If you are wandering around the market, you might spot a hawker cooking little delicate rice pancakes on a steamer. These are called ‘pak moh’ or ปากหม้อ in Thai. The steam cooker usually has at least one cone-shaped cover which is used in the cooking process. As you can see in the pictures, a...
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It is amazing how sometimes wishes do come true! It was only last week that I was praying to make a return trip to Bangkok aka Krungthep Maha Nakorn. Well, I got into office this morning, and I was surprised to be assigned for an appointment / meeting next week in Bangkok. However, this...
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Anybody who has never experienced a traffic jam in Bangkok has not truly experienced Bangkok and anybody who has been a regular driver in Bangkok traffic jams should be granted a special award for courage and patience under extreme pressure. My route to and from work was pretty straightforward, on paper. I travelled straight...
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After hearing this question throughout our trip to Thailand I finally thought long and hard about why we can’t go to see the elephants. For decades I have avoided taking my kids to the circus, animal shows, or some zoos because I was against seeing animals exploited for entertainment purposes. I just could not...
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For those of you who have become regular readers of my weekly blogging welcome back to another pulse pounding episode! Not to infer by ‘pulse pounding’ I mean this time out Wit is writing about the Thai bar girl scene in Thailand since for sure that’s something I know nothing about However with any...
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Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan In my library, I probably have just about every guidebook that has ever been published about Thailand. My rough rule of thumb to judge a good guidebook is to look up my home province of Samut Prakan. If the guidebook has it, then I consider it to be a comprehensive...
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My Thai friends have been continuously teasing me saying that I could apply for a position as an “accidental expert”. Not that I ever wanted to apply, it was rather by karmic appointment I guess. I do believe in karma to some extent, that there must be a reason why anything happens to us,...
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Let me just say that totally by accident I found out that a restaurant (that I LOVE) has Lychee fruit. Granted, they aren’t fresh I think they are canned but that was my very first taste of things to come in Thailand. They taste like a cross between a tart orange (or if you’ve...
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The reason for the quick follow-up is that today is… Mahidol’s Day! I doubt that many are aware of this, as even in Thailand it’s not a nationally celebrated holiday. He is remembered only by those in the field of medical and health-related sciences. Nevertheless, I’d like to introduce to you the life story...
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For those of you that have been following my (recently infrequent) blog. I have my ticket to Bangkok in my hand right this second (yes it is harder to type with a plane ticket in your hand) I haven’t been able to let it out of my sight since I got it. (Is it...
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Spurred on by the news about the bizarre name the Asoke sect have taken, like this guy who changed his legal name to Tai-Nae (Dead for sure) Mungmajon (determined to be poor), I thought perhaps we can do a little bit of fun activity today. You know how many celebrity don’t use their birth...
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This popular Thai dessert is called gluay chuam ( กล้วยเชื่อม ). To be honest, I never really liked bananas back in the UK, but I do like them here in Thailand. In particular, I like the dessert bananas. However, this dish is strictly for the sweet-toothed people among us. The bananas are cooked in...
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Can’t go without disclaimers nowadays… Caveat Emptor! No, this is not the ‘empty cave’ spell from Harry Potter, but an old Latin saying that stands for ‘buyer beware!’. It means that once you bought something, the seller couldn’t care less if you later turn out to be unhappy with the stuff. What you see...
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Wandering in Bangkok, I chanced upon this beautiful building above. The pagoda-like porch is looking novel and somehow goes well with a modern skyscraper. Another attractive feature is the clock, where in the time is indicated in Thai script. This gives a unique type of beauty to the clock. Thai script with its elliptic...
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Old Patong was about the sweetest place a couple of lucky honeymooners could be in 1979. We arrived early June, the monsoon working strong, we’d sit in a little open air restaurant, watching the sky turn black, the winds pick up from the southeast, over the southern cape of Patong Bay. The shopkeeper would...
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20-year old Bangkok college student Panupol Sujjayakorn is playing in the 2005 National Scrabble Championship finals today (24th August)against 31-year old Dave Wiegand from Portland, Oregon. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, ESPN will be taping the finals for telecast in the fall. As of 12:45 PDT, the finalists had finished...
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(I am leaving for my hometown, Sabah (East Malaysia), for a few days…so I had better finished my date…The Hala-bala.:)) After touring and inspecting the Hala-bala forest for some time, our helicopter stopped at the first border patrol police field camp on the fertile banks. At the request of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the...
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I’ve been having a really miserable time since my first post, but at least it seems my yearlong dilemma has been cut short. I just need to pick up some more courage, run a few of those nightmare laps of visa – plane ticket – bank account, then close my eyes, and take the...
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A few months back I was telling you about the new google web site where you could view satellite photos of my home province of Samut Prakan. At that time there were no photos available of Bangkok. But, google have just done an update. You cannot see it on their online version, but if...
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However modest, a home after all is a home. There is always this sentimental attachment. In so far as a house is independent, it tends to develop its own personality- a tree here, a spirit house there, a few plants of colourful hibiscus. Some of Bangkoks’ houses by the klongs look very photogenic. But...
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