First of seven "dangerous New Year holidays" see 58 killed in road accidents

The Road Safety Centre reported Wednesday that 508 road accidents happened on Tuesday, the first day of the seven-day road accident monitoring period for the New Year holidays.

The accidents saw 58 people killed and 517 others injured. Drunk driving was the main cause of the accident with 36.61 per cent of the cases involved drunk drivers and 82.41 of the cases were accidents happened to motorcycles.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/First-of-seven-dangerous-New-Year-holidays-see-58--30251037.html

That count will be a lot higher within 24 hours, some will have started their drinking binges yesterday and will carry on today and tonight, then jump on their motorbike thinking they are invincible.

Why do expats go home? Why do they seek new overseas ‘havens’?

Being an expat is hard.

Somehow, that fact is lost in the media hype that seems to suggest that living in a foreign country is easy, cheap, and romantic. As someone who has spent almost half of his life overseas— and happily so, for the most part — I can tell you that the hype paints an unrealistic and incomplete picture.

According to a 1990 survey by the London School of Economics, the average time an expat spends overseas is about three and a half years. The survey focused on British, Canadian, and Australian expats but, from my 30 years of living abroad, it squares with what I’ve seen personally. Also from my experience, I believe the average time frame as an expat seems to be shorter in Southeast Asia — at least among English-speakers — but slightly longer in Mexico and Panama.

My research and experience also lead me to believe that the three-and-a-half-year expat time frame is about right for Cuenca and Ecuador.

Interesting article from

http://cuencahighlife.com/category/expat-life/

Tragic Year for SE Asia based airlines.

As reports come in that debris and bodies have been found from the missing Air Asia flight QZ8501, the year draws to a tragic end for regional airlines.

Air Asia who I`ve flown with several times having a fatal incident for the first time.

I feel for the relatives of the missing passengers and crew.

Another black day  just as the year draws to a close.

Vung Tau beach pictures

A quiet beach, pleasant to have a stroll on

Vung Tau Vietnam

Hi

Vung Tau is a seaside resort approximately 125 kms. from Saigon/Ho chi Minh City.

I visited earlier this year, a very poplar week end escape although quiet in the week.

Travelled over by hydrofoil ferry, journey took about 90 minutes, I believe that shortly after my visit that service was suspended, due to a hydrofoil ferry encountering engine problems/fire and the captain managed to ditch the boat very near land, fortunately nobody died nor any injury, must have been very scary though.

About to board for the journey over

I mostly stood on a small outside deck, watching and taking a few photos

Stayed at a pleasant hotel in the " Back Beach area ", a pleasant view from the balcony

Looking out from a nearby restaurant

The hotel was " The Green Hotel ", nice room and pleasant service at US $ 37 a night, including a breakfast buffet

Beach just across the road

Como Abstract Art

Photo taken at the main Como ( north Italy Lakes area) square

Amazing what some see as art, colourful nonetheless

Thailand Stock Exchange drops

Partly as a result of markets falling generally and energy related stocks in particular the SET ( Stock Exchange of Thailand ) took quite a hit 2 days ago, down 7 % in one day.

Although it has since recovered some of the fall, Thailand`s economy is showing signs of weakness.

The Bank of Thailand has it`s hands somewhat tied with interest rates.
Household debt is very high,borrowing without thought of future consequences seems to be a trait of some Thais.

If the BoT reduce rates to bolster the economy, they may just encourage even more borrowing.

A never ending spiral.

The boat temple - Wat Yannawa Bangkok

This is one of the less well known temples in Bangkok.

As it was near where I was staying I decided to pay it a visit, it had been mentioned by the concierge at the Silom Bangkok hotel I stayed at.

It is on Charoen Road, Sathorn District.

I went by taxi but it is easily accessible by either river boat or BTS( train ).

The river boat stop would be  Sathorn Pier, the BTS stop would be Saphan Taksin.

No more than 1 hour necessary for a leisurely visit, there is no admission charge and is open from 8.00AM to 6.00PM

A view from there, an interesting contrast of old and new

Lumphini Park Bangkok

Lumphini Park is a large public park located in central Bangkok given to the people by King Rama VI.

There is no admission charge and is popular with office workers taking a break as well as tourists and visitors particularly on the week ends.

One large lake there as well as 2 smaller ones.It is a pleasant place to relax in for a couple of hours or so. Some people also use it for jogging and there are some exercise machines available to use.

You can hire a peddle boat quite cheaply

It is open from 4.30 AM to 9.00 PM

An interesting article, not my own but a lot of truth in it

Reports of Thailand's Revival Are Greatly Exaggerated

"Thailand may still be the best place in the world to get a nose job, even after its military coup last spring. But tentative signs of an economic rebound hardly resolve the deep structural problems that continue to afflict its politics, economy and society.

Thailand's Troubled Democracy

The Thai stock market is booming, and growth has ticked upward slightly after shrinking almost 2 percent in the first quarter. The country has retained its position as the world's No. 1 destination for medical tourism, including cosmetic surgeries.".............

Full article here, credit Bloomberg

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-11-27/reports-of-thailands-revival-are-greatly-exaggerated

Asiatique The Riverfront Bangkok

Hi

This is Bangkok`s newest night market and entertainment complex, opened in mid 2012

It is more upmarket than other Bangkok markets, some of the prices can reflect that.

Well located at the edge of the Chao Praya river, I was staying quite near but the opposite of the river, there is a free shuttle boat service from Saphan Taksin pier, which is accessible by BTS train service ( BTS = Bangkok Mass Transit system)

  http://www.bts.co.th/customer/en/main.aspx

When I went the queue for the free shuttle boat was incredibly long so chose instead to go by pay boat, just 20 baht  (66 US cents)

Asiatique opens about 5.00 PM, closes around 12.00 PM, last boat back is around 11.30 PM, you can get back to the other side of the river by taxi if you miss it but traffic can be heavy.

Slightly worrying on the way over when all of a sudden there was a lot of engine noise, 2 of the crew grabbed life rings, and the boat came to a grinding halt.

A fair bit of panic ensued.Nothing wrong with the boat though, very sadly, someone had decided to jump off a bridge in to the dark waters. Another boat also stopped and tried to find the person who had jumped, to no avail.

Sad when someone gets to such a desperate state that they want to end their life.

Asiatique itself a mix of many small shops, some restaurants/bars and a large music stage.
Very popular with young Thais, they can get over for free, listen to some music for free and have an enjoyable night out.Very busy when I was there.

To the left of the following picture is an Irish themed pub, Flann O` Briens quite pleasant to escape from the busier Riverfront area, good polite service there.

A large number of shops to look at

The open air concert area, very busy

In conclusion, very touristy, very busy, prices generally above average but an OK place to visit.

Bangkok Chao Praya river boat system

Bangkok has quite an extensive river boat system, it can be a pleasant and convenient way to get to some parts of Bangkok, assuming one is near a ferry boat pier.
I`ve taken a few trips on them, either as point to point or a little 1 hour tour.

The 1 hour tour costs just 100 baht ( about US$ 3 ) on a reasonable boat, including both Thai & English commentary on the places you briefly stop at (  for customers to get on or off ) as well as places of interest en route.

There are various operators, I`ve used more than one but my favourite is Chao Phraya Express Boat, here is a link to their website giving route and schedule details :

http://www.chaophrayaexpressboat.com/en/home/

One does need to exercise caution with some of the touts pushing other operators, some of the quoted prices are simply too high but the company I`ve provided a link to is very fair plus you can usually find a fairly good English speaker amongst their staff if you are unsure of where to go and how to get there.

Temple of the Reclining Buddha - Wat Pho Bangkok Thailand

Hi

On a recent trip to Bangkok I visited the well known ” Temple of the Reclining Buddha” located in the Pranakorn District of Bangkok, not far from the Grand Palace.

The compound covers a large area, approx 80, 000 square metres.
In the grounds are many chedis ( stupas ) and it is worth allowing enough time to look around properly.

To enter the building that contains the Reclining Buddha there is an entrance fee of 100 baht ( approx US$ 3 )

An impressive sight once inside, a giant reclining Buddha almost 46 metres long and 15 metres high.
It is a very popular tourist attraction so can be busy inside.

Lan Pho Park naklua Pattaya Thailand

Hi

Lan Pho park is a small public park in naklua, northern part of Pattaya, near to where I stay much of the year.
There is no admission charge and sometimes in the early evening, at around 6.00 PM they hold some exercise classes, cost to participate about 20 baht, ( 51 baht to the UK GBP currently )

It is mostly visited by Thais and can make for a pleasant visit away from some of the more lively areas of Pattaya itself.