Thailand Voice

BANGKOK THAILAND – FEBRUARY 26: Red shirt pro- Thaksin supporters react as the court announces the final verdict for former PM Thaksin Shinawatra’s family on February 26, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Shinawatra family should be stripped of more than half a contested $2.3bn fortune, which is …

Policewomen attend a briefing at the Supreme court in Bangkok February 26, 2010. Security forces are braced for a big turnout and a possible violent response to a court verdict due on Friday on whether to seize $2.3 billion in assets belonging to the family of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra…

Thai police and military police officers guard the main entrance to the Supreme Court in Bangkok, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010. Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra emotionally pleaded for sympathy and an end to his exile Wednesday, days before Thailand’s Supreme Court decides whether $2.29 billion of his …

The tension is rising in Thailand as we have now started the countdown to Judgement Day on Friday 26th February 2010. The red shirts have already started their protests though so far the yellow shirts have decided to stay at home. If that is true…

Supporters of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sit on a main road during a rally outside the Bangkok Bank headquarters in Bangkok February 19, 2010. The protesters said that the Bangkok Bank has a close relationship with Privy Council chairman Prem Tinsulanonda who has been accused of masterminding…

Traditionally, in Thailand, when a Buddhist dies, their body is cremated and then the bones and ashes are collected and are either kept at the temple or at home or sometimes both. However, there is a third option which is seemingly becoming more popular these days. It is called “loi angkarn” which means the…

(The crime scene of almost every Farang ‘murder’ in Pattaya – the infamous Pattaya hotel balcony) As a Farang in Thailand we have all heard some of the most laughable quack-wack Thailand myths: ladyboys who have coaxed clients back to their rooms only to drug ‘em and cut out …

Even for those who have never stepped a foot in the Land of Noodle Soup & Nose Jobs, chances are they’ve heard some classic Thailand myth worthy of an editorial column in the most sensational European tabloid. So worthy actually, …

It was a year ago now that I first visited the tranquil little village of Baan Nam Khong and enjoyed gliding from tree to tree with the amazing Jungle Flight adventure. I got a chance to fly again last weekend and try out the longest, fastest and…

On reading the title, most of you are probably wondering “Who the heck is she?” Well, she was one of Thailand’s most well-known farang names during the early to mid 1990’s; a name that was highly controversial, but in the stupidest way possible (She even has her very own Wikipedia entry). So, who was…

Whenever we have new foreign teachers at the school, I always take them out to a restaurant as part of their orientation. This is partly to introduce them to my favourite Thai food on a menu. But, I also want to point out to them some of the finer points of Thai…

Well, about a few weeks back it was my turn, the first in years actually, to do a visa run to Vientiane, Laos. And I did the visa run on my own and not with some over-priced Visa Run trip company. Thinking back, the…

It would seem that the longer I stay in Thailand, the higher the frequency that I attend funerals. In fact, I have two sets of funeral clothes now. I thought today I would give a brief overview of a cremation in order to help any foreigners who might find themselves attending a…

When I first came to Thailand fifteen years ago there wasn’t really that much in the way of English media. All we had at the time were two national newspapers in English and a few programmes on television if we tuned in to …

Sriwittayapaknam School in Samut Prakan put on Christmas activities for their students on the morning of 25th December 2009. As the students arrived at school, they were greeted by Santa Claus and a couple dozen fairies. The young fairies handed out candies to the students…

The rainy season has already come to an end. There has been no rain the last two weeks in Samut Prakan. However, this was the view this morning in Paknam. This is not rain water. This is sea water that swamps the city during the daily high tides during November every year. …

As the fireworks and firecrackers are going on non-stop for the third day running, and the city is celebrating with the biggest and most colourful parade of the loy krathong festivities, I am at home listening from a safe…

(The following is a brief Thai> English translation from various local news sources) Customers at Melody Karaoke, in the close vicinity of Prachacheurn Police Station, were originally charged an astonishing 30,000 Baht for 3 hours of karaoke. Charges included 100 Baht for a…

(63 Longwood Avenue: the first home of Prince Bhumibhol, the future King of Thailand. Photo courtesy of KTBF ) Quite incredibly most Thais who I have ever spoken to haven’t known where the present king of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej was born. For…

Every year in October there is a big temple fair in Samut Prakan. It is the most important annual tradition for the people in our province. It is called the “Phra Samut Chedi Fair” and lasts for 12 days and 12 nights. It is an event that we all look forward to as there …

One of my favourite festivals in Thailand is the Rap Bua Festival in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan. I usually go every year now. In English, the festival translates as “Lotus Receiving Festival”. However, it has another name in Thai which I think describes it more accurately. This is “Yon…

Towards the end of the Rainy Season, people from all around Thailand come together to race boats on their local canals and rivers. At Bang Phli, where we went this morning, this happens a few days before the end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat. At this time, …

I had not been to Pai since my second Thailand holiday in 2002. It doesn’t really make a convenient weekend getaway if you rely on public transport or your two wheels. However, it was the perfect thing to do in my friend’s car. Riding up and down hills smoothly…

(The following is a brief Thai> English translation from various local news sources) At 10 in the morning of 24 September, Mr Sanan, administrative chief of Phatthalung province was in charge of perhaps the first ever televised wedding between endangered Sakai people. The Sakai is an indigenous tribe who live …

Hardly a week goes without someone sending me an email out of the blue via www.thai-blogs.com . Very often it’s just an old friend/acquaintance of mine whose found me blogs by chance, then occasionally an email concerning an old blog of mine. Rarely, however, do I get an email as touching as…

Demonstrators from the People’s Alliance for Democracy clash with Police and local villagers near Sisaket, Thailand, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Thai nationalists clashed with police and villagers Saturday as they tried to march on a temple on the Cambodian border, while anti-government protesters in the capital marked the third …

Demonstrators wear masks of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra during a rally at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand’s government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday September 15, giving the military broad powers to control the planned rally on the third anniversary of the coup that led to…

One of the best books about Buddhism in Thailand is undoubtedly “Phra Farang: An English Monk in Thailand” by Phra Peter Pannapadipo. Even if you are not interested in becoming a monk yourself, his vivid description of his ten years as a foreign monk in Thailand …

Just into part one only, but Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand, the UK documentary series on Bravo TV, has already caused much controversy, and especially in regards to the Phuket jetski scam that Richard has just blogged about. Thanks to the raw footage, one typical jetski scammer is…