Moonshine in Thailand

I received an interesting question from a guest last week. He wanted to know what was the strange liquor he and his wife were sold when they were walking down the streets of Phuket looking for a Yves St Laurent handbag – anyway that was what they told me.

There are different forms of indigenous alcoholic brews all over the world – in Thailand it is "Ya Dong".  To make this you must first purchase a bottle of readymade "mixed herbs" from the local pharmacist and mix it with Lao Khao (homemade rice whisky) and honey. Then "Dong" or "ferment" the mixture by storing it for about a week and presto you have a herb-infused-intoxicant with many alleged "Ya" or "medicinal" qualities

I am told that it is sometimes sold as an aphrodisiac and according to Tim, he was lucky to be able to find his way back to his waiting taxi after experimenting.

I do see a link to the Thai word ‘Ya Ba’ - which means "crazy medicine" though.  But if you want here is a link to where you can have a taste of it in Phuket – once was enough for Tim.

              

"What is in the area surrounding Cape Panwa Hotel?"

The Front Desk and Tim are asked this question on a daily basis by Cape Panwa and Kantary Bay guests.

In fact, it eventually led us to print a map of the local area – beginning just outside of Phuket Town and ending at Cape Panwa (the area not the hotel). 

Things to do around the Cape:

all photographs used with permission - timinphuket

There are several small islands in plain view from Cape Panwa that you can ask a local fisherman to take you to.  At the end of the cape's road is the Phuket Aquarium - don’t forget to visit the Turtle Breeding Centre behind it where there is also a Nature Trail.

Before sunset you can pop next door to the Sri Panwa hotel and enjoy the view from its pool bar Baba’s Nest. 

Take a short trip to Ao Yon waterfall – an extremely peaceful place to visit.  Whilst you are there you can visit Khokad Viewpoint for a panoramic view of the harbour that includes the impressive Big Buddha statue.  Now that I've mentioned  Big Buddha, I  must not forget to mention Khao Kham, a nearby Buddhist Park set amidst rubber plantations.

From there you can go up to Khaokhad View Tower - and for all you ‘geo-cachers’ there is a ‘geo-cache’ hidden here.

These are just some of the things to do around here. For more – you can ask the locals for recommendations or even to act as your guide; alternatively you can get a hold of one of our special Cape Panwa Maps and ask them to take you to one of the places on it including the ones above – enjoy your trip.

              

Lottery Tickets in Thailand

all photographs used with permission - timinphuket

Thailand is a Buddhist country where most forms of gambling are prohibited by law (including casinos, sports betting and playing cards in your own home). But as Thais love to gamble, right down to the street vendors and poor rural farmers - we have a flourishing illegal trillion Baht gambling industry instead. The state owned lottery is one of two forms of gambling allowed in Thailand, (the other is horse racing, oh! and the stock market ;)).

The 6,000,000 Baht first-prize lottery is issued by the State Lottery Bureau twice a month with drawings held on the first and fifteenth of each month, unlike the U.K. Lottery which has drawings twice a week on every Wednesday and Saturday. The numbers on the Thai Lottery Tickets are six digits.

There is also an underground lottery based on the States Lottery's Winning Number but with more betting options, which at one time seemed to overtake the State Lottery in terms of profit margins. So the state decided to incorporate some of these underground betting options in its own lottery - to both increase its margins and try to wean people of the illegal bets - on the latter it has yet to succeed.

So wherever you travel in Thailand, especially at the beginning and middle of the month, you will see lottery vendors' tables lining the pavements. You will also see lottery vendors carrying batches of such tickets attached to display boards, walking the streets looking for buyers, and approaching people in restaurants and at food stalls to buy Thai Lottery Tickets. To play on the underground lottery, you have to know "someone in the know" - try asking your maid.

(Tim - I think that my editor buys these tickets)