The Royal Brunei Police and My Grandfather

Within the last 7 days there were 20 thefts according to the papers. I thought that was a bit worrying. I spent my Thursday evening and early Friday morning researching about the Brunei Police for my Sunday Brunei Times weekly column. That recent statistics was a far cry compared to Brunei in the early 20th century.I discovered that in those years, murder, rape and armed robbery were virtually

The Future of Brunei Roads 2007-2012

I have had the National Development Plan publication for more than a month now. It ws only lately that I decided to take a look at the list of projects, partly because it is now part of my work but also as a Brunei citizen I am very interested what the government plan to do.I have always been concerned about roads and traffic jams especially at Jalan Tutong at the Bunut/Medewa area as I pass this

Sultan Hashim and PPP

I have always called the The National Development Plan for 2007-2012 the 9th NDP until I was told recently that it is not. It should be called NDP 2007-2012 which I thought was a bit of a mouthful. Anyway, the ambitious projects in the plan would be financed by the government. But other funding alternatives will also be developed including the PPP modality. Perhaps PPP can build that bridge to

Full Moon Party

Full Moon Party in Thailand: There are about 10,000 to 20,000 people attending every month at this Koh Phangan beach party. It is of course known as the Full Moon Party. International and Thai DJ's are entertaining the party until the crowd go wild. Paint yourself in UV colours and let your body lose control. The DJ's play all kinds of music; techno, trance, goa, drum n' bass, dub, reggae, commercial hits, house etc. on about 15 sound systems along Haad Rin beach. There are also many small tables on the beach where you can sit down with your friends or meet new friends from all corners of the globe. You can order drinks and food from the restaurants and bars next to the Haad Rin Nok beach.

Full Moon Party is not just a normal party but monthly Haad Rin's dance music festival which is famous worldwide, with everything from drum and bass to full-on psy-trance. Paradise Bungalows, the site of the original Full Moon Party, consistently puts on the biggest show with inspired decor and a combination of superb resident and international guest DJs.

Fullmoon party is at the south-eastern part of the island at Haad Rin Beach, Koh Phangan, Suratthani, Thailand.

The regular boats are running 4 times per night from Bophut and Big Buddha Beach, Koh Samui (70 Baht). Speedboats are operating all night long. They can be booked at nearly every travel agency for 300-400 Baht per roundtrip.

Pai - Pai City

Pai (ปาย) is a small town (pop. 3000)

in North Thailand, between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son on Route 1095. The surrounding district is Amphoe Pai. Both are named after the Pai River.

Pai is a predominantly tourism-oriented town, offering a relaxed atmosphere with a broad traveller & backpacker scene. In early 2006 a sudden boom in guest-house and bar construction has resulted in a great deal of spare capacity - capacity that is partially taken up by an increase in Thai people visiting after Pai was featured in a romantic Thai film.

You may reach the destination by:

By road
Route 1095 which connects Pai with Mae Hong Son (50km as the crow flies, but approx. 110km by road) and Chiang Mai (135km) is a very scenic route through the mountains which takes several hours (but worth it). It's a steep and windy drive, with lots of curves, so take a plastic bag and some motion-sickness pills if you need them.

By motorcycle
Route 1095 isn't as bad as people make it out to be. There isn't much traffic and you can hear the cars and trucks coming. If you're a little adventurous, rent a motorcycle in Chiang Mai and make the ride up to Pai. You can stop at the waterfalls and small towns along the way, and you'll really enjoy the trip, as opposed to being motion sick in a bus for hours, and being forced to stop at the driver's friends restaurants. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and being on a bike makes you feel like part of the mountains. The locals will think you're crazy, and the construction crews get really excited when you come through. Make sure to take some warmer clothing on your bike, as it tends to get a bit chilly in the higher portions of the ride. As a novice rider, expect the trip to take around 5 or 6 hours, including stops at sites and restaurants along the way.

By bus
Buses and minibuses go to Chiang Mai (Arcade terminal) and Mae Hong Son. Regular public buses take around 4 hours and charge about 80 baht; minibuses take around 3 hours and tickets (sold by travel agencies) cost about 160 baht. One strategy is to get to Pai using the public bus so that you can get an idea as to how winding the road is and then you can decide if you want to splash out and get the mini bus back to Chiang Mai.

By plane
The nearest domestic airport accepting flights from Bangkok is Mae Hong Son Airport, which has direct flights to/from Bangkok (Thai Airways and PB Air).
The nearest international airport is at Chiang Mai.
Pai now has daily service from Chiang Mai. Tickets can be bought at Aya Services in Pai, or from the ticket office in the Chiang Mai airport. It's near the Air Asia office, on the far end. Chiang Mai to Pai - SGA departs daily from Chiang Mai at 10:55am and arrives in Pai at 11:30am. Return flights are at 11:45am arriving at Chiang Mai at 12:20pm.

The town itself is best explored on foot. For exploring further afield, bicycles (40-100 baht/day) and motorbikes (from 100 baht/day) can be rented from many agents along the main street.
Motorbike taxis are also readily available.

The town itself has no special sights; most people come simply for the relaxed atmosphere. Nearby attractions include hot springs and waterfalls, and a hilltop temple. There is also a wonderful canyon which provides the perfect spot for a sunset. This is a great spot to visit after seeing the WWII bridge built by Japanese-held POWs.

There's an abundance of guesthouses in Pai, most of them in the budget range (a bungalow goes for around 100-500 baht depending on amenities included). Mid-range options are rare and there's no top-end hotel. But Pai is not a package-tour-place.
Heading out of town there are swarms of bungalow setups.
At the bus station there is a 2007 (!) map of Pai. Get this as it will show you the location of most of the guest houses (> 100 places). There is also a discount for motorbike rental.

What would Superman do?

Sometimes I wish I am Superman or the most powerful man in the world so that I can solve everyone's problem. One sample of letters in my tray - from a lady whose family lives in a government barrack with 2 bedroom with 6 kids, the eldest is married and is staying with her with her own 2 kids. The husband, a non-Bruneian, will retire very soon (by the time the letter arrived, he would have retired

Ignored Old Brunei Boats

Those who know me know that I have a penchant for stamps and currency notes. I do collect other things - aircraft models, coins etc. But stamps and currency notes are my favourite, hence my other blogsite here.I was going through some magazines last night and I found a photograph of this old Brunei boats. These boats were used by our very own Brunei fishermen at the turn of the last century. They

National Geographic and Brunei

I need resources for reference to write my articles both here and for my weekly newspaper column. Resources about Brunei unfortunately do not abound as much as other countries. Perhaps we are too small. Perhaps we are too uninteresting. Perhaps we do not have our own people write much about Brunei whether academically or otherwise. So any reference materials that I need I will search for.

The world will not provide us forever

We in Brunei celebrated our 24th Birthday yesterday. Everything looks rosy yet the undercurrents can be troubling if we do not prepare for the future. Today I just want to reflect on what Lee Kuan Yew, the man who transformed Singapore from a country which has no natural resources to speak of and yet is now richer than us.Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who is also the founding father

We need to combat crime and drug abuse

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi WabarakatuhBismillahir Rahmanir RahimALHAMDULILLAHI Rabbil ‘Aalameen, Wabihee Nasta’eenu ‘Alaa Umuuriddunya Waddeen, Wassalaatu Wassalaamu ‘Ala Asyrafil Mursaleen, Sayyidinaa Muhammadin , Wa’alaa Aalihiee Wasahbihee Ajma’een, Waba’du.Sayugia kita patut bersyukur kerana dapat pula menyambut dan merayakan Ulang Tahun Hari Kebangsaan Negara Yang Ke-24.Kita dengan izin

Don't Abandon Me

I wrote this for my Golden Legacy blog and will reproduce it here in light of another baby being found abandon. Last May, I remember there was a flurry of postings about abandoned babies and there was a flurry of postings about sex education. I wanted to wade in, as I thought among almost all the bloggers, I am probably one of a few who have studied the matter academically. Social problems

Tallest Building Structure in Brunei

When I was working at the MOF Building, I was always thinking that I am working in the tallest building in Brunei. When you think about it, you can see the building high on the hill overlooking down on almost anybody who drove past it. The building is around 60 meters tall. The MOF was completed at the beginning of the new millennium and it was used about a couple of years after that. I was told

Origin of Malay Words

A few months ago, I was researching for an article about Jawi and the Malay Language for The Brunei Times when I came across this list of words. I did not realise that Bomba was a Portuguese word (what are we doing with a Portuguese language?) and that katil was a Tamil word. aksi - action (from Dutch actie) almari - cupboard (from Portuguese armário) anggur - grape (from Persian انگور/angur)

Tutong Link in Indonesia

There is a river in Tutong called Sungai Penabang. There is a place in Banjarmasin in Kalimantan, Indonesia where there is a group of people who spoke the Tutong language and the group claimed that their ancestors came from Pangkalan Jong, Tutong. What is the link between the two?According to a Tutong legend, Pangkalan Jong in Kampong Keriam, Tutong is one of the earliest inhabited places in

Brunei's roads and cars

Yesterday as usual is Wedding Day in Brunei. One of the subjects brought up was cars, traffic jams and roads. When I came back I thought I will look up the statistics and I was quite surprised to see the statistics on cars and roads here in Brunei. In 2001, there were 3,299 kilometers of roads in Brunei. However there were 186,786 private cars, 398 taxis, 1,567 buses which totalled 188,751

The Origin of the Brunei's Kopiah

[Note: I wrote this for Brunei Times 23rd September 2007 publication. It was the fasting month and I had trouble writing about fasting and related matters in those 4 weeks. This was written out of sheer desperation and I had trouble compiling the materials. What surprised me most was to discover that the topi haji, the tarbus and the Brunei's kopiah are all the same origin.]DURING this fasting

McArthur's 1904 Report - Make or Break for Brunei

In 1904, the British Government sent one officer, Malcolm Steward Hannibal McArthur to Brunei. MSH McArthur was then a British Official in the Malayan Civil Service. He was sent to Brunei, then a British Protectorate, with instructions to study the situation in Brunei and to make recommendations concerning the country's future administration.This report is a make or break for Brunei. At that

The Brunei Flag

A story about the difficulty of getting Brunei's flag to be flown during the British Residency era is not much known to us all. So I thought I will bring that story up.When the British came back to Brunei in 1945, Brunei was placed under the British Military Administration (BMA). It was almost 2 years before the British Resident came back to Brunei. The British Resident, W.J. Peel, only flew the

Bubungan Dua Belas

I am in Temburong today having arrived here yesterday afternoon together with the rest of the MOD team to prepare for today's ceremony. His Majesty will be awarding land titles and also government's assistance to flood victims. What was interesting is that all of us are staying at Teratak Cendana run by the District Office which used to be the residence of the District Officer in the 1970s. My

Brunei in Old Maps

Related to my obsession with history, is also another hobby of collecting old maps of Brunei. I have only recently started this hobby and currently only have 3 of these 19th century maps but they showed interesting aspects of Brunei and the region at a particular point in time.This particular map was done sometime towards the third quarter of the 19th century. I can't exactly pinpoint when but

How developed are we?

UNDP in its November 2007 reported that Brunei ranked 30th out of 177 countries in its Human Development Index statistics. We ranked 34th last year and 33rd the year before that. Two questions arise - what is the Human Development Index and how do we fare against others?Unlike GDP per capita which measures income per capita, the HDI measures life expectancy, literacy, education, standard of

Our 102 Year Old National Flag

Yesterday was the raising of the giant Brunei flag ceremony. Our National Flag is 102 years old this year. I have written a few posts about the flag and here is one that I wrote in July 2006 about the history of the Brunei flag and which is as valid today as it was then.On 3rd December 1905, Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin signed a Supplementary Agreement with the British which was

The Heroic Firemen of Bangar

Yesterday morning, we were told that Bangar had flooded and the water that has been flowing from the ulu and down the mountains had been non stop and bringing debris down with it. The Minister said we have to go to Bangar in the afternoon to have a quick check. I was quite nervous as it has been a while since I have been on a speed boat trip to Temburong. The last time must have been when my

National Housing - New House Designs

In the first few days of my new job, I was taken to visit the Rimba Housing Area and the Telisai Housing Area to see the the progress of the housing development. I saw these interesting coloured houses and I thought it was one of those built it yourself house which many of you have seen by the Tungku Highway. I was quite surprised when the Housing Development officers told me that this is the new

A Bridge Too Clear

On my first day when I reported for duty at my new ministry, after paying courtesy calls to both the Minister and the Deputy Minister, it was time for me to see my new office. After getting out of the lift on the 5th floor, my officers told me that my office is across this glass bridge. Horrors! I looked at the bridge and did a quick calculation whether a 180 kg person can walk across safely.At

Chinese New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the people celebrating it today and the celebrations for the next 15 days. According to Chinese legends, the first celebration of the new year was the scaring away of an man eating dragon called the Nian. This dragon comes out every 12 months and to scare it away, the Chinese used explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the colour red.Because of the problems of keeping

Old KB and Seria Photographs

My friends in KB and Seria sometimes complained I don't write enough about Kuala Belait and Seria. Despite the fact that I was born in Seria, I have to admit that I don't write enough about my birthplace. You have to remember Seria did not exactly exist prior to 1929 and most of its history is actually Shell's. Kuala Belait was also a tiny fishing village and it is Kuala Balai which used to be

Foreign Stamps in Brunei

The above is a Sarawak stamp complete with a portrait of Charles Vyner Brooke. Look closely and you will see the word Brunei handstamped onto the stamp and dated sometime 2nd March 1946. For those of you who are both history challenged and postal knowledge challenged would wonder when we used Sarawak stamps in our country? And if that surprised you, look at the stamp below.This is a North Borneo

Brunei Blogs Worth Visiting

I was checking on who had been linking back to dailybr ever since I went back daily. Obviously the crowd that linked here last year was no longer there apart from a few who never updated their links. For the new links, I am quite surprised to see who they are. So I thought I will spend a bit of time on some of the more unusual sites that linked to the dailybr and returned the favour for their

Brunei's Water

Sometimes we take things for granted that we don't really know how to value it anymore. Yesterday, we were discussing about water usage in Brunei and how much we have to prepare in order to ensure that Bruneians have enough water and that we do not have water shortages. There is a huge cost involved and not to mention building any reservoirs or dams would also affect our environment. So it is not

The Tales of the Pancurs

There are 3 kampongs in Brunei with the Pancur, one in Brunei/Muara District and the other 2 in Tutong. Last year I made the mistake of identifying Pancur Murai as in Tutong, it is in fact in Brunei/Muara District.According to the older folks, Kampung Pancur Murai was originally known as Pangkalan Imang. In those days, people especially local traders (called pengalu) come from the capital to the