This spirit house has been vacant for some time. (Normally there are little statues in Thai spirit houses, but this one and its neighbors are empty.) This blog has been without spirit for over a year. But I’m back now. Not that I’ve gone anywhere. I just haven’t taken the time to blog.
Earlier this year I started this blog using the domain living-in-phuket.asia, with living-in-phuket.com as an alias. I had a hard time coming up with a good domain name for my blog. It’s amazing how many domain names with “phuket” in them have already been registered. It’s even more amazing how many of those display either stale web sites, or are simply being sat on by squatters. Snapnames emails me every day with a list of Phuket domains about to expire.
When Godaddy announced the landrush for the .ME top-level domain, I signed up for Phuket.ME. To my surprise, I was the only applicant. As of today, you can access this blog at http://www.phuket.me. The living-in-phuket domains now automatically redirect to this one.
ME is actually the country code for Montenegro, a small country in the Balkans. It’s only about a third the size of my native Belgium. Montenegro gained its independence from Serbia on 6 September 2007, less than a year ago. Its fresh top-level internet domain with a convenient meaning in English was too much to pass up for Godaddy. They made a deal with the Montenegrin government to monetize this juicy domain.
It’s hard to predict if the .ME domain will catch on or if it will become a wasteland for squatters like .EU. But Phuket.ME is certainly catchy for the personal blog for a guy who got stuck on this island.
สวัสดีปีใหม่ (happy New Year)!
Some people make resolutions at the start of the year. Others go nuts throwing water at everybody. I prefer to start off getting something done. Like setting up this new blog.
A plan that began in 2004, the year of the tsunami, is finally coming together. We’re moving to Phuket. Actually, we’re already there. We’re staying in a rental house while we complete our own.
In this blog I’ll write about my adventures and misadventures on this tropical island. It should be an interesting read for anybody living or traveling here, or planning to do so.