Plearnwan or A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...

FBF has made a few less than complimentary comments about Plearnwan but folks continue to be drawn to the odd looking structure; thousands of folks every day. There are many expensive cars from Bangkok, VIP buses from the boonies and school kids by the classroom full. In fact, FBF Jr's class is there as this is being written.

The place is so popular that a cottage industry has grown up between the parking lot (second only to Market Village in capacity) and the entrance, selling everything from soft drinks, t-shirts, and sun glasses to noodles and True SIM cards.

Still can't imagine why but did run across a site that pretty much sums up why FBF doesn't intend on going back AND why so many others are continually drawn. It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words so be prepared for 107,000 words from Khun Pan.

Curiouser and Curiouser

FBF has two ISPs, one is the TT&T/CAT combo and the other a fallback Hutch CDMA dongle. The latter tends to go out when there are two many folks down from Bkk using theirs and the system is apt to get overloaded. The former goes down whenever someone at either organization takes a coffee break.

They seldom are down at the same time.

This afternoon, they both shut down at exactly the same time, around 1530. Both were not allowing traffic but there was a signal from both.

Was sure that TETCBM had occurred. Paces for a bit and then called a buddy using TT&T. No problems at his end so paced a bit more.

About 1615, all was back to normal...

Who's paranoid?

You Are Being Monitored by MICT

FBF uses a utility that allows JavaScript, Java, Flash, and other plugins and scripted content to be selectively executed. In other words, activities other than just cookies can be monitored before they have access to the browser or the computer while surfing the web. For example, whenever a web site tries to inject HTML or JavaScript code inside a different site, this utility filters the malicious request, neutralizing its dangerous load.

Yesterday, when accessing the Bo Fai Blog, a flag went up saying that our friends at mict.go.th were watching that website. This obviously was a bit of a surprise as had always assumed they were watching the bad guys like Youtube and welovetaksin.com and had better things to do than monitor nonpolitical sites like this one. It was quite a jolt to see that the Bo Fai Blog was now on their radar.

A little later, the same flag came up when going to Yahoo so will now assume that some engineer over at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology isn't putting enough cream in his coffee or that they are even more paranoid than we thought they were.

You might want to check your cookie folder to see how many cookies you have from mict.go.th.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't watching.  The question now is, why?

Yearning For The Past

You've probably seen it, the pile of rust that could easily be mistaken for an abandoned cotton gin in West Texas or perhaps something gleaned from the back lot of MGM.

A lot of money was obviously spent on the building (the rumor being spread by the Essan construction hands in Bo Fai that the rusted out tin was imported notwithstanding) and there are hundreds of Bangkok cars and fleets of identically painted VIP tour coaches parked up and down Petchkasem Rd every weekend. So there must be something interesting there, right?

Before visiting Plearn Wan, FBF checked out their website and learned that someone has a thing for the Hua Hin of days past when travel to the resort by train was very convenient. Looking at their site, I wasn't sure if I'd be greeted by Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr or perhaps a Sarit lookalike and minor officials in pith helmets and khaki knee breeches.

FBF stopped by on a week day, hoping to avoid the hordes of the weekend. There was no one strutting around saying "et cetera", or anyone else for that matter, but there were lots of old movie posters and ads for patent medicines though my favorite ad of the gas passing elephant of Standard Oil wasn't present.

There's a sign at the bar saying that DJ Kob plays a special set of 70's music including rock 'n roll, pop, and disco in the evenings but the movie posters include Jarunee and Surapong who were more popular in the '80s. There's also a poster of Tata Young's first movie and Tata wasn't born until 1980.

Behind the 2-story facade, the place does look like a movie set. There's a stand selling sugar water, an ice cream shop, and a boutique selling an assortment of clothes that got a very strange look from Mrs. FBF.

There's what is called a miscellaneous shop that sells the five and dime junk stuff normally found in the Mom and Pop shops located near elementary schools. There's a little corner with a barber's chair and other tonsorial paraphernalia but there are large signs saying no standing or sitting or touching that really wouldn't make a nice addition for anyone even thinking of taking a photo.

The bar opens at 1700 for those longing to hear Love Me, Love My Dog. That's pretty much it.

There's a lot of construction taking place out back that looks like the makings of many small shops so there may be more delights in store in the near future.

As it is, it's like a theme restaurant or park, full stop.  Most of us have been to an Outback, or Disneyland, or even a Hooters. They have things to look at and things to eat or ride or ogle at while we empty our wallets. Right now, Plearn Wan has about 5 minutes of things to look at and then...

The grand opening was at the end of April and movie and TV stars of yesteryear put on a show to the delight of those who remembered who they were.

The website has a notice board with a list of activities but hasn't been updated since July. There's mention of an Open Air Cinema and Holiday House but they are both Coming Soon.

FBF realizes that even with a tad over 6 weeks in Thailand, he's just an F, and will never understand Thailand. FBF accepts that and wouldn't change a thing. Only problem is: Mrs. FBF was born in Thailand, can sing the anthem and understands 110% MORE than what FBF does not and she had one single question as we were leaving---"Why?"