August 26, 2006
Body Snatchers In Bangkok
2006-08-26 International Herald Tribune Por Tek Tung - The Body Snatchers Fighting for a Gory Prize - A Race to the Death in Thailand They are not rewarded with money,...Read this update
May 04, 2006
HI Sukhumvit Hostel
Just so you don't think I drowned in the Sangkren waters of Thailand, I spent the next few days in a great new 38 bed hostel called HI Sukhumvit in...Read this update
April 15, 2006
Emails From Leila
WOW what a city. BANGKOK is alive. It is New year for them amd they celebrate with water. The streets are alive with people walking arround with water pistols and...Read this update
Sangkren Water Festival
Day before yesterday was New Years in Lao. Yesterday was New Years in Thailand, although the celebration continues for several days in these countries. We get it again! Leila took...Read this update
March 08, 2006
Visa Misery
Every month my son Doug has to cross into Burma and come back into Thailand to get another 30 day stay in the country. If you are late it's...Read this update
February 01, 2006
Shower Lay Down
Doug and Luk call me every morning. Sometimes I am awake and sometimes not. This morning Luk says "Good morning mom!" "I love mom!" "I miss mom!" "One more day!"...Read this update
January 31, 2006
Cosmechanics
In front of the Rumburi Esthetique, on Sukhumvit 39, next door to my dentist, a sign offers, at Special Price, Cosmechanic, Face Lift and Anti Wrinkle, Sparkling Face & Pore...Read this update
Riaproy
Some friends that spent a year in Thailand with the Peace Corps have said there is an additional Thai value that is called "riaproy." "It means polite and well-mannered; neat....Read this update
Bangkok Street Scenes
Sidewalk Seamstress Small Family Taking A Break From Shopping...Read this update
Motorcycle Serenade
Last night I hopped a motorcycle taxi at the corner. "Where you from?" the cute young driver asked. "America," I said. "America Pie" he sang to me all the way...Read this update
January 23, 2006
Street Noodles
My favorite food in Thailand is one of the many varieties of noodle soup found on street carts. Street food is safe if you select a cart in early to...Read this update
A Light In The South
Visitors, to the south of Thailand, including foreigners, will soon have an opportunity to experience muslim life in a village in the province of Yala. A "Widower's Village" is being...Read this update
January 20, 2006
Lucky Luk!
I called my son Doug yesterday morning. He had just returned from the fish market on Koh Samui with a salad bowl of large fresh gung (shrimp) with heads still...Read this update
January 19, 2006
Teach The Children What?
On National Children's Day in Thailand, it is a tradition for the Prime Minister to deliver a positive "motto." This year the wealthy PM Thaksin who owns Thai Air and...Read this update
Bumrungrad Hospital
Nearly as diverse as New York, sitting in a Bumrungrad waiting room is a show of national and ethnic costume...many from the middle east...burkas, jalabas and Arabic head wear...males greeting...Read this update
January 12, 2006
Bangkok Business
Nearby, in ironically named Washington Square, is the Bourbon Street Bar and Restaurant where an entire wall, surrounding a dart board, is covered by business cards. Here is a sampling...Read this update
Insurgency In The South
Since January 2004, southern Thailand has been gripped by a shadowy insurgency that has killed over 1,000 people and divided local communities along religious and ethnic lines. "Bangkok," ie the...Read this update
January 08, 2006
Thai News
Six days of U.S./Thai trade talks in Chiang Mai has resulted in a stalemate with the help of 10,000 protesters...an alliance of 11 groups who are resisting trade liberalization. They...Read this update
January 07, 2006
Familiar Bangkok
Arrived in Bangkok on Jan 3rd on China Air after 17 hours and stops in Anchorage and Taiwan. There has been a cooling in Asia (northern India actually falling...Read this update
December 14, 2005
"Anyway"
The other day I was sorting through my hundreds of little pieces of paper crammed in my backpack during the last three years of travel and came across this poem...Read this update
October 17, 2005
Third Culture Kids
Third Culture Kids are children of expatriate families who live for a significant proportion of their lives in a culture other than their own, where they travel to many countries...Read this update
July 19, 2005
Terrorists In Thailand
Last year Thaksin's government sent in police militia to quell fundamentalist Islamic violence in a southern Thai province that is populated primarily with muslims. As a result over 60 combatants...Read this update
July 17, 2005
Thainess And The West
The July 2005 edition of the slick upscale magazine for English-speaking foreigners called The Big Chilli ran an article with interviews of prominent Bangkok residents to get their views of...Read this update
July 14, 2005
Walking Out On The Ambassador
The Foreign Correspondents Club hosted another panel discussion last night with the Iranian ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Mohsen Pakaein Western observers were confounded by the surprisingly strong victory in Iran’s...Read this update
Enemies of the State?
The Foreign Correspondent's Club hosted another panel as part of it's occasional series on freedom of the press this week. Panel members were Anchalee Paireerak, operator of www.fm9225.com, one of...Read this update
"11 Minutes" Outranks Mao
On my way to my BTS Skytrain station, I stop for lunch at The Emporium, an upscale indoor shopping mall where there is a variety of restaurants on the 5th...Read this update
July 12, 2005
Stories Of The Street
Ten baht (25 cents) for a motorcycle taxi gets me to the American educated dentist down the soi and around the corner in little more than a minute...scared to death...Read this update
June 13, 2005
A Fine Balance
Listening to an expat radio station on the internet today, I discover that in Bangkok 2006 there will be an International Summit on Public Toilets......Read this update
June 12, 2005
Perfect Memories
What A Perfect Day...It's Such A Perfect Day...And Then We Go Home Have been re-reading a book that I have been dragging around with me for the last year....Read this update
April 28, 2005
Inconsistent Values
After nearly a dozen visits and about six months time in the city, over the last several years, we have gotten to know Bangkok a little. In this city with...Read this update
April 14, 2005
A Talk By Shirin Ebadi
Bob has been in the north for the last week so I joined the Foreign Correspondents Club the other day as a way of meeting other English speaking people in...Read this update
April 09, 2005
Royal Wedding
I have both CNN and BBC on my television in my apartment so I often switch back and forth. It was interesting to notice after the nuptual blessing that the...Read this update
April 01, 2005
Keeping Body and Soul Together
In Bangkok we got a good deal for a month in a beautiful completely furnished apartment on a dead-end street in the upscale Saladaeng area...close to the Skytrain and the...Read this update
March 11, 2005
Vibrant Bangkok
Bangkok Air From Koh Samui to Bangkok again. Not a pretty city but it's vibrant. The populace, as with much of Asia, lives outdoors…almost all 10 million of them. It...Read this update
August 06, 2002
Expatriates
There are many expats in Bangkok who love this city and it’s people for many reasons. One day I struck up a conversation with a Brit woman sitting next to...Read this update
A Bit Of Thai Culture
Thai people are usually friendly, warm, charming and hospitable. Sanuk, the Thai word for fun or enjoyment is paramount to the Thai’s way oflife. For something to be worthwhile it...Read this update
Thai Food!
Our favorite in all the world! In Thailand a fork in the left hand is held upside down and used to push food onto a large spoon that is held...Read this update
Skytrain Tuk Tuks Cycles & Boats
The SkyTrain is an air conditioned jam-packed elevated transportation system financed by the World Bank that can scoot you quickly from one part of the city to another but for...Read this update
August 05, 2002
Krazy Khao San Road
There is no limit to the colorful variety of activities that draw your eyes in all directions. Almost everything happens on the sidewalks or the canals and rivers...floating markets with...Read this update
August 04, 2002
Sex In The City of Angels
August 6 2002 Bangkok Thailand The Indian pilot lovingly set the Air India wheels down on the Bangkok tarmac... Being in Thailand feels good even when you know Thais will...Read this update