A day at the seaside

In view of all the lovely weather we're having, our thoughtful hares have decreed that this week's SH3 run will involve a trip to the beach. Details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1556, Saturday 2nd April, 2011

Hares: R2D2 and Kii Leum

Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng (Sam Rong) intersection head back towards Songkhla then at the Kao Saeng traffic lights, turn right towards the beach, past the market. At the beach, turn right into Kao Saeng village and follow the road for 500 meters then turn left and go 100 meters to the run site on the football pitch next to the beach.

Sunday's HH3 run is from about 11.5 k down the old Hatyai road (about 1.5k past the Nam Noi traffic lights just before the SME building) on the left hand side. The hares are Sex Star and Sex Au Au. The fun begins as soon after 4:00 p.m. as it takes for Off T to arrive.

Songkhla: 76th of 77

ABAC Poll: Thailand´s happiest people live in Suphan Buri

BANGKOK, 21 March 2011 (NNT) – Suphan Buri is found to be the province that people feel the happiest to live in while the paradise island of Phuket ends the chart, according to a recent survey by the Assumption University Research Center (ABAC Poll).

The poll’s Academic Network for Community Happiness Observation and Research (ANCHOR) conducted the survey with residents in all 77 provinces across the country from February to March 2011. They were asked which province they feel the most happy to live in.

The central province of Suphan Buri has the highest score of 7.83 points out of the full score of 10, followed by the central province of Uttaradit, the southern province of Phang-Nga, the central provinces of Sukhothai and Phetchabun with 7.66, 7.56, 7.50 and 7.44 points respectively.

The sixth to the tenth on the chart are the southern province of Satun, the northeastern province of Buri Ram, the central province of Phitsanulok, the eastern province of Sa Kaeo and the northern province of Phayao.

The last five provinces on the chart are Samut Songkhram, Krabi, Saraburi, Songkhla and Phuket with the score of 6.45, 6.41, 6.40, 6.32 and 5.64 points respectively.

Could it be Bigfoot?

Spotted this week among the leafy rubber behind Kao Ko Hong; is it a bird? Is it a dinosaur? Is it Big Foot?

Yes, Gan Yao's Avatar has been active this week in its native Hatyai, so we're off on our travel's on Saturday down Poonakan Road to the football field where Gan Yao will emerge from his schizophrenic torment to set the SH3 run, details of which are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers run # 1555, Saturday, 26 March 2011.

Hare: Gan Yao

Misdirections (rendered in standard SH3 notation): From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left for 8k. Turn right (at Wat Keow Kloy) into Poonakan Road and go 4k to the run site on the left.

Sunday's HH3 run is in the same general area, but slightly closer to Wat Keow Kloy (i.e. From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.6k and turn left for 8k. Turn right (at Wat Keow Kloy) into Poonakan Road and go about 1.5k to the run site on the left). Look for a sign to divine the precise location of the run site which hare Nichoaw will establish after his recce which will take place 5 minutes before he sets the run!

Birthday/full moon run pix

Sometimes a potato is just a potato

3 in 1

No shortage of runs this weekend with Songkhla, Hatyai and Hatyai Full Moon H3's all running within a period of just over 24 hours and the true diehards camping out between runs at the run site, which is at the top of the hill above Prem's Place.

SH3 details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1554, Saturday March 19, 2011: 4:30 p.m.

Hares: Gaseous Clay Sex Sprinter and Buk Toy

Misdirections. From the Ko Yo intersection take the new Yala road for 800 meters and turn left. Follow the road up the hill and beyond Prem's Place for about 2 km and look for signs to the run site.

The full moon run will follow the SH3 circle and will be from the same run site and will be set by the same hares. It will be followed by a BBQ and everyone intending to stay on should contribute some food. Some beer wouldn't go amiss either as the SH3 beer truck will be departing at the termination of the circle and although there will be some free beer contributed by the hares, all of whom are celebrating birthdays this week, it is not intended to sell beer during the remainder of the evening. Don't forget your hand-light, and if you are intending to stay over night some form of camping gear would be advisable.

Sunday's HH3 run will start at it's usual time of .... and will be from the same run site, or as close to it as is practical bearing in mind that the whole hill will by then be strewn with paper from the two runs the day before! The identity of the hares is a closely guarded secret known only to themselves.

Memories of Sadao

An exquisite work of art adorning one of the guest rooms at U House, a favorite lodging place of the hashing elite. We believe that this was inspired by a piece by Gustav Klimpt, the great Austrian painter . . . but for heaven's sake, what is that huge red thing?

Well, the 8th anniversary of Sadao Hash #1 came and went earlier this month without notice. Will we ever run there again? Maybe not unless SH3 or HH3 organize their own event, which somehow doesn't feel too likely. Anyhow, a couple memories from the archives. Ah Dannok . . . we knew you well.

Looking for the perfect souvenir? It's as easy as swiping anything you like from the guest rooms at the U House. The room door is a bit pricey at B10,000, never mind a little hard to transport. But how about a toilet lid for just B1000, or the whole toilet for a bargain B2500?

The hare speaks

Thank you! Thank you! Enough faint praise.

An albeit reluctant Englishman should know better than to trust the weather, but it really did seem dry enough to use this run-site again, set amidst rolling hills peaking at ooooh, 70 meters and a flood plain averaging 7 meters above sea level. And even after rain stopped recce on Tuesday the decision still seemed like a good one on Wednesday when the whole Egg clan, brat, mutts an' all had a pleasant six-and-a-half klick walk culminating in the decision to cut short the intended route and just head back to the run site through the village just about at the point in the graphic above where the little blue pin bearing the legend F6 appears.

But enter Pluvius, the God of Rain who in his infinite wisdom decreed a return to the rainy season on Friday night, rendering the whole area decidedly soggy and in particular dumping a 2 meter deep klong, just beyond the point in the graphic above where the little blue pin bearing the legend F6 appears, necessitating a reversion back to the original plan, crossing the klong via the road bridge after some knee deep wading through the flood waters.

Fun? You mean you enjoy getting wet? well why didn't you say so before?

Not Pluvius, and a wet mutt

For the record, the adventurous runner would have clocked about 7.9k and a total ascent of 144 meters, both quite modest by our recent standards and likely to be eclipsed by next Saturday's joint SH3/HFMH3 runs, although Sundays HH3 hare has been officially requested to set a 'comfortable' run to follow up on Sunday.

Yeah, right!

Assorted notes

Yesterday's run: Egghead wisely undersold it beforehand ("Just awful!") so we were all expecting a Dungbeetle-style swamp monster. In fact it was a delightful romp. Just long enough, just high enough (something like 150m total), and with just enough water to wash away our sins. Even some of the usual short runners did it, and everyone seemed to agree that it was a divine hour+ of hashing entertainment. Let that be a lesson to you fanatics (like that clown who did the 10km one last Saturday, and, well like Egghead, usually) who insist on setting runs from hell in the name of machismo. It was also a pleasure to see old returnees Wiwi and Buck. Maybe they'll come back more often now that they see how kind, gentle, warm, soft, and moist we've become?

New ice age: Speaking of kinder and gentler, the new icing policy has fully come into effect, now that Peppered Pussy, Roadrunner, and City Tits all seem to have finally gotten the message. No more water throwing at new runners and returning runners. (In fact one of yesterday's returnees, Yim Waan, even got to sit on a chair instead of the ice.) Sinners and hares are still subject to a good soaking. How about t-shirt recipients? Any policy decided yet?

Our tiny annual erection: Since this is now apparently the website of record for SH3, we should note that R2D2 was duly re-erected as GM. Several inactive posts were terminated (Whip, RA, etc.). Several other newly proposed positions (Asst. Beer Bitch, Event Master) remain empty, and no doubt will be handled on our usual ad hoc basis.

Blast from the past: Finally, Polepolisher sends us a 1991 article from the Bangkok Post on the Songkhla Hash, written by none other than ex-SH3 hasher Pub Stud. We won't bother reproducing the text, as it's the usual sort of bland hash PR for the unsuspecting public (please, nobody tell them about the satanic rituals we perform in the jungle). But it did include these two rather intriguing photos. Note the GM's remarkable hat -- do we need to revive that or what?! And note how nubile our harriettes were back then. We were going to do a "Then" and "Now" comparison but . . . ah well, never mind.

Beating the booze bus

As we were biking home late last night on twin Finos (Temporary on one, me and Handjob on the other), there directly in front of us on the beach road loomed the bright lights of a police checkpoint. We'd all had more than a few and the booze bag results wouldn't have been pretty. Fortunately it turned out to be no more than what the Thais call "volunteers" -- wannabe cops who couldn't care less about people like us -- but just for reference, in case it's the real thing next time, here's what you're supposed to do. (Everyone made fun of this guy, but notice one thing: it worked.)