10 Feb

10 Feb - Breaking News, a ferry capsized at lunchtime today (no foreigners - other than Burmese - dead so it isn't really news). The boat capsized and sank 300 metres off the mainland. Three people drowned, a dozen were injured. The cause was overloading the boat with construction materials which were heading for a resort on Koh Kood. Be sure to ask how many concrete poles your ferry is carrying before buying a ticket.

Was there a rape in Lonely Beach recently?

An emailer wants anyone staying around the area between Siam Hut and Treehouse to be careful if they're walking home alone at night as his friend was raped there by a Thai guy. She went to the international clinic and a report was made to the police, what if any action was taken to find the culprit remains a mystery. But if it's anything like the murder of a Thai woman in Klong Prao last year, when locals were told to keep quiet in order not to frighten tourists away, then it's a pretty f&$ked up state of affairs but not one that should surprise anyone who's lived in Thailand for a while.

Also from my ever expanding Inbox . . . here's a link that's interesting: http://www.geocities.com/jesada2080/passport_info.htm Apparently the guy/gal is now in Kai Bae, a fact that I believe as I've had an email from him asking for info about renting restaurants, bars etc. It's a small world. If you need more info contact < cubriant@yahoo.co.uk > and not me as I really don't care.

Cheerier news . . . . yesterday Steve from the UK bought the funky house for sale in Dan Mai, which I only put on the site 10 days ago. Proof if it were needed that the good stuff for sale sells quickly and the un-sellable overpriced crap takes months or years to sell . . . basically as long a time as it takes for a sucker with cash to come along.

One local is living the high life after entering into a small hotel project with an Italian guy. Building costs were figured at 14 million baht with he Thai 7 Italian sharing the cot. However, in reality the cost was less than half this. Guess who pocketed 7 million?

I had a couple of days in Bangkok recently, the end result is that I'm probably the only person on Koh Chang who's doing a bit of work for a company offering 'no option' heart disease patients treatments using stem cells derived from their own blood. More info at www.theravitae.com or www.vescell.com. It's interesting stuff and the proof that the experimental treatment works is pretty overwhelming.