Thailand Stories

Well, about a few weeks back it was my turn, the first in years actually, to do a visa run to Vientiane, Laos. And I did the visa run on my own and not with some over-priced Visa Run trip company. Thinking back, the last time I had been to Vientiane was just a year or so ago…

A Gallery by Kittisak Butdeewong Fortunately, just recently, I have had the opportunity, for the second time, to help a good friend of mine, artist, Kittisak Butdeewong with his latest gallery. Kittisak, hailing from the north-eastern rural province of Mukdahan, spent…

How come no charges of lese-majeste have been filed against these two? Here are another 20 amazing Thailand facts as compiled over on the ThailandQA.com Forums. You can see the other facts already posted by clicking here. Most of them were compiled by myself, but for the ones not, the name is …

One of the most unusual Thai sweets are the “khanom luk chub”. These desserts are made from mung-bean flour and come in various colours and shapes. They are made to look like a variety of different fruit and vegetables. These are mangosteens, oranges, cherries, mangoes, watermelons, carrots and…

Thai food is certainly world famous these days. It has been estimated that there are now Thai restaurants in 13,000 locations around the world. These range from fast-food take-aways to up-market restaurants. Many of them have been set …

Hardly a week goes without someone sending me an email out of the blue via www.thai-blogs.com . Very often it’s just an old friend/acquaintance of mine whose found me blogs by chance, then occasionally an email concerning an old blog of mine. Rarely, however, do I get an email as touching as one received a few…

One way to experience the traditional lifestyle of Thai farmers is at the Buffalo Village in Suphanburi. In Thai it is called “baan kwai”. Thai farmers, and their trusty companions, the buffalo, are considered the backbone of the country. Although buffaloes have been the butt of many jokes in classrooms across the country (to be called “buffalo” is the same as …

I love Thailand for its variety but I never knew before that it already has an established wine industry. When we talk about wine growing we don’t usually think about Thailand mainly due to the hot and humid climate. But, Thailand has in fact three distinct regions of wine making. In the north there is Chateau de Loei, in the Phu Rua Valley of …

This is a plain soup that contains mung bean noodles (wun-sen) and pork. In Thai it is called “dtom jeut wun-sen moo sap”. In the ingredients below, you can see mung bean noodles, pork balls, chopped spring onion and chicken stock cube in the middle. The transparent noodles are usually sold in dried …

One of the hidden gems of Suphan Buri is Chawak Lake at the northern end of the province. The Bueng Chawak Chalermphrakiat project was initiated back in 1994 to celebrate H.M. The King’s 50th year accession to the throne. The three main projects surrounding the lake are “The Wildlife Extension Center”, “The Garden of Indigenous Vegetables” and “The Exhibition Center for …

(A girl dressed as the founder of Loy Krathong, the legendary Nang Noppamas. A legend she really is. Noppamas was in fact, the leading character in a nineteenth century novel) Beyond a doubt, Loy Krathong is Thailand’s most beautiful festival. Thais and foreigners alike are taught that Loy Krathong originated something like 700 …

(The following blog is a brief translation of an article published today in the ‘Scoop Page’ section of the Thai language Daily News newspaper.) “I know it’s risky but i like it” Last week, a whole load of different folk from all walks of life got together for a seminar on technology and communications and ‘Youth & Problems’. They agreed that regardless…

Well, just yesterday, me and wifey went for a complimentary day-trip to Thailand’s one and only supposedly-super groovy Dream World. I guess, it wasn’t exactly 100% free as Miss Su had to go anyway with her schoolkids to keep check of the numbers on ‘our’ bus, just one of like 13, packed out with Junior High Girls. If you’ve never been or even heard…

(Eventual Winner, 16 year-old Eurasian, Miss Sammy - in a Traditional Thai dress?) Most of my evenings here in Suphanburi Town, consist of either staying at home with the wifey surfing the Net, watching videos and even enjoying the odd Thai soap opera or going out to enjoy a bevvie with a buddie or two. If the wifey gets a bit too cheesed off with the frequency of the latter, then…

(The following blog/article was published in The Nation newspaper last Saturday. Here below, however, is the originally un-edited submission) What a truly exciting week it has been for the land’s news junkies, we’ve had an elephant flee the scene of a crime, a well-known party leader (cum TV cook) ask a news …