philsquest

UBC True Vision office Chiang Mai gone!

We use the UBC true vision to get tv to our house. We have done so for years because there is no good alternative. Sure I am not really happy with the all of their service. Especially that UBC loves to move channels around, charge more money then Swiss providers would dare and the latest, that the UBC true vision office in Chiang Mai has suddenly disappeared.

Yesterday I wanted to go and pay the bill and the office was gone. With it also Siam TV a big shop for electronics that managed the Chiang Mai office was gone to. No notice where they moved or a letter to their subscribers.

This morning I phoned UBC true vision in Bangkok about my billing status. I haven't received a bill even though someone from true vision phoned me a month ago and said they would do so. The friendly guy in the billing department will send me the bill via e-mail. To the question where the true vision office in Chaing Mai moved to he answered that they haven't received the new address yet. Living in Thailand still an adventure after 11 years :-)

Thai Drivers Lisence

If you are in Thailand for a longer time it is worth to get a Thai drivers license. I know that many expats drive their cars with their their regular license and get away with it. If you get stopped you bribe the police man. Another group drives their international license. But Usually those are not valid longer then a year. But why going through the trouble of getting a Thai drivers license? There are several reasons. 

First it is the law (even in Thailand) to have a valid drivers lisence. An international lisence is okay, but it has to be valid. 

Second. If you ever get in a bad accident, you want to have a valid drivers license. (This is especially with motorbikes). You will have enough problems without an invalid license.

Third. You can use the drivers license as a ID card for banking business, at national parks or any kind of place in Thailand and get treated more respectfully and not just as a tourist. Therefore get the Thai price at the parks and zoo's. Be aware that you can't use the drivers license to board a plane!

I found the Car registration office in Chiang Mai quite efficient. You still have to take about a day off to do this. Because you need to get an amount of papers and copies first. Then at the place you need to apply, do a reaction test, a color test and watch a forty minute video about Thai traffic laws (I must say I learned alot from the video and was surprised that there are laws in Thailand for traffic).

Here I wrote out the note I got from the office. This is for the renewal of the license. 

1. Non-Immigrant visa and Passport copy (bring the original Passport as well)

2. Certificate of Residency from the Embassy or consulate, or from the Immigration office, or Workpermit, or Residence book(the yellow book) copy and original.

3. Medical certificate

4. Your old Thai drivers lisence

5. Pay the fee of 505 Baht for car, 255 Baht for motorbike

If you have to do a license for car and motorbike you need to make 2 copies of the documents

You also need to come in 9.00 A.M. or 1P.M. to watch the video and do the testing. Of course everyone who lives in Thailand knows that those things and regulations change about every year a little and you need to inform yourself about what you need. For example the last time they didn't want a medical certificate. 

Finally. Take something to read along or a friend to talk etc. Even though I think they were very efficient, you still have to wait because there are so many people. 

Flower power

This is a "Gänseblümchen" Bellis Perrenis in Latin, or kind of daisies in English. I found them only in one place in Thailand. High up in the mountains at Doi Angkharn in the North of Thailand. This photo though was taken last year in Switzerland in the alps. I know strangly this is one of my favorate flowers. Perhaps because it grows on any field in Switzerland. When I found one in Thailand my heart took a leap :-) 

Here the one from Doi Angkharn, Northern Thailand.

Flying Ants

Rainy season started in Chiang Mai. It has rained every day the last week. In the evening after the rain stops the flying ants come out for the "light party" looking for a girl. Yeah right they are all male. Then after a short time partying they drop to the floor and die of exhaustion. What a life! 

It's on me next day to clean up the mess. I feel like the bartender who has to throw the drunks out after hours. I just throw them over the wall after the birds have feasted on them. 

To be honest I also tasted some over the years. Thai people fry them and it them with some fish sauce...... yummy.... they are high on proteins. I cannot really warm up those bugs as a snack, but perhaps I should dip them in chocolate next time.

Here are some pictures:

Last week in short

It is Sunday. The kids are in a camp for three days and it is so quite around the house. I spent two days in the mountains. We had to drive pipes and building material to a remote area in the Hui Kau Laam valley. My truck suffered a little, got scratched up and the tail gate was bend under the heavy load. 

Driving back and forth through the forest I realized how much this placed has changed in the last 8 years I have come here. It used to be populated by four Lahu villages, which all have been relocated in the last four or five years. Further back in the deeper forest where we did our biggest water project the forest has disappeared due to slash and burn farming. There is a lack of land for the growing population of hill-tribe people in this area. Alot of the beautiful bamboo, the village has it's name from has been cut down for sale to orange farmers. Somehow sad what is happening in this once so very beautiful valley.

Enoch said how he remembered us coming here regularly to share the love of God with the people deep in the valley where in rainy season it was sometimes impossible to enter. All this is slowly disappearing and we are left with memories and pictures from our digital cameras.

On the last trip back from the jungle I caught a terribly itchy rash that lasted the last three days. Today I feel a bit better. I had to take some strong antihistamine that made me quite tired. 

Friday evening I played with the Itinerants in the UN Irish pub. Once again I realized how much I enjoy playing folk music. 

This is last week in short. I wish you all a good start into the new week.

Thai Language studies

I finished module six in my Thai studies and past the test with a mere 75%. I guess I could have done better. My problem is still the writing part. I just don't practice enough. I started with module 8 today. Module 8 is all about social problems in Thailand. It is quite a jump from module 6 and the first lesson was rather challenging due to a much bigger vocabulary. 

Staying in continuous Thai studies for the last year really helped improve my Thai alot and greatly encouraged work with my staff as well. Things are getting so much easier as my ability to have more complicated talks with them. There is still a long way to go to be as fluent as in English. But I really hope to get there some day. 

Ein tödlicher Unfall

Als ich Gestern ins Büro in die Stadt ging fand ich dieses Gebilde neben dem Eingang. Ich wusste sofort das da Jemand sein Leben verloren hat. Hier in Thailand sieht man des öftereren kleine Sandhaufen mit Fähnchen am Strassenrand. Ein Unfall mit tödlichem Ausgang. 

Ich ging zum Essensstand gegenüber der Strasse und fragte was passiert ist. Die Frau sagte mir das eine 67 jährige Grossmutter auf dem Motorad von einem Auto angefahren wurde. Die Grossmutter wohnte gegenüber von meinem Büro. Sie erlag drei Tage später ihren verletzungen im Spital.

Die Familie machte die Sandhäufchen und die Fähnchen dorthin so das der Geist der Frau mit einem Segen in den Himmel gehen kann. Ich lies mir sagen das die Grosse Anzahl der Fähnchen im Sand auf das hohe alter der Person die starb hinwies. Im kleinen Topf hinten wurden Räucherstäbchen verbrannt.

Heute Morgen waren die Sandhäufchen verschwunden. Ein Tanklastwagen, der die Strasse reinigte, schwemmte den Sand zur Seite. Nur ein paar Fähnchen, welche von dem tragischen Unfall zeugten lagen noch im Gebüsch.

Cowboys in Thailand

Gestern bin ich mit meiner Tochter nach Payao zu einem Reitstall gefahren. Da meine Tochter das reiten liebt habe ich mich dazu überreden lassen (dies war nicht allzu schwierig) sie zu fahren und mitzureiten. Ich wusste nicht wirklich auf was ich mich einglassen würde, aber dachte das ein wundes Hinterteil das Erlebnis wert wäre. Meine Devise: Mach alles wenigstens einmal, solange es nicht andere in einer negativen Weise trifft. Oder so ähnlich. Zwei Stunden verbrachte ich auf Dongda, dem Pony das mich durch das Hinterland von Payao beförderte. Dongda (ต้องตา heisst soviel Schön fürs Auge) Während meine Tochter, die wirklich reiten kann mit den anderen davongallopierte bin ich auf Dongda zwei Stunden über abgeerntete Reisfelder, durch Felder und Dörfer gewandert. Dongda war glücklicherweise ein ruhiges Mädchen und hat mich nicht abgworfen und so habe ich meine erste Reitstunde hinter mir. Gar nicht so einfach. Als ich da den Hang herunterrutschte war das schon ein komisches Gefühl. Doch konnte ich das Pony auch schon antreiben bremsen und steuern auch wenn es nur im ersten und zweiten Gang daherlief. Fünf Sekunden Gallop haben mir dann doch gereicht. Mein Thai guide sagte immer wieder etwas wie Chum View. In etwa: Geniese die Aussicht..... was ich ja auch wirklich genoss.

Heute tut mir tatsächlich das Hinterteil weh. Meine Tochter lachte nur und sagte: "Daddy you have to come more often, you will get used to it." So überlege ich nun ob ich ein paar Reitstunden nehmen soll. Man weiss ja nie wenn einem so gewisse Fähigkeiten zur Hand kommen.

Dinosaurs in the house

Yesterday morning Timmy was vacuum cleaning the leaving room when he called me from my house duties. We had a visitor from another world. A dinosaur (a small one) was hanging at the fly wire trying to get through the glass window. We are used to having Geckos in the house (a friend of ours named them all Freddy) and we also had close encounters with snakes in the bed room etc. But this lizard was a first. There are very fast, speeding off on two legs. Not easy to catch. We eventually granted our little friend freedom in our wild garden hoping that Snowy, our cat, would not devour him like she did with Dino's friend last week. 

Demonstrations in Bangkok

Thailand is a peaceful country. Probably the savest in the region. This afternoon I'm listening to the Swiss Radio DRS 3 and hear about the massive demonstrations in Bangkok. This has been going on for months. Several people were killed in bomb attacks in front of the government house where demonstrators camp. I guess many people stay away from Thailand because of this. The fact is that in the rest of the country is not much to see about this conflict and life goes on as usual. The political situation is quite difficult to understand and as a foreigner I don't take sides. I hope though for the sake of Thailand that this can be solved soon.

A coffee to behold

The other week I had a coffee with a friend in the Wawee coffee shop behind Taphae Gate. Wawee is known here for their creative way to serve capouchino's and latte's. The draw leeves and hearts into the foam to make it a great experience. The latte I had this time topped everything I ever seen. I was in awe of the temporary art, a creation that lastet but a minute.

Global house burnt down!

Last week a huge pillar of smoke went up into the air. It went on for hours. Global house on the first ring road south of Chiang Mai was burning. Apparently some short circuit caused the fire.
I used to by the PE pipes and alot of different building material and tools for our projects there. Just the week before the fire I got all the doors and windows for the building in Hui Kau Laam. The fire destroyed the middle part of the building and kept the front face intact as well as the back storage where the tiles are.
Some photos from my mobile phone.

Update

There are times where I just kind of avoid the Internet. I get to busy with life and am to tired to also keep posting.

This week I started again with Thai studies. It's a module on Thai life. During my computer crash I lost all my iflash cards from my previous Thai studies. Even though I had a backup I somehow managed to delete this one folder. I started again too work on the iflash library. I can really recommend this program to all mac users who study with flash cards. After two month of staying away from learning Thai I was a bit rusty, but it is coming back to me quite quickly.

The last three weeks I went to the mountains every week for two days visits. Things are developing slowly but very well and I am happy with what is going on. I will post some more in the next week on that. We are working on a building project in Hui Kau Laam, the water project in Hui Ba Rai and two preschool projects. So we are quite busy at the moment.

One problem is that still our Domain name www.questasia.org does not work. The particular domain register seems to totally miss the service oriented side of business. I probably will transfer the domain name to godaddy.com where I have all my other domains and where they seem to react whenever there is a problem. Not only our webpage is down, but also most of our e-mail addresses.

It is raining alot at the moment and the rivers are bursting. There are reported floods in many places. The Prime minister of Thailand had to leave his post because of a court order. Petrol prices are down a little. We have a new fridge, a great family and I know God loves me. What more do I want.

Thai language test

I have tken up Thai language studies again (see post) after living her for so many years still not having being satisfied with my level of Thai.
The other day I got the results from my second Thai language test back. I finished module 5 of the CLS language program and aced it with 93.33 percent. My weakness is still the writing. I have a hard time when it comes to writing my own stories or to answer questions. Comprehension of Thai is pretty good but to respond verbally and especially in written form is still very hard. I started with module 6 in the program. It is called Thai life 1 and is all about the country, economy and culture. Next month we are traveling to Switzerland for six weeks. So there will be a study break.
Overall I see a lot of improvement and I enjoyed to study again. My Thai is definitely improving a lot. Still I have a long way to go. This month I reduced Language studies to twice a week. There is just to much work and things to do right now.

Lunch

Yes I have eaten them buggers. They are considered delicious in Thailand and are high on protein. Not my favorite choice for a meal, but a man gotta eat.

Excausted

Today is one of those days where my soul cannot follow my body and I am totally exhausted. To exhausted for even a nap in the afternoon.
Two nights ago I could not sleep because of severe stomach cramps and diarrhea. I still feel some of the affects. I went through some sorts of emotional roller coaster about  things happening  with people around me. Then I was somewhat overwhelmed by the  circumstances in the Prao boarding home. And in all this my soul was dragged along. We are going to Switzerland and there is so much to do. I was just waking up this morning when I got a phone call from the office landlord. They needed to change the sewage pipes. So I went in on a Sunday. Did some work while I was waiting for the workers to do their work.
The on the way home I got a phone call from the landlords son. totally happy and thanking me for the bible I gave him two month ago. Another Thai women took the phone and also thanked me with all her heart. I didn't get everything they said, but they were definitely excited about having a bible. So I want to end this rather complaining post with the thought that there can be something encouraging around the corner if we are willing to stick our head around it and I really need to learn to let my soul catch up with me once in a while.

UN Irish Pub Chiang Mai "Irish music night"

Yesterday we practiced for the Friday night gig at the UN Irish pub in Chiang Mai. Here is a link of an introduction to the pub I found on the Internet. It also shows a video where we play in the background.

I think we have been playing on and off together for the last two years. From just coming together to play in different pubs a more steady group has formed. Since about half a year we actually practice sometimes. I must say we don't sound bad at all :-) and we have lot's of fun together.

Anybody who wants to hear some traditional Irish and other folk music. We play this Friday the 30th. of May about pm 8.30-ish. After that it's usually the last Friday of the month.

Noise in the jungle

Last time I was in the jungle bringing building material for a water project I encountered extreme noise. It came from this cricket (at least I think this is what it is) There must have been hundreds of them in the trees in one section of the forest making so much noise that my ears started hurting. Further down the path it stopped. So they were only in one part of the jungle.

Hier is a link to a post about a Zikada I found in the jungle. These are probably the biggest and noisiest insects I know.

Beauty to behold

I was up in the mountains for two days. I had to bring the building materials for the Hui Ba Rai Water-project. As we were up in the jungle I saw this flower. It stood out in the sea of green. This was beauty to behold and for the blessing of digital photography to capture for the future and for the readers of this blog.

Less rain, time for my lawn

I wasn't able to go up to the mountains. It is still sporadically raining and the jungle road I need to take is not passable. Yesterday I phoned Mongkun the project leader. He was in hospital with his wife. She just gave birth to their third child. So I congratulated him and said we would post-bone the project to the end of the week.
The weather seems to get better. This morning I was able to maw the lawn and clean up around the house. Today is a public holiday. So I enjoyed one extra free day with my family. Then tomorrow back to the office and Thai studies.

Today the newspaper gave a sad report on the destruction Cyclone Nargis brought to Burma.

Storm kills hundreds in Burma
RANGOON : At least 351 people were killed and nearly 100,000 left homeless when Cyclone Nargis tore through Burma, razing thousands of buildings and smashing up streets, it was reported late last night. (Bangkok Post)

Here in the North of Thailand it seems quiet down. I mean we had nothing like Rangoon in Chiang Mai. I haven't heard of flash floods in the North yet. Read here what flash floods are:

"Flash flooding occurs when the ground becomes saturated with water that has fallen too quickly to be absorbed. The runoff collects in low-lying areas and rapidly flows downhill. Flash floods most often occur in normally dry areas that have recently received precipitation, but may be seen anywhere downstream from the source of the precipitation - even dozens of miles from the source." (Wikipedia)