Top 10 most dangerous holiday destinations

1. Somalia
2. Iraq
3. Afghanistan
4. Haiti
5. Pakistan
6. Sudan
7. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
8. Lebanon
9. Zimbabwe
10. Palestinian Territories

The trouble with this kind of list is that it obscures the fact that within any country, there are dangerous and less dangerous places. For example, Thailand.

Although Thailand does not make the list, the Southern Provinces of Thailand are probably at least as dangerous for a traveler to visit as most of the countries on the Forbes' list. "Figures from Deep South Watch show that violence in the South of Thailand last year killed and wounded more people than the worst reported warfare in Iraq" observes Bangkok Pundit in a post comparing casualties in Southern Provinces of Thailand to Iraq.
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List compiled by Forbes Magazine (via Reuters).

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Smoking banned in Thailand

And about time! As of February 11, all indoor restaurants in Thailand were declared non-smoking. Establishments with outdoor seating are required to designate non-smoking sections. More here.

The Thai authorities will not actually begin fining restaurants until late May, but situations may be issued. I have noticed that many Bangkok restaurants are now complying by the new rules.

Now if only Thailand would outlaw mosquito coils!

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Bangkok's flying monks

Thailand's exiled former prime minister, Thaksin, returned to cheering crowds at Bankok's Suvaranabhumi today. Thaksin was deposed in military coup 17 months ago which I live-blogged (see "A Night of Living Dangerously.") His arrival today coincided with a large procession of monks through the main terminal (video). Some might call the appearance of one hundred flying monks an auspicious sign.

I am live-blogging the Thai leader's return.

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Sub-notebook for travel - why bother?

I recently tried out The ASUS Eee PC. It's a subnotebook (netbook) class laptop that weighs just 1 Kilo; it isn't much bulkier than a typical tradepaperback.

But after 20 seconds of typing my hands began to ache. I don't see the point of building computers with such small keyboards. Such keyboards are useless to me (i.e. this post on travel erganomics).

Nevertheless, the machine feels solid, and the screen is small but acceptable. And it comes in a variety of colors -- black, white, even pink.

Specifications: the machine presently ships with a 4 G HD, an optional configuration includes a webcam (complete specs here).

Where to buy: in Bangkok, stores at Pantip Plaza (described here) are selling the Eee for around 12,000 bhat (US$400).
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- Photo: by Jotman, breakfast shown in background is to give an indication of scale.
- In this post I discussed what I look for in a travel laptop.
- This new ASUS has been compared to the I-XO laptop from the One Child Per Laptop Project (OLC). I have blogged extensively about OLC here, though I have yet to use one myself. (By this photo, you can see that the XO's keyboard is also ridiculously small, as if the computer had been built for six-year-olds).

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Blogging from leg level

I shot this unexpected scene on video while blogging an historic celebration in the Thai capital. The occasion was the eightieth birthday of the King of Thailand (this post).

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About the pig

The pig at the top of the page is from a photo I took in Laos. Piggy lives (I do hope he still lives!) on an island in the Mekong River called Don Det, close to the Cambodian border.

To get the photo I had get down on my hands and knees -- to Piggy's level. I think that captures my approach to blogging. Wherever I go I want to capture the action for you at whatever level it's happening.

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This blog has a new name

This blog has a new name: "Jot Around the World." I hope the new name will give new visitors a better idea of the travel-related content they will find here. The old address for posts (http://thejotazine.blogspot.com) will continue to work.

To return, you will soon be able to type jotaroundtheworld.com into your web browser. Or subscribe to the RRS feed, which is also available by email subscription.

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