One World One Reason

Drunk driver chops on cops

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:53:00 PDT

What was this guy thinking well a drunk driver bit two police officers who asked him to take a breathalyser test.

Police said salesman Chatsak Ploicharoen, 36, was weaving all over the road as he drove his pickup truck towards a police checkpoint in Udon Thani.

Police signaled for him to stop, but he drove straight through the checkpoint.

Two officers chased after him on motorbikes, forcing him to stop a short distance down the road.

When he was asked to blow in a breathalyser, Mr Chatsak bit Sgt Maj Phanomporn Sukarom on the forearm.

Sen Sgt Maj Pongprida Wannaram stepped in to help his partner, but Mr Chatsak was too fast. He bit the second officer's index and middle fingers down to the bone.

The injured police managed to subdue Mr Chatsak, who was taken to Muang Udon Thani Police Station and charged with refusing to stop at a checkpoint, drink driving and assaulting a law officer.

Sgt Maj Phanomporn and Sen Sgt Maj Pongprida were taken to Udon Thani Central Hospital for treatment.

Mr Chatsak told police he had been drinking with friends in Udon Thani.

As he approached the police checkpoint, he worried that a drink driving charge might affect his career as a traveling salesman.

He thought he bit the officers only very lightly and had no idea his teeth would go in so deep, he said

Cobra cocktails, roadside rat-ions

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:11:00 PDT

Here in Thailand the sight of roadside stalls selling seasonal fruit, diesel-flavored roast chicken or other comestibles is a common one on any road trip in Thailand. Along the roads of Suphanburi, however, the offerings are a bit more exotic, with cobras and field rats the current hits.

Sala Phromphim, who owns five stalls selling the unusual delicacies along the Suphanburi-Bangbuathong stretch of Highway 340, said that he has been running his operation for around 10 years.

Recently, the demand for snakes and rats has soared, he was happy to report.

The field rat meat sells for 80-90 baht per kilogram, while whole cobras fetch 500 to 600 baht each, depending on their size.

These prices are for fresh, live-caught animals, with the price tags significantly lower for prepared meat, Mr Sala said.

Among his customers, he counted many regular locals, people just passing through, and a number of snake-meat enthusiasts who travelled a long way to buy at his stalls.

Folks in this last group usually demand live snakes and knew all about the best way to prepare them, he said.

Though he was happy for the extra business, Mr Sala said he was worried the increased interest in rat meat would put a strain on the local population of the rodents, which had already been hit hard by changes in local farming techniques.

Local farmer Phairat Wang- dee disagreed, however. He said he was glad to see the rats being caught and sold off because they breed fast, damage crops and can spread disease.

Contrary to popular belief, eating rats is not only for poor people, he said.

The price of rat meat is considerably higher than the price of pork, meaning that only wealthier locals could afford to buy it.

Poorer folks had to catch the rats themselves if they wanted to dine on them, he lamented. But not everyone was so pleased with the new-found popularity of the exotic dishes. Dr Surin Prasithiran, from the Suphanburi Public Health Office, said that properly-cooked rat meat should pose no health risks.

Cobra consumption presented more of a problem, however.

The practice of drinking freshly-killed cobra blood could lead to parasitic infection and gastrointestinal disease, he said. Although I have drank cobra blood in Cambodia I don't recommend it as tastes like a thick gulp of very bland dried tomatoe juice, absolute no flavour, however if you add some vodka or white rum with lea & perrins and a dash of tabasco its a great cocktail, but was awfully dry afterwards and needed a litre of water to flush it.

Assistant Professor Pan-thep Ratanakon, Director of the Centre for Wildlife Protection, added that not only did eating cobras pose a health risk, it was also illegal under the 1997 Wildlife Protection Act.

Trade in cobras is punishable with a prison sentence of up to four years and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht around $1200 US for both seller and buyer, he said.

Thick thief returns car

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:57:00 PDT

Dumb dumb and dumber a car thief was arrested last Thursday after phoning the dealer he had stolen the car from to complain when it broke down.

Car dealer Thonchok Singnuwongsa said the thief waited around his showroom until a genuine customer came in to put a deposit on a car.

He then persuaded a staff member to hand over the keys to the Mitsubishi New Lancer, claiming he was the customer who had paid the deposit.

Mr Thonchok reported the theft to police and told them the thief would probably not get very far because the car had only a small amount of petrol which would take him less than 10 kilometers.

Police searched for the car, but came up empty handed.

At 7am the next morning, the thief called Mr Thonchok claiming he had bought a car the previous day but it had broken down.

He asked if he could swap it for a new one.

Mr Thonchok agreed to meet the man in Silom, but took police with him.

At the meeting point, police found Winai ‘Pun Pun Khai’ Saenkham, 32, waiting with the stolen car and arrested him.

Mr Winai, who is unemployed and has a number of convictions for drug offenses, admitted stealing the car.

He said he really liked the New Lancer model and had been to Mr Thonchek’s lot a number of times to look at it.

But while on his way home in the stolen car, he said the engine stopped and he took a bus home.

He said he was worried the car might be stolen by someone else, so he rang the car yard asking to exchange it.

Aussie Navy and Afghan judo coach loses to ladyboy

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:18:00 PDT

The coach of the Afghan judo squad attending the Asian Martial Arts Games in the Thai capital was robbed of hundreds of thousands of baht after falling for a ladyboy he met in the notorious Nana Plaza adult entertainment complex.

Assaladee Sakala, 43, told police he and his team checked into the Grand Ayudhaya Hotel Bangkok in the Ratchada area and went looking for some female company.

He said he made some new ‘female’ friends and took one of them back to his hotel room.

He poured two beers and left the room briefly to talk to a team mate.

When he returned, Mr Sakala and his ‘girlfriend’ drank the beer at which point he started to feel sleepy.

The next thing he knew, it was 2pm the following day and his companion had vanished, along with all his valuables.

Mr Sakala told police the ‘woman’ had stolen $US5,000 and 1,500 euros in cash, a gold ring, a gold wrist watch, a digital camera, and a digital voice recorder worth a combined total of more than 300,000 baht.

Metropolitan Police Commander Lt Gen Saroj Phromcharoen said the thief had been identified as 21-year-old ladyboy, Phongphichit Prasertsuk.

Mr Sakala said he had no idea his ‘lady friend’ was actually a man.

Police believe Mr Phong-phichit slipped tranquillizers into Mr Sakala’s beer before stealing his valuables.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Phongphichit.

Mr Sakala was the second high-profile foreign victim to be drugged and robbed by a ladyboy in less than a month.

Last month, a Lieutenant Commander from the Australian navy reportedly lost a laptop belonging to the Department of Defence after being drugged and robbed by a ladyboy he met in Nana Plaza.

It is not known what steps the Australian government has taken to stop the security breach from resulting in a 'Down Under' invasion by Thai ladyboys.

This is becoming now more than a joke in Bankok as the drug of potential clients by prostitutes and the stealing of their belongings is occurring more the once a week.

Punt on one-eyed pussy

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:16:00 PDT

Pussy Gamblers have been rushing to get lucky omens from the corpse of a one-eyed kitten which refuses to rot. The cat’s owner, 60-year-old Wichian Sangchai, said the kitten was the last of a litter of three born early in July in Ayudhaya, but died within minutes of being born. Mr Wichian said the kitten had only one eye and a strange nose which looked a bit like an elephant’s trunk.
He said he and his wife Namfon kept the body of the kitten to show neighbors, but two days later the kitten’s corpse had still not started to rot or smell, despite the heat.

As word of the bizarre kitten spread, people started coming to pay homage to it.
Some lit incense and asked the kitten’s spirit to bring them good luck.
The dead kitten also attracted a lot of lottery players who made offerings in a bid to to pick up some lucky lottery numbers from the dead cat. Some are betting on 13, the date the kitten was born, while others are punting on 18, Mr Wichian’s house number.

Other gamblers opted for more complicated formulas, such as taking 321 because the kitten was one of a litter of three, with two surviving and one dying.

Local vet Pancha Iamseng said the kitten’s strange appearance was simply a birth defect, but agreed it was odd the kitten’s corpse had not started to rot.
Decomposition usually set in after about 12 hours, he said.

It is known in Thailand that anything quite unusual will attract would be lottery ticket buyers searching for a sign of the lucky numbers and the jackpot in the national lottery which is around 1 or 2 million Baht at 35 baht to the US dollar not winning, especially in the thai economy.

Duty Free has a duty FEE

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:09:00 PDT

I have another story tell share. A friend emailed to me some times ago but not sure how true is it.

A friend of mine told me this story so is Duty really FREE? Her cousin was detained in Bangkok for stealing a box of cigarettes in a duty-free shop in Bangkok International Airport. He had paid for chocolates and a carton of cigarettes. The cashier put a packet of smokes into his bag and he thought it was a free pack. He was arrested for shop-lifting and the Thai Police extortion price was RM30,000 for his release. He spent two nights in jail and paid RM50 for an air-cond cell, 200-300 baht for each visitor, and RM11,000 for his final release.

The Police shared the money in front of his eyes. On top of that, he was charged in court and fined RM2,000 by the magistrate and handcuffed and escorted to his plane. His passport was stamped "Thief".While there, his relatives requested help from the Malaysian Embassy and was told that they are helpless, as M'sians are victimised similarly daily and letters and phone-calls to the Thai Authorities are ignored. He shared a cell with a Singaporean the 1st night who paid RM60,000 for his release. The 2nd night was an Indian national who paid USD70,000. Mind you this is not in a shack in downtown Bangkok but in a duty free shop in Bangkok's Int'l Airport. Anyway is duty free really duty free well I found this article in the Bangkok Post;

King Power duty free has to be one of the most expensive duty free shops in the world. Take for example a cheaper bottle of Penfolds which is US$11 dollars without any tax or 374 baht at borders of Laos and Cambodia (It's US$9.0 flying out of Sydney). At the airport they charge 660 baht while in Foodland the same bottle and year costs 1,200 baht or about 300% more (should I assume that the tax is 300%?). So King Power pays no tax so they're marking up their wine sold by 100%--isn't that a bit steep for a duty free?

For a typical bottle of 100ml aftershave you're only saving about 200-300 baht per bottle. The Malaysian duty free you save about another 10%. In fact sometimes promotions at Paragon are sometimes better value than King Power.

I would never bother shopping at King Power. Also, many of their fashion accessories like watches and cloths are very dated. Who bothers to wear polo shirts any more for example... well I kinda still like them although they are a bit 70's. But I think we all knew that Duty was never free of taxes but in some cases a darn site cheaper than at the shopping mall.

THE EREBUS STORY THE LOSS OF TE901

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:21:00 PDT

This site was pointed out to me the other week and I thought it might be of interest to all. Also what is special about this site is that it has a schools section in that Teachers and students can learn more about this event.

http://www.erebus.co.nz/

I have a post on this link telling of my personal loss at Mt Erebus Anatarctica on Air New Zealand flight TE901.

Haunted Heist

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:33:00 PDT

A man claiming to be haunted by a ghost after stealing a 30,000 baht gold bracelet from a shop five years ago turned himself to police today.

Jirasak Phahurat, 33, from Chonburi in Thailand told police that a ghost came to him every day for five years, telling him to return a bracelet with the same value to the shop owner.

So, Mr Jirsak bought a new 30-gram gold bracelet and surrendered himself to the Sri Racha District Police station at 11 am today.

Police informed the shop owner, Phayom Phanchotkul, who was given the replacement bracelet.

She said she did not care to pursue a legal case against the man now that he has shown his remorse.

Mr Jirsak walked into the shop one day in October, 2004.

Claiming to be armed, he told the shop owner to give him the gold bracelet. He then fled the scene.

The robbery was recorded on the security camera and police obtained a warrant for his arrest.

Mr Jirasak said he fled to Phatthalung, where the the ghost appeared to him nightly.

“The ghost told me to return to buy a new bracelet and give it back to the shop owner,” Mr Jirasak said.

Recession: "abreast" of the Times

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:38:00 PDT

Having failed to get anywhere with begging, an unemployed man was arrested after squeezing the breasts of a number of women.

Like Little Tramp in Modern Times, the man claimed the act had nothing to do with sexual appetite, but was done so to get arrested and sent to prison – where he would be fed.

Thailands Khon Kaen Police at 11am got a call from shoppers at the aptly-named “Fresh Market” in Khon Kaen’s Muang District, asking for police to arrest a man they caught sexually assaulting female shoppers.

At the scene, police were met by 43-year-old Noi (not her real name), a teacher at a government school.

Mrs Noi directed the police to 30-year-old Wirat Noitamyae, whom she claimed had grabbed her breasts.

Mr Wirat told police that he had been a laborer on a construction site, but was laid off the week before.

Since being made redundant the previous week, he had wandered the streets of Khon Kaen looking for work.

His job hunt led nowhere and soon he ran out of money and was sleeping on the street.

He tried to beg for enough food to eat, but very few people gave money.

After a few days of this, he thought to himself that if he had nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat, he’d be better off in prison, he told the arresting officers.

He reasoned that a sure way to get incarcerated – and a free meal ticket – would be to squeeze women’s breasts in the market, which is only 200 meters from Muang Khon Kaen Police Station.

Targeting only women aged over 30, Mr Wirat was surprised to find his melon-squeezing session did not result in the immediate success he had envisioned.

The first few of victims just called him a pervert and walked off.

When he came to Mrs Noi, he used both hands to grab both of her breasts.

This achieved the hoped-for result, as Mrs Noi shouted for other shoppers to come and grab her attacker.

Shortly thereafter, Mr Wirat found himself in the confines of a jail cell at the police station.

When Investigating Officer Surasee Inunchot charged Mr Wirat with indecent assault, the suspect reportedly replied, “Good, I’ll have something to eat.”

Cabbages and condoms, literally

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:45:00 PDT

In Bangkok there is a popular restaurant chain known as Cabbages and Condoms, brainchild of well-known activist Mechai Viravaidya (aka “Mr Condom”), who has been internationally lauded for his efforts to promote condom use as a way of stopping HIV/Aids.

At the restaurant, condoms, rather than mints, are served after meals.

The efforts to bring together vegetables and prophylactics has yet to catch on in the southern Thai city of Haad Yai, however.

Customers at a fresh market there were given a nasty shock recently when they found bundles of vegetables they had bought were held together with condoms.

On June 22, 36-year-old Sudjai Phromlet bought a bundle of vegetables at Plaza Market in downtown Haad Yai and took them home for his wife to make dinner.

As she was unwrapping them, however, she suddenly called out to him in disgust and, somewhat melodramatically, vomited all over the kitchen, Mr Sudjai said.

Mr Sudjai’s wife showed him that the bundle of vegetables was tied up with part of a condom instead of the usual elastic band. On closer examination, it turned out the market trader had tied the vegetables with the rubber ring from the base of the condom, though there were still a few bits of the sheath hanging off.

The disgusted Mr Sudjai then contacted a local journalist to go and investigate.

The journalist and Mr Sudjai headed back to the stall where the offending bundle of vegetables had been bought.

At the stall, belonging to 51-year-old Porn Kaowmanee, they found all the bundles of vegetables on sale were tied together with contraceptive devices.

Mrs Porn admitted she had indeed used condoms to tie up bundles of vegetables, though she insisted the johnnies were clean and unused. She said this was the first time she had tried using condoms to tie her produce.

She had run out of elastic bands and lived a long way from the shop, so instead of traveling all the way to buy new ones, she asked her daughter-in-law to bring some condoms in from the condom factory where she works. Haad Yai is the centre of Thailand’s rubber production industry, which is a world leader in condom production.

Mrs Porn said all the condoms used were defective products that had never been near a penis.

She never thought her customers would find having their vegetables tied up with condoms disgusting or unhygienic in any way. Despite the condoms working just as well as rubber bands, Mrs Porn said she would go back to using elastic bands to avoid losing any more customers.

Really just as well too, steamed condom in your veggie soup wouldn't go down well Mmmm!!

Liz Taylors footsteps

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:46:00 PDT

Oh how sweet I think this story is really great, at her age finding true love, a bit like Liz Taylor? but while the sight of an old man marrying a young woman is not too unusual in north east thailand, when it’s the other way round, it manages to raise eyebrows.

Therefore, when word spread that 73-year-old Thongsuk Phutthawan was set to marry 26-year-old Somphon Chanthawong, 47 years her junior, it quickly drew the interest of the local press.

The pair finally tied the knot on May 20, after a three-month courtship. The groom paid a bride price of (35baht 1US$) 20,000 baht and gave his betrothed a 1.5 baht-weight gold ring worth approximately Bt22,500.

A Brahmin priest then divided a hard boiled-egg, giving half to the bride and half to the groom to wish them a long and happy marriage.

Mrs Thongsuk told the Khao Sod reporter who attended the wedding that this was Mrs Thongsuk’s second marriage.

First falling in love at a military camp at Nakhon Phanom Airport, Mrs Thongsuk first got married at the tender age of 18 and had four children with her first husband. One child died, but the other three now all have families of their own. Her husband died 30 years ago – before her new beau was even conceived.

She said that in the 30 years that she had been single, she had many suitors. These included wealthy businessmen and politicians, but she rejected them all.

She met her new husband one evening in March when she went to have dinner with relatives at a fish restaurant on the bank of the Mekong River. One of the waiters, Mr Somphon, began teasing and flirting with her, before finally plucking up the courage to ask for her number.

The couple chatted all the time, Mrs Thongsuk said. Mr Somphon is a merry soul, a good talker and had what the Thais call a “sweet mouth”, she said. He was always concerned about her well-being, asking if she’d eaten dinner or whether she had gone to bed yet.

“Though he’s only a child, it was like having a second father,” Mrs Thongsuk enthused.

When their love had fully blossomed, Mrs Thongsuk took her relatives to meet her young suitor. She then asked her daughters, all of whom are considerably older than Mr Somphon, for permission to marry. Her daughters said they would not stand in the way of the wedding, but asked only for the ceremony to be fairly small – as they were worried that people would gossip.

Mr Somphon said that he had a girlfriend before but she had broken his heart, adding that he liked Mrs Thongsuk’s personality. After knowing her for three months he was sure he was in love and so got his mother to go and ask for Mrs Thongsuk’s hand in marriage.

Mrs Thongsuk’s elder sister Thongyip Thapket, 80, said that she was glad her little sister had found happiness, especially as this was probably her last chance. She said she had seen lots of old farangs getting married who were clearly on their last legs so she didn’t think it was strange that her sister should do likewise.

A close friend of the bride said that when Mrs Thongsuk was young she was a real stunner and had won many local beauty contests. Even in her old age she still managed to turn heads and last year took first prize in the Songkran Mother pageant.

Rocket Man

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:02:00 PDT

I have been inundated with comments and emails as to ask where I get my information from, but first thanks so much for having time to look through OWOR and commenting on some of the rather bazaar stories. Well I am for the time being keeping my source close to my chest as some of these stories are really quite amazing and true. All I can say is they all happen in and around Thailand so please enjoy the occasional snippet that I put out.

A man had his head blown off while watching an annual homemade rocket festival in this northeastern town on May 11.

The victim and his friends chose to have a drinking session in a cordoned off area where rockets were landing at the time of the incident.

Police were called to the scene in Village 3, Tambon Dong Mafai, Muang District, at 3:30 pm.

After pushing through a large crowd of villagers, they found the headless body of 29-year-old Prida Wongnatal lying next to a pond. The stump of his neck was blackened with powder burns.

Near the body, police found the rocket that had decapitated Mr Prida, who was a native of Tao Ngoi District.

The projectile was about three-meters long, its head made of PVC piping three to four inches in diameter.

Rescue volunteers who dived into the pond to recover Mr Prida’s head were only able to find small fragments.

Sakda Duangsupha, who witnessed the tragedy, said the rocket that killed Mr Prida was the third one launched at the festival. The first two had shot up into the air, but the third took a horizontal trajectory towards Mr Prida and six or seven friends who were sitting drinking about 50 meters away from the launch pad, located by the edge of the pond.

As they saw the rocket screaming towards them, the youths dived out of the way, but Mr Prida was not quick enough. After the impact, he fell back into the pond.

Pulling him out, his friends were shocked to discover that he had no head, Mr Sakda said.

The area where Mr Prida and his friends were drinking had been roped off because of the danger of rockets passing through. With a sense of invincibility typical of youth, the group ignored the warnings, Mr Sakda explained.

Police are now investigating to determine whether Mr Prida’s demise was a case of death by his own negligence or whether the festival’s organizers were responsible.

Rocket festivals are held annually in towns across the Northeast to mark the start of the rainy season. This is not the first, and no doubt not the last, tragedy at such festivals. In 1999, five people were killed at the Yasothon festival, the biggest and most famous of them all, when a 120kg rocket exploded immediately after takeoff.

Remember my Member

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:42:00 PDT

Folks I am not making this up but at RAYONG in Thailand the Staff at the Hospital had a busy night on April 27, when two men with severed penises were brought in for emergency treatment.

The first patient, a 31-year-old from Pluak Daeng District, arrived at around 1am. He was bleeding profusely from a wound near what had not long before been the base of his penis.

Surgeons were able to stop the bleeding and stabilize the man’s condition, but could do nothing about the missing member.

An hour later, at around 2am, a 35-year-old man was transferred to Rayong Hospital from Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital in Sri Racha, Chonburi Province. The man’s penis had also been severed with a sharp object.

A Khao Sod reporter investigating the cases found the first man hiding under his bed covers in the hospital ward. Despite appearing exhausted and constantly trying to hide his face under the covers, the man agreed to tell the reporter what had happened.

The patient said that he worked at a Kawasaki motorbike factory in Pluak Daeng District, was married and had a six-year-old son. He often argued with his 32-year-old wife, who lived in constant worry that he would leave her for another woman.

On the night of April 26, he had been drinking at a friend’s house. When he got home, his wife accused him of being out with a kik {pronounced Gig }(mistress or casual sex partner). An argument ensued and when the fighting eventually died down, the man fell fast asleep, owing to all the alcohol he had drunk.

As he was sleeping, he felt a sudden, searing pain in his groin. He looked down to see what must be every married man’s worst nightmare: blood pouring from his genitalia and his wife leaving the room clutching a bloody knife.

The man said that he tried to pull himself together and look for the severed part of his penis, but could not find it. He then ran out into the street to find someone to take him to hospital, he told the reporter.

The other victim understandably refused to speak to the press, so it is not clear what led to his member being detached.

A nurse involved in treating the pair said that the first man had arrived about an hour before the second. Both men had their penises cut off at the base, leaving only the testicles, the nurse revealed.

Doctors stitched the cuts closed and inserted catheters. Both men were in stable condition physically, but were in very poor mental states and seemed unable to come to terms with their losses, the nurse said.

Duty Officer Adison Phanthusak from Pluak Daneg Police said the first victim’s relatives had reported the crime and police are now hunting for his wife, who fled with the couple’s son.

So I warn all would be male settlers in Thailand make sure your a paid up member before coming to Thailand, and don't go round flaunting your membership!!

Thai woman bites Belgian tourist's organ

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sun, 17 May 2009 04:03:00 PDT

Well I just crossed my legs! but in Phuket a Belgian tourist in Pattaya was severely injured early Thursday morning when a Thai woman took a bite out of his penis and almost severed it, police said.

The tourist, aged 56, was rushed to Pattaya Memorial Hospital where doctors managed to save his organ.

The man told police from his hospital bed that his girlfriend, who he had been living with for about a month, bit him because she had learned that he had another lover. The two quarreled shortly before having sex, during which she administered fellatio and chomped down on him. The victim then called friends to take him to the hospital.

Police said they would arrest the woman, who has yet to be identified but that is definitely one organ recital that the owner would notwant an encore over.

Go Air link NYC

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:17:00 PDT

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Stuff American Idol Britains got Talent

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:44:00 PDT

ANZAC Day

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:49:00 PDT

ANZAC Day is the shared memorial day by NZ and Australia

What is the collective noun for Australians and New Zealanders? These days the term is probably Australasians, but for an earlier generation they would probably have been called ANZACs. The Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was the Australasian force sent to World War 1 and commanded by British officers. The term ANZAC may have become an obscure footnote to WW1 history the fact it didn't is due to one of the worst military defeats of the allies in WW1.

On the 25 April, 1915 the ANZAC forces were landed on what is now known as ANZAC Cove, the landing was the wrong bay and instead of a gently sloping bay the attacking forces were faced with a very steep cliff which was well defended by the Ottoman forces at the top.

By the time that the forces were withdrawn in December 1915 33,512 of the 468,000 British troops were dead, 7,636 missing and 78,000 wounded Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. The ANZACs later served in Palestine and the Western Front.

The Ottoman commander who succesfully defended the penisnusla and prevented the allies from reaching Constantinople (Istanbul) was Mustafa Kemal who went on to found modern Turkey, taking the name Ataturk.

Australians and New Zealanders recognise 25 April as a ceremonial occasion. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing, across both nations.

Later in the day, ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around both countries. Almost every small town and city in the two countries has a war memorial, ranging from the basic to beautiful pieces of architecture in places such as Canberra, Sydney and Auckland. .

This is the verse of the ode that is said during the minutes of silence concluding the Dawn Parades:

They shall grow not old, As we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, And in the morning We will remember them.

The verse is traditionally concluded with the words "Lest We Forget."

Increasingly large numbers of Australians and New Zealanders now travel to ANZAC Cove itself to remember ANZAC Day along with the Turks. Until 1999, the Gallipoli Dawn Service was held at the Ari Burnu War Cemetery at ANZAC Cove, but the growing numbers of people attending resulted in the construction of a more spacious site on North Beach, known as the "ANZAC Commemorative Site". Over 15,000 people have attended on the day.

I am in Thailand and last year I managed to go to the Bridge on the River Kwai for the dawn service to remember those souls that fell, a truly moving service

"Lest We Forget"

Alien Vs Predator in Phuket

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:34:00 PDT

Walking down the main street in Phuket close to the very famous Bangla night entertainment area you will find two odd but familiar looking characters. Yes Alien and Predator are sculptored out of engine parts, I think the majority being motor bike parts. But hey great art work and so very original. There are even scaled down pieces (you can see one at the base of Alien) for sale which are designed to fit nicely into your holiday suitcase.
I must admit this guy is my favourite, extremely life like and well crafted

CitySights NY

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:34:00 PDT

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Ten Tors - Legendary Dartmoor

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:42:00 PDT

“O God who has made the Earth of great beauty,

and who has given us the Spirit of Adventure,

we thank you for the beauty of the world,

for the courage and vigour of young people,

for the companionship and for the opportunity

to enjoy all these gifts.

We pray that you will keep them safe on this great venture

and grant that they may meet each challenge

and difficulty with unselfish courage and so find the

true spirit of comradeship as shown to us by

Jesus Christ, our Lord”. - Amen - Ten tors prayer.

So, what’s Ten

Tors about?

In one word:

You!

“While it’s tempting to play it safe, the more we’re willing to dare, the more alive we are. In the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took.”

The Moor has long been used by the British Army as training and firing range. Approximately 156 square miles (400 square Km) of the moor are owned or leased by the MoD for military training, and three ranges are used for much of the year for live firing exercises.

In 1959 three Army officers felt that the Moor would provide a challenge for civilians as well as soldiers, and Ten Tors was conceived. In the first year 203 boys and girls took up the challenge - and the Army thoughtfully suspended firing exercises…

In 1970 I was in the Army cadets in Torquay Devon, England

Here I am all decked out in my cadet uniform, don’t laugh!

so apart from the Army Wartime Original Itchy scratchy fabric the uniform was made out of, and I mean real itchy, scratchy!, and having to polish your brass buckles on your belt and last but not least was the spit and polish on your boots, never could get a nice mirror look until I was eventually shown by a true professional from the Special air Service and former Royal Marine and next door neighbour Travis, brilliant the boots after the secret to spit polishing was revealed were like glass, really you didn’t want to wear them, rather get them framed or put in a display cabinet, as it was they did become in some way a tribute as I later heard Travis was killed in action in Northern Ireland very sad, sorry got side tracked. Back to the cadet days and at our age it was a great way to spend the time and our parents thought it was a brilliant idea, as it kept us off the streets, so we would play at soldiers, fire the Bren gun, and the old Thompson machine gun. We all became rather good at the shooting range, plus cleaning, stripping and putting back together the .303 British rifle, tackling the assault courses and all sorts of lessons in infantry tactics, we would have team games like escape and evasion all rather good fun and even better if your girlfriend was in your team, yes it was mixed cadets, even then, thank god for hippies, tie dyed T-shirts and most of all for 1969 and Woodstock. Summer camps and field trips were held all over the UK we even went up to Scotland, that was a fabulous trip as we were also invited to the Edinburgh Tattoo, brilliant show and for those visiting Scotland try and get to the show, it is held every year at Edinburgh castle and well worth seeing. Even if your in Edinburgh at the wrong time of year for the tattoo, going up to the castle is still well worth the visit:

The 2009 Edinburgh Tattoo 7th - 29th August 2009 For further information on the Tattoo.

http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/

So in 1970 the Torquay army cadet force (see the web link below) put a team together and took on the legendary Ten Tors on the Legendary Dartmoor, our parents received a similar letter to the following;

Your child has decided to take part in the training for this year’s Ten Tors Challenge. For those Unfamiliar with the Ten Tors event it involves navigating a route on Dartmoor over two days. You are required, in your team of six; to carry all the equipment you need to support yourselves for the Duration of the expedition. This includes food, tents, cooking equipment, spare clothing, sleeping ba

g, etc. (a full list of equipment will be provided separately to this letter). You are required to have the skills necessary to navigate using map and compass and the stamina to cover the required distance while carrying a rucksack weighing no more than 17Kg (35lb). You are expected to be able to work as a team.

Ten Tors is held in May each year, so its not quite summer not that there is much summer in the UK anyway, and makes conditions allot harder for navigating one of the three length courses

35 miles (56 Km) for 14 and 15 year olds.
45 miles (72 Km) for 16 and 17 year olds.
55 miles (88 Km) for 17/18 and 19 year olds. (Note: 17 year olds may participate if they have completed the 45 mile event).

At that time the kit for hiking the moors was not around and if it was I could not afford it at 14 years old, so I was kitted out with my running shoes and hob nailed boots, anything to keep me warm and dry, and I soon found out my backpack was only for taking sandwiches to school, well we certainly looked out of place when some of the private clubs turned up with the latest camping gear. What the heck! We didn’t take it that seriously, to us it was a walk around the moors as in the cadets it was a regular part of training at the weekends. The walk began on a miserable cold, damp and misty day, what else in May on Dartmoor and didn’t really change much in the two days we were there, it was held over two days and one night, so you had to prepare for a chilly night on the moors, eating the right energy foods lots of sweets Mars bars etc and drinking lashings of hot tea with the sweet nestle milk, all provided by the cadet force so allot of free chocolate, you couldn’t forget though you had to carry what you eat and we had to balance the rations out to have sensible diet. Our team did surprisingly well coming in third and survived the 30 odd kilometres on our compass bearings and map reading skills, so apart from toe rot, a few blisters and feeling very damp, tired and miserable, all we wanted was a hot shower. Talking after we had that shower and put on some warm woollies, we had our debrief and what was mentioned the most was being passed by a posh Toff (Informal term for an upper-class or wealthy person) team (city kids) two times going the wrong way, felt quite bad really as they were as it happened actually quite lost, the rescue team was dispatched in a helicopter to find them, as mentioned allot of quicksand and bogs in those parts however they came back alive and well no bones broken missing in the bog. I guess that’s why they have a prison on the moors no one really wants to escape as its too warm and dry inside the walls, kind of an Alcatraz, lots of hazards over the wall, plus the quick sand is everywhere and takes no prisoners so to speak if they wander onto the Legendary Dartmoor.

Well we all got our medals as the third team across the line and were quite proud of our achievement even the officer in charge of the our cadet detachment shouted us all a Shandy, beer and lemonade. During our shandy he was giving us a little pep talk on how wonderful the regular British army was and you would be doing this quite a bit if you joined up, well I ended up joining the Royal Navy after all that, much nicer and warmer to sail from exotic port to port than trudge through quicksand and muddy bog land.

I believe it was the first year Torquay army cadet detachment undertook Ten Tors as you can see in the cadet web site today http://www.torquayacf.net/index.html Ten Tors is now part of the training curriculum, an adventurous active mind certainly puts your body and soul in the right frame for taking on today’s challenge.

So If your up to the challenge take on Ten Tors get your team in training, this type of adventure is so character building so much so that private companies and large corporations in the UK put their management staff through a similar course to develop their management, leadership and team skills and of course working together to adapt and overcome to accomplish the goal.

You will also find more about Dartmoor at this very informative site it is really very well documented from folklore to Archaeology of the Legendary Dartmoor.

http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/

‘Pakeha’ “is most used to describe white non-Maori, as they were the original colonists of New Zealand.

Affection to Kill

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:14:00 PDT

What was the reason, were the 3 pit bull terriers being treated or feed properly my god or did they pack up in some sort of a revenge and and maul this woman to death. The 3 pit bull terriers, which also injured her three relatives and killed another local dog, she had just released the three pit bull terriers from the cage into the compound of her family's rice mill at about midnight but she did not come back inside, prompting her daughter to cry.

One of her relatives Charoensri came to look for her and found her badly-mauled body along with a local pet dog of the family, then pit bull terriers turned to attack Charoensri and her granddaughter. She cried for help and when her son came out to help, he was also attacked.

Eventually, one family member came out to help and shot two terriers dead while the other one escaped.

Is this pitbulls famous trait of turning on its owners or did something drive them to this sort of behaviour, I think it is likely to be animal cruelty which drove them to attack in this frenzied manner or were they locked away in this cage starved of affection. exercise and food?

Yes there are cases like this all over the world but in Thailand cruelty to dogs is frowned upon and many temples shelter homeless dogs who live off the scraps and donations but are not normally ferocious so What do you think?

Tsunami Wave or FM Wave

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:37:00 PDT

The long-dormant tsunami warning towers at Patong Beach will soon be providing advertising. The new service is expected to gain wide acceptance and to draw far more tourists to Phuket's beaches.

Well I am off to Phuket by bus next week and thank god this advertising scheme doesn't start until next month. So much for a quiet and relaxing day at the beach in Patong in Phuket as a special committee tasked with finding ways to generate more noise (more noise! why don't they explore cutting down the noise) and extra revenue for Phuket is moving forward with a unique plan that would allow businesses to broadcast advertisements through the island’s existing network of 19 tsunami warning towers.

The project will be launched early next month in Patong, where the entire beach front is covered by warning towers that emit a siren sound and pre-recorded voice messages at an impressive 121 decibels. The record-breaking volume is achieved through the resonance of the towers, with each individual tower able to achieve sound saturation across a radius of at least 1,500 meters.

“The beach, rather than the town or residential areas of Patong, was chosen for the pilot project because there is such intense competition for the tourist baht along the sand, I reckon the tourist baht is going to run a mile when it sits underneath a Tsunami tower that blurts out advertisement's ranging from adverts on Muay Thai boxing schedules to the local Patong disco. I just hope the tourist association put it in the brochures that there will be free advertising blaring at the beach, and don't forget the Jet ski's buzzing up and down with speed boats zipping in between, magic holiday.

Anyway I pray they wire it up properly so it still gives Tsunami warnings like its suppose to do and not blare adverts? Oh and next they will be getting Go Go girls writhing around the Tsunami poles to add extra tourist baht to Patongs beaches!

Drugs and crime thwarting Afghan development

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 05:46:00 PDT

Well what do you reckon, of course it is the whole place is full of corruption, the development of Afghanistan is also thwarted because half of the money destined for the construction of hospitals schools and other needed services. But hey who's worried about that, just send more troops into the melting pot of Terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and organized crime that is seriously impeding progress in Afghanistan, but no worries the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned us today, and is now calling for greater international cooperation to help the country tackle these challenges.

So who is catching the bad guys, sure they are getting some but most of them are in Pakistan, so is this another Vietnam where the Vietcong lived quite openly in Kampuchea, and as the Americans said in Nam how can you tell the bad guys apart, they all look the same right?.

So whilst they are patching up Afghanistan the Sudan is going no where, is that something else for greater international cooperation to help the country tackle the challenges, dont jump the gun we will mention Sudan and maybe Mynamar next week so just carry on the way you are and build up Afghanistan a country that will one day turn its back on you for the highest bidder! I mean the illicity drug trafficking and organised crime is certainly paying for itself eh!

The Park Bench syndrome

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:37:00 PDT

fDon't you love it when things happen and your pleased with the simple fact you have achieved something aren't you?, but I bet your really pissed when it doesn't go the way you like it are you, why are you selfish or just disappointed with your failure? Go on then have a tantrum here's your teddy throw it out the cot with no arms or no legs, hah! or maybe you got screwed in a relationship, never mind whatever happened your totally out of luck and your number is up.

Well nowadays the bad luck is going to allot of people who thought it would never happen to them, relationships sure but the money, well is that you or what!, you no life is full of swings and roundabouts don't worry old chap isn't it suppose to be character building, but wow when you think of the money you may have lost or the misfortune you have had in this recession then think about this my dears your not the only one in the boat so your not paddling alone.

My dear friends if its not your health you have lost then for goodness sake get out of the grumble closet kiss your teddy and fix him up and go and take your walk to see other folks who believe me will be far worse than you are at the moment. "Where you gonna go?" get a drink and a blind date, the movies shit this is making me sadder just mentioning it, but hey follow me! And do what! you say?

My dears make a new goal in life, mine is walking not speed walking or jogging just plodding along through the town, window shop or in a country lane if your rural or in the central park, just sit there on the park bench and look at life, people, dogs, trees and yourself. Believe me this kind of therapy works and its amazing who might sit next to you on the park bench, maybe a new friend who doesn't like or love you for your money, even take it from there chill in an outdoor cafe, order and sit on a long non-alcoholic drink and just people watch, look at peoples faces do couples walk past happily holding hands or bitter and distant and arguing possibly about money and that they cant afford it? so see who is really happier than you, you will be surprised.

It will give you time to think about your predicament and maybe this will give you some answers to your problems, hey take a pen and a little notebook with you or get a pen from the waiter and jot down your ideas on a napkin. If your smiling to yourself don't worry its your secret and your going to find someone later to share it with, but hey! on the way home why not stop into the shops of your favourite choice and buy your scrummy evening meal (why not for two and invite your best friend, hey girl friend or boy friend, make it a point in ensuring its someone kind of neutral and that you can talk to), ok back to the shops get a couple of fillet steaks even a crayfish or a fillets or Norwegian salmon, fresh vegetables or salad and a gateau maybe a black forest or cheesecake, and your wine of choice.

How you take on the remainder of the evenings events are up to you, but plan it being the first day of your new, hah! its like writing this post you just want to add more, do more and express your feelings but hey! just build it from there.

Will it work?

See you on the Park Bench, or the cafe and we will talk about it

Yahoo

anthony.fnl@gmail.com (The Bosun) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:09:00 PDT

I am thinking Yahoo has closed office I don't no if any of you have ever had this problem but my Yahoo site Explorer is very sick.

Well I have written to the Get help on using Site Explorer to no avail and I have been fobbed off left right and centre. The problem started over six months ago and it has got to the stage after reminding them three times in the last two months about the problem all they can do is tell me it is with their technical staff and that my side has checked out ok.As you can see in the picture above I have pointed out the widget that has shown me 1234 for about six months now and was well over 6500 before?

So what has happened my dear Yahooers did we forget the manual on troubleshooting somewhere or is it just too much problems, I could go further and post some of the emails I have got from site explorer but that is rubbing salt in the wound. I think on April fools day I will remove the widget, and Yippe Yiayae Yahoo can Explore eleswhere.