Everyone in Bangkok is dripping with sweat this month, complaining about the high temperatures and sticky humidity, and looking for air-conditioned sanctuary whenever and wherever possible. My solution: remove most of my clothing, stay inside with my ceiling fan, and listen to more music! These are the albums that are keeping me happy — and [...]
It’s Songkran weekend here in Thailand, the annual water festival that’s held to celebrate the Thai New Year. Similar watery celebrations are also going on this week in the neighboring countries of Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. The basic goal of them all: the wetter the better! I attended my very first Songkran in Thailand [...]
There has been a lot of negative press in recent months about the long delays getting through immigration at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. In some cases, passengers arriving at the airport have had to wait nearly two hours to get processed by the understaffed and overworked immigration officers. I’ve never had to endure nearly that [...]
I ride motorcycles every day of the week. No, I don’t drive the darn things; I’ve never driven a motorcycle in my life and I don’t think the traffic-clogged streets of Bangkok are the ideal venue to initiate such an experience. For now, I’m content to be a passenger on the back of one, letting [...]
I hadn’t circled the date on my calendar — and actually I can’t remember the exact date — but this week marked the 16th anniversary of my move from the United States to Thailand. Holy jumping sassafras! To say that the time has flown by would be a definite understatement. But even after sixteen years, [...]
The biggest story — not to mention worry — here in Bangkok recently was the recent Valentine’s Day “bombing” by the so-called Iranian “terrorists”. To call what happened a terrorist bombing, though, may not be quite accurate; it was more like a few small explosions gone awry. Whatever the terminology, it did raise a few [...]
One of the most asked questions at my bookshop in Bangkok is: “Where do you get your books?” Except for a few titles from local authors that we take on consignment, along with new travel titles from Things Asian Press, all of our stock consists of secondhand books that we get locally. We don’t order [...]
Paul Heaton, the singer best known for being “the voice” of two great bands, the Housemartins and the Beautiful South, is planning a new tour of the UK this spring — by bicycle. Dubbed the “Pedals and Pumps” tour, Heaton will include 15 pub gigs, and he plans to cycle to all of them. “I’m [...]
I hear the sounds of machine gun fire; loud bursts of popping and cracking, followed by shrill screams. I look out my window and realize my mistake; it’s only a group of young idiots setting off firecrackers. Ah yes, the “happy sounds” of a Lunar New Year are here again. Commonly known to Westerners [...]
Business at my bookshop in Bangkok was very good in December and has continued to be strong so far this month, which is a big relief after the extremely slow days during the flooding mayhem in October and November. The Lunar New Year (“Chinese New Year”) holiday hasn’t officially started — that’s later this month [...]
