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The Dollhouse A Go-Go on Walking Street closed its lights on January 24th, 2013.
If the venue should reopen at an other address you will read it on this page.

In its leaflet, valid from January 3rd to January 29th 2013, Tesco/Lotus announces a promotion for the Nikon 1-J1 camera. Tesco/Lotus claims that the camera is built around a 20-megapixel sensor. That's wrong! Nikon never built this camera with a 20-megapixel sensor. The Nikon 1-J1 uses a 10-megapixel sensor 'only'! Last year Nikon replaced the Nikon 1-J1 by the Nikon 1-J2. A Nikon 1-J3 will hit the shops during February 2013. It features a larger 14.2 megapixel CX-format CMOS image sensor and a slightly longer range 10-30mm zoom lens.

There is an Apartment House in Naklua that was popular among Farangs for many years. It provided nice rooms fitted with furniture, TV, refrigerator and warm & cold water for 4'500 Baht/month. The monthly rate even included the free use of a clean swimming pool. On October 2012 the dream from a very reasonably priced long-stay in Pattaya ended abruptly. The management told its tenants that starting from November 2012 they have to pay 8'500 Baht/month. But this wasn't the end of the nightmare: At the beginning of December 2012 the management contacted its occupants again. It told them that from January 2013 the price of the rooms will be calculated on a daily basis: 850 Baht/day. Longterm costumers will get a special discount and will have to pay 750 Baht/night only. (25'500 Baht/month respectively 22'500 Baht/month!) The lovely management announced no renovation of the rooms or the house, but informed its clients that they made a long-term contract with a tour agency from Russia. During a recent meeting between Thai and Russian officials and tour operators, the embassy counselor informed Pattaya's officials about Pattaya's increasingly negative image in Russia. Russian's Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturism) also mentioned the disparity in the prices charged to Thais and Russians. But obviously Russian tour operators are boosting Pattaya's Inflation Rate themself! With the high commission they collect they raise the prices of the rooms and all the other goods and services.

Since December 2nd 2012 Naklua celebrated its Walk & Eat Weekend Night Market. The popular Night Market opened every Saturday and Sunday until January 20th 2013 from 16:00 until 22:00 and presented performances from local bands, Pattaya students and Thai (Country) Celebrities. See you again - December 2013!

The Sai Kaew Resort is located on Soi Chaiyapruek 3 in Jomtien.

The rooms are built into nice small bungalows: We payed 240 Baht to use one of them for some healthy short-time exercises.

We slightly moved the only 150cm wide mattress first to check the quality of the bed. It's made from concrete and decorated with ceramics. No wood, no noise.

Each room provides a small corner sitting area for a tête-à-tête or for your clothes.

January 11th 2013: A mother forced her 13-year-old daughter to marry a 34-year-old man in Lop Buri. The man came into the girls room and forced her to have sex with him. When she told the incident her parents, they offered her as his bride for 2'000 Baht. When the police questioned the man, his parents, and the victim's parents, the man and his relatives protested that he had done nothing wrong. They told the Police that there were other men in the village who had married and lived with girls who were 12 or 13 years old. Thailand has a law protecting children below the age of 15 to get married.

January 14th 2013: Thailand's Immigration Police announced that it will crack down on transnational criminals this year. The Immigration Bureau says hotels are popular targets among thieves from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Guatemala. They often steal valuables from elderly and female hotel guests, from homes and jewellery shops. Other transnational criminals are from Africa, from Iran and Iraq. These criminals are involved in the drug trade. The Iranian and Iraqi suspects often smuggle crystal methamphetamines into Thailand from Afghanistan. Criminals from South Asia are often involved in document and passport forgery. Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong nationals are involved in telephone scams which fool Thais in transferring money to them. Mafia-style crimes are commited by criminals from Japan and South Korea. They are collecting protection fees from Japanese and Korean businessmen in Thailand. Russians are running prostitution rackets in major tourism provinces. Criminals from Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania are often involved in forging credit cards. Filipinos, Indonesians and Vietnameses are involved in crooked business investments and gambling, they also work illegally as restaurant staff, singers and language teachers. And last but not least the criminals from Europe and America: With their knowledge of advanced technologies, they hatch computer-related crimes.

January 19th 2013: Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has admitted some of his soldiers in the far South are involved in trafficking Rohingya migrants into Thailand before sending them to work in Malaysia. His statement came after a police investigation in Songkhla province pointed to some army officers and local politicians allegedly connected with Rohingya trafficking. Military trucks sometimes were used to transport the Rohingya migrants. Army officers from the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) are alleged to be involved in the smuggling...

January 24th 2013: A Bangkok taxi driver has been detained for allegedly raping a Myanmarese passenger in Don Muang district - only six months after he was released early from jail for a similar offence. The suspect was convicted of rape in 2008 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He received a royal pardon and was released six months ago after serving four years only behind bars.

A few weeks ago JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) published a survey saying that severely obese does not cut life expectancy, in contrary it even can extend life expectancy. The researchers at the US National Centre for Health Statistics looked at 97 studies involving nearly 2.9 million people to compare death rates with Body Mass Index (BMI). The study said 'overweight was associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality'. As expected, the study has caused controversy among obesity experts. One expert labelled the findings a 'pile of rubbish'. I'm very sorry, but all these expert forget that the widely used Body Mass Index is rubbish itself: BMI numbers are wrong for body builders, certain athletes and pregnant women, patients with anorexia nervosa. BMI cannot be applied to children, it also shows false result when adults are shorter than 150 cm, or taller than 190 cm. And last but not least: If an Indian, an Asian and a European have the same BMI, the Indian and the Asian may be found to have greater amount of body fat than the European. Don't use the Body Mass Index. It's rubbish! But be assured: The BMI will be replaced in a few years by a new stupidity!

Almost all hair conditioners contain positively charged molecules called cationic surfactants. The positively charged surfactants in hair conditioner are attracted to the negative charges in your hair, and do not rinse out completely with water. All surfactants comprise an 'oily part' and a 'watery part'. The watery part - called the hydrophile - is what sticks to the hair; it contains the positive charge. The oily part - called the hydrophobe - is what gives the surfactant its conditioning ability, as it smooths the hair and gives it weight. Unfortunately the oily hydrophobes not only smooth the hair, they also 'smooths' the ceramics in (Thailand's) shower rooms. they make them slippery. Slippery ceramics make the showerrooms the most dangerous places in any house, flat or hotel room, not only in Thailand, but all over the world. Eminent falls and slips in showerrooms (and bathrooms) are one of the leading causes of accidental deaths. Be careful!

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Is was? (what's on?)
Murphy's Law: Usually the tasty restaurant is open, but when I am hungry then it's closed!

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Thailand's school year finishes either at the end of February or during the first week in March.