Dream of Siam

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!

I really could forgive TAT for feeling under siege these days. Thailand has had it all recently - a coup, a kid being sucked into a swimming pool pipe at a theme park, the crisis at the airport, people being burnt to death in "death trap" night clubs, reports of widespread scamming - including at the new airport, and hand to hand fighting and rioting in the streets. One really has to wonder what next - this is a TOURIST destination?! Well, just to make tourists feel really safe in LOS we now have lethal bungee jumping!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=681_1254734799

I really feel for this guy. The company concerned claimed a "100% safety record" - the funny thing is after this near-fatal fall due to them not properly attaching the bungee chord to the guy's legs, they are STILL claiming a 100% safety record! It goes to show that the usual health and safety regulations and standards that we take for granted in the West just do not apply in Thailand.

In the footage shown by the BBC (yes Thailand, you can't really block the BBC can you) after the guy hits the water the Thai person with the video camera starts filming the surrounding countryside as if nothing had happened! How Thai is that?

I've always thought bungee jumping was dangerous - but bungee jumping in Thailand? Not on your life! 

I saw the following story over on the BBC News site. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8154497.stm

Of course little over a week ago we had the spectacle of a teenager being suck into the pumping system of a swimming pool at a Water Park in Pattaya. I didn't comment on it at the time because the behaviour of the park staff just left me with nothing to say on the matter - I was actually speechless.

This all comes post-Tsunami, post-Coup, and post the hijacking of the new airport, leaving countless tourists stranded or unable to embark on holidays, honeymoon's and the happy times they had been promised in the glossy tourist brochures and, and this pains me to say it, this site and my personal recommendation. Yes, I had actually recommended Thailand to friends who seriously got their fingers burnt in the LOS.

This is a country to which tourism is vital!

Then of course there was this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/5110697/Thailand-analysis-land-of-smiles-becomes-land-of-lies.html

I quote from the article "Thailand aspires to being a serious country". Let's just think about that. Thailand is not a serious country - right now Thailand is a joke, and a bad one at that.

When I started this site over 5 years ago I was very optimistic about Thailand's future. I felt Thailand had an opportunity to be a very successful country and be a great place to live. That optimism has now evaporated. Currently I don't even recommend Thailand as a place to take a holiday.

Thailand still has a lot of potential, there are some fantastic islands, beaches, culture, history, and Bangkok itself is a great place. But things are getting to the point where I just can't hand-on-heart recommend Thailand for those considering creating a real and serious life.

I'm hoping that will change in the future. Until then, don't expect to hear a lot from me.  

Actor, David Carradine, has been found dead in a hotel in Bangkok.

There has been a long history of foreigners dying mysteriously in Thailand, and it looks at the moment like this will be another such death.

As yet the actual details are sketchy. Apparently, he was found in a wardrobe with a rope around his neck.

The Thai police allege he hung himself. Excuse me? In a wardrobe? Sounds very fishy. On the other hand we don't know the full details as yet. I can accept the actor may have taken his own life. But this does sound bizarre.

I wonder if we will ever know the truth? 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8083479.stm