The Klong Prao Dam plans are on show for any budding civil engineers who want to share their knowledge of concrete with their loved ones and those who are just interested in knowing where it will be located, when it will be completed and who, in the Klong Prao area,  will have mains water pipes running past their house.  (We will.)

It’s a 3 year project which is roughly half way complete.  The actual construction of the dam is scheduled to take a year and overall cost is the best part of 10 Million Euros.  It’s not going to create a really huge reservoir,  the total area for the entire project is around 170 Rai ( Around 26 Hectares )   Looking at the plans there’s no provision for any water based activities or a walking trail around the dam or anything that might be of interest, except a large concrete wall.  Click on the thumbnails below for some larger photos and information – all in Thai.  Or you can see these posters in Klong Prao temple

Google Sees Sense

Google have revamped their search algorithms and injected them with some common sense, which means that when their upgrade goes live then this site will be in No. 1 spot for ‘koh chang thailand’ and No. 2 for ‘koh chang’  Try Google Caffeine

Why Scandinavians are a constant source of amusement . . .

It’s not everyday that a Danish guy invites you to try some of his Spunk and to be honest until last week’s visit to Strawberry Moons Bar I didn’t realise that Scandinavians were big Spunk eaters.  At times I feel I’ve led a very sheltered life.   But helpful owner, Ross, pointed out a regular Danish visitor to his bar who enjoyed nothing better than a beer and sharing some Spunk with his wife and close friends in a relaxing environment.

Black Gold

Is Koh Kood set for an oil boom?  The Thai/Cambodian sea border runs just south of Koh Kood, although exactly where is disputed because the line in the sea is drawn from Marker 73 at the Hat Lek Border crossing.  This marker was originally put there by the French a hundred years ago when they mapped out a Thai/Cambodian border as no-one else could be bothered to do that.  But now both sides accuse each other of having moved the marker a hundred metres in the intervening time.  This might not sound much, but when you are drawing  a line out into the sea from this marker, then you end up with a disputed area of over 2,600 square kilometres which just happens to be where the gas and oil are.

It is in this area that those in the know reckon their could be substantial oil reserves, for years both Thailand and Cambodia have wanted to drill there , in 2001 it was estimated that it would produce oil & gas worth around US$500 million per year, which at the time was around half Cambodia’s entire budget for a year – so it’d make a difference .   In mid July 2009, the Cambodian government awarded Total the rights to start exploration work in the disputed area.  Interestingly, I haven’t seen any complaints from the Thai government yet – but I’m sure they’ll come as soon as the first oil rig appears.  The close proximity to a relatively large, yet untapped oil & gas deposits might also explain the number of Thai politicians who have bought land on Koh Kood since 2001

No oil fields or dams on Koh Mak but they are building a road

There’s never a dull moment on Thailand’s family island even in the rainy season.  By the end of the month this muddy slope will be paved with concrete, making life much easier for guests at Goodtime Resort and Koh Mak Villa. (Pic from Garry at kohmak.co.uk)

Hummingbirds in Thailand

I added this very short video a few days ago.  At first glance it looks exactly like a Hummingbird.  But it cant be as they dont live in this part of the world.  It is in fact a moth.

Location, location, location.

Does anyone want to take over a very popular small bar/restaurant that can be run by a couple and which is located on the main road with five large resorts nearby and loads of foot traffic.  It’s also the top rated restaurant on Koh Chang according to reviews on Tripadvisor.  If you’re interested and you have a mere 800,000 Baht handy it could be yours, click here for details.

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