Thailand International Motor Expo 2007

On Sunday I entered a crowded exhibit hall at Muang Thong Thani’s Challenger 1-3 to view the cars on display at the 24th annualThailand International Motor Expo 2007. The event had an 80 baht ticket fee for adults, but children were free. Many people got free tickets prior to the event and simply had to exchange a voucher for the ticket. The Motor Expo was open from November 29th to December 10, 2008. It is the end of year equivalent to the Motor Show which comes in March and April at BITEC.

Most of the major car brands were there including: BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Isuzu, Honda, Mini, Subaru, Citron, Ford, Chevy and Mitsubishi. There were a few new names from foreign car makes as well like Ssangyong and Proton. Ssangyong is a Korean car maker which seems to be coming strong in the Thai market, especially with their large vehicle, family-style lineup of vans and SUVs.

Ssangyong Undercarriage

Other than the more common car brands like Honda and Toyota, the Motor Expo had a variety of other vehicles for you to see while walking around the Challenger Halls 1-3 at Muang Thong Convention Center. Luxury car brands like Porshe, Ferrari, Maserati and Bently had at least one car on display. You could even see a few racing vehicles like rally cars, F1 boats and competition off-road trucks.

F1 boat

Mitsubishi SUV

Classic American Car on display

Toyota I-Unit, concept vehicle

Sugar Gliders – My New Addition

Since the beginning of this month, I have been watching my female sugar glider very closely. I noticed a small bulge on her belly that seemed to get larger over the course of two weeks. I did a little research on the Internet and confirmed my suspicions that my sugar glider was carrying a baby sugar glider in her pouch.

I’ve had this pair of sugar glider for over a years and since the female reached sexual maturity almost six months ago, I was surprised at this new revelation. All of a sudden, my male sugar glider was blind and my female was carrying and nursing a new sugar glider inside her pouch. Sugar gliders are marsupials, so they are like kangaroos. The female has a pouch on the lower part of her abdomen in which the young are carried. They give birth to the fetus, which is small, pink and extremely helpless. The newborn makes its way to the pouch and attaches itself to a nipple inside. There in the pouch it will continue to grow and develop. The baby will only be seen when it is already covered with hair.

I didn’t see my baby sugar glider until this week. One evening, I noticed the female sugar glider was running around the cage without the large bulge in her pouch. I knew that the baby had finally come out of the pouch, so I searched for it in the tissue box which the gliders had been nesting in lately. The male was in the box with the baby and he was a little grumpy when I started messing around the the box. I was able to see our new addition, completely covered in fur, but with its eyes still closed. The baby was trying to stay in the protection of its father. He tried to keep the baby under his body, but did not behave aggressively towards me.

I haven’t seen the baby since then because I don’t want to disturb the baby when it is so young. I’ve been giving the sugar gliders extra food and more protein because the lactating mother will need the additional nutrients to support her baby for awhile still. There have been no complications so far with the baby and I can’t wait to hold the little guy in my hand.