THE MAIL IS HERE!!!!

September 4, 2004
By

I thought because Monday’s National holiday, I would have to wait until Tuesday to continue watching for the post man, eagerly awaiting my packages from Thailand. To my surprise he knocked on my door today. I was like a child with a present that is gift wrapped, tearing, no shredding my packages open. Finally I get the first one opened, a few very cute handcrafted items sold by the students of Sriwittayapaknam. I will post pictures of these ornaments next blog. I get past those items and find my much anticipated Thai dictionary. I don’t know how I have...
Read more

A Shopping Spree

September 4, 2004
By

I have never done so much shopping in my life. With the end in sight at the townhouse, I decided I should start buying furniture. I had already done quite a bit of research these last few weeks so I had a fair idea of what I wanted to buy and how much it would cost. I checked out the big shopping malls of Central City, Seacon Square and Seri Center. These malls are extremely large and it is hard to believe that they are only 10 minutes away from each other. Actually, Seacon Square and Seri Center are...
Read more

A prison of water

September 3, 2004
By

Swimmin’ with the fishies It’s 2AM; I am sitting in the living room with my notebook in my lap, writing. It is raining – as it did all day yesterday, and the previous day, and the day before – you get the picture. Welcome to the Rainy Season. Thai people celebrate the beginning of the Rains Retreat (or Khaao Pan Saa) by a long, colorful parade and lots of music. This year I was also part of this celebration up in Isaan, but that’s a story for another day. The continuous rainfall made me have a feeling similar to...
Read more

In Event of Fire, Don’t Panic!

September 2, 2004
By

I had a worrying phone call this afternoon. One of my neighbours rang to say that they spotted smoke coming out of either my house or the one next door. Naturally I was a little panicked. I haven’t even moved into my new house and I was now having visions of it burning to the ground. I grabbed my car keys and ran for the door. (Actually, I just walked. This is Thailand – teachers don’t run even if there is a fire.) I have to admit fire has been at the back of my mind for many years....
Read more

Thai Driving

September 2, 2004
By

One thing that I am fairly sure of is that I will be able to drive anywhere in the world and deal with any road situation after living in Thailand. The funny thing is that the system still works though( not sure about Bangkok)…a kind of organised chaos. The general rule on the road normally is the that the bigger you are the more right of way you have, which means that cars and trucks generally wont yield or stop for motorbikes. This is quite an interesting siuation beacuse it means that you have to be fully aware at...
Read more

Impossible to remember letters

September 2, 2004
By
Impossible to remember letters

As I mentioned the other day, there are several letters that I have always had serious problems remembering. ภถฎฤฏกฦ and these are just as bad for me พฟผฬฝ So I went ahead and set my font size in Word to 48dpi, then named them each in their own boxes, printed and taped them to a large peice of cardboard to put above my desk. Hopefully that will help them all sink in better. There is a cute thing I remembered I thought I would share. I think that one of the hardest things about learning a second language is...
Read more

What is Bangkok really like?

September 1, 2004
By

It is a modern city with a cultural heritage that dates back almost a thousand years, but like many other capital cities around the word, it suffers from air pollution. Many residence wear masks to protect themselves from fumes from the heavy traffic which invade Bangkok’s roads. Much traffic travels through Bangkok, causing many “rot tit” (traffic jams). Overhead, thick black vines lace the many streets and roads. Much of Bangkok’s beauty is hidden behind miles and miles of thick telephone and electrical cables. I thought it would be lovely to catch a boat and explore Bangkok the scenic...
Read more

American Man & His Thai Family

August 31, 2004
By

Can’t find the letter to Kevin’s teacher, I will be sure to do this today. Today, we had a large dinner at my parent’s house, if only you could have seen their faces as i was eating my small bowl of ยำนื้อ . My wife minces it much finer than what we get in Thailand, it is nearly a paste when she finishes it. So they are watching me dip my rice into this red paste finally when they were almost done they asked what it was. When they were told beef, they asked why it was red though....
Read more

My new family

August 31, 2004
By

Welcome back Nothing special happened today, so instead of boring you, let me back up a little bit and write about last Sunday and yesterday. Return of an old friend Two days ago I went to Isaan (Northeastern region of Thailand) to be reunited with a long-time friend of mine: my keyboard! I missed it so much for the last couple of weeks! Now I brought it back to Samut Prakan, along with some other of my belongings I used during the month I spent in Isaan. You see, I am an amateur musician, learning songs by ear...
Read more

Story of an American Man & His Thai Family

August 30, 2004
By

Where to begin, well I don’t know how much is permitted, but I will begin I guess with a breif description of my family prior to daily postings. My name is Joshua, I met my wife in the States at a wedding in Detroit, Michigan about 8 years ago. At that time we were both married to other people, but shortly after we were both divorced, and both due to mates cheating. We met again 6 years ago and began dating. I have one daughter, Tai(7). She has 3 children Kevin(14), Mary(11), and Daniel(10). The girls bonded very quickly...
Read more

Thailand – a new life

August 30, 2004
By

Milestones Where did it all begin? I don’t know. This story has no beginning or end. I could start from the time I left my home to go across the globe and started studying at a university in America, five years ago. An even better starting point could be the summer of 2002, when my fascination with Thailand began through a brief acquaintance with Thai researchers from Chiang Mai University. Have you ever met Thai people? If you have, you know that unique feeling that I felt at that time. Their loving, caring nature, coupled with incredible humbleness and...
Read more

Bangsaen Beach

August 29, 2004
By
Bangsaen Beach

On the spur of the moment, I decided to drive down to Bangsaen Beach this morning. I had been thinking about going there for a while ever since a friend of mine said he had enjoyed a couple of visits there recently. I kept putting it off, but then I noticed in the Bangkok Post on Friday that there was going to be a seafood festival at the weekend. Seemed like a good excuse to go. It didn’t really matter I don’t like seafood that much. Any good excuse for a road trip. I had been to Bangsaen once...
Read more

Sea food festival

August 29, 2004
By

Over the weekend there was a nice big seafood festival in Bang Saen. I wasn’t really there for the food though – They had a nice big stage set up and some bands coming to play. I saw Clash and managed to talk my way backstage but man those guy sleft fast, I didn’t get to talk to any of them. There was a fantastic firework display aswell, some of the coolest ones I’ve seen in a long time.
Read more

Snakes

August 29, 2004
By

Depending on your take on these creatures you with be either facinated or terrified but I am pretty sure if you spend some time outside of Bangkok there may be a time when you run into one of these guys…as the heading says, snakes. Personally I love snakes, and yesterday was yet another day of excitement. I have managed to take photo’s of about 6 different types of snakes in the last few months so my friends know that if they see one they should give me a call. Well this time it was “do you wanna see a...
Read more

English Teacher in Thailand

August 28, 2004
By

Hi I am a teacher from England who took a years sabbatical to experience life in the ‘amazing’ country of Thailand. I learned much about Thai culture and life in a Thai School . I now would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of those experiences over the coming months. What is it like living in Thailand? When you first step off the plane it is the heat you notice first. All day and all night it is hot but fortunately you can get out of the heat in air-conditioned rooms, shops and cars. I...
Read more

My New House

August 27, 2004
By

This afternoon, I heard the best news for a long time. My townhouse will be ready by next Saturday! It has been a long time coming. I actually bought the house back in April. It was the summer holidays and it would have been the perfect time to move in. However, it was an empty shell at that time and needed quite a bit of work to make it livable. Well, comfortable enough for a Westerner like myself to live there! I wouldn’t say it is my dream house. It doesn’t have a garden and it isn’t in the...
Read more

Another school day

August 26, 2004
By

Well it’s Friday and another week of teaching down. Not that I’m complaining, one of the great things is that I am actually really enjoying work, I teach Prathom 1( grade 1) and each day lends itself to new challenges and experiences. One of the biggest challenges with teaching kids, I think, is trying to remain as calm and patient as one can all the time. It can be a lot of fun but tough too teaching kids. I have one student ( now bare in mind these kids are about 7 years old) who is constantly interupting me,...
Read more

Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste

July 17, 2004
By
Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste

This fried rice dish is called khao kluk kapi ( ข้าวคลุกกะปิ ). I must admit it is not among my most popular dishes. In fact, you don’t seem to see it around so much these days. The big difference between this dish and normal fried rice is that the rice is fried with shrimp paste which gives it a brown look (see picture above). It is also seasoned with sugar and fish sauce.
Read more


The Interpreter's Journal





"Stories about culture, language and small-town travel are posted by various expat and Thai contributors." - Lonely Planet Thailand Guidebook

Articles from Thai-Blogs.com have been re-printed at The Nation, Daily Xpress and also the official website for the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Over 100 of our photographs have appeared in the Bangkok Post.