Residents in a moo baan in tambon Pa Bong, Saraphi district, Chiang Mai, were tonight treated to Thailand’s first snowfall in history. The Chiang Mai Mail has reported that at about 9 pm, locals were bemused by the formation of a thin layer of white powder in their gardens.

Suspecting a possible terrorist attack or just ash from a nearby bonfire, a villager alerted Saraphi Police to the scene in his front yard where the white powder continued to fall.

When police arrived, hordes of residents were reportedly outside of their homes trying to make sense of the what was happening. Maj Worapoj Suwannasit of Saraphi Police told reporters that his initial reaction was to evacuate the area.

“We thought that this might have been an anthrax attack, so we treated the situation with extreme caution,” he said.

Local villager Sompratch suspected that a change in the weather may have caused the mysterious white powder to fall from the sky. It was then that a female villager named Kannikar, who has previously traveled to Finland, voiced her opinion that the white powder was snow.

“I’ve seen snow before, so I know how it looks. I tasted some of the powder that was covering the ground and it tasted the same as snow does in Finland,” she said.

A frenzy broke out across the village and the poo yai baan (village headman) declared tomorrow an unofficial public holiday in celebration of Thailand’s first recorded snowfall.

“We’re all so excited to have seen snow that we’re going to celebrate the occasion with a party for everyone in the village,” said Poo Yai Baan Wallop.

Meteorologists, who have been left baffled by the incident, suspect that the snow is the result of global warming.

The murder of Hanna Backlund has been doing the rounds on the Thai Visa forum, but now things are getting ridiculous. I logged onto Thai Visa this morning to find a thread titled “No Less Then Death Penalty For Hanna’s Murderer, Show of force at the hearings”. The post reads like this:

It is possible to see that justice is done. Will anyone help me to attend hearings, show a cohesive presence and attempt to lobby the court so as to assure the death penalty in this case?

Also from the original poster:

I also know that doing nothing is not an acceptable alternative. If we can’ t get into courtroom, we can stand outside. If we can’t stand outside we can write letters, we can appeal to the press.

Maybe a bikini rally where we all wear bikinis, men and women! And then mockenly stab each other, eh?

That will get some action !

I know who the original poster is, although I don’t know her personally. The problem I have with this is that I have no doubt that the poster will go through with what she is preaching, making a mockery of the whole trial.

The man police arrested may or may not be the killer. He is yet to be convicted either way. There is a chance that he is a scapegoat. Some of the details I have learnt about corruption in Thailand show me that nothing is clear cut. There are things I can’t write about on this blog, but corruption exists and scapegoats are used. Innocent people are arrested while the guilty walk free.

By Thai law, the man accused of murdering Hanna Backlund cannot receive the death penalty. He gave himself up in a “deal” with the police. If convicted, he will get life imprisonment. By lobbying at the court, the poster and her clan will be attempting to change Thai law.

Yes, a farang was killed, but people are killed in Thailand every day. Were those who will lobby at the court demanding the death penalty for people suspected of killing Thais, Burmese, whoever. Have these same people been pressuring police to find the killers of other farangs who have been murdered in Phuket?

Really, who is the original poster doing this for? Is she working on behalf of Hanna’s family? I suspect that Hanna’s family would want to distance themselves from this type of action. I am strongly against the death penalty. If the poster wants to change Thai law, this is not the place to call for it. This crusade for “justice” is bad news. The case already has a high enough profile without turning it into even more of a media circus.

I’d love hear other people’s thought about this because the thread on Thai Visa made me extremely uncomfortable.

Khanom jeen is without doubt my favorite Thai food. It tastes fantastic and although it’s traditionally a breakfast dish, it can be eaten for any meal. I sometimes have late-night khanom jeen from a place in Phuket Town.

Rather than regular rice or noodles, khanom jeen is eaten with a combination of both: rice-flour noodles, which look and taste more like spaghetti than anything. Eating khanom jeen can, at first, be a daunting experience because of the amount of choice in sauces and the sheer volume of condiments on offer.

You can spot a khanom jeen vendor because there will usually be a bunch of bowls prepared with plain noodles placed next to several large bowls of curry. The types of curry vary from one place to the next, but ingredients can include chicken, crab, fish and other types of meat. Coconut milk is usually used, which makes the sauces terrifically creamy.

The curries can be extremely spicy, but are well complimented with cucumber, beansprouts, long beans, shallots, pickled mustard greens, basil leaves and all sorts.

The best thing about khanom jeen is that it’s so damn cheap. One bowl usually costs less than 20 baht. Pick your curry, throw on some bits and pieces and enjoy. If there is one dish that I would give to someone who has never tried Thai food, it’s khanom jeen. If you’ve never had it, you’re missing out.

I never came across khanom jeen in Bangkok (not that I remember, anyway), but it seems to be a staple part of a Southern diet.

I can only find one news story covering this. It looks like they are trying to keep it quiet. On Wednesday, an Australian tourist was raped at a resort on Koh Samui.

Today, according to the Bangkok Post, “Somchai Duanglai, 26, a native of Sakon Nakhon, was arrested at a rented house near Samui airport.”

The 20-year-old victim was sleeping alone in her room at 5 am when a man broke in raped her. DNA tests have nailed Somchai already.

From The Nation:

Legal advisors of the Election Commission voted Wednesday to dissolve the Chart Thai and Matchima Tipataya parties.

The voted 6 to 1 to dissolve the two parties.

More to follow apparently.