Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
This is our typical order at Sampeenong, our favorite Isan food joint in the area.
Gai Yang (grilled chicken)
Somtam Lao (Lao-style Papaya Salad)
Tap Wan (literally, “sweet liver”)
Kor Moo Yang (Grilled Pork Neck)
And here’s my homie, Aot, working on a new coffee drink in a Chemex at his coffee stand in front of the restaurant:
One of my YouTube vids from six years ago shows police in Maha Sarakham using a sasumata (a nonlethal man-catching staff of samurai-era design) to subdue a knife-wielding suspect at our local bus station. I posted about it at the time and there are a couple links (amazingly still live) about other incidents down at the bottom.
Weapons similar to the sasumata have a long history in many cultures. They were known as “man-catchers” in Europe and used until the 18th century, although their non-lethality may be up for some debate:
The flanges on the top of that are spring-loaded and were designed to open up after it was thrust around someone’s neck!
The Chinese had a similarly-shaped traditional implement called a “monk’s spade,” or “Shaolin spade” that was apparently used as a burial tool (hence “spade”) as well as a weapon. There are several types still sold today.
During the pandemic, a clamping man-catcher shaped like a sasumata was used in Nepal to enforce social distancing.
This inspired police in India to try their own homebrewed clamping device, which they apparently had trouble naming, eventually settling on “social distancing clamp” or a “lockdown-breaker catcher,” although NPR just gave up and just called them “giant tongs.”
In the latest news, an employee at a jewelry shop in Tokyo is being hailed a hero after thwarting an attempted robbery and giving chase with a sasumata after the three suspects fled. There is some cool video of it:
Two of the three suspects have already surrendered to the police.
I love how they instantly deflate when met with resistance. After their scooters are toppled and the mountain smacks it, the weapon in his hands must have looked like:
At my friend’s place out on the MSK bypass.
I’ve been working weekends for the past couple weeks and I’m tiiiiiired.
I came upon this little guy on my daily walk at the old MSU campus a couple months ago, when it was raining every day and the roadside ditches were filled with water.
Thailand, where old Japanese trucks go to thrive once again.
@ Maha Sarakham University old campus
A friend opened a new café out on the Maha Sarakham bypass (ring road) next to her parents’ restaurant. The deck I was standing on when taking this pic is actually shaped like the bow of a ship. It’s a very popular place for selfies: Huareu Café หัวเรือคาเฟ่
This is outside a new café in our neighborhood, the name of which totally escapes me. This is mostly because cafés open and close so frequently here, it’s hard to remember most of them.
Just a few of the wonders to be seen at my local garage’s work yard. My ’71 Kujira Crown is still sitting in the back yard. It was damaged pretty badly in the floods last year, and I don’t want to start fixing it unless it can be done right, which is more than I can afford at the moment. Sad.
It seems like a funny name for a safety product, but I guess they paid someone’s 12 year old nephew to design it, so whatever… Toshino actually makes some of the higher end power strips in Thailand, though (in a market filled with dubious/dangerous products).
Seen at the Thaiwatsadu home center near our home.
UPDATE: The Jetpack suite for WordPress now contains a built-in AI for providing feedback on my posts before publishing. It has told me:
The content mentions a safety product with a humorous name, suggesting that it may have been poorly designed. However, it also highlights that Toshino produces higher-end power strips in Thailand. The accompanying images showcase the product at a home center.
Overall, the post captures the author’s opinion about the product and provides visual evidence. However, it would benefit from the following actions to improve clarity:
1. Consider providing more information about the Toshino brand and its reputation in the market.
2. Elaborate on why the author believes the product name is funny and how it may impact its perceived quality.
3. Share any personal experience or observations with Toshino power strips or similar products to enhance credibility.
4. Include a conclusion or final thoughts to summarize the author’s opinion.
These improvements will help readers gain a better understanding of the product and the author’s perspective.
Groovy.
If I had a celestial chariot, that’s the kind of wheel I want on it.
At a holy site in Nam Phong, Khon Kaen, that I possibly misidentified on Maps due to it being next to or possibly on the grounds of a large temple. I have asked some locals about it, and it’s still not clear.
#dharmawheel #wheelofdharma #wheelofthelaw