Thailand Voice

This morning I drove over to the 100 Year Market at Klong Suan on the border between Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao. They were having their second annual market fair which will take place this long weekend during the Makha Bucha holiday. Mr. Surachai Kanasa, the Governor of Samut …

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…

Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva leads his five new cabinet members in a swearing-in ceremony in front of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (R) at a hospital in Bangkok January 18, 2010. (Reuters) Thailand’s new cabinet takes a group photo as they prepare to be sworn in by King Bhumibol Adulyadej in a ceremony at …

The annual National Children’s Day for Thailand took place today. Children are considered as the most valuable resource of the country. There is a Thai saying that goes, “Children are the future of the nation, if the children are intelligent, the country will be prosperous.” To help stimulate children to…

Thai mahouts stop for free food for their elephants during festivities at the 49th Surin Elephnat Roundup in Surin, Thailand. The event brings together mahouts and elephants from all over Thailand. Once used for logging and transportation elephants today in Thailand have been replaced largely by cheap motorcycles …

There are dozens of hot springs around Chiang Mai, some are well-known and extensively developed like Sankamphaeng, others are only just more than small pools of water in the forest. Pong Dueat is on route 1095, one of the attractions …

People are already planning their holidays in Thailand for 2010 and so we thought we would help out by letting you know the dates of the main events and holidays. I know so many people keep asking “When is Loy Krathong…

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…

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…

This is continuing my interview with Peter Robinson, who is probably better known in Thailand as “Phra Farang”, the foreign monk. (Click here for part one.) Peter spent ten years as a monk before finally disrobing in order to spend more time with…

One of the major Chinese festivals held during the year is “tay krachaat”. It is not restricted to a particular day but it has to take place before the start of “Sart Chin” which this year is in early September. I attended the annual …

(Click here to read about the boat trip to Sakhla) Sakhla Village (ban sakhla), in Phra Samut Chedi District of Samut Prakan, dates back to the late Sukhothai period. Its original name was “Ban Sao Kla” which refers to the women of the area that bravely fought off the Burmese…

In the old days, most people lived along canals and rivers. This was their lifeline as it was a means of communication and commerce with other districts. Although times have changed, it is still worthwhile taking boat trips along Thailand’s waterways to …

Alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout gestures as he is taken to a van to be transported back to prison at a criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. A Thai court has rejected a U.S. request to extradite Bout dubbed the ‘Merchant of Death’ to face terrorism…

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra signed the purchase contract and transport of 30-year-old street-roaming elephant Phang Buakham whose right eye is blind, with its owner Kammakan Madee. (manager.co.th) For more information click ThailandQa.com> > > > More Thailand

Deputy Transport Minister Kuakul Danchaiwijit and the PAT welcome the Zim Djibouti vessel on 7 August at C1 and C2 Terminals of Laem Chabang Port. The Zim Djibouti is a container ship constructed in South Korea with the capacity of 10,062 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) …

The rainy season has been rather dry so far up here in Chiang Mai, ideal for daytrips – if you don’t mind baking in the sun shining right above your head at this time of the year. For a change, I decided to hop on a bus today and go on one of …

In an old guidebook to Bangkok, dating back about 150 years, the writer mentioned a “Red House” on the East bank of the Chao Phraya River exactly 2.3 miles south of Paknam. I have read quite a few contemporary accounts by travellers from the 19th Century that described their first …

“Muang Chan”, the nickname for Chanthaburi, is about 330 kilometers south-east of Bangkok. It is famous for its gem and jewellery trading market which is the largest in the country. The province is also rich in natural resources with beautiful beaches, waterfalls, coral reefs and mountain tops. However, what draws me most to this …

Khao Sarn Road Cop Box (AKA: Chanasongkram Police Station) seems to have a fetish for trying to bust pot-smoking backpackers but not the hundreds of scammers operating in their vicinity. Let me take the chance today to write a …

Villagers transport people injured in a grenade attack on a bus to a hospital in southern Thailand’s Yala province June 13, 2009. Three Buddhist villagers were killed and a dozen wounded in a grenade attack on a bus and a separate drive-by shooting in Thailand’s Muslim deep south, police said on …

A senior transportation official of Chiang Mai, shows a license plate decorted with photos of panda cub which was born in Chaing Mai zoo last month. It was part of a campaign to celebrate the birth. (dailyxpress) More Thailand pictures can be found at www.ThaiPhotoBlogs.com .

On Monday we attended the press conference for the launch of the “Transfer Passenger Tours” at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Yesterday I gave you a rundown of the first eight day tours for transit passengers . Here are the final seven tours. (9) Erawan Museum…

Prachatai/The Nation : Songkhla – A Thai court on Friday ruled that there was no misconduct on the part of security officials who involved in the Tak Bai incident five years ago that caused the death of 85 Thai-Muslims. Bernama news agency said the two… Read full story >>>

You may live in a high floor Bangkok condo with tight security. Your main means of transport is the secure Skytrain and life around downtown Bangkok seems peaceful and safe. But watch out. The city may look completely different when you live in a single house in one of the labyrinthesque green sois . … Read full story >>>

There have been a few stories that the government may not last that much longer – see this previous post . Now, The Nation : As relations with allies get worse, Abhisit might be compelled to form a minority government Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva might be forced to run a minority government if the bad blood between his… Read full story >>>

While Phang Nga province is blessed with amazing sceneries and some of the finest beaches in Thailand, you may be surprised that there is no strip of sand anywhere near Phang Nga town itself where you could pop down for a little dip. The town is…

From the agricultural cycle of the Pulanka Yao to military “confiscations” by the KMT Douglas Miles ( CIU, Ascona; James Cook University, ex Tribal Research Centre, Chiang Mai) Aiontay has made the briefest comment (comment 7, May 14, 2009) to date relating to my initial New Mandala post … Read full story >>>

Edited by James Quandt Published by the Austrian Film Museum Available from Wallflower Press . Indie filmmaker and video artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul has often referred to his works as his “children”. Indeed, most of his films credit him with a “conceived by” line, rather than the traditional “directed by”. A new book, covering the 38-year-old… Read full story >>>

Salvation could have arrived years ago. It probably was the world’s oldest ready-to-use but unused public transport. Finally, after years of poisonous struggles of vested interests forcing Thonburi residents to face more senseless years of gridlock the suffering of thousands of commuters has finally come to an end. The … Read full story >>>