My Thailand Trip.

5th November 2010 - 1st February 2011

    The purpose of this page is to allow you to follow my trip through Thailand during November - January. I will post a daily snapshot of what I did and where I went and include pictures where appropriate. Of course any comments will be appreciated and you can contact me by email on bruce.kehlet@magicpigeonflight.com or phone me on  +66870699712  remembering that we are 3 hours behind eastern Australia (Check local time below).

    I arrive in Bangkok at approx 18:50 Friday the 5th November  and will be staying at the Grand Hi-tech Hotel in Ekamai 23, not far from Wat Pashi and Sukhumvit Rd the main entertainment area of Bangkok (unfortunately the website is a little dated). After recuperating from my long flight I will begin my journey. I will be visiting numerous pigeon lofts and the FCI One loft race while I am in Thailand. Plenty of pictures will be taken and displayed here. Also fishing and maybe some Snake Sight-seeing as well.

The Journey begins.

Current Time & Temperature in Pattaya   

(Last Updated:- )    25th October 2010 8:44 am

17/08/2010  Have just booked my return flights to Thailand, via Kuala Lumphur Malaysia.  Total cost $ 675 with a 3 hour layover in KL.

17/10/2010 Have just confirmed today rental for a nice room in Pattaya for the 3 months I am in Thailand  . It is in NIRUN Complex (Click on the link to go to google earth and see it from above, my room is at the end of the building) and I have included 2 pics showing the basic room and the view from the balcony.

Total cost for this room is 4500 baht ($150)  per month plus 1500 baht ($50) for electricity and water and Internet and Sophon Cable TV.  It has 2 pools and a 7-11 and many food and specialty shops of all types within the complex.

A parking space is also available if we hire a car or park the bike (pictured) I have hired for 100 baht ($3.50) / day (9000 baht - $300 total).

One of the pools at Nirun Condo, fun in the sun or great exercise spot each morning.

04/11/2010  The day before I take off for Thailand. Last minute cleaning of the caravan after packing al my stuff into boxes and bags. All stored at Pete's for my return in February. leave Caboolture at 4:30am tomorrow for the Gold Coast Airport and my flight with Air Asia to KL then Bangkok. My next report will be from Bangkok on Saturday.

Saturday 6th November.

    Visited my old friend Jo (Chenchai Teevakul) and witness some very well trained young birds getting readied for the next young bird season commencing in February, at the moment he is racing a team of birds at the a age of  4-5 months that have just started within the last month and he has begun this season very well with 2 best in federations already. A great performance and sure to be added to in the months and years to come. It should be pointed out that the Thai Federation runs 3 Young Bird series each year. In total about 40+ races. I look forward to further meetings with JO and the approach of the FCI World challenge in December. The pictures are of Jo's birds and lofts and his trainer.

Sunday 7th November.

    Started the day with a sleep in and then went to the Red Cross Snake farm on Rama IV the pictures are of kate and myself and the King Cobra and Burmese python. Would recommend this place to anyone as it is an informative show and a great display of animals both outdoor and indoors.

Monday 8th November :

Spent the moring relaxing waiting for Steve and Faye Hutchinson of Brisbane to arrive at their hotel, We visited Central World Shopping complex which rivals any we have in Australia. Spent some time walking today which is good exercise for my heart and lungs. After Steve & Faye arrived we had coffee and awaited the time to leave to visit my our mutual acquaintance Jo. We spent an enjoyable afternoon recounted previous visits and funny anecdotes of pigeons and pigeon flyers. We were then invited along with his wife Mo and his son Chat to dinner in a wonderful Chinese restaurant within walking distance of Jo's house (1km). Wine was consumed and food in great abundance was placed on the table for us to eat. All in all a great afternoon and evening was had by all and I look forward to a rewarding visit later in the month to organise some business between us.

November 9th - 11th.

Just chilled out settling in and meeting one of Kate's cousins Loi who works in Pattaya. He came along with 2 friends Baht and Nam who were very helpful bringing all the groceries up to the room. After a sumptuous meal cooked by the boys they departed. In the afternoon of the 11th we decided to go for a ride around Pattaya on the bike. Mostly uneventful until a dumb Falang decided to park but didn't use or know how to use a blinker to let me know he was pulling in in front of us. No damage but a little scare we didn't need. No pics today as it has been pretty humdrum.

November 12th-14th.

Did the usual things, shopping and just walking around. Nothing great encountered but a bit of exercise and enjoyment. have walked quite a bit so far this trip and finding it is getting easier as I go along. On Sunday (the first anniversary of my heart attack) I will be attending Secrets Sunday afternoon special meeting. Will keep you posted with pics etc later.

Monday 15th november.

Happy birthday to my only son Barry who turns 36 today (Congratulations old man).

Visited the lofts of David Syms and his lovely wife and there 4 dogs, 3 Retrievers and a Shitzhu cross. The lofts were very open and were designed to race young birds with stock compartments for breeding and racing old birds. David had raced 250 miles yesterday and the birds looked pretty good were obviously trained for that distance. Thanks David for the visit and we shall do it again when time permits. The pics are of David and his lovely wife, his loft and the neighbours loft about 50 metres away.

November 16th-18th

Just been riding around getting used to Pattaya traffic, boy what a fun place to ride. Been to Secrets Bar a couple of times to see Larry and the boys, will be there on Sunday for the get together. Also have been to Billabong hotel a couple of times this week, this is the hotel where I had my heart attack last year.  Went down to Jomtien beach and rode along the coast. will probably go for a longer ride tomorrow. Planning on riding to the village on Monday (330 Klms is a fair ride on a scooter) should take us about 5-6 hours.

November 19th.

Decided to go fishing today at the Jomtien Fishing Park about a 15 minute ride to the south from our lodgings in Pattaya just behind Jomtien beach near soi 14. We had a wonderful time and caught 5 fish and had 1 get off. The fish were all Mekong catfish of between 8-12 Kgs and put up a spirited fight lasting from 8-14 minutes depending on size. Overall I would rate this as a great way to spend an afternoon and an even better value for money option as it cost less than 500 baht ($17) for over 2 hours of fun watching other people catch fish and also catching your own. The pics I have posted show 2 fish at random, but as you can see they are quite good sized ones.

November 21st

Spent the afternoon with Kate riding around Pattaya and showing her some of the sights. We visited the Sanctuary of truth overlooking the Town of Pattaya and visited the local shrine to Buddha and Kate said a few prayers and delivered a few flowers and incense sticks to show her devotion. At 4:30 we then went onboard The Pattaya Party Boat owned by one of the bulletin Board members of secrets. He had offered to take up to 30 people for the evening cruise to see the Les Kratong Festival. It was a fabulous evening and it finished around 11 pm.   We fished (caught nothing) then went squidding and caught a bucket load and BBQ'd them for the evening snack. The drinks flowed freely and a great time was had by all. The pictures are of our boat from the Sanctuary of truth Kate with Pattaya in the background, Ken the owner of the boat and his girl Tak, The Squid being BBQ'd and Michael and his girl Bam and Us of course.

November 22nd.

We hired a Mazda 3 (we decided it was too far by Scooter for the 2 of us) and headed for Kates' home town of Ban Don Quen ( near Nong Ki, Korat), her cousin Yoyo is married to a mate of mine from Brisbane Jon, and she has a small business and bar setup to service their village. Kate's family home is right next door on the main road thru the town. We stayed at the local resort (300 baht per night about 10 bucks). on the tuesday night we went into Nong Ki for would you believe the Chicken festival to celebrate the largest business employer for the processing of chickens in the local region. We sat and watched the world go by then went to a bar for some relaxing music and much to our surprise a troupe of Female impersonators from Tiffany's Review in Pattaya showed up with the local LB's and put on an impromptu show, Great fun and enjoyed by all of us. We arrived back in Pattaya on Wednesday evening. Pictures are of Kate and her Sister's children Kate with the Female impersonator, During the show and Yoyo with the star of the show.

November 24th-26th.

After having spent a relaxing 3 days in the village it was time for more fun and work. Relaxed on Thursday and went to Bangkok on Friday by bus. Not a bad trip taking about 2 hours in a luxury coach and only costing 113 baht per person, we stayed at the Grand Hi-tech again and visited with Jo to discuss chicken business. On Saturday we visited the Ploenchit fair which is the main fund raising day for the British Charity in Thailand for the Needy (BCFTN) which raises in excess of 6 million Baht ($200,000) for the needy in Thailand. We travelled on the BTS and then by Boat to the site which was in the grounds of Shrewsbury International School. All in all a great day as live music and great food and drink was available all day.  Pics are of Kate and Yoyo (Kates' Cousin) Jon & Yoyo, Jon, Robin & Jimmy and the Taco man and Kate.

During the week I have visited a food processing plant, at the invitation of my friend Jo in Bangkok and enjoyed a few days fishing where I caught an 18Kg catfish (pic below for Gary Grey). Also went to basketting for the race for this weekend with Robert Neuschwander.

I went fishing yesterday and had a great time. Caught 7 fish  It is the Kings' Birthday today so most bars are closed or only serving meals and soft drinks. I have not done much except ride my bike around and have discovered the International snake show in Pattaya and will visit tomorrow for pics and report. My first month has been fun and I look forward to 2 more months of fun and excitement. Pic is of my 18kg fish.

December 8th - 12th 

    Left today for the FCI Thailand World championship one loft pigeon race in Bangkok. This is one of the best events I have ever been to and is a credit to the organising committee and the federation. I will report in more detail after I sort thru all the pics etc and create a page with all the information. Prizemoney for the major winner was 1.3 m Baht ($40,000) as well as major pools totally over 2 million baht ($70,000) The pics are of the 2 winners on the day the major winner from Nong Khai and the winner from Khon Kean, birds arriving and the major winner Tommy and his team from Hartog International.

Some videos of the FCI Auction and farewell Party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6PBijFHazY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oSsVu_amcc

Taken by my friend Daniel Krajcik of Slovakia.

Some Nice Whites and grizzles for my Pigeon mates

from Louis Vangramberen & Frank Scherens of Belgium.
 

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