Royal Barge Procession

The Royal Barge procession marks the end of Buddhist Lent - More than two thousand rowers, guards, drummers and singers filled the riverscape as the Thai kingdom, an attentive citizenry and international observers marked the end of Buddhist Lent and the religious ‘rain retreats‘ with a stirring yet sombre procession of 52 ancient decorated barges. The ceremonial, participated in some some 2,200 chanting oarsmen, clad in bright traditional military costume, presented a grand panorama presided over by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn Monday afternoon. The absence of the King through through ill-health weighed heavily in the hearts and minds of many. [via Pattaya Daily News]

Sierra Tangos

• Tried Pizza Pizza at The Avenue today and had just the large pizza slice for 95 Baht. My guess is the slice was about a third of a large pizza in size and was delicious, particularly if you like your pizza base thin and traditional. The slice was enough for me and you would have to be really hungry to eat a full, regular pizza for 200 - 250Baht. The menu includes 10 appetisers, 2 soups, 9 salads, 23 pasta dishes and 25 different pizzas and I will definitely go back to try out more of the dishes on offer. Oh and one other thing. Pizza Pizza is in a great location for watching the girls go by? Very Italian.

• Gunfight at Mum Aroy car park update - Khun Itipan aged 23 and his girlfriend, Khun Sudarat aged 20 were injured by bullets from Khun Poomin’s gun, however they claimed they were caught up in the crossfire and were not involved in any problems with the victim. This has now been determined to be untrue and Police have arrested Khun Itipan on a charge of murder. [via Pattaya City News] Ed. If the dead guy had fired his gun before getting shot is Itpan a murderer or was he acting in self defense?

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• December 2007 Playmate Of The Month - Brazilian Sasckya Porto

• At 11.00am on 4 November, Police Colonel Sutin’s excellent term of office came to an end in Pattaya and he will now move to Lumpini Station, Bangkok. Later in the day there was a warm welcome for Police Colonel Nopadol Wongnorm who will be the next Police Superintendent at Pattaya Police Station. Ed. Is this a coincidence or is it a shuffle resulting from the bad press. Whichever, it won't take long for the new man to show his hand. Will it be a clampdown or business as usual?

• In the early hours of Tuesday morning, English teacher, David John, was attacked and beaten by 3 Thai men near Xzyte Disco. Ed. I would have said this was a safe part of town but obviously not. I guess the obvious link is it's Third Road with lots of Thai bars so caution is required. Walking late at night is becoming less of an option and the answer is use some form of motorised transport no matter how short the journey.
  

• DealsChase.com today announced the launch of its website - www.dealschase.com. It is the first and

  

  only travel deal portal of Thailand publishing great deals, offers and travel bargains, making travelers feel more comfortable when they plan a trip. "Many airlines, hotels, and travel agents continue to offer fantastic deals but unfortunately some deals are hard to find and finding is boring and time-consuming. We assist people to find those deals easier and faster.” said Kathy K, General Manager of DealsChase.com

DealsChase.com does not sell travel products itself. It informs travelers what bargains are available and where to find them. People can choose and purchase directly with travel providers. The site publishes selected deals on hotels, resorts, air tickets, holiday packages, etc. offered by online/offline travel providers and updates daily. “We select deals carefully and publish what we believe is great for travelers. We are planning to put more and more features to the site and ultimately we aim to become the most trusted travel source in the mind of all travel lovers”. [via SanePR]

• If you use iGoogle then 6 new themes will be rolled out in the next few days

• Create Foto Mosaics - You might have encountered photo mosaics before which show one picture that was build using many smaller pictures. I think that they look really nice if done correctly and with enough distinctive smaller pictures. One software that lets you create photo mosaics is called Foto Mosaik.

The process is always the same. First, you need to create at least one database of pictures that are used to create the larger picture. The rule of thumb is to add as many pictures as possible to have enough resources to build the big picture. With one database created you choose the picture that you want to create this way, test some settings and choose the new name for the new image.

Creating the new image takes only a few minutes and the results look really nice. Take a look at the before-after images to see how the original image was converted to a picture mosaic. Click on the images for a detailed view. [via gHacks]

• David letterman Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Signs You Won't Win The New York City Marathon

10. You frequently hear "Outta the way lard ass!"

9. Every couple of miles you stop and ask for directions.

8. You pulled a hamstring filling out the application.

7. Before the race, you eat a PowerBar with extra cheese.

6. You still haven't finished the 2006 New York City Marathon.

5. In trying situations you ask yourself, "What would Rosie O'Donnell do?"

4. Some runners are sponsored by Adidas. You're sponsored by Chips Ahoy.

3. You're frequently mistaken for the fat guy from "Lost."

2. Made you own steroids out of Red Bull and Super Glue.

1. You've been carbo-loading for 30 years.

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