Thailand Voice

The Thai government over the past few years have been so focussed on first the yellow shirts and then the red shirts that hardly anyone has noticed the rampant increase of drug use in Thailand. It is almost getting to epidemic proportions …

I cannot imagine life without Pla Ra. Pla Ra is that fermented fish condiment which some people actually say smells bad. To me, Pla Ra has a great taste and smells good too but just taking the lid off a jar of Pla Ra in the presence of a Farang will usually… Read full story >>>

Revered monks are made immortal at the cave temple. The mouth of the cave is festooned with the roots of a fig tree. Monks sit outside the shrine in the shade of the trees. Cat and Yut chat to the head monk inside the cave. The Buddha images gaze eternally out of the cave… Read full story >>>

Uruphong Raksasad’s Agrarian Utopia ( Sawan Baan Na ) is still making its way around the festival circuit. It’s been in competition this week at the !f Istanbul AFM International Independent Film Festival . And at the end of the month, it makes … Read full story >>>

If you are in the Suphanburi area this month then I strongly suggest that you go and check out the Don Chedi Fair. This commemorates the glorious victory of King Naresuan the Great which took place on elephant back. As well as the show, there is…

Back when I lived in England my favourite chocolate biscuits were Penguins . They were hardly available in America so I used to load-up on packets when I went home. Penguins aren’t sold here but I found something very similar: Tim Tams . They are from Australia. To me … Read full story >>>

Spicy Frittata offered by Black Canyon in its promotional menu. According to Wikipedia: “A frittata is a type of Italian omelet , either simple or enriched with additional ingredients, such as meats , cheeses , vegetables and even pasta . It may be compared to… Read full story >>>

A recent visit to Bangkok meant a family reunion. Most of Pensri's sisters live there and when we pass through we join them for a large family meal.The family and the meal are both large. Pensri was one of eight girls, all of them married, all have children. Not everyone turns up each … Read full story >>>

This is a seasonal treat from Starbucks that I recall from my time in California. Maybe they sell it all over the world. I’m not a big Starbucks coffee drinker – their products are good quality but I think they … Read full story >>>

Right across the road from Bangkok’s main railway station: Hua Lamphong, is a parade (British English term) of shops fronting a small street market. Just about anywhere else such a prime location would have been redeveloped into fast food outlets and shops. But not in Bangkok. Although there is a 7-11 store there – … Read full story >>>

At the “Thailand in Transition: A Historic Challenge and What’s Next?” event on December 8 (blogged on what Bkk Governor Sukhumbhand and former Senator Jon Ungpakorn said here and here resp… Read full story >>>

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 …

This is the Thai version of pork soup that is a little on the spicy side. In the ingredients below you can see diced potatoes, pork, carrots, Chinese celery, lime, stock cube, bird eye chillies and plum tomatoes. You could use chicken instead of pork. Boil the pork in the stock until nearly…

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…

I have been saying that I was going to make it to this restaurant for a while, and I finally did. Spago is an authentic Italian pizza and pasta restaurant. The owner is an expat named Franco, I meet him a little while ago and was told… Read full story >>>

While googleing for websites of the local government units, to add the weblinks into my XMLs as well as working through the village lists where I can find them, this respective list on the site of the TAO Kham Thale So… Read full story >>>

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 …

Last night we ventured out to the village to Miss Noot’s mum’s house, to pick up our niece Nong Ja. She will be staying with us for the next 3 nights. On the way home to Ubon, the usual question of, ‘what do you want to eat,’ was asked. Miss Noot and Benjawan then had… Read full story >>>

This blog now exists for two years, and again my worrying that I would run out of topics was strongly rebutted. In fact, I currently have so many topics that I have pre-written postings for two months, only leaving spaces for the current news like fresh announcements in the Royal Gazette . And of course… Read full story >>>

After a month of reading the Royal Household Bureau today every online Thai news paper published these photos. Thairath: http://www.thairath.co.th/content/misc/41680 Matichon: http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1256286362&grpid=01&catid= Manager: http://manager.co.th/… Read full story >>>

The annual vegetarian festival has started once more – supermarkets, restaurants and department stores are full of special stalls with the little yellow pennants that designate all kinds of vegetarian goodness. Some of these are rice/noodles with various stir fried vegetables, curries and … Read full story >>>

Today marks the start of the Vegetarian Festival in Thailand. I went to Thong Siang Vegetarian House in Samut Prakan to watch this event. The ceremony was a signal for the nine Gods to come down to earth. Something similar happened all over Thailand today. During the following ten …

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…

This is a nice simple dish called Fried Pomfret, or “pla jalamet khao tod” in Thai. In the picture below, you can see the pomfret fish and the tapioca flour. Wash and clean the fish and then scour it on both sides. Next rub in the tapioca…

I’ve been dabbling in sustainable living lately. Didn’t know that was the term for it until I did some searches on Google. Specifically I’m looking into whether I could eat insects to survive. So far, the answer is yes. BUT, I’ve not attempted to actually survive off them… Read full story >>>

This is one of my favourite curries that I cook every now and then. It is Chicken and wax gourd curry or “gang khua fak gup gai” in Thai. You cook it in much the same way as other red curries but there is an…

Thai people from all walks of life across the kingdom are celebrating Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s 77th birthday on Wednesday. Donning blue, the colour of Friday, the day of the week of the Queen’s birth, people in the capital and the provinces…

Today we have a plain soup for you called “kaeng jeut pla meuk”. If you like seafood and don’t like it to be spicy then you might like this. In the ingredients pictured below, you can see coriander, spring onion, minced pork mixture and washed squid. You first need to wash and…

Where we live in Paknam, it is close to the sea, so we have access to a large variety of seafood. Today we will show you how to cook “pla meuk tod”. Our version here is stuffed with minced pork. In the picture of the ingredients below, you can see the washed squid …