Dream of Siam

You may have noticed I've created a Book Reviews page on the site. What's more I have one book review up already. I have done some informal book reviews/recommendations in this blog over the years, but I think I'm going to write slightly more in-depth reviews. The book review up already is Bangkok Days by Lawrence Osborne. As you might gather from the review I rather liked it. I was recently in touch with the author, and much to my surprise he turns out to be a reader of this site - who'd have thought it!

Websites come and go, and Thailand-related websites seem to come and go faster than most. It looks like the Pattaya Ghost has disappeared into the ether like, er well, like a ghost. Schoocher seemed to go into stasis, but rather than emerging into a beautiful butterfly has now disappeared up its own backside. I've removed links to these sites from the links section. I've also removed India Leisure Tours. Not a Thailand related site, but I had a decent link exchange going with them, so sorry to see them go. If you are the administrator of one of these sites, and they ever resurface (as websites sometimes do) please let me know, and I will be happy to add you back into the Links section.

I've also added a new category to the Links section - Thailand-based Writers. I'm adding links here to the websites of authors who are based in Thailand. They have interesting sites and blogs that are worth following. You can also find many of these authors on FaceBook too.

Those who have a good poke around this site will see that there's a fair amount of content linked to from the Articles page. Funnily enough, the Articles page is not that frequently visited compared to other sections of the site - people are missing out on a lot of content. To try and make the content a little more accessible I've pulled out the Thai-girl related content onto its own page. Just three articles there, but, like with most of the other articles, they are meaty articles with a lot of useful content in my opinion. The Thai girl related articles should actually be required reading for farangs going to Thailand in my humble opinion (and in one or two other Thailand authorities opinions too).

I've also added a new page which I am tentatively calling Anecdotes. This is a departure for me from the useful kind of information-packed article that I write. These new "writings" are a different kettle of fish. They describe my actual experiences in Thailand. I guess they are really anecdotes about Thailand - I don't call them stories because stories usually imply fiction. Anecdotes is probably a better name for them, as they are based on actual experiences I've had here in Thailand - they are not made up.

It's been far too long. 

I've been busy though with many things. I've been writing for my new blog over at Regards From The Balcony, where I have been enjoying writing about non-Thailand related matters. That's now up and running, it's proving a great outlet for me so far, but it has taken up a lot of my free cycles in recent months. If you are looking to sort out your finances, achieve greater freedom, and improve your health and fitness, you may find something there of interest. 

In addition, I also have a short submission coming out on Stickman's site in the next few days. It's been ages since I submitted there, and I felt it was high time I changed that. The submission is not my usual type of writing - I have posted in-depth articles in the past. This is more about my past experiences in Thailand. When the article goes live I'll post a link here, and eventually get around to posting the article here in full too. I'm hoping to do this new type of submission more regularly.

Update: the submission is now online at Kata Beach Nights.

While on the subject of Stickman, I couldn't help but chuckle at this article by Phet, and Korski's follow up. The scary thing is Janice could be any of a few million Western women these days. 

As you may have noticed I haven't commented on the recent troubles in Thailand. The people on the ground, and the BBC had been covering events in far more detail than I ever could. I was following a blow-by-blow account over at Chris Moore's Facebook page. Chris often risked life and limb to bring details of what was happening at street level. I will never forget the sight of smoke billowing from Central World. So, things seem to have quietened down for now. One thing is certain though, the situation has not been resolved, and the repercussions will reverberate for years to come. It's hard to see how Thailand will come back in a meaningful way from this - but somehow it has to address some very difficult issues. 

Despite my blowing hot and cold on Thailand, the call of Bangkok is still strong, and I may yet find myself taking the great silver bird over to Suvarnabhumi. In the immediate future though I will be traveling to avail myself of the delights of the Philippines. That should make for an interesting trip report at some point.

Thanks for hanging in there loyal readers. I noticed I'm still getting a trickle of new members signing up to the site, which is great to see.

Stay tuned!

I recently received an email from a guy who is involved with setting up/encouraging "homestays" in the Isaan area of Thailand. The idea is to live with a Thai family for a while to understand the real Thailand - not the Thailand of Bangkok and Pattaya. It sounds like an interesting idea, and I can see a number of advantages to it. You will get to experience a part of Thailand that few foreigners venture to. And being cynical about it - I will wager there are a few mongers out there who will see this as an opportunity to go "direct to the source"...hmmm that might not be the intention behind the homestay idea - but I bet more than a few will be interested in coming at it from that angle. I've added a link to my Links page. Or if you can't wait you can go directly there.

Yes, it has been quiet here of late. Christmas rapidly approaches, and amazingly I have actually got all my shopping done ahead of schedule - and the tree is up - and looking in fine fettle! I also have a well-deserved break to look forward to - so I might even get some article writing in. I particularly would like to do a retrospective on the year, from my perspective, and Thailand's.

If you are looking for present ideas or a stocking filler, I may have just the thing for you. I recently finished reading the book At Home in Asia, by Harold Stephens. I'd meant to report on this a little way back but unfortunately didn't get around to it. Long-time readers of the site may remember me talking of Tristan Jones a while back. I'd read Jones's book To Venture Further, which covers his adventures crossing the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, and highly recommend it. Anyway, I stumbled on a reference to At Home in Asia on Tristan's site, and as the book had a chapter on Tristan Jones and his life in Thailand I was sold. The book covers a variety of expats, some very well known and others not. It's a fascinating perspective on expat life in Asia. One aspect of the book is that it was first published in 1995, and to a certain extent the perspective in places might be considered a litte old-fashioned - those expat glory days are long gone. But much is still relevant, and there is no doubt there are always new challenges for expats living in Asia. Oh, and that chapter on Tristan was great - I gained some new insights into the man. However, the chapter was over far too quickly - you would need a whole book on Tristan to even begin to do the guy justice. Anyway, At Home in Asia is a recommended read.

On to more exciting news, there is actually some new content on the site! I have just uploaded a very interesting interview with Ian H. Ian is a retiree who has been living in the LOS for a couple of years now, and this interview provides some interesting insights into the life of a retiree. Thank you Ian for taking time out and agreeing to share your experiences with us!

Head over to the Interviews page or simply click here, to read the interview with Ian.

As mentioned previously the Galt had stated that should his site not be updated by the 27th then he was in jail. Looks like that has come to pass.

I have heard an unconfirmed rumour that he received 6 years for slander. I have no further information at this time.

That does seem harsh - after all in UK we've had cases where people have received less for killing a baby, but then Thailand is definitely not the UK.

It just goes to show - if you are in Thailand it pays to keep a low profile and avoid contact with the authorities at all costs.

Update 30-OCT-09: The Galt has now updated his site. It turns out he was in jail, but only for a couple of days while bail was arranged. See his site for the full story.

It appeared the Galt had shut up shop, however his site was updated several times to say that he wasn't quite done - there will be at least one more post to explain his proposed shut down of his site.

However, on Oct 24th he posted this:

"Will the Galt be put in jail? This may occur on Tuesday. If this message is not updated by Tuesday the 27th, 5pm Bangkok time, then I am in jail."

Well, as  I write this it is 28th around 00.30 am BKK time and the site has not been updated, ergo, The Galt is most likely residing in a Thai prison.

I heard Thailand referred to as Toyland the other day. I got a kick out of that - it is very apt.

I also heard the Land of Smiles (LOS) referred to as the Land of Sharks. I can't help feeling that these days, with Thailand appearing in the international media for all the wrong reasons, that's even more appropriate!

Well there seems to have been a lot of goodbyes recently. I just noticed that Keith Summers aka The Great Galt over at www.notstickmanbangkok.com has shut up shop.

The Galt briefly states on his site that this is for business reasons.

I'm not going to rake over the coals of the long running Galt vs Stickman, Galt vs Clayton Wade online war. Suffice to say I think it there will be some lessons learned.

I do think that if you removed the Stick bashing, Clayton Wade bashing then The Galt did make some good points (in his own unique style), particularly on Thai women, and the vagaries of doing business in Thailand.

Anyway, just throwing that news out there.

Well, the time came for me to clean out a few dead links from the Links page. Thailand websites tend to come and go. However, I was sorry to see Siam Sunshine Dave's site has now disappeared from the blogosphere. Dave moved to Thailand about a year or so ago, and in fact was interviewed on this very site (see Interviews). I had tried to contact Dave (who is a really nice guy by the way) to do a "one year on" catchup interview - but it looks like Dave has better things to do with his life, and I am actually pretty pleased about that - good on you Dave and the very best wishes where ever you are mate!