn’t any easy money in digital photos. Not even if you put together 100 photos that make people fall down semi-comatose and suck wind for 10 minutes because they can’t wrap their minds around what they just saw.

I have 700+ photos online at stock photo agencies. I know how to shoot a photo. I have some good photos. I was a professional at one time. I make about a dollar a sale on my photos - high resolution shot with amazing care and precision.

A dollar.

The best photographers in the entire world are putting billions of photos online at stock agencies because that’s where the buyers are. Not NYC, not Chicago and L.A. They are online and they want a photo for about 3 dollars.

The best chance anyone has for making money on digital photography these days is to make all of your photos “Creative Commons” licensed (see flickr’s CC info) and put your credit in the form of a URL directly on your photos so that some people will come back to your site.

That’s about it. There’s too many calendars. There’s too many coffee mugs with photos. You’re aren’t anything special unless they’re naked people doing weird stuff. Even then, there is such a glut of por—-n online that those photos too are dropping down to the couple dollars a shot rate.

Digital video is another story. Creating something unique digitally is another story. Writing stories - is another story.

Digital image money making is dead.

If someone writes you to say they are writing an article about your town and they are mentioning your business in the article - favorably, and with a link back to your site from the article, and the writer would like to use one of YOUR photos in the article WITH a link back to your site. Count them - that’s 2 links.

You should: (multiple choice)

A.) Tell the writer your photos are not free and you will charge him for them.

B.) Understand that you are getting free advertising and offer the writer 25 more photos you have that you haven’t posted online yet.

C.) Tell the writer you have enough people coming to your small business, but thanks for the thought.

D.) Write back as fast as you can, “YES, USE MY PHOTOS, THANK YOU FOR THE LINK AND MENTION!” and quickly invite the writer to use your service gratis for a 2-day stay if he’ll write 2 more articles about your business over the next couple weeks.

E.) Go back to watching Thai soap operas and thinking about how to make your skin whiter.

Thailand’s Lèse-Majesté Laws

Other countries have laws against speaking disrespectful words about their ruling monarchs. In Poland a man was arrested when he farted loudly after police asked what he thought of the leaders of the country.

In Thailand foreigners are routinely arrested for having shown disrespect to the His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, usually through what they’ve written though at times for not standing up in a movie theater as the national anthem played or some other blatantly disrespectful act.

Being American it’s hard for me to understand the idea, but not hard at all to follow it. There is a 15 year jail term awaiting anyone convicted for blatantly showing disrespect for Thailand’s King and most of us that visit don’t have any problem following the law. Few of us end up in jail over it. Fewer still stay there.

Currently there is an Australian man in a Bangkok jail for printing a book (self-published) that was ficticious, about HM The King.

If you’re visiting Thailand you need to know that they take lèse-majesté very seriously. You might hear the national anthem being played while you’re at the park, in the street, wherever you are. Sometimes Thais ignore it and go about their work. The 8 am anthem that is played at all the schools across Thailand can be heard outside the school grounds, and is usually played on all the televisions across the country too. If you’re at the school or at a government work place you’ll be expected to stand silently while it plays.

If you don’t notice anyone else standing still and quiet then you can assume it’s safe and go about what you were doing too.

In movie theaters before every main feature staff play the Thai National Anthem. Stand like everyone else and you’ll be fine. If you don’t, you might get beat up by an angry mob of Thais that take respect for their King very seriously. It’s happened before.

Here’s a short Wall Street Journal article about the lèse-majesté Laws in Thailand that I first saw referenced on 2Bangkok.com .

DTAC Mobile Phone / Internet Services

I’ve been meaning to write this up about DTAC “Happy” for about two years now.

I’ve used DTAC over the past couple years and usually it’s because they have a little better voice connection where I am - or a faster connection on the internet, or a data (GRPS/EGPRS) tower where AIS doesn’t. It just works out that DTAC is what I use. I’ve used AIS in the past - the first 18 months I was in Thailand and they weren’t half bad either.

I thought I’d let you know about some services DTAC has that can help you out during  your visit or stay in Thailand. Most expats that live here know about some of these but maybe there are some you didn’t know about.

1. I got an SMS a month ago that told me to dial 004 before international calls and get them for 4 or 5 baht per minute.

For USA I dial: 004 + 1 + area code + 7 digit number. That’s quite a discount off the 9 baht I usually am charged so I wanted to pass this on. I’ve used it on 2 different SIM cards so the offer wasn’t just because I used a lot of minutes on the one SIM and they were giving me some special deal. I think everyone has the same deal until Dec 31, 2008.

2. Have you ever needed a translator in Thailand and not had one available? Me too - first 2 years. DTAC has a service where you dial *1021[call button] and a translator will answer the phone. Tell them what you want to say to the person beside you. Then, hand the person beside you the phone. This helps quite a bit for taxis, in department stores, with your girlfriend, misunderstandings or whatever. There is no extra charge but you pay regular per minute rates - depending which plan you’re on.

3. Need to add baht to your phone and don’t want to run to 7-11? Ask your friend to transfer baht from their phone number to yours. Simply dial:

*112*[10 digit recipient's phone number] * [amount of baht to transfer] *9#[call button]

Recipient and sending phone get SMS confirmations of the transfer. You can do this with 20-200 baht up to twice per day. Limit of 400 baht per month. Length of validity (date) does not change because of transfer. 2 baht charge for SMS confirmations.

4. Need to add baht to your phone and don’t have enough baht to call or SMS your friend to tell them to transfer baht to your phone?

Emergency call back service will send emergency SMS to the destination number of any mobile network in Thailand (AIS, TRUE, etc) to ask that your friend call you back.

Dial:  *114*[10 digit friend phone number]*9#[call button]

I think this is free. Can use up to 30 times in a month.

5. Want to borrow 30 baht from DTAC’s Happy Network?

Dial: *110*9#[call button]

You pay it back on your next refill. If you don’t refill… well, what are they going to do? Just buy another 49 baht SIM if you don’t want to keep that SIM. There are many criteria for this to work. SIM needs activated longer than 90 days or you’ve used >200b. You have at least 1 day of validity and 0-20 baht credit. They charge you 2 baht for the service.

6. SIM card validity expired? You can increase it up to a year for 2 baht for 1 month.

Dial: *113*[number of days to request extension for]*9#[call button]

7. Need internet minutes on your phone so you can check email or surf the web? You can connect as long as you have baht. I think the default charge is 1 baht per minute. However, there are other GPRS (data) packages available for much cheaper. I use the 41 baht daily charge where I can use it for unlimited minutes and it seems faster than the 100 hours, 50 hours, 7 day rate, or other packages.

Call: 1678 and push “7″ I think it is for English. Tell them you want 1 day GPRS or ask them what promotions they have for internet minutes. They’ll send you SMS confirmation when the money is taken from your account and when you are live with the new GPRS service. Cost for call to 1678 is 3 baht per call.

Other common mobile phone services DTAC provides…

- Check balance: *101*9#[call button]

- Check internet (GPRS/EGPRS) minutes: *101*4*9#[call button]

- Refill your credit balance through your Thailand bank ATM. Apply at your bank. Works with these banks:

• Bangkok
• Krung Thai
• Bank of Ayudhya
• Kasikorn
• TMB
• Siam Commercial
• United Overseas
• AEON Thana Sinsap
• Bank Thai
• Siam City Bank

You can also choose to prepay for service and you get access to some other promotions. You can package together MMS, SMS, long distance, local use, GPRS and everything else for good rates. I think best to stop in at a DTAC store if you can find one and have them show you the promotions and set your phone up to use them. Probably you can just pre-pay your month through the ATM of your bank.

All of this information I took from the small Happy “User’s Manual” that comes with th 49baht SIM cards you can get anywhere they sell mobile phones. If you don’t want to print my post out and carry it around - get one of those little manuals and rip out the pages you need. Half is in English. Remarkably.

Thailand’s Electricity Surges and Power Outages

I switched to a desktop computer a month back or so and I’ve become much more aware of the electricity outages here in Thailand as I go about working.

I’ve always been afraid to lose a computer due to power surges and lightening since I worked as a computer tech for GTE in the USA and I got to see all kinds of fried motherboards and even processor chips that had exploded - flew apart from lightening strikes. I vowed that would never be me and so far I’ve not been a victim.

If I hear thunder I unplug the computer. In the past when using a notebook it’s no problem because I could still work for 90 mins to 2 hours on battery before shutting down, usually the storm had passed and I could just plug in and go some more.

Changing to desktop computer has been a learning curve. I’ve not owned a desktop in 4 yrs. Now I’m painfully aware of how many times we lose power and have power surges in Thailand. I’ve used a surge protector (450baht) for years with all my notebooks and now this desktop, which is a must have.

Does it work in case of lightening? The guy at the computer store said - if lightening hits close by - it will still fry your computer. So, not a comforting thought. Most times I think it should work OK. Incidentally if you can, buy one overseas because I think all the electronics here in Thailand are made in China and the quality control is not what you’d get from a store like Sony or Panasonic.

I bought a UPS - uninterruptible power supply the other day in Thailand for 2300 baht. I was tired of power dying and losing whatever I was working on. Sometimes it happened 4 times in a day. Actually, that day is when I purchased the UPS. A UPS is a big battery. Probably Ni-Cad and it plugs directly into the wall and has two or 3 outlets that you can plug your computer, monitor, printer - and maybe even your phone modem line if it’s a good one. The UPS I bought has a ‘conditioner’ that smooths out the current before it reaches the computer. It smooths out the surges and lapses in power by running it through the battery I think - always giving the same steady power supply to the delicate electronics in the computer.

If your power goes out for a second - no matter - your screen won’t flicker and your computer won’t reboot. It’s business as usual. If the electricity dies for a while you have maybe up to 10 minutes to close everything, make essential changes and send your emails before the battery power dies in the UPS. For me - 10 minutes is a lifetime and I get more accomplished during that time than in 30 minutes. It’s like a timer that says, “GO! Get everything done in 10 minutes.”

As a last step I save everything I was working on to my USB drive so I can go to the internet cafe and use their computers in case my power is out for more than an hour or so.

Power surges and lightening are common in Thailand and the computer guy I use a lot told me each week he has 10 or so computers that have been destroyed by electricity. He has a good business going - ordering new motherboards and memory and things for these fried systems.

Get yourself a UPS system from Big C or Tesco if you have a desktop computer. Even if you have a notebook - it can probably power you for an hour on a notebook which has much less power consumption needs than a desktop and screen. Plus it conditions the electrical pulses so be more flat and steady - prolonging the life of your computer.

Oh - one more thing. I don’t know if this helps, I think it must, so I do it. I have a power surge protector - an electrical strip with 4 A/C plugs that I can plug things into. It’s supposed to protect from lightening and large electrical surges.

I do this:

• Plug the UPS into the wall.
• I plug the surge protector strip into the UPS.
• I plug the computer, monitor, and phone charger into the strip.

This way I think I have double protection from surges and lightening strikes… because the lightening that comes through the wall socket will go to the transformer that powers the battery before traveling down my power cord to the power surge protector which has the lines to all my electronics equipment.

Less chance to fry my stuff because the power surge protector is in the loop and after the UPS system.

Yes?

That’s my logic anyway. Probably to be really sure - could put another power surge protector in the series too!

UPDATE: I tested the battery with my 15″ flatscreen HP vp15s at lowest brightness setting and working on a few applications at a time - even with the mp3’s playing out of 2 external speakers for 15 minutes. I got a total of 37 minutes of power before the batteries died!

Is Thailand Safe to Visit Now?

I have a friend working with TAT, you may know him - he’s a well known expat and writer. He’s been working with them to try to dispel the myth that Thailand is unsafe at the present time for visitors because of the political situation. He’s helping to create videos for them and marketing to Europeans, Japanese and everyone else that Thailand is safe for visitors as we start the regular visitor high season.

I’m a member of a few travel boards where people regularly ask questions about whether it’s safe to go here or there. Lately everyone is asking the same question - is Thailand safe to visit now?

Is Thailand safe for visitors now?

Here are a few reasons I think it’s safe enough for visitors:

1. I’m completely unaffected by anything happening in Bangkok. If people are dying in clashes there with police - that doesn’t have a trickle down effect causing the rest of the country to be unsafe. In fact, I’d say only if you’re taking part in the demonstration in Bangkok, are you at risk of injury or death. If you’re coming here to visit you’ll be OK. If you’re coming to revolt against the government and incite Thais to rioting on a mass scale, you might be in danger.

2. The entire country - outside of Bangkok is unaffected by anything happening in Bangkok. The rest of the country will continue to remain safe - even though Bangkok might get tense.

3. This is a Thai political problem. Thais have nothing against foreigners. They love you. They want you to come. They don’t want you to have problems once you get here. You will not be accosted to confess your political beliefs about the current system, Taksin, or anything else. You’re not involved in any way. This has nothing to do with the terrorists in the south.

4. Even at the height of the airport protests in the few major airports there really wasn’t a problem with violence at all. Airports were blocked. So, you extend a few days. That’s the extent of the issue in areas outside Bangkok. Nobody is going to throw a brick at your head if you go near the Phuket Airport during a demonstration. Thais are afraid of the police and military. As a group they very rarely get violent first, they have quite peaceful demonstrations.

Is Thailand safe to visit during this political instability?

Yes. That’s the right answer with a few qualifiers…

Don’t take part in demonstrations.

Don’t spend your vacation in Bangkok - get out and see the rest of the country which is infinitely more enjoyable than Bangkok’s crowded streets anyway.

Stay away from the deep south. Krabi, Lanta, Trang are all fine. Thais say that even down into Songkla is fine. I wouldn’t say that, but down to Trang is perfectly fine.

Recently 10 countries issued fresh warnings about traveling to Thailand during this time including UK, Sweden, Germany, Canada and others. (Not USA). I think you’re fine to come, AND bring your family. Mai pen rai the whole thing - it’s not affecting the country as a whole. If it does- then delay your trip. Right now - business as usual everywhere outside Bangkok.

Motorola “Moto Q GSM”, a QWERTY Mobile

I knew there was a reason I wasn’t buying Motorola anymore… and now I did.

Yesterday I got the Moto Q gsm so I could use the QWERTY keypad instead of pounding 16 keys to type the word internet on a regular phone pad and I could hit 8 keys like it should be.

I thought I was going to have to get the Nokia e71 as they are plentiful in Thailand and I’ve never seen a moto with a Qwerty outside of Bangkok. I’d wanted the Moto Q before it was released a long time ago.

Instead of waiting I bought the Nokia e70 with QWERTY instead - a great phone -but when I thought I was leaving the country I sold it to a friend.

The NOKIA e71 was 16,200 baht at the stores I saw, including TeleWiz, and that was not a pleasant thought. $570 USD for a phone? Iphones are selling here for 30,000 baht and more but it would have to sing me to sleep at that price - Iz style.

So I found this Moto Q gsm. It was 8,900. I was psyched. It had EDGE (EGPRS) which is as fast as it gets most places in Thailand on your mobile. I often connect with the mobile phone to internet and hook it up with the computer to give me access. It’s just barely fast enough that my temper doesn’t explode while I work. DTAC has the best service where I am - consistent and I can open up 25 FireFox browser tabs and still be in business. If you haven’t tried Firefox 3.0 - you’ve gotta get it. Throw away the slow IE 7. I tested Chrome a little bit - but came back to FF as I have too many great extensions that make life easy writing blogs all day.

The guy told me it had WIFI and I saw it had Bluetooth and infrared. So - I bought the Moto Q, thinking it will replace my Classic 3110 Nokia that does well enough, but doesn’t have the Qwerty. Inefficiency drives me batty and typing words on what is supposed to be a number pad drives me almost insane. I’m always needing to bang out a long response to someone’s email when I’m somewhere the computer is not.

I brought the phone home and it’s got this weird oval shaped thing in the Motorola box that didn’t make any sense.

It has 2 usb ports, one on each end. I thought it was a line cleaner type deal - that made the data transfer better or something - faster? Something.

I looked through the whole documentation - nothing.

I looked online - no mention of it.

I found the model number of the device on the bottom and Googled it. Holy hell. It’s a charger for the Moto Q. You charge it first - like you would your phone. It has a large battery inside it. Once charged you drop it in your bag and take it with you. If you ever need it - it can fully charge your phone battery - TWICE. So, if you fully charge your phone at the same time - you’ve got the equivalent of full 3 batteries. Pretty cool eh? No need to bring the a/c plug to charge - which is lighter, by the way - but less convenient because you need to be near the A/c plug - which usually means charging your phone at night as you sleep in a hotel if you’re traveling. If you’re on the train or bus - out of luck. No more.

So - that was cool, apparently thrown in for free - it’s a $50 item online.

I am having a rough time connecting to the internet and sharing the connection from the phone to my computer with the Moto Q. Everything is harder in Thailand because of lack of documentation specific to the country. Sometimes that’s in THAI and doesn’t help much at all. My Thai isn’t THAT good. When I read the menu I’m proud of myself.

MOTO Q GSM Good points:

• Good mp3 sound, dual speakers. Stereo, surround sound.
• Excellent coating - grippy rubber type. Build quality - excellent.
• Graphics fine.
• Chat: Yahoo, ICQ, MSN pre-installed.
• Class 10 GPRS/EGPRS modem gives 8-12KBps on average, sometimes as high as 20KBps during downloading large files.
• WIFI card can be added to memory slot ($100)
• Talk quality - excellent.
• QWERTY ok - can type fast enough.
• Scroll wheel is very nice touch.
• Battery charges while connected to USB mini port, unlike Nokias. When using phone as modem for your notebook or desktop computer this is a major plus.
• Free battery charger with 2 full stored charges to take on the go was a nice touch.

MOTO Q GSM Bad points:

• Connecting to Gmail with Gmail app - not supported. Probably because Windows mobile software -they want you to use msn live.
• Connecting between computer and phone to share internet connection - non-existent at this point. Can surf internet on phone fine. Not sharing connection. UPDATE: Next day I got it working by, guess? Following the directions in the manual painstakingly closely. Works well - as fast or faster than my Nokia 3110classic phone with the same modem (class 10 GPRS/EGPRS).
• No installed WIFI - can buy a small WIFI card as an extra that goes in memory slot. A VERY small card for about $100 USD.
• Difficult to figure out the shared internet connection which connects phone to computer. Finally I got it - but not much fun
• 1.3MP camera - why’d they even bother?
• No FM radio - they didn’t bother. I’ve grown accustomed to hearing some radio every now and then when I want to practice listening to Thai news or I’m tired of my mp3 collection.

So - if anyone else has the Moto Q GSM here in Thailand and you can’t get the modem/computer connection working I can send you the pdf manual or walk you through it. Oh, there’s also a modem tool program that throws away your old driver and puts a different one in that works. I can send you the program or show you where to download it.

Also, if you want a Nokia 3110 Classic which I bought for 3650 baht at Tesco just a couple months ago I’ll sell it for just 2600 baht - including shipping in Thailand. Will send EMS. ATM transfer bank to bank for payment. It’s in perfect shape and comes with all the accessories (charger, 512Mb micro sd card, original Nokia battery, English/Thai manual, and software for PC SUITE.) Oh, and original box.

Update: I think I’ll keep the Nokia 3110 classic as a backup connection in case the MOTO Q GSM dies for some reason as electronics tend to do here in Thailand’s humid conditions.

Gifts from Thailand: Thai Buddhist and Buddha Amulets

Often times visitors to Thailand return to their home country and realize that they didn’t buy any gifts for some loved ones because they were having too much fun here in Thailand. Happens a lot.

Here is a Thai Buddhist amulet site that is genuine and can help you out by sending your chosen amulets to any country in the world (I think) for just $9 per amulet.

There are currently 17 different Thai amulets available, about 10 with gold cases and the others made of brass, bronze, and copper.

There are good luck amulets - all are blessed by Ajarn Jumnien and guaranteed authentic.

Vacationing in Thailand? Try Krabi!

Krabi is an amazing Thailand destination and probably the best place overall to visit if you only have a few short days in Thailand and want to make the most of your vacation.

Krabi has something for everyone including new additions in the shopping realm. Big C, Tesco Lotus, Makro, and an International Outlet store with Nike, Reebox, Adidas and other brand names are now open in Krabi Town.
 

 

If it’s familiar food you crave there is a McDonald’s and Burger King in Ao Nang Beach and KFC, Dairy Queen, Starbucks, Black Canyon Coffee and others in the Krabi area.

If you want to try something adventurous you can climb Wat Tum Sua’s 1,237 steps to the top of a small limestone mountain at sunset and get awesome photos. You could go to Huay Toh Waterfall just 19km up a country road from I-4 highway where it runs through Krabi Town. There are two hikes that are highly recommended, one being at “Khao Phanom Bencha National Park” on the other side of the mountain as where Huay Toh waterfall is. The other being in Tub Kaak, and is called, “Phi Phi Islands National Park” but it’s part of the mainland. That one is a steady climb to 500+ meters and 360 degree views for tens of kilometers. Amazing!

If you want to drink at the bars then there are plenty at Ao Nang Beach and some in Town on Chao Fa Road, Uttarakit near the pier, and some naughty nightlife places scattered all over town.

If you want to relax - there is Noppharat Thara Beach, Railay Beach, Phi Phi Islands, and many other islands that are easily reachable by longtail boat.

Krabi has an outstanding selection of things to do and if you know where to look for it - you’ll find exactly what you crave.

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