After the enormous fun (I had) celebrity spotting in Bangkok, I’ve been scouring Phuket’s parties for other famous socialites to brighten this blog up with. I haven’t found many, but at a glitzy party on Sunday a few of my friends started squealing with delight after seeing one young Thai girl chatting casually with her friends. Everybody commented on how sexy this lady was, and I was scolded for daring to comment that she was too thin and too pale. I had no idea who the woman was, and neither did I ask.

I only have one celebrity for you this time. If anyone can tell me who she is they you will win my respect and admiration. Who is this random Thai celebrity?

Techno’ tags: Thailand, Bangkok

There are plenty of view points in Phuket. This photo was taken at Khao Rang not far from Yaowarat Road. The streets stretching off into the distance are part of Phuket Town. There’s a fitness park nearby if you’re keen on exercise, and a number of restaurants are quite popular with tourists. For another great view of the island, check out Promthep Cape.

Techno’ tags: Thailand, Phuket

Sick of stray dogs on the way to work? Fed up with roving mongrels barking at you on your way home? Be thankful for those dogs, because if they weren’t around, they’d be replaced by rats or cats… or pigs… or monkeys.

An interesting report in the Gazette a couple of weeks back suggested that dogs in Thailand are an “ecological phenomenon”. They live and die on the streets, forming their own dog communities and abiding by their own rules.

Dogs are, apparently, the largest scavengers and predators that can coexist with humans in an urban environment. Stray dogs in Thailand eat rats. They chase monkeys and they consume human garbage, according to the report.

While you won’t find many monkeys in Bangkok, in other parts of Thailand there are thriving monkey populations; Lopburi springs to mind. While those monkeys make look cute, they can be nasty little buggers and will attack humans just to get to a bag of potato chips.

I was told a story recently about a man whose son’s testicle was ripped off by a monkey when the boy had dropped a peanut. After I heard that story I vowed never to feed monkeys in Thailand again – let the stray dogs at them.

I haven’t seen many wild pigs wandering round the streets of Phuket, but I have come across a few cats. I can imagine nothing duller than a world plagued by armies of stray cats.

In the article, the author asserts that if the dog population were to diminish, cats would step up and replace them three to one, although I don’t know where this statement comes as there is no evidence presented.

Stray dogs used to be dealt with in places like Bangkok by poisoning the creatures. The practice is no longer employed “officially”. According to the Soi Dog Foundation, the most effective way to deal with Thailand’s street dogs is to sterilize them and keep the streets clear of garbage.

What’s your take on soi dogs in Thailand? Are they a problem? Would you be surprised to find out that some organizations euthanize dogs on the quiet?

Techno’ tags: Thailand, Bangkok, Street dogs

You know there’s something going on when it starts raining money, but that’s exactly what happened in Japan last Wednesday. Almost one million yen mysteriously floated down from the sky in front of a Tokyo convenience store.

One crafty Japanese citizen phoned police to say that it was his daughter who had dropped the money from the top of the building, but his claim was rejected.

An act of God?

In one of the more bizarre stories to come out of a country renowned for bizarre stories, an unknown benefactor has been dishing out money to strangers for several weeks in Japan.

Unmarked envelopes stuffed with money have been left in the restrooms of numerous city halls and public buildings since June, while the latest wave of donations have been turning up in peoples’ mailboxes.

In Kobe last Wednesday, one confused 31-year-old woman woke up to find an envelope containing one million yen left in her mailbox. Nobody knows who is leaving the envelopes or why. It should be like a dream come true – money falling from the sky, wads of cash being left in mailboxes – but people are so baffled by the situation that they aren’t sure if they should take the money.

“We can just say the money came from the skies,” a police official said Wednesday. “There were other passers-by outside and customers in the store but the incident caused no confusion,” he said. “People thought it was too eerie to touch.” (AFP)

It’s amazing that an act such as giving away money could instill so much fear in people. The envelopes of money have been coming with letters asking the recipients to do good deeds.

One 67-year-old woman received the equivalent of about $85,000 in her mailbox. Why don’t things like this happen to me? I’m still waiting for Thailand’s copycat benefactor to step up.

Sourced and rewritten from AFP articles.

Techno’ tags: Japan, Tokyo, Bizarre

Find out all about Rang Yai Island here.