Patong clubs: Club Lime on Patong Beach Road

Club Lime is a great addition to the Patong clubbing scene, found on Patong Beach Road right besides Rock City opposite the beach.
It can be easily found by the sign -- a huge slice of lime (what else?) -- and its neon interior that lights the street below. And in the early morning hours, the booming, hypnotic sound would be a magnet even for the blind.

This place is a sophisticated sort of 3-in-1 venue: nightclub, bar and restaurant – with very good food. But lets forget about the food: that is for old people! What about the music?

Music is mostly House, Techno or Tribal, played by the club's resident or visiting DJs. Club Lime is also developing a tasty line in drum-and-bass, the only place in Phuket featuring this music.
One can say that the owners of Club Lime try very hard to increase the quality of the music played in Patong, so far with mixed success; guest DJs from Bangkok are regularly on the program and for a while it was even rumored that DJ Tiesto would play there (but he went to play in Bangkok instead, his price tag was well out of line for such a small venue).

Open from 6 pm till late. Thursday’s ladies' night – free entry and a free drink for girls only. On other nights expect to pay 200 baht, or more if there's a special act.

Other have visited too, for example Matt Crook, who had the following to say:

I went to Club Lime for the first time on Friday night. What's good about this place is that it pushes real dance music and the DJs are fairly decent. The music was primarily electro, with a bit of house and tech house to boot. It was real dance floor stuff, although Club Lime doesn’t have much of a dance floor. But still, there is space in front of the bar to dance.

The guys at Club Lime are looking to push clubbing in Phuket to new boundaries. Starting next month, there will be drum ‘n’ bass nights (which I might get involved in) and more DJs will be asked to play.

The only thing with Club Lime is the people who go there. This is something that needs a bit of work. Hopefully a couple of articles I'm writing will drive some actual clubbers to the venue.

At the moment, it feels a bit like Bed Supperclub. Lime is full of old dudes and property sales girls. The sales girls in particular get on my nerves because they do nothing except take pictures of one another and rub their bodies on each other when everybody is looking.

... the last thing would not be all that bad for me personally to witness :-)

Links of Interest:

• Club Lime, Club Lime Newsletter and Facebook Group
  
• DJ Tiesto in Bangkok in mid-April
• From Matt: Phuket girls and my first decent clubbing discovery
  

Go directly to a Thai Prison -- NOT!

In case you have wondered, no, it is definitely not a good idea to break the law in Thailand and go to jail for it!
Not only have there been a whole range of books of former Bangkok prison inmates published, there is also a blog detailing daily life in a Thai prison; and unsurprisingly, it does not sound like fun at all...

Bangkwang is Bangkok’s maximum-security jail; designed for lifers and death row prisoners. All Bangkwang prisoners are serving sentences of at least 25 years and of its 7,000 inmates - mostly drug offenders - 883 have been sentenced to death.

The Thai people call Bangkwang the "Big Tiger" because it is a man-eater. Scores of prisoners have been put to death in its notorious execution chamber.

As the Times Online mentions, Bang Kwang Prison in Bangkok is #3 of the 10 most notorious prisons in the world:

Tempted to take a little marijuana on your fortnight package tour of Thailand? It may be unwise unless you want to end up in the infamous “Bangkok Hilton”.
In recent years the prison's population has trebled to 7,000 and the guards are out-numbered 50-1. Every inmate there is serving more than 25 years and for the first three months of their sentence each is forced to wear leg irons.
Inside Building 10, prisoners are held in solitary confinement in pitch-black cells two meters square wearing “elephant chains” for months on end.
"Thai prisons are tough," says Director of Prisons Khun Nattee in a superfluous warning to tourists. "You don't want to be in Bang Kwang."

Links of Interest:

• Times Online
• Information about visiting Bang Kwang prison
• Angel of Bang Kwang Prison
  
• Thai Prison Blog: life snippets of a Thai youth imprisoned for drug offences (in English)
• Thai Visa Discussion
• Escape from Klong Prem Prison
• A Prison Visit

Aey Pornthip sexy photo shoot at the Zeavola Phi Phi Resort

Aey Pornthip, a well-known actress in Thailand, hat recently a sexy photo shoot at the Zeavola Resort on Phi Phi Island where she was photographed by Tada Varich for 'in magazine'.

Zeavola Phi Phi is by far the most accomplished resort on Phi Phi island and offers a spa already famous around the region. Its secluded location -- it is only reachable by boat -- make it the perfect spot for a romantic tryst -- with Aey maybe...?

About the Zeavola Resort from Chubby Hubby:

"On Phi Phi island, we stayed at the gorgeous Zeavola Resort. This resort is built to look like an ancient Thai village, but with modern (and luxurious) touches.
There are two F&B outlets, a casual beachside cafe and a sexy, open-air restaurant with lovely design elements.
The food is good too. For dinner, we had a yummy crab pasta with asparagus. For breakfast the next day, we had a fantastic dish the hotel calls “Thai Royal Eggs”, which was fried eggs with minced chicken, sausages and other yummy stuff served on a cast-iron pan.
A really cute touch that I liked was that the breakfast menu here is printed on a wax-lined bag. Inside the bag are freshly fried dough fritters, which are served with your choice of sweetened condensed milk or a pandan jam."

Links of Interest:

• Zeavola Phi Phi Resort and Spa on phi-phi.com
• Zeavola hotel image gallery and travel reviews
  
• Zeavola Resort and Spa Phi Phi on this blog (also here)
• Tourism news: Japanese investors take over Zeavola Resort
• Thai sexy girls: Nun Woranuch
• More Aey Pornthip pics
  

Bangkok's Lebua Hotel has another controversy cooking

Bangkok's Lebua Hotel -- already before in the media with bad press -- has another think cooking: literally.
Somewhere in the firmament of Michelin-starred chefs there must be one willing to accept $8,000 for a single night's work. The only catch is that this particular dinner at a Bangkok luxury hotel has stirred up a mighty controversy, and two dozen chefs around the world have declined to cook it.

I personally find this quite disgusting in its hypocrisy:

Bangkok’s Lebua hotel, which is organizing the dinner, is no stranger to publicity - or to Michelin-starred chefs. Last year, it put on a decadent feast billed as the meal of a lifetime for $25,000 a head. Six three-star Michelin chefs were flown in from Europe to cook the 10-course meal, each plate paired with a rare vintage wine.

On April 5, the Lebua is offering another 10-course spread, this time for free. The hotel has invited 50 of its biggest-spending customers to the dinner prepared - it hopes - by three top-ranked Michelin-starred chefs.

There is one twist. Before dinner, guests will be jetted to a poor village in northern Thailand to spend the afternoon soaking up the sights of poverty. The dinner and full-day excursion will cost the hotel $300,000.

Links of Interest:

• Article from International Herald Tribune
  
• Lebua State Tower in Bangkok
• Bangkok's Lebua Hotel: Another Day, Another Controversy
  

Patong nude girls on the beach

Nude beaches in Thailand? Do they really exist? If one believes Lonely Planet, then nude sunbathing on the beaches pf Thailand is illegal; but so would be driving around without a helmet, gambling, or prostitution.
And with the bars full of Thai girls just a few meters away, it does not wonder when tourists coming to Phuket and Patong Beach argue rightly that there is much fuss about little. It is the 21st century after all, so showing some skin is not such a big deal (all the better if the girl looks the part).

In the end, let's not forget, Thailand is about 'sanook', 'sabai sabai' -- and making money. Breaking their own laws to get to the tourist Euros is fine, so bending them to habe a nice topless beach holiday is surely within limits. At least that is what those two nude girls on Patong Beach would have argued when asked.Links of Interest:

• Phi Phi nude girl
• Thai tropical beach nudes
• Thai nude beaches overview

'Buddhist magic' bubble is bursting

To the list of speculative market bubbles popping around the world, add this: Thai religious talismans. The talk is about so-called Jatukkam-Ramathep-Amulets with magic Buddhist powers, originally only from one temple in Nakhorn Sri Thammarat.
As Phuket, my home, is not very far from this Southern Thai city, a lot of the elder male generation here bought such amulets and many are wearing them. I personally think the Jatukham Amulets with their inscriptions from (Hindu) mythology and oversized format look rather gaudy, and Buddhist magic has little place in my personal understanding of Buddhism -- but who am I to tell the Thai people about Buddhism?

The popularity of the amulets, known as Jatukam Ramathep, goes back about two decades. Depending on who tells the story, they are named after either a 17th-century king or a Hindu god who reputedly defended the Buddhist monastery here from pirate attacks. Phantarak Rajadej, a previous police chief in Nakhon Si Thammarat, began making and selling a limited number of talismans in the 1980s to raise money for a Buddhist shrine. He is widely believed in the town to have mastered the art of black magic to ward off his enemies. After he died in 2006 at the age of 104, production in amulets surged.
Word about the talismans' supernatural powers quickly spread to Bangkok, the capital. Amulet traders say prices ballooned because many Thais were worrying about the impact of a military coup in September 2006. Some wanted to buy spiritual help to see them through the turmoil and maybe make them rich. Models carried names such as "Super Rich to the Heavens" and "Eternally Wealthy" and dealers paid millions of dollars in newspaper and television advertisements to fuel the frenzy. The research department of Thai bank Kasikornbank PCL estimated that the market for Jatukam Ramathep amulets swelled to $1.5 billion last year.

Nakhon Si Thammarat and its Buddhist clergy were among the biggest beneficiaries. Visitors arrived from Bangkok and as far away as Malaysia and Singapore. A room at the swankiest hotel in town, the Twin Lotus, required a reservation three months in advance. Airlines laid on extra flights to town, while prominent businesspeople chartered planes to fly monks and other VIPs to the Buddhist temple where the talismans were blessed, the 13th-century Wat Phra Mahatat. Amulet dealers in Bangkok say the temple has earned over a million dollars, which it is now using to repair walls, crumbling spires and ancient bell towers.

In Nakhon Sri Thammarat a lot of the local people supplemented their small incomes by buying up batches and selling them at a profit. In a pattern now painfully familiar to investors the world over, the boom was so great -- some amulets sold for as much as $75,000 -- that the bust could only be close behind. A glut, combined with growing suspicions that many amulets hadn't been properly blessed by Buddhist monks, has blown the bottom out of the market in the past few weeks. Most of the little clay objects, part of a billion-dollar-plus industry just a few months ago, are now practically worthless.
As a result, thousands of others across the country are now deep in debt. Some of the traders even have filed a suit for damages against their dealer, as well as the abbot of Wat Phra Mahatat for allowing his name to be used on posters advertising the amulets. Elsewhere in this small fishing town, the wife of the police chief is suing a district mayor, claiming he delivered a load of faulty amulets; he claims she's just trying to duck out of a deal since the market's collapse.

The abbot of Wat Phra Mahatat, Phra Thepvinyaporn, is unperturbed. "I'm not surprised that somebody would try to sue me," he says. "Many people are broken-hearted and will do anything to recoup their losses." But he says it is only natural that markets go up and then down. "There is a cycle, just like fireworks," he says, polishing his thick glasses and adjusting his orange robe in the baking heat. "When you light the firework it rushes skywards, then booms and disappears. When it's gone, you wait for another firework to be lit."

Comment from Forest Wisdom:

"Reading the news this week about the demise of the Jatukham Ramathep amulets’ popularity leads to further reflection. For a start, it shows how unwise I was to get so upset by the use of such talisman, for it was always going to be an impermanent craze. All crazes are. Getting caught up in the issue at the time and attaching to an orthodox view of what constitutes Buddhism, I created suffering around them – much to the bemusement of some of my Thai friends and work colleagues! If I had remained alert to the impermanent nature of such crazes, this suffering wouldn’t have arisen."

Links of Interest:

• Lucky Charms In Thailand Are Out of Luck by the Wall Street Journal
• Impermanence: Jatukham Ramathep Amulets by Forest Wisdom
• Forest Buddhism & 'Magic' Amulets by Forest Wisdom
  

Free rice

I just stumbled about a great website, Freerice.com; The site's goals are twofold: Provide English vocabulary lessons for free and help end world hunger by providing free rice to hungry people.
The system, the latest brainchild of e-charity innovator John Breen, works like follows: you select multiple choice word definitions: if you get it right, you get a harder word. If you get it wrong, the next word is easier. For each correct answer, Free Rice donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

By further reading up on this website on the internet, it becomes obvious that they have gotten a lot of meduia attention since their start in October 2007. It really is a very fun way to help the poor, all the more necessary with rice prices (and those of other basic staple foods) currently exploding on the world market.

"Freerice.com is an international, viral sensation. Folks from Thailand to Germany and India are just as enthusiastic . . . improving thousands of lives, all with a simple, collective, click of a mouse." - CBS Evening News

In case you were wondering, FreeRice.com is neither a hoax nor a scam, despite its seemingly too-good-to-be-true premise. The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen. This is regular advertising for these companies, but it is also something more. Through their advertising at FreeRice, these companies support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and reducing hunger (free rice for the hungry).

It's no replacement for good, old-fashioned, get-out-your-checkbook charitable giving, but at 26 billion grains of rice (and counting) donated to date, neither should it be dismissed as just another online time waster.

Links of Interest:

• Freerice.com
• Web Game Provides Free Rice for Hungry -- BBC News
• Lexicographical Beneficence: Freerice.com -- NY Times Magazine
• Saving the World One Click at a Time -- Sydney Morning Herald
  

Zeavola Phi Phi Spa Resort

I have been at the Zeavola Resort Phi Phi several times and at every visit newly impressed by the beauty of the hotel and the level of care the staff puts into their service. No wonder it is listed amongst the top Small Luxury Hotels of the World and voted by CondoNeste Traveller as "one of the hippest new hotels in the world". Zeavola Phi Phi is by far the most accomplished accommodations on Phi Phi island and is only a 4-5 star hotel because it lacks a full suite of facilities such as tennis courts; however it has a spa already famous around the region and its secluded location -- it is only reachable by boat -- make it the perfect spot for a honeymoon or just a romantic tryst.
I rather elect for the latter, and your girlfriend will be duly impressed by selecting the Zeavola Resort on Phi Phi.

click here for more Phi Phi Island hotel location maps

The beach area continues the theme of the Zeavola as a place to enjoy the best of nature in style. From the Bose speakers in the sand playing ambient music, the low futon like sun beds to the bright blues and yellows of the Tacada Restaurant awnings, the feeling is fresh respectful and smart. The views are wide taking in Moskito Island, Bamboo Island, Koh Lanta, Koh Jum, and the limestone karst scenery on the horizon at Krabi's Phrang Nga.

The 3 Beachfront and Garden Suites are 60m2 and the Village Suite is 40m2. The Village suite doesn't have the changing area or outdoor shower but does have a pretty Zen like sand garden.

The rectangular pool stretches an elegant 18m long, enough to relax and or lap for fitness. Surrounded by colour full deckchairs this is a peaceful facility as most guests seem to hang out by the sea.

Diner at the Baxil Restaurant right on the beach was full of the unexpected like black squid bread and a crab pasta that makes my mouth water even now. The chocolate soufflé is the signature dish of the Zeavola and all my taste buds and senses were replete by the end of the evening.

Breakfast was taken at the Tacada Restaurant on the beach in front of a golden sun rise just 50 meters from the Baxil Restaurnat. The a la carte menu included such delights as eggs Benedictine, the Maharaja meal (Indian curries and breads), the American breakfast with steak as well as usual the fruits, pastries and cereals.

The Spa is a celebration of comfort and style set out by the famed Horwath Spa Consultancy firm run by Khun Napali who created Chiva-som in Hua Hin. As a director of the Thailand Tatler Magazine her style and tastes resonate with those in the know. The extensive spa facilities feature 6 treatment rooms and 4 massage rooms each with relaxation rooms, some with private sauna or steam rooms or 15 degrees C cooling showers. The Hair Salon includes Pedicure, Manicure, all in all everything needed to make you feel special.

Khun Supinda who showed me around informed me that the Zeavola is staffed by 130 people from May to October and about 160 in the high season when the resort is full. When I was there 10 out of the 30 suites were occupied by guests (with another 22 suites available by high season). I think that in the near future the Zeavola will be booked out quickly as it is too good to be unnoticed.


















Links of Interest:

• Zeavola Phi Phi Resort and Spa
• Zeavola Resort Phi Phi: Free Night Specials
• Phi Phi Island Free Night Specials
• Thai sexy girls: Aey Pornthip photo shoot at the Zeavola Resort
  

Bangkok Dangerous Movie remake with Nicholas Cage

Bangkok Dangerous, starring Nicolas Cage to be released this fall, is a remake of the original Pang Brothers film from 2000. Generally, American remakes of great Asian films don't turn out very well, but with the original directors onboard, and Nicholas doing his nutcase act, this might be a winner.

Here's a short YouTube clip with all the necessary ingredients: strippers on Soi Cowboy, a transvestite review, fast motorcycles, Thai boxing, big guns,and a targeted politician who looks like a slightly older and plumper Abhisit.

YouTube Clip of the upcoming Bangkok Dangerous

Tiger Bar Phi Phi Beach Party

Tiger Bar Phi Phi, located in the center of Phi Phi Island in the village, next to Papaya Restaurant, is one of the most happening bars currently open on Phi Phi. The bar has a dance floor and a DJ playing his sound until the early morning hours. They are also quite active in advertisign their venue on the internet, as for example sending out party messages through their Facebook group; have a look if you are interested!

There is also an upstairs chill out lounge with leather couches to relax on and the bar downstairs will quite happily waiter serve your favorite cocktails directly to your sofa.

Tiger Bar offers a complimentary free drink between 9-11pm and a free bucket between 12-10am every night.

Links of Interest:

• Tiger Bar Phi Phi Facebook Group
  
• Phi Phi Beach Party on April 29
• phi-phi.com: the Official Phi Phi bar guide
  

Eye Candy: Thailand entry for the 2008 Miss Tourism Queen Intl

For some visual stimulation, I am posting here some pictures of the Thailand entrant of the 2008 Miss Tourism Queen International, held in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China's Henan Province on April 10, 2008. Pichamon Keawthong was under the top 20 finalists and won the Best in Asia Queen competition for 2008. A total of 115 contestants from around the world competed for the crown.

Since 1949, there have been more than 80 countries occasionally holding this competition for their Miss Tourism National Queen. With each country's tourism ambassadors gathering together, Miss Tourism Queen International aims at enhancing the tourism development, the friendship among different countries, and international culture exchange.

Okay, so lets have a closer look at Khun Pichamon!
Links of Interest:

• 2008 Miss Tourism Queen International
• thaimiss.com
• xinhdep.info

Google Maps Satellite Imagery Update for Thailand

Google Earth received a large image update at the beginning of April. The update has now been rolled out to Google Maps. A number of locations in Thailand has also received high-definition pictures (finally!).

The locations in Thailand with new satellite imagery is as follows: Hat Yai, Ubon Ratchathani, Pattani, Warin Chamrap and Mukdahan; those are locations in Isaan and Southern Thailand.

View more Thailand maps

Links of Interest:

• Full list of image updates from the Google LatLong blog
• Thailand google maps now available in English
  
• News about other map and satellite services: MapJack beats Google Street View... at least in Chiang Mai
• 'I Love Isaan' Facebook Group
  

Weakening dollar worries travelers to Thailand

The current crisis in the USA and their intentional policy of a weak dollar hurts travelers all over the world; especially those who really just do travel and are in need of refilling their wallet from overseas. Still there are ways to keep your currency risk to a minimum and prevent loosing too much if the dollar exchange rate goes not in your favor.

In the end it is all about perspective -- Southeast Asia is still very cheap compared to many other places in the world and even though a weak dollar might cost you an extra beer on your night out, the party is not stopping right there. All the more important to look for a good deal (like the Free Nights Offers I just wrote about yesterday)...

Nomadic Matt had this to say:

"A little piece of me dies everyday. Or I should say a little piece of my wallet dies everyday. As an American, I live on the world's worst currency- the US dollar.
Over the past few years, the value of the American dollar has steadily declined. The dollar now only get .50 to the pound, 60 euro cents, and, for the first time in 12 years, less than 100 yen. The Australia dollar has gone from being worth .50 cents to par now. The Canadian dollar is worth more than the greenback. Needless to say, it's hard being an American tourist right now.
As a constant traveler, I worry about the way currency moves like only a Wall Street trader would. Small changes in the dollar or other currencies can really effect me. My budget for Australia was 1000 dollars short because of the strong Australian dollar.
I got extra when I went to Thailand because the Baht had happened to weaken just a bit. I watch it to know when to withdraw money and when to hold off on the ATM run.
Sometimes you can't help it- you need money but I try to be careful. Why all the work? On a short holiday, it's not that big of a deal. You're not gone a while nor are you changing over lots of money. Yet when you are gone for months or years at a time make frequent ATM withdrawals, little changes in a currency can make a big difference."

Links of Interest:

• Thailand Free Night Specials
• Thailand hotel deals and special rates

Phuket ladyboys are in demand!

Casual surfing around the internet brought me to a website purporting to be an escort service for ladyboys on Phuket. Frankly, this seems one of those unnecessary sercives around here where I just cannot grasp the business model.
If you are really inclined to meet a ladyboy in Phuket intimately, there is nothing easier than that (a lot would actually argue that one cannot flee the attention of them even when going out without a romp with a ladyboy in mind): head down to Soi Bangla, and chances are 100% that actually they themselves will try to pick you up.
Or go to the (excellent) Simon Cabaret Show and hang around after the show, this way not everything has to happen all in the open -- but then, if you wish to try a ladyboy you should be sure enough in your sexuality to not be shy about it.

Anyway, here is the website: Phuket ladyboy escort service
"Welcome to our gallery at Ladyboys in Phuket. An exclusive escort service where you will find stunning Thai ladyboys who are waiting to take care of you. We are a very friendly agency, just take a browse at our escort gallery, make your choice and get in touch, very simple."

Less enjoyable their rates, which are quite frankly outrageous (yes, I mean expensive!):

Shortime (2 hours)	5500B
Casual (4 hours)	6000B
Overnight (12 hours)	8500B
Night & day (24 hours)	9000B
2 Nights and days	16,000B
4 Nights and days	30,000B
7 Nights and days	48,000B

You should not forget, if you have this kind of money to spend on something that simple, most likely you will stay in an upmarket hotel.
As they are all in on making money there, you might have to pay some equally outrageous 'joiner fee' to the hotel for your 'overnight guest' (in some cases higher than the fee of the person providing the service, what smells like pimping to me, shame on you, Phuket hotels!).

A word about Simon Cabaret Show on Phuket: this is a very tasteful show of ladyboy performers, singers and dancers, quite on par with the Tiffany or Alcazar Cabaret Shows in Pattaya; actually a place where you can bring your girlfriend or the family and have a great evening. There is no sleaze so it shows the artistic side of the ladyboy life in Thailand -- even though you can still meet a lot of them later in Soi Bangla for as little as a group photo, a drink together or much more...

Links of Interest:

• Phuket Ladyboy Escorts
• Simon Cabaret Show
• Phuketladyboys.com with some galleries)
• Short Interview with a Phuket ladyboy about Life, Working and HIV
• Third Sex Blog - Not All Girls Are Born Female
  

Blacklisted for traffic violations -- Thailand on a new low

Another cracker from Thai politicians, who seem never shy to put cake on their
own face; this time it is about the Tibet-demonstrations and the repeated
dousing of the Olympic Torch on their way around the world. Understandable, that the Thais with their face-issues would wish this to go
without incidence -- however to shoot with such big guns is a typical sign of
lacking self-confidence...

From The Nation:

"Protesters disrupting tomorrow's Olympic-torch relay will be arrested
immediately and prosecuted for public disturbance, police say. Foreigners will be expelled and banned from returning. Those with residency will have it revoked permanently, spokesman Lt-General Watcharaphol Prasarnratchakij says." ...
"Free Tibet Network member Pokpong Lawansiri disagrees with the stance against pro-Tibet protests. "Under the Constitution, an individual - local or foreigner - has the right to rally for a cause," he says. "Peaceful rally should be allowed"." ...
"Prime ministerial aide Akhaphol Sorrasuchart says protests can continue as long
as there's no run disruption and they do not break other laws, including traffic, or damage property."

Deported and blacklisted because of a traffic violation? Thailand, get a grip!

Update from DailyXPress, April 19:

"As many as 100 pro-Tibet protesters are gathering today outside the United Nations headquarters in Bangkok. The controversial Olympic-torch relay takes place this afternoon. The demonstrators are protesting at human-rights violations by China in Tibet." ...
"The Buddhist networks ask locals and foreigners to show up and express solidarity with Tibet's right to self-determination. They denounce China as the "evil empire". Foreigners appear unfazed by police threats to deport them if they join in, saying they are determined to let the world know people in this country care about Tibet. "We recognise the dangers. We understand we don't have the protection of the Constitution, but it doesn't mean we cannot invoke international law [for the right to peaceful assembly]," says a Filipino resident, who asked not to be named." ...
"One man says today's protest is as much about China's human-rights record and setting a benchmark for acceptable state behaviour, not just in China but in Thailand, too. "It's about setting a standard, and we should also aim at Thailand's [human rights].""

Picture painted in Siam Square last night

Quite incredible in a Buddhist country, to see Buddhist policemen under the guise of government, cracking down on Buddhist organisations that will have majority Buddhist protestors from protesting the oppression of Buddhists to protect the face of Communists.

Links if Interest:

• More discussion on Thai Visa
• Don't Feed China's Nationalism
  

Snorkeling in Phi Phi Island Bay

Weather on Phuket and Phi Phi has stayed hot, sunny and calm since beginning of
the month, allowing for great days on the beaches both destinations have to
offer. As it is officially "low season" even Patong Beach is not crowded and it is possible to pick the best spot for yourself.

Today, however, I decided to revisit Phi Phi and brought back a great video feeding the reef fish in Phi Phi bay. A little bit shaky, but it gives a good feel what Phi Phi is all about: relaxation, a great time and some physical
exercise at the same time.

That snorkeling on Phi Phi offers a great time can be also seen on the following gallery from phi-phi.com: Snorkeling
on Phi Phi Island:

Links of Interest:

• Zeavola Phi Phi Resort Super Rates Deal
• Phi Phi Image Galleries
• more Phi Phi Island activities: kayaking around Phi Phi Ley