One year after coming to the fascinating kingdom of Thailand I finally had to do what I always considered a myth or something for people who didn’t do their homework. A trip to the Thai embassy in Vientiane, Laos. Amongst backpackers a.k.a. ‘Visa Run‘.

thai embassy vientiane

I always thought about the Visa Run as something that people have to do if they didn’t prepare their stuff, if they didn’t get enough information beforehand or failed in organizing the appropriate documents. Now that it happened to myself and – how I hate it when my students tell me that – completely without my fault, I have to say it makes sense. It is stupid, but it makes sense. And here is why…

When I came to Thailand I had a one year working visa (I already complained about the fact that I had to leave Thailand eve...

The other day I once more had to do a trip to Laos. This time however not the usual ‘get your stamp at the border, come back after the weekend and stay three more months in Thailand’ – no! This time I had to visit the Thai embassy in Vientiane in order to apply for a new Non B Visa (Non-Immigrant Visa). Since we had quite some troubles with the immigration office in Udon Thani (we refused to bribe them so they refused to extend my visa) two of my colleagues came with me in order to make sure everything goes well (and to report to our director immediately). The visa application wasn’t a problem at all so they already went home the same day. I will pick it up today though. The fun or disturbing things that make me write this post aren’t the strange immigration rules though...

During the past few days / weeks the news are, obviously, full of pictures of the flood, victims and everything that happens around it.

Now, in order to fight the dirty waste water that won’t go away, Thailand came up with a GREAT solution. I won’t go to much into scientific details (I suggest the articles at New Mandala & The Wall Street Journal for further information) but just so far: It is about sugar balls.

em balls - little wonders for thailand - or scam?

Well, obviously they are not called sugar balls and I just tried to exaggerate a little but they contain sugar which makes the name at least not completely wrong. However those magic balls are called EM Balls and are said to clean polluted water quite miraculously.

EM Balls work via microorganisms and are the new superhero in the fl...

During my�life in Udon Thani�I meet / met a lot of interesting and fascinating people. This is their place to tell the world what they think about all different kinds of subjects. You will find interviews with students, colleagues, workers, farangs and more random citizens or tourists. Today it is one of my University students who talks about her life in Udon as well as about her plans for the future. She is a first year tourism management student and has quite some things to say.

Suttida Yakong - Around the world with her mom

What�s your name?

Suttida Yakong

Where are you from?
Udon Thani

How old are you?
20

Where do you live?
Udon Thani, Nong Han District

Why are you in Udon?
I stay in udon since i was born. By the way: �I feel ike here’s the best place to stay �for me...

The Basics of Loy Krathong

Beginning of November, the moon is slowly getting into its designated place (fullmoon of the 12th month in the thai lunar calendar – this year: 10th November!). Time for the annual Loy Krathong festival in Thailand. I already covered the basics in my last post about Loy Krathong, which is one of the most important festivals in Thailand.

To get the facts back into your mind: Loy Krathong is usually a festival of love, dreams and happiness. People build wonderful Krathongs (out of banana leaves), decorate them nicely and let them swim away in a river or lake. While they swim away people try to watch them as long as possible. While watching them disappear you can make a wish….

The same happens when people light ‘Kom Fais‘ (the cooler way to celebrate Loy Krathong – ...

Just another quick updated for friends and family who keep asking about the flood situation right now. If you want to get up to the minute information about the flood I suggest you follow the sources I mentioned in my last post about the flood.

Here is just a quick overview. Central Thailand still suffers from the flood and nobody really knows how long this shit might go on. While the water still rises in Bangkok (despite the governments try to dig drainages into main roads) other parts of the country are much more worse. The government says that there is no need to worry but experts doubt that and are afraid of upcoming infections and diseases due to the dirty water all around the flooded areas.

As I mentioned in my older post, Udon Thani is quite safe and not in any danger of being flood...