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OTOP Marketplace Update – Economic Recovery Edition
The OTOP (One Tambon One Product) marketplace I wrote about a couple years ago is now booming. For the first few years of its existence, it struggled along as a ragtag gathering of unsuccessful vegetable vendors and farmers selling homemade charcoal and surplus rice from the curbs. I visited twice a week to buy organic vegetables and freshly slaughtered/butchered meat (that are, as yet, completely unappreciated in this neck of the woods) for years, and nothing ever changed. The entire market seemed to be run by people too old and frail to work any other jobs, and I was in a small group of regular customers who were barely keeping…
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Tasty Links for the New Year
In no particular order: Smoke Screening Charles Mann is shown by Bruce Schneier just what a joke our airport security has become and makes a case that “the continuing expenditure on security may actually have made the United States less safe.” The disposable academic: Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time Summary: Way more supply than demand, doctors. List of animals with fraudulent diplomas Surprisingly, this is not an alternate title for the previous link. Best wedding photos ever A full viewing of Shaun of the Dead would have made it the best wedding reception ever. The Magna Carta Essay Before the internet taught us that there’s no such…
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Raiders
I pity all the Star Wars fans that died before they could see the great stuff on the internet.
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South China Brand Sewing Machine
A close friend of ours has bought an antique foot pedal-type sewing machine that had been converted to motorized belt drive to use for her alterations side business. She got it for about 600 Baht (less than $10), and I would have bought it for that much just to use as a lawn ornament. I’ve never heard of this brand, but for all I know there are a million out there.
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“…credible and meaningful in foreign cultures.”
The university where I teach, Rajabhat Maha Sarakham, used to be a teacher’s training college. My uni is just one Rajabhat institute of about 40 spread all over Thailand, that were turned into universities by the king with something called the Rajabhat Act in 1995. Therefore, when we clean up, move, or renovate offices and I see asset tags with “teacher’s college” or the like, I know I’ve found something at least 17 years old, and sometimes much older. The last time somebody cleaned out a storage room on the 3rd floor, above my office on the 2nd floor, a bunch of cool old stuff was put out to be thrown…
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Mina in the lobby of a Cambodian Casino
New years day, 2012. It was our first trip to Cambodia. Casinos are always sad, but this one was even more so, packed full of dirty gambling addicts and their offspring. Why did we go? We were close to the border, at Nam’s grandmother’s house in Surin Province. We wanted to see it. Done. Never have to see a Cambodian casino again.
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Sliding on Christmas
You would think that it would be hard to get hurt on such a small slide. You would be wrong (blooper reel to follow).
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Biggest load
Yes, please use the whole goddamn highway (@ Rayong outskirts).
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Side trip to Elephant Island
We came to visit students on a side trip. Much fun was had. We’re on the ferry back now to rendezvous with the university van back in Pattaya.
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Thai HMMV
