NEWS RELEASE – FEBRUARY 7, 2006
NORTH THAI TEA DRINKING SOCIETY
Contact: [email
[email protected]]
[email protected][/email]
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD APPLICATION
The Official Application for a world record attempt has been requested and sent to the Guinness World Records application center by the North Thai Tea Drinking Society. Due to the volume of applications received it may be several weeks before the Society receives a "Yes” or “No” from the Guinness Records. Each year over some 50,000 + or – applications are received, ranging from applicants wanting a record for eating the most worms to who can shove the most nails up their nose.
The North Thai Tea Drinking Society waived the “Fast Track” application process which required a nearly $400.00 USD fee, noting the funds could better be used to promote the purposes of the Society. They also waived the option to pay for an official from Guinness to be present to observe the Mekong River Jump, noting that a bottle of Guinness would fill that position.
Noted at the last two planning committee meetings was the above brand of whisky. When observers opined that not only was it cheap, but also not in keeping with the Mekong River Jump theme, committee members agreed to use Mekong Whisky at future subsidiary meetings.
LAO and CAMBODIA MEKONG NATIONAL RIVER COMMITTEES CONTACTED
Formal notices were sent to Lao and Cambodia National Mekong Committees notifying them of the Mekong River Guinness Record Motorcycle Jump Project. Each governmental committee was offered an opportunity to participate.
TEA DRINKERS SEARCH FOR TAKE-OFF/LANDING SITES – Sordid work
In late January the North Thai Tea Drinkers began in depth research for take-off and landing sites in Lao and Cambodia. GT Rider crossed the Mekong River into Lao while Temple Hunter and Sun Chaser scoured the green and urban jungles Cambodia. Their searches included scouting, sampling, GPSing, recruiting and human resource solicitations.
Tragedy struck in several instances. One member was liberated of his wallet that had in it his cash and credit cards (not his passport). Another member came down with the Cambodian Crud, (a mutated strain of the Unko Flu) upon his return and had to enter a libation-free program that included Cipro, Amoxycillin, Aspirin, Actifed, Strepsils, and massive intakes of purified water.
Assisting in the Cambodian research was the project Water Consultant (KTM Boy) who learned a valuable lesson in Phnom Penh: In Cambodia hospitals are where you go to die. Declining the offer of free medical services by Sun Chaser to lance a cyst with his deadly sharp Leatherman knife, KTM Boy ended up having needles stuck in his face by a local Cambodian physician after being told entering a hospital was for those “at the end of their road.” While Sun Chaser offered to operate on the bar at Sharky’s, using volunteer yings and well-swilled farangs to hold down KTM Boy’s head, arms and legs and Mekong Whisky for an anesthetic, the local quack opted for out-patient surgery in his office. After “pain deadening shots” of something injected by needle into his face, several attempts were made by the doctor to gouge out the growing cyst. KTM Boy, who has a high threshold for pain, yelled, “Stop!! Stop!!! Stop!!!” He packed his motorcycle and fled to Thailand where surgery was performed.
Above is a photo of KTM Boy before the cyst had swollen to a point where a local said to him, “You not look so OK.” As the cyst rapidly grew Sun Chaser noted, “If you can find me a nine iron and will lay down with your chin pointed right and upward, I can show you how Tiger Woods deals with golf balls buried in the rough.”
One possible landing site for the Mekong River Jump researched was the spit across the river from the California 2 hotel. While the Mekong River is wider here than further north in Lao, the current can be gentler and the spit is sand instead of jungle or rocks.
In spite of careful planning there is a possibility the jump may come up short and the rider land in the water, pictured above from the sand spit. An urban jungle expert on Phnom Penh recommended the Sophie Club as a possible recruitment site for trainers/teachers in snorkel breathing.
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” is an old saying. Whereas one wannabe American motorcycle rider saw a songtaew in Chiang Saen and mentioned it slightly as a taxi in his scribbles in the Bangkok Post, a Tea Drinker saw it as an answer to the question, “Which bike is the best for a Guinness Record attempt?”
Pictured above is a songtaew. While some are seen around other parts of Thailand, there seems to be a proliferation of them in the northeast Thailand towns of Chiang Sean and Chiang Khong. Modified from a motorcycle, there appears to be enough room on the back to strap on a jet engine. If Jay Leno can ride/sit atop a jet engine on two wheels, the pilot attempting to jump ramp-to-ramp across the Mekong River need only hold on to the bars and pray the back rest will hold to keep from being sucked into the intake turbines.
THE DANGER FACTOR
One of the reasons Guinness turns down record attempt applications is because they may deem the effort as “too dangerous.” While there is not much danger in riding a motorcycle across Egypt, or eating a number of raw eggs in a minute, the desk people at Guinness may see the Mekong River Motorcycle Jump as too dangerous. The North Thai Tea Drinking Society members feel the danger in this project will be reduced by their continued in depth research, careful planning and heightened security measures. One member was quoted as saying, “It’s more dangerous to walk through Kathoy Row on Suck-On-It Road in Bangkok than jumping this little stretch of water. Not one of us are strangers to danger, even when maow mak mak and never have asked a lady boy, Tao lai?”
The photo above shows another option for the jet-engine mounting system. Notice the blue plastic container below the handlebars. It is filled with water (Mekong?) and has an IV drip tube running from it to just above the cooling fins on the engine. During times when the engine is running hot the driver can adjust the flow of the drip onto the engine to cool it down. Now we know where some of the used medical supplies go after the hospital throws them out. A word of wisdom for the newbie Cambodian tourist: DO NOT DRINK OR WASH YOUR FEET/HANDS WITH THIS WATER, nw matter how thirsty or “maow” you are.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Fundraising and major sponsorship continues to be a major chore as the Tea Drinker’s coffers and supplies keep getting tapped. GT Rider and several other hardened motorcyclists plan a ride/reconnaissance float down the Mekong River from Chiang Khlong in February. The Bill Gate’s Foundation may be approached for the full funding request (now at $6,000,000. USD) to build the ramps that can, after the Record Jump, be connected as a “Friendship Bridge” to better carry technology (and the goals of the North Thai Tea Drinking Society) from Thailand to Lao or Cambodia. Meanwhile supporters are encouraged to make contributions to the North Thai Tea Drinkers on a one-to-one, motorcycle rider-to-motorcycle rider, basis.
Written By/and Posted for Globe Rider Greg
Dave Early
Ever notice that "What the Heck!" is usually the right answer?
]
