First day of ’school’

I guess it really is day care but we tell the girls that it is school.

After about 6 weeks of asking, researching and looking we have finally found a place that I trust to take my kids for a few half days a week. It still isn’t ideal as I feel that Ariya is to old given the current crop of attendees but we will trial it for a month and see what happens.

I have no intention of sending my kids to a Thai school if serious learning if what I am after. This is due to various reasons but I guess it all comes down to the fact that i believe that the Thai educational system is appalling and like many things in this country is only there to look good and to gain face.

I have started a very small amount of home schooling for my eldest child recently and that is going well but I felt that 3 x 1/2 days a week with other kids would be good for them. Back ‘home’ I have many friends and family who home school and therefore have a great network of social outlets for their kids with other home school kids but alas this isn’t the case here. Many Thai kids are sent of to school at such a young age which really saddens me. Almost every time i am out with my two and a half year old i will be asked which school she is attending.

The one downside of mixing with other kids however is the inevitable sickness that occurs and it only took my girls two visits before they both have been struck down with high temps and a very chesty cough.

On the first morning that they went to school there were very excited but i think that was mainly due to the fact that they both received new school bags that morning when they woke up!

Here they are showing them off.

Marisah had to be dragged from her bed fast asleep as she wasn’t used to such an early morning wake up call (7.30am) and was a little sleepy which concerned her big sister a little. A comforting cuddle and a quick ‘chin up ole girl’ and she was fine in no time.

Nok Airlines for Ubon?

Back in 2007 Nok Air began daily flights between Ubon and Bangkok. Unfortunately it only lasted 6 months. Nok Air is affiliated with Thai airways which is one of the two current airlines to service Ubon, the other being Air Asia. It seems that Thai airways is looking to offload a few of their domestic routes in Thailand that they cannot operate profitably under the full-service model with one of them being Ubon Ratchathani.

This can only be a good thing for Ubon as the flight to Bangkok only takes one hour so I doubt many people would have an issue if they don’t get a wet towel and the daily paper upon arriving at their pre booked seat.

Buriram is a small city about two hours from here and it seems as if Nok Air has big plans for the place.

The full article from the Bangkok Post can be found here.

Kids at play

Like my parents I love watching my kids at play. Their imagination is sometimes amazing and at times it really is hard to keep up. The other day I suggested we make a little cubby house inside like I remember doing as a kid.
They were so excited that their eyes almost popped out of their heads.

So we set up the basic structure….

… and the girls set up a bedroom inside complete with blankets, pillows, teddy’s and toys.

I left them to it for a while and when I came back I was quick to notice that there must have been some kind of falling out as Marisah had decided to move her bedroom elsewhere!

222 million baht to build a pilot solar power project in Ubon

According to www.newenergymatters.com a major solar project will be ready next month at Sirindhorn dam.

Great news for Ubon.

Here is the full story.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) plans to spend 222 million baht to build a pilot solar power project to showcase its own innovative technology, according to Paskorn Dangsmak, assistant director for policy and planning.

Technology developed by Egat tracks sun rays and adjusts the panel angle.

The pilot project, located in the Sirindhorn hydropower plant in Ubon Ratchathani, will have acapacity of one megawatt.

Its solar cells will use Egat’s patented technology consisting of a tracking system to control the movement of panels in the direction of sun rays, instead of old technology that needs motors or manual controls to make panels move.

“We developed the system for tracking the direction of the sun rays by itself, and solar power will also be increased automatically to make it move. Current technology works by using battery-run motors, and needs humans to set its direction too,” Mr Paskorn explained.

The Sirindhorn solar power plant will use locally made equipment from suppliers including Bangkok Solar Ltd and RCR Ltd.

With the new technology, which Egat began developing in 2003, the solar cells can produce 10-20% more power than ones using conventional technology.

The solar cells are expected to generate power that would save the equivalent of 348,000 litres per year of fossil fuels.

Egat plans to open the pilot project next month and hopes to develop the site into a learning centre on renewable energy for local communities.

The Egat solar power plant would be the third in Thailand that focuses on new developments, following a 100-MW solar cell plant by Bangchak Petroleum and a 6-MW installation by Bangkok Solar Ltd.

Happy 4th Birthday Ariya part IV

The next morning we were up at the usual time and quickly had some breakfast and packed before heading off to the village. Of course we had to have a few stops to buy the essentials for the family in the village so we didn’t arrive until around about noon.

After lunch the kids had a sleep and after they woke up I took them up to their aunties place and then onto the pig farm. I brought their bikes this time and they really enjoyed riding up the main drag.

The kids love this place as it is the coolest part of ‘town’ plus there is always something interesting to see. This time there were piglets five days old, one day old and more due any hour. Unfortunately we did not see any born but they still had a good time checking them out.

We then went back to their aunties house for some coconut…

… before heading back to our house for dinner and then a shower where Marisah decided to show off her dancing skills.

The kids thought it was great fun as they got to sleep in the same room as their Dad and enjoyed playing up for the camera.

This is the fourth time now in the last few months that I have been ‘home’ to the village without my wife due to her work commitments and I know that she is really feeling it. I hope it isn’t too long until we can all return as a full family.

Happy 4th Birthday Ariya part III

So after the BBQ was over it was inside to await the arrival of the cake.

Finally it arrived!

Marisah was unable to control her excitement.

It was a team effort with the candles.

Ariya then got ready to start carving it up! Marisah for some reason looks a little worried.

While Marisah concentrated on ear cleaning duty Ariya was allowed a few minutes to play with her present that we gave her before going to bed as a busy day was planned for the next day which involved a trip to the village. That will be covered in the fourth and final blog.

Happy 4th Birthday Ariya part II

Just as we were finishing our birthday pizza our special visitors arrived. Two aunties and two cousins had made the 4 hour bus journey in from the village to help Ariya celebrate. As they do not celebrate birthday’s at all themselves it was a really special gesture of family and friendship.
After another round of pizza for the new arrivals we all went home for the rest of the day. Seerung and I had to go out for some work related jobs that afternoon but managed to arrive home with plenty of food and enough time to fire up the BBQ for dinner.
I will let the photos tell the rest of the story and will be back with part III soon which will cover the cake and presents.

Happy 4th birthday Ariya!

Can it really be a full year ago since I blogged about my eldest daughters 3rd birthday?

This is the first time she has had two birthdays in the same country.

There is a lot of stress at work at the moment so I need to keep this short and sweet so have decided to split my blog on my beautiful girls birthday into a few different parts with not much writing but lots of photos.

First up it was her actual birthday on a Sunday which due to work meant we were not able to spend anytime with her on that day so decided to ignore it and tell her that her birthday was on a Tuesday where we both could get some time off in different shifts.

As soon as she woke up it was time to get her looking her best for the special day.

Marisah was watching on from half way up the stairs with much amusement.

When everyone was ready it was off to Peppers for a pizza breakfast!

Soon after two aunties and two cousins arrived after a 6 hour bus journey to help her celebrate. Part 2 to come.

Bling Bling!

Most Thai people love a little bling! Amongst bus and truck drivers there seems to be some kind of competition to see who can fit the most lights/stickers/murals/speakers etc on their vehicles.

After a while you almost stop noticing it. Almost, that is until you see something out of the ordinary like I did just a few hours ago outside Sunee where this truck was unloading.

I mean seriously, how many mirrors do you really need??!!

Suppasitthiprasong Golf Club สนามกอล์ฟ ค่ายสรรีสิทธิประส

Warin golf course

My third golf course review in Ubon is the Suppasitthiprasong Golf Club สนามกอล์ฟ ค่ายสรรีสิทธิประส locally known as the Warin course or the Army Base course.

240 baht ($8 AUS) for 18 holes this is another 9 hole course. The caddies here know there stuff unlike at the WIng 21 course.The greens are in good condition and the fairways are not to bad. The main problem (for me anyway) is that the course is boring! The first hole is fantastic and gets your hopes up for a good course but after that every hole is basically dead straight apart from the last hole. Hole no 2 used to have a nice dog leg in it but they have changed the lay out recently.

Five water hazards to negotiate and just a small amount of sand, it is worth playing just to get your driver out for a bit of a whack but personally I think that the other courses in Ubon are more interesting.

Ph: 045 324382.