Thailand Blogs – November 09 Review
November has come and gone now leaving just 20 days to Christmas and a period which will hopefully kick start Thailand’s flagging tourism industry into better times. Will the next year see tourists returning to the Land of Smiles in their former droves or is another 12 months of empty hotels and near deserted beaches on the horizon.
My belief is hotels will be a little more stocked and there will be a touch more sand being kicked around the beaches. I’m guessing 2010 will see some improvement in tourist numbers but nothing major over the forthcoming 12 months.
Let’s move forward ourselves and take a look at the best of the blog posts from November. The photo theme for this months review is from one of my favourite places to visit in the Land of Smiles, Thai markets.
The Thai blog scene has had a return of its own with one of the very best blog writers around returning to post in November. The FrogBlogger is back with Keep on Smiling and that’s good news for the Thai blog scene. FrogBlog Thaidings takes a look at the benefits of positive thinking and how things could be a lot worse in your life.
If you love monkeys then you’ll enjoy this offering from Retired In Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm and Ciejay were travelling down a mountain in Kanchanaburi when their route was blocked by monkeys. Malcolm is left with no choice but to hand over a payment to the furry rascals. Read more in Monkey Toll Road which has lots of cute photos attached to the post.
My Thai Friend sized up November with Penis Survey – Size Really Does Matter in Thailand. In an effort to promote HIV awareness Thai authorities are distributing measuring devices with condoms in an effort to make sure Thai men get the perfect fit when it comes to sex. Size really does matter to bloggers so right click your mouse and add to My Thai Friend’s hit count.
Staying with the theme of the survey, Women Learning Thai…and some men too took a visit to see the Lingam shrine at Nai Lert Park in Bangkok and a story of a Chinese goddess, phallic offerings and Japanese fishermen unfolded. Catherine tracks down the truth behind it all in Bangkok’s Fertility Shrine : Chao Mae Tuptim.
There’s strange business at Thailand, Land of Smiles in my pick for November. Thai Foot Massage Can be a Fishy Business is a post that may leave you with itchy feet and the temptation to put a towel over your goldfish bowl. Blog author Talen looks at the latest massage craze that is currently tickling the fancy of foot massage devotees.
Pound for pound what’s the best burger in town, expat udon thani thailand munches its way through the options with best burger in udon thani issan thailand. John must of piled on the calories researching this one.
The Thai Pirate has a new shipmate on board. Celebrate the birth of Ben and Sutiya’s first baby and delight in the photographs of their new born son Aiden in New Baby. Bouncing baby boy Aiden was born on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 2009, amazing.
If any of you thought blogging paid no money then you’d be right, unless you are a pretty young female from Singapore or Malaysia. Behind The Noodle Curtain’s post Blogging hotties live the high life shows the other more profitable side to blog writing and the freebies on offer. The post comes with a very delectable photo of four hot Asian bloggers.
Last month Thailand celebrated their annual Loy Krathong Festival and Jonny Foreigner has the right words and perfect pictures to explain what it is all about. Loy Krathong in Saraburi 2009 is one to light up your day and float your mind all the way to the Land of Smiles.
Bling Bling !…That’s not your front doorbell ringing but Life in rural Thailand calling you to view a post that shows the zanier side and pride that Thai’s attach to their work vehicles. You best check yourself in the mirror before you check this one out.
Onto my World Blogroll and where better to start than with a man who seems to work 24/7 no matter what the weather. Martin from Bulgarian Slivatree – An Expatriates Eye in Bulgaria has finally found some spare time to start writing again, in between his never ending workload. More Time To Write At Weekends In Bulgaria gives a little background to a man who still has a big big passion for hitting the keypads.
Emm in London has a Saturday in London which is rather odd as she lives there. The centre of England’s capital city is nearer to the point as Emm and partner Stephen set out on a day of shopping, sightseeing and a trip to the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus to view the movie New Moon. Lots of delightful photos of London come with the post.
Over at Adullamite there’s bells ringing and gargoyles with pipes coming out of their mouths. Graham isn’t normally one to moan but it’s all a bit too much for him… again. Gargoyles is another waggish and whimsical read from one of the UK’s funniest writers.
Jon is an Englishman living in France and is another scribe who pens a sparkling, humorous and priceless post. Jon and The Vendee Blog swapped France for a 10 day break in England last month and a tale of McDonalds, Halloween and Nintendogs is told in What I Did on My Holidays. Jon has categorised the post under My Drivel and Strange Thingies which just about sums it up. Brilliant.
My favourite part of every day sees Frances, hubby and the dogs jump in the car and set off to tend to their horses out in the fields. France and The Unknown is an enchanting and refreshing blog which always gives a great taste of what life is like in rural France.
When you start to type something into a Google search field a drop down box appears below and attempts to autocomplete your search for you. Lynne and A Malaysian Abroad have fun with Autocomplete Me: do Americans … ?
Jade and Life of a Filapina Blogger tackle the problem of building two bahay kubo guesthouses on their Philippines farm whilst being far from the country itself. Building a Bahay Kubo analyses the costs in constructing the thatched, wood built guesthouses.
The guest spot for this month goes once again to Thai Life in Phana and a beauty contest with a difference. The anti wrinkle cream must have long been discarded or swapped for saturated fats in Miss World in Phana: SHOCK RESULT. If you’re still wondering where your mother in law went on her secret vacation then this could solve the riddle.
That’s it from the November o9 blog review. Chok dee krap.
Martyn a great summary and as always thank you for including MTF.
Picking up on the theme of size matters, if it wasn’t for you and other like minded bloggers writing and linking to other blogs then my readership would be very small.
.-= Mike´s last blog ..King of Kings =-.
Thanks for the November mention this monthly article as started to get a good following and is something i look forward to myself
because with my Head spining with work most of the time i misss a lot of recent blog posts so it a good place to visit and touch base with issan and Thailand in general
i did put a lot of pounds on munching my way around udon thani buddy but i love my food just got to keep on the move to burn it of
a moment on the lips for a lifetime on the hips
anyway i may take the penis survey after lunch if i can still find it
regards john
ps keep up the good work as always
Martyn, you are brilliant for keeping me up on what’s going on. I’ve been in such a rush, I depend upon you each month. For instance, I did not realise that Peter had posted again. I knew he’d appeared on twitter, but that was it. My bad.
.-= Catherine´s last blog ..An Easy Way to Learn Foreign Languages: Part One =-.
Excellent round up Martyn – Thanks v much, Best, Ben
.-= Ben Shingleton´s last blog ..A warning to all road users in Thailand =-.
Wow, Martyn, thanks again for the guest spot. Now I’m worrying about how to maintain the standard (couldn’t think how else to avoid saying ‘keep it up’, an ambiguity at my age best avoided). You certainly get through a lot more reading than I do, but thanks for pointing me in some directions I haven’t yet discovered. Hope you enjoy your December reading.
.-= Lawrence´s last blog ..Car Tax and Passport =-.
Another great round up, where do you get the time? Thanks for the mention, hope you’re counting down to the days til you fly.
Mike your readership would be small if, but mine is. A big difference there.
John a lovely comment and I hope for your sake you found it. Your perfect hot dog that is.
Catherine the FrogBlogger is back with a peach of a post. Get your avatar over there lil lil loy.
Ben best wishes to you, Sutiya and Aiden.
Lawrence from what I have read on your blog many of us will be reaching to try and match your standards. Best wishes.
Jon luckily I manage to find time but I still haven’t found enough of it to fully understand Twitter.
Martyn, I read pretty much every one of those posts you highlighted and I have to agree. Great summary, as always, but I’m a little bit biased 😉 Thanks. PS. Only seven more days and I’m back in LOS. Woohoo! Can’t wait to get my new picture taking machine rolling.
.-= Siam.Rick´s last blog ..Blogging hotties live the high life =-.
You’re lovely Martyn. I can see I’ll be needing to send you a postcard of Piccadilly Circus next!
.-= Emm´s last blog ..Weekend Snapshots ~ 1: Winter? =-.
Rick thanks for the read. Have a safe trip and a great time, I’ll be seven days behind you. Likewise I’m looking to click click click the holiday away.
Emm I’m near enough to Piccadilly Circus (live in Swindon) to touch it so save your money. I must admit I’ve never been a big city boy and haven’t spent a great deal of time in London or Bangkok.