Following the assault upon, and cancellation of, the “ASEAN plus dialogue partners” meeting of Heads of State in Pattaya, Thailand last week by the red-shirted followers of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai government announced, late on Thursday 9th April, that there would be a closure of all government offices on Friday 10th.

This unscheduled holiday preceded and joined with the scheduled Thai traditional New Year (Songkran) holiday occurring from Saturday 11th April to Wednesday 15th April. These dates included closure of all Government and Post Offices within Thailand.

Following the violence and civil unrest that broke out in Bangkok over the Songkran / Easter weekend, instigated by the same red-shirted factions, current Democrat Party Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva instructed, on Tuesday 14 April, that Thursday and Friday 16-17 April would be an extension to the national holiday, in order to give the government time to make central Bangkok safe for people to return to their workplaces.

It’s a long time since I took part in a pub-quiz. Last night I went along to one at The Pub - ChiangMai’s longest surviving expat watering hole, somewhere around a century old now - and had a great time, even though it left me wondering what’s happened to my brain.

I’ll admit to having a great time, and the manager, Graham - a long time friend, introduced me to a couple of tourists needing to make up a quiz team. We did our best, and just avoided the wooden spoon at the end of the night, but what has happened to my memory?