Perhaps this is our last entry, or perhaps it is not. All we know is we have set out to do what we wanted to do, and achieved our goal. Whether we look to continue or not is hard to say.
As all things must come to an end, we must face the fact that the amount of time and effort put into this blog has been substantial. But as times change, it is difficult to say if we will have that free time in the future to continue this level of involvement. Each entry has had no less than 2 hours behind the scenes involvement in research and writing, and the most being several weeks of research.
We have watched our numbers grow peeking out at just under 90,000 visits in a month, and now in decline. We know the reason for the decline, and that is we touched on some hot topics that some did not like. Keyword phrases that are hunted down and subsequently sites are punished by making them invisible.
Another reason is just good old fashion burnout. For what it is worth, hammering out an entry a day for 3 years does take its toll. So being able to kick back and enjoy some other things is looking good right about now. But then again we may just go to weekly entries or some other format. Our original intent was to be a few entries a week, but as news worthy events unfolded, the desire to write about them became a significant driving force to make daily entries.
Some of the most rewarding moments have come from private email from readers who have benefited from what information they have discovered here. Perhaps the most significant was someone who was pondering suicide and read our story on Pattaya’s most extreme sport being diving off a building looking to end it all. He found professional help through us, and simply that one thing makes it all worthwhile.
At any rate the domain name is up for renewal in mid April, and we have yet to decide if we will renew it or simply vanish from the internet. It would be a shame to waste all that effort, so some thought will be given to what to do. All it requires is renewing the server agreement and we remain.
So for now just keep us on your RSS feed and watch for signs of life. Perhaps a good week or 2 off is all that is needed soaking up some relaxation on some tropical beach and we will be back.
Richard and the Team
Hope you decide to stay. Your political analises are insightful and accurate, reflecting your deep knowledge of how Thailand works. It would be a shame to lose this.
It looks like you have had some good mentors in the past. Nice to see you learned from them 😉