The second Pattaya lock-down arrived with a bang December 30th. Today, the day after, Pattaya is still under shock. Normally December 31st is a very busy day, but not in the now ending Covid 19 year: The streets are deserted, shopping centers closed, all public parties cancelled and the restaurants had to close at very short notice. Even the swimming pools at the many condominiums were shut down, but as of now the beaches remain open and the chair vendors and their popular services are still there. Hans Fritschi visits to the famous seafood market in Nakluea where lobsters are relatively cheap this year due to the dramatically fallen demand after the the second Pattaya lock-down.

The Pattaya plants market takes place every weekend from Friday to Sunday. Without Covid 19 many tourists flock to this interesting market which is now a bit deserted. An abundance of ornamental and fruiting plants are for show and for sale here. Hans Fritschi visits this market almost every weekend. He discovers a stunning passion plant (Passiflora coccinea), yellow lemons, different Baobab types, orchids, stunning Bougainvillea, flowering cactuses, a pricy Monstera deliciosa, besides rabbits and young hens.

We love our geese at Discovery Garden Pattaya. But we also like to eat them which means we do kill some eventually. If one likes to eat meat, one has to be able to kill an animal. In Germany roasted goose is the typical Christmas dinner. Hans Fritschi prepares two geese for his Christmas dinner on December 24th cooking them in the Chinese way.

Some people have called me a fool to pay 67000 Baht for the 16 day Thai Covid quarantine at Mövenpick Hotel Bangkok, a prison-like experience. Well this really was expensive, but I would do it again any time. In this Video Clip I will take you along to my first trip within Thailand after the quarantine, leading us from Pattaya to Nong Khai. Travelling within Thailand is still a bit odd these days, but sitting in lock-down somewhere in cold Europe is no viable or desirable alternative.

The famous Thai food bloggers Aroy N (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbxJ…) Khun Yut and Mom join Hans Fritschi in Nong Khai for a first Som Tam or spicy papaya salad after the harsh Covid 19 quarantine. This is the first interlanguage production on this channel. If you cannot understand everything at first sight, po ben yangdo, never mind! The food was delicious in any case.

Emotions run high at Discovery Garden Pattaya these days. The boys get into bloody fights with each other: It is matting season for our Iguanas. And the females apparently opt for the strong, the pretentious guys. So many fights are fought, all is about machismo, love, passion and desire…WENIGER ANZEIGEN

Empty bankrupt shops everywhere, the Thai resort town Pattaya is clinically dead already. More than 300000 people have left the place since they can no longer make a living here. Hans Fritschi shows you around a place where even many Seven-Eleven shops had to close down without foreign visitors and customers. The beaches are empty and the life guards idle, they have rescued nobody in months and their presence in Jomtien Beach is an absurdity. Walking street is without people walking, so it was opened for cars again.

Money tree is only one names for this beautiful and fast growing tree from South America that delivers delicious edible nuts in great numbers. First the Pachira aquatica produces stunning flowers of incredible beauty. Then the Malabar chestnut (another name) gives us edible seeds that taste a lot like hazel nuts. This is an ideal tree for any tropical garden, very productive and stunningly beautiful.