Tim in Thailand

A Halal Festival (18 - 20 June)

Okay - I have been running out of time on this one so I am slipping up - I have simply linked you to Jamie's website regarding this little celebration.

Found a Phuket Heritage website which needs further investigation.

We visited last night - for photographs please click on the photobucket logo.
There was a Thai Muslim Wedding but we went home.

Whale meat and Japan

I have followed the political games played by Japan, the Whaling Commission as an interest but not as a pursuit. I was then visited a link posted by a friend of mine regarding the latest farce regarding this.

I understand the difference between an activist - say Sam Shepard and a legitimate agency - say Greenpeace - their goal maybe the same but the way that they attain their goal is very different.

Then I watched this video posted by CNN

One can argue that the ramming and boarding of the ship is illegal and steps must be taken against those who boarded the ship - all be it to arrest the captain for the crime of 'fishing'.

Greenpeace then 'intercept' packages from the boat - plastic boxes with whale meat in. The meat was wrapped and labeled as 'cardboard'. This was shown in a press conference.

The Japanese then indicate that the whale meat is given to the staff for their personal use...... so why label it as cardboard?

Scattering of your ashes

Got this question today:

Can my ashes be scattered over the ground of

my football team?

Liverpool: "A Liverpool FC spokesman said the club does allow ashes to be strewn
across the pitch at Anfield" - but I can find no clear guidance.....
Manchester United: There is nothing on their website, I would refer to the comments below regarding Anti Pollution Rules (UK)
Chelsea: There is nothing on their website, I would refer to the comments below regarding Anti Pollution Rules (UK)
Peterborough United: yes

Environmental guidance - Anti Pollution rules (UK) Optimum Population
"Football clubs, including Manchester United, have stopped the remains of fans being put on their pitches. Manchester City, along with many European clubs, have now built a memorial garden to save their grass."

Jellyfish - what to do if?

Jellyfish are found all over the word - Thailand is not a risky place to visit.  BUT there have been a number of reports regarding some incidences of being stung by a 'box jellyfish' - the other stings can be irritating but are not normally life threatening.

IF you are stung by a jellyfish the best treatment; 

 1) wash the area with salt water (DO NOT touch)

 2) apply vinegar to the wound immediately to neutralize the venom

 3) if there is a reaction seek further medical attention

There have been three reports of fatalities from box jellyfish stings in Thailand for the period in 2007.  There have been recent reports of a Swedish girl dying from a sting but there have been subsequent reports that it was due to an allergy. Then I read that there are more incidences but not reported.

The Box Jellyfish is mostly a problem from October - May.

Symptoms:

- severe pain

- headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea

- skin swelling/wounds/redness

- difficulty breathing, swallowing and speech

- shivering, sweating

- irregular pulse/heart failure

Stings treatment:

- pour vinegar over tentacles. Urine does not work on the Box Jelly or Irukandji.

- lift off any tentacles with a stick or similar.

- use pressure-immobilisation on limbs if possible. i.e. quickly wrap a light bandage above and below the sting [if you can't get two fingers under the bandage, it's too tight].

- Immobilize/splint the stung area and keep it at heart level [gravity-neutral] if possible. Too high causes venom to travel to the heart, too low causes more swelling.

- Do not drink alcohol, or take any medicine or food.

- get medical treatment urgently or apply antivenom if available.

A market in the hospital car park?

As we drove through Phuket Town to find a place to buy a replacement ‘frother’ for my coffee machine my wife asked me to stop at the hospital?

There was a market in the car park of the Bangkok Phuket Hospital! My wife bought some lovely bits and pieces for my daughter and then we went onto Boncafe just around the corner to buy my ‘frother’.

But I did wonder if the hospital knew that there was all this deep fried food being cooked in the grounds?

Borae market

Borae market is round the corner from us - so Jemma and I went for a ride.

Borae market is a traditional Thai market

- full of smells, sights, sounds and smiles.

Then Jemma was thrilled to see the monkeys

- I think eating any of the leftovers.....

Entrance fee to Bang Pae and Tonsai Waterfall

I have visited the Bang-Pae waterfall and Tonsai waterfall twice in the last 2 weeks.

The Waterfalls are in the Khao Phra National Park - on the North East of Phuket - near the new airfield. My post today is not about the waterfalls - that is later. At the waterfalls they have the most beautiful tickets - gibbons (my fav.), elephants, tigers, buffalo, deer. I always receive a plethora of them - despite the 200 Baht entrance ticket being only the elephant.

Thank you to the Park Keepers for this because I had a little girl with me today who loved the gibbon one AND someone else's ticket was stamped with their birthday, even though it wasn't her birthday that day!

Please don't forget to keep your ticket if you want to visit both waterfalls.

The Gibbons at the Gibbon Sanctuary were very noisy today - but that is a blog that I have yet to write - 2009 blog.

Seashells in Phuket - 2 buy or not 2 buy?

A question that I get a lot is that tourists are not allowed to take shells from the beach - including coral that is broken – Why?

But there are are shells for sale all over Phuket - the above photograph

was from Rawai - 7/6/10.

I can only say that the shells that are found scattered on the beaches in Phuket are the homes of a number of marine creatures and is the sand for tomorrow’s children.

It is thus illegal to sell seashells from the waters of Thailand – but I hear visitors cry that there are shells all over Phuket for sale!!!!!!

These shells (so I read - but how do I know?) are mostly from Indonesia – so it does not matter if it the sand for children not in Thailand or the homes for marine life not living in Thailand?

Responsible eco-tourism.

EU travel guide for illegal materials to traffic.