Mushroom Festival

Festival Ground Saengchuto – Bridge, daily now till Oct 4.

The time of year when many Kan businesses lose their staff who run off to pick the celebrated mushrooms.

Massive market, pretty Thai pop bands (male & female), all the fun of the fair. Kicks off in evenings but you may pick up some daytime bargains.

For myself, I always thought the very expensive hed khone mushrooms vastly over-rated and nasty tasting. But maybe that’s just me.

Rating: ****

The Railway Man

From our good buddy Pascal

There’s a new movie coming soon about the death railway, starring Colin Firth, it’s based on former army officer Eric Lomax‘s book about his time spent captured by the Japanese and working on the construction of the ‘death railway’ between Thailand and Burma.
As well as his Prisoner Of War experiences, it also focuses on how he set out decades later to track down his tormentors and exact some revenge.
 
greetings, Pascal

10 Baht Bar

Mae Nam Kwai/Khwae/Buffalo/Mae Klong Rd, by No Name Bar

Nite only, it does what it says on the can.  The sign says it all – “get drunk for 10 baht”

Clarity itself.

Rating **** (for  honesty!)

Gigantic Buddha for Kan

In her birthday address to the nation Her Majesty the Queen outlined a plan to erect a 32-metre-tall Buddha statue at a Kanchanaburi temple in memory of the giant Buddha statues destroyedby the Taliban  in Bamiyan, Afghanistan a few years ago.

 The Phra Phuttha Metta Prachathai Trailokkanart Khanthararat Anusorn Buddha statue would be installed on an 8-metre-high pedestal to be built at Thip Sukhontharam Temple in Kanchanaburi’s Huay Krajao district, she said. The project will take about four years to complete.

Happy Mothers Day to all!

Border post delayed again

The long-delayed highway from Kanchanaburi to the Burmese deep-sea port of Tavoy faces further lengthy delays as warfare between government & Karen militias have erupted again, causing construction workers to flee to safety on the Thai side. Looks like it will be some time before Kan gets its own (full & legal) border crossing.

Story here

http://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asia-news/94549-italian-thai-co-workers-flee-burma.html

Sugar Member

Tourist strip, opposite No Name Bar

With the cannabis leaf logo and the “DRINK! DRUNK! DANCE!” logo. Possibly not the most sophisticated marketing.

They seem to have ‘parties’ most nights, so its popular with the budget brigade and balloon chasers. They also have a tattoo shop for one of those decisions you make when drunk then repent for years to come. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Rating: ***

Pecko Bar

Tourist strip, opposite No Name Bar.

Imagine ‘Build a bar’ – a woodwork project for 5th grade kids.

Imagine ‘Furnish the bar’ – a woodwork project for 3rd grade kids.

You got the picture.

Rating: ***

Living Room

Tourist strip, in front of River Kwai Mansion

Very stylish new arrival. It actually has tables and chairs that are not made of concrete or bamboo. For Kanchanaburi this is very slick indeed.

For years woman have complained that all the bars are geared towards men – girly bars, macho bars, ex-pat bars, sports bars –  but now they have somewhere comfortable to go and spend money. And about time too.

Very popular with trendy young Thais. Modern Thai music makes a pleasant change from ‘Hotel California’ and 40-year old hippy standards. Small range of food & drink at the moment but that will change as it gets established. Car parking available (!). A very welcome addition.

Rating *****

How we voted

Wonder who won the noisy battle of the songthaews? For General Election results click on Kanchanaburi on the left of the map. Constituency 1 is Muang district.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/election/map-center

Bats games

This in from Bat Girl

It shows the remaining MKFC games that nobody knows about