Monthly Archives: May 2008

Crazy things people Google – 03

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Richard Barrow | Leave a comment

The end of the month has reached us again and it is time to take a look at what the crazy things people type in search engines in order to find us. Well, the good news first. Up to now, most people found us through the MSN search engine. However, as of about 22nd april, Google finally updated their database and are now sending people our way. We are peaking at 1,400 unique visitors per day now, mainly thanks to Google.

So, what was the trend for this month? Well, the good news is that the search phrase “thai blogs” is now back at the top of the charts. However, many people are still looking for pictures of hairy armpits and that singing Dutch guy. Songkran was in the news a lot, so many came in looking for “thailand waterfight pictures”. Last month I helped some people out by giving them the lyrics for the Loy Krathong song. Now they want the “loy krathong guitar chords”! Will it ever end? Before they wanted Thai fisherman pants and now they want “japanese fisherman pants”! I can understand why people are coming to us looking for “lottery result bangkok thailand” but why are they looking here for “lottery new mexico” and “lottery australia”!

According to one guy from the UK, English people might think that “thais eat cockroach”. Not on my watch they don’t. Then, there is another person looking for a “photo of people eaten by crocodiles”. Yuck! This following piece of news I must have missed: “thailand monk boils himself in oil”.

Here are some quests for answers that unfortunately probably went unanswered. However, it might give topic ideas to future blogs:

what to give a thai woman as a gift
stunt school in thailand
how many thai amulets can one keep

and some maybe we won’t blog about as it isn’t really Thailand related…

What is the main reson that cheetah are endangered
effects of burning plastic
picture of an eagle and her young eaglets
Amount of recycled items compard to the amount of thrown away items
Does curry cause smelly armpits?
pollution chants or poems for first grade students
cambodia travel centipede warnings
sticky rice was a critical ingredient in the making of statue of liberty

Finally, our Steve likes to do “dos and don’ts” blogs. Maybe he can help this person who is looking for “dos and donts of wearing short skirts”! Actually, I will finish with this one. Someone is actually searching for the “crazy things people google”. I wonder why they came here?!

lottery

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Richard Barrow | Leave a comment

Big lottery prize as yet unclaimed
Published on April 17, 2005

Someone seems to have won Bt53 million in the latest two- and three-digit lottery drawing with a ticket bought from a lottery trader in Chumphon province, an official said yesterday. The lucky winner has not yet come forward or been identified, although the Government Lottery Office does know where it was bought.

The GLO announced the latest lottery results yesterday, adding that very few people had shown up at the office to claim their winnings as the country celebrated three consecutive days of Songkran holidays before the weekend.

The jackpot prize for the two- and three-digit lottery rose to Bt106 million. The person who owned the winning ticket would have received the full amount if the full Bt100 price of the ticket had been paid. However, the lucky owner had bought the ticket for Bt50, which means the winning amount is slashed in half.

Punters can buy tickets for any amount from Bt1

to Bt100 and take home the corresponding percen-

tage amount of the top prize if their number comes up.

The winning prize of Bt53 million is not the highest prize ever won: Bt57 million was paid out in August.

Surasith Sungkhapong, the GLO director, said that the sales for this round totalled Bt1.3 billion. The GLO made Bt464 million in profit. However, sales for the next round are expected to drop due to the reopening of schools.

Surasith says that the GLO is cooperating with

the Office of the Royal Thai Police to examine ticket-sellers who charge inflated prices. He added that the GLO would also set up a 24-hour hotline for consumer protection.

The Nation

Thai Stamps – 759

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Richard Barrow | Leave a comment

760. National Children’s Day

Design: “Kaew Jom Kaen” is a children’s novel written by Her Royal Highness Princess Srindhron. She uses “Waen Kaew” as her pseudonym. The purpose of the book is to introduce and educate Thai traditional character to the younger generation of today. It also promted the bonds between family members.

Siamese Invasion at the Renaissance Faire

Posted on May 24, 2008 by oakmonster | 6 comments

Americans do funny things, you might say.

There are these renaissance faires all over the country through out the year, usually in the spring/summer when the weather is nice. Folks get together to dress up and reenact the glorious days of 13th-17th century Europe.

Instead of renting a period costume like everybody else, I thought I should represent my heritage. I didn’t think it would be right for an Asian girl to be parading around Ren Faire in a corset and full skirt. I could definitely swing the nomad/tribal gitups but still, why should I when I can represent the Kingdom of Siam at the time.

13th-17th century, that would put me in the Ayuddhaya period.

There are few challenges.

First of all, I don’t have all that many Thai costume articles with me. Well, not that everything would fit any more. I have grown a few inches in girth since I bought my Thai classical dance costumes in high school.

And then there is the issue of the weather. It is blazing desert hot out in Irwindale, where the Faire takes place. These costumes are all polyester and/or with long sleeves.

I almost settle for the Northeastern garb for “Sueng Kratib” (The sticky rice container dance) because of the shorter “skirt” and lighter weight shirt. But then I looked myself in the mirror and I couldn’t get over the fact that I looked like an Issan restaurant waitress. No go on that outfit.

And finally, the fact that if I would REALLY want to be accurate with the time period, I would most certainly be topless or clothed with sheer fabric on top.

Wishful thinking, boys. But…um…no.

I fetched my Northern wrap skirt, a Northern hand woven shawl, some silver jewelry, and the headpiece from my “Chuy Chai” dance costume.

And voila, a Northern Siamese princess representin’ at the Renaissance Faire!

You betcha I was one of the few in true Asian costumes there. 🙂

Here’s me and my hubby.

6 Comments

Posted in Uncle Sam v.s. Big Mango

Lunchtime Thai Menu 21

Posted on May 23, 2008 by Richard Barrow | 5 comments

Roti Mataba

We had a bit of a mixture today for our weekly Friday lunch in the Paknam Web offices. However, it was all very good. The first one is from the Muslim vendor around the corner from my house. It is a kind of stuffed roti called Mataba. There is actually a famous shop called Mataba near Phra Sumen Fort in Bangkok which everyone raves about. One of the members of the ThailandQA.com forum took me there last weekend as she wanted to introduce me to their rotis. The one bought today was just as good and cheaper. We bought two different kinds. One with a minced beef curry and the other with chicken. These cost only 25 baht and 20 baht each. It comes with a favourite dip of mine that has sliced cucumber, chillies and shallots in a sweet and sour vinegar sauce. The filling has spices such as coriander seeds and cumin. I will share more of their dishes later.

Deep Fried Crab (boo ja)

This was quite a nice side dish that we sampled. It is a deep-fried crab meat stuffed into an empty crab shell. It was only 12 baht each. It is actually made up with a mixture of half crab and half minced pork. It also has salted egg. You can either have a sweet dip with this or ketchup! I will eat this one again when I get an opportunity.

Stir-fried Pumkin and Egg (fak thong phat kai)

I have eaten a similar dish to this one before which was stir-fried wax gourd and egg (phat fak sai kai). This one is pumpkin and egg. It is quite simple to cook yourself. Cut up the pumpkin into small cubes. Fry it for a short while and then add soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce. When the pumpkin is nearly cooked through, break two eggs into the wok and stir quickly to stop it from sticking. This was 25 baht.

Crispy Sweet and Sour Rice Noodles (mee krob)

This one was a bit of a treat. It actually broke our budget as it cost 50 baht. But, it didn’t really matter as there was some left over to take home. It was probably a bit sweet for my liking, but it was also quite addictive. It has fried noodles and also dried shrimp. The seasoning added gives it a sweet and sour taste.

Khanom Chun

Our dessert today is an old favourite of mine. It is called Khanom Chun, which basically means the layered dessert. The basic ingredients are topioca flour, grated fresh coconut meat and castor sugar. The colouring comes from a variety of sources: green is from pandanus leaves. Pink from rose petals. Violet from Anchan flower. Brown from Coco. This plate was 30 baht.

Come back to .com next week to see what we will eat next. In the meantime, I will have to go on a diet!

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Posted in Enjoy Thai Food