Life in Thailand, by Sureephon Inns: 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas games you can play online

For some of the best Christmas-themed Flash online games you'll ever play, have a look at this list that my husband has just compiled:

Flash online games based on Christmas movies

Monday, November 15, 2010

Still here!

Haven't posted anything for a while because I haven't had anything to report - life here in Thailand is quiet but fine. It's the cool season here now until March, with temperatures ranging from around 18ºC to 30ºC. Perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

A special birthday wish

Yesterday my friend Anne-Marie gave birth to her new daughter Ria. Congratulations Anne-Marie!!!

Lots of love to you, Ria and Eric, and here's wishing a very long and happy life for Ria. From Su and Peter.

Monday, August 30, 2010

A complete list of our websites

We run a few different free fun and games websites, and they are:

MarioSonicGames.com

Dan-Dare.org
(which includes the Disney.Dan-Dare.org
and the DreamWorks.Dan-Dare.org sites)

Dan-Dare.net

DanDare.org.uk

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Last Airbender online games and wallpaper

One of the posters for the 2010 movie "Avatar: The Last Airbender"

M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie, "The Last Airbender", which is based on the first season of Nickelodeon's popular cartoon series "Avatar: The Last Airbender", is released here in Thailand tomorrow. (It was released in the US on July 1st and will be released in the UK on August 13th.)

To celebrate the arrival of this highly anticipated film, here are some great free official Avatar: The Last Airbender Flash online games:

The Last Airbender - Elemental Battles

The Last Airbender - Trial of Air

The Last Airbender - Bending Battle

The Last Airbender - Elemental Escape

The Last Airbender - Fortress Fight

Included with the games are some lovely Avatar: The Last Airbender film and Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon desktop wallpaper pictures for your computer.

All the above games, together with 100's more film and cartoon-based games, can be found at the Cartoons, Movies and TV Online Games site.

(See also here and here)

Sunday, July 04, 2010

The best free Flash online games for you to play.....

For those of you here in Thailand that enjoy playing free Flash online games, here is a selection of the very best character-based online games from the hundreds and hundreds that you can play in the Dan-Dare.org and MarioSonicGames.com websites:

New Super Mario Flash

Ultimate Flash Sonic

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Flash

Pokemon: Breakdown Blast

Ben 10: Power Splash

Naruto: Battle for Leaf Village

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Transformers: Roll Out

Astro Boy: Blast-A-Bot

Khan Kluay: Kids War

Ice Age 3: Bubble Trouble

Monsters vs. Aliens: Panic in the Streets

Shrek Shreds Skateboarding

Disney's Run Bolt Run

UP: Kevin's Chocogobble

WALL-E Pinball

Cars: Tractor Tippin'

The Incredibles: Top Trumps

Toy Story: Buzz Lightyear's Alien Rescue

SpongeBob SquarePants: Anchovy Assault

Tom and Jerry: Refiger-Raiders

Scooby-Doo Skateboarding 2

Wacky Races: Wacky Racing

A Christmas Carol: Ghostly Adventure

Star Trek: Flash Trek V2.0

Gangster Life (GTA II)

I hope you enjoy them all!

(See also here, here and here)

Saturday, July 03, 2010

The Inns family's blogs

As I've mentioned before, we are an active blogging family, us Inns's. In addition to this blog by me, Su Inns, my husband Peter runs these three blogs: Peter Inns's WordPress Blog, England, Thailand and Other Things and MarioSonicGames.com - Mario & Sonic Games News.

And now Peter's mother, Anne Inns, has started this blog: Life, stuff and things.

Between the three of us we cover subjects like the latest free movie trailers and film clips, the latest free online games and desktop wallpapers, plus news and views from both England and Thailand.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Popular movie trailers and film clips in YouTube

My husband Peter has been adding lots of new videos to his main YouTube channel recently, and as a result there is now an impressive collection of 180 videos in total. Here are some of the best and most popular ones:

2009 sci-fi and fantasy movie trailers collection

2010 sci-fi and fantasy movie trailers collection

Dan Dare video collection

Harry Potter video collection

Pixar and other CG movie trailers collection

Pixar: Luxo Jr. cartoon collection

Pixar: WALL-E video collection

Pixar: Up video collection

Pixar: Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 video collection

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Free online games and wallpaper backgrounds

If you like playing Flash online games and collecting wallpaper pictures for your computer, you might find these two new fully illustrated pages in my husband Peter Inns's blog worth checking out:

Free Online Games

Free Wallpaper Backgrounds

Friday, June 18, 2010

Toy Story 3 online games and wallpaper

One of the posters for the 2010 movie "Toy Story 3"

Pixar's newest 3D movie, Toy Story 3, is released in North America today. I am really looking forward to seeing it when it is released here in Thailand because I am a huge fan of all the cartoons Pixar produce, although apparently we have to wait until August 12th for its Thai release, which is a very long delay.

It is highly likely that pirate DVDs of the film will be widely available here before then, which of course is a bad thing, but if I may say so it will somewhat serve Pixar right for creating such a long delay in the first place. Surely the best way to stop movie pirating is to release movies simultaneously all around the world?

Anyway, to make up for this rather ridiculous almost two month wait, you can play some great free Toy Story 3 Flash online games here:

16 Toy Story 3 online games

Including these 4 games:

Buzz Lightyear: Operation Alien Rescue

Toy Story: Bowl-o-Rama

Buzz Lightyear: Galactic Shootout

Toy Story: 2-in-1 Shooting

And you can get some lovely free Toy Story 3 wallpaper background pictures here:

16 Toy Story 3 wallpaper pictures

Including these 12 wallpapers:

"Toy Story 3" classic characters wallpaper, starting with Buzz Lightyear

"Toy Story 3" classic characters wallpaper, starting with Buzz Lightyear

1024 x 768 pixels

1280 x 1024 pixels

1600 x 1200 pixels

"Toy Story 3" new characters wallpaper, starting with Sparks the Robot

1024 x 768 pixels

1280 x 1024 pixels

1600 x 1200 pixels

You can find everything above, together with loads more Disney and Pixar fun and games, in this brilliant website: Free Disney and Pixar Online Games

Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Bangkok curfew has now been lifted!

Thank goodness for that, maybe we can get back to normal living again now!

This means that the long-running political protests and violent military crackdowns of this year are all now officially over, and therefore Thailand has returned to its peaceful normal self.

So, it is now officially safe for tourists to return here. Please come back and enjoy the real Thailand once again!!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Shrek 4 online games and wallpaper

One of the posters for the 2010 movie "Shrek Forever After"

The latest 3D animated movie from DreamWorks, Shrek Forever After, is released today. The film is the final part of the Shrek series and is also known as Shrek: The Final Chapter and Shrek 4.

I'm not sure if it's any good (it has received mixed reviews so far), but I want to see it because I really liked the first three Shrek films.

Here are six excellent free Shrek 4 Flash online games for you to play:

Shrek Shreds

Shrek 'N' Slide

Shrek: Concentration

Shrek: The Battle of the Belch

Shrek: Eyeball Dropper

Shrek: Ogre Baby Word Scramble

Two Shrek Forever After wallpaper backgrounds are also included with the games, one of Shrek and one of Rumpelstiltskin.

You can find everything above, together with lots more related fun and games, in this awesome website: Free Shrek and Other CG Movie Online Games

(See also here)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - update #5

Last night the Thai army stormed the Red Shirt Protestors camp in central Bangkok to finally bring an end to the political protests. It was an extremely violent end though, with a further 5 people killed including an Italian journalist, plus dozens of people seriously injured.

Red Shirts fleeing the army onslaught set fire to many buildings in the capital throughout the night, as a final shocking statement of protest against the current government. The Thai Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Thai TV Channel 3 (which is currently off air), two shopping centers including the massive Central World center, two banks and many other buildings have all been burned, with Central World now being reported as having been completely destroyed.

Many of the Red Shirt leaders have been caught and arrested, and the protests are now finally over.

Bangkok is now under a night-time curfew every day until further notice.

What an awful, awful series of events.

Update on May 22, 2010 at 12.30 PM: The official total number of casualties from the political protests and military crackdowns has now been given as 85 people killed and 1,378 injured. Absolutely disgraceful! Many of the victims were innocent bystanders! Of course, there'll now be an official inquiry into what happened, but that will really just be a government "whitewash" of the whole affair - no-one in power will get any blame or be punished, only the Red Shirts. The rich and powerful always win here!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - update #4

Fighting between civilian protestors and the armed forces continued in Bangkok last night and on into today, and official reports say that the death toll has now risen to 30, with an additional 232 injured.

After reading international reports from respected sources such as Reuters, the BBC and the ABC (because most news sources here are biased in favour of the authorities and do not always tell the whole truth) it appears that many of the fatalities were unarmed civilians who were targeted by the army as part of a deliberate "shoot to kill" policy sanctioned by the government (who, not surprisingly, deny it - they say only armed "terrorists" are being targeted, but foreign reports clearly contradict that).

Everyone I know here is in total shock about this. This is not the Thai way of doing things. It is a gross violation of human rights, surely? I hope the United Nations quickly does something to stop this nightmare.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - update #3

Very sadly, last night 16 more people died in Bangkok in yet more clashes between the red shirt anti-government protestors and the army. Additionally, more than 140 people were injured, some critically. At least three foreigners were among those injured.

This entire situation is rapidly becoming a national tragedy for my country - the total death toll from the past two months of political protests, which have pitted civilian protestors against police and army forces in increasingly violent street battles in the capital, now apparently stands at 45 (although this is difficult to accurately confirm due to conflicting sets of information from different official sources), plus at least 1,100 injured. These are shocking statistics by any measure.

The protests started out very peacefully in March, but things quickly changed on April 10th when the first fighting between protestors and security forces took place, resulting in 26 deaths. A week ago there was a glimmer of hope that there would be a peaceful end to the trouble, but that does not look likely now or any time soon, not after last night's terrible events.

See this news article from the Wall Street Journal from earlier today for a full report on what happened:

Protesters battle Thai security forces

(If you wish, you can read all my posts about the recent troubles in Thailand by clicking on the Thai Political Trouble 2010 label below this post - reading from my first post through to this one you will clearly see how things have changed from safe, peaceful protests at the start to the totally different and deadly situation now.)

Our Blogging 4th Anniversary

This coming Monday will mark the 4th anniversary of mine and my husband Peter's blogging, in this blog and Peter's England, Thailand and Other Things, MarioSonicGames.com and WordPress blogs.

Admittedly Peter has done most of the blogging (he started his first blog in 2006, and I only started last year), but I have contributed 10% of our current combined total of over 350 posts.

Here is a list of my personal favourite posts in Peter's blogs (newest ones first) - for my favourites from my own blog, see the "Recommended Posts" section in the sidebar on the right:

The England, Thailand and Other Things blog:

The MarioSonicGames.com blog:

I hope there's something in there of interest to you!

(See also here, here and here)

Friday, May 14, 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - a further update

Unfortunately the situation in Bangkok seems to be escalating towards further very serious violence after a number of shootings and clashes between protestors and security forces during the past 24 hours.

Foreigners have been warned to stay away from all the central areas of Bangkok for their own safety.

See this news article from the BBC earlier today for more information about what is happening:

Deadly clashes erupt in Bangkok

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010 - an update

Oh dear, yesterday I was saying that there looked to be a possible peaceful solution to the political troubles here in Thailand, and then last night there was serious violence in Bangkok once again, with 2 people killed and many more injured.

Sadly this brings the casualty totals to 29 dead and almost 1000 injured since the recent political protests started in Bangkok almost 2 months ago.

I hope things do end peacefully very soon, it is all having a terrible effect on the whole of Thailand.

See this news article from earlier today for more details on what happened last night:

New Thai violence kills 2, mars compromise moves (The Associated Press)

Friday, May 07, 2010

Thailand political unrest, May 2010

There has been a little bit of progress over the past few days towards reaching a peaceful solution to all the political troubles here in Thailand, but there still remains much to be done.

See these recent news articles for more details:

Peace plan stalls in Thailand (ITN)

Wrangling as Thai protesters refuse to quit (Reuters)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Online games based on films, cartoons and video games

Just a quick reminder to anyone who's interested that you can play hundreds of fantastic free online games based on films, cartoons, TV shows and video games at these great sites:

The Cartoons, Movies and TV Online Games Site
(Flash online games based on Star Trek, Star Wars, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Taz, Scooby-Doo, Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, Hong Kong Phooey, Wacky Races, SpongeBob SqaurePants, Avatar the Last Airbender, Naruto, Ben 10, Garfield, Power Rangers, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, Matrix, Hellboy, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Hulk, Harry Potter, Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Betty Boop and many more)

The Disney and Pixar Online Games Site
(Flash online games based on Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, Chronicles of Narnia, Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, Bolt, Princess and the Frog, Disney Princess, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Incredibles, Cars, Lightning McQueen, Ratatouille, WALL-E, UP and many more)

The Shrek, Ice Age and Other CG Movies Online Games Site
(Flash online games based on Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens, Flushed Away, Shark Tale, Ice Age, Horton, Robots, Happy Feet, Astro Boy and many more)

The Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega Online Games Site
(Flash online games based on Super Mario, Luigi, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Super Smash Bros, Pokemon, Kirby, Legend of Zelda and Megaman)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Thailand political unrest, April 2010 - another update

(This follows on from my recent posts on this subject which you can read here and here.)

I am very sad to have to report that last night there was some extremely serious trouble in Bangkok. Unfortunately 19 people died and over 800 were injured when fighting broke out between the "Red Shirt" anti-government protestors and the Thai military who were trying to disperse them from one of the areas of central Bangkok where they had gathered in great numbers.

There still seems to be no end in sight to this increasingly violent political unrest as neither side appears to be willing to back down. The "Red Shirts" are demanding that the current government (which they believe is an undemocratic and corrupt military-backed puppet of the Thai rich elite) be disolved and that new fair democratic elections be held immediately.

But there is no sign of that happening - the current Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, is refusing to give in to their demands. So, despite the tragic events of last night, there are still many thousands of protestors on the streets of Bangkok, which of course means there could be more serious fighting again at any time.

It is a very sad time now for my country, and clearly despite what all of us thought before, it is no longer safe for any foreign tourists to be in Bangkok. However, the rest of Thailand is still very safe, although I don't suppose many tourists will be coming here now. Oh dear me.

If you are a foreigner currently staying in Thailand, I recommend that you check the internet for the latest news before you decide what to do and where to go next. That way you can be sure you have the most up-to-date information. There are internet cafes in almost every town and city in Thailand, and if you have a Thai SIM card for your mobile phone, you should be able to use the GPRS/EDGE or WAP mobile phone internet easily enough, normally for around 1 Baht per minute. (And if you don't have a Thai SIM, again almost every town and city has mobile phone shops that sell them quite cheaply.)

Update on April 14, 2010 at 1:50 PM: Sadly, the official death toll from Saturday night's violence has now risen to 23, because 4 people seriously injured in the clashes have since died in hospital.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Thailand political unrest, April 2010 - an update

Further to my post a few days ago about the ongoing political protests here in thailand, specifically in Bangkok, here is a very interesting and well-written news article regarding the situation from yesterday's New York Times:

QUOTE--->
Thai Protesters Refuse to Leave Central Bangkok District

By THOMAS FULLER
Published: April 5, 2010

BANGKOK — Convoys of anti-government protesters coursed through Bangkok on Tuesday afternoon while thousands more demonstrators remained in the commercial heart of the city, where they continued to defy government orders to disperse.

Crowds of protesters steadily pushed back lines of unarmed soldiers in an attempt to make their way into the important commercial and tourist district of Sukhumvit in central Bangkok. It was nearly a festive atmosphere, with the protesters, known as red shirts, hugging and shaking hands with smiling soldiers.

“There’s no need to be afraid,” an army officer told the crowds through a bullhorn.

He then handed the bullhorn to a protest leader who shouted to the soldiers, “Join us!”

It was a scene of some camaraderie, and in recent days there has been talk in the capital of “watermelon soldiers” — green on the outside, red on the inside.

But there have been political and economic consequences to the ongoing protests as well. Many shopping malls were closed for a third day, and 43 bank branches in Thailand’s capital were shut as the economic toll of the protests rose.

On the outskirts of Bangkok, protesters broke into the Election Commission building, demanding the acceleration of an investigation into charges that a large Thai company made a multimillion-dollar payment to the governing Democrat Party. The group left after securing an agreement that results would be released on April 20, more than a week earlier than scheduled.

Protest leaders have kept the city on edge for the past three weeks with unpredictable processions of motorcycles and pickup trucks. They say they want to highlight double standards that benefit the elite at the expense of the poor.

Business groups said the protests had caused tens of millions of dollars in lost business over the past two days, not counting damage to the tourism industry and the country’s image.

So far, the government has not used force against the protesters. On Monday, it sought a court order to make protesters leave the commercial area and prevent them from entering other busy neighborhoods in Bangkok. The court turned down the order, however, saying the government already had such power under the Internal Security Act, which the government has invoked.

The protests stem from a 2006 military coup that removed Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon turned prime minister, after which the political party he led and a successor party were dissolved by the courts. Mr. Thaksin, who is overseas and has been sentenced in absentia on corruption charges, is still very popular in rural areas.

In theory, the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva could itself face dissolution if it is found guilty of accepting the illegal donation. Protesters describe it as a test case for the fairness of the system.

Publicly, the protest leaders, who claim to represent the prai, or lower-class Thais, are maintaining a hard line, demanding that Mr. Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call new elections.

“It is necessary for us to stage a fight this way,” Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader, was quoted as saying in the Thai news media. “The current situation is too severe to be treated with painkillers. It has reached a state where surgery is required.”

But with the Thai New Year, a major holiday, next week, the endgame for the protesters is unclear. The cheering bystanders who greeted the protesters when they first began their protests appear to have thinned, though they have not disappeared.

Suthichai Yoon, a well-known Thai columnist, wrote Monday that the red shirts were alienating Bangkok residents by paralyzing the shopping district.

“If the reason for the blockade is to invite people in Bangkok to join their cause of demanding that the prime minister dissolve Parliament, then there isn’t any need to do something this extreme as to cause the pulse of the city’s business center to come to a halt,” Mr. Suthichai said.
<---END QUOTE

For myself, I wish to apologise to anyone and everyone who is adversely affected by these protests. But please try to understand that there is so much corruption here in the Thai governmental system that in fact it is much more newsworthy when someone is found NOT TO BE CORRUPT than when someone is found to be corrupt! Really!! So these protests are a good thing, at least in so far as they are highlighting to all Thai people, and all the watching world, just how bad this corruption problem is.

Mario and Sonic free game downloads (additional info)

The MarioSonicGames.com website now has 9 fantastic free Flash games that have been specially made for the site. You can download them and use them in your own web space or site if you wish, or download them and play them on your computer without the further need of an internet connection (.zip compressed files):

Newest game:

Sonic the Hedgehog: Super Sonic Pinball

(View it and play it online here: Super Sonic Pinball Online)

Other games:

Super Mario Bros.: Mario Matchit

(View it and play it online here: Mario Matchit Online)

Super Mario Bros.: Paper Mario World

(View it and play it online here: Paper Mario World Online)

Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Matchit

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Matchit Online)

Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Sky Chase

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Sky Chase Online)

Sonic Sky Chase (2nd Version)

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Sky Chase (2nd Version) Online)

Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's Whack-A-Nik

(View it and play it online here: Amy's Whack-A-Nik Online)

Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Abstracta

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Abstracta Online)

Super Mario Bros.: Super Shy Guy Universe

(View it and play it online here: Super Shy Guy Universe PSP Online)

To use the downloads and play the games, click on any of the links above, then select "Save" for the .zip compressed file that will be downloaded, and select a folder on your computer to save the .zip file into. Once the .zip file has downloaded successfully, unzip it and then you can play the game by double-clicking on the .htm file that was unzipped. (Note that the .htm file is an offline webpage that runs the .swf file which is the actual Flash game - you don't need an active internet connection to run it.)

To use the games in your own website, simply upload the .htm webpage files (which you may want to modify to your own site's style first) and the .swf Flash game files to your webspace, link to the .htm files from you site's home page, and you and your visitors can then play the games in your site. Enjoy! :-)