2 Sep

2 Sept - Protein packed & crunchy with a soft centre, I found the ideal snack for our dog. Young Nigel, egged on by his brother, Ken, climbed in there of his own free will, no idea why, but that's one reason why cats don't rule the world.

Just found out that this site was recommended on The Times newspaper's list of the world's best travel websites on July 31st. But that probably says more about the poor quality of most travel sites than it does about the merits of this one. Still it's nice to know someone reads it.

A few days ago the Thai newspapers reported that the government had approved a whopping 40 million baht (almost the same as a luxury villa in Phuket would cost you) for infrastructure projects on Koh Chang including two waste water plants and a garbage disposal plant. I wonder if this is a different garbage disposal plant to the one that was reported in March 2004 as being approved and had a 50 million baht budget allocated, and which would produce fertiliser from waste materials. Or maybe it's the same one as the garbage disposal plant that was scheduled to open by the end of 2005 and which would reduce the amount of garbage by recycling 80 per cent of all trash. The non-recyclable stuff would be shipped to a garbage landfill on the mainland. Obviously the designers of this plant know something that no-one else does, as the ability to recycle 80% of all garbage is one that no other recycling facility in the world has. It'll be interesting to see if the money goes on anything other than digging another large hole in the ground.

Had lunch with a guy who designs frocks for Pink & Christina Aguliera as well as sunglasses for Brad Pitt & J.Lo, the other day. Which pushes the ex-member of Massive Attack, whom I met whilst out canoeing a while ago, down a position on my 'Barely Recognisable Celebrity Island' list.

Good value Chanote titled land on Koh Mak for sale. Sea views, 2 minutes walk to two sandy beaches. 5 Rai in total, but buyers are limited to a maximum of 1 Rai (1600sqm) each. Half Rai = 1.2 million baht, 1 Rai = 2.3 million baht. More info here.

Down in Lonely Beach the very nice Oasis Bungalows is now under new ownership, although Aomm & Tarn will stay on and look after the place for the new owners this high season.

There's one beachfront plot of land for at Siam Royal View, for sale by the owner. All beachfront plots have long been sold. Price 7.5 million (negotiable). Email me if you're interested and I'll put you in touch with the seller - an English guy.

In Kai Bae, I noticed that the 'Happy Elephant' has closed barely a month after it opened. This was a western run drinks/ice cream parlour/restaurant type of place that wasn't trendy enough to attract the beautiful people and didn't appear to be cheap enough to attract the backpackers. No idea what the story is however, but it now holds the record for the shortest lived farang owned business on KC. With luck, the owner sold it on to someone for a crazy price.

As of 1 Sept, all Thai mobile phones now have an extra digit, they will all begin '08' instead of '0'. So 01-555-xxxx now becomes 081-555-xxxx. However, the old number will work until 30 Nov.