OceanicThai

Things are getting very ugly in Burma, with an estimated 100,000 protesters led by the country's monks calling for democracy. With the first shots fired and the first deaths, the world is holding its breath to see if what will follow is another massacre of 3,000 people like the one 2 decades ago. "About 1,000 villagers in South Okkalapa township on the eastern outskirts of Rangoon attacked an army truck, pelting the soldiers on board with stones until they shot 10 tear gas canisters into the mob to make a getaway. "The villagers were reportedly outraged that the military had raided the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery early Thursday morning, arresting monks and leaving its revered abbot severely beaten. "There are people willing to shoot and people willing to die," said one Western diplomat of the ongoing showdown in Rangoon." For the full article click on the title of this post.

A local Thai official in our area was one of the dead in the Phuket aircrash . We are in Northern Thailand, so we won't be able to attend his funeral, but our partners have been. The carrier, 1-2-GO is our carrier when we fly back to Southern Thailand this coming Wednesday. Kennedy says he feels a bit nervous getting on the same flight with the same kind of aircraft, I think I'm just trying not to think about it at all. The airport is only 1 hour from our house. I noticed they covered the wreckage with camouflage ...no wonder, what a horrible sight to see as you come in for a landing. According to folk Buddhism, people who die violent deaths are often malevolent , powerful spirits. Monks have been doing ceremonies at the crash site.

We recieved phone calls from friends to warn us about the earthquake off Indonesia, to evacuate to the hills. All up and down the coast from the province of Ranong, Phang Nga, to Phuket, people evacuated to the hills to escape another possible tsunami. We are in Chiang Mai, several hundred kilometers north, so we didn't flee. I talked to my friend Gee and she said it was raining and everyone was soaked. For many, this will open up deep wounds from nearly 3 years ago, reliving the nightmare they lived through, and remembering the loved ones they lost. No tsunami came that night, and eventually they went home in safety. I wish we had been there, to pray with them & comfort them. A friend called today to say everything was fine but now everyone is sick from being in the rain for hours without shelter.

Click on the title above to see the whole article. "There have been a series of tremors ranging in intensity from 4.9 to 7.8 since Wednesday’s 8.4 quake, repeatedly setting off tsunami warnings in Indian Ocean countries. There have, however, been no reports of the sort of widespread tsunami that caused the death and devastation of the huge waves in 2004, which followed a quake of over 9 magnitude. Warning against complacencySeismologist Mike Turnbull of Australia’s Central Queensland University warned against complacency over the frequent tsunami warnings. “The problem is, these were very large earthquakes. They had every capability to generate large tsunami,” Turnbull said. Seismologist Turnbull said the region was lucky to have escaped a tsunami similar to the one that killed more than 280,000 people in 2004. This view was echoed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who told reporters on Thursday that damage from the initial quake was “relatively less” than feared. The quakes ...

Ken's Art Work some of Wendy's 088 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai This is a Muslim village moored on an island off the coast of Southern Thailand. You can only get to it from a boat. There is a school, a mosque, and several restaurants. A wooden walkway goes through the village, and little stores are open in the front of people's houses.

Dragon Fruit Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Here is Jasper pointing to a lucious Dragon Fruit at the Chok Chai Farm in Central Thailand. Yummy

Purple Poodle 'Doo Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Our sweet poodle, Froot Loop, with another purple poodle hairdoo. This time he has pigtails, too. This water-soluble solution will wear off in a few days.

Poppy & Poodle Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Here's Poppy & the poodle, Froot Loop, taking a little nap on our couch.