Filed under: Culture, Expat life, Fun, Nightlife, Outside Thailand, People | Tags: Bangkok, beauty, Beer, bread, BTS, carrots, Chang Beer, clothes, cons, Europe, European beer, expats, food, happy hour, Heineken, Ireland, Irish bars, Khao San Road, light skin, London, maps, prostitutes, prostitution, red light district, Singha beer, skytrain, Sukhumvit, Sukhumvit Road, sunburn, Thai, Thai business, Thai culture, Thai food, Thai language, Thai people, Thailand, tourism, tourists, vampires, weather, Western food, women, work
Nice tan!
Everybody needs somebody… to look down on, and few lifeforms get less respect than the lowly tourist. In Bangkok, they are easy to spot – bright pink skin, dripping in sweat, wearing a Chang Beer T-shirt and scratching their heads over folding maps and the BTS ticketing system. Tourists are naïve, vulnerable, confused and trusting – everything that the noble expat is not! But to the average Thai conman and opportunist, every foreigner is a potential tourist, and to every tourist, anyone of their same colour is likely one of their kin. But the resident farang is a wiser, nobler and all-round higher class of foreigner, and we must flaunt our status with our behaviour and habits. However, this is something that can only be cultivated over time, with experience – unless you consult my handy guide to…
10 WAYS EXPATS CAN AVOID BEING MISTAKEN FOR TOURISTS
Filed under: Culture, Health, People, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Andaman Sea, Bangkok, beaches, Bee Bee Bungalows, boat trip, boats, cooking, Emerald Cave, guesthouse, Hat Khlong Khong, Hollywood, hotel, island-hopping, islands, Khlong Khong beach, Ko Lanta, Koh Lanta, Krabi, Lonely Planet, motorbike rental, motorbike scam, motorbikes, movie, Open Water, pad Thai, police, press, rental scam, scuba, scuba diving, sea, snorkelling, swimming, Thai food, Thai language, Thai police, Thailand, tourism, translator
Island-hopping fun in Ko Lanta
If it’s the people that make a place, then Ko Lanta’s beauty is merely superficial.
An Andaman Sea island district in Krabi province, inevitably it boasts clean, warm sea water, miles of beaches, countless palm trees and a laidback atmosphere that attracts many visitors.
However, such assets lose their allure once a visitor experiences human failings on Lanta that range from merely unprofessional through to dangerous and even criminal.
I love Krabi. In fact, I’d probably rank it my favourite Thai province outside of Bangkok. So I will doubtless return, although I’ll lose no sleep if I never set foot on Lanta again after a shambolic final day which involved worry, danger, frustration, anger and eventually the police.
Filed under: Culture, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: Asia, Asian travel, backpackers, Bangkok, Batu Ferringhi, beach, bhangra, Blue Diamond Hotel, Broadway Budget Hotel, Brunei, Buddhism, Buddhist temples, Burmese architecture, Butterworth, car hire, carpetbag steak, China, Chinese, Chinese architecture, Chinese food, chocolate, coffee, colonial architecture, crabs, European food, expats, fabrics, Georgetown, Georgetown bars, Hindu temples, Hinduism, holidays, Indian, Indian food, Indian music, Islam, Jalan Chulia, Jalan Penang, Kek Lok Si, Langkawi, lizards, Malay, Malay food, Malaysia, Miri, monitor lizards, mosques, multiculturalism, Muslims, nightclubs, Nightlife, Penang, Penang Bridge, Penang Butterfly Farm, Penang Hill, Penang Snake Temple, Penang Tropical Fruits Farm, prayers, restaurants, Rough Guide, sari shops, Shalini's Guesthouse, South East Asia, South East Asian travel, steak, stray dogs, temples, Thai architecture, Thai food, Thailand, tourism, Travel, tuk-tuk
Batu Ferringhi
I spent last week in Malaysia with my girlfriend, Waew. It was our first proper holiday together and my first proper trip to Malaysia (I did a brief border hop from Brunei in 2005 but that was essentially just to tick another country off the list). It was also my first proper holiday in South East Asia since moving to Thailand last year, having so far failed to live up to my promise to myself to see as much of the region as possible while living here.
