You may remember me sharing you pictures last week of the Massaman Curry that I ate for lunch. I bought this at Seri Center where I quite often go at the weekend. This week I bought gang gari gai otherwise known as Chicken Yellow Curry.You might be interested to note that “gari” is actually...
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I was sitting on my back deck the other evening, reviewing my “Thai For Beginners” text (constant review of even the basics is essential if one is not immersed in the language). The sun had gone down about an hour ago, but it was still very warm out. The book was at my 10...
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Many tourists visiting Bangkok have been to Wat Saket and the nearby Golden Mount. But, how many know details of its gruesome past? In a later blog, I will tell you about the elaborate ceremonies for the funeral and cremation of Thai people. However, in the old days, for the poor people, there was...
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Did anyone know that yesterday was “National Thai Language Day”? Has speaking Thai become ‘uncool’? by Veenarat Laohapakakul Do you realise that yesterday, July 29, was another important occasion for Thailand? It was “National Thai Language Day”. It might seem amusing to some that Thailand marks such a day on its calendar, but it...
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I don’t really make a habit of going to McDonald’s in Thailand. I know a lot of tourists do. I usually stay away, partly because the price is a little expensive and also because there is so much good Thai food here at a fraction of the price. It is funny really, because back...
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Related to my previous blogs, I found a great great links about the poet I presented to everyone here. Since I take translation class this semester, I usually browse the website called www.wanakam.com which is a community for Thai translator *wanakam=literature. I found a fantastic link of the collection of Thai literature that had...
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Steve has asked me in a previous comment on how life for me as a Eurasian has been so far. So, in this post, I will shed some light onto this issue. I first heard the word ‘Eurasian’ when I had once asked my dad the ‘What am I?’ question. ‘Papa, if you’re white...
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Ever since I first picked up that book on the Thai language, back in 1990, I had always dreamt of going to Thailand. It consumed my thoughts. One time, the navy ship that I was stationed upon had a stop-over in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. I spread out a tatami mat on one of...
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Thai fans hold images of Real Madrid’s English player David Beckham as they wait for his arrival at a hotel in Bangkok, July 28, 2005. Real Madrid is scheduled to play a friendly with the Thai National team as part of their Asian tour in Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium on Friday. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang What...
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HEY FOLKS WHAT CAN I SEE I AM ALREADY IN TALKS WITH SEVERAL AIRLINES TO GET ME TICKETS TO THAILAND AND BACK TO INDIA I WAS AWAY FOR QUITE A FEW DAYS MY GIRLFRIEND AND SOON TO BE MY WIFE HAD COME FROM MIAMI 10 DAYS BACK TODAY ONLY SHE WANTED TO GO OUT...
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Stereotypes, so they say, usually have some basis somewhere in fact and if there’s one stereotype that proves this point it is that of the cynical complaining expat. Plop yourself down on any bar stool at any popular farang haunt in Bangkok (which will be the ones with the bar stools as farang alone...
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“Hope soars!” -shouts the Metro Express headline as I grab a copy and hurry into the station to catch my train. Once again American and the World is caught up to watch – held breathless- as mankind leaves the Earth behind. Despite dangers and risks and those that we have already lost the space...
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FATHOMS DEEP THOUGH THE SEA MAYBE’ MEASURABLE ARE THE SEAS IN DEPTH. SCALED CAN MOUNTAINS BE IN HEIGHT. IMMEARSURABLE IS THE DEPTHÁ THE HEART OF MAN. Isn’t this poet sounds great…very philosophal:-) This is one of my favorite Thai Poet(which had been translated to English).The original poet in Thai comes from one of the...
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Someone recently sent me an e-mail saying how much they liked seeing my Thai Food Blogs. They said it was whetting their appetite for coming to Thailand. However, they were interested to see what kind of food we served at school. They wanted to know if they would enjoy the food if they were...
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And then she said, “food land and hospital for the villagers” I was in Surin, Thailand, helping out as a facilitator for an English and Environment camp organised by Dekrakpha, a NGO(Non-Governmental Organisation) whose cause is forest conservation. Rin, who uttered the above line that blew me away, works as an activist trying to...
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Going to visit sick people both at their places or at the hospitals is something depressing although the ones who you are visiting is getting better and better but still, you have to walk pass a lot of other tortured people.. Also, going to a funeral is something unpleasant at all. Months ago, I...
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Strange how one minute, I’m in the process of writing several blog entries at a time and the next, I have no idea where my time or concentration went. Anyway time to catch up. On Sunday, 24th of July, it was that time of year again when ‘the Thai Restaurant Association and its sponsors...
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“Beauty and the Bleach” headlines a section of today’s Los Angeles Times. It’s about how women in the Asian community are shielding themselves from the sun, and seeking refuge in cosmetic procedures to appear “whiter”. Just another visit at the topic of skin color from Richard’s previous entry “A Black Face”. Dark isn’t cool...
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I was hurriedly walking to school this morning in a very un-Thai manner. I could see it was about to rain again and I had neglected to bring my umbrella. I was so deep in thought about whether I would make it in time that I didn’t notice at first someone shouting out my...
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“Why do you want to study this language?” seems to the first questions asked by the language class teachers in the first lesson. My then 12-year old son’s reason for studying French was to keep the elder sister company. But then he ended up studying it for 4 years in Alliance Française and left...
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