Ty's Thai Adventures

"Come and be MY neighbor!"

Does anyone recallthe commericals for Ponderosa Pines? I remember then from my childhood. They sold real estate in Montana and ran in the late 1970s.

A young boy named Kimo was the star. He looked about 13 and wore a flannel shirt. He was American Indian. I always assumed his name was Kimo. I had a few friends named Kimo. I'm thinking now that it could be Kemo, as Google always tries to correct my Hawaiian spelling to the more popular Kemo-Sabe inspired version.

The best part of this commercial was the signoff: "Call now, for sure." I have no idea why I thought of this.

Wow! I forgot this blog exisited. I'm sure no one reads it, but I thought I'd leave a note saying I didn't get washed away in the tsunami. Most of you know that Chanthaburi is across the Gulf of Thailand from the damaged area.

Thank you for the emails expressing concern. I am delighted by the notes.

This is a photo of the local disco: Orbit.

Hello, hello. I am still here in Thailand. I've been very busy, as most of you are sick of hearing. A steady diet of conditioned air and Thai noodle soup does a body good.

Generic is Hawaii punk rock--period.

I crashed my new motorbike a few nights ago when a Thai dog ran out of the night and in front of me. I went to the Thai hospital and was bandaged up by 20 cute Thai nurses. Not bad for $10. I'm OK, BTW

Hello everyone! I know I haven't put something here lately--I've been very busy. I will write soon.

I had a great holidays in Thailand. Thai's don't celebrate Christmas with them being Buddhist and all, but they love to decorate the streets with Christmas lights, Buddist icons, and portraits of the Thai king. Tis the season!

New Year's Eve is the main Thai holiday, and even sleepy Chanthaburi was raging all night.

This is me on the left posing on my new Yamaha Fresh. I don't think I'm as cool as feel when riding it, but I don't care. I'm in Thailand; you're not.

Hello everyone. I went to Koh Chang this weekend. It's a little island off the Cambodian border town of Trat. It takes about 30 minutes by ferry. The island is 45km long. The whole place is a jungle right down to the beach. Accommodations are bungalows on the beach. Koh Chang means elephant island in Thai. I did not see any elephants on the island.

I did, however, meet an elephant outside of a restaurant in Chanthaburi.

The other photos are of the river as seen from the bridge into the Chanthaburi gem market. The others are of the gem market in aciton.

You can now click on some of the photos on the left for a bigger version.

I went to Thai kickboxing matches this weekend. These little guys are in outstanding shape--very agile and strong. They kick the shit out of each other. It is the Thai way.

When the fight is over, the spectators throw baht into the ring based on the quality of the fight. The winner keeps it.

The guy pictured was a loser but had another trick. He brought a bag into the ring and dumped out two pissed-off cobras. He did various tricks: put your tongue on the cobra, swing the cobra around your head, throw the cobra at the crowd. All the favorites you expect from a Thai-kickboxing snake charmer.

Hello everyone. I made it to Chanthaburi, Thailand. The flight was long and boring as expected.

I landed in Bangkok at 11:30PM and was met by my friend, Andreas, and his girlfriend, Jeab. We did the four-hour drive to Chanthaburi in about 2.5 hours. They drive on the opposite side of the road here. The steering wheel is also misplaced on the left of the car.

Chanthaburi is more dynamic than I thought. It has 30,000 people in the city and about 500,000 spread throughout the province. The city is full of restraunts, shops, and jewel traders. The food here is great. A meal is about $1-$3. A large Singha beer is $0.50; a gin & tonic is $1.

Hello everyone! I am leaving for Thailand on October 20th in the early AM.
I will be living in Chanthaburi province, which is approximately 4 hours Southeast of Bangkok. Here is some info:

" Muang Chan " is a small but prosperous town due to the profusion of rubies and sapphires in the area. Known principally for its gems, Chanthaburi is also home to large numbers of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants who have been settled in the area for nearly a century.

Chanthaburi boasts the largest Catholic church in Thailand. Twelve km from town, Chao Lao Beach has an unspoilt coral reef some 5 km in length.