Over the years, at www.thai-blogs.com, I have written about many of the day trips that I have been on in the Bangkok area. I have long since been to all of the major tourist attractions and now I spend most of my time looking for new attractions within driving distance of Bangkok. The other...
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The dish we have for you today is chicken fried with ginger. You can also do it with pork. In the ingredients below, you can see spring onion, onion, straw mushroom, chicken, ear mushroom and ginger in the middle. The seasoning we used was oyster sauce, fish sauce and fermented soy bean sauce. Prepare...
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The other day I went for a drive down the Old Sukhumwit Road. In the past, people had to drive down the coast road in Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao Provinces on their way to the beaches in Chonburi and Pattaya. It is a nice drive though not many people do it these days. If...
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If the Monkey Temple at Lopburi is on your itinerary, but you are worried about young children, wish a more authentic conservation experience, wish to see genuinely wild monkeys in their habitat not a cage or just wish to go somewhere a little off the beaten track, the Dusky Langur population in Pracheup Kiri...
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I enjoy getting lost. Taking a map, my camera, some water, and follow some deserted mountain road, looking down on valleys, looking over mountain ranges. This is how I found the beautiful little village of Baan Namkhong just a few weeks ago at the end of a winding road, in an area where my...
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When you are travelling around Thailand and you use guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, you should never make the mistake of using it as a bible. Just because the guidebook lists five temples for a city, it doesn’t mean that other temples are not worth visiting. Sometimes you can find hidden gems that turn...
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When most expats in Bangkok read the place name of Buriram, the first things that spring to mind are images of the capital’s ever hard-working taxi drivers, waitresses, construction workers and even their very own housekeepers. Buriram province, located approximately 400km from Bangkok and nestled along the Cambodian border between the provinces of Nakhon...
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The most well-known symbol of Songkhla Province is this image of the Golden Mermaid at Laem Samila. It is similar to The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, however, this Thai one is not a character from the book of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The Golden Mermaid is in fact a character from...
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This is another one of those simple stir fried dishes. This one is based around kale which is a green leafy vegetable. It is believed to have anti-cancer properties so a good idea to have it in your diet. In the ingredients photo below, you can see carrots, garlic, kale stalks, kale leaves and...
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Affording some of the best views and photography opportunities in the city, Bangkok’s Victory Monument had always been a mystery to me. Victory! In what war? Thailand hasn’t fought any wars this century other than a few pot shots at Japan in the Second World War and some nurses in the trenches in World...
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It seems to be the latest fashion for local districts in Thailand to open a “floating market”. The other week we had news that the Bangkok administration will open a floating market in Min Buri. Then, last month, I went to see the Pattaya Floating Market. Now, another floating market has just opened in...
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One of the most colourful festivals taking place at the moment in Thailand is the Lantern Festival in Hat Yai. The Thai slogan translates as “colours of the south”. It is running between 14th and 28th February 2009. This is the third time that they have organized the festival at the Hat Yai Municipality...
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“This province is home to a revered Buddha image and four of the nation’s most beautiful national parks” Known to the locals as simply Phi-lok, Phitsanulok is an ideal base for those wishing to explore the North and the western part of Isaan. And that’s what most folk do – just pass through and...
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I’d been thinking for a long time, whether or not, as there are hundreds on online already, if writing a blog about Pattaya was a good idea. I mean there is nothing unseen in this seaside town vicinity anymore. I do really wonder how many nicknames Pattaya has: Dodge City, Sin City, Porn Town...
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When it comes to Thai food, presentation always counts for a lot. I like experimenting with new recipes and even if I think the results might taste good, a Thai person would first comment on how it looks. Just take a look at this stir fried dish. It looks delicious even before you try...
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(This is the continuation of my blog about an average day in a Thai school. Click here if you missed part one.) We don’t take attendance for each lesson. The classroom teacher has already done this at the start of the day. Outside of each classroom there is a statistics board. It tells you...
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“Forget that ear-splitting karaoke on overnight buses and take in the countryside at a leisurely pace on a Thai train.” Westerners certainly have more of a love for trains than most of the locals in Thailand, the latter of whom consider such mode of transport as almost prehistoric – then again, I guess some...
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Most schools throughout Thailand are much the same. Even though they may be public or private, they all have the same guidelines under which they have to operate. The average day in these schools is also much the same. At Sriwittayapaknam School in Samut Prakan, the students start to arrive as early as 5.45...
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(Below is a rough translation of a report in the Khao Sod newspaper on 8 Feb) Former ladyboy monk (abbot) Je Dao of Sri Boon Reung temple in the northern province of Lamphun, has quickly and quietly disrobed. In ladyboy circles, Je Dao had become well-known for changing into a skirt and bra and...
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Every year, there is a moment when the city pauses for a last glance before the heat unleashes its fury and the smoke rolls in from the mountains. These are the last few days when colours still vibrate alive, before the city turns into molten air and concrete, and gets swallowed up in a...
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