M-150 Energy Drink - Cures All Known Ailments

Devotion ... Courage ... Sacrifice. And a dose of caffeine and vitamins and sugar. Thailand has a whole load of energy drinks, from the ever popular Red Bull to Lipovitan. What are they for? Well, for mixing with vodka and getting totally wasted, of course! Well, up to you. These drinks are concentrated doses of wake up juice. A quick energy boost, helpful for staying awake on a long night out, for a hangover cure, a kick in the head in the middle of the day when you are falling asleep at the keyboard. I don't reckon they taste great, but my favourite is M-150.

Only in Thailand?

A dog on a motorbike, seen it. Not too uncommon. But today I saw a new one. The owner must love his pooch.

Keep your distance

As seen through the windscreen of my pick up truck. One strap holding in a whole truck full of gas cylinders. Tail gate open to pack in as many as possible. When the traffic light turned green, I kept as far away as possible. I sometimes feel like that giraffe in Madagascar "I just saw 26 blatant traffic code violations". You just have to live and learn... In England this pick up truck would be stopped by the first copper to see it. Not here!

Danny Hall - Missing for 6 months

I have seen requests for help on chatrooms and travel forums before, but this has finally hit the BBC, though one fears it may be too late unless Danny Hall has deliberately decided to become a hermit or something.

How can someone disappear without trace on a small island?

That is the question nagging the family and friends of Danny Hall, a British backpacker who went missing in the southern Thai resort of Koh Pha Ngan six months ago.

The disappearance of the 36-year-old - last seen on 25 February - has baffled investigators and loved ones alike.

A roadie and former winner of TV quiz show The Weakest Link, Mr Hall had been on his third trip to Thailand when he was last seen after the island's world-famous Full Moon Party.

• Full Story from the BBC

Have You Seen Danny Hall?

 

 

Welcom to Thailand. We Spik Inglish.

I have said in the past that I would not take the p*ss out of bad English here in Thailand until I speak fluent Thai. Sorry, couldn't resist this one:

Phuket, I'll fly with Air Asia

See, although we all know how to pronounce Phuket, some people still seem to think it's funny to make it sound a bit rude. And who is better at being a bit rude than anyone else - yes, the Aussies. I once travelled across Africa with a group, one of whom was an Aussie called "Rocky". If he was thirsty he'd be "dry as a nun's C**t". Having a bad day - he's "happy as a bastard on father's day". You get the idea.



This photo was floating on the web, uncredited - if you took it please do let me know so I can credit it! The ad for Air Asia was done by De Pasquale Advertising. They also have "Ho Chi Minimum Fare" and "More Bang for your Buck to Bangkok". You can find the ads on their website if you search, though it's not easy as their's is an arty website using "mystery navigation" (ie, you are not quite sure what you'll get when you click).

Anyway, there do seem to be a lot of Aussies in Phuket. All welcome.

Art or Exploitation?

I'm not a great debater, so I'll give a brief statement.

I find the image on this magazine offensive. I think that's because I have a 6 year old daughter and would never allow any naked picture of her to be in public view. In fact I try to keep any pictures of my kids off the internet, off my blogs. There are just too many perverts out there. I hate to imagine some sad git drooling over the picture above, even if the girl in the picture says she is proud of it (mind you, her mum was the photographer and her dad is an art critic).

It comes from an Australian art magazine cover, they say they used this image as a protest against the closing of an art exhibition which depicted naked children.

• BBC News Story

Ride Me!

The use of the English language in Thailand is often a source of merriment, but I tend not to mock, since my Thai is terrible and I really should be making more of an effort. On the other hand I am not trying to write advertising or product names in Thai.... I bought some "oil control facial foam" recently, nothing funny about that. The name was "Exit". Nothing funny about that really. It was only after I was using it that I noticed what was under the "Exit" logo ...