July 12, 2006
A Global Refugee
I receive an email from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand today. This will definitely be my next book to read. Paiboon Publishing presents "A Chameleon's Tale: True Stories of...Read this update
March 29, 2006
Thai Cooking School
At the Smile Guesthouse I attend cooking school. A Dutch couple and a German girl and I each have our own "station" with a wok sitting on a gas burner....Read this update
Tha Ton
Supuat drove me to Tha Tan...right on the Thai-Burma border directly north of Chiang Mai to see several minority groups, Lisu, Lahu, Akha and Longnecks, that live there. Last...Read this update
March 25, 2006
Faithful Tuk Tuk Driver
Nice to have someone faithful to me. I trust Supoat, in his 50's, with soft face and warm bright eyes. I call him when I need him to drive...Read this update
Breakfast at Smile Guesthouse
I have changed hotels. I am now at the brand new Bau-Tong Lodge with free WiFi that is down little soi 3 off Loi Kroh...for half the cost of the...Read this update
Northern Style Thai Massage
This last week I found a very small, unassuming massage shop...very simple understated Thai Lanna-style salon with rough dark stained wood...a couple couches draped with yellow ochre and red umber...Read this update
March 19, 2006
Chiang Mai Felt Like Home?
Have been here three weeks and Chiang Mai did feel like home for awhile...just long enough to get oriented and find the good places to eat. I spent all...Read this update
March 16, 2006
Diamond Jubilee Of His Majesty
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand will celebrate his Diamond Jubilee in Bangkok in June 2006. The King of Thailand is one of the most highly respected spiritual leaders...Read this update
Wat Chedi Luang
The oldest (700 years) and most interesting temple in Chiang Mai that had it's top toppled in an earthquake....Read this update
Elephants Monkeys & Snakes
A day trip north took me to an elephant training camp, monkey training school where they learn to twist off the coconuts and let them drop from the trees. The...Read this update
March 15, 2006
Market-Going
Tired of the Night Market for tourists, this week I walked to the Warorot Day Market...a market for the local Thais. I bought delicious garlic flavored BBQ chicken for lunch...Read this update
"Letters From Thailand"
"Letters From Thailand" is a lovely novel wrtten in 1969 by "Botan", a pseudonym of the Chinese-born Thai female writer, Supa Sirisingh, and recently translated into English by Susan Fulop...Read this update
March 10, 2006
Reverent Inquiry
In spite of my petty but honest day-to-day frustration with bureaucratic silliness while traveling in most developing countries, I treasure the lives of the people who ironically seem to have...Read this update
Reverent Inquiry
In spite of my petty but honest day-to-day frustration with bureaucratic silliness while traveling in most developing countries, I treasure the lives of the people who ironically seem to have...Read this update
March 08, 2006
Hope For Thailand
Thousands of people have been demonstrating for several days and nights in the streets of Bangkok calling for Prime Minister Thaksin to step down. One hundred university and business leaders...Read this update
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
March 07, 2006
Walkabout
Yesterday morning I walked to the Post Office around the corner and down the street and then slowly swung a wide path through the city...dawdling in used book stores, Jonesing...Read this update
March 06, 2006
British Humor
Ending the BBC news report today on the Oscar winners, the anchor noticed that the Icelandic singer Bjork was nowhere to be seen. "She was wearing the white feathered swan...Read this update
March 04, 2006
The World A Playground?
A friend recently emailed me asking what it is like to have all the world as my "playground." This was my very brief answer: Well, the best thing about traveling...Read this update
Chiang Mai
Flew from Koh Samui on Bangkok Air (the only airline off the island because Bangkok Air built the airport) and then on to Chiang Mai on budget Air Asia....Read this update
April 02, 2005
Trekking Northern Thailand
As soon as we returned to Bangkok from Bali Bob took a train to Chiang Mai for a trek in northern Thailand near Mae Son Hong. I stayed in...Read this update
December 28, 2002
Bob's Thai Village Visit
While Jana and I were playing with Chinese teenagers in Ruili in the south of Yunnan, Bob spent some time in an ethnic village in the mountains in Issan Province...Read this update