Phuket Happenings - August 2013

The trip this month took us to Japan...
There are lots of photographs on facebook and I wrote a mobile blog as we travelled.

Well what was in store for us in Phuket this month?

This month was the Por Tor Festival. This is a Chinese Festival where our dead ancestors come to visit us on Earth an we prepare food for them - in the form of red turtles! Always worth a visit.

Do you travel with Insurance?

There is a recommendation that Tourists must have Travel Insurance when they visit Thailand.

Australians are the biggest burdens for claiming free hospital treatment.

Buy your Insurance at 7-11!

The German Consul donate money to the Vachira Hospital.

DSI gives the Mafia in Phuket 15 days to clear out 
Did they?

A thief steals 100,000 Baht in cash from a Tour Guide for the Chinese 
So there is a lot of money! - not zero percent tourism?

Public Transport preferred more than underpass 
- a bit late?

Black Taxis (illegal) scoff at DSI investigation 
why? (sic)
DSI will crack down on Phuket Taxi Mafia 
looking forward to metered taxis all over the island

Phuket murder solved after murderer's wife uses dead man's phone 
did she know?

photo from Phuket Gazette and Thawit Bilabdullar

Chinese Tour Bus involved in accident 

Are you allergic to Cashew Nuts?
14 year old boy dies after one Cashew Nut 

Russian shot in drive-by shooting in Rawai 
Is this only the beginning?
Have a look at the comments - really quite scary
Is Phuket / Rawai the fall out from Pattaya - a place we will never go again.

Facebook captures a criminal  
- quite disturbing what the Internet can do
- but I guess that it was helpful here
NO WAIT - wait for the criminal to sue Facebook

Tunka Cafe is robbed at 7am

Phuket Land Probe begins with anonymity
but doesn't everyone know?
Then illegal resorts
i thought this was all known already - i am confused?

Dirty water in Patong...
did Thailand learn from Pattaya?
Brown water probe on Patong Beach...
Algae Bloom is the answer...
but isn't algae normally green?

Aldhouse pleads guilty to murder but he did not mean to...

Odd story of the month - 
A python snuggled in an old washing machine about to enjoy a dinner of house cat was interrupted when the cat’s owner walked by and caught him in the act....
but do you need someone to catch that snake?
call this man 
Pythons are then caught!
Is this 'Snake Season'?

Crocodile worker gets bitten 

Ouch!

Mass beach rescue - 5 pulled from the water and 1 died
think we need more red flags or Education?

BUT the worst reported story - 

An Italian man robs the Wat of 100 Baht from the collection box 

- putting a rod with gum on the end!!!

terrible...

'

Noodles, Por Tor Parade, Indy Market and coffee

The day began with a breakast and coffee at twenty one - a coffee shop selling us the new Nespresso Brand - something that I am not sure about... yet - there are a lot of types of coffee to try! 

There is a growing theme in these shops and it is that you are able to get 10% of your food bill if you 'Like' them on Facebook - an interesting idea....

After coffee it was time to relax - so I went to a Gluay Nam Wa Cafe & Restaurant (their facebook)- a recently opened coffee shop in Phuket Town BUT the hot coffee machine was not working????

Then it was home and digging a trench next to the side of the road for the recent rain / water to flow easily away from the front of our home - no stagnant pools of water for us!

Lunch at Mee Ton Poe (again) and had their Hokkien Noddles it was superb (again)!

There are now three Mee Ton Poe Outlets in Phuket - this is the first.

This was followed by an Earl Grey Tea at Coffee Circle (not a normal choice but I had had too much coffee today).

Jemma returned from school and we went to join the last day of the Por Tor Festival that I saw begin last week near the Por Tor Kong Chinese Shrine - a lesser known Chinese Shrine near Bang Neow. 

The roads were packed with pedestrians and there were stalls encroaching the traffic - great fun.

I turned down this road and I was faced with tables of turtles and covered stalls either side - a great atmosphere. I walked past the stalls to get to Por Tor Kong Shrine where there were even more turtles and offerings - wonderful.

I was then invited into the home of a family and I will email them their photographs.

We then 'met' the actual Parade and watched them walk past!

Last but by no means least was the Phuket Indy Market - I really was quite glad that there were no guinea pigs or hamsters for sale!

Home in time for a Dr Seuss Book and a movie with a few surprises Intacto!

A good day off.

Travelling monks

This was something that was new for me when I was strolling through Phuket Market  - specifically Ranong Road.

The travelling monk is not something which is new to Thai Buddhism. This particular monk was here to raise money for the building of a temple - as can be seen on the side of the vehicle!

The uptake by the onlookers was very large - it was very simple to approach the monk, receive a blessing.

Not the same as the travelling monk and the private jet that has recently been in the news!

Chinese Tour Groups and the negative reporting

Well enough of all that - here was a Chinese guest and they were certainly not any trouble at all - more like?

and the shoes underneath!

Certainly nothing like those described in 'Pigs on the Loose'.

Por Tor Festival 2013

We gathered at Queen Sirikit Park this year - 

I have written about the Por Tor Festival a number of times so I hope not to copy what I have written previously.

Por Tor Parade and Festival 2012 

Por Tor comes to Phuket Town 2011   

Por Tor Festival 2010 

It is called 'The Hungry Ghost Festival'  because the people which are of Chinese descent believe that once a year their ancestors will visit them on Earth. The dead ancestors are welcomed with food and the turtles are made and shared to welcome longevity.

There was a traditional parade being organised and I recognised the same man who was also at the front of the Vegetarian Parade last year - one of the three musketeers.

The parade began with gusto and excitement - wonderful atmosphere. The parade wound it's way through the streets of Phuket Old Town - the traffic was delayed and we all watched the parade.

The parade leaders went to Jui Tui Shrine whilst the rest of the parade went towards the local market.

The parade was joined by a dancing Chinese dragon which danced in the streets.

Then there were firecrackers - just on the floor. 
Odd that a tourist drove over the firecrackers... 

The firecrackers exploded in front of the dragon and the parade walked into the car park (first floor).

I believe that the lady on the right is a Politician?

It was at this point that I noticed that some people had joined the parade - they were at the front and one person was carrying what looked like an urn which looked like it was from the front of a Chinese Shrine. It looked pretty heavy as well - I had not noticed this before - but everyone was trying to touch it and take a photograph so it must have had significance!

We all proceeded to the first floor where there was a plethora of red turtles and lots of food placed on tables. In the middle was what looked like an offering table in a Chinese Shrine. This was where the Urn was placed and all the people gathered and knelt on the red carpet - just like a Chinese Shrine.

Then police came in carrying red turtles - couldn't think of a phrase to go with the pictures though...

Prayers were said, noodles share, joss sticks lit and fireworks on the roof were lit.

A special afternoon - thank you.

Transport in Phuket

I have written posts about transport in Phuket previously 

Part One - Songtaews
Part Two - Pink Buses

and I do not know how many posts there are about car and motorbike accidents... BUT the irony of this sign is very big but not noticed?


View Accident black spots. in a larger map

LEGO is a winner here

LEGO is a very real winner in our house - okay I might have wanted LEGO Ninjago / Chima but Jemma made the choice.

I am now a stable hand and am feeding water to the horses - before writing this of course!

We did buy a couple of LEGO minifigures as a surprise though - I hope that we get the snake lady!

Amazon, Import Fees Deposit and Chat

Item(s) Subtotal: £17.68 Postage & Packing: £29.50 ----- Total Before VAT: £47.18 VAT: £0.00 ----- Total: £47.18 Import Fees Deposit £7.77 ----- Grand Total: £54.95

Something new arrived in Phuket today - my box of LEGO characters, Star Wars books, Superworm, etc and a DVD - all from Amazon.

There was also the introduction of "Import Fees Deposit"...

This is an estimate but when the pieces arrived I find no details of the fees charged. I go onto Amazon Chat and have a 'chat'. I wanted to assess how much was charged - was it the estimate?

Well I was charged the estimate but not given confirmation that this was the actual price - living here in Thailand though I am used to paying money and...

But Amazon Chat saved the day - only just - after indicating that I would have to contact UPS for confirmation that this was the bill that was charged they relented and indicated that Amazon would send me confirmation of the price that UPS paid - not sure though?

I need to select my items more carefully as to a minimal cost 

OR 

I might just send it all to Australia as their "Import Fees Deposit" only kicks in at 100 GBP.

I am not ordering a small amount again! Now that is a great excuse!

This episode did remind me of the person who was left stranded in Phuket because of the weather and the Travel Agents knew very little BUT Jet Star had a great Chat Line!

Is Chat the future?

Not in Phuket

Good morning from Japan!

This was my welcome at breakfast...

Waitrose Biscuits

This will only be really understood by people who eat these biscuits.

This was a surprise - but we got a pile of Waitrose biscuits!

This was at Tops Supermarket in Robinsons in Phuket Town.

Roti Sai Mai

I came all the way to Bangkok to taste this - not exactly sure what it is though.

Very sugar - almost like candy floss and what do all the different colours mean? 

Seen it sold on the side of the road in Phuket but never stopped.

Delicious!!

A serious guide and review to come.

The meanings of the postures of the Buddha - Tuesday

This Buddha is from Wat Srisoonthorn

In every temple there a number of different Buddhist states and each one has a different meaning - this does not remain consistent when I read all the documentation BUT I have chosen this one from Willy.

The Tuesday Buddha image is lying on his right side, head resting on his arm, toes even.

While the Lord Buddha was staying at Savatthi , there was an arrogant evil named Asura Rahu. He was so gigantic and didn’t pay respect to the Lord Buddha. So the Lord Buddha made himself bigger than the evil, in reclining position as to lower the pride of Asura Rahu. Seeing so, the evil succumbed and agreed to accept the teaching of the Lord Buddha.

If you were born this day:

You are serious, brave and active most probably in the services.

Lucky day is Thursday and lucky color is yellow.

Unlucky day is Monday and unlucky color is white.

View Buddhist Temples in Phuket in a larger map

Young Love in Phuket

As I get older and am happily in love with Chuen I see love in the oddest of places!
Even at the breakfast table at work - Cape Panwa Hotel.

Angry Birds, Rain, Organic Coffee, Rain, Films, Candy Crush, Monster University and Pizza

The day started with taking Jemma to school in the rain and the traffic around Central was a disaster. We did have a bit of fun trying to take photographs of the 'Angry Birds' car. After 'checkin in' on foursquare at the school we went to catch the bus to work - which was thankfully late!

As I waited for our Nanny Daeng to pick me up I needed to find a coffee shop to wait whilst in the rain - Organic coffee was one I found - next to a car showroom and a welder.

Had the best teaspoon in Phuket (instagram).

On arriving home it was time to turn on the movie - Man on the Ledge followed by Lincoln interspersed with a game of Candy Crush - I will not be watching either of those movies again but Candy Crush yes!

 Then off to pick up Jemma in the rain - and finding that they were selling the DK Star Wars sticker book which I had ordered on Amazon on sale! :(

Never mind Monsters University beckoned at Central Festival! This was a film which we both enjoyed and the 3D was not overwhwelming. One comment though is that the promotions were only written in Thai and I was unable to understand anything to ge a discount - maybe they were not meant for me!

Then it was time for a Pizza at the nearby Pizza company - very happy when Jemma told me - "not as good as your pizzas Daddy".

Jemma was asleep before we got home and I cannot remember what book I tried to read!