Life In Thailand

Standing At The Urinal

2011-05-13T16:41:00.002+07:00

I have heard it said that Western men,on average, have larger male organs than Asian men.

Now, I do not go about checking andcomparing, but, based on what I have unwittingly seen, this mayindeed be true.

Although I do not like to check outother male's anatomy, it can be rather embarrassing at times whenThai guys seem to have no problem in checking my manhood out whilestanding at the urinal.

They do it in a subtle Thai way, whichtranslates to, “fairly obviously” in a Westerner's view ofthings.

I have had to learn, as a result, howto best protect my own dignity when using urinals.

While on the topic of urinals, you willfind, if you have not already, that at many restaurants and bars,there are guys whose job it is to hang out in the toilets ready togive a shoulder massage,while you pee, for a few baht.

No, not 'ready',but they just assume to and go for it without invitation.

Maybe Thai guys aredifferent? Are they able to pee when there is some strange guystanding behind them giving them a massage?

It is not just thefact that it is a guy, but that I need to find my quiet place, and torelax before peeing, and there is no way to relax when you need topee and there is a someone giving you a massage, especially when theystart doing the light hitting thing, which can be quite pleasant …..if only you are not trying to pee at the time!

Sexy Thailand

2011-05-11T19:59:00.004+07:00

I have been to Thailand a number oftimes, and have ended up seeing many sexy girl events.

Now, I am the sort of guy that does notknow which way to look. I am hopelessly devoted to my wife, and Ibelieve that excess amounts of sexiness, because it is more thanexciting within the bounds of my marriage in private, is somethingthat I am not so excited about else where.

I am certainly not scared of places andpeople and am easily able to associate with people who ply sex for atrade, but I do struggle in situations where all that is expected ofme is to watch a show that is based on sexiness.

If you have not already gathered, I amnot referring to sex shows but to events where the main sell issexiness and not much else.

Even when singers perform, the dancinggirls are more visible, and yet often they can not even dance, butjust stand there, dressed sexily, jiggling nearly in time to themusic. I once went to a club with some friends, and the girls whoworked there, every few hours would put on very skimpy outfits andwould get up on the stage and dance for a song. I assume it wasdancing as nearly all of them barely moved at all – it was such theoddest thing and I truly wondered what they were even doing and why.

I have also seen shows that areprobably best described as the Thai version of the young Americanbeauty pageants. The girls are very young, dressed much too old withmuch too much make up, trying to make them look sexy in theirtraditional Thai outfits. I personally see this as little kids in ashow and enjoy it as much as I wonder why, but when I see such thingswith a western female beside me, I can not remember one time wherethere has not been strong disapproval of such events.

But, being that I struggle to findpurpose in watch sexy events, and they bore me very quickly, I haveample opportunity to look around at the environment and what appearto be the reactions of others, and I am truly surprised by what Ifind.

It seems that Thai people appreciatesomething else that I can not quite see.

When I look at the crowd at suchevents, I see people of all ages and all three sexes (Thailand)really appreciating what they see and laughing and enjoyingthemselves and pointing things out to each other. This includeschildren and old grandmothers too.

When I go to some church and the youthput on a special dance during the service, quite a few moves would befrowned on HUGE time in a Western church, but here in Thailand, thesexual overtones of such actions seem to be completely missed asparents laugh and enjoy themselves and take their photos.

So, I wonder, what am I missing? Whatis the cultural difference that puts this sexy dancing into onecategory for me that is quite obviously completely unrelated to howThais see the same thing?

One final (nearly final) point I wouldlike to make is this: Although dress styles have become more relaxedand more Western in places like Bangkok, when I ask those people ifthey would dress the same in their home towns, they quickly replythat they would not as it would be unacceptable and seen as beingunder dressed. Yet, I have been to events in small rural towns inplaces in Thailand, where dress must modestly cover knees andshoulders and any suggestion of cleavage, and the old and young, menand women alike approve very much to scantly clad girls dancing (ifwe can call it that) sexy on a stage.

Final point. I decided to also includea photo of 'Cute Thailand'. If there is a 'Sexy Thailand' then thereis almost certainly a 'Cute Thailand'. Both images seem to be tryingto achieve the same sorts of things as far as I can see, and I findone about as fake as the other (I appreciate realness and peoplebeing who they are much much more) in my personal opinion. I includedthis photo as it was taken at the same football game as the sexygirls. The game was Bangkok Glass verses Muang Thong, the sexy girlsbeing the FHM girls, for Muang Thong, and the cute green girls forBangkok Glass.

Hey, these are just my thoughts and thethings I notice. Please feel free to add your own thoughts based onyour own experiences. If you think I am wrong or only see half thepicture, then join in with some of your own thoughts.

Drinking With The Boys

2011-05-10T19:47:00.011+07:00

Thailand seems quite odd to me for onemajor reason: The guys and girls don't really seem to mix that much.In fact, I am not even sure how they meet and get married!

In Bangkok, and other central areas,you will see young couples, but apart from that, relationships seemto be about not being together that much, and then getting married,and then not being together that much some more. Whether this hasgood points or/and bad points is not the point today as we arelooking at what the boys actually get up to.

These photos were taken at a familygathering, in a small Thai town, during the Songkran festival, whichis the Thai New Year and is celebrated by throwing a lot of water ateach other. The festival can last anywhere from 3 days to 1 monthdepending on the location.

All of the woman and children gatheredat the front of the house and ate and socialised together, and themen retired to the back of the house to drink and have their ownmeal. On this occasion, there were actually more than 10 men, only afew being present at the time of this photo.

When all the men were present, ofcourse they mainly sat cross legged on the bench with the food anddrinks in the middle.

This scene can be found absolutelyanywhere on any evening. Just go for a walk in Bangkok and you arebound to come across groups of guys, always drinking and sometimeseating as well.

Drinks come in two flavours.

The first is 'beer' – it really doesnot matter which brand as they are all so very similar and nothinglike a good beer in the UK or other good beer producing countries.Beer usually comes in a shared glass. This does not seem to bebecause of a lack of glasses but because of social reasons, sincewhen a stranger/visitor turns up, they are more inclined to offer asip from a half drunk glass than to offer a fresh glass. To prepare agood beer, first the glass is filled with ice, even if the beer iscold, and then the beer added. It does not take long for there to bemore water in your glass than beer. The glass must never be emptyeither, so as the ice melts and the beer get weaker, they will keepadding more ice and topping up with beer.

The second and last choice of drink isusually whiskey and soda water. Again, copious amounts of ice areadded, and then a little whiskey and much soda water, with the thenmandatory stir with some ice tongs which hardly ever seem to be usedto add ice with. The whiskey is hardly ever worth calling whiskeyeither – maybe I am just spoiled from having been to Scotland.There is one ?whiskey? that is well worth the agony of trying. Iforget what it is called just now, but it is called something like“10 degrees” (I may have to correct this later). It can be boughtfrom any 7/11 and can be distinguished from the whiskeys behind thecounter by it's beer shaped bottle.

I struggle to see how the Thai men getdrunk so quick on such very weak drinks, but they always seem to beable to.

On the bench in these pictures, you canalso see the mandatory ice bucket of water and a couple of bottles ofseriously powerful pick-me-up drinks which are sometimes also mixedwith the whiskey, very much like vodka and red bull or whatever.

As it is Songkran, it is a greatopportunity to eat together as well, so it is time for a BBQ!

You can see some sushi which is alittle unusual, but you will also see a small round cane lookingbasket which has sticky rice inside. This is how sticky rice isalways kept, and is eaten by digging into it with your hands, each inturn, rolling the rice into a ball using both hands, and then dippingin a dish of food or adding some meat before eating.

One of the features of a boy's gettogether is that the boys often take joy in cooking, a bit like aWestern BBQ. There is often much pride in telling a visitingwesterner who prepared which dishes.

On this particular occasion, we ate BBQpig. The process is not for the faint hearted ….

The pig was a little fella and came ina sack. First he was whacked, still in the sack, with a large pieceof wood until he stopped complaining about it. Then he was removedfrom the sack and thrown into the fire, I assume to burn off all thehair and excess. He was then removed and cut up into pieces.

As a westerner, I was looking, I see awhole beast and I see the large juicy steaks and various cuts, butnot so the Thais. They too recognise the various parts of the animal,but they straight away cut every thing into nearly bite sized pieces.But, they do include every part of the animal, and I do mean everypart of the animal!

They then use whatcan be best described, for those who know/remember as device fortoasting bread over the fire. It is made up of two wire mesh halvesjoined with a hinge and a long handle. The pieces of meat aresandwiched between the two sides and then the device held over thefire, turned often until the meat is done.

Various spicy dipsare also prepared, so as the meat is ready, you take a piece in yourhands, dip it in some spicy dish, add it to a rolled piece of stickyrice, and eat. You can see, on the bench in the photos, some meat cutup on a block, ready to eat, and some dishes of spicy this and that.

The whole processis much finger licking, much communal dipping and no hand washing.

As always, yourcomments of your own experiences or any additional points andinformation are more than welcome.

A Thai Home

2011-05-09T19:44:00.003+07:00

Here are some pictures of oneparticular home that I visited and stayed at just over 1 year ago.

This home is located in the far east ofEastern Thailand (Isaan) in a province called Yesothon. The villageitself is very small (can be walked the length of in just a fewminutes) and is located over an hours drive from the city ofYesothon.

The house appears to be a very nicehouse sitting on a plot of non-landscaped dirt, and that is what itis. In the villages, such a house would belong to someone quitewealthy or respected, with all it's fancy woodwork and especially allof the tiles.

In this particular case, the housebelongs to the senior member of a family (a great grandmother), whoall got together to build her this home.

In the villages, I rarely see a homewith a landscaped yard, or even a yard more personalised than this.This may be because heavy rain destroys everything, or it may bebecause such things are not so important to Thai people.

Two things are obviously apparent whenlooking at the photos of the outside of this home.

The first is that Christians livethere. Christianity is a very small religion, in terms of numbers, inThailand. The most popular religion is Buddhism and is considered tobe the country's official religion. The next most popular is Muslim,with Christianity being the accepted religion of about 5% of thepopulation.

The second thing most obviously evidentis the wooden bench, in front of the veranda, which is certainly notof the same quality of woodwork as the house.

This bench is very important. It is thesocial gathering spot for family and friends. People sit and lay onthis bench to relax and to eat, drink and talk. Sometimes those whohave passed the age of retirement might spend most all of their daysitting on this bench, preparing food here, eating and talking.

This must be a popular house to gatherat as you will see, in one of the photos, that this home actually hastwo benches.

When sitting on the bench, people firstremove their shoes and then sit on the bench cross legged. There isalso an ice bucket of water on the bench, and a few plastic cupsfloating around.

As we enter the home, we can see thatwe must first leave our shoes outside. This is a cultural practiceobserved everywhere in Thailand, but, for the westerner, thispractise makes particular sense in such areas where our shoes areoften dirty.

As we enter the house, we see that itseems almost empty, with a large expanse of empty floor.

It seems that Thai people actuallyprefer one large room, even though this particular home has two smallrooms off to the right. Although most homes I have come across arejust one room, sometimes they will have extra rooms, or morepopularly, a garage-like area underneath and a large room above. WhenI come across homes with multiple rooms, in most cases the Thaifamily, regardless of the number of them or sex and age distribution,seem to prefer to all sleep in the same room.

It may seem sensible to us, if theyhave two rooms, for them to sleep in one and live in the other, butagain, based on what I have seen, the preference is to love andsocialise and eat and sleep all in the same room.

Back to our house shown in thesephotos, we can see a mat and mosquito net over on the left. Thesemats are popular and are often used to sit on while socialising andeating, and also for sleeping on. Although one can quickly becomeaccustomed to sleeping comfortably on concrete or tiles, this matalone provides surprising extra comfort while sleeping. As well asthe extra comfort, the mat also allows the cool of the tiles/concreteto come through, one of the refreshing benefits of sleeping directlyon the tiles or concrete. Normally this mat (obviously having beenset up to sleep on) would be cleared away in the morning leaving themain living space free. The mosquito net has been tidied awayalready, it being more convenient (when there are guests visiting) tojust untie two corners and leave the net hanging on the wall.

At the back of the room and around tothe right is the bathroom. This consists of a toilet (a sit downtoilet in this case) and a super large bucket of water. Inside thisbucket is a smaller plastic container which is used to flush thetoilet with and also to shower with. Bathrooms are usually alwaysdesigned for getting completely wet! Being made completely ofconcrete or tiles, it really doesn't matter where the water goes.This is great to shower is and super easy to clean.

You will certainly notice how clean thefloor of the main living area is. I have plenty of points to make oncleanliness and hygiene, both for and against, here in Thailand, butif there is one thing to be extremely impressed about, it is how Thaipeople keep their floors.

As well as everyone being very carefulabout keeping the floor clean, this floor will be swept morning andevening, and after every meal (if eating in doors), and then again asneeded. They will also mop the floor at least once per day, and aftermeals if required. Regardless of what you think of a Thai person'shome or their overall state of cleanliness, it is rare to ever find adirty floor in a main living area, whether made of nice tiles asshown here, or of dirty looking concrete.

Having mentioned eating indoors, evenif this home included a table and enough seating, when eating,everyone will sit cross legged in a circle on the floor and eat froma personal bowl of rice, often and regularly adding very very smallamounts of vegetable and meat dishes from shared bowls.

One thing that is quite unusual aboutthis home is how light it is. It seems that newer homes are built tohave more light while still trying to keep them cool, where as manyolder places have next to no windows, if any, and if they do,shutters are left closed to keep the heat of the sunlight out. Somehomes are so dark that it takes some while to become accustomed. Inthese photos, I notice the upper non-shuttered windows and the largeoverhang of the roof outside.

I hope that you have enjoyed this shortdescription of one particular house in a small village in Thailand,and I hope that you have learned something new.

If you have anything to add, pleaseleave a comment.

The Bus

2011-04-12T23:20:00.000+07:00

There is much word on what forms oftransport are safe here in Thailand and which are not.

I consider myself to be a non-expertexpert based on experience. I have taken and seen most forms oftransport and have some insight into the thinking and belief and themeaning and understanding behind some actions of Thai people. Thisdoes not mean that I know everything or even anything, but I have hadthe opportunity to see much, including things that would fill me withfear until I hear the Thai explanation and meaning which fills mewith even more fear instead! ;)

The purpose of this article is a smalldiscussion and revelation about buses.

For those who are well versed on adviceon Thai transport, you will be aware that the highest recommendationfor safe transport is the train. It is slow and sometimes painfullyslow, but it is cheap enough and safe enough.

Renting a driver, especially a taxi, isnot as safe as it seems unless you personally know the driver. Manydrivers have no idea what to do in bad situations, and a very highproportion of drivers sleep only just a few hours a day, and onlyminutes at a time between fares. I personally know minivan driversand taxi drivers who sleep between fares and return home to sleeponce or twice per week. Out of the many taxis I have ever taken, atleast 25% are obviously exhausted, often even falling asleep attraffic lights and sometimes even while driving, and 25% only coversthose that are obviously over tired.

I have also travelled long distanceswith people that I know who are convinced that when they are so tiredthat they have already dosed off at the wheel a number of times, thatif they pull over for a couple of minutes sleep while leaving the caridling, they will be fully refreshed to drive at their full potentialfor another 100Ks or so. I fear nothing, and am always interested tosee how far they can convince themselves of such, always suggestingfirst that we stop for 4-6 hours sleep. I play devils advocate bypointing out every time they nearly run off the road or into anothercar and I wonder out loud if the passengers of that other car havefamily or anyone to miss them when they die by being hit by asleeping driver. Nothing seems to make any impact though ….

But on a couple of recent trips whilebeing a passenger in a sleeper's car, I have noticed something I havenever before noticed about buses.

Again, if you are up on the travellersadvice, you will be well aware that even though buses, going to andfrom Kao Saan Rd in Bangkok, are cheap, they are far far fromrecommended. I have tried these buses a couple of times for the sakeof cost and regretted it every time. In my case because I know howlong trips should take and these buses stop everywhere untilpassengers have spent enough and purposely make passengers tired sothat they will stay the night where they are told to stay. On onetrip, nearly a year ago, although super cheap and I knew exactlywhere I was at all times, they went all directions to avoid each townso that the passengers, growing in displeasure could not find othertransport at each stop. Each time, I had the choice to hitch a rideto the closest town (maybe 5k away each time) and take local morereliable transport, but each time I decided that cost was an issueand that I had the time to spare even if it felt wasted.

That all said, I have not (in my 2 suchjourneys ever taken) ever encountered any of the problems often citedby passengers of these highly un-recommended buses.

The recommendation is, if you are totake a bus, is to go to the local bus stations that have a wide rangeof buses going to a wide range of destinations. If nothing else, itis far more interesting and entertaining to be on a local form oftransport than on a tourist bus!

But, here comes my revelation.

As I said, I have recently been on afew night journeys between Bangkok and Nong Khai, each time in anever slowing down sleeper's car. As I don't tend to sleep much invehicles, especially cars, it has given me opportunity to see all thebuses that I know so well, as I have often journeyed by them, as theyhave passed by. This specifically includes the well recommended VIPbuses that are the most comfortable for long journeys – as a tallwesterner, I certainly recommend them … well, I did …. take thetrain!

During my two journey's, at night, toNong Khai and back, I did not see many buses, and never once a VIPbus even attempt to slow down for red lights. Know, I don't meanorange lights, but lights that have long since turned red. They justcarried on at full speed through little towns and no matter the sizeof the intersection they approached, never showed signs that theywould slow down from their 120kph or more speed.

I did notice, at a few of the lightsthat we stopped at, that cars approaching from the left or right,whether from a local road or highway, even though they had a greenlight, would slow and check that they could safely go through theirgreen light.

But even though it appears that thenight buses have permanently taken the right of way along this mainroad north, I wonder just how many of the nations drivers and foreigndrivers are aware that the buses have the complete right of wayoverruling all traffic rules.

One thing is absolutely guaranteed.There is absolutely no way that one of these buses could even beginto slow down at all should some unlucky driver, on a cross road,choose to go through a green light at the wrong time!

Stepping Into The Flames

2011-04-11T23:17:00.001+07:00

As you know, I love Thailand and enjoybeing here. I do not try and promote it as a paradise, although ithas many amazing features, and neither do I want to hide the morenegative aspects.

I enjoy seeing things for what theyare, and sometimes I see the beauty and sometimes I am painfullyaware of the ugly. That said, not all things (beautiful or ugly) inThailand are because of Thailand or the Thai people. Many things Iencounter here can be attributed to the Thai way, but also manyinfluences can be seen of outside forces.

Some people say of me, “You areasking for trouble” in the things I choose to do and the situationsthat I have no fear in entering. Maybe they are right, and maybe Ihave a real problem in that I seem to have no fear at gettinginvolved. It does not mean that I look for trouble or like to getinvolved, but simply that I look and experience life and see nodifference between being involved in good situations and bad.

Although I have met some diceysituations and people over the years, perhaps the most extreme havebeen during the past few years in Thailand.

Again, I am not promoting Thailand as ascary dangerous place. It is just the place I happened to be when Icame across these events. And for someone who is often out and aboutand never avoids any area or place or person, the number ofsituations I have found myself in has been minimal.

Anyway, here are a few shortdescriptions of some of the more unusual circumstances I have comeacross and become involved in:

Once I encountered a guy with a knifethreatening to kill another man – not just threat, but definiteintent on the very verge of action, and all in the middle of the day.Oh, and it happened on a bridge in the road going over a canal. Whydo I mention this? It seems to be an unusual common theme, not justin these stories, but in many others too.

Another time I came across a young,well dressed, sensible looking guy beating his girlfriend [on abridge] as cars drove by in the early hours of the morning. I have anodd behaviour (among the rest) where I choose not to judge based onwhat I see as no matter what I see, I do not know everything. So, inthis case I simply talked to the guy about the situation giving thegirl opportunity and time to get away. I was able to keep himoccupied for 10-20 seconds, but by then she was well gone. Who knows,maybe they live together or he can find her again, but there waslittle more I could do.

Another time I came across a taxi beingdisassembled in the street (within metres of the same bridge justmentioned) by some motorbike taxi men. Again, I don't know the story,but I assume that the taxi must have hit a motorbike taxi guy, ordone something else on the road that the motorbike taxi guys alonehad taken exception to. They were making short work of what lookedlike had been a very new taxi just minutes before. Windows weredestroyed and panels had been pulled off, anything a tool. The oddthing was that even though they had already pulled off the back doorsand completely smashed every window apart from the windscreen anddrivers side window, they were threatening the driver with what theywould do once they reached him. So, even in their intense rage, theystill were holding themselves back as they already had done more thanenough work to physically reach the driver.

The last occasion, that I will mentionin this story, was maybe the saddest. There was a gentleman fromanother country, with his wife and two children and he had takenexception to something his [probably] 12 year old daughter had saidor done.

Now, I am not like others. I can notjudge someone according to my standards. I recognise that my views,ideals and morals are heavily influenced by my western culture. Webelieve that our own culture is all true and all good, and Hey, maybeit is, but if someone has not spent their life absorbing the valuesof my culture, how can I judge them according to that which theydon't know?

For instance, I remember when theWestern view gained sudden popularity, that hitting a child in anyway was bad. It made no sense to me at all. I had at times been thevictim of what I consider to be unsuitable physical discipline when Iwas younger, but I understood and saw benefit if used correctly andwisely. And yet now, after only a few years of ?brainwashing? byculture, I stand convinced that any form of hitting of a child isbad, is abusive. Here in Thailand, I see something different though.In this place where there is far more physical contact, in love, thanI have ever seen elsewhere, hitting seems nothing to do with pain andmore often than not is a clear reflection of love – in fact, I seemany Thai parents offer a smack to their kids whether they do good orbad, not as correction, but seemingly as an expression of love. I seemothers smack their babies and the baby smiles and reflects the loveback ….. As a westerner, that is just odd!

The story and meaning in smacking, Ithink, is mainly told in the reaction rather than the action.

Anyway, in this particular case, thelittle girl was cowering in fear as her father yelled himself redfaced at her and the mother tried to politely (from my knowledge ofthat particular culture, putting herself in jeopardy of the same)calm him down.

Many people often suppose to step intosituations that they feel they have complete judgement over, andothers enjoy to watch regardless. Many people were enjoying the shockof watching this, and I was not going to step in when my actionswould achieve nothing. If this is a normal part of their culture, andor life, then I would affect no good but may quite likely make thingsworse. I chose not to watch though, but to monitor as I am stillalways prepared to do what I can, if I can.

For me, I finally had to step in. Theman had picked his child up to her feet and struck her very hardacross the face so that she fell to the ground again. Again,according to my culture, this is seriously bad, but I have some smallidea of his culture and, as I alluded to before, how could I everinfluence this gentleman towards something ?better? while he was insuch a state. It was not the strike that required me to act though,no matter how much, or how deeply, it affected me – it was when hestarted dragging her to her feet again to once again do the same ….

We had a seriously language barrier,neither speaking the other's language and having no common language,but I made it quite clear, avoiding anger, that enough was enough.But it was not enough for him, and quite possibly the only reasonthat he did not turn his anger on me was that 2-3 of his mates, whohad been hanging around nearby, stepped in to stop a situationbetween the two of us. Again, this probably speaks some of theirculture in that they were so ready to stop a situation between twomen and yet had no problem with his behaviour towards his daughter.

I also got the idea of the wrong I haddone by challenging his headship of his family in public, and Iimagined that this man's friends were trying to explain to him that Ihad no idea of the wrong and offence I had just done him. I thinkthat I left that occasion as the offender and doer of evil in theeyes of the many who stood around in that area of Bangkok heavilypopulated by this particular culture, but I feel right in myself tohave been, at the very least, a source of diversion, even for just amoment, of the focus of this gentleman.

Again, I must point out that the peoplein this last story were not Thai. Also, none of these stories areabout Thailand or Thai people, but are just situations that I havebeen involved in while living here in Thailand.

And finally, have there been any situationsthat I have been involved in where I have not been able to getinvolved in and try to do some good?

Yes, sure … I have been mugged acouple of times and been stolen from a couple of times more. None ofthese occasions have been fun and in none of them was I able to doany good ;)

Danger Danger

2011-04-08T23:16:00.000+07:00

There are many rules of thumb to keepin mind, to keep safe, when travelling in Thailand. There are rulesand guidelines that seem to cover absolutely ever area from eating tointeraction with others. Everything seems dangerous if you are notcareful.

It seems that for ever story I hear ofsomeone saying that they worried about nothing and had no problems, Ihear another story of someone worrying about nothing and encounteringreal trouble.

Sometimes that trouble is selfinflicted by choosing to be ignorant, sometimes it is a lack of selfprotection in seemingly safe environment, and sometimes there arestories of those encountering real dangers despite listening to theadvice and taking all the precautions.

But, surely, listening and taking atleast some precautions is better. Then again, I have met people whomiss the enjoyment and experience of life by overdoing the selfprotection.

And then, yet again, I am well aware ofthe number of deaths and bad experiences of foreigners, coming fromand being part of all sorts of areas of life, that have been reportedover the past year or so.

When it comes to advice for safe travelin Thailand, that advice comes in different forms. Some arerestrictive and if you obey them all then you will never eat anythingor do anything. Others, on the other hand are there to help protectyou without stopping you.

For instance, one piece of advice forsafer taxi journeys is that women, travelling alone at night by taxi,should phone a friend from the taxi and quote the number of the taxidriver. I tend to assume that most drivers will not harm theirpassengers, but apparently there are more than a small number ofpotentially dangerous taxi drivers. It also appears, according tothis particular rule of thumb, that it does not really matter if yourcall is actually connected or not – just the driver's assumptionthat someone knows where you are and has the taxi driver's number isenough to dissuade those few who may be considering unfriendlyactions.

The point of this, and other offeringsof rules, is to politely convince that while a taxi may seem the safeoption of transport in a westerner's home country, the sameassumptions should not be made here.

Am I trying to promote Thailand asunsafe? By no means! Instead, let's take the advice that may help tokeep us safer without having to hide from the world.

If you know me, then you will know thatI fear very little and that nothing stops me from doing anything. Itend to worry more for other's safety than for my own. So, I am moreworried for those who take the bus to and from work than for myselfwalking alone at night through Bangkok. Why? I personally know ofmore than a small number people who have been mugged and sexuallytaken advantage of on crowded buses and populated city streets.

Again, is Thailand a scary dangerousplace? I don't think that it is any more so than anywhere else, butthat we may become used to certain dangers (and avoiding them) athome, but that other things we are not used to appear ever the moredangerous here. Also, back to my personal situation, living inBangkok, the number of bad situations I have personally encounteredover the years (excluding the first hand stories of those I know) isnot particularly many.

Now that I have been living in Thailanda number of years, the 'personal safety' stories and recommendationshave taken a change in direction.

When talking to Thai people, they areall convinced that all Thai people are good and friendly and helpful,which in general I find to be much truer here than in some westerncountries, and yet, even after declaring this seemingly universaltruth, those same Thai people warn against the bad Thaipeople. But these warnings are just the same as any western country.Rather than trying to convince me of specific potential situations,they are instead trying to warn me that some people are intent ondoing evil regardless.

Another realm of advice:

I like to walk long distances, often200-300 kilometers, and often along the train tracks where I preferto travel between 2am and about 5pm. I am used to looking out foranimals, especially snakes, as they come out to warm themselves up inthe morning – I am reminded particularly by the carnage I encountercreated by the first train of each day. Recently I have walked somemajor distances along the road, from 7pm until 9am in the coolestpart of the day. Along the way I have encountered many Thai peoplewho, usually while eating with them, have warned me to be careful. Ireply with knowledge saying that I am wary of meeting people in thedark and being careful if ever accepting a ride, and also of vehiclesseeing me in the dark. But this is not what they are talking about.They are rather speaking of snakes coming out to warm themselves onthe side of the road once the traffic dies down in the early hours ofthe morning.

Now, my Thai language is not great, andmy knowledge of snakes non-existent, but these people try to explainto me that it is not the large obvious snakes that I need to be waryof but of some really tiny snake that is eager to bite.

I am yet to come across such a snake,although I often hear them in the grass at the side of the road (wellbig snakes at least). I assume that such regular warning is goodwarning rather than common mis-belief, but I plan to carry my torchnext time as I certainly won't give up on my epic journeys.

Communication in another langauge is never easy...

2007-12-26T16:33:00.000+07:00

I was recently looking at Thaivisa.com, a site filled with a lot of useful info about living and traveling in Thailand, and I came across this wonderful (and humorous) example of what it can be like communicating with someone who speaks little English when you have limited Thai. I was hysterical with laughter simply because we have all been in these situations :) Classic!
Ref: Christmas Dinner in Kanchanaburi

I just called and booked for 2 people. Im assuming its turkey and all the trimmings. Its 800B perperson with the choice of 24th or 25th December. I wanted to suprise the Mrs with a nice Christmas dinner but now i cant, as the guys over at Felix are not too clever on the English and my Thai is awfull.

The convo went something like this;

Me 'Hello, is that Felix? You have Christmas Dinner on 25th?'

Fx 'What room you stay'

Me 'I dont have a room. I live local'

FX 'When do you want to stay?'

Me 'I dont want to stay. I want to come for Dinner'

FX 'Restaurant open every day sir'

Me 'I know. But i want to come on 25th'

FX 'Ahh on 25th we make only Christmas dinner'

Me 'Great!! Thats what i want!!!'

Fx 'What room you stay?'

Me 'Put me onto someone else'

ring ring

ring ring

Fx 'Helooooooo may i help you sir?'

Me 'I want to come for Christmas dinner'

Fx 'What room you stay?'

Me 'I DONT HAVE A ROOM!!!'

Fx 'When you want to stay'

Me 'I want Christmas Dinner on 25th'

Fx 'Dinner?'

Me 'Yes, dinner'

Fx 'You want only dinner?'

Me 'Christmas. You know Christmas? (singing) jingle bells, jingle bells....'

Fx 'Ah Jingle Bells!'

Me 'Yes!'

Fx 'You want jingle bells?'

Me 'What? Why would i want jingle bells?'

Fx 'When do you want to stay?'

Me 'I dont want to stay. I want to come and have dinner on 25th december for Christmas'

Fx 'Sorry sir number 25 we can not do boat crusie'

Me 'why would i want a boat cruise? I want Christmas dinner, do you not understand a word i am saying?'

Fx 'What room you stay sir, i get someone come see you, i sorry me not understand'

Me 'Are you an idiot? Are you joking around with me? I dont have a room. Its simple, i only want to come for Christmas dinner, ok?'

Fx 'Today we not do Christmas dinner sir'

Me 'I KNOW!!! Today is the 20th december why would i want to come for Christmas dinner on 20th December!!!'

Me 'sorry, that was rude... i apologize

Me 'ill get my Mrs to call you'

I gave in and got the mrs to call. It was booked and confirmed in like, 20 seconds. Now the suprise is over but at least i have it booked.

Thai Rak Thai disbanded

2007-05-31T11:20:00.000+07:00

The following article was taken from ThaiVisa.com, originally having come from
the Thai newspaper, "The Nation" dated 30-May-2007.

Thai Rak Thai was the Thai political party led by former prime minister, Thaksin. See previous articles on this Blog for further information.

The Constitutional Tribunal disbands Thai Rak Thai

BANGKOK: -- The Constitutional Tribunal disbands Thai Rak Thai

The Constitutional Tribunal Judges found Thai Rak Thai Party guilty of violating the electoral laws and ordered it to be disbanded.

They also revoked the voting rights of the party's 111 executives for five years. The party has committed wrongdoings that have negative impacts on democracy system of the country.

The judges said that senior members of the party, Thamarak Isarangura and Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, guilty of paying and hiring small parties to run in the April 2 national election.

They dismissed the party's arguments that the party's executives were not aware of both members' wrongdoings. They said it was impossible that the executives did not know the wrongdoings.

The party's executives sitting in the court room, including acting party leader Chaturon Chaisang, greeted the verdict with grim face.

The Tribunal also dissolved Pattana Chart Thai and Pandin Thai banned voting rights of their executives for five years.

TRT's acting leader Chaturon said after the rulings that the verdicts were unexpected.

However he said that he and the party will accept the rulings. He urged the party's supporters to stay calm and accept what the Tribunal ruled.

The party will hold a press conference on the issue at 11am on Thursday.

Bangkok on high alert for violence

2007-05-29T18:37:00.000+07:00

The following article was taken from ThaiVisa.com, originally having come from
the Thai newspaper, "The Nation" dated 29-May-2007.

This article does not necessarily represent our personal view on this subject.

POLITICAL PARTY RULINGS

Bangkok on high alert for violence

13,000 soldiers, police to be deployed in areas considered to be flashpoints; Democrats, TRT deny mobilising supporters

BANGKOK: -- Security will be tightened in areas likely to be flashpoints for violence ahead of tomorrow's landmark rulings of the Constitution Tribunal on the electoral fraud cases against the country's two largest political parties.

A 13,000-strong combined force of police and soldiers will be deployed to maintain order and prevent violence, Council for National Security chairman General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said. He was speaking after a meeting of officials in preparation for judgement day.

There has been concern that supporters of the rival parties are likely to gather in great numbers in the capital and could cause trouble if they find the rulings disappointing.

From this afternoon, police will seal off the Constitution Tribunal building and search its compound to ensure no explosive devices have been planted, Police Lt-General Adisorn Nonsee, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said.

He said the police would also secure nearby bridges tomorrow, when the tribunal is scheduled to read its verdicts on the separate cases against the Democrat and Thai Rak Thai parties, as well as three smaller political parties.

Police will work with military officers and city officials to prevent any violent incidents, Police General Vichien Pojphosri, a senior police commander in charge of security, said.

Hundreds of police officers will be stationed at Sanam Luang and the Royal Plaza, where Thai Rak Thai supporters are expected to gather, and at the headquarters of both the Democrat and Thai Rak Thai parties.

Authorities have been on alert after receiving intelligence that party supporters from the provinces are travelling to the capital. However, the Democrat and Thai Rak Thai parties have dismissed reports that they are mobilising their supporters.

Thai Rak Thai's caretaker leader Chaturon Chaisang yesterday accused the junta of spreading rumours to paint a bad image of the "old power clique" of which the party was a part.

The use of a backup military force, comprising another 43 companies from Bangkok-based Army units, if needed, would be "decisive" and "lawful", Army commander General Sonthi said yesterday.

Sonthi said he gave direct orders during yesterday's meeting with unit commanders that all soldiers participating in all security operations "must be unarmed" and would not be positioned in areas involving direct confrontations with protesters.

The 13,000-strong force comprises soldiers from 29 companies, Bangkok-based policemen and municipal policemen. Its main duty is to guard against possible violent incidents between supporters of Democrat and Thai Rak Thai parties, or anti-junta activists and the soldiers themselves.

Police will concentrate their efforts on curbing anti-junta movements that could be supported by taxi motorcyclists and taxi drivers.

A police intelligence report warned that the groups, referred to as "mobs in red shirts", might operate across the capital to create disorder if the verdicts dissolve any of the parties, or both.

Bangkok police chief Pol Lt-General Adisorn Nonsee said all 88 police stations had been observing the group's ongoing movements and their expected activities in the next few days.

Checkpoints will be set up on major city streets to intercept their vehicles or make arrests in case the group members showed signs of disobedience.

Elephants will also be barred from entering Bangkok at this time.

A bomb threat was received on telephone at the Thai Rak Thai Party's former headquarters on New Phetchaburi Road yesterday morning.

The caller said explosives would be set off but did not specify at which TRT office the attack would take place.

The official who received the call at 10am then telephoned the party's new headquarters at Navasorn Building on Rama 3 Road. Security officials and two sniffer dogs were called in to search the building but found nothing suspicious.

Meanwhile, Chaturon has called a meeting of party members to ensure there are no disturbances tomorrow when the Constitution Tribunal rules on the party's possible dissolution.

Chaturon is worried that if there is any disorder following the ruling, or if ill-intentioned people disguise themselves as Thai Rak Thai Party supporters and create disturbances, the Council for National Security may blame the party for any turmoil.

The party plans to send a few members to hear the verdict but Chaturon has instructed all other party members and supporters not to go to the tribunal but to hear the verdict at the party's headquarters.

TRT has also asked the police to deploy 200 officers at its headquarters tomorrow to maintain security.

Cival War in Southern Thailand

2007-02-23T11:56:00.000+07:00

The following article has been taken from: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=107670&st=0

High risk of civil war in southern Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Violence is rising in southern Thailand in what seems to be turning into an all-out civil war. Islamic extremists, who continue their attacks against the Buddhist population, now have set their eyes on the industrial infrastructure. The killing of Muslims is also increasing. Meanwhile the ruling military junta seems to be more interested in consolidating its power in Bangkok than in finding a solution.

Last night suspected Muslim rebels set fire to a large warehouse for rubber in Yala province. More than 30 fire trucks struggled to douse the flames. According to an official of the Southern Land Rubber Co., a leading company in the sector and owner of the destroyed material, losses were estimated at 400 million baht (US$ 10.28 million). He said the company might even shut down because of the rising tide of violence and its 500 workers may lose their jobs. Rubber is a cornerstone of the region's economy.

This morning Islamic teacher Hamsao Yakariya, 45, was shot dead as he rode his motorcycle near his village of Ban Jurae in Tambon Rico, Sungai Padi district.

On the night of February 19-20, as thousands of people (especially Chinese) were celebrating Lunar New Year, a series of attacks took place, including 29 bombings within 45 minutes. Three people of Chinese descent were shot and killed that same night. Altogether, eight people were killed and nearly 70 wounded.

Organising and carrying out the various attacks must have involved at least 200 people.

Three people were arrested shortly after the attacks. They are said to have confessed their involvement and blamed a group known as Runda Kumpulan Kecil, which in Malay means Pattani State Restoration.

In the three southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani Muslims are in the majority in a predominantly Buddhist country. In all three there have been clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. Muslims want to secede from Thailand. Since 2004 about 2,000 people, mostly civilian, have been killed in what is a virtual terror strategy.

The rebellion broke out when former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra adopted strong-arm tactics to nip separatist aspirations in the bud. The government sent in the army and gave it emergency powers under an emergency decree adopted in July 2005.

In the three years since Bangkok deployed 25,000 troops in the provinces (combined population of 1.8 million), the violence in those areas has risen instead of declined.

Emergency rule has led to an increase in insurgency violence and widespread abuses by the military and police. The government has not taken the necessary steps to find a peaceful solution.

Violence has increased since the military took over in September of last year as officers are more concerned with consolidating their power than with the situation in the south.

The coup's top brass were so concerned about ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that they had radio- and phone-tapping equipment moved from the south to Bangkok.

The net result according to local sources is that rebels are now in control of much of the territory, in particular Muslim communities, through a network of informers.

“When a teacher was shot and set ablaze in the middle of a Muslim village, nobody dared give police details,” said Pranai Suwannarat, head of a multi-agency body charged with developing the relatively poor region. “No one wants to be seen as siding with the government, or they will face a similar fate.”

According to Srisompob Jitpiromsri from Pattani's Prince of Songkhla University, the situation has deteriorated so much that “clashes between Buddhists and Muslims may be inevitable if the government fails to stop the attacks.”

-- AsiaNews/Agencies 2007-02-21

The Songserm Joint Ticket

2006-12-21T16:34:00.001+07:00

Many visitors to Thailand choose to travel to Koh Samui, Koh Phangan or Koh Tao, three islands located close to each other in the Gulf of
Thailand, 700km south of Bangkok in the Suratthani province.

Most people choose Koh Samui, the largest of these islands, as their first destination, and explore the other islands in the area from
there. There are already many websites advertising the beauty and wonder of Koh Samui and the surrounding islands and hundreds of beautiful
pictures of this delightful area. Although, you will only truly discover the wonder of this area by visiting yourself.

The easiest way to get to Koh Samui is to fly directly to the island from Bangkok. This is a short and comfortable flight, but many find
this form of transport too expensive as Bangkok Airways own the island's airport and charge much higher rates and airport taxes than other
equivalent trips. Many people boycott this manner of transport purely in protest to Bangkok Airways' non-competitiveness.

Remaining, popular, possibilities for getting to Koh Samui include :

Flying to to Suratthani - There are a few domestic airlines that fly to Suratthani, with very low prices available if you book
online or/and in advance.
Sleeper Train - Although there are other trains that go from Bangkok to Suratthani, most travellers prefer and recommend the
cheap, fairly comfortable night sleeper trains. Beds are comfortable and the trip is shortened by sleeping for the majority of the trip.
Tour Bus - I have personally never taken this mode of transport as it is easier and more comfortable to sleep on the train.
I have heard that it is even possible that your bus may board a ferry and take you to one of the more major towns on Koh Samui.

The purpose of this article is neither to discuss these islands, nor to recommend any particular mode of transport or to advise prices and
schedules. Instead I would like to take the opportunity to provide some insight and details of how one particular company operates and
hopefully give you good reason to avoid using them.

If you choose to take a Tour Bus or the train to Suratthani, and you book from Bangkok or over the internet, then you will probably be
offered a joint ticket through Songserm. This ticket is an open, non refundable ticket; so you can use it on any day, any time in the
future, but can not get a refund for it. Although sold as one ticket, you will receive a train/bus ticket and then a separate Songserm
bus (transfer from Suratthani to the ferry - 1 hour) and ferry ticket.

Pleased be warned before purchasing a ticket from this company, and if you still choose to, please be careful.

The Songserm service is advertised as a fast/express boat. The boat is definitely their fastest boat, mainly due to the fact that
this company only has one boat from Suratthani to Koh Samui. In fact, this service is the slowest service you could choose to take. The
other companies all have much faster boats with better schedules and, more importantly, for a much cheaper price.

Some places advertise that this boat sales from Suratthani to Koh Samui once per day, and some say it sales twice per day. Going to the
office at the Suratthani wharf and speaking Thai does not clarify this question. Some staff say "once per day" and some staff
say "twice". I even spoke with one gentleman who changed his answer 2-3 times during our conversation leaving me no clue as to
how many sailings there actually are.

How many sailings there are makes a difference as your bus or train could quite likely arrive late at Suratthani, and if it does, you may
have to wait 6 hours for the afternoon sailing (if they decide to have one) or you may have to wait until the next day. Of course, the
other option is to burn your ticket and buy a much cheaper ticket on a much more reliable service.

Recently my wife and I (we live in Bangkok) wanted to take a short holiday, and although I have previously experienced some of the more
trivial pitfalls of using this company in the past, I chose to purchase a joint ticket (taking the train) for the ease of paying all at
once in Bangkok, instead of having to organise how we would get to Koh Samui once we arrived in Suratthani. There was little chance of
things going wrong anyway as our train was one of the earliest ones, scheduled to arrive very early in the morning.

Unfortunately, our train had problems, and we were overtaken by every other sleeper train. We finally arrived at Suratthani after 9am.
Because we were so late, and because I knew that there is possibly only one Songserm sailing per day, and because all of the ferrys are
quite some distance from Suratthani (up to 1 hour), and all of the others are miles away from the Songserm wharf, and because I can speak
Thai, I chose to ask the Songserm staff member who met us at the train a few questions.

I was quite prepared to keep our non-refundable tickets for some other trip in the future, or to give to a friend, and to instead take one
of the other forms of transport to another ferry terminal and buy further tickets. We couldn't really be unhappy - what could we do? There
was nothing we could do about our train arriving late, and there was nothing we could do if Songserm's sailing had already departed.

The Songserm staff member who met us confirmed quite clearly that the boat had been held as a few trains had arrived late and that it was
waiting for us. She was also selling joint tickets at the train to travellers who did not yet have ferry tickets.

We arrived at the wharf to find that the boat had left on time and we were told that we could wait 24 hours for the next one (in the middle
of no-where - no where to stay - no transport - nothing) or we could pay an additional price for a complementary service offered by
Songserm to take us to the nearest competitors terminal (over an hour away).

Even the Thai people were angry! The Songserm staff said that it was completely the passenger's faults as we had taken a slow train and
they stated that they did not need to offer a transfer service to a competitors terminal and that because we had bought Songserm tickets
they could leave us waiting there until the next day.

Well, what could we do? This was obviously a scam to get another few baht out of us... It did not worry me too much. We had lost some extra
hours because of the lies and needless detour, and we were about to lose some baht for this complementary transfer service. But we
still had our ferry tickets for next time or to give to a friend some time in the future. But no. The cost of this
complementary transfer service is to surrender your ferry ticket and also to pay an additional 50 baht per person.

So, if Songserm had not lied at the train station, I would have taken another ferry, paying a small additional fee, but still keeping my
open, non-refundable Songserm ticket - not a big deal. But instead, we ended up buying this [more] expensive Songserm ticket which we then
had to surrender, unused. We then had to pay an additional price to be able to go to another ferry company to be able to buy a reasonable
priced ticket on a better service.

So, if you plan to travel to Samui on Songserm, make sure that you confirm the sailing time before you leave Bangkok, and if you arrive in
Suratthani any later than 1 hour before sailing time, do not believe anything they say, but take a more reliable service instead.

I asked Songserm about this situation as it seems so extraordinary. Songserm confirmed with me that it is their standard service to take all
ticket holders to the wharf, and if the daily sailing has already departed, to then 'transfer' them to a competitor. They also noted that
since trains are often late, this situation happens quite frequently.

If you plan to go to Samui, then please take this advice. You should worry about how you will get to a ferry terminal once you have arrived
in Suratthani. There are a couple of competing services which have ferrys that leave most hours - some even offer a free transfer to the
ferry terminal. And all of the companies have representatives at your arrival point in Suratthani.

I must say that of all my trips to Samui, I have used the Songserm service, successfully, on two occasions. I guess that I have been lucky
;) I know that there are always unavoidable circumstances, and I know that some Thai people in the more touristy areas are trying to take
as much money from foreigners as they can by any means (which embarrasses the majority of Thai people), and we take most things as a
learning experience.

But this company, first of all, advertises themselves as something that they are not. Don't believe me? Go visit them and one of their
competitors and make your own comparison. Secondly, they openly admit that they have a policy to lie to their customers and have this
complementary transfer policy, which is such a major ongoing scam that they admit occurs frequently.

How you get to Samui is your choice, and you may opt for the convenience of buying a joint Songserm ticket from the train station, Kao San
Rd, or your favourite (and reliable) tourist agent. But it is a gamble as to whether you will get to Samui on that ticket or not. Are you
prepared to pay their steeper prices for the worst (go compare the boats and terminals and schedules yourself) service just to gamble
that you may then have to pay extra to be taken to a reliable, cheaper service?

Your choice.

What Thaksin had done wrong

2006-12-05T14:15:00.000+07:00

The following article was taken from ThaiVisa.com, originally having come from
the Thai newspaper, "The Nation" dated 21-Nov-2006.

This article does not necessarily represent our personal view on this subject.

Summary of Council for National Security's "White Paper" detailing Thaksin's alleged wrongdoings. Why did Council for National Security
overthrow the Thaksin administration?

Corruption/conflict of interests

Changed concessions on mobile phone business as excise tax

Created satellite business to gain promotion from Board of Investment

Corruption at Suvarnabhumi Airport and the purchase of CTX bomb detection scanners

Corruption in the construction of railway Airport Link

Lack of transparency in privatisation of state enterprises

Media interference

Abuse of power

Appointed family, relatives, close aides to highranking positions of the state

Used state budget without seeking approval from the House in projects to promote government popularity

Abuse of power by negotiating with foreign countries for the interest of themselves (Exim bank loans)

Abuse of power by instructing state agencies to investigate assets of government opponents

Infringe on ethics and moral integrity of country leader

Sold satellite concession and television station to a foreign country

Evaded taxes from share sale

Interference in political check system

Interfered with the Senate which appointed independent agencies that checked the government

Interfered with the appointment of Election Commission, Constitution Court judge and National Counter Corruption Commission and Auditor
General

Policy flaws that led to human rights violation

Extrajudicial killing of drug suspects

Policy mismanagement and abuse of power in solving violence in the south

Created rift and destroyed unity of the public and instigating confrontation

Blocked information that checked the government and the prime minister

Created confrontation between anti and pro government supporters.

Siam Kitchen Cooking School

2006-12-02T09:28:00.001+07:00

Located near Lamai Beach on Koh Samui Thailand, Siam Kitchen Cooking School provided a truely great way to learn to cook Thai food at a very reasonable price.

According to their website:

We are a small family run business in the heart of Lamai Beach in Koh Samui.
My wife Daow & I really enjoy showing people like you around our local market and demonstrating how to cook wonderful Thai food.

We will guarantee you a warm welcome to our home.

The school is run by a maaried couple in their own home and has a truely personal touch. With a maximum of 4 students to a lesson, you are not going to be lost or left behind. One of the best things about the school is that you can select a set menu to make or you can select your own dishes. All 4 students must cook the same dishes, so if you are first to sign up for a class, then you choose what everyone will cook! If you are going as a group this works out perfectly.

The chef (Sont) has worked in a number of restaurants and hotels within Thailand. He has an excellent teaching manner and although he admits he has never studied English, and has only picked it up during his career, he speaks amazing English and there were no problems with communication.

Before the class began Sont took us on a trip to the local market. This was great because I learnt the Thai names for many vegetables, herbs and meats, which he later gave us all written down with our recipes.

There were 2 students on the day I attended the class, and as I was the first to book the lesson I chose the following dishes:

Thai green curry
Fried vegetables in oyster sauce
Laab (a very spicy salad)
and Pud Ga Prao (Chicken fried with hot basil)

I would definately recommend this cooking school to anyone visiting the island. I had a great time, learning from a great couple who work excellently as a team, and I would definately go back to learn more!

Why don't you check out their website at : www.siamkitchen.net

Sonthi outsmarted Thaksin at the eleventh hour

2006-09-23T13:32:00.000+07:00

The following article was written by Thanong Khanthong for The Nation newspaper on the 22 Sept 2006.

We still maintain our view that Thaksin has done a lot of good for Thailand, and has really tried to clean up Thailand's image, and improve quality of life for the Thai people. But he was also Thailand's leading entrepreneur trying to make himself wealthy as any business man would. To want the best for both your country and your own business must be difficult to manage, and we think Thaksin fell to using his position and power to make the best for his own business.

Had Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin not moved as fast as he did to stage a coup on Tuesday, Thaksin Shinawatra would have launched his own coup a day later. Don't be fooled by Thaksin's claim that he stands for democracy.
As the political crisis developed to the point of no return concerning whether Thaksin should stay or be booted out, General Sonthi had no choice but to swallow his words about the days of military coups being over. He had been very reluctant to resort to a coup, as he was known not to have any political ambitions. Moreover, he was not known to be an enemy of Thaksin. Although General Sonthi has a good relationship with both Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda and Privy Council member General Surayuth Chulanont, he came to power partly due to a political compromise struck with Thaksin.
However, an intelligence report reached General Sonthi's camp stating that there would be bloodshed on Wednesday. The People's Alliance for Democracy had planned to hold a political rally that day at the Royal Plaza in order to force Thaksin out of politics. Had that rally taken place, there would have been clashes between the People's Alliance for Democracy and Thaksin's supporters and blood would have been spilt on Rajdamnoen Avenue. If only Thaksin had promised that he would take a break from politics and allow a period of political reforms to take place, the PAD and other branches of the anti-Thaksin movement would have declared victory. All political confrontations would have subsided. Thaksin could have run for office once the Constitution was amended, and he would have been returned to the premier's post, probably in the latter part of next year.
However, Thaksin never considered taking a break from power. Again, don't be fooled by his "taking a break" story - the idea never crossed his mind.
The General Sonthi camp learned that during the PAD rally, Yongyuth Tiyapairat and Newin Chidchob were planning to rally their supporters to create an ugly scene at the Royal Plaza. During the ensuing commotion, there would be human casualties. Thaksin would then have stepped in and declared a state of emergency, placing the country under martial law.
Now you can understand why he had time to prepare his state of emergency statement and read it at 9.20pm on Channel 9 from his New York hotel room. You can also understand why Yongyuth and Newin are now at the top of this country's most-wanted list and have surrendered themselves to the CDRM for interrogation.
Once the situation was under his complete control, Thaksin had planned to fly back yesterday in order to declare victory over anti-democratic elements in society. He had a military reshuffle list in hand that would have further consolidated his control over the military. With that accomplished, everything would have been easy. Virtually all institutions in the country would have been under his directive.
From his New York hotel, Thaksin was preparing to deliver an address at the UN Assembly. The room instead turned out to be the headquarters from which he attempted to launch a counter-coup and negotiate a political settlement. In New York, he planned to recruit top-notch American political consultants to advise him on his political campaign for the next election, which would have been pushed back from October 15 to some time in November.
Thaksin's talk of taking a break from politics was simply lip service. He told the Thai public he would decide whether to take a break from politics only after his Thai Rak Thai went to the Election Commission to register as candidates. This means Thaksin would have liked His Majesty the King to endorse a new election date before he made his decision.
Members of the Thai elite and the PAD, however, would not allow this to happen. If Thaksin were to run in the next election, he would have won. With 12 million votes or so, he would have claimed a democratic majority and he also would have stayed on as prime minister. After that he could rewrite Thai history by turning Thailand into his own regime.
General Sonthi had to act fast to head off Thaksin's coup. He staged a military coup on Tuesday, a day before the bloodshed was set to take place. He and Thaksin did have a telephone conversation on Tuesday evening, with Thaksin trying to buy time and negotiate a settlement.
He told General Sonthi that if he kept his cool, Thaksin would take a break from politics. He asked Sonthi to wait until he returned from New York so that the two could talk things out and said that he would reschedule his return flight to Bangkok to Wednesday, instead of yesterday as he had planned.
General Sonthi was polite, but told him that he had no choice, that he had to stage the coup.
In the meantime, Thaksin was checking on his military allies, who had control of Bangkok, for the most part. He remained certain that in a military power play, he could still emerge the victor. Maj-General Prin Suwannathat, commander of the First Infantry Brigade, is a close ally of Thaksin and he holds the most powerful military post in Bangkok. The commanders of the Air Force and the Navy are also good friends of Thaksin.
General Sonthi had the support of Lt-General Saphrang Kalayanamit of the Third Army, who had been outspoken in his anti-Thaksin remarks. The Third Army is in charge of all military operations in the North. Another key ally of Gen Sonthi is Lt-General Anupong Phaochinda of the First Infantry Division in Bangkok. Maj-General Sanit Prommas, the commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade, also came to play an important role in the power play to seize the capital.
Troops from Prachin Buri and Lop Buri were also mobilised to the capital to assist in the coup, the decisive outcome of which was ironically the victory of thaharn ban nok (upcountry military).
As it turned out, all of Thaksin's military allies, most notably Maj-General Prin, had been marked out - they could not move. General Ruengroj Mahasaranont, the supreme commander and a Thaksin ally, was to look after Bangkok once Thaksin had declared martial law. He too was subdued. Chidchai Vanasatidya and Prommin Lertsuridej were unable to launch any sort of counter effort.
Thaksin's wife Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra was supposed to take a 12am flight to Singapore on Tuesday night. She quickly changed her flight to 9pm. Well, Gen Sonthi had to let her off the hook.
Twenty-five minutes later, knowing that his wife was safely on an aircraft bound for Singapore, Thaksin read out his state of emergency address from his New York hotel room, effectively sacking General Sonthi.
But an hour later, General Sonthi declared a counter-coup to overthrow the Thaksin regime and tear up the Constitution.
The rest is history.

Thaksin causes division and destroy unity : Royal Order

2006-09-23T13:19:00.000+07:00

The following article is taken from The Nation newspaper on the 22 Sept 2006.

BANGKOK: -- Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin Friday entered a ceremony to officially receive His Majesty's the King's endorsement of his leadership as leader of the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM).
In a ceremony broadcast on TV pool, Army Commander in Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin stood before a shrine to HM the King while Adjutant Generals Department's Adjutant Maj Gen Manote Premwongsiri read out the Royal Order.
"Gen Sonthi informed HM the King that Thaksin Shinawatra as the prime minister severe division within the nation and destroyed national unity. This is something that has never happened in the country's history," according to the order as it was read out
Most people believes that his administration was plagued with irregularies and corruption. Political interventions on independent bodies were rampant under Thaksin's watch. These interventions have created conflict and division. Many parties have tried but failed to accommodate the matters.
Therefore, the armed forces, police and civilian have decided to seize advministrative power under the leadership of General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the head of the Council of Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy.
For the sake of peace and national unity, HM the King has issued the Royal Order for General Sonthi as the leader of the Council of Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy.
We urged the public to remain clam and we asked that all government civil servants support General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.
In white uniform, Sonthi -- flanked by other officers -- kneeled and bowed before a portrait of the king above the flower-bedecked shrine.
Analysts say royal support for the coup is the main reason why there has been no violence. Soldiers patrolling the streets have tied yellow ribbons on their weapons out of respect for the king.

Koh Samui - Tourist Destination

2006-09-13T11:43:00.000+07:00

Koh Samui, the beautiful island of coconut trees, is the third largest of Thailand's islands. It is located 700 km south of Bangkok
in the Gulf of Thailand, in the Suratthani province.

This island has become well known for its beaches, including Chaweng & Lamai, and for its other tourist attractions. There are
many other islands nearby, but the most popular, other than Samui, are Koh Tao (one of the best diving locations in Asia) and Koh
Phangan (well known for its Full Moon parties).

In recent years, Thailand has started promoting Koh Samui as a tourist destination of choice. This, along with the tragic tsunami
which struck the west coast a couple of years ago, has caused Koh Samui to become much more popular, and as a result has been
westernised and developed much more than some other tourist destinations.

There are many tourist attractions on Samui, and many places to stay, and also many websites that you can visit giving advice on
how to get there, where to go and what to do while on Samui. This article does not intend to address any of these well covered
topics, but seeks to share some of what it is like to holiday on Samui, and a little of what you should expect.

I first visited Koh Samui in 2000, and from 2000 to 2002 I visited this beautiful island a number of times. In recent years, I have
not had the opportunity to return, and as I am not a fan of heavily touristed areas, or of places where the Thai people have begun
to loose some culture as they soak up the western culture, I have had little desire to try. I have also heard stories of just how
'touristy' Koh Samui has become in recent years, which has not helped improve my image of what this island has become.

Recently, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit Koh Samui for a few days (currently we live in Bangkok), which excited me that
I should once again be able to return to the island, but also made me nervous that we might have an awful time because of what might
have happened to the island since I last visited.

We stayed on Samui for the last week of August, which is at the end of the high season, but in actual fact, many tourists leave
during August, making this last week of the month quite quiet.

What struck me as amazing, was how much the island had been developed in the past few years. Towns had grown by at least 50%, which
is not that surprising, I guess, considering that in the early 70s, the only business was coconuts and fishing, with large hotels
and tourism only having been introduced relatively recently.

The next shock was the prices. We expect that prices might be higher in tourist areas, but some prices while on this recent trip to
Koh Samui were quite unbelievable. Being used to Bangkok prices, and earning Thai money probably did not help us legitimise some of
the costs.

When we first arrived on the island, after a 100 baht boat ride, which took 1.5 hours, we discovered that the 20 minute taxi trip to
where we were staying was going to cost 200 baht per person. This was a flat price (differing per location), so could not be
bargained down by much. It was especially crazy to be bargaining a 'per person' price; we really felt for families of 5 who would
need to pay an extraordinary price to get anywhere. We hardly ever take taxis in Bangkok, as they are too expensive for us to use
frequently, but as a comparison, a 2 hour trip from the airport to any distant destination in Bangkok is not likely to ever cost
more than 200 baht, regardless of how many passengers there are. Most trips of 20 minutes cost approximately 40-50 baht.

We heard, while on the island, that most Taxi drivers are looking out for just one or two, 4 person fares per week so that they do
not have to work the rest of the week. It certainly says something, where the lowest possible 20-40 minute fare anyone could
achieve is enough to keep a man's family for a week without the need for him to work further.

This fare was a little too expensive for us, so we hitched a 10 minute ride to the main road, and jumped on a Sawng Taw (a ute taxi
where you sit on the back, in two rows (Sawng Taw means 'two rows'). Every Sawng Taw we ever use is always fixed price - this is
normal - and every trip I have made to Samui in the past has been the same. We even saw the fixed prices listed on the back of the
ute cab (in Thai) depending on which town you get on and off at. When we arrived, we paid the correct fare, but then the Sawng Taw
driver told us that Westerners must bargain a price first and it must be at least twice what a Thai person would pay, so we were
required to pay an additional fee.... But still, instead of our 20 minute trip costing 400 baht, we arrived at our destination for
just 100 baht for the two of us.

The cost of transportation aside, all other costs seemed quite reasonable. The price of hiring a motorbike has not increased at all
in the last 5 years, and food has not increased much at all. Surprisingly enough, the cost of clothes and touristy items have not
increased by much either (although you must sometimes bargain down to that reasonable price). Some authors speak of food being more
expensive, but we found that the price of food was similar to other tourist areas and was also the same as what locals would pay in
some areas of Bangkok.

Of course, we did not even pay these normal prices (approx 40 baht per dish) for our meals, as we prefer to eat Thai, and because so
many restaraunts located in tourist areas cater mainly for Western tastes, we usually hunt out the places where the Thais eat, which
also usually happen to be cheaper for more delicious meals. As we were staying in Lamai, we often ate at 'Coconut', by the beach,
near McDonald's, and at a place with no name which was half way down the same lane.

Great Food! (in BKK)

The exception to reasonable priced food came when buying food on the beach. I understand that it is a hot and long day for the Thais
to wander up and down the beach, and I would expect to pay 2-3 times a normal price for food on the beach. But, we are used to
paying 20 baht for three pieces of corn, but on the beach they were charging 40 baht for one. That is the same price as a meal, for
a piece of really cheap vegetable. The funny thing with the people on the beach selling various things, is that they do not seem to
make many sales at all, people prefering to buy their goods at a seriously cheaper price from their local town. One evening, we asked
one lady who said she had not made any sales all day. If only they would charge a modest-reasonable profit, they would make so many
more sales, and probably a lot more in total. But then we realised that to do so, they would need to buy more product and do more
work. The Thais on the beach would much more prefer to make less sales with larger profit, requiring less effort, than to work more,
earning less per item, but much more overall. Much like those taxi drivers I guess; 90% of the taxis we saw on the island were always
driving around empty looking for potential customers - who can afford those prices???

The last casualty of Samui, because of the tourism, has to be culture and Thai character. We meet so many Thai people who are so
lovely, helpful and friendly. But in tourist areas, many Thais are so different from other Thais as they have soaked up some of the
more negative traits of Western culture and Western character. And when westerners get suddenly angry at being mistreated in some
way, just as they would with some western person with no morals, the Thai has no problem being angry back and standing on their own
self-defined rights, just as any good westerner might. This is such a shame, as the Thai culture, although there are negatives as
with any other race, has a real beauty about it which is being lost fast in tourist areas.

Speaking of westerner's rights to be able to define their own 'rights' (which I am sure is an offensive thing to talk about with
many westerners), the number of tourists who, against all advice, are truly disrespecting Thai culture in the most obvious of ways,
and who refuse to change as they "have the right" to be doing what ever they are doing, is truly stunning. The most obvious and easy
to speak of is the serious amount of under-dressing on the beach. Maybe it is prejudice to have nude beaches in the west now; maybe
people have the right to walk around nude everywhere now; I don't know. But seeing women walk down the beach completely naked without
even a towel or anything, is truly embarrassing. Not only does it completely disrespect the Thai culture, and offend most every Thai
person, but regular complete disrespect like this brings judgement and detest upon all of us.

Samui is well known for it's 'Girlfriend Bars', which are fun places to go and have a drink, whether you are looking for a girlfriend
or not. We have our own views on the rights and wrongs of this line of work, and of the people that make use of these lady's services,
especially based on what we know of how these ladies think, and what they are actually offering, compared to what the western guys
usually think.

This 'night-life' is often a put-off for western families coming to Samui on holiday. But it should not be! So many people see this
night-life as immoral and seedy and something to keep children away from. Yet the number of families with children, that we saw while
on Samui, was quite surprising. I would say that an evening out with the children is safer than being out in some other countries,
and is safer for the children than watching some T.V. programmes.

You might have fears of your children seeing woman trying to sell sex, but although, as with anywhere, there are some woman trying to
earn money by selling sex, most on Samui are not. Most everyone of the girls that work at these bars is actually better dressed than
the many western woman still wandering around town in the evening in their beach wear, and most the girls at the bars love children,
and would much rather entertain your children than have a drink with some western guy.

You, of course, will have your own opinion regarding this, but it really changed our opinion to see so many young, strong looking,
families out for evening walks among these bars.

Bill Resort

I must say, that our stay on Samui was not what I expected it would be. It was so much better. Our accommodation was lovely, the
weather and food was lovely, we enjoyed a couple of trips out, and a few nights visiting our 'local' Samui bar where we made some
great friends. Koh Samui, remains for me, a place to visit; a beautiful and most relaxing, paradise island.

Just remember to bring plenty of cash for transport....

I hope that this article has been of some help to you, and that you will consider Koh Samui for your next holiday, and will enjoy
your trip.