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