View Talay 2a Condo, Jomtien Beach, Pattaya, Thailand

The condominium development named in the title of this post is, according to my wife Su, the best place to rent or buy a condo in the Pattaya area, and I have to say that I agree with her. She should know after all, because she is Thai and lives in the area. Read her unbiased post about it in her blog here:

Condominium advice for Pattaya and Jomtien Beach, Thailand

Su and Lily are both at home now!

A week after she was born, our new baby daughter Lily and my wife Su were both allowed to leave hospital and come home last night. Hooray and thanks be! Here are two photos of Lily:

My wife Su gave birth to our new daughter, Lily, yesterday!

Location: Sri Racha, Chon Buri, Thailand.

Despite Su having to have an emergency cesarean one month ahead of the due date, both Su and Lily Anne Inns are doing fine. Lily is in intensive care for a while just as a precaution because she is one month premature.

Here is the only photo of Lily that I have been able to take so far:

New home in Pattaya

After deciding to come and live here in Pattaya in November last year, Su and I rented an apartment for while and started looking for a proper home to live in ready for when our new baby is born.

We bought a three bedroom swimming pool villa in March, about a mile from Na Jomtien beach, and it is finally all furnished and sorted out for us to live in now, about two months before our new baby is due to be born. Phew, that's a relief! :-)

(See here for some photos)

Happy 2012 everyone!

Happy New Year from Thailand to you, wherever you are!

It's going to be a very interesting 2012 for me because my wife Su is 3 months pregnant! The provisional due-date is July 25th, which is our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Oh my goodness! :-)

I now own a Samsung Galaxy S2, and it's awesome!

I bought a brand new Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone last month with a 32GB memory card in it, giving 48GB of total memory, for around £375. I bought it from the Samsung shop in Central Festival Center in Pattaya. It is the best gadget/smartphone/pocket PC/piece of technology that I have ever owned, it really is perfect in every way!

I previously had a Nokia N97 for 2 years, which is by far the worst piece of technology I have ever owned, utter garbage, the complete opposite of the Galaxy s II (see my blog about that here: The Nokia N97 - it's rubbish really).

It was so bad all of the time that I swear I will never buy another Nokia product ever again, no matter what they make in future. Nokia - YOU SUCK!! What a rip-off of over £400 the damned thing was! It cost too much money for me to be able to change it until last month, but now I wish I'd bought an Android phone instead of the N97. Oh well, you live and learn!

If you're looking to get a new smartphone any time soon, go and get a Galaxy S II right now - nothing else, not even the latest iPhone, comes close to being as good for doing everything you want. The Galaxy S II is the best all-in-one mobile phone, pocket PC, mobile web browser, social network manager, HD photo and video camera, portable media player and pocket games console that there is!

Su and I have moved to Pattaya now

We got a bit bored living in the family village near Suphan Buri so we decided to come and live down here for a more interesting life, lol!

Actually, we're staying in Jomtien which is the next town down the coast from Pattaya City, although the two are only separated by a large hill on the beach side and there is no break at all between the two inland. Despite the nearness of the two, Jomtien is much quieter and more family-oriented than it's larger, brasher neighbour. It's the prefect place to live.

Here's a really useful guide to the area if you're ever thinking of coming here for a holiday, which I would thoroughly recommend to be honest, as it's only about an hour and a half from Bangkok by road, and it's great fun:

Pattaya Travel and Tourist Guide

The curfews in Thailand have been lifted

As of tonight there are no more curfews, so now we can all go out and have some night-time fun once more!

This means that officially all the trouble here in Thailand is now finally over and life can get back to normal. That's very good news indeed!

The Thai political protests come to a violent end

Rather than repeat in detail what my wife Su has already written about this in her blog today, please read her post about what happened in Bangkok last night here:

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - update #5

In brief, the Thai anti-government protests are now over, but at an enormous cost in terms of human casualties and property damage. Bangkok and many other parts of Thailand are now under a daily night-time curfew until further notice. What a terrible mess.

Come on holiday to Thailand - it's really cheap now!

No, I'm not trying to be ironically funny or anything like that, I'm being completely serious. Now is the perfect time to come here to Thailand on holiday! With all the violence and killings going on in Bangkok at the moment, it's very cheap to stay here now.

Obviously, don't go to central Bangkok, it's far too dangerous. But everywhere else if safe enough - all the famous holiday destinations such as Pattaya, Koh Samet, Koh Chang, Koh Samui, Phuket and Chiang Mai are absolutely fine. Because of all the "scaredy cat stayaways" you can now get some absolute bargain deals on hotel accomodation, plus everywhere is much quieter than usual, so you can enjoy everything much more.

Just remember to say "it's none of my business what Thai people do in Thailand" if anyone here asks what you think about what is going on in Bangkok, or which side (red or yellow) you support, and you'll be safe as houses. Probably.

On second thoughts, perhaps it's a better idea to go to nearby Malaysia or Vietnam for that dream paradise beach holiday for the time being. Thailand has gone completely bonkers and IT'S BEST TO KEEP AWAY FOR NOW!

More deadly violence in Bangkok last night

Unfortunately there was more serious trouble in Bangkok yesterday and last night in relation to the ongoing political protests, and reports say that there were 16 people killed and over 140 injured in fighting between civilian protestors and armed forces.

Read more about it in my wife's blog: Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - update #3.

Update on May 16, 2010 at 3.30 PM: Official reports now put the death toll from the fighting in Bangkok so far this weekend at a shocking 30, plus over 230 injured.

An update on the political unrest in Thailand

My wife Su regularly blogs about what is happening with regards to the ongoing political trouble here in Thailand, including an update today, so if you would like to read a local person's views (and maybe ask her questions about what's going on via the blog comments feature) check out her blog here:

Life in Thailand, by Sureephon Inns

You can read her most recent posts on the situation directly by following these links:

Thailand political unrest, April 2010 - another update

Thailand political unrest, May 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - an update

Thailand political unrest - 19 dead in Bangkok fighting

Unfortunately the continuing political unrest here took a terrible violent turn for the worst last night when 19 people were killed and more than 800 were injured during fighting in Bangkok between anti-government protestors and the Thai military.

Luckily for us we're currently "up country" and not in the capital. See Su's blog post about last night's turmoil in Bangkok for more information.

Update on April 14, 2010 at 7:45 AM: Sadly, the official death toll from Saturday night's violence has now risen to 23, because 4 people seriously injured in the clashes have since died in hospital.

Thailand political unrest, once more

The neverending Thai political troubles have reared their ugly head once more, which is very bad news indeed. Su has posted a well written article about it in her blog, so you can get a sensible Thai perspective on what's currently going on (as opposed to some of the ridiculously sensationalist Western media stories I've recently read about it) here:

Thai Political Troubles, February 2010

Making Thailand famous for what it's famous for

I just read this very interesting and rather amusing article in today's online edition of the Bangkok Post newspaper:

(Quote)
Even by the unpredictable standards of Amazing Thailand, this one came out of left field. Jaws are dropping all over "Brandland" following the bold assertion by the New York adman and self-styled design guru Peter Arnell that Thailand is in desperate need of rebranding and - drumroll please - he is just the man to do it.

Like many a newbie before him, Mr Arnell jetted into Thailand for the first time for a 12-day stay a couple of months back and promptly fell head over heels in love with the place. Nothing wrong with that, of course; it has happened to the best of us. But is that really a sound foundation on which to declare oneself the anointed saviour of Brand Thailand?

Never mind that most of his trip was spent in the cosseted embrace of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, as part of Martha Stewart's pampered posse. Never mind that of his last two multi-million dollar rebranding projects, one met mixed reviews at best and the other was an abject failure.

(His Pepsi rebranding, which some see as clean and contemporary, and others as minimal and boring, was supported by a pseudo-scientific rationale of phonebook proportions, dubbed "Breathless", which cited everything from Da Vinci's golden ratio to gravitational and magnetic fields to eastern philosophy to justify the design. His more recent makeover of Tropicana orange juice ended in high farce, after consumers mistook the new packaging for supermarkets' generic juice. Result? Millions of dollars wasted and the old look revived.)

Mr Arnell is undaunted, and says: "Thailand is not the place of wacky bars or crazy nightlife that most people think it is. It is a sensible, harmonious, calm, peaceful and respectful country driven by humanity and a soulfulness, unlike any other place in the world.

"I think I can make this place famous for what it's famous for, instead of what we think it's famous for," he said, adding that he wants to provide the country with a unique, easily recognisable symbol, based on the distinctive temple spires of its classic architecture.

"I felt very strongly that Thailand didn't have a symbol, like Switzerland has the cross or Canada has the maple leaf."

Does Thailand need a symbol? It's true, symbols and icons are shortcuts to the subconscious and increase a brand's stickiness. The US has its bald eagle, Australia its kangaroo, New Zealand its silver fern, Japan its rising sun. But these symbols were embraced after decades.

Can one self-appointed expert waltz in and decide what a nation's symbol should be? I'm certainly not advocating design by committee, and sometimes in branding fresh eyes are no bad thing, but surely some sort of national "buy-in" is required. On what insights does Mr Arnell lay claim to temple spires as Thailand's most appropriate symbol?

While a country is certainly a brand, it is not a commodity in the same way a bottle of soda or orange juice is. A certain level of sensitivity and respect is required, something lacking in Mr Arnell's brash publicity-seeking assertions.

Besides, Thailand already has a superb positioning. "Amazing Thailand" is awesome, and kudos to whoever dreamed it up a decade ago. It encapsulates all that is sublime, mysterious, captivating and occasionally ridiculous about the Land of Smiles. It's such a great idea, India simply stole it with its Incredible India campaign.

Perhaps Mr Arnell's comments can be a catalyst for further debate. The Tourism Authority of Thailand's current "Amazing Value" campaign is an understandable knee-jerk reaction to the economic crisis. It is tactical, but hardly inspirational. And sure, there may well be more domestic political upheavals to contend with - problems the slickest slogan can't transcend.

But Thailand is remarkably resilient, as recent months' tourism figures have shown. In the longer term, surely the way to go is a more far-reaching, exciting and visionary take on Amazing Thailand.

In a nation that is seeking to style itself as Asia's "creative economy", surely we can find the wherewithal from within to tackle the task.
(End quote)

That Mr. Arnell's got some cojones, that's for sure!

James Cameron's Avatar film

I saw James Cameron's "Avatar" in 3D in Bangkok's Siam Paragon IMAX cinema last week. Wow! Awesome! It was by far the best movie-going experience of my adult life, the first time I have been "totally knocked out" by a cinema trip since I saw the first Star Wars film at the age of 9 in 1977! And for Avatar to have that kind of impact on me at the age of 42 shows just how very, very, very, very, very good it is..... in 3D. I guess it would still be a truly great film in normal 2D, but in IMAX 3D it is just utterly amazing.

I went to see it a second time because I enjoyed it so much. I see there are some internet rumours that there might be two more Avatar movies in the future. I hope so - an Avatar trilogy would be brilliant. And I also see from the Box Office Mojo website that Avatar is now the number 2 movie of all-time worldwide having so far earned over $1.4 billion, second only to James Cameron's "Titanic" which earned $1.8 billion in 1997/98. So James Cameron knows a thing or two about making popular movies then!

Click here for some great free Avatar movie wallpaper backgrounds.

Really useful Pattaya, Thailand tourist information.....

.....can be found here: PattayaSecrets.com

Primarily it's a free-to-join discussion forum site with more information about Pattaya than you can shake a stick at. Everything you will ever want, or need, to know about Thailand's most famous tourist city will be in there. And of course, once you join you can post your own questions to the more than 16,000 other members.

Cheap but good hotels in Bangkok, Thailand - Part 3

Also: My favourite relaxing bars in Bangkok - Part 2

Amongst my favourite relaxing bars in Bangkok (see here for another one) is the Tequila Bar, which is in Soi 4 of the Nana area of Sukhumvit Road. It's just around the corner from the 7-Eleven minimart that is on the right-hand side of Soi 4, about 250m down from Sukhumvit Road and about 175m down from Nana Plaza.

It's a very relaxing, friendly, inexpensive and honest ex-pat style bar, but what I like most about it is that the amiable owner, Eddie, has over the years put together an absolutely incredible collection of over 130,000 MP3 music tracks in iTunes for customers to use as a super jukebox. It's well worth a visit for the amazing choice of music alone! Eddie runs a fun Music Challenge where if he doesn't have a song you request, no matter how obscure, if he can't get it on his computer system for you to listen to the next day, you get a free beer upon your return.

The bar also has air-con, 4 satellite TVs with full sports coverage, a pool table, some lovely relaxing sofas to lounge around on inside, and outside seating should you want it. I love going there and I visit every time I'm in Bangkok, usually with my wife who is also a big fan of the fact that it's a totally hassle-free place. It's great for chilling out, like an oasis in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the rest of Nana.

As well as being a friendly and chatty host, Eddie is also a fountain of useful Bangkok knowledge. For example recently, when I was looking for a nice but cheap hotel to stay in because all the hotels I usually use were full at the time, he recommended me to stay at the Nana City Inn hotel, which I'd never used before.

Normally I'm a bit wary of other people's recommendations because I have found over the years that what someone else thinks is good isn't always good for me. But in Eddie's case it was an excellent recommendation because the hotel has lovely double-bed rooms for only around 1000 Baht per room per night, with air-con, hot water shower, cable TV, safe and mini-bar fridge, plus free Wi-Fi on the ground floor. It's just over the road and slightly to the right from the Tequila Bar, so it's really handily placed in Nana too! The Nana City Inn's phone number is +66 (0)2 253 4468.

(See here and here for some more Bangkok hotel recommendations.)

I'm back in Thailand now

After one month away from home staying in England and Portugal with my parents, and after a total of 6 different flights to and from the three countries, I am now back in beautiful Thailand where it is still raining during parts of every day even though the rainy season ought to have been long finished by now.

It's been a bad year for our rice farming here, with not enough rain earlier in the year, then far too much recently, and now there are too many pests presumably due to the crazy weather. Oh dear. Climate change is all too real it seems.

All these problems have caused us to have very much lower rice crop yields than usual this year, and that has now also been compounded by a very low cash price for rice (currently 6,000 Thai Baht per tonne), which makes it almost a loss-making enterprise to grow the rice when taking into account the costs and effort invloved (such as ploughing, fertilising, sowing, irrigating, pest control, harvesting, etc). Not good. We're going to review our farming policy to see if it might be better for us to switch to growing a different crop in future. Many farmers here in Thailand are switching from rice to other crops for the same reasons.....

Consequently, I predict a world shortage of rice next year, which ironically will probably make it worthwhile us growing the crop again at that point given that the price should then rise. I can see a rather large flaw in the world's rice production system on this basis - Asian farmers won't grow rice unless they can make a profit from it, and they can only (it seems to me) make a profit from it when there isn't enough rice available to eat. Oops.

Going back to England tomorrow

I have been in Thailand for 2 years now without seeing my parents and friends back in England, so tomorrow I'm going back there to put that right!

I'm travelling with Gulf Air with a flight transfer in Bahrain, which means that although the journey involves two flights and is longer than flying direct, it is also about 50% cheaper. It's costing me 28,000 Thai Baht, or around 520 GB Pounds, for the Bangkok to London return trip with a 1 month stay in England. Seems like pretty good value to me.