A brighter dawn for Thailand?

With the news that Thailand's self-appointed leader of the People's Democratic Reform Committee declared another push to uproot the so-called "Thaksin regime", urging people to come out and protest en masse on Sunday; I thought we could do with some uplifting images.

 Perhaps in hope, one way or another, for a brighter future for Thailand

The tattoo'd lady.

Many people think of Bangkok's notorious Nana Plaza area as a nighttime haunt for single (and oftentimes married) men looking for a good time. It is certainly a great place for people watching.

In fact Nana rarely if ever actually shuts. It maybe quietens down around 4am as the bars have closed, but not the unofficial bamboo carts that have set-up for those looking for a last drink or nightcap before going home. It also catches the disco-goers at 5am as they wend their merry way home (or to others' homes, or hotels).

But come 7 or 8am bars open again, hoping to catch the foreign maybe hungover tourist seeking a cheap breakfast, more often than not an English breakfast with toast and coffee or tea; the "full monty". It's not unusual to see westerners with a beer in hand as early as this, perhaps trying the hare of the dog remedy; or perhaps they are just off the plane, and bodyclocks have not adjusted to the Bangkok timezone.

In any event, even during daytime Nana is great for people (and girl) watching.

In search of sunrise

It has been many moons since I last blogged. April 2012, in fact. Anyway, this is not so much a blog entry, but a posting of images from a trip this morning in "search of sunrise", and as the first few images show, we got there ahead of the sun.

We were early enough that we caught the monks out on their morning alms.

Then on down to the river's edge only to discover that it was a dull and misty morning. The sun had just come up above the horizon, but we couldn't yet see it.

But at last, it made its appearance.

It was a very misty start to the day. Down at the jetty, next to a temple, there were numerous dogs hovering around.

Since we didn't find a decent sunrise, we went off in search of a decent breakfast, and visited a floating market.

Some of the sights at the market:

A nice easy drive back to town, and a stop at lunchtime for a pleasant cooling ale, (or few). As we were getting into our car in the car park, at last heading home, a merry mix of masseuses from across the road bade us a fond adieu.