Thai fishermen caught a 646-pound catfish believed to have been the world’s largest freshwater fish ever recorded. The 8.9 feet Mekong giant catfish was netted May 1 by villagers in Chiang Khong, a remote district in northern Thailand. The Mekong giant catfish — which shares the title of largest freshwater fish with a close...
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I know many people visiting these blogs are also trying to learn Thai. This is not always that easy if you are studying alone or just from books. In association with Sriwittayapaknam School, we will now be giving you some weekly lessons in the “radio blog” section to the right. You will see the...
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Stories about recent university hazings have been all over the Thai media for quite a while, creating an impression that Thailand’s universities are nothing more than playgrounds for sadistic jerks. To counter-balance this impression, I would like to share with you a story about my uni, Chiang Mai University. From the time I spent...
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I am Thai American. Born in Chicago, Illinois. I learned to speak thai, before I was able to speak English. It was the seventies, when there wasn’t much of a population of Thais around. Thai food wasn’t even a novelty, but so extremely exotic that there was maybe 1 or 2 restaurant that was...
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Thailand has been overcome by the influence of Japanese culture since the end of last decade. The debate I want to discuss today is about the growth of Japanese food in Thailand. Clearly, Japanese food has overtaken all other oversea foods available here. In nearly everywhere you go there are Japanese restaurants. Some of...
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These days, it doesn’t seem such a big deal preparing a trip to Thailand. It is no longer the unknown as millions of people join package tours to Thailand every year. But, a hundred years ago things were very different. What I thought I would do tonight is give you some extracts from a...
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Want to go to the toilet? Learn to read Thai first! Well, I shall certainly have to admit to a slight delay there in the writing up of this new blog, had a darned bad head cold for a few days. Probably due to the freaky weather lately that has been changing as often...
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Bang Sai Arts and Craft Center Here are some more Thai superstitions from the past which directly affect Thai life and culture today. (1) Do not bend down and look between your legs. You will see a ghost. (2) Do not sweep dirt out of the front entrance. It will make all your money...
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There is a beautiful song by Julio Iglesias that runs, “Nostalgie, tu es tendre, moi aussi. Nostalgie is indeed tender and we revisit the places through our memory. I came back to bangkok in 2002 after 1989, and immediately after landing there was a desire to see the old places. Taking a taxi from...
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Brandon and I have started somewhat of a tradition of going to the Treasure Pot in Paramount for lunch on Saturday. We’ve been going there for the usual of Brandon’s favorites–panang beef and pad krapro ground chicken (chicken with garlic and Thai basil)–and my occasional cravings for Kai Palow (stewed eggs with pork and...
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Yesterday, I missed my bus at 6am because I stayed up too late the night before (because somebody was feeling bad and needed some comfort :p). I quickly had my breakfast and left my home sweet home. I walked fast to find a taxi motorcycle in order to get to the top of my...
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Gambling is one of the most popular things Thai people like to do. One of gambling’s kind is to bet. Though, it is still illegal to bet in Thailand. It is one of the things I have a great interest on. As sport crazy myself, I love to learn how the betting system work....
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I visited Wat Doi Suthep on the morning of 18th June, which was a Saturday. On my songtaew ride up the mountains, I was pleasantly surprised to see thongs of Chiangmai University students trekking upwards by walking on the drain beside the road. Apparently, I was fortunate enough to witness a time-honoured tradition in...
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I think it was back in April that I shared with you some screen grabs I took from a program called keyhole. It was a trial version of a program that allows you to view satellite pictures of Thailand and the rest of the world. The full program is quite expensive but you can...
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Statue of Sunthorn Phu in a memorial park in Rayong Last week we announced a competition to win a book of Thai Sayings. The question was to tell us the name of the famous Thai poet whose birthday is celebrated on June 26th. The answer is of course Sunthorn Phu. Congratulations to Makiyo from...
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There are many kinds of taxis in Thailand. Two of the kinds I would like to talk about today are the motorcycle taxis and car taxis. Many people would probably have been on them but may not have noticed the identifications of these taxis. I use their services all the time but it took...
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I was telling you last night about the first railway in Thailand that was built in 1893 and ran from Paknam Market to Bangkok. I was saying that what a shame it was that it had been pulled up. Even though we are not far from Bangkok I don’t often go there because of...
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The first railway in Thailand was a private line connecting Bangkok with Paknam at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, a distance of 21 kms. Paknam at the time was the anchorage for sea-going ships that could not reach Bangkok. Work on the line was begun in 1887 and it was opened to...
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The Monk Chat at Wat Suan Dok is a must-try. Initially, things started off lukewarm for me as I was paired up with monks who aren’t quite adept at speaking English yet. Hence, I spent a lot of time smiling encouragingly at them and thinking of simple conversational phrases so that they could understand...
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Here in Sydney, there is a very multicultural theme. Everywhere there’s a Chinese restaurant or an Italian restaurant. Lately, there have been a lot of Thai restaurants popping up in Sydney suburbs. As for myself, I love to go and eat Thai food and this also gives me the opportunity to practise my Thai....
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