Someone is letting off fireworks at my end of Third Road (Pattaya Klang, near Big C Extra) as I type this (9am, an ungodly hour for many in the town that rarely sleeps) - seems the Year of the Goat has arrived a day earlier than expected. Soon I'll have my friend from the school on his beloved PA - I guess I need to get out and get some fresh air anyway and I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's festivities. Kung Hei Fat Choy !

Gotta love this town - roll on Songkran !

05.00 here!!!

Dawn in my village - can't wait for tomorrow's repeat but for once I was early for work!

Seems I've woken the early risers - back in the apartment at 11 and the fireworks have been augmented by something that sounds a great deal like a 105MM Howitzer, a weapon I havent seen for quite some time and had hoped never to see, or hear, again.

On the upside, I believe I caught a fleeting glimpse of the two most beautiful Chinese women I've ever seen - here or anywhere else in the region. Their collective beauty was due in no small part to the fact that they were dressed in something more appropriate to the beach than hanging around trendy boutiques and they were both wearing the most attractive accessory of all - smiles from ear to ear. Thank you, ladies, wherever you're from - you made my morning. For all it's detractors, at least the Chinese dont have to face this when they come to enjoy a day at the beach in central Pattaya:

Started just before 5.00 AM naklua

A fair size Chinese presence here.

Chinese and Russians - sounds like Farang in Naklua have been caught in the kind of pincer movement Nixon would have dreaded

Good grief is that really the beach today! I might have to go and watch the spectacle.

Er, no - that's a beach in China. i've never seen Pattaya's own stretch of sand with that kind of crowd and I pray I never do - looks like Bondi on Boxing Day. the horror, the horror .......

Er, no - that's a beach in China. i've never seen Pattaya's own stretch of sand with that kind of crowd and I pray I never do - looks like Bondi on Boxing Day. the horror, the horror .......

Well I suppose thats what Pattaya will look like in a few years once the chinese tourism really cranks up. When I returned from a sunset cruise trip to Bali hi pattaya last week, the place was completely packed with multiple coachloads of chinese. They seemed fine with nothing nasty going on but the whole pier was completely crowded.

Chinese New Year's Eve (today) is the day that parents, grandparents and other important people are being thanked. Companies pay respect and one part of this all is the fireworks. For good luck and scaring of the ghosts, at least that's the Thai story behind this