Unbiased and Sometimes Random Info on Thailand

This post has two subjects.  One, just to show some candid photos of Thai Buddhist monks when they are not at a temple or on your movie screen (for people who haven’t been to Thailand!).  Secondly, to tell the world about Bangkok’s biggest electronics-hustling mall.

I don’t claim to know much about the Buddhist religion.  But years ago when I first came to Thailand I did read a small paperback book entitled something to the effect of ‘Understanding Buddhism’.  It is my recollection that monks may only posesss a limited amount of belongings and if I’m not mistaken, electronics were not on Buddha’s list.  Hey, I’m just saying.   I see these monks at all the malls, all the time.  I have not seen them making an actual purchase.  I just don’t see the purpose.   If this makes sense to you, by all means, please post a comment correcting me.  From what I can recall they aren’t even supposed to wear sandals on their feet but even the most senior monks I’ve seen wear them so perhaps I’m wrong or the book was outdated?

Below is a shot from a higher floor overlooking the ground floor of Pantip Plaza.

Pantip Plaza is the ultimate place in Bangkok for all things electronic, computer in particular related with a dash of ground floor, Patpong-esque flea market action.   If you need a new hard drive, cable, external monitor, printer ink, printer ink cartridge refilled, computers from laptops to desktops custom made or repaired.  It can all be accomplished at Pantip Plaza.   While they do have mobile/cellular phone accessories and such, the epicenter for all things mobile related is at a place in Bangkok called MBK (Ma Baan Krang).  Just tell a taxi either that or try M B K.  For Pantip tell the taxi driver Pan Tip Pla Za with the slight pauses!

In Summary:

Go to Pantip Plaza for anything computer or general electronics related

Go to MBK for anything mobile phone related.

Name: M-Hotel Singapore – Millennium Hotels
Location: Singapore
81 Anson Road
Singapore 079908

Price Experienced: Around 10,000 THB per night for a standard room
My Rating: 9/10

My Thoughts:

I’ll be frank, this is the only hotel I’ve ever stayed at in Singapore and I’ve been there over 20 times for both business, visa runs, shopping, family holidays.   This hotel is new, contemporary and used to be very reasonably priced.   I loved the minimalist feeling to all of the rooms from basic room all the way to their best suites.

It seems over the past few years all the 4-5 star hotel prices in Singapore have skyrocketed.  Last week I stayed at the M-Hotel and was shocked at the price.  Almost 200% increase from what I remembered a few years prior.

If you’re looking to be centrally located, contemporary, top notch hotel with a contemporary, very minimalist feel, the Singapore M-Hotel comes highly recommended.

Make reservations and get discounts through our sanctioned partner Agoda here.

Below are some quick, candid pics snapped with an iPhone;

BambiWeb is an organization geared towards expat families living in Bangkok, Thailand.  While I admit I’ve only interacted with a few of their services, I’ve been a member since I can remember.  On their website you’ll find a plethora of information about everything and anything an expat family could ever want.

Check out BambiWeb for access to Bangkok’s BEST classifieds area to find a qualified nanny or maid and even buy or sell kid’s stuff.  They arrange play groups for children, have complete directories of international schools of all levels and a forum where you can interact with other expat families living locally.

All in all, if you’re an expat family living in Bangkok, or even a single expat who is looking for am English speaking maid, BambiWeb is THE only place you’ll ever need.  My hat’s off to them for all the help they’ve given our family.

** Edit: I have just recently located a public record of a conversation BambiWeb had about this post.  They joked about my not being a ‘prolific blogger’.  (They had multiple misspellings in their mails to each other mind you).  I think their leaking of these internal emails for all the public to see shows a lack of class and very unprofessional behavior.  I’ve removed the direct links to their site.  While it is helpful, I will not send them free traffic after how they scorned my blog.

If you’ve ever had problems with Thailand’s MICT censorship of the internet there IS a workaround.  Ivacy allows you to securely connect VIA another country and all information exchanged between the other country-based server and your computer are encrypted, anonymous and entirely private.   The price is right and there are different levels of service.  The easiest way to use Ivacy is by installing their FireFox plugin.  They also have applications you can install that run in your Windows or Mac OSX ‘system trays’ to connect.

In addition to privacy from the local government you’ll also get to show websites you visit that you’re from a country of your choice (currently USA, Russia or the Netherlands).  Total anonymity at a very affordable price.  If for nothing else, check it out by clicking here.

This was posted on Al-Jazeera the other day;

The world’s largest exporter of rice is set to reap the rewards from higher demand in other countries.

Thailand produces more than 20 million tonnes of rice each year, about half of which is exported. But this year’s harvest was worse than expected, and that could lead to higher prices on world markets.

Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay reports from Pathum Thani in central Thailand.

So I had the opportunity to experience the infamous Airbus A380-800 superliner from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok on Emirates airways. As much as I wanted to experience business or first class that simply wasn’t an option so I’ll give you my report on the economy class cabin.

Economy seats on an Emirates A380-800

Let me first just tell you that this airplane is like a celebrity. It literally DWARVES all the other planes at their gates. Even a 747 looks like a Cessna prop plane in comparison. You can see people from beyond the gates, all the way to the actual passengers walking down the gate tunnel to the aircraft in awe, snapping photos. The wing thickness alone looks to be 200% thicker than a 747! It looks like there’s no possible way it will get off the ground. And don’t get me started about the standards of even the economy class cabins. The seats had plenty of width, pitch and depth. And each economy class seat had individual LCD, on-demand, top notch personal entertainment on WIDESCREEN LCD monitors. The personal entertainment systems even had your exact seat number displayed and allowed you to watch via cameras with downward views, pilot views and the best, top of the tail forward views! It looks liked a video game where you’re watching the plane fly while being behind the airplane. This gave some depth and a less than helpless feeling of your surroundings.

The killer 'Tail View' outside camera view -iPhone4

The food was slightly above average, the service was too.  I’d put Singapore Airlines service as noticeably better, but hey, whatcha gonna do?

Overall it was a memorable experience and now the only goal I have is to get up into Business Class and check out those couch-laden contemporary bars and social areas!

I am regularly contacted by members re setting up for farming Pla Nin, and as I will not be available for a time I am putting to type my methods ,these along with previous threads in this forum should answer most questions.  I dont expect everybody to agree with my methods but through much trial and some error they work for me.

Anybody contemplating fish farming should learn all you can re the particular fishes biology and habits learn these and you are half way home.

Before you start digging a bloody big hole in the ground,check that the sub soil is capable of holding water and that you have a reliable water supply.
My figures are for the standard size I now build,this being 1 rai(1600sq met.)and able to carry a max water depth of 120cm in the centre out to 50cm at the edges with a slight slope to one end to aid final pumping and harvesting.

Slopes of the banks should be 5 to 1 ratio to help reduce erosion.

A pond such as this can usually be excavated by a big ford tractor and blade much cheaper and neater than an excavator,a tractor can operate up a 5 to 1 slope and spread its own fill.

If you are building adjacent ponds,make sure the margins are at least 5 metres wide as they erode to a degree in time and it is virtually impossible to renew the bund walls without building retaining walls.A wider area dividing the ponds can more easily be grassed and landscaped with fruit trees etc.

After filling the pond the first time ,the water will probably be muddy with suspended clay etc, dont just toss in your fry or fingerlings as soon as you have water,make sure the environment is ready to receive the fish.

I do this by priming the 1 rai pond initially with 12kg of triple super phosphate 0-45-0 and 6kg of Nitrogen 45-0-0
or alternatively 20 kg of 16-20-0 ,the triple super and urea is the most economical way as this is about 1000baht per 50kg bag giving 45%phosphate wheras Rabbit 16-20-0 at 680 baht a bag only provides 20% phosphate.
After about 10 days the water should start to clear and an algael bloom should become evidenton the surface, if it doesnt just give the pond a booster of 50%of the initial dose.
Dont worry if your pond becomes covered in green gunk ,it will die back and your water will turn a shade of green, Pla Nin love algae and it contains up to 50% protein.
What your are trying to achieve is green water where if you dip your arm in 2/3 rd of the way to your elbow and cock your wrist at right angles ,you should just be able to see the palm of your hand,this indicates a healthy population of micro-organisms and micro plankton which is Pla Nins primary natural food and very high in protein.
As phosphate levels drop, the water will become clearer ,indicating a booster shot of phosphate is required, to this end we add 5kg of 0-45-0 once a month.
My particular method of adding and distributing the fertilizer is to weigh out the dose int a 2foot x1.5 foot bag made from the fine blue netting commonly used here and hang it on a pole driven into the pond .I just direct the outlet stream from a 3 inch Honda powered centrifigal pump at the bag and it dissolves slowly and spreads around the pond.

Pla Nin grown by this method do not need supplementary food to grow ,but we feed about 1.5 kg of fairly small 20% protein pellets per 1000 fish twice a day,this regiments the fish to come to you for food (handy when harvesting starts) and allows you to keep an eye on your fishes health and condition.
You can certainly grow your fish quicker than we do by feasting them up on copious amounts of high protein pellets ,but the profitability becomes marginal.

Our set up is geared to provide about 5000-6000kg via door sales and make fish available throughout the year. We are the only fish farm in an area of about 20 villages and this returns T/W about 1000 baht a day. (not me ,I,m only the unpaid fish hand)

Before jumping in and starting to dig that big hole in the ground ,always do a bit of market research,a heap of fish without a buyer is about as handy as a hole in the head.

If you keep your stocking rates to about 1000 fish/rai not many problems arise like dissolved oxy levels and disease
but for a 1 or 2 pond farm a 3inch Honda centrifugal pump can be set up for aerating as well as pumping in and out.

We actually stock at double my recommended levels ,but I have fitted auto aeration to the ponds, this is better done retro ,after you learn more .
I got away with overstocking our first year and learned a hard lesson when I tried it again,a big hole in the ground filled with 2 tonne of dead fish is a lesson I don’t want any of you budding fish farmers to replicate.
This to-do manual is posted with permission from Ozzydom, author of a thread on this topic over at ThaiVisa forum.

Just a quick post because I thought this blog a pertinent place to have this information.  The overstay fees for overstaying in Thailand are 500 baht per day with a maximum of 20,000 baht regardless of how many days you’re overstayed.

In Bangkok, Thailand there exists an eternal symbol of the football demigod that is David Beckham and it’s located inside a Buddhist temple named Wat Pariwas.  The statue is located on the main altar and is encapsulate with gold leaves.

Residents who worship at the temple claim this statue which was created in the year 2000 is an attempt to show the modernization of the Buddhist religion and to get younger people more interested in religion.  There’s been reports of footballer David Beckham statues and worship around the world but we’re pretty sure this is the only David Beckham statue on the altar of a Buddhist temple (or wat).

David Beckham, the Profit! (purposely misspelled!).

Name: Eat Me
Website: EatMeRestaurant.com
Cuisine: Modern International, Regional
Location: Soi Pipat 2, Off of Soi Convent, Bangkok
Contact: +66 22380931
Hours: 3pm-1am
My Rating: 9.5/10

My Thoughts:

Let me preface this review with the fact that I love this restaurant so much I’ve eaten there twice in the past 10 days.

Other than the not-very-obvious sidestreet location, Eat Me is perhaps Bangkok’s best kept secret in its field.  The ambiance is set before you even get on to the property and as you walk through the courtyard towards the steps to the dining area there’s almost a sense of mystique about it.  The dining room is on the second and third floors, with both outside and indoor tables available.  The approach to the stairwell is minimalistic yet adorned with candles and other contemporary reminders you’re walking towards something quite extraordinary.

Once seated you will find the waiting staff very attentive and wonderfully fluent in English.

The clientele seems to draw mainly from expats and tourists but this restaurant is by no means a ‘tourist trap’.  In fact, I overheard one couple mentioning an article where Eat Me is vying for top rankings amongst the most exquisite restaurants in Bangkok.

The food is a great mix.  My favorite main course is the beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce and a side of dijon mustard.  My wife tried the Alaskan King Crab and while it tasted fantastic, you could tell it had spent some time in the freezers with importation to Thailand, but she’d order it again.

Let me tell you about dessert!  I’ve been around the world, to some of the finest restaurants on practically every continent and I’m by no means a ‘chocolate freak’ but their chocolate fudge cake is the absolute best dessert I’ve ever had the pleasure of gracing my palate.  I liked it so much I ordered an entire cake the next day just to have at home.  They prepared it, along with the chocolate topping-sauce and concise instructions for making it perfect every time.

If you’re looking for fine dining and aren’t fiending for local Thai Food per se, Eat Me is an absolute must-experience.  Expect to spend about 3,000THB or $100 without wine, or 4-7,000THB with wine (depending if you order the pricey-but-worth-every-satang tenderloin too!).   Eat Me is easily one of Bangkok’s best kept fine dining experiences and if you haven’t been there you’re definitely missing out.  I know I’ll be going back this week again!