0 Mukdahan Red Nagas Soccer Highlights August 25, 2012

A friend of mine asked me to go to the Soccer game this past Saturday to film some action of one of the players on the Mukdahan side. It had been raining on and off most of the day and the field was very wet and a little muddy in spots and the ball would just die in big puddles of water. It was an enjoyable afternoon even though the home team lost 1-0 despited lots of scoring opportunities. - Khun Rut


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0 Dinner At Phuong Phed Garden

Tonight we had dinner at a place in Mukdahan that is probably the most famous Isaan food restaurant in town. We go there on a regular basis, perhaps once a month or so. As I said the food is Isaan style not your normal Thai fare so it is a lot of Larb, Mekhong fish, and Aom (a soup made with fermented fish juice as a flavoring). There is usually a singer / guitarist that plays Thai country ballads. It overlooks the river with a clear view of Savannakhet Laos. Good food, moderate prices. - Khun Rut

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0 Kent Dortman Funeral - August 16, 2012

Early this past week I received word that an old friend has passed away. I had not seen Kent for quite a long time maybe as long as 2 years. We became friends with he used to come to a coffee shop I had some years ago. We would play chess and talk. Turns out he was diagnosed with cancer about a month or 2 before his death in Ubon Rachatani at the hospital there. He is survived by his 2 older Danish children, his older son Mikhail (who are shown leading the procession around the crematory) and 2 younger children (a boy and a girl who were dressed as a monk and a nun as tradition dictates).
There was some confusion as to the site of the funeral. I had first heard of his death from another expat here in town that knew a little bit only. We assumed, and the rumor was, that the funeral was to be held here in Mukdahan where Kent was a long time resident. After a couple days there was no word. On Thursday morning (the day of the funeral) I got an email telling me that the funeral was to be held in a Wat near Kamcha-I about 30 km. away from Mukdahan. There are many wats in the villages outside of Kamcha-I and some of the guys had GPS units and were going to just drive to each one until they found it. Luckily I have a friend that lives in Kamcha-I and teaches lessons at one of the wats. She was able to find out through the wat network what village the wat was in. It was Wat Pa in Ban Kho a quick Google map search and a phone call to my friend Wayne who lives near there was able to get me the best directions.
My buddy John and I took the wife's car and made the trip without much problem. - Khun Rut

Curt on the left and Glen on the right.

Curt and his wife.

Wayne and his wife from near Kamcha-I

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0 New Housing Development in Mukdahan

Recently there has been some activity in the field near our house. It turns out that the owners (a company from Bangkok) are planning on developing it. There has been a lot of development in and around town recently. We will look with great interest to see how this one goes. - Khun Rut


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0 School Girls Doing Road Repair in Mukdahan

There is a stretch of road up near our house that has been bad for years. About once a year someone comes around to patch it up but within a few months its back to as bad or worse than it was before. About 6 months ago they repaired it and repaved the whole road and now its worse than it ever was. I think there is a water pipe under the roadway that is leaking because even when it doesn't rain there is water in the potholes. Anyhow i was leaving the house today and saw a bunch of school girls dumping gravel in the potholes to fix the road. Amazing Thailand. - Khun Rut

0 Lunch at the Big Chicken in Mukdahan

A couple days ago my wife and I went to the popular restaurant that I call the Big Chicken but Thais call the Highway Chicken due to the proximity of the Highway Department (Gai Yang Tung Luang). It was a holiday and business was brisk. The fish was already sold out so we ordered Gai Ban (free range chicken). When the bill came we got charged for a full free range chicken but only got a half of a regular chicken and the somtam we ordered never came either. My missus sorted out the bill to her satisfaction. but not before I dropped my camera while looking for 5 baht. Every thing turned out ok in the end though. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. - Khun Rut


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