Almost Over

By next month the rains should have stopped which will make a break and maybe give us a chance to get rid of the weeds in our garden. Hopefully by then our political problems will also be over. The BBC and CNN have been giving too simple a view of what is happening in politics here, forgetting the history of some of the people involved. For most of us in Bangkok it hardly has any affect.

Outside of Thailand it's good to see the price of oil dropping and we see it at the pumps here. 500 Baht filled about a quarter of my tank on Friday, although it's only a couple of years ago that it would have filled half.

Don't Cancel Your Visit

Although news from Bangkok might make a visit to the Gems & Jewelry show not seem a good idea, this would be a mistake. The present situation is not that unusual here and any problems are usually contained in a fairly small area around the government buildings. At the show you find nothing other than the welcome you always get here, so do go ahead and come.

Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair Heads Up

Just a warning, it's less than a month to the fair opening now. You can still pre-register on the website at http://www.bangkokgemsfair.com/. If you need a Bangkok based agent or you are looking for jewelry manufacturing here in Thailand then come by our website at http://www.cjmsea.com/.

Diesel price goes down

Good news for anyone who drives a truck like me. The price of diesel dropped again and is back to where it was a month ago I think. It's still far too high but if the cost of oil has done nothing else good, it has taken vehicles off the road. Diesel is still far higher than the price of petrol, (gas in the US and benzene here in Thailand).

When I first bought the truck, a Nissan Frontier, diesel was still subsidized here and cost about 2 baht a litre less than petrol. Now it's about 10 Baht more;-( I use the B5 diesel from PTT which has a 5% ethanol composition which takes a Baht off the cost. What I can't do with this engine is easily convert to LPG. The two gas fuels here, LPG and CNG are the cheapest way to drive. One answer to this is trade the diesel engine for a used Japanese V6 block and then do the gas conversion. Maybe next year.

New Handbags from Bali

We loaded up new handbags from Bali this week. They are sold wholesale in sets ranging from 2 to 6 pieces. They are a bit special so please have a look at Bali handbags.

Here in Bangkok we are still getting rain most days but my trip to work has been uneventful. There does seem to be less traffic recently and this could be to do with the high cost fuel. Let's hope the recent drop in price continues.

Political Problems and Visiting Thailand

From outside Thailand the present political difficulties here might well put you off coming on a visit. This would be a mistake as there is a long history of disputes like this livening up the local political scene and rarely do they interfere with life-as-normal for both the average local inhabitant and the foreign visitor. Bangkok is still the thriving center of the colored gems trade and much other jewelry manufacturing. Visit and be guaranteed of a good, profitable and fun time.

More Rain but Less Cars

I was out driving on Sunday and ended up spending twice what I expected on diesel. Others have mentioned to me that it seems like there are fewer cars on the road and I guess this is the reason. The rains are still here so we can still have some traffic jams anyway.