Every year they have Children's Day in Thailand. This is a half-day event run at one of the schools in the district and this year it incorporates 3 schools into one event. Though it's raining (for the first time since I got here) we head off along the back roads and ...

Out on the moped today and into Prasat. We go the back roads as the main roads can be a little crazy over here, plus it's the first time in over 15 years that I've been on a motorised-two wheeler and the old skills ain't quite recovered yet. We have noodles ...

An early start for all (though not for a lot of the relatives who ahve been up all night preparing and the food for the event) and the sun is shining. Events such as these always have a meaning in Thai culture and things happening during the day, before and ...

่เรียกขวัญ is a cultural ceremony that is performed in the NE of Thailand before a wedding. Thai people there believe that a marriage can be a worrying event for some people and there is a chance that the bride or groom's spirit may be wandering in the preceeding days. This ...

After an hour or so I hear extremely loud music very close so decide to get up. Damm has music on and it's playing through a speaker the size of something that Lemmy & Co would have. A few of their relatives are there and they're drinking beer, Thai whiskey and ...

Jane's there to meet me along with her brother Damm and two of her sisters' children, Lom and Am. I thought Buriram was closer to Surin than this but we stop for lunch by the reservoir and have somtam and some chicken - delicious! Afterwards it's straight to Jane's mothers' house and ...

Taxi from the hotel to Don Mueang and at security I get the, "Cant take that on board!" This is, of course (as always), referring to the CO2 cylinder for my lifejacket. "Yes I can, it's exactly the same as the ones in the aircrafts lifejackets." "No you can't!" "Yes I can!" (Escalates to ...

It was a long wait at Cairo and another 5.5 hour wait at Mumbai but we get into Suvarnhabumi Airport pretty much on time. I was expecting it to be busy but have neve seen an immigration line like this, anywhere. It's a free-for-all for the first 20-30 metres with ...

We land at Cairo after a pleasant 1-hour flight and after retrieving my bag go through to the main airport entrance. I go to the EgyptAir desk and explain the situation. "There are no storage facilities for bags at this airport !" "But I was told....!" "Sorry sir!" "So I have to sit ...

A couple of days before I left the UK for Thailand in August I went into the LloydsTSB branch in Gorleston to report that my cash card was not working. I spoke to one of the bank teller's and was told that my card had been stopped but she couldn't give ...