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citizenjournal

citizenjournal

  • Joined: Thursday, October 2nd, 2025
  • Articles: 219

Your Contributions

Your Horoscopes

Aries | March 21 to April 19

Your triumphant exit from the worst job you’ve ever had is spoiled when a wino drenches you in flammable vodka vomit and sets you on fire with a menthol cigarette.

Taurus | April 20 to May 20

You are a person of uncommon vision. No matter who attempts to dissuade you, hold fast to your belief that your genitals are cramped and need to roam free.

Gemini | May 21 to June 20

The stars are peeved that you didn’t renew your subscription to Sky & Telescope magazine, so expect a fat, painful cyst on your ass.

Cancer | June 21 to July 22

Take comfort that your funeral next Friday will set attendance records at Radio City Music Hall, as all of New York celebrates.

A Beach Treat
CHA AM OFFERING A NATURAL BEACH EXPERIENCE

A Beach TreatCHA AM OFFERING A NATURAL BEACH EXPERIENCE

Have you ever wished to go to a beach completely free of umbrellas, deckchairs, tables and other things cluttering the natural beauty? Well, after the initial Wednesdays in Cha Am promotion, where the local authorities set aside a five kilometre stretch of the beach to be an ‘umbrellas and deckchairs not welcome’ space, they have now expanded this so that every weekday at the southern end of Cha-am Beach the beach will be completely open to create a more natural, and relaxed beach experience, free to be used by beachgoers as they wish – so, for example, pitching their own tent or placing their own beach mat so they can enjoy the beach as nature provided, rather than the rather more crowded experience at the central part, similar to the area on Hua Hin Beach near the Hilton, particularly at weekends.

As part of this effort, repairs have been completed to the beachfront steps, which had been damaged by seawater erosion, restoring them to their original condition. The engineering department has also been instructed to improve the area on South Cha-am beach to facilitate tourists for pitching tents, laying mats, and parking. Due to the number of people visiting from Bangkok on weekends, businesses are allowed to provide the normally ever present umbrellas, chairs and tables that have historically been there, but the hope is that local people can enjoy the beach more during the rest of the week. The main image above (Attribution: Ahoerstemeier, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons) is a typical example of what the main beach looks like on a weekend.

Dangerous Seas Claim Another Life
CANADIAN TOURIST DROWNS WHILE SWIMMING NEAR KHAO TAKIAB

Dangerous Seas Claim Another LifeCANADIAN TOURIST DROWNS WHILE SWIMMING NEAR KHAO TAKIAB

The body of a 63 year old Canadian tourist was recovered on 10th January from the sea off Sam Roi Yot district in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, three days after he was swept away by strong waves while swimming. The ongoing search had been paused until sea conditions improved, but a local fishing boat spotted a body floating near Don Ta Khaeng sandbank, about one nautical mile offshore, and brought it ashore after reporting it to police. The deceased was noted immediately as a foreign male, approximately 60 years old, wearing grey swimwear, and with distinctive tattoos on the left shoulder and right arm. No wounds or signs of assault were found and authorities estimated that he had been dead for at least two days before being recovered, after which the body was taken to Sam Roi Yot Hospital for preservation.

A foreign tourist came forward later that day and confirmed the identity of the deceased as his friend, Mr Thom Gregory John, aged 63, a Canadian national, who police discovered had travelled to Hua Hin district on 7 January with two friends and checked into a local hotel. He later went swimming in the sea near the side of Wat Khao Takiab, despite strong waves, and was swept under and disappeared. At the time of the incident, officials launched a full search and rescue effort but were forced to halt operations due to sea waves measuring approximately two to three metres in height, which made conditions unsafe.

Fatal Stabbing On New Year’s Eve
MYANMAR MAN DIES AFTER FIGHT ON PIER

Fatal Stabbing On New Year’s EveMYANMAR MAN DIES AFTER FIGHT ON PIER

There was a tragic end to 2025 as a Myanmar migrant worker was stabbed during an argument between two groups that had gathered on the Hua Hin Fishing Pier, with the incident occurring shortly before midnight. Police from Hua Hin Police Station were called to reports of a serious assault and found the victim seriously injured; he was rushed to Hua Hin Hospital, but unfortunately died from the injuries sustained. The victim has since been identified as Mr Her Hai Yin, aged 20, and on 3rd January the superintendent of Hua Hin Police Station, Pol Col Kampanat Na Wichai, announced that one man had been arrested and two others had been detained in connection with the assault.

According to statements from the victim’s friends, they had been sitting and drinking alcohol at the pier prior to the attack. One person in the group allegedly threw a glass bottle onto the ground, causing it to shatter loudly. The sound reportedly drew the attention of another group sitting nearby, who approached to warn them about the disturbance. The confrontation escalated into violence, with the victim being surrounded and assaulted by the suspects. Witnesses said his friends fled the scene in panic, leaving him alone as he suffered heavy bleeding from a wound to the neck and cried out for help. Officers attending the scene found numerous broken liquor and beer bottles scattered across the ground, along with bloodstains. An urgent investigation was immediately begun, with investigators gathering intelligence in the area which led to the locating and detaining of the three suspects at their homes in the Nong Kae area. The suspects include one 18-year-old found in possession of a knife believed to have been used in the attack and two other young men aged 19 and 20.

Your Horoscopes

Aries | March 21 to April 19

You will never achieve your full potential as a person unless you can win your life’s most personal battles. Declare war on polyester/cotton blends.

Taurus | April 20 to May 20

When 14 bodies are discovered in your basement, your usual alibi of “The dog did it” is of absolutely no help—even though it’s actually true this time.

Gemini | May 21 to June 20

You are in for the fight of your life this week when Scarlett Johansson overhears your catty remarks about the cut of her evening gown.

Cancer | June 21 to July 22

Unspeakable tragedies will strike Cancer this week, but the look on your face will be just priceless.

One Man Went To Mow, Went To Mow A Meadow

One Man Went To Mow, Went To Mow A Meadow

Sorry to disappoint you but the title might suggest that we were going to reveal the long lost origin of the nursery rhyme, but sadly this will remain lost in the mists of time; however, we are going to examine the word meadow, and it’s origin, as it leads on to a series of interesting connections to ancient and modern words and practices. Meadow, mead (a grassy field), mow, and the math in aftermath are all related, coming from the same Indo-European root, me-, “to cut down grass with a sickle or scythe”.  So a meadow is a place where grass was cut for hay.  Today we may think of meadows as natural places where wildflowers and animals abound, but in the Old World, many meadows were probably mown by man for thousands of years.  The word is very old and dates from at least the 10th century (as do the other words mentioned above) in English, and there are cognates (see below) in several other Germanic languages. A cognate is a word in one language that has the same origin as a word in another language, resulting in similar spellings, pronunciations, and meanings. Regarding aftermath, today it means the “state or condition left by a (usually unpleasant) event”, but it was originally “a second mowing of grass” or “the crop of grass which springs up after the mowing in early summer”.  It is not clear why cut grass came to be equated with an unpleasant event – but, regardless, math simply means “a mowing”.

As meadows are often near or surrounded by forests, this leads us on to forest; English got it from Old French forest and it first turns up in the English written record in about 1300.  It was taken by French apparently as a learned Latin construction in the Middle Ages – forestem silva “the outside wood (the wood not within a park fence)”, ultimately from Latin foris “outside”. Foris is thought to be a derivative of fores “door”, suggesting that anything beyond the door (of a structure) was “outside”. That is true for English outside, as well. The earliest example of forest in English refers to a special wooded area of the king, set apart for hunting (1297).

Sporting Life
TWO ANNUAL EVENTS TO ATTEND AND PLAN FOR

Sporting LifeTWO ANNUAL EVENTS TO ATTEND AND PLAN FOR

As Hua Hin has continued to grow, annual events grow with them, and two that have been running for several years are highlighted this week. Coming very soon is the 14th Hua Hin World Cup, taking place on the 13th and 14th December, while announced last week was the date for a more recent addition, first run in 2018, the Hua Hin Marathon for 2026, which is scheduled for 10th May 2026. Both events attract more competitors and supporters every year, with registration still open for the football, and for the marathon it opened this week.

Viking Club Hua Hin, and more specifically, Thomas Andersson and Anders Hagstedt, are the men behind the Hua Hin World Cup, which began in 2013, and which saw 20 teams and over 250 players, fans and families involved last year; this year there will be 24 teams and more than 330 players competing, in a new location and a new competition format. The fun starts at 9am on Saturday 13th December at the Arena sports complex on their new Arena Hua Hin Soccer Pitch Branch 2 location (click for Google Map), purpose built this year. The competiton continues through to a final on Sunday 14th December, with an after-party with dinner and a prize ceremony in the evening. The main sponsors of the event this year are property agents Kahouze, with numerous other sponsors including Surf Radio, the leading local English language radio station, marking this now as a major annual event.

Going Underground
BEGINNING OF THE END FOR UGLY OVERHEAD CABLES IN HUA HIN?

Going UndergroundBEGINNING OF THE END FOR UGLY OVERHEAD CABLES IN HUA HIN?

A small but significant step was taken last week by the Hua Hin City Municipality when plans were further outlined to relocate all the overhead cables running along Damnoen Kasem Road to be placed underground; for those unfamiliar with the street names, this is the road that stretches from the old, historic railway station to the beach, and is for many tourists, their first and most frequent view of Hua Hin. This sort of project has been undertaken or is being planned in many areas of Bangkok (see featured image above of an MEA project on the appropriately named Wireless Road) as the safety, maintenance and aesthetics of the cable chaos that is common in Thailand are finally being addressed (and should be applauded).

The Deputy Mayor, Busaba Choksuchat, attended a briefing on the project by the contractor, Multidistribution Service Co., Ltd. (MDS), along with senior municipal engineers and officials, which aims to remove electrical, telephone, and communication cables that currently run overhead via numerous concrete poles, and have a dual use as raised expressways for monkeys and squirrels, as well as communal gathering points for local birds! The work will include the installation of underground conduits for electricity and communication systems, coordination between utility providers, and phased work to minimise disruption to traffic and local businesses along Damnoen Kasem Road.

Convicted murderer sues to be able to eat Vegemite

Convicted murderer sues to be able to eat Vegemite

Vegemite, the Australian yeast-based spread that polarizes opinion just as Marmite does in the UK, is at the centre of a bizarre, and some might say, tasteless, lawsuit brought by an inmate of a prison in the state of Victoria. The prisoner, Andre McKechnie, 54, serving a life sentence for murder, is suing Victoria’s Department of Justice and Community Safety and the agency that manages the prisons, Corrections Victoria, because the salty, sticky, brown byproduct of brewing beer has been banned in Victorian prisons since 2006, because Corrections Victoria says it “interferes with narcotic detection dogs.” Inmates used to smear packages of illicit drugs with Vegemite in the hope that the odour would distract the dogs from the contraband.

However McKechnie claims that this breaches his human right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.” Most Australians revere Vegemite as an unfairly maligned culinary icon, and more than 80% of Australian households are estimated to have a jar in their pantries. But inmates in all 12 prisons in Victoria are denied the pleasure of the spread that became globally famous with it’s mention of a “Vegemite sandwich” in the song “Down Under”.

World’s Strongest Woman Is A Man
THIS IS NOT A SPOOF STORY!

World’s Strongest Woman Is A ManTHIS IS NOT A SPOOF STORY!

While “The Back Page” will normally feature spoof sports stories, this time truth is stranger than fiction; the annual Official Strongman Games finished a couple of days ago in Arlington, Texas, and the story that has had people in turn smacking their forehead in disbelief, and ranting on social media, was the announcement of the winner of the World’s Strongest Woman, Jammie Booker from the USA, who narrowly defeated the runner-up, UK lifter Andrea Thompson. Thompson ended up coming second in the competition because of her performance in the final ‘Stone Series’ challenge, where the women had to lift four stones over a 42-inch beam, with each weighing up to 300 pounds. Booker loaded three stones in just over 29 seconds, while Thompson only loaded one.

Official Strongman Games Logo

There was, however, one slight problem with this; Booker, from Philadelphia, was born male, and this violated the contest’s rules, which clearly stipulate that athletes must compete in the category that aligns with their biological sex at birth. As soon as this was discovered, Booker was stripped of the title, which was then awarded to Thompson. At the original presentation of the title, Thompson had stormed off the podium as she was reportedly heard saying “this is bull****, can we go?”, apparently referring to the decision to award the title to Booker. However a subsequent social media post seemed to contradict this, and suggested that she had accepted defeat graciously – “Most would be pleased with 2nd place, I am not. I came for the win, but my t-Rex arms let me down on those mega stones. In hindsight, I knew the loading and stones would be my weakness, but we always hope for a miracle. Congratulations to all the ladies who put in a good fight. Some dark horses who I know we will see again moving up the ranks. Thank you for all the supportive messages and kind words I’ve received.”