Filed under: Expat life, People, Travel | Tags: Amphawa, anti-government protests, Ayutthaya, backpackers, Bang Saray, Bangkok, Chinese language, conmen, corruption, English, English language, hotels, Isaan, Isaan language, Khao San Road, Krabi, Lao language, Laos, lorry drivers, Malay language, Malaysia, malls, Mandarin, Nightlife, Pattaya, politics, public transport, Rayong, Rungsan Chintanawong, shopping, sightseeing, Suvarnabhumi, Suvarnabhumi airport, taxi drivers, taxis, Thai language, Thailand, tourism, tourists, transport, Trat
Rungsan and Jamie
“Hey, where you go?” “How much you pay?” “Meter not work.” Phrases that are all-too familiar for anybody who has been to Bangkok, beginning as soon as you leave the arrivals area of the airport and following you all along downtown, around the visitor attractions and surrounding your hotel. Yes, it’s the hawking call of the notorious Bangkok taxi driver.
There are an estimated 60,000 of them in the city, and to be fair, the majority of them are reasonable enough. It’s just the majority of them do not congregate at the airport, the tourist traps, the nightspots, the malls and the big hotels. It is the unscrupulous few who dominate these places, who can spot a freshly arrived holidaymaker at a hundred paces, who can speak enough English to negotiate a con, and who foster the negative image many visitors take home of the corrupt cabbie.
Filed under: Culture, Expat life, Health, News, Nightlife, People, politics, Relationships, restaurants, Thai news, Travel | Tags: 7-Eleven, anti-government protests, antibiotics, Bangkok, beach, Beer, Benz Bungalows, Buddhism, children, Chinese, condominiums, crab, diarrhoea, dogs, English language, fast food, food, goats, Gulf of Thailand, Hat Thampang, Hat Thampang Bungalows, hospital, hotels, Hua Hin, Isaan, islands, Ko Sichang, Malee Blue, May 19, monastery, motorbikes, nighclubs, palaces, Pan & David Restaurant, Paree Hut, Pattaya, politics, rabies, Rama V, Red Shirts, restaurants, salad, seafood, shops, Sri Racha, swimming, temples, Thai culture, Thai language, Thai people, Thai politics, Thailand, Travel, tuk-tuks, whale
Ko Sichang offers Thai countryside atmosphere and attitudes by the sea
Thailand’s image needs all the help it can get right now. Last month’s dramatic footage of bomb sites and gun fights across Bangkok played out internationally and many countries have yet to lift their travel warnings to the erstwhile Land of Smiles.
For sure, confidence has been rocked, and even beyond the photos of war on the streets, the reputation of Thai people as gentle, benevolent Buddhists has been tarnished by displays of downright ugly behaviour during such fractious times.
Whether the protesters promising – and almost succeeding – to turn Bangkok into a “sea of fire”, or their opponents cheering and swearing as the death toll neared a hundred, there was precious little positive humanity on display.
Filed under: News, politics, Thai news | Tags: Abhisit Vejjajiva, anti-government protests, army, Bangkok, Bangkok Post, barbecue, BTS, Chit Lom, civil war, commuting, dancing, democracy, Dusit Thani Hotel, elections, hotels, Khattiya Sawasdipol, military, MRT, News, newspapers, Phahon Yothin, photos, politics, Rama IV Road, Ratchaprasong, Red Shirts, Sala Daeng, Seh Daeng, Silom, singing, skytrain, soldiers, subway, taxis, terrorism, terrorists, thai elections, Thai news, Thai politics, Thailand, trains, UDD, United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, war
Red Shirts on Silom Road
Front-page headlines from the past few days in the Bangkok Post which are in no way an exaggeration.
The anti-government protests by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), or “Red Shirts”, have been going on for two months now, and friends and family back home who’ve seen dramatic news footage have enquired about my safety, to which I had always replied that “it looks much worse than it is”, and that I was completely safe so long as I stayed away from the demonstration zones.
Not anymore. (more…)
Filed under: Culture, Health, media, News, Nightlife, People, politics, Thai news | Tags: 2010, advertising, advertising laws, alcohol, alcohol advertising, art, Bang Saen, Bangkok, bars, Beer, body painting, calendar, cander, censorship, Chang Beer, concerts, festivals, gay, go-go bars, hangover, Health, homophobia, Indonesia, Leo Beer, media, models, Nightlife, nude calendar, nude models, nudity, painting, politics, prostitution, reggae, sex, skin cancer, Thai, Thai beer, Thai girls, Thai government, Thai models, Thai people, Thai politics, Thai women, Thailand, Utah, vice, whisky
It is often assumed that the people who complain loudest about something have the most to hide. That’s the prevailing logic about homophobia – that those who hate gays do so because they are seeking to deny something about themselves.
And it is certainly the case with the recent controversy over the Leo Beer 2010 calendar launched here in Thailand last week – and promptly banned from sale or distribution by the government.
The reason for the ban was two-fold. First of all, alcohol advertising laws in Thailand forbid the linking of alcohol with fun. Secondly, nudity is forbidden in the media. As this was a calendar promoting beer through the use of body-painted (so, officially nude in that they weren’t actually clothed, even though they were at least visually covered) models, it was always likely to offend someone in a position of power.
Filed under: News, People, politics, Thai news | Tags: Abhisit Vejjajiva, Adolf Hitler, airports, America, Bangkok, Bumrungrad Hospital, cake, cancer, Charles Bronson, Chatuchak, Chatuchak Market, comedy, conflict of interest, cookery, cooking show, corruption, coups, death, economy, exports, Fawlty Towers, food, foreign investment, government, Government House, Health, high farce, hospital, journalists, liver, liver cancer, markets, media. Thaksin Shinawatra, mosquitoes, motorbikes, obituary, PAD, People Power Party, People's Alliance for Democracy, political demonstrations, politics, Potjaman na Pombejra, PR, press, press intrusion, prime minister, protests, psychology, public relations, public toilets, reporters, Samak Sundaravej, saving face, Somchai Wongsawat, spin doctor, Thai, Thai economy, Thai politics, Thailand, toilet, tourism, USA, yellow shirts
Samak finds food and politics don’t mix
Former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej died yesterday. He succumbed to liver cancer in Bangkok’s Bumrungrad Hospital, aged 74.
Samak was PM when I moved to Thailand in April last year. He was quite a character and his presence – along with the movements of his rivals and his interactions with the press – could at times be quite comic, if not downright farcical. Before Thai politics turned sour with mob protests, airports seiges and coups, it could even be quite fun to read about Samak’s exploits.
He was the first of three PMs in my time here (three leaders in 19 months in itself is an indictment of the state of Thai politics) and by far the most memorable. He was nowhere near as photogenic as current PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, nor was he anything like as polite as his successor, Somchai Wongsawat, but that is precisely why he made his mark. He behaved aggressively, he was beligerent to the media, he sulked in public, he was unafraid to belittle people if he felt they deserved it, he was stoic in the face of political pressure – and his hardened appearance matched these, ahem, qualities.
Filed under: News, politics, Thai news | Tags: Abhisit Vejjajiva, anti-government protests, Bangkok, civil unrest, democracy, Democrat Party, Don Mueang airport, elections, PAD, People Power Party, People's Alliance for Democracy, politics, red shoirts, Samak Sundaravej, Somchai Wongsawat, Suvarnabhumi airport, Thai army, Thai Democrat Party, Thai politics, Thaksin Shinawatra, UDD, United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, yellow shirts
Yellow shirts rise up
The first item on the agenda is to fill in the gaps between September 2008 and September 2009, before I will start writing about more timely stuff, as and when it happens. I will be concise, because 12 months is a long time to chronicle, and will perhaps return to certain points in more detail at a later date.
There have been two major anti-government protests during my time here. The first, aforementioned one culminated in the “yellow shirts”, or People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) closing down Bangkok’s two airports for a week in November. This essentially forced out the then-government led by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, to be replaced by the unelected then-opposition Democrat Party Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Filed under: Expat life, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: airport, airport closure, Amphawa, anti-government protests, Asia, Ayutthaya, Bang Saen, Bangkok, Chachoengsao, Expat life, Hua Hin, Ko Chang, Ko Si Chang, Krabi, Pattaya, political unrest, politics, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram, Singapore, Sri Racha, Suphan Buri, Suvarnabhumi airport, Thailand, Travel, UK, United Kingdom, working overseas
Ko Chang
The first item on the agenda is to fill in the gaps between September 2008 and September 2009, before I will start writing about more timely stuff, as and when it happens. I will be concise, because 12 months is a long time to chronicle, and will perhaps return to certain points in more detail at a later date.
TRAVEL
Everyone who knows me will know how much I love to travel. The prospect of living and working abroad always excited me, and now I am doing it. I expected that living in Thailand would enable me to jet off to nearby Asian countries frequently, not to mention that Thailand itself is chock-full of attractive destinations.
Filed under: Expat life, Thai news, work | Tags: arts, Bangkok, Bangkok Post, business, CV, Database, editing, English language, geography, information technology, IT, lifestyle, News, newspapers, nightshift, politics, Real Time, reporters, sub-editors, technology, Thai, Thai business, Thai language, Thai news, Thai newspapers, Thai politics, Thailand
Bangkok Post
The first item on the agenda is to fill in the gaps between September 2008 and September 2009, before I will start writing about more timely stuff, as and when it happens. I will be concise, because 12 months is a long time to chronicle, and will perhaps return to certain points in more detail at a later date.
I work for the Bangkok Post, the leading English-language newspaper in Thailand. I edit the stories, which are mostly written by Thai reporters. They write in English, to varying standards, but require native speakers to polish their work to native quality. It’s essentially the same role as a sub-editor on any newspaper back home, but with the added task of dealing with non-native English. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s difficult, but it’s a rewarding job with nice hours on a publication that has a good reputation and a nationwide readership. In that regard, it’s the best job I’ve had so far.
