TravelStream™ news feed for member soidog on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/soidog en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:00:56 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181886720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181886720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181886720/tpod.html Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:00:56 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Vang vieng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

About an hour's drive north of Vientiane through rice3 fields and then mountains with quaint little villages consisting of houses on stilts and close to the town of Vang Vieng is the last thing on earth that one would expect to find there. Way up there, nestled in mountaintops carpeted with dense rainforest, is a casino, a hotel, a golf course, and several excellent restaurants and bars. It's called Dansavanh which I am told is Lao for Heaven's Gate. It was put there by Thai investors who presumably subscribe to Thai economic theory. This theory holds as follows: Marketing and sales forecasts are for sissies. Just go ahead and build the sucker and let's see what evolves.

What evolved was that two very determined tourists from Cha-am came all the way up lugging golf bags and after a few dead-ends, actually found this place thinking at first that they had stumbled upon a forgotten fairytale castle.

We walked up the stairs to the giant cavernous clubhouse. There were a couple of pretty young ladies at the helm but no golfers were to be seen. The green fee was 600 baht earh. She wanted Thai Bahts. Of course. Who is going to complain about currency when it's this cheap. Out we went to hole number one and two more pretty young ladies showed up. They were our caddies. So there we were. Four people all alone in a giant 18-hole golf course surrounded by mountains and dense (I mean dense!) rainforest and majestic mountains.

How mountainous is it? The very first tee, hole number one, is a daunting thing. In front of you is a giant mountain and your tee lands on the side of this mountain and everything is so big that your drive looks like a squirrel pissing. We climbed that mountain to our balls and over to the right further up the mountain and backed by jungle was a long and narrow green. I made it to that green feeling proud. Two-on and putting for birdie. Wow. But wait, there is more.
(more to come)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181399700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181399700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181399700/tpod.html Sat, 09 Jun 2007 10:47:11 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

When more than 100,000 lowland and upland Lao, including General Vang Pao and his army, sought refuge in Thailand in the '70s and were then re-settled in Western countries, there was in fact a very pronounced "pull factor" at work that caused a further exodus much bigger than the first. The second wave of Lao refugees were leaving not so much because they were being "pushed" out by adverse conditions at home, as the original refugees had been, but pulled by the lure of "placement" in America. Thailand was, by dint of geography, caught in the middle of this mass migration nightmare and does not wish to go through that experience again.

Although Thailand's unwillingness to involve UNHCR, or to allow another round of "placement" in the West may be understood in this context, the Thai authorities might wish to consider that the circumstances have changed dramatically since the '70s mostly as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

First, conditions in Laos have improved socially, politically, and economically and the insurgency appears to be over, the last remnants having surrendered some years ago. The flight syndrome of the '70s no longer exists in Laos. Second, the Lao government is being bankrolled not by the Soviets as they were back then, but by Western donors and international aid agencies and that allows the West to exercise a certain degree of leverage over the LPRP. Third, since 2002, there has been an agreement in place between the Lao and Thai governments that has pretty much removed all barriers for Lao citizens to enter and to work in the land of "bright lights", as Thailand appears from the other side of the Mekong.

Thailand's tough stance on the Hmong issue seems weirdly incongruent under these new conditions. A compassionate and humane policy might foster a simple program to identify the criminals among the Hmong and to deal with them as appropriate. The rest of these people are Lao citizens who are allowed to enter Thailand as they wish and to work here as tens of thousands of their compatriots do. They do not belong in refugee camps.

They might even be allowed to receive POC cards and re-settle in the West. The pull factor now is too weak to fear and it cannot exist at all if there is no refugee camp and no refugee camp is necessary under the 2002 agreement. The humane solution would be good for the Hmong, good for Thailand, and good for Laos as well.

Soidog
June 2007
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181380320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181380320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181380320/tpod.html Sat, 09 Jun 2007 10:44:49 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

here is the secret to flying business class on the cheap on thai airways. buy an economy ticket and go to the business class counter to check in. ask for a "standby upgrade". pay 2000 baht. fly business class. life is good and the living is easy.

the vientiane airport is almost exactly like the bus station in genting malaysia. same size, same setup, same type of shops, except here the buses fly. the man from the hotel was there to pick us up and one of the taxi drivers came over to help us load our golf bags. then he said that his name was tho and he would like to take us to the golf course. ok we said and made a deal.

strolled down a soi looking for a restaurant late in the evening. found an indian restaurant that served tandoori, vindaloo, nan bread, and even murag pulao. i scored a chicken tikka masala. boy was it spicy. thank god for ice cold beer lao. beer lao is the best beer in asia hands down going away. i never buy tourist t-shirts but i got myself a beer lao shirt.

five men who looked indian were having an animated conversation in the next table. they were talking about world affairs. i gathered that they were muslims. here is what i remember hearing.

1. The 9/11 terrorism attack on America was an anti-Muslim CIA plot to discredit Muslims.
2. The Shia - Sunni schism is an anti-Muslim CIA plot to cause Muslims to self-destruct.
3. The rise of Islamism in Turkey is an anti-Muslim CIA plot to prevent Turkey from entering the EU.
4. The rise of Islamism in Turkey is an anti-Muslim CIA plot to give America an excuse to invade Turkey.
5. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq was an anti-Muslim CIA plot to give America an excuse to invade Iraq.
6. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq was an anti-Muslim CIA plot to give the Americans the opportunity to set up military bases in Kuwait.
7. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan was an anti-Muslim CIA plot to give America an excuse to invade Afghanistan.
8. The availability of Uranium enrichment technology in Iran is an anti-Muslim CIA plot to give America an excuse to invade Iran.
9. The invasion of Iraq is the first stage of a grand design by the Americans to colonize the Middle East.
10. The military coup that brought Musharraf to power in Pakistan was a CIA plot to create a pliant client state in the region.

hmmmmmm. verrrry eeenterrresting.....

nice cool evening along the mighty mekong tonight. pencil feels free to hold my hand in public over here although she would never do that in thailand. weird, no?
goodnight for now.
more tomorrow.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181174160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181174160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1181174160/tpod.html Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:39:22 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Bangkok, Thailand

First it was an oddity, and then the oddity became a visible trickle. Soon thereafter, the trickle went mainstream. It is now a river. And so, these days, one finds no shortage of Thai university co-eds who are willing to have sex with rich strangers as a way of financing their education and lifestyle. They have an asset and they feel that they should be able to monetize that asset in order to invest in their future. It's not easy to take the opposing position in this debate. In patriarchal societies, women's access to wealth involves the reproductive function one way or another, whether it is marriage, dowry, concubinage, or prostitution. In matriarchal societies, as in certain parts of qinghai province in china, these gender roles are reveresed. Up there the women own the land and the means of production. Men access the wealth of the land by providing reproduction services.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179893760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179893760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179893760/tpod.html Sun, 27 May 2007 22:44:58 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Chiang rai, Thailand

a short hop from bangkok on thai airways brings you to the delightfully small and elegant airport at chiang rai, up in northern thailand where it is mountainous and beautiful and where burma, laos, and china are but a stone throw away across the mighty mekong. the smartly dressed limo man from the dusit island resort was standing at attention holding a sign with my name on it and soon i was whisked away and comfortably ensconced in my room with a view of the river and the wilderness beyond with majestic mountains as a backdrop. it wowed me.

i went for a discovery walk on the hotel grounds and found the swimming pool (wow), the river bank (wow) and the tennis courts. once a wow and gone to hell through sheer neglect. why someone would invest in a world class tennis facility and then just let it rot shall remain a mystery, i suppose. one of the courts now serve as a motorcycle parking lot one of the nets serves as a clothesline. hmmmm.....

then i went for a discovery walk over the bridge and into downtown chiang rai and it seemed chock full of restaurants and street side vendors of all description. the chinese character of the market is very evident. i found a car rental shop run by a young husband and wife team. the wife is the manager and the husband is the gofer, she flirting and he simmering, and soon i was driving away in a beautiful new nissan sunny, dirt cheap at just 700 baht per day.

stopped at a local store to stock up on cheap beer and wine so that i would not have to pay the astronomical prices in the hotel minibar. for example, i paid 20 baht per can for chang beer instead of 120. ok, so i'm a cheap bastard but if they had not been so greedy i would have paid the premium for the convenience but the markup was absurd.

packed a beer and some dim sum and other snacks i had picked up at the market and went for a sunset river boat ride. all i saw along the river was wilderness and we are right in the middle of a town. wow.

the next morning the concierge booked tee time for me at the santiburi golf club and a small chinese man in an elaborate native costume of some kind insisted on carrying my golf bag to my car so i had to tip him of course but i was not a cheap bastard.

very pretty and friendly lasses welcomed me to the tiny pro shop in the massive clubhouse 90% of which is a bar and restaurant. these guys have their heads screwed on right. i had to debate them a little bit to get my dusit golf package discount but she eventually went for it and with a lovely smile to boot and so my fat, ugly, and incompetent caddie and i trudged out to the first tee.

there are four tees at santiburi, gold for pros, blue for regular, while for old folks, and red for ladies. i should have gone to the white but was too macho to do so.

hole number 1: 522 yards: par 5
so right away we have a long par 5. anything more than 500 is long for me. it's a long and winding road. at the tee there is a slight dogleg left with giant bunkers guarding the knee. and then finally there is a dogleg right to the greeen with about 5 greenside bunkers. my drive stayed on the fairway narrowly missing the fairway bunker and then a nice and easy 3-wood, and a 100-yar sand wedge, i was on and putting for birdie but sailed past the hole twice and salvaged a bogie. ok, so now i know how fast these greens are. the incompetent caddie was fielding a phone call on her cellphone and was not avaialble to help me out with the putts but you have to tip them the same anyway. why do they even call it a tip? it's like the 15% restaurant tips in the usa. you owe them the 15% and then some and it's the then some part that is really the tip. ok, sorry, i'm off the soap box now.

hole number 2: 373 yards, par 4
this is a very serious dogleg left with water water everywhere. the designer of this course is a leg man, i mean a dogleg man. there is a creek in front and watery graves all along the left. if you're a puller and you draw, you're dead. right in front of you at the tee there is a fairway bunker on the left side and the fairway turns sharply to the left right after than bunker. i got brave and aimed for that bunker and took a nice and easy lady-swing shot over it. voila! just like that i was on the fairway facing the green about 140 yards to go that my 8-iron played like a dream. the incompetent caddie came in pretty handy here convincing me that the putt was flat although it looked like a downhill deal. it was flat. tap in for a par. thank you, caddie, i promise to stop calling you incompetent.

hole number 3: 186 yards, par 3
it's a long par 3 with water and bunkers on the left so the right side is safe. i went for the right side and landed near the green but not on it. chipped on a little too far from the pin and 2-putts for bogie. just happy to escape the water. now on to number 4.

hole number 4: 358 yards, par 4
it's a long walk from the green to the next tee in some of these holes. i get the feeling that they really want you to rent a buggy. that lake that was all along the left on number 2 is now all along the right on number 4 and a death trap for slicers which i am not. it's a long way to the fairway so you need a pretty good drive just to reach it. there is a fairway bunker but it is a little too far and so was not in play. i made the fairway and a nice and easy 9-iron that should have been on the green flew inexplicably long and then dug itself into a muddy grave in the rough. i took a close look at the 9-iron that my caddie had given me and it was the 8-iron. the incompetent caddie apologized saying that she did not think that the 9-iron was a good choice, but it was not enough. i still hated her. oh well. those are the breaks. chip on and 2-putt for bogie. bogie again?

hole number 5: 333 yards, par 4
it's quite a ways to the fairway but once you get there it's pretty much a freeway to the green with all kinds of bunkers that aren't really in play. for my second shot i asked for a sand wedge but got the pitching iron. i gave it back to her and demanded the sand wedge. she gave me the sand wedge but made it known that she did not like my fucking attitude. the hell of it is that at the end of the round i actually have to tip her just the same as i would a really great caddie. a great sandwedge shot and a great putting line given to me by my otherwise incompetent caddie made it 2-on and 2-putt for par just like the pros. life is a peach. i found my thrill, on blueberry hill, on blueberry hill, when i found you.

hole number 6: 544 yards, par 5
wow, what a monster. it says 544 yards but plays like 600 yards. it's actually two par-4 fairways separated by a creek. another creek separates the first fairway from the tee. wow, what a monster. accuracy is very important at the tee. i used the 5-wood which for some reason i can hit down a wire and landed on the first fairway. then the 5-wood again over the second creek on to second fairway just barely over the creek. then the 5-wood again up toward the kidney-shaped elevated green guarded by a million deep bunkers. i made it to one of those bunkers. 4-on and 3-putt for double bogie. this hole was torture. why do they do this to us? i play this stupid game for fun. the incompetent caddie has decided that i am a moron because i did not use the driver at the tee. little does she know that she is the real moron here.

hole number 7: 177 yards par 3
in front of the green is a little bit of fairway smaller than the green and al around the green are four or five bunkers, deep rough, and forest. i used the 4-iron and fell on the little fairway and rolled up to the edge of the green. a nice chipand a solid putt. "nice par" said the moron. "thank you" said i.

hole number 8: 338 yards, par 4
there is a big fat kidney shaped fairway far far from the tee with two fairway bunkers on the left and water all along the right. don't slice pelase, appears to be the message here from the course designer. i made it to the fairway on a straight drive with precision instead of distance being the motive, then a nice little finesse pitching wedge that sent the ball way up into the air and down onto the green. almost a birdie. tap in for par. "nice par". "thank you, miss moron".

hole number 9: 408 yards, par 4
the water hazard that was along the right side of fairway 8 is now along the left from the tee to where the fairway begins. don't pull or draw. there are no fairway bunkers. there is one big greenside bunker on the left. i took it easy telling myself that 3-on would be fine here but an amazing 5-wood put me on the green in two. badly misjudged the slope on my first putt. the moron did not find it necessary to warn me about the steepness of the slope. 3 putts. bogie.

clubhouse
back in the clubhouse, i had graphrao moo rath khao khai dao for lunch with a large bottle of beer. miss gorgeous from the pro-shop drifted by with one of those amazing thailand smiles. she is so beautiful she could have been a model or a movie star or something. what in the hell is she doing in this stupid job? i met up with a golfing family from india and they asked me to join them for the bottom nine. i think i did and i think i had fun but i don't remember as they insisted in buying me a few beers first. i think we played 20 baht per hole and i think i lost a lot of money that afternoon. those guys were good. they had that swing that says "i took golf lessons until my father went broke". i could say that about tennis but it didn't do me much good.

anyway, here is my scorecard for the bottom nine.
hole 10, 364 yards, par 4, triple bogie
(and right away, a little chat with my new buddies. conversations are fine between green and tee but not between tee and green, ok? ok, they agreed.)
hole 11, 335 yards, par 4, par
hole 12, 142 yards, par 3, bogie
hole 13, 492 yards, par 5, par
hole 14, 371 yards, par 4, bogie
hole 15, 401 yards, par 4, bogie
hole 16, 435 yards, par 4, bogie
hole 17, 130 yards, par 3, par
hole 18, 525 yards, par 5, par
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1180276080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1180276080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1180276080/tpod.html Sun, 27 May 2007 10:56:46 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Cha-am, Thailand

it was a fine afternoon.
a bit high on the humidity side but not too hot.
there were clouds for shade.
in the bangkok post there were letters to the editor from falangs.
they said they loved it here and were really trying hard to fit into the culture.
i went to isaan choclec for lunch and myaow was cooking and she made me a tofu lunch.
it was pretty good. i washed it down with a large bottle of heineken.
gary and i were going to play at sawang resort but gary could not make it.
so i headed out alone for palm hills.
now very cloudy and cool.
the starter sent me to hole number 10
403 yards, par 4
i used my new swing and the ball sliced up the mountain and into the forest.
a brand new bridgestone ball called "reygrande"
50 baht down the drain just like that.
ok, one more ball and back to my old grip and the old swing i know
straight down the middle of the fairway.
chipped on and 3-putt for double bogie.
oh well.....
on to hole number 11
146 yards par 3
straight up a mountain with a rocky creek in front for distraction
landed in the middle of the green and stayed there
2 putts for par
ok, now we're cooking
while walking to the number 12 tee it started to rain
by the time we got there it was raining pretty good.
i stood there for a while waiting for the rain to stop
until i realized that the rain was getting heavier
and there was rolling thunder
also, it was getting darker and darker
i remembered the wise words of elvis presley
it's now or never, i said, and walked out to the tee
528 yards par 5
drove out to the fairway bunker on the right at the dogleg joint
then in driving rain, a great 8-iron out to the fairway facing the green up the hill
the 4-iron was too much and i landed on the other side of the green in the rough but close to the pin. a nice chip and one putt. par. yeehaaa!!!
number 13 is a 364-yard par 4
my second shot landed left of the green but missed the deep bunker placed there
3-on and 2-putts for bogie
the rain appears to be letting up
hole number 14 is 342 yards, par 4
a creek crosses the fairway at about 200 yards
i used the 5-wood and landed in the middle of the fairway in front of the green just this side of the creek but my second shot went awry into the greenside bunker on the left. 3-on and 1-putt for par.
the rain is picking up.
there is thunder.
first rolling thunder.
then thunder claps.
my caddie is turning pale with fright.
she says a caddie was struck by lightning in a golf course nearby.
i told her we would take shelter at the next bar.
hole number 15, 151 yards, par 3
now raining pretty good.
i am soaking wet
the clouds are thick and dark and the thunders are getting loud
i am soaking wet from head to toe
i pulled my 7-iron to the left greenside bunker
2-on and 2-putt for bogie
the rain begins to come down in buckets
also cats and dogs
we run to the bar
i ordered a kloster beer and made friends with an aussie couple from brisbane who live in dubai and who are here on a golf holiday. they are flying back to dubai tonight. the airport limo picks them up at 6pm and so they have to go back to the clubhouse as soon as they can and call it quits. we had a great time together in our little cocktail party. outside it was a full blown monsoon with thunder and lightning and just buckets and buckets of rain. the roads turned into rivers. in about an hour or so the rain let up a bit and the thunder and lightining show was over. the hoskings left for the hilton and i trudged out to number 16
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179624600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179624600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179624600/tpod.html Mon, 21 May 2007 01:04:15 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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NST, Thailand

police officer khun phan was overcome by the high crime rate in his city. one night he had a dream. In his dream he was visited by the ancient ruler of the srivijaya kingdom. nst is geographically located where the good king had ruled. the king told the cop that nst was cursed and that is why the town was plagued with crime. he offered a solution. he ordered the cop to make a good luck charm bearing the likeness of the two deities whose images may be found near the stairs in the Maha That temple. the good luck charms were to be made with materials that he specified. the next day khun phan went to the temple and relayed his dream to the abbot and these amulets were made. the crime rate has gone down. for one thing, the drug dealers have discovered that trade in these amulets is more profitable than trade in drugs. strange are the ways of the lord. conclusion: east is east and the west is west and the twain shall never meet.

------
ps: i am sorry but i can't get the map pin to move to nst. like me, it does not want to move from cha-am. i don't really blame it. cha-am is a fine place to be.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179106680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179106680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1179106680/tpod.html Mon, 14 May 2007 12:11:23 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Cha-am, Thailand

at about 0630 am this morning, when i was awakened by the sound of the bangkok post hitting my porch, i went out to the little soi store for some soymilk for breakfast and while i was there billy walked in and without a word went straight to the beer cooler, grabbed a large bottle of chang beer and walked straight back to his house.

this is his first bottle of the day. there will be many more before the day is through. chang beer contains 6.4% alcohol and many claim that the alcohol content is actually higher. you can get a good buzz from that beer. it's an addicting buzz. i kind of like that buzz myself but for some there is no escape from the addiction because part of effect of that buzz is a hunger for more chang beer.

billy is slowly sinking away as others have before him. mark is in the hospital with liver disease wasting away even as leroy had done before him and robert before that. there were others. i went with leroy to robert's funeral and with mark to leroy's funeral. where does it end?

if you've worked hard all your life way up there in the cold countries and then you retire where it's warm all the time and you have nothing to do but to sit in the shade and enjoy the warmth, it's hard not to sip cold beer chang as a way of passing the time and socializing with your buddies. it's quite a lovely way of passing your time, i agree, but if you can't find the limit then the limit will find you.

i might have been in the very same fix if it were not for the fact that tennis and golf add a certain degree of structure to my day. pencil adds a beacon of light to the real world where people work for a living, try to get ahead in life, and try very hard to stay alive as long as possible no matter what.

i am trying to help billy as i had tried to help mark and leroy but it is not easy to deal with the simple finality of "fuck off and leave me alone". i am not sure that losing the will to live is more insane than the insane desire to stay alive at all cost.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1178741160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1178741160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1178741160/tpod.html Sun, 13 May 2007 07:43:01 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Cha-am, Thailand

The hottest thing in Thailand these days is a supposedly Buddhist good-luck-charm pendant called Jatukam that comes in at least four models called "Super Rich", "Super Millionaire", "Immediately Rich", and "Money Flowing In". In addition to money, the devotee is promised superman-like invulnerability to traffic accidents. You may line up at the temple at Nakhon Si Thammarat to buy one for 100 baht [about US$3] or so or you may buy them from dealers for thousands of baht but you will need a little bit of luck just to buy luck because demand exceeds supply at the moment by an order of magnitude. There is no better business than religion these days in Thailand and it has gotten the intellectuals to wonder whether the Jatukam is religion, superstition or scam, although one may argue that there is little that separates these three seemingly diverse areas of human endeavor.

Soidog
Thailand
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1177512060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1177512060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/soidog/lifeinthailand/1177512060/tpod.html Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:28:38 -0400 Boring, mundane, same-same events in the life of a retired college professor in a small beach town in Thailand

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Cha-am, Thailand

if you live in a supposedly quiet soi in thailand and you don't want cars and motorcycles to speed through your children and dogs at play, you might be tempted to install speed bumps. there is a problem in this line of thought, however. it is called "the speed bump paradox". when you put in speed bumps, they actually drive faster than before between bumps to make up for the time lost in going over your stupid bumps. you are better off without bumps.
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