Rangers, Khao Yai National Park, Games, Dancing and Vegetables Isaan Thailand

A few weeks back I had to go for an English camp to Khao Yai National Park. I wrote two other blogs about this at this link and this link if you want to read and look at the pictures.

When we arrived there were what I thought were soldiers but there was a sign that said they were rangers, they were from other Asean countries. Freeland Foundation is the only international conservation and human rights organization working across Asia that is headquartered in Asia. (They claim on their website)

What Freeland were doing is training rangers from Bhutan, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and some other countries (one of the trainers told me but cannot remember them all).

I think this is an excellent programme as poaching in Thailand, especially cutting of valuable timber. The trainers were American and Australian and everyday the trainee rangers would do different drills before going out on patrols during the day and night time.

If you are looking at the above picture and thinking, “What the bloody hell is going on?” That would be fine. This was one of the English activities where two groups had to dress up a member of their team and then describe what the person was wearing using adjectives in the correct order. It was a lot of fun as you can see.


No English camp would be without games, some ice-breakers were played and the students and some teachers enjoyed.

There were five groups or teams of ten students. At one stage they were required to put on a talent show, and of course dancing was high on the list.

If you have been to Thailand then you know ladyboys are accepted easily into society, this boy would love to be a girl and is always keen to dance or perform.

This is a teacher relaxing on a chilly night in Khao Yai, the sambar deer in the background are eating leftovers from our dinner.

Khao Yai is very beautiful and would be much better to see without fifty students tagging along or on an environmental camp. An English camp can be held anywhere. It was funny as on our last night, one of the ranger trainers walked past us and said, “I thought this was an English camp, all I have heard is Thai being spoken.”

This was true, all the 95% of the camp was done in Thai, we didn’t organise it, we just had to attend. Our activities were in English and when we chatted to students in English but everything else was virtually Thai.

I have been very lazy the last few months, I stopped exercising and would buy dinner virtually every night. It was easy and convenient for us, a minute from our house, order dinner, home, eat and then off to watch TV or work on the computer. Also it is cheap, 25 baht for a plate of fried rice of rice, vegetables and meat and so forth.

I have again become a fat unhealthy bastard and needed to pull my head in. So it meant back to my local park and also to the market just 2 minutes away from my house. I love the market as so many fresh vegetables and cheap. The broccoli and cauliflower cost 30 baht for both ($1 Australian dollar), so I have been cooking of late and really enjoy eating freshly cooked vegetables.

I want to kick myself as cooking doesn’t take a lot of time, the potatoes are cooked in the microwave and the other vegetables are steamed. Some chicken breast in garlic, onion and tomato and the meal is served. The funny thing is the girls all want to eat vegetables as well. So I have been cooking for all of us of late. Maybe I will have to stop again.

And spaghetti, off to the market, choose your beef and they mince it there and then for you. Again the girls love the spaghetti and I was asked to make it again tomorrow night. I won’t say no!

That is about all that is going on in Isaan Thailand.

Brunty

Cartoons, a White Rabbit and Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, Isaan Thailand.

Out in the lounge room we set up one of our laptops for Nong Ja to watch her cartoons on. She would drive us nuts wanting to watch her shows. We have DVDS of Postman Pat, Scooby Doo, Play School, Bananas in Pyjamas and so on. The list is pretty endless.

We put a blanket down and a few cushions and she props herself up for an hour or so. Our rabbit Cola, he has really taken to the blanket and will sit next to Ja for hours. Ja is always kissing him and giving him a pet and he is just so relaxed. Even when Ja seems to be a little rough he just sits next to her happily.

Here I am being told to be quiet; maybe I was scaring Cola trying to get Ja to look at the camera and not Cola.

Ja and her best friend together on their blanket. Cola isn’t impressed as we put it away each night and he cannot sleep on it but he does have his own in his own room. I think he just like the company.

For the last month or so I have been getting a consistent cough, I went to the doctor at the hospital the first time and after checking everything he prescribed the usual amoxicillin and a few other tablets that were all related to clearing the infection and phlegm.

After the course ran out, about 4 days I was back to normal but about a week later it returned. So I went to my local pharmacy, the lady is lovely and I took what the doctor had given me and I was again loaded up with another course of drugs. Again after taking the course I was again feeling normal.

Then it came back again, I thought I would just try cough lollies and some good old cough syrup. After a few days again all seemed back to normal.

Then about 5 days ago it came back again, I thought I would just beat the bastard by being a stubborn prick, it didn’t work. Two days ago my throat was sore and itchy and a constant cough was driving me nuts. So the next evening I gave in and ventured to my pharmacy again.

She has a range of Chinese herbal medicines, I had tried everything else so I thought why not give it a go, if it doesn’t work I go back to the hospital and get a battery of tests done.

So I was given a cough syrup called Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, it is thick like a honey or molasses and very sweet. When I first tried to pour it onto the spoon it slowly seeped out just like honey from a jar. I was a little worried but threw it down the throat.

I did Google it when I first got home, no red cards came up other than not giving it to young children or pregnant women consulting doctors. The ingredients were interesting and I Googled them to see what the hell they were.

Things like Semen Thrichosanthis or Snakegourd Seed; which is a seed that comes from a fruit and is washed and dried. To help with relief of Phlegm

Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae; are bulbs from the plant Fritillaria cirrhosa. Used to Clearing away heat and moistening the lung; relieving cough and reducing sputum.

And on and on the list goes, I actually had fun looking at the plants that were used to make this natural medicine.

Anyway, in 24hrs things are looking very rosy, I was very sceptical but the irritations gone and I have coughed up some good wads of phlegm. I am actually looking forward to a goodnights sleep, which I must go to bed as I have work tomorrow after two weeks holiday.

We will see how it is all in another few days, but right now I am giving the Chinese natural remedy Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa a big thumbs up. Has anyone else ever used it? How did you find it?

Brunty

Somtam Lunch and Sleeping Niece, Isaan Thailand.

Today we ventured off to get some lunch on the motorbike just over at the market near our house. Nong Ja, my Thai niece was up early today had her toast for breakfast and now wanted her lunch.

So across we went, Noot, Ja and me. We bought what we needed and Ja was in Noot’s arms and asleep about a minute later on the way back home, (it is less then a 2 minute ride to home).

So arriving home Ja was put to bed where she hasn’t moved since, her lunch went into the fridge and she will have when she awakes.

Noot ordered somtam dum Laos, it smells and has that lovely fermented fish sauce in it. I ate somtam dum boo bplaa last week with her, it has rotten crabs and fish to make the sauce and I had the sh*ts from about 2 hours after eating way into the early hours of the morning.

Today I choose my favourite, dum Thai. It is made with fish sauce and lime, has roasted nuts and dry prawns in it (they had run out of both today). I ordered mine from my shop and then we went and got a few other things.

When I got home and put mine onto a plate I was a little surprised at the amount of chilli, usually I have 2 or 3 chillis. Today there must have been 10 or more looking at it. This is the lady who always makes my somtam and I don’t even have to tell her what I want, she just makes it.

And it was bloody spicy, my mouth burned, nose ran but it tasted damn good. I pushed my way through the pain barrier and ate as much as I could until my lips were swelling and nose started dripping. Now I am just not looking forward to when it comes out. Oh, too much information for sure.

Anyway a delicious but spicy lunch in Isaan Thailand.

P.S – Tomorrow I have to go back to work after 2 weeks holidays, thankfully we get another 10 days at Christmas and then two months in March. This term is great, for a teacher. There are so many interruptions that you hardly teach (I used to get angry, now I just accept it) that this school year will be over before we know it. Fantastic…

Brunty

Getting The Cane for Overstaying Visa.

Here in Thailand, many a tourist overstay their visa. The meet the girl of their dreams and end up staying for longer than planned. I have read where people have overstayed by 4 years.

Many do this as the visa laws in Thailand can be a pain in the butt, tourists don’t want to be running to the border every 30 or 90 days to get a new visa. So many just overstay and then pay the fine.

The fine is 500 Thai baht a day, or a maximum of 20,000 baht. So that is 20 40 days. The people who have run the gauntlet of overstaying for years are crazy I believe as if they are stopped by police and it is found out they are illegal aliens, they would be arrested and placed in an immigration centre before facing the court and being issued a fine and up to a 2 year jail term, but this is unlikely.

But again the fine is pretty piss weak, and the deterrent isn’t really there either. But Singapore have a great way of dealing with overstayers, and I wouldn’t say they would have too many.

Singapore you can be jailed up to 6 months and issued with 3 strokes of the cane. Now that is a great idea, give people who overstay by more than 40 days a canning.

An American man has just been arrested in Singapore for overstaying his 90 day visa by 169 days, I am sure the American government will rally to have the canning stopped.

Singapore is a very strict place, there aren’t many violent crimes. Human rights groups always cry when Singapore dishes out severe punishment for a crime, but it seems to work.

18 year old American, Michael Fay was the first American canned in Singapore, he learnt the hard way back in 1994, when he was canned for theft and vandalism. He was sentenced to 6 strokes of the cane, reduced to 4 after the American government asked for leniency. He was also sentenced to 4 months in jail.

Then earlier this year Oliver Fricker from Switzerland was jailed for 5 months for breaking into a train depot and painting graffiti on subway cars. He was also given 3 strokes of the cane. He appealed the decision and lost and another 2 months were added to his jail sentence.

So I think Thailand should introduce the cane for overstayers and also for criminals as well, give them a good flogging.

What do you think?

Brunty

5 Years, and Many More to Come, Isaan Thailand.

Last night Miss Noot and I, ventured off for dinner by ourselves. We dropped Nong Ja our niece off to her father for a few hours and we went out for a quiet and relaxing meal without any interruptions.

We went to a beautiful little restaurant called Krung Tep, I didn’t take any pictures as I didn’t take my camera. It was just the two of us relaxing over good food.

The reason was our 5 year anniversary, of being partners. How Noot has put up with me for so long is hard to understand, but again she is very relaxed and laid back.

I will take pictures of Krung Tep restaurant next week when we venture there again and of some of the excellent dishes they serve.

The 5 years have gone very quick, too quick really. We have had our niece Nong Ja since she was a baby, so our lives are never boring or dull.

Brunty

Khao Yai National Park Thailand

I had mentioned about going to Khao Yai National Park here in Thailand for an English camp. We travelled down by bus and I blogged at this link about that.

At Khao Yai there is a wide variety of animals, I sadly didn’t get much of a chance to photograph them because of time restraints. But where we were staying there was plenty of activity at night time.

After the students and other teachers had gone to bed, we would have a quiet drink and chat downstairs; this is when the animals came out of the surrounding forest. Thankfully, not the tigers or elephants, but sambar deer, porcupines and civets to name a few.

I had stupidly left both my external flashes at home, I couldn’t believe it myself when on the first night I went to grab one to photograph some deer close by. One thing I did get half a picture of was a porcupine. I hadn’t seen porcupines this big. They were very shy and took off pretty quickly.

There were plenty of bugs, beetles, moths and the list went on at night under the lights. This fellow above is the biggest Rhino Beetle I have ever seen. It was smacking into walls, lights and eventually landed on our table.

In Thailand I have watched rhino beetle fights where Thai guys gamble over these animals, they battle on a piece of wood or cane and simply the winner is the one that falls, walks or is thrown off the wood.

Thais will pay a few hundred dollars for beetles and this monster would have been worth a few dollars.


There were plenty of moths flying about as well. Sorry for the colourful one being out of focus, I thought it was just my vision being blurred from a few cold ales on the night.

One thing a little sad was seeing animals that had become tolerant of humans, these sambar deer were close to the coffee shop and were scavenging in the bins. Some other deer were also doing this at our accommodation, eating leftovers from our breakfast, lunch and dinner.

One beautiful animal I had never seen in person before was this hornbill; it turned up the first night we arrived.

The hornbill spent the 3 days we were there eating leftovers when he could. The caterers would clean up and then leave the bins open with all the scraps, the sambar deer, civets, porcupines and hornbill would stop by and have a feed.

The forest has to be full of food for these animals, especially this time of year as it is wet and very green. But it looks like many over the years have realised that an easy feed is found at the accommodation.

It is a 500 Thai baht ($15 Australian dollar) fine for feeding wild animals, this fine is too small but fines in general across Thailand are like this. The rules for the handling and storage of waste needs to be monitored a lot better. If there was stricter monitoring, larger fines I am sure that these animals wouldn’t be hanging around eating out of open rubbish bins.

I do want to go back to Khao Yai, without any students and just be able to go out to the grass plains early in the morning and late in the evening and see the animals in their environment, and photograph them. Also do a trek with a ranger and stay a few nights out in the park would be awesome.

Anyway, something I can try and plan for next year.

Brunty

Spago Italian Restaurant, Ubon Ratchathani Thailand

If you ever visit or live in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, if you want the best Italian food, not just in Ubon but anywhere in Thailand or abroad, you need to visit Spago.

I blogged about Spago long ago, back in October 2009. Spago is on Chaengsanit Road and if you click on this link you will see a detailed map on how to get there. It is opposite Homemart and there is a new 7eleven just up from Spago.

Franco is the owner of Spago with his wife. I sadly haven’t been to Spago as near as much as I have wanted, but yesterday being Friday and also on Thursday night I made it there for the best Italian food I have had. I always have the bruschetta to start, it is so delicious.

Here Franco is making our Calzone pizza, I had never had one before, Franco was telling me that this pizza is one of the most popular pizzas in Italy.

Franco at work, all the ingredients were just about finished.

Then Franco folds the pizza over and crimps the edges by hand, adds some tomato paste on top and it is all finished.

Then the pizza is into the wood fire oven, the only way to cook pizza.

Hot Calzone pizza on the table and all I can say is that it was bloody delicious. I can say it is definitely my favourite pizza by far.

On Thursday evening I also made it to Spago, with the apple of my eye, Nong Ja my amazing niece.

And sorry for the poor quality picture but is the only picture I have of my beautiful partner Miss Noot.

The wood fire oven looks excellent at night time.

These were marinated olives and Ja found them a little bitter as did Noot, this is strange as Thais love salty food. I had never had olives like this and I really enjoyed them.

I ordered lasagne, I haven’t had lasagne for a long time, and if you think it looks good, you should have tasted it; I had to take the leftover home as I was just too full and had it for breakfast on toast.

Noot loves seafood and chose the seafood spaghetti, it was also delicious (I had to help her finish it all, though she didn’t need a lot of help).

I forgot the proper name of this pizza, but Franco said it is mountain meets the sea, the back is folded and stuffed with ham a cheese, and then the front has the seafood on it. I am also going to have to try one of these as well.

At Spago there are also plenty of desserts, I had to take a few home to finish the meal of properly.

Franco made some mini pizzas for Ja, we had ordered her some chips as well, she had a mini pizza, a little of Noot’s spaghetti, tried my lasagne and had a good night even though at times was a little testing like most 2yo can be.

Again if in Ubon and you want to taste authentic Italian food, using top quality products, then you have to drop in and see Franco at Spago. You will not be disappointed.

Brunty

An English Camp to Khao Yai National Park Thailand.

A long time since I posted, mainly because last Monday I was marking exams all day and completing grades, then Tuesday we headed off on an English camp.

We were headed to Khao Yai National Park for 2 nights and 3 days, I wasn’t really excited about going as the English camps I had been on with the school before, hadn’t been the best.

I was excited about seeing Khao Yai as I had read many good things about it. The foreign teachers plus one Chinese and Thai teacher were lucky enough to have a private van, it is the newest addition to Assumption’s fleet. But still travelling 7 hours or so I wasn’t looking forward to.

The van was uncomfortable; the seats in the back made you feel like you were constantly sliding off them. But there were a few stops on the way to stretch the legs, have a feed so it wasn’t so bad.

We arrived at the entrance to Khao Yai and then disembarked our van and the 50 students got off their party bus that was pumping out music so loud I would have gone ballistic if I was on the bus, that is why we had a separate bus.

We jumped onto small pick-up trucks and were ferried up the mountain to our accommodation. Khao Yai is beautiful, really beautiful and it is so refreshing to see a place in Thailand being looked after so well.

Below are some pictures from the back of the pick-up truck.

Road in khao Yai

It was damp and cool travelling by open truck.


Monkeys on the road.



This is where we were sleeping for the next two nights.

It was so nice to have such fresh, crisp air. It was cool and the place made you feel relaxed, until 50 kids got out of their pick-ups.

I will blog more on the camp and upload more pictures in the next few days. But at the moment I am just enjoying holidays and having no students, no lessons and being able to relax for the next two weeks.

Brunty