Penfold's South East Asian Odyssey

The annual Thai Vegetarian Festival is now drawing to a close. This year in Pattaya it ran from the 7th- 17th October, but as it's a lunar celebration (held during the 9th lunar month of the Chinse calendar) the dates are different each year. The festival is celebrated by Chinese communities throughout Thailand, although most of the attention is generally focused on Phuket with it's colourful parades and the vegetarian devotees, known as "Ma Song", who perform various feats of courage, such as walking on hot coals or piercing their skin with knives and other sharp objects. Check out these guys........they are all 100% genuine and haven't been edited on photoshop!!! Fortunately, we have not been carrying out any ritual acts of self-mutilation!! And the knitting needles were kept well away from my crown jewels, just in case the missus had any unusual urges!!! We observed a vegan diet for the duration of the festival, that's right folks....no milk in my tea, no b...

The monks from Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew in the North-Eastern Thai province of Sisaket have taken recycling to a whole new level by building a temple from more than 1 million glass bottles!!! A friend here in Thailand emailed about this a little while ago and I thought it was time I featured it on the site. The temple is in the town of Khun Han near the cambodian border and is affactionately known as "Wat Lan Kuat" or "the temple of a million bottles" and true to its moniker it is made from glass bottles throughout, even in the crematorium!!! That's a hell of a way to make your final journey, surrounded by bottles of amber nectar!!! The holy men originally began collecting bottles, in 1984, with aim of using them as simple decorations within the temple grounds. But, one of the monks had a moment of inspiration and suggested using the bottles to construct new buildings on the site and as their collection grew so did their temple. The temple has now become an interen...

Having just returned from a long weekend on the island of Penang and as it was my first visit to Malaysia, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share my thoughts on the destination. I had read extensively about Malaysia on the internet prior to my trip and settled on Penang due to its proximity to Thailand and the fact it had plenty of tourist attractions and historical sights to visit. We flew in style on Air Asia......I am joking of course!!! For those of you unfamiliar with Air Asia they are the Asian equivalent of EasyJet or Ryan Air, a no frills, budget airline who offer cheap flights but you pay for all the extras, including your food and baggage. Our 2 return flights with 2 pieces of checked in luggage weighing 15kg each, cost a little over 8,000 baht (about £170 at the current exchange rate). British passport holders don't need a visa to enter Malaysia, if your stay is for leisure. All you have to do is complete the immigration form that is given to you by the airlin...

I'm sure many of you have visited the ancient ruins at Ayutthaya and the UNESCO world heritage sites at Sukothai. If you enjoyed the experience then I would like to let you in on a little secret. About 5 kilometres South of Chiang Mai, lies a hidden historical gem called Wiang Kum Kam. Whilst it doesn't rival Sukothai or Ayutthaya in terms of reputation or column inches in tourist guides, it is equally majestic and provides a tantilising glimpse in to Chiang Mai's past. There are over 20 sites, some of which have yet to be fully excavated and restored. Visitors can chose to view a selection of the ancient ruins either by tram or by horse and carriage, which was the option we chose. I felt sorry for the horse because riding in the carriage was my girlfriend and I, her father and 3 of our dogs!!! Wiang Kum Kam was founded in the 13th Century and briefly served as the capital of the Northern Lanna kingdom until severe flooding caused the inhabitants to move to the current site...

We all know that Mother Nature can be a fickle mistress, because a few months ago certain parts of Thailand were experiencing some of the worst droughts in decades. However, fast-forward a few weeks and the Kingdom is currently being deluged by the monsoon rains and swathes of the country from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai are under metres of water!!! Countless buildings have been damaged, roads washed away and acres of crops destroyed. The weather forecasts will do little to ease the worries of those already mopping up!!! Having recently been in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, I saw first hand some of the problems that have been caused. However, Thai's are resilient folk and I know it will take more than a few drops of rain to dampen the spirits. Fortunately, Casa Penfold is still standing and I won't be forced to live in the street with the Soi dogs just yet!! An in-depth look report of the flooding is available by clicking on the following link..... http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?...

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I have been in Chiang Mai with my girlfriend renovating our holiday home....I will update you all on the progress of the improvements and post some photos in due course. Having recently encountered a massive scorpion in the garden, (see below!!!), it got me thinking about all the potentially dangerous creatures that you are likely to encounter in Thailand. There are plenty of run of the mill critters like ants, wasps and bees, ands although a bite or sting can be extremely uncomfortable, they are only really dangerous if you suffer an allergic reaction. However, there are plenty of other flying, slithering and swimming critters that can pack a lethal punch. I shall give you a breakdown of some of the worst offenders………. 1) Insects One of the smallest and most common insects is responsible for more hospital admissions than all the other animals combined and that is the humble mosquito. Most people just consider them to be a nuisance, but they ca...

In a move aimed at discouraging elephant handlers from bringing their animals into Bangkok, authorities in the Thai capital have recently introduced a new law stating that foreign tourists caught feeding elephants will be fined 10,000 baht (approximately £200). That’s a pretty hefty fine for giving a poor, starving pachyderm a 25 baht bunch of bananas or a corn on the cob!!! This practice has been going decades, despite the fact that the elephant owners or mahouts are already banned from bringing their creatures into the city and are supposed to face substantial financial penalties if they are caught. However, the owners often bride local police to allow them to work in the red light districts and other tourist hot-spots and when money is changing hands, existing rules and regulations are rarely enforced. Whilst I believe that elephants shouldn’t be roaming the streets of a busy, polluted city and I commend the authorities for trying to take positive action, criminalising tourists is n...