Tripbase and My 7 Links

I have recently found myself nominated to take part in the 7 Links project hosted by travel company Tripbase. The project aims to link the world of bloggers via a chain of posts in which blog authors list their chosen links from seven different category questions.

Here’s how Tripbase explain the goal for their project:

To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

Here are the My 7 Links Rules

Life in Phana was nominated by Martyn of  Beyond the Mango Juice. I'd like to thank him for that, and for all the pleasure I have had from reading his very personal and always humorous take on his life in wonderful Wi's village in Isan, some way north of Phana. The only problem with this is that it means I can't nominate him, even though BtMJ is one of my favourite blogs (as were several of the others he nominated).

The difficult part is providing 7 links to posts of my own. But here goes.

The most beautiful, I think, is this one about the LOTUS. I like it because I like the lotus so much, and food for the spirit and for the stomach sums up most of what Thailand has come to mean to me over the more than 40 years I have been associated with the country.

The most popular I am not so sure about, because I don't have much real information to go by, but without counting, I can see that VISITOR WEEK is itself visited pretty often. It does show that life in a small village can be surprisingly full, something that I hope my blog manages to get across.

The most controversial post was easy to select. Although I am aware that there is no earthy paradise,  I generally try to accentuate the positive aspects of my life in Phana. There are several reasons for this . One is that I know there are several Thai friends in Phana who read my blog regularly, and perhaps a few more that I am not aware of. Another is that if any negativity  does creep into my thinking I don't wish to inflict it on other people. I certainly despise and recoil from much of what I used to read on forums in Thailand. But the post I have selected turned out not to be so very controversial after all, and it led to some very positive action to put the matter right. Readers in Thailand will have no problem in recognizing that this is a problem that it not unique to Phana. You can find the post HERE.

The most helpful post may not be helpful to my readers but I believe it is already proving helpful for Phana. It was the last (for now) of a series that focuses on the village's large population of long-tailed macaque monkeys.

I was surprised by the success of a post about the KATHIN ceremony , which told of one that took place in Devon, England, and the other in Phana, Thailand. I think this post draws on the double life I lead in the two places, and also points to one of the things that bridge the two.

Tripbase also ask for a link to a post that didn't get the attention it deserved. I am completely in two minds about this one. One part of me is still very pleasantly surprised that my posts get any attention at all. I definitely began blogging for my own sake; that thing about writing in order to clarify your own ideas and to make sense of your life. On the other hand, I have come to think some of my posts are really not bad, so when I am in that mood I think none of them get the attention they deserve. I think I was a bit disappointed by THIS ONE because its subject is a book that I like very much and want others to enjoy it too. The post also includes a few pictures that I thought were 'very Thai' and I intended to run a little series of very Thai photos, but didn't do so because the post generated so little interest. So come on! Give me some encouragement, won't you.

And finally, the post that I am most proud of. This one is about another book. The book is about the 300 year history of Phana which was written by my wife Pensri. So it is not so much the post I am proud of, but the author, the book, and Phana.

Now for my 5 blog recommendations. Several of the blogs that I visit the most have already been nominated but there are still plenty of good ones out there that have not.

First up is BOONIE's THAILAND PHOTOS which like me you will love if you like someone playing with words as well as posting some mostly unusual photos -- even if Mrs S did take most of them for him.

 

Then there is VILLAGE FARANG who lives in a house, in a field, in a valley, with a view, in the north of Thailand. He is the best blog writer I have come across, a great style, he writes lyrically of biking through the northern fields and hills, and although I don't generally much like reading opinionated stuff, when he does express an opinion it is clearly thought-out and expressed in a calm, rational, non-personal way. The photos are to be drooled over, too, especially, I imagine, if you are stuck in a city somewhere.

 

Family life in rural Isan, albeit with frequent side trips to the city, to Laos, and also the land of Oz, is documented with some excellent photos by Memock of LIFE IN RURAL THAILAND. Check it out.

 

A young blogger you should definitely check out for the variety of his subject matter and opinions (again, with some great photos) is THE THAI PIRATE. A post I have particularly liked recently was 5 things I didn't like about Thailand but now can't live without. Nice to see that people can change their minds and don't just get stuck in a (sometimes) negative groove.

 

My last choice may be a bit cheeky, but I think that isan traveller should be visited more often. To be fair, I think he should post more often, too.

Comments

[Martyn]

Lawrence a good selection of posts and I'm glad to see the monkeys made it on the list. You've also chosen some good blogs to pass the baton on to and I hope you got as much fun as I did writing my 7 links post.

[Tom]

I really like your video you made in Phana.
Why don't you make more?

[Lawrence]

Martyn, I did enjoy writing the post in the end, although like you, it seemed a bit of an impossible chore to begin with. Thanks for putting me on to it.

[Lawrence]

Tom, thanks for your your comment. I have some more Phana videos that you can see by clicking on the LINK to youtube (Phanaperson's Channel).