Mother goose at Discovery Garden Pattaya sat 28 days on her five eggs when four goslings hatched as expected. But there was a problem with egg number five. Hans Fritschi could hear feeble beeps from that egg and made a small hole into the egg shell to prevent suffocating. After several hours in the incubator he helped that weak baby goose to get out of the egg. This lonely gosling is now recovering well from its difficult start into life and can be joined soon with the four siblings and another baby goose.

When our first attempt to drill a new well failed, I was blamed, since the ignorant Farang had not adhered to the local Thai customs. We had not performed the animist rituals of offering goodies to the local spirits. This time around we offered boiled pig heads, rice liquor and other delicacies to the invisible powers inhabiting our land and this second drilling not only went smooth, it was a huge success. What does this tell the non-believer?

The canals and ponds at Discovery Garden Pattaya get more dry by the day. The existing wells deliver too little wet stuff to water the plants. An attempt is undertaken to drill a new, much deeper well. But unfortunately three days of drilling a 60 meter deep hole are futile. One worker has an accident and brakes his arm and the hole cannot be secured due to a stubborn rock in the way. The whole work was in vain and has to be restarted in a different location.

ANALYSENVIDEO BEARBEITENHans Fritschi loves home smoked bacon. He uses exotic and tropical wood like Cinnamon, Cocoa, Nutmeg and many others – all stuff organically grown at Discovery Garden Pattaya – to artfully smoke cured bacon. That is not difficult and the results are very satisfying, indeed!

When Chonburi province was declared a Covid Red Zone a month ago, all tourism came to a full stop. But now that free travel to Pattaya is possible again, life returns. The beautiful plants market in North Pattaya was Saturday buzzling once again: Vendors and customers have quickly returned in great numbers. Jomtien beach is still a bit empty, but also recovering. Apartment swimming pools have opened up again and so have many restaurants that are allowed again to sell alcoholic beverages. Hans Fritschi travelled by car from Nong Khai to Pattaya as well.

Last night Hans Fritschi watched the moving inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. This had a surprising or even stunning effect in Thailand: Nasty Nong Khai Donald lost his voice overnight! This dog is still a threatening menace, but now in complete silence. Hans Fritschi takes this wonderful development as one more sign of hope.

Language salad: In his first German-language video from the Discovery Garden Nong Khai, Hans Fritschi explores the question of why it is dangerous to christen a white dog snow in Thailand. Snow in tropical Thailand? That fits like a fist, but it’s not the problem. There are many linguistic and cultural differences and misunderstandings. And Donald reports back. With subtitles in English.

When I flew from Pattaya to Udon Thani four days ago, there were no Covid related controls between the airport and my Nong Khai home. But the next morning the village chief or Poo Yai Baan sent two girls with masks to check my temperature. I was later informed, that I was to stay within my premises until January 10th. De facto I am now quarantined at Discovery Garden Nong Khai which is no real problem for me since this is a magical place anyhow.

Just one week ago Hans Fritschi spent a very cheerful and optimistic first day of 2021 in Jomtien Beach Pattaya. Restaurants were allowed to reopen after a short and erratic closure, but have almost no customers presently due to the fear of Covid 19 and the ban to sell any alcoholic beverages. Even Jomtien Beach is much emptier now than a week ago since “Banglamung” aka Pattaya has been declared a Covid 19 red alert zone. Travelling in and out has become dubious and leads to a lock-down without officially being declared a lock-down. Return to Jomtien Beach Pattaya in this Clip just one week ago which seems to be away ages ago.

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.