Thailand Stories

Supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra battle with pro-government supporters during the 14th of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya on April 11, 2009. The summit of Asean leaders with dialogue partners has been cancelled and state of emergency declared in Pattaya after a clash of red-shirted and blue-shirted people outside the meeting venue and…

Supporters of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra force their way as a glass door shatters at one of the venues of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya April 11, 2009. A summit of Asian leaders in Pattaya, Thailand, has effectively been cancelled after anti-government protesters broke into part of the conference venue, a …

Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra scuffle with riot policemen near the venue of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya April 10, 2009. Anti-government protesters converged on the Thai beach town of Pattaya on Friday with plans to disrupt an Asian summit as part of efforts to try to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva …

Supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gather near victory monument during a protest on April 9, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Getty Images) A taxi driver waves a Thai national flag as they block the road during an anti-government protest at the Victory monument in Bangkok April 9, 2009. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday a big anti-government rally would be allowed to continue so long as it …

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (back) walks towards his car as security officers gesture after Abhisit’s car was stuck in traffic in Pattaya April 7, 2009. Protesters attacked a car carrying Vejjajiva on Tuesday as a minister warned that opposition elements wanted to cause chaos at a big rally this week in a bid to topple the government. Abhisit was unhurt, but a window in his car was smashed…

When I first heard about the Four Regions Floating Market in Pattaya, I just thought that we would be getting another tacky and artificial tourist attraction built just to bring in the tourist dollars. There are not really that many authentic floating markets around. The famous one at Damnoen Saduak was recreated in order to cater for foreign tourists. It is situated on the site of a much older floating market that…

An expression often used during the colonial period was “going native”. It referred to the people who forgot the ways of their home country and started to behave like the natives. It was meant as a derogatory term as if Western educated people were of a higher class and standing. To “go native” meant to behave like someone from your host country. For example, accept the…

It is time again to reveal the Top 10 Thai Photos over at our sister blog thaiphotoblogs.com . I will first give you the run down month by month and then finish with the Top 10 for 2008. The links will take you to the pictures for that month with the most popular at the top. January: The big news for this month…

It can be confusing at times about telling the time in Thailand. I remember my first conversations with local people who often had the habit of translating literally from Thai to English when they arranged a time to meet or go somewhere. If a Thai person tells you that the bus will leave at two…

Penang curry is one of my favourite Thai dishes. It is simple to make as long as you can buy the ready-prepared chilli paste. In the ingredients below, you can see coriander, sliced beef (you can also use pork or chicken), sliced spur chilli, thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves, sweet basil, coconut milk and penang chili paste in the middle. If you don’t have the …

All of the writers at www.Thai-Blogs.com would like to wish all of our regular readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. These are pictures I took this morning of activities at the school where I teach. Although the majority of our students are Buddhists, they still wanted to have fun and a learn a little about another culture at the same …

One of the latest major tourist attractions to open in Thailand is the “Dragon Descendants Museum” in Suphanburi Province. Like the Erawan Museum in Samut Prakan that is shaped like a three-headed elephant, this museum is also a “Wonder of Thailand”. One of those rare places where perhaps the building itself is more interesting and beautiful than the artifacts it…

The pictures on this page were taken by John Dominis in 1960 for Life Magazine. They were taken on the birthday of Princess Ubolratana. The captions are from Life magazine Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej (L) and Queen Sirikit (3R) giving alms w. their children (L-R) Vajiralongkorn, Sirindhorn, Chulabkorn and Ubolratana on the morning of Ubolratana’s birthday. Thailand’s Queen…

Muay Thai, or Thai kickboxing has really gone international. There are enthusiasts all around the world and fighters are no longer just Thai nationals. You also don’t need to train in Thailand any more as there are world renowned boxing training camps in America, Europe and Australia. However, some people do decide to opt for something a bit more authentic and train in Thailand. You …

It is that time of year again when the Christmas decorations go up and the shopping malls start to play Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells and Santa’s Coming to Town. Sometimes it is difficult to believe that we are living in a Buddhist country when we see a large and brightly lit …

After spending a few months working my socks-off in Bangkok, I’m finally falling back into the more mellowed and chilled-out routine of living upcountry here in Suphanburi. This blog of mine today, is actually related in way to Richard’s one lately about the scammering Siam Ocean World at the Siam Paragon. Putting a two-…

Every since www.bangkokscams.com started up, the site has been flooded with reports (3 today!) and a lot of them, since they’ve stirred folk’s anger have been popular with commenteers. More so in fact than www.thai-blogs.com . After receiving so much feed back, we have decided to do something about it and started investigating some of the reports. The first of…

Police in the north-eastern province of Ubon Ratchathani have opened a case against a randy university professor for supposedly trying to give one of his 3rd year art students (Miss Noi) some private oral tuition in exchange for better grades. After the victim reported the attempted so-called molest to the cops, the hell-belly cops rode straight to scene…

(’Well, it’s starting to look like it wasn’t just a nasty rumour after all - according to reports pop star Lydia really is former prime minister Thaksin’s ‘kik’ after all”) Geez almighty, as a foreigner in Thailand, just how many times have you heard the locals talking about their so-called ‘kiks’? Things you can have, regardless to whether or not you are already in a proper relationship. …