Mermaid as a symbol of Songkhla

By: Boysabuy

This is the street name signs in Songkhla Province(สงขลา), Thailand. Notice it has a mermaid as a symbol of Songkhla Province. Because the Songkhla province have a beach called Laem Samila. In The beach you can see the mermaid statue.The legend and inspiration of the mermaid there made in to the street signs symbol showed in this picture.



Every province in Thailand has a symbol seal of its own.

vientiane night market

by: MrHotsia

on april 2010 i visit vientiane and walk around cam khong(Mekong River side). not quite a long street market,walking about 100 m., but good view on the bank of Mekong River.

No xe may on 1,000-year birthday party of Hanoi

By: EastCode news team



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Today is a special day for Vietnam when Ha noi, the capital of this Southeast Asian countries , celebrating her 1,000-year birthday party.

But if we strict to the fact .The former name of Ha noi called as Thang Long, or "rising or soaring dragon".Then the French changed it to a much more simpler name: Ha noi , as we known it today.

But one cool fact of this really special event is the horde of "xe may" or "motorbike" that roaming Vietnamese street every day will be no where to be seen in the central Ha noi as the Vietnamese authorities announced all vehicle prohibited from Ba Dinh Square; Hung Vuong Road; Doc Lap-Hoang Van Thu; the Nguyen Canh Chan-Ba Huyen Thanh Quan-Mot Cot Pagoda route; the Phan Dinh Phung-Hoang Dieu-Quan Thanh route; Thanh Nien Road; the Van Xuan Garden and surrounds during parade rehearsals on October 6-7 and October 9-10.

Nguyen Thai Hoc-Cua Nam-Trang Thi-Hang Khay-Trang Tien Streets will be closed to traffic for the parade.

Both vehicles and pedestrians will be banned from Ba Dinh Square on Sunday morning, October 10.

Pong Yub as the ground collapsed.

By: Boy Sabuy

Pong Yub , Ratchaburi province(ราชบุรี). A lot of big holes here. As the ground collapsed. It happened a long time ago. I think it is a Natural wonders.

It is located in private land. And is currently becoming a tourist attraction. About 130 kilometers away from Bangkok.

open daily from 06:00 to 18:00
Admission fee is 40 Baht (1.3 USD)

Mineral For health, Raksa Warin Hot Springs

For health , The hot springs have been a popular tourist visit to Ranong province (ระนอง) in Thailand. Many people come here for health care. If you soak in hot springs about 15 minutes will help you to better health. Nature of the hot springs here are a stream of water flowing down from the top of the hill. But this area has the highest temperature around 50-65 degrees Celsius.



Inside The Hot Springs have a healthy garden and many restaurants. Or choose from the mineral bath Massage service is interesting.

Beer Lao

By: Asian Trip Wayfarer




A friend of us took this photo at Pak san, a small province of Laos on the bank of Mekong river .


This beer is not just the national beer of Laos but also won the hearts of many backpackers who travels through this small country each year.

Beer Lao (5% Alc./Vol.)is a beer of choice for both Laos and foreign visitors,some took this brand to their heart and went beyond that to the level of pure obsession.

I even met a Brit traveler in Ubon, Southern Laos who really jump out of his Ubon to Pakxe international bus ,rush passed the Laotian checkpoint and then heading for the first Cold drinks vendor he saw and got his first 2 cans of Beer Lao in 5 years!


Above: Beer Lao web site looked serious here about underage drinker but on the real life this much more relax in practice in Lao

ฺำBeer Lao is so smooth in taste and much milder than Thai version of Chang beer. Most backpackers who travels through Lao loves this beer and proudly where beer Lao t-shirt back home . So sooner or later this brand will be recognized worldwide .


The Lao Brewery Co., Ltd (LBC) just announced that in the first half of 2010, LBC reported beer sales growth of 17% compare to the same period last year and contributed more than 420 billion kips (US$51.2 million) to the national budget of Lao.



You can visit the official Beer Lao site here

Buy ticket at counters

By:Asian trip wayfarer

Many scams can be found around -in and outside most of Thai bus stations. The big billboard here at Hat Yai bus terminal said simply: Buy ticket at counters only. Beware of fraud and scam.

Actually ticket scam cost trouble to Thai travelers than the western ones



Good effort to give us a warning .But many Thai and foreign tourists still why the authorities concerned not do something more to get rid of these ticket scam instead of just warning us.

Casino route from Had Yai to Singapore

By: Asian trip wayfarer


This shop in Had Yai,The crossroad city, seem like just another tourist agency office like so many of them in Southern part of Thailand .But this one looked really show off their casino package to Resorts World Sentosa , a newly opened casino complex inclulded an Universal Studios theme park and Marine Life Park,on the island of Sentosa, off the southern coast of Singapore.You can see how many posters of this casino they put in front of the shop.



The Resorts World Sentosa belongs to Genting Group,the biggest casino company in this region and their main operation based in Malaysia. The group just use old connection in Had Yai,normally the main best for casino trip to Malaysia, to extended package tour to the newest casino in Singapore.




The poster said in Thai: "rewards your life with the new world discoveries" and "book here - Book now -Book today!" .

Although, gambling and casino is illegal in this land but the tour operation to get people to plays on another country is perfectly no wrong doing at all.






Below: Map of Central Haad Yai: Niphatuthit road 1-3 area. Travelers can find bus ticket to KL or Singapore around here too.(drag around to see English- the map is bi-lingual)


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Foreign exchange manipulating?

by: Asian trip wayfarer

It's Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh) for sure.But I found him in a rather totally difference place and context.


Weekend Night Bazzar in the historical town of Melaka, Malaysia always busy and many street shops sprung up and offered all kind of souvenirs for a horde of Singaporean tourists, ordering and bargaining around.Looking for something of sentimental value to hold on .



This shop got a pretty shrewdly or even deviously idea of foreign exchange manupulating. The Vietnamese banknote here is a 200 dong. I'm not sure what is the update rates now. But....Let say : 18000-19000 VN Dong is a US dollar. While ..about 3 Malaysian Riggit is a US dollar.

The price tag here is 4 Riggit!

You can do the Math. Even without any calculation , We can senses a sky high profit here... Nothing illegal ..just a strange souvenir with high price tag.


While in Vietnam,This banknote is an unfavorite for everyone .Still in circulation but the Dong devalue so much in the past 10 years so it's hard to use this small note. Even some beggar turns down this bank note.


And they trying to sell for 4 Riggit!

chicken rice teriyaki - Vietnamese tips

Vietnamese tips:

The following photo contains two important words in Vietnamese .These two words also quite useful for any western tourist travels to Vietnam .




Com : This is actually sound like "kerm" and not relates to anything about computer at all .



The 'com" here just means "cooked rice". The main staple food for many Asian communities.

Ga: (i have no Vietnamese input so this word show just Ga here) Ga means Chicken .


So "com ga" = rice chicken which means "chicken rice" in English . The teriyaki is the adopted japanese word which we already understand the meaning.


One thing... Do not confuse with "Ca" which means "fish"Be careful ....haha

A 1000 year discount chance for an air trip to Vietnam

by: Eastcode travel news

The Viet Nam News reported that Viet Nam Airlines will reduce the price tag of its international tickets by up to 85 per cent for bookings made from September 30 to October 10 for flights from October 15 to December 21 this year and April 1 to May 31 next year.



Well....This is look like a truly once in a 1000 years chance as the promotion said to celebrate Ha Noi's 1000th birthday on the October 10 this year.

more in formation can be found here at the Viet Nam Airlines site

Air Mekong

By: EastCode travel news

The Asian sky is opening up and a new private airline, Air Mekong,scheduled to be operational this October(2010) in Vietnam .

The new comer will operates about 25-30 daily domestic only flights from Ho Chi Minh City (Sai gon) in the South and Hanoi in the North to Danang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Dalat,Con Dao island, Buon Ma Thuot (in the central highland), Haiphong, Vinh. But the final list of destinations might have to be confirm again.



This is a new thing ,so not much in formation right now but you can check out for update on their web site: www.airmekong.vn

or the Call Centers:
04 - 37 188 199 (Hanoi)
08 - 38 463 666 (Ho Chi Minh City)



Air Mekong's Bombardier CRJ-900s painted with Sarus Crane, a mythic bird.(picture from Air Mekong)



The route map of Air Mekong.All are domestic flights only.

Beware of Golden Week holiday in China

By: EastCode travel news

Next week is not a nice time to visit China. Because on October the first is the day when the People's republic of China was found.

Even the latest estimation from China National Radio reports about 210 million tourists are expected to travel in China during the coming Golden Week holiday to celebrate the National Day.

Also the country's tourism industry continues to grow, the National Day holiday period in October is expected to be the busiest Golden Week in recent years, according to the China Tourism Academy.

The Shanghai Expo also will drive the tourism market and the western China's Xinjiang, Yunnan and Tibet will become popular for Chinese tourist during the autumn.

................................

In fact...not only the 210 millions tourist on the road heading somewhere in this period .Be expecting more ...like another 100 millions on the very same road heading home and the result can be compare like a half of the western European population suddenly travels around at the same time!

New Air linkage from Southern Laos to Phuket

By: Asian trip wayfarer


In the middile of This October(2010). Thai Air asia will open a new route from the paradise island of Phuket in the southern Thailand to Ubonratchathani (U-bon-rat-cha-tha-ni) province in the Northeastern part of the country.

This is a clever move . While Ubon is not quite famous as a tourist destination but the province of Ubonratchathani (TH: อุบลราชธานี) has many scenic sites and also a critical path for travelers in and out Southern Laos via Ubon-Pakse (Pakxe) route .

This means a traveler who just finished trip in the southern Laos can catch an international bus (aircon -200 baht) which runs twice a day between Ubon-Pakse and then get a plane fly directly to Phuket island . Bypassing the noisy Bangkok .


This will complement by another route already operational now. The route from Udonthani in the upper- Northeastern Thailand providing a really convenient choice of bypassing Thai capital totally. Also this route links by daily international bus connecting Udon province to Vientien (Viang Chan) , the capital of Laos .



The alphabet inn this billboard above is not Thai but Laos .I took this from Vientien on summer this year.


Also See some pictures I captured from the Air asia website :





current ubon route just to Bangkok. In the near future will expand to cover the Phuket route like in the following picture




Above: Udon to Phuket route

stairway to heaven (Vietnamese hotel experience)

by: Asian Trip wayfarer

A night at a Vietnamese guesthouse made us feel like living in a bell tower. In most hotels or guest house: the only way to your room is a steep stairway to heaven like you see in this picture. We have to climb up the stair with our heavy backpacks.

I'm a bit exaggerated here.The thing might not as bad as that but surely will give you an experience .

Always ask which floor ? If u goes for the cheaper choice ...the higher floors means you can bargain a bit more than the lower one.

And also remember in mind that will be the same stairway you will have to climb after got back late midnight and as drunk as a fish!

Hotels with Lift or elevator surely will cost you more on the room rate.

I found a saxophone made of wood

by: Boy Sabuy
pics: Sadoodta.com

I found a wooden saxophone made at Chiang Rai(เชียงราย) night bazaar. I feel a little bad that I can not play it by myself....

Try to walk to Chiang Rai night bazaar you may find it. And it is not expensive too. when compared with a normal saxophone and the sound also good.Look nice and sound lovely at the same time.

Vientien of Vieng chan ?

By Asian trip wayfarer


One tip on Laos trip:

Even though ,The capital written as Vientien but Laos themselves called it as "vieng - chan" or "Vieng - Jan" .Also Thai and Vietnamese call it almost the same way too.

Vientien survives in the English speaking world but that's name is just a French colonial name of a bygone era.

So ..next time you travel to Indochinese countries and ask people around about route and trip planning : better use "vieng - chan" or "Vieng - Jan". (sometime vieng spells as Viang)

You will also see they called it as Viangchan on the Google map following:




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Laos Airline food

by: Asian trip wayfarer

Nothing much on this ...just want show an example of meal services on Lao Airline.The Airline transformed much from an its old self of aging Soviet-era flying machines to a modern fleet of planes in just about 10 years. Quite remarkable indeed!



I took the flight from Vientien,the capital of Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam on March . That flight was in the Morning and the sandwich is fine but nothing special.On the cover of the in-flight meal package show a golden stupa of Vientien floating among the clouds.

Pork Satay - I like grilled

by: boy sabuy

Pork Satay is grilled Thai food ,adopted it from Malaysian and Indonesian 's origin.(In those two countries ,most satay are beef) The unique large common living in street food. You can buy a few Baht per piece Most sold as a set. favor eat with sauce to see in the picture. Came to Thailand must to try delicious.

The Thailand call it “moo sa tay” (หมูสะเต๊ะ).

Train! Be careful

by : boy sabuy

in Samutsongkhram (Sa Mut Song Khram - สมุทรสงคราม) province. Popular tourist photography. With excitement. During the train ran through the Mae-Klong station. And off from Mae-Klong station. The train will be ran through the middle of the market we will see people shop store store sunshade umbrella. As a way of life. For tourists, then this is exciting images.


 
in Thailand we call this place Ta-lad Rom-Hub (ตลาดร่มหุบ) , TA-LAD is mean Market , Rom-Hub is Folding umbrella



The idea is to introduce the 9:00 pm visit the market.

Customize your very own Pad Thai Noodle in Bangkok(Khao San Road)

by : boy sabuy

in Khao San Road,the biggest backpacker center in Bangkok,have many shopping Carts That sell Pad Thai at multi-points , you can bought and walking eat around this street food which is popular to eat both Thais and foreigners.


Several type of noodle to choose from. see in picture


You can select the seasoning by choose many sauces. Sugar, pepper, Fish sauce, nuts and etc.This is a part of Thai culture. Seasoning your own dish!


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Coolest motorbike in Vietnam

by: Asian trip wayfarer

This motorbike is really cool !


we might heared many stories told on Vietnamese motorbikes and bikers and their long various lists of accomplishment and world records but this should be the coolest one we found on the street of Hanoi ,Northern Vietnam .



Well..... Not just those chunks the back .The driver also got another big chunk of cold ice in the front between his legs too.

Vietnamese tips:

xe may = motorcycle motorbike

Boneo pitcher plants

by: Asian trip wayfarer

Pitcher plants are strange kind of plant that use a pod or deep cavity for trapping small insect ...so it's a bug eater plant ! This kind of pitcher plant in this photo can find around the Southeast Asia countries from Thailand, Laos down south to Malaysia and Indonesia.

Traveler who visit a big island of Borneo(or Kalimantan in Indonesian word) will found numerous encounters with this strange kind of plant ranging from as big as a small kettle to a size of a coke can and as small as a lighter. Some are looks so alien that u might never thought it's belong to this earth....



I took this photo in a jungle just outside Bario , a small town deep in Kelabit highland of Sarawak-Malaysia, the pitcher plant there is smaller than those found in Sabah, Malaysia.There is no road to bario . Only way to get in is by small rural service plane .

Below: Map of Borneo-Kalimantan

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Bike for rent in Vietnam

By Asian trip wayfarer

I took this photo in Sapa, Northern Vietnam. The sign said: Motorbike for rent . This is a typical sign in front of many Guest houses or hotels in backpacker 's area. You should carefully checking all conditions and functions before accept it.

The sign in Vietnamese (tieng Viet) said: Cho Thue Xe May which means ..for rent motorbike which is a bit strange because the Vietnamese wording should be : "xemay cho thue"

Some Vietnamese tips:

xe may = motorbike
cho = for
thue = rent

xe is the Vietnamese universal word for "car" . Dont be fool by the alphabet . This xe more sound like "sair" in the word "corsair" !

If you looking for a bicycle for rent instead...then ask for xe dap cho thue = bike for rent

Gold Elephant From chamber Praprang Wat Ratchaburana

by: Boy Sabuy

Some Things to see gold elephants dig from the Chamber of the Praprang Wat Ratchaburana at Ayuttaya it very interesting. Because it as treasure trove. Filled with gold Part missing as thieves and the rest were kept well at Chawsamphraya National Museum at Ayuttaya properties of these aesthetic Ayutthaya 15th century AD.



Chawsamphraya National Museum
Address : Rojana road,Tumbol Pratuchai Amphoe Phranakhon Si Ayuttaya,Phranakhon Si Ayuttaya 13000, THAILAND

Tel : Fax.:035 - 241587

Museum Hours : 09.00 am- 16.00 pm
Open: Wednesday - Sunday
Closed: Monday -Tuesday and National Holidays

Ampawa Floating market (ตลาดน้ำอัมพวา)- something to eat

by: boy sabuy
This Picture is Ampawa Floating market in Thailand , It is Amphawa (Samut Songkhram province). The subject of eating. Most popular tourist to come to know find anything to eat here On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays ... the market open only on Friday evening until Sunday only

I would recommend visit the boat life. In the Mae Klong River. It is very interesting. Amphawa Floating market far form Bangkok 80 kilometers away only.

Thank you picture from TAT Samut Songkhram

Road sign in Thailand

Thailand has bilingual road sign system - most of all written in Thai and English like those in the picture.Also the road condition is generally good all over the country and most are toll free . So any traveler can rent a car and drives around without local guide .

The signs here is on the road side in the northern Thai province of Lamphun (ลำพูน) . The "ph" is not stand for "f" but rather soft "p" .

More Thai Tuk Tuk

More thing about Thai Tuk Tuk .Thais labels it with "THAILAND" wording on the back of the car.also in this pic, you can see a propane or LPG -Liquefied petroleum gas tank under the vehicle clearly .

Safer for the environment. Is it safer for us. Dont be terrifed by the sight of it .Infact, The explosion of LPG gas tank is extremely rare .

Thai Tuk Tuk

Yesterday,I did show you a Khmer version and today a Thai one. Tuk tuk or a moto-tricycle on steriod are exists in various versions,each countries or even each city have there own unique way of style,some are just great and some are not so or even on a brink of madness for some too.

Thai Tuk Tuks (ตุ๊กตุ๊ก) are quite ok ,compact and powerful ,steady built and the vehicle is much more reliable than its own driver.

The down side is that the leg room is limit and the passenger is not quite in a sitting position, more like half sit- half lie down . another drawback is when u strucks on the road during a downpur, so much rains and waters keep on splashing inside even the driver managed to installed a protective plastic curtain.


An old Australian pilot said to me once that the Thai crazy Tuk Tuk ride is just like his experiences on a torpedo plane during the second world war !

" vroooohm....." he swears that exactly the flying feel "Now with a passing vehicles or when the tuktuk rush through a crowd market or alley ...then u got the Star War flying stunt"

A horse horse carriage no more

When u arrived in Siem Riep , the main tourist base city for visiting Angkor Wat , those vehicle driver will approach you fast . This is your Cambodian version of Tuk Tuk or Motor Tricycle . A French friend of mine once said it's just look like a remodel version of a small horse carriage with no horse and overdose it instead with a moto bike ! Well...that just simply look and feel like what she said.

You will need it for the Khmer stone temples visiting which can last for 1-3 days and could probably rent a full day service for around 15-20 us dollars ,depends on oil price and low/high season. Also how many people on it.

Anyway the price should negotiates on per car basis rather than per head .

Last ATM chance…

The green bank in this picture is situates just before the Thai-Cambodian border crossing point at Hat Lek (Thailand) / Poi Pet‎ (Cambodia) . This is just the last ATM machines chances you got on the Thai side and further 50 m. walks will leads you over the borderline into Cambodia .

The irony of this ATM machines is sometimes ran out of cash due to heavy demand from Thai gamblers who need cash in hand for their casino trip to Poi Pet which now days looked more and more like the Vegas in the making.

Thailand outlaw all gambling but the result of this strict policy can see in those casino complex mushrooming on the neighbor ‘s side.

Hat lek (หาดเล็ก) is the small village name in the district of Aranyaprathet (อรัญประเทศ)

Huai Kha Khaeng this rainy season

By Boy Sabuy
Huai kha khaeng (ห้วยขาแข้ง) this rainy season.

More moist and fresh air as possible....
We sniff out and smell the real jungle. Like this in the morning. Do not have a choke myself to wake up like in Bangkok.

It is because of good weather.... with a natural world heritage site and is Thailand's first World Heritage Site with Is also an abundance of forests. With vegetation. And many wild animals. Many beautiful birds flying together to delve cross out. ...

This feeling of youth camp. The Tourism Authority of Thailand took place more than 50 students from 11 institutions who come to learn the nature of one of the greatest. Forest West in Thailand

+++pics from Sadoodta.com

Not a Malaysian teapot!

What is it? Teapot?

You got yourself into a roadside Malay “Restoran” or Rastaurant in English , found a passable English menu and seem like the owner speaks some understandable English .
You feel safe and everything is on your term and under control …then you looking at this thing on the table .



Well…you might said : This is just a teapot . …Think again ..This is not an ordinary teapot like you thought and our tip here will be safe your face when travelling through Malaysia.

Taking a closer look at the picture below then you will see a curious difference from any typical teapot . Why this teapot need a base? Also that base is not the sources of heating.




Then you see another details : First, the base has some small holes and second, some rice grains left there .

Welcome to Asia ! Don’t ever try to drinks anything from this strange teapot because it’s not drinking teapot but a washing one !

Many people in Asia use hands, mostly the right hand, to enjoys their meals instead of spoon and fork or chopsticks . This teapot is just for wash hands after finished your meals . The water inside will rinsing through your hands down to the base and keeps collected there .

Oh! watch out for the tablecloth too!

Samart Muay Thai highlight

I found another interesting video on YouTube.

few muay Thai fighter has those potential in fighting on the ring as him, Samart Payakaroon(สามารถ พยัคฆอรุณ) is the one who can stop any opponent facing with style and deadly skill look almost unreal .

Especially The Matrix stlye when he facing and evading a storm of hits from the opponent.




Thai media calls him as ( เพชรฆาตหน้าหยก) which means a killer with a jade face from the fact that even in the brutality of Muay Thai boxing , despite fights after fights he fought along the way , no one really left a scar on his face or you can say literally only a few attack ever managed to land on his face . No scar and no boxer's nose .


This video clip of Samart is a tribute and quite popular among who interest in Muay Thai and Asian martial Arts . I once met a real boxer from US ...when he saw this clip ,his jaw just drop and stay that way till it's end....explain to me many thing aboutv boxing and muay Thai ....


I have to say that infact Samart can be better than this .....not quite discipline and always to skip trainning . Some time fought with no preparation . Imagine if what we saw is just a half of his real potential !

Samart's Muay Thai move

Rather than a long explanation , A video reveal a glimpse of the movement and style of Samart Payakarun, one of the best Muay Thai Fighter of all times.

This short video said took place at Mr. Saekson's Muay Thai gym ,another former champion who found a muay Thai gym in Plano, TX .

The voice you heard is the real voice of Samart who said at the begining that ....Legs has to keep separates not close and you can swirl around ......then he talk something about Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay ) movement .....and finally he said with the smooth and quick movement u can send a hit to your opponent easily....


Thanks for the guy who post this video . A historic moment of the great fighter.

website of Saekson Gym in Texas is here:

http://www.saekson.com

Tasty Thai buffalo wing -Street food

These chicken wings are main dish on many streetside shops in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand. Never try it means you not really in Thailand.


Thais soaked the wings with soy sauce or fish sauce and some other ingredients like garlic or peper ,marinates for an hour or more ,then grill it on fire along street's footpath .The by-product of this dish is a plume of smog or foggy-smelly smoke rising up on the sidewalk.

Well.....this is one of the crazy dish in Bangkok.Welcome yourself with one of these when you were there.This food is not means for westernner ,just for ordinary thai people so this is not a tourist thing.


Most shop that sell it are Northeastern food shop or E-sarn food shop.You may tried thai food in the past in your own country but I have to say those Thai restaurant around the world mostly sell Thai central food (Just a central thai cusine) .While in Thailand we have other cusine as well: Northern,Southern and Northeastern .We will talk about those cusine later.



ปีก - Peek means = wing

ไก่ - Gai means = chicken

Then ปีกไก่ - Peek-Gai = Chicken wings

ปิ้ง - Ping means = Grilled



A good news is the menu is not hot . Unless you put in an accompany black-and-smell chili concentrated sauce(or jaew - แจ่ว in Thai.)