Penfold's South East Asian Odyssey

Well the title of this post says it all........according to official figures more Aussies come a cropper in Thailand than any other country!!! In 2008-09, a total of 1038 Australians died whilst on holiday overseas and Thailand which received 378,000 Australian visitors accounted for 105 of those deaths!!!! It is lucky that England won the Ashes or that death toll would have been a lot higher!!!! So statistically, your average Aussie has got more chance of winning a test match, by bowling underarm, and wearing a tutu and flip-flops, as they have of staying alive in Thailand!!! It doesn't bode well for Dame Edna or Skippy, so you'd best lay off the sang som and coke guys and watch ur back!!! If you would like to read the the full report please click on the link below...... http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,26037202-5014090,00.html Why is it that so many Australians end up croaking in the Kingdom? Are they complete clowns who couldn't find their arse with both hands...

From time to time I will be bringing you celebrity interviews, where famous household names and doyens from the worlds of popular entertainment, sport and politics pop in for a chat and to share their thoughts on the "Land of Smiles". I'm delighted that the first person joining Penfold at the bar, to enjoy an ice cold Beer Chang and bag of peanuts, is football's Goldenest Geezer, "Big" Ron Atkinson , former manager and TV pundit. As you all know, "Big" Ron is a legend of football co-commentating and before the "Desailly-gate" scandal that led to his removal from our TV screens, was responsible for bringing us inimitable football phrases like "little eyebrows", "early doors" and "lollipops". It must only be a matter of time before he's awarded an honorary fellowship by the chaps in English faculty at Oxford University, thanks to classic guff like..... "Well Clive, It's all about the two M's - ...

Since my last relationship came to an inglorious end, I haven't been sitting around eating ice-cream and knocking back bottles rosé wine in some kind of "Sex and the city" meets "Friends" orgy of self-pity. In fact one of the first things I did was to book another trip to the Land of Smiles with the intention of improving my sun-tan and going on a 2 week, beer Leo drinking binge.......and with the hope of meeting the next Mrs. Penfold, of course!!!! Around the time of booking my trip I had started to be in regular telephone and email contact with Apinya, a very cute looking, sweet and friendly Thai lady. I made the decision that during my trip I would meet up with her and see how things played out. I arrived in the Big Mango full of the joie de vivre that only a "hansum man" going to Thailand can experience. For those of you that haven't been to Thailand, the feelings that you experience when you disembark at Suvarnabhumi, because of all the fun yo...

People who travel to Thailand come in all sorts of weird and wonderful guises (believe me I’ve seen some “characters” over the years!!!). They arrive in the Kingdom with all manner of hopes, wishes and dreams…..all searching for their own unqiue experience in the exotic East. But….if Fox news and the loony religious zealots are to be believed then anyone going there, particularly single guys or groups of young men, are all rampant ”kiddie fiddlers” and degenerates, prancing around in Borat-esque “mankinis” while singing Gary Glitter’s classic “do you want to be in my gang” and knobbing 10 year olds. According to them we are going to burn in the eternal fires of damnation….but in my humble opinion we’ve got a lot more to worry about than the risk of meeting lucifer….if the credit crunch and global warming continue then we’re going to be broke, unemployed, homeless and under 100ft of melting polar ice caps and tidal surges. Gordon and Barrack et al are doing a better job of taking us to ...

I am sure this will be a topic familiar to a lot of people who read this blog..... And there are no doubts that some of you reading this are crying into your Beer Chang because your sexy, treacle-coloured love bunny, who only last week was professing undying love to you, has just run off with a guy who is richer, more handsome and has a bigger house than you!!! But to all those guys (or gals!) who are considering a relationship with a Thai, I urge you to go ahead and try what the exotic East has to offer (but please ignore the last paragraph, I don't want you to think it will necessarily end in disaster!!!) . Despite all the challenges, including, the Mariah Carey-esque diva tantrums, the language problems and miscommunications, the financial strains and the bug-eating (if your squeeze happens to be from Isaan!!!), a relationship with a Thai can be extremely rewarding. As I have alluded in previous posts, Thai people that you meet when going about your day-to-day business w...