Big Boy and his little toys

In the subway on Monday evening, saw this big teenage boy walking with his big black bag on his back full of toy keychains hanging around with some aliens, monsters, dolls, and the guy was in his own happy world. Pretty fashionable guy, with his hair permed blonde, orange t-shirt, 3/4 denim pants.

Teenage boys seems to love little toys these days. Many prefer going in for tattoos, earrings, and all kinds of facial rings. They're all moving far away from the boxing rings and more towards being metrosexual.

Thailand censors the entire blogspot.com domain

After blocking all of YouTube earlier this year, it would appear that the Thai government is now blocking the entire blogspot.com domain.



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Thailand to punish proxy users

A new law has been passed in Thailand aimed at punishing those that dare hide their I.P. address from big brother..BEWARE



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A-Ha Coffee, that's the way (aha aha) I like it

Been drinking this A-Ha brand coffee this entire week! It's a cappuccino + chocolate ready to drink cold coffee (200ml) which is quite tasty, I used to drink it months ago and stopped, and now I'm back at it once again. It's available at every 7-Eleven store! This one tastes unique.

Somebody please take them off the shelves so that I stop buying them, they're just irresistible!

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix premieres in June 2007

The fifth Harry Potter film will have a world premiere in Japan on June 28, just months after Spider-Man 3 marked an international movie debut in Tokyo.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the broomstick-flying Harry Potter is slated to attend the Tokyo event, which is scheduled ahead of the movie`s London showing on July 3.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the latest installment in a series that began in 2001 with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer`s Stone.

The four previous Harry Potter movies, based on J.K. Rowling`s books, have grossed more than $US3.5 billion worldwide.

The Tokyo premiere last month of another highly anticipated sequel, Spider-Man 3, was seen as a shrewd push into the faster-growing international market that could help boost box-office revenues.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, directed by David Yates, will have its London premiere July 3. The film franchise is based on the bestselling novels by J.K. Rowling.

The movie is scheduled for release in the U.S. on July 13, and will open to general audiences in Japan on July 21.

The seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will go on sale on July 21, but it is not clear when the film version will be made.

Bangkok Hot Dogs

It's pretty hot out there at noon, even the dogs prefer to remain indoors. Do you notice their sleeping pose... Some kind of synchronized sleeping?

Just some of the Bangkok street dogs I encounter in my daily life. You can see more Bangkok street dogs at Bangkok Street Dogs by Casanova

Bangkok Earthquake!

A moderate earthquake hits the Thai capital and the northern provinces on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Meteorological Department.

The quake, estimated at 5.7-magnitude, occurred at the Burma-Lao border, which is 57 kilometres away from Chiang Rai, at 3.57 p.m., National Disaster Warning Centre director Smith Dharmasarojana.

Bangkok experienced tremors from earthquake, sending many people running in panic out of many tall buildings in downtown areas. The quake could be felt on skyscrappers in Bangkok. There are reports of tremors around Silom, Sukhumvit, and Sathorn area, which are business areas in the capital and also around Phayatai and Vipavadi.

The US survey said the quake was recorded at a depth of 33 kilometres in a region that is also close to the borders with China.

Nok Air flies to India as it's first global destination

Thailand’s low-fare airline Nok Air chooses India’s IT capital as its first global destination. The Thai no-frill airline, which has a 28% market share at home, is expanding into India to increase utilisation of its existing seven aircraft and boost revenues. The airline will launch daily flights from Bangalore to Bangkok from June 1 on Boeing 737-400 with a capacity of 150 seats. India scored over other attractive Asian destinations thanks to its air traffic potential and open regime. Today, the air traffic between India and Thailand is growing at the fastest rate - at a whopping 20-30% annually. With promotional fare starting from Rs 9999 for a round trip, the airline would require a 70% load factor to breakeven.



Nok Air has tied up with international brands like Bebe, Replay, Bossini, Nike and others to offer special discounts to its flyers. Nok Air, which has landing rights for Chennai, Hyderabad and New Delhi (besides Bangalore), has earmarked Rs 20-30 crore for marketing and promotion. The carrier has roped in Bird Group for marketing and distribution in India.

The Thai Airways’ low-cost arm, which began operations in 2004 with an investment of Rs 500 crore (500 million Baht), has broken even in the domestic market and recorded a 400% jump in its profit to Rs 160 crore (160 million Baht) in 2006 from Rs 41 crore (41 million Baht) in 2005.

Thanyarasmi Siraphatphakorn, Miss Tiffany Universe 2007

Thanyarasmi Siraphatphakorn, A 21-year-old student and aspiring social worker was named Thailand's most beautiful transsexual late Friday, in a pageant bursting with glitter and sequins that has become a national spectacle.
In a nation obsessed with beauty pageants and renowned for its sexual tolerance, the Miss Tiffany Universe competition is taken every bit as seriously as more traditional pageants here.

      © 2007 AFP - Saeed Khan

Wearing a white beaded evening gown, Thanyarasmi Siraphatphakorn won the crown in the early hours of Saturday after a glittering competition that was broadcast on national television.

Known locally as "kathoey," or the third gender, Thai transsexuals have slowly been leaving cabarets for mainstream success in music or other pursuits, helped in part by the popularity of the Miss Tiffany contest.

"I am so happy to win the title. This is the biggest dream of every kathoey," Thanyarasmi told reporters after winning the tiara, a 100,000 baht (2,900 dollar) cash prize, and a new Mercedes Benz.

The winners of the Miss Tiffany pageant, now in its 10th year, are often showered with entertainment deals, but Thanyarasmi said she wanted to return to the impoverished Issan region where she grew up to become a social worker.

"I want to become a social worker. Many people, particularly in Issan, do not have many opportunities, so they need help from teachers and social workers to improve their lives," she said.

The contestants compete in evening gowns and cocktail dresses, while other kathoey performers danced in garters, fishnets and feathered head-dresses.

Judges also made a nod to Thailand's political turmoil, using the question and answer segment to quiz the contestants about their hopes for the constitution currently being drafted by a military-appointed panel.

Many contestants said they hoped the new charter would for the first time guarantee legal protections for gays, or that a kathoey politician would emerge to join in the process.

Seri Wongmonta, a prominent academic and an organiser of the event, said the judges asked political questions to show that the contestants are more than just pretty faces.

"Over the next five or 10 years, Thai kathoeys will become more and more famous for their beauty and their brains," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Google Search has a new layout!

Google Search has just come up with a new layout! It is a fresh new change so not every user will notice the change immediately, as I believe that any changes by google would be gradual.

Take a look at:

Bangkok Lights Out!

Bangkok will have "lights-out" for 15 minutes on Wednesday night 7 pm to raise awareness about global warming. In a city of over 10 million residents it will be interesting to see how many people are going to contribute to saving energy consumption just by switching off their lights. Bangkok already had a few lights out some time ago and it was a huge success every time.

Bangkok is not the first city to cut lights for conservation. In March 31 2007, Sydney turned off the lights for one hour between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm which they call the Earth Hour.

In February 1 2007, Paris and other parts of France dimmed them in a similar gesture. The Eiffel Tower with its 20,000 bulbs went out for 5 minutes. The City of Light went dim when thousands of Parisians joined in the lights-out campaign aimed at showing citizen concern over climate change.

Rome and Athens have had similar campaigns.

Those wishing to contribute to global warming or just wanna be aware there is a site http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/

My recent trip to Khao Yai National Park

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Khao Yai National Park. Khao Yai lies about 175 km Northeast of Bangkok in a mountain region covering an area of over 2000 sq. km with evergreen forests and grasslands and host to 3,000 species of plants, 320 species of birds and 67 species of mammals (including Asiatic black bears, Asian elephants, gaur, tigers, gibbons, Indian sambar deer, Indian muntjac, dholes, and wild pigs). It is Thailand's first national park and the second largest national park with over 50 km of hiking trails and many waterfalls! The tallest and most spectacular waterfall is Haew Narok at 80 metres. The national park was recently inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.