Monthly Archives: May 2007

Thai Ploughing Day

May 9, 2007 – 11:19 pm

May 10 is Ploughing Day. This venerated Brahmin ritual has links with Buddhist tradition and requires a royal minister to feed two Sacred Cows in Sanam Luang. The future is predicted according to whether Prakho Therd and Phrakho Thoon (Name of the cows) eat rice paddy, maize, green bean, sesame, hard liquor, water or grass. A repast of paddy […]

By Peter | Posted in Education, Traditions | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Jatukam Ramathep Amulet Craze

May 9, 2007 – 10:34 pm

My superstitious Irish heritage was reinforced by an upbringing in New England. Witches have hung from Salem trees and ghosts haunted the abandoned farmlands near my suburban Boston home. Now Salem’s occult market reaps millions and the cow pastures have been razed for giant houses. Fat people don’t have time to be scared by the […]

By Peter | Posted in religion, Traditions | Comments (0)

May 5 – Coronation Day

May 5, 2007 – 7:27 am

Thailand is the most holiday happy nation in the world. Last week feted May 1 and this week celebrated Coronation Day with banks and government offices closing on Monday. This public holiday marks the King’s 1950 ascendancy to the throne. In the past the court held a simple ceremony for the king. King Mongkut (Rama […]

By Peter | Posted in Education | Comments (0)

Fake DisneyWorld? China 100% Copyright Free

May 4, 2007 – 12:45 am

It isn’t such a small world after all. Shijingshan Amusement Park outside of Beijing offers a bizarro alternative to Disneyworld. Rides, fun, and copyrighted Disney characters came come to light via Japanese bloggers. The park’s logo even infringes on trademark licensing. “Disneyworld is too far away.” The state-owned enterprise flies in face of Disney’s recently lengthening copyright ownership to […]

By Peter | Posted in Travel | Comments (0)

Rain reigns #1 for Time Magazine 100

May 3, 2007 – 10:57 pm

The readership of Time magazine have voted Rain, the Korean Pop Star with the nickname ‘Puppy’ more than anyone else although his rating only ends up as 79th. The top vote getter known as Bi in his native language listed collecting shoes as his favorite hobby marking his most influential person as Imelda Marcos. Scoring […]

By Peter | Posted in music | Comments (0)