Everything is now working at the Baan Jochim.com domain, and has been for several days now. I have migrated all of my old posts from the WordPress and Blogger blogs, although I haven’t (yet) gone back and corrected categories. That may have to wait for a (very) rainy day during my upcoming school holidays. Also, I’ve noticed that A LOT of the Thai lettering in older posts from Goodnight Phuket didn’t come across so it appears as complete gibberish. I’ll leave those alone for now as I don’t expect to be able to find the time to fix those passages anytime soon…

I don’t expect to continue updating the blog as it appears on here, but will move on from now using the BaanJochim.com domain. I’ll see you over there!

I spent much of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning tweaking Baan Jochim only to have the DNS name servers suddenly stop forwarding. I don’t know what happened; all the settings were correct and I didn’t have any problems at all until about noontime today. I have now re-entered the forwarding information at Mad Dog, where my domain is registered, to point the site to my host at 000Webhost.com. According to the email they sent me, the changes may take 24-48 hours to take effect. I can’t even access my admin area since cPanel and the wp-admin are all on the hosted domain. At least until the forwarding starts up again, I won’t be tempted by the website and can concentrate on more school-related ventures…
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Almost a year ago, I registered the baanjochim.com domain. I finally decided to use it to host my WordPress blog; their “Famous 5-Minute Install” turned out to be a bit more complicated than that but I finally got it up-and-running to my satisfaction after most of an afternoon of trial-and-error and various tweaks. I decided, for now, to let the blog run in the root directory meaning that it’s the first thing you will encounter when you visit.

I now have all of my old entries exported over, so nothing is lost (I may even try to export my even older entries from Goodnight Phuket). While the main theme is one with a sandy beach motif (appropriate for Phuket), I’ve included a theme switcher right in the sidebar so that you can change the look of the blog to suit your fancy.

So, please adjust your bookmarks to http://baanjochim.com. I hope to see you over there!

From The Nation, published 21 February 2008:

Thailand lifted a tsunami alert for Phuket and five nearby provinces, saying there was no longer any danger following a powerful earthquake Wednesday off Indonesia’s Sumatra island.

“The National Disaster Warning Centre has investigated and analysed more information, and found that there was no tsunami that could affect Thailand,” the centre said in a statement.
“Therefore we want to lift our alert warning as of 4:40pm,” the statement said.

The alert was issued for the six provinces on the Andaman Sea where the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, when 5,400 people were killed in Thailand. About half of the victims were foreign holidaymakers.

The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, struck under the island of Simeulue off the western coast of Sumatra island.

The US Geological Survey said the undersea quake, which had preliminary magnitude about 7.6, struck at 3:08 pm (0808 GMT) some 312 kilometres west-southwest of the North Sumatra capital Medan, at a depth of 34 kilometres.

The tremor can be felt in island of Phuket as well as in Bangkok. People in the highrise buildings on Silom and Sathorn roads also felt the tremor.

Agencies reported that minutes after the quake hit, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin saying parts of the Sumatran coast closest to the epicentre were at risk of a possible tsunami.

Japan’s meteorological agency said India’s Andaman and Nicobar island chain was also at risk.

The quake was felt across much of western and northern Sumatra island, witnesses said.

Many people fled their homes, but there was no immediate reports of damage or injury.

A magnitude-9 quake there in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them on Sumatra. Three months later, an 8.7 quake further down the fault killed 1,000 on the islands of Nias and Simeulue.

by the Nation, Agencies

From Thaindian.com, published 20 February 2008:

February 20, 2008
by News Desk

National Disaster Warning Center, Thailand has issued a tsunami alert for Phuket and adjacent provinces after a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 rocked Indonesia’s Sumatra island .

The tremors were felt in certain regions of Thailand also including Phuket and Bangkok. According to some reports, Japan’s meteorological agency has informed that India’s Andaman and Nicobar island chain was also at risk.

In 2004, Indian Ocean earthquake occurred with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in eleven countries. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were hardest hit.

In 2004, the only warning most people in the region had was the sight of a giant wave heading towards them. In order to change the scenario and put the systems in place, NDWC was inaugurated in May 30, 2005 under The Office of the Prime Minister Regulation 2005 and has been designated to receive tsunami information bulletins and warning guidance, analyze information, and disseminate warning notifications to high ranging commanders (VIPs), rescuers, communities in the tsunami prone area, and general public.

From The Nation, published 20 February 2008:

Buddhist activities to mark the Makha Bucha Day on February 21 started yesterday and will continue until tomorrow at Bangkok’s Wat Saket Ratchaworamahawihan.

Religious Affairs Depart-ment chief Sod Daeng-ied said besides the evening ceremony, in which Buddhists pass lighted candles clockwise around the temple’s Golden Mountain three times, an exhibition on Buddhism by His Majesty the King and his elder sister HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana would be held at Wat Saket.

Sod praised the princess’s support for Buddhism and for her role as honourable chairperson for the launch of the world’s first Romanised edition of the Tripitaka.

Director of the Office of National Buddhism, Chularat Boonyakorn, said her office would host a ceremony for thousands people to pass lighted candles clockwise round the Buddha Monthol Buddha image in Nakhon Pathom’s Salaya district tomorrow evening along with related activities.

Since tomorrow is also the 50th day of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana’s passing, there will be a food-offering ceremony for monks in the morning at Bangkok’s Dusit Palace plaza and also at the Buddha Monthol.

Since all temples across the country will hold merit-making to mark Makha Bucha Day tomorrow, Culture Minister Anusorn Wongwan urged all Thais, both young and old, to visit temples.

Makha Bucha Day, which falls on the third month’s 15th day of the waxing moon according to the lunar calendar, commemorates the occasion when 1,250 disciples spontaneously gathered to hear the Buddha preach.

The Nation

Today is Makha Puja (วันมาฆาบูชา) which is considered one of the most important celebrations on the Buddhist calendar. It refers to the worship that takes place on the full moon of the third lunar month to commemorate the day on which Lord Buddha recited the “Ovadha Patimokkha” (the Fundamental Teaching) to his disciples. This teaching laid down the principles by which the monks should spread the Buddhist teachings. In Thailand, this has been dubbed the “Heart of Buddhism” and can be summarized into three acts, i.e. to do good, to abstain from bad action and to purify the mind.

This day marks the great four events that took place during Lord Buddha’s lifetime, namely

• The time of the full moon in the third lunar month;

• 1,250 Buddhist monks from differents places came to pay homage to the Lord Buddha at Veluwan Temple in Rajgaha City of Magaha State, without any appointment;

• all of them were Arahants (enlightened monks) who had attained the Apinyas (Six Higher Knowledges);

• all of them had been individually ordained by Lord Buddha himself (Ehi Bhikkhu).

Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, Makha Puja Day had never been celebrated in Thailand, as explained by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) — “..the Magha Puja was never performed, the ceremony has just been practised during the reign of King Mongkrut (Rama IV) of the Chakri Dynasty”. Having realized the importance of this day, King Rama IV ordered the royal MaKha Puja Ceremony to be performed in the Emerald Buddha Temple in 1851 and to celebrate it yearly.

Later, the ceremony was widely accepted and performed throughout the kingdom. It was declared to be a public holiday so that everybody could go to the temple to make merit and perform other religious activities in the morning and to take part in a candlelit procession or Wien Tien in the evening.

While I spent much of the day fretting over website concerns and student report books, many of the Thai teachers from our school listened to sermons during the day and met during the early evening to take part in the candlelit procession.

With the end of Term 2 rapidly approaching (only 14 more teaching days, INCLUDING “review week”), there are so many things that need to be accomplished. I spent much of this past weekend writing the comments in my students’ permanent record books (which have to be full of praise, even for the most underachieving children) and writing final exams. I also need to finish the photo slideshow DVD’s I plan to present to my main class of P3/Yellow.

This was a busy weekend capping off a oddly hectic school week, despite a serious reduction in actual teaching time. A number of classes were canceled for various reasons including nationwide Thai testing on Tuesday, an elimination round for a talent show on Wednesday, and the school’s academic fair on Friday. Actually, the preparation for this fair had stretched back several weeks but because of a delay in obtaining materials, we had to take valuable classroom time on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons to create our displays for the booths. In the midst of this, our layouts for yearbook pages needed to be relatively finished as they are due tomorrow (luckily, I only had to create one of the three pages that I’m involved with — the special P4 ESL class, the reading “department”, and P3/Yellow).

The fair itself was a lot of fun, although it was a very tiring day. I was in charge of the English section for the P3 booth, ably assisted by Melanie and Alex, which meant that I was free to roam around in the morning as my “shift” ran from 11:30 until one (I stuck around another two hours after the official time had expired). I watched the opening ceremonies consisting of a few speeches and a really nice dance routine in honor of HRH Galyani Vadhana (which included one of my special ESL students, Nana). I also was able to attend the lower Primary talent show where I cheered on several of my P3 Yellow students — Phudit who played a traditional Thai musical instrument and Praw who sang wonderfully in English.

The highlight of the day, for me, came in the afternoon when the homeroom teacher for P3/Blue taught the children how to make pancakes. Most of the children made extras to give to Teacher Mark! I was already fairly full because all day, various students came by with food gifts for me (I’d filled up on lôok chín bplaa — fish balls — as well as Oreo cookies, shakes, etc.). This was just a continuation of Valentine’s the previous day when I was given a variety of treats such as Belgian chocolate and some wonderful sweet loaves baked by Melanie’s dad in addition to the usual cards and roses. Anyway, I think I ate around ten pancakes which has made me decide that I must teach my wife how to make them as well…

Speaking of my wife, Tim today has resurrected the restaurant in the front of our shophouse. This comes mostly as a result of her exhaustion traveling from one market or temple fair to another with her portable food stands. Plus, a man was fatally stabbed in her booth on the last night of the Chalong temple fair which also had a bit to do with her decision. This time, she is concentrating on noodle soup particularly the variety which uses those fat Chinese egg noodles. It will be nice to have her home at nights (she’d often be out at the temple fairs until two or later) and I wish her the greatest of success. Profits will definitely be helped now that a real estate company has moved in next door with a large (and hungry) staff…

I hope to have some time later this week to get better caught up on this blog (there’s an ever-increasing backlog of photos to upload and share). But I know I probably won’t be posting here as often until the school year wraps up next month (when I’ll have an entire WEEK off before I begin teaching the first of two special “summer” courses). Just keep checking back as there will come a time when there will, once again, be a flood of posts.

From Stuff.co.nz, published 13 February 2008:

Sixteen decorated elephants parading together on one theatre stage is all part of FantaSea, a spectacular night’s entertainment in Phuket.

Thailand’s national animal, a vehicle of war in olden times and still a beast of burden in the logging industry, is better known today in the tourism and showbiz industries.

Elephant rides figure in most visitors’ itineraries, and they’re also on show at places such as the Maesa Camp near Chang Mai in the north where the jumbos frolic with each other in a river, play soccer and paint pictures with their trunks.

March 13 is annually proclaimed Elephant Day throughout Thailand, with the huge pachyderms and their human admirers celebrating in various ways together.

They say that elephants never forget, but at FantaSea it is the visitors who will never forget the spectacle of the jumbos, eight of them standing in line tail to trunk on their hind legs, and performing with their mahouts and a cast of hundreds of dancers, singers, magicians, acrobats and comedians, lavishly and colourfully clad with gold, silver and reds.

Although the FantaSea story is based on Thai history and culture, it’s billed as Las Vegas-style entertainment. Has Las Vegas ever presented a show with 16 elephants on stage together?

The theme park opened in February 1999, built at a cost of more than 3,500 million baht (about $NZ150 million).

Theme of the stage show is Thailand’s Myths, Mysteries and Magic, with breathtaking special effects and state-of-the art technology.

Apart from the elephants, the spectacle is dramatic and comical in turn.

It includes an aerial ballet performed by girl dancers on wires high above the audience, and the adventures of volunteers from the crowd taking part, and occasionally disappearing (temporarily) in deft tricks of illusion.

Leading figure in the cultural show’s storyline is the young ruler of Kamala Bay (where the FantaSea park is located) who mounts the stage aboard a heavenly elephant, ready to spring magical surprises on his guests as they join in the fun and festivities of a Royal Gala, to quote the program.

FantaSea’s creator, Kittikorn Kewpaisal, describes it as “a living tapestry of Thai history and culture, all woven together in one magical creation designed to share the extraordinary wealth of our heritage for all the world to experience”.

Photographs of the many VIPs who have visited FantaSea, from presidents to ambassadors to show-business stars, line the corridors of the vast 3,000-seat theatre, the Palace of the Elephants, where the FantaSea show is staged.

But the family night out at the multi-award-winning Phuket FantaSea is a lot more than just the 75-minute show spectacular.

It all begins 3½ hours earlier when the gates open at 5.30pm, and early arrivals swarm around the ultimate cultural theme park, which has many of the elements of a fun-fair.

There are open-air stage shows, street parades, musicians, tiger and bird-life enclosures and carnival games plus shops, boutiques and stalls selling everything from souvenirs and handicrafts to fashion-house dresses and jewellery.

Guests from the occidental world can visit a photographic studio and have the family photographed taken wearing traditional Thai costumes.

Elephant rides are available around the square outside the palace, and feeding times are also popular.

Another highlight is an (optional) buffet dinner of Thai and international cuisine served up in the cavernous, 4,000-seat Golden Kinnaree Restaurant – a kinnaree (depicted in statues outside the building) being a mythical creature from Thai history, half-bird and half-woman, of legendary beauty and graciousness.

Alternative restaurants, snack-bars and a beer garden are elsewhere around the park, which closes at 11.30pm.

Cameras of all kinds are banned from the FantaSea stage performance; they must be handed in to a special desk for retrieval after the show.

FantaSea is in the same ownership as another popular Thai tourist attraction, Safari World at Minburi just north of Bangkok, with a wide range of Asian and African animals on show in their natural habitat.

IF YOU GO

FantaSea is located at Kathu on Kamala Bay on the west coast of Phuket. It is open nightly from 5.30pm, with dinner from 6pm and the stage show from 9pm except on Thursdays unless its a public holiday. Additional shows may be arranged at 5pm and/or 7pm on special dates.

Admission is 1,500 baht show only for adults and children; 1,800 baht show with return minibus transfers from resorts and hotels; show with dinner 1,900 baht for adults and 1,700 baht for children; and show, dinner and transfers $2,200 baht for adults and 2,000 baht for children.

Details and bookings: www.phuket-fantasea.com

Safari World details: www.safariworld.com

Thailand holidays: www.tourismthailand.org

* The writer was a guest of Phuket FantaSea Co Ltd, flying between Sydney and Phuket by Jetstar (www.jetstar.com), the only airline operating nonstop between eastern Australia and Phuket.