Last Sunday was Valentines Day; I had a very nice offer to attend a party that would have had very pretty promotional girls and silly games taking place. A local company were going to have fun with condoms and then head to the local park to hand them out to the locals. Apparently many young Thai girls lose their virginity on Valentines Day and also many get pregnant. I am sure Thailand isn’t ...

A massive lotus crown in the grounds of Prasat Phnom Wan in Isaan, with yours truly giving it some perspective Occasionally you will see them on the floor but normally they will be almost out of view, at the very ... over time or remain on the ground despite renovations as in the case of the temples in Isaan, then you can understand why, simply because of their size and weight. Up close they are ...

... intelligent and impressive non-billionaire Abhisit Vejjajiva. 300 litres of blood was donated from 70,000 of Thaksin's paid mob  mostly yokels from the poorest rural areas of the North and Isaan. Meanwhile, Thailand hospitals are crying out for blood donations and may patients are suffering due to a lack of such donated blood. The bastion of humanity, Tacky Shitwad clearly still has the ...

... Thai) was the final straw that broke the buffalo’s back. The country people of Isaan and northern Thailand still hold faith in a third Thaksin government distributing a fairer proportion of the countries ... it are another reason for boarding the free coaches laid on to ferry the red shirts from Isaan’s cities to Bangkok for what they hope to be an ad hoc last tango in the Big Mango. ...

... long way from the United States. In Thailand's farming heartland, thousands of families have flocked to a festival to honour a sub-culture they have adopted as their own. Thailand's northeast Isaan region has developed its own cowboy scene over the past four decades, ever since US troops spent time in the country during the Vietnam War and left an indelible cultural stamp, say locals. ...

... but I’m not. Anybody think Thailand is ready to be the number two economy in Asia after China? Could it be in 5 years? 15? Related Posts:Another Perspective on PAD, PPPIs Thailand Safe – 2009 – 2010 Season?Southern Thailand Violence: Future thoughtsHow Important is Face in Thai Society?Isaan Thailand Automobile Vehicle Sales 1996 – 2007Powered by Contextual Related Posts

... ' debts never materialised during his watch. The simple solution for Abhisit, the current PM, is to direct much of Thaksin's confiscated money towards the Poor, especially in the Northern Isaan areas. And to do it very soon, before riots ensue in Bangkok - again. The Redshirt leaders will hopefully realize that it is in the interests of the rural poor that Thaksin does not delay any such ...

... Thai resistance is much more about Thaksin than the instrumentalized poor. I share his vision, but not his means to an end. And you seriously think middle class life in Bangkok is sugar and honey? Bangkok is Isaan in a way. Today’s main political force is envy. Or as a blogger says: “Time for street revolutions have passed.” What this site doesn’t want to be is to be ...

... a gorgeous cooked-to-order crustacean. I wasn't up to tackling the claws but the meat was deemed sweet and fresh by our fellow eaters. The salad itself was -- in the northern (as opposed to Isaan) style -- spicy and salty, a welcome counterpoint to our opulently soothing coconut milk-based mains.   Also recommended: yam khaw muu, or pork neck 'salad', a medley of pounded tomato ...

... , and there was that feeling that something was about to happen. It stayed like that all day. Johan came by for a little pool talk and mentioned that he got a message from a friend that there was a typhoon somewhere in Isaan, north east of us. What ever caused this weird day, I hope it's done by the weekend. Blue and I spent some time this morning just hanging out and looking back on ...

... various issues - but focusing on the allegations that the movement was losing its momentum. He ridiculed the Government's offer to give Red Shirts free rides back to Isaan. He then lampooned Abhisit as someone who 'surrounded himself with people in purple' - an apparent reference to the many alleged aristocratic and Hi-So gays who apparently surround the installed PM (purple ...

The first highway in Thailand was built with American assistance in 1957. Route 2 connected the Satthathip naval base with the airfields in the Isaan Plateau. The road was later extended to the Laotian border. The all-weather surface allowed military convoys to transport war material even during the monsoon season. The US air campaign against

… Nong Khai’s Naga has become the Mekong’s Loch Ness monster. In this sleepy province in the heart of the Isaan region 620 kilometers northeast of Bangkok, where men are men and bugs are food, just about everyone is happy to regale you with tales of monster sightings or giant, snaking tracks left in the riverbank’s mud. Some locals brandish grainy pictures of what could be ...

... was apparent to me that the goal of a million, or even half that, would probably not be reached. A second problem for me was the composition of the crowd. These were primarily Thais dark from the Isaan sun, farmers and small business owners from the provinces who were most impacted by disempowerment. It was not the middle classes from Bangkok who were among the 200,000 in 1992 to demonstrate ...