David Carradine Found Dead in Bangkok
June 4, 2009
David Carradine, the noted star of the television series “Kung Fu” and the movie “Kill Bill” was found dead in Bangkok early Thursday morning.
Mr. Carradine, 72, was in Bangkok shooting his latest movie “Stretch” when his death occurred. Thai police are calling the death a suicide, however investigations are still ongoing. It seems that Mr. Carradine was found by a maid in room 352 of the Park Nai Lert Hotel on Wireless Road at approximentally 10am Thursday morning. He was described as half naked and was in the wardrobe with rope around his neck and body.
Police have said that he was dead for less than 12 hours and there was no sign of forced entry to the room or any sign of assault or fighting in the room.
His personal manager, Chuck Binder, told BBC that the news was “shocking”, adding: “He was full of life, always wanting to work… a great person.”
The star was best known for his role as the half Chinese Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu. This role earned Carradine both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. He also starred in Martin Scorsese’s “Boxcar Bertha” in 1972, portrayed folksinger Woody Guthrie in “Bound for Glory” in 1976, acted in Ingmar Bergman’s “The Serpent’s Egg” in 1977 and co-starred with half brothers Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine in the 1980 western “The Long Riders”.
Carradine was part of an acting dynasty which included his father, John Carradine, and brothers Bruce, Keith and Robert.
Carradine was an accomplished composer, musician, musical performer and songwriter. According to his official website, he was also a sculptor and a painter.
He is survived by his wife, Annie Bierman, and three children including actresses Calista and Kansas.
Persoanlly I remember watching the “Kung Fu”, series as a child and David Carradine was nothing short of wonderful in the role. It was that show that first gave me my interest in Asian cultures and it remains an iconic role that lives in the memory of many Americans from my generation. David Carradine will be missed by many.
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Is Thailand Still a Good Destination?
December 30, 2008
When you consider the events of the past few months, the worldwide financial crisis, possible worldwide recession/depression and the closing of Suvarnabhumi Airport by the PAD protesters from November 25th through December 5th, do you still think the Thailand is a good vacation destination?
Golf and I have booked our trip to the Kingdom for April 2009 and nothing short of a civil war would make us change those plans. Of course we have close ties to Thailand and many reasons to return, but what about the casual tourist or first time visitor, do you think that recent events around the world and in Thailand will put people off of visiting? Add to that the drop of some currencies against the Thai baht and what was once a cheap destination for Australians and British tourists is now considerably more expensive.
Depending on what reports you listen to the hotel occupancy rates for December in all of the usual tourist hotspots were dismal. Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui and many of the other islands have had reports of occupancy rates as low as 20% throughout December, which is the beginning of the high season in Thailand and is usually characterized by rising numbers of tourists. True, some of the hotels are reporting that they are getting back to normal this week for Christmas and New Year bookings, but it’s possible that these are people who booked several months ago. It appears that new bookings for January through April are extremely low.
If you were planning on traveling to SE Asia in the next 6 months will you still make Thailand your destination or will you go somewhere else? And if you’re choosing not to go to Thailand what has influenced your decision the most; the political instability, the poor economy or the exchange rate? If you are still planning on heading to Thailand in the next 6 months why are you keeping it as your destination considering the above mentioned negative factors?
Personally I will keep traveling to Thailand for the culture, the people, the food, the weather and the sanook atmosphere. I’d love to hear what others are thinking about travel to the Land of Smiles in the coming year, please comment below and let me know what you’re thinking.
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Thailand Top 100 Blogs
October 7, 2008
I found this really cool list over at What Is Matt and I wanted to bring everyones attention to it.
Basically it’s a Top 100 Thailand blogs list which I think is a really cool idea. So cool in fact that I have actually been creating a site with a very similar list (more to come on that in later weeks). Seems that Matt has had the list up since April 2008.
You’ll see that the list ranks the blogs based on their Google Page Rank, Technorati score and Alexa rank. There is also a chance for us to vote on our favorite blogs and I’d love it if you’d head over there and vote for Thailand Musings. Right now I’m only ranked 29th and it would be cool to at least break into the top 20.
Matt’s blog is worth checking out, however he’s no longer living in Thailand, but has moved on to East Timor. Still lots of good content and I recommend you pay him a visit, first to vote for Thailand Musings and then stick around and read a little bit.
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Thailand Musings Nominated for Best Travel Blog
July 12, 2008
I humbly present to you the nomination of Thailand Musings as the best travel blog from the Bloggers Choice Awards. Please help us do as well as possible in the voting by clicking on the nifty button that we’ve gotten from the Bloggers Choice Awards (in the sidebar) and vote for Thailand Musings as the best travel blog of 2008.
Honestly I don’t expect to win, but it would be great to get a bunch of votes. Thanks in advance for your support.
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Pattaya Beer Bar Owners in Bloody Brawl
April 1, 2008
Here’s one of the things that keep me away from Pattaya. I know some guys love the nightlife in Pattaya, the Thai girls and the general loose attitude that prevails. At one point in my life I would have been drawn to this like a moth to a flame as well. However, one thing I’ve never liked is having to deal with people who have uncontrolled tempers…like this guy.
Seems that a few days ago there were two beer bar owners who had a disagreement about property lines and an offending clothesline. The end result was Mr. Fred Frank Hansen (43) the German owner of The Party Salon and Pub being repeatedly stabbed by Mr. Jean-Marie Philbert (43) the French owner of Canary Bay Beer Bar. Yep that’s right, Mr. Philbert stabbed his neighbor because his clothesline was in the territory of his property.
The whole fracas started when Mrs. Philbert took a walk with her two year old son and noticed the clothesline from The Party Salon and Pub straying onto their property. She then spoke with one of the Canary Bay bar girls and asked her to remove it. Mr. Hansen, hearing the request became upset and came out from his bar, starting an argument. The argument rapidly escalated and Mr. Hansen attacked Mrs. Philbert. Mrs. Philbert, with her baby still in her arms began calling out to her husband for help.
As soon as Mr. Philbert heard the raised voices outside and saw Mr.Hansen attacking his wife, he rushed from the kitchen, armed with a knife. He intervened in the attack, stabbed Mr. Hansen five times then ran back into the bar, with bar girls having witnessed the whole incident. Neither Mr. Philbert nor his wife attempted to escape, but waited to surrender themselves to the police. Mr. Philbert was duly taken into custody and will be charged with causing bodily injury with a knife.
Crazy town crazy people. Be sure when you visit Pattaya you’re very careful what you do with your dirty laundry.
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